er quente || Aragorn || [Video]

[elfstonestrider]

[After having spent a good long while reading and rereading the letter he woke up with and figuring out how to access the network, a bedraggled, scraggly haired human appears. He is muddy, covered in blood splatter, and looks tired.]

I am seeking information on friends.

[Simple, but this magic might not have his best interest in mind. It's still heavy and much too soon to think that he is now alone. A world destroyed? How could they have lost the war so quickly? Was Frodo not just by his side?]

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[bow_of_the_galadhrim]

Ah, then we will have to go to the cafeteria. You cannot eat anything in the tower until you've had the oatmeal else you will be sick.

[elfstonestrider]

[He's silent about that. It's off and there's likely something there to fish for later but with the strangeness of everything else, he's happy just to go along for the moment with the elf at his side.]

How long have you been here? You speak as if you know much of this place.

[He's really not sure he wants the answer.]

[bow_of_the_galadhrim]

I have been here for nine months now, so I know a great deal about it. Though there are others who know more than I.

[You got it anyway, Aragorn.]

Gandalf has been here longer, if only by a month. Haldir, Idrial and Frodo for less time than the wizard and I.

[elfstonestrider]

[The time seems so short for a hundred years to have passed so quickly. The magic of it all is confusing even for one like Aragorn but he allows it to wash over him. This is not the time for contemplation. He will meet with Gandalf later, and Haldir. And check in on the young hobbit he swore to protect. For now, he enjoys the easy stride and conversation with the elf.]

You mentioned horrors. What is it we are up against here?

[bow_of_the_galadhrim]

[It's something he'll get used to in time, should the administrators keep him here longer than others that had been here.]

It is never the same, the things that are done to us here. Illness recently plagued us and before that, we were forced into a game of collecting sweets in costume. And if we did not collect enough, we would be crushed by the costume. Monsters roam the tower and grow even more aggressive during the night.

What happens depends upon who is in charge. This month, I believe it is Riki. He can be rather... unpredictable.

[elfstonestrider]

This Riki-- One of those in charge here? Has anyone attempted to clear this place of creatures?

[Oh Legolas. The things he'll do to keep those he cares for and those he feels need of his skills protected.]

[bow_of_the_galadhrim]

He is one of them, yes. There's also Dax, Jason and Ruana. As for the monsters, no attempts have been made but I do not believe it to be possible. It is not that they just become more aggressive at night but they also become stronger. I find it wiser to avoid combat, avoid death despite it's loose hold here.

[elfstonestrider]

[For Legolas to react this way is strange and disheartening. These four guardians are important to the story here, he knows. But he won't ask. Something is terribly wrong here. He puts a hand on the elf's shoulder and squeezes. ]

All right. Tell me instead of Frodo.

[bow_of_the_galadhrim]

[Legolas smiles, placing a hand lightly over Aragorn's own. There's so much that he doesn't know yet but to overwhelm the man would be unfair. And there were still others from their world to talk to.]

Frodo is very different from the hobbit you'll recall. He did not come here from Middle Earth but from a ship. One that sails the stars.

[elfstonestrider]

[Thinking perhaps he ought to wash up before a meal, as he is dirtying the elf's flawless features by his presence, Aragorn takes several moments to himself to speak next.]

I do not understand.

[Legolas will not think less of him, he knows, but the ranger still insists on being as knowledgeable about as many things as he can be.]

[bow_of_the_galadhrim]

I do not entirely understand myself. Frodo could explain it far better than I could as could my twin were he still here.

[A pause and then Legolas realizes that he hasn't explained the concept of doubles yet.]

This tower, the administrators, they've brought more than one of the same person before. There was another Legolas here for a time.

[elfstonestrider]

[Two of Legolas and no mention of Arwin. The Tower has the ability to bring back the dead, and no Boromir. Frodo from the stars but no Samwise to look after him.]

If there were ever a choice to have two of one person, I can think of few others I would have it occur to.

