(Y/n) (L/n) has been on the run her whole life. Where she is from, she is considered a witch. Gondor would not welcome her any longer. She was a nuisance to society. Cast aside, she runs from her troubles into the adventure she never thought she nee...
Running. That's all (Y/n) knew. Running was how she kept herself alive. Keeping her power secret was a burden she never wanted to bear. She didn't want it. She was a witch. And she hated it.
From a young age, (Y/n) was cast aside, but her best friends, Boromir and Faramir, the sons of the Steward of Gondor, accepted her, and tried to help her. But their father, Denethor, son of Ecthelion, was a cruel man, and exiled her from his city, Minas Tirith, her home. With her parents dead from sickness, and her brother slain in battle, she had no one to rely on, except herself.
She was only ten years old then, forced to live in the Wild of Middle-Earth. There, she learned to shoot, to fight, and to survive, all by herself. Until one faithful day, when she ran through the forest, her bow and arrow hitting her back, and ran right into a tall gray figure.
"Oomph!" the young girl, now seventeen, said as she fell to the ground. Looking up in fear, she met the kind eyes of an older man with a long grey beard, hat, a long cloak, and a twisted wooden staff.
"Oh, hello. my dear." the man said. (Y/n) stared for a moment until she heard the shouting of the men chasing her, and the barks of their dogs ready to track her down. "Now, what has got you in such a hurry?"
"None of your business, old man." (Y/n) snapped, and moved to run past him.
"It would not be wise to go that way, young (Y/n)." She stopped in her tracks. How did he know her? "A cliff drops off in a few hundred feet. Terrible way to go."
(Y/n) turned around, her eyes glowing red with the power she was given, trying to read his mind. But she couldn't. He had put up barriers against her. She looked at him, confused and scared, and asked, "How do you know my name?"
"I know a great many things, (Y/n), daughter of Bethia and Engar (L/n), like how you were born with a powerful magic in you." the old man said.
"Who are you!?"
"My name is Gandalf. Gandalf the Grey. And I am here to help you, (Y/n)." the man, Gandalf, said.
"The Grey Pilgrim..." (Y/n) muttered. She had heard stories of this great wizard, one of the five Istari, the protectors of Middle-Earth.
"Now, I don't suppose you want to stay here and chat while those Wildmen get closer, do you?" he jested, a small smile on his face.
"Can you take me somewhere safe?" (Y/n) asked, a little hesitant.
"I can teach you the ways to control your power to help you and those around you." Gandalf said.
She heard the men getting closer, but she still had questions before she trusted Gandalf fully. "Why can't you just get rid of it?" she asked quickly.
"Because," he started, "you are destined to be a great guardian of all things in Middle-Earth."
(Y/n) stood stunned at his answer. A guardian? Her? He must be mistaken. Her power had only been used to destroy things, and none of them were her fault.
"Shall we be going?" Gandalf asked. (Y/n) nodded, and Gandalf motioned for her to get behind a bunch of large bushes next to her. She complied, and hid as Gandalf looked at the approaching men.
"She's near! She's got to be! The witch can't have gotten far." their leader said. She stilled her breathing so the dogs near her wouldn't hear her, but they could still smell her. "You there! Old man!" the leader shouted to Gandalf, who merely smiled a bit and leaned on his walking stick. "Have you seen a girl pass through here, no older than seventeen?"
"A girl?" Gandalf questioned. "No, I'm afraid I haven't." He lifted his staff and lightly pointed it at the four men ahead. "Then again, neither have you."
The four Wildmen looked on in confusion and rage, until their faces calmed, and they seemed to have forgotten all about who they were chasing. They turned around and went back the way they came, their dogs following happily.
"How-How did you do that?" (Y/n) asked, astonished as she came out from hiding behind the bushes.
"It's one of the many things I can teach you, if you would allow me." Gandalf claimed.
(Y/n) thought it over. To be able to control the power within her would be amazing, something she had wished for. To be able to harness this magic. She looked down at the red necklace her brother gave her when she was little, and he had to ride off to battle.
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"Remember, little sister, this will bring you hope when all is lost. Do not forget me. I love you."
(Y/n) looked up at the wizard in front of her, and nodded her head.
"I accept your teachings. I wish to learn more about the power I hold."
Gandalf smiled and chuckled a bit, the creases around his eyes prominent. "Well," he started, "I suppose that would make you my apprentice. Welcome to the art of magic, my dear."
"Thank you, Gandalf." (Y/n) replied, smiling for the first time in years.
~~~~~~~~~~
After that faithful day, (Y/n) travelled with Gandalf on all his adventures and all his business. Sometimes, he would have to leave for a time, but he would always return and they would resume her lessons. When he was gone, she was required to read many books about her magic. When Gandalf allowed her a break, he would tell her of his past adventures. Her favorite was the one of Bilbo the Hobbit and the dwarven king Thorin Oakenshield, who set out to retrieve his homeland from a great dragon, Smaug. She was always saddened to hear how Thorin was slain during the Battle of the Five Armies.
Every once and a while, they would travel to Rivendell to meet with Lord Elrond. (Y/n) befriended Elrond's daughter, Arwen Evenstar, and the elf taught (Y/n) some elvish.
(Y/n) learned through her studies that she was destined to be, what the elves call, the Agaru Kuruni, or the Crimson Witch. This was a burden to bear sometimes, but with Gandalf's help, and the support of her best friend, Arwen, she overcame her fears and accepted her destiny, which was to come sooner than she thought.
