LOTR: Shire Dragons - Pippin Took FF

Chapter 19

After explaining a little of what Pippin had said to Lothiri, leaving out a few details, Mallyra decided it best to stretch her legs. Lothiri had left shortly after she'd explained what had happened, as Aethibryn had summoned for her. Mallyra quietly removed the cover from her bed, and draped them over Pippin's shoulders to keep him warm. Looking back over her shoulder, she sighed at how peaceful he looked. His mop of brown curls covering half of his face, and a small smile tugging at his lips as he dreamt. Silently, Mallyra disappeared out the door and into the courtyard. 

The cobblestones of the yard glowed white in the early morning moonlight, and cause Mallyra's footsteps to echo. She sensed that the incident with Glasin had changed her, but wasn't quite sure how yet, and so thought it best to enjoy her own company for a while. She'd brought her drawing pad, and had her small pencil tucked behind her ear, as she knew that she thought better when drawing. Drawing was her escape from the world, allowing her to enter her own mind, and portray her thoughts in the graphite scribbled onto the paper before her. 

A good few minutes later, Mallyra had found herself a secluded spot on a roof top looking out over the courtyard. It had taken her a few moments to scale the crates which led to the roof, but the effort was worth the view. To her left, the view lead out over the Ettenmoors, the crisp landscape then sloping into the silhouette of mount Gundabad in the distance. The moonlight caused the land to shimmer and ripple, as the wind blew through the grass. However, to her right, the view wasn't so pleasant. Small orange flames danced on the roof tops of buildings, walls were still continuing to fall brick by brick, and the moonlight did little more than highlight the still figures which lay on the floor. The silence offered little comfort, and Mallyra was delighted to hear the breeze blow through the thick brush behind her spot of hiding. 

Two hours passed quite quickly, as Mallyra had been drawn into her world inside her sketch book. In her time away, Mallyra had drawn an incredibly detailed portrait of Glasin from memory alone. After pressing the pencil to paper in once last attempt at fine detail, the end of the pencil snapped. With a loud frustrated sigh, she looked up. To her surprise, Mallyra watched as Pippin emerged from the room she'd slept in and stepped out into the moonlight. After hearing his confession as she'd pretended to sleep, Mallyra had needed time away from him. After Lothiri's warning, what Pippin had said terrified her. She couldn't let herself get attached to him romantically, or at least.. try to hide the fact from him that she already was. Thinking to herself about this, Mallyra fell into one of her daydreams again. Little did she realise, this had blown her cover from the shadows, and mad her visible to Pippin. 

Pippin desperately around the courtyard, trying to find some sort of evidence which showed where Mallyra had been. He'd awoken to an empty room, realising his attempt to get Mallyra on her own to tell her how he felt had failed. Now he felt he'd lost his last chance, and had simply gone to find her. To his amazement, Pippin saw her sat on a low roof, only just shrouded from the moon by a tree's branch. 

"How on Middle Earth did sh-" he started, tilting his head to the side as he wondered just exactly how such a small lass has climbed onto the roof. However, his thoughts were soon answered, as he spotted the slightly disorganised crates which stood behind the building in the shadows. Trying as quietly as he could, Pippin followed in Mallyra's footsteps, and scaled the piled crates, before clambering onto the roof behind her.  Astonishingly, he remained undetected by Mallyra, until his was only but a few steps behind her. His presence didn't startle her, as she knew exactly who it would be who found her. Once Pippin sensed she knew he was there, he became less tentative with his steps and sat down beside her on the thatched roof. A moment of silence passed, before Pippin swallowed the lump in his throat, 

"How's your head? You were asleep for quite a while.." he asked, wincing at how pathetic his attempt at making conversation was. Mallyra smiled up at him, her blue eyes shimmering slightly.