Silence was all she was met with in the bathhouse, though Sakura supposed she could attribute such a thing to the fact that it was only Sadril and her currently in there. "The others have gone to their homes for the most part, particularly the other elleth," Sadril explained amidst the sound of rushing water and steam. "Most prefer it that way – to bathe in the privacy of their own homes or perhaps elsewhere, out of the way," she remarked, nudging elven haircare products towards her in their porcelain vases as they were, even as Sakura mulled over the fact that baths seemed to be commonplace amongst elves unlike how it had been amongst mortals. Part of her could only be grateful for such a thing though. She had missed baths – warm hot baths, what with only being able to bathe in the occasional lake she came across on the few occasions she had been outside Fornost Erain proper. "You should use that first," the elleth continued, indicating to one of the vases, and Sakura took it to mean that was shampoo – or whatever term the elves used to describe it.
"Would you have preferred to go home rather than being forced to help me?" Sakura asked, busying herself with washing her hair then, staring up at the stone ceiling which was just about visible above the thickening steam above. Dimly, she hoped her dye would hold, relaxing only when no colour seemed to leak from her hair when she threw a bucket of warm water over her head with a soft sigh. She hadn't noticed too great of a change of vegetation on her way from Fornost Erain to Imladris, and so she could only hope her usual ingredients would be available in the forest. Even amongst elves, she hadn't caught a glimpse of pink hair, and she was determined to seem, at the very least, like she was from that world. As if that would serve to make her feel better about the circumstances she had found herself trapped within. The same circumstances she had all but chosen to be trapped within, what with her escape abilities. She doubted even elves, fleet footed and mysterious in arcane arts as they were said to be, could stop her should she decide to up and run – but Sakura didn't want to have to run away ever again. Especially not from those who didn't measure up to the standards of Kaguya. It wasn't like she had run away from Kaguya either, rather she had been shunted out of the way. A nuisance. Ever a nuisance. That was what she was. Sakura didn't want to be a nuisance ever again. Not that the people of that land would let her have that much. It was one of many labels they had forced upon her. She doubted they would ever take such a title back, and she wasn't sure she had the strength or the drive to prove them wrong as Naruto undoubtedly would have.
Outsider, something whispered in her ear, sounding uncannily like the residents of Fornost Erain speaking as one, and Sakura only scowled at that. Was it too much to fit in there and move on with her life? Sakura could only ponder on the thought, memories haunting her, and the voices of her dead friends and family dogging her footsteps. Neither were things easily left behind nor conquered, and her shoulders slumped at the reminder that she would never again hear them as they should've sounded. Part of her wondered if she would begin to forget the sounds of their voices and the looks of their faces in the years undoubtedly waiting for her ahead. The thought was like ice had flooded her veins, dread and terror racing through her at the possibility of such a thing happening.
"I was given a job to do, and I will do as I was asked, nothing more nothing less," Sadril said flatly, and Sakura could only nod at that. It was probably a bothersome task to help the human in all her unworthiness to be Lord Glorfindel's soulmate. She was only grateful Sadril wasn't being scornful or demeaning her as others might have. What with her being a poor, lowly human unworthy of the elf lord she had been bound to. "Use this next, and leave it in your hair for a while," she stated, nudging another vase full of product her way. "Your hair is quite terribly dry, so I think it best to leave it in for a while. To leave your hair in such a dull, dry state will only invite criticism from others."
Sakura hummed at that. "My," she mumbled. "Is my hair so very important here?" she asked, twirling the wet, inky black locks which were so familiar by then around one finger. "Nobody cared about it within Fornost, and I was rather musing on cutting it off at one point—"
"You should not," Sadril spoke sharply. "Cut your hair, I mean. Not more than a slight trim, should your hair be too severely damaged to salvage at the ends." Sea blue eyes looked at her then, the expression on the elleth's face so very severe right then and there. Sakura could only blink at the sudden shift in mood at the mention of cutting hair – of all things to be worked up over.
"Does it offend elven sensibilities, then?" Sakura grumbled, lathering the mixture into her horribly dry locks, wondering if it would be able to salvage her hair from the state she had let it get into over the past several years of her time in that world. "To see short hair?" she asked, a biting note to her voice as she recalled how she had once, years before, cut her hair above her shoulders. The women of Fornost Erain had long hair, and Sakura wanted to fit in as best she could – and she would have to fit in as well as she could amongst elves too. Which meant there would be no haircuts in her foreseeable future.
Sadril turned to look at her flatly. "Human customs must be quite different," she mumbled, looking perplexed by the thought. "Truly, I do not understand them, but human customs have no place here," Sadril said. "They have such short lives and short memories compared to we…"
Sakura stared back at her. "And this pertains to the cutting of hair howhohow?" she asked, glaring at the elleth, demanding answers with her eyes themselves.
"To the elves, to my kin," she began, washing her own hair in favour of staring at her with those unnervingly ancient eyes of hers. Elves weren't human and every word and every look directed her way were ever reminding of such a fact. It made it difficult to imagine fitting in amongst elven kind. "Short hair is a reminder of thraldom," Sadril stated, her expression grim. "Though it is not as common for an elf to be caught and forced into such servitude in the hands of the enemy in this age… we have long memories, some more painful than most." She clicked her tongue then, sea blue eyes flickering back to her then, sadness and irritation exuding from the elleth before her. "Besides, it would not do for the soulmate of Lord Glorfindel to look as if she has just been freed from thraldom or somehow being kept within a state in the very heart of Imladris."
