WHO: Aragorn and Legolas WHAT: Aragorn's arrival WHEN: Feb 1 WHERE: In town WARNINGS: Low
Legolas had been living with Link for a few weeks now, and he was starting to adjust to that fact. While Link wasn’t quite like the Elves of his world, he was the closest thing Legolas had to a reminder of home. Yes, there had been the portal to the Shire, but that wasn’t quite the same. It had been Middle Earth, but he had been the only Elf there. So it was a bit different.
Currently, he was making his way through the park in order to get to Hinkles. He wanted to pick up some dinner for Link. Legolas wasn’t too terribly fond of Hinkles, but it was easy. And even though he was contemplating his life here in Madison Valley, he was still on alert to his surroundings. It was something he had been doing for many years, and half a year in Madison Valley wasn’t about to change that.
Which was why when he spotted a dark-haired man in the distance, his eyes widened slightly. He knew that man. And not from this town, either. He was from Middle Earth. And a very good friend of his.
“Aragorn,” he called out, loud enough to where he was certain the man would hear.
--
Aragorn had arrived earlier in the day. He vaguely had been able to understand the speech of the Men here, at least he thought that he had. Their explanation had made very little sense to him. The town was unlike anything he had ever seen before. The metal beasts that rocketed by him - carriages, of a sort? - the strange construction of the buildings, the strange dress of the natives...all was different to him in a way he could not comprehend. The only thing that he could fully understand about this place and about what he had been told was that it was not his world. That he saw clearly, and it caused him great consternation.
Slipping the strange device they had given him into the pocket of his tunic, he had made for the treeline, there intending to find some respite from the oddness of the place and hopefully to make some sense of what had happened. The trees, much to his joy, were trees like any other, and he was able to find at least a little peace there.
Unfortunately, it did not help him to understand anything.
His hearing was sharp - although not so much as the elves - and he rose to his feet at the sound of approaching foosteps. Andúril was at his side, and he clutched the hilt of it defensively. His hand dropped, however, and a smile crossed his face when he heard the voice that accompanied the steps.
“Legolas! Well met, my friend!”
***
Legolas completely understood Aragorn’s going for his sword. He was in an unknown, strange place. He hadn’t been expecting to see anything familiar, let alone a familiar face. He offered his friend a bright smile, he hadn’t known how happy he would be to see someone from his world. Especially someone he knew so well from home.
“You must have just arrived,” he said as he approached the man. He was speaking Elvish, because he knew Aragorn would understand. It was nice, to be able to speak something other than the language the Men here spoke.
He gave Aragorn a quick but firm hug once he was close enough to the man. He couldn’t believe his luck. He had been wanting someone from his world to be here for some time now. And Aragorn was the perfect person, really. The only other acceptable person would have been Gimli.
“This place is strange, is it not?”
--
He returned Legolas’s embrace, tightly, then stood back to look at the elf. He looked the same as he remembered, which made him hope that he perhaps came from after the battle that was looming in his own future. It would at least give him hope that some would live to resist the Darkness, that there would always be those who would fight Mordor, no matter the cost.
“Strange, and perhaps dangerous,” he agreed, in fluent Sindarin. “There is little I recognize here. I understood the words of those who greeted us, but those words make no sense to me.” He pulled the phone from his pocket. “For instance, this.” They told me it was a ‘phone’. I do not know that word but they insinuated that it was some sort of communication device.” He shook his head, his dark hair falling around his shoulders as he did.
“And how did we arrive here? And how to we return?”
***
“We cannot return,” he informed the man. “And no one seems to know how it is we arrived. There are all sorts of people here, mostly Men. There is one other Elf here, Link. He is only 18, though. The people he had been living with had been sent home, so he is living with me at the moment.” He knew there was a lot of information to tell Aragorn, a lot for Aragorn to take in. But he also knew that if anyone from their world could handle this place, it was this man.
“That is a phone, yes,” he said. “Here, I will show you.” He pulled out his own phone, and pressed a few buttons on the screen. “See?” he said, holding up the phone. All it said was This is Madison Valley, in English. Because the phone didn’t seem to understand any other sort of language.
“You can use it to contact people, and the person will receive the message instantaneously. It also makes something called phone calls, and you can speak to a person no matter how far away from you they are.”
He stuck his phone back into a pocket, “Come. I was going to get some food, we can get you some as well. I was going to Hinkles for Link, but we can find something you will probably like better.” Then, after a brief pause, “What is the last thing you remember?”
--
He watched with narrowed eyes as Legolas operated the phone. It seemed like it would be useful, indeed, and he mentally sat aside time later to work with the device until he was comfortable with it. Perhaps he was used to one sort of life, but he could adapt when necessary. It was how the Rangers had survived at all.
“Food, yes,” he said with a nod. “I would not say no to a meal.” Rations had not been the first thing on their mind.
“We were going to war,” he said. “Against the forces of Mordor. On the Pelennor Fields.”
***
“You come from a time before I do, then,” he said. “I have heard that happens with this town.” He didn’t go into detail about what happened during the battle, or after. At least Aragorn could likely deduce that Legolas had survived the war against the forces or Mordor. And likely that Aragorn had as well, with how Legolas had reacted to his presence.
He started in the direction of the town, trusting that his friend would follow. “We are the only two from our world here,” he informed him. “They gave you money with the phone, I assume? That will last you a while. I have an extra room where I am living, if you are interested. Unless you would prefer to live alone.”
He wouldn’t be offended in the slightest if Aragorn opted to live in the apartment complex. He would prefer to live with Aragorn, to have someone familiar around, but he wasn’t going to force the subject.
--
After years of living in the rough, Aragorn cared very little where he lay his head at night. “I would be glad to share a lodging with you,” he said with a nod. He didn’t comment on Legolas’s words that he had come from after him, but it gave him a sense of peace to know that the Elf, at least, had survived. He would have fought as hard as any of them, and the fact that he’d survived was a good omen.
“They gave me this,” he said, showing the card. “Is it money?”
***
"Link will be glad to meet you," he told the man. "He comes from a place called Hyrule. There are many people here, from many different worlds. Some are familiar with Middle Earth, some are not."
He glanced over at Aragon and nodded. "Yes, that is the money. They expect us to work after the money is spent." Which had been slightly strange for Legolas, truthfully.
"I am glad you are here, Aragorn."
--
Aragorn simply nodded. Yes, back home he was Isildur’s heir but he had never really held that over others. He had worked and struggled as much as anyone as a Ranger in the north, and he was not afraid to get his hands dirty. If he had to work, he would work.
“I am glad you are here as well, Legolas. There is much of this place that I have yet to learn, and I hope that you can teach me some of it. Those machines, for one thing. And the fashions and customs.” There would be a great deal to learn, he could tell. Even looking over a simple city street told him that.