Authors note: I hope you enjoy this story as it unfolds, and will help me in it's creation. I will from time to time ask for suggestions on names of places/people/ect, or ask you to help Raeith with a difficult decision.

First question, Please help me decide the names of two towns. These towns are located in the Elven land Ammon. One is a port town, the other the capital. Be creative but please make is sound elvish...

Disclaimer: While I am trying to keep everything as AU as I can, it is still the same Middle Earth created by JRR Tolkin in the same time, and the same war. I hope that is where the similarities end. The characters in this story belong to me, and we are just visiting the world created by the master storyteller Tolkin. Happy reading...

Gather around for I have a story to tell. I am Vorinde the steadfast, from a land beyond the waters known to the old kings as Amman. I will tell you the story of Raeith of the Woods…

PART 1:

Chapter One…

Our tale will begin on the eve on winter, the snow has not yet fallen but the few brown leaves that hold precariously to their branches offer little for cover.

The foot falls of the girl are almost silent as she moves through the woods, she is listening for prey… she has been almost two days without food and it is hunger that drives her out into the cold. The berries that sustain her diet have long been used up, and the pond by the mountains edge that yielded her fish in the warm times has become the property of predators much larger than she.

The rustle in the leaves brings the girl to a stop; slowly she lowers herself to the frozen ground below. The sound is not from a rabbit as she hoped, it is much larger, she peeks out from the foliage and sees not a wolf, but a man.

What would bring a man this far into the woods? She had seen him before; he was from the village of men far to the east. She would often travel that way when the land was warm but was careful to never approach. Men were dangerous! She had lived among them once but has lived in the woods for longer. The predators of the woods were honest, they would attack you if they were hungry or you entered their lands, men were different, they could hate.

She carefully studied the dark haired man; his form was thin as he was still in his youth. Perhaps older then she, but not filled out with time and labor. His movements were not right; his path seemed to have no direction and his walk was faltering. He was injured, but even an injured man was dangerous and the girl stayed close to the ground and watched. Time stretched as she watched him weave and stumble until he finally fell and did not get up, but still she watched him.

As day slipped closer to night the girl cautiously rose to her feet, would the other men come, should she leave? Would the wolves come first, should she stay? It was a quiet moan led her to stand over him. She had not been so close to a man since she was very young and her desire to flee was matched only with her curiosity. She lowered herself down beside him but in a position where she could run if needed, but he did not move. Slowly she reached out a hand and touched the dark hair that fell over his brow, his head was hot, but he remained unmoving. His closed eyes a testament to the extent of his injuries, without help, he would die.

Her hands moved to his shirt, it was covered in blood that moved toward his leg while he walked but now snaked a path down his side. Whatever creature had given him this wound could easily follow the trail of blood; she would need to start a fire to keep such predictors away, but first, his wound. She looked again at her hands, they looked normal to her, but she knew better, they were bad. She didn't know why they were bad, but she knew they were. She knew when she put her hands on his wound what would happen, she knew about the green aura that would surround them and she knew he would live, but she also knew this caused man to hate her. It is why her family sent her to the robed people. It is why the robed people hit her. It is why they call her Wraith and cross themselves when they see her. She checked the man's eyes again, they are still closed. Then she looks around her and knows they are alone. Slowly but firmly she puts her hands on the man's wounds and as the green aura envelopes them both, she feels for his energy that swirls slowly around his core, the vibration of that energy that is uniquely his own. It is still strong and as she gathers her own energy and sends it into him she feels him as he heals.

Chapter Two…

The fire crackled merrily spreading light and warmth in a small circle that held both the night and predators at bay. Wraith slowly added sticks to the fire, she had gathered some but time had been short and she returned with enough to keep the small flame flickering through the night. Morning came as it always did in that part of the woods, with mist covering the ground while little creatures moved through the brush looking for something to eat.

The sound of her stomach growling joined the buzz of morning movement as Wraith checked her quietly sleeping patient and went out quickly to find food. Hunger had been her companion for too long, and she no longer hoped to find a rabbit or squirrel but instead dug in the near frozen soil for a few of the nuts and seeds that were left behind by those creatures in warmer times. The tree below which she searched was often covered in those same small nuts in the late summer and it took little time to find several handfuls that could be added to hot water and eaten, but some she cracked and ate on her return to her makeshift camp.

