Dear readers,
this is a fairytale AU Hobbit-Fanfiction. Of course I took some liberties, changing names and so on. Also, the 13 dwarfs are happily living in Erebor and no dragon has destroyed Laketown.

I unfortunately had to drag Galadriel into the mud, I am feeling really bad about it but it was necessary for the plot line I wanted to follow.

Disclaimer: I neither own Hobbit nor Grimm's fairytales

Firered and the 13 Dwarves

Once upon a time, there was an elven couple, who longed to have a child. One day in winter, when the wife walked at night through the forest of Mirkwood, she saw a firemoon up in the sky. The white starlight of Earendil floated onto the clearing and let the green moss sparkle like emeralds.
Right then, she said to herself: "I wished I had a daughter, red as fire, white like the starlight and green like the Mirkwood."
And her wish was granted: She became pregnant and bore a daughter with hair as red as fire, eyes as green as the Mirkwood and a glow around her as white as starlight. Her parents, who doted on the little girl, called her Firered.

But when Firered was still young, Orks killed her parents and she was left behind. It was then when King Thranduil took pity on her and provided for her so she never had to go hungry or to worry about where to live. While she was growing up, she became more beautiful with every year passing by without even noticing it. But other elves realized her extraordinary beauty and so she also attracted the attention of the Prince of Mirkwood, Legolas Greenleaf.
At the same time, another Lady was concious of her good looks: Lady Galadriel of Lothlórien. She was said to be the noblest elleth in all Middle Earth but she was also cruel and vain.

Every day, she went to her mirror and asked: "Mirror mirror in this mallorn hall, who is the fairest elleth of all?"
And every day the mirror answered: "You my Lady are the fairest elleth in all Middle Earth."
Then Galadriel was content and returned to her people because she knew the mirror ever lied.

One day, when the blonde woman was standing in front of the water and asking her question, the answer changed.
"You my Lady are the most beautiful here, it's true, but young Firered is a thousand times more beautiful than you!", the Mirror of Galadriel spoke.
The Lady became envious and angry and afraid and asked her alliance: "Mirror, who is this Firered?"

And the mirror showed her a picture of a young elven woman, running in the woods of Mirkwood. She was indeed beautiful, Galadriel could not bear it. So it came that she sent for Haldir, one of her best hunters.
"Haldir", the Lady of Lothlórien commanded,"you will travel to King Thranduil as an ambassador, but there you will kill the elleth who is called Firered. This task is of great importance and you may not fail, as prove for the fulfilment, I want you to bring me her liver and lungs. But take care, the king must not know it."

Without doubting Galadriel's motives, Haldir set off to ride into the east. He was recieved by Prince Legolas with great curtesy and given food and a place to sleep. When it turned night, he wandered under the trees, not sure where to find the girl he was looking for. Suddenly, he saw strands of hair, red like fire, floating in the wind. Young Firered was sitting behind a tree, singing softly to herself. The huntsman pulled out his knife and came nearer to quickly jump forward and stab her, when she turned her head and looked him in the eyes. There was no fear in them, only pity for a woman who was rotten with envy and a man who was blindly following orders.

Haldir found himself unable to do any harm to this creature, so he spoke: "Run Firered, run deeply into the forest and tell no one where you are going. The Lady will not rest until she believes you dead!"
Swiftly the young she-elf stood up and disappeared in the shadows, only her hair could be seen for a long time, glowing further and further away.

To Thranduil's surprise, the huntsman left the next day to return to Lórien and on the way back he killed a hind whose liver and lungs he took. When he brought those to Galadriel, she was satisfied. Meanwhile, Firered was fleeing through the forest until it suddenly came to an end. There in the distance, she could see a lake and the lights of a town and a huge mountain glowing in the moonlight.
"Maybe", she thought to herself, "I can go to that mountain and hide there until I know what else to do."
So she began her journey to the Lonely Mountain.

When she got there one morning, she found she could slip through a crease in the stone near the entrance. Quietly, she made her way through mighty halls and narrow staircases until she came to a room where a table with 13 chairs was standing. The table was set, no one was there and Firered was hungry, so she ate a bit of their food and drank a bit of their wine. She was very tired from her journey, so she was happy when she found a chamber full of beds. But the first one was too small and the second one was too big and none of them really fit. Only the 13th bed was perfect and the elleth fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.

However, Erebor was the home of 13 dwarfs, lead by the King under the Mountain, Thorin Oakenshield. When they retiered from their daily work, they found somebody had eaten their food and drunken their wine. They started to search for the intruder until suddenly the youngest dwarf, Kili, shouted: "Look, there is a girl in my bed!"
All the others came rushing towards him.
"No you fool, that is no average girl, that is a she-elf!", his brother Fili replied.
Now all the dwarves were talking and it became louder and louder. The noise woke Fiered and sleepily she opened her green eyes. When she saw these grimm, foreign men looking at her, she was scared and screamed.
"Shh my dear, we are not going to hurt you", a dwarf with a long white beard said, "but we want to know who you are."
"Firered is my name", she answered,"and I am on the run because an elven lady wants me dead."

