OPEN; how could anything bad ever happen to you?

[clothed]

Who: Sansa and others
What: test drive catch-all and may event threads
When: throughout may for the event
Where: all over!

Content Warnings: Will add as things progress!

We all have a hunger.

It's easy to fall back into rhythm with Lady. The direwolf is a miracle, even though Sansa's stopped believing in things like miracles; she knows it is her, and Lady remembers her. During her first few nights in Milton Sansa slept with the wolf curled against her body, the two of them nested together like they used to do back in Winterfell.

Warmth, especially body warmth, can spell the difference between life or death during winter.

These days Sansa finds herself in something of a routine: she wakes early, lets Lady out to do her business and stretch her legs, and then says a quiet prayer to both the Old Gods and the Seven. For her father, and her mother, and her brothers and sister and everyone else who have died.

Then she goes through what reading material is available at the community center. She'll run out eventually; it's a lot like studying, only without a septa or a maester guiding her, but she'll make do.

Sansa's easy to find like this: either walking with Lady as the direwolf maps out the town, sitting by a window and reading, or trying to help with something. Anything.

Just try not to come up from behind when approaching her; she always has her knife with her.

[ Happy to write a closed starter for the event! Send me a journal PM or ping me on plurk (weirwood) to plot something out. Also moving test drive threads here just to keep things neat. ]

Comments

[clothed]

A man with an axe calls out to her, and Sansa feels a sharp-quick swell of panic rise up her throat before she remembers to swallow it down. She is, for the moment, safe in this strange little winter-place; she is as much a stranger to these people as they are to her.

That being said: a man with an axe, though it seems he's using it less than successfully.

"She's a girl, my lord," she replies, pushing the hood of her cloak back so that they may see each other better. She'd found her cloak during the feast, as she was rooting around for something warm to change into. Northern furs and leathers press to her skin like home, and she wears it like armour as she stands a few feet from the man.

For her part, Lady seems more amused than anything, hopping over to the man and sniffing his knees, his fingers. Lady had very quickly learned she would be offered some food or a pat on the head by being friendly; Sansa will have to curb that learned instinct, and quick, for both their sakes.

"She won't bite," Sansa adds to reassure the man; Lady's nosing at his foot now. "Though I would ask not to reach for the axe while she's close to you, she might take it the wrong way.

"Were you gathering firewood, my lord?"

[itio]

For what it's worth, Jim's looking very unthreatening with his hands held up, and his axe still stuck on that tree branch. It's possible this hasn't been his greatest idea, lacking even the knowledge to manage this on his own, but— well, he's here now.

My lord gets an eyebrow raise, mostly amused, the confusion quick to fade as he simply assumes she's from a time well before his. The wolf gets most of his attention at first, and he's very much focused on not moving while the animal's sniffing at him. He does stretch his hand out, a sort of peace offering as he lets her smell all she likes. He's definitely not a threat, not to either of them.

"I'm starting to think that axe isn't going anywhere, at this point," he jokes, smiling at Sansa. "Well, I was trying. I'm not, ah... very good at it. And you can call me Jim."

[clothed]

Sansa looks between the axe stuck on the tree and the man that Lady is disappointed by (no treats for the furry lady, how sad!), and can't help herself when she returns her attention with an amused smile.

"Perhaps we aim a little lower on the tree, my lord," Sansa replies. "Or grasp the handle a little higher on the neck, if you're swinging overhead."

It's how she's seen the men at Winterfell do it; a firm two-handed grip for chopping wood on a block, hands gripping higher on the handle if they're swinging above the waist, or if the block is higher than the knee. Something about having more control with the swing, she's heard Vayon Poole say once, prompting a lively debate with Ser Rodrick about steel weight and pommels and other things she didn't think worth her time back then.

She should've listened more.

Snow crunches under her as she walks up to the tree and attempts to pull the axe. Her attempt is worse than his; it's sunk deep into the wood, and the cold is making the wood squeeze around the embedded blade. It's not going anywhere soon, Sansa thinks.

"Ser Jim," Sansa begins, "you swing your axe well. A bit too well, perhaps." It's a good-natured cajoling. She hasn't figured out the lines of courtesy in this place yet, which means she's calling just about everyone a lord or knight, addressing everyone as she might her peers; better that than accidentally offending and making an enemy out of injured pride. She can't afford to be anything but a soft-mannered girl.

"I'm— Lyanna Snow, and my companion here is the direwolf Lady." She can't help the brief stutter; it's her aunt's name, her brother's name. Borrowed faces in a way. "We were on our way to the outskirts to seek out game. Have you been yet?"

[itio]

Jim hums, canting his head and studying his options. Those are good suggestions. He just wishes he'd heard them before actually taking the axe to that tree. Because now it feels like it's a little too late.

Well, he'll find a way to get it back. Tools are far too valuable to just abandon like this, and possibly dangerous if someone else were to come across it. He doesn't think her attempt will actually make a difference, but he steps back nonetheless, giving her the room to try. Whatever amusement is there settles into a slight frown and a crooked little grin, a huff of a chuckle slipping past.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you teasing me?" She is, obviously, but he doesn't seem to mind. He absolutely does not swing his axe well. If he did, he'd have his axe back in his hands, and a piece of wood to show for his efforts.

"Nice to meet you, Lyanna. And Lady too," he waves his gloved fingers at the animal, but not sure how friendly she is, Jim doesn't try to pet her just yet. "Uh, yeah, a few times. Mostly patrolling, but also trying to collect wood or gather useful plants. I've also traveled to Lakeside, but that's some good hours away. I haven't actually hunted anything, though." He wouldn't know how to, and frankly the thought bothers him a little. Something else he's working on.