[bow_of_the_galadhrim]

[If only he had been here to see but no, he'd have to see the graveyard later.]

It caused more confusion than helpfulness in the beginning. A friend of mine confused us and I had to intervene before he became upset.

[elfstonestrider]

[He's not so sure what he might have done to see two of the same elf.]

I imagine it might have gotten confusing though the company would have been excellent.

If Frodo is from another place, would he even know me?

[bow_of_the_galadhrim]

[Watch as they make no attempt to stop confusing him? Time for the next exciting game of: "Which Legolas is your Legolas?"]

He will, he is still ringbearer. The ship took him from Middle Earth and from the ship he came here.

[elfstonestrider]

[His brow creases slightly. He can't help but feel as if he's a failure in some small way. But that's a feeling he's sure comes from Boromir's very recent death. He's trying to keep it to himself, though he feels as if worthier people ought to have been rescued from his world.]

If there are multiples of people we care for, there must be multiple worlds. It is not a revelation that I can say I appreciate.

[bow_of_the_galadhrim]

[Legolas places a hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. He will not allow the other to despair so soon, when the tower and its residents are mostly still hopeful.]

That is what the administrators have claimed in the past. That none of us are from the same instance of a world, that only one of us have survived. I would advice we do not entirely trust their words.

[elfstonestrider]

I would rather not believe it, for that means that I would not be the same man you once knew and you would not be mine.

Tell me of this cafeteria instead. Is it like a market?

[bow_of_the_galadhrim]

The exact reason I would choose not to believe it either. I can find no proof of what they say but their words alone. And the things they do given cause to distrust anything they say.

[He shakes his head.]

No, they serve food regularly but the food they give is fixed. They serve the same things for each meal. The restaurant has more options but it is not worth it unless the cafeteria's food truly turns your stomach.

[elfstonestrider]

I've eaten quite a lot of questionable things in my time.

[He has to laugh, Legolas is certainly doing his best to keep it light and he ought to try himself.]

It has been much too long that I have had guaranteed meals at the proper times of day.

[bow_of_the_galadhrim]

Then you'll not find a need to make use of the restaurant. It demands payment in the form of something that can be found in the tower.

[At least, not until Jason took charge again and started serving nutrition bars again.]

You'll be able to eat your fill here. I think that even our insatiable hobbit companions, were they here, would find they could eat their fill and still there would be food to spare.

[elfstonestrider]

[It's still hard to hear about his charges, all of which are gone save for Frodo who was taken from Middle Earth. It's a difficult concept to wrap his head around.]

I look forward to it.

[The rest of the way is silence, though Aragorn touches the walls and pauses here and there to make mental notes to come back later. He's never been faced with a room like the cafeteria before and it astounds him.]

[bow_of_the_galadhrim]

[He leads him down several flights of stairs, going slowly so that the ranger can familiarize himself with the tower. Perhaps later he might ask someone for a map to give to Aragorn, until he grew accustomed to the tower. Finally though, they reach the cafeteria and Legolas gets food for them both. Unfortunately, that includes a bowl of oatmeal for Aragorn. can't be any worse than Eowyn's cooking]

Many scorn it but I've already witnessed several attempts to eat something else first. And I'm sure you'd prefer to avoid that indignity.

[elfstonestrider]

This is meant to acclimate one's stomach to the food here?

[He's by no means slow. He'd never have gotten to where he is, or where he's meant to be, without the insight his birth and his rearer provided.]

It smells... Well.

[He's really got nothing to say about that, but he'll eat anything when he's hungry.]

[bow_of_the_galadhrim]

It is, yes. The smell and taste leave much to be desired but nothing stops you from eating something else once you finish it. When I arrived, there was one person who brought me an apple for right after finishing it.

[He's not surprised, at all, that Aragorn caught on so quickly. The ranger was smart, raised among elves and survived many things in his life. Legolas would have been disappointed if he hadn't.]