Twisted Paths
Chapter Two
Introductions
Hello lovely readers.
We bring you the second instalment of Twisted Paths.
Enjoy :)
LegoXSaku
Sakura was brought back to consciousness just after the pre-dawn hour by the sound of quiet humming and almost silent footsteps moving about the forest around her dwelling, along with small splashes of water hitting skin. The elves were readying themselves for the day ahead.
Sitting up Sakura felt the blanket slip from her chest to pool about her waist and thought it strange. She was a restless sleeper, she knew and the blankets would usually be tangled around her ankles in the morning. It didn't take long before she realised someone must have come in to check on her in the few hours she'd been asleep and covered her back up.
Slowly she raised her arms above her head, one folding behind; hand reaching to clasp the other as it rose above and stretched, her back arching as she did so before doing the same the opposite way. She then turned in the bed the blanket slipping off her lap as she placed her feet flat on the floor, brushing an errant strand of hair from her face before turning to survey her room in the sunlight.
In the farthest corner was a moderate sized notch in the wall with a basin to one side, a stretch of flat stone to the other which held a shining silver pitcher along with a comb and a sheet of brass pressed into the wall behind the basin, its reflective surface acting in place of a mirror. There was a white wooden desk in the corner beside the entryway holding parchment and writing utensils and of course the bed she was currently occupying which she now noticed had clothing splayed neatly at the foot.
She looked at the doorway to find what looked to be a fine, shimmering piece of cloth hanging across it. She could see a glimmer of fine golden hair sparkling in the sunlight next to the doorway, blown by the slight breeze and figured Haldir was still standing guard. Standing up and padding softly to the doorway, Sakura moved the glimmering curtain aside and poked her head out only to come face-to-face with someone who was not Haldir but bore an odd resemblance.
"Uh..." Sakura tried desperately to remember Haldir's greeting to her yesterday but the other Elf beat her to it.
"Mae Govannen*(Well met)." He said in a slightly higher and friendlier voice than Haldir.
"May Govenaan." She said awkwardly back and he gave a lilting, albeit quiet laugh.
"No Lasdithen* (Little leaf), that's not quite right but you will learn." He gave her a small, confident smile.
"If you don't mind me asking, where is Haldir?" Sakura asked, uncertainty lacing her tone.
"He had to patrol the border this morning but I'm sure he will return by the afternoon." Rúmil explained and Sakura nodded in understanding.
"Thank you, um... who are you? If you don't mind my asking." The male elf smiled broadly at her.
"Not at all Elleth* (Female elf), I am known as Rúmil and will be your escort around Lothlórien for the morning. May I know your name also?" He seemed polite enough to her.
"Of course, my name is Sakura." She gave the young looking Elven male a bright smile.
"Would you by any chance be related to Haldir?" Sakura thought it was a polite enough question to which he gave a nod as he answered.
"Yes, He is my brother." Sakura smiled as she recognised the resemblance.
"Of course." She vocalized and nodded.
"Uh, about the impromptu doorway..." Sakura trailed off as she looked behind her expecting to see her room shimmering through cloth only to find a dark weave before her eyes and she turned back to face him an inkling of confusion on her face.
"You know what, never mind. I'll just go change and wash my face." She gave him a quick smile before slipping back into her dwelling.
She shook her head at the mystery of it as she could see right through the cloth to the woodland outside. Walking back to her bed she picked up the splayed cloth from the end of it to find a very pale lilac gown (almost as pale as a Hyuuga's eyes) made of what looked like satin with a silver brocade trim at the sleeves, shoulder, hem, waist and 'V' shaped neckline.
She thought she'd find shoes also and looked around thoroughly in the room dress hanging from her hands but found none. She guessed she'd have to go at it barefoot as it seemed someone had removed her ANBU armour and her sandals from beside her bed.
Making sure to have a quick peek through the shimmering cloth over her doorway Sakura languidly stripped off and moved over to the basin. Grabbing the pitcher, which she thought empty; she went to remove it from the bench only to hear the sound of water sloshing inside. Instead of removing it from the bench she carefully tipped it so the lip was directed at the basin and poured half of the contents into the rounded metal bowl.
Straightening the pitcher up to stand on its own she spotted a towel hanging from the wall beside the notch which she hadn't noticed before and a washcloth resting on the stone bench top beside the comb. Grateful that she would be able to scrub the grime off her skin from her battle with Itachi, she picked up the washcloth and dipped it into the tepid water of the basin finding that she didn't mind the chill. In fact it was invigorating as she scrubbed the cloth against her skin, as it was warm enough that she wouldn't freeze or catch a chill.
Sakura took her time, languidly scrubbing her skin and enjoying the refreshing feel after her exhaustion yesterday. Once finished she quickly removed the residual droplets of water with the towel hanging by the notch and then wrapping it around her form she retrieved the dress from the bed, finding a clean pair of undergarments underneath which she was extremely grateful for.
