Description:

Sauron is destroyed. However, one of the Nazgul manages to flee from the destruction. He is found by one of the istari, the Orange Wizard, Hyano. After taking him in, she doesn't yet realize that she set a series of happenings in motion, which will change both of their lives.

A/N: This story is the result of more than a year of RPing between us (Cublove and avpke). And we didn't yet finish! We will post 1 chapter a week, just to keep the interest going. We know what you guys think, seeing the title and the description. You think, that this is going to be a sappy story, where the wizard teaches the Nazgul how to be nice, perhaps adding some romance to it, then in the end the wraith will have a human form and they live happily ever after.

Forget that.

This one won't be your average adventure, romance, comedy story you read all around. This one is more than that. We avoided many mistakes that others make in their own. The Nazgul does not gain any human emotions, the wizard will not forget her istari nature. Clashing of opinion, lifestyles, awkward moments, and humorous outcomes are guaranteed.

Enjoy!

Cublove&avpke

CA Productions

Disclaimer: We don't own LotR, but we own the plot of this story, and all that was created outside what Tolkien included in his books. Cublove owns Hyano, the Orange Wizard, avpke owns Ren the Nazgul. All OCs and custom races appearing in this story are our creation. Please don't steal anything.

Chapter 1 – Dark Storm

The world was burning. Set ablaze by the war, the will of man, fighting battles, giving and receiving death from the dark creatures. The combat took place on land and air, the Black Gates were sieged. Dark smoke rose in the air, melding with the ugly black clouds, creating a thundering storm the world never saw before. When everything seemed to be lost, Mount Doom erupted, ceasing the existence of many enemies and friends alike…. The destruction and fall of Barad-Dur brought a cleansing wave across the land, pushing the shadows outward, away from Middle-Earth in a form of sweeping angry storm. There was no time to prepare…

West of Mordor

Hyano looked up at the sky inspecting the clouds with her bright green eyes, brushing her unruly long brown locks out of the way. As the late student of an istar born to predict nature and live within it, she knew much about the speed of the rain clouds, so thought she had a few more hours to gather the food and herbs she was looking for, then bolt back home before it started to rain. The little girl, as the child she was, hopped onto a log and started to walk down it balancing like most children do. Her orange wizard garb was just slightly too big for her but she seemed to easily make do. She grabbed her hat and flipped off of the log before hitting it with her staff. She watched as it cracked open and various plant life that had fed on the dead log's insides fell out. She looked through the mass of moss and dirt until she found what she was looking for.

Mushrooms.

"Mmmm, I wish my master was here. He would have loved these." She said with a giggle before putting the mushrooms in her pouch. Her master, Radagast had loved mushrooms. Maybe a little too much in most opinions but she always found it funny how strange he would get when he would eat the really funny looking ones. She started to walk again, then yelped as a bolt of thunder clapped, making her freeze. She loved all things about nature. All except that. Well, that and snow but that the most. She couldn't stand thunder. As the rain started to pour like it had been given a signal by the thunder before it, Hyano gave the sky a pout like a child. Alright, she had been wrong about how long until the rain started. But couldn't it have at least waited until she got everything she needed first? She sighed, then turned to start back for her hut. There was no use trying now. She would have to come back when the storm cleared or tomorrow morning. Whichever came first…

The moment the little wizard started walking back the storm seemed to worsen by each second. Just like a wave in an ocean, the sudden harsh force of the wind swept along the forest, pushing everything down by its sheer power. Noises of a far away land were carried for a long distance, dust, the stench of blood... Death... All coming from the east, from a dark land. The rain seemed to stop for a moment, giving way to the harsher power of the storm, while the sky darkened dangerously, coloring almost black... Groaning as far-away thunders could be heard from a distance. The wind came in waves, pushing down anything in its path, then gave relief for a few seconds to the occupants of the forest to regain some of their bearings, before another wave followed.

The wizard was knocked off of her feet countless times by the sheer force of the storm. She had expected some rainfall but nothing in this even felt natural. It felt like some wizard was playing with the weather for fun. She gritted her teeth and used her staff to help herself up, though, she wasn't able to get much farther than that. She gripped her staff tightly trying to push against the rain and wind until a thunderclap shocked her, making her curl in on herself.

Soon, the forest became as dark as at night, as the clouds shielded away every light of the sun, swirling angrily, pushing further westwards by a greater force. Everything seemed to go silent for a little while after a much harsher wave of the wind... The rain returned, first silently, then stronger again, as if checking if the coast was clear before daring to fall once more. But the peace was broken by one single lightning, which flashed, coating the forest in a golden glow, striking a tree not far from the wizard herself. The thunder that followed drummed in every being's ears like war drums, drowning out every sound of nature. But the thunder didn't come alone...