"Everything always comes back to that, does it not?" Sakura muttered, bitterness lining her words as per usual, and Sakura could only blink at the biting amusement Sadril radiated then – not that her face showed it as such. The elleth before her, or so she was slowly learning, was not one to express her emotions visibly on her face. Sakura only supposed it was lucky she could sense emotions, otherwise she would be none the wiser as to the complicated feelings of those surrounding her. "Tell me, Sadril, in all your knowledge and wisdom, who will people see me as here?" she asked, a bitter smile upon her lips. "Lothris or Lord Glorfindel's soulmate?"
"While I would wish to say the former, I believe the latter is that which you will be to my people here," Sadril said, a tinge of regret and shame suffusing through her so quickly Sakura could have blinked and it would have vanished without a trace. "There has long been expectation placed upon that which the soulmate of Lord Glorfindel would be, given who he is and that which he has accomplished. I can safely say that you do not seem to measure up to any of them, and that is what people will see. That is what they will talk of," she continued, and a sinking pit of dread opened up in her stomach then.
She could only sigh at those words, always having known from the instant she sighted her soulmate that things would not be simple ever again. "Because I am human," she mumbled, sighing as she stared up at the steamy ceiling of the room, wondering idly how long the cleaning process of that room took.
Sadril tilted her head. "In part, yes," she remarked, not doing anything to cheer the glum mood which overtook her at the mention of one of the few things she could not change. "Bonds between elves and humans have rarely taken place, and even then, many have ended in tragedy, especially for my kindred. Then there is the fact that the humans bound to those elves have always done something to prove themselves worthy, whether in wit or skill," she explained, none of which helped her feel any better about the situation she had seemingly landed herself in. "You have completed no grand quest, achieved no lofty goal, nor do you have the favour of a vala… I do not believe many, including myself, will be able to fathom why Lord Glorfindel has been bound to you. I only hope that it shall reveal itself in due time," Sadril said, glancing at her once more with those old eyes before she pushed a bucketful of warm water her way, and Sakura presumed the time had come to rinse out her hair. She could only do just that, sighing for what had to be the thousandth time as she rinsed out her blackened locks, glad the colouring had stayed relatively strong. Though she guessed it was thanks to repeated, constant use that the black colouration of her hair wasn't fading from a single wash. It would take many, and Sakura found comfort in that fact, what with having been separated from her supply of makeshift hair dye. "You will have to prove yourself," Sadril said suddenly, and Sakura's shoulders sunk at that.
"Will I?" she murmured bitterly, thinking of whiskered cheeks, bright hair, and blue eyes, ignoring the horribly familiar pang of longing in her chest as she remembered how pale those whiskered cheeks had looked in death, how limp and colourless that bright hair had looked between the silvery and red light, and how lifeless those blue eyes had seemed, glazed and unseeing as they were.
Sadril heard her words – of course she did, what with those pointed, naturally sharper ears whose hearing Sakura thought she could easily outstrip, if only she used her chakra. "If you wish to stop any doubt and scorn which will be cast your way," she said, looking resigned by that point, the same emotions radiating from her as she continued speaking. "I have already told you that expectations were put upon the soulmate of Lord Glorfindel – and that is whom you are. That is who you will have to be, whether you like such a situation or not."
Her hands curled into fists, green eyes narrowing, even as she washed the last of the product from her hair, musing over the fact that her hair now seemingly smelt like flowers. How very fitting. "And what exactly are all those expectations? Or is it just because I am not an elf?" she asked, wondering just what exactly her soulmate's kin had expected of her before her arrival there.
The elleth hummed softly then, as if humming a tune to her question. "There are many, and you would have been judged for them even if you were of elf kind," Sadril said. "Expectations, that is. A flawless, unique beauty for one. We all thought she would be exceptionally strong too, perhaps skilled enough in battle to meet Lord Glorfindel toe to toe," she continued, and Sakura mused on the latter. But she had nothing more to fight for anymore, and she just wanted to be ordinary in a world where it wasn't simple nor easy to break rocks with the flick of a finger. The universe was conspiring against her though, and she was stuck with a respected, powerful elf for a soulmate. An uphill battle. Everything in life was seeming to be just that for her. "A fearsome or renowned reputation. Graceful in movement and speech and dress. The list goes ever on, and I doubt you truly wish to linger here and listen to me name the rest," Sadril stated. "Let us bathe."
Sakura blinked, before she shrugged and followed the elleth into the baths, sinking into the hot waters with a sigh of contentment. She had missed baths quite a lot back in Fornost Erain, particularly at the very beginning of her stay beneath stranger stars, when all she managed was a short cold shower or the occasional dip in a river or small lake if outside the city. "Do you think me a fool?" she asked, staring at the waters then, wondering why she hadn't just run away from it all. But truly, she already knew the answer to that. "For coming here so woefully unprepared?"
Waters splashed across from her, the reflection in the waters betraying nothing which Sadril felt. Though her soul certainly revealed that much to her chakra sense. Fading disappointment, pity, and a hint of curiosity. Sakura could hardly be surprised. Who wouldn't pity the poor, unprepared human stolen away by the fair folk? A snort of air escaped her in a mockery of a laugh, her wish of wanting to be ordinary warring with her wish to run away, and even that was contrasted by the wish to never again cower away in fear behind another. A wish she had held onto from that much earlier compared to the other two. Her shoulders sunk, and Sakura longed and mourned for a time in which all things had been far simpler than what they were right then. "I do not think anyone can be prepared for when they meet their soulmate," Sadril murmured. "Indeed, even I am not prepared."
