Title: Daughter of Gandalf
Summery: A girl's life has changed forever. What she doesn't know is her path leads her to the best thing of her life. Will she be strong enough to save him?
Rating: G for now. Later chapters contain violence.
Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Lord of the Rings. Everything Tolkien created is his! I own Ava, Shadow, Dale, Rose and the other characters you don't recognize. And I am not making any profit on this what so ever. Just writing for fun!
Criticism is most welcome! This is my first fan fiction though so please! Please! Go easy on me! I know it must suck but like I said I will take any suggestions or ideas! Thanks!
Chapter 1
Ava walked to the stables in the small town of Bree. She had been there for several weeks on bed rest by doctor's orders. Several weeks ago, Ava was ambushed by a ruthless pack of orcs. They caught her off guard and dealt a gash to her neck before leaving her lying on the forest floor, defenseless.
Her heart ached, because she had lost her ability to speak. When the nurse gave her the news she sobbed until she fell asleep. She raised a hand to where her heart beat rapidly. Shaking her head slightly, she was now on her way to see her horse, who had also received injuries himself and she had to check on him to let him know she was ok. He was a beautiful black Friesian named Shadow. She was there when he was born.
Ava walked slowly into the stable peering around door, hearing shrill neighs and men shouting in attempt to calm the horse. Ava gasped seeing the aggravated horse was Shadow. He had a wild look in his eyes. The men had a halter on his face yanking on it with ropes to try to get him into his stall.
Ava ran up to them, holding out her hands, trying to speak, but nothing came out. One of the men looked at her and paused. She pointed to the horse then herself, her mouth moving.
"This is your horse?" The man asked connecting the pieces. Ava nodded glaring at them still. The man stopped the others, releasing his rope. Ava walked forward as Shadow reared with a neigh. The men cried out and cowered away from his hooves.
Ava was standing directly in front of the horse when he came down on all fours again, snorting angrily. Although she had lost most of her memory, she did remember she had a gift she knew no normal human had. Memories of one Gandalf the Grey raising her as a child were all she remembered. She only failed to recall where she was from, or even how old she was. But she was able to relieve stress and calm even the most aggravated creature. She got the gift from her father she only assumed was the grey wizard.
Shadow stood perfectly still, dipping his head in her arms. Ava smiled resting her forehead on his holding him close. He nickered softly closing his eyes.
"How did you do that?" one of the men asked in shock.
Ava merely stayed as she was with her horse calming his every nerve. She smiled at the horse and kissed his nose once he was calm. After clicking her tongue and tapping his chest, he snorted backing into the stall obediently. She then hooked the rope on the other side of the stall and slid the halter off his head, and hung it on the hook.
She kissed his muzzle once more before turning to the stunned men. She smiled and shook her head looking to the floor to see a bucket of grooming supplies at each stall except for hers. She pointed to it then to her horse. The first man nodded and went to a corner with all the supplies and handed her a bucket.
She smiled dipping her head in thanks taking the bucket. He smiled and ordered the men to continue with their work with each horse. He came back to her.
"I am sorry. We were merely trying to feed him and give him fresh water. My name is Dale, by the way." He said extending his hand to her. She nodded taking his hand and he kissed the top of it gently. "I do not mean to seem rude, but your horse can be ill tempered. You handled him like I've never seen before. How do you do it without words?"
She sighed lifted her head slightly barely touching her throat with her hand.
"You cannot speak?" He asked with wide eyes. She shook her head turning to her horse, who nickered softly. "How did that happen?" He asked. She turned a glare on him becoming aggravated. He winced realizing the stupidity in asking that question. "I'm sorry. I should leave you two be. Forgive me."
Ava turned to her horse, setting down the bucket of supplies. Shadow nickered, sniffing the supplies, picking up a brush in his teeth for her. She smiled as he craned his neck in her direction. She smiled brightly with a silent laugh, taking the brush, kissing his forehead. She began brushing him in a way she knew would relax the horse, being careful around his injuries.
After using every brush and comb on the tall horse, he was completely relaxed and his coat was at a healthy shine, his mane and tail was like silk flowing down gracefully. His chocolate brown eyes inspected her work, and then eyed her nodding in approval. Ava smiled patting his muscular neck, dropping the last comb in his bucket.
She changed his water and food out with fresh hay and cool water. She then hugged Shadows neck for a long moment before rubbing his cheek to head back to her room before the healer noticed she was gone.
She came into the room looking around and sighed heavily. "Where were you?" The healer asked sternly, sitting on the bed with her arms crossed. Ava smiled innocently with her teeth showing. "No, no. I won't take that. You need to rest." The healer said going up to her.
'I'm sorry.' Ava mouthed.
"It's ok. Now let's get you cleaned up." She said gently.
Ava sighed and nodded. She dreaded having to stay in bed for a few more weeks. She wished she was healed so she could leave this place. The healers name was Rose. She had fussed over her during the passing weeks. Ava liked her but she was becoming an annoyance.
Rose ordered her to the bathroom to help her undress for her bath. Ava blushed, going into the small room. She did not want to be seen again, but she knew Rose was used to it because she was a healer. Ava was very thankful her healer was not a male.
She had a deep gash on her side that was beginning to close with the help of the stitches. Another cut was between her breasts. A diagonal cut that was a bleeder for a week, but was sure to scar. Of course the gash on her throat was the worst one. The one cut that almost killed her.
"Ava. Snap out of it!" Rose called snapping her fingers, sounding concerned. Ava jumped with a gasp, looking up to her. She had picked up a stare that obviously concerned the healer, but it only happened when Ava was thinking, which happened a lot.
"Did you hear about the hobbits that arrived today?" Rose asked smiling, thinking about the child like figures. Ava shook her head wondering what a hobbit was. Rose laughed at her quizzical expression.
"A hobbit, dear, is a small person that is the same size as a child. Very intelligent creatures but are mistaken for children most of the time." Rose explained. Ava merely nodded knowing she would have to sneak out later to see them.
"You're all clean, let's get you out and dry you off." She said gently. Rose helped Ava to her feet once she was clean. Ava held back the tears, hating that she couldn't do certain tasks without help.
Rose wrapped a towel around the girl and let her sit in the chair as she dried her legs and arms and brushed her hair out so it would not be a tangled mess. Ava wiped away a remaining tear, hating that she could not do this without Roses' help. Shortly after, Ava was in a gown and lying in bed, soon falling asleep.
