One

[keeps_count]

Characters: Legolas Greenleaf (keeps_count) and OPEN
Setting: Room 3-02, Cafeteria, meadow floor, anywhere else you wanna bump into him
Format: Starting with prose, both formats are good though
Summary: A blonde elf wakes up in a tower with word that Middle Earth is gone. A persistent search for his (still living) friends ensues.
Warnings: Potential for violence due to mistaken identity?


Room 3-02

The lack of ability to move, feeling like he couldn't breathe, Legolas had to fight not to jump to his feet and search for a threat when he finally regained his ability to move. His breathing remained even when he got to his feet, blue eyes carefully roaming around the room. The note went largely unnoticed for the time being while he went to investigate the trunk.

He was glad to find his clothes in there, his bow and a quiver full of arrows. Legolas didn't really waste much time in changing, tugging lightly at the collar and adjusting his clothes to fit more comfortably around it before slinging the quiver over his shoulder and sheathing his twin knives beneath the quiver. And finally he placed a sheathed Rohirric sword around his waist and a white knife. All equipment he had with him a century ago when he joined the Fellowship of the Ring, to assist Frodo.

That was so long ago. What was he going to do about Gimli? He had been taking him to the Undying Lands with him. They would have been reunited with Gandalf and Frodo, Lord Elrond and Lady Galadriel.

The elf sat on his bed and sighed a bit. Then spotted the letter. And the elf read it, carefully because it had been many years since he'd read anything in the tongue of Man. And then he read it again before crumpling it. Middle Earth was gone? Did that mean Gimli was gone as well? The old Dwarf never having a chance to see the Undying Lands?

Cafeteria

Legolas had the foresight to bring along a chunk of Lembas bread with his when he entered the cafeteria and was handed the bowl of oatmeal. He'd had worse food, he was sure, but that was a long time ago. He'd happily enjoyed the food of his people, and of the dwarves for a century now.

He was at least mature enough not to poke at his food or make disgusted faces at it. Legolas ate it in silence and them ate some Lembas bread to get the taste from his mouth.

Floor 25/Meadow

Legolas sat cross legged, relaxing in the middle of the meadow. His weapons are set on the ground beside him, as if they disturb the bit of peace this place offers. It's not the same though. He wanted to be near the sea now. He even starts to quote something.

"Legolas Greenleaf, long under tree,
In joy thou hast lived. Beware of the Sea!
If thou hearest the cry of the gull on the shore,
Thy heart shall then rest in the forest no more."

Anywhere else

The tower residents may find a blonde young man, barely looking more than twenty years of age, and with pointy ears wandering around. He's very heavily armed but walking casually, with only his bow in hand.

Oh, and he has pointy ears.

Comments

[keeps_count]

Legolas turned his head slightly and smiled. Not a person he recognized, which was a little disappointing, but he would never turn away company. He simply wasn't that kind of elf.

"Hello. You're welcome to join me." He offered, moving his weapons away from a, what he thinks it, particularly comfortable spot. Elves and their nature, although he couldn't say that. Gimli had come to enjoy a lot of nature with him.

[notagiraffe]

Taiki gave a small smile and came to sit down. Sanshi disappeared back into his shadow, since neither of them wanted a repeat of what had happened with Eridan and Gohran.

"Thank you... I... sorry I haven't seen you before."

[keeps_count]

The elf watched the other disappear, his eyes shining with curiosity. Private folk, they were though, so he didn't speak of his interest. He was sure that, with patience, he would learn anything that he really needed to.

"I'm new, it seems. I woke up not long ago, and met my roommate."

[notagiraffe]

Taiki noticed the curiosity but the man didn't ask and Taiki didn't want to be annoying... "Oh... erm... welcome then though it is not a nice place to be welcomed to... sorry... Is your roommate nice?"

[keeps_count]

"I'm not entirely certain of what to make of my roommate, to be perfectly honest. He mistook me for a people called the 'Bosmer' though I've never heard of them."

He gave Taiki a smile, leaning back on his hands and taking a deep breath of the fresh air.

"Thank you for the welcome though. Eru knows that note wasn't much of one."

[notagiraffe]

"Oh... I've never heard of them either... you look a little like an elf from a children's story... sorry..." He hoped he hadn't insulted him...

[keeps_count]

"Actually, I am an Elf. I'm a Sindarin Elf, from Mirkwood." He replied, laughing softly. Ah, at least one person had recognized what he was, it was almost a relief. But...

"A childrens story though?"

[notagiraffe]

He had never heard of those places but he nodded, "Yes... Sorry... elves are from children's stories on earth, where I lived most of my life. They are in lots of books and are sometimes mixed up with demons. People don't think they exist, they don't know about other worlds not even the one that touches there own."

[keeps_count]

"You don't have to apologize. I find it interesting, actually. I've never known us to be any part of a childrens tale. At least you know I'm very real." He grins and pats himself down, showing he's a very solid young man.

"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Legolas, of the Woodland Realm."

