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Growing up with the Ents was special.
I had quite the different upbringing than most children. After my re-arrival to the forest, Quickbeam was hasty in taking me under his wing..err..his branch. Learning the language of the trees and learning how to listen to nature had been easy for me, mostly because of the Fae blood that my mother had given down to me.
But with that wonderful relationship with nature came a horrible price. Fae's were rare, prized possessions. Some were sold for parts like cattle, some were bred like dogs and others were kept like birds in cages. Luckily, my Human blood threw many Fae hunters for a loop and rarely did anyone enter Fangorn.
When most little girls would be in school, learning how to cook and clean, taking care of the men, learning how to care for children and be trained as wives, I learned none of those things.
Well, besides cooking, of course.
Days were spent lounging in the sunlight that beamed down from the tree tops, leaping from branch to branch through the canopy. Befriending the animals, smelling each flower that I came across, learning which were poisonous and which were safe to eat. By clearing away rotting underbrush and pulling weeds from my "Papi's" soil, I became strong.
The only thing I retained from civilization was my love for inventions. The Ents were at first wary of the small girl carrying around her satchel of tools, but as soon as I started making water carrying pipes to help the older animals, the trees accepted the strange part of me. They called me a 'Tinker', but I much prefer the title that my father used to call me, an 'Inventress'.
After all, there were inventors, why couldn't I be an inventress?
I of course still remembered my blood family. The faces of my blood family were still in my head, but they had long since gone murky. I couldn't remember the exact shades of their colorings, their smells, and I had forgotten my younger brothers' voices.
"Key! Key, where are you?" The voice of Quickbeam, my "Papi", boomed though the lush canopy, interrupting my thoughts. The canopy was the perfect place for me to work on my blue prints, which was exactly what I was doing. He sounded nervous, yet angry.
I quickly went over the mental list of the chores I was supposed to do today, just in case he was upset with me.
Quickly, I dropped from the canopy to the fertile soil on my bare feet. Breaking off in a sprint towards my tree-father, my ankle bells jingling softly like the wind, I shouted out to Quickbeam.
"I'M COMING, PAPI!" I shouted, leaping over roots and rushing around some of the older Ents, who grumbled at me. All my tree-family seemed on edge, watching one edge of the forest with dark looks. Worried, because that's where many of my Papi's trees lived, I pushed myself to run faster.
"Papi, what's going on?" I asked, as I skid to a stop in front of Quickbeam. Quickbeam and his brothers were waiting for Treebeard to announce some sort of "decision", but I don't know what my adoptive Grandfather was deciding over.
"Where's Gee-pa?" I asked, climbing into my Papi's hands. Bringing me up to eye level, Quickbeard sighed, shaking his head.
"The Orcs are closing in on the forest. Last night, they cleared a block of the East side of the forest." Quickbeam said, quickly hushing me as I gasped, becoming stiff.
"Everything will be alright, Key. Stay close to the inner ring of the forest." Quickbeam said, rustling my hair with some of his leaves, making me laugh. Setting me back on the ground, he gently prodded my back with one of his branches.
"Off ye go. Remember, inner circle!" Quickbeam repeated, watching me rush away from the group of Ents, deeper into the forest.
"READY YOUR WEAPONS, JUST AS PRECAUTION!" Quickbeam shouted, suddenly becoming nervous.
The inner circle of forest was just like paradise, in my eyes anyway. The plants were always in full bloom and the animals were always healthy and unafraid of me. A stream trickled through, reflecting the colors of the forest.
"Orcs, so close to home..what's going on with the world?" I rhetorically asked a fat looking salmon that swam past me. Rude salmon, they never seem to listen to me when I spoke. I couldn't speak to animals, but I seemed to have a kindred bond with most animals, but not all animals.
Salmon just happened to be one of those non-kindred animals.
"At least it's not Goblins, but neither one is good." Sighing again, I obeyed my Papi and went to the hollow tree-trunk where I kept my possessions, including my weapons.
Two curved, six inch daggers which I like to attach to each of my thighs, as well as a small pouch of throwing knives. I would have loved to learn how to use an axe, but the Ents obviously weren't too comfortable with their little girl swinging around an axe.
What kind of Ent would want to wield an axe?
I know I'm noy Ent, obviously, but I was considered by the Ents as one of their own. Laughing at the mental image of myself as a real Ent, I attached my daggers to my hips and fastened my pouch of throwing knives on my left hip.
I couldn't believe that Papi was worried about Orcs coming into the inner circle! Most beings were petrified of Fangorn forest, and those who weren't were forced out when they proved dangerous to us.
