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Juniper Golding ([info]juniper_golding) wrote in [info]mirage_rpg,
@ 2008-10-22 09:41:00

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Entry tags:arrival, complete, day 19, juniper golding, legolas greenleaf

Who: Juniper and Legolas
When: Day 19, early afternoon
Where: Near the plaque
What: Juniper's arrival
Rating: TBA
Status: Incomplete



It was just another day. Another space of time between time and place, where Juniper lay stoically on her bed, doing her best to not think of what she'd lost. Of the good soul that had risked his life to save her own. Who had taken his own life to appease the Fates. It was useless, and Juniper knew it. She was meant to die; by fire, as she'd already survived the water, and nothing that Dylan could have done could have prevented that. And now he was lost, just as assuredly as she would be, in a mere handful of months.

Closing her eyes, Juniper let out a steady and long breath, centering herself. It was time to go. To find some other space where she could hide, just for a few hours. Until the next wave of distractions broke through her concentration, useless but well-meant attempts to pull her out of her stupor. Egypt maybe. Yes, that's where she'd go. It would be nice to feel the blistering sun instead of the constant rain of London. Egypt was a good distraction. Spying on pharaohs was always entertaining.

She felt the familiar pull as her soul ripped from her body, the comforting pressure of passing time and space while her physical self remained on her bed. But then, there was a flash of light. Not the warm, golden light of the desert sun, but something darker, more permanent.

Opening her eyes, Juniper stared. She was in a vineyard. This was not the plan. Where were the pyramids? The Sphinx? There were just grapes and vines, nothing to tell her where she was. So Juniper started walking, determined to figure out this mystery. It wasn't until a brush of her arm knocked a bunch of grapes to the ground that she realised the truth. This wasn't a mistake of her own making. This was something else. Her body was in this place, as well as her mind.

Just as she started to panic, imagining her mother's reaction when she found the house empty, no note, and no return of her daughter, something appeared in front of her. Before she had the chance to question it, she was wordlessly guided to a building, and pointed toward a plaque on the side of it.

"Welcome to Mirage," Juniper read. "This is your new home. Your every need will be fulfilled. You will have a place to live. You will have food and clothing. You will have entertainment. You will have company. You will not be able to leave. You will not kill. Ever. If you have questions, ask my assistants. Love, The Planet."

"Wait, I need to go home!" she cried, turning toward the silent figure. But it was gone, and she was alone again.

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[info]princegreenleaf
2008-10-22 04:50 pm UTC (link)
Being the free spirit that he was, the elf could not possibly sit in one place for very long. Not unless there was a good reason like he was hunting something, or tracking it. But the days had gone back to how they were before all the drama of the kidnapping happened, and though he wasn't bored, he certainly didn't see any need at all to sit around doing nothing.

Out of his sleepless reverie, he'd awoken and rolled off his resting place. His dreams, or what passed for them, had returned to normal. No more darkness, he wasn't haunted anymore. Again, things had gone back to the way they were beforehand, and he couldn't really complain too much. Sure, things were a little less exciting, but on the plus side, no one was kidnapped.

Still, he wasn't at all the kind of being who could just sit around contemplating for very long, so he headed out into the wide world. Mirage had decided to stay the same, with the grapes and the vines, and he went wandering. However, he was pulled away from his amused thoughts on the difference between wild grapes and cultivated ones, when a golem came in front of him. Typically, the creature didn't speak. It simply pointed, and then thrust a key into his hand.

He understood. He'd been drafted into welcoming duty. Well, that was fine. He actually enjoyed meeting new people, and welcoming people to Mirage was always a good way to do that. So, with his typical light-hearted attitude, he turned toward the building where the creature had pointed. The key, he still held in his hand. He was going to the plaque, he realized. That worked for him, less explaining needed to be done.

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[info]juniper_golding
2008-10-22 05:09 pm UTC (link)
Juniper ran her fingers along the words for a moment, trying to glean any extra meaning from them, but it didn't work like that. She was lost, stranded in this place - which honestly didn't look all that bad, but still, it was against her will, no matter how nice the establishment, and she had no answers.

Well maybe she could get out the way she'd come in. That made sense, right? Taking a few steps away from the building, just in case the backlash was too much for her physical form to take, Juniper took a deep breath, ran her hands through her red curls, and closed her eyes. There it was, the intricately woven fabric of time and space that she'd maneuvered her way through so many times. Now to just get her body to come with her...

Juniper's body was rigid, like a felled tree as she hit the flat of her back and groaned, looking up at the sky and sighing. This was going to be harder than she thought. She couldn't get past the Planet, whatever that meant, could hardly get her brain to behave, let alone her body. The Planet wasn't letting go of her so easily. Instead of getting up and trying again, Juniper just lay there for a moment, spread-eagle, and grumbled to herself in broken phrases and a general stream of curse words.

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[info]princegreenleaf
2008-10-22 05:12 pm UTC (link)
The elf opened the door to the building, and being as sharp-eyed as he was, he was a direct witness to the redhead's fall to the ground. He ran, but still didn't get there in time. She had already been lying there for quite awhile when he finally got there. The building was fairly large, but he still felt bad.

