DISCLAIMER!: I do NOT own The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings in any way - Tolkien has that honor. I have written this purely for amusement-purposes, and I receive no credit. On that note; read on.
My dear Frodo.
I know you will meet her one day. That woman I met during my adventures. You mustn't doubt her when you do. She is a good woman, one of the finest I have ever met. Had things gone differently, I might not have ended up as a single old man in a hole.
Her name is Tara. And before you can understand exactly how special she is – I need to tell you everything. Now, mind you, all of this I have heard from Tara herself. So if it sounds strange, then pay no mind – you can ask her when you meet her.
It all began quite simply; Once upon a time, she saw a hobbit in a hole.
"I'm so sleepy!" a loud yawning voice exclaimed. A pair of blue eyes blinked rapidly, trying to stay awake to watch the last part of "The Fellowship of the Ring". She had decided to watch all three 'Lord of the Rings'-movies this weekend; but due to a rather unfortunate, and previously unknown, history report... She had started off a little late.
A few knocks on her wall made young Tara Wyatt jump out of her skin, and she glared at the thin excuse for a wall; which was currently being molested by her younger brother, Dawson. Who had ever inspired that brat to bother his beloved older sister at this late hour, Tara would never know. She quickly banged her own hand against the door, and she heard the unmistakable yelp Dawson exclaimed in surprise. Tara laughed manically - without sound, mind you – as she returned to her movie.
And as she saw Frodo rescue the drowning Sam and pull him into the boat, she wondered to herself. What was the time? She slowly refocused her eyes from the television to her digital clock, which read... 02:13? No wonder she was tired. She yawned once more, as she used the Start-button on her joypad for the PlayStation 3 to pause the DVD.
"Well, might as well get ready for bed. I doubt I'll do it after the movie," she pointed out for herself, as she slowly exited the comfort of her bed. She winced as her bare feet touched the cold wooden floor beneath her. That was the problem with getting out of bed! If only all rooms had floor heating, then all schools would notice a huge attendance rise, she was sure of it.
As she proceeded to the bathroom, pulling up her ridiculously large pajamas pants from falling down to her knees every few seconds, she practically ran into her stepdad; Allan Long. He was half Chinese, and nice enough and all, but he was no dad. But the man smiled at the sight of her.
"Hey Tara. You not sleeping yet?" he asked with a grin, and Tara smiled back, shrugging.
"Naah. But are you surprised? You've caught me snooping around at night often enough," she pointed out, and Allan laughed as Tara walked to the bathroom door.
"True. At least this time you're not raiding your mom's liquor cabinet," Allan said with a wink. Tara wrinkled her nose.
"One-time-occurrence only! Besides, why are you already home? Don't you work late the first weekend every month?" she asked. Allan was a night worker at a construction site in Downtown. Usually, he worked until at least 4 am the two nights in the first weekend of every month.
"I was given leave early because Dawson's birthday is tomorrow," Allan said with a relieved sigh, and Tara whistled quietly.
"I'm amazed your boss allowed you. He didn't even do that for Christmas!" Tara pointed out with a raised eyebrow. Allan hadn't been very amusing company when he had only slept three hours before Christmas Eve, having to participate in a rather large Christmas party, and then having to go to work again ten o'clock. Allan groaned at the memory.
"Don't remind me. But I think Mr. Stykes knows he's worked me too much these past few months, so he's trying to limit my pay for next month to make up for it." Tara giggled, nodding. Sounded like Mr. Stykes.
"Well, get some shuteye, Allan. Dawson will probably be awaiting his breakfast-on-the-bed from you and Mom very early tomorrow morning," Tara reminded him, and Allan sighed deeply.
"Ah yes... Well, good night. Remember to sleep yourself," he said with a smile, tentatively rubbing Tara's head for a bit, before moving to the end of the hallway, to the bedroom he shared with Tara's mom.
After a quick brushing of the teeth, Tara moved back into the room. She stood in front of her closed door for a second, contemplating on her own. What should she do, hmm? She looked at the TV. Should she continue watching the movies? She looked at her collection of games. Should she try to complete Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, so she could move on to the recent additions to the series? Or should she, she thought as she looked to her bed; be sensible and go to bed?
And as always, logic didn't win with Tara. So she quickly sat down in her bed, pulling the duvet closely around her and the pillow held into herself, as she joyfully started the movie again.
But not much time passed, of course; before Tara dozed off to sleep. A very deep sleep.
/ Tara's Tale: Chapter 1 \\
She was falling. Falling deeper and deeper. The air around her was like water, suffocating her and squeezing her together. It hurt. Her body ached.
Pitch black darkness. A slow glow started to resonate around her. She liked the glow. It was kinder than the darkness. The glow intensified to the point where it hurt her eyes. It wasn't a comfortable glow anymore. It was like a burning fire, an inferno.
She turned around and screamed. The Eye.
