A/N: Hi! My sister are working on this together, and this is actually based off of two different stories that we wrote. We decided to combine them and see what happened. This should be canon with The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, but maybe not The Silmarillion. It takes place for the most part in the Woodland Realm in the years between the Battle of Five Armies and the War of the Ring. Also, this follows the book plot, so Legolas stayed in Mirkwood after the battle. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: We don't own Middle Earth. Quite the opposite, in fact. :)


Prologue

The End of the Beginning

What marks the end of a certain Halfling's adventure marks the beginning of another. It began, well, it began as you might expect; in the beginning. And in the beginning there was fire. Now, this is only the beginning of the beginning, and the story to be told today begins in the end of the beginning, far away from the Shire or Bree, or any other dwellings of that sort.

As you might recall, there were no hobbits to be found far from these places, nor, indeed, just miles away. Thus, this story is not of hobbits, although it does concern them in its own way. You see, this story's beginning actually begins quite a while before the actual events of this story take place. But for now, we'll begin from the end of the beginning, and soon go over it from beginning to end.

It started, though it began earlier, 10 years before the Battle of Five Armies took place. It has, admittedly, a bit of a sad beginning, but don't all great stories? Truthfully, the concept of "happily ever after" is a flawed one, anyway. In the end, all that is left is goodbye. But do not concern yourself with this, as the end is yet to come.

This piece of information is little known, even among the wise, but the elves of the woodland realm were not completely untouched by the orcs in the years leading up to the Battle of Five Armies. In truth, no one was. Yet still the world spins on.

Though the guarded walls were impassable by any who were foes to their kingdom, the Elves spent too much time guarding the walls to look at what lay beyond them. This proved to be a fatal mistake.

And so it was that the Woodland Realm burned auburn against the fading light, a fire started in the heart of the kingdom by a race not often seen since the time of Haldir. A fire started by the Tunnelers. Yet again unknown by many, they did not leave empty-handed. They left with a relic of the past that was the hope of tomorrow, a single object powerful enough to change the fate of any who knew of it. No, they did not leave empty-handed.

And yet no one knew. There was one being present that fateful night that understood what had truly been lost. And it was not often that he came to call. Yet still the others were aware that they had lost something, whether it be the battle or the lives, and they felt it. One can never lose so much as to no longer feel it. Yet one can never lose so little that they don't know the feeling. But such is the way of the world.

Although not many structures were touched by the fire, still many more lives were lost. Among the few survivors was a young girl, around two years of age. She was found among the ruins by the Prince, covered in ash. The girl had messy light brown hair uncommon for an elf, and hazel eyes that became so recognizable to those whom she met over the years. She didn't speak, and gave them nothing to call her by, so the healers took to calling her Ashling. And those who met her did not often forget her.

Those who took the time to get to know the girl with light in her eyes and fire in her history soon took to calling her Ash, and she adopted the nickname when she was old enough to need it. She learned to love that name, as did those closest to her. She saw it in the fading embers of fire, in the book that told of that day so long ago. And she felt it in memories.

She grew up in the Woodland Realm. She grew up running barefoot through the forest with her friends, not particularly caring about the crown or the King, because she knew the places the kingdom could never touch, she and her closest friends shared the memories that the crown could never taint. They would stand on the edge of cliffs just to know that there would always be something to wonder about, somewhere to wander. She remembered sneaking around the castle at night just to say they didn't get caught. So yes, she grew up in the Woodland Realm. But most of the time exactly where they were was as far from their minds as the future.

She was raised by the friends she grew up with, chasing fireflies on summer nights, standing in the forest just to feel the rain on their skin, dancing to no music in particular under the stars. She was raised by friends that over time became family. This is where their story begins.


A/N: Thanks for reading! The actual chapters should be a lot longer, and you'll get to know the characters more. They should be about 14 years old in the actual story, this was just a little bit of background information. The first chapter should be posted by the end of the week, and probably sooner rather than later. Please review! This is our first Hobbit fan fiction, (Only second fan fiction ever) and trying to follow in Tolkien's footsteps is hard, to say the least, so it's always nice to get feedback, whether it's positive or negative. Thanks! :)

Until the very end,

CarverEdlundtheLast