TADAA! HERE WE ARE! the beginning of the fanfic.

Just a couple of thing's i'd like to go over before we start.

First off the usual disclaimers. Don't own anything from Peter Jackson's movies or the original hobbit book by JRR tolkien.

To old readers of the original fic, welcome back. It's good to be writing for you again. This fic is a remastering of the old fic (also titled The Legend of The Green Lady). I personally felt that after being positively stuck for over a year of hiatus it needed an overhaul and upgrade so here it is.

To those who are new to this story, welcome and i hope you enjoy reading it.

Now let's get started shall we :)

Chapter 1: An Unexpected Journey

A wise old Wizard once told me that extraordinary things happen to extraordinary people.

But here's the catch. I am not really that extraordinary by any stretch of the imagination.

I'm the daughter of Calvin and Nora Brooks. My father was a carpenter and my mother was a florist who ran her own flower shop.

I also have a brother Ian who is older than me by four years. He was studying to be a lawyer and used to work at the public library, which I sometimes used to volunteer at.

Not that I ever wanted to be a librarian…

I often thought I'd go into botany or become a florist or even become a gardener.

I never imagined that I would be swept away into the land of Middle Earth and forced into battles and crazy adventures over mountains, rivers and sweeping plains.

Yes.

I said Middle Earth.

The same Middle Earth that was created by J.R.R Tolkien.

The same Middle Earth which is home to humans, elves, dwarves, hobbits and probably every single other crazy creature that ever existed in fantasy fiction that has ever existed.

You all might ask me am I high on some form of crack? You might ask me if I'm playing April fools. But I'm not joking.

I really am in Middle Earth

How did I get here you might ask?

Well…that's a pretty long story…

And like all good stories, it starts like this:

Once upon a time, there was a seventeen-year-old girl named Ariel Rosalie Myrtle Brooks…

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

A young woman winced in her sleep as her alarm clock blared loudly beside her on her bedside table.

Without opening her brown-green hazel eyes her arm automatically slid out from beneath the tropical green comforter. With a hard whack, her fingers slapped randomly at the buttons on the top of the device, the sounds from it growing louder with every extra beep.

Eventually after a couple of moments of slapping and slamming over the hard surface she managed to press the right button, which yielded at once to her touch before it shut up.

"Finally," the girl groaned her head lifting up groggily from her pillow. She tried to squint at the clock but her dark red-russet hair was in the way of her light brown eyes.

Jesus is it that late already?

She brushed back her hair, blinking hard as she tried to adjust herself to the light about her. The sun was shining, making her light beige skin take on a slightly golden sheen as she sat up in bed stretching out her limbs.

"Ariel!" a woman's voice called from outside her room door. "Ariel get up it's time for breakfast"

Ariel pinched the bridge of her nose as she yawned, doing her best to fight away the sleep that was threatening to engulf her again. She could not help it. Her bed was so soft and warm and comfortable. She could gladly fall back in its snuggly depths and remain there for all eternity.

But unfortunately for her fate had other plans, one of them just so happening to barge into her room at that very moment.

It was a young man. He was tall, lean and healthy, with dark coffee coloured skin and a shaved head of black hair that set off his eyes, which like Ariel's were a clear hazel with a slight upwards tilt.

"AH! The creature lives!"

He grinned wolfishly as he looked over the younger girl in the bed who glowered sleepily up at him before looking at the door.

"Ian seriously shut up. We're already late and I'm not in the mood,"

"You mean you're really late" Ian snorted standing to the side to allow his younger sister to get to her wardrobe. "I've been ready for half an hour"

"Well whoop-tee-freakin'-do!" Ariel rolled her eyes as she pulled out a pair of blue skinny jeans and a loose dark green shirt and began to get dressed.

"Oh don't get like that Airy-fairy" Ian shook his head fondly "We're only going to stack shelves. Not trek over the whole world."

"I bloody hope so. Or else I'm quitting" Ariel grunted as she pulled on her clean shirt and brushed out her hair, tying it quickly in a small braid to the side.

"Quit? You haven't even started anything yet. Come on Airy. It'll be fun. An adventure. We'll have a blast" Ian chuckled as he made to exit only for his sister to call out after him.

