Chapter 13: On the Hunt

*NEW* A/N: A LOT has been added to this chapter, and I mean a LOT. One of my favorites as well, so yep. Enjoyed writing this one as well XD Read on and see why!

Scarlet Eyes now has a cover! To see a better picture, go to my deviantArt here - art/Scarlet-Eyes-Cover-366303837

Thanks to dancer4813 for following and favoriting.
Thanks to Fantasylover19 for following.

1412 karasu (ch. 10): Sorry, I'm just so excited to post! I'm stoked about this half of the book! And lol, I often imagine her doing something like that as well XD. It has indeed been hinted and stated that she has gone on the journey. I may do that story sometime in the future, and I may not depending on how long it takes the rest of the Hobbit trilogy to come out. And yes, they did though no one in their right mind would try to steal the necklace. Her mother was highly a well-known elf and someone must have left the letter, but taken care of the necklace until news of Valaina's return had come. I left that a mystery cause I thought it would be a slight change as to how the necklace stayed there the entire time. But, the house has always been taken care of and kept clean by a friend of Valaina's mom in respect. As for Valaina pissing people off, I find it enjoyable as well, and we shall see that in the coming chapters, probably with a certain shield maiden, and a certain king in the land of Rohan *hint-waggles eyebrows-hint*

1412 karasu (ch. 11): Hehe...sorry again. Super excited! And, I waited to post THIS chapter so that you could catch up ^^. And that is also a lot. Wonder if they are doing something like I am by trying to post a chapter a day or something? Or if they just love the story as much...tis a mystery! And lol autocorrect! As for Valaina and the gift, she would not have received a gift like Legolas or Pippin or Merry. Galadriel and Valaina are not on the same level XD. As far as the relationship between Galadriel and Valaina goes, they have never really seen eye-to-eye. Galadriel can usually see events to come based on certain circumstances, or know when someone is coming to her woods, or what they could be doing at the moment, etc. But in the case of Valaina, Galadriel can't see her. She can't see into Valaina's mind unless the elleth opens it to her. She can't see events that can come to pass in the case of Valaina either. It is like a shadow is over Valaina, so Galadriel doesn't like her, and maybe perhaps fears what she could do as Valaina is a lycan which are known to serve Morgoth and Sauron. Valaina doesn't like Galadriel for put blame on her for her mother's death, and Valaina especially doesn't like Galadriel for banishing her on pain of death from the only home she ever had. That's where their dislike came from.

Wisdom's Stare: YESS!

Bob Magee: Thank you tons 3

1412 karasu: I thought about it, but I was nervous about straying from the actual, core events. And lol, No phones during school! XD jk, I do it all the time. And, without further ado, here's Chapter 12!

As the sun rose into the sky spreading its rays out across the blue expanse of cloudless sky, four lone figures ran over the large hills, the cold winds sweeping out at them yet not deterring them. Two lithe figures ran head, one in front of the other, followed by a man with a long sword strapped to his side and then a man much smaller than the first. It was a sight to see; two elves, a man, and a dwarf all running in a straight line after something the viewer could not see. They were on the hunt for revenge and the mission of a rescue. The one that led them seemed to have no end to her endless stamina as she ran on, fatigue not even beginning to show in her steps as her two companions behind her faired just as well while their fourth companion staggered, clearly not fit to run long distances.

Valaina was leading the group at the given moment, itching to go faster and catch up to the foul creatures that had taken her two friends, but kept the pace moderate for her three companions. By now she could have easily overtaken the Uruk-hai alone, though the fight would have been a long one, and one that she would either end up dead from, or captured as well. She wished desperately to turn into her white wolf and chase them down, and could have easily done so, yet she did not wish to part ways with any more of her friends for she had enough grief to spare.