The minute of complete silence, comfort, and serenity was destroyed by a battle cry. A single Orc burst through the underbrush, wielding a black, chipped sword. Quickly defending myself, ripping a dagger out of its sheath.
"Bastard." I hissed, the hair on the back of my neck standing up. Of course as soon as I was relaxing in the silence, this face-smelter pops out of nowhere. The Orc snarled, its mouth wide open and dripping with discolored saliva.
"I'LL TAKE YOU ON!" I screamed and lunged at the Orc, my dagger sinking into the Orc's collar bone. The Orc's sword fileted away the skin on my left shoulder, coming dangerously close to my throat.
Smashing the Orc's head with the hilt of my dagger disorientated the beast long enough to slice the dagger into its throat. Blood sprayed across the once peaceful inner circle, which was once again silent.
"Key!" Quickbeam shouted, his loud footsteps shaking the ground as he raced to where he heard a fight.
"PAPI!" I shouted, sheathing my dagger and began to poke at the dead Orc with the bottom of my heel. When Papi burst through the tree line, he was horrified at the sight of his bloodied daughter.
"I killed it, Papi! I saved the inner circle!"
Quickbeam was worried.
The large Ent marched through the forest, his sleeping daughter curled up in his hands, which he held close to his trunk-like chest. As he walked towards Treebeard's living, he let his mind wander. He found himself thinking of his Key, who had changed so much in the years she had spent with him.
The once tiny, quiet, prim and proper girl with greasy dirty blonde hair and glowing hazel-teal mismatched eyes, had changed dramatically. Her body had grown over time, now an athletic woman about four feet, eight inches tall. Her long hair had been braided by some of the smaller woodland creatures. Her ears were faintly pointed and her feet and hands were small, thanks to the Fae blood from her mother.
Key had grown out of her shyness, having been taught the blunt nature of the Ents. Kyrie was not the gentle, prim and proper girl she once was. She was a fighter, Quickbeam was not surprised that she was able to kill the Orc. Key was aggressive, the shyness from her childhood rarely peeking through anyone.
His Key was the light of his's life. As her "father", he was biased, but he could see both the positive and negative sides of his daughter's personality. On the positive branch, Kyrie was a protector and nurturer by nature. She loved quickly, deeply and fiercely, and had an undying amount of loyalty. She also was very smart. Her tinkering and inventing was amazing, the small girl able to draft and then create in a single night.
But, with the good comes the bad, and Quickbeam wasn't ashamed to point out what his daughter needed to work on. Kyrie was very strong-headed, with an overprotective and over controlling streak. She was lazy, sometimes she just liked to wait to see if whatever she wanted would come to her instead of having to get after it herself. Her nurturing nature was somewhat of a double edged sword, she sometimes she made herself a scapegoat to save someone else's neck.
Kyrie was illiterate as well, but what would be expected of a girl who grew up in the woods? She was able to understand her own blueprints, because all she used was numbers and drawings.
"Quickbeam? I've heard the whispers from the others. Is it true? An Orc in the inner circle?" Treebeard said as Quickbeam found his leader. Treebeard looked exhausted, his branches slightly drooping. All Quickbeam had to do was hold up Key, sound asleep, but still covered in Orc blood.
"We should send her away. The time for her to join the Grey wizard comes soon." Quickbeam said softly, cradling the young girl in his arms. Quickbeam knew all about the promise that Arthur made to Gandalf the Grey all those years ago, and he intended to uphold Arthur's pledge. Treebeard made a small grunt, stepping closer to Quickbeam.
"You never wish her to leave. You will miss her, son. We will all miss her. Kyrie will not wish to leave." Treebeard whispered, watching the girl yawn and curl further in on herself.
"Kyrie must be with humans, or at least other flesh-creatures. She cannot find a happy married life with an Ent, can't raise a family. Her real father promised Gandalf that she would aid him on his quest. That quest comes soon, and she must go." Quickbeam said softly, turning his gaze up to the stars.
"A 'real father' is one who raises a child. Arthur would be proud to call you another father to his daughter. He would be proud that you love her as your own, and how you have loved her. How you want the best for her, even if it breaks both your hearts to be separated." Treebeard said, making Quickbeam take a deep breath.
"She goes at sunrise." Quickbeam decided shortly, still looking up at the stars.
"It will be hard for her. Is she strong enough yet to be parted from you? Is she strong enough not to need her Father-her Papi?" Treebeard said, but Quickbeam only kept staring up at the stars.
"She is Kyrie, daughter of Quickbeam. She has always been and always will be strong enough."