"Yeah, because swimming in a sea of by books is such an adventure! Seriously" she muttered when she heard his footsteps as he descended the staircase.

"It's a goddamn library. Just how fun can it possibly be?"

Ok…I will admit…this isn't so bad

Ariel found herself rolling her eyes to herself as she stood in the middle of an isle made up of two high and long bookshelves. Beside her was a large trolley laden with books of various shapes, sizes and colours.

She had been replacing returned books on shelves for almost an hour now but she had to admit it wasn't as boring as she would've originally thought.

For one thing the books she was putting back too were all of many different sorts and many had odd or amusing titles. Of course, there was nothing entertaining about the classics, and many of the non-fiction books were rather bland in appearance. But still it was always fun trying to find their spots by racing her brother down the mostly empty pathways between bookshelves on the back of the trolley.

But that fun had ended half an hour ago, when her brother Ian had been called away to assist a patron at the front desk.

Ariel was just finishing squeezing a very worn copy of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, when she heard someone cough from beside her.

She quickly turned her head and saw to her surprise an old woman standing behind her, looking up at her with cold beady black eyes as she rasped.

"Excuse me my dear, but could you please help me find a book? I would ask the nice young man at the counter but he's busy with someone else"

"Of course. Why don't I take you to the computer and we can do a search" Ariel politely nodded to the old woman who gave her a crooked smile.

"Thank you my dear"

The old lady's voice was as harsh as a crows squawk and as scratchy as nails over a chalk board. Even her soft rattling breaths made the hairs stand up on the back of the younger girl's neck.

She's just a lonely old lady who probably doesn't speak to anyone that much

Ariel tried to reason as she led the old woman to one of the machines and set up the search for her.

"Now just type in the name of the book you want to find and we'll see where it comes up" she quickly stepped aside for the woman to take her spot, barely suppressing a shudder as she caught sight of the woman's hands as they reached out towards the keyboard.

They were bony thin and claw like with long sharp nails, almost like a bird of prey's talons.

Kinda fits though

Ariel had to admit as she took in the rest of this stranger.

The old woman did indeed look like a bird. More accurately; she looked rather like an old vulture, what with the way her pale head of thin white hair rose from the strange black cloak that she wore over her dark red dress. Heck even her nose was beak like!

Ok…maybe now she can find her book happily

Ariel mentally sighed with relief as she saw the old woman hit enter and look at the results of her search only to screech at the top of her lungs.

"WHAT?! BORROWED!"

Ariel bit her lip nervously as she glanced over her shoulder. She could already see some other people in the shelves behind her eyeing her and the old woman with obvious disdain for the ruckus. She tried to give them an apologetic look only to wince as the old woman yelled again.

"NO-NO-NO IT CAN'T BE BORROWED!"

"I'm sorry mam but could you please keep your voice down your scaring the other patrons."

"WHERE IS IT? WHERE IS IT?"

"Please mam maybe I could find you another copy-"

"SHUT UP! I DON'T WANT ANOTHER COPY"

"But mam-"

"I SAID SHUT UP YOU STUPID GIRL!"

And with that Ariel felt one of the claw like hands of the woman lash out and strike her across the cheek. Surprised she fell backwards onto the floor, landing painfully on her behind just as the old woman continued to shriek, her fingers furiously slamming down hard on the keyboard keys.

"Hey what's going on?!" a familiar voice sounded and Ariel felt a large pair of hands grab her and pull her up to her feet.

"…hey Ian" She felt a deeply embarrassed flush spread over her cheeks as she heard many people about her mutter from all around her as her brother made to pat her down.

"You ok?"

"It was just a slap. Nothing major" Ariel tried to shrug but she was shaking a little from the shock.

"Alright but stand back and let me take care of this" Ian patted her shoulder consolingly before rounding on the woman.

Ariel had to admit she was impressed by how calm he made himself appear despite the angry glint in his eyes.

"Mam, I'm sorry you weren't able to find what you were looking for but if you hit a member of staff or anyone in this library again I'm going to have to call security to escort you outside"

The old woman paused at the computer, her eyes the only thing that moved as they swivelled around to look at Ian.

Ariel gulped with terror as she caught sight of the murderous gleam in those dark irises.

