Yeah, I finally got an idea. I thought it was hopeless and I would have to quit the story, but now... I know how Alanna will get Lightning. Yeah! Sorry, but I'm really happy.

Thanks for the ideas, Darth Tater and Ace Ryn Knight, but I try to make the story as similar as possible to the book, so Alanna has to find Lightning herself.

Warning: Now the story gets a bit horrible, sorry. Couldn't think of another way. I'll make it PG-13 now. (It's not really horrible, I just wrote that because I don't want 9-year-olds to read that.)

Two years later...

Alanna was very happy. Tomorrow the girls from the convent would go to Port Caynn. There they would be able to buy new clothes and jewelry or (in Alanna's case) other things. Alanna wanted to buy a sword. She had bought one at the little market in the City of the Gods, but it was just good enough to practice. Alanna wanted a sword, with which she could go on adventures. And she knew her old one wouldn't do.

The ride to Port Caynn was annoying for Alanna. They rode with carriages, five girls per carriage. The whole way the girls were chattering about dresses and jewelry and about the handsome knights at court. The most annoying thing was their giggles. Sometimes Alanna thought about how beautiful the ride would be if she could just gag the girls...(A/N: No, Alanna's not gone evil, she's just annoyed)

At Port Caynn...

The market at Port Caynn was amazingly huge. It seemed as if you could buy everything there. The girls were allowed to go where they wanted but they had to go in groups of five. 'It's too dangerous for ladies to go alone. You never know what kind of men are roaming the streets here', one of the teachers had told them. Alanna rolled her eyes. She could defense herself! But of course she couldn't tell them that. So how would she be able to buy a sword if she had to follow four silly girls? Well, I could just go alone, they don't notice me anyway, Alanna thought and vanished into the crowd.

Soon she had found what she had been looking for. A beautiful, manageable looking sword caught her eyes. It's haft was made of silver and it looked as if a snake wriggled around it. Alanna sighed. She could never buy something like that. It must have been Raven Armory….

Suddenly her arm was grabbed and she was dragged into a dark side street. The one that had grabbed her pushed her against a wall. It was a shady looking man, his eyes stared coldly at her and some of his teeth sparkled gold-colored. He grinned. "What do we have here? A little careless girl in a big city?"

"Let go of me!", Alanna screamed. She was afraid and sweat rolled down her face. What should she do now?

"Haven't your parents told you not to be polite to strangers?", he asked and grinned even more.

"I'm not polite to people like you! Now let go of me!", Alanna cried, struggling.

The man grabbed her arms even tighter. "You can scream as much as you want, but it won't help you! It would be better for you if you just put up with it."

Alanna spat on his face. "Never!"

The man slapped her hard on the cheek. "Little bitch!", he shouted at her.

Alanna kneed him in the guts. He screamed and let go of her arms. Alanna planted a punch on his chin. The man stumbled backwards but then he tried to attack her again. Alanna grabbed his arm and threw him over her shoulder. Alanna expected him to stand up again, but he remained lying on the ground. Then he looked up at her.

"You're lucky I have been told not to kill someone who is lying on the ground without a weapon. You would be death if I hadn't." Her voice was cold and a bit shaky.

Alanna turned around and ran away. It was enough now. She wouldn't stay. She wouldn't return to the convent anymore. Not after that. She knew she would have been raped if she hadn't known how to defense herself.

Alanna had made a decicion. She was going to run away. She didn't know where but that didn't matter to her. She would leave her life behind and forget about everything. She wasn't going to be a helpless and brainless lady with a brainless husband and brainless kids. No, she just wasn't going to. Never!

As Alanna ran through the streets of the city she was looking for a shop (A/N: maybe they didn't say 'shop', but well,….) where she could buy a bow and a dagger. If she wanted to survive in the wilderness she would have to hunt.

After Alanna had bought a bow, arrows and a dagger, she walked toward the north gate of the city and left the city. Huge grain fields stretched across the country and the lots of beautiful flowers bloomed. But Alanna didn't notice the wonderful sight. She just walked and walked and walked until she couldn't anymore. As it grew dark she reached the edge of a forest. There was also a big lake and Alanna decided to stay there for the night. She laid on the grass and fell asleep.

On the next morning Alanna took her new dagger. With her free hand she grabbed a strand of her hair and cut it off with the weapon. Lock after lock fell on the ground until Alanna's hair was as long as the hair of a boy. She looked in the water and smiled at her reflection. She wasn't Alanna of Trebond anymore. It didn't matter that she was a noble and a girl. She was just someone who roamed the country. No one would miss her and she would miss no one.

She also cut her skirt short, because it would be easier to walk that way. When that was done she continued her route. She went for days without much sleep and food. She didn't find much berries and she wasn't able to shoot any game.

On the fifth day of walking she felt really weak. She was still in the forest and Alanna climbed uphill. She made another step, but then she recognized that she couldn't anymore. And she fell to the ground, unconscious.

No, don't worry, I'm not going to let Alanna die. Someone finds her, but who? The Goddess? George? Jon? Her brother? Or even a stranger? You'll find out in the next chapter.