the moon was bright

[afeastofstarlight]

She had found a door, finally, which made her heart sing, her blood stir in her veins. However high the ceilings may be in her room, however expansive the hotel grounds, they were still too contained, small. She was used to endless horizons and unknown territory, and the hotel was somewhat suffocating in that regard.

But this, here. A small door that she had seemed to just notice (or had it appeared once her longing became strong enough?) down the hall from her quarters, which she had to duck slightly in order to walk through. It had been carved from apple wood, with designs of flowers and fruit curling around the door handle. Once through, aware of the fickle nature of the Nexus, she had propped the door open with a large rock.

She had appeared out of the side of a rocky hillside, a natural formation which in her own land would have been used as some sort of watchtower or signal top. All around Tauriel was spring. Flowers were beginning to grow through the damp grass, and the air smelt fresh and warm. After a few trips through the door Tauriel felt comfortable enough to visit it often, with only her daggers and no other weapon.

This time, it was night. She found a spot on the boulders she could comfortably half sit, half lay upon, and she looked up at a glowing profusion of stars she did not recognize. She ached at their familiarity all the same, though; them and the heavy moon hanging low in the sky. There was more than enough starlight and moonlight to see by and, humming a soft melody to herself, she began to slowly braid her hair.

Comments

[theflashbastard]

While it could hardly be said that Crowley was one of those nature types, he supposed he did have a sort of wary appreciation for it, as he tended to hold for all forms of life these days. Of course, he preferred the comfort of gadgets and his nice flat, but he’d been away from the latter for quite some time now, and the first had evolved beyond his own remedial understanding in this new place that he found himself, decades into the future as he knew it. It left him feeling unmoored sometimes, but Crowley wasn’t anything if not adaptable, and he seemed to be rubbing along in this new place well enough with zero contact from the dark overlord.

Crowley was adaptable, and also exceedingly susceptible to boredom, turns out, as when he happened upon a door to a nice, scenic little overlook where there were stars and a moon when, upon having just left the hotel’s gardens there had been enough sunlight to make him grateful for his trademark sunglasses, he checked the sturdiness of the rock holding the door open with the toe of his boot before heading out.

There was a creature of some sort laying out on one of the rocks, he realized, understanding instinctively that she was not human but not knowing just what she was. He thought her ears were a rather nice touch, though, and all that hair had to be unwieldy and hard on her neck and shoulders, but that was hardly any of his business.

“’ello, there,” Crowley said as he came to a stop nearby and craned his head to look up at the sky. The heavens seemed strangely accessible from that vantage point, and it left him feeling strangely vulnerable, but not at all homesick. “Lovely night, isn’t it?”

[heir_of_durin]

Fili had not been able to find Kili in some time. Knowing now, what he does, of his brother's death back home and his own, he knows that returning there is not an option, for he will not find his brother there. Only in the Halls of Mandos in the afterlife that awaits will they meet again. His heart aches for such knowledge, but he knows he cannot simply stop.

He had been following her, wishing to speak to Tauriel. After all, if anyone else would know of whether Kili had been seen, she would know. He followed her through the door carefully, disturbing a stone or two to give her the warning that he was approaching, smiling sadly for the movement of her hands.

"You must allow me to help," Fili insisted. "I'm quite the expert."