Tsuki Ni Murakumo Hana Ni Kaze

[of_mirkwood]

Legolas had explored many of the doors leading from the Nexus into other worlds but this was one that was new to him. When he pushed it open, he could tell the forest it led into was very, very old and the fox that met him along the path seemed more than a normal creature. It seemed sentient, in many ways, and it reminded him of the way trees and animals and the world felt back in his own Middle-Earth.

Except, he did not know these paths and the songs the rivers sang here were different. The world was younger than his own and did not have near as much history to tell but it was vibrant and full of life. The fox led him up a winding mountain path, through gates and archways and finally through a beautiful canopy of trees covered in snow-white blossoms. Legolas paused just before the mountain's summit and tipped his face upward, letting the petals brush against his cheeks and simply listening to the wind.

At the very top of the mountain was a beautiful shrine and after communing with the goddess who presided over it, Legolas begged his leave to be one with the earth again. It was not his home, no, but an Elf needs the trees and the rivers and the lakes to thrive and he had missed this connection dearly during his time in the Nexus.

This was the closest he'd felt to home in a long, long while.

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[heir_of_durin]

It was the mountain that drew Fili here.

He had been lingering in Erebor for so long, now, it felt. In truth, it had likely only been days when coupled with the time the strange inn kept him trapped. Each time he saw the elf, he lingered after him as he suspected that he might lead him home. It was not the case, but the mountain in the distance was of a beauty unparalleled apart from the first time Fili had laid eyes upon Erebor.

He had followed the elf so far and Fili was of sturdy stock, only slightly breathless when he reached his shadow here so far near the peak, a place unsuitable for dwarves in general. "You are eager to rid yourself of me, I think," Fili managed.

[of_mirkwood]

"I was not aware I was being followed, Master Dwarf," Legolas said, a hint of amusement in his tone and a smile curving his lips. "I might have slowed down if I had known you were behind me. You are very stealthy for a dwarf."

Legolas had been so lost in his own thoughts that he had not even noticed the dwarf and that, in and of itself, was unusual.

[heir_of_durin]

"Then I have proven my skill in such a task," Fili said with the pride that came of a job well done. "I am very light for a dwarf," he admitted, for while he was happy to take praise for his skills, he also believed in being honest, to a degree. "I am young, yet. With luck, I will grow to be so steady in my step that you will hear me from a mile off."

He approached with the due caution he felt owed to an elf, unsure as to their bearings. "Where have you led us?"

[of_mirkwood]

"It is not our Middle Earth," Legolas said, more than a little rueful about that fact. He had not been able to go back to the battle outside Minas Tirith since arriving at the Nexus months ago. It had not been for lack of trying, of course, which was something he thought the dwarf could understand.

"I have talked with the goddess in this place. She has granted us her blessing to take leave here as long as we wish."

[heir_of_durin]

Fili could see hints of difference everywhere he looked, but there was a peace and calm that was missing from his life in Erebor at the moment. He wondered how cowardly it would make him to wish to stay here. "It is only a shame we cannot lead the others here. I would give my uncle safe passage to clear his mind in such a place."

[of_mirkwood]

"The only door I found was from the Nexus itself," Legolas said ruefully. "Otherwise, I would be happy to welcome your kin into such sanctuary. I know that war takes a toll upon all those involved and having a place to see the sky and touch the earth again would bring solace to a weary heart."

[heir_of_durin]

"It is an unfortunate thing, is it not?" Fili wondered, for he was grateful to have received such a gift in the form of the inn and its many doors, but it was also accursed in that he could never bring those he loved with him. He longed to share worlds such as this with Kili and Thorin. "But you do not seem to mind. The solitude suits you. Is it so with all your kind?"

[of_mirkwood]

"I miss having elves to be around," he conceded. "But I have been journeying away from my people for quite some time now. I have grown used to the solitude and even though I do not have my kin, I have made other friends in my travels and hope to make many more still. It helps to keep the pain from being too much to bear."

[heir_of_durin]

"You mentioned these other friends before, when you spoke of Gimli," Fili said, having recalled that because it was not the sort of information that one easily forgot. "I don't recall the others, however. Who kept Gimli and yourself company on such a trek? I would wish to hear it from Gimli's own lips, but as far as I know, he is still far to me."

