#Legolas :: verse :: tbd

[storiesofthenight]

Open to: Elves set in Mirkwood

How long had it been since Legolas had last seen his home? It felt long, though he knew that in an elven life it was a mere blink of an eye. Nonetheless, the sight of his home was making him whistful, knowing that the darkness that had threatened it and the rest of Arda was finally beaten.

With a soft sigh leaving his lips he crossed the bridge to the gates for the first time since he'd set out to Imladris with the news that Gollum had gotten away. Everything looked different now, or perhaps he had simply changed ...

Nonetheless, he was happy to finally be home again.

[blackarrcw]

Elves were known for their grace and elegance.

Legolas, however, was still young enough to mess up here and there, but most of all he kept it all up. Aragorn, Gimli and the hobbits were exhausted to for the most part, but the Mirkwood prince had been just fine. His head tilted as food had been mentioned, and then all hell broke loose as Merry and Pippin had been all over that offer.

There had been several shakes of the head given at the antics, but it was understandable. Their journey had been long and arduous, the adrenaline from the chase had finally left their bodies as everyone all settled about. "Food sounds wonderful." Samwise answered, eyeing what would ultimately be their lunch.

WOW WHEE COULD THE BRO MOVE! His perfect landing would cause her to coo softly in awe, as her wide-eyed gaze only brightened with obvious admiration and awe. Goddess knows if she would ever get to be HALF AS GRACEFUL as this bro here if she kept up her training, one could only dream.

"Just checkin', bro!" She would begin with a titter, "Ah didn' wanna startle ya if you were takin' a snooze~!" Casting a glance towards his other companions, she would then smile back to him, "It's been a real long journey, after all... Are ya hungry? Lunch is almost ready~"

[leschanceux]

Watching his friend pack, knowing that the two of them would be parted for quite a while, Aragorn cannot help but be a little mournful. Mortality has been a troublesome thought recently; the two of them are no longer as young as they were, and there are a great many creatures between their current location and Mirkwood who might do considerable harm to a lone Elf.

"I'll miss you," the Man states softly when his cheek is cupped, eyes meeting Legolas' to impart the sincerity in his heavy heart even as the Elf's face softens with his smile. Privately, he doesn't think that Greenleaf can make such promises about not leaving the lands until Aragorn himself does, but he only smiles too as he says nothing to dispel the idea. "I will hold you to that vow. Are you certain that you must go alone? I would gladly keep you company on your journey."

@leschanceux sent: "keep safe. i would not like to hear that you were gone for good." ( aragorn & legolas! )

Packing up his satchel for the journey back to his father's kingdom, Legolas gives pause at Aragorn's... unexpected words. Not because the Prince does not know his companion's heart, but because neither of them are over-prone to thinking on mortality. Not until recently, anyway...

Legolas half turns, regarding the Dúnedain over his shoulder. Aragorn is closer than he realized, close enough for Greenleaf to reach out and cup the curve of the man's cheek in his palm. "...I will not leave these lands until you do, Meleth." The Prince smiles in the way the makes his whole face soften, his thumb brushing the dimple hidden by Aragorn's facial scruff. "...on that, you have my vow."

[immortalmuses]

@auuteur​ sent:  I know your face well. [haldir @ legolas]

          Garbed as he is in such shining attire -- more akin to that of the Galadhrim court than a Mirkwood Elf -- Legolas seems washed clear of his usual golden, earthen tones. His hair gleams silver against a pale cheek, eyes like ice chips reflecting the half light. Haldir’s words tease a curling smile from the Prince’s lips, but he is is slow to lift his gaze. 

          “Are you so sure the face you recognize is mine?” He asks, only half a jest. “....I am told I look a great deal like my father, at times.” 

[immortalmuses]

@leschanceux​ sent:  “ the past is with you  ,  for better or worse ” ( legolas & aragorn! ) a starter meme that i’ve forgotten | not accepting

         Slowly, Legolas looks up from where he’s contemplating their shared campfire. Had anyone other than Strider said such a thing to him, the Prince might have taken affront, might have sniped back with a tone that is too much like his father reminding a subject of their proper place.

         But of all the beings yet living in Middle Earth -- whether immortal or man -- none know the weight of a legacy so well as Aragorn. The Elessar, Son of King Arathorn and Isildur’s Rightful Heir. It is a qualification unlike any other. 

          ( More than that, Estel is Legolas’s dearest friend. There is no one that the Elf is more likely to take such advice from.)

