treading water | halbrand & isildur [on hold]

4 | forget-me-not

IT KNOWS YOU ARE MEANT FOR MORE, AND THE SEA DOESN'T MAKE MISTAKES.

Nimriel had never been so lost. And no, that wasn't a metaphor. When the guards dragged Halbrand off to the dungeons, she was left alone. Nim's first thought was to find Galadriel but she had no idea where to find her. Galadriel had obviously escaped palace grounds, so it didn't exactly narrow her search down. And Nim couldn't exactly ask a guard to help her find the Elf they were looking for.

Even if she could, Nimriel wouldn't ask for help. There were countless Númenorean soldiers patrolling the streets, but she refused to go to them for directions after the way they'd taken Halbrand off without even listening to her. Not even Samrin was on her good side simply because he was associated with his fellow guards.

That left the Sea Elf with no option but to wander the vast streets of Númenor, and it didn't take long at all for her to get lost. The novelty of the kingdom was wearing off simply because she was alone. So, the only solution she could find was to go to the sea. Nim knew enough about the city to know that the downward-sloping roads led to the shore. Soon, the buildings became few and far between before disappearing altogether. And cobblestone transitioned into sand.

Nim pulled off the ridiculous sandals and abandoned them by a rock, calming down a little as she felt the wet sand under her feet. Once she was a little further down the vacant beach, she ended up sitting at the very edge, watching the way that the tide moved in and out. In a few hours when the sun went back down, the spot she was sitting in would be covered with water — she wondered if she'd still be out there.

It felt like at least an hour had passed as Nim sat there and watched the water. The panic from getting lost and separated from both Halbrand and Galadriel passed as she only focused on the sound of the water before her that was as gentle as a lullaby.

The serene moment couldn't last forever, though. The sound of a man shouting broke whatever meditative trance she'd settled into.

"Woah, boy! Slow down, Berek!" the man yelled. "Watch out!"

Nimriel heard the oddest whinnying sound and turned her head, only to see a large and unfamiliar sort of creature running right toward her at full speed. She let out an embarrassing squeal and scrambled away as fast as she could, stumbling back on her feet as she found the water, going until her shins were submerged safely.

The thing trotted to a stop just near the water line while turning its head to the side, looking at the man who called after it. Nimriel couldn't bring herself to look at the human that ran over, her wide eyes too busy watching the animal warily, waiting for it to do anything unnatural. It was huge with some kind of riding saddle on it — but why would anyone want to get on that thing?

Finally, the man reached them, running right to the animal's side. "Easy, boy. You can't run off like that," he said, speaking softly and rubbing the animal's nose. Then he glanced sideways at the terrified girl in the water, not really noticing what she was at first. "My Lady, you look as if you've never seen a horse before," he joked.