Having already removed her chest bindings, Sakura shimmied out of her underwear before pulling on the fresh underwear and re-binding her chest. Dropping the towel and slipping the dress given her on, she shimmied the material along her body before it rested properly against her skin.
She noticed that it wrapped perfectly around her substantial bosom and rested perfectly against her perky backside, as if it was made just for her. She was about to retrieve the comb by the basin when Rúmil called out to her.
"Sakura, are you dressed?" She smiled at his thoughtfulness knowing Naruto would have just come barging in, she could get used to this.
"Yes Rúmil. Come on in." She spoke as she moved to the notch in the wall where the comb was laid on the stone bench. Rúmil entered as Sakura pulled the band from her hair and ran her fingers through the plait undoing it and at some points, her fingers catching on the small knots within. Rúmil moved behind her and reached for the comb just as she was about to.
"Here, let me." He gestured before combing her pink locks starting at the crown of her head and dragging down through the strands, ridding her hair of the knots as he went along. He continued the gentle treatment until the comb ran through her hair smoothly all the way to the tips half-way down her back.
"You have such lovely hair." Rúmil declared as he gathered a small amount from her right temple and braided along the side of her head till just after her ear before plaiting it until it came to the half-way point of her hair and tying it off before doing the same to the left side. After he finished plaiting the left side he brought both sections together and undid the two ties keeping them done up before tying the two braids at the middle with two thin ribbons in a bow, one silver and one the same lilac colour as her dress.
"There." He smiled at her over her shoulder.
"These are warrior braids." He explained as her touched her done up hair.
"They are a sign of respect among our people." She smiled back at him as she ran her fingers over one of the intricate braids.
"Are you ready to explore Sakura?" Rúmil asked.
"Of course." She nodded but then she frowned in consternation.
"But what about my shoes?" He laughed in a quiet clear tone.
"You won't need them here. Do not worry" Sakura nodded in understanding.
"But of course, lead the way." She said this as they exited her dwelling to go exploring among the Mallorn trees.
The early afternoon hours found Sakura being lead back up the intertwined trees of Caras Galadhon by Rúmil as Lady Galadriel had requested her presence. Making their way up the last of the stairs, having been starting and stopping so Sakura could view some of what surrounded the tallest Mallorn trees -as she had been told they were called by Rúmil-.
They finally made it to the top to see Lady Galadriel talking to a young but wise looking Elven male. At their approach Lady Galadriel and the regal looking male turned to look at them.
"Sakura so nice to see you. Has your exploration been to your liking?" Galadriel asked with a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"Yes, Hiril-nin* (My lady)." Sakura nodded along with her answer. Rúmil had taught her the way to address Lords and Ladies in her company and how to say it properly without sounding like a blithering idiot.
Lady Galadriel smiled at her proper pronunciation of the word and realised teaching this young elfling would be easier than she had imagined as she was clearly sound of mind and quick of thought.
"Good, I am glad you have. Rúmil," Sakura watched as she addressed the young elf "Please go with Sairalínde and relive your brothers." Rúmil nodded to Galadriel.
"Yes, Hiril-nin* (My lady)." He turned to Sakura.
"I had a fun morning, enjoy your afternoon and I may see you some time later." He gave her a small smile and a quick bow before turning and walking off with a dark haired female.
'That must have been Sairalínde.' Sakura thought, to relive Haldir of his shift.
Galadriel's words sparked something in her mind 'Brothers?' she thought but decided the question would be better answered by Haldir himself and so turned her focus back to Galadriel and the wise seeming elven male.
"Sakura, I would like for you to meet Lord Celeborn." Galadriel waved a hand in the direction of the elven male and it was then she understood that this was the Lord of the woodland realm known as Lothlórien.
"Pleased to meet you Hir-nin (My lord).*" Sakura said as she gave the man a small bow out of respect.
"So this is the elfling you were talking about A'mael* (Beloved) and what hair, such a lovely shade. May I ask who braided it for you?" He gave her a ghost of a smile.
"Of course, Hir-nin* (My lord). Rúmil braided it for me this morning before our exploration." The corner of her lips tugged up as she fought a broad grin threatening to smear itself across her face at the mention of the playful elf.
"Ah, of course." he said as he nodded his ascent.
Lady Galadriel watched the exchange with interest especially her husband as he rarely smiled at anyone. An idea formed in her mind but she decided to not to act on it until she was sure of certain facts.
"If you wish to wait for Haldir then I suggest you wait here for him or I can give you some scrolls on our lore that were written in westron for you to study on your own. Which will it be?" Galadriel asked as Celeborn seemed to be finished speaking.