"I..I have to leave?" I whispered, looking up at Quickbeam with wide eyes. Quickbeam sighed, looking down at me from his massive height.
"Yes, when the sun rises." Quickbeam muttered.
"D-did I do something wrong? I mean..I SAVED the inner circle, Papi!" I didn't cry, didn't raise my voice-I just whispered.
"Of course not, Kyrie!" Quickbeam hushed me. "It's just time for you to go on an adventure."
"Adventure? Papi, did a woodpecker burrow into your head?" I asked worriedly, eyeing my father's head. I'm not one for adventure, I'm able to put up a fight, but I'm not a fan of walking over long distances. I'm used to walking through the short paths in the forest, hopping tree to tree, or being carried by Papi if the trek was too long.
"Key..you remember your father, the human?" Quickbeam asked, sighing deeply.
"Sure, Papi." I said.
"Your father, Arthur Levistone, was truly an amazing adventurer. He helped a group of Dwarves fight against the Forest Elves, and then helped to create their peace treaty. He was beloved by a wizard, who had lead many of his adventures. One day, the Wizard came by and asked your father to join him on a quest in the future. Arthur said that he could not join, but he said that when you were old enough, you would be happy to join the Wizard on his quest." Quickbeam said, still staring off into the distance.
"He..he promised me to a quest?" I whispered, looking up at Papi.
"He meant nothing bad. You are the birth daughter of Arthur Levistone and Cazesher Seneca. You were bred and born to be an adventurer." Quickbeam said happily, trying to convince me that this quest was a good idea.
"But Papi..I'll have to walk all the way!" I cried, wilting in his hands at the mere thought of walking for so long. Quickbeam chuckled, but the sound did not sound as rich as it always had.
"Your Wizard will be arriving shortly after sunrise on his cart. From then you shall ride to gather the rest of the company. Come, spend one last breakfast with your old father, Kyrie." Quickbeam chuckled softly, shaking his head. I frowned, hearing the depressed tone in Papi's voice.
"Oh Papi, it won't be the last. It'll just be a little while before the next breakfast." I laughed, patting my Papi's trunk as he stood, carrying us towards the fresh harvest of rabbit meat and ripe apples.
"..He's a Wizard?" I whispered up to Papi as a rickety, old wagon slowly came into view. It was an old man at the reins of an old looking donkey, wearing all grey clothing.
"Yes, Key. He is a great Wizard." Quickbeam said, re-adjusting my back pack once more. I could remember this feeling-from when I was a child, about a year before the destruction of the village, when I had attended my first year of schooling. My M'ammy had pampered me, pre-packing and organizing my bag, while she did and re-did my hair.
It was the same feeling, all over again.
"Don't you remember him at all?" Papi asked, making sure that he had stocked enough food in my bag.
How old was I when I last saw this man? Five at most?
So yes…yes, I remember him.
"No." I muttered truthfully, rolling my eyes. How am I supposed to remember some strange wizard from when I was just a little kid? Sometimes I worry about Papi's brain. There's been too many woodpeckers and squirrels living in there.
"He's a very kind man-very strange. Speaks in riddles. You'll enjoy his company." Papi said, rustling some of his branches as the cart came closer to where we stood in the tree line.
"Great, another old man that I can't understand." I snorted, smirking up at Papi, who gently thwacked the back of my head with one of his branches. I don't know how long this quest will be, but I'm gonna miss this old tree.
"Good morning, Gandalf the Grey." Papi said as the cart came to a stop before us. The old man stepped out, standing to a rather magnificent height. He had a dirty grey beard and long hair of the same color that tumbled down his shoulders. He seemed to carry nothing but a pointy hat atop his head and a simple looking staff.
I couldn't believe that this old man was a wizard. He seemed too old, possibly too frail. He had that grandfatherly sort of vibe about him, sort of like Gee-pa Treebeard. The Wizard's eyes were a beautiful sky blue and he looked far to kind and gentle to carry any sort of monstrous power.
One thing about wizards: looks can be deceiving.
"Quickbeam." Gandalf nodded and smiled to Papi, who nodded back. Gandalf's sky blue eyes then focused on me, a tender look coming to his eyes.
"Kyrie, how you've grown. Grown in body, I can see, I can't wait to find out how in mind you have grown!" Gandalf said, cocking his head to the side to examine me.
"Hello, sir." I said, feeling slightly shy around this man who apparently knew so much about me, but I know jack-shit about him.