"Meddlesome boy" she muttered darkly under her breath before roughly thrusting out her palm at him.

On it in the centre of it was a large brand, burnt right into the flesh, imprinting a red mark that stood out against the red skin like blood on snow.

Ariel squinted as she took in the shape. It looked like it was a thin slanting eye with a very catlike vertical pupil. For some reason the shape was very…familiar…

But she didn't have much time to ponder the meaning any further because suddenly the symbol began to glow as if a fire was lit up from within and was about to burst forth.

Ariel looked towards Ian who was now rooted to the spot and staring wide eyed at the old woman's hand which was now glowing so brightly it seemed to be on fire.

She grinned wickedly as she saw fear brew in the depths of his light eyes.

"That's right boy, behold my power for it will be the last thing you ever see!" and with a loud cackle she let loose the fire from her palm and it surged forwards.

There was chaos as people scrambled away, gasped and screamed, though nobody's voices could match Ariel's shriek of terror as she saw her brother engulfed in a large ball of fire.

"NOO! IAN!"

KABOOM!

An elderly man, with long silver hair and beard, looked up quickly towards the stormy skies above his head.

He was an odd old man, for he wore long grey robes, a big grey pointed hat and held onto a tall brown wooden staff which he leaned against as he watched the dark clouds swirling above the long pier he walked beside and felt the first drops of rain fall onto his forehead.

He wasn't quite sure why, but he felt as if he was waiting for something. Though what he was waiting for he did not know.

All he knew was that he had to go down to the beach that was close by as soon as the rain had ended, for it would be there that he'd find the answers he sought…to questions he had not yet asked or thought about.

But he was to learn.

Beep-beep! Beep-beep!

"Ariel" a voice whispered in her ear. "Ariel"

Ariel looked up into the blurred face of an older man. He was tall with dark skin and short dark salt and pepper hair and goatee that made his tired hazel eyes seem to pop from his exhausted face.

"Hey Dad"

"Hey yourself. Listen your mom and I are just going to go get something from the cafeteria downstairs. Do you want to come with us?"

Ariel shook her head rubbing her eyes.

"No you go on ahead, I'm good"

"Are you sure?"

"yeah…I'm sure" she tried smiling, but her expression faltered as she saw the look on her father's face. He was looking really…intense…his eyes were scanning up and down her face, drinking in her features as if he was trying to memorise every single line and shape on her face before it disappeared.

"Dad? Are you okay?"

Calvin Brooks shook his head trying to smile, though failing miserably as his eyes almost welled up with tears.

"I'm fine sweetheart…just a little tired. Are you sure you won't come down to eat?"

"I'm sure. If I get hungry I'll just grab a bag of chips from the machine outside and come back in." Ariel shrugged. "besides I wanna stay here when he gets up"

If he gets up…

She bit her trembling lip as she looked down upon the hospital bed beside her. In it her brother lay, his body strapped up to so many machines that it was barely possible to walk easily in the room without tripping over a wire of some kind.

She vaguely felt her father's hand cup her cheek as he pressed a small kiss to the top of her head, before murmuring a goodbye and leaving the room.

But it wasn't enough to break her gaze as she continued to stare down at her sibling, a numb feeling settling over her entire body.

He would've looked completely fine had it not been for the equipment around him. Indeed, he only looked to be fast asleep which was odd considering what had happened.

"Just what did that old bat do to you?" Ariel muttered reaching out to take her brother's hand. It was cold from being out of the warmth of the blankets that were over him but not so much that it was worrisome.

Then suddenly something harsh brushed against her fingers.

Ariel blinked and looked down at her brother's hand. It seemed normal enough.

She felt it again with her fingers. Again the rough texture of damaged skin under the bandages.

It's on his palm

She quickly turned his hand over and drew her own away to see clearly only to jump back in horror.

There on his left palm clear as day to see for all was a red burn in the shape of a hideous eye.

"Nasty isn't it?" an elderly voice muttered from behind. "but then again it is a third degree burn so…"

Ariel froze and quickly whipped her head around ready to scream. However, she was quick to stop herself.

