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perfectworrytitle: Silver Glass
fandom: TSUBASA: RESERvoir CHRoNiCLE & Lord of the Rings
word count: 3,332
rating: G
summary: The four travelers land just outside of Rivendell on the eve of a very important counsel…
notes: I might actually get around to working on this one.
With a swirl of magic, the four travelers landed in a shadowed forest. Before the last of the autumn leaves had settled, Kurogane was on his feet - shaking Fay off in the process. The magician flopped back into the loam. He lay where he fell beside Sakura while Syaoran jumped to his feet.
Kurogane surveyed their surroundings. The forest was thick with trees, deciduous and fir alike, though here and there bright honey gold shafts of sunlight cut down through the canopy.
"There's something magical about it, hmm?" Fay's voice was light, but Kurogane guessed that he wasn't as whimsical as he liked to pretend. "Like a fairy tale." Fay laughed. He sat up, and with the red autumn leaves tangled in his golden hair, he looked like something from a fairy tale, himself.
Sakura nodded in agreement. "It's sweet, but a little sad. The trees…" she trailed off, laying her hand against the trunk of a little white birch struggling to grow in the shadow of the great pines.
"You're not injured, are you, Princess?" Syaoran was tense and alert as he knelt back down beside her. He leapt up when they landed, just after Kurogane, but finding no immediate threat he turned his attention to Sakura, who shook her head and smiled at him.
Mokona was the last to emerge from the pile of leaves, scattering them in the process. A few drifted back down and settled in Kurogane's hair. He brushed them off with a scowl.
"Do you sense a feather in this world, Mokona?" Syaoran asked, leaning forward earnestly.
Mokona scrunched, ears perked up. "There's a feather in this world, but something is blocking Mokona from knowing how far away…"
"Another magic," said Fay. "Magic that's native to this world will be stronger than magic that's from another dimension, like Sakura's feather." The smile never disappeared from his face, but his eyes darkened for a moment. He closed them for a moment too long to be natural, like he was trying to banish a thought from his mind.
"We have to find it," said Syaoran. "Which way, Mokona?"
Mokona's ears flicked. "This way."
"There's water that way," said Kurogane. "We don't know if this world will be inhabited or not, or if they'll be friendly to strangers. We should find water and shelter."
"Daddy is always so practical," sing-songed Fay, easily ducking Kurogane's half-hearted swing at him. He turned his evasion gracefully into a sort of bow as he took Sakura's hand to lead her through the woods.
There was no path here, so they struggled through the undergrowth. They found a little stream in a clearing just as the sun began to set, turning the forest golden red.
Fay shook off his heavy winter coat and draped it over a low tree branch. He sat beneath it with Sakura. He shed the thinner blue coat beneath it as well and wrapped it around the princess's shoulders; the air was cool and it would get colder as the night went on, but there was no sense in risking a fire in an unknown world.
"We don't need the whole world to know where we are," said Fay. "Sakura-chan is a very popular girl, it seems."
"Mokona is popular, too!"
"If there's anyone to tell," said Kurogane, waving Mokona away. The magician had better sense than his foolish grin let on. "We should stay here tonight, but follow the river tomorrow."
They settled in for the night, eating food from their packs. They had taken it from the previous world; the townspeople had given them enough to feed a small army.
Fay and Kurogane had an unspoken agreement to always let the kid take the first watch, but tonight Sakura insisted she take a turn as well.
"You're all doing so much to help me," she said, "when you don't owe me anything! We've only just met, and you all take such good care of me! You should rest, I can watch." She sat with Mokona outside of the makeshift tent; Fay's flowing winter coat, and Kurogane's black cape blocked the chilly autumn winds.
Fay did not seem to require any further encouragement from her, and stretched himself out, face down in the pine needles and fallen leaves that cushioned the forest floor, pillowing his head on one arm. Kurogane wasn't sure how he managed to breathe like that, but sat with his back against the tree they had used to make their shelter. Syaoran lay beside him, though Kurogane knew the boy would not rest until Sakura was safely inside for the night - or as safely as could be on the forest floor in a strange world.