After telling her story, the girl looked at the dwarves. Their king nodded slowly.
"You might stay if you do the work in the kitchen and make the beds for us", he said.
And so it came that the elf stayed with the dwarves and took care of the household to their complete satisfaction. All dwarves grew extremely fond of her and always warned her to be cautious, just in case Galadriel would find out she was still alive.

One day, Galadriel stepped in front of her mirror and said the familiar words: "Mirror mirror in this mallorn hall, who is the fairest elleth of all?"
But the mirror answered:"You my Lady are the most beautiful here, it's true, but little Firered behind the Mirkwood in the Lonely Mountain is a thousand times more beautiful than you!"
The Lady became angry and thought to herself: "Now, I must take care of that matter myself."

After travelling to Laketown in secret, she disguised herself as a seller and made her way to the mountain. She knocked at the portal and Firered went there to open.
"I am selling nice corsets", Galadriel said in a modified voice, "and I think you might need a new one my child. Look, I will give you one for free, just let me see if it fits." Firered was happy and accepted, but when the seller started to pull the strings, she pulled with so much force that the girl could not breathe anymore. The young elven woman fainted and fell to the floor like dead. Only then the Lady was happy and left. When the dwarves came back from their daily work, they found their maid on the floor, but their king took a knife and cut open the corset. Firered started to breathe again and they were happy, but warned her to never accept gifts from strangers again.

As soon as Galadriel had returned to her realm, she asked her mirror weather she was the fairest, but it answered still:
"You my Lady are the most beautiful here, it's true, but little Firered behind the Mirkwood in the Lonely Mountain is a thousand times more beautiful than you!"

Galadriel needed a new plan, so she went back to Laketown, this time dressed like a comb seller. Again, she knocked at the portal and was recieved by Firered.
"I am selling beautiful combs my dear", the Lady offered,"would you like one?"
Firered remembered the dwarves' warning and declined, but Galadriel would not take no for an answer. When she gave one to the elleth as a gift, the other was too polite to not accept the offer.
"Come on darling, let me get it in your beautful fire red hair", the elvenwitch said.
Then she put but the locks in a beautiful updo. After a few moments, the poison began to affect the girl and she fell, pale and still.

At the end of the day, the dwarves made their way to the dining hall and called for Firered, but she had disappeared. Suddenly, one of the men called:
"I have found her, she is here near the portal, like dead!"
The others came running and one of the dwarf-princes, Fili, quickly pulled the comb out of her hair. After a while, the elleth's cheeks became rosy again and she opened her eyes.
"What have we told you?", the king scowled her, "you could have died! Never accept any gift again from a stranger!"
With tears in her eyes Firered promised to do whatever they said to keep safe and sound, while at the same time, Galadriel went back to her mirror:
"Mirror mirror in this mallorn hall, who is the fairest elleth of all?"
And every day the mirror answered again: "You my Lady are the most beautiful here, it's true, but little Firered behind the Mirkwood in the Lonely Mountain is a thousand times more beautiful than you!"

The Lady of the Light nearly became green in her face in envy and decided to make one last attempt to kill the other elf. Her disguise became even more trustworthy, now she was just an old farmer's wife, trying to sell apples. For the last time, so she thought, she knocked at the door. Firered did not open, but she could not resist looking through the keyhole. Unfortunately, the sorceress could feel the presence of that innocent being.

"My dear, why are you so afraid?", she asked sympathetically.
"I had some really nasty visitors and the dwarves have told me not to open the door and not to accept any gifts. I am sorry, but I think you should go."
"My my", Galadriel said with a sad smile on her face,"and I just wanted to give such a sweet girl as you are a present. See this apple? I will even try it myself so you can see that it is not poisoned!"

The elf did as she had said and took a bite from the apple, from its lucious green side. When she chewed and swallowed and nothing happened, Firered opened the door just a little. "A little bite can't harm me", she thought ,"and it would be so nice to have fruit instead of meat all the time."
Hesitantly, she took a small bite from the other side of the apple and swallowed. As soon as she had done it, a piece of the apple got stuck in her throat and her breathing stopped as the poison started to affect her body. The last thing she heard before she crashed onto the floor was a low evil chuckle, coming from the old woman.

Back in Lórien, the elvenwitch went to question her mirror: "Mirror Mirror in this mallorn hall, who is the fairest elleth of all?"
This time the mirror replied: "You my Lady are the most beautiful."
Then, Galadriel was satisfied and thought her work to be finished.

When the dwarves came back once again, their precious Firered was lying motionless on the ground, the cheeks pale, the lips blue, the eyes closed. Mourning filled the huge halls of the Lonely Mountain as there was nothing they could do to bring her back this time. Finally, they decided to make a coffin made out of glass for her so her body would be protected when they brought her outside so she could lie under the stars again. All the men knew how much she had loved the trees and the cold light that came from the star at night, so it seemed appropriate to say their farewells there.

