Hi! I thought I'd try my hand at a LOTR fic. This story is basically a view
on the war against the ring but from a new characters view. Meet Litavia
Fangorn, a young woman raised by Treebeard in the Fangorn Forest. Please
review and let me know what you think!!!
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The Secret of Fangorn
Litavia sat on the trunk of the Ent Treebeard as he spoke to her about the trees. The young mortal child listened intently as he pointed out different characteristics of some trees nearby.
"Little Litavia, I have spoken to Gandalf the Grey, and he has agreed to give you lessons in your native ways," he said.
"Native ways? When?" she asked, her dark brown eyes glistening in the light.
"Whenever you're ready, I told him the next new moon though," Treebeard said. Litavia hugged him.
"I'm ready whenever you feel I'm ready, Pa Treebeard," she got up and ran through the clearing to where a black animal stood. They ran back through the trees together. Litavia was a young girl, with brown hair and silver blonde tips, a very unusual feature according to Gandalf the Grey.
She was slightly built and very light footed, she could also hear things that Gandalf or Treebeard could not. Gandalf had his ideas to what she may be, but was still investigating through his travels to different parts of Middle Earth. Treebeard was just thinking of her future with him when Gandalf the grey appeared beside him.
"She is ready," Gandalf said, and he walked through the trees in the same direction as she had left.
Litavia was sitting on a log, plaiting Seri's tail. She was singing happily to herself when she heard a rustling behind. Quick as a flash she whipped around with a stone dagger in her hand.
"Ah, on top of things I see," Gandalf said walking out from the trees. Litavia relaxed.
"Yes Gandalf, it's very dangerous in the Fangorn Forest, Pa Treebeard says I have to be careful because some of the other Ents still don't trust me," she said matter-of-factly as Seri settled on her lap again.
"Ah yes, so I have heard, something to do with climbing their branches by mistake and pulling out old Barkley's leaves?" Litavia blushed. Gandalf laughed. "If that is the case we will have to do something about that piece of stone. But to business, no doubt you know why I am here?"
"My lessons?" she asked.
"Yes, I will teach you to read and write Elvish, Dwarfish and English. You already know how to speak Old Entish so that is not necessary," Gandalf said sitting next to her. "I will teach you to also fight, make potions and any other skills I see fit to be taught." Litavia's eyes were wide with excitement.
"Will we be starting today?" she asked.
"No, it is getting far too late. We will start early morning. We will begin with a potions lesson." He got up and strode away. "And then I'll teach you literature of Middle Earth." Litavia watched as he strode back through the forest. She sat caressing Seri as she thought of what was to come.
She wanted to learn of life outside the Forest, she had listened to the trees tales of horrors and beauties of amazing proportions. She wanted to see the beauties they spoke about, horses, people and places. She also wanted to learn the amazing spells that Gandalf had shown her to keep her amused when he came to visit. She especially loved his butterfly trick.
The next day she was aroused from her sleep by Gandalf.
"It's too early, the sun has yet to rise," she grumbled as he led her through the forest.
"The earlier the better, it surprises me that you do not rise earlier" he said as he came to a waterfall with a large pool at the bottom. Across it a large tree trunk lay, Litavia spent a lot of time fishing off this. Gandalf was carrying a large sack with him and when they arrived at the water's edge, he sat down. Litavia dropped down next to him.
"Today, I'll be teaching you to make potions to heal and to ward off enemies," he said taking out a cauldron and several small leather satchels of different ingredients. Litavia watched with interest as he poured different ingredients into the potion, telling her what they were as she watched with interest.
"Now we will test it out shall we?" he said.
"What will this potion do?" she asked.
"Heal, give me your arm," he said noticing a large gash in it. It was fresh too.
"That's my favourite, I fell out of Mogumber's branches when I tried to steal a piece of fruit," she said. Gandalf took some potion on his hand and wiped it along the edge. Litavia feel it warm up and tingle, and then watched as the wound closed slowly.
"It isn't entirely healed, the only way it could is if it healed naturally. But I believe that if you kiss one of your kind it will heal you instantly," he said as Litavia inspected her arm closely.
