A/N: PLEASE READ! Hey everyone! Yes, it is another Merlin fanfiction… only with a twist! It's a Lord of the rings crossover! Thank you to Darkgemwildcat for all of your help! You got my thoughts goin again! Yay! You will see in this first chapter that I also borrowed the idea of 'bending' from Avatar: the last air bender, but that's really the only thing from it, so it's not an Avatar cross over as well. This will definitely be a multichapter story because I brainstormed for the first 6 chapters'. I haven't written them yet though… just this one.

Just to give a bit of a better understanding (just a bit…) of how I'm connecting middle earth and Camelot… I'm going to focus more on Gondor. So, Gondor is its own kingdom (obviously) and has its own land just like Camelot. Let's say… it's about a week's horse ride to get from Gondor to Camelot. Yeah, that sounds good, ok! And PLEASE BEAR WITH ME (did I spell that right?), THIS CHAPTER HAS A LOT OF FLASH BACKS, BUT ITS ONLY TO GIVE YOU A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF MY OC. I PROMISE THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE MUCH BETTER! This story isn't in cross-overs because it really doesn't have that much from Lord of the Rings in it, it's about 98% Merlin.

So without further ado, enjoy chapter 1!

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin, or Lord of the Rings or any of its characters. I also don't own the idea of element 'bending'. That belongs to ATLA.

2 years ago…:

The day was bright and lively after a hard rain that had made the rivers swell to twice their normal size, a nice change of pace Clara thought. Although water had always played an important part in her life, the 18 year old began to grow restless when the rain had not let up enough for her to practice her other forms of element manipulation. As she strolled along the river in the forest she had called home most of her life, her thoughts drifted to her magic and her mood saddened.

Clara knew she was different since controlling the movement of water for the first time. It was a day much like yesterday; dark, wet, and stormy.

Her mother was being verbally attacked by some deranged man spouting things about how she had given birth to a demonic child. He went to attack Clara, but her mother was brave and shielded her child from harm; earning a blow to the face. The 8 year old girl felt anger and panic welling up inside of her. She wanted to protect her mother, and not soon after that the rain around them began to slow and form what looked like a small stream in midair; but the thing that frightened this man the most, is that the girls eyes had begun to glow bright blue.

'Magic!' the man had cried. Startled by the man's outburst, Clara had dropped her concentration and looked over to her mother whose face looked panicked. She reached over and grabbed her daughter by the shoulders and spoke to her with extreme urgency in her voice.

'Clara! You must run away from here! Run as far as you can into the woods and don't stop there! Run until you are far out of King Uthers reach!'

'Wha- what? Why? Mother what are you talking about?'

'There is no time to explain! You must leave…'

'What about you?'

The woman smiled sadly, tears and rain falling down her face.

'Now don't you worry about me? I'll be f…' she was cut off by the sound of guards approaching.

'GO! Run and don't look back!' She shoved the terrified girl away from her and offered one last smile.

Clara hesitated for a moment before turning and running as fast as she could away from Camelot… and her mother.

It has been 10 years since that day, and she has not seen her mother since then. Over the decade, Clara dedicated her time to perfecting her strange ability and also discovering that she could manipulate other elements as well; and from the very small number of people she had come across, she learned that her specific type of magic was called 'bending'. One of those people had come from Camelot, and the teen had asked for any information on her mother. Sadly, the information that the stranger had provided was grim. Shortly after Clara had left Camelot, a woman was executed for treason and harboring a magical being. To say the girl was devastated would be an understatement; the bearer of information was wise to run away after she cried out in sadness and anger. Just thinking about the old king made her blood boil, but she knew being angry wouldn't do her any good. Besides, things would get better once his son, Arthur, becomes king; at least, that's what she heard.

The bender pulled herself out of her thoughts when she came across a flooded lake. The water level in the forest was slowly becoming dangerously high; to the point where anything on the ground could drown.

A dam would probably do some good here…

She waded into the water until it was up to her hips, and observed the area to see how far the dam would need to go. She tapped the submerged ground with her foot so that she could pick up on the vibrations around her and see things without actually looking; a handy trick she learned from a blind bender that had passed through the forest with a group of kids and a strange bison-like animal.

After locating the normal boundaries of the lake, Clara took a deep breath and brought both hands out in front of her, palms down. The ground began to shake and as she slowly raised her arms, the ground in front of her followed; rising up to create a wall around the lake. She made the edges of the wall slope down on both sides, to act as a ramp for living things in the forest to walk on. After the wall was completed, the bender took another deep breath and proceeded to take control of the water outside of the wall; placing it all back into the lake until the forest was no longer flooded. With her task complete, Clara stretched out her arms and sat down on the wall with her feet dangling in the water and her hands placed by her sides.

