Meanwhile in Ironrath, Rodrik Forrester sat at the table in the great hall tapping the fingers of his good arm while his mother, Elissa Forrester, paced back and forth anxiously. They were both waiting for the guards to return. Neither had gotten much sleep over the past couple of days. Not since Talia had disappeared so suddenly.

Duncan then stepped into the great hall. Elissa immediately looked at him. "Did they find her?!" she asked with worry. The man shook his head. "No, my Lady." he answered grimly.

Elissa closed her eyes and headed to the nearby window. Rodrik groaned as he got up and winced, "Mother..." He approached her with the use of his cane, which was something that he hoped that he would never have to use until he was older.

Elissa let out a breath. "Rodrik, I'm worried. Gregor's gone, Ethan's gone, Ryon's been taken by Ludd... Talia's missing..."

"She'll be alright, mother." Rodrik tried to comfort Elissa. "She's strong and resourceful... just like you."

"She hasn't come back ever since she's gone to the grove." Elissa looked at her eldest son. "What could have happened to her...?"

"It's hard to tell, mother." Rodrik told her. "But she's probably alright."

Elissa looked out the window and sighed. "I hope you're right, my son." Elissa whispered. It was then Ser Royland stepped in. "The soldiers I sent out just came back from their search. There is still no sign of her." he told them grimly.

The room was silent for a few moments. It was a lot to take in. Rodrik was barely able to walk, Gregor and Ethan were dead, Ryon was abducted, and now Talia was missing. Ever since Talia disappeared, they had to put the funeral for Ethan and Gregor on hold.

"Send another search tomorrow." Rodrik ordered with a frown. "Right now, it's too dark out there and we can't afford to lose the men to the Whitehills. Our numbers are already low."

Royland nodded. "Yes, my lord." he replied before he stepped out. Rodrik then looked at his mother, who looked even more worried now. "Mother?"

"Rodrik... you don't think that... the Whitehills are behind her disappearance?"

The eldest son frowned. "If our searches are not fruitful, then I will send a raven to Ludd Whitehill. He might know where she is."

"And... if he doesn't?"

Rodrik closed his eyes. "Then we will continue searching for her. No matter how long it takes."

Sunlight streamed through the curtains of Talia's room and hit the sleeping Forrester's face. Talia pulled the covers closer in an attempt to block the light out. She felt so tired...

Suddenly, something hit her door loudly, causing her eyes to snap open and she bolted upright with alertness. "Duck, careful where you're kicking that thing!" she could hear Kenny scold faintly outside.

"Sorry, Dad!" Duck apologized. Talia sighed with relief, then she glanced at the closet nervously, still a little shaken up by the incident with the man the day before. She couldn't help but feel paranoid. What if someone else was hiding in there, waiting to strike?

Talia picked her gun off her nighstand and cautiously approached the closet before opening the door and aiming her gun inside, then sighed with relief. No one was there. She lowered her gun before closing the door and stepping into the small bathroom, glancing at her reflection in the mirror. She fixed a few loose strands of hair before stepping out and leaving her room. She had to shield her face from the bright sunlight before her vision adjusted.

The teenager could see that Duck was kicking around a black and white ball that Clementine told her was called a 'soccer ball'. Talia deduced that was the source of the noise that had woken her up.

Clementine was using a sort of colorful writing tool to draw on some paper that was given to her. Kenny and Lee were working together to keep setting up the gates. Talia glanced up and saw that Lilly was sitting atop of the RV cleaning the blood off the machete. Carley was helping Katjaa set up some chairs as Larry was leaning against a pillar with his constant scowl. Talia also noticed that the pile of corpses from before was gone, which comforted her a bit. Knowing that it would be extremely unwise to strike up a converstion with Larry, Talia hurriedly headed over to greet the others.

"I see Duck's woken you up." Katjaa smiled when she saw the girl. Duck smiled sheepishly before resuming playing with the soccer ball. "Probably would've slept till noon." Lee called over his shoulder. Talia frowned a little bit. "I would not." she replied.

"Uh huh, sure." Lee chuckled, not really buying it as he finished pushing a large, steel box into the gap that lead into the parking lot.