Legolas ran behind her, slightly winded from the rigorous pace the lycan had put them at recently, but still faring better than Gimli. In fact, the poor dwarf had ceased his grumbling on the third day of their running just so that he could save his breath and attempt to keep up with his three companions. Three days and nights they ran in pursuit of the Uruks that had taken their hobbit friends, and in that time they still had not caught sight of their quarry much to the group's disappointment and fear. Valaina prayed that they would be alright as she, Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas ran after the Uruks. She stopped for a moment at the sight of the heavy footprints of the Uruk-hai, and stooped low to the ground. She took a deep breath in and then let it out, the scent of Uruks powerful, yet this time she could smell a faint trace of the hobbits and it gave her hope that they were yet still alive. Valaina turned to Aragorn as the ranger caught up to her, and started to run side by side with him once more. "Their scent is faint, yet it is there," she said. "Whether they are still alive I don't know, but I can smell them and that is all that matters at this moment."

Aragorn gave her a nod before he took the lead much Valaina's disappointment. "I wasn't done running at my speed yet!" she complained.

"Too bad!" he called back over his shoulder as he left behind the lycan along with Legolas.

Gimli's wheezing filled Valaina's ears, and she slowed to barely a jog beside the struggling dwarf. "Would you like a rest? I could carry you until you get your breath back," Valaina offered.

"I…don't…need…your help!" Gimli snarled between breaths. "I…can…run…on…my own…two feet!"

"I meant my four."

Gimli scrutinized the lycan.

"You could lead the group at night."

"No…" came the defiant reply. "I am…perfectly capable…at running…on…my own!"

"Stubborn dwarf…suite yourself," Valaina said before taking off after her other two companions.

Her legs itched to go faster than their slow jog. She could run as a wolf for days on end, as most wolves are built to do so if they are tracking down large prey, and with Valaina being a rather large lycan she could go twice as far with her improved stamina. Valaina could stand it no longer and rushed forward, her pace quickening as she easily passed Legolas and soon Aragorn, both giving a small groan at the rather fast pace they were about to be set at. "I wasn't done running at my speed yet!" Aragorn said in a horrible mimic of Valaina's voice, his breathing making it hard for him to do so.

"Too bad!" Valaina replied in an equally horrible mimic of the ranger's voice.

"What about me? I haven't had my turn yet!" Legolas called from the back, clearly just trying to be included in the conversation.

"Too bad!" both Valaina and Aragorn called back at the same time.

Valaina led them at her pace well into the night, the landscape changing into that of rugged hills with jagged mountain tops in the distance. "We are nearing the Rohan border," Valaina said to Aragorn as she slowed to talk with him, the ranger quite thankful for the slowing down of the fast run.

"It seems the Uruks have taken the path closest to the horse-lords' land, probably going into it," he replied.

"You aren't getting tired are you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Both you and Legolas seem to get more tired each time I come back."

"Do you forget that you are the only lycan in this group?" Aragorn asked.

"No," Valaina smiled, "but I rather like running at my own pace."

"Why haven't you left us already then?"

"I've left too many friends behind as it is," Valaina replied with an upset tone. "I'm not about to do so again."

"You know what would be nice right now?" Legolas asked as he joined in on the conversation.

"What?" the two asked.

"A horse."

Afternoon settled in and Aragorn stopped as something smushed into the ground glinted in the sunlight and caught his eye, and knelt, prying whatever he had found from the ground. Valaina didn't noticed Aragorn until she was upon him. The ranger, however, saw her coming and tucked himself in as Valaina tripped over him. She did a forward role and landed on her feet only to stumble and fall on her side without an ounce of grace, or even a flourish. "Oh no, it's alright, Aragorn," she grumbled as she sat up and rubbed her head and checked the sealed gash upon her eye to make sure it wasn't bleeding or dirty, "just stop in the middle of running and let me trip over you and fall on my ass."

Aragorn, being Aragorn, ignored her like nothing happened at all. "Not idly do the leaves of Lórien fall," he said as he stood up holding one of the green and silver leaf broaches from the elven cloaks they were given.

"They may yet be alive," Legolas breathed as talking right now was not the easiest thing for anyone at the present moment with the exception of Valaina who was used to all this running at a much faster pace thanks to the perks of being a six foot tall wolf.