He slowed, however, when he heard her stream of words. Some of them, he didn't understand, mostly because there was no elven equivilent for them. Curses in his world were quite different, of course, even among the humans. Curious, he looked down at her, and then gracefully knelt down by her head. Idly, he wondered how long it would take her to notice him.

"Is there a purpose to what you do in lying on the floor? If so, I may try it myself." He smiled at her. "Greetings, my Lady. It seems it falls to me to welcome you to fair Mirage." He bowed slightly, managing to look graceful despite the fact that he was kneeling and it should have looked slightly awkward.

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[info]juniper_golding
2008-10-22 05:20 pm UTC (link)
Juniper didn't notice the elf crossing the room, and even if she had, she was pretty sure that she would have thought she'd knocked herself unconscious. Even when he knelt at her side, it was only the light throbbing where she'd hit her head that assured her that she was awake. He had...pointy ears.

"Landing on the floor wasn't my intention, so no," Juniper said with an embarrassed little chuckle. She sat up slowly, keeping him in her sights, and ran a hand through her hair, trying to straighten it as best as she could. Her legs curled under herself as she sat there, a learned behaviour from years of voyeuring her own past lives. There was something about this...elf in front of her, something regal in the very way he moved, and so her own grace attempted to mirror his, though really, there was no comparison.

"Thank you," she smiled in return, nodding once. "What is this place? How did I get here?" she asked, almost begged, leaning forward, eagerly awaiting answers. Then she remembered her manners. "Sorry, I'm Juniper," she offered, along with her hand.

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[info]princegreenleaf
2008-10-22 06:09 pm UTC (link)
Humans really were strange sometimes. He noticed the glance at his ears, and smiled. "One would think you'd never seen an elf before..." He glanced down at her hand, and reached out to shake it. This human habit of shaking hands was odd, he didn't know why they couldn't just bow, but she wasn't the first who had offered her hand, and he knew what to do.

"You have been brought to Mirage, Lady Juniper. No, I did not bring you here, before you ask. I was brought here myself a short while ago. As for how you were brought here, I'm afraid the only answer I have is that the Planet brought you." He shrugged slightly, knowing it was inadequate, and rose to his feet. Once there, he offered her his hand to help stand.

Of course, now she'd introduced herself, and it would only be polite to do the same. Once they were both on their feet, he bowed, more formally this time. "Greetings to you, Lady Juniper. I am called Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood. May the Valar smile on our meeting."

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[info]juniper_golding
2008-10-22 06:21 pm UTC (link)
Juniper couldn't help but giggle at his comment. "I haven't, actually," she admitted with a shake of her head and a shrug. "They're not all that plentiful where I'm from," she said. As if that wasn't the understatement of the century. But it was better than telling him that he didn't exist. That wasn't likely to go over well.

Taking his hand, Juniper got to her feet as gracefully as she could manage, and sighed. "I figured as much," she admitted. "When I couldn't get home myself...Well, there isn't much to be done about it, is there? No way to get back?" she asked, a little bit of hopefulness in her voice, in spite of the fact that she was already fairly sure of the answer.

"It's lovely to meet you, Prince Legolas," she said with a polite little dip, that despite her modern clothes and mannerisms, looked natural on her. "I hate to ask for any more favours, but, please, what do I do now? I'm a bit buggered, honestly. I don't even have my wallet on me."

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[info]princegreenleaf
2008-10-22 06:29 pm UTC (link)
"I expected as much, actually." He laughed as she rose to her feet and bowed, delighted with her unexpected grace and comfort with the gesture. "Many people who come to Mirage have never seen an elf at all. Even on my own world, they are not all that common anymore."

He watched her carefully, wondering if she'd do anything extreme. Some people, when told they couldn't leave, did crazy things. But she seemed to be handling it very well, though he still thought it was a bit sad that she had to come to this realization. "I do not believe there is a way back, Lady Juniper, although there are those who do not believe such, and who try to go back to their own worlds."

The blond prince shook his head. "My apologies, my Lady. You are assigned a room, the number which is on the back of this key." He presented the key that the golem had given him to her. "I can help you find it, if you wish. As for your wallet, worry not. The Planet provides everything."

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[info]juniper_golding
2008-10-22 06:37 pm UTC (link)
Juniper gave an understanding little smile. "Everything has its season, I suppose," she said, with a trace of sadness in her voice. That was true of everyone and everything, not just elves and men. Nothing lasts forever. "I'm glad you're here though," she smiled. "It's a comfort to not be alone."

She took that as well as could be expected, and turned her face away a bit, hiding behind her curls until she'd fought off the urge to cry. She'd never see her mother again, or Niall, or anyone. But perhaps there was an opportunity here. A chance to start over without everything reminding her of Dylan and what she lost. Saving a good cry for when she was alone, Juniper wiped one eye with the back of a finger and gave him a watery smile. "Thank you for being honest with me," she said. It would have been far worse had he given her hope.

"Thank you," she said to both the key and the offer. "B250," she muttered, and then looked around. "This isn't a terrible place to be stuck, is it?" she mused, chuckling rather darkly. "What's the catch?"