Yes, it was an old woman that had entered the room, but it wasn't the same one that had attacked her or her brother. No, this woman was very different, her face was wrinkled but kindly, and garbed in a nurses scrubs, a large rectangular leather satchel in her arms.

Ariel stared at her in alarm as she stepped over the threshold of the room.

"What's your name?" the old lady smiled as she approached her side.

"A-Ariel" Ariel stuttered warily. "I-I'm sorry but who are you nurse…?"

"Nuldien."

"Nuldi-what-what?" Ariel cocked her head to the side and the old lady, Nuldien laughed.

"Nuldien. Don't worry sweetie. I'm not like that other old hag that you met today"

"And…and who exactly is she?"

Ariel gulped as she looked towards Nuldien. She could not pinpoint why, but the woman gave off an overwhelmingly good vibe that made her feel like she could trust her…even if she sounded ridiculous as she said:

"A servant of a very dark power"

"Of what dark power?"

Ariel almost would have laughed, but then she remembered the way the evil old hag's hand had glowed like a fire.

Nuldien seemed to guess her thoughts because she sighed heavily as she made to sit in the spare chair by Ariel's other side.

"My dear what does that mark remind you of?"

"Um…a freaky red eye" Ariel replied blankly as she glanced at her brother's hand.

"Yes, and who uses such a symbol?"

"Err…I…don't really know" Ariel gulped as Nuldien's eyebrows rose.

"You do know but you just don't recognise it" the elderly woman sighed as she placed her rectangular leather-bound satchel upon the edge of the hospital bed and opened it up.

It was a very large, very thick red leather book with the same red eye embossed into the front cover, only this time it was surrounded by a circle of some form of familiar but strange letters.

It took Ariel a full minute to take in the two titles that were printed on either side of the symbol.

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien

"No…" she muttered in disbelief, shaking her head out vigorously "No this is just crazy"

"No, my child" Nuldien nodded sadly "it isn't"

"Seriously?" Ariel now began to laugh, though the sound was bitter and hollow "you expect me to believe that that old hag came from …from a fantasy book? And works for that Sauron or whatever his name is?"

Nuldien's eyes hardened their shade turning from smoky grey to pewter within a second.

"Yes, I do. And it would do you well to listen to what I have to say?"

"What are you going to tell me? That my brother is cursed and this book has the answer?"

"Yes, it does."

Ariel stopped laughing though her gaze remained narrowed upon the old lady beside her.

"Ok say that I believed you, which by the way I most certainly don't. How the hell would I go about curing him hmm?"

"That is actually quite simple" Nuldien shrugged "You go to Middle Earth and help destroy the one ring. If you don't then you better get used to hospitals quick smart child because you'll be visiting every week or so"

"Right…I just gotta go to Middle Earth." Ariel rolled her eyes "What are you gonna do? Book me a flight online? A cruise? Click your fingers and just magically whisk me away in a second?"

"As a matter of fact, I am"

"Wait what?"

Nuldien smirked and before Ariel could even blink the old lady had snapped her fingers in a hard click.

At once the young girl felt something hard tug behind her navel.

"Wait what's happen-WHOA!" Ariel cried out as world suddenly began to swirl about her in a mass of colour. She could barely feel her body for it felt as if she were being sucked straight through a vacuum tube and down into darkness.

She almost missed Nuldien's last words as she felt her body begin to fall, down, and down deeper into the void.

"Goodbye and good luck Ariel"

And then suddenly everything turned black.

Salt…

That was all she could taste in her mouth.

Salty water.

And she was laying on something wet and gritty.

Sand…

Ariel's eyes opened a sliver only to shut again as something crashed over her.

It was a wave, not a big one but still enough to hit her body hard and making her tired muscles ache even more.

She tried to open her eyes again, ignoring the sting from the salt water spray and raised her head. Sure, enough she was laying at the edge of the water along a long, undisturbed beach.

Struggling she managed to turn herself over onto her back trying to ignore the unpleasant chill or wet that had soaked her straight through to the bone.

Something green flashed in the corner of her eye and she turned her head slowly to see just next to her body a strange stick lying beside her body. It was reddish in colour, about her height (maybe slightly taller) with something green, winking at her brightly from the top of it.

But her eyes were too tired to make out much else and so she turned back to look up at the sky.

