open | when the white winds blow

[unprays]

Who: Sansa Stark (unprays) & OPEN
What: after falling asleep for three days, Sansa wakes with new memories and Tries To Adjust
When: backdated; between August 26 and September 1
Where: Thesa Station, various places in Olympia
Warning(s): your standard this is game of thrones warnings



i. — thesa station

[ she doesn't remember falling asleep. she doesn't remember sleeping — what she remembers is living. she remembers Winterfell, she remembers the Wall, she remembers Lyanna Mormont's cool gaze, Ser Davos with his gruff tone, Lady Brienne's steady presence. she remembers the snow falling on her cheeks, she remembers the loud declarations that crowned her brother king.

anyone who is in the hall may see her standing there, in front of an empty pod. gently, she places her hand on the glass. ] You gave me answers that I thought I wanted, and now that I have them, I would forget them. You gave me back my home, and you took it from me.

[ even with the heavy furs on her shoulders, Sansa feels far colder than she ever did in Winterfell. ]

ii. — silk wyrms & shades darker

[ she explains her absence with a sudden illness, privately glad that she only works part-time, thus not missing more than one shift.

( a. ) she starts her day in the Silk Wyrms, sitting behind the counter, adding embroidery to some shirts, rising to greet anyone who enters with a sweet, polite greeting.

( b. ) after her working hours are over, she steels herself and enters the Red Light District — Lady Koralle had tasked her with mending the clothes that required it, and she would do it. after all, it was because of her that she had been given the place in Silk Wyrms. she looks painfully out of place, but at least she does not need to be there long: only to pick up the clothes and then leave.

as she does, though, anyone who so much as looks at her will be fixed with a cool gaze and the words, ] It isn't very polite to stare.

iii. — closed to the stark (& greyjoy & half-targaryen) house

[ as soon as she is out of the pod, out of the virtual reality she uses to see whether she could find her brothers there, she leaves the station and hurries to their house. she knows it has been days, and even though she has spoken with Jon after waking up, it is not the same as seeing him, seeing all of them. it seems like a distant dream, now, Robb being alive and well again... and Theon, Gods, Theon. she had thought she knew what she owed him, but she had been wrong, so wrong.

as soon as she has the door open, she calls out, ]

Jon? Robb? Theon? Is anyone home? [ home. it pains her to speak the word, it pains her to think of having Winterfell and losing it again... but this is what they have. this is home, for better or for worse... with all of them there. together. ]

iv. — wildcard

[ none of these prompts suit you? want something else? feel free to just wildcard me, or hit me up with a PM or over on plurk @ celen for plotting or for requesting a starter, i'm more than happy to write one for you!

also, with this canon update, i want to remind everyone sansa has an opt-out post here, if you want to opt out of any of the subjects that come up in her canon! ]

Comments

[unprays]

It is. I was in there until recently.

[ she can't help it — despite the situation, despite the strangeness of it all, having just woken up... she finds herself smiling, turns to Rocket with a small, wistful tilt of her lips. ] They call it a malfunction. I slept for days... and when I woke up, my memories were different.

[beatupgrass]

Uh-huh... [Rocket's ears flick back briefly, processing this information. It adds up. That kind of stasis is bound to futz with your brain on some level.]

I'm guessin' they weren't great memories, huh?

[That much seems obvious if she's... talking to herself like that.]

[unprays]

[ this time, she actually laughs — a quick, soft sound that is wholly unhappy. ]

No. Not great memories... save for a few of them. [ she lifts her gaze, looks at the empty pod with a faraway look in her eyes. if it was anyone else, she would not speak of it — but it's Rocket, and she knows she can tell the truth. he will not give her needless pity, nor will he betray her trust. ]

I was made to marry a man who was partly responsible for killing my family and taking over my home. He was the worst of the monsters I've met. I escaped, but he killed my baby brother before my older brother and I could take back Winterfell. He let him go, run across the battlefield, while shooting arrows at him. One hit him right before Jon could get to him.

[beatupgrass]

[Rocket bares his teeth in a snarl.] What a frickin' jackass. Every time I think I've seen the lowest of the low, somebody comes along and digs out another frickin' level.

[And then, because this is the part that concerns him the most, he adds with a particular kind of vitriol:] Is he dead now?

[unprays]

[ she doesn't move, standing statue-still as she keeps looking at the pod. ]

There is no one on the same level as Ramsay.

[ she breathes out as a cold smile settles on her lips — yet it is not the kind of smile one might have to be happy about an enemy defeated: it is empty, hollow. ]

He was. There should not have been anything left of him to save. [ and yet... and yet. ]

[beatupgrass]

[He stores that name away, just in case. It's at least less common than Jack, but he figures Angel will tell him if that bastard ever shows up.]

The Orbiters haven't exactly been all that discerning before. [He snorts derisively. There really should be a screening process, but who's to say that he would have made it onto the list if there was? Sure, he's not an awful fuck like Thanos and Ego, but where did you put the line when you're deciding to remake the universe?

And Celestials don't exactly operate with the same morals in mind.] People are here that ain't got no right to be.

[Including people he could have sworn ten times over were dead. Or people he assumed to be dead who aren't... and how do you even know for sure, when they might never wake?]

[unprays]

No... they're not. I spoke to one of them about it before, but he said... he said Darma doesn't care what these people have done before.

[ and she can't understand it, she just can't. how can it be that those who would deserve to be dead are here, saved, when those who would deserve to live are not? but then — ] There's no justice in the world, unless we make it.

[ whatever else Littlefinger may have been... she will always remember what he taught her. ]

[beatupgrass]

I mean maybe that works for people who wouldn't mind their ledgers wiped clean, so they can start again, but not for the people who are just gonna see this as an opportunity.

[He makes a disgusted face, lips pulled back away from his teeth in a barely concealed snarl.] Well, I know I ain't above putting a few good shots into somebody's frickin' face if they cross me, Darma be damned. That's all the justice that matters to me.

[unprays]

[ she stills for a moment, thinks of how she felt when Joffrey took her to see her father's head, the head of Septa Mordane — she thinks of wanting to push him over the ledge, remembers near making the decision before the Hound had stopped her.

it was never only Ramsay... but with Ramsay, there was no Sandor Clegane to stop her. at that moment, she is convinced that Rocket would never have stopped her, not with Joffrey, not with Ramsay.

slowly, she nods. ]

That is all the justice we can be sure to have.

[ she will never trust anyone else to find justice for her. ]

[beatupgrass]

[Which is precisely why he's, against his better judgment because he god he needs to stop getting attached, developing a fondness for her. It takes a lot to drive you to that point. Most would wring their hands and cry over a girl losing her goodness and becoming vengeful. That's bullshit. The world does you dirty, you get dirty back. Sure it's not the healthiest option, but what's the other option? Be kind?

Maybe that works for Mantis and people like her, but not him. And evidently, not Sansa either. You don't just walk away from the instinct to survive at all costs and to hell with anyone who tries to stop you.]

Well, don't let anyone stop you. Most people see a sweet-faced kid and just wanna shield her from the atrocities of the world. [He says it mockingly and then snorts.] You can't frickin' unsee what you've seen, though, so it's just patronizing.