"We need to hurry!" Valaina said, taking advantage of the opportunity to steal the lead only to have Aragorn trip her up and make the lycan fall flat out on her face once more as he raced past her.

"You are such a child!" Valaina yelled as she jumped up from the ground as best as she could while holding her throbbing head.

"You let your guard down! Now hurry!"

"Come, Gimli!" Legolas called back, and Valaina noticed he was slightly winded as the run began to take its toll on the elf. "We're gaining on them!"

"Just barely," Valaina muttered.

Gimli tripped up on the top of the hill and fell, the sound of his body and metal armor rolling down the hill reached Valaina's ears. She hid a smile as the dwarf picked himself up with a grumble and began to run, more like jog-hobble, once more.

"I'm wasted on cross-country!" Gimli called out from the rear as his breath came up short. "We dwarves are natural sprinters! Very dangerous over short distances!"

Well, that is very much true, Valaina thought as she remembered her travels with the dwarvish company and the many times they sprinted and kept pace with Valaina.

They stopped once more at mid-afternoon as the landscape around them became rugged with hills and overly large boulders, the rolling plains taking shape before the four hunter's eyes. "Rohan," Aragorn said from their position on the peak of a large set of giant boulders, the last of the rugged mountain they had been running over, "land of the horse-lords. There is something strange at work here. Some evil gives speed to these creatures, sets its will against us."

"What makes you say that?" Valaina muttered.

"Do you see the Uruks?"

"Not at this present moment. I have an elf in my way."

Legolas moved forward to another boulder ahead of them, directly in Valaina's line of sight. Valaina looked at the elf's back a little longer than she had intended to and missed what Aragorn said as she turned her head away from the elf and moved to look out across the landscape. "The Uruks turned northeast!" Legolas called back to his companions as he caught sight of their quarry, his eyes becoming wide as he saw just where the Uruks were heading to with the hobbits. "They're taking the hobbits to Isengard!"

"Saruman," Aragorn breathed out as he discerned the reason behind Uruks wanting the hobbits and no one else, though they seemed intent on taking Valaina at some points as well but he had easily dismissed that fact as the lycan was, well, a female.

"Are you serious?!" Valaina said in exasperation.

"No, I am joking."

"I hate that place…and that wizard. He tried to kills us on that mountain!"

"No one has forgotten that."

They continued to run well into the night, Valaina faring better over the rocks more so than Gimli and Aragorn, and, just barely though, Legolas. The elf prince was bounding over the rocks with his elvish grace and beauty like always whereas Valaina was just jumping on steady feet much like a wolf, their two companions seeing a great difference in the elf and the lycan's movement as they continued over the large, sometimes unsteady, rocks. It was odd to see two elves moving very differently over the rocks with much ease and skill in their own way. Even Legolas noticed the way Valaina moved over the rocks like a wolf running after its prey, bounding over one to land on another, dropping low on steady feet before resuming her running to bound over another. It intrigued him to watch the lycan in front of him, the grace of an elf that Valaina should have possessed, seeing as she was partially one, all but gone from her movements as they were replaced with more wolf-like movements than anything.

As he thought about it more and more, Legolas came to realize that the lycan did not move like an elf at all, and if she did is was barely noticeable. Instead, she moved with wolf-like grace with steady movements, sure-footedness, and always ready to attack if need be. She held herself with pride, the air about her challenging those around her. It wasn't like Legolas had never noticed this before as he always thought that Valaina moved rather odd for an elf, but now with the lycan on the hunt and out in front of him, he could discern her particular movement more so than before especially knowing that she was a lycan.

The moon was still very high in the sky when Legolas pulled a very unelf-like move, much like something his companions were waiting for Valaina to do, and fell into the lycan bringing her down with him. Aragorn kept running despite the fact that the two elves had gotten stuck in between the rocks, and even Gimli had surpassed them with a large smile plastered on his face. "It…looks like…I have passed…the elves finally," the dwarf huffed as he passed them.

"Lycan!" Valaina snarled the correction after the retreating dwarf.

