paradisalogs | Deck the Halls

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Deck the Halls

Who: Thranduil and you!
What: Thranduil arrives! Kissmas shenanegins likely.
When: Now
Where: Floor 3
Rating: ... kissmas shenanegins likely. PG-13 to be safe?

When Thranduil had taken a step forward and found himself somewhere entirely different from where he had intended to be, the first thing he did was stop and examine his surroundings. Behind him was an open door of fine wood, behind that was an entirely unfamiliar hallway, in front of him was a room. It was furnished richly - too much so for his tastes, especially after having spent the past several thousand years becoming accustomed to the constraints and realities of living in Mirkwood, and even longer away from those whose business was crafting luxurious items that fulfilled no other purpose; the wood-elves made many beautiful things, but rarely anything so needlessly opulent. The sheer extravagance of his surroundings was in itself off-putting. Luxury was all well and good, but this....

Half because of the room and half because he should have been in a forest, and was beginning to wonder if the creatures he had come to attempt to dissuade from disturbing his people had somehow managed to reflect his magic back at him (but he was not asleep), Thranduil had turned and walked into the hall. It was nearly as rich as the room had been, gold and rich fabrics strewn everywhere, expensive woods and stones and glass as clear as water unfolding like a painting.

This was not home. This was nowhere familiar.

Exploring further was probably a good first step.

The door behind him had, in graceful script, his name on it, which was both thought-provoking and rather disquieting. It did, however, make him decide that it was as good a place as any to set down the bowl half-full of Dorwinion wine he was still holding, from the feast which he should still have been at; he had no real desire to carry it everywhere he went. Which left nothing to do but explore.

He both did and did not fit in with the grandeur of the castle - his robes were fine enough when the source was considered, but still rougher than what he was surrounded by, and there were a few dead leaves caught near the hem. He was crowned in leaves, with flowers braided through his hair, and although beautiful gems and gold and silver were winking at his belt and collar and fingers, they were not what lent him the aura of splendor that he carried with him. It was how he held himself which turned this all into a place where he could belong.

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It takes a moment for Legolas to realize he's stopped, turning to look back at the king. He knew that there was little chance of him reacting differently but seeing him stop is a surprising confirmation.

"I did. The castles magic at work. Thankfully, I had friends who kept care of me and kept me from danger."

Thranduil steps closer again, not from the strange compulsion which has affected them both already, but of his own will. He stops close to Legolas and gently lifts his chin, quietly looking him over. He seems fine, at least.

"Truly, you were unharmed?"

He lets his chin be lifted, meeting his fathers eyes and giving him a smile to reassure him. It's not often that he can openly show his concern for Legolas but he knows it's there.

"Truly. I was frightened at times but unharmed."

Thranduil breaths out something that is almost a sigh of relief. "I don't like to think of you reduced to something so helpless."

There are orphans enough made of the animals in Mirkwood - they raise some of them themselves, should they find them. There are many others who die, many who are not orphans who die. This place may not be so dangerous, but there is still much that could have harmed him. Not only any natural predators who might exist, even; it would have been easy enough for someone to shoot Legolas and eat him.

"Resourceful as you are, I imagine it would be difficult to defend yourself in such a form."

Edited 2014-01-01 07:55 (UTC)

"I understand." He can only be glad that Thranduil hadn't been there to witness it. Although, in many ways, it would probably have been easier than trying to make others recognize that he was not simply a fawn of Paradisa. Some thought that the cloak that had been draped over his back was some kind of joke.

"It would have been. The Lady Galadriel found and cared for me however, as did Ashura. I did not have to wander the forest alone for long."

He finally drops his hand and moves away, fingers gentle and lingering just a moment longer than they have to. He's allowed to be a father, now and then, and here there is nothing to stop him being so; there so often is, at home. There are so many other things he must also be. He touches Legolas as rarely as Legolas touches him, because gestures of affection do not really fit in with the distance which must be maintained, the respect. But every now and then, he can afford to let it happen.

