I would just like to say that I don't own Lord of the Rings or anything associated to it. I am not making money from this, nor will I ever. Apart from being from my…rather different mind, I don't know where this is headed. I am writing and posting this as I come up with it. I will not add anything more than the story until I feel the need to thank my wonderful reviewers…that is when ANYONE reviews.

Sorrow's Friend

By Catreen Dragonsword

Chapter One: Alagos (Storm of wind)

In the late afternoon sun, Damia contemplated her choices of fights. Fighting on the first day of school was a normal thing for her. There was always a bigger ass on campus to be put in his place. This day, it was the jocks. Five of the biggest jerks in school teaming up to stuff the new freshman in her locker. Damia did not like being thought of as weak or girlish, even though her slender figure, large bust, and long hair did nothing to dispel the rumor. She knocked out two of the jocks before one broke her arm, but she still won. They were now afraid of her, and she was not in her locker. Her right arm hung loosely at her side, broken in two. Just outside of her doctor's office was a familiar spot for her, as she was hurt in fights more often than not and there was a good amount of sun and quiet. She flicked her cast hollowly. Her mother had been notified, and she had been suspended for a week. Damia knew that as soon as she got home she would be yelled at, it was kind of hard to avoid. She combed through her midnight black hair with the fingers of her good hand. Sleep would be good, after this ordeal and her mother was not due to be home for another three hours. Storm clouds gathered on the horizon defiantly time to go. She waved to the receptionist, who had been watching her, and started to walk home. On the way home, Damia remembered what her mother had told her this morning.

~Flash Back~

The morning light disturbed Damia's sleep as her mother knocked on the door of her room.

"Damierilithana Killara Sullivan! Time for school!" Gail Sullivan called.

"Kai, mom." came the groggy reply from Damia. She was not a morning person, but she did enjoy afternoons and evenings a lot. Sleepily, she pulled herself from her bed to flop back down again. A few minutes later saw her up and dressed, armed with a backpack and knowledge of sleeping without the teachers noticing. Damia and her mom got into the car.

"Now, Damia, I know that you love to fight. I would like to see you, just this once, try to hold your temper. If you get into one fight today, young lady, I will be forced to give you up for adoption. You know that those State assholes are just itching to jump down my throat, and you give them a perfect reason to. Please, just once, hold your temper." Said Gail

"Kai, mom." Damia replied with as much vigor as she did before.

~End Flash Back~

Damia had lived in a group home once before, when her mother was put in jail for bad credit. She had almost suffocated in rules, although the solitary room (see time out) was rather pleasant. She would never go back, ever. If her mom wanted to place her there, she would just have to run away. The storm clouds darkened as dusk approached.

Inside the house, Damia ran around grabbing essential items for survival and stuffed them in her school backpack, not bothering to remove the items originally in it. Music, food, warm jacket, pants, hat, scissors, fishing twine, lighter and matches were stuffed on top of notebooks, paper, pencils and pens, rubber gloves for science, and the most important item in her bag...her flute. As an after thought, Damia grabbed a pen and a piece of scrap paper. She started composing a note to her mother.

Dear mom,

I'm very sorry about getting into a fight...OK, so I'm not, but I will never go to another group home. I am going to try to make it on my own, don't worry. I'll be safe as I can, and I love you. I'll be back, just as soon as the state bastards leave.

Good bye,

Damierilithana Killara Sullivan

The girl headed out of the house to the park. Climbing up in her favorite tree, she heard the popular kids approaching. Damia settled herself comfortably in the branches, looking down upon them with contempt.

"Hey!" called one boy as he threw a stone at her. From the way the tree had grown, and the way Damia was sitting, the stone was deflected. She had found this trick along time ago.

"Don't you want to come down and play?" he asked, his tone promised violence.

"I hear she got herself expelled again," said one girl, glaring at her when Damia wasn't looking. Damia's eyes were a deep unspoiled navy blue, and could be quite unnerving when she turned them on you. Her black hair flowed around her body like a nimbus of death. Damia snapped her head to look at the girl who had spoken. Heather was her name, torment was her game. Damia gave Heather the dreaded death glare, and the woman on the ground turned away.

"Yup, for kickin' the asses off the 'wonder boys'." She stated casually.

"The who?" asked another girl, Bethany the Bitch.

"The varsity football team. They'll be out for the rest of the year..."

"Then why are you here? My mom would have locked me in my room till I graduated collage." The Bitch asked.

"Cause. I, happily, am not you, therefor do not have to face your punishment. Second, I am better than some petty lock, no one can keep me inside..."

"I knew it! You were locked in your room!"

"Shut up, Bethany the Bitch." was the icy reply from within the leafy encasement. There was quite amount of whispering as she delivered this statement.

"Why, Damia the Demon?" asked Caroline, the Queen to her possé, the Cunt to everyone else.

"Let the bitch defend herself, cunt." Although Damia seemed calm, she was actually pleased about her reputation. The shocked and angry look from the girls below was priceless. On the other hand, it provoked Bobby, Roberto Garcia, and captain of the frosh football team to attempt to climb the tree. Bobby might have been good at running and catching and whatever else football players did, but he simply did not remember how to climb trees. Usually, one climbs with the flow of branches in a spiral pattern; Bobby (who thinks he is so much better than everyone else is) went for a more direct approach. Climbing right up a tree in a straight line is not healthy; the branches are weaker in a line and to far up for a good reach. About three branches up, he fell back down to earth again, causing Damia to laugh uncontrollably.

"Bet you can't beat me on the ground!" he called up to Damia.

"I would come to collect your soul, you spineless wonder, but I don't hit girls unless they attack me first." She said calmly.

"What?!?!"

"I called you a weakling, girl, and a coward in one sentence with out letting you know it. But than again, I shouldn't be surprised."

"Huh?"

"And add an insult to your little bit of intelligence."

"GRRRR, YOU!"

"What about me?" Scare tactics didn't work well on Damia.

"Come on, guys! We don't need to waist our time on this bit of ROCK! Let's go to the mall." The group walked off. Damia settled back on the tree, cushioning her head on her backpack.

When Gail found out that her daughter had run away, she panicked. The first thing she did was call the cops. They thought Mrs. Sullivan was joking about Damia running away. Many of them had handled the reports filed against the younger Sullivan girl, and had seen how attached to her mother the girl was. In all the reports, Damia was the winner of the fights, but never the aggressor. She lost several times in fifth grade, though. That was when all her friends moved away, and she became the target. Kids like that either brake by high school, bring guns to school, or learn to weather it out like trees. With trees in a storm, they broke under the wind, the wind wasn't strong enough to move it, or it would sway to the command of the storm. Damia was the kind of kid who wouldn't break, but no human has ever risen above their peers. That left bending, and Damia would never conform. She could bend and sway, but fighting was a new thing to nature. After midnight, and still no Damia, the police became worried. They sent out a small force and a dog to help track her down.

Damia woke to the howling of bloodhounds. 'I thought it took longer to be declared a missing person...' thought Damia, rolling over in half sleep. Then the full impact of what was going on hit her. The dogs were right behind her tree. As lightly as she could, Damia leapt out of the tree and began to run. Thunder sounded as the chase began. Lightning flashed through the sky. Damia began to run over the new gas line pipes that criss-crossed the park. Following the slight indent with her feet, a hole opened up. Her foot was stuck in the ground, and the police were getting closer. Lightning seemed to get closer. A fire followed a brilliant flash of light, and Damia was gone.