Warning: AU. Yes this is Marysue-ish BUT not tenth walker, well not really.

Summary: "love, like a river, will cut a new path whenever it meets an obstacle." What if that obstacle is a legend that was never in the books, a legend close to forgotten. Winifred discovers just how much was missed behind closed doors.

A/N: Hello. This is my first fanfic and I wanted to test the waters of sorts. I'm currently still writing this story but I edited, revised, and thickened this chapter as much as I could and thought I'd put it up and see what happened. Reviews would be preferable, and please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. The world of middle earth and everything in it is the wonderful creation of J.R.R. Tolkien.

The Blessed

Chapter 1 An Old Flame

She had been hiking all morning and afternoon, now it was only hours before sundown; she expected to reach her normal camping site before the sunset. She'd been hiking this trail for so long she had the timing almost down to an art form, because right before the sun started to set she walked under a canopy of trees and it opened up to a clearing.

The clearing was a perfect circle, and during the spring it would be full of wild flowers, but now in late summer, only housed long grass. In the center there was a fire pit made of stone and a log off to one side.

She had helped to make and maintain this clearing and in reward she was the only one allowed to use it. In her opinion it was the perfect spot. Near by the side of the mountain with a beautiful view. If you take a small path through thin trees there was a waterfall and at the bottom a pool of water that eventually made its way to the stream that connected to it.

She took a deep breath and smiled. This clearing was a welcoming view after a daylong hike. She took off her 70lbs backpack and started to unpack her north face mountain 25. Her favorite tent her family owned.

She had just finished making her tent and throwing her things in when she heard a voice speak up from across the clearing.

"I was wondering how long it'd take you to get out here, once you came back home." She knew that voice and smiled to the owner of the deep baritone voice that was the epitome of masculinity.

"And I was wonder how long before one of you rangers came and tried to ask for a camping fee, Denny." She looked at the mountain ranger her friend, and long ago her lover. Denny was four years older and wiser beyond his years, tall, and bulky with muscle. He had a scruffy look to him but it only added to the overall appeal of him. With his brown hair and brown eyes that shined with humor. Not to mention that half smile he often showed.

"Well having a father that owns half the mountain does help." He said walking forward the half smile making its appearance. Yes, that was a well known fact among the rangers and mostly the reason why she had been permit her own clearing just for her use only, and why she never needed to pay any fees. Though she tried desperately to prove herself worthy of such a gift.

Finally when he came to stand in front of the young woman, he smiled in pure pleasure and said "welcome home Winnie." Conveying more meaning with how the words were spoken then what he actually said.

She smiled back and stepped forward into his embrace. She breathed him in, letting his natural aroma fill her need of him. Her head resting on his shoulder, with her face buried in the crook of his neck. She whispered back "Denny."

Winifred was a recent college graduate and had just come back from her tour of Europe, her parent's graduation present. She was considered tall for a woman, with long dark brown hair that was pulled into a single braid down her back and a pair of hazel eyes. She had the natural beauty people strive for. A delicate jaw line with a small chin, small but plump lips, with a straight nose the turned slightly up. Her eyebrows were fuller then most but had the classic look to them and checks that always seemed to have a slight blush. But even then her best asset was her smile, she could stop any man on the street with just a smile.

Her smile is how she and Denny met. It was the late spring after her freshmen year of college, and she had come up to the mountain to celebrate the ending of her first year. Denny had been the ranger to come to her camp to check her in. She had just lit her fire and turned to add sticks when she saw him and smiled, their world wind relationship had started shortly thereafter. They seemed to have an explosive relationship, passion and heat from the first meeting and even now it sometimes bubbled beneath the surface.

They had dated for a year and a half but like all flames they eventually burnt out. They still had some stolen moments together but they were few and far between. He always visited her when she was camping and she'd called him every now and then to catch up. Anything more was a little too hard for them, both physically and emotionally. For her, he was her first, and first love. And for him he never felt more comfortable and at ease then in her arms.

Winifred stepped back to have a good look at him. "You look good, Denny." She said.

"Your not too bad your self, Winnie." He always preferred using her nickname, and secretly she liked it when he said it.

