Moonbreeze (Legolas x OC)

Part 21

They have settled for the night as their destination is such a distance away and their company is weary from the events of the past days. They really need a night's rest before setting forth once more.

Ithilae ignores the murmur of Aragorn's and Gandalf's voices, her mind to pre-occupied with other matters. This is the first time she has the chance to come to terms and mull over all that came to be since leaving the safety of her home once more.

Subconsciously, she faces in the direction of the great White city of Gondor. The wind is blowing steadily from that direction and makes her cheeks turn rosy from the chill.

Her heart aches as she realizes she will never have a chance to accompany Boromir there. He will never get to return to his home as he was murdered so cruelly. She regrets losing his friendship so abruptly after it has just started to be. He was a good man in heart.

Losing him and adding that Frodo and Sam have left them has left her stricken. That people would lose their lives while on this journey or that some may part ways is not very surprising. They are on a dangerous mission after all. But it happened just after she decided to open her heart a little for them. It makes her more than a little apprehensive to give more of herself to those remaining than she has done till now.

Behind her, her grandfather stands watching her carefully as she wrings her hands around her bow, looking uncharacteristically unsettled. He knows exactly what is passing trough her mind and can't help but be disappointed and worried. If she starts closing off again, where will she be left after all this?

He looks up from the elleth when the figure of the Mirkwood prince passes him. Luckily the young elf is not easily deterred by Ithilae's standoffish nature, though that may perhaps have to do with something more powerful fueling his persistence and patience.

Celebrimbor has caught up to the rather intense curiosity the elf has towards his granddaughter and his need to stand in a positive light when it comes to her. He cares very much of her opinion on him, in a way that makes Celebrimbor remind him of days when his late wife first caught his eye. But although there are some similarities, Ithilae is by no means her grandmother and will not be swayed by pretty words and attention.

She can be as stubborn as an untamed horse, and just as wild. Having spent so much time on their own, he is surprised she still has any manners at all. After a particular long time away from any civilization, with only Orcs to stumble on their path, he half expected her to hiss and spit before slithering away like a viper at the mere thought of someone trying to converse with her.

It didn't come to that, but he wasn't sure that turning into a block of stone was any better of an alternative. Bless Hobbits though for putting an end to that.

He shakes his head to cast away his musings and glances at the two young elves before disappearing.

"Ithilae..." Legolas starts hesitantly after a moment of heavy silence. He can somehow sense her starting to build up her wall again, one block at the time. He wants to try and stop her from continuing in a manner that will not speed up the process, but their 'friendship' is still quite frail.

"I would like to express my sympathies towards you for the loss of a friend. You and Boromir appeared to be on good terms, it must not have been easy to see him felled. I hope you do not put any blame on yourself, for you have none to carry." he assures her, hoping that is the best way to go about it.

She glances at him as he sits beside her, one knee pulled up to his chest to rest an arm upon it while she dangles her legs freely over the edge of the cliff they are sat upon.

She nods silently in recognition of his sympathies, but a frown mars her face. "Maybe there should not be any guilt carried, but you must admit that my endeavors to protect the members of our company have not been successful either. So I hardly can call it praise worthy either." she states rather bitterly, making him asses her words with concern.

"If that were true, that would count for all of us. None of us has been able to prevent Boromir's death or the capture of the two Halflings and yourself. Nor could we give Frodo the trust he needs in his companions to carry out the mission we set off for. Nay, things have not gone very well as of late." he rebukes.

"So where does that leave us then? Do we blindly continue on struggling to right things that have gone awry? Things that we have not set out to do in the first place?" she asks scathingly.

Legolas merely nods. "If we must. I trust to follow Aragorn and Mithrandir to a point where our need to make a difference is satisfied. If our place is not at Frodo's side, it lies elsewhere, within this company remaining." he speaks wisely, making her gaze at him curiously for a moment and in silence. At least she's not walking away yet.

He continues, hopeful now that he still has her attention. "Call me naïve perhaps, but that is truly what I feel. It do not believe it has nothing to do with blindly following because we have lost all other purpose." he adds, a small smile playing on his lips.

She looks away into the darkness ahead, seeming to consider his words. He seems to be on to something, though she is reluctant to admit it. Honestly, she finds his positive outlook uplifting and admirable. She could use a page out of his book, though she will never say that to his face.

"We'll see." she settles the matter with those two words. "I told myself recently that perhaps that I have come across a moment where I have to go where the current takes me instead of wading upstream. Sadly I have hit a few ragged rocks along the way and I think the shore is too far beneath my feet as of yet. It is proving a bit difficult not to try abandon that mindset and struggle upstream either way." she tells him, impressing him with the amount of words uttered from her. She is usually more curt.

"The river may yet run deep, but there is always a bottom. Time will come where land is steady beneath your feet again. Rivers are not endless." he assures her, hoping to have her carry on a while longer.

"Unless you are dragged out to sea and drown." she states, startling him a little. He looks at her with a frown, but raises a brow when the corner of her lip rises faintly.

"Sorry. I jest." she admits, making him blink, taken aback. "Your positive outlook differs so far from mine. I often see the worst in things and I could not help myself by dramatizing after your uplifting words."

Legolas shakes his head, an airy chuckle escaping his lips. "You frightened me a bit. I worried that your outlook was the future had been shattered completely." he admits.

"How could it with you in this company? With all the right words to say... Are you certain you're a warrior and not a philosopher?" she continues to jest making him laugh fully now.

"I am quite certain. Though it pleases me to know that my words are considered so." he says lightly before turning his gaze upwards as a few thick drops of rain are cast from the sky.

"Let us huddle more closer to the rock side before we add more chill to our bodies by letting ourselves get drenched." Legolas suggests, making Ithilae nod in agreement, following after him.