"I suppose I shall wait here My Lady." She replied courteously.
"Of course, feel free to browse around as there are many things of interest here. Lord Celeborn and I shall depart but we will be back in time for Haldir's return." Sakura gave a slight incline of her head and watched as Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel departed.
She decided to make a round of the room looking at the different artefacts inside notches carved out in the wall. There was a large broadsword with small sparkling jewels laden into the handle, a medium sized diamond pressed into the pommel and leaning a little closer so her breath fogged against the blade she could see a name inscribed just underneath where the diamond was set but she couldn't read it as it was in another language.
In the next notch sat a decorative bow of white with thin bands of golden filigree laden in twisting patterns on the handle, the bow-string shimmering silver in the pale light. Continuing along she found in the notch next to the white bow was a decorated piece of parchment in a strange looking language she had never seen before surrounded by detailed animals, flowers and even in one corner was what looked to be a large white castle with an extremely tall tower and large battlements surrounding the outside but in miniature, she leaned much closer to try and read the small neat script.
"It's Tengwar." Sakura jumped back in shock and almost swore as she bumped into someone, she was so startled. Turning around she came face to shirt covered prominent collarbone with someone, glancing up still feeling startled she saw who it was.
"Haldir!" She exclaimed a little louder than necessary and saw him cringe at the volume.
"Sorry." She said a bit quieter stepping back a little and grimacing in apology. She was also quite surprised, not expecting Haldir back just yet although she could have been concentrating so hard that time had just slipped away from her.
"What is Tengwar?" She asked as she turned back to the parchment and tried to read what looked to be a poem.
"It is a script created by an Elda of Ñoldor known as Fëanor* or better known as Finwë named after his father. It helped to write languages such as Westron and Sindarin along with other notable ones such as Quenya culminated together so you could use one language system instead of having to learn multiple languages or have to get things translated by someone who knows both your language and the one you wanted translated. It is his name that is inscribed on the pommel of the sword over there." Sakura nodded to show she had listened as she looked over at the broadsword a moment.
'Just like our decoders in Konoha.' She thought and noted that Haldir had walked away from her, she turned to see him talking to Lady Galadriel who had returned.
"Thank you for your report Haldir and I see you are giving our newest elfling a small history lesson." A smile was playing about her lips.
"Yes Hiril-nin* (My kady), I was telling her about Tengwar script as she stumbled upon your poem in the alcove there." Haldir knew Galadriel would know which one he was speaking of.
"Ah, I see. I am glad you're intrigued Sakura but I urge you to spend the rest of your day outside and exploring. I will have someone leave Lore, History and Language scrolls on your desk sometime during the morning." Sakura nodded as she moved away from the notch in the wall she had been standing by.
"Hannon le*" Sakura said as she gave a small bow to the Lord and Lady before turning and following the two tall blonde male elves down to the forest floor and noted their hair shined as it fluttered in the cool breeze floating through the woodland area. Sakura wandered back to her dwelling to sit on one of the small roughhewn steps that lay just a few feet from her doorway and watched as Haldir and the other male elf walked toward her.
"Sakura" Haldir spoke her name as he looked down at her.
"This is my younger brother Orophin and I believe you also met my youngest brother Rúmil today." Sakura nodded to Haldir and turned to the newly discovered Orophin who had yet to say a word.
"Mae Govannen* (Well met)." Sakura said in greeting and both males were a little startled by her proper pronunciation.
"Hannon le* (Thank you). Mae Govannen, Elleth." Orophin replied.
"Elleth?" Sakura turned a questioning stare to Haldir.
"It is a Sindarin word meaning female elf. We thought you may get frustrated if everyone called you elfling all the time." He reasoned.
"They could simply call me Sakura," She reasoned back "It's not that difficult to pronounce." She was in a little bit of a huff and her pink hair bobbed about her face as she stood up from the stair forcing the two elves to move back a few steps.
'Damn I really want to train.' Sakura thought as she shook her head in frustration and walked back into her dwelling both males stopping short of the dark cloth over her doorway.
Sakura walked over and was about to plop down on the bed when she saw her ANBU uniform clean and folded at the end, though she noticed her plate armour was missing she was struck with an idea. Pulling the dress over her head and folding it gently, she shook out her clothes and re-bound her chest with the clean wrappings provided. She slipped back into the sleeveless, high-necked tight navy blue shirt and the slightly baggy navy blue pants, feeling more at ease for it.
She wandered back out of the dwelling the soft padding of her feet against the stone floor alerting the two murmuring elves to her approach, their conversation coming to a halt as they turned to face her and their eyes widened in surprise at her attire.
"Is their somewhere I can train around here?" Sakura asked the wide eyed elves in front of her.
"Ah... yes." Orophin stumbled over his words as he spoke and he turned questioning eyes to his brother, obviously wondering about her strange attire.
