Each journey has its end, however this means there must me a beginning. No story is best told in reverse, so as keeping to such tradition, I shall start at the very roots of my tale.
Nearly all of my life I have been wandering from place to place. Not by choice, nor "chance" but by the cruelty of fate. My family, my village, my home, my everything was massacred and destroyed by a group of rebels, called the Stormcloaks, who had been against our king. The only survivors were my cousin and I. Shortly after the attack began, a Stormcloack known as Ulfric had found me off guard in the courtyard near my parents shop, he had forced me inside and told me to remain silent, that I could not escape. I was paralyzed in fear, but then my cousin Thaleon, who had only been five years my elder, came for me when he heard of the attack in an attempt to protect me and my honour. He fought off Ulfric, who's face had been sliced by Thaleon's blade. Ulfric fled,like the coward he truly was. Together my cousin and I hid in a cellar near the edge of the village until the screams and cries were no longer heard and the world had grown silent and cold with the night.
We left our homeland of Winterhold that night, I had been only sixteen at the time and was not yet ready to begin a new life away from the only land I knew as my home. Thaleon and I traveled, together, for nearly three years. He had trained me only slightly with a blade, but my real trade came from that of a bow. Thaleon had always spoken of leaving to go hunt down the Stormcloacks who had so relentlessly taken everything from us.
My dear cousin knew I would never allow him to go on his own but he feared deeply for my own safety that he disregarded his own. One early morning though, I awoke to the sound of our horse Elisaf whinnying and bags being packed. I hurried out of the tent to see Thaleon mounted upon Elisaf.
"Thaleon! You cannot leave me!" I exclaimed, panic and anxiety filling my heart.
"My dearest, lovely Gwinneira.. I cannot stay any longer, I must go back and find the Stormcloacks... Please, you must trust me cousin," Thaleon pleaded, a hint of guilt on his voice.
"I'm going with you," I states coldy, choking on my tears.
"It's too dangerous! Do you know what that worm Ulfric would have done to you had I not shown up when I did? Gwinn, I cannot risk you like that again... You are all I have," he looked away, "besides, there is a town called Lake-town near by, only a day's journey... Wait for me there dear cousin. I shall return for you, I swear on my life."
"Thaleon, no... I need you," I cried clinging to his saddle.
He looked down at me, his blue eyes full of remorse, "make this no harder than it has to be for me... stay safe, I will find you in Lake-town after all is well," Thaleon leaned down to me, kissing me on the forehead one last time, "farewell Gwinn, my dearest."
I watched him ride off, into the night. At that moment I had felt more alone that I ever could have been.
I had known little of Lake-town, seeing as I was only a nineteen year old refugee who knew nearly nothing of the realms of Middle Earth besides that of the northern, snowy, mountain area where Winterhold once stood. I knew merely the names of the major realms. There was Dale, where I knew only of the city Esagaroth (also called Lake-town,) then there was the Rohan, Gondor, and an evil place called Mordor.
On my way to Lake-town I had found myself in somewhat of a predicament, though a kind stranger came to my aid and escorted me on the remaining journey to my destination, however that is a story for another time...
I took shelter in Lake-wood for six years, waiting for word from my cousin. Whence no word reached me of his whereabouts I chose to leave, to travel in search of him. I feared returning to the North, to Winterhold, but I knew that one day I would have to. This is where my story truly begins; two years after I took my leave from Lake-town.
A/N: I know it is a bit short, and I apologize. However, I did not go into detail because I plan to reveal such things throughout the story. However, it is vital that you know a few things; first, Gwinneira is the protagonist if that is not clear... haha she's fairly young, inexperienced, and basically a damsel in distress in the prologue. However, she grows stronger and slightly more wise in her time at Lake-town and on her travels through Middle Earth up until this point. Sadly, because Gwinn is only human and is driven by her own emotional strive, she is very flawed and weak as a person in her shoes would be. Second, I am aware of the term "Mary-Sue" and by my own definition there is not a character out there that has been fan-created that is not a "Mary-Sue" some are perhaps more blatantly ridiculous than others, but I disregard the term and such... This is my story and if you don't like it, then simply don't read it.
LASTLY, and probably MOST importantly... This story takes place during the time of the Fellowship. However, as much of a purist as I am when it comes to fandoms... The plot shall be slightly tweaked in order for my story to take it's intended course. As much as I hate to change the points of the plot in the original Lord of the Rings series, I must change some facts around... Just heed that warning. I promise to make it flow and hold to being accurate as much as I can.
OH, and also, you may have noted the Skyrim references (if you are familiar with what it is)... This is not going to be a cross-over really, but due to a recent obsession of mine I have chosen to make certain aspects of this story relate to Skyrim. Forgive me.