Arya Becomes of Age

Arya and Sansa walked hand in hand through the Wolfswood. The snow was beginning to fall but that didn't bother them, they continued their path to the weirwood tree in silence. The North was proud of its hardened warriors and resilient people, but none could claim the strength that these two young women had. Despite the rain, the snow, the hard ground, and the icy wind that their homeland of the North was famous for, these two women had not worn a single stitch of clothing in their lives. If left completely naked on a winter's night, even the most mighty and experienced soldier of their father's army would be lucky to be found alive the next morning, but these two women were born and raised to feel and relish the cold. As children they were made to walk around the walls of Winterfell to learn to adapt to the elements and so they no longer needed furs of cloaks for warmth.

This was an ancient Northern tradition. The Targaryens outlawed it's practice after conquering the North, some speculated was because the Targaryens feared that the practice made the Northern people too strong and inspired uprising, others believed that the Targaryens, born far to the south amidst dragon fire could not imagine the cold and thought it was cruel to the girls, still others believed it was an attempt to crush the culture and spirit of the North to ensure submission. The truth was nobody knew why it was prohibited, but they never forgot the ritual. The North remembers. When Robert Baratheon had usurped the iron throne, Lord Eddard Stark petitioned his friend and ally to restore Northern traditions in the North and allow the Bare-Skin ritual to be reinstated; King Robert had not taken much persuading and so the law was passed. Since that day, Ned had resolved that the North will be restored to the image of iron will and hard people that it had been so many years before and starting with the Bare-skin ritual.

The tradition was, that highborn girls in the Kingdom of the North will not wear a single item of clothing until the birth of their first child. Any lowborn girl who was seen to flaunt her nakedness in public was considered treasonous and punished severely - it is rumored that the Bolton tendencies of flaying their prisoners had originated from flaying peasant girls who tried to pass as high born heiresses by walking naked through the villages.

Most Lords of the North had quickly sworn to continue the tradition as well, but only a handful had sired daughters since the Targaryen dynasty was overthrown and all were far away from Winterfell. Sansa and Arya had grown up as the only naked women for hundreds of miles and it had made them strong. They delighted in their power; men would trip and stumble before them, uncertain where to look, the smallfolk would avert their eyes back away from where they stood, trained guardsmen would shiver in the cold while the northern girls stood calmly in their skin, proudly displaying their young and hardy bodies to their subjects.

This Northern tradition was not without variation, for every woman eventually grew pubic hair and it was styled for it was as much apart of their appearance than the hair on their heads. House Mormont was known for its women to have wild and untamed mounds of fur, like the bears that marked the house sigil. The women of House Bolton are known to use fine blades to shape a cross over their sex - symbolic of the cross their house uses to fly its enemies. House Umber uses similar blades to trim the hair to a single vertical strip extending from the top of the lips. House Karstark would cleanly shave the labia of it's noble maidens, but leave the space above the vulva untouched as to signify their womanhood outward. Other houses of the North had their styles some were similar, some were wildly different to others; however, house Stark was alone in shaving the women completely bare and in their method: using candle wax to rip the hair from their mounds. Their exposure was their strength, they needed no protection from soft furs or thick coats, the women of house Stark could face the harshest of winters without any meager protection and it was through that sheer **** of will that the North had once been the most powerful kingdom in Westeros.

By now the girls arrived at the weirwood. Neither one spoke, both of them knew what was about to happen, Arya was the subject, Sansa was the Witness. They stood in front of the pale face, its eyes were shut and its expression gave no hint of emotion. It did not matter; the old gods were here and they knew why the girls had arrived. After a moment Sansa took Arya's hands in her's and the two girls turned to face each other.

"Let us not delay, as night falls the wolves will find us." Sansa's tone was formal and practical, but her eyes betrayed the care and encouragement she wanted to give.

"I understand." Arya replied.

"Turn to face the Weirwood."