"Have you not met them yet then?" she wondered, casting a glance at the elf, curious to know more about one of the ones who seemed so far removed from her. They were the firstborn, so it was only to be expected, or so she mused as they relaxed in the blissfully warm waters together. Silence reigned for a few moments, and Sakura only stiffened at the awkwardness of it all as she waited for a response to her question. Unless… "Forgive me," she mumbled, "was that too impolite of a question?" she asked, frowning then at the thought of the numerous cultural nuances she would undoubtedly have to learn in the coming years to better fit in amidst the residents of Imladris. It was going to be a long few years, Sakura knew instinctively, and that would only be if her wish to run away from it all didn't overcome the will to stay there and be undoubtedly judged.
"It can be considered impolite, yes, especially if you are not close to the other as you are not to me," Sadril said. "But then, I do suppose we have been discussing your own soulmate, so perhaps the line of thinking originated from such…" The elleth nodded at that. "Indeed. I see. Though to answer your question, my soulmate undoubtedly resides in the lands west. Aman. So I will not meet them until I choose to sail, and I am content to walk these shores for a while longer… so you will not be rid of my company anytime soon." Sadril sighed, relaxing back in the bathwater and staring at the ceiling rather than her. It was probably preferable.
Sakura frowned at that, but nodded anyway, eager to leave the awkwardness behind as they continued to mill about in the waters. "I would have thought you would prefer to be the one leaving my company," she drawled, laughing at the thought otherwise. Sadril had been ordered to take care of her, and that was the only reason she was still there. "Do you know what is to happen in the coming days? I do not know much about elven traditions or what your kin do with their soulmates."
"Courtship," Sadril answered succinctly, a hum of amusement escaping her lips then. "I do not believe that is much different to that which you humans do." Sakura could only muse on the fact that she was not a human of those lands and her views on normalcy were still quite different to the rest of Fornost Erain. "Though I believe elven courtship can oftentimes last longer than that of its human counterpart. Lord Glorfindel will likely try and earn your favour while acclimatising you to life here in Imladris. I have little doubt life here will be different to that which you are used to."
"I have little doubt of that too," she said, the corners of her lips just about managing to curl upwards, or so the rippling reflection in the relatively still waters showed her. "Though I fear acclimatising to life here will take me many a years," she remarked, musing on how the several years spent in Fornost Erain had hardly acclimatised her to human life under those stars.
"You will have years before you unlike the others of your kinfolk," Sadril reminded. "You are bound to an elf now – yours and Lord Glorfindel's lives are forever linked. You will not age. You will not know infirmity. You will not perish unless it is by blade or perhaps grief as the years go by. It was seen in Tuor before he sailed… The longer a human soulmate of an elf lives, few as their number have been, the closer to my kin they become in nature and action…"
A weight made itself known in her stomach at those words, and Sakura could barely comprehend the thousands of years which she undoubtedly had stretched out before her. Part of her wanted to laugh at the idea of her – a foreigner – obtaining that which many nobles and those of the upper class had silently coveted. "So I am to become more like an elf as the years roll by," she said, a bark of laughter escaping her at the thought. Because of course she would, likely more so now that she had found her soulmate and was to live amongst his kin. Mortal minds were not built to live for long, so obviously something had to change within when an elf found themselves bound to a mortal. "How quaint. Tell me, do you think I will be seen as Lothris should I live here long enough?"
Sadril looked at her, sea-blue eyes boring into her the way only an elf's eyes could. "I think, if you wish to be seen as Lothris rather than or before your identity as Lord Glorfindel's soulmate, you ought to strive to make a name for yourself," she said. "Though there are precious little ways through which you could do as such. Well, ways that I know, that is, and none which I believe will be suited for you and your predicament."
"Will I be allowed to sew still?" she asked, knowing the talents of elven crafted goods were likely well above her own. Though given she had only decided on such a craft little over seven years ago, Sakura thought she was doing quite well in improving her own abilities. She was still far from matching her sewing skills with that of her fighting prowess, but it was a work in progress still.
"Lord Glorfindel is making arrangements as we speak, or he will be after he has finished bathing – though he began making such preparations when he first learned of you and your profession," Sadril said. "I believe he intends to have you apprentice under somebody – likely Carwegeth, given her skill. Though as to whether she will accept you as an apprentice… that is another matter indeed," the elleth continued, seemingly heedless as to the fact she had no idea who Carwegeth was. But then again, Sadril didn't seem to have the best of social skills, and Sakura was growing eerily used to the unthinking condescension and cluelessness as to what she actually knew of that world and the elves themselves which came from the older being. It was nicer than the outright scorn and exclusion she had experienced in Fornost. Part of her was almost scared at how low her standards for classing someone as a nice being had become, though she mused on the fact she had the lovely residents of Fornost Erain to thank for that. The same residents she would probably never see again. Not to mention she would apparently outlive them all, and there was part of her which felt so very insufferably smug about that fact. That she had that which some had lusted after. Something which was forever out of their reach by the biology of the human body unaffected by the mystical bond which bound soulmates together forever, until death do they part.
"Ah, yes," Sakura muttered. "Whether the great Carwegeth will accept this lowly human as her disciple is another matter entirely," she said, scorn dripping from her lips so thickly it was almost palpable. "Of course it would be that way…"
"You should not put yourself down as such," Sadril said. "I thought you were going to attempt to prove yourself – was that not what you said, or at the very least implied you would be doing?" Blue eyes caught her green ones, and Sakura could feel the question, the curiosity and the concern radiating from Sadril then and Sakura once again felt like an interestingly shaped ball of dust once more. Her shoulders sunk at that, and she wondered how elves managed to make her feel that way.