"See you two…when you catch up…after we kill…the Uruks!"

The dwarf left the two grumbling, and quite stuck elves as he ran after Aragorn. "If you would stop-ow! God damn it, Legolas, that was my head you just hit," Valaina grumbled as she tried to wiggle her way out of the two rocks and away from the elf prince that was nearly sitting on her back.

"If you stopped moving we wouldn't be in this mess still," said elf grumbled.

"How the hell is this my fault? You tripped!"

"You rubbed off on me too much!"

It was a funny sight to see, really, with Valaina currently on her stomach squished between two rocks, and Legolas nearly sitting on her back as he was stuck between two higher rocks, having been able to pull himself up higher. Suddenly, Legolas's hand slipped on the rock as it moved, and fell down right on top of the lycan beneath him. A huff of air came from Valaina as the breath was knocked from her lungs with the added extra weight on her back. "This is ridiculous!" she grumbled.

"Just…don't move," Legolas said rather close to Valaina's ear to the lycan's extreme shock.

To further her shock even more so, something that hadn't happened to Valaina in a long while occurred at that moment. Deep within the pit of her stomach she felt the familiar feel of butterflies flying about causing her to become lightheaded and rather lost for words and thoughts. A wave of panic rolled through her before confusion as she became very much aware of the elf prince basically directly, and very much unintentionally, on top of her. "Wasn't planning on it…not until you get off me…"

"No, really, don't move," he said again in slight panic, and Valaina realized that he was speaking in something close to a whisper. The butterflies in her stomach danced once more to the sound of his voice being so close to her that his breath tickled her ear.

"Why the hell are you so close to my head?" Valaina asked in alarm as she was well aware of just exactly where the elf's head was, which was directly to her left causing Valaina's face to flush pink. If he had noticed the alarm in the lycan's voice, he didn't show.

Suddenly, a large boulder landed inches from Valaina's face, a small squeak of surprise coming from the lycan. "That's why," Legolas said in relief as the boulder didn't land on Valaina's head.

The weight was lifted from Valaina's back causing the lycan to let out a sigh of relief as it was. Hands wrapped themselves around her waist and pulled her to her feet without too much protest seeing as she had no idea what was behind her or over her head. Apparently, when Legolas did fall on Valaina, he loosened another rock and was able to create a place for the two to get unstuck from their rather embarrassing position in between the rocks. Valaina climbed up on the boulder in front of her and then onto the other rocks before turning to help Legolas out of the space, his blue eyes meeting Valaina's in that moment. The lycan was sure her face flushed just as much as the elf prince's as she helped him out of the small space and quickly turned away. "Your cut on your eye is still healing, yet most of your other bruises and cuts have gone," Legolas said as he looked at Valaina's flushed face. "Why is that?"

"This one must have been deep enough to scar," Valaina informed the elf prince. "Just another one to add to my collection."

"It doesn't mar your pretty little face at least. It actually fits in rather well," came the compliment.

"Well…so…catching up," Valaina started awkwardly as she cleared her throat while Legolas walked ahead of her for a moment.

"They are a good twenty minutes ahead of us," the elf prince said with a sigh as he turned to face Valaina. "And I just got my breath back. We should…Valaina?"

Valaina had disappeared from behind Legolas, and when he turned back around, he came face to face with her white furred head, the red and angry healing gash still on her wolf face. "Care for a lift," Valaina asked as she gave a wolfish grin.

"I…well…running is-" Legolas flustered causing Valaina to give a chocked and strangled cough in wolfish laughter.

"Get on," Valaina growled with a roll of her eyes.

Legolas didn't say anything as he climbed up onto the white furred back and settled down comfortably. "Hang on…just not too tight," Valaina advised before she bounded over the rocks with much more grace on her four legs rather than when she was on her two legs.

"Let's not mention the situation we were just in to the dwarf," Legolas said as Valaina ate up the distance between them and their other two companions.

"He'll find out eventually. Dwarves have a sneaky way to get all the information they want out of others."

