Hearts open like a river, feelings flow downstream [26 Dec 2002|09:00am] [ mood | content ] [ music | the sound of birds chirping on the balcony banister ] She slept in my arms last night, her long, seemingly infinite strawberry blonde hair brushing over my bare skin as her head rested on my chest. How is it that we came to this? How is it that she ended up embracing me and subsequently bedding with me for what was the most peaceful night since I had returned to the Golden Wood. I had been over 20 years since I set foot in the woods of Lothlorien. The trees to swell and open up that evening and the setting sun gave the leaves a reddened, amber hue. Beautiful as I remember it, timeless, like a painting. Nothing had changed, but then again why should they have? The hills, as well as their inhabitants, were immortal. I couldn?t remember when I had last seen a wood that bore such memories. As I rode the rivers Anduin and Entwash, my heart yearned to be back at my home away from home. Lorien had proven to be very relaxing so long ago, but it was a person, more than the place, that drove me back and kept me alive until I returned. Vorladien Galadyrin... Vorladien (lorienmaiden) was a student and companion to me for many many years prior to my departure. I grew quite fond of her, as she did of me, but we never spoke of our hearts. It was a relationship between mentor and pupil, that is all... It could never and did never advance beyond that, much to my dismay and as I left Lorien for what I believed to be the final time, my heart sank as she saw me off. But I returned, bearing battle scars and nightmarish memories, to my Light of Lorien, my Vorladien... When I arrived, Haldir greeted me in a regal manner, not smiling as could be expected and then escorted me to the Caras Galadhon, as if I hadn?t spent centuries walking this path before. It amused me really... Perhaps he felt that I forgotten my way. I don?t think I was gone that long... I wander the quarters, retracing my steps as if I were walking in dream. The sun was getting dimmer, and the silver lights flickered and glittered about me. I was dazed, slipping off into a trance like state when I heard someone calling to me: "Legolas! Legolas!" I immediately knew who it was. Running towards me was the Lady Vorladien, clad in a simple dress, her hair flowing about her slender shoulders. Her bare feet didn?t make a noise on the fallen foliage as she approached and stopped dead in her tracks a few feet from me. For a while, we said nothing and looked silently at each other, not sure of whom was to speak first, who was to make the first gesture. At least, she bowed low, in her usual regal way, and gazed into my eyes. "Legolas..." she said, her song-like voice almost humming the Sindarin, "It has been far too long." "Indeed it has, Vorladien." Smiling, I stepped forward and took her hand. "Would it be foolish to say that you haven?t aged a bit?" I watched as her fair, slender fingers entwined with my own and she grinned gently, regally like her mother, and she looked at me gently. "I had wondered when our paths would cross again..." I nodded slightly.... As did I, my lady, as did I... The remainder of the evening was spent reminiscing, updating each other on our adventures, stories. However, as we spoke, our hearts began to open and my words became more that of a suitor than a friend, but I cared not. It had been too long to pretend not to care for her. She had learned most of what she needed to know in my absence and it was time things became less tense between us. I had many things I wished to give her, but most importantly, I wished to give her something of great importance to me: my bow. Immediately after I left it in her hand, she attempted to return it to me. I raised my hand to stop her and shook my head. "Keep it," I demanded, "It has seen many battles and has served me well.. It is time it served you..." Her eyes widened and blinked in shock, but in thanks she did something that both shocked and pleased me. Her lips met my forehead, her cool breath brushing my skin. It was the most beautiful feeling in the world. The night had long fallen around us, but it didn?t matter... She escorted me to my room, down the corridor from hers, where I had stayed for centuries past. My royal garb still hung in the closets, the large, cumbersome grey robes of my people, and the more manageable silver-threaded leggings and shirts, all there as I had left it so long ago. It was if I never left. She stood in the doorway, her head resting against the wall, as she watched me get settled, speaking