Disclaimer: I own nothing, everything is the masterpiece of Tolkiens.

Chapter 01 Faith

Faith was in the back seat of her parents' car, coming home from a dance recital. It was one of the worst nights that she had been outside. It was hailing the size of golf balls and lightening all around their vehicle as they drove home. She jumped as another lightening struck just miles away and shuddered when the thunder reverberated through the car into her very bones.

Looking out the car window she tried to concentrate on something besides her parents arguing and the lightening. She realized that there was nothing to stare at besides empty road; since they seemed to be the only vehicle dumb enough to be still moving.

Her parents were sitting in the front seat with the console between them, arguing about the driving conditions. Her mother believed her father should pull over till the worst was through. Faith silently agreed with her mother, but she wanted to get home as soon as she could to get on her computer, so she was biased.

When Faith tried to put her two sense in on what she thought her parents both told her to be quiet. Her father so he could concentrate, her mother so she could argue without raising her voice too much. Huffing out her frustration Faith settled back for a long ride and turned on her iPod and stuck her earphones into her ears. She turned it on and went through searching for her anger music. Turning on Disturbs prayer she started to hum to distract herself from her surroundings.

Jerking her head up Faith jumped when her father started to swerve on the road. Jerking the ear phones out of her ears she asked impatiently what he was doing. Getting a terse reply she put one earphone back into her ear leaving the other open to hear what was happening.

"I don't care what you think Amy, I'm getting us home so I don't have to worry about us getting blown away or struck by lightening. If these stupid tree branches wouldn't land and stay on the road we would have been there fifteen minutes ago. So stop pressuring me and let me drive." Faith's father said to her mother.

As her father said that he swerved to miss what looked like a tree that should have been in the jungle, not the middle of the countryside in Wisconsin.

Faith sat up and had her complete focus on the road when her mother all of a sudden jerked the steering wheel out of her fathers' hands. Shrieking Faith held on as they went off the road onto a tiny field entrance driveway. Barely avoiding an entire side of a house.

Hitting the driveway they dipped down as they went off the dirt and into a ditch. Her father struggled back onto the road only to end up swerving back into the ditch as fencing from a nearby pasture landed in front of them.

Her mother still screaming at her father was getting more and more vocal on how much she disliked how he was acting. Her father turned to silence her when Faith cut into the argument.

"Dad, why don't we just pull over? As soon as it slows down a little bit and the wind settles down we can start to make our way back to the house?" Leaning forwards toward the front seats Faith stuck her chin on the passenger seat her mother was sitting on.

"Hope Faith Johannsen, get your seat belt on this instance or you won't be able to go out with Charity this weekend to that party!" Her father snapped at her, obviously way past his last nerve.

"Never call me that, you know I despise that name." Faith yelled back, frustrated to hear that name come out of his mouth.

Her mother turned around to settle her back down, knowing how much that name disturbed and infuriated Faith.

Faith sat back but didn't put on her seat belt, rebelling since her father called her Hope Faith. She contemplated on that name as she always did when she heard it referred to her.

She was three years old when she was found in the woods behind her parents' house. All she had known in English was her name Hope. Her parents had taken her in when they had walked across her sitting at the trunk of a tree crying.

Faith could remember snippets of back when she was younger. She knew that she hadn't spoken English when they had found her; she had known a different language that no one seemed to understand. This had frustrated her to no end.

The only one who had understood her as she grew up was her best friend Charity. She was found in the same woods by two hikers within hours as Faith. When found she spoke the same language as Faith, so they had banded together as they grew up speaking what they remembered to set off other people while in public.

Thinking back on their antics she had a smile on her face. At that moment her father turned to start yelling at her again about her seat belt but he didn't get much more than Fai…out before her mother jerked the steering wheel to the right and they nose dived into the ditch at the side of the road.

Her parents and Faith were knocked unconscious for how long any one could guess. As Faith woke up she realized her left arm was lying at an odd angle and she couldn't feel it. Looking at it she realized that it was broken and her bone was just about to break skin.

Looking ahead of her to where her parents were seated she used her good hand to touch her mothers neck. Sighing silently when her mother moved Faith fought back her hysteria and looked around the car, coming to a stop when she looked down and saw a piece of metal protruding from her stomach.

Screeching she tried to grab the piece and tug at it out of reflex. Both her parents awake and coherent turned at her screech and gaped in shock at what they faced.

They realized in seconds that they were going to lose their daughter, and worked on calming her as best they could even though it was the last thing they were feeling.

"Faith calm down. Breathe for me baby. I want you to relax and breathe slow breaths." Her father said using his medical training as best as he could with his head scrambling with what had all happened.

"Baby, I want you to keep looking at me. Don't turn your head at all, I want you to stay as still as possible and keep eye contact with me." Her mother said trying to calm her with something to do besides dwelling on what had happened.

Faith did as she was told, taking slow breathes and keeping eye contact as best as she could with her mother as her father quickly assessed the situation again and came up with the same answer as the thousand other times he did in the time that had passed.

"She isn't going to make it is she? David I want you to be honest, is my baby going to die?" Faith's mother said in a near whisper obviously trying to be quiet so Faith couldn't hear her.

"I don't know hunny, I can't do anything for her. Either way she will most likely die. Either from internal organ problems or bleeding out. I'm sorry hunny." David said just as softly. His voice hitching as he finally faced the truth after dismissing it.

"Faith you did amazing at the recital tonight, we are so proud of you." Amy said as David nodded his head in agreement.

"Thank you mom, dad. I hoped it will stay in you memory for as long as possible. Think of me as I was on that stage. Happy as could be with my ballet shoes and some punk rock playing." As she said that she hiccupped blood and had to cough quickly to stop from choking on it. Grimacing at the pain from having to use her stomach she turned her attention back to her parents who looked as if they had their hearts ripped out.

"I don't blame you. It is my destiny to be taken early, please don't cry over my death. Just remember the happy times we had as a family and remember that I love you both. You may not have been my biological parents but no one could have done better raising me. Please tell Charity that I am sorry that I had to leave her, but that I didn't have a choice in it and if I had I would have chosen to fight instead of to give into what destiny had set for me." Faith's voice slowly faded to a bare whisper as she said what she could before she was too weak.

As she fought the last wave of pain she looked up at her parents and whispered "I love you both" before she felt herself give out and everything went black.