"How are we doing on food?" Lilly inquired, taking her eyes off the treeline for a moment. Lee looked up at the woman atop the RV. "So far, besides the bacon, eggs, and baloney, we have enough to last us a couple of days here."

"Well, shit." Lilly muttered. "Not to mention that we'll need stuff to keep the gates supported." Kenny added. Lilly glanced down at the man from Florida and thought about it for a moment. The airforce base she worked at, Warner Robins, had a bunch of food there. Maybe they could also grab some boards there, if they could. "Kenny, how much gas does your truck have?" Lilly called.

The man rose an eyebrow. "The tank's still a little full thanks to the gas Glenn got us. Why?"

"We're gonna need to borrow it." the woman replied.

Kenny narrowed his eyes. "What the hell for?"

"The airforce base that I worked at had a bunch of food stocked up for planes to carry. We could get that for us." she explained. Carley looked up at that. "That's a great idea. That could help us hold out longer here."

"She ain't driving my car." Kenny shook his head. "I can." Lee volunteered. "Lilly could give me the directions to drive. We could load the food into the back."

Kenny glanced at his friend before he nodded in agreement. "Sounds good to me."

"May I come along?" Talia asked as she approached them. Lee was silent for a moment. Talia was still a kid in a strange, new world. She had just learned to use a gun. Not to mention she was attacked by a random stranger yesterday. Would she be able to handle this?

"You sure you're up for this?" Lee asked her. The Forrester nodded, confirming it. "I'd rather not stay here all day and do nothing." she insisted. Plus, she wanted to see just what was outside this area. This world still amazed her, yet frightened her at the same time.

"I don't want my daughter anywhere near that asshole and psycho." Larry spat from where he stood. Lilly just ignored her father's complaint as she climbed down from RV, handing the rifle to Kenny as he and Lee worked on pulling the dumpsters back into the lot for an opening. "You take watch while we're gone?" she questioned. "Sure." Kenny nodded, taking the gun into his hands. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out his truck keys before handing them to Lee. "You be careful out there."

Lee nodded. "You got it."

Lilly grabbed a couple guns for them to take, just in case. Clementine noticed Talia, Lilly, and Lee heading to Kenny's truck and ran over to them. "Lee? Where are you going?"

Lee knelt down to her level. "Sweet pea, remember last night when I said I'd be out on a supply run? Lilly, Talia, and I are heading to an airforce base to find supplies for us. I won't be long." he told her gently. The little girl glanced down at her feet. "Oh... will you be okay?" she asked him worriedly.

"Of course we will." Lee smiled reassuringly, then stood back up. "We'll be back before you know it."

Lilly opened the passenger's door and got in first before holding it open for Talia. The teenager climbed in just as Lee got into the driver's seat, putting the keys into the ignition. The engine roared to life as Lee pressed down on the accelerator, driving out of the lot and leaving the motor inn behind.

"So, which way do we go?"

Talia stared out at the sights from her window as Lee drove. The fields she saw were lush and green, but she saw a few cars crashed into trees herer and there. There was even a stray walker stumbling about as they drove by it. At least thirty minutes had passed since they left the motor inn, but Talia couldn't see any sign of a base.

"How far did you say it was?" she asked Lilly as she looked back at her.

"We're nearly there." the woman answered her.

"When we get there, we should stay close to each other in case something goes wrong." Lee suggested. It was then Talia could see something in the distance. She was surprised, seeing large several odd contraptions that were lying outside with several paths that led to a set of large buildings.

"This the place?" Lee asked, earning a nod from Lilly.

Lee drove the truck down the path, passing by the large structures as Talia gawked at them. "Are... are those the 'planes' you told me about, Lilly?" she inquired. The woman nodded, a little relieved to see a familiar sight. As Lee drove by a large building with a large gap, Lilly told him to stop here. Lee parked the car in inside of it and they stepped out. "What's this?" Talia asked as she craned her neck to look up at the building, seeing the interior of the roof. "This is called a hanger. It's where planes are put to rest or to be worked on." Lilly explained as she holstered a gun.