to me of what she had been doing, stories of meetings and hiding from her cousin, Haldir. Finally, she spoke of how much she missed me, how the days seemed longer, how she looked out until the South and East for me day after day. By Elberleth, I adore her. She was so radiant and pale in the light of her people. She looked almost ethereal... It was a good time to give her the gifts that I had saved when I had been away. First, I gave to her a silver horse broach from Rohan, inlayed with sapphire eyes. It took to her immediately, reminding her of Nereleen, the horse that I had taught her to train on her own. The first lesson I ever gave her. The second, most protected gift I had kept in the bottom of my quiver, where I knew it would never be lost or unsafe. It was a Mithril ring on a silver chain. Written in Tengwar was the inscription TO THE LIGHT OF LORIEN, MAY THIS KEEP YOU SAFE IN TIMES OF UNEASE AND LONELINESS. It took to her at once and her aqua eyes became little pools as she cried happily, repeating how perfect and beautiful it was as I clasped it on her slender neck. I don?t know what happened next, but soon we were in a gentle, but passionate embrace, kissing in a way that we had never done before but had always meant to. It felt so right, but I pulled away anyway and looked at her, my eyes full of both pain and love. She stepped back and left me along briefly to "fetch something I saved for you", she said. When she returned, she gave to me a Lothlorien bow, long and stout, with expert carvings at the center. At first I believed it to be hers, but she handed it to me, placing it my shocked, stunned hands. "I had made this... for your next return...you will see that it is just right for your need and skill.." she uttered, though I am surprised that I could even hear her. I ran my hands along it and felt like I was a boy again, receiving gifts for my birthdays from my family! However, if that wasn?t enough, she gave me a silver ring, that bore the White Light and read: MAY THE LIGHT BE YOUR STRENGTH IN PERIL AND LONELINESS I set the bow next to my quiver and put my ring on my finger. Once again we found ourselves kissing again, speaking words of love, but how is it that I could be with her.... The truth is that I shouldn?t feel this way for her, I shouldn?t love her. This love is a doomed one, she knows this as well as I, but we still remain together. Somehow, whether it be through force or will, I will end up leaving her, I know. But now that I have her, how I can I let her go? What awaits me back at Mirkwood will forever murder our hearts, so I remain her, in her presence, until I am forced to return to my home... Will we spend our lives together or be forced apart? For now the love between I, Legolas Greenleaf, and the maiden Vorladien shall remain in secrecy, until the path of our fate is clearer in front of us. post comment

The Quiet Before the Storm [26 Dec 2002|10:14pm] [ mood | worried ] I tried to stop Vorladien (lorienmaiden) from leaving Haldir (lorien_haldir) and I alone together. The tension between us had already grown to the point uncomfortable silences or cold, subtle bites at eachother's heels. However, there we were, at the top of the watchtower, glaring silently at each other for what felt like an eternity. Finally, I spoke up, my glare unmoved. "Why must you be so hard with me all of a sudden? What have I done?" His arms crossed in a confrontational manner, as he stood his ground. "I am only looking out for her well being." Oh, you jealous, soul-sucking fool, I thought to myself, praying to the Heavens that he would cease his overprotective facade. " Vorladien is almost as old as I am, my friend... She is fully capable of caring for herself..." My eyes grew dark and after a very short time, I felt that my aloof manner was failing me. "Leave the fathering to her father..." I hissed. His expression quickly changed and he frowned deeply. I could see that he was struggling as much as I not to become irrational. "I am only keeping my word to her father. I see her as my own sister. You have no place to judge my intention." "And you have no place to judge mine... My intentions for coming back are good, Haldir!" I was growing noticably more irritated with his presence by the minute and wished that my Vorladien would return. Neither of us moved for a while, but he spoke at last. "Perhaps I don't have that right. But I guard my family with my life. I only trust you as I do because it is what Vorladien wishes." I had to respect his devotion, as excessive as it was. And for a brief minute, I