She let out a breath. "I do not know whether the effort will be worth it. I have attempted to prove myself once before, and the results were not good," she murmured, glaring down at the waters as if they were at fault. "So why must I put myself out there and try once more when it might end up the exact same way as it did in Fornost…?"
"If you do not try, nothing will change and that would include people's opinions of you, good or bad, but if you try at least there is but a chance for the situation to change," Sadril said, water dripping as she moved her arms. "I believe you know as well as I that folk from the desert are not held in the best regards in the north… Lord Elrond declared you to be 'of the desert'. You cannot hide such heritage now as would have been preferable," she stated, a frown on her face then.
"Why is it the desert is so hated?" Sakura asked, wondering why so much hatred had been directed her way because they could not understand the language of the Elemental Nations, meaning in their minds she had to have come from lands beyond that which had been explored by curious, well-travelled scholars and adventurers. "Nobody ever spoke much of it in Fornost. I do not like it very much – being hated for something I have no knowledge of…"
Sadril blinked at that, frowning at her as she turned to face her in the waters, and Sakura got a faceful of that tall, slim figure which seemed to be so very desirable in the north. She was a far cry from such a thing, short and curvy as she was, and it hardly helped that elves were freakishly tall. Their average height was undoubtedly taller than that of humans. Her supposed people who hadn't made her feel like that much of a person at all. "Are you truly not aware?" Sadril asked, looking terribly confused as she shook her head in the negative. "The Haradrim – that which we call those of the desert – they were some of the few men who sided with Sauron in the last war just over seven-hundred years ago. I have spoken before of how long the memories of the eldar are…"
Sakura blinked, letting out a soft sigh at that, the question of why she was so very hated finally answered. She could vaguely remember from all the scholar's tales that 'Sauron' was undoubtedly a force of evil, or so she had learned. They had certainly mentioned them enough that even she, a being from another world, knew of the evil which was Sauron. She wondered how they compared to Uchiha Madara and Ootsutsuki Kaguya. Part of her wondered if anybody or anything could truly top the evil which was Ootsutsuki Kaguya. The one who had murdered everyone she loved and had shunted her off to that place. It wasn't one of the dimensions she had cycled she, Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi through. But then again, she hardly knew how the Rinne-Sharingan worked. Her hands curled into fists at the memory of those pale lavender eyes. So much like Neji's and Hinata's. "My people did not serve The Enemy," she said, clasping her hands together before her, hunching over in the water somewhat to hide their shaking. "Not that anyone seems to believe me whenever I talk of how wonderful my people were…" she murmured, remembering that phase of wanting to talk of those she had loved she had gone through all those years ago, when the pain was still a fresh wound to her soul. Back when the trees had creaked along with her anger when she had walked beneath their boughs, chakra not yet separated from the emotions which had raged through her.
"I believe you," Sadril said, and Sakura blinked once more – in shock that time. Something like warmth flared in her chest then. "If there is anything I have learned throughout the years gone by, it is that there are few beings which are wholly evil in this world, orcs numbering amongst them… but those creatures are more akin to beasts than anything else. The ability of higher reasoning and kindness was said to be robbed from them long ago at the hands of The Enemy…"
"Well," she mumbled in the silence which fell after such a declaration. "This conversation sure took a turn," she said, ignoring the look that earnt her from the elf beside her. She was probably stating the obvious, Sakura mused, blinking at the small stir of amusement which came from Sadril then. The silence which fell then felt lighter than the ones which had come before that one, and Sakura could only relax in that. Both at the fact the silence wasn't thick and heavy, and that she was seemingly able to actually get along with an elf. Even if they were seemingly oblivious at times to how their words came across to her now and then. "Is there anything I should know about Imladris, if I am to be staying here?" she asked, sensing that they were undoubtedly about to be getting out of the baths. "Before we venture out of the baths and your duties with me come to a close…"
Sadril tilted her head, mulling her words over for a few moments. "I would advise you not to venture too close to the forests, at least not without another," Sadril informed her. "The Laiquendi who have chosen to stay in Imladris dwell often beneath those trees, and they dwelled in Nargothrond and Arthórien for a time before those places fell… and their memories, and their sense of blame towards they who they believed led to its fall… I said before did I not? Our memories are long, and some among our number certainly know how to carry and nurse their grudges…"
A scoff escaped her before Sakura could help it. "Somehow I doubt me myself had anything to do with the fall of this Nargothrond or Arthórien places… They blame humans, do they not? For the fault of one, single or group…"
"You are wiser than you acknowledge yourself. The Laiquendi, the Green Elves, have long since held a dislike of humans. They will likely be the most unfriendly of the residents of Imladris towards you, few in number as they thankfully are," Sadril stated, rising from the bath waters then, and climbing out. "Come. There is likely not long before the dinner bell sounds, and you have a soulmate to meet with before you retire for rest. I am told humans need much of that."
Sakura nodded at that, climbing out after Sadril, feeling that much cleaner and energised after a long-awaited bath. "It would not do to be late," she mumbled. That would hardly help her create a good first impression which would likely make life easier on her going forwards. An easier life there would undoubtedly make her wish of blending in and seeming like an ordinary human of that world that much easier to obtain and keep. So she followed the elleth out to where towels and a fresh change of clothing for the both of them had been lain out. Sakura was slightly unnerved at the thought of all of her things being handled by others – at least until she reminded herself that she had really been allowed to take nothing of that which was originally hers to Imladris. All she had was that which the king had so graciously allowed his ward, as of then yesterday, to have. It wasn't anything she was particularly attached to, not least because she hadn't seen it all. She didn't recognise a single article of clothing as being hers, nor did she feel the style suited her in the slightest. Though that didn't surprise her in the slightest. Oftentimes the styles of the clothing in Fornost hadn't suited her what with her being a foreigner, or so they had said.