"Amazing. What else can I heal with that type of potion?" she asked.
"Absolutely anything," Gandalf replied. "Now, what did I use in it?" Litavia recited the list, her memory was amazingly good.
She could remember things that happened after the age of two, but not before. The circumstances behind her birth and arrival in the forest were unknown to many, but Gandalf had been investigating, and he thought he had almost figured it out. A few lessons with Litavia might prove to be enough to help him finish his investigation.
Litavia's list was correct. He spent most of the morning helping her prepare different concoctions, and every test he gave to her she performed flawlessly. Then he opened his sack and pulled out more.
"I think it's time we start your next lesson," he said as he pulled out two large books. "Literature of Middle Earth." He handed one book to her. She opened it, inside were lots of strange symbols she had never before seen, but for some reason she felt that she understood what it said. She looked at the drawings that were littered through the book. One drawing caught her eye. She looked it up and down, Gandalf watched her with interest.
"Who is this?" she asked trying to read the strange symbols below.
"That is an elf, the oldest race in all of Middle Earth, and the noblest." He watched as she puzzled over the writing below.
"But what is this? These strange symbols," she said puzzling over them. She had seen these somewhere before, but she could not place them.
"That is Elvish, the most prominent literature in all of Middle Earth apart from English. This will be the first language I will teach you." He opened her book to the first page and he helped her read it. By the afternoon, she could converse in Elvish and read as if it were her native language. Gandalf was thinking hard as she read about the Elves to him.
"Gandalf, where do the elves live? I would love to meet one," she was looking at the page about the elves of Mirkwood. They were Silvan elves and some of the most secretive elves of Middle Earth. It had a picture of their King and princes. They all had long hair and were tall and graceful. Litavia was looking at Gandalf. "Are you alright?"
His mind was racing at speeds unbelievably fast. He knew where to look now, but first he had to finish her lessons.
"Come Litavia, we must start your sword lessons. As well as Archery." He took two sticks that were lying nearby. "This will be safer I think." He gave her one and showed her some basic moves before he tested her skills. She was quick and had true aim, she was also very agile and able to dodge Gandalf's attacks or block them if necessary. He was soon puffed.
"Very good," he said sitting down. "But there is a special technique I wish to teach you, a little more complicated than the normal sword or Elvan technique. It is called the Double Sword technique. So now, you must try and fight with two, a lot harder than it sounds." He threw her another stick. "And we will battle there." He pointed at the trunk over the pool.
"Oh great, you want to give me a wash as well? I told Treebeard he must have had an ulterior motive." She stood up and walked to the tree trunk with Gandalf. She'd barely stepped on the tree when Gandalf swung his stick and went to hit Litavia on the back of the legs. She jumped up and spun around just as he brought the stick down. She swung one stick around and whacked him on the arm.
"One to me, nil to you," she said cheekily. He grimaced, and then spun his stick up to hit her in the head; she brought both sticks up, but hit herself in the back of the head with one, and then Gandalf's hit.
"Ow!" she said dropping her sticks in the water and rubbing her head.
"You see, the double swords technique involves a lot more movement. When I have seen it used, it is the most graceful form of swordsmanship. And they are not known to hit themselves on the back of their head," he said reaching down to grab the floating sticks.
"Alright, I'll try again," she said as he handed them back to her. He swung at her again and Litavia blocked at it with one stick, then swung at Gandalf with the other.
"That's it, you've got it," he said swinging again.
She did the same everyday and was soon spinning around as graceful as those experts in the technique. She was able to move as swift as before, even more than what she was before. She could now whip up concoctions of her own and knew about the different races of Middle Earth.
One day, Gandalf planned to teach her about the history of Middle Earth, but he couldn't find her anywhere. He listened to the trees, they were grieving for someone. He followed their whispering and found Litavia sitting in a small clearing in the forest. She had a black foal on her lap. It was breathing, but was badly injured. A large gash was spread down its side and Litavia was tearing her shirt to dab at the blood that flowed from the wound.
