Disclaimers: I do not own The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia. They belong to J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. All other canon material belongs to their respected owners. All original material belongs to me, the authoress of this fanfiction story.

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Welcome to the first part of my fanfiction mini-trilogy, The Green Ring, part of my Origin Series, and my Long Series. :)

I remember working on the draft version of this first part so well, because I kept rewriting it so many times. Also, I kept switching up the points-of-views; so, this is where it gets tricky.

Fortunately, I have that all figured out, or so I hope. :) Also, we're skipping ahead in time, but I will make sure to get us up to speed with what's going on in this fanfic. :)

That said, enjoy! :)

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Melissa Fickle stared at her invitation for the First World Renaissance Faire. She hadn't heard of this festival before, and yet, here it was! calling out to her to take part in it.

It was 1973 and already Melissa felt like going to the festival. She always wanted to take part in a Renaissance Faire. Now, she was getting the opportunity to see what a Renaissance Faire had in store for her.

Melissa was twenty years old and had her own car. She was also staying at the dorms with her roommate, who was too concerned about her boyfriend to mind where she was going. Melissa had a thin frame, pale skin, and feathered brunette hair. She had a pretty face, but she considered herself plain. She was a loner and always would be… or so she hoped.

She checked her wardrobe. Yes, she was wearing a white granny dress, but it was the best she could wear under these circumstances. She didn't have any fantasy dresses. So, she might consider buying one from the faire vendors; that is, if she could find a vendor willing to sell her some medieval and Renaissance clothes, alongside the fantasy clothes.

Okay. She was ready. She checked the mirror for loose threads on her dress, before leaving her dorm room. She made her way to her blue car, stepping inside and heading out to the faire. She wasn't planning on staying the whole day, but if the faire was splendid, she might consider spending the night there.

It took her an hour to get to the First World Renaissance Faire. It was still early in the morning and there were already cars and trucks present on the campgrounds. Melissa parked her car, turned off the engine, and stepped outside, breathing in the fresh air.

Yes, it was good to be out with nature. She was glad to be here, with its gold and red banners with a lion emblem on the front. Wait. A lion emblem? Why did this sound so familiar to her?

Well, she'd better explore the faire, instead of waiting around for something to happen. She locked her car, before making her way to the fair, where she hoped to find a vendor who could sell her that dress or something else that was just as splendid! She hoped that nothing happened to her today. Otherwise, what would be the point of coming here, huh?

.

The First World Renaissance Faire's streets were filled with people dressed up in different costumes. They were so real, almost as if Melissa had stepped into a different time period. In fact, she hardly recognized the costumes. Were they from this world or in a different era?

That was unusual. She felt so out of place. Well, at least there were some costumes and some performers who fit with the Renaissance and medieval time periods. So, that was a plus!

She stood out here. Everyone looked at her funnily. What faire had she walked into? Another dimension? And why were the performers going on about the First World, Aslan, and the Emperor-beyond-the-Sea so much? Did it mean something? Plus, the performers and the crowd were murmuring things like "the First World", "the Universe", "the First Age", "the Time Before the First Age", and "the Second Age".

What?

"Fly Tad Cooper!" a strange king holding a lizard cried out in joy, waving his lizard slowly in the air slowly, as if the lizard could fly. Who was this strange king?

"Richard, what are you doing?" a knight with short brunette hair and a brunette beard said, looking at Richard in confusion.

"Galavant, here attending the festival?" Richard asked, all smiles.

"Yeah, let's go," Galavant said, moving Richard out of the way.

"Whatever you say, buddy!" Richard said, delighted.

Melissa jumped in surprise, as Galavant talked Richard down. That wasn't fair! Galavant was a knight, wasn't he? Shouldn't he be below Richard's rank? This didn't make sense.

Wait! Were they performers here? Should she interact with them? She wasn't sure. She didn't want to get into any more trouble. Maybe she should move on, before that happened to her.

.

Melissa continued on her walk down the Renaissance Faire's streets, determined to find something else to wear that suited the environment she was in. All these people stared at her. Did they know something about her? And why wouldn't they stop pointing at her, staring quizzically at her, as if she stood out from the crowd?

She shook the thought off, finding her way into a clothing store!

She stared stunned at her new environment. The stone walls covered the store on all sides. Fireplaces were lit, giving a warm feeling to the atmosphre. All the clothes she saw were either medieval, Renaissance, or fantasy. There were even costumes she could try on!

She looked around, searching for some pants, a tunic, a new pair of boots, and a jacket. She found a pair of black pants that suited her, a blue tunic, tall black boots, and a brown leather jacket. Shortly after she put on the clothes, changing out of her granny dress and into her new clothes, which she paid for afterwards, she felt like a new woman!

Yeah, these adventurer's clothes suited her. Why didn't she think of them before?

She went to the cashier's desk after she finished changing, giving the money to the cashier. As she did, a soft hand brushed against her back. She let out a gasp, moaning as the soft fingers traced her back, before moving away from her. She breathed heavily, wondering whose hand touched her.

"Are you all right, miss?" the cashier asked, curiously.

"I'm fine. Thank you," Melissa said, taking her money, stuffing it in her wallet, before departing from the store, her purse in hand.

She had to find out where the mysterious hand came from. Then she saw it! She saw him. No. That soft, thick, curly dark brown hair couldn't be who she thought it was.

"Frodo? Are you Frodo Baggins?" Melissa asked, right as the hobbit figure disappeared through the crowd.

Melissa watched the crowd in vain. Who was that mysterious hobbit?

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Thanks for reading. :)