"That was… quite amazing."

Startled, the bender jumped up and turned to face the speaker. The man she saw put his hand in front of him.

"Forgive me, I did not mean to frighten you."

After collecting her wits again, she sat back down and began to observe the man who had approached her. He looked to be much older than herself, probably in his mid-forties (A/N: from what I know, he's actually 87…wow). He was also rather tall and had black wavy hair as well as a bit of a beard. His cloths were that of a traveler, but the quality of the sword at his side suggested something different. Clara decided to get some answers;

"Who are you?"

"I have many names."

"What may I call you?"

"Strider."

There was a long silence as the travelers observed one another.

The young bender jumped off the wall and walked over to where Aragorn was standing, placing herself a few feet in front of him. The traveler saw that this girl was obviously young, but she had matched him in height. Her long, blond hair flowed in the breeze and her dark brown eyes bore into his blue ones. She too was wearing clothes that represented a traveler; pants, shirt, belt, light jacket, and a cloak that was laying on her shoulders. She did not, however, have a weapon nor did she have any shoes. Interesting… The girl began to question him further.

"And what, may I ask, are you doing out in the middle of these woods alone Strider? This forest can be very dangerous to those who do not know it."

"I assure you I mean no harm. I came to seek someone."

Clara observed him a moment longer, and then with a wave of her hand she created two seats made out of stone, and seated herself. Aragorn seated himself as well, a curious look in his eyes.

"Did you know your eyes glow different colors every time you manipulate a different element?"

The bender raised an eyebrow out of curiosity.

"I was not aware of that, no. What colors do they glow?"

"When I saw you bending the water, they had flashed a pale blue. However when you created these seats just now they had flashed gold."

"Huh…" She smirked at the traveler; she really had no idea that her eyes did that. She began to relax after feeling certain that this man was no threat to her. In fact, something felt strangely familiar about him.

"You said that you were seeking someone. May I ask who?"

"A child… although now she would be a young adult like yourself. Twelve years ago I had met a woman traveling with a small child. This child was very special and had an extraordinary gift, but she was pursued by those who sought the eradication of her kind. This woman feared for her child's life, and believed that Camelot would be the last place that others would even think to search for her. I assisted her as much as I could while she remained in the land of Gondor, but once she had passed into Camelot I could no longer help her. As our parting words, she made me promise that if anything where to happen to her, I would seek out her child and act as their Guardian, keeping them from harm. Ten years ago I received news of her death at the hands of King Uther Pendragon, and have been searching for this child ever since. The information that I have received recently had spoken of a girl living in these woods with the same abilities that the child had, and that's how I have come to meet you… Clara."

The ranger noticed that the young adult was silently crying, and had looked away. With a quivering voice, she looked him in the eyes and spoke.

"I remember you now... Your name is not Strider, it is Aragorn. You are the King of Gondor! Why are you hear looking for a child you met twelve years ago when you should be ruling your kingdom!"

She's angry… and stricken with sadness and fear. "Because I had made a promise, an oath. I swore to your mother that I would guide you if you wished it. I would provide a place for you to call your home should you chose it. A safe haven away from any persecution should you desire it. I am here to be your friend, Clara."

All her anger vanished, and more tears found their way down her face.

Aragorn… yes, she remembered now. The only person to show her kindness in her journey. She would never forget the kind ranger who had saved her and her mother's life during their travels to Camelot. She owed him a debt, but more than that. She desired to be in a place where she belonged, and place where she would be welcomed.

"I…"

She hesitated, but saw that Aragorn was watching her with a calm, caring gaze.

"I would like that very much."

The king held out his hand to the young bender.

"Then let us go home."

With that, Clara followed her guardian to the first place she would ever be able to call home.

A/N: Whew, that was actually a difficult chapter to write. I like how it turned out though, what about you? Trust me when I say I am really trying not to make Clara a mary sue. I wasn't planning to in the first place, I'm just trying not to make her one. Anywho, to those of you who powered through and actually read this chapter, THANK YOU SOO MUCH! Next chapter will be set in the present and It will be where Merlin comes in. Anywho, I have it planned, but I haven't written it yet. If I don't get reviews I might forget to post the next chapter. Getting reviews inspire me, and the email notification reminds me that I have a story to write! =D. anywho, please review and let me know what you think! And remember:

No reviews= no update! Unless I'm in a really good mood…

Cooking-ninja