12. Dark Waters

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Nothing burns like the cold. But only for a while. Then it gets inside you and starts to fill you up, and after a while you don’t have the strength to fight it. But love, it keeps the cold out better than a cloak.

***

As the full moon passed, so I was slowly transformed back to my normal self.

The first indication of normalcy, sadly, was the cold. I clutched my cloak and Legolas’ elven cape tighter, inhaling the faint smell of fresh cut grass and rain that came with it. A smell that I started to identify as Legolas’ comforting scent.

Does all elves smell this good?’ I wondered.

As per usual, the transformation would exerted my human body, and its effect would take place right after I came back to my own skin.

Fatigue started to weighed down on me. I fought to keep my eyes open. If I were back in the Dark Forest, I would just spend the whole day after the transformation sleeping.

Unfortunately, stopping even for a nap was out of the question in this journey. So I gathered what strength I had left and try to keep up until tonight when we can rest.

As the morning sun shone on the white, glittering snow, I got up on my feet and turned facing my companions. They were a bunch of tiny shapes in my eyes now from where I was standing. I waved my hand.

“Legolas,” I called out, “Can you hear me? I’m ready to join the Fellowship.”

I squinted my eyes, and a figure waved their hand at me–Legolas.

I stood my ground as I watched the Fellowship continued on walking until I finally reunited with them.

Legolas was the first one to reach me, thanks to elf’s light feet that he could walk easily on the snow. I put down my hood and smiled at him.

“I’m me again,” I announced, smiling at the blond elf.

His electric blue eyes bore into my green ones and I detected concern swimming on his orbs.

“You look tired, mellon nin,” he pointed out softly.

“A common side effect of the transformation. Nothing special,” I replied lightly as I moved my hand to the pin that secured Legolas’ cape around my shoulders.

After a while fumbling sleepily with the engraved pin, I finally able to take them off. As I did, the cold wind suddenly hit me. I shuddered, but the cold woke me a bit. I offered the cape back to Legolas.

“Here,” I gave him his cape back. “Thank you.”

Legolas shook his head, eyes still transfixed on me. I watched his expression as he looked at me, and it seemed like the elf had a lot he had on his mind right now.

If only I could read minds.

“No, Sara,” he said, rejecting the cape. “Keep it. You need it now even more than last night.”

Under any other circumstances I would definitely insist to return it to him. But the fatigue, the biting cold…

I shivered as a gust of icy air blew towards our direction, causing my hair to blow all over my face.

“Thank you,” I quickly thanked him and proceed to fumble some more as I tried to put the cape back on.

My eyes strained with focus as I fumbled to pin back the cape under my chin. But my fingers were stiff with cold, making the simple task about multiple times more complicated than it should be.

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