Sakura and Mokona sat together in the clearing by the stream as the stars came out, one by one. She couldn't remember if they were the same constellations from her home in Clow.
"They're beautiful," she said, as Syaoran rose to take his watch. "Are they the same stars as your country, Syaoran-kun?"
Syaoran gazed up as though he was noticing the stars for the first time, though the autumn sky was clear and the stars shone brightly above them. "Some of them," he said. "This is the Great Bear, see?" He pointed, and Sakura followed the line to the constellation. "If you follow the line, it goes to the North Star. She protects the Little Bear, and leads him through the sky." He blushed. "M-my father taught me…"
Kurogane opened one eye; he had not entirely trusted the princess not to collapse on her watch and had kept awake. "In my country, we call that Myoken Bosatsu."
"Oh, Kurogane-san! You startled me!" Sakura had jumped at the sudden sound of his voice, though now she turned to him and smiled.
Syaoran continued to gaze up at the stars; Kurogane had only glanced to see the constellations as the kids spoke. He couldn't endure looking up at stars so much like the ones in his own world, but so far away.
If Fay had any mythology about the Great Bear or Myoken Bosatsu, he kept it to himself. He had not given any indication that he was even awake, but Kurogane doubted that the magician had fallen asleep yet. He was still shifting too much; when Fay slept, he slept like the dead.
"Go to sleep, kid," Kurogane grumbled, knowing he wouldn't get any rest himself.
Sakura and Syaoran ducked back under his cape. Sakura curled up in Fay's blue coat with Mokona hugged tight against her chest. Syaoran propped himself up where Kurogane had been sitting, ready to move at a moment's notice to protect his princess.
The air here was fresh and clean. There was a crisp chill in the wind, but it felt good against Kurogane's skin after the crowded and polluted country they left behind, where the air was thick with smog. It felt greasy against Kurogane's skin; it had been a relief to wash his face in the clear, cold stream that bubbled through the clearing.
The second shift of the watch passed, and the third, and still Kurogane did not wake the others. He sat in stillness, listening to the sounds of the night: the wind through the trees, rattling the last of the brittle leaves; the hoots and cries of night birds; the scampering of their prey through the tangle of weeds that grew on the forest floor. He did not look at the stars.
Then, in the distance, hoofbeats. Kurogane felt them almost before he heard them, unsettling the quiet of the night. Whatever beast made those sounds was heavy, but it moved quickly and it was coming towards them.
"Kid!" Kurogane woke Syaoran, who was up in an instant.
Fay rolled over, getting to his feet in one smooth movement. "I was wondering when Kuro-pon was going to noticed the commotion."
Kurogane frowned, and Fay smiled before turning to wake Sakura.
"Sorry, Princess," whispered Syaoran. "It's not morning yet, but we need to move somewhere safer."
Fay pulled down his white jacket; in the moonlight, the white practically glowed and the swirling blue designs seemed to shimmer like a distant aurora. With Sakura still wearing his other coat, they moved away from the sound of hoofbeats, into a darker part of the forest.
The hoofbeats grew louder, and the hair rose on the back of Kurogane's neck. It wasn't long before his companions felt it, too; a dread crept up their spines, turning them to ice. In the dark, he could see his companions with a second sight.
They glowed, warm and alive. A soft aura where Sakura huddled beside the solid form of Syaoran the hollow of a tree; a shifting light like foxfire where Fay stood.
Whatever drove the horse on was the opposite; while his companions were a light in the shadowy underworld, the person - the thing - on the horse was a void, an empty blackness in the shape of a man. It reigned in the horse and, for a horrible moment, it turned it's face - if it even had a face under that hood - towards where Sakura and Syaoran hid with Mokona and sniffed.
Kurogane clenched his teeth to suppress a shudder. He was weaponless, but something in his gut told him it wouldn't matter anyway and no weapon - except maybe one imbued with magic like Ginryu, now long since lost to the Time-Space Witch - could harm the monster swathed in a great black cloak.