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[info]princegreenleaf
2008-10-22 06:50 pm UTC (link)
Legolas was very familiar with that concept, and nodded. The elves were all very much aware that their time in Middle Earth had come to an end, and that's why so many of them had gone through the Grey Havens. It hurt, a little, but he was gone from there now anyway. Surely, he would have eventually wanted to go to the sea and further, but now he was freed from that. "I understand. I would not wish to be alone, as a stranger in a strange land, either."

He reached out and touched her shoulder, comforting her or at least attempting to. "I would not lie to you, Lady. Even if a lie brought comfort, it is not worth it in the end." His fingers squeezed lightly on her shoulder, and then his hand dropped to his side again.

However, he laughed with delight as she stated her room number. "Truly? That is your room number?" He shook his head, an amused smile on his face. "It is the will of the Valar that we meet, then, as I am only a few rooms away from that. I can easily show you were you are to lodge." He turned toward the door, meaning to show her right then. "It is not terrible, only a little unnerving to be held here." He shrugged. "Sometimes, you may be forced into doing activities with other inhabitants, and there was a series of kidnappings only a few days ago. Mirage is not all leisure, I fear."

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[info]juniper_golding
2008-10-22 07:01 pm UTC (link)
"Did you already know someone here when you arrived?" she asked, interested in the way he chose to word what he'd said. She smiled slightly at the comforting touch and nodded. At least he was a smart one. She'd had enough of being lied to.

"Really?" Juniper laughed as well, shaking her head a bit. "And who are the Valar? You keep saying that..."

Juniper followed him with a light step, her little slippers making almost no noise on the floor, though she'd never have a hope of moving as fluidly as Legolas. "Oh well that's just blinding," Juniper said sarcastically. It was only a matter of time before she found herself in trouble. She was like a magnet for it. Or a black hole.

"Your bow is beautiful," she commented, sinking back a bit in her stride to get a better look at it. "I never studied archery. A bit of swordplay here and there, but never archery."

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[info]princegreenleaf
2008-10-22 07:22 pm UTC (link)
The elf shook his head as they started to move in the general direction of the door. "No, I knew no one when I was brought here." He paused for a second. "Someone from my own world was brought later, however. It was comforting."

Legolas laughed as he turned to face her, amused by her many questions. One of the things he'd found so delightful about Giselle was her inquisitive nature, and this redhead had it as well. He enjoyed it. "The Valar are the powers, the Kings and Queens of Middle Earth. They created the world."

He looked at her for a second before he started to walk again. "My thanks. The lady Galadriel gave it to me as I left Lothlorian with the other members of the Fellowship. It is magical." He took it off his shoulder and held it out to her. "Would you like to hold it?"

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[info]juniper_golding
2008-10-22 07:31 pm UTC (link)
Juniper smiled. "You're lucky," she said with a nod. "Maybe someone I know will come," she mused hopefully. But at the same time, would she want anyone to have to share her fate? Probably not.

Her mouth formed a small, round "o" as she breathed out the expression with a nod. "Some sort of deities then," she said, understanding. Every culture had their own, and all were worthy of respect, regardless of a person's personal belief systems. "Middle Earth? But there's only one..." she said, almost to herself. "Then again I'm chatting up an elf." She laughed and shook her head, now obviously talking to Legolas instead of forgetting about her brain-mouth filter and talking to herself. "What's Middle Earth like?"

Juniper's teal eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas at the offer. "Please!" she said excitedly, reaching out carefully for the bow, though she knew that she probably couldn't break it if she tried. "The engravings are so intricate," she breathed, stopping to get a really good look at it, holding it securely in one hand while the fingers of the other traced the designs with the lightest of touches. She ran her finger along the string lightly, giving it a little tug, which could have been pushing on a wall for all the good it did. "You must be very strong," she laughed, shaking her head at herself and her tugging.

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[info]princegreenleaf
2008-10-23 12:30 pm UTC (link)
Legolas shrugged slightly as he continued walking toward the exit. Once there, he held the door open for her with a courteous inclination of his head. "It was a difficult thing when Aragorn was brought. I was happy to see him, and yet... sad that he had been brought." He smiled a little. "You see, he was to be King over Middle Earth, and I would not have the land I love in disarry. I had no say in it, however, and he was brought."

The elf laughed as they walked together out the door and toward the B Dormitory where they where both lodged. He found himself glad that she was going to be near him. Her cheer was infectious, and it never took much to make him joyful himself. Together, they would lift the spirits of all Mirage, he was sure of it. "I suppose so, though until I came here, I had never heard that word." His smile took on a slightly dreamy cast. "It is beautiful, Lady Juniper. Tall mountains, raging rivers, beautiful forests, the complex cities of the humans... all simply gorgeous." Never one to let someone else be completely responsible for the conversation, he spoke. "And your land, Lady? Where are you from, and what is it like?"

He kept a wary eye on the girl as she accepted his bow and tried to pull the string back. He probably didn't need to worry about her hurting the weapon, but more about the weapon hurting her. The string could be quite sharp for fingers that wern't calloused. Eventually, though, he stopped, laughed, and took it back from her. "You are not standing correctly. Here..." He planted himself without effort, reached back for an arrow, and had it in the air in less time than seemed possible. The arrow thunked into a tree a fair distance away.

