Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Excuse me while I do this." Zaya said standing and taking a small knife to beginning to cut up her dress. She hadn't wanted such a sluggish thing in any circumstance, even if she missed wearing such beautiful dresses. It simply wasn't functional. The pale grey leggings she wore underneath would cater to a much better movement in hand to hand and also if they needed to make a quick escape.
Legolas was surprised at first as she to cut around the bottom of her floor length dress to remove the disruptive skirt. Once she had done, he gently opened his eyes from their closure (in case he invaded her modesty) and she was thankfully covered in light grey leggings that were almost certain to get dirty but I'm sure she probably had a trick for that. Her feet were encompassed in some dark grey boots and the sleeves of her dress remained as mesh. The mithril corset armoured her tightly around the waist with a small piece of skirt left that covered her hips and halfway down her thigh. He had wondered how she could achieve such a figure while simply doing nothing to maintain it. As what was there to do in Laketown for exercise. She could hardly swim in that disgusting water.
Suddenly a rustle amongst the trees awoke them both from their mindfulness... Zaya picked up her sword and threw Legolas' daggers across to him as they approached the culprit of the disruption. "Reveal yourself!" Legolas began and watched Zaya approach carefully, she was trying to discover who it was.
"Zaya?" They turned in surprise and there stood Radagast the Brown. She gently released her sword from a menacing grip and smiled with relief at the least threatening man in Middle Earth. "Radagast, it's good to see you my friend." She tipped her head a little, leaning gently on her sword. "Prince Legolas, my lady, what is it you're doing out here exactly?"
"We're on a quest, we'll begin our journey again to Rivendell tomorrow." The wizard frowned and began to sniff the air ferociously. "Spiders..." he muttered and in the relative darkness from the dusk breaking they all unsheathed and readied their weapons. Zaya lit up a ball of light in her hands and began to light up the area in the vicinity.
"Are you sure there were-..." she couldn't finish when a spider jumped on the old wizard and she automatically pounced forward and stabbed it through the mouth. She kicked its corpse off the wizard and helped him to his feet. "What's going on Radagast?" She said in concern looking over at the prince who was keeping watch for any more attacks. "Spiders have been filling the woods Zaya, endless amounts of them..." "They're in Mirkwood Forest too..." the prince cut in, finding a common ground of conversation.
"He has returned Zaya... Lady Galadriel banished him to Mordor and there he will remain until the ring is either destroyed... or taken back." She sighed and looked around. "You need to get home Radagast, if we see any spiders along the way, I'll see what I can do to push them back. But without my full strength it may be difficult." He understood immediately and allowed himself to stumble through the woods with the light of his staff guiding him.
"Be careful lady Zaya, there are fouler things in these woods than spiders." She nodded and bid farewell. Legolas turned to look at her... fearing he knew what the wizard was implying. "Don't tell me what I'm thinking is true..." he muttered and looked up from beneath his lashes at the witch.
"Spriggans, yes... I felt their awakening in the woods when I went to collect the herbs from the border. I had hoped it not to be true." "And if it is, then we are not welcome in these woods..." the elf muttered and looked around. It was dark out... the moon and stars gleamed more than ever on that night, knowing their appraiser had reawakened once again.
"We head to a Rivendell first? Isn't Brillbrandy Wood closer?" He asked, wondering why they would take the longest route and most difficult order of artefacts. "I-... I want to put off going there Legolas." She looked away for a moment. "When I left I was in a state of stupefaction... I was traumatised. I didn't move anything... I didn't even bury them." Zaya raised her hand to her mouth slow and with a pronounced shake upon realising she hadn't even given them their rightful burial: every last witch deserved that.
"You were in a state of shock, you cannot punish yourself like that." He said, walking to her and attempting to reassure her with what information he had of the situation. "It was not right, even in my grief... I showed no respect by just walking out of there." Legolas gently touched her shoulder and Zaya was still unaccustomed with such measures she had missed out for a near millennia.
They both sat down around the small fire opposite one another, they stared around awkwardly. Even with their long lasting conversation they had yet to really know each other personally. They had both begun to realise that maybe they were becoming friends. "Zaya, have you ever loved anyone? I know you said it hadn't happened because you weren't dead but... have you?" He asked and all she she could do was stare at the fire sadly.
"There was a girl at my coven... Vanya. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever see in my life. She would speak to me like an equal where everyone else spoke to me like an angel and I liked her more for that." She laughed a little, and pushed back the tears. "We used to sneak away in the night to meet in the lake where we'd skinny dip together and fireflies encircled us as we hugged in the water." Her smile fell slightly.
"What happened to her?" Legolas pondered and Zaya could only look away in woe.