"Shh, it's alright," Litavia said. She looked worried as she dabbed at its wound. She sighed, a look of defeat on her face. She rubbed her fingers across her lips; a small clear bubble appeared, although Litavia didn't notice. She spread it along the gash. Suddenly, as she and Gandalf looked on, the cut closed and healed completely. Litavia's eyes widened as the foal stood up and licked its side where the wound had been. Then ran around Litavia, healthy as ever. Litavia looked at her hand.
"Amazing," Litavia said as the foal licked her other hand.
"I agree," Gandalf said walking into the clearing.
"Gandalf, what just happened, did I have some potion residue on my fingers?" she asked.
"No, I think you have a special talent, a small bead appeared on your finger when you kissed it, you rubbed it onto the foal," he said sitting next to her and patting the foal. He examined where the wound had been closely. "Not a scar." Litavia was still sitting still in shock. "Come along, I have a history lesson in store for you today." He stood up and she followed along with the foal.
"What do you mean history lesson?" Litavia asked.
"How old are you Litavia?" Gandalf asked.
"Um. two thousand and three, I think," she replied.
"And so you will not remember the wars against Sauron," he said as they reached the waterfall where he gave her the lessons. They sat down and he took out yet another book from his sack. He opened it at a page and passed it to her.
"The Ring to control all rings? The Ring of Power?" Litavia said reading a little way. These words seemed so familiar.
"Long ago, Rings were made and given to all the races. But little did they know that-" Litavia interrupted him.
"That they were all controlled by one ring, The Ring of Power." Her eyes were glassy.
"How did you know?" he asked in surprise, and then suddenly he jerked his head. That was it.
"I. read it, in one of your other books I guess," she said hastily, not knowing how she knew that.
"Well, I will be travelling away from here tonight, I want you to study that book, I will question you on the most important aspects when I come back," with that he stood up.
"Very well Gandalf, and when can I expect your return?" she asked.
"I can't say really, but I shan't be gone for long, maybe a few days," she nodded and began to read the book from the beginning.
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Let me know what you think, I worked pretty hard on this okay, I'll try and keep updating it, but I need you're feedback! R/R please!
Litavia sat on the trunk of the Ent Treebeard as he spoke to her about the trees. The young mortal child listened intently as he pointed out different characteristics of some trees nearby.
"Little Litavia, I have spoken to Gandalf the Grey, and he has agreed to give you lessons in your native ways," he said.
"Native ways? When?" she asked, her dark brown eyes glistening in the light.
"Whenever you're ready, I told him the next new moon though," Treebeard said. Litavia hugged him.
"I'm ready whenever you feel I'm ready, Pa Treebeard," she got up and ran through the clearing to where a black animal stood. They ran back through the trees together. Litavia was a young girl, with brown hair and silver blonde tips, a very unusual feature according to Gandalf the Grey.
She was slightly built and very light footed, she could also hear things that Gandalf or Treebeard could not. Gandalf had his ideas to what she may be, but was still investigating through his travels to different parts of Middle Earth. Treebeard was just thinking of her future with him when Gandalf the grey appeared beside him.
"She is ready," Gandalf said, and he walked through the trees in the same direction as she had left.
Litavia was sitting on a log, plaiting Seri's tail. She was singing happily to herself when she heard a rustling behind. Quick as a flash she whipped around with a stone dagger in her hand.
"Ah, on top of things I see," Gandalf said walking out from the trees. Litavia relaxed.
"Yes Gandalf, it's very dangerous in the Fangorn Forest, Pa Treebeard says I have to be careful because some of the other Ents still don't trust me," she said matter-of-factly as Seri settled on her lap again.
"Ah yes, so I have heard, something to do with climbing their branches by mistake and pulling out old Barkley's leaves?" Litavia blushed. Gandalf laughed. "If that is the case we will have to do something about that piece of stone. But to business, no doubt you know why I am here?"
"My lessons?" she asked.
