Hello, my lovelies! Apparently, I have gotten really good at procrastinating. This is a result of me watching all the Lord of the Rings movies and The Hobbit again while I was supposed to be reading to my finals. I seem to be on fire with this story - I am currently writing its third chapter and I'm on flow! (Probably doesn't do me good to be writing English when I have a Finnish test tomorrow, hmm...)

I know it's been done before, but I hope you give this story a chance :)

General Disclaimer: Everything you recognize from the movies or books belongs to J.R.R Tolkien and other respective owners. Asta, her story and any other characters you don't recognize belong to me. I am merely playing with this world and gain no money from this.

Chapter 1 Awakening

She remembered the nasty pull somewhere deep inside her. It had come so suddenly and with such force that the pain had made her body doubling over and breath had caught her throat as her eyes watered.

Next thing Asta knew, she was waking up quite literally in the middle of nowhere. She had gone on a run when the pain had come but this landscape wasn't one she recognized. With a frown, the girl started to process her surroundings. She had woken up near an old tree (she knew it must be quite old because of the thickness of its trunk), and behind her was a forest. She could hear birds singing and the sun casting its rays down through the foliage. In front of her, she could vaguely make out the outline of what seemed to be a path.

"Where on Earth am I?" the girl whispered quietly to herself. Suddenly all the problems she had run away from in the first place didn't seem so big anymore. Her breath caught her throat and she crouched down in a failed attempt at keeping her breathing in check.

Asta… calm down, deep breaths… yes, don't think about it. Don't think about being lost, and alone in a big fores- Great job brain! Ugh, just breathe…

Finally, after the ominous black spots had danced on her vision for a bit, Asta was able to maintain the control of her breathing. Her heart rate proceeded to slow down from the more dangerous levels.

After getting a hold of herself, Asta ragged her brain for every bit of survival knowledge she knew. As she wasn't sure what country she was in anymore and she wasn't familiar with her surroundings, the girl didn't think that staying put until someone could find her was a good idea.

Maybe, if she followed the path it would take her to some civilization? Yes, that was what she would do. After all, there is bound to be some colonization nearby if there is a path, right? she thought to herself, ignoring the bad feeling at the back of her mind.

•-•-•-•

Okay, maybe walking this path wasn't such a good idea in the end…

Asta had peeled off her hoodie and tied the clothing around her waist hours ago. At least the girl thought it had been hours ago, she couldn't be sure as she had no way of telling the time. The watch on her wrist had cracked apparently during her fall and was useless now. She had concluded she must have passed out from the pain and somehow appear in the middle of nowhere. The further away she walked from the spot she had come to, the more confident she was of the fact that she wasn't in her home country anymore. It couldn't be even to the south or north that much from her hometown that the scenery would change this drastically. The landscape was just too much off.

She wasn't sure what to think about that and if she was honest with herself, she didn't even want to think about it. If she let her thoughts wander too much she just knew was bound to have another panic attack.

The sun had been somewhere on her left when she had set on walking this stupid path. Now it was shining from her right and getting lower by every passing minute.

Asta's stomach grumbled and her throat felt like sandpaper. It took every ounce of her willpower to not collapse on the ground right there and curl up to herself.

A moment later she was happy she hadn't done that as the path continued to go forward to a bridge which led across a stream.

With newfound strength, Asta ran by the water almost slipping to her own feet. The girl didn't even stop for a moment to think about the possibility of the water being stained. She just cupped her hand and gulped the water down. It tasted so refreshing after hours of walking under the sun and tasting the dirt on her mouth.

As she drank, Asta became suddenly very aware of her surroundings. The sun was almost down and it was getting really dark. Asta could barely see the bridge that was about twenty or more meters away from her.

This filled her very core with dread. How could she survive a night out here? She didn't even want to go thinking what kind of beasts there were lurking in the night. The thought made her shiver and gulp.

But I don't really have a choice, do I? It's already getting awfully dark and trying to stay on the path by night would be like trying to walk on a straight line after a couple of drinks. What was it that Bear always said in Ultimate Survival? Was it to keep going? Or find shelter for the night? Shelter sounds good. Except I don't want to stay put here.

Eventually, the girl opted for going under the bridge. By that time the sun had been gone from the sky a while, and almost absolute darkness had replaced it. The moon and stars were shining their light just enough for the girl to see herself under the bridge. She wrapped herself on her hoodie, pulling the hood over her head. Leaning against a rock she looked up to the sky and was flabbergasted by the beauty of it. She must be kilometers away from the nearest city as the night sky could be seen so visibly. She had done some camping trips to 'wilderness' with her school a few years ago. Asta recalled that even then, deep into the forest, the night sky had glowed with the lights from the cities kilometers away.

As she marveled at the stars, her stomach cramped in hunger. She dug her hoodie's pockets in search of anything to eat. To her luck, she had bought a candy bar after school and had yet to eat it. She wolfed out her meal in moments. It left her hungry, as she hadn't had a proper meal since school. The walking had taken a great deal of Asta's energy. The girl wasn't used to walking such lengths.

She slept very little during the night. The ground was hard and a bit damp against her back. Her heart rate increased at every sound in the nightlife. After hours of tossing around on the ground, the girl finally fell into a restless sleep. She dreamt of shadows that night and a presence that made her feel physically sick. In the morning she couldn't remember what she had dreamt of.

She woke up at dawn, the sun shining on her face in a quite irritable manner. Her back was killing her and every muscle in her body seemed to have wound themselves to painful knots. Her back cracked as she stood up and tried to stretch some of the tension away.

She drank some water from the stream and also splashed some of it on her face. Then she continued her way down the path. As the forest around her seemed to come to life through the morning, she found herself quietly humming under her breath and enjoying the day. It was true she didn't have the faintest idea where she was or if she was even near any other people but at that moment, Asta managed to put every feeling she had felt since waking up here, aside and enjoy herself. Even if her legs were protesting against walking.

The sun passed the sky, occasionally blocked by a thin cloud, and Asta walked and walked. She walked until her legs couldn't take it anymore. She would sit a few moments and then keep going again.

Suddenly the road seemed to go on the higher ground. There was a tiny hill and after Asta had walked on top of it, she almost screamed. Tears gathered her eyes as she took in the sight. There, not that far away, was what looked to be a small village. Oddly enough, the structure brought medieval times to Asta's mind.

Finally, she could go home!

She could not have been more wrong.