          So though it chafes him to admit this truth, the Sindar Prince dips his chin in acknowledgement, knowing that Aragorn does not judge him for being pensive. Straightening the line of his shoulders, Legolas murmurs, “...Would that my past could assure us both a brighter future, meleth. Maybe then I would not resent it so...”

[immortalmuses]

a very short, very dumb starter for @chainsxwsmile​

          “Would it be... inappropriate....” Legolas asks carefully, his expression schooled into bland neutrality, pretending to inspect the treeline of the Wood with greater interest that it sincerely warrants. “....to ask if I may rid---- balance on your shoulders?” That sounds bad. The Elf hastens to add, “-- Only once we are clear of the trees, of course. You do cover a great deal more ground in a single step than I do...” 

[blackarrcw]

Ah. Viola had no need to mention anything else once she said the elves. A nod of understanding was given as Legolas knew right then and there; his kind could be seen as complete snobs. The words were whispered in most places, Legolas didn't need to hear the people speak loud often to know what others had thought. While many had sought allyship with his kind, others were on edge mostly.

"And you do not wish to tarnish Oakenshield's name, do you?"

@wanderingarcherviola asked: "they're terribly cruel to me." (for Legolas.. she hasnt harassed a Elf in a while lol)

A single brow raised at the orc, head tilting as Legolas stared at her a moment or two. "The dwarves?" He questioned, wondering if that's whom she may have been speaking of or if it were someone else. Though the Woodland prince wouldn't put it past the dwarves to treating another badly, as it was something they were known to be towards others not of their own.

[immortalmuses]

@arawynngoldwing​ sent:  “You leave town for a couple of decades and they change everything.“ (for Legolas from @ArawynnGoldwing)

           Legolas’s mouth tips up at the corner, swallowing a chuckle. He tries to hide the break in composure by tilting his face away and letting his hair sweep across his cheek, but the Elf suspects Awawynn can sense his amusement regardless. 

            “....ah. Well.” He replies, conversational. “That does seem a human trait. To always be changing things, never letting anything settle and age...” He rests the strung wood of his shortbow across his chest, nodding towards where the village seems to have expanded further into the forest at its edges. “...the’ll regret that, come rainy season.” 

           The tree serpents will be certain to abandon their nests and seek drier refuge under the humans’ very roofs. 

[immortalmuses]

@chainsxwsmile​ sent:  “I’m tired of trying to be something that I’m not.“ - Chainsxwsmile// for Legolas, if that’s alright!

          Sat on the sagging tree limb of an ancient cypress tree, Legolas braces his palms on the pale bark beneath him and tilts his body forward, considering the curious (Cetus?) creature before him. His position in the tree is the only way the elf can properly look Bruce in the eyes. And this is a conversation that requires the dignity of eye-contact. 

          “...there will always be people in the world that want us to act as someone other than who we truly are.” Legolas replies, quiet and thoughtful at once. A frown pulls against the corners of the Elf’s mouth, thoughts straying to his own life in the Mirkwood, and the responsibilities he’d rather not shoulder. “--- sometimes, they convince us to deny our nature, believing it to be best...”

           Pale gaze refocusing on Bruce, the Elf offers a nod of understanding. “... I wish I had answers for you, Large One. But I am still learning to heed the words of a friend, myself...”   

[immortalmuses]

@seraphicae​ sent: "you are not your father," - a COMPLIMENT from tau to lego😕 I love that this had to be defined as "A Compliment," lol! 

         Despite clearly hearing Tauriel's approach of the armory, Legolas doesn't immediately look up from where he's applying oil to the curving blade-edges of his Sindar dual knives. Silent and scowling, the Prince works a scrap of cloth over the metal in quick, violent strokes, his grip on the knife's haft so tight that it blanches his knuckles white. For all that Tauriel says he is not his father, the Greenleaf certainly bears an inheritance of the King's volatile temper, for good or ill.

         Finishing with the side of one blade, Legolas lifts the knife and twists his wrist in a quick imitation of a moulinet, cutting a clean arc through the air before setting the weapon down with perhaps too much force. He finally lifts pale eyes to the younger elf, his gaze unable to hold hers for long before skittering away.

          "....If I am not him, then what am I, Tauriel?" Legolas replies, his tone biting with an ire turned inward. "... the would-be Prince of Mirkwood? A weak imitation of Sindar Royalty, too ineffective to hold back the encroaching hordes from Dol Guldur?"