It was dim about her and grey as the sun slowly rose behind her in the east, its existence only noticeable due to the air beginning to warm and the sky lightening with each passing moment.

In the distance, she could see the dark cloudy dregs of a storm fading into the distance.

She stayed still, her body still too tired to move and let the waters, which were surprisingly clean wash over her body as the waves slowly but surely evened out into gentle pushes and pulls.

As her eyelids began to droop once more she could faintly hear the voices of several people calling out in muffled panic as they came closer, their voices mingling with the calls of seagulls that flew somewhere above her in the air.

Oh good…the police have found me…

Ariel's lips quirked upwards in a smile as she let her mind drift off once again into darkness.

"[There look! There is someone laying in the water!]"

"Are you sure this was a good idea? After all she has no idea of what awaits her there"

"Trust me Celegon. Everything will be fine. Once Gandalf sees her he will take care of everything. She will be safe. I promise"

"I can only hope you're right…Nuldien"

The Elves of the Grey Havens (or Mithlond as they called it in their own tongue) were used to strange and unusual things washing up upon the shoreline of their port. It after all was the point from which many of their ships had travelled to and from the west.

So, it wasn't unusual to find small unusual objects, driftwood or shells littering the white sands.

Hence why Gandalf the Grey was so interested in the elven lord Galdor's words.

"We would not have called for you so immediately if the situation were not so strange" the elf admitted as he and the elderly wizard walked down the length of a hallway.

"Indeed not" Gandalf nodded though his eyes were shrewd "And what of this girl. Is there anything of her history that you can discover?"

Galdor shook his head softly, his brow furrowed on his fair face "No and that is remarkably troubling. Her overall appearance is that of a human and yet her garments are not like any I have seen before. They appear to be the clothes of a man but yet they are fitted and tailored to her female form and they appear to serve more for aesthetics than functionality in regards to a trade. And then there is her staff-"

The elf's eyes quickly darted towards the long ash staff in the grey wizard's hand.

"-It is remarkably like your own, though made of redwood and there is a green crystal set in the top."

Gandalf stopped dead in in his tracks.

"A green crystal?"

"Yes" Galdor paused mid step also to look back on the wizard with a quirked eyebrow "You know of this artefact?"

"…yes…yes as a matter of fact I do" Gandalf's voice was soft with thoughtfulness as he stroked his long beard slowly, his mind swimming.

But surely it could not be time yet…could it?

He looked up at Galdor who opened his mouth to say something only to be cut off by a loud feminine shriek.

Both elf and wizard wheeled about to the direction of the sound, from which an elf woman with long golden hair and a fair face was running towards Galdor hurriedly.

"My lords our new guest has awoken-"

Gandalf the Grey had seen many things in his time upon Middle Earth. Many of them were of the unusual variety, whilst others were amusing, some were fascinating and some indeed were downright astounding.

What he seemed to be witnessing before him seemed to somehow fit into all those categories.

What had once been a large spacious bedroom, fashioned and decorated by the work of cunning elvish hands was now a mass of green vines entwining themselves in a defensive nest like construction around the centre of the great bed.

In the middle of it a girl was scrambling about in a panic trying her best to scuttle away from a long tendril of a vine that was creeping its way around her ankle.

"Ah! Get off! Get off!"

She squeaked swatting the vine away only to find another trying to twirl itself into her russet hair.

Gandalf took a moment to quickly observe the rest of the room. It was almost covered head to foot in the plant life which was surprisingly animated, considering its breed and species.

His eyes quickly snapped to a point on the ground when they caught the faintest trace of a green glimmer.

There laying on the floor by the foot of the bed was a long thin staff, made from redwood with one end carved to resemble an eagle's talon gripping a bright green stone in its clutch. It was glowing slightly, the brightness fluctuating as the girl continued to squeak and jump in her makeshift nest.

"I shall leave you to it then" Galdor nodded at Gandalf as the wizard quickly stepped forwards, his feet deftly darting over the writhing vines all over the floor as if he were trying to avoid stepping over a pit of snakes.

He snatched the staff off the ground in one swipe and within moments was holding it out in front of the girl who jumped at the sight of him.