Part of her longed for pants or a cheongsam-style shirt like the ones she had worn before her world had been turned upside-down. Sakura tilted her head, part of her wondering right then and there whether she could simply make some and wear them when she felt like it. It wasn't like she was in Fornost still, and part of her wondered how much more or less freedom she would have within the bounds of Imladris. She could only hope it would be more than she had been permitted in Fornost. Though she wasn't entirely helpful nor eager to stand out within Imladris. As if she didn't merely do as such simply by existing, a human among elves, an ugly duckling amidst the swans. Her arms wrapped around herself almost instinctively in some attempt to comfort herself, even as Sadril looked over at her, a tinge of curiosity and more concern radiating from her then. Sakura just knew that was going to be a common combination of emotions and the like radiating from those tasked with being around her during the beginnings of her stay there at the very least. She rather doubted they would want or allow her to roam those halls alone, what with her being 'of the desert'. There would be suspicion and disappointment too amidst those other feelings thanks to that too.
Bitterness came to bite her in the back then, remembering the suspicion and concern for themselves and their safety, no doubt, which had wafted from them all, including even her soulmate, at the mention that she was from those desert lands which had served The Enemy. Part of her wondered what they would do should they ever learn that she had slaughtered many before under the stranger stars she had been born under. And they grew that much stranger, the memories fuzzy, to her eyes with every passing year she spent beneath those lands which had always seemingly been destined to become her home. What with the fact that soulmates were always to meet through some inexplicable, unexplainable turn of fate. She had always been destined to survive, and the universe around her was seemingly very eager to remind her of such a fact. But we're happy you survived, Sakura-chan, Naruto's voice whispered in her ear, and Sakura mused on whether that was truly what he would say after what she had done in her rage. Then again, he had always forgiven Sasuke, and she was his teammate too… So it probably was what he would say to her if he were truly there with her right that instance. She wondered why those words made her heart feel so very heavy instead of light like she thought she ought to feel at such an admission. Because she missed them, and they were never going to come back.
"Are you ready?" Sadril asked, stirring her from her spiral of thoughts, and Sakura could only hum sharply and nod her head at that, fully dressed in a dark blue dress which probably didn't suit her in the slightest, and made her feel as though she was a child who had dived into her mother's wardrobe and come out anything other than looking graceful and mature. She felt like a baby deer before wolves, but as always it never showed. She had her feelings locked within an iron box deep within her, and the pungent terror she felt at the thought of being paraded around before elves wasn't powerful enough to leech into her chakra for the world to feel. Sadril stepped forwards then, eyeing her warily as she followed in the elleth's footsteps and emerged from the baths. Imladris was still as unfamiliar to her as Fornost had once been, and she had little doubt it would take a similarly long time to acclimatise herself to her new setting. Then again, she had nothing but time stretching out before her – and wasn't that a thought ever present at the forefront of her mind. Something told her it would be better to put such a thought to one side and merely focus on living as she wished. And that was to live a quiet, normal life in that world after all the death and bloodshed, perhaps trying and likely failing to obtain that mythical happiness said to come from finding and loving one's soulmate. "I will bring you to Lord Glorfindel. The dinner bell is almost upon us," Sadril remarked.
Sakura nodded at that, content to remain quiet after what was probably the most talkative she had been since her arrival in that world, what with nobody wanting to speak to her that much. It was almost a refreshing, if somewhat tiring change for her, even if Sadril was blunt, unthinkingly rude, and somewhat condescending at times. "Then your task will be done," she mumbled, thinking then on Sadril and the task she had been appointed. Specifically, Sakura wasn't quite sure what it was, but it had undoubtedly pertained to helping her bathe and probably being as elvenly polite as possible.
"Indeed," she said, rounding yet another high-ceilinged corridor corner, and lo and behold, there in the middle of it waited what was becoming an all too familiar face. Though Sakura knew that was likely meant to happen. He was her soulmate, after all.
Glorfindel looked up at the sound of their footsteps, a smile breaking out on what had been a pensive face only moments before. A flicker of happiness passed through him, and Sakura could only blink at the thought of someone being happy to see her. It was something which hadn't happened in a while. A long while. "Thank you, Sadril," he said, turning those golden eyes on the elleth who had escorted her there and smiling so very blindingly. The reminder that her soulmate was just that smiley and happy towards everyone was hammered in yet again. She wasn't special. Sakura didn't want to forget such a fact. Perhaps if she had truly been special, that much stronger, then she would have been able to save everyone she loved.
Sadril nodded at that, a waft of exasperation greeting Sakura's senses. "I suspect I will see you at a time later, Lothris," she said. "It was a pleasure to meet you." Green eyes narrowed, and Sakura could only grimace at the memories of disappointment which had come from Sadril when they had first been introduced. Not that her grimace did anything to change her expression. Lies. That was nothing but lies.
"Did you enjoy the baths?" Glorfindel asked, turning that radiant, beaming smile her way then, along with those dazzlingly golden eyes which looked her up and down.
Sakura blinked. "Yes," she said, staring at her soulmate warily, wondering what exactly she was supposed to do next. Truly, she was at a lost as to what to do. She was there finally within the walls of Imladris, by the side of the one who was said to be able to bring her bliss and happiness. Things which seemed like a distant dream to her right there.