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[info]juniper_golding
2008-10-23 12:43 pm UTC (link)
Juniper winced. "That would make it a bit more difficult," she allowed, shaking her head. "I wish I knew what happens to our lives back home," she admitted, wondering if she could find out without knocking herself on her ass again. "I don't have many people who's lives would be changed, but still..." she sighed and twisted the ring on her pinkie around her finger for a moment. "It'd be nice to know."

"London?" Juniper asked with a laugh. "Cor it's...well, I think it's brilliant, honestly. It's a huge city, full of people of every lifestyle and race, and it's beautiful in all it's diversity," she said with a decided nod. "I live just outside the city, in one of the smaller villages. Lots of open fields and farmland...perfect for riding." She laughed a little. "I don't know how to describe it, except to say that for as many people that hate it, I couldn't love it more."

She watched carefully, with the eyes of someone that was learning simply by standing next to him and observing. "That's brilliant!" she said with a little clap. "I'd love to be able to shoot. Do you think...some time, you could teach me?" she asked, biting her lip and looking hopeful.

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[info]princegreenleaf
2008-10-23 01:29 pm UTC (link)
He nodded, glad that she appreciated that. Yes, he'd been thrilled when Aragorn had come to Middle Earth, but it had been a sad day as well. "I am certain that more people that you realize would be upset." He couldn't imagine it otherwise. She was so full of life. "I do not know, but when my King came, he said that I had just disappeared."

He nodded thoughtfully. "London... there are people here from that city, and I have heard of it before. Witches and wizards, from what I can see." He kept his eyes open, and saw more than most suspected. "One of them has pink hair, a witch named Tonks."

He turned back to her and nodded, a wide smile on his face. He couldn't imagine anything more fun than doing just what she suggested. "Let us start, then! I will show you your room, and then we can give you your first lesson right away." He smiled widely at her. "Assuming that you are not otherwise engaged. I can only hope that since I am the first one you have met here, you will not be fully booked yet."

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[info]juniper_golding
2008-10-23 01:36 pm UTC (link)
"Doubtful," Juniper admitted. "There's Marsha - my mother, and Niall, her husband, but everyone else..." she shrugged. "I lost quite a bit of my life recently, and the rest of it was caught in the backlash." Disappeared. That was not good. Juniper looked thoughtful, almost distant for a moment. "Maybe I could get a message through," she said, though her tone was doubtful. "It's worth a shot."

Juniper's eyes popped wide. "And they're open about what they are?" she asked, amazed. "How could that be? I mean, even now...well, in my time...or however it works here, having abilities is not something that you flaunt," she said with a shake of her head. She knew that all too well, and it was plain from the tone of her voice.

"Great!" she said brightly, and then laughed, colouring up a bit. "No, as a matter of fact, my dance card is empty," she teased. "You can put your name down for as much time as you like," she nodded. She looked around and saw the building with the "B" on it. "This is it, huh?" she asked, opening the door and letting him go through first.

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[info]princegreenleaf
2008-10-23 02:31 pm UTC (link)
The blond elf frowned thoughtfully. "I do not believe that." His eyes were dark and direct as he looked at her. "I believe that you have likely touched the life of more people than you realize. We all have." He wondered what she was talking about, that she'd lost a lot, but wasn't quite sure how to go about asking about it.

He looked at her somewhat strangely when she made that comment. "Why would they not be open? There are many here with talents that are uncommon elsewhere. Even if they hid it on their own world, what need is there of such secrecy here on Mirage?" He had caught her tone, and looked at her with penetrating eyes.

"Very well, then." He smiled and bowed slightly to her in thanks as he walked past her into the foyer of the building, and toward the stairs. "I will do my best to turn you into an archer." Though the words were formal and a little imposing, his tone was light and implied that he'd really like nothing better.

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[info]juniper_golding
2008-10-23 02:39 pm UTC (link)
For a moment, Juniper was quiet, and then she sighed. "I'm thinking that maybe my London and their London aren't the same," she admitted, a bit of her own sense of the way things worked coming through. "In my London - not so much now, but a long time ago - women were burnt as witches. No matter their real crime, if there was one at all," she explained. "Nowadays, you're treated as a mental case, at best. The world is not as forgiving as people wish it would be." She bit her lip and decided that maybe he was right. Maybe she didn't have to hide here. "I can do things, sometimes. Travel space and time, but leave my body behind, read minds, see the future...It wasn't something I advertised."

Juniper had to laugh at that. "You've got your work cut out for you," she said humbly, though she was actually a pretty quick study. The worst that would hold her back was her own lack of physical strength.

She found her door easily enough, and unlocked it with the key Legolas had given her. "Wow..." she breathed. "Nice room," she added, laughing softly. Given that she didn't need to exactly unpack, Juniper merely looked around for a second and then slipped the key into her pocket, pulling her long hair back with the tie around her wrist. "Shall we?"

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[info]princegreenleaf
2008-10-23 02:46 pm UTC (link)
Legolas shook his head, blond hair flying. "I know not of such things. I only know that they claim to come from London, England, and that they enjoy called people who can't do the things they can Muggles." He'd heard that from more than one of them on various occasions, and for whatever reason, the word amused him. "I had never heard of such a place, but then, there is much I have not heard of. I have a friend who claims to come from the stars."

