Firron (LOTR Fanfiction)

Chapter One

20 years later

My wanderings have lead me to visit the Ents in Fangorn Forest, namely my old friend Stone-Bark, and to speak with him about the instinctive unsettling feeling growing in me these past years. I had met Stone-Bark when I was still a pup, no bigger than a normal wild wolf, when he scolded me for urinating on one of his legs. I had no knowledge of Ents before and had thought him just a tree but quickly learned the difference after the thrashing he gave me. He was the first, after Lord Elrond, to know of my existence of which he was happy to see for the last Firron he knew died many centuries before my birth. Afterward he told me what he knew of his forest and I would spend a great many seasons under his guidance and care learning which plant could heal and which would kill: he taught me how to shadow jump, Padahall, as the elves call it, which meant to walk in shadow and how to communicate with different animals through my mind. Every time I came to this forest he had new things to teach me, show me or scold me for; he was as close to a mother as I have ever had.

However as I approached the west entrance to the forest I felt the presences of Gandalf near, who was always on the move, and changed course to intercept him before he went off on another one of his epic quest. Tracking Gandalf was fairly easy, as I was able to hear his steed's reckless hoof-beats across the uneven ground, and from the direction he was going I assumed he was heading to Isengard. Reaching out my mind toward Gandalf's I alerted him to my presences, "One day you will have to slow down and live like the old man you are." I teased him.

"Yes but I would have to listen to you whine all day." was his playful reply, "It has been many years since we last spoke, I cannot help but think it is a most appropriate moment in which you have revealed yourself my old friend."

"Why is that?" Gandalf has always believed that I should share my existence with the elves.

"You feel it don't you; the shadow growing from the east." Has he stated this I neared his position and linked my mind to his steed's, telling him I would not harm him nor his rider. Gandalf smiled as he spotted me from my station among the shadows and calmly maneuvered his horse to stand closer to me. He then dismounted and led his horse to the stream near by pretending to adjust the strap on in saddle while his mount drank from the cool water.

"The One Ring has been found Firron; it was in the shire all along, Frodo Baggins is on his way to deliver it to Rivendell for safety." While he was speaking to me through his mind he finished adjusting the strap and had now moved on towards the hooves, checking for any stones and packed earth. "It would be wise to seek the safety that comes from friends and allies for I fear Sauron has returned to the land and is plotting to reclaim this world."

"How can that be Gandalf? Was he not destroyed by Isildur in the War of the Last Alliance? I watched as my mother died that day when Sauron was killed, she would only perish if his bloodline was lost." I truly feared what would happen should Sauron regain his power, for he alone would be strong enough to re-bind me to himself. An elf or human alone would not have the power if I was unwilling; the dwarves were so far in the earth that I would likely never see one again so my only single threat to my freedom was Sauron.

"Sauron's corporeal form was destroyed but he lived on in the ring. Now is the time to destroy it before he becomes too powerful and the ring must not return to its master. There must be a quest to destroy the Ring in the fires of Mount Doom; where it was forged on the day of your birth." Gandalf had now inspected all four hooves and remounted his horse. "I implore you to travel to Rivendell and reveal yourself to the elves there, Lord Elrond would be glad to finally welcome you to his home officially. It is now more than ever that this world has needed the strength of a Firron and it is no accident that you feel the unrest. Go quickly; I will arrive as swiftly as possible." With that we spurred his mount forward and with a leap it sped off towards Isengard.