The sounds of a bell ringing caught part of her attention, her eyes never leaving those golden ones. "It would seem both you and Sadril have impeccable timing," he exclaimed, offering out his arm then, exchanging it for an open hand when all Sakura did was stare at it like it was something foreign and strange. "We are to be dining in a more private setting compared to that which is usual," he explained, even as she dubiously placed her hand in his, musing all the while about how very small her hand was in comparison to his own. Short and small. That was how Imladris made her feel, or so she thought as Glorfindel smiled and walked her to what felt like her impending doom. "Lady Celebrían was kind enough to consider how very… taxing a journey such as the one we just completed would be on you…" he continued, and Sakura only wondered who 'Lady Celebrían' was. It was seeming as if everyone expected her to know who was who, and the fact her expression seemed to be perpetually stuck on the emotionless setting for the most part didn't quite help to convey her confusion. She tilted her head, staring pointedly at Glorfindel then. "Of course," he mumbled then, her silent stare apparently having conveyed the message she had wanted to. "Forgive me, I forget you have yet to be formally introduced, nor have you dwelled here long… Lady Celebrían would be the wife and soulmate of Lord Elrond whom you met earlier, no matter how brief such a meeting was," Glorfindel said, and Sakura could only blink at the influx of new information. She had done that far too often, and likely would continue to do so, she knew. There was plenty she had yet to learn, especially about elves. "We will be dining tonight with Lord Elrond, Lady Celebrían, their twin sons, Elladan and Elrohir, their daughter, Lady Arwen, Imladris' Chief Counsellor, Erestor, along with Arhael of Lothlorien."
"Thank you for informing me," Sakura said, at loss as to what else she was supposed to say in response to that, a vast part of her attention drawn to the fact she was holding hands with another, living, breathing being. Glorfindel wasn't dragging her anywhere either – wasn't grabbing her by the wrist or arm to lead her someplace she wasn't willing to go. She was very much willing to go to dinner, if only because she needed to eat. Her stomach wasn't far off from making noises, and something told her it would be unseemly in such company as she was about to be.
"Well it would be rather amiss of me to not tell you that which to expect," he replied, smiling still, blissfully oblivious to the pit of anxious snakes which squirmed in her belly at the prospect of dining with elves. Her manners were not made for particularly formal or court-like situations. She also wasn't particularly fantastic at using the cutlery there, and she dreaded the numerous scraping noises she would probably have made by the time dinner was over. "They are all incredibly kind, or perhaps more curious in Erestor's case," Glorfindel told her. "You will come to no harm, that I promise." Sakura tilted her head, mulling over the fact that her soulmate had seemingly figured out her stomach was, at that moment in time, a bundle of nerves and terror. It was oddly uncanny, and Sakura didn't know whether to be grateful for such a thing or not.
"I am glad to hear that," she said, trying to smile then, but she knew it came across as more of a grimace as they walked along the corridor, the windows showing the courtyard outside nothing more than holes cut in the wall. There was a distinct lack of glass for the most part, but then again, elves didn't seem to feel the cold as badly as she would have if not for her chakra. Another thing which undoubtedly marked them as not being human. Another thing which made her seem that much different and strange to them.
Silence reigned in the corridor then, and Sakura silently cursed at the fact her socialising skills had deteriorated to such a level. Not to mention there was the fact he was her soulmate, and she didn't have the first clue as to what she should say to him. She knew almost nothing about him, and the shinobi buried deep within her demanded to know more before engaging with the enemy. Or so her shinobi-wired brain classed her soulmate as. She was neck deep in unfamiliar territory, surrounded by those who would likely be somewhat hostile to her in various ways. Long buried instincts were surfacing, and Sakura knew they would not be conducive to fitting in with elven society. None of her was, and she could only lament over such an ironclad fact.
Their footsteps were the only noise – or should she say Glorfindel's soft footsteps were the only noise – heralding their arrival in the more private room they were to be dining in, as opposed to the main dining room, or so Glorfindel had remarked in passing, the only words which had broken the silence. If only because Sakura was terrible when it came to casual conversation, and part of her prayed she would get better at such a basic thing as time went on. After all, she needed some form of approval from those there if she wanted a nice, easy life as one could have in those lands. She hardly wanted to be an outcast, as she undoubtedly would have, should she have tried to stick rigidly to the standards she had stuck to beneath her old stars. Some form of compromise was necessary, given she was the one who was the outsider.
Are you sure you aren't compromising too much, Sakura? Sasuke drawled in her ear, and her hands curled – before she abruptly remembered that Glorfindel's hand was in her grasp. He looked at her then, fingers curling tighter around her own hand in response for a brief moment. "Come," he said, leading her towards the seats they were undoubtedly to be sitting in, what with them being the last of the two seats set out in that room. "You are to be sitting here," he told her, all but corralling her into the seat closest to the stern-faced, brown-haired ellon. It was closer to Lord Elrond, and Sakura was mildly puzzled by that fact, but that much more grateful. The silvery-haired ellon who was now seated on the other side of her soulmate definitely felt that much more derisive of her, compared to the almost terrifying amount of curiosity emanating from the brunette now seated beside her. It was tinged with annoyance for one reason or another, but she had sensed that feeling since before she had entered the room. Part of her wanted to think it had nothing to do with her. The other parts of her screamed that it probably did. What else was there for elves to be irritated over other than the fact that there was a lowly, unworthy human in their midst?
"Now that we have all gathered, I see no need to delay any longer," Lord Elrond said, and that was apparently some signal for the meal to begin, and Sakura could only blink as the elves undoubtedly serving them. Sakura wasn't used to such a thing, not that anyone was clued into such a fact. Sometimes there were perks to being incredibly hard to read with an unchanging facial expression which might as well have been made from stone, what with how hard to change it was.