The sight of warm brown eyes greeted her as she entered the small circle of light cast by the fire in the early dawn. Below those eyes a mouth smiled at her as she stopped so quickly she dropped most of the nuts she had spent the morning collecting.

"Good morning", the mouth said. He looked at her from over the small fire. Her large frightened eyes stared back from a thin face while whisps of light brown hair shadowed part of her hazel eye. She was medium height and small like a wood pixie he heard stories of, and her mouth was open in a little o of suprise.

Wraith stared…

Again he smiled, "I didn't mean to startle you".

Wraith listened to the words, she knew what they meant, some of them at least and the man smiled with this teeth showing, but he did not look like he was about to bite. He looked…. Kind.

With her eyes firmly planted on her patient in the chance that he might move, she slowly picked up the breakfast she had gathered and moved toward the fire. Her bowl that was carefully carved from the root of a tree was back in her shelter. She would not be able to warm and soften the nuts.

"What have you there?" the man asked while eyeing the nuts she had gathered. She quickly dropped a handful into his outstretched hand. Several hit the ground around him but from his continued smile, he did not appear to mind. "Breakfast?" he asked.

Moving well beyond his reach from his prone position, she sat cross-legged on the ground and began to pop nuts into her mouth, crushing them and spitting out the shells. Still she eyed him wearily while he carefully put a dirty shell between his teeth and bit down. Removing the snack from his mouth, he carefully opened the shell and removed the nut inside. It was bitter; the face he made when he bit down on the nut startled Wraith then made her laugh. It was a sound that surprised both of them, but the man joined in and laughed as well. It has been many years since Wraith heard the sound of laughter; even then it was from children and usually at her. This was different; it was warm and made her want to move closer.

He points to his chest, "I am Glem, Glem" he repeats.

"Glen?" Wraith timidly asks.

"No, Glemmmm" he tries again, stretching out the last sound.

"Glemm" she repeats.

Her reward was a smile, bigger and brighter than the rest. She liked that smile.

"Wraith" she points to herself and states.

"Wraith" he repeats, but his brow furrowed and he looked troubled. "Like the stories of the ancient evil wraiths?" He questioned.

"Yes, spawn of the devil" she chirped. She remembered the robe people telling her that, she was pleased she remembered, but the man did not look nearly so pleased.

The conversation grew quiet as he watched her; she popped a few more nuts into her mouth and crunched. He seemed less pleased with the conversation then there makeshift breakfast.

After a bit either due to restlessness or the hardness of the frozen ground he lay on, the man gingerly began to sit up. He was surprised by the lack of pain and although weak, he felt he could probably walk around. This seemed strange since he seemed to remember the wound inflicted by an irate bear as being much more severe then it currently looked. In fact, it looked almost healed! How long had he been laying there with this waif of a girl tending his wounds? Where were the others, certainly she was not alone. She was much too young to be alone in these woods. He was nearly 17 years and she seemed a year or two younger than him. He looked around for signs of others but found none.

"Where are your people" he asked.

"People?"

"Your kin, and friends?"

"Kin… Friends?"

This was getting him nowhere.

"Where is your Home?"

"Home?" she repeated.

"Yes! Where is your home?" he snapped.

In less than the beat of a birds wing Wraith had jumped up and was glaring at him from the edge of the clearing. The yell had been unexpected; he looked like someone who might be kind. She wanted him to be kind, she was alone and had been for a long time and it was nice to not be alone, but he yelled and kind people did not yell.

"I am sorry, I did not mean to…" he was not sure what he had done to get such a response. Sure he raised his voice a little, but not enough to cause her to jump and run. Perhaps she was alone, that would explain why she seemed frightened of him. He tried again, casting a smile at her, he invited her to sit and was surprised and pleased when she came around the fire and sat closer to him then she had been since she practically threw the nuts at him at breakfast. Speaking of breakfast, he was getting hungry but not hungry enough for more of the bitter fare still scattered around him on the ground.