"Lilly, what's the plan?" Lee questioned as he held a rifle in his hands. "Some of the food is stocked up near the storage so people can take them onto planes faster when they go out. If we put them into boxes, we can carry them to the truck faster." Lilly told the two as she led them past an abandoned airplane towards the back of the hangar. Talia could hear her footsteps echoing throughout the hangar as they walked further away from the entrance. As they neared a door, Lilly pulled her gun out and held it at the ready as she cautiously reached for the doorknob. She opened the door and thankfully, nothing came lunging out at them.

The three stepped into the storage room, finding shelves stocked with canned goods, boxes of food, packets that said 'ramen', and even jars. "Jackpot." Lee remarked as a smile appeared on his features. Talia's eyes widened as she stared at the shelves. She remembered their kitchen back in Ironrath, but it didn't have this much food in it like this place did. Lilly picked up an empty cardboard box and started filling it with the food. Lee followed suit. Talia hesitated for a moment before joining them. She picked up a box that was rather light and started to place food into it. She rose an eyebrow as she picked up a box labeled 'crackers'. She recognized the word from a similar box she found on the streets when she first came to this strange world.

She placed it into the box before picking up a couple bags labeled 'Doritos' and placing them in the cardboard box as well. Talia wondered just what this odd food tasted like. Soon, she felt the box begin to grow heavy. "Okay, that's enough for now." Lilly told them. "Time to get these back to the truck."

Talia had to lean back a bit in order to hold the box as they carried the food to the truck, placing them in the back of the pickup. "Okay... three down... who knows how much to go." Lee muttered to himself as they turned to head back. As they prepared to grab more food, they could hear footsteps echo in the hangar. They froze at the noise and quickly crouched down. Was it a walker?

Lilly signaled for them to stay quiet as she reached for her gun and quickly aimed it out the door. "Who's there?!" she demanded.

The footsteps stopped almost immediately at that. "Whoa! Don't shoot! I come in peace!" a man could be heard saying frantically. Lilly rose an eyebrow and lowered her gun, slowly rising to her feet. "Show yourself!" she demanded, stepping out of the storage room with Lee and Talia following her.

They saw a man with black hair standing there with his hands held up in surrender. He wore a long sleeved shirt over a gray t shirt with brown pants. Talia could see the word 'Mark' on his shirt. He also were something strange on his face over his eyes. Lilly blinked in surprise as she lowered her gun completely. "Mark?" she asked with slight surprise laced in her voice.

The man's eyes widened when his eyes fell on her. "Lilly...?"

Talia looked back and forth at them with confusion. "Do you two know each other?"

"He works here like I did." the woman answered, then glanced back at Mark. "Where's everyone else?"

Mark shrugged. "I don't know. When those things started coming, a lotta guys ran out to help civilians. They didn't last long, though. Lotta people got bit. One almost got me, but I managed to hide in one of the storage closets. Thank god it had oxygen, though." he commented.

"There's more food?" Lee asked. The man nodded. "Yeah. I... ate a little bit while I was in there, though." he admitted sheepishly. Lilly sighed at that. "Well, we came here to get some food for our group. We really need some to hold out."

Mark perked up at that. "You have a group?"

"Yeah, we do." Lilly nodded. Talia kept staring at the man with confusion. This man seemed rather friendly. But could he be trusted?

"Hey, look, I've been stuck here for five days straight with no one around. Can I come with you guys?" Mark asked with pleading eyes. Lilly furrowed her brow. "... we already have nine people in our group." she said. Lee looked at Lilly. "He'll probably die out here, Lilly."

"He has access to food here. Maybe he could help us get some more into the truck?" Talia suggested. Lilly paused to think about it. He had the keys to another food storage closet... he could help. Her father was most likely gonna give 'em hell for this...

She let out a sigh. "... you can come." she relented. "But you help us get this food into the truck."

Mark nodded. "Yeah... yeah, you got it."

He picked up another box and helped them load some food into it. "Name's Lee, by the way. And this is Talia." Lee introduced as they carried the food back to the truck again. Mark gave a nod in greeting. "Nice to meet you two. At least there's some nice people around after the shit that just happened. When those things showed up, everyone went nuts. They mostly tried to help some civilians or escape, but I saw a couple of them get caught by one of those things..." he shuddered. "It just bit right into them."

