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[tenthlife]

I had to admit, gardening at the hotel was much easier here at the hotel than it had ever been on the island. As soon as I'd seen the lush gardens here I knew I wanted to be a part of working on them and when I'd found a plot suitable for the herbs I loved to grow, it felt like a perfect fit.

Or as perfect a fit as possible in the strange place I'd found myself.

Gone were the days of scrounging whatever I could find on the island as far as gardening tools went, the same was true for seeds and food for the plants. It reminded me of how life in the caves had changed after I'd started raiding with the humans. Food, clothing, vitamins and medicine had all upgraded from barely getting by to a form of luxury most of the humans hadn't known since before the Souls arrived on their planet.

And I enjoyed working with my hands, providing a service to the others at the hotel. Apart from again being the only alien in a dwelling full of humans, I felt more like myself - fulfilling a calling that would benefit the community.

I couldn't stop the smile when that line of thought reminded me of Eric. Even though I knew that Nick wasn't happy with my choice to help him, I'd stood my ground with him and he'd stopped glaring so much about it. Or at least, he'd stopped glaring where I could see him do it. I was glad to find him here, a familiar face among so many new humans, as well as one that knew me, and knew Mel.

I stopped my rambling thoughts when I realized the basket I'd been placing my cuttings in had been filled to the brim. I stood and gave my back a good stretching, pulled off my gloves and put them in my pocket. It was time to take these back to my room to separate out what needed to be dried for medicinal use and which bundled and dropped off at the kitchen.

"Not bad for a few hours work," I said to the gardens around me and started for the door back into the hotel itself.

Find Wanderer either in the gardens or in the hotel on the way back to her room with a basket filled with greenery

no subject

[of_mirkwood]

It was difficult to determine his date of birth with the shift in calendar from Middle Earth to the Nexus and, furthermore, Legolas had been alive for so long that the years had all become something of a blur. Still, this was the time of year that he usually celebrated his birthday and it felt wrong to let the occasion go without even a passing mention.

Birthdays among elves were normally quiet affairs. Unlike the hobbits who loved to give lavish parties and bestow gifts upon their friends and families and unlike humans who lavished the celebrant with their own gifts, elves used their days of birth to reflect upon the world and how much had changed in it over the long years they had been alive. The older an elf was, the harder it was for he or she to remember what it was like when the world was young and the forced contemplation on a birthday was a good reminder.

When Legolas had left Middle-Earth, it was in the autumn of the world. The world was changing, swiftly, and the age of elves was ending to make way for the age of men. He had left the relative isolation of Mirkwood and embarked on a grand journey with the company of nine, only to get separated at Amon Hen and cast his lot with Gimli and Aragorn. They fought for Gondor and for all men, seeking to end Sauron's reign of terror, and Legolas did not know if they were yet successful - all hinged on the will and heart of a hobbit and his ability to bear the ring.

Not knowing the outcome of the war was something that disturbed him but Legolas had, as of yet, been unable to return to the battlefield. The few times he had made it into Middle-Earth, it was a younger Middle-Earth and the world seemed less troubled. The leaves shone with spring green and not the autumn he knew was the harbinger of war.

So today, he had decided to set up a target in the gardens and loose his arrows into it, wanting to hone his skills even if he could no longer go home and fight for his people and all the peoples of Middle Earth. When he heard the soft footsteps of someone behind him, he did not turn and, instead, merely spoke softly and evenly.

"It is impossible to startle an elf, even one who is far from home. Careful that you do not wander into the path of the arrow, please?"

no subject

[hylianqueen]

There was, incidentally, a training room buried deep within the hotel and it had taken Zelda this long to find it. She usually liked to go out of doors as much as possible as she hated being confined but today she had sought out amusement within the hotel itself; doors were still something that were hit or miss and she hadn't felt like taking the risk today.

It looked nothing like a Hylian training room would look. The equipment was all impossibly modern and several contraptions were so complicated that Zelda did not have any desire to try to learn how to use them. What was of interest were several training dummies that looked remarkably like the ones used by the Hylian army to hone their sword and shield skills. This, she could work with - but not in a dress.

She returned to her room and changed into Sheikah training garb she'd worn all her years as Sheik but decided that she wanted to hone her physical skills in Zelda's body and not effect the change. Not today. It would cause too many questions and produce lies that she was unwilling to keep up for the moment. So much of her life had been trafficked in secrets and the hotel was the one place where Zelda wanted merely to be honest.

The fit was a bit tighter, considering, but Zelda had always been slender no matter which form she took. It would work for her purposes today and she stole back down to the gym to train. She had daggers tucked in her boots and launched an attack, daggers flying into the face of the two dummies to her left and right as she flung herself toward the center one to use fists and feet.

It had been a long, long time since she'd been able to use this particular set of skills.