As the wraith leaned in towards Syaoran and Sakura, Kurogane became aware of a second set of hoofbeats. These ones were light on the forest floor, and there was a sound of tinkling bells. A white horse leapt towards them, and Kurogane's second vision was momentarily blinded by the light that glowed from within the horse's rider. While the monster was inky black like a starless night, the rider shone like a full moon just risen over the horizon.
There was a great cry, and the rider drew his bow, arrow tipped with fire. The shot was true. Kurogane's intuition had been correct, and the arrow passed harmlessly through where the monster's body should have been, but the flames caught on the heavy black cloak and the monster screeched.
The sound brought Kurogane back to the country of his youth, like all of the demons of that land crying out at once. Mokona curled against Sakura, hiding from the terrible scream. Syaoran covered Sakura's hands over her ears, gritting his teeth against the noise.
Fay dropped from his perch on the tree and plummeted towards the ground. Kurogane thought for a moment that he had fallen, but Fay was falling too gracefully for that. He landed neatly on his feet beside the rearing black horse, tugging the cloak from the rider.
The rider on the white horse took the opportunity to shoot a second arrow that caught the reminder of the cape on fire, and it burned in the night. The black horse reared again in a panic and thundered off into the woods.
"Thank you," said Fay, cordially, as though the stranger - their rescuer - on the white horse had just offered them tea and scones, not rescued them from a nameless terror. He stood between the rider and the tree where the others hid. Kurogane grinned inwardly with smug approval; for all of Fay's affected foolishness, he knew what he was doing when it came to protecting the kid and the princess.
"Who are you?" asked the stranger. His voice was light and silvery. "I do not recognize you as men of any country in Middle-earth."
"Fay D Flourite, at your service." Fay bowed low and sweeping. "This here is my traveling companion Kuro -"
"Kurogane," he cut in, gruffly, before Fay had the opportunity to think up another nickname.
"The other two?" asked the rider, still not dismounting. So Fay had not been successful in his attempt to hide them.
"Li Syaoran," said the boy. He imitated Fay and bowed. "This is Princess Sakura of Clow Country," he continued, presenting her. She curtsied, and the coins on her clothing jingled beneath the heavy coat she wore.
"You come from far away," observed the rider. "Many miles lay between us and the countries where men dress like you," he said to Sakura, "and I have never seen clothes the like of yours," he added to Kurogane.
"Tell me, how do a boy and princess of the southeast, a man of the far north and another of a country like I have never seen find themselves here near Imlardis?"
"We are travelers," said Syaoran. "We're writing a book…" He trailed off; the look on the stranger's face let him know that he called the boy's bluff immediately. One delicate eyebrow arched up in obvious disbelief. Syaoran gathered himself and pressed onwards, "on the history of… this country," he finished. The words fell flat.
"A book, is it? Then you will know that Imladris is a center of lore on the history of this country," said the stranger. "Follow me. You were attacked by a Nazgul; I gather at least that you are not spies of the Great Enemy."
"Nazgul?" asked Fay as they started to walk through the pre-dawn light of the forest.
"A Ringwraith," said the stranger, leading them onwards. "How far have you come, travelers?"
"Very," said Fay, but he did not elaborate. If the stranger wanted more, he made no indication, and rode on a step ahead of the travelers, into the morning light.
As dawn approached, the sound of water grew louder. They crested a hill, and the sun rose over the rim of the valley before them. A waterfall thundered down, and in the golden light of dawn, the mist filled with rainbows.
Sakura gasped. "It's beautiful."
Although the others did not speak, they paused a moment, stunned by the breathtaking beauty of the scene. Especially compared to the last world, full of machines, where the buildings were so many and so tall that they blocked out the sun, this world of nature was heartbreaking in it's loveliness. Deep in the valley, they could distantly see a grand house of glass and silver. Only their guide, the stranger, seemed unmoved by the sight.
He turned and lead his horse down the hill.
Another stranger that even Kurogane had not sensed or seen appeared from the shadows, cloaked in grey. He greeted their guide; their exchange was brief, and their guide dismounted while the second stranger disappeared.
"Come," he said. "From here, you will go blindfolded. The way into the valley from this side is secret, but you will not stumble with me as your guide."
