A/N: Thanks to those who've favorited/followed this and special thanks to Antoninsh and russandolly for reviewing.
Disclaimer: Tolkien owns Middle Earth, I own Amber. Savvy? I make no profit from this either.
She was surrounded by darkness.
Amber felt her body rise, weightless and airy, sailing upwards towards a destination she couldn't see.
Not darkness there though. Light; blinding, solid, burning. But she couldn't see anything else.
She could hear hushed voices overlapping around her and struggled to make sense of what they were saying. After several moments the white noise cleared and she could pick out the voices of a man and woman.
"She is so young."
"Death is the gift of Man, Vairë."
"Not if she wears Queletári upon her hand. I thought Vanwa destroyed it after His betrayal. She even bears remarkable resemblance to the Autumn Daughter. Do you think perhaps-?"
"The Autumn Daughter's spirit has already made its way through my Halls. She has reunited with her kin and is awaiting judgment with the rest of them."
"Her body lingers though, does it not?"
"True though there is no guarantee this one would survive the process. It would be foolish to resurrect her into a broken body."
"Though the Autumn Daughter's body is broken, I believe this girl's spirit is strong enough to endure. She can accomplish what the child could not."
"I have never rebirthed a Man's Fëa into an Eldar body. Surely there will be repercussions for doing so. I fear her Fëa will not be strong enough to weather the coming storm."
"Men are more durable than you think, dearest husband."
"For her sake and his I hope you are correct Vairë."
"I have never been wrong before, have I Mandos?"
"Hmph."
The voices faded away as warmth spread from her abdomen to her limbs. Amber raised her hands, seeing her skin begin to crack apart. Her mouth opened in a silent scream as her fingers crumbled to ash. Her back bowed painfully, the sound of her bones splintering to fragments echoing in her ears.
Her entire being was consumed by fire as though she had become some twisted metaphorical phoenix. The pain was white-hot and nauseating. Everything went black and Amber waited to die.
Again.
A startled gasp tore from her lips as her eyes shot open, heart lurching painfully in her chest. Everything was too bright, too loud.
An anguished wail split the air and it took her a moment to realize the sound was actually coming from her.
She heard footsteps rush her way, felt arms come around her gently as she was cradled against a warm body.
"Oh thank Eru!" someone called out, brushing her hair out of her face and pressing a kiss to the crown of her head. "Lady Celebrían! She is alive!"
"Wh-where am I?" she managed to choke out, licking her dry lips.
"You are safe, sweet one." She willed her body to move, flexing her fingers and curling them into weak fists. "We feared you had succumbed to your wounds."
"Let me see her. I need to see her!" she heard a woman cry, hearing rapid footsteps coming her way. "Oh Yávien, I was so worried."
Yávien?
Were they talking about her? She supposed they were. Yávien was a pretty name, refined and light.
The only problem was it didn't sound like her.
She finally mustered the strength to open her eyes, hissing when they were assaulted by sunlight and forced them to focus on the woman hovering over her.
She had long wavy silvery-white hair and eyes that looked like they had been chiseled out of sapphires. What caught her eyes the most was the fact that her ears were pointed at the tips.
She screwed her eyes tightly shut before opening them once more.
Yep, still pointed.
Wait, had they said 'Lady Celebrían'?
The name immediately set off warning bells in her head as she pressed the heels of her palms against her eyes, collecting her thoughts as the aforementioned Celebrían went to fetch her some water.
Her name was Amber. She had died, shot by robbers at Granny Lucille's store and ended up in some freaky limbo place.
Of course, this could all be some hallucination she was having in the hospital but somehow she doubted that.
Everything seemed so…real.
Her imagination was far from being this vivid.
After rummaging around in her memories for a moment she was able to make the connection between the names Celebrían and Elrond.
As in, Elrond from Lord of the Rings.
She recalled the conversation she had heard between the man and the woman, about placing her Fëa in an elvish body.