He listened to her, and clearly took her abilities in stride. Though he did look at her with a fair bit of respect, since in his own world, only a few people could do things like that. "Oh, then, you are another one of the very wise." He smiled and her, gathered up her hand, and pressed a kiss to the back of it. "I am honored to meet you, Lady Juniper."

Suddenly, he stopped and laughed, the sound ringing around the room. "My apologies. I should have explained. You can control the appearance of your room. Simply concentrate, and it will bend itself to your will. If you desire anything, you have simply to ask." He shrugged. "Except, of course, your freedom. Now, let us go." He turned and headed out of the building, holding the door for her. They seemed to be taking turns.

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[info]juniper_golding
2008-10-23 02:54 pm UTC (link)
Juniper had to blush at the kiss to her hand, and she tried to wave it off as best as she could. "And I you, Prince Legolas. But please, just Juniper works. Or Juni." The nickname came out automatically, but caught in her throat a bit, so obviously that she knew she'd need to explain it. "A friend of mine - my best friend. He used to call me that," she said with a sad little smile. "He passed last spring."

Her eyes popped and Juniper wanted to play with that immediately, but he was already heading out. "Wai--" she started to call him back, but decided that she could play on her own time instead of wasting his.

Hurrying after the elf, Juniper caught up and made her way through the door to the outside again, and gave him a smile. "So what? Do we concentrate on an archery range?" she asked with a little laugh, interested in how these things worked. Her eyes moved around a bit mischievously for a second and then she smiled and closed them. An apple popped up into her palm. "Niiiice," she grinned, taking a bite out of it and laughing.

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[info]princegreenleaf
2008-10-23 03:04 pm UTC (link)
"Juni..." He smiled and nodded slightly. "I like the way that sounds, and it suits you. I am sorry about your friend. If it would not cause you too much pain, I would call you by the name he did." He paused and turned to look at her, wondering if he was crossing a line. But he just simply wasn't that good at knowing how to be tactful. "When did he recieve the Gift of Men?" Belatedly, he realized she might not know what that was. "Death... it is what the elves call it on my world."

He smiled, though, as she made the fruit appear in her hand. "I never thought to try that..." He glanced around, nodding. "Just think very hard about an archery range, and a bow for you. Mine is slightly large..." He did as he suggested, thinking about a range similar to the one he and Susan had had their friendly competition on. Sure enough, it sprang into being. An assortment of targets, including the standard bullseye, and a variety of bows and several quivers of arrows.

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[info]juniper_golding
2008-10-23 03:11 pm UTC (link)
"Thank you," she said, nodding. "And it's fine. I suppose that I need to start trying to move on, now that there's nothing holding me back," she said, gesturing around to indicate the world she'd found herself in. There certainly weren't reminders of Dylan here.

"I wouldn't call it a gift," she said almost tersely, shaking her head. "About six months ago. In a car accident that was meant to take me," she told him, her jaw tight as she struggled to not cry. "He killed himself to save me, the fool." She looked for anything to distract herself and settled on his phrasing. "You can't die?"

While she waited for his answer, Juniper looked around at the range and then went to the bows. They were of all sizes, and Juniper held up a couple, trying to figure out which one would be best for her. "How do I tell which one to use?" she asked, shifting her grip on one so she could wipe under her eye with the back of her hand.

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[info]princegreenleaf
2008-10-23 03:31 pm UTC (link)
He grinned, a mischievious twinkle coming into his eyes. "Perhaps I shall call you Lady Juni, then. A comprimise between my world and yours." He was trying, in his own way, to make her feel better. He didn't know if it was working, but he could only try.

"Death is a gift, for elves must linger on, unchanging. Men have the fortune to move onto something better." He smiled. "I am unlikely to die. If someone did great injury to me, or if I got very sad, I would fade from the world, but to truly pass on? That is reserved for the Humans. To the elven folk, this seems like a great gift."

He walked over to her and hesitated before placing a hand on her shoulder. It was exactly the sort of thing he would do for any of his friends if they were upset, a sort of show of support between comrades. "Hold them all, and find one that has a bow string that will pull back with some effort, but that doesn't require too much of an effort."

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[info]juniper_golding
2008-10-23 04:13 pm UTC (link)
"Works for me," she allowed, giving him a smile. But it faded quickly, and Juniper shook her head. "Sadness doesn't kill humans," she said thickly. "It just makes you wish you were dead. Besides, there isn't anywhere to go. At least, not for me. I just...keep having more lives," she shrugged, not sure if he'd understand. "There's no heaven, at least, not one that I've found."

She smiled at him and the comfort, and then focused on the task at hand. For Juniper, choosing a weapon was just as important as choosing a friend, and she took it very seriously. It also didn't hurt that she could - in her mind's eye - already see the one she'd use, if she concentrated hard enough.

It wasn't long until she pulled a bow from the back of the pile and smiled, testing the weight in her hands. "This is it," she said, before she'd even tried the string. And when she did, it pulled back just easily enough. "Yup, this one."

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[info]princegreenleaf
2008-10-23 04:44 pm UTC (link)
This wasn't a concept he was familiar with. There was no rebirth in Middle Earth, at least, not that Legolas knew about. It was said that Aragorn had the look of his forebearer, Isildur, and that the Evenstar Arwen looked like Luthien the Fair, but that was it. He frowned and shook his head. "I fear I do not understand... how is it that you can have more than one life?"