[of_mirkwood]

"That is a long story. The one they call Sauron has risen from deep within Mordor, his power waxing because the ring, the One Ring, has been discovered. It is our quest to see it destroyed by whatever means."

Legolas closed his eyes and drifted in memory for a moment, trying to recall exactly where each of the Company was at the time he left Middle Earth and came to the Nexus.

"We have lost one of the Men. Your kinsman and I have been battling with the armies of Gondor and Rohan at Pelennor. We hope to keep Sauron's offensive back long enough to allow the Ringebearer to slip past him and unmake the ring."

[heir_of_durin]

Fili recalled such stories from his childhood, when Dis tried to frighten them with increasing stories of horror and darkness. Kili had soaked them up and Fili had taken on the message that he would need to grow strong and brave to fight such things. "If ever there was someone worthy of such a feat, it would be Gimli. He was terribly upset not to be able to join our party, but his father thought him too young, yet," Fili said, with the fondness that came of speaking of his kinsman.

[of_mirkwood]

"There is never a dwarf I have seen braver than Gimli, son of Gloin. He does his father and his name very proud, if the words of an elf mean anything at all," Legolas said fondly.

"We made a very good team, he and I, and we were able to slay a great many foes in battle by banding together. Who would think, an elf and a dwarf? But we did it."

[heir_of_durin]

Fili raised his brow, but did not make a pointed remark as to how much Legolas seemed proud and fond of Fili's dwarven kin. He did not wish to start an argument between them and Fili felt that poking lightly at Legolas' feelings might cause such a thing. "After what our kind has endured and I am sure, what yours has from our side, I would not imagine it, no," Fili concurred. "Do you see him if you return home?"

[of_mirkwood]

"I have not been able to. The few times I have returned, it is to an earlier point in my life, long before I ever met the Company of the Ring," Legolas said grimly.

"I fear I am as trapped as you seem to be, Master Fili, and just as sorrowful for it. If I am able to see him again, I will tell him of this place and pass on your greetings."

[heir_of_durin]

It seemed a strange fate, almost as though he was being punished for such a thing. Fili could not see the sense of such a thing. "He will be confused, I imagine," Fili admitted. "For he would be much younger as I know him compared to what you know of the dwarf. And yet, I find myself wishing to meet Gimli at any age, for he is one of my dearest friends." Fili gestured to the mountain around them.

"Were you intending to continue onwards?"

[of_mirkwood]

"I was, if you would like to join? I would not mind the company." Legolas would, in fact, welcome the opportunity to get to know one of Gimli's kinsmen better because in some small way, it eased the pain of missing his friend. It seemed that Fili had at least decided to trust him, even just a little, and that was certainly forward progress from their first meeting.

"I have been giving leave to travel as I wish here and I can imagine it extends to those I call friend."

[heir_of_durin]

"I believe my mind could use the solace," Fili confessed, for it had been so troubled of late, unsure what action he ought to take. If he betrayed his Uncle, it would be betraying family, but did he not have his kind to worry over? Even his worry of the elves had dwindled in the face of goldlust. "Leave?" he echoed. "Leave by who?"

[of_mirkwood]

"There is a goddess here. She takes the form of a fox," Legolas explained. "I was able to speak with her for a short while before you arrived and she invited me to tarry as long as I liked upon her mountain and in her forests. I believe she called herself Inari."

She was unlike any divine being he had ever heard of in Middle Earth but this was, decidedly, not the land of his people or Fili's.

[heir_of_durin]

Fili had never communed with any gods or goddesses, but then, he had never had cause to. He supposed that he believed Legolas' words, though there was lingering doubt given that there could be cause for Fili to be lied to, if there were something important here. "I have never heard of such things," he said, half in warning that he would not take kindly to this if it were not the truth.

[of_mirkwood]

"To me, she seemed like our Lady of the Golden Wood," Legolas said, thinking of the benevolence he felt from Inari and how much she reminded him of Galadriel.

"Perhaps not divine but long lived, longer lived than a human or a dwarf. Maybe even longer lived than an elf."

[heir_of_durin]

Fili was relatively young compared to any elf, so he could not imagine he would even merit a second look to a goddess of such standing. "Well, if she has given you permission, then I will take it, too," Fili said, seizing the opportunity. "Until I can travel no more in this thin air."