"Galadriel is here?" He does not recognize the other name, but it is good to know that he'd been taken care of.

It's nice when they can afford to be father and son though, each moment cherished. He knows that he is loved but he likes the brief, gentle reminders. And he knows that Thranduil's being a king must come first, it's something he's always respected and knows that, with the condition of Mirkwood and the ever growing presence of spiders, that's what his people need most.

"She is though she claims that she has been here at least two years when it had only been fifteen days prior to my own arrival that I'd seen her last."

He looks in short succession startled - even shocked - and then somewhat aggrieved. "Since you had seen her last? When saw you the Lady of the Golden Wood?" Lothlórien was a journey of no small distance from the woodland kingdom which Thranduil ruled, and unless arrived at by truly circuitous route, would lead almost directly past Dol Guldur. Those lands were forbidden and for good reason, but Legolas had not been gone long enough to take any other route. Truthfully Thranduil would not have thought he had been gone long enough, recently, to find his way there and back even moving as swiftly as he was able, taking the most direct path through the heart of the forest, but Galadriel did not lightly leave her home.

Without moving, Thranduil gathered around himself a mantle of power, and looked sternly, somewhat coldly down at his son. "What reason had you to seek her council?"

Legolas bows his head slightly at the change in his father. This is a king in front of him now and he reacts appropriately. He wants to ask, now, what the last thing Thranduil recalls is, what's happened most recently that's memorable, but he's been asked a question himself. And it would be disrespectful to ask one in turn right now.

"After Mithrandir fell in Moria, we sought shelter in Lothlórien. It was the safest place for us as we fled from the orcs and we were given rest and supplies in Caras Galadhon."

He takes his bow and offers it to Thranduil. Not the bow he's always used in Mirkwood, but a bow used by the Galadhrim. Larger and with a greater draw weight, more accurate than his had been. And the wood, mallorn, is the most notable difference.

"This was her gift to me."

"Moria- What cause had you to be near Moria, let alone inside?" Thranduil is such a mixture of surprise and horror at those words that for a moment his composure slips. He feels like he is floundering, left to grasp at the formality which was supposed to encase him. "Mithrandir had some part in this?" It did not make sense. Legolas was adventurous, and could be reckless, but never to this extent. Never to the point of recklessly endangering himself, of flaunting the laws which Thranduil had laid down for the safety of his people. And although Mithrandir could be a meddling old fool, always insisting on sticking his long nose in places better left to themselves, it was not as far as Thranduil knew his habit to bring others with him, at least needlessly. To take his son to Moria, of all places - and the timelines simply did not make sense. There hadn't been the time in which Legolas was missing from his side to travel to Moria, to Lothlórien. Surely he could not have been as negligent as that; Legolas was not always at his side, but he had not just gone missing. That doesn't matter at the moment; he can always discover at which point Legolas took leave of his senses later. For now his power gathers around him and sweeps down like a train, and his eyes are filled with anger, and his manner is a King who will not be gainsaid, whose laws and edicts have been flaunted.

"Legolas. There are reasons for the commands which I give, and there are reasons that Dol Guldur and all the surrounding area is forbidden - I would have thought you the last who would need reminder of such. There is an evil in Moria which drove out the dwarves, one which those who are wise do not disturb. How dare you act in such a manner? You may have endangered more than yourself, but even one life lost to foolishness is far too heavy a cost."

Legolas bows his head, staring hard at the floor. It's been a long time since he's been scolded in this way. He knows his kings laws, his commands, knows that it's always been for his safety and the safety of everyone in Mirkwood. Passing through Moria had not been his desire but that of the majority of the Fellowship. All other ways beyond were impossible or far more dangerous, Moria had been the only option.

He says none of this though, letting Thranduil lecture him. And then he gives the king a moment to calm, to let the words settle over them both. Legolas has always been faithful and obedient to his king, it was that loyalty which had inadvertently led him there.

