A/N: I had this idea running around in my head for a while but I finally caught it floating up there in my brain during a car ride. I came up with a basic plot and some characters. I'm not sure if this is the best start to this story but it's the one I could come up with. So please, read and review! (by the way, I'm really sorry for any OOCs, I know I hate that when I'm reading… Oh, and I did my best with the editing but I tend to miss a lot of mistakes.)
Fire
It was everywhere, the flames lashing out, swallowing everything in sight. They licked at people's heels and consumed some whole. Houses were burning, people were screaming and orcs were cackling madly. The town of Denneth nestled in the far corner of the Mirkwood Forest was completely covered in orange flames, but no one could see and even if they could, no one would help.
It was a dark time for the people of Middle Earth. The Shadows had consumed most of Mirkwood Forest and those who dared to fight back were silenced indefinitely. The flames were everywhere those days; Denneth was not the only town to be taken by the heat.
Orcs and trolls were everywhere, running in front of the fire, pillaging houses, taking the valuables and leaving everything else for the fire. Nothing was to be left untouched, unharmed; everything was to be turned over and destroyed.
When it was over, not a single elf was in sight. Orcs were everywhere, laughing and picking through the remains of the ruins. Houses were burnt black, bodies were everywhere, faces indistinguishable, any outsider looking upon the mess of a town would have just seen a smoking lump.
"Hey, come over here!" A particularly ugly orc with a crooked nose and a wart the size of a golf ball on his chin yelled to his friend.
The other walked over and grunted, "What?"
The disfigured orc lifted up a plank of wood from a once standing house. Underneath, there was a small child, barely 3 months old, shivering and squinting from the sudden light.
The second orc lifted his sword, preparing to stab it and end the child's life.
"Wait." The first one placed a green hand on the other's shoulder. He took a closer look at the elfing and realized she was quite pretty, as far as babies go. She had jet black hair and tiny dimples as she gurgled a small tune. The orc felt something stir in him as he envisioned the child with a bleeding wound in its stomach. Something akin to pity. "Let's take it back to Saruman."
The other orc shrugged and seeing as the child did not pose much of a threat, he let the matter be and walked away. The pair didn't realize it but at exactly the same moment in time, a small hobbit named Bilbo had just felt the same sense of pity and chose to spare one that was just as helpless as this baby, Gollum. And these two creatures, the elfling and Gollum, would soon, alter the fate of Middle Earth.