[notagiraffe]

Taiki gave a small smile, glad that he wasn't annoyed. He of course knew he was real, he had seen stranger things in the tower and in the 12 Kingdoms. After all he himself was a creature that he had not thought existed until earlier this year.

"It is nice to meet you Legolas, I'm Taiki, from the 12 Kingdoms."

[keeps_count]

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Taiki. I suppose it isn't so strange that I've never heard of the 12 Kingdoms. Would you tell me about them?" It wouldn't hurt to learn a bit about different places while trapped int he tower.

[notagiraffe]

"Erm... okay..." He smiled, "Well... there are twelve of them... sorry that was obvious... and there names are Kei, Tai, Kou, Sei, Ryuu, Ren, En, Sou, Han, Shun, Hou and Kyou," His voice gained confidence as repeated what he had learned, it was just like taking lessons again.

"Each kingdom has a king, or queen chosen by the gods. Each also has a Kirin born on Mount Hou. They chose the ruler when the time is right and then serves them, making sure they remain on the righteous path."

[keeps_count]

Legolas listened politely, a smile on his face as he memorized the name of each kingdom, fairly easily. He was a bit curious about the Kirin part but he waited until Taiki stopped to ask.

"How do the Kirin ensure they remain are the proper path? Are they able to remove the ruler from the throne?"

[notagiraffe]

Taiki shook his head, "Erm... well they serve as advisors but obviously sometimes the ruler doesn't listen. But if the king is unjust or cruel to their people then the gods strike the Kirin down with shitsedou..."

Taiki looked down at his hands, "Shitsedou is a disease that gets worse over time... so erm... it's a warning from the gods... if the ruler doesn't change their ways then the kirin dies... a king never outlives their Kirin for more than a year..." He looked up at Legolas, "Then another Kirin is born, to find another King. Some countries like En... the same King has ruled for five hundred years..."

[keeps_count]

"The punishment is placed on the Kirin? Isn't that... a bit cruel? Forgive me if that sounds offensive, my world is very different, obviously." That was a terrible way for any god to ensure a person behaved while ruling a country. Effective but it seemed terribly cruel.

"That's quite a while to rule."

[notagiraffe]

Taiki looked down, he guessed it could look that way to someone not from the 12 Kingdoms. To him it had seemed right, but he guessed that was part of his nature. "Sorry... I guess other worlds are different... on earth it is different I know... but... this way... less people get hurt."

He glanced at Legolas again, "If... I think Lord Gyousou is a good person and King but... if he lost his way... I'd rather it be this way then the people of Tai suffer for a long time... if there was no way for a bad king to be removed..."

[keeps_count]

"It's different in Middle Earth, as well. I suppose that is sensible though, in a way. To each world their own, however." And it takes him a bit, listening to the rest of what Taiki said. Just the way he said it made Legolas wonder.

"Are you one of them? A Kirin?"

[notagiraffe]

Taiki wondered how it was in Middle Earth, if it were similar to Earth where people elected their rulers and the gods had nothing to do with it.

He nodded at the question, "Yes I am... sorry..." He probably should have explained that already, "I am the Kirin of Tai... That's what my name means. Tai is the country I serve and Ki means I am a male Kirin. If I were a girl I would be called Tairin..."

[keeps_count]

If only but no. Kingdoms were ruled by their royal families and that was the way it had been since long before Legolas had been born.

"Why are you sorry? I should be apologizing. I didn't realize until now, you must think me insensitive." That was a fascinating way of naming them, though it must be odd at times.

[notagiraffe]

"No... not at all... I just... should have told you first I guess..." He managed a tiny smile, "I don't really look like a Kirin, most Kirin have golden or white manes..."

[keeps_count]

"Is that so? Well, you're quite unique then. As am I. Most of the Sindar, the Elves I am descended from, have dark hair." Direct opposites of the cultures or race they both come from, how ironic.

[notagiraffe]

So he was different as well, Taiki smiled again. "What are the Sindar Elves like... sorry... in stories Elves have magic... do you?"

Despite the fact he barely knew any of his own magic, he was very interested in how magic worked in other worlds since Earth had had none.

[keeps_count]

"I do but I'm not as well trained as others, like Lord Elrond. I started practicing a bit of healing magic over the last century, though." Not that he'd gotten very good at it.

"Like most Elves, we're very attuned to nature. We live in a deep wooded area, many people rarely come deep enough to meet up. The Sindar are best known for excellent singing voices and our shipbuilding."

[notagiraffe]

"It sounds very beautiful," Taiki said with a smile, he had been learning a bit of magic from Aqua as well, mostly healing. "Do elves live for a very long time as well?" Did they chose it like those who became ministers and such, joining the immortal register for service to their land, or were they automatically immortal like Kirin.

[keeps_count]

"It is, very beautiful. There's only one place else that has ever struck me as beautiful besides my home and that is the sea." How curious that Galadriel would make such a prophesy about him.

"Oh yes, we do. Lord Elrond is older than myself, though I'm not certain of his exact age. I am over three thousand years old."