"I did not wish to enter Moria. And it was Mithrandir who ensured that we all survived it." That's more than enough for the moment and Legolas takes a breath before raising his head to look to Thranduil.

"My king, what last do you recall before coming here?"

His eyes blaze - it's excuse enough, and moreover if Legolas had not wished to enter, then it was more Mithrandir's fault tan perhaps he had known. But the question, so nonsensical does it seem, is enough to delay anything further that he may say or do.

"For the third time had our feast been attacked - by a dwarf, or so it seemed. A spell of sleep had been cast upon it." As Legolas should well know.

A dwarf. He can only remember one time that dwarves had invaded on their merry making. Three times especially. Thorin Oakenshield and his company. He does the math quickly, figuring how many years it's been. His brows furrow in thought before:

"That was more than fifty years ago."

Thranduil is taken aback - not exactly calm yet, after all, fifty years or more either way nonwithstanding, those areas were still forbidden. But it would, perhaps, be wise to address it. The statement is genuinely confusing.

"What do you mean?"

"Seventy-eight years, if I were to be exact. That was when Thorin and his company of dwarves last walked through Mirkwood and disturbed us."

This isn't something he'd lie about and, though he speaks confusingly, he clearly tries to hide nothing. He doesn't want Thranduil so angry with him but he's not going to make excuses. The truth is enough.

"Less than a year ago, Aragorn brought a creature to us. Gollum. When he escaped, you sent me to Rivendell."

"Thorin?" Thranduil had thought that he would have been dead, as were his father and grandfather. Apparently not. Though that did lead to unsettling questions of what he'd been doing in Mirkwood, if it had been him. Still, those questions could wait.

"If you went to Rivendell because of this creature's escape, how did you come to Moria and Lothlórien?"

This would be the 'fun' part. He had barely ensured that would reach his father about what he'd volunteered himself for, the quest he'd undertaken. And he knew that he'd be very displeased to hear about it.

"I must tell you something that you will not wish to hear."

That's as close as he's getting to saying: brace yourself and please don't yell at me.

"While in Rivendell, I represented our realm in a council. Details of it I am not sure I should say," Even if details will reach him regardless. "but I offered my skills in the protection of another. Our path took over over Caradhras but we could not traverse it safely. Gandalf chose to take us through Moria as an alternative."

Thranduil said nothing for a long minute, only stared down at his son. Finally he spoke.

"The journey was truly in need of one such as you?" He trusted Legolas, but he'd have preferred not to have him thrown into the wolf's jaws.

"They would have died several times over had I not gone with them."

It's funny how literally that can be taken. How it had been a very real chance in the earlier days of the journey when the wargs had been attacking them. Perhaps another could have gone though, in his stead, but his had been the better eye, the better skill with a bow.

Yes, then. They needed him. Thranduil briefly closes his eyes and attempts to resign himself, steady himself against what this would mean.

"You know I trust you."

For all the seriousness of the topic, Legolas grins and tries to lighten the mood around them. He knows that his father trusts him and that's why he's confident in his choice.

"My friends will keep me safe as I do for them. And I will come home to tell you all."

"Then I shall pray that they be so noble as you, and nearly so dangerous. And I shall look forward to your stories when you return home to me."

It wasn't something he'd expect if he knew where Legolas was headed, the fact that he'd be home, but that he was going to Mordor was still unimaginable.

"You would like them, I think."

Well. One of them. He might have a little trouble with Gimli at first but the dwarf is much better than his father had been. And that is speaking only of those he had been with before arriving.

"Then perhaps you shall introduce us, when you are able." It's a funny thing to say; he knows some of the company already, but of course is not aware that he does. Or he will know some of the company - the Dúnadan has not wandered so far as he shall, in Thranduil's time.

"I will be glad to." At least, by then, Legolas will have several people to vouch for how trustworthy Gimli is. And that he's elf-friend, that will help a great deal. Especially if the castle ever thinks to take the dwarf as well.

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