Arya awoke still dressed. She had fallen asleep across the bed, but she slept soundly. She was surprised to find Nymeria sprawled at the bottom of the bed. The wolf tapped the bed with her tail and lay her head across Arya's chest. If nothing else, a great deal was alright with the world like this. She said, "You need a bath, girl, you stink." The wolf gave her the side eye and went to the window seat. The ship had cleared the southern edge of the continent and was truly sailing into the west.
A tap at the outer door brought Brienne out into the hallway. The cook's helper had a breakfast cart ready, and Brienne knocked at the cabin door. "Are you decent, Arya?" "I'm better than decent, Brienne. I slept like a log." The door opened, and the cart came in smelling of eggs and ham. Bread and soft butter. "Beth and Calancy, come eat your breakfast." Arya laughed when the two of them poured through the door pell-mell. Nymeria watched Calancy come in and sit herself, the wolf gave a low woof at her. Calancy laughed, waved at her, and began to dig into her breakfast. The wolf stepped down and nibbled, clearly unenthusiastic, on the shank from last night. Mid breakfast, a knock came at the door. Captain Dirk showed himself in at Arya's answer. "I trust you ladies slept well on your first night aboard?"
They all agreed. "We will be having a meeting this evening, and you ladies are all invited. We will be discussing the mission and our course." "The mess hall is the only room large enough with seating for us all." "Arya, your presence is mandatory, but we would be glad if you all came after dinner has been stowed away in the mess hall." Dirk turned to leave, but Arya called him up short. "Captain Dirk, is there a full-sized tub on board?" "Aye, Salty, I believe there is one such." "Could you have it brought up on deck?" "Salty?" "I don't believe the crew is ready for ladies bathing on the deck..." Arya ignored this and forged on. "We will need horse soap, curry brushes, and as much hot water as Bart can spare." Arya glanced in the wolf's direction, and Dirk nodded in understanding. "I don't believe our water rations will allow a full tube of drinking water miss." "Oh, it can be salt water as long as it is warm Arya responded." "Oh dear...this is going to be a thing, isn't it?" Dirk sighed. "As you order, Salty." Several hours later, a knock followed by "the bath is ready" came at the door. Arya, Beth, and Brienne walked in front, followed by Calancy, leading Nymeria to a bathtub full of warm salt water. The crew was hidden all over the deck. Aghast at what they were witnessing and yet unable to look away. The fore castle was crowded along with the quarter and poop decks. The ship was still sailing, so they had to man their posts, but the sail crews were on the bottom cross beams, and everyone on deck was behind something.
A slop bucket was half full of horse soap, and 5 heavy curry brushes were lying in a line. Brienne whistled low and muttered under her breath, "I hope we live to see the curry brushes used." Arya, I have fought in battles so bloody you would cry, and I am more afraid right now than I was at the Night Walker battle in Winterfell." Calancy used every bit of persuasion she could to get Nymeria to step into the tub. Calancy looked up from being nose to nose with the great wolf and said, "Not her head." The three women began pouring buckets of warm water across Nymeria, and the wolf shuddered with every bucket. When she was fully wet, they began rubbing the horse soap in, lathering her mightily. They scrubbed for perilous minutes. Then came the rinse, and the wolf again shivered with every pour. At last, Calancy let her know she could step from the filthy water in the tub, and the wolf leapt into the air. She came down, shaking her fur dry right down to her tail. Then she ran in circles around the deck, stopping to sniff and shake every little while. The next circuit, she leaped to the fore castle, scattering the crowd. She shook again and sniffed a few paralyzed crew members. On the next pass of the main deck, she leapt all the way to the poop deck, clearing the rail by two feet. She landed smack in the middle of the stunned crowd and spun around twice, shaking herself. She knocked over two captains and several crew members before leaping back to the main deck. When she landed, she went up on her hind legs and howled like the world was ending. Calancy managed to corral her, and they began brushing. She didn't like brushing, licking Calancy's face the entire time, except when she yelped and nipped Brienne for a particularly hard snag that pulled as it came loose. Brienne said, "I think I pissed myself just now," and the others laughed. At last, Calancy released her, and she made a circuit of the deck again. Little tufts of wolf hair rose in clouds every time she shook.
Brienne checked her hand, saying she didn't break the skin, but that's going to leave a mark. Nymeria stopped at a young crew member's hiding spot. The lad fairly squealed as Nymeria licked his hand and jumped around like an excited pup. "Save me he moaned she's going to eat me." Captain Springer said, "Wait, Tom, she's just licking your hands excitedly." "I think I know what it is." He ducked into a stairwell and came back in a moment with a large fish. He whistled at the wolf, and she sniffed and then bolted at him. She sniffed the fish deeply and then snapped it from his hands. In two gulps, the fish was gone, bones and all. She sat down in front of him and whined expectantly. He ducked down the stairwell again to reappear with two fish this time. Her tail wagged, and she snatched one fish and swallowed, and then he flipped the other to her. She rose on her hind legs, placed her front paws on his shoulders, and licked him straight in the face. Arya giggled and said, "I think you made a friend, Springer."