On the shores of the Gods Eye.
Two figures, one large and one small, shared a horse, sneaking west along the lakeshore.
The icy night wind blew so hard Arya could barely keep her eyes open.
She clung tightly to the saddle and raised her head, barely able to see the Hound. His burned profile looked even more hideous in the moonlight.
After a moment of silence, she could not help shouting, "Hey! How exactly did you get down from that tree?"
"Heh." The Hound sneered, drawing a dagger from the leather bracer at his wrist. "I have that persistent bastard Beric Dondarrion to thank for that. I learned my lesson after his men tied me up last time."
"Always worth hiding a little something on you that can save your life, eh?"
With that, he glanced down at the little girl in front of him. "But while we're on the subject, how did you think of using that fellow Halsen?"
"Honestly, that was a fine trick. Even I'm a little impressed."
At the mention of Halsen's name, Arya offered no explanation. Instead, she looked back worriedly toward the woods, where shouts of battle rang out.
"We have to go back and help him!"
Her stubborn tone could not help reminding the Hound of her father.
"Help him?" But he quickly recovered and burst into laughter so loud that Arya's ears tingled. "Give me a break!"
"Look at the pair of us, little she-wolf. One beaten half to death, the other only saved her skin by trading on her looks and playing pitiful. What have we got to help him with?"
"But he helped me!"
"That was his own choice!" The Hound growled impatiently.
"It has nothing to do with me, or with you."
At that, Arya angrily drove her elbow into the Hound's stomach, only to hurt herself against his mail. But she paid no heed and kept arguing.
"Halsen is a northman. He's still loyal to the Starks. He upheld his honor..."
"Fuck honor!"
That word set the Hound's anger ablaze. He jerked the reins, forcing the horse to slow a little.
With his other hand, he pressed the back of his dagger against Arya's neck and threatened, "Everyone who upheld their honor is dead, you stupid girl!"
"Rhaegar Targaryen fought honorably, and he died horribly. Your father upheld his honor, and there was nothing noble about his death either!"
"So stop talking to me about fucking honor. Honor won't fill your belly, much less keep you alive in these troubled times!"
He seemed to be trying to teach Arya his way of surviving through this brutality.
But when she heard the Hound mention her father, Arya's eyes reddened, and she instinctively wanted to curse him with the cruelest words she could find.
Just then.
Whoosh-!
Something whistled through the air behind them. The Hound started in alarm, too late to dodge, but fortunately, the arrow merely grazed past the horse and buried itself deep in the mud ahead.
"Neighhh!"
The warhorse shied, nearly throwing them both. It took the Hound considerable effort to steady it.
He whipped his head around and saw a tall soldier of the North standing not far away, his longbow already drawn again and aimed at him.
"Halsen!" Moonlight lit the man's face, and Arya cried out in delighted surprise.
But the Hound spat without a word.
Seeing that Arya seemed unharmed, Halsen first breathed a sigh of relief, then shouted sternly, "Don't you hurt Lady Stark, you vile bastard! Let her go!"
"Hurt her?"
His tone infuriated the Hound, who roared, "Are you fucking blind? Can't you see I'm protecting her?"
Halsen said nothing. His gaze merely shifted to the dagger the Hound held against Arya's throat.
"Damn it..."
The Hound immediately realized and hastily withdrew the dagger, looking down at Arya and snapping, "Explain it to him, little she-wolf!"
But he did not know that what he had done earlier had already cost him Arya's trust.
Remembering how the Hound had let the Karstark soldiers humiliate her, caring only about gold dragons, she felt an urge for revenge.
Suddenly, she shouted toward Halsen with all her strength, "He kidnapped me!"
"He wants to take me to Riverrun and demand a ransom from my brother! Help me!"
"Fuck!"
Her pack of lies left the Hound furious, and he instinctively clamped a hand tightly over Arya's mouth.
But to Halsen, that brutal act was undeniable proof that he was trying to silence her after his crime had been exposed!
"Stop!"
Halsen's eyes bulged with fury. With Arya in front of the Hound, he dared not loose an arrow for fear of hitting her.
He threw away his bow, drew the longsword at his waist, and immediately charged the Hound on horseback, giving him no chance to explain!
"Fuck!"
Cursing, the Hound pushed Arya aside a little, forced to fight.
Clop-clop... clop-clop... The warhorse charged with powerful momentum.
The Hound was already badly wounded, had lost too much blood, and had gone a long time without food. His strength was already near its limit.
Clang!
Their swords met. The Hound felt his arm give way, and the force of the impact knocked both him and Arya from the horse.
Seeing the Hound fall, Halsen wheeled his horse around, ready to finish him.
But as he charged again, the Hound scrambled up from the ground. The dagger from his bracer appeared in his hand once more, and he hurled it with the last of his strength!
Thunk!
Luck was with him. The dagger sank into the horse's eye, and the warhorse crashed to the ground, violently throwing the unprepared Halsen.
Seizing the opportunity, the Hound struggled to retrieve his fallen longsword and walked step by step toward Halsen, who could not get up after the fall.
Only then did Arya raise her head and see what was happening. She hurriedly cried out to stop him. "Don't kill him!"
But at the sound of her voice, there was not a trace of hesitation on the Hound's face.
He walked up to Halsen, and just as the man raised his head, he drove his longsword down without hesitation, piercing straight through his chest.
Thunk!
Halsen's body shuddered. He would never get up again.
"No!!!"
Watching him die at the Hound's hands, Arya erupted in fury. She rushed recklessly to the Hound and punched and kicked him with all her strength.
As she struck him, she sobbed, "Why did you kill him? Why?"
"You killed Mycah, and now you've killed Halsen! You monster, you monster! Die!!!"
But her crying and shouting enraged the Hound completely, and he swung a fist back at her.
Thud!
Arya staggered and fell onto her backside, utterly stunned.
The Hound crouched down, his burned face demonic in the moonlight. He grabbed Arya by the collar and growled in a low voice, "Listen! That damned bastard was going to kill me, so I killed him!"
"And you..." He jabbed Arya hard in the chest. "If you'd said one fucking word of truth just now, he wouldn't have died!"
"This is your fucking fault, understand?"
His roars and accusations made Arya's ears ring, leaving her even angrier and more aggrieved.
Gritting her teeth, she instinctively reached for Needle at her waist, only to find nothing.
Only then did she remember that the slender sword Jon had given her had been confiscated when she was captured.
As the two glared at each other in anger, hoofbeats sounded from the edge of the woods nearby, followed by crisp applause.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
The applause was unhurried, sounding especially jarring along the silent lakeshore.
"What a splendid performance, Sandor Clegane."
"I never imagined you could still fight like that after being so badly wounded."
"But... this works too."
The Hound and Arya both whipped their heads around.
A figure rode toward them, stopping a dozen or so paces away.
The two exchanged a glance, then both cried out in surprise:
"The Doctor!"