The day progressed with him talking and Wraith listening, she seemed interested in what he had to say but shy about saying much herself. He stretched his aching muscles and walked around the camp while she gathered more wood for the fire and collected more nuts and a few leaves. He was not looking forward to dinner. He had been away from home for two or three days before the attack but had no idea how long he had been in the care of this girl. It must have been a while, several days at least based on the condition of his wound. His people should come looking for him soon.

The next few days brought a feeling of companionship to Wraith that she had never known. The boy, Glem, talked a lot, but she found she liked to listen. She liked to watch him too. When he walked, he looked powerful, but in a good way. He was also good at finding food. He had a stick and another stick and he used them to throw at a bird and they had meat with their nuts that night. Well, she did. He just had meat.

It was late on the third day that the sounds of voices echoed through the air. Wraith jumped to her feet and was about to run when Glem, with a huge smile on his face told her to stay.

"It is my kin," he tried to explain. "They have come looking for me. Come" he told her as he held out his hand to her, "meet them."

She hesitantly placed her hand in his and followed him into the woods and towards the voices. He called out to the voices beyond, and the voices called back. Wraith stopped. "Come, it is ok, it is my kin." He sent her a smile that encouraged her to continue.

In the clearing were three men, two were older then Glem, one was much older. He seemed tired. She stopped at the edge of the clearing and Glem gave her hand a little tug. He was very happy to see his kinsmen but was concerned Wraith was ready to run. The old man looked at Wraith and a smile cracked his wrinkled face and his brown eyes turned soft and welcoming.

"Who have we there?" asked the elder.

"This is Wraith, I was wounded and when I woke up, she was there." Glem offered for explanation.

One of the other men looked at the dried blood crusting his shirt "From the looks of you, you should be dead."

"Thought I was for a while, but I am fine now." He lifted his shirt with his free hand for his kinsmen to see the nearly healed wound that stretched from halfway across his ribs and toward his hip. It was a serious wound that could have killed him or left him bedridden for many days, perhaps even weeks. It had been just over a week since Glem left the village in search of bear hides and the fat that would help feed them through the winter.

"Our little friend here must be a powerful healer," stated the elder as he looked back at Wraith with new interest.

"Whatever she is feeding you must be working" joked the dark haired man near the elder.

Glem thought of the nuts she kept handing him to eat and decided to bring some home with him, just in case.

"Come back to our fire, we have meat to eat tonight, unless you brought something better?" Glem asked hopefully.

The taller of the men laughed at Glem, "You always do think with your stomach first." he grinned.

"Fortunately for you, your mother packed enough food for a month. She is very worried" the tall man said and gave Glem a disapproving look.

The fire was nearly out at the camp and Wraith hurried forward to put more sticks on the small flames. The men had talked cheerfully the whole way back to the campsite and it did not look like the buzz of voices would end anytime soon. Several times they had tried to get her to join in conversation, but Glem had explained that she was shy, and yes, she appeared to be alone, and no, he did not know why a young girl was in the woods alone, and no, he did not know why she was named after the devil's own. But she was friendly even though was not good at cooking food and he had enough nuts to last him a lifetime, and did they have any biscuits…

The old man even though he seemed very happy to have found Glem, and even happier to be resting by the fire, watched Wraith carefully. She was more than shy; she was if not afraid, undeniably nervous.

Dinner was served by the tall man, Cobryn, is what Glem had called him. Wraith had watched the man carefully. He pulled out a black bowl that looked quite different then her wood bowl then placed it directly over the fire. She was shocked, it did not catch fire! How could the bowl not burn? The old man watched her reaction and smiled.

"It is iron" he said as he answered here unasked question. "It is a pot that does not burn in fire so we can cook in it."

Glem and the other two men looked questioningly at the elder, how could she not know what a pot was. Everyone knew what a pot was.

"It will get very hot, so you cannot touch it" he continued.

