Disclaimer: I am not Tolkien.

AN: I got a few reviews and I'd like to say thank you! I take any criticism/ideas into consideration so don't be shy to share your thoughts. Happy Reading!

Chapter 2: The Remaking

To say Nina was frustrated would be a grievous understatement. For weeks she'd been unable to sleep through the night. The infernal dreams which she always seemed to forget the exact wording of when she tried to examine them upon waking were keeping her exhausted mind ticking. Between shifts at work and trying to maintain what little of a life she had outside of her job she quite frankly didn't have the time for this.

Sighing she rolled out of bed and for the third night in a row threw on clothes and shoes so she could go for a run. Knowing it would tire her body enough to catch a few more hours of less than restful sleep was all that kept her from wallowing in bed until the sun rose. 'Really,' she thought sourly 'it's not as if I can run from my own mind'. Nina couldn't even pinpoint why the dreams disturbed her so much beyond the fact that they kept waking her up. In recent days the half remembered words of the vaguely familiar voice had increased in urgency. The woman, for she was at least certain the voice was female, seemed to be warning her of something and the warnings of recent nights made her feel as if she should be preparing herself for some major undertaking.

Though she would never be able to explain it to anyone else she'd let these misgivings drive her recent actions. Recreational target practice with her bow had become fanatical, she'd gotten back on a horse for the first time since the death of her family, and she'd even gone back to see the old studio where she'd gone for martial arts training though she didn't go in. It was as if something outside of herself was cautioning preparedness. The newly bred insanity was the only rational she could find behind the fact that she'd drawn up a living will with her father's old lawyer (the man who'd helped in her quest for emancipation) just two days before. He'd looked at her oddly given she had no family to pass anything on to but didn't argue when she named a few coworkers who she divided all her worldly possessions and her father's residual wealth between. What was it that nagged her?

Turning onto the well maintained path into the woods behind her father's house Nina pushed herself to find a steady pace slightly faster than she was comfortable with but could maintain for the hour she allotted herself to run before returning to try to sleep. Even with the moon near full the densely wooded path was cast in shadows so deep that by all rights Nina should have been stumbling. Her eyesight had always been above average but even so she knew every inch of these paths and the trees surrounding them. This place was the only place she could find some measure of peace. Even in the middle of the night when she should have been sleeping the forest surrounding her lulled her into a tranquil state and before she knew it she'd looped back to the swath of grass that was her slightly unkempt backyard. Exhausted as she was Nina barely remembered rinsing showering, redressing and falling into bed.

Because fate or luck of what-have-you clearly had it out for her, Nina was treated to an unprecedented second dream that night. The wooded glen she'd become so achingly familiar with during these dreams was shrouded in an unusual blanket of mist. She could feel the sweet smelling water kiss her skin and once again asked herself how a dream could feel so real. As usual her body brought her to the downed tree without permission and she found herself watching the brook in anticipation of the voice. She was not disappointed. 'Nina, my child, the days grow short until you join me. You must be ready. The Valar have built you for their purpose and they will remake you for our lands. Be ready.' With the fierce determination of one spurned so many times while trying to reach their goal Nina yanked herself from sleep before the water could consume her. She flipped herself from bed and grabbed the pen shed left on her desk. All the other dreams had slowly drifted into oblivion but not this time. This time Nina forced her will upon her mind like a dam seeking to stop the flow of the remembered dream. Moment later when she came back to herself she grinned with all-consuming victory. She'd written it down.

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"I should have just let it go" Nina moaned to herself as she rested her head against the wood face of the desk. She hadn't moved in the three hours since she'd scribbled down the dream woman's words except to find the charger for her rarely used laptop. Now, looking at the only results she'd found, Nina wished she'd ignored the impulse. One word had jumped out at her as familiar when she'd first deciphered her admittedly horrendous handwriting. Valar. It struck a chord as something she half remembered having read many times before. Now after combining every key work and search engine she could find in hope of getting a different answer Nina turned her frustration on herself. Lord of the Rings. Really? She was being tormented by dreams based on a bunch of books. Admittedly she loved the books, but seriously?