"How's the mountain treating you?" she asked, this was a long time joke between them.

"You know how she is during this time, scaring away all the campers she can with wildlife and storms." His eyes gleamed with humor.

"Its really good to see you again, Denny. It's been too long." Winifred had really missed Denny recently. She had been job hunting and dealing with moving back home till she found a job. Even though her parents offered to buy her an apartment, she didn't always want daddy to be paying her bills. She'd been living that way all her life, she needed to learn to fly on her own, the reason why she always camped alone. But she knew her father paid the rangers extra to keep an eye out for her whenever she had time to visit the mountain.

"Yea, it has been." he stared into her eyes, longing very clearly written on them.

Denny had stayed and helped her set up camp, getting sticks and tree branches for the fire, collecting water from the near by stream. Making a simple meal of canned tuna and crackers, and a granola bar for each and catching up with each other's lives. After dinner they lay on the ground and looked up at the stars. Her small speakers for her Ipod played softly in the background. Each lost in thought.

"I've been thinking of taking a job offer in Seattle, they've offered me some very nice benefits and would pay me more." Denny said suddenly. Not looking at Winifred or her reaction. Winifred's head snapped over to look at Denny not sure how to take this new information.

"That's across the country, Denny." She stopped. It wasn't fair to hold him back if that's what he really wanted. Things were done between them she had to stop acting like she owned him in some way. She needed to let him go. "Well …if its what you want… who am I to try and stop you." Winifred's voice was practically dripping in hopelessness and despair.

"I think you're the only person that could." He smiled over at her, the truthfulness of his words ringing as clear as a bell.

"Well don't think I'm gonna make the decision for you." Winifred crossed her arms and looked him in the eyes. "You're a big boy now." Her face was serious but through the eyes only a weak humor was showing.

Denny smiled and reached over from his spot on the grass and took Winifred's left hand into his. It was warm and slightly tough from all the work Denny did with his hands, and Winifred's was completely lost in his hold. He brought her palm to his lips and kissed the small heart tattoo near her wrist, Winifred smiled.

"I still want you Winnie, I still want us, I know it probably won't ever happen but I still want to marry you," he said. They had had similar conversations before on this topic.

"I know." Winifred said simply. Her eyes were full of pain, she had to look away it hurt her every time this happen. It hurt them. They seemed to collide with each other a lot. She didn't know how much longer before they were both broken beyond repair.

"I know the miscarriage…" she interrupted him.

"Shhhhhhh please, please don't." her breathing hitched and she rested a hand on her very flat abdomen. "I know it's been years but please… I still." She couldn't finish. She took a second to collect her self and added. "We were never going to last long anyways." She smiled slightly as she looked over at him. "We were too intense, fighting then making up, then fighting again. It took a lot out of us. I think its better that everything… happen."

She had been four months pregnant when she got into a car accident. She hadn't told anyone about the baby yet; she was ashamed she had gotten her self in a position like that. She had been driving when she felt a twinge of pain in her abdomen, and it only grew worse, she felt a hot liquid between her legs. When she put her hand down to find the cause, her hand came back bloodied. After that she passed out from the pain and lost control of the car. Her parents found out, and then everyone heard one way or another. Pity is what she got from her parents and everyone else, and she didn't want their pity. She told Denny because as the father he had a right to know. They cried together when she told him. But after that it was never the same. They broke up shortly afterwards. She felt like she lost a small part of herself with the miscarriage. Part of this reasoning was because it wasn't only a part of her but a part of Denny too.

"Your right, of course." He took his eyes off her and looked back up at the stars. " But you're still the only star that lights my night sky." He remarked.

"I still love you too, Denny." He had trouble saying that phrase but he found ways to express himself just the same. "But I think its time for the sun to rise." There was a moment of silence between them.

"So I guess I'm off to Seattle then." Such a simple statement, it carried a lot of weight. Winifred almost missed him casually wiping away an escaped tear. No doubt the only one he would allow to fall.

"I guess you're going to Seattle." She repeated. She would miss him dearly. A piece of her heart would always belong to Denny. She'd had a lot of first with him, and him with her. However, maybe this is what they needed… space, distance, … freedom.