Tara jumped up from her bed, the cold fear dripping off her body in sweat. What? She put her hands onto her face; feeling the heat and dampness. What a horrible nightmare. But hadn't she seen the Fiery Eye somewhere before?
She groaned, hitting her forehead several times in frustration. Why couldn't she remember!? She was sure she'd seen it before!
"There is no reason to harm yourself. You were barely alive when we found you."
Tara slowly opened her eyes; removing her hands from her face. It was not until this very moment, that Tara realized she was not in her own room anymore. Her own room could never look so beautiful. The walls were the purest white, so white it almost looked like it glowed in the sunlight. Her bed was soft and the sheets felt like water against her skin. And the man who had entered, she knew. But not from home. No, he was unlike any man from home.
"Lord Elrond," she muttered, looking at the Elf in disbelief. She couldn't believe this. Was this some sort of practical joke? But everything looked so... Well, real! The man nodded, looking back towards the archway through which he had entered the room.
He spoke something in Elvish, which of course Tara did not understand. Except one word, a name.
Arwen.
The most beautiful woman she had ever seen entered the room, and Tara felt her eyes bulge out of her eye sockets. Elves were supposed to be beautiful, this was a stressed point throughout all lore, but this was crazy! Arwen smiled at her, baffling Tara further.
"I am glad you are well, Milady. When our scouts returned with you, we thought you were beyond help," Arwen said with a kind voice, and Tara blinked, confused. She slowly removed the duvet from her body, seeing that she was clad in one of the white Elven robes. She slowly got out of bed, marveling at the fact that the stone floors of the room were warmer than her wooden ones at home.
"What happened?" she asked cautiously, looking at her hands. It hurt to move. She felt stiff... How long had she slept?
"Our scouts returned with you. Your entire body was in horrible shape; broken bones and bruises everywhere. It has been a week since then," Elrond got her up to speed, and Tara blinked, confused. Broken bones? Bruises? She didn't remember anything like that. She fell asleep yesterday, in her room, and here she was.
She remembered… Falling, falling through water. And... The Great Eye of Sauron!
Tara jumped in exasperation, startling the two Elves.
"I know where I am!" she yelled in surprise. The confusion of her hosts' faces were evident, as she shook her head. She could scarcely believe it herself. "Rivendell! Elf-city!"
It was hard to process. Rivendell.
First off, how did she get there? The Elves couldn't help her – they just said they had found her, broken on the ground, a few miles west of their territory. It had been as though she had fallen out of a tower, apparently, so she assumed that she had fallen onto Middle Earth in her sleep. Ouch...
She was still human, no pointy ears, but the Elves seemed to think something was special about her. Apparently, she had rambled off some things during sleep, which they saw as an omen. Well, a dream of the Eye of Sauron was reason enough to be cautious, she assumed.
For now, Tara was wandering around in Rivendell. Everywhere she went, she saw Elves following her with their bright eyes, some of them beginning to whisper of her when they saw her. It was unnerving; Tara felt out of place already. Her hair, dyed a very strong red, was very uncommon in an Elf-city, not to mention Middle Earth in total. The science of dying your hair an artificial color hadn't reached Middle Earth yet, so they all thought her hair was as red as blood by nature. Unnerving for them, she supposed.
Her only real company was Arwen and Elrond. The rest seemed too suspicious to approach her. After having walked through the beautiful city for a good while, she sat down on one of the white benches near a large, beautiful fountain, and she sighed. Her hair was brushed meticulously, something she suspected Arwen of, and her body was clad in the same white dress she had awoken in. It might only be intended as a nightgown, but it was too beautiful all the same. It was simple, a bit tight around the right places, but also so comfortable. Her feet were bare; she wasn't cold though.
She sighed deeply, once more, shaking her head in the meantime.
"I'm not sure about all this."
A small sound indicated Tara had company, and she looked up. In front of her stood a female Elf, as fair as can be, and with a cautious smile on her face. She had a similar white gown draped on her body as Tara, and her hair was held into a fancy assortment of braids by silver strings.
"Please excuse me, but you seemed lonely," the woman said with a smile, and Tara smiled back. Damn Elves and their contagious smiles.
"I am, just a bit. I feel out of place, and yet I have nowhere else to be." That was perhaps the worst part of it. She had no idea how to get back home. She was certain she had done nothing to be thrown here of all place, so why had it been done? Some stupid Magic User with a sick humor?
"Have you no home?"
Tara shook her head.
"I do, somewhere. But I don't know how to get back there, or how I came to be here in the first place."
"I see. What are you-"
Erebor.
The Kingdom Under the Mountain.
Evil is coming; Smaug, Azog, Gollum, Saruman, SAURON.
The One Ring – It will not wait much longer.
Mithrandir is setting out. The shadow is coming.
Her eyes fluttered open. She felt drained and so, so tired. She groaned loudly, reaching up to her head. But before she could reach it – and somehow get ahold of this nasty headache – a cold hand grabbed hers, pulling it to them.