Valaina was sure that Legolas was most likely just as pink in the face as she was a few moments ago at the mention of their little incident. To cover her own embarrassment, and the odd feeling in the pit of her stomach, Valaina raced forward with more determination as she caught sight of Gimli and Aragorn. What the hell is wrong with me? she thought as she quickly closed the distance between their two companions. Why the hell do I feel like this? Nothing good comes out of that emotion…at least not for me…

Valaina slowed down to a trot, matching Aragorn's jog as she drew even with the ranger. Legolas jumped down off her side and took up the lead as Valaina shifted back. "Your face is pink," Aragorn teased her in a quiet tone as Legolas gained speed ahead of them.

"Shut up…"

"What did you do?"

"Not what you are thinking…" Valaina thought to the ranger as she felt their conversation was being intruded upon by the dwarf behind them and the elf prince in front of them.

"What happened?" Aragorn asked in a very, very curious tone.

So, Valaina explained the whole thing to the ranger to which she received a hearty, slightly out of breath, laugh. "You are so rude, you know," Valaina grumbled.

"You like him," Aragorn stated causing Valaina to grow pink in the face again.

"As a friend!" Valaina responded rather quickly as Aragorn turned a knowing look to the lycan.

"That sounded very defensive."

"I…well…shut up!"

"You like him."

"Friends…just friends…"

"Valaina-"

"I am not listening!" she said aloud before taking off at a sprint to catch up with Legolas, the ranger's laughter trailing after her as Valaina's face flushed pink once more. He's a friend and that is that. A good friend…Valaina stubbornly denied her butterflies. A friend…

She looked over at the elf prince out of the corner of her eye and immediately looked away. "What?" Legolas asked confused.

"I…nothing…"

"You and Aragorn were talking moments before and then you went silent," Legolas said thoughtfully. "But then you said something to the ranger though he did not say anything to you."

"Let's just say I can sort of possibly talk with one in their mind," Valaina flustered.

"You can read minds?" Legolas asked in alarm.

"Only if they let me in or they start the conversation. I don't go around reading everyone's mind," Valaina said defensively. "It's rude. And some thoughts are better left unsaid and locked away…"

"So, this is how you talk with Aragorn sometimes?" Legolas thought to Valaina.

"Yes. It is rather convenient when you don't want certain people to invade your conversation."

"So it seems. Why didn't you mention this before?"

"It was irrelevant. And if I wanted to start a private conversation with you than I would have done so a long while back. Though, doing so takes energy from me and the longer I hold the conversation, especially with someone new to doing this, the more tired I become."

"That is interesting," Legolas said aloud.

"I tend to use the Rage within me to convey the conversation," Valaina explained as they continued to run.

"I hear you say something about using the Rage quiet often. What is it exactly?"

"It is kind of like an extra energy source really. Just…unpredictable."

"Like yourself?"

"Yes—wait…hey!" Valaina exclaimed in mock offense.

"My turn to lead," Legolas said with a cheeky smile before taking off ahead of Valaina to lead the hunters at his pace.

Aragorn waited for the lycan to take off after the princeling, but to his great surprise, she didn't. Valaina just ran ahead of him without so much as saying something against Legolas for stealing the lead. She definitely likes him, no doubt about that, Aragorn thought with a small smile. Yet, she's too stubborn to realize it. Typical lycan.

The four hunters had long left the rugged rocks behind and were running across the rolling, green grassed hills of Rohan, the perfect place for horses to run on. Aragorn was leading them in the run having taken over from Legolas a few hours before. Still, Valaina did not take the lead and was content to run behind the elf prince as the sun began to rise that morning, the sky painted red, pink, and orange. "A red sun rises," Legolas said to his companions, unease clear on his face. "Blood has been spilt this night."

"Let's not worry about that," Valaina said. "It may not even be our friends."

"Yet it still might be."

"Positive thoughts, not negative, Legolas," Valaina grumbled. "That's Gimli's job."

"I heard that, lass," Gimli puffed from the back.