He spoke true, and they walked with little trouble. Mokona hid beneath Fay's heavy blue coat, pressed against Sakura's side and straining for any hint of the feather. The magic that cloaked it grew stronger the deeper they walked into the valley.
When they removed their blindfolds, they stood before the great doors of the house they had seen from a distance. A woman in a flowing green dress took the blindfolds; the collar and cuffs of her dress reminded Kurogane of Fay's clothing from his native world, what he wore when they had been given nothing else.
Fay, in his extravagant, snow white coat (still mysteriously pristine), was the only one of the group who did not immediately stand out in this new world. He was bundled up for colder weather, but his looks - flaxen blonde hair and blue eyes that, the first time Kurogane met him, marked him as an outsider - blended in here, while Kurogane, with his dark hair, dark complexion, and red eyes felt the gaze of those around him, curious about the foreigner.
"Welcome," said the woman in the green dress, "to the Last Homely House."
She lead them into the grand building, still glittering in the sunlight. Inside was bright and airy, delicate and magnificent as the forest around it.
They were lead into a grand entranceway, with windows from the floor to the high ceilings, where the columns that supported the structure branched out like branches on stylized trees. Kurogane felt that the aesthetic was all wrong, but he felt a sense of common understanding with the designers of such an opulent building: a connection with, and respect for, nature and the natural form.
He nodded approvingly at the concept, but the execution left something to be desired for him. In Nihon, the lines were straight and sharp: rooms well ordered and simple, restful in their simplicity. Here, there were grand, sweeping arches and swirling patterns throughout.
Any mutual understanding he felt was not returned, but the sense of not belonging was reflected back on him. As they were shown to rooms the for guests and travelers to sleep, people stared at him and looked hurriedly away when he returned their glance. Fay, meanwhile, glided through the palatial building barely noticed. He looked like a long lost relative.
It was Sakura who ingratiated them with the people of this world, although Kurogane saw a few raised eyebrows and meaningful glances at her bare midriff. He felt something creep up inside of him, like when he sensed another ninja sneaking into Shirasagi Castle - something violently protective. He wasn't willing to examine just what that might mean, not right now.
"My name is Istarithil. You are welcome in Rivendell," said the woman in the green dress. "You will find rest here, and no worry. The wraith that hunted you cannot cross into Imladris."
"Thank you," said Sakura, and she bowed, her dress jangling as she moved.
Istarithil smiled. "Come," she said, beckoning them to follow as she turned down a long hallway, full of morning sunlight. "You will be clothed in the attire of our people.
Kurogane watched their guide for any sign of derision towards the princess, but finding none followed her through the vast Last Homely House. She indicated that the three men should enter the first room, and escorted Sakura into a second.
They found themselves in a room like the others, at once delicate and grand, ostentatious and in harmony with the nature. Fay changed his clothing with ease, deftly buttoning the complicated knot closures without so much as looking at them. His sky blue robes shimmered around him. In the clothes of this world, he could so easily blend in that he might never be noticed as an outsider.
Kurogane, however, struggled with the outfit laid out for him. It was heavy with embroidery, swirling up and down the sleeves of his shirt and the hem of his pants. Fay laughed and floated across the room to him. He smiled and pushed Kurogane's hands out of the way to fasten his shirt closed.
"I hope Kuro-baka's table manners are better than this," he laughed in Kurogane's face. "You looked so foolish in Piffle! I don't know that our hosts here will be so forgiving of your rudeness."
"You wouldn't even eat the sushi, and that was after you peeled off the fish to take out the wasabi!" barked Kurogane, irritated and ill-at-ease with the situation.
Further argument was cut off by the reappearance of Sakura. Her petal pink gown belled out in the sleeves and swept the floor by her feet. Although she was the princess of a desert country, she carried herself with the same grace of Istarithil behind her.
"D-do I look strange?" she asked, peering out from behind her fingers.
"You look lovely, Sakura-chan," said Fay, sweeping across the room to take her hand and spare Syaoran of having to speak. Kurogane thought that Syaoran's scarlet face clashed with the forest green of his robes.