The Valar were tantamount to gods for the elves in Tolkien's books as far as she remembered. She was having dreams where an eerie woman's voice told her deities had chosen her for something and, if she interpreted the words correctly, they were going to bring her to Middle Earth. This preposterous notion had her writing a will? She was almost tempted to call the lawyer and have him rip it up. Only the thought of having to explain her reasoning stayed her hand.

Maybe now that she understood that her subconscious was just having fun at her expense she could actually get some rest. With that cheering thought she got ready for work looking forward to a restful sleep that night. Unfortunately that wasn't going to happen.

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She'd spent her day training a new recruit. While that in and of itself wasn't an issue, it had been an overly full day. The weather was rainy and slick roads mean accidents. A lot of accidents. She'd put in several hours of overtime and at 11 that night she finally flopped in bed after stretching out her tired muscles. Within minutes she was deeply asleep and with sleep came the dream. Exasperated with herself Nina all but stomped to the log knowing that if she didn't sit the dream would never end. As predicted the voice began 'Child-'. This time, Nina wasn't being patient and used her anger to overcome the odd binding on her actions.

"No!" She shouted at the empty air. She could almost feel the surprise in her mind as she continued. "I want to sleep. I don't know what's wrong with me but I don't want to hear about the Valar or anything. I am done with this." Nina of course understood that yelling at a figment of her imagination was unlikely to yield any results but she tried anyway.

'Anger and doubt do not change the truth little one. I would that this burden were not placed on one so young but I am in no position to question them. When the time comes you will join us, disbelief or not.' Nina could feel the presence receding and just when it was that she began to feel things beyond her own body.

Sighing in something close to defeat Nina walked over to the bank of the stream and searched for the glow in the water. She watched in detached curiosity as what started as a small speck of glittering something seemed to spill out from itself and walked into the door to the end of the dream willingly for once. When she blinked her eyes open and saw the clock beside her head read 3:30AM an impressively comprehensive string of explicative hissed from her mouth. "Stupid dreams" she muttered as she rolled out of bed to find her sneakers. Time for another run.

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Two days of exhausting shifts, one night class at the local university, many many broken arrows embedded deeply in the center of her practice targets, and three nights of dreams later Nina did something out of the ordinary. Instead of her customary nightly run she decided forgo trying to sleep and walked herself deeply into her woods far off the paths. If only she could wander from her thoughts so easily.

If she thought the disquiet of the previous weeks had been bad for her health todays paranoia was going to give her a heart attack. For some unknown reason Nina was jumpy and spent every second of her illusive day off analyzing every movement and panicking at every movement in the corner of her eye. Even now, the peace of being in the woods was hampered by the mini heart attacks the normal sounds of the woods gave her. She didn't know where she was going; in fact it was quite possible she was lost. Nina paused and turned in a full circle. 'Well crap' She could kick herself right now. These may be her woods but they backed up on the larger swath of forest which reached for miles. Of course she could track north south east and west and get a general idea of where she should go but she had no idea how long she'd been walking. If the darkening of the sky was any indication it would likely be dark by the time she found her way home. 'If dad could see me now- the intrepid explorer lost on her own turf. That's embarrassing.'

The only reason she noticed it was because of the day's hyperawareness. The small sounds of the squirrels and birds had ceased. The only noise she could hear was the flow of water against stone somewhere off to her right. Figuring it would likely be easier to keep a direction if she followed any sort of path she followed her ears. What she did not expect to find was the all too familiar small clearing surrounding the brook which so often starred in her dreams. On impulse she walked towards the fallen tree and sat down heavily, her panic numbing to a state of shock which kept her rooted to the spot. She must have been here before and the memory was triggered in her dream. It would have been a lot easier to convince herself of that if it looked even remotely familiar beyond the dreamscape that tormented her.

Taking some deep breaths she turned her gaze to the water before her. No voice invaded her head and if not for the fact that she was flinching at every slight glimmer at the light danced on the water she could have convinced herself that she was calm. As it was, when one little glint of light failed to shift with the patterns that played across the water she broke out into a cold sweat all the while swearing up and down that this was most definitely NOT happening.