Still they ran on through the wild rolling, grass covered hills. Every now and then the hills would hold clumps of large rocks, and signs of their quarry having passed through the general area visible in these parts. Around high morning they came upon one such hill with boulders clumped to one side, and Valaina, who was currently in the lead, stopped on the hill causing her three companions to do the same. "What is it?" Aragorn asked as Valaina's face become a mask of concentration as something on the wind caught her interest.

She turned to Aragorn as she discerned the scent on the wind. To make sure she was correct, though she was hardly ever wrong when it came to scents, she placed a hand on the ground and felt the slight tremble of hoof beats. "Horses," Valaina said finally as the thunderous noise of hooves hitting the ground became louder and louder. "They are heading this way."

"Hide!" Aragorn shouted.

"What? Why?"

"We do not know if they are friends or enemies."

"What enemy rides a horse? They ride wargs!" Valaina complained as they took cover behind the rocks.

"You never know, and they may find us the enemy as well," Aragorn said before motioning the lycan to be quiet as the horses crested the hill. "Well, at least they would think you are the enemy."

"Thanks, Aragorn…"

The riders were clad in gold armor with green accents with spears in one hand, and the reins of their mount in the others. A few riders bore green banners with a golden rearing horse on it, the symbol of Rohan. The horses were clad in the Rohirrum attire, and many gave a snort as they caught scent of the four hunters that were just on the hill. As the Rohirrium passed by their hiding spot, Aragorn stepped away from the rocks with a hand on the hilt of his sword as he strode proudly out onto the hill. "Riders of Rohan, what news from the Mark!" he called out to the riders as his three companions joined him on the hill.

The lead rider on a dapple grey horse held his spear aloft as he turned back toward the hill, his riders following suite as he did so. The horses came thundering back up the hill to circle the four hunters, causing them to close in together as the horses came to a halt in a circle, their riders each holding their spears pointed threateningly at the four travelers. The lead rider rode up through the ranks and came to a quick stop before the company, his horse giving a snort in agitation and warning to the people in front of him. "What news does an elf, a man, and a dwarf have in the Riddermark?" he asked harshly in a commanding voice that caused Valaina to want to rip him from the saddle in agitation and beat some sense into him. "Speak quickly!"

"Give me your name, Horse-master, and I shall give you mine," Gimli said leaning on his ax as if he were at home and not currently in the middle of a circle at the dangerous end of a spear ready to skewer him alive.

Valaina glared at the lead rider as he dismounted with extreme ease from his horse and strode up to Gimli. "I would cut off your head, dwarf, if it stood but a little higher than the ground," he spat.

Quicker than any of the riders expected, and quite frankly surprising Aragorn, Legolas had an arrow pointed at the horse-lord, ready to fire. Valaina had moved out from behind Legolas and Aragorn with her dual blades drawn and at the ready to kill the horse-lord if Legolas didn't do so first. "You would die before your stroke fell," Legolas said angrily.

"Just try and threaten my friend again," Valaina said in a dangerously low voice, "and see what happens."

Aragorn stepped up between the princeling and the horse-lord, and quickly lowered the elf's bow with a pointed glare to him. Legolas reluctantly put the arrow back in the quiver as Gimli gave a sigh of relief, not meaning to really start any kind of tensions between the two. Aragorn looked at Valaina along with the rider, and both gave the lycan a hard glare. "Put your blades away," Aragorn said quietly.

Valaina did so reluctantly and with a glare. "He started it," she grumbled as Aragorn gave her a hard look. "I was just about to finish it."

"No one is finishing anyone here."

"We will see-"

"Just be quiet, will you? Hold your tongue for once and let me handle this without shedding blood."

Valaina gave a snort and a nod in understanding and motioned for Aragorn to finish. "I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn. This is Gimli, son of Gloin and Legolas of the Woodland Realm," Aragorn said to the rider. "We are friends of Rohan, and of Théoden, your king."

"Oh, ignore me, then," Valaina muttered with a look to Aragorn to which he still ignored her.