"Yes, I will teach you to read and write Elvish, Dwarfish and English. You already know how to speak Old Entish so that is not necessary," Gandalf said sitting next to her. "I will teach you to also fight, make potions and any other skills I see fit to be taught." Litavia's eyes were wide with excitement.
"Will we be starting today?" she asked.
"No, it is getting far too late. We will start early morning. We will begin with a potions lesson." He got up and strode away. "And then I'll teach you literature of Middle Earth." Litavia watched as he strode back through the forest. She sat caressing Seri as she thought of what was to come.
She wanted to learn of life outside the Forest, she had listened to the trees tales of horrors and beauties of amazing proportions. She wanted to see the beauties they spoke about, horses, people and places. She also wanted to learn the amazing spells that Gandalf had shown her to keep her amused when he came to visit. She especially loved his butterfly trick.
The next day she was aroused from her sleep by Gandalf.
"It's too early, the sun has yet to rise," she grumbled as he led her through the forest.
"The earlier the better, it surprises me that you do not rise earlier" he said as he came to a waterfall with a large pool at the bottom. Across it a large tree trunk lay, Litavia spent a lot of time fishing off this. Gandalf was carrying a large sack with him and when they arrived at the water's edge, he sat down. Litavia dropped down next to him.
"Today, I'll be teaching you to make potions to heal and to ward off enemies," he said taking out a cauldron and several small leather satchels of different ingredients. Litavia watched with interest as he poured different ingredients into the potion, telling her what they were as she watched with interest.
"Now we will test it out shall we?" he said.
"What will this potion do?" she asked.
"Heal, give me your arm," he said noticing a large gash in it. It was fresh too.
"That's my favourite, I fell out of Mogumber's branches when I tried to steal a piece of fruit," she said. Gandalf took some potion on his hand and wiped it along the edge. Litavia feel it warm up and tingle, and then watched as the wound closed slowly.
"It isn't entirely healed, the only way it could is if it healed naturally. But I believe that if you kiss one of your kind it will heal you instantly," he said as Litavia inspected her arm closely.
"Amazing. What else can I heal with that type of potion?" she asked.
"Absolutely anything," Gandalf replied. "Now, what did I use in it?" Litavia recited the list, her memory was amazingly good.
She could remember things that happened after the age of two, but not before. The circumstances behind her birth and arrival in the forest were unknown to many, but Gandalf had been investigating, and he thought he had almost figured it out. A few lessons with Litavia might prove to be enough to help him finish his investigation.
Litavia's list was correct. He spent most of the morning helping her prepare different concoctions, and every test he gave to her she performed flawlessly. Then he opened his sack and pulled out more.
"I think it's time we start your next lesson," he said as he pulled out two large books. "Literature of Middle Earth." He handed one book to her. She opened it, inside were lots of strange symbols she had never before seen, but for some reason she felt that she understood what it said. She looked at the drawings that were littered through the book. One drawing caught her eye. She looked it up and down, Gandalf watched her with interest.
"Who is this?" she asked trying to read the strange symbols below.
"That is an elf, the oldest race in all of Middle Earth, and the noblest." He watched as she puzzled over the writing below.
"But what is this? These strange symbols," she said puzzling over them. She had seen these somewhere before, but she could not place them.
"That is Elvish, the most prominent literature in all of Middle Earth apart from English. This will be the first language I will teach you." He opened her book to the first page and he helped her read it. By the afternoon, she could converse in Elvish and read as if it were her native language. Gandalf was thinking hard as she read about the Elves to him.
"Gandalf, where do the elves live? I would love to meet one," she was looking at the page about the elves of Mirkwood. They were Silvan elves and some of the most secretive elves of Middle Earth. It had a picture of their King and princes. They all had long hair and were tall and graceful. Litavia was looking at Gandalf. "Are you alright?"
His mind was racing at speeds unbelievably fast. He knew where to look now, but first he had to finish her lessons.
"Come Litavia, we must start your sword lessons. As well as Archery." He took two sticks that were lying nearby. "This will be safer I think." He gave her one and showed her some basic moves before he tested her skills. She was quick and had true aim, she was also very agile and able to dodge Gandalf's attacks or block them if necessary. He was soon puffed.
