The next day the funeral for King Théoden's son was being held just outside Edoras; small mounds covered in grass and white flowers marked the tomb site. Many of the people cried as the body of the prince was carried down the hill and towards the tomb. Out of all of them Eowen looked the most distressed; her voice shaking, she began to sing a song of farewell in Rohiric. A few people tried to sing with her but no one had the voice to. Kali would have sung with her but didn't know the words, so instead she put a comforting hand on her friend's arm. When the body was laid to rest and the tomb shut everyone slowly trickled back into the city, Kali left with Eowen and Gimli.

Not too long later it was lunch time and everyone but Kali and Legolas ate the food that was brought to them. Gimli stuffed his face with as much meat as possible and swigged constantly from the tankard of ale. He burped loudly and wiped his mouth with his beard; Kali wrinkled her nose at him and he grunted, "Want some?"

Kali shook her head, "Dead flesh is gross…" She mumbled. Ever since she became a vampire she had adopted new views of life, and she surprisingly felt more confident with who she was. The door to the room came open and Gandalf and King Théoden came through, being followed by a little girl of about five and a boy of nine. The King marched over to his throne and sat down heavily in it.

"The attacks have gotten worse, the towns and fields of Rohan have been pillaged! How could they let this happen?"

Eowen and Kali went over to the children and let them sit down on a bench at a table. "They were unarmed!" Eowen said, trying to sooth her Uncle's mind.

Kali put her bowl of soup in front of the little girl and looked at Legolas, "Are you going to eat yours?" He gave her his untouched bowl and she put it in front of the boy with an understanding smile. The children ate fast as Gandalf, Aragorn, and Théoden argued about what to do. "Where's Mommy?" Eowen shushed the child and listened to the King. Kali realized that their mother might be in danger; she felt a pang of guilt. She was just standing here doing nothing while people's lives were in danger. Ah… Damn it!

"Last I looked, Théoden, not Aragorn was King of Rohan!" The King snapped.

What did I miss? Kali thought curiously. She looked to Eowen, "What did they decide?"

"We are going to empty the city and take refuge in Helms Deep until the orcs pass." Kali nodded solemnly and stroked the little girl's hair reassuringly.

"Where is your village?" She asked the boy, he pointed behind him,

"About a day's ride north."

Kali nodded in thanks then smiled at the children, "I will go to make sure your Mother is alright, yes?" Their eyes brightened and they smiled. Kali stood to go but the girl held her hand,

"Thank you," she said with an adorable smile. Kali squeezed the girl's hand gently and left the hall.

Gandalf rode away on Shadowfax just as Kali neared the stables. Normally going into the stables for her would be like walking into a deathtrap, but she speeded right through to Aragorn who was at the very end. Oh shiz… All the horses around her reacted to her presence and misbehaved, rearing and kicking.

"Aragorn!" she called, he came to her and pushed her out of the stables, the horses gradually calmed down with Legolas' help.

"What is it?" He asked, noticing the fierce determination in her eyes.

"I'm going to go and rescue some people and take them to Helms Deep!" she announced with an; I am going to do this and you cannot stop me, tone.

Aragorn was taken aback slightly but understood her motives. "How will you get the people to Helms Deep in time? We leave tomorrow, and it is about a day and a half's journey through the mountains…"

Kali did realize that there was a fault in her plan, but nevertheless pushed on, "I'm still going to go."

Aragorn realized that she was going to be difficult and called for Gimli and Legolas; they came and wondered why Aragorn called them. "Help me persuade her not to go into the north to salvage what has already been lost. She cannot make it to Helms Deep in time if she goes on a fool's errand."

"Let her go Aragorn, let her bite a few orcs before they get to the Keep!" Gimli stated. Kali grinned at him in thanks.

Legolas looked doubtful, "Aragorn has a point; it is likely that many of the humans are dead by now. Please don't risk-"

"I don't care if it risks my life, I don't have one. And I don't care if they are dead, but someone has to at least try to see if any of them can be saved." She glared at him, making Legolas feel another surge of protectiveness.

"But it's dangerous-"

"But nothing Legolas, I will go and that's that. I just came to say goodbye, not to get your permission."

Aragorn looked at her and decided to just let her go, "You are right, we will see you soon."

Kali looked relived and nodded, smiling at Aragorn.

"Of course you will need to get here and there fast so take a horse and-"

"Never!" Kali screamed, running away at full speed. They all laughed and watched her come back, "I will see you soon, I promise." She said as she hugged Aragorn. Next she hugged Gimli, "Goodbye Gimli."

"Aye, to you as well lass."

Then she turned to Legolas, who hugged her before she could do the same to him, "Be careful, stay safe, come back." He said softly, holding her a little tighter. When he let go she smiled once more at them then walked out of the gates to the city to start her solo-quest.

Running across the plains without the guys with her she felt a sense of freedom, she would have like to do this with Eowen, but the girl had other things to do in Edoras. Fields of grass swept on endlessly as Kali waded through it. When night fell and the skies darkened, Kali kept running in the dark guided by the silver starlight. The sky was unclouded except for one little patch to the north; wait, that isn't cloud, that's smoke! She ran faster towards it, but in her haste, tripped on something; whatever it was caught around her ankle and she fell down. Just great… she thought to herself as she inspected what it was. A man-made noose… a trap; this is not my week, is it? A rustle came through the grass and quiet voices whispered to one another. Then a group of humans were looking down at her; they looked like the stereotypical angry mob with pitchforks and torches. Crud… Kali waited for them to do or say something, but they did nothing. So she put her hands in the air, "I surrender! I'm not an orc or a bad person in general!" A man stepped closer and knelt down, pulling out a knife.