"Théoden no longer recognizes friend from foe," the rider said in a grim voice as he pulled off his helm to reveal light, honey colored, shoulder length hair messed up from the helmet. "Not even his own kin."

The riders pulled back their spears, reassured that the four companions in front of them were not going to do any harm. "I know that feeling," Valaina mumbled.

"And who are you exactly, she-elf?" the rider asked in general curiosity.

"Who are you?" Valaina asked back with a frown.

"I asked you first."

"And I'm not answering until you introduce yourself," Valaina said stubbornly as Aragorn rolled his eyes and covered his face with his hand.

"You are impossible," he said to Valaina.

"I am Éomer, son of Éomund, and I am the Third Marshall of the Riddermark," the rider said with a look on his face that suggested that Valaina should be impressed.

She wasn't in the least bit as she drew herself up with a hardened glare. "Valaina," she said in a short tone. "Now, about your king…" she prompted the horse-lord back to the conversation at hand and away from herself.

"Saruman has poisoned the mind of the king and claimed lordship over these lands. My company are those loyal to Rohan. And for that, we are banished. The White Wizard is cunning. He walks here and there, they say, as an old man, hooded and cloaked. And everywhere his spies slip past our nets," he continued and looked at Valaina who's eyes swirled in different reds.

"We are no spies," Aragorn assured the rider after giving Valaina a pointed look to not start anything. "We track a party of Uruk-hai westward across the plain. They've taken two of our friends captive."

"The Uruks are destroyed. We slaughtered them during the night," came the quick reply.

Valaina's glare fell off her face. "What?" she mumbled.

"There were two hobbits! Did you see two hobbits there?" Gimli asked in hopefulness as he held up two fingers to emphasize his voice.

"They would be small, only children to your eyes," Aragorn explained.

"We left none alive. We piled the carcasses and burned them," the man said point to the smoke in the distance.

"Dead?" Gimli asked in shock before turning to Valaina.

"I cannot smell them. The horses are overpowering," she stated as the wind whipped by them.

Éomer gave her an odd look in question, but asked no more as the hostility was dropped. "I am sorry," he said before giving a shrill whistle. "Hasufel! Arod! Lacan!"

At his call, three rider less horses walked up to Éomer. "May these horses bear you to better fortune than their former masters."

Éomer mounted his dapple grey horse once more after handing the horses' reins to Aragorn, and put his helmet on before turning back to the four hunters. "Farewell. Look for your friends, but do not trust to hope. It has forsaken these lands," he said before riding to the head of his Rohirrum. "We ride north!" he yelled before taking off with his men in tow leaving the four hunters and three horses behind.

Aragorn took Hasufel, the chestnut stallion, and mounted the horse before turning to his three companions. He waited for Legolas as he helped Gimli up onto the back of Arod, the flea-bitten stallion, before the princeling hopped into the saddle himself. Valaina looked at the remaining horse, a large, liver bay stallion with a single white star on his forehead. He gave the lycan a snort, and stamped his hoof, impatient to be off. He examined the lycan for a moment before deciding he would bear her as a rider for the present moment. Valaina easily swung herself into the saddle and moved Lacan to the ranger's side. "You know," Aragorn started, "it's been a while since I've seen you on a horse."

"Did you not see me ride with the Rivendell patrols?"

"No. Now, let's see how you hold up, shall we?"

"Are you going to push me off again?"

"If you two are done acting like kids," Gimli grumbled from behind Legolas as he was not particularly fond of riding a horse larger than a pony, "can we please go?"

"Right," Aragorn gave a nod before moving Hasufel into a lope toward the distant smoke.

Lacan waited for Valaina's signal, wondering if the lycan would hold up at such a fast speed as he felt her shift eagerly in the saddle. Valaina felt the horse dance underneath her, his eagerness for speed matching her own. "What are you waiting for?" she whispered to the horse as his ears flickered back in impatience. "Run, Lacan! Go!"

The horse dug his hooves into the ground in a half rear before taking off after the other two horses, quickly catching up to them at their pace, and eager to go faster. Valaina realized with quite some joy that she had found another horse after her own heart.