actually wished to call a truce with him and let it go, but his expression angered and vexed me and my desire for peace was quickly forgotten. "If you did what Vorladien wished, you would leave me be completely and let me tutor her without your distrustful eye piercing our every move. I will believe your promise to her when I see it proven more than how you've claimed to try..." His eyes narrowed and he took a step towards me. I didn't move. "My ways are my own, Legolas of Mirkwood! I certainly will not bend to meet your expectations..." He arched his brow and looked me in the eye. "I will leave you to tutor her, but I will not cease to keep my guard up. I will only what she wishes, as best as my own opinions allow." I suppose I couldn't ask for more than that, nor did I. The tension was so thick, so unbearable that as Vorladien returned to the tower it was as if a great burden had been lifted from both Haldir's and my own chest. As Vorladien and I departed to train (at least that was our story), Haldir gave me his final statement: I shall be here in the watchtower...ever...watchful... I do hope he wasn't watching us completely the whole night, for it was laced with passion, playful wrestling, stolen kisses in the wood as we worked. It was very peaceful, for we were so hidden by the thick trees shadowing our whereabouts, that it proved to be rather comforting, knowing that we could be open for a change. We had decided earlier that morning that we were going to marry, however the issue came up about where it could be done. Nowhere in Mirkwood, Rivendell, or Lorien could we wed without the news eventually reaching her mother or father, or my father. Things are going to be more difficult than we intended with enemies and watchful eyes at every turn. Yet, somehow, I don't regret it, for as we returned to my bedroom, we consummated our love, sealing it forever within our hearts. The whole time it felt perfect. However, I couldn't help but feel the unease that Haldir was lingering close. Lo and behold, as Vorladien and I lay in bed, a knock came to the door. "Legolas?" called Haldir, his voice solemn and cold, as usual. "Legolas, may I enter? I'm searching for my cousin!" A look of horror fell on both of our faces and I hurried Vorladien off into my bath to hide, silently as I had taught her years ago. "Yes, Haldir, I'm awake, but I was just about to head to sleep..." I lied, pulling the covers over my body and trying not to look as worn out and worked as I was. He calmly entered the room, ignoring the fact that I was seated in my room in my bed and gazed at me. "She wasn't in her room, so I decided to look for her. You haven't seen her?" I shook my head slightly and looked calmly at him. "No, not for some time, I'm afraid..." Inside the bath, candles were lit and under the door, a flicker of shadow and flame shone under the door. "Your candles are still on in your bath, Legolas. You risk setting this room aflame if you fall asleep with them on... I'll just quench them for you..." I almost leaped out of the bed then and there. "No, don't!!" I exclaimed, perhaps too vehemently for comfort. Haldir looked at me in confusion, his eyebrow raised. "I-I will blow them out shortly, Haldir, thank you." He shrugged and turned to leave. "Well, if she comes this way, tell her that I wished to see her." I believed I was rid of him for good that night and began to call Vorladien back to bed, but then Haldir returned suddenly. "Legolas, I just wanted to say that...." He stopped and looked to the side of the bed. On the floor, lay Vorladien's sky blue gown! I had forgotten to hide her clothing. Haldir, noticing it immediately, walked back to my bed and picked up the gown, looking at it intently. "What is Vorladien's gown doing in here?!" he growled, glaring into my eyes, which were wide with horror. Yes, I made love to her, I made love to her for most of this night and I don't regret it! is what I wanted to say... However.... "She changed in my room, into her....Her hunting gear... yes....She must have just forgotten it here..." "Yes, she must have..." was , scowled in my face and just turned to leave, dropping the dainty dress at the foot of the bed again, the door closing firmly behind him... As soon as he left, I felt relieved and frightened at once. Vorladien returned, having heard the whole ordeal and tried to comfort my unease. Things were going to be harder now for us than ever, I knew and held her in my arms again as I awaited the quiet before the storm ahead of us post comment

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