But it was. The light moved like quicksilver in the water, ballooning out into a cloud of light she wanted very much to touch. Before she even knew what was happening she'd stood up. Without her permission legs that she was sure had once obeyed her mind carried her to the water edge. The light looked bottomless unlike the shallow depths surrounding it. Nonetheless, when her traitorous body crouched and sprang forward into the light head first all she could think was 'This is going to hurt' and she shut her eyes against the coming trauma.

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When Nina came to her entire body felt like it was on fire. 'Odd' She thought, 'since I just dove headlong into a foot deep stream'. She figured she was in shock. She could feel her body screaming but she could not open her eyes and for some reason she greeted this news with nothing but a passing curiosity. That is, until she heard the voices.

'Welcome, Nina Hunter of the distant realm. Long have we waited for you.' A woman's voice greeted her warmly from insider her head. Nina was about ready to try taking a breath to scream or ask what was going on, she still wasn't quite sure which, but found she could not do so. Naturally not being able to breathe sent her further into panic.

'Calm yourself child, no harm will come to you in our care. You are not where you were nor what you were. To go where you must and do as you must we will have to remake you in the image of this land. Even in your land you were unusual and our interference to make you into a useable tool has separated you from the race which you were born into. When we finish with you, you will be as the Firstborn.' The impressive speech came from a masculine voice this time and while to the words themselves sounded comforting Nina got the feeling there was not compassion for her in him. Then of course, she reassessed his words. She was dreaming again, that was the only answer.

'The child will not listen. She should have been prepared more. The transition will break her. She already believes her mind plays tricks on her' this came from a new male voice, though he clearly was talking about her, not to her.

'There was not time! Already events are in motion and she is needed now if Galadriel is to have time to teach her all she will need to know.' The first voice was back- also clearly ignoring her presence now.

'You are all aware, of course, that the girl can hear you' A new woman jested at the other three. 'Poor thing, you will not believe unless you see the changes for yourself. That will make it harder for you but it is not unexpected. Lothlorien will be good to you when you arise.' Nina found herself oddly mollified by being taken notice of again and she could practically feel the woman smile at this. 'Galadriel will explain it all to you child. You will not harken anything until then anyway. We will leave you to rest now.' All four of the presences faded from her mind and, while she did not sleep as the burning wouldn't let her, she faded in and out of awareness. The burning slowly faded into an ache in every muscle and every bone in her body. Even parts of her that she had never known could be in pain were making their protests known.

When she finally came to it was to the strangest feeling that something was wrong. At first she thought it was because the ache had dulled to a manageable level, then she noticed she was wet, only seconds later that she was not only wet but immersed in water. That realization caused her to take a deep breath, which of course was a lungful of liquid, and flail rather spectacularly. Hacking up the water that had invaded her breathing Nina finally opened her eyes only to find herself staring directly at the most beautiful woman she had ever seen in her entire life. She was tall for a woman, with pale white skin that faintly glowed and golden hair that seemed to give off sunlight if such a thing were possible. Of course when Nina's eyes roamed to see the pointed ears of this beautiful woman she immediately did a double take.

This woman did not look like the actress who'd played the Lady of the Wood in the Lord of the Rings movies but their bearing and the intense gaze coming from her uncannily intelligent blue grey eyes had her doubting for the first time if this was actually happening as opposed to her subconscious having a field day. As far as Nina knew from her studies dreams were built form memory. People simply did not create new images with their minds and while she'd convinced herself it may have been possible shed seen the glade with the brook before she had never in her life seen this woman or anyone who could compare to her. Was she going crazy or was this somehow actually happening?

Her musings were interrupted as the woman she was staring at spoke. Well, she did not speak so much as the woman's body language indicated that it was her voice now speaking in Nina's mind. 'Welcome, Nina Hunter, chosen of the Valar to Lothlorien. Do you know who I am?'

Uncertain if she should speak out loud or not she figured she may as well try it out and see if her vocal chords were even still working. "You are Lady Galadriel." The words she spoke sounded loudly in the empty clearing and Nina got the impression that her voice was unnecessary and added silently 'Are you not?' pushing her thoughts at the Lady inelegantly.

"You are a natural my child but I do not wish for you to strain yourself so soon. We may speak aloud. I am Galadriel and I have been instructed to guide you for what is to come. My Lord and I will help you through the transition to this new place and hopefully help you in accepting your new self."

"I do not understand. I know where I am and who you are and even how I came to be here but I do not believe it." Processing did not even begin to cover the way Nina was ruthlessly mulling over every scrap of information she had. The Valar (who were apparently real) had interfered in her life before and snatched her from her world through some sort of portal. Middle Earth (also apparently real) was where her unlikely kidnappers had dropped her and Galadriel (whom she could now not doubt was truly in front of her) was in front of her saying the Valar (again real…seriously?) had conscripted her into getting Nina ready for 'what is to come' and what was this about her 'new self'. She pushed her confusion over the last two points at Galadriel though she assumed the Elf had heard the whole introspection and hoped that the jumble of thoughts was cleared to the Lady than it was to herself.

"Can you not guess why we have need of you here? The Valar have been searching for one who can guide the fellowship on a path less full of death and pain. They chose you for your potential and helped guide your actions in your realm to fit their purpose. As we speak Bilbo Baggins approaches the birthday which will uncover the ring to Gandalf. With my aid you can see what actions you may take to avoid some of the events in the story you know. Not everything can be changed of course but the Valar will have you be an instrument of change where you can." Again Nina took in the words of the Lady and tried to battle the growing acceptance in her heart. This felt right. It felt like the truth in a deep part of her she'd never noticed before. It was like sensing the emotions and the slight actions around her in the last few days.

"And what of this new self?" she repeated noting that Galadriel had not answered the question. At this realization she came to another. She was still sitting in the foot deep water. While the woods around them appeared different than those in her world the brook was identical and Nina was more than eager to get out the moment she noticed where she was. Scrambling to her feet Nina felt Galadriel's smile before glancing over to confirm it visually.

Once Nina had returned to some semblance of calm Galadriel answered her question "Do you not feel different little one?" The expectant gaze she was receiving made Nina do a quick internal once over of herself. The ache was almost gone but she did indeed feel different. She felt stronger than she should have considering her situation. She was unnaturally in tune with what was going on around her and she was fairly certain this had everything to do with how strong her senses appeared to be at the moment. Thinking back to her recent removal form the stream she was suddenly aware that it had been far more graceful than it should have been and that she'd been on the bank in seconds after she'd first come to the realization of her position.

Stepping up to that self-same stream Nina looked at her slightly distorted reflection. Her black hair which hung well past her shoulders was unchanged. Her pale skin was flawless as usual but the light in this enchanted place seemed to reflect off her a bit like it did Galadriel's. She paused her inspection at her features. At least she was fairly certain they were hers. While her father and Mary Had always teased her that she was their little Pixie with her adoration of the woods and unusually sharp features what Nina saw in the water now was a whole new level. The angles of her face were more pronounced and she thought that she may resemble Lady Galadriel more than her Father at the moment. That was an unsettling thought to say the least. Turing away from the telling reflection before she could confirm her suspicion Nina slowly traced the face that was hers but not hers with her fingers which she also noticed were slightly longer and more elegant. With a breath to prepare herself she fingered her ears tracing them to the clearly defined point she'd suspected was there.

"An Elf. I'm an Elf." To herself and maybe Galadriel for she didn't understand the mindspeaking she thought 'The voices said they were remaking me into one of the Firstborn. Tolkien used that term I think. So I'm an elf.' Opening eyes that she did not realized she'd clenched shut Nina met Galadriel's gaze once more and tried to steel her resolve. "Now what?"

The Elf's beaming smile disarmed her momentarily. "Now what indeed my young elleth." Which Nina of course realized was not an answer but she forgave herself for not pressing the issue as she felt the stress and fatigue catch up with her in a great wave and promptly passed out.

AN: Nina's finally in Middle Earth! Let me know what you think so far!

Best,

star-eyed-rambler