Gendry had no intention of straying as far from the castle as he did. But ever since being given one of the hounds, he'd taken to the task of hunting these creatures seriously. Unfortunately the hound was taking it more serious than he was. And once it had caught the scent of yet another one, it had darted off from him and he'd lost the leash in the process. And so not wishing to make trouble with the kennelmaster, Gendry was left with no choice but to run after it.

"Get back here!" He called uselessly. "Bloody mutt, who cares if they're all the way out there? Get on back!"

The shadow could be fast, but not as fast as the hound. And soon the shadow was squealing as it was caught between the tight grip of the canine's jaws. By the time Gendry arrived, the creature was gone and the hound's current master was nearly out of breath. He was a knight, but he looked nothing like a knight. His dusty brown tunic was an old looking thing that had been patched and sewn back together a dozen times over. They were a stark contrast to the mudstained blue jeans that he wore with them. Hanging from a belt a sheathed sword.

Gendry Waters didn't look like he belonged anywhere. That was just as well, because he never had before.

"Stupid mutt," he cursed as he knelt down to snatch the leash up from the now stationary dog. It was only when he looked up that he even noticed they weren't alone. "Sorry about him. He didn't hurt you, did he?"

Not at her best simply made her plain and ordinary in his viewing. Gendry himself had gone a few days without a bath, simply for the fact he didn't think he needed one and there was too much going on to bother with one. It didn't bother him one bit that his hands were black from ash and dirt or that his cheeks were covered in sweatstained dust. He was surprised to hear her admit the hound had helped her, but he supposed it would explain a few things. He just hadn't expected the shadow creatures to be hunting this far from the castle.

He stood and approached her, but paid little attention to her as he instead stooped down to fetch the fairy and drop the poor creature into an empty pouch. "Bloody fairies. It's a wonder they don't get eaten with how easily they faint." He turned his attention back to her. "You shouldn't be out here. It's dangerous with these little buggers running about. They've a fondness for girls."

The leash was long enough that there was room for the hound to cover and sniff her hand. Despite Gendry thinking that to be a bit of rubbish, he didn't put as top to it. Instead, he looked away to check if more of the little beasties about. Largely he was just antsy to get back and wasn't feeling terribly patient about whatever business brought this girl to the castle. After all, he had no notion she was meant to be a shardholder.

"No, not likely. You'd best come with us, unless you fancy meeting another. We'll get you to the gates."

He looked back to her and the dog and decided that she was rather pretty, even if she was dressed very strangely for someone traveling alone. It wasn't quite like the fashions from the Station, but it did seem similar and that alone made him curious.

"I'm Gendry," he announced after he'd started walking and leading the way. "Ser Gendry."

He did not often clarify he was a knight because he felt no particular pride in it. But he felt it would perhaps better explain why he was out and about leading a hound around than explaining he was also a blacksmith.

He shook his head. "No, he ain't my dog. He belongs to the kennelmaster and he didn't give me no name for him. That bugger what attacked you isn't the only one. There's more of them scattered all over the place. So we was checking outside the walls to keep more from sneaking in."

For a moment, Gendry stopped walking and looked back to her. "If you see another, say lawkamercyme. I know it sounds like bollocks, but it seems to weaken them. Do it enough and they vanish."

He shrugged as he began to lead the way agian. "A fairy told me it was on account of what happened with the stars. Mostly they're attacking women, though. Don't really know why. They must figure you easier pickings."

Not bothering to disguise his frustration, he gestured vaguely to their surroundings. "But it's the sort of thing what happens when there's magic bleeding everywhere."

He turned back around to look at her, skepticism written all over his expression.

"What, you don't remember seeing it? There were nights if you stared at them, they'd get all blurry, like the way things do when it's really hot. After that, they seemed to be trying to speak to us." Though he was not sure if that was unique to those with shards. He'd never thought to ask anyone about that.

"No more than a month ago. Are you sure you don't remember it?" He paused and remembered Cothromach and it made sense to him. "Oh, you were underground, weren't you?"

"What do you mean when you say here?" Despite the question, he already had an idea of what she meant. "Did you dream about fairies two weeks ago?"

"Bad luck, that. Most folk arrive at the castle for the feast." Of course, most complained the feast was no proper compensation for being drawn into a conflict. But most people didn't appear to be peasants starving in the Riverlands either. Food had been a fine way to earn his loyalty, such as it was. "Still, that makes you a shardholder. They'll fetch you a decent meal, if they're not busy being eaten by shadow beasts."

As a point of fact, he realized he was getting rather hungry himself, because he had not eaten anything but a dried up roll that hadn't got any tastier from rolling around in his pouch. There had been crumbs in there, but the fairy would probably eat those now. He wasn't sure if the dog was hungry either, because it had sunk its teeth into a half dozen lawkamercymes, but he wasn't sure if shadows were particularly filling. "Then I'll show you the kitchens. If you've got a shard, you'll be living in the castle." A pause. "Do you think those shadows have any meat to them?"

He nodded and decided that seemed sound logic to him. It would mean he would be sure to get the hound some sort of treat as reward for a job well done. Sausages, perhaps. Gendry liked sausages.

But not to be lost in the longings of his stomach, he fell into step beside her and tapped on his chest. "I don't really know, but we're said to have them. They belong to something bigger, I think. The Seelie and the Unseelie are fighting over who has the most. So they treat us nice like to keep us all on whichever side recruits us first." It was not a particularly glamorous situation or noble, but it was what it was. It seemed no stranger a reason for conflict than what was raging in Westeros. "I thought it was bollocks before, but I've felt my shard. I've felt it burn and I've even learned to use it a bit. I know it don't mean much to look at me, but I'm a bit stronger than I look."

Of course with his thick arms from hard labor, he looked strong already. Which was his point, because he'd already figured himself plenty strong enough already.