A/N: Hello everyone! Like the summary says, I am a newbie here…just fooling around, trying to get my long-dormant writing groove back. Since the Twilight series is so much in my brain these days, I thought it might be fun to pick up with Renesmee a few years post-Breaking Dawn. I have no precise plot in mind right now—I am just getting my feet wet and going wherever it takes me. This is very short—I humbly submit it for your constructive criticism.  As seems to be routine here, I also would like to point out that I am not Stephenie Meyer, I don't know her or own any of the products of her mind (although I do enjoy them a great deal!)

Anyways….

Chapter 1

Renesmee

I felt him before I saw him.

I felt his breath, hot and humid at my back; felt the slight tremor of the earth under his massive approaching paws.

Even alone in the forest, freckled with the moonlight where it broke through the canopy above, I felt these things and was not afraid.

Slowly, I turned to face the werewolf. And I smiled.

"Did you really think you could sneak up on me, Jacob Black?" Over my shoulder, I tossed him my best mock-withering stare.

My best friend in the universe only looked at me and laughed. Or barked, depending on your perspective. He leaned down on his front legs so his black eyes were almost level with mine and bobbed his head from side to side, with his tongue flapping over his teeth. Perfect—the canine approximation of sass.

With an amused sigh, I patted the living ground beside me. He flopped down at once and gave a contented huff as I curled up into the coarse russet fur at his flank. Absent-mindedly stroking his shoulder, I grinned to myself at the image of us here in the navy blue night…just another girl and her dog.

Her horse-sized, shape-shifting, vampire-shredding dog.

Deep, curious eyes blinked at me as I giggled in wonder. Despite being born into a world of fantasy and legend—indeed, born because of it—I was still sometimes taken aback by the hysterical absurdity of my existence.

I altered my position slightly, leaning my back into Jacob's side and pulling my hair forward to drape over my shoulders. It hung almost to my elbows—getting too long again, I noted with idle annoyance. Even the current length was the result of a compromise, since my mother and aunts would have been content to let my thick curls cascade to my waist. My mind wandered as I watched the ice-blue moonlight glint pale, ethereal violet against the reddish tint of my hair.

A disgruntled whine in my ear interrupted my trance—Jake wanted to know what I was thinking about. I rolled my eyes at him, but slipped my hand under his fur anyway, pressing my palm to his body and allowing him entrance to the random world of my internal musings. I gave my thoughts free reign as they bubbled to the surface of my consciousness, from the banal details of my very average day to the awe I felt for these ancient woods and their endless mystery.

My werewolf companion happily listened to my silent blathering, somehow still as satisfied by my mere presence as he had been since the day I was born. I didn't realize that I had fallen asleep until I felt Jacob's smooth, bare human arms deposit me into another's embrace—equally gentle yet hard and cold as marble. As I toed the line between dream and reality, I thought I heard my father chuckle softly.