He then glanced at Talia. "I don't think I"ve seen you around here, kid. Where you from?"

Talia wasn't sure how to answer that. She was in a strange, new world, after all. And when she first met Lee and the group, they didn't believe her at first until only a few listened. "I don't think you'd believe me if I told you..." she replied, hesitating a bit.

Mark rose an eyebrow at that. "She... comes from a place far from here." Lee answered quickly, coming up with a lie. It would be difficult to explain it to Mark here. "Where she's from, they don't have some things like we do. So she's a bit new at this kind of stuff."

Talia nodded, going along with the lie. She wasn't sure about telling where she was from to a total stranger. "Yes, um... very far away from here."

After they loaded the box into the truck, Mark pulled out a set of keys while picking up another empty box. "The storage closet I hid in is down this way. Follow me."

Mark led them towards a different door in the hangar that led into a type of hall with flickering lights. "The power here's been going on and off since the generator kinda got messed up, so it's gonna be dark in some areas." Mark warned them as he opened up another door, this time leading into a smaller room. There was a desk with papers scattered about and a chair on wheels near it, but the most noticeable sight was the stained blood on the desktop. Talia covered her nose from the spell. "God... this was Rory's desk, right?" Lilly asked Mark, who sighed and nodded.

"Yeah... he was an asshole, but..." He shook his head. "Let's keep moving. The closet's right over here."

They walked over to another door and Mark looked at his keys until he found the right one. "Ah, here we go..." He put the key in the lock and twisted it, unlocking it. All Talia could see in it was darkness until Mark flicked the lights on, revealing a few shelves stocked with food... as well as a few opened boxes laying about. Lilly shot Mark a look, who just looked away sheepishly. "Come on, let's get as much as we can carry."

With that, the new group of four stepped inside and began grabbing small boxes, cans, jars, bottles, and basically anything that could fit into the box. Talia found a couple canteens lying about, so she picked them up. Perhaps they could be useful, later.

Within minutes, the box was completely full, having been filled with nearly everything from two shelves. Mark carried the box for them as they prepared to make another trip back. It was then they heard a low, snarling noise as they came back into the room. "What was that...?" Lee asked.

Suddenly, a hand shot out from underneath the bloodied desk. Talia jumped. "Look out!" she warned. "Oh shit!" Mark gasped, nearly dropping the box. Talia stepped back in surprise as a walker that seemed to be dressed similar to Mark pulled itself out. There was a large bite wound on his neck and shoulder with a large blood stain at that area. "It's Rory!" Mark exclaimed with shock in his eyes. The walker snarled as it tried to grab Talia's ankle to take a bite out of, but thankfully, she stepped away quickly.

Lee reached for the ax and prepared to attack the walker-fied Rory. "Stand back!" he warned. Talia, Lilly, and Mark quickly backed away as Lee brought the ax down on the walker's head, resulting in a sickening crack. A deep cut was visible on the head. Talia grimaced at that as the walker weakly reached up again, only to be finished off by another hack from Lee's fire ax.

The walker collapsed on the ground as blood stained the tile floor beneath it. "If there was a walker here, then there might be more nearby." Lilly realized.

"Fuck..." Lee swore, then looked back at the three. "We need to get moving."

Quickly, the four began to leave. As they headed back to the hall they came through, they were greeted by a pair of walkers that were dressed similarly to Mark. The two undead creatures noticed them and stumbled towards the live humans as they groaned and moaned. "Shit..." Lilly growled as they started backing away, looking for an exit.

Lee had his ax ready, but another joined the two walkers. "Shit!" Lee frowned. "This way!" Mark told them as they turned on their heels and ran. Talia could hear the walkers' footsteps behind them, which made her heart beat fast out of fear.

Mark almost fell flat on his face as they rounded a corner while trying not to trip with the box of food in his hands. They headed through a doorway and found themselves in a room with some overturned chairs and a couple couches, as well as a table or two. "The recreation room..." Lilly muttered, recognizing the dimly lit room. This was where the officers of higher ranking would order the ones of lower ranking around. Some of the higher ranks were total pains to her back before the walkers showed up.

