(no subject)

[of_mirkwood]

It called to him now. Never before standing upon the decks of an ancient ship had the sea called to Legolas the way it called him now and there was little he could do but heed it. The armies of Gondor and Rohan camped now along the great field called Pelennor, preparing for a final stand against Sauron, and while his head should have been in strategy, instead it was lost at sea. This was madness.

Legolas understood now why the Elves had flocked from Middle Earth in droves. No longer were they tethered to this land and concerned with the perils of it. No longer did the matters of Men and Dwarves and Halflings cross their minds on a regular basis. Instead, it was Valinor and her white ships that called them and they answered it, marching without cease into the west.

Legolas knew there were many things left to be done before he could join them. He had made a pact with the company of the Ring and intended to keep it, intended to see Aragorn, son of Arathorn, installed as king of all Men. Sauron's grip in the east was too strong yet to give in to temptation and he tried to use that to guard his mind and serve as focus for the days to come. Still, as it had never been difficult before now, it was a strange shift in the way he thought and it almost seemed he was dreaming awake.

He pushed open the flap of his tent, intending to take in the night air on this eve of battle. Elves did not need to sleep in the traditional sense of Men and Dwarves and Legolas had already had his fill of rest this evening. Tonight, he sought the stars and their company and thought to commune with those long past. But as he stepped through the opening in the tent, a curious thing happened - there were no stars above him.

Instead, he was in a hall of some sort, closed in and carpeted without view of the night sky. There was a doorway there too, plain and unassuming, and Legolas wondered how this was possible. Was this some Elven magic or was it something older, something of wizards who trod the earth long before Elves came to prominence. Was this something of Numenor, now twisted to do Sauron's will? He knew not.

With a hand at the hilt of his knife, he turned his head a bit, listening for any signs of danger. Hearing nothing obvious, he pressed on, trying to make sense of this mad, new world.

[[Find an Elf wandering the halls at night!]]

Comments

[silverandcold]

Elsa has trouble sleeping more often than not. It's hard to rest when she's worried about, well, everything. Anna, the eternal winter she's set off, the state of Arendelle. All of it weighs heavy on her and no doors have opened back home yet.

Besides, as a tiny voice in the back of her memory reminds her, the sky is awake so she s too.

The stranger's footsteps are so quiet that, distracted, Elsa doesn't see him until it's too late and she nearly crashes into him.

"I'm so sorry!"

[of_mirkwood]

Legolas did not expect to crash into anyone and he lifted his hands, apologizing to the young woman. Was he really so lost that he would careen into someone?

"The fault is mine. I did not watch my step and was caught unawares. I apologize, my lady."

[silverandcold]

"Oh no! I just wasn't paying attention and I didn't hear you. I didn't hear you at all!"

A light flush hits her pale cheeks and she tries to breathe out. "I'm sorry. My name is Elsa."

[of_mirkwood]

"Legolas," he offered in kind, dipping his head a bit in reverence. He hoped to make amends for startling the young woman because he would need allies in this strange place if he hoped to return to the field of battle.

"Where have I stumbled upon? I do not recognize this place."

[silverandcold]

Elsa frowns, trying to think of a good explanation. "It's a hotel. Doors open and close and you end up...here. Sometimes you can go home. Sometimes you can't."

She's seen doors that blow with cold air, but doesn't dare open them. She can never return to Arendelle.

"You might have a door that takes you home."

[of_mirkwood]

"A hotel? I am not familiar with the word." Legolas had never experienced a place quite like this, a waystation with doors that may or may not lead home. It reminded him of a human version of his own Mirkwood, only that forest was well known to him and he found it impossible to get lost there. Other travellers might, and often did, but not an Elf raised beneath those boughs.

"Why would this place bar my safe return to Middle Earth?"

[silverandcold]

Oh dear. She's not sure how to begin, though Elsa's mind tries to tick through the options. "It's...well. If it were normal, this would be a place for travelers to come and go. An inn? Do you know that word?"

[of_mirkwood]

"Yes, I am familiar," Legolas said, smiling now that they had found common ground. An inn was something he could understand, even if he still did not understand the magic that brought him to this particular one.

"But this inn isn't exactly the same as those frequented by Men, I take it, given it can allow or bar entry at will?"

[silverandcold]

Generally, Elsa thinks of herself as cool-hearted and cool-headed, but even she can see that his smile is dazzling. He looks sort of...more than human.

"Yes, that's basically it."

[ogunquit_girl]

Overall, Peter was a good baby. He fussed for the usual reasons babies fussed - hunger, discomfort, tired - but mostly he was content to hang out in his baby sling, or their arms, and watch the world go by.

Tonight, though, he hadn't wanted to settle when she'd put him in his crib and rather than keep Stu up with the fussing, she'd decided to walk the halls with him for a while and see if that would get him soothed.

When she turned a corner and saw...someone standing there, Frannie froze. Her brain was trying to take in the full impression of him (her?) but her eyes kept focusing on the clothes, and the knife and (pointed ears?) the rest of him.

"Hello," she said in lieu of a dozen things she could have said, all of which she'd dismissed as asinine.

[of_mirkwood]

Legolas had not expected the young woman and her babe but he recovered quickly from the shock and greeted her warmly.

"Well met. I apologize, I am not familiar with this place and know not where I am. Is this your home? Please forgive me the trespass."

[ogunquit_girl]

Okay. Not exactly a "hi, how're you doing?" but as greetings between strangers in a really strange place, it was better than, say, an armed assault and fight for your life. Having lived through that, she'd take this genial greeting for what it was.