"Are you awake, milady?"
Tara looked to her right. It was the elven woman who had sat next to her. The moonlight illuminated her, making her have an almost luminescent aura of divinity. Wait a sec - Tara's eyes widened - moonlight?
She sat up straight so fast, you would think some supernatural force had forced her up. She surprised the Elf next to her, and her headache caused her to swear.
"I'm awake" she groaned, and the Elf nodded.
"So I see."
Tara smiled humorlessly, and looked at the Elf once more. She seemed nervous – shaken. Had she said something in her sleep again? She had to ask.
"Did I... Say something?" she asked, and the Elf shuddered.
"You spoke of great Evil, milady. That it would not wait any longer. You mentioned he whose name we all fear."
Tara nodded. That's what she thought. She looked back at the Elf. She seemed worried, frightened and so many other uncomfortable things at the same time. Tara felt bad for her, but she couldn't really tell her the truth. Not until she was sure about what was going on. Tara had read a LOT of fanfiction concerning her current situation, and every single one stressed the importance of feigning ignorance to what was going to happen to the people inside the world.
"I know. Can you do me a favor and get Lord Elrond? I should talk to him," she whispered, and the Elf quickly left her bedside. Tara could only imagine what it would do to a being of Middle Earth for a complete stranger to say Sauron's name in their sleep.
Tara sighed, swinging her legs over the side of her bed, trying to get her head sorted out. Too many thoughts were running through it for her to be sane – clips and bits of the movies, and some not from the movies – some things she shouldn't know. She couldn't quite gather what had happened.
"You asked for me."
Tara looked up, seeing Elrond enter her room. She nodded, sighing slightly at the sight. She had to explain it to him, in a way he would be able to understand.
"Dieena told me, you mentioned evils in your sleep." Elrond approached the topic before her; he had seated himself on a fine wooden chair next to her bed, and she nodded.
"I do. I... I cannot tell you how, but I know things. Before I know how much I can tell you, I must ask; has a Hobbit ever come through Rivendell in your time?"
Elrond seemed surprised at this question. Hobbits were a folk not many knew; they had not left Shire for many years. Elrond had never actually seen one in person, and Tara nodded at this. That meant that Bilbo hadn't even been through Rivendell yet. So then, she was in Rivendell even before the events of The Hobbit? That severely limited what she could tell Elrond.
"Well, I have seen a time where Hobbits will come through Rivendell. Where the fate of entire countries rests on the shoulders of Hobbits. And I have seen the past; I have seen your battle with Sauron, how you urged Isildur to throw the One Ring into the fires of Mount Doom, and how the strength of Men failed."
As you can imagine, this led to a very long night. Elrond tried to ask Tara for as much information as possible, and Tara came to use one of the oldest excuses in the kind of fanfics that described her current predicament; "If I tell you, the future will be changed. And perhaps not for the better."
Elrond paced back and forth in the room, trying to make sense of what little Tara had told him.
"So you say, you see the future in these dreams you have?"
Tara nodded.
"Yes."
"So you are familiar with Magic?"
This time, it was a shake of the head.
"No. I can't explain why, but for as long as I can remember, I have had the knowledge of this world's future in my head."
It was a satisfactory explanation, no? Elrond seemed even more thoughtful.
"I have not seen a Seer among Man for many years," he thought aloud, and Tara smiled, shrugging. She herself was wondering about something else entirely – a vision she had seen earlier, of Erebor. It had been of a time of peace and prosperity, and visions of Dwarven Kings from ages past. Something she should not have seen, they weren't memories from the movies. Were they real visions? Had the transition to Middle Earth changed her in some way, besides breaking her body?
Elrond broke her concentration, when he put his hand upon hers, which were folded in her lap. She looked up at his face. He was smiling. She smiled back.
"Have you any control of these visions of yours?"
"No, unfortunately. If I had, I wouldn't have chosen to have them while talking to the Elf woman from before. I imagine I scared her quite a bit," Tara said with a small apologetic nod. Elrond nodded.
"She was panicked, to say the least. But back to your visions, can you in any way control what you see?"
Again, Tara had to say no.
"I haven't fainted from visions before. Usually they just came to me without me noticing," she tried to explain. She assumed that was the best way to describe watching a movie. She hadn't imagined she would actually need it for something.
Elrond nodded again - he did that often that night - thinking to himself. After a little while, he seemed to return from within his mind, and he smiled at her.
"We shall talk more of it tomorrow, milady. For now, you should have some sleep, which is not provoked by visions or intense pain, or both," he said with a smile. Tara giggled and nodded.
"As you say."
Before Elrond completely exited the room, she called for him. And as he turned around, she smiled.
"My name is Tara, by the way. Tara Wyatt."
And this was how she became Seeress Tara of Rivendell, a woman of legend and myth.