Not even a second after nature's harsh music, ripping and breaking of branches could be heard from a tree above the girl, parts of the tree gave way and fell, the foliage parting to let something rather heavy pass through, a sharp shriek sounding from the dark figure. It landed with a heavy thud on the wet ground, splashing loudly in the mud, making her jump and roll away on the now muddy ground. And after that...

Everything fell silent. Even the rain started to pull back, only falling faintly, barely, silently.

She cringed, then blinked and looked up at the sky as everything started to clear slightly. Was nature just trying to mess with her today? She thought before sitting up and looked around. The forest was a slight mess from the storm but nothing it wasn't used to she was sure. She herself was now soaked to the bone and covered in mud. Lucky for her she wasn't hurt, save for a few scratches from various twigs that had been blown around.

Her eyes finally landed on where she had heard the crash. She had honestly thought it was a tree that had fallen over. Not even close. She stepped closer to what she guessed was a man. She couldn't really tell. He was shrouded in a black cloak and armor and no matter how much she tried she couldn't for the life of her see his face. She gulped then, reached her staff out to him to poke him lightly to see if whatever it was had any life left.

The poking seemed to have some kind of effect, as after a few jabs, the being let out a faint groan, stirring slowly, having trouble to maintain it's conscious. Or was it of pain? One could never tell. Slowly, but surely, the grey metallic gauntlet of the being started gripping the ground, sinking its sharp tips into the mud, as it formed its hands into fists. Yet again, almost in slow-motion, the dark figure started lifting itself, first letting its back arch, then finally managed to hold itself up by its hands and knees. Its hooded head traveled from the mud forward, then up, hissing once. Something an angry snake might sound at a dog. It most certainly did not like the rain, or was complaining because of the fall, but one was sure… It did not notice the wizard. Instead, constantly hissing, it drew back, backing up against the tree it fell through and pulled back from the rain, sitting there in the mud. But at least the rain did not reach it anymore. It soon lowered its head, the sharp sound it gave out died down and stayed silent.

The girl cringed at the sound the creature made. She only ever heard a sound like that from creatures near death. She watched as it slowly moved, then backed away against the rather broken tree. 'He was lucky no tree herders lived near here.' She thought, then stepped closer to him. Even though his cloak and armor made it hard to see where exactly the damage was it didn't take a genius to realize that someone who fell from who knows how high is likely in bad shape. She thought then whistled. She didn't seem to make any sound but then out of nowhere a grow of rather large rabbit jumped over the log she had been playing on not too long ago dragging a sled behind them. She caught the back of the sled and held it. When she let go though, the rabbits bolted again. Apparently the feel of the darkness that came off the Wraith was more than enough to scare off the creatures.

"...stupid rabbits." she mumbled along with a few wizard curses. No matter how well one trained a rabbit, the fear that lives in them always overpowered everything. She sighed, then looked to the man...well she thought he was a man at least. She then stepped towards him. "Um... hello? Uh... can you get up?" she asked, not sure what else there was to say at this point.

He did not know where he was. He did not know what happened, how he came here. He embraced his cloaked form with his armored hands, as if cold or afraid, a shudder running through his form. Well, faintly he did remember. He knew he was hurrying towards Mount Doom with his brethren to get the ring from the hobbit that intended to destroy it. But they were late. The volcano erupted in a flash, sending many of his brothers to the Void, joining their forefathers in the nothingness... But he did not... He was too far yet so close. And his master? His supporting and guiding whispers suddenly died down, leaving him alone... cold and without purpose. He tightened his grip on his form at this memory, feeling that same feeling come over him again. He knew he had to flee, so did... But there was no guide that told him where to go... No... He simply flew away on his fellbeast, only to be defeated by the harsh storm... and here he was... Uncertainty was unknown to his kind, as their Dark Lord always gave them direct orders... But this time, there was none. No matter how he asked for it in his mind. Repeating the same sentence in his tongue, pleading his master for guidance...

This was when he heard a faint voice call to him. He turned his hooded head sharply, expecting something... else... He stared at the figure for a long time, not sure what to think or do... let alone say. He did not understand what this one uttered, nor did he want to. He couldn't see the figure clearly, his vision becoming blurry, despite the darkness around them. He felt something come over him which he thought he forgot for many thousand years... Fatigue. He did not answer to her question, but kept staring, not moving an inch.