"Your eyes are strange, how do we know we can trust you?"

"I am looking for two children's mother… her name is Helya, do you know her? Her children arrived at Edoras yesterday."

The man moved closer with his knife and Kali tensed until he cut the trap that was around her ankle, she smiled, relived, and stood up. A woman moved forward and clasped her shoulder,

"They made it alright?"

"Yes they are fine, are you their mother?" The woman nodded and looked relived.

"Our village was destroyed by raiders and some of our neighbors were taken hostage." Another woman said; a small child clung to her skirt fearfully. Kali noticed he was glancing enviously up at her and shivering; she knelt down and reached out a hand to the boy,

"Are you scared of me little one?" He nodded his head slightly, "Well the only thing that I can say is that I will not harm you or let any harm come to you, deal?" He nodded again and hid back behind his mother. Kali stood back up, are there any more of you?" The man who had cut her free pointed to a hill a little ways from them,

"No, all the rest are dead or captured. It is just me, my brother, my sister, and my sister in law, and her child."

Kali felt anger surge from inside her, "Alright, do you know where the raiders might have taken them?"

"To the next village over," Answered another man in the small group. He pointed east, "It's that way in about an hour's travel you can get there on horseback. It is probably already raided by now."

Kali nodded, "Don't give up hope so easily. I will try my best to get them back as soon as possible."

"But it's dark, how will you see?" Asked one of the other women holding a torch,

"I can see better than you in the dark, I'm not quite human." He eyes flashed gold and she turned around to go. A rabbit skittered across her path, quicker then it could dodge she grabbed it and turned back around. "Here, something to eat. I will be back by tomorrow, with or without your people. Stay here, I will find you, and then we will make for Helms Deep."

Kali felt lonely as she trekked across the plains once more. I shouldn't be thinking about company right now! Here I am thinking, 'Oh, I wish I had someone to talk to!' while some innocent child is being murdered by some blood-thirsty… wait a second… I'm blood-thirsty! That kind of ruins that word for me… Alright, I'll go with savage. So some savage person is killing a kid and- Holy Crap! She tripped again because she wasn't paying much attention to where she was going. "Looks like it's my lucky day! It's a girl disguised as a boy, she must be fun!" Kali tipped her face up and came face to face with a foul barbarian. Her first thought was; go take a bath! Then she realized how much trouble she was in, I am so dead…

Worse than dead… Kali groaned as she wriggled, trying to get free of her bonds as the brute threw her over his shoulder, "Go ahead and try to scream, I like it when they scream!" That instantly shut Kali up. She just glared at the ground then poked at the gag with her tongue. It was really disgusting, but she decided it would be best to chew through the thing, wriggle so that she was in a position to bite this guy effectively, and then escape the rest of her bonds. She grumbled to herself as she did this, cursing every square inch of this guy. If the guys could see me now what would they do?... she wondered, trying to keep her mind off the ickyness of the gag. Gimli I think would laugh, Aragorn would probably shake his head in shame then come and help me, and Legolas would have this guy bleeding out on the floor with several arrows embedded in his ass… Then she wasn't on the man's shoulder anymore. Her back hit the ground and all the wind was knocked out of her, the man looked down at her with an evil glint in his eye. "Scream, I like it when lasses scream," Finally, she managed to chew through the gag, but the man knocked all the air out of her again with a punch to the stomach. She spit the gag out just to be lifted up in the air and shook hard; she was brutally thrown against the wall of the small house they were in. The raider took out a knife and came closer; he pointed it to her right shoulder and held her down, "You are going to scream when you feel this lassie!" He dragged the tip across her skin and grinned, breathing foul breath into her face. When the dagger broke skin and cut into her flesh she screamed, "Legolas!"

Legolas woke in a cold sweat, he mentally shook himself, nothing was wrong… why did he think he heard Kali screaming for him? He felt the urge to go and find her, to hold her and make sure she was alright. He exhaled and stood walking over to where Aragorn sat smoking his pipe and sat down next to the man. (They are now speaking in elvish) "Aragorn, I thought I heard Kali call my name, but she isn't anywhere near here, is she?"

"Did she sound distressed?"

"Yes, very. It sounded like she was in pain. I fear that something may have happened to her."

"I cannot tell you if she is alright or not; what does your heart tell you?"

"I am not sure, I feel only worry Aragorn."

"You love her, and it only natural that you worry, set your mind at ease."

"Do you and Arwen not have the same connection? Can you not feel when she is unwell? Can she not do the same for you?"

"Yes, we can. Did you see a vision, or was it just a voice?"

"Her voice; I heard her scream my name as if in great pain and fear. I want to go look for her Aragorn; I need to know that she has not been harmed."

Aragorn looked at his friend's face; raw emotions flitted across them, fear, worry, agony, frantic anxiousness. He put his hand on the elf's shoulder, "Be at peace Legolas, she will pull through. She is strong on her own; you need to pull yourself together for her. Listen to your heart."

Legolas nodded and stood, walking back to the rock where he had rested. He didn't feel tired, just uneasy. He spent the rest of the night pacing back and forth, slipping in and out of sleep.