"For today you will rest," said Istarithil. "Tonight, you will meet the master of this house, and find that you are not the only travelers from afar who are guests in Rivendell."
fandom: TSUBASA: RESERvoir CHRoNiCLE & Lord of the Rings
word count: 3,332
rating: G
summary: The four travelers land just outside of Rivendell on the eve of a very important counsel…
notes: I might actually get around to working on this one.
With a swirl of magic, the four travelers landed in a shadowed forest. Before the last of the autumn leaves had settled, Kurogane was on his feet - shaking Fay off in the process. The magician flopped back into the loam. He lay where he fell beside Sakura while Syaoran jumped to his feet.
Kurogane surveyed their surroundings. The forest was thick with trees, deciduous and fir alike, though here and there bright honey gold shafts of sunlight cut down through the canopy.
"There's something magical about it, hmm?" Fay's voice was light, but Kurogane guessed that he wasn't as whimsical as he liked to pretend. "Like a fairy tale." Fay laughed. He sat up, and with the red autumn leaves tangled in his golden hair, he looked like something from a fairy tale, himself.
Sakura nodded in agreement. "It's sweet, but a little sad. The trees…" she trailed off, laying her hand against the trunk of a little white birch struggling to grow in the shadow of the great pines.
"You're not injured, are you, Princess?" Syaoran was tense and alert as he knelt back down beside her. He leapt up when they landed, just after Kurogane, but finding no immediate threat he turned his attention to Sakura, who shook her head and smiled at him.
Mokona was the last to emerge from the pile of leaves, scattering them in the process. A few drifted back down and settled in Kurogane's hair. He brushed them off with a scowl.
"Do you sense a feather in this world, Mokona?" Syaoran asked, leaning forward earnestly.
Mokona scrunched, ears perked up. "There's a feather in this world, but something is blocking Mokona from knowing how far away…"
"Another magic," said Fay. "Magic that's native to this world will be stronger than magic that's from another dimension, like Sakura's feather." The smile never disappeared from his face, but his eyes darkened for a moment. He closed them for a moment too long to be natural, like he was trying to banish a thought from his mind.
"We have to find it," said Syaoran. "Which way, Mokona?"
Mokona's ears flicked. "This way."
"There's water that way," said Kurogane. "We don't know if this world will be inhabited or not, or if they'll be friendly to strangers. We should find water and shelter."
"Daddy is always so practical," sing-songed Fay, easily ducking Kurogane's half-hearted swing at him. He turned his evasion gracefully into a sort of bow as he took Sakura's hand to lead her through the woods.
There was no path here, so they struggled through the undergrowth. They found a little stream in a clearing just as the sun began to set, turning the forest golden red.
Fay shook off his heavy winter coat and draped it over a low tree branch. He sat beneath it with Sakura. He shed the thinner blue coat beneath it as well and wrapped it around the princess's shoulders; the air was cool and it would get colder as the night went on, but there was no sense in risking a fire in an unknown world.
"We don't need the whole world to know where we are," said Fay. "Sakura-chan is a very popular girl, it seems."
"Mokona is popular, too!"
"If there's anyone to tell," said Kurogane, waving Mokona away. The magician had better sense than his foolish grin let on. "We should stay here tonight, but follow the river tomorrow."
They settled in for the night, eating food from their packs. They had taken it from the previous world; the townspeople had given them enough to feed a small army.
Fay and Kurogane had an unspoken agreement to always let the kid take the first watch, but tonight Sakura insisted she take a turn as well.
"You're all doing so much to help me," she said, "when you don't owe me anything! We've only just met, and you all take such good care of me! You should rest, I can watch." She sat with Mokona outside of the makeshift tent; Fay's flowing winter coat, and Kurogane's black cape blocked the chilly autumn winds.
Fay did not seem to require any further encouragement from her, and stretched himself out, face down in the pine needles and fallen leaves that cushioned the forest floor, pillowing his head on one arm. Kurogane wasn't sure how he managed to breathe like that, but sat with his back against the tree they had used to make their shelter. Syaoran lay beside him, though Kurogane knew the boy would not rest until Sakura was safely inside for the night - or as safely as could be on the forest floor in a strange world.