She looked at him sadly. Despite his big form that could easily crush her, to her he looked scared like many of the other wounded animals she took care of. She couldn't see his face but his actions weren't hard to understand. He had a human-like body but he seemed to act more like an animal. Like a pet that lost its master. What made matters difficult, though, was he didn't seem to understand her. She thought for a moment, then got a determined look in her eyes before stepping back from him.

"Alright, big man. Let's try this." she said, then snapped her fingers. It was a parent's trick. One her master used to use when he wanted her attention or for her to follow him. She hoped he would be able to understand it and make an attempt at getting up to follow her.

He was about to look away from the figure and go back to his previous thoughts, losing interest, but then he heard this strange... sharp sound coming from this being. His dark hooded head snapped to her once more and watched her for a little while, unsure what it was she did, how she did it or why. He loosened his grip on his form and ceased all movement, startled and curious. After a few seconds, he tilted his head slightly to the side, but after a while he lost interest once more, simply dismissing her existence as it was. He returned to hugging his form tightly, trying to make sense of all the thoughts swirling in his mind, and doing all he could in his remaining power to ignore the being close to him. Maybe if he did not react to anything or stayed still she will go away and leave him alone…

She blinked surprised he had actually reacted. Then pouted when he looked away again. Well, at least she knew he could hear alright. She thought for a moment, then did it again. When he didn't react, though, this made her think that maybe she had been wrong. She shook her head, shaking away any negative thoughts. If he was going to make this difficult she would have to get even more determined. She ran up to him and without thinking twice she grabbed his arm and tried to pull him to his feet. It was rather futile considering how much bigger than her he was but that didn't stop her from trying none the less. One of the upsides of being a female. Hardheadedness was given. Alright, maybe it was both a good and bad thing.

To say the least, this was something he did not expect happening. No one has ever touched him this way... The disrespect! The wraith was taken aback and was shocked by her boldness, and not used to such touches, he let out a shrill screech, tensing up, then jerked his hand away from her grip and pushed her away, not caring with which force or what consequences it had. He hissed lowly and dangerously at the being, before huddling closer to the tree, hugging his cloak once more, now watching the creature he still couldn't identify. He started to wonder what it could be... Because of her... lack of reaction to his dark aura, he dismissed the possibility of it being a simple human. The size told him it might be a dwarf? But its voice was so... high-pitched...

She yelped as she fell back into the mud and cringed mumbled various wizard curses as she got covered in a fresh coat of mud. She pouted at the man who was obviously angry at her for trying to grab him.

"Well, if you were more helpful I wouldn't have to." she mumbled, then stood up. There was a slight sense of satisfaction and accomplishment on the Nazgul's part as she stood with all the... 'fluid dirt' covering her. He held his head higher to show his dominance and finality about all this.

"Hold on a moment." she said, holding up her index finger to the dark creature. She said a spell, then slammed her staff down. All the mud and water that had covered her flung off in various directions, leaving her as clean and dry as when she started. "Much better." she sighed happily, then dusted herself off with her free hand. She then turned back to the Wraith and instantly regretted what she had just done, forgetting that the mud and water went in ALL directions. "...Uh... whoops..."

He lowered his head just a bit to watch her curiously as she held up her index finger to him. He never saw this gesture before... He tilted his head this way, then that, unsure what to think of it, then followed her movements as she slammed her... staff down. Which came next was... more than mildly surprising. She was... shaking herself clean without actually making a move, the prickling and aura of magic was heavy in the air as he felt his own spectral body shrink back and react to it. But this was short-lived. Some of the mud and water that decorated her robe now slammed onto his own robe and around him, one part almost found its way into his hood... But he was lucky. He didn't move an inch after, just stared at her long and hard. His anger was slowly but surely rising with each second, his gauntleted hands grasped the mud beneath his fingers in a fist. He let go of the... 'fluid dirt'... and slowly started picking at his dark clothing, removing some mud from it as best as he could, before simply flinging it back at her, successfully re-decorating her own robe with it. He uttered angry words along this action. Words that she surely did not understand. It was fluid like that of the elves', but harsher and stronger, what he said was surely a curse or ranting, maybe complaining...

She yelped as she was hit with the mud and blinked, then heard him and couldn't help thinking it sounded like an angered child. When matching the sound to his body she couldn't help but start to laugh at him. First, it started as a giggle then she all out laughed at him.

He was already angered by what she did, and now she was laughing at him? This was one thing he understood. He felt his tired body shaking with fury, and his hands formed into fists, feeling greatly offended. He was not joking around... he will kill her if she annoys him again!