Just when the little group had assembled around the coffin, the sound of hoves could be heard. They all looked up, wondering who could come across this deserted area at that time of night. Soon, they saw the white fur of a horse through the trees and then the mount came into view, a beautiful white stallion. The rider wasn't less impressive, his blonde hair shone silver in the moonlight. Even though he was wearing a riding outfit with a thick greyish cloak fastened with a brooch the shape of a leaf, there was no denying that he had the air of a royal. He stopped in front of the dwarves and looked down, maybe with a hint of disdain in his eyes.

"Dwarves, I saw the moonlight reflecting into something and followed the light, can you show me what the source is?"
They did not step aside right away, after all, the new man was an elf and usually elves and dwarves try to stay away from each other. But the death of their little friend had made them softer, so in the end, Thorin moved to the side and motioned the elf to come closer.

"What is your name stranger?", he wanted to know.
"My name is Legolas Greenleaf and I am the prince of Mirkwood", he answered confidently, "and who are you?"
Just as the King under the Mountain wanted to reply, Legolas eyes fell on Firered for the first time. His breath caught in his throat as he saw who was lying in this bed of glass.
"But that is Firered!", he exclaimed, "she disappeared what seems ages ago! Nobody knew what happened to her! How did she die?"
"We don't know", Kili said sadly and then started to explain what had happened since Firered had moved into the Lonely Mountain.
The elven prince's heart filled with dread for he saw that now that he had found his one true love, he had already lost her again.
"Oh dwarves, please let me take Firered home to Mirkwood. She is a daughter of the forest and shall lie with her own people."
Taken aback by this request, the Company of 13 looked at each other, contemplating what to do. Finally, they decided to grant him that wish for they felt that she would have loved to rest under trees instead of under rocks.

The coffin was opened gently and the two youngest dwarves lifted her out and up to Legolas on his horse who took her cold body and held it in front of him. But just when he turned his horse to ride away, the stallion stumbled and a jolt went through the two elves. In that moment, the piece of apple in Firered's throat was loosened and like a miracle, her eyelids started to flutter. She started to cough and spat it out, looking around herself in wonder, not knowing what had happened. Her sparkling green eyes met Legolas' blue ones and she furrowed her brows.

"Legolas, is that you? How can it be that you are here? What are you doing so far out of Mirkwood?"
"Yes my love, it is me. I had business in Laketown", the prince answered, overjoyed with seeing her alive again, "and then I heard whispers in the trees about an elven maiden with hair as red as fire lying in a glass coffin in the forest. I could not stay away. Firered, come back to Mirkwood with me, everybody has been missing you greatly. Even my father, though he would never admit it."
"But an elvenwitch wants me dead!", she objected strongly, "I can't bring war over our people."
"Nobody will ever dare to harm the princess of Mirkwood!", he called out, flushing crimson red when he heard his own words.
"Princess?", she asked confused, "but Legolas, you know I am a simple Silvan elleth, not a princess."

Next to the elves, Thorin cleared his throat.
"Firered, I think this prince just proposed to you", he tried to contribute to the conversation.
Firered's eyes widened in shock. Never had she imagined that something like this might ever happen.
"Legolas Greenleaf, is that true?", she whispered, turning towards him as far as her position on horseback allowed.
Tenderly he strocked her face.
"I have loved you since we were children and I never stopped and never will. Please Firered, if you would allow it, I want to take you home as my bride."
She nodded, smiling and crying at the same time, leaning over to kiss him. Cat calls got loud among the dwarves as they started to celebrate her new-found luck.

So it came that they made their way back to Mirkwood, arriving a few days later. When the first scouts spotted Legolas with his companion, they were overjoyed, following them to the halls. There, a big wedding was held and even the king eventually accepted their union. He had seen how much his son had suffered under the loss of his love and even his cold heart thawed at the sight of the happy couple.

Far away in Lothlórien, Galadriel went once again to her mirror, admiring her reflection.
"Mirror Mirror in this mallorn hall, who is the fairest elleth of all?"
The mirror hesitated for a moment, then it answered as it was bound to always speak the truth.
"You my lady are the fairest here, it's true, but the young princess of Mirkwood is a thousand times more beautiful than you."

As if to proof his point, the mirror showed her a picture of Firered walking the Halls of Mirkwood, holding hands with a handsome blonde elf. They were both wearing small silver circlets on their heads, a definite sign of their royal status.
"No!", Galadriel cried, "this can not be. I am meant to be the fairest!"
Her beautiful face became ugly with rage and she felt hotter and hotter, until she finally burts into a thousand little pieces.

Far away in Mirkwood, Firered lived happily with Legolas even after the world started to change and the times started to end.

The End

Thank you so much for reading! WHich other fairytales would you like to read in Middle Earth-style? And with whom involved? Let me know!