Sakura and Mokona sat together in the clearing by the stream as the stars came out, one by one. She couldn't remember if they were the same constellations from her home in Clow.
"They're beautiful," she said, as Syaoran rose to take his watch. "Are they the same stars as your country, Syaoran-kun?"
Syaoran gazed up as though he was noticing the stars for the first time, though the autumn sky was clear and the stars shone brightly above them. "Some of them," he said. "This is the Great Bear, see?" He pointed, and Sakura followed the line to the constellation. "If you follow the line, it goes to the North Star. She protects the Little Bear, and leads him through the sky." He blushed. "M-my father taught me…"
Kurogane opened one eye; he had not entirely trusted the princess not to collapse on her watch and had kept awake. "In my country, we call that Myoken Bosatsu."
"Oh, Kurogane-san! You startled me!" Sakura had jumped at the sudden sound of his voice, though now she turned to him and smiled.
Syaoran continued to gaze up at the stars; Kurogane had only glanced to see the constellations as the kids spoke. He couldn't endure looking up at stars so much like the ones in his own world, but so far away.
If Fay had any mythology about the Great Bear or Myoken Bosatsu, he kept it to himself. He had not given any indication that he was even awake, but Kurogane doubted that the magician had fallen asleep yet. He was still shifting too much; when Fay slept, he slept like the dead.
"Go to sleep, kid," Kurogane grumbled, knowing he wouldn't get any rest himself.
Sakura and Syaoran ducked back under his cape. Sakura curled up in Fay's blue coat with Mokona hugged tight against her chest. Syaoran propped himself up where Kurogane had been sitting, ready to move at a moment's notice to protect his princess.
The air here was fresh and clean. There was a crisp chill in the wind, but it felt good against Kurogane's skin after the crowded and polluted country they left behind, where the air was thick with smog. It felt greasy against Kurogane's skin; it had been a relief to wash his face in the clear, cold stream that bubbled through the clearing.
The second shift of the watch passed, and the third, and still Kurogane did not wake the others. He sat in stillness, listening to the sounds of the night: the wind through the trees, rattling the last of the brittle leaves; the hoots and cries of night birds; the scampering of their prey through the tangle of weeds that grew on the forest floor. He did not look at the stars.
Then, in the distance, hoofbeats. Kurogane felt them almost before he heard them, unsettling the quiet of the night. Whatever beast made those sounds was heavy, but it moved quickly and it was coming towards them.
"Kid!" Kurogane woke Syaoran, who was up in an instant.
Fay rolled over, getting to his feet in one smooth movement. "I was wondering when Kuro-pon was going to noticed the commotion."
Kurogane frowned, and Fay smiled before turning to wake Sakura.
"Sorry, Princess," whispered Syaoran. "It's not morning yet, but we need to move somewhere safer."
Fay pulled down his white jacket; in the moonlight, the white practically glowed and the swirling blue designs seemed to shimmer like a distant aurora. With Sakura still wearing his other coat, they moved away from the sound of hoofbeats, into a darker part of the forest.
The hoofbeats grew louder, and the hair rose on the back of Kurogane's neck. It wasn't long before his companions felt it, too; a dread crept up their spines, turning them to ice. In the dark, he could see his companions with a second sight.
They glowed, warm and alive. A soft aura where Sakura huddled beside the solid form of Syaoran the hollow of a tree; a shifting light like foxfire where Fay stood.
Whatever drove the horse on was the opposite; while his companions were a light in the shadowy underworld, the person - the thing - on the horse was a void, an empty blackness in the shape of a man. It reigned in the horse and, for a horrible moment, it turned it's face - if it even had a face under that hood - towards where Sakura and Syaoran hid with Mokona and sniffed.
Kurogane clenched his teeth to suppress a shudder. He was weaponless, but something in his gut told him it wouldn't matter anyway and no weapon - except maybe one imbued with magic like Ginryu, now long since lost to the Time-Space Witch - could harm the monster swathed in a great black cloak.
As the wraith leaned in towards Syaoran and Sakura, Kurogane became aware of a second set of hoofbeats. These ones were light on the forest floor, and there was a sound of tinkling bells. A white horse leapt towards them, and Kurogane's second vision was momentarily blinded by the light that glowed from within the horse's rider. While the monster was inky black like a starless night, the rider shone like a full moon just risen over the horizon.
