I hope you've liked the first chapter, and will like this one! I really like this one! Heads up, though, because this chapter and the next will have some gore in it. It shouldn't be too bad, but just as a heads up.

-owl

Of course whatever fool had thought it was a good idea to kidnap the only heir to a country had also not taken into consideration that said princess' mother was well known throughout the land.

Ziva breathed deeply, evenly, as she snuck up to the man who was guarding her precious baby girl at the back of the cave. The man was sitting on a log, warming his hands next to the fire. He had an eye patch, and was covered in grime. Behind him was Tali, blindfolded, her hands tied behind her. Tali was also shivering because of the cold.

Carefully, Ziva brought up her bow, aiming at the heart of the man. She was quiet, though she had a suspicion that he would not have noticed her even if she had been as loud as possible.

With a solid thud, she loosed the arrow and it flew true, burying itself up to the fletchings in the man's torso. He let out a gargle before his head slumped to his chest. Before Ziva could get from her hiding spot and grab her daughter, another man came in, making her stop and fight.

Her bow was slung onto her back as she pulled out the two daggers from her belt. With one in each hand she launched herself at the man. He pulled out a sword, which Ziva had a sudden passing thought that it would be better for her to also have a sword, but that was quickly dismissed. The man she was fighting was having a hard time maneuvering in the cave, missing more often than not, and giving Ziva ample chances to get in hits.

The man's end was ultimately brought about not by Ziva, but by himself, unwittingly knocking rocks onto him with a badly placed swing of his sword. Ziva watched as he struggled under the rocks before skirting around him and grabbing Tali.

"NO!" Tali screeched, fighting against her mother, still wearing the blindfold.

Ziva shushed her and they left the inner cave. "Tali, it is me, Imma."

That calmed Tali down a slight bit, it also helped when Ziva pulled the blindfold from her daughter's face. Tali's brown eyes were red from crying and there were tears streaming down her face as well.

However, there wasn't much time for the mother daughter pair to be reunited because three men came running into the tunnel that they were using to exit the cave. They all held swords, and were glaring daggers at Ziva.

"Tali," she murmured, "hold onto my back, and stay close to me. Keep your eyes closed."

Tali scrambled over her mother's shoulder and onto her back, holding tightly. Once she was certain Tali was clinging on well enough, Ziva again took her daggers into her hands and launched herself at the men.

If anyone were to have asked Ziva after the resulting fight, she would say that the only reason she was able to kill all three men without her or her daughters dying was that fact that the tunnel they were in was too narrow for anything more than single file. So each of the men got his own turn to fight the warrior queen.

The first to try his luck was taller than even Tony, absolutely towering over Ziva. Unlike the man that had attacked her in the cave where she had found Tali, this man held a single dagger, an inch or so longer than the ones that Ziva had. With one dagger Ziva blocked the dagger that was suddenly swinging through the air towards her. The other she used to slit the throat of the man.

The second man went much the same as the first, though rather than a dagger he had 'knuckle knives' to attack with. The third man had another dagger, and Ziva got a hit a few times before she was able to finally cut the man down.

When Ziva finally got out of the cave, her daggers were in danger of sliding right out of her hands due to the blood that coated them. From her forehead she could feel a sticky liquid dripping onto her cheek and running down it until it dripped again. Slowly she lifted her arm up to her forehead, wiping the dripping liquid with the back of her hand. When she pulled her hand away to look at it, she found that, unsurprisingly, it was blood.

"Tali? Can you walk with Imma? I need you to walk for me."

Tali nodded, Ziva could feel the movement against her back, before clambering down and standing on her own two feet.

Once the small girl was settled on the ground, Ziva pulled her cloak around her, wiping the blood that was caked onto her hands and daggers. Then she removed the blood from her face, probably making it streak rather than actually make her look any more presentable.

Ziva's senses were on high alert, even as they joined up with the delegation of knights that she had brought with her. And when a hand came down to settle on her shoulder she whipped around and nearly punched Tim in the face.

"It's ok, Ziva," he said, taking his hand off her shoulder. "Everyone who was part of this is dead. Now we just need to get Tali home."

Ziva nodded and walked with Tali's hand in hers all the way to the dinghies that they had lowered from the ship. Ziva, Tali, and Tim all got into the same boat, the three knights that had joined them in the other.

They boarded the ship and Ziva brought Tali into the bowels of the ship to check her over and make sure she was truely as unharmed as she seemed to be. Tali didn't squirm once while Ziva was checking her over, and soon fell asleep. Once that was done and the small child was gently placed against her mother's chest and basically wrapped into place by a long band of cloth, Ziva made her way again to the deck of the ship.

Of course, that didn't last as long as any of them would have wished it too.