He watched as she rummaged through the weapons. "For the elven folk, sadness can send us to the Halls of Mandos, where we must stay for many years. Only once we have been purified may we return to Valinor, our home." He was getting used to explaining this stuff, since he basically had been doing it since he first came to Mirage.

When she picked, the elf took the bow from her and nodded. She'd picked a good one, light enough for her to use, yet sturdy enough that it wasn't delicate. He smiled at her in approval. "A good choice, Lady Juni." Holding his own bow easily, he walked over to a bullseye. Close enough that she stood a chance of hitting it, he stood and took careful aim, just to show her how it was done. "Stand as I am."

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[info]juniper_golding
2008-10-23 04:53 pm UTC (link)
Juniper wondered how to explain it to someone with no concept of reincarnation, and so took a minute to think. Then she got a spurt of inspiration. "When a flower dies, it decays, goes into the ground, right? Then, the next spring, that same flower feeds the others that grow in it's place, is reborn as a part of them," she paused, waiting for him to acknowledge that he got it. "It's the same with me - or people - I'm not sure if everyone goes through it or not. I die, but my soul doesn't. Eventually, I get a new life, a new start. It's only because of what I can do that I know that this happens. I have memories of times and places that I've never actually been before. My past lives."

She watched him take his stance, walking around him once as she slung a quiver of arrows across her back. She remembered watching him shoot before, and though the movement had been quick, she'd caught the important bits. As previously mentioned, she was a quick study.

Taking a breath, she stood next to Legolas and planted her feet, aligning her body to the target, and held up the bow. After testing the string, Juniper pulled an arrow from behind her and fit it to her finger, drawing the string back and letting go. It hit the bottom edge of the target, which made her scowl. Juniper expected nothing less than perfection from herself. "What'd I miss?" she asked, turning to look at Legolas expectantly, unaware of any surprise that might have come from her jumping ahead in the lesson.

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[info]princegreenleaf
2008-10-23 05:29 pm UTC (link)
To his credit, he listened to her all the way through before he spoke, and nodded to show he understood. "I do not understand, however. When a flower dies, does it not lose all of it's quality of being a flower? It goes back into the dirt and becomes dirt once more." He shook his head. "I do not think I understand, Lady." It wasn't that he was stupid, just that there was no similar thing on Middle Earth, no culture there that believed anything similar.

His eyebrows rose as she shot, and he shook his head, a wide smile on his face. Playfully, he reached over and pushed her hair back from her ears. "Are you certain, Lady Juni, that you are not an elf? Never have I seen a human take to the bow as quickly as you have."

Quickly recovering, he stood behind her and nudged her leg slightly into a position of better balance. "From this stance, you may either shoot or break into a run. This is important for an archer." He watched her closely. "Pull an arrow, and put it to the string. The arrow should be at the level of your eye, for easier aiming."

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[info]juniper_golding
2008-10-23 05:39 pm UTC (link)
"Yes, but a part, a little piece, of it remains, right?" Juniper asked. "That's what I mean. That little piece of me - my soul - it sticks around. When I come back, it's never the same body, just the same...me," she shrugged. "It's hard to explain."

She laughed when he checked her ear and shook her head. "I'm a fast learner," she shrugged. "You should see me with a sword," she said, and allowed herself a little bit of cockiness. Sure, Legolas could probably fence her into the ground, but she'd gotten so good back home that her instructor had stopped teaching her, so that had to count for something.

Adjusting into the position indicated, Juniper fit another arrow onto the string and drew it back slowly, watching her eyeline. Once she was sure that she had that part right, she let go of the slack and then drew it back again with the intent to fire this time, instead of a slow-motion deal. The arrow hit the very outer edge of the bullseye, and Juniper cheered. "You're a blinding teacher," she beamed.

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[info]princegreenleaf
2008-10-23 05:55 pm UTC (link)
"I suppose." He shrugged a little, not really fully getting it. But then, he didn't quite get how Marcus could sail in a ship from star to star, either. It didn't mean he didn't believe it possible, just that it went beyond what he could understand. "It seems, then, that you are truly immortal. Just as I am."

The elf laughed softly and shook his head. Ahh, the arrogance of the very young. Of course, people accused him of that all the time. Other elves, at least. "I am not overly skilled with a sword, but I am more than competant with knives. Someday, we shall spar."

He watched critically as she drew back and fired, and nodded in satisfaction. "I am not so much a good teacher, as you are a gifted learner. It is rare even among elves to learn this skill so quickly, and you are no elf."

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[info]juniper_golding
2008-10-23 05:59 pm UTC (link)
Juniper chuckled somewhat darkly. "Maybe, but I'd prefer one real life. Dying over and over and over again isn't fun. Or comfortable."

"It's a date," Juniper said with a nod, grinning. Even if she got her ass handed to her, it would still be fun. She coloured up a bit at the praise and looked at the target. "It's nice to be good at something useful," she allowed. "Well, sort of useful," she shrugged.

Fitting another arrow to the string, Juniper fired again, and this time, truly hit the bullseye. "I feel like I need to teach you something now," she said with a little laugh. "Or do something for you. How can I repay the lesson?"