She was tempted to ask him to stay with her but in the end said her bitter sweet goodbyes and was pleasantly surprise when he gave her a soft kiss on the lips and added "for old time sakes." Smiling he left the clearing.

When he got to the edge of the tree line he turned around and said, "be careful tonight, there's a mountain lion causing trouble further up the trail. Keep that gun and knife of yours close tonight." With that he left the clearing, her eyes followed him until he was lost among the trees.

Eventually she fell asleep with one headphone in, listening to her Ipod, while her other ear listened to the sounds of the wilderness. Her shotgun lay next to her and the knife underneath her pillow. She never camped without them.

Winifred had been planning to take two days to enjoy the pool, soak up the sun, and explore the area around the clearing. With the warning from last night still fresh in her head she just decided to pack up the next morning and go back home. She kept her knife attached to her belt on the hike back down the mountain this time and her gun in a sling on the side of her pack, easily accessible. Having one wasn't regulation per say but the rangers let her get away with this considering who her father was, and as long as she didn't run around scaring the other campers with it.

Around noon she took a break next to a meandering stream. She replenished her water supplies, and rested on a rock near by. After a few minutes she got back up and continued down the trail. This time there was a pair of eyes following her.

Soon after her break she noticed the silence around her. No birds or any little furry thing running across the trail. It was complete and utter silence. Winifred became unnerved and had a tingle travel through her spine. Then she felt it, she could feel the eyes following her, watching her.

She was hard pressed to turn around and look behind her. When she did she didn't see anything but by now her instincts started to kick in. The hair on the back of her neck stood up and warning bells went off in her head. Slowly, she took out her gun, clicked off the safety and started to back into the forest, off the trail. There was still nothing but she felt it, felt the eyes of something on her.

She turned around and started to walk purposely through the forest, clutching at her gun looking around her for any signs of a predator. She didn't get far before she noticed the mountain lion Denny had warned her about, 150 yards to her right. It was slowly stalking her. Her adrenaline was pumping and her blood was flowing. She could feel her heart beat in her fingertips. He was too far for her to get a shot in, but she wasn't about to sit here and wait for him to come closer. By now she had two choices to fight, or flight. She'd like to think she choose to flight and then fight when in range but she didn't really care how you looked at it either way she was NOT going to be someone's meal.

Winifred bolted to the left. From her peripherals she saw that mountain lion had given chase. She ran as hard as one could with a 70lbs pack on. The trees were flying by, her hair was falling out of its braid and Winifred had noticed how everything else was forgotten. She could only hear her heartbeat in her ears, or was it the sound of the lion's paws hitting the ground in a rhythmic pattern? This thought urged her on. During this she didn't noticed the trees thinning out or the warning sign posted on a near by tree. WARNING: unstable ground do not enter.

She had run into a big clearing. It looked like rock but she failed to notice how fragile it looked. She began to sprit across it, small cracking noise following her, Winifred barely observed this. When she was almost half way across she stopped, desperately turned and dropped to a knee while pointing her gun at the lion. It was 30 yards away. She loaded, aimed, hoped for a true shot, and squeezed the trigger. It happened in slow motion. As she looked at the lion taking aim with her gun, it gave a loud roar that sent chills to her bones. The lion was a beautiful but terrifying sight, with its clear eyes looking dead on, and strong legs pushing it ever closer and closer to her. She took notice of the space between herself and the lion. Seeing cracks between them, breaking the rock and how with each pounce of the lion's strong legs they only deepened and reached further. Winifred pulled the trigger.

It clipped the lion on its shoulder but it was enough to bring it down. With its momentum it hit the ground, rolled then slowly slide to a stop. And with the downfall of the lion there were painfully loud cracks when the lion hit the ground and when it rolled. But unlike the lion it didn't stop. It seemed to be on a crash course towards Winifred. She only had time to stand and take one step away, when the rock finally gave in to the added weight and collapsed.

Winifred didn't even have time to process this entirely, yet alone scream before she dropped and was engulfed in darkness. Whether it be from the lack of light or passing out, it had the same effect on Winifred. Her whole world went black.