"I can show you the way if you would like?" Orophin questioned as he turned his attention back to the pink haired elfling.
"If you would show me, it would be much appreciated." Sakura said with a nod, her face showing no ounce of emotion.
Haldir thought it might be an idea to be wary of Sakura at the moment because of her current mood and promptly told Orophin so in undertone in Sindarin as they traversed to the training grounds. Sakura found it didn't take long to reach the training grounds and was surprised at the sheer number of elves there.
There were archery ranges and post-dummies for those practising with swords, daggers and the like, to attack. There was even a separate area where the ground was thickly covered in moss and several pairs of elves were paired off against each other, sparring in different forms of hand to hand combat.
Sakura marched over to an unoccupied space most of the sparring pairs stopping mid-move to watch her pass pink hair fluttering out behind her, before resuming their spar. Sakura stopped in the spare space and without thinking about it started moving through her Kata with sharp choppy gestures, her frustration bleeding into her technique. Haldir and Orophin just stood to the side and watched her in fascination having never seen the likes of her technique before.
They watched as Sakura's stance slowly loosened, feet spreading shoulder width apart, shoulders becoming more relaxed and her movements flowing instead of thrusting sharply. The movement was starting to soothe her frayed nerves and allowing her to relax as her hands did the forms and her body moved in compliance. Orophin moved toward her which grabbed her attention as she finished the third set of Kata forms and she stopped momentarily to look at him expectantly.
"Would you do me the honour of sparring with me?" His voice had a rather noticeable lilting tenor to it as he asked her.
"I do not think it wise. You may be harmed should you venture to do so." Sakura said none too lightly but as she turned to go back to her Kata a hand rested lightly upon her bare shoulder, the hand warm and calloused from working with ones hands.
"Saes* (Please)." She heard Orophin request quietly and Sakura paused before she gave a hesitant nod.
"Are you ready?" She asked slipping into her sparring stance as she saw Orophin glided into his own sparring stance in front of her as well.
"Yes." Sakura looked to Haldir to give the go-ahead.
"First person to land a body strike is the victor, chest and face only." He said, laying down the rules.
"Go." was his quiet command.
Sakura moved with ease and parried each one of Orophin's quick, well aimed blows with her hands and forearms before he could land a hit on her and it seemed she wasn't faring much better. They worked their way back and forth across the space around them parrying blows and trying to land a hit but to no avail; it seemed as though they were caught in a stale-mate.
Apparently the fight was of some interest to the other elves as all sounds of training stopped and though she was mostly concentrating on the fight Sakura could hear the quiet rasp of metal as swords and daggers were returned to sheaths, the creak of bowstrings as they were settled back into place and the hollow rattle of wood as arrows were returned to their quivers before multiple sets of feet padded towards the hand to hand area of the training grounds.
All that could be heard from the sparring pair was the quiet thwack of hands on bare skin aimed for a winning hit as blows were parried and the almost imperceptible sound of breathing as they exerted their bodies. One false move from either one and their opponent would be the lucky winner, they both knew it which is why they continued. Their blows became heavier than simple taps and their movements became quicker, sharper as the spar progressed into full out hand-to-hand combat.
Sakura's muscles were feeling the burn of her exertion as they continued back and forth, back and forth across the thick moss. Sakura decided to mix it up a little by doing a spinning kick before she cried out as she found herself splayed on the ground, cushioned by the thick moss and her face smarting to no end.
There was a chorus of quiet shocked gasps from all of the elves present.
"Sakura!" A loud or at least loud for an elf protest was heard from Haldir and Orophin was above her with a hand pressed to her shoulder.
"Are you alright, Elleth* (Female elf)?" Orophin spoke quietly and Sakura looked up at him with her hand pressed against her, from what she could tell, already bruising cheek as she nodded.
"Yes, I'm fine." Just to prove it she tried to stand up, she managed for a moment before her trembling muscles gave out and she sunk to the floor.
'Exhausted twice in less than twenty-four hours, this sucks.' She thought to herself as she sighed. Haldir moved over to Sakura and helped her stand to her feet by hooking a hand under her arm.
"Hannon le* (Thank you), Haldir." Sakura looked at him as she spoke almost silently and he inclined his head in acknowledgement of her thanks as he helped her back to her dwelling. Shifting the cloth out of the doorway Haldir helped Sakura over to the bed, pulling back the covers before helping her lay down.
"Rest Sakura, you'll feel better after you sleep." His voice sounded soothing to her as her eyes slid closed, His soft footsteps padding away from her barely registered in her mind as all conscious thought faded to black.
LegoXSaku
Hope you likes :)
It was fun writing this chapter but poor Saku, mean old Orophin hit her.
Reviews are love :)
HarunoSisters42 xx