"Please, call me Gandalf. Oh gods..you look like your Mother, but you act like your Father. Tell me Quickbeam, does she still serve wine in mugs?" Gandalf said, his voice soft. My first impression of my Wizard was that he was one of those 'lovey-dovey-love the universe and the world while finding yourself and inner peace' types.
Great, I'll be traveling with another nature freak.
Don't get me wrong- I love nature, how could I not. I just detested when someone tried to pull any of that psychological shit on me. I don't want to "explore myself" or "review my unconscious", I just want to eat, work on my inventions, and maybe take a few naps in-between.
"Serving wine?" I asked nervously, looking up at Papi, who was chuckling into his hand.
"When you were small, you hosted for me while your Mother was asleep, she was on her third pregnancy after all. You offered me some wine, and instead of putting it in a wine glass-you put it in a rather lovely green mug." Gandalf said with a soft smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes.
"Sounds like something that Kyrie would do. Sweet child, means well, but doesn't think things through." Quickbeam teased, once again flicking me with a branch.
"Hey! Be thankful you got wine!" I chirped, a small blush dusting my cheeks as the two chuckled at me.
"So, Kyrie, are you ready?" Gandalf said, looking back at his donkey and carriage. I shouldered my backpack, and my small pouch of tinkering tools that hung off my other shoulder. I looked up to Papi and held my arms out, just how I used to when I was small.
Well, smaller.
"I'm going to miss you, Papi." I whispered once Papi and picked me up and pulled me into a tight hug.
"I'll miss you as well, Key. Remember, as soon as this quest is over, you come straight home." Papi whispered, the thick bark of his skin slightly digging into mine.
"Of course, Papi." I laughed, hugging him as tightly as I could.
"And please be careful." Papi sighed, pulling away. "And try to make some friends, maybe more. I'm getting old, I need some damned grandchildren."
"PAPI!" I cried, swatting at the embarrassingly annoying tree. Papi chuckled, a soft look coming into his eyes.
"Please be safe. I'll think of you every moment of every day."
"I will, Papi, I promise on everything I've ever known. I'll think of you every moment of everyday AND every night." I laughed, tugging on one of Papi's leaves as he sat me down. I turned to Gandalf and nodded my head, making my way to the rickety looking carriage.
"Bye, Papi." I said, as Gandalf took his seat beside me at the reins.
"Not goodbye. Until later, Key, my daughter. I love you." Papi sighed sadly, smiling softly.
"Until later, Papi. I love you too." I said, waving at my Papi as Gandalf turned the cart around and started steering us towards the horizon. I watched and waved until my Papi was nothing but a dot in the horizon.
"We will follow the North-South Rode, which will take us North. We will pass Isengard by nightfall, cross The Gwathló River, then cross Baranduin River, and then into The Shire. We will get there in no time thanks to Old Fertie here." Gandalf said after a few minutes of silence.
The old donkey, Old Fertie, hee-hawed at the mention of her name, twitching her ears. The donkey looked healthy enough, but she was clearly an elderly donkey.
"She's a lovely creature." I said, silently hoping that the old beast would last the journey.
"The most beautiful in her herd." Gandalf said.
"She looks it." I said, not knowing what to say. There was about an hour of long, awkward, drawn out silence between Gandalf and I. I don't think he noticed it, he was preoccupied with smoking his pipe weed and with his inner thoughts.
"Do you prefer to be called Kyrie or Key?" Gandalf asked out of the blue.
"Uh..any of them, I suppose. I go by all of them, but only some of the younger Ents and Papi call me Key." I said, shrugging my shoulders. "Does anyone call you something other than Gandalf?"
"Oh, I have many names." Gandalf laughed deeply, a plume of smoke wafting from his smile.
"Are you a criminal then? Multiple aliases?" I teased, letting out a laugh. Gandalf snorted while laughing, playfully rolling his eyes at me.
"That would make you my accomplice, now wouldn't it?" Gandalf taunted back before we fell into a now comfortable silence for a short while. Gandalf took us through a winding mountain pass that looked too narrow for us to pass through.
After making it through the mountain pass by nightfall, I noticed that the old donkey wasn't stopping to rest. Gandalf didn't seem to tire either, and pressed his steed on.
"Are we going to take rest?" I asked, cocking my head to the side. Gandalf shook his head, his pipe still in his lips.
"We shall go night and day, Old Fertie can and has handled the trip many times. We must make haste." Gandalf said softly, seemingly speaking as softly as the crickets that sang around us.
"You can sleep in the cart, it's much too long for you to go without sleep." Gandalf said, nodding towards the back of the cart where he had stored my bag. Nodding, I stood shakily from the passenger seat and threw my legs over into the cart.