Disclaimer for the entire story: I don't own Lord of the Rings. Anything original, however, is mine.

Also, if anyone is interested in being my Beta reader for this story, I would appreciate it very much! Just message me, and I'll get back to you.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER ONE: Something in the Water

Golden light filtered through the trees above and danced on the forest floor. The sweet scent of wet moss and decomposing leaves filled Aedhel's nostrils. The damp earth squelched slightly beneath her feet. Feeling a sudden burst of exhilaration at nothing more than the sheer beauty of the day, Aedhel broke into a run through the forest. She loved this. Her feet flying as she jumped over puddles, and flew past trees. Her mind racing just as fast as it plotted each sure footstep. When she came to the river she stopped, panting lightly. Even in this sensation she reveled as the cool air rushed in and out of her lungs. The river water sparkled in the evening sun.

Aedhel pulled off her boots and jerkin and gingerly tiptoed over the sharp rocks to the shore. The water was cold, but refreshing after her run. With a deep breath, she plunged her head under water. She quickly came up again, gasping from the shock to her system, but pleased. Today was a good day. After swimming around for a little bit, she made her way over to a large rock that jutted out into the river and pulled herself up onto it. Laying herself flat on her belly, she reached over the rock and found the rope attached there. She pulled it out, coiling the rope on the rock until a fish trap came out.

Two fish flopped around inside the trap. It was a good catch. She threw them onto the shore, where they quickly stilled. Pulling a bit of string from her belt, she tied the fish together, and slung them over her shoulder. She was about to turn back when she spotted something else out in the river that gave her pause.

A boat drifted along with the current. One unlike any she had ever seen before. Instead of being coarse and brown this boat was sleek, grey, elegant. Furthermore, it was unoccupied. Aedhel dropped her fish on the shore, and waded back into the water. A boat like this could be useful. Travelling upstream with the small craft would be difficult as it would require constant paddling against the current. There would be no relief as the river ran through deep cliffs on either side. However, downstream of here the river ran through the vast plains of Rohan, and near several small villages Aedhel sometimes ran messages for. A boat could make the journey much easier.

The water was up to her chest by the time she reached the boat. Grabbing onto the side she pulled herself up to look inside it. She started. There was a small child in the boat, fast asleep! He looked to be about six or seven years old with fair skin and pale blond hair that reached his chin. What was a child doing way out here in the Wold? There weren't any villages around for many miles.

He seemed to be asleep… or unconscious. She gently shook him. His eyes didn't open.

"Hey there little one, are you okay?" she said again, shaking him harder. He only groaned. She hauled the boat to the bank, and lifted the child out. He didn't weigh much. She placed him beneath a tree in the shade and stroked his hair out of his face, tucking it behind his ear. That was when she noticed it. His ear was pointed into a delicate tip. He was an elf-child! The situation was becoming stranger by the minute.

She hurried back to the river to pull the boat up out of the water and onto the shore. Then she pulled out a small water skin attached to her belt, and filled it up with the swift moving water past the big rock. Bringing it back to the child she dribbled some on his lips. He licked at it eagerly. She poured a bit more water into his mouth, a few drops at a time, and he drank them, but soon he slumped down again, his head resting against her shoulder.

She picked him up in her arms once again and made her way back into the forest. He wasn't very heavy, but her arms were burning by the time she made it to her house nevertheless. Tucked between the trees of the forest, it was round and cozy with a thatched roof. A crooked stone chimney jutted up the back, having been build by her father, who was most definitely not a mason by trade or any stretch of the imagination, as a gift for her mother. Despite its haphazard appearance, it served its purpose, and the lazy tendrils of that morning's fire still drifted up the chimney.

She nudged the door open with her foot, and placed the child on her bed. Again, she tried to give him some water. Aedhel pulled the water away so the child wouldn't guzzle it down too fast and make himself sick. She figured he was dehydrated, and hungry, and would need to be coaxed back to full strength slowly and carefully. The child slowly blinked his eyes open. They were a pale grey the likes of which, Aedhel had never seen before. They gazed around the room, lacking the focus of one who was fully alert.

"Hey there little one, welcome back to the land of the living. What's your name?" she crooned.

The child didn't answer.

"What's your name child?"

The child muttered something in a language she didn't understand, and couldn't recognize. It wasn't common tongue and it certainly wasn't Rohirric. Most likely one of the elven tongues, but Aedhel knew nothing of them. She tried the few words of common tongue that she knew, but they didn't register with the child either.

After he had some water, Aedhel helped him lean back against the wall while he sat on her bed. He was weak. He needed something more sustaining than water. She placed the waterskin in his hands, motioning for him to drink slowly. Then she went to the table in the middle of the room and started making some brothy soup. She took some dried meat and some vegetables into a pot of water over the fire.

She would have cooked the fish, but she didn't think the child would be able to stomach the fish at the moment. When the soup was finished, she ladled some broth into a bowl and brought it to the child. She tried to feed it to him but he quickly took the spoon from her hand. His grip was weak, but enough to hold the spoon. Aedhel helped him hold the bowl as he drank. He only finished about half of it before he pushed the bowl back into her hands with a soft spoken word.

Aedhel smiled as the child gave a huge yawn. She gestured for him to lie down on the bed and tucked him in. His eyes quickly glazed over in what Aedhel presumed must be elven sleep. It was a bit odd to look into his grey eyes and have them gaze unseeing back. She every so often she would check just to be sure that he was still breathing. But eventually she accepted that he was all right. He just slept in an unusual manner.

Aedhel tiptoed around as she got herself some dinner. Then she stepped outside and placed the fish she had caught that afternoon in the smoker. As she did this, she pondered the mystery. How did an elf-child end up in a boat, unaccompanied, in Rohan? Where did he come from? Where were his parents? What if they were dead? Aedhel shook her head. That would be horrible. She knew all too well the pain of losing one's parents and to lose them so young… She prayed it was not the case.