Talia noticed a door to the side several feet away. "Could that be a way out?"

"Yeah. It leads outside. We can get to the truck this way." Lilly nodded. It was then the walkers that were chasing them earlier had reached the doorway. "Shit! Get to the door!" Lee exclaimed. The quartet quickly charged to the door and tried to open it, only to find it jammed. "Fuck!" Lee swore.

Talia whirled around and noticed the walkers beginning to approach them. "They're coming!" she gasped. Lee started ramming his shoulder into the door. "Someone hold them off! I'll try to get the door open!"

The teenage girl gulped and reached for her gun and aimed it at the walkers. She coudlnt believe she was going to use a gun on these things for the first time now. Her hands shook a bit, but she focused on aiming at the walkers, remembering what Carley taught her. She pulled the trigger and a bullet shot out of the barrel, hitting one of the walkers in the shoulder. This didn't faze it a bit, as the walker kept stumbling. Talia then remembered that a blow to the head would take them out. She tried aiming higher, trying to aim at the head and pulled the trigger again.

This time, a bullet hole appeared in the walker's head and it collapsed on the ground. She got it!

Seeing what Talia was doing, Lilly pulled out her own gun and assisted her. The gunshots rang throughout the room as Lilly pulled the trigger, shooting a walker in the forehead. Talia shot at another walker, managing to shoot it in the head. Lee gritted his teeth and rammed his shoulder into the door as hard as he could again. This time, the door flew open. "Come on!"

Realizing Lee got the door open, Lilly and Talia turned and ran towards him with Mark. Lee held the door open for the three, ushering them outside as he kept an eye on the remaining walkers coming in. Once all three were out the door, Lee followed them and slammed the door behind him. For good measure, he pulled a wooden crate next to it and placed it firmly in front of the door. "That should buy us some time... now, come on! Go, go, go!"

Talia almost tripped on her feet as they ran across the pavement. Mark's arms were starting to grow tired from carrying the box around, but he managed. In the distance, they could see the hangar, as well as the truck waiting for them. Talia didn't think that they had gone that far from the hangar when they went inside the base.

However, the sound of snarling reached their ears and to their surprise, they found a couple of walkers stumbling about just outside the hangar. "Son of a bitch!" Lilly growled, but didn't slow down for a moment. As they arrived at the parked car, the two walkers noticed them and began to stumble towards the people. Talia aimed her gun at them, but Lee stopped her. "I got this." he insisted before approaching the undead beings with his fire ax. One reached at him, but he swiftly chopped it in the head. As the second walker approached him, Lee struggled to wrench it out in time. As the walker reached to him, Lee slammed his foot into its stomach and made it stumble back, but not by much. Seeing that Lee was in trouble, Talia aimed her gun at the walker and prepared to shoot it. "Lee, look out!" she warned.

Lee ducked down and Talia pulled the trigger, thankfully shooting it back in the head. The shot rang throughout the air as the walker fell to the ground dead. At this time, Lee finally pulled the ax out. He looked at Talia with wide eyes. "Holy shit... good one. You saved my ass, there."

Talia shakily lowered the gun. "Y-You're welcome..."

Mark got the box of food in the back with the others. "You're gonna have to ride in the back." Lilly told him as she opened the passenger's door. Lee then noticed that a couple more walkers came staggering out, then a few more...

"Ah, fuck..." he muttered, backing away with Talia. "Get in the car, guys!"

Without any hesitation, Lilly got into the truck while Mark hopped into the back, avoiding the boxes and finding a seat. Lee ran around to the driver's side and got in while Lilly held the door open for Talia. The moment Talia made it into her seat, Lee started the car and slammed his foot down on the accelerator.

The tires squealed against the pavement as the car sped away from the aircraft hangar. Mark had to hold onto the sides as they drove over a speed bump.

Talia glanced out the back window and her breath hitched, seeing at least a dozen walkers trudging about where they once were. "Man, that was a close one!" Mark called over the roar of the engine so they could hear. "Yeah... yeah, it was..." Lee agreed, keeping his eyes on the road as the airbase soon became nothing more than a speck in the distance.

