The Dragon Girl

Chapter 1

My name is Wisteria Greenleaf, daughter of Lord Thranduil of Mirkwood and I am a skin-changer. The power itself was given to me by my mother but the gift wasn't given to my older brother Legolas. This form of skin-changing I have is rare because I can change into the forms of many animals instead of just one. And because of that, my powers can be very unpredictable to say the least. Of course, this catches the attention of the wizard Gandalf the Grey. He has sent me a letter a while ago asking me to join a company of dwarves to reclaim the Lonely Mountain. I never showed this letter to my father because I knew that he would of never granted his blessing because of his hatred of dwarves. So I left in the night and currently travel towards the Shire on the back of my dappled-grey mare named Kira where I will meet the other 13 members of the company.
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I patted Kira's neck as I make my way into the fields and rolling hills of the Shire. She shook her head as we passed by one of the hobbit holes which sent her black mane to fly everywhere. I rolled my eyes as I saw a blue mark on the red door to my right. The house itself has a view of the entire Shire and is the farthest away from the center of town. "Always have to pick the most secluded of places don't you Gandalf?" I muttered to myself as I dismounted from Kira and tied her near a herd of nearby ponies. Each of them held a series of baggage on them. These must be the dwarves' ponies then. I bit my lip before knocking four times on the door of the poor hobbit. I then heard a crash and scuttling of feet before the door before me opened. A halfling with curled light brown hair had opened the door and gulped as he saw me. "Wisteria Greenleaf at your service." I bowed at the halfling. He gulped, "I never knew an elf was to come to my home." "Neither did I." I whispered as I walked inside only to see a large group of dwarves sitting in the dining room. There were twelve dwarves all together and I could see that some were related to each other and some were not. My teeth ground together as I saw the leader, Thorin Oakenshield. "Ah Wisteria! It is good to see you!" Gandalf appeared behind me and introduced me to the company. The two dwarf brothers, Fili and Kili, stood out to me the most. Especially because the brunette one, Kili, kept stealing glances at me as Gandalf introduced me to the rest of the company. I tried not to blush. Gandalf's voice broke me out of my thoughts, "And this is the leader of our company Thorin Oakenshield..." The lead dwarf, Thorin, interrupted Gandalf, "Why is an elf joining us on a journey to reclaim a dwarf homeland?" I sighed, "I came because Gandalf asked me to. Besides, I'm good with a bow and I..." Thorin stopped me before I could say anything else, "We already have an archer. We will be fine without you." He and I locked gazes and I reached for one of my arrows that lay waiting for me in a quiver that was strapped to my hip.
Before I could notch it to the bowstring, Gandalf stopped me, "Wisteria, your mother would not deem this wise." "Don't bring her up now Gandalf." I growled with tears forming in my eyes. "We should've invited the mother." Thorin whispered into another dwarf, Balin's, ear. "Her mother is dead Thorin." Balin whispered back. That's it. I pulled back my bowstring and shot it so fast it was more of a lightning bolt than an arrow. To my surprise, my arrow found it's target, a mere centimeter next to Thorin's ear. Before anyone could react I walked out of the room and out of the house all together. I filed my hands through my pure white hair and rammed my head against a nearby lamp post. The few tears that had been in my eyes when I shot the arrow at Thorin were now falling down my cheeks. I shouldn't of come here in the first place! Before I could mount Kira and go back to my home of Mirkwood, Kili and Fili walked out of the house. "Wisteria! What are you doing?" Fili asked. "Are you leaving already?" Kili ran up to Kira which caused her to whinny. "I was thinking about leaving quietly but I guess I can't now." I sighed as I dismounted Kira and tied her up again. I sat down on a nearby bench and grabbed a handful of my hair to start braiding it. I have a bad habit of braiding my hair when I was frustrated. Fili and Kili sat down on both sides of me as Kili spoke, "It's not our uncle's fault that he infuriates people. He was just born that way. He IS a dwarf after all."