"Here. I believe this might help"

The girl sat there shocked for a moment as she looked him over before quietly taking the staff from him. As soon as her hand touched the long rod, the plants around her stilled where they were at once.

Gandalf let loose a small sigh of relief as he straightened up watching the girl closely as she looked at her surroundings.

Gulping she tentatively gripped the staff tighter in her hands the glow from the green crystal within intensifying as a small hum sounded throughout the room, like when one would rub their fingers over a glass harmonica.

The old wizard watched with wonder as slowly but surely all the vines around the room began to creep down from the walls and ceiling and floor all the way back to the open window from which they seemed to have come from.

Once they were all safely out of reach of the walls, the girl gave a huge sigh of relief.

"Thanks"

"You're very welcome" Gandalf huffed as he made to sit down in a chair that was beside the bed, dusting off some fallen leaves. "So, now that we have those vines sorted out perhaps we could get down to business. What is your name?"

The girl bit her lip nervously as she mumbled timidly.

"Ariel. Ariel Brooks"

"Ariel" Gandalf repeated with a small nod of his head "daughter of the sea. Fitting seeing as you were found by the waters of the havens"

"Yeah…though back where I come from Ariel means something slightly different"

"I know it does" Gandalf nodded gravely "in fact in your world it means the holy lion"

"My world?" The girl's head quickly snapped to him her eyes wide with surprise.

"Don't be alarmed" Gandalf quickly put up a hand to silence her "I know of where you come from and I know who sent you. Nuldien the Red, the great keeper of secrets. I believe you've met her"

"Yes" Ariel nodded slightly, her body seeming to relax a little bit, though not enough to remove the wary glint in her eye as she looked upon the wizard. "But how do you know her?"

"She was once one of my order, and she was a good friend. Wiser than most of us Istari, though remarkably eccentric in her methods." His voice fell away thoughtfully as old memories began to surface once more on the edges of his mind.

Ariel blinked as she looked upon the old man's face trying to digest what he'd just said.

Order…Nuldien the red…the red Istari…Istari…oh my god…OH MY GOD!

"GHA!" she squeaked and Gandalf jumped in his chair in surprise. He looked up to see Ariel's hands clapped over her mouth.

How could she have not recognised it before? The long grey beard, the grey robes, the staff, the hat!

"Y-you, you're-you're. G-G-G-Gan-Gand-" she stuttered her grip on her own staff, which was still in her hands, tightening in surprise.

"Yes, Miss Ariel. I am Gandalf the Grey." Gandalf's eyes twinkled in amusement as Ariel fell back into the headboard and ran a hand over her hair.

"Oh my god I'm dreaming! I'm hallucinating! I've finally, officially cracked!" she groaned loudly. "No there is no way I'm really on Middle Earth, I'm just-"

"Unfortunately, I'm afraid I must disagree with you there" Gandalf steamrolled over her quickly to stop her hyperventilating. "You are here and you were sent here for good reason, though I have yet to determine the nature of your task. Now, how did you get here and what did Nuldien tell you?"

"She…she barely told me anything" Ariel breathed deeply to calm her spiking nerves "She just sent me here. My brother…he was attacked…he was dying…. She said if I came here and helped destroy some greater evil or something that I could save him"

"And what is this great evil called?"

Ariel opened her mouth but paused quickly.

Oh crap…he knows about my world…but I don't think he knows that this world a part of a book…a book in which everything in his future has been written down…If Saruon had been defeated when Gandalf had become Gandalf the white then I'm in Middle Earth before they've discovered the Ring and before Sauron came back from hiding…if I tell him everything now I'll change everything or worse if people know I know what's going to happen they might …

She gulped once more this time doing her best to keep her voice calm and composed even though Gandalf's blue-grey eyes had hardened so much that they were now as grim as storm clouds.

"I… can't tell you. It's not that I don't want to" she quickly added as the wizard opened his mouth "but...but"

Quick Ariel think. You don't have to lie to him you just need to bend the truth a little.

"But I cannot because I am under oath not to reveal it"

"Under oath?" Gandalf raised his eyebrows.