"Please let me know if there is anything you dislike," Glorfindel said, and Sakura mulled over how she was not going to do as such, because that would be terribly rude towards the same hosts and key figures who were sitting right in front of her.
"I am afraid we are unfamiliar with the cuisine of the desert folk, along with the tongue of your folk," the brunette beside her spoke, even as Lord Elrond's family spoke amongst themselves – occasionally glancing over to their side of the table, and the taste of suspicion and judgement weighed heavy on her. "So I was regretful to not be able to greet you in your own tongue nor make arrangements with the kitchen to prepare a dish which could have been more palatable for you," the brunette said, frowning even as he focused on the meal which had been brought out. It was a savoury pastry dish, Sakura noted, picking up the same knife and fork that her soulmate did – the ones on the outside of the rest, her attention half focused on him as she attempted to imitate the elves surrounding her.
Sakura tilted her head. "I have lived within the walls of Fornost Erain for many years now," she said, part of her wishing to reassure the elf who genuinely felt annoyed and somewhat ashamed at having been able to do either of those things. "I am fairly well accustomed to life within these lands by such a point."
Grey eyes fixed on her at her words, a frown still settled on his face – at least until Glorfindel spoke from her other side. "Peace, Erestor," he said, and Sakura figured that it had to be Arhael of Lothlorien sitting on the other side of her soulmate then. "It would seem Lothris is fine with being welcomed in Sindarin rather than the language of her people. Not that I believe you would expect him to know your old tongue as such?" Glorfindel spoke, directing the last part at her, a smile still on his face somehow. Sakura truly envied him because of that in part, and part of her ached, because there had been one once before with a similar colouring of hair and the same sort of unending cheer and good humour and a damningly happy smile. And she had lost him along with everything else she had ever loved. She wondered if it was going to be hard to become closer with him thanks to such a similarity. She wondered if he would die on her too.
"Of course I would not," Sakura said, deciding rather abruptly to focus more on eating her dinner then. "I would not expect that of anyone."
"I have been able to greet everyone who has ever walked these halls in their own tongue," Erestor told her, frowning still, and Sakura wondered exactly how long such an age old elf would hold such an expression over being unable to greet a human as he had wanted to.
"And here I thought failure was an undeniable facet of life," Sakura muttered, feeling as though the conversation was steering just a bit too close to memories she truly did not want to bring to the forefront of her mind. "Or do you happen to think yourself above such things?"
Silence fell at that, the sound of cutlery clinking against the plates being the only thing which reigned through the room, and Sakura could only mentally curse her apparent sharp, biting tongue. She was only so very bitter about failure because she had experienced the greatest failure known to her little brain. The failure to save friend and family. She was a failure. The worst sort of failure. The elves could probably detect that much. Why do you think they're so disappointed in you? Ami's childish ghost asked, and Sakura only took a sip of the wine provided and pretended she could hear the mocking words and the laughter which echoed long after they were gone.
"No," Erestor said, breaking the tense, awkward silence which had lingered in the room for far too long. "I do not." He took a few more bites of his meal then, and Sakura followed suit. "Though perhaps you would not mind teaching me this language of yours? The notes the scholars of Fornost Erain had were not particularly insightful."
Sakura felt herself stiffen at that, part of her almost buzzing with bitter amusement as she remembered how years before she had been so eager to teach – so eager to hear the familiar sounds of her own language rather than the strange sounds of Westron and Sindarin which had since become normal to her ears. She supposed being immersed within a culture like she had been gave little choice but to learn and adapt to it. Just as she had.
Erestor seemingly sensed her hesitation. Or perhaps she had just been lingering too long on her response to such a request. "Then I would not fail to greet another, should a member of your desert kinfolk come to visit perchance…"
She choked on the sip of wine she had just taken, grief and anger towards a pale-haired, lavender-eyed figure rising then. Because her 'people' were all dead. And she had watched it all happen, helpless and unable to stop it all. "You will not come across another of my people," she spat, trying to reign in the bitterness in her voice. Though judging by the smatter of emotions which rose in the people around her, she hadn't succeeded at all. "My language is a dead one, and I do not want to be reminded of such a fact."
Awkward silence returned, and Sakura set her cutlery down on her plate, imitating that which her soulmate had done once finished with his meal. She could feel those golden eyes on her, sadness and a sort of empathy radiating from Glorfindel then. A hand came to curl around her own, a look being passed between her soulmate and Lord Elrond then. "I believe," Glorfindel said, mercifully breaking such a silence, something Sakura was grateful for. "Myself and Lothris should take our leave now," he continued, and she felt her shoulders relax at the thought she would soon be escaping that room. "The hour grows late, and we both travelled quite a distance to arrive here." That said, he stood, and Sakura joined him as gracefully as she could.
"Then I bid you good night for now," Lord Elrond replied, and then they were free from the table and the stares of the other elves in the room.
The corridor was all but a bresh of fresh air after such a dinner, both figuratively and literally, she mused even as the wind buffeted her through the window. Night had long since fallen by that point, the sky above a canvas of midnight blue dotted with silver stars, a navy blue raiment decorated with silver gemstones. The moon was visible, the silvery light always making her relax beneath a different moon to the one which had been a prison for Kaguya. Creaking trees greeted her ears, the soft songs of nature flowing through the air, caught on the breeze, and Sakura could only smile at the sight and sound of it all.