Mandos and Vairë.
Two of the Valar.
From what she had gathered she apparently had her soul hijacked by Middle Earth's version of the Grim Reaper and subsequently stuffed into the body of an elf child to revive her all because she couldn't keep her grubby paws off that damn ring in Granny Lucille's shop.
"Here Yávien," she looked up at Celebrían, the elf offering her a small water skin. She took it with shaky hands, bringing it to her lips and spilled most of it down her front. "Oh sweet one. Let me help."
"No!" Amber snapped louder than she intended, seeing Celebrían recoil slightly in surprise. "I-I can do it myself."
As it turned out she really couldn't do it herself but Celebrían was patient and assisted her wordlessly, not admonishing her for her stubbornness.
Guess that sort of patience came with having three kids-
Wait.
What year was she in?
Had Celebrían even met Elrond yet?
She ran her hands back through her hair that was the same shade of coppery-red she remembered having before kicking the bucket. Small favors, she supposed.
"What year is it?" she asked bluntly, seeing Celebrían arch a delicate brow in confusion.
"It is the year 2509 of the Third Age," the Lady of Imladris said slowly. "Are you feeling alright? How is your head?"
So this 'Yávien' had apparently suffered a head injury that sent her to the Great Beyond. Pointedly ignoring the irony of that statement she decided to use that bit of knowledge to her advantage.
"It hurts. I-I can't really remember anything," she frowned, lower lip trembling as she looked at the elleth before her. Amber reached up, catching a nail on a bit of cloth circling her head.
"What do you not remember, sweet one?"
"I-I-I can't remember my name. You called me Yávien, didn't you?" Celebrían looked heartbroken at those words and she felt a twinge of guilt.
"I shall help you remember Yávien. My name is Celebrían, I was a close friend of your parents."
"Was?" she repeated, wanting to know as much about the elf whose body she now inhabited as she could.
"Yes. Your father fell in battle fifteen years ago and your mother faded from grief shortly after."
"How old am I?"
"You were born in the fall of 2487 of this age."
Amber blinked owlishly at that, glancing down at her small frame. She was just a baby by elvish standards, wasn't she? Twenty-two years in elf years was apparently not equivalent to twenty-two years of human.
"What happened to me?" she finally asked.
"When we set up camp yesterday evening you ran off into the woods after a white butterfly. When you did not return immediately Raunien went in search of you and found you unconscious at the bottom of a shallow ravine," Celebrían's voice cracked slightly and the redhead saw tears gather in her eyes. "You were bleeding terribly from a wound on your head. We tried to heal you as well as we could but your Fëa flickered out this morning and we feared you dead."
"A white butterfly?" White butterflies were often associated death and rebirth and Amber tried not to roll her eyes at the irony of the situation.
"When Raunien told me you had awoken I could hardly believe him. Mandos must not have been prepared to take you so young."
'Oh, if only you knew,' she thought sourly to herself as a smile spread over Celebrían's lips.
"We are not far from Lórien. I will have my father look you over when we arrive."
"Wait, Lórien?" Amber echoed nervously.
"Yes, Lothlórien is where my parents live. We visit them every summer for a few weeks. This will be your first time travelling there. We have to cross the Redhorn Pass in the mountains to reach it."
The wheels began turning in Amber head so fast she was surprised steam hadn't started coming out of her ears. Wasn't that where Celebrían had been captured by Orcs?
'Are you fucking kidding me? Of all places to punt me into the storyline it has to be at this point!?' she seethed angrily to herself. 'Okay, don't panic. Maybe we can avoid this whole situation.'
"I-I don't know if I feel well enough to travel that far," she chose her words carefully. "Can't we just…turn around and go back to Ri-home?" She almost slipped up and mentioned Rivendell.
"The return trip will take longer than it will to get to Lórien," Celebrían explained patiently. "Besides, we have Sidhion with us. He was an apprentice healer to my husband for years. You are in excellent hands."
