Fairer Than Thee

By: Aria Breuer

Disclaimers: I do not own The Lord of the Rings. J.R.R. Tolkien does.

*.*.*

Welcome to the fourth prequel in the Item-Insertion Parody Anthology. :)

It's taken me six years to get this far. Now that we're here, we get to learn more about Gwen's story. The synopsis of her story can be found in Reader's Retribution, under the chapters titled "Propriety and Chaos" and "Gwen's Past". Since we only get a synopsis, this story dives into Gwen's adventures through Middle-earth with her friends and family.

The time period where the first three one-shots take place is in the Late Middle Ages, with eventually the plague, called the Black Death, spreading across Europe. Gwen's time of birth is approximately seven years before the Black Death occurs.

*.*.*

One-Shot:

Birth

The darkness was strong.

Blissful.

Quiet.

The darkness lulled her to sleep, bringing with it a cosmic energy. One she had not dared dreamed of in her entire life. It was this soothing darkness that made her think twice about spouting insults or wonder what powers the universe had given her.

There was a voice in the air. So soft, so soothing. She wondered if that voice belonged to her and her alone. It grew in strength, like a memory. Like a song. She wanted to belong to this voice. Surely, the voice would sooth her longing.

She let out a tiny mew. She was awake, renewed in this new landscape. A cat though she was, grey and with a ticked pattern. She was a kitten, given a brand-new body. Who was she? She hardly knew. She just knew that she was born.

"She's so beautiful." Her mother cried. She was a grey cat, too, with the same ticked pattern on her fur. She came over and gave her a bath. Oh, how she hated baths.

"Can I look now?" Her father called, creeping down to see.

She took a good hard look at the litter. There were nine kittens, counting herself. Nine kittens. Nine hungry mouths to feed. And a tenth popped out last. There were ten kittens altogether. Now she wondered how her mother would feed her and her siblings.

"You are Gwendolyn. Gwen for short." Her father joked, giving her a proper name.

"Oh Bengal, stop it." Her mother said, while washing her and her new brother.

"Astra! That's what I'm naming my favorite kitten." Bengal smiled. Gwen managed her first laugh. Oh, her father was the jokester! That was new and exciting. Maybe she would learn from him.

Gwen used her nose to sniff for her mother's milk. She found it, sucking as hard as she could. Her mother let out a long, hard mew. Gwen attempted to back off, but that only led to a soft, kitten mew. She wanted to feed, wanted some nourishment. It was all she could do to keep herself together.

At last, she got her drink. Her stomach was filled and now she drifted off to sleep. Her brothers and sisters were in her blanket. She slept peacefully, knowing she was safe and protected. Soon, she would show the same kindness to others. For now, she just wanted to sleep.

.

Gwen was now three weeks old. Her skills at walking were poor. She didn't know if she could do it. She had to. It was her life goal to succeed at walking. She could do it! She could do it! Yes! She moved across the rug with all the speed she could muster. The rug was so nice and comforting. She didn't want to leave it, but she had to explore new territory… until her father Bengal stopped her, rounding her up for a play date.

"Daddy, stop!" Gwen cried out, laughing.

"Do you want to hear about Middle-earth?" Her father asked, jumpy.

"Middle-earth?" She glanced at her father. "What's that?"

"It's a fantastic place!" Her father said, joyful. "There's talking animals. They're free. And the best part is, you can do whatever you want!"

"I'd like to see Middle-earth." She mewed.

Bengal laughed. "You will, my child. One day."

Gwen sighed. "One day?" She hoped to see much more. How would she get to Middle-earth, let alone across the rug? She would need a strategy. But first, sleep cloaked her vision. She let out a frightful mew. Someone else was next to her! She opened her eyes, stunned to see her father resting beside her. Well, there was no fighting this battle. She moved her head on his warm body, feeling sleep overwhelm her at last.

*.*.*

Thanks for reading. :)