BEFORE WE BEGIN

This is the first fanfic I've posted, so please be nice. idk when this takes place, I'll figure it out later

And no making fun of the newbee if anything's outa whack, this is kind of a test run, getting used to this site.

And I write on Wordpad (my computer had to be reset; stupid viruses), and unfortunately it doesn't have spellcheck so I apologize in advance for any spelling or grammar mistakes you may see.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of Tolkien's works, or any of the characters you may recognize here.

I hope you enjoy!

Cold. It was so, so cold. Everything was dark. And it was raining, the water piercing my hide; my soft baby coat was unable to repel the water. A sweet, sickening smell took over all other senses; I didn't know what it was, but I knew I would never want to smell it again.

Mama? I called, Mama!?

She did not answer. I was scared. And then I realized that the sick smell was coming right from her; I looked over, and Mama lay still, even as I called for her. I called, louder and louder and louder; she wouldn't get up. I blew a harsh puff of air from my nose, trying to block out the paralyzing scent of the dark liquid pouring from her body.

Then there was a new kind of thunder, the kind of thunder my daddy, the leader of our big family, would make with his feet. I've tried to make the same noise too, but it just wasn't the same.

The new thunder stopped, and then there were light kind of footsteps, kind of like mine. I couldn't see who it was, for the rain, flashes, and loud noises made it difficult to make sense of anything. I felt like I was drowning.

Two gentle, strange things grasped my small form, and I was picked up and held by a strange, warm being. I thrashed at the unfamiliarity of it all. I just wanted my Mama!

And then a voice, so sweet, came and took all of the bad things away; it was so unlike my Mama's, which I knew well, or any other thing I'd seen. It was the polar opposite of the things that had taken her life.

I was lifted onto an even taller thing, and it smelled so much like those in my family, and I realized it was one of the things that was in my family, and it brought me great comfort.

A great tremor came and then we were moving faster than I ever have, and I was scared, but the gentle thing held me, and I knew I wouldn't fall.

Then I saw a light, and the moving thing stopped, and the thing that picked me up held me once again, and the other stallion followed him. He began walking quickly towards the lights.

Why do they never cease their walking?

The thing holding me, I realized, did not walk on four legs. He only had two! How then did he-

Light! Light was everywhere, and a few more two-legged ones, and I was brought to a pen. I began to panic; I had never been closed in before! But the two-legged one with the golden hair, the gentle one, stayed with me.

He spoke with the voice to a few others like him, and a few of them ran off; was he the leader? He looked big enough to be the daddy of a bunch of colts and fillies in a herd.

He set me down into a pile of soft yellow stuff, and left the pen; I snorted, displeased and craving his warmth.

~0~0~0~0~0~

"Her herd escaped the meadow in the storm," Glorfindel said, "Orcs had already found them before we could."

"How many?" Elrond swallowed.

"Four, not including her. Two mares, another colt, and a stallion."

"Poor thing," Erestor said. Elves were quite attached to their horses, and this was a hard blow to the occupants of the Valley of Imladris. "At least she made it out."

"What shall we do?" Elladan asked, standing next to his brother and sister, "She cannot yet be weaned. She is too young."

Arwen stood looking over the stall door at the small filly. The foal stared back.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Then there were more voices, and they spoke for a small bit. And a new face peered over the door to my enclosure. She was so pretty, a little strange, but pretty. But not as pretty as my Mama was.

Then the golden-haired one, who was strange like the lady, came over also and let himself in and kneeled down. I leaned for his touch, and he put one of his strange hands on my neck.

He treated me like my Mama treated me. Was he going to be my Mama now?

~0~0~0~0~0~

"Ada?" Arwen said, "Do we have any of the old bottles my the twins' and my youth?"

Elrond seemed taken aback, then understood his daughter's motives.

"Perhaps, though I doubt they would be large enough for a horse," he turned to his sons, "Can you two go see if you can find any?"

The twins nodded and turned and left.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Even though the two-legged one had been kind to me, I was still a foal, and sometimes foals can get cranky.

I had been through a lot; I was tired, I wanted my Mama, and now I was hungry.

I could sense both the protective instinct from the being hovering over me. I knew you could not get milk from the males in our herd, but maybe the two-legged were different?

I butted my head on his chest, and nipped at his abdomen.

A sudden musical sound was emitted from one of the two-legged outside of my pen; soon, others joined in. I didn't understand what was so amusing; I was hungry!

~0~0~0~0~0~

The sound of Erestor's laughter echoed throughout the stable.
"Glorfindel!" he cried, "Are you going to be a mother now?" Arwen giggled.

"She is trying to suckle off of you!"

"I am aware," he laughed as he attempted to pry off the foal who was keen on finding a place to nurse from. He talked softly to the filly, "No, penneth, I am not your Nana!"

The ellon gently pushed the young horse away, and positioned an index finger before the foal's mouth, which was grabbed onto fervently. Glorfindel looked up to the elves looking into the stall.

"Speaking of such," he said, "What would be a proper substitute? We have no other mares here suitable."

"Goat's milk is very similar to mare's milk," Erestor said, "And easily accessible."

Glorfindel turned back to the young horse. They all knew how difficult it would be to raise an orphaned foal; she would have to nurse at least every two hours, and without proper upbringing she could end up having bad behavior, unlike a horse and for like a person. Yes, it would be difficult, but not impossible.

"We could find her a mare without a foal, one who has had foals before," Glorfindel said, "That way she will have some form of guidance in her young years."

He glanced at each Elf in outside the pen, none having any objections. It seemed that all was set-

"Does she have a name?" Arwen said.

Oh, Glorfindel thought.

He observed the horse who still hopefully bit at his finger; she was of dark bay color, and almost seemed black if one saw her from a distance, with two white socks one each of her forelegs; a small star high on her forehead and a white spot on her nose gave her an endearing look. The filly flicked her ears back and forth and shifted her weight, sighing.

"What about Bereniel?" Erestor suggested.

Glorfindel thought over the name in his head. Bereniel. Well, the name certainly fit her.

"Bereniel she shall be, then." Glorfindel smiled, then looked up again as the twins came running back into the stable and spoke to Elrond of what they found, and received the information of the filly's new name. Arwen let herself into the stall and ran her hand over the horse's soft coat.

~0~0~0~0~0~

They called me something, and the strange pretty girl and the one who is trying to be my mama sat in here with me. I was no longer cold, and light was in every corner of the big barn, and there were many scents I knew of and trusted here. And I had a name, too, that rolled off the tongue of these two-legged in a sound I quite enjoyed. I was getting used to this, being here.

I was safe.

Author's Note:

Welp, here ya go. First posted fanfiction, and I'm almost 90% sure I'm not doing any of this right

I am pretty sure 'penneth' means 'little one' in Sindarin, though if I am incorrect please let me know. The name Bereniel is 'beren' and 'iel,' meaning 'bold' and 'daughter of' basically, but once again if I am incorrect please let me know

Also I am well aware that there probably were not baby bottles used in Middle Earth at all, I really didn't look up if there could have been or not, so... yeah. I know, I'm just too lazy to think of an alternative.

Horse Terminology:

bay - a coat color (just google 'dark bay horse' and you should see a pretty accurate depiction of what I was aiming for here)

star - yep, just a white star on the horse's forehead. A facial marking

foal - baby horse (under 4 years)

filly - female baby horse

colt - male baby horse

mare - female horse (over 4 years)

stallion - male horse (over 4 years)