#ref.

unlike her elder sister who seemed naturally born to grace and manner, arya’s mother, septa and handmaidens all despair at making a lady out of her. she is often covered in bruises from running and from playfighting, and can frequently be found training with the young boys out in the yard (until someone discovers her, and totes her back to her proper lessons with the other young ladies.)

at age six, a proposition to betroth arya to lucerys velaryon is born to the court, and despite reluctance from her lord father, it is soon deemed an advantageous pairing to unite the blood of the first men and the blood of old valyria. this betrothal is soon made official that stark and velaryon be wed when they come of age, and appears to be a good match, as the two young children seem to get along as well as could be hoped for. unfortunately, growing up with targaryens and velaryons does however fixate her attention to one thing in particular: dragons. while not of valyrian descent, arya begins to furiously study not only dragons and dragonriders, but also the high valyrian language (which she takes to as if born to it) and furthermore the process of bonding with a dragon. she begins sneaking down into the dragonpit, bringing along offerings of meats and valyrian lullabys in order to gain trust, however much to her dismay, she is often chased out by the threat of being burned. ( it’s important to note that the first time this happens, arya is discovered and brought before ned by the caretakers. at such time, he forbids her from returning to the pit… however, it only seems to spur her on even more. )

sneaking into the dragonpit countless times not only teaches her what calms and what aggravates the dragons that reside there, but also teaches her to be light on her feet until she can move about almost silently. one faithful evening at age ten, arya is successful in claiming the cannibal, by seeking him out on dragonmont and climbing upon his back. once out of the pit, she flies him bare-back thrice around king’s landing before landing again as dawn breaks over the sky. by this time, word had already gone around that the daughter of ned stark was not only missing from her room, but furthermore caused a disturbance: as she lands cannibal in the yard, all that have been searching for her suddenly know why – and as the caretakers move to accost her, cannibal covers her with a wing and roars so loud that it seems to shake the very foundation of the stable: letting all know that arya is his, and he is arya’s.

she is recorded by mushroom as the first northern dragon rider: known in history books as the night wolf that grew wings.

in 120ac, after a funeral is held for the late lady laena targaryen, a fight breaks out between the group of children when aemond targaryen claims vhagar as his mount. jacerys, lucerys, baela, rhaena, joffrey and arya are involved: and when she is woken and informed of what transpired, arya stashes a small dagger in her clothes. later, the dagger is knocked from her hand, and as aemond threatens to kill jacerys with a rock, luke swipes it from the ground, and cuts out the prince’s eye. (WIP)

visual references for cannibal featured below the second cut,