"Yes" Ariel quickly nodded "Yes I am under oath. In my world, many of my people know of the future of Middle Earth and many other worlds. However, it is forbidden for us to speak of them aloud except to one another so that we may not damage the flow of time or destiny. There are certain things that are meant to happen, and it is not our place to change it for our own means unless it is in dire circumstances."

Christ if only I could've bullsh-ed like this on my English finals…

Ariel huffed in relief as she saw the old wizard slowly nod his head in understanding.

"If what you say is true. Then Nuldien must have seen some great disturbance to have sent you here in her stead"

"Yeah maybe" Ariel nodded quietly but then she quickly asked "How did you know this Nuldien lady sent me? And how do you know of my-my world?"

"The answer to both those questions lies within one answer. As I said before Nuldien was once one of my order. And being a secret keeper she knew many things we didn't. One of these was the means to travel through worlds through magic. She would often disappear for weeks on end before suddenly reappearing with tales from these other realms. One day she left but stopped returning altogether. That was nigh on two hundred years ago. But before she vanished she foretold that there would be a time when this Middle Earth would be in danger and in that time, she herself would send to us over the seas an ally bearing a green stone. Just like the one you have in that item of yours"

As Gandalf spoke quietly, his eyes roved over the staff in her hands as the green gem within flickered with a glowing light from within

Ariel looked down on it feeling the small pulses of power trickle through the wood and into her skin. It felt…refreshing…invigorating…as if she were sitting in an open field with the sun over her face and soft grass beneath her body.

And yet what was she supposed to do with it?

Gandalf seemed to read her face and thoughts because he sighed heavily.

She was young, far younger than what he had expected to have seen, more on the edge of maidenhood than womanhood.

Barely grown out of her puppy fat…

He mused as he looked over the youthful face, unlined and unmarked by age or experience.

But I guess we'll have to make do for now. Who knows, she made it this far and she's still mostly in one piece. There is a strong conviction in her… she has a purpose…she said her brother is at deaths door unless she saves this world. Her love for him must be strong indeed. Maybe that's why Nuldien sent her, for one who loves is far stronger in heart than one who fears or hates.

"So, miss Ariel." Gandalf coughed when he realised that the silence had dragged on a fair bit. "Are you well enough to walk?"

"huh?" Ariel blinked at him. "Walk? I guess so"

"Good. Because you'll be doing a good deal of it from now on" Gandalf grunted as he slowly made his way up onto his feet, leaning against his own lighter coloured staff "That is, once you've been properly fed and clothed for travel in this world. I daresay you'll find it impractical to walk or ride about the wilderness in a nightdress"

"Yeah…I guess so" Ariel bit her lip unsurely as she looked up at the older man who was slowly making his way back to the now closed room door "uh… where will I be going exactly?"

"You'll be coming along with me." Gandalf looked back at her as if what he'd just said had been the most obvious idea in the world "I have an errand that I might require some help with and in return I shall help you with those new powers of yours. Correct me if I'm wrong but I do not think even you've had much experience with magic"

"However, did you guess?" Ariel rolled her eyes sardonically. "Wait hang on! What is this errand you have to go on?"

"Oh, I'm just picking up one last small thing for a quest I am organising" Gandalf's eyes twinkled "I don't know whether you know of this or not considering your worlds powers of foresight, but there is a party of dwarves that currently want to regain their lost kingdom from a dragon. The only trouble is we just need one more member Dwarves are a very superstitious lot and thirteen is not considered a lucky number."

"Who do you have in mind to fill in this spot?" Ariel's fingers were now shaking with anticipation as the corners of his mouth twitched upwards in a small smile.

"Tell me Ariel…what do you know of Hobbits?"

In the hole in the ground, there lived a Hobbit.

Not a nasty, dirty wet hole full of worms and oozy smells.

This was a Hobbit hole.

And that means good food, a warm hearth and all the comforts of home.

And there we have it, the first chapter of the Remastered Legend of the Green Lady

Whew! this was a tough one. To those of you who read the original i know it doesn't seem like much of a change, but that's because i felt pretty much had most of the beginning down pat. It's what happens later on in the plot that has been changed the most, so you will find more changes as we go forwards.

Anways, to all of you new readers i hope you enjoyed reading this fic and please review if you'd like to see more

Cheers

FuzzyBeta