Disclaimer- Everything belongs to Tamora Pierce except Laona and her family and anything else I happen to invent along the way.

Summary- Laona is a girl from the village Daine left (Snowsdale). Daine was her friend and mentor, and when, years after she disappeared, Daine still hasn't returned, Laona decides to search for her. In the process, she sets out on a quest with an ill-tempered stormwing who, for all of their cooperation, wants to murder her. (Prologue takes place before Daine leaves Snowsdale; main story takes place sometime during or before the Protector of the Small books.)

Reviewer Responses-

Spice- Thank you so much. You are the first reviewer! Which means…you have my gratitude! About beta-ing- I'm not sure exactly how it works, but would be happy to have you beta for me if you can explain. My e-mail is sierac@davis.com.

Cortney- Thank you very much also. The mistake will be fixed, and thanks so much for finding it. Thanks also (wow, that's the third time I've said 'thanks' or 'thank you' to you) for pointing it out so politely. A lot of reviewers get mad when they see a little mistake like that.

Enemy's Ally: Laona's Story

Chapter One: Laona

Quick Note: Sorry for any confusion, but at this point the story switches from Daine's point of view to Laona's, and it has been seven years since the prologue. I hope all readers of the books know what happened to Daine after the prologue- but if you don't, or haven't read the books, I'll do my best to explain it in this chapter.

It had been seven years since Veralidaine had left, and again Laona was thinking about her. She had gone mad, the men of Snowsdale had said. She ran with wolves, and they had hunted her as if she was one. Laona could not believe that. It was true, the older girl had a bond with animals that made her different from other people, but she was not- could not be- mad. And they had said she was dead, most likely. They had not caught her, but she could not survive, acting and thinking as she did, with only wolves to care for her. Although she had no proof against it, Laona did not want to believe that either. Veralidaine had been her friend, for all she was six years older. Laona accepted the fact that she was gone, and that she would probably never see her again, but these other things, she could not accept.

She remembered, from seven years ago, how she had gone to find Veralidaine after the bandits came. She and Veralidaine had both been at Lory's house for the night. She had woken up early, and felt wrong-ness in the air. The bandits had come, Lory told her, and gone, thankfully leaving her own house untouched. When Veralidaine woke at noon, there was no time to warn her that it was probably not safe to go out. She simply left, not telling any of them where she was going. Veralidaine did not return that night, but another did. Teyra was Laona's older sister, seven years old, and she came looking for shelter. The bandits had killed their entire family, but she had managed to escape. It was a long, fearful, night. The next day, Laona was busy, helping Lory to find out who was alive in the village, and who was wounded. The woman had told her she and her sister could stay with her, as long as they did their share of the work, and both girls had quickly agreed. And it was not until the next day that Laona remembered Veralidaine. She, Teyra, and Lory went to the house where Veralidaine lived with her mother and grandfather, to try to find her. There was little hope between the three of them. Lory and her family had been lucky indeed- the bandits had left few families unharmed, and it was doubtful that Veralidaine's had been one of them.

When they reached the house, it seemed their suspicions had been correct. The house was charred and burned almost to the ground. Laona braced herself, readying for death, blood, and any other horror that might meet her eyes. And if Veralidaine is dead, I won't think about it until later, she told herself. Right now, I need to help Lory. But there was no need to enter the remains of the house. Already someone was coming out.

They had said Veralidaine was mad, and Laona hadn't believed them. But at that moment, she believed she could see the spark of madness in the older girl's eyes, although perhaps it was just anger. "It's a ghost," Teyra whispered, making the Sign-against-evil. But it was not a ghost; Laona could see that, as the Veralidaine raised her hand- what was she doing? Laona could see now. There was a rock in her hand, and she threw it, so that it barely missed Lory's faced.

"Two days," she whispered, and her voice grew louder as she picked up another stone from the ground. "It's been two- gods- cursed- days! She might have been alive- and hurt-" She threw the rock, and it hit Teyra on the lip. She began to bleed.

"We should go from here," Lory whispered, voice frightened. They ran.

Laona was filled with confusion. Her feelings were echoed in Teyra's question- "Was it a ghost?"

"Don't be silly," Laona told her, eager to correct her older sister, as frightened and confused as she was. "Ghosts can't lift rocks and throw them. It was Veralidaine."

"Why do you always call her that?" Teyra asked. "Everyone else calls her Daine- and Veralidaine sounds like a noble's name." The girl said the hated word with scorn.

"Her name is Veralidaine-" Laona replied. "And that's beside the point. We were talking about her, not her name, and it wasn't a ghost."

"It wasn't," said Lory quietly, her voice full of pity. "And she is right. No one went to see if she was alive for two days. Someone who could have lived during that time would have died if no one had come. I am sorry for that girl."

