Eldric turned on the grass and propped himself on his elbows, his features softened as he stared deep into her eyes, smiling he whispered...
"Pimpinella, your sapphire orbs are dimmed, no more do they dance alive, there is something dark shadowed in those mirrors were light once used to rule my breathless heart, tell me what is wrong"
She smiled at her dear hobbit, for a moment making him remember the shire rose he had grown to love beyond his life, then just like the fading light over the Delving fields, a sorrowful sunset veiled over her...
"I saw more this morning Eldric, they are leaving us. They care no more for the troubles of Middle Earth"
He briefly nodded, knowing in his heart that her words ringed with the sharpness of truth, and yet there was so much more that even she could not guess, ever more frequently he had seen them in his hunting travels through the Shire's forests. Elven wanderers slowly making their way towards the Grey Havens, destined to leave forever Middle Earths shores into the unknown west. Softly, trying to reassure he carried on…
"It is the call of the sea Pimpi, their hearts are swept by the rolling surfs songs, like a lovers caress that will never ebb, so to them that tide draws their hearts into its arms"
Pimpinella laughed despite herself, her bright blue eyes sparkling alive…
"Oh you are terrible, cannot you say anything without ever trying to turn it into a poem my gallant hunter?"
He grinned ruefully and shook his head, his voice ringed with a mischievous edge to it
"No! You are my rose, the fairest blossom ever to be breathed alive from the shires gardens bloom, you are my goddess enshrined in the beauty of her temple for my eyes to fall in worship and so it is my right to let my lips slip free the warm breeze that will fan the shivering flutters of your beautiful heart"
Eldric breathlessly stopped and stared deep into those eyes that so shone true his hearts dreams, slowly his familiar impish gaze returned to him. She shook her head even as a blush crept through her cheeks…
"Oh stop it! You are impossible!"
"Aye I am and your blush is but the warm flow of your heart touched, to shade your cheeks the hue of a dawn's spring sun, a sunrise that I yearn will never suffer a sunset's death"
Pimpinella smiled, warmth returning to her eyes as she gazed back into his eyes, those eyes that could be so seriously strong and yet so emotional too. He was both a grown up hobbit male and an irrepressible young tween, softly she whispered back at him..
"No Eldric, it is more than the call of the sea…I am so scared"
Eldric stared silently at her; even as the sunset faded into the creeping night, he saw fear and worry mask her face into that nightmare that chased her. Slowly her haunted voice whispered into the stillness of the shire night…
"There is a storm coming and everything that is beautiful will fail, Eldric the Shire will burn and there is nothing we can do to stop it from happening"
Her voice faltered just as two crystal tears furrowed down her cheeks, catching the moonlight, gleaming pearls of pain flowing a river down her flesh.
Eldrics heart stopped, her own words echoed those very fears that were each day fed more with a growing despair, a despair which he had bravely fought to keep hidden deep within himself…slowly he raised his arm and curled a finger under her tear and even as his ebony eyes lost themselves in her agonised ones, his lips moistened with her souls flood. He smiled as her eyes brimmed with something more than pain and sadness and his voice though soft was edged with an inner strength that she could feel…
"They say whoever kisses a tear kisses a heart, for is not a tear just a shiver of a hearts emotion"
"Oh Eldric" she stammered, her voice catching.
"You don't believe me…you think I am a scared weak lass who has lost her mind with fanciful tales…y-you and your stupid poetic words!"
The moment her words spurted out, a deep pang of regret seized her, as her eyes fell on his wounded gaze, swiftly from the ground her arms wrapped around him and fiercely held on, tightly, nothing could have torn him away from her that very moment…
"No..no, no!"
Eldric sighed. His heart echoing into the life of her own flesh, his words muffled by her own heartbeats…
"Shhh shhh..you do not have to say anything my shire rose, I know from where your words ebb from and they are not from your heart, Pimpi, you are no weak angel. You are the strength from which I find my own…without you my dawn, I am just a lonely flicker of light lost in the darkness of an endless night"
She smiled silently, knowing that he cared enough to save her from the nightmares of her own guilt. Suddenly she frowned as he swiftly got up from the cushioning grass and nervously stammered, a sudden fear engulfing her...maybe he had lied, maybe she had really hurt him…
"W-Where are you going? Don't leave me! Not now!"
Eldric turned and stopped, his gaze soft on her who claimed his heart as its home…
"To find answers"
Answers? From whom? What answers?"
Eldric's smile slowly faded into the encroaching darkness, his voice whispering back…as he run into the shadows
"From my secret"
In his mind he saw him…even as he raced towards the forest beyond the Delving fields…Elanrandir