Prologue

The trees of Rivendell stood tall and strong in the clear morning sun, long golden fingers splayed wide to soak the early autumn rays while deep brown roots twisted languidly down the valley towards the bubbling waters below. A symphony of twitters and coos echoed distantly throughout the dale, filtering past the rush of leaves as a breeze blew and the sound of water gurgled softly in the distance.

Curving throughout the whispering Eden was a pathway, its delicate railings snaking over the terrain, branching several times towards empty platforms before finally reaching a large flat terrace at the end of the line.

The men and women gathered on that terrace were still and silent, eyes downcast, as the hum of their surroundings drifted on. The seconds trickled by, the tune of nature continued seamlessly flowing, and yet the company remained mute, hesitant to break the lull that had settled over them. Minutes dragged further on as each member fell deeper into their own musings, before a small hobbit with a mop of dark curls shifted, seeming to emerge from his thoughts. He glanced hesitantly at the array of important and noble people who surrounded him, before his blue eyes darted quickly back down to the hands clasped tightly in his lap.

The silence continued. The hobbit stared hard at his knees, hardly seeing them as he pressed his hands more firmly together and closed his eyes. Still the silence continued. And it would not abate, he knew, unless a decision was made.

Well, there was nothing else for it now.

He took a deep, shaky breath, and lifted his gaze. "I will take the Ring," he announced quietly, a tremor running through his voice. "Though I do not know the way."

Another silence followed this statement, though a breath of relief and uncoiled tension spread throughout the members. An Elf with long, dark hair and a silver circlet upon his brow raised his eyes and looked directly at the hobbit.

"If I understand aright all that I have heard," he said, "I think that this task is appointed for you, Frodo; and that if you do not find a way, no-one will."

The atmosphere in the company shifted, as every person turned to regard the hobbit at the words of the powerful Elf-lord. "But it is a heavy burden." Lord Elrond continued. "So heavy that none could lay it on another. I do not lay it on you. But if you take it freely, I will say that your choice is right."

Barely had these words escaped the Elf's mouth when a fairer, stouter hobbit stumbled from his well concealed hiding spot amongst the foliage and cried out, "But you won't be sending him off alone surely, Master?"

Elrond turned to the flustered hobbit, a small, surprised smile lifting the sombre expression from his deceivingly young face. "No indeed!" he replied, amusement lacing his words. "You at least shall go with him. It is hardly possible to separate you from him, even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not."

The solemn mood that had lain over the gathering faded with these words, and the stout hobbit blushed furiously and sat down. There was a general air of finality as Sam muttered to his Mr. Frodo something about pickles, and not having landed in particularly good ones, while the rest of the company broke into faintly amused murmurs.

But it seemed that Fate had other plans for the day's procedures, as a desperate looking Elf with waist length blonde hair and bright, sky-blue eyes stood suddenly from her seat.

"L-Lord Elrond!" she exclaimed, a very worried expression on her delicate features as she brushed a silky golden lock from her face. A slow, surprised silence filtered back through the peoples as every face turned to the fair Elf with varying degrees of confusion and curiosity.

"We…" she began hesitantly, her perfect creamy cheeks tinged faintly pink as she struggled to find her words. "That is to say… Frodo's journey will be a long and… and difficult one, and, to complete it with only two… with only one companion, well, that is… not… a very smart thing."

The silence persisted, and it had suddenly turned oppressive, almost disbelieving. Elrond, brows furrowed in incomprehension and a vague sort of disbelief, stared at the speaker, unable to respond for a moment.

"What I mean to say," the slender Elleth continued, licking her full, shiny pink lips nervously, "is that the hobbit will need help, no? What with all the… the things out there that could hurt him. And, we… offer our help." She gestured vaguely to a green-eyed Elf sitting to her left. "My companion and I, we offer to help him on his quest to destroy the Ring, and will do anything in our power to… to help." And with that, she abruptly retook her seat.

"I…am very grateful for your offer." Elrond began after a lengthy pause, brows still drawn together. "Obviously, more companions will be chosen to accompany Frodo and Sam –"

"Yes," the blonde Elf interrupted once more, flattening her soft white dress over her thighs in an almost nervous gesture. "Yes, of course. We are simply offering our services, for we greatly desire to - to be of help. To Frodo." The Elf on her left smiled vaguely in the direction of Elrond, emerald eyes fastened on nothing in particular as she arranged her shiny, black ringlets over her shoulder.

"Very well." Elrond's eyes searched the only two women at the council, and he was careful to school his features into neutrality before speaking. "I thank you for your gracious offers. It truly means a lot that you are willing to partake in this dangerous quest so enthusiastically. You will be taken into consideration when –"

"We are honoured, truly, my lord, to be a part of this all. It means a lot to us." The blonde Elf smiled brilliantly, her light, merry eyes sparkling joyously, the very air around her seeming to glow with her pleasure as she beamed at everyone. She glanced at the dark-haired elleth beside her, whose expression remained unchanged, and folded her hands in her lap, seeming quite satisfied with herself.

"Yes," said Elrond tersely, staring hard at the two females before him. "Thank you."

Authors note: Well there you have it. My new and improved start to an ever growing monstrosity of mine! Re-written about forty billion times, and scrupulously checked over by my fantastic Beta, I believe it may be the best piece of writing I have yet to given over to public view. Yet. As it is, I really hope you enjoyed the prologue, and are absolutely hungry for more. You should expect the next chapter to be much more sarcastic, much more assertive, and a lot less Sue centered. This story, amongst many, many other things, is at its roots a subtle parody of everything that is Suish. A 'How-Not-To' manual, if you will, as well as a 'Now-This-Would-Not-Happen-But-If-It-Did...' kind of look at things. I am very excited about it; I've planned quite an epic journey ahead, and I can tell you now there are at least three twists in the distant future that I know you wont be expecting and will have never seen before.

I hope you stay long enough to enjoy them.

Also, many, many heartfelt thanks to my two wonderful Beta Galenfea, who I absolutely could not possibly have done this without. I owe her shrines for what she's had to put up with from me. Shrines I tell you!

Disclaimer: Now as a general rule I don't usually do this, but as I've taken directly from the source I feel it's within my best interests to, well, disclaim myself. From the very beginning to the point where Elrond says "…even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not." the dialogue has been taken directly from Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the ring: The Council of Elrond, and as such belongs irreversibly to J.R.R. Tolkein.