"Seems like he did it to anger me on purpose. Gandalf should of told him to not bring up my mother." I ground my teeth together when I mentioned my mother. "Speaking of which, why DID you get so upset about Gandalf bringing up your mother? Is it pride or something?" Fili asked. I shook my head, "She's dead. And it's partially my fault that she is dead." "Why is that?" the twins said in unison. I stood up and exhaled somewhat dramatically, "I'm a skin-changer. An elven skin-changer." Their eyes were full with confusion and, to my surprise, awe. "How did an elf become a skin-changer?" Fili gaped. I chuckled, "My mother had ancestors that were skin-changers." It was Kili who asked the dreaded question, "Can you shift for us?" I raised an eyebrow at him, "What's your favorite animal?" "A wolf." I nodded, "Close your eyes." As soon as both of the prince's eyes were closed, I took a deep breath and morphed into a white wolf. I nudged Kili's hand with my snout and he opened his eyes. He gaped, "That's amazing!" I sat down, "It can be a burden sometimes." "You can talk in your different forms too?" Fili smiled. I nodded, "I know of several languages because I was a translator for my people before I left for the Shire." "A translator?" I heard Balin come outside suddenly which made me jump. I quickly morphed from my current wolf form to my elf form, "Umm... Yes Master Balin. As you might not of heard, I can translate many languages in the common tongue some including elvish in it's many forms, dwarfish, and even Black Tongue or orc speak." Fili and Kili tensed when I mentioned the orc's language. I gulped, "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up..." "It's okay. I know you didn't mean it that way." Balin interrupted. After a slight pause, Kili broke the tension, "Well, I'm going back inside. Fili, let's go." The older brother nodded and followed Kili into the hobbit home. I sighed and walked onto the top of the hobbit home. On top of the hill-like home there was a large oak tree. I morphed into a golden lion and slept right next to the tall trunk.
*The Next Morning*
I awoke to see the dwarves packing up their belongings onto their ponies. I picked out Kili instantly among the sea of dwarves. He was leaning against a dark brown pony and looking straight at me. I yawned and stretched as a cat would do after a long nap. My roar of a yawn attracted Gandalf's, and some of the other dwarves', attention. The old wizard smiled and walked up to me, "Am I wrong in guessing that you will come with us on our adventure?" I shook my head and bounded down the hill towards Kira. One of the dwarves, Dwalin, scoffed, "Why isn't your horse afraid of ye?" I sat down next to Kira, who neighed at the dwarf, "She has seen me change several times Master Dwalin. She also knows that there are no lions in the Shire." Dwalin grumbled something inaudible as he mounted his pony. "Are you going to ride your pony or do we need to tie it to one of our ponies?" Thorin sneered as I trotted next to him, still in my lion form, "There will be no need of tying my horse Thorin, she will trot with your ponies as if I was riding her. As for the riding itself, I will ride off-and-on." Thorin trotted his pony to the front of the line of dwarves and I gravitated back to where Kili and Fili were riding. "You know that Fili's favorite animal is a lion right?" Kili slightly chuckled. I shook my mane, "I was not aware. I'm glad that you both find two of my forms enjoyable. I just hope that some of my other forms won't strike fear into your fellow dwarves' hearts."
"Like which forms?" Fili asked as he looked over at his brother.
"Something tells me you will find out. Hopefully not in the near future." I grumbled as I heard a shout in the distance, "Wait!" I turned to see Bilbo running towards us. The company stopped and Bilbo went up to Balin and gave him a contract, "I signed it." Balin took a few moments to look it over, "Everything seems to be in order! Welcome Bilbo Baggins, to the company of Thorin Oakenshield." Thorin looked at Balin and then to Bilbo, "Get him a pony." Bilbo stuttered about something about being able to keep up but was interrupted by Fili and Kili who hoisted him up onto a light brown pony named Myrtle. I laughed as Bilbo attempted to grab at the reins. I morphed from a lion to a centaur, a half human-half horse creature, and galloped over to Bilbo. I gave him the reigns, "You are putting the reins too close to yourself. That could choke Myrtle. Put them farther down like here." He adjusted them and Myrtle let out a whinny of relief. Bilbo smiled and then looked at the lower horse part of my body, "What creature are you exactly? I don't mean any offense." I smiled, "None taken. Right now I am a centaur and earlier I was a lion. Both completely different mind-sets in the forms. When I was I lion, I felt prouder about myself while now I feel more alert to my surroundings."
"It must be grand, being able to morph into different animal species." Bilbo grinned.
I sighed, "It can be sometimes Bilbo. But, I can make people afraid of me in a second and then they can't be reasoned with. I have made many enemies this way." I looked over at Thorin and Dwalin, who were muttering to each other and sneering at me left and right.