"It is my home for now, but it's home to many people so no forgiveness necessary."

[of_mirkwood]

"Is it an inn, of sorts?" It seemed larger than any inn Legolas had ever seen in his travels through the human lands and yet, there was something strange about it. Unsettling but not entirely panic inducing, not yet. He did not feel the need to be anything more than on guard.

"Or is that too simple an explanation?"

[ogunquit_girl]

Fran shifted the sleeping baby to her other shoulder. "Of sorts, yes. I mean, it's an inn, but probably not like anything you've ever seen before. I know I hadn't ever seen anything like it when I arrived. Sorry, I should introduce myself first, huh? I"m Fran Goldsmith. And this little guy is my son, Peter."

[of_mirkwood]

"I am Legolas, of the Woodland Realm," he said warmly, bowing his head a bit in deference to the young woman. "I apologize that I did not introduce myself earlier. There is nothing more troubling than being in the midst of a long conversation and not knowing your partner's name."

Legolas thought a bit of levity might lighten the heaviness in his heart at not knowing where he was or how he arrived.

[ogunquit_girl]

Later, she would have no clear idea how she kept her face blank. Maybe it was the late hour or the fact that she'd seen both Thor and Loki wandering the hallways. Whatever, she was grateful for it. The last thing she wanted to do was make someone uncomfortable, and definitely not someone who had been, prior to now, one of her favorite Tolkien characters.

"You're right about that, Legolas. It's truly a pleasure to meet you. Welcome to the Nexus," she offered and shifted a squirming Peter into the crook of her arm. "Not much of a welcoming committee, but our hearts are in the right place."

[of_mirkwood]

"Hearts are the only thing that matter," Legolas assured her, giving her a soft smile. "I would not fault a young mother for being tired. I believe that is the way of it, as little as I know about human children."

Elves had not had children amongst them for many, many years so it was a novelty.

[sarcastical]

The way things had been going lately, there weren't many places where Stiles could go to think. Considering that most of his friends (and some of his enemies) had lately (always) been looking to him to make sense of the quagmire of supernatural insanity that their lives had become, this was problematic. Cue bizarre trans-dimensional luxury hotel that manipulated time and space. It had to be good for something eventually.

Here, he could distance himself enough from magic and the supernatural that he could get some much-needed perspective.

…or not.

Standing at the end of the hall, headphone wires curling from his ears to the front pocket of his jeans, mouth seemingly hung permanently open, he stared.

[of_mirkwood]

Legolas was unsure why there was a boy staring at him but he imagined he made quite a sight, primed for battle as he was. While Rohan and Gondor had been at war for a while and it was not uncommon for Men to bear arms or have bows slung across their backs, this place was decidedly not Middle Earth.

"My apologies if I have frightened you," he said, wanting to make peace if he could. The last thing he wanted was to make enemies in this strange place. "It was not my intention."

[sarcastical]

Orlando Bloom wouldn't just be walking around in his Legolas costume, right? Not in this place, not when there were apparently billions of alternate universes and Middle Earth could plausibly be one.

Stiles scrambled to tug the headphones from his ears. "I- what? What?" he blurted. Music was still blaring tinnily from the earbuds and he hastily tugged his phone from his pocket, nearly dropping it in the process of switching it off.

[of_mirkwood]

"Lost," Legolas said again, a little firmer this time in case the boy did not hear him. "I hail from Middle Earth and I walked from the field of battle at Pelennor before I came here. I know not what magic has caused this particular detour but I am to find out."

Legolas knew of magic even if he had never been one to attempt to practice it. That was the purview of wizards and Elven queens like Galadriel, not someone like him.

[sarcastical]

"Yeah, I know not either," Stiles replied, with mental congratulations on being able to form an entire sentence. Considering what had just come out of Legolas' mouth (and that Legolas was, in fact, Legolas), it was miraculous that he hadn't been struck totally dumb and sprouted a massive geek boner.

Actually, it was amazing he wasn't sporting a regular (if slightly confused) boner. This guy was pretty in a way that was entirely disconcerting and also easily explained the internet's flood of Aragorn/Legolas slash fiction.

Not that Stiles would know anything about that.

"Um," he began again with a vague gesture Legolas' way. "Nobody knows, dude. If you find out, though, let me know."

[of_mirkwood]

Legolas had never heard anyone speak quite the way this young man did and while it seemed familiar and friendly, Legolas was unsure how to approach it. Usually, upon meeting someone he had never met before, he erred toward the side of formality but it seemed that might not be the best approach here.

"You have not explored your surroundings to find a way back? It would have been my first step." Legolas had only halted his search because he was engaged in conversation; once done, he would resume once more searching for Middle Earth.

[sarcastical]

"Oh, the elf is funny," Stiles replied with a faint snort and a backwards swivel of his head, although now that he considered it, Legolas was probably the only person in that whole fellowship with a viable sense of humor.

"Yeah, dude, I have explored my surroundings to find a way back. I was talking about the magic, or quantum physics, or whatever the hell got you here." He leaned right to peer around Legolas, and pointed down the hall. "You try the door you came out of? That usually works for most people."

[of_mirkwood]

"It seems to be a storage closet of some sort," Legolas said, frowning deeply. What sort of magic was this that filled in the door that led back to his home? While he was but one Elf, all Men and Elves needed to stand together against Sauron at the Black Gate. His presence would surely be missed among the archers.

"Did that method work for you when you returned to your home and came back again? Or have you been trapped?"