Amber sighed inwardly. 'So much for that idea.'
"Lady Celebrían, we have finished packing up camp. Are you ready to leave?" Amber glanced over at a dark-haired elf coming their way, a quiver on his back and sword on his hip.
"Yes Raunien. We will be ready shortly. Let me get Yávien cleaned up. Could you send Sidhion over? I want him to look her over before we leave."
"Of course," the warrior replied, resting his fist over his heart and bowing to Celebrían.
Amber let Celebrían fuss over her, letting the healer to examine her wound. All three elves were surprised that upon removal of the dressings her forehead was completely unblemished and bore no indication she had even been injured aside from a bit of smeared blood.
Celebrían sponged her head clean, offering her a small bowl of stew. She accepted it tentatively, eating no more than two mouthfuls before she began feeling nauseous and had to stop.
"Are you feeling well enough to walk on your own?" Amber nodded slowly, not trusting herself to say anything without vomiting. "Go ahead and make for the horses with Raunien. I will join you shortly." She nodded once more, following the elf at a distance.
"They say she possesses Queletári."
"Are you serious? And they let her travel with us? That ring is cursed."
"I hear that is the entire reason we are going to Lórien, so the Lady Galadriel can-."
"It is not your place to speak ill of Lady Celebrían's ward."
The two elves flinched in surprise, turning to face said-Lady's personal bodyguard. "Why don't you two make yourselves useful and hitch up the wagons?"
"Yes captain."
Amber glanced up questioningly at the bodyguard. He gave her what she supposed was meant to be a reassuring smile, lifting her onto one of the wagons. Moments later they were joined by Celebrían and shortly after that did their escort begin moving.
Celebrían didn't speak much to her that day aside from asking if she was well or if she needed anything and for that Amber was grateful. It gave her time to organize her thoughts and think about her next course of action.
Amber glanced down at the silver and ruby ring hanging from a thin chain around her neck, letting it rest in her palm. She was stuck in Middle Earth in the body of an elfling, in possession of some apparently 'cursed' piece of jewelry and currently en route to an ambush.
She didn't know what she could do to prevent it if anything at all, really. While her body was more durable than her original thanks to the Eldar blood in her veins she was still physically eight. She didn't know how to use a weapon and was still getting used to the essentially supernatural senses being an elf gave her. She'd be useless.
Maybe she could pretend she could see the future? It was by no means a farfetched idea seeing as how Elrond possessed it but she had no way of knowing if 'Yávien' was predisposed to something like that.
At least the child's soul was already gone before she took her body. It made her feel slightly better about the entire situation.
Amber had already decided what she was going to do with herself when she hit her majority (which was, like, eighty-something years from then but whatever). As soon as she turned one hundred years old, she was running to the Grey Havens as fast as her legs could carry her and hitching a ride to Valinor.
There was no way she was gonna be in Middle Earth when the shit hit the fan.
The Last Alliance had already happened as she was born in the year 2489 of the Third Age so she had plenty of time before the 'Main Plot' kicked off.
Until then she had to play the part of Yávien, ward of Celebrían and possessor of Queletári (whatever that meant).
It was just a role she was playing. She would fake it, fake everything.
Before she had immersed herself in the world of Harry Potter she was an avid Tolkien fan. Lord of the Rings was her favorite series. She had memorized every line from the first-
Line…
Line.
Script.
Play.
Actor.
She could work with that.
The words 'method acting' came to mind.; to submerge yourself into your character, locking your true self away and become the person you were acting as. Amber was nowhere near as good as, say, Daniel Day-Lewis but she was good at it and soon enough she was going to have plenty of practice…
It was almost a week later when they reached the mountains. Amber spent that week being coddled by Celebrían and trying to adjust to her new body. She observed everyone around her, taking her cues from the other elves on how to act in an attempt to create her foundation of Yávien.