"So- so her mother is dead then?" Teyra asked. Lory nodded slowly. Laona winced. Veralidaine's mother- Sarra, that was her name- had always been so kind to her, like a second mother. A better mother. She was dead- Laona hadn't realized how relieved she'd been that Veralidaine herself was alive until now. Tears prickled at her eyes and she held them back. Not now, she told herself. Not now.

Veralidaine had disappeared after a few days. She had fled to the forest, it was said, in her madness. And for seven years she had been gone, and Laona had finally begun to accept the fact that she was not coming back. Seven years. Tomorrow, she and Teyra were leaving for Corus, in Tortall, to find Laona's brother who had gone to a university there to become a mage. A mage. Laona sighed. Thinking of the Gift still made her bitter. The Gift and her parents. She had never been sorry about their deaths the way she had been about Sarra's, and about the possibility of Veralidaine's. She still would rather not think of them, and not because of the fact that they had died. She had been thinking about Corus. It had been Teyra's idea. They were old enough, she said, to get out of Lory's hair. She had been taking care of them for so long, and she had four children of her own. They owed her this much, at least. And that was why Laona had been thinking- reminiscing- about Veralidaine. To her, to leave Snowsdale would be to leave all her memories, her entire life, behind.

Teyra came into the room where she stood. "You are ready to leave?" she asked, none of the usual sisterly challenge in her voice. It seemed that leaving caused pain to her as well. Or perhaps it was simply because she was older, fourteen now, and more mature. Laona nodded to her, pointing to a small bag full of the few belongings she owned. "Good. Get a good night's sleep tonight- we will travel all day tomorrow." On horseback. Horses still made her nervous, and she was not sure how ready she would be to ride one of them for the entire trip to Corus. Yes, she had ridden before, and knew how to ride well enough, but the thought of being on top of a large animal still gave her shivers.

"I will," Laona told her sister. Teyra smiled at her and left her alone to her thoughts.

***

The next day it was drizzling slightly as Teyra and Laona bade farewell to Lory, her husband Rand, and their children: Laisa, Tarrick, Elesa, and Elian, the twins. Laona would miss the children as well as Lory: Laisa was Teyra's close friend, and most of the time was kinder to her than her own sister was. Tarrick was close to her in age, and was her friend as Laisa was her Teyra's. The twins, only four years old, had attached themselves to her and followed her everywhere. She smiled at all of them sadly, and waved, as her sister led the horses down the trail. Tarrick waved back, and that was the last she saw of the family that had taken care of her for seven years. Bracing herself, she mounted the horse, a sturdy animal with a brown main and tail and a lighter brown body. And then they were moving, leaving the only place she'd ever known as home.

As the day wore on, the drizzle grew into a full-fledged rainstorm, and they were forced to stop and find shelter. A small grove of trees, combined with Teyra's Gift hanging over their heads to keep them dry, gave them that. Teyra took some food out of their packs, seeing as it was about lunchtime. "Best eat now," she told her sister. "We can't stay here, so after we rest a while, we're going to start riding again, rain or not. I want to make Cria by tonight. Then we'll be able to sleep in a dry inn, instead of our bedroll." Laona nodded. Although she wasn't too happy about riding- and probably fast riding, too- in the rain, a dry place to sleep sounded good to her. Suddenly the crunch of a boot on leaves made her look up.

"Teyra-" she started.

"I hear it too." The older girl stood up, and leaving the shelter her Gift had made over the two girls and their packs, went to see what had made the noise. Laona waited, shivering. She didn't know what was happening, but she felt it was something dangerous. And finally she heard Teyra's voice- not frightened or upset, but annoyed, and- happy, even. "What are you two doing here?" She was saying. "You should not have followed us, you're mother will kill you-" Laughter. And then, "Laona, Laona, come here, you'll never guess who-" She stepped out of their makeshift shelter to see Teyra talking to a boy and a girl, their hair soaked, each leading a horse.

"Tarrick!" she cried. "Laisa!" The two of them grinned at her, faces flushed. "But Teyra's right- Lory'll be so angry that you followed us…"

"Oh," Tarrick said, smiling a little, "she gave us her permission to leave. Not that she knew where we were going, of course…" He burst out laughing, and soon the other three joined in. "So… you're going to Cria, aren't you? And then to Corus…" Teyra nodded. "Well then. So are we." And as the rain began to let up, the four of them rode out of the clearing, smiling.

Author's Note: Was anyone confused about all the names? I don't know how well I did that, so if you have any questions, ask. The review button is right there…

Also- if you review a chapter before I put the next chapter up, and leave your e-mail address, I will give you the title and a short summary of the next chapter. If you want me to do this, please say so in your review.