In the end, the most important question was the one with the most difficult to accomplish, yet most obvious answer. What was she to do with the child? The answer: care for him until he was better, then take him home… wherever that might be.

The next morning, Aedhel woke early as usual, groaning as she sat up from the spare blanket she had laid out on the floor. Golden sunlight streaming through the windows and falling in pools on the wooden surfaces in the elfling was awake and sitting up, carefully observing his surroundings. He would no doubt be hungry.

"Well good morning," She said, standing up. The child couldn't understand her, but it couldn't hurt to be friendly to him. The elfling flashed her a sweet smile.

Aedhel headed over to the wooden table, and pulled some bread out of the cupboard. There was about half a loaf left that she had baked a couple days before. It was perhaps a bit dry, but that would be easily masked with the sweet strawberry jam she had made from a patch of strawberries growing out in the forest.

Cutting a few slices of bread she slathered them with the jam and gave the softer, inner pieces of bread to the elfling. She smiled as his face lit up at the sweet taste. The light food would be good for the elfling as he recovered his strength, and gentle on his system. After they had eaten, Aedhel set about completing her morning chores. The elfling followed her around, fascinated by everything she did. When she split some wood for the fire, he followed her. When she pulled weeds out of the little vegetable garden she grew behind her house, he watched her intently. When she walked down to the cool clear stream to draw some water, he tagged along.

Aedhel smiled fondly as the elfling played in the small stream with his fingers. He would dip his fingeres in the water in quick succession in different places and gaze happily at the pretty flashing little patterns they made. Grinning to herself, Aedhel dipped her own hand into the water and flicked some up to where the elfling sat perched on a rock. The drops hit him in the face and he jerked up, his eyes wide with surprise. Seeing the grin on her face, his surprise quickly dissolved into delight as he reached down into the water and scooped out a whole handful of water. Aedhel squealed as the cold water hit her full in the face. She retaliated with another handful of water, and soon they were having a full fledged water fight. When they had finally calmed down, both of them stood sopping wet and giggling.

She put a hand on his shoulder. "I like you," she said. He cocked his head, obviously not understanding her words, but she didn't mind. She could talk at him anyway. Her mother used to tell her a story of a mischievous wood sprite and the troubles and adventures that ensued his play. Somehow, the name seemed appropriate for the young elf. She led him back to the cabin. "I think I'll call you Puck." she said. Again, the elfling cocked his head. Aedhel laughed, and pointed at him. "Puck," she said.

The elfling frowned, and shook his head. He pointed to himself. "Hithfaeron," he said.

Aedhel pointed to him. "Thifaeron," she said, slowly, trying to copy his pronuciation.

The Puck laughed and shook his head. "Hithfaeron," he said again, more slowly this time.

"Hif- Hifth - Hifthaeron.

Puck burst into laughter, and Aedhel shook her head and laughed too. She didn't have a hope of pronouncing that name properly. "Puck," she said, pointing to him again. The elfling raised an eyebrow, and slowly pointed to himself. "Puck," he sounded out.

"Yes, Puck," she said, nodding vigorously. The elfling considered it for a moment and then shrugged. Continuing their walk to the house. As they almost reached it, he turned around with a big grin on his face. "Nenith", he said, pointing to her.

Aedhel threw back her head and laughed. "Very well," she said, and pointed to herself. "Nenith." At least she could pronounce this name.

Putting a hand on his shoulder, she led him back to the house, and dug out a towel for them each to dry off with. WIth a few strikes of the flint, she had a fire going, and the little elfling soon cuddled up underneath his towel close to the fire.

Aedhel pulled out a pot, and the fish from the night before. She cut up some more vegetables, and soon the smell of their midday meal was wafting through the small cabin. As the food cooked, Aedhel reached under the bed and pulled out a small chest. Puck sat by the fire, watching her silently. Placing the chest on the table she pulled out her father's old maps, yellowed with time, and carefully laid them out. There were local maps of the area, as well as a few precious maps that showed the lands of Gondor to the south and the lands to the north of Rohan.

Her father had been a courier who delivered messages for the cavalry, as well as for the villages surrounding their home. When he teaching Aedhel the ropes of his trade, he had made her study these maps for hours. When he had died, Aedhel had taken over his position. Although she had been young, she was light and fast, and hadn't lost a letter yet. She quickly grew to gain the same respect her father had. Her career had come to a screeching halt last month, however, when her horse had suddenly died. She still delivered mail for the surrounding villages as a runner, but until she had saved up enough money to buy a new horse, work was scarce.

She shook her head to clear that train of thought. She had other things to worry about at the moment. Flattening out the maps, she motioned to Puck.

"Do you see your home on any of these?" she said, pointing to Puck and then around the cabin and then to the map. Puck's eyes widened in understanding and he quickly leafed through the maps, finally pulling out an old one, several generations old that showed the lands north of Rohan. With a sure movement, his finger landed on the cluster of trees hugging the skirts of the Misty Mountains: Lothlorien.

Aedhel's heart dropped. Of all the places he had to be from...of course it would be Lothlorien. The one place she could never enter, was now the place she absolutely needed to go.

For her family it was forbidden... on pain of death.

TBC

Well, that's chapter one! It's been a long time coming, and there is more to come.

Please feel free to drop me a review and tell me what you think! I love constructive criticism. I learn loads from it! (like how I use too many commas... It's a problem. I'm working on it)

I'm also going to be taking some creative liberty with how magic in this world works, so be prepared for some very non canon displays of magic. It won't be widespread though, so hopefully it's not too distracting.

Anyway, I hope this chapter finds you well! May the sun grace your head and your paths be straight!