It was an overcast afternoon when they ventured through the Pass. Everyone seemed to be on edge, conversing only when necessary and in hushed tones.
They were halfway through when they were ambushed.
The orcs came from above, spilling down the sides of the canyon and throwing the party into complete disarray.
The horses whinnied in fear, rearing and dislodging the wagon from their harnesses. Amber screamed as the wagon tipped, tossing her from it like a ragdoll. A grunt escaped her when she hit the ground, only to feel someone whisk her into their arms.
"They have us cornered!"
"Calm yourself Maeglad. Protect Lady Yávien!" Raunien ordered.
"Of course! I will protect her with my l-," She didn't get to hear the last part of his sentence as he lurched forward with a grunt of pain, hitting the ground with a sickening thud.
She fell from his arms, rolling across the dirt and coming to a stop before a boulder. Trying to get her bearings she could hear the scream of metal on metal, elves yelling and the orcs snarling.
"Yávien! Yávien, run!" Amber's body seemed to unconsciously respond to the name as she climbed unsteadily to her feet.
Only to come face to face with an orc.
A startled cry escaped her as she stumbled backwards in fear.
"What the fuck-!?" Amber managed to say as he lunged for her. "Let me go!" she cried when he grabbed the back of her shirt.
"I got her! I got her!" he crowed, giving her a violent shake and tucking her under his arm. He was absolutely massive compared to her. "Get the she-elf!"
"We're trying," his compatriot snarled, viciously decapitating Raunien. Amber clutched a hand over her mouth, seeing blood pouring from a ragged stump where his head used to be. "This would go faster if you helped."
"I did my part. Do yours," her captor growled. Amber twisted in his grasp, spying the silver glint of a knife on his belt. It took her two tries to grab for it, wrenching it free and driving it hilt-deep into his right thigh.
He howled in what must have been agony, dropping her to the ground. Amber scrambled up, running as fast as she could in the opposite direction.
She tripped over several bodies, most missing limbs and some weren't even fully dead. Tears blurred her vision as she briefly pondered what fresh hell she had landed herself in before feeling someone grab her waist, holding her in place.
She screamed, trying to claw at her captor's wrists before hearing them speak.
"Yávien, saes. Calm yourself. I will not let any more harm befall you." It was Celebrían, her words flowed like liquid honey and calmed her almost immediately.
"That's where you're wrong she-elf," one of the orcs, for lack of a better term, said with a cackle. "My master will be pleased-."
"Our master you idiot," another growled. "We have to move quickly."
"What for? The Half-Elf won't know they're missing for weeks."
"You underestimate the Half-Elf's power. Some of her escort still lives, they scattered like bugs when we first attacked. We don't have a lot of time before they send out a search party. Let's get moving."
Amber heard one of the orcs grumble something before starting forward, reaching for her.
She shied back into Celebrían's embrace, arms coming around her protectively.
"Let the child go. She is innocent."
"That's where you're wrong she-elf. She has something our master wants."
"It will do him no good. What use does he have of another Ring?"
Ring? Like, the one-?
Amber looked down at the chain around her neck but the ring she had found in Granny Lucille's shop was missing. Maybe she had lost it during the initial ambush or something-
"It don't matter. We do what we're told and nothing more," the smaller orc said.
"Stop talking to them Lagûrz," the larger snapped, punching him in the side of the head. "She will bewitch you with her words. Just tie them up. We need to get moving."
The smaller orc grumbled under his breath when his commander left, turning to face the two elves. "It's naptime," he grinned.
Amber heard Celebrían cry out, seeing his sword come down, the pommel connecting with her temple.
"Celebrían!" she yelped as the elleth crumpled against the rocks behind her unmoving. Amber didn't even have time to look back at the Orc before the world exploded before her eyes in various shades of red.
She could only focus on the agonizing pain in her head, tears spilling from her eyes before he hit her once more. Her vision faded, quickly followed by her hearing.
She didn't even remember hitting the ground.
Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed.