A/N: A big thank you to all the followers, reviewers and readers even though there was only a prologue! Can't say I was expecting people to be attracted just by a prologue so I'm really very pleasantly surprised :)

Sorry for the long wait, but here's the first chapter! Hope you enjoy!

-CHAPTER 1-

I'm dead. I've died and gone to the afterlife.

Dawn blinked, and blinked some more.

She was laying on the fluffiest bed ever with quilts of the softest material imaginable draped over her. The ceiling above her head was white marble, in a manner reminiscent to that of Victorian architecture, with intricate patterns and symbols carved into the walls and ceiling. And the room was large. Like ridiculously large, my-whole-room-is-less-than-half-this-size kind of large.

Surely, such luxury would exist nowhere other than in heaven itself.

Then, the dazedness gave way to panic.

She was absolutely certain she hadn't done anything to deserve such a glamorous suite. Even if it was in heaven, it was definitely too much an overkill. She wasn't that great of a person, Dawn thought. What kind of ranking system did Heaven have for its souls? Or did everyone receive this standard of generosity?

It was a mistake. She stiffened in the bed, not moving a single muscle. If this was someone else's room, she was loath to touch anything she wasn't supposed to. Although, it wasn't really her fault she ended up in this room. She literally just woke up. Anything that happened while she was unconscious shouldn't be on her head.

However, thinking carefully again, could Heaven even make a mistake? Dawn had seen a few comedy movies over the years. There were those with storylines where an angel accidentally messed up and made life – afterlife? – worse for the poor soul.

That had better not be the case. Dawn scowled. Angel or not, she didn't think she could let whoever was the culprit off easily.

Don't look a gift horse in its mouth, Lydia would say, take whatever is given to you in stride and deal with the consequences (if any) later. However, this was too suspicious for Dawn to accept. She'd learnt early on that there was no free lunch in the world, especially not one to this extent.

Something huffed a hot breath into her ear from the side.

An embarrassing high-pitched squeak escaped her and she reflexively squirmed away before freezing instantly. She didn't want to wake whoever or whatever was in the bed.

She slowly turned her head enough for her to take a peek out the corner of her eye.

Dawn wondered if Heaven really was messing with her.

She knew she liked dogs. In fact, she vaguely remembered saying she wished she could own a dog, preferably one of the bigger breeds.

That, in no way at all, meant this.

She stared, nonplussed at the sight of the gigantic fluffy mass of fur lying next to her. It looked like it was taking up more of the bed than she was; the dog-wolf-canine was just that big.

Her fingers twitched towards it and she immediately clenched them into fists.

She would not, could not, wake the metaphorical sleeping lion just because she had the stupid urge to bury her fingers into that dastardly soft and cuddly looking snowy white fur. What if it woke up and bit her head off? That would be ridiculously suicidal. At that thought, she found herself wondering if there was even such a thing as suicide in the afterlife.

Furthermore, was this situation supposed to be some sort of punishment?

Barely a few minutes into the afterlife and Dawn was already stressed beyond belief. Her muscles were aching from how rigid she held herself. Afterlife wasn't so euphoric after all, she thought cynically.

She gave herself a mental shake of the head, unwilling to even shift any more than she had already done and disturb the beast, ridding herself of those thoughts. They were important, but the most important thing right now was why was it even in the same bed as her?!

Was it a pet?! A guard dog?!

Dawn was torn between yelling and cursing, or just crying and wailing. Could she have been born under an unlucky star or something? Even while dead, she had a knack for landing herself in sticky situations.

What was she supposed to do?

She was about to just declare 'screw it!' and just do something, anything really, when the door creaked open.

A man's head popped out of the gap between the door and the wall. Upon meeting eyes with her, he opened the door wider and stepped in. "You've awoken."

"Are you an angel?" Dawn asked, quirking up an eyebrow. Angels nowadays sure had some weird fashion choices and good shampoo. She eyed his long flowy hair, slightly envious.

The male who had just swept into the room stared at her for a moment before his expression twisted. "What's an angel?"

Giving a cautious glance to the slumbering animal beside her, she slowly sat up. "Someone who leads the souls of the dead to wherever they're supposed to go?" She humored his question only because she appreciated the genuine-looking confusion on his face. The man had mad acting skills. She nearly believed him.

"We don't have that here." His tone was icy. Dawn belatedly realized she should have kept a tighter control over her emotions. It probably sounded too much like you're-stupid-for-not-knowing-are-you-kidding-me.

"..You don't believe in angels." He really was kidding her. Did he think she would be so easy to trick?

"No, I believe my meaning was that this 'angels' do not exist here. I have never heard of the term." Now, he was speaking to her like she was the child. Her hackles rose.

"Look here, you-" Her eyes swept him up and down, searching for something to insult him about. She was wondering if it was satisfactorily rude enough to call his attire a dress that looked like it was made from her grandmother's curtains, when her gaze landed on something that made her mind short-circuit.

Ears. The ears. His ears.

Pointy ears.

"Are you done gaping, child?"

Dawn would probably have been indignant about being addressed as a child but as matters were, she was, indeed, rudely gaping.

"Elves aren't real." She blurted out, and immediately closed her mouth with an audible clack of teeth. Her ears burned red hot.

"I assure you, we are very much real." He stressed.

"This is a dream. Or the afterlife. Though I'm really wondering why there are elves in heaven." Dawn pointed a shaky finger at him. "You, mister, are not real."

She had to be dreaming. That was the only conclusion. Elves didn't exist, and there was no reason for them to be existing in her heaven. She was expecting angels or maybe demons, but definitely no elves, nor wolves.

Dawn wasn't dead. Miraculously. And if she wasn't dead, then there was only one place she wanted to be right now. With her friends, whom she last saw running away from that horrendous monster. She had to know if they were alright. She couldn't be cooped up here with this nutjob cosplaying as an elf in her mind.

Her subconscious better stop messing with her. Dawn wouldn't stand for it.

She pinched herself, painfully, multiple times. And when that didn't work, she made to give herself a slap. Surely, one good smack would send her back to the waking world. If not, the last resort would be to jump off a building though she wasn't really keen on pulling an 'Inception'. She had enough of dying already.

"What are you doing, child?! Why are you hurting yourself?" He stepped closer to her bedside in a movement so graceful she'd never be able to achieve even if she did ballet for a lifetime. Her hands were quickly pulled away by slender yet masculine fingers.

"I want to wake up!" She hissed at him while trying to yank out of his hold. It was futile. It was like she was caught by a stone statue. "You're not real and this whole thing isn't real! I've got better places to be at!"

"You're awake." His brows furrowed, a slight sympathetic tinge in his voice as he spoke to her. His calm and firm tone caught her attention enough for her to still her struggles. "This is real, child. You are neither dreaming nor dead. You are alive, here."

"Where is here?" She was near tears with frustration.

"Imladris, the House of Lord Elrond."

"And where is that?" She snapped, hazel eyes sparking with confusion-driven anger. "I don't recognize any of those names!"

Why didn't anything make sense?

"You are in Middle Earth. A whole other realm, I suspect."

"It has been a few days since one of my patrol found you gravely injured in the woods."

The elf immediately released her, straightening up with an incline of his head at the two new arrivals.

Dawn jolted with surprise at the two new voices. She hadn't noticed their entrance into the room, so caught up with the first 'elf'.

The first one who had spoken was a tall old man, though he didn't exactly look frail, with twinkling eyes and a long grey beard. He tipped his pointed at her, and introduced himself as Gandalf, the Grey Wizard.

Her jaw dropped open.

The second one was an elf. The pointed ears peeking out from his brunette hair indicated so. He was the very definition of regal, both in his mannerisms and attire. He probably breathed dignity. The first elf introduced himself as Lindir, steward of Imladris, and the second elf as Lord Elrond, the well, lord of Imladris.

Elves and wizards. Stewards and Lords. Truly, her imagination knew no limits.

Imaginary they may be, her manners prompted her to give her name as well. "Dawn Gallagher."

"How do you feel?" Elrond raised a hand once he was standing at her bedside.

Dawn flinched away.

The stern set to his eyebrows, then melted away. He didn't smile, but at least, she got the feeling that he meant her no harm. She shoved the niggling thought of whether it was possible to get hurt in a dream to the back of her mind.

"Be at ease, child. He is the healer who saved your life." Gandalf said.

"One of the very best in the whole of Middle Earth." Lindir chimed in proudly.

So, when Elrond moved nearer again, Dawn didn't move and let him rest his hand on her forehead. After a moment of concentration, he withdrew with an unreadable expression on his face.

"What is it? Is something wrong with me?" She caught the exchange of glances between Elrond and Gandalf.

"On the contrary, everything is as good as it can be." Elrond raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. "You heal much faster than a human should be capable of. Perhaps even our speed of healing might pale in comparison to yours."

"Oh. Well. That's odd."

"Indeed, it is." Gandalf leaned forward, eyes boring into hers.

Dawn made sure to not avert her eyes, staring back daringly. Her secrets were hers to keep until she felt that they could be trusted. Especially one such as hers that had a high chance of being abused. It was an ingrained instinct to not dole out any information after dealing with all sorts of monsters over the years.

As if sensing he would not win the battle, Gandalf's gaze slid off to the side. "It appears the direwolf still has not left your side."

Dawn realized the canine had completely slipped her mind. Surprisingly, it was still sleeping peacefully despite all the noise she must have caused arguing with Lindir before.

"Direwolf? Still?" She spluttered. "Wait, earlier, you said you found me in the woods? And something ridiculous about this place being a whole another realm?"

"Indeed." Elrond said, casting a scrutinizing gaze over her. "I dreamt of your coming, and sent out some of my elves when the time was appropriate."

"A dream? About me?"

"Gandalf moved to the armchair on the other side of the bed. "This will be a long discussion. Would you like to rest before we proceed on?"

"Not at all." Dawn narrowed her eyes. "I'd like to know everything."

"Very well," Gandalf sighed. "You are not the first human to arrive here in this manner. Over the recent centuries, there have been records of humans appearing in Middle Earth. They had no knowledge at all of Middle Earth and constantly spoke of strange things which had never before been heard."

"And now, I'm one of them." Dawn said carefully.

"Yes, we believe so." Elrond eyed her thoughtfully. "The attire you were wearing was one we had never seen before."

"Denim," She snorted. "One of the wonders of the modern world."

"De..?"

"Denim. My jeans, the pants I was wearing. Speaking of which," Dawn lifted the covers she was under to check. "Who changed my clothes?"

"My daughter, Arwen, did." Elrond said stiffly.

"Right, so, the woods..?"

Elrond cleared his throat, glaring at the wizard who stifled an amused chuckle, before continuing. "You were found in the woods north of Imladris, bleeding profusely and unconscious. The direwolf was by your side, guarding you. It never went far throughout the journey here. You've been resting here for two days after I healed your wounds."

Dawn stared at the white mass. So, it wasn't a punishment or a rabid beast. She felt her heart warm, knowing it had protected her.

"I'm still not entirely convinced this isn't a dream. Or a really strange afterlife cooked up by tangling with too many monsters."

"You are alive. Lord Elrond healed you." Lindir protested.

"Except, I died. I'm sure of that. Well, humans generally can't survive being impaled on a monster's arm through the chest."

Lindir's face instantly blanched.

She only realized her arm had gone up, fingers still dazedly brushing over the area where she had clearly felt the creature's arm, when their eyes followed the movement. Clearing her throat self-consciously, she jerked her arm back down.

"I was under the impression there were no monsters in your world." Gandalf remarked.

"Only those involved know about it. Those who aren't are none the wiser as to their existence."

"You were involved."

Dawn knew it was Gandalf's attempt at prying for more knowledge though he didn't ask any direct questions. She could play the same game. "Yes, I was."

The two stared at each other for a while, neither backing down.

The wizard suddenly chuckled, standing up and moving to the door. "I see getting anything from you at this point of time is useless." He tipped his hat at her in farewell, before musing out aloud as he stepped out. "Perhaps I should go for some ale?"

His abrupt departure left the room's occupant baffled.

Lindir shook his head exasperatedly. "A wizard comes and goes as he pleases, truly."

"We should take our leave too." Elrond said. "I will send my daughter by shortly, to show you around. You are not a prisoner, but it would be unwise for you to leave Imladris' protection when you know nothing of this world and its dangers."

The two of them exited the room as well.

Dawn contemplated in silence, unsure of how to react.

Another world?

That was absurd. Her brain must be making use of all its thinking capacity to come up with such convincing backstories. Maybe she was in a coma?

She squeezed her eyes shut. Then, pinched herself again. It hurt, but she was still here.

Dawn flopped back onto the bed, fiery strands of hair mixing with the snowy white fluff of the so-called direwolf. She briefly wondered if it was such a heavy sleeper.

What else could she do to wake up?

She had to wake up. She had to get back.

A/N: This one's a little short but I really wanted to end it at this point. The next chapter will be longer and it's in progress, shouldn't take too long :)