There was a great cry, and the rider drew his bow, arrow tipped with fire. The shot was true. Kurogane's intuition had been correct, and the arrow passed harmlessly through where the monster's body should have been, but the flames caught on the heavy black cloak and the monster screeched.
The sound brought Kurogane back to the country of his youth, like all of the demons of that land crying out at once. Mokona curled against Sakura, hiding from the terrible scream. Syaoran covered Sakura's hands over her ears, gritting his teeth against the noise.
Fay dropped from his perch on the tree and plummeted towards the ground. Kurogane thought for a moment that he had fallen, but Fay was falling too gracefully for that. He landed neatly on his feet beside the rearing black horse, tugging the cloak from the rider.
The rider on the white horse took the opportunity to shoot a second arrow that caught the reminder of the cape on fire, and it burned in the night. The black horse reared again in a panic and thundered off into the woods.
"Thank you," said Fay, cordially, as though the stranger - their rescuer - on the white horse had just offered them tea and scones, not rescued them from a nameless terror. He stood between the rider and the tree where the others hid. Kurogane grinned inwardly with smug approval; for all of Fay's affected foolishness, he knew what he was doing when it came to protecting the kid and the princess.
"Who are you?" asked the stranger. His voice was light and silvery. "I do not recognize you as men of any country in Middle-earth."
"Fay D Flourite, at your service." Fay bowed low and sweeping. "This here is my traveling companion Kuro -"
"Kurogane," he cut in, gruffly, before Fay had the opportunity to think up another nickname.
"The other two?" asked the rider, still not dismounting. So Fay had not been successful in his attempt to hide them.
"Li Syaoran," said the boy. He imitated Fay and bowed. "This is Princess Sakura of Clow Country," he continued, presenting her. She curtsied, and the coins on her clothing jingled beneath the heavy coat she wore.
"You come from far away," observed the rider. "Many miles lay between us and the countries where men dress like you," he said to Sakura, "and I have never seen clothes the like of yours," he added to Kurogane.
"Tell me, how do a boy and princess of the southeast, a man of the far north and another of a country like I have never seen find themselves here near Imlardis?"
"We are travelers," said Syaoran. "We're writing a book…" He trailed off; the look on the stranger's face let him know that he called the boy's bluff immediately. One delicate eyebrow arched up in obvious disbelief. Syaoran gathered himself and pressed onwards, "on the history of… this country," he finished. The words fell flat.
"A book, is it? Then you will know that Imladris is a center of lore on the history of this country," said the stranger. "Follow me. You were attacked by a Nazgul; I gather at least that you are not spies of the Great Enemy."
"Nazgul?" asked Fay as they started to walk through the pre-dawn light of the forest.
"A Ringwraith," said the stranger, leading them onwards. "How far have you come, travelers?"
"Very," said Fay, but he did not elaborate. If the stranger wanted more, he made no indication, and rode on a step ahead of the travelers, into the morning light.
As dawn approached, the sound of water grew louder. They crested a hill, and the sun rose over the rim of the valley before them. A waterfall thundered down, and in the golden light of dawn, the mist filled with rainbows.
Sakura gasped. "It's beautiful."
Although the others did not speak, they paused a moment, stunned by the breathtaking beauty of the scene. Especially compared to the last world, full of machines, where the buildings were so many and so tall that they blocked out the sun, this world of nature was heartbreaking in it's loveliness. Deep in the valley, they could distantly see a grand house of glass and silver. Only their guide, the stranger, seemed unmoved by the sight.
He turned and lead his horse down the hill.
Another stranger that even Kurogane had not sensed or seen appeared from the shadows, cloaked in grey. He greeted their guide; their exchange was brief, and their guide dismounted while the second stranger disappeared.
"Come," he said. "From here, you will go blindfolded. The way into the valley from this side is secret, but you will not stumble with me as your guide."