          Greenleaf looks down at the weapons spread before him, heirlooms that have driven back the forces of darkness in better hands than his, when the age of Elves was still new and full of promise. He grips the edge of the table and swallows past his indignity, speaking quietly, "...I follow the King's every order. I have made it my life's mission to preserve the sanctity of the Great Wood. And still he will not accept my council..."

[immortalmuses]

@whtcrwn​ sent: You can tell me anything, you know that. (Legolas) send me asks! | accepting

           In the late evening of early fall, with the shadows of a rising moon lengthening around them, the circle of firelight enclosing both he and Estel feels terribly intimate to Legolas. He sits on the ground at the man's side, lower back propped against a fallen log with his long legs stretched before him, boots warmed by the fire. Glancing sideways at Estel, Legolas feigns a curious look, his reply innocent.

            ".... I tell you many things, mellon." The Greenleaf replies, but in the face of Aragorn's stillness and patience, his facade slips. Diverting his gaze, Legolas gives up on pretending not to know the man's intentions, plucking one of the arrows from his quiver and gently straightening the fletching on its tail. A task to keep idle hands occupied while he thinks how best to respond.

            "... I have... not always had such a willing ear as yours to listen."  Legolas admits eventually, his slim frame uncoiling on a sigh. His next glance in Aragorn's direction is... bashful. "... You are easier to talk to about... certain matters.."

             Matters of one's heart. The elf finishes his thought privately, though he cannot quite tear his eyes from Estel's kind face.  Would that they could travel together like this for all their years, unbothered by the destiny that looms heavy over Aragorn's shoulders, a mantle just waiting to be worn. Without thinking, Legolas reaches out and touches his fingers to the back of Estel's palm.

[immortalmuses]

@whtcrwn​ sent:  6. a twisting forest that beckons you (For Legolas) Creepy Location Meme | Accepting

            The sudden shift in light overhead gave Legolas pause, his pale eyes lifting from the snake-like wending of their forest trail (a path so subtle, someone of lesser skill in tracking might have trouble spotting it) to the tightly woven branchwork above their heads. The trees of this forest seemed to arch and strain towards the sky as though the land gave offense, their limbs tangling together like children wrestling for sweets. A thick canopy of sour-looking leaves threatened to block out even the ambient glow of the sun, casting their destination in pervasive shadow.

           "....Estel." He mused, gaze unwavering from the treetops that shift restlessly overhead. The Greenleaf halted mid-stride, balancing on the knotted peak of a breaching root, and finally turned curious eyes to his companion.  "...what make you of this forest?"

         Typically, Legolas prided himself on his instincts for a forest; its disposition and caprices, the lingering imprints left by the wounds of war and time. Every woodland had a story, many far older and longer-lived than Greenleaf himself. And though he could not hear all a forest had to say, the elf could still listen.

         But this forest.... this place was eerily silent, as if holding its breath in anticipation. Waiting, Legolas thought. But for What?

[immortalmuses]

@whtcrwn​ sent:  "Do you still feel the same? Now that you know who I am." - to Legolas

          Legolas’s eyes are distant and quiet, awareness turned inward in concentration as the agile tips of his fingers work through his pale hair, plaiting slim strands into narrow, orderly braids. He’d known that something (something more than usual) was weighing on Estel’s mind, but hadn’t anticipated him breaking the comfortable silence between them, let alone with such a question. The Elf falters in his ministrations, a twist of his braid slipping free from curled fingers, and he turns to look at his companion properly. 

          “.... I... have always known who you are, melethron.” The Greenleaf replies, simple and with a tone that suggests Estel is silly to think otherwise. “...I did not know your titles, or your heritage, that’s true. But your heart...” 

          Legolas’s mouth tips, and he releases the half finished plait as a lost cause, his shining hair slipping to rest against his cheek. “...your heart spoke to me the moment I saw you smile.”

[immortalmuses]

@et-impiis-lethalis​ sent:  “Candlelight, privacy, music. Can’t think of a better place for hand-to-hand combat.” To Legolas The Hunchback of Notre Dame Sentence Starters | Accepting

         In spite of himself, Legolas feels laughter bubbling up from the well inside his chest. Tauriel’s words are playfully spoken, but he can’t quite meet her eyes, wrong-footed and subtly flustered in a way the Elf only ever seems to be when in her company. 

         “I thought it might make for a nice change of pace...” He says, in equal jest. Gradually, the Prince recovers himself, angling a sideway smile in Tauriel’s direction, “...you know, after so many spiders..”