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[info]princegreenleaf
2008-10-23 07:42 pm UTC (link)
"Perhaps so." He nodded. It made sense to him, even if he had no experience with it himself. But he was clever enough to be able to get it on some level. Who would want to die over and over? From what he'd seen of Boromir's death, it wasn't a particularly pleasant process.

The elf laughed. "It is a piece of fruit?" He'd never heard the term before, not except for the tropical fruit which he'd tried while here on Mirage. It didn't make a lot of sense to him. "Archery is very useful, for the wood elves it is the basis of how we survive. Here, I suppose it is little more than a game... or that was the case before the kidnapping..."

He turned to her, eyebrows still raised. "You are talented. I am pleased to have taught you." His head tilted to the side as he considered. "You could teach me much of..." He struggled with the unfamilar word "Technology. Do you have this on your world? On Middle Earth, we have very little."

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[info]juniper_golding
2008-10-23 07:49 pm UTC (link)
Juniper laughed lightly and shook her head. "No, not the fruit. Um...it's uh...a plan, I suppose. When two people make a commitment to be together at a certain place and time," she explained awkwardly. "Sometimes it's used under a romantic context, but I didn't mean it that way, of course," she said quickly.

"What exactly happened?" Juniper asked, interested, instead of fearful like she probably should have been.

Juniper nodded. "I can do that. What do you want to learn about? I mean, there's so much, and I'm not sure what you had so I don't know what to base it off of," she said, turning with the intent of going back to her room, where she could apparently materialize a computer if she wanted one. But then she paused. "What do we do about all of this?" she asked, gesturing to the archery range. "How do we...clean up?"

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[info]princegreenleaf
2008-10-23 08:23 pm UTC (link)
"I see." He looked at her and shook his head. "Humans have such strange words for things. Especially here." He was teasing, of course. At one point, he had had a bit of a complex about feeling that he was better than humans, but that had faded long ago, with his exposure to the short-lived race.

The elf sighed, and a different sort of expression came over his face. While he seemed fairly easygoing most of the time, when speaking of the kidnapping, a sort of darker cast came over his face. "People were taken. My King, and a close friend Giselle. They were taken, and I believe the plan was to sacrifice them."

He looked at the stuff and shrugged. "I suppose the Planet will clean it up." He smiled. "I do not think much on it. Perhaps the golems will come to get it. Or it will simply disappear." When she turned away, he made to follow her, slinging his bow over his shoulder.

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[info]juniper_golding
2008-10-23 08:29 pm UTC (link)
Just as jokingly, Juniper's jaw dropped. "Hey now, mister. You're one to talk. You and your Valar and all that nonsense," she teased, nudging him playfully.

Like Legolas, Juniper sobered immediately. "And they were gotten back successfully, I'd assume?" she asked, and immediately went into a barrage of questions as they walked, the mess they'd left behind them forgotten. After all, she'd been stolen to this place, the least the damn Planet could do was clean up after her.

"Who was behind it all? Or did you not find out? Have precautions been made to prevent it from happening again?" she asked, rapid fire, battlements and boobytraps already springing up full-grown in her head.

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[info]princegreenleaf
2008-10-24 10:10 am UTC (link)
He gasped, but couldn't stop the grin that showed he wasn't really upset at all. "The Valar are not nonsense!" There were elves that would be freaking out right about now, but Legolas wasn't one of them. Elrond was, but Legolas had never taken things as seriously as the lord of Rivendell.

The elf nodded solemnly, and sighed just a little. "Yes, I believe all those who were kidnapped were taken back. The bid for power failed." He shrugged as they walked back toward the building where they both had their lodging.

"You know, it is quite odd, but I do not believe anyone asked. We should find out, so that it will not happen again. As for whether it would happen again, I think not. It was too much work, and all for nothing. No one would go through that again, I do not believe. And we are all on alert now."

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[info]juniper_golding
2008-10-24 10:17 am UTC (link)
Juniper just grinned at his reaction to her teasing and then focused on the kidnapping bit as she held the door to their building open again.

"Call me crazy, but that would have been one of the first questions out of my mouth had I been on the rescue party," Juniper pointed out, though it wasn't chastising or anything. Just saying. "Hopefully it doesn't happen again, but I think that some precautions should be taken at any rate. Especially if you can find out who was behind it, and what exactly they want. Otherwise, eventually, another attempt will end up being made. I'm sure they didn't go to all that trouble for the fun of it." And with Juniper's luck, she'd be the first in line to be slaughtered like a sacrificial lamb.

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[info]princegreenleaf
2008-10-24 11:43 am UTC (link)
Yes, they were definitely taking turns with the door holding. This amused him. Of course, it wasn't like it took a whole lot to amuse him, although he was sure some of the people in his world would have been shocked that a woman would hold a door open for a male, and an elf at that.

"There were..." Legolas smiled softly. "Other concerns. Friends were reunited, you see, and that seemed more important than..." He shook his head. "But you are correct, my lady. We must be on our guard, or else it could happen again."

As he lead the way up the stairs toward their rooms, which were very close together, he frowned. "This must not happen again... Lady Juni? Where are we going?"