"Very good," he said sitting down. "But there is a special technique I wish to teach you, a little more complicated than the normal sword or Elvan technique. It is called the Double Sword technique. So now, you must try and fight with two, a lot harder than it sounds." He threw her another stick. "And we will battle there." He pointed at the trunk over the pool.
"Oh great, you want to give me a wash as well? I told Treebeard he must have had an ulterior motive." She stood up and walked to the tree trunk with Gandalf. She'd barely stepped on the tree when Gandalf swung his stick and went to hit Litavia on the back of the legs. She jumped up and spun around just as he brought the stick down. She swung one stick around and whacked him on the arm.
"One to me, nil to you," she said cheekily. He grimaced, and then spun his stick up to hit her in the head; she brought both sticks up, but hit herself in the back of the head with one, and then Gandalf's hit.
"Ow!" she said dropping her sticks in the water and rubbing her head.
"You see, the double swords technique involves a lot more movement. When I have seen it used, it is the most graceful form of swordsmanship. And they are not known to hit themselves on the back of their head," he said reaching down to grab the floating sticks.
"Alright, I'll try again," she said as he handed them back to her. He swung at her again and Litavia blocked at it with one stick, then swung at Gandalf with the other.
"That's it, you've got it," he said swinging again.
She did the same everyday and was soon spinning around as graceful as those experts in the technique. She was able to move as swift as before, even more than what she was before. She could now whip up concoctions of her own and knew about the different races of Middle Earth.
One day, Gandalf planned to teach her about the history of Middle Earth, but he couldn't find her anywhere. He listened to the trees, they were grieving for someone. He followed their whispering and found Litavia sitting in a small clearing in the forest. She had a black foal on her lap. It was breathing, but was badly injured. A large gash was spread down its side and Litavia was tearing her shirt to dab at the blood that flowed from the wound.
"Shh, it's alright," Litavia said. She looked worried as she dabbed at its wound. She sighed, a look of defeat on her face. She rubbed her fingers across her lips; a small clear bubble appeared, although Litavia didn't notice. She spread it along the gash. Suddenly, as she and Gandalf looked on, the cut closed and healed completely. Litavia's eyes widened as the foal stood up and licked its side where the wound had been. Then ran around Litavia, healthy as ever. Litavia looked at her hand.
"Amazing," Litavia said as the foal licked her other hand.
"I agree," Gandalf said walking into the clearing.
"Gandalf, what just happened, did I have some potion residue on my fingers?" she asked.
"No, I think you have a special talent, a small bead appeared on your finger when you kissed it, you rubbed it onto the foal," he said sitting next to her and patting the foal. He examined where the wound had been closely. "Not a scar." Litavia was still sitting still in shock. "Come along, I have a history lesson in store for you today." He stood up and she followed along with the foal.
"What do you mean history lesson?" Litavia asked.
"How old are you Litavia?" Gandalf asked.
"Um. two thousand and three, I think," she replied.
"And so you will not remember the wars against Sauron," he said as they reached the waterfall where he gave her the lessons. They sat down and he took out yet another book from his sack. He opened it at a page and passed it to her.
"The Ring to control all rings? The Ring of Power?" Litavia said reading a little way. These words seemed so familiar.
"Long ago, Rings were made and given to all the races. But little did they know that-" Litavia interrupted him.
"That they were all controlled by one ring, The Ring of Power." Her eyes were glassy.
"How did you know?" he asked in surprise, and then suddenly he jerked his head. That was it.
"I. read it, in one of your other books I guess," she said hastily, not knowing how she knew that.
"Well, I will be travelling away from here tonight, I want you to study that book, I will question you on the most important aspects when I come back," with that he stood up.
"Very well Gandalf, and when can I expect your return?" she asked.
"I can't say really, but I shan't be gone for long, maybe a few days," she nodded and began to read the book from the beginning.
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Let me know what you think, I worked pretty hard on this okay, I'll try and keep updating it, but I need you're feedback! R/R please!