He spoke true, and they walked with little trouble. Mokona hid beneath Fay's heavy blue coat, pressed against Sakura's side and straining for any hint of the feather. The magic that cloaked it grew stronger the deeper they walked into the valley.
When they removed their blindfolds, they stood before the great doors of the house they had seen from a distance. A woman in a flowing green dress took the blindfolds; the collar and cuffs of her dress reminded Kurogane of Fay's clothing from his native world, what he wore when they had been given nothing else.
Fay, in his extravagant, snow white coat (still mysteriously pristine), was the only one of the group who did not immediately stand out in this new world. He was bundled up for colder weather, but his looks - flaxen blonde hair and blue eyes that, the first time Kurogane met him, marked him as an outsider - blended in here, while Kurogane, with his dark hair, dark complexion, and red eyes felt the gaze of those around him, curious about the foreigner.
"Welcome," said the woman in the green dress, "to the Last Homely House."
She lead them into the grand building, still glittering in the sunlight. Inside was bright and airy, delicate and magnificent as the forest around it.
They were lead into a grand entranceway, with windows from the floor to the high ceilings, where the columns that supported the structure branched out like branches on stylized trees. Kurogane felt that the aesthetic was all wrong, but he felt a sense of common understanding with the designers of such an opulent building: a connection with, and respect for, nature and the natural form.
He nodded approvingly at the concept, but the execution left something to be desired for him. In Nihon, the lines were straight and sharp: rooms well ordered and simple, restful in their simplicity. Here, there were grand, sweeping arches and swirling patterns throughout.
Any mutual understanding he felt was not returned, but the sense of not belonging was reflected back on him. As they were shown to rooms the for guests and travelers to sleep, people stared at him and looked hurriedly away when he returned their glance. Fay, meanwhile, glided through the palatial building barely noticed. He looked like a long lost relative.
It was Sakura who ingratiated them with the people of this world, although Kurogane saw a few raised eyebrows and meaningful glances at her bare midriff. He felt something creep up inside of him, like when he sensed another ninja sneaking into Shirasagi Castle - something violently protective. He wasn't willing to examine just what that might mean, not right now.
"My name is Istarithil. You are welcome in Rivendell," said the woman in the green dress. "You will find rest here, and no worry. The wraith that hunted you cannot cross into Imladris."
"Thank you," said Sakura, and she bowed, her dress jangling as she moved.
Istarithil smiled. "Come," she said, beckoning them to follow as she turned down a long hallway, full of morning sunlight. "You will be clothed in the attire of our people.
Kurogane watched their guide for any sign of derision towards the princess, but finding none followed her through the vast Last Homely House. She indicated that the three men should enter the first room, and escorted Sakura into a second.
They found themselves in a room like the others, at once delicate and grand, ostentatious and in harmony with the nature. Fay changed his clothing with ease, deftly buttoning the complicated knot closures without so much as looking at them. His sky blue robes shimmered around him. In the clothes of this world, he could so easily blend in that he might never be noticed as an outsider.
Kurogane, however, struggled with the outfit laid out for him. It was heavy with embroidery, swirling up and down the sleeves of his shirt and the hem of his pants. Fay laughed and floated across the room to him. He smiled and pushed Kurogane's hands out of the way to fasten his shirt closed.
"I hope Kuro-baka's table manners are better than this," he laughed in Kurogane's face. "You looked so foolish in Piffle! I don't know that our hosts here will be so forgiving of your rudeness."
"You wouldn't even eat the sushi, and that was after you peeled off the fish to take out the wasabi!" barked Kurogane, irritated and ill-at-ease with the situation.
Further argument was cut off by the reappearance of Sakura. Her petal pink gown belled out in the sleeves and swept the floor by her feet. Although she was the princess of a desert country, she carried herself with the same grace of Istarithil behind her.
"D-do I look strange?" she asked, peering out from behind her fingers.
"You look lovely, Sakura-chan," said Fay, sweeping across the room to take her hand and spare Syaoran of having to speak. Kurogane thought that Syaoran's scarlet face clashed with the forest green of his robes.
"For today you will rest," said Istarithil. "Tonight, you will meet the master of this house, and find that you are not the only travelers from afar who are guests in Rivendell."