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[info]juniper_golding
2008-10-24 11:49 am UTC (link)
"My room?" Juniper half said, half suggested, looking at him with a furrowed brow. "You wanted to learn about technology, and I wanted to play with the set up anyroad." She shrugged. "Seems like the best place to do it, given that I'm going to want a computer and the like at any rate."

She had her hand on her doorknob when something occurred to her. Juniper didn't know a lot about this guy, but what she did know was that everything he did seemed to be very appropriate. And well, perhaps he thought being locked up in close quarters with her was less than that.

"Are you uncomfortable with me, Legolas?" she asked, looking up at him with a highly innocent face that didn't need to be put-on. "Would you rather I teach you in a more public arena?"

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[info]princegreenleaf
2008-10-24 12:07 pm UTC (link)
With a nod, he kept following the girl, quite happy with this arrangement. It did make the most sense, and whatever a computer was, he was pretty sure it was going to be out of place in his own room.

To be honest, he was quite surprised by the girls question. It hadn't occured to him that he should be uncomfortable. Sure, the humans of Gondor and Rohan had some odd ideas about what was appropriate behavior, but he didn't pay them much attention. Elven behavior was quite different.

"Uncomfortable?" His eyebrows rose questioningly. "I do not see any reason for that." He grinned teasingly. "Should I be?"

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[info]juniper_golding
2008-10-24 12:24 pm UTC (link)
Juniper laughed and shook her head. "No, I'm pretty sure that you can take me if I get too forward," she teased, rolling her eyes. That, most assuredly, was the last thing on her mind, after all.

Turning back to her door, Juniper unlocked it, but didn't open it straight away. Instead, she thought about what Legolas said about altering their rooms to their liking, and pictured, with perfect clarity, her bedroom in her mother's house. Then she opened the door.

It had been transformed so differently that it would have shocked Juniper, had it not been so familiar. Her four-poster bed was at one end, swathed in transparent, gauzy curtains, and the shelving along the wall held books on every subject and study, not to mention artifacts that Juniper had gleaned, through both fair means and foul, over the years. A castle tapestry took up the entirety of one wall, and littered around the others were paintings of medieval scenes, drawn in such a lifelike way that one could swear that the blonde woman featured in all of them was watching them. A stained glass window of Joan of Ark replaced one of the normal ones, casting a rainbow of light across the floor. The floor, that was covered - not with carpet or hardwood - but straw, carefully laid and strewn with mint and marjoram. At one end was a desk, with a laptop on it, as promised, and sitting on the shelf above, in a place of obviously high honour, was a silver chalice, inlaid with amethysts and bordered by a garland of wreathed wildflowers.

"This is my room," Juniper said with a smile, turning around in the center of it to face Legolas, curious as to his reaction and looking oddly at home in the very antique scene.

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[info]princegreenleaf
2008-10-24 02:59 pm UTC (link)
He still didn't really get it, but then, he was used to that. Many of the things people said and did here made little to no sense to him. Being who he was, however, he saw it as a source of curiousity, but didn't think about it much other than that. Something to observe, surely, and be amused by, but little else. However... "I will be taking you where?" Another term he just wasn't familiar with.

He waited patiently as she focused briefly, and smiled as the door opened. He'd seen the room the first time, which had been perfectly servicable. This, however, suited her a whole lot more. He looked around, smiled, and nodded. The straw on the floor was a touch of Rohan, he thought. It smelled nice, because of the herbs in it. All in all, he definitely approved. The castle on the tapestry looked sort of like something that might be found in Minas Tirith. It was similar enough to his home that he felt comfortable.

"It suits you." He spoke with an air of finality, as if his saying it made it completely and irrevocably true, and found a seat. Clearly, he had no problem with making himself comfortable. "So... now it is time for you to show me this... technology of which you speak."

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[info]juniper_golding
2008-10-24 06:11 pm UTC (link)
She had to think for a moment to figure out how to translate that one. "Um...If I do anything too forward, I'm sure that you can restrain me without too much effort," she shrugged. "It was a joke, don't worry about it."

Juniper saw the way he moved around her room and knew that it was a comforting feeling to him, and smiled. She liked making people feel at ease, and when she could do that for both of them in one shot, it was a good feeling indeed. "As it does you, a bit," Juniper smiled, thanking him with a nod.

Pulling her hair from it's tie - as she really did not enjoy having it back unless she really needed to be undistracted - Juniper sat down on the edge of her desk and thought for a moment. "What have you figured out on your own?" she asked, wondering how basic she was going to have to start out at. "Lights? Music?"

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[info]princegreenleaf
2008-10-27 06:48 pm UTC (link)
He shook his head, with a smile on his lips and a mischievious twinkle in his head. "Humans really do have odd ways of saying things..." He stood up and walked over to the computer desk, leaning over to peer curiously at what she was doing. In fact, it was so interesting that, while he undoubtedly could have found more smart ass things to say about humans, he was completely distracted.

"Lady Michiru showed me how to use a strange device to play music off of CD's. Or that's what I believe she called them. And I have seen recordings on a television..." All the technological words were said with a slight emphasis, as if he wern't sure he was getting them entirely correctly. They were, after all, fairly new to him.

"I know very little other than that. The lighting in my room seems to control itself, and is dark when it is nighttime, and light during the day." He shrugged, his eyes still fixed on her. "Very little, I'm afraid."

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