Summary: A quiet tune drifts through the wind as Joel reaches a small home, the stench of death heavy in the air. He enters it anyways, bringing him closer to her – but with every step he takes, with every strum he hears, he can't help but remember the lie he told to keep her safe.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Last of Us.

Through the Valley

"I walk through the valley of the shadow of death."

The air was cool, the curtain in the room swaying to the gentle fall breeze.

"And I fear no evil because I'm blind to it all."

Ellie sat on the bed, savoring this serene moment – the sounds of the birds in the air, the rustling of the leaves in the wind. She ignored the drip, drip, drip, of blood from the fallen bodies and the heavy smell of copper – she ignored all of it as she lost herself in the rhythmic strumming of the guitar in her hands.

"My mind and my gun they comfort me,"

The events of the past twenty-four hours flashed to the forefront if her mind and with it came thoughts that have haunted her for nearly the entirety of her life. She had been stupid – she foolishly believed that these negative thoughts had disappeared but instead, they had simply been lurking in the back of her mind, hiding like a predator and waiting for the right moment to attack.

A moment such as now – when her mind and willpower were at its weakest.

She couldn't help but remember those she had lost along the way and remember everything she had been through – for what was all that suffering for? Better yet, what good was her life when she couldn't even protect those she loved?

Why did they always leave her?

"Because I know I'll kill my enemies when they come."

No...she was going to avenge them all – her family and friends, old and new. Those who dared to step in her way would know her wrath, her pain, her anguish – they would know what it truly meant to fear.

Nothing would stop her in her path of revenge – not this time.

"Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life."

Familiar footsteps echoed throughout the house and with it, the heaviness in her chest slowly grew. Somehow, she knew he would come because it all began with him – with his lies, his deceit, his stubbornness.

...His love.

" And I will dwell on this earth forevermore."

A tear mixed with the blood of the dead slowly trickled down her face, the fracture in her heart deepening the farther it fell. Her soul was at its limits and she knew it – she was breaking under the sheer weight of the consequences of her actions today. She knew that there was no going back now; this was a path that she would never return from.

All the death she caused – no one ever comes back from that, no matter who you were. There were over a dozen bodies in this home alone filled with bullets and broken arrows, not accounting for the fallen dead outside that was hidden in the tall grass, neck snapped or slit.

Death followed her every step, her every move – whether it aided her or killed her, that was yet to be seen.

"I walk beside the still waters and they restore my soul,"

The footsteps stopped at the door and she could see from the corner of her eye a man resting against the doorframe, his weight causing the aging wood underneath him to groan. With a gun in one hand, there was a look on his familiar face she couldn't decipher – was it disappointment? Was it resignation?

Or was it guilt?

"But I can't walk on the path of the right because I'm wrong."

She ended the song, repeating the last word as most of the adrenaline slowly left her body, the aching of her bruises and injuries now registering in her mind. She was hunched over the old guitar, trying hard not to crumble in front of the man who was practically her father – she couldn't let herself fall apart in front of him, not again.

"...What are you doin', kiddo?"

She remained silent, rooted in her spot, but after a few seconds, she placed the guitar aside, her hands balling into fists on her lap. They still shook from the aftermath of the fight that took place earlier, the shock of it not quite gone as her breaths came out in quiet bursts.

"Are you really gonna go through with this?"

Her eyes slowly opened as her fury returned with a calm vengeance, the uneven beating of her heart returning to normal. With a deep breath, her sight cleared and the ringing in her ears disappeared as she turned to face him.

They both knew the answer, even if it caused pain to them both.

"I'm gonna find, and I'm gonna kill every last one of them."

She didn't wait for a response – instead, she turned towards the open window once more as he remained where he stood, his head slightly bowed with resignation. But it didn't matter what Joel thought though, not anymore.

Ellie would kill them all.

Through the Valley - End

A/N: Short and straight to the point! I love Joel and Ellie's dynamic in TLoU and I just can't WAIT for the next game to come out and GOD, this song – I listened to a cover of it by Thea Wilsher and it's literally the best version I've listened too.

Anyways, this was my take on the first initial trailer for the game. It's pretty broad and there's really no set plot to this one-shot, but I figured a big part that played in her anger was the fact that Joel lied to her about the cure and, well, yeah. Maybe something happened at Tommy's, and that's why she's also very angry? I'm not one hundred percent satisfied with the way this story turned out but something there's about Joel and Ellie that I can't get out of my head so...that's why this is here.

Excuse any errors – I tried to fix them all!

But I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave a review to tell me how you think!