"Do you wish to retire to your rooms for the night?" Glorfindel asked, the both of them coming to a stop in their walking, turning then to look out of the window and into the courtyard below where a tall tree grew. He look at her once more, eagerness and earnestness radiating alongside his earlier sadness and eerie understanding.
Sakura swallowed. "I do not mind staying up for a little longer," she said, knowing that the pull of sleep would soon come around to call, and she had a mattress to look forwards to, unlike the ground she had been sleeping on for nights before that one. "If you wish to talk…" she trailed off, gesturing for him to go ahead, all the while praying he would not make too many inquiries as to that which she had implied during their dinner with the others. Who were probably making much happier conversation with her and Glorfindel gone, Sakura mused with a bitter, soft snort.
"It is at times like these," he said, turning to face her fully – a movement Sakura reciprocated, and then they were looking at each other beneath the starlit sky, neither of their faces giving away any of the emotions they felt beneath the façade. "I become that much more aware of the fact that I know barely a single detail about you or your past…"
"I could say the same of you," she remarked, thinking of the fact that she knew nothing beyond the fact that he was a well respected elf lord whom nobody had expected to be bound to a human. "Though we met not long ago," she mumbled. "So I suppose it is no surprise. We are barely more than strangers," she said, frowning at the sadness and annoyance which emanated from him then. "But that is what anybody is to another when they first meet."
"I would very much like to change such a thing," he stated.
A soft bark of laughter escaped her. "Because we are soulmates," she muttered. "Of course. We can hardly simply rely on fate to let all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place…" Fate hadn't done much for her in the way of bringing her happiness. Because it had been that so-called fate which had made her be the sole survivor. The last of her kin. The last of her kind.
"Perhaps," he said, staring at her with those golden eyes which were ever a reminder of that which he was. Undeniably not human. "We do not have a choice but to try." His fingers sought out the marking on her own forehead, a single digit tracing the half circle of her half of their soulmark. "Whether you deny it or accept it, the fact remains that our lives are bound. You will not suffer the fate of your kinfolk. Rather your fate is that of an elf's. That of mine."
"I suppose that is enough of a reason not to run off screaming," she mumbled, earning an amused smile from her soulmate then, and Sakura felt but a sliver of jealousy of how very free he was with his own expressions. Part of her couldn't help but wonder if he could somehow teach or otherwise show her how to do the same. She didn't want to earn yet another emotionless doll reputation in Imladris as well as Fornost. Her going to that place was as much of a fresh start as she would ever get in those lands.
"Is Imladris truly so very terrifying to your eyes?" he asked, a familiar concern rising in him, replacing the hum of amusement which had been there for only seconds before. "I could not help but notice how nervous you were upon arrival…" he trailed off, and Sakura debated on how he had known such a fact when he had been riding at the forefront of their little convoy for the majority of her entrance to Imladris and its imposing otherworldliness. Not that she hadn't already experienced plenty of otherworldliness already.
"Fornost Erain was once a new, terrifying place to me," she said, turning to stare out of the window then, resting her elbows on the sill. "Imladris will be that to me for a while yet, more so because I am to live amongst the firstborn… But I chose to come here with you. It was a choice between Fornost Erain and Imladris. I have picked my poison, now I simply have to see it through."
He stared at her then, and Sakura could feel the force of it. "What a very mortal saying," Glorfindel muttered, and Sakura could only bark out a laugh at that. "Though I was rather under the impression at the palace that you were all but being forced into coming with me…"
"Mmm," she mumbled, "while it might be true that I was nothing but a pawn – a piece to be played and used by a higher power… believe me," she stated, turning to face him then, meeting that golden-eyed gaze with her green one. "If I wanted to not be here, then I would not be here. All I would need to do would be walk into the forest, and then none would find me if I did not wish to be found…"
"Then," he said, taking her hand in his, "should you wish to explore the forests around us, I would ask that you permit me to escort you. I would so very dislike it should you decide to vanish without a trace one day."
Sakura hummed under her breath then, lips curling up in the corners by a fraction. "We will see," she murmured, hiding a yawn with her free hand. "But for now, I would very much like to rest."
Glorfindel inclined his head at that, and they resumed their walking with her following his lead as he led her to the place she was to be staying for the foreseeable future. Until they married, or whatever elves did. But that was a long, long way off. Sakura couldn't see such a future, and so she didn't particularly want to dwell on it. Not when she and her soulmate had only known each other a matter of days. She was rather content to simply let things happen and see how everything turned out.
After all, she had yet to fully explore Imladris and the rest of its people. Though she would have at least a glimpse of such tomorrow. Once she had slept on the bed which was going to be hers for the next however many years.
"These are to be your rooms," Glorfindel spoke, gesturing to the doors on the left as they approached. "My rooms are the next door along, should you have need of me," he added, opening the door then, and Sakura had a moment to take note of the fact that there were no locks there. Though she supposed the locks of her home in Fornost hadn't truly worked, and she was fully capable of taking down any sort of intruder who might attempt to encroach on her private space. Or that which was meant to be a private space. "I will leave you to rest," he said, gesturing for her to go in. "If you need any assistance at all, please simply knock."
"You do not mind being woken?" she asked, frowning then at the thought of what she would be like if her beauty sleep was interrupted.
"Elves sleep differently," he responded, and Sakura could only frown at that snippet of information, nod and then retreat into her room slowly and rather cautiously.
"Good night," she said, pulling the door shut, walking into her room, noting the set of sleepwear which had been lain for her on the bed as she went and flopped herself down on the mattress. She rolled on her side, promising herself that she would get ready for bed in but a moment, even as she basked in how very soft the mattress was beneath her.
Imladris had been a very good choice indeed