"For a big man you act like a bigger child than I am." she told him, sure he couldn't understand her anyway so saying something like that wouldn't matter. She was cut short, though, by the sound of people coming their way. Likely a hunting party looking for some game. Hyano discouraged the act of killing animals but she did not stop them either. She could tell they were still a distance away but that didn't mean she had time to play around. She looked towards the Wraith and decided that she couldn't leave him here. Alright. One step at a time.

"Up." she said, using her hands to make it look like she was pushing something up. "Danger." she said again, pointing in the direction of the hunting party. "Come." was her last word waving her hands toward her. It was her last chance to hopefully get him to understand he needed to come with her.

He completely missed the sound of people nearing because of his anger. And laughing was the last straw. He tensed up to try and stand, but stopped when she turned back to him. If he had a face, he would have frowned. He understood the first gesture very well. She wanted him to stand. Does she think he will just so obey her? Like a little puppy following his master? Well, he would obey their Dark Lord... but not a mere... something... Then, she gestured away from them, saying something he didn't understand. This was when his own keen senses finally opened and could detect the sound of many feet thundering against the ground. They are still far away... He looked left and right, then finally used some of his strength to try and stand... but the mud was holding him back, his robes all stuck in it. While he struggled, he completely missed her last gesture.

She didn't see that he had missed her last instruction. Kind of hard to see when the person one is talking to doesn't have much of a face. She did notice however that he was having trouble getting up. If he couldn't even do this much on his own, they were going to be in trouble. She thought, then ran up and fell in the mud in front of him on purpose so she was in the same position as him. She then pointed to her staff before using it to help herself up.

"Use." she told him before thrusting the staff into his hand. In her hands the staff was much taller than she was but in his hands it was about the size of a rather thick cane. It was covered in various spells and writings. Some of elven descend, others from languages long forgotten. She then grabbed his free hand and put it on her shoulder so he could push off of her as well. If he could understand it this is going to probably hurt, especially with all that metal covering his hands. She looked up at him and pushed her hands away from the ground. "Push." she told him then braced herself.

He stopped his struggle when he was yet again surprised by her sudden actions. All he could do was stare at her as she sat next to him, not understanding what she wanted to accomplish with this. If she was trying to mock him... Dark Lord save her soul... But he stopped these thoughts when she gestured to him a few times, following her movements with his hooded head, then grasped the staff that was shoved into his hands. It wasn't so easy to hold onto it though. His dark aura didn't like the spells imbued on it, nor did the spells like him, which created a funny situation where he just sat there with the staff in his hands, unable to truly move. She could feel her staff's dislike for the man the moment she put it in his hand but in her mind they both would have to deal with it. After she put his hand on her shoulder and showed him to push himself up, he finally was snapped out of his concentration and looked at her, his hand on her shoulder, then finally at the staff. His tired mind soon seemed to grasp what she wanted, piecing together the given instructions. Soon, he did as he was told... for now. He used the staff and made sure to apply quite the pressure on her shoulder as well, just as payback for her laughing, and finally, his robes came free of the ... fluid dirt... and he stood, almost skipping on the mud.

At first she thought he hadn't been able to understand her instructions but then he put pressure on her. Yes, he understood it fine. Though, even by bracing herself he was still far too heavy for the girl and the added pressure from him being an annoyance didn't help either. By the time he finally got to his feet she had fallen to her hands and knees, panting.

"You... need a diet." she panted out before forcing herself to her feet. He still looked far too weak to get very far much less move over objects like fallen trees and boulders. This meant she would have to take the long way back home. And that's even if he can walk that far. She sighed, then waved for him to follow her, not bothering to take her staff back yet. She assumed he would need it to help with the travel home. "Come." she said as she started walking.

Once he was standing on his feet, and was sure he won't fall forward, he took his time to look around, although his blurred vision gave him little options. Once she gestured for him to follow, he hesitated. He didn't trust her. No matter if she helped him up... She was still annoying, and someone who had something to do with magic, if the spells on the staff were something to go by. He gripped the object tighter, feeling the magic protest, but because of his weakened state he could not push it back, let alone try to fight the spells. One thing was sure though... He won't give it back to her for a good while. Not even when she asks for it. He will keep it for a while. Once she started walking away from him, he still remained in the same position, stubbornly refusing to move or follow, not wanting to obey her. Only his master can give him orders, which he would comply without a second thought. But this... His train of thoughts were interrupted by the sound of steps getting closer. His hooded head turned into the direction where the noises came from, then gazed back where the little... dwarf, was it? So where she was going... He looked at the staff before shaking his head and following her for now. Just until he was sure they won't spot him... No further!

A/N: there ya go. First chapter.

Please take your time to click in that little square and tell us what you think.

Thank you!

CA productions