Nothing from the Lord of the Rings belongs to me. It is all Tolkien.
Istari. Radagast the Brown, they call me. At least when they feel polite enough. But I know what they call me when I am not around. 'The Foolish', 'Simple', 'Gullible', even 'Boring' and 'Useless'. Most were invented by the traitor, Saruman. The last was, I believe, a favorite of his. Yet for all his grand planning, the Clever Istari's precious schemes, I am left standing. He is not.
They shall all fall, soon. Even as Gandalf scurried around Arda like a scalded cat, as Saruman plotted in his tower, as Galadriel watched in her mirror, as Elrond guided the heirs of Isildur, I was busy. They had no real use for me. The only reason my name was remembered was because I was not fool enough to get myself lost in the wilds as the lesser wizards did.
They thought they had pushed me aside- "Go talk with those nice little forest creatures and gather them up to fight against the Dark Lord". Amazingly enough, this condescending directive was given with a straight face. As such did I take it. And thus they planned their own destruction.
I have a great love for nature. My Lady, Yavanna, taught me more of its' secrets than anyone else. While Gandalf was fawning at the feet of the ever-crying Nienna, I was learning about everything that lived and grew under Yavanna's careful hand. What few know is that I then went to Ulmo, and learned about the creatures under the waves as well. I have always had the ability to save or destroy with this knowledge.
Did you know that I can talk to fish?
When that idiotic human, weak and pathetic little mortal that he was, refused to destroy the ring, I knew my duty. When he fell in a stream, all the Wise Council thought it lost, and settled in for a long wait, with one eye warily towards the East. I was rather busy myself.
Birds make useful spies. As do insects. Trees whisper on the winds secrets never shared except with me. Underestimating is a dangerous mistake, especially since one rarely gets to make it again. Quietly, the fish swam through streams, searching, seeking, searching.
I fully intended to simply find the ring. What use would I have of such an evil item? As long as I could revel in the wonders of natural beauty, there was naught else I had need of. I had, and still have, no lusting after power. I do not seek to conquer great lands.
Then I met the Elven rings. Deceitfully beautiful, my heart tore in sorrow at their power. Were they blind, to not see that the rings were horrible? Who could dare to tame a fire? To direct water? To so imprison the wind! Hypocrites all! For all that the Elves supposedly seek to live at harmony with nature, they twisted it to their own pleasures, building cities according to their own desires. Nature was meant to run free, and the oh-so-wise Elves made a pretty little cage for it and then sung praises to the mockery of its' true beauty. Gilded or not, it was still a cage. And I saw what I had to do, even as Gandalf betrayed me and condoned this sacrilege by taking on Narya.
They all became the enemy. I had to save Arda from their folly. So I worked, and watched, and prepared. Most importantly, I searched. And eventually, I found what I was looking for.
The One Ring is mine.
All mine. Yet I do not seek to destroy, as that petty, cruel fool who labeled himself THE Dark Lord. As if Melkor had not tried before and failed. No, all I seek is to restore Arda to her glory, or at least as close as I can get. The forests will rule, the waters spring forth, wild, and winds shall run in never-ending circles around Arda.
This is not for me! I am not selfish. All I seek is to bring this as a token to those I serve. Yavanna has sorrowed so over so much of her creation, lost to cruel, ignorant, haughty hands. I merely wish to restore what was broken. I am a healer, I will restore what was lost.
They rise against me, now. Men, angry that their 'birthright' was taken. A few Dwarves, though most have delved deeper, thinking I will never find them. Fools. The remaining Elves, though I think their complaint has more to do with the fact that I have held them responsible for their sins. It was not an accident, the fires at Alqualondë. Destruction comes as readily from their fingertips as from any other, they need not think themselves so high.
An army is coming, indeed, it is very close at hand. Thinking, of course, that it will be very easy to defeat me. Do they not realize that I have the One Ring, which is above all others? Do they not realize how long I have been planning this? That at my beck and call are all the birds that fly? The trees, the very grass beneath their feet, will answer me and fight. Killing an orc is easy enough-
Tell me, how exactly will you defeat the roots of a thousand trees, crawling in the ground underneath you? Millions of insects, smaller than your hand? The elements they have controlled, rebelling now?
I will win this war, and will claim myself a new title. Radagast the Restorer. Radagast the Purifier. The Bringer of Nature.
I rather like those titles.
For anyone who is a Radagast fan, please don't hate me. I like him, really I do. And I don't think he would try to take over the world. But it came to me, and I had to write it. Besides, I don't think he would be evil about it. He just wants to set it all right...mostly.