Arya did as instructed. Sansa composed herself, this was not the time for sisterly compassion, this was a mere formality, but the gods were present and she was to be judged as harshly as her sister should any incident occur.

"Arya of House Stark, daughter of Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell," Sansa began, remembering with a pang of empathy how she completed the ritual herself, with her own mother as witness. "you are to become a woman of a noble House, it will be your duty to uphold the station with honor and dignity. Do you understand is yours to be strong in the face of adversity, it is yours to stand like the solid oak against the storms of trial as will be set by gods and men?"

"I understand."

"Do you swear the your priority will be your people whom you shall serve without expecting thanks or delivering complaint, your pride will be your family to whom you shall bring honor and in turn be honored by, and your only need and desire will be to protect what is your charge."

"I swear."

"Will you, by the ancient Northern tradition, refrain from any item of clothing, discard any thought of modesty, and remain naked in the eyes of the gods and men until such time as you birth your first child, or relinquish all ties to nobility."

"I will."

"Then it is time, complete your oath and join with the weirwood."

"I, Arya of House Stark, do accept the honor and the duty of a noble Lady. I swear to be strong against the malicious in the name of my station. I swear to live in service of my people before any other cause. I swear my pride will be the pride of my family and I will endeavor to bring honor not to myself, but to my family. I swear that I shall wear no garment, covering or unnecessary shield for the sake of modesty or warmth for my exposure is my strength.

I swear to uphold these oaths and should I be found failing them, I shall complete my penance and restore the honor of my family, or relinquish all ties to my family for I would otherwise bring dishonor."

Sansa was proud of her sister and wished for nothing more than to embrace Arya and commend her composure, but she could not let her emotions get in the way of the ceremony. "You have made your oath, now you must join with the weirwood so that the gods my know you."

Arya knew what to do. She walked towards the pale face, as white and emotionless as the snow that fell around her before it melted to nothing at the grass beneath her feat. The ground around the sacred tree was always slightly warmer than throughout the rest of the forest. Scholars, septas and maesters argued about the reason of the warmth for generations, but it had never mattered to her, what mattered was her task ahead.

Arya closed her eyes and kissed the face upon the lips, she let her lips linger for a moment before pulling away and feeling fear and awe at the sight that greeted her. The eyes were open and the pupils were stained red by the sap of the tree. The expression was intense and expectant, she knew that what happened now would determine the favor the gods granted her life in her station.

Arya sat down and opened her legs, unable to take her eyes off the unmoving wooden face she set about her task. Lightly she slid her finger over her shaven slit and slowly played until her vulva was red and wet. She could feel the eyes of her sister on her as she inserted her middle finger into herself, slowly she eased it back and forth until a moan escaped her. Her pace increased and she moaned again, more vocal now, her gasps were audible and her grunts became rougher. As she came closer to the climax, she forgot about her sister and the weirwood, all that existed was her sex and her hand. Her nipples were hard and poked proudly from her ample bosom - both breasts jiggled delightfully with the motions of her hand. The tension was increasing and Arya was at her limit. Arya's arm became frantic, rubbing her clitoris and fingering her hole at an unrivaled pace. With and audible squeal and a satisfied sigh, Arya came to orgasm at the base of the weirwood. Her ritual was complete and she relaxed on the ground, feeling the warmth spread through her body, like sitting next to a fire on the night of a bitter blizzard.

"Arya, that was amazing!" Sansa rushed over, dropping all display of formality. Arya barely had time to sit up straight before Sansa had embraced her and delivered a long kiss of affection for her sister. "You are a lady of Winterfell now. Let us go back to the castle, we shall tell father of our success. The gods shall be pleased tonight."

The girls walked hand in hand again feeling proud and glad of each other. Such a ritual had continued uninterrupted by almost every northern noblewoman for the past thousand years. It was to surrender yourself to your people and the gods. No foreign King could prohibit this part of their culture and no outsider could invade it, for while many a woman shared there stories freely, only the gods and one chosen elder woman was permitted to witness it.