Wraith watched the man put food from his bag into the iron pot and watched him cook with fascination. He had an iron stick to move the food around and the smells from the pot made her stomach growl. He smiled at her then reached in his bag and pulled out a biscuit and handed it to her. She took it warily then Glem called out, toss one of those over here. She watched Glem take a big bite out of his biscuit before she took a small bite out of hers. It was good! It was better than good. How could it be so soft in her mouth, and the way it tasted warm even though it was not, and oh, it was just so good.

The elder watched the emotions play across the young girls face as she took the biscuit from Cobryn. She watched suspiciously as Glem took a bite then tried it herself. He watched as her eyes opened in surprise then closed as she savored the flavors of the biscuit. Vaoni was a good cook, but he doubted anyone appreciated her cooking more than this girl did at this moment.

Conversation lasted well into the night as the men bedded down on the ground around the fire. Wraith chose a spot closer to the tree line and as the elder watched, he doubted she would be sleeping much tonight.

Long after the conversation of a family reunited died down to the quiet steady sounds of breathing and the night birds started calling, the elder watched the open eyes of the girl where she lay.

"Come over here and join me by the fire" he invited quietly. "It appears neither one of us will be getting much sleep tonight. Old men like me need rest, but little sleep, and I believe your mind has too many questions to let you rest."

Wraith moved closer to the fire. The iron pot still sat above it and the smells still made her mouth wet.

"Are you still hungry?" the old man asked, "I can fix you more food."

"No, not hungry"

"My name is Addroddyn, but you can call me Poppie."

There were a hundred questions he wanted to ask her but knew she would not or could not answer them, so he asked if she knew the anything about the bird that sang off in the distance, the creature that made the rustling in the dry leaves and anything else he could think of to get her talking to him.

Sometime in the night she fell asleep.

If dinner had been good, breakfast was even better. This time before Cobryn handed her a biscuit, he broke it open and added something sticky and sweet.

"Honey" the elder indicated the biscuit. "That is what he added"

"Honey" she repeated, then opened the biscuit and licked the honey out of the middle and grinned at the old man. "Good! Wraith like."

"How did you get a name like Wraith?" asked Cobryn.

Wraith seemed to think hard then said "Robe men".

"They say Spawn of the Devil" she added and watched as the faces on the two men changed to discomfort just like Glem's when she told him, but the old man's face looked different. He looked fascinated.

As before, when she told Glem, the conversation died down. The men did not look at her but looked instead to the elder. The elder looked at her and smiled.

"Names are important, each is made up of symbols that tell others who we are. The name Wraith is for an evil being. You found our Glem wounded and you healed him; that is not the sign of an evil creature. I believe I shall give you a gift for saving our Glem. I believe I will give you symbols for your name. From here on out, you will be known as 'Raeith of the Woods'. Those symbols mean Daughter of the Sun and bringer of Light.

"Raeith?" she questioned. And the Elder took the iron stick from the pot and began to write symbols in the dirt. First he wrote 'Wraith' then crossed it out, above it he wrote 'Raeith'. "There, it is done! You are now Raeith of the Wood!"

She looked hopefully at the elder, "Raeith have name, good name, Raeith is good?

"Raeith is very good." he replied and watched as the hopeful look turned to happiness.

"Where is your kin Raeith, your family?" the elder asked quietly.

"Family gone, took Raeith to Robe people."

"Then we will be your family. You can come back with us and live in our village, Occulas Populas."

"Occuliz Popu…."

"Occulas Populas, The hidden people," he corrected. "We live off towards the east" he pointed off in the direction of their village. "Come with us Raeith of the Woods."

"There are biscuits," Glem added helpfully, "and honey."

The rest of the day the elder told her tales of the people she would meet, the people who would now be her family. He told her of cooking and sewing, of swimming, fishing, and about all his favorite foods. He told her about how they would gather in the evening around the fire and tell stories. As Raeith listened and imagined such a life her heart began to feel full and happy. It was all her companions could do to get her to wait to leave until after breakfast in the morning.

Authors note: Thank you all who read it this far, like I said at the beginning I will be asking you for help with names and places, plus various moral dilemmas she may face every now and then so if you have any ideas at all please let me know, any and all reviews are not only welcome but necessary In order for me to know what and how to improve the story thank you.