Kenny sat atop the RV keeping a close eye on the road across from the motor inn. Lee, Lilly, and Talia were gone for at least two hours now. He hope they'd hurry up, because he was getting tired of hearing Larry's shit.

As if his prayers were answered, he heard an engine in the distance. Keeping his hands on the rifle, he observed the road closely and was relieved to see his truck pulling up towards the motor inn. "They're back!" he announced to the group. He climbed down from the roof and went to pull on the dumpster with Carley's help to allow Lee to pull into the parking lot. They were surprised to see at least six boxes of food in the back, as well as a man.

"What's going on here?" Kenny asked.

"Who the fuck is he?" Larry snapped as Lee, Lilly, and Talia exited the vehicle. "The trip there was a success. We got a lot of food for us." Lee announced as he handed the car keys to Kenny. "And this is Mark. We found him there when we were gathering food."

Mark waved at the group as he climbed out of the back. "Hi, there."

Larry sent a glare toward Mark while the other group members greeted him with a friendly wave or smile.

"Dad, Mark worked at the base like I did." Lilly told her father.

Larry just scowled. "What the fuck were you thinking bringing him here?! We have enough people as it is."

"Yeah, yeah... we get it, old man. Everyone on earth is scum except for you and your daughter." Kenny said in a sarcastic tone. "You stay out of this!" Larry spat.

"Dad, Mark had access to the food in one of the closets there. He helped us get the food to the truck." Lilly told him. "I don't care, Lilly! He needs to leave!" Larry snapped at his daughter. "This man needed help!" Talia interjected.

"He shoulda stayed there. There'd be less people to feed, then!" Larry frowned at her. "That isn't your decision, and without his help, you wouldn't be getting food, period." Lee said with his arms crossed over his chest and a glare aimed at Larry.

Larry shot a hate filled glare at Lee. "He's right. Mark stays." Lilly insisted. Larry spat. "If he wants to stay, then he'll have to EARN it." he scowled.

"I can help with setting up a type of defense around here..." Mark offered, seeing the beginnings of a fence being built. "That would be a big help." Talia nodded. Larry just grumbled and stormed away. "You help me get some furniture moved out of this room." he barked at Mark. "Uh... Okay." Mark muttered. Lee sighed and shook his head. "Welcome to the group, Mark..."

Clementine walked over to Talia. "Yes, Clementine?" the Forrester asked. "That man seems nice." Clementime said. "Is he?"

Talia glanced back at Mark as he followed Larry into one of the spare rooms. "He seems like it."

"Talia! Clementine! Wanna play soccer with me?" Duck asked cheerfully as he ran over to them.

Talia blinked as she looked down at the younger boy. "... how do you play soccer?"

"Well, you can't use your hands at all, and you gotta get the ball into the other team's goal past the goalie!" Duck told her. "Umm... okay. I guess it's one of those things that are harder than it looks?" Talia questioned. "We can use the barrels for the goal!" Duck smiled, not noticing her confusion. "I'll be the goalie!"

He set the ball down and ran over to the barrels while Talia stared blankly down at the ball. "... what do I do?" she inquired. "Kick it!" Duck said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Talia gently kicked the soccer ball with her foot and it rolled towards the goal. Duck stopped it with ease and tossed it back. Talia's eyes widened as it came rolling towards her and used her foot to stop it. "If you wanna get it in the goal, you need to move around a bit while you're kicking it." Clementine explained to Talia.

The older girl nodded and kicked the soccer ball while walking forward. Once she was a good distance away from Duck, she looked for a way to get it past him. She kicked it to the left and it rolled past Duck before he could stop it, resulting in the ball bumping against the barrels behind him. "You got it!" Clem smiled. Talia found herself smiling a bit. "I did..." she nodded.

Duck tossed the ball back to them. "Is that the best you got?"

Clementine kicked it next and it flew past Duck. Aw, man!" Duck groaned.

Clem smirked at him. Soon, she and Talia were having a face off with him. The two girls had teamed up to try and get the ball into the makeshift goal. They were certainly keeping Duck on his toes.

Talia was enjoying herself. If only they had games like this in Westeros. She found herself smiling. It almost felt like she was playing with Ryon again...

Her smile then faded. She still had nightmares of that moment, when Ethan protected her from Ramsay, only for the bastard to put a knife in his neck. Last night though, it had been worse. In it, Ethan came back as a walker and bit a chunk out of her arm while Whitehill soldiers ate Ryon.

She shuddered remembering the nightmare and shook her head, trying to focus on the game and kicked the ball. The ball flew past Duck again as he nearly fell over trying to block it. "We win!" Clementine smiled.

They then slapped their hands together. A high five, Clem called it. Talia smiled. She liked the sound of that.

Lee looked away from the boxes of food he was helping put up and smiled at the three. "Having fun?"

"Yeah! We were teaching Talia how to play soccer." Clementine smiled up at the man.

"It's quite fun." Talia agreed.

Lee smiled. "I'm glad to hear that."

"I think I'm going to go rest a bit." Talia told them. She had to keep on her toes to kick the ball around, so she decided to regain some energy. She headed back to her room and closed the door behind her.

Deciding to explore her new room a bit, she opened up a drawer and was rather confused to find a small, rectangular object lying in it. It had a gray color scheme to it with a white circle on it that had a couple tiny arrows pointing to the left and right. "What's this?" she wondered to herself as she picked it up. There was no title on the item, so that didn't help.

She noticed there was a button on the item, so she pressed it.

Almost immediately, music blared out of it, surprising the Westerosi. She nearly dropped the item with shock and fumbled to catch it, juggling it around a bit in her hands. "Seven hells!" she gasped. Talia finally managed to keep her grip on the strange item as music played out of it. She stared at it curiously. How was it doing that...?

She flipped it over, but couldn't find anything. Just what was this thing?

Talia sat down on he bed as she stared down with fascination at the odd device. A box that could sing and play music? It was like a gift from the gods.

She decided to play around with the little box for a bit, seeing what else it could do. She found when she pressed down on one of the arrows, a different type of music would be heard. It almost sounded like something from Westeros. It sounded nice...

It was gentle... and reminded her of home.

She sighed a bit at the thought. Someone knocked on her door and Carley stepped in. "Hi, Talia. How was that trip?"

Talia looked up from the device. "Oh! Well... It was... different from what I've seen. There was several walkers there... I actually managed to shoot one."

Carley smiled. "You're gonna get a lot of practice." She then noticed the device Talia had in her hands. "You found an iPod?" she asked with surprise. Talia blinked. "What's an 'eye-pod'?"

"It's a device we use here." Carley explained. "It can play music so we can listen to it wherever we go."

Talia looked at it. "It's like a gift from the gods."

Carley cracked a smile. "I guess it is like one, considering what's happening there."

Talia played around with the music playing device a little bit. Carley recognized the tune. "Listening to Celtic music?"

"Celtic?"

"It's a type of music that originated from the British Isles." Carley informed the teenager. "It sounds like the kind of music from home..." Talia noted. "From Westeros?" Carley asked.

Talia nodded a bit sadly. The music was making her miss her family even more. This also made her wonder how her family was faring now. Were the Whitehills and Boltons giving them trouble...?

Back in Ironrath, there was still a solemn mood in the air. Rodrik had sent out search parties again today, but like before, they failed to find anything. Elissa still suspected that the Whitehills were behind her disappearance, but they would have to wait and find out.

Rodrik had sent a raven to King's Landing to inform Mira of the grave news at hand. She needed to know what had happened to her younger sister after Ethan's death.

They had yet to contact Asher about the problem, as Malcolm had already gone to Essos to bring him back and Asher was still searching for a way to help their family.

Due to the funeral being postponed, Ethan and Gregor's bodies had been moved to an area where they would not be disrespected by the Whitehills. The bodies were currently in the grove, the only place they could think of where the Whitehill garrison wouldn't go down to while they were pushing the Forrester guards around. They laid upon a set of tables with cloths covering them.

All was quiet in the Ironwood grove with the occasional chirping of crickets here and there. Until a glow started to appear underneath the tarp that covered Ethan's body. Underneath... a finger twitched as color seemed to return to it.

The glow grew stronger until there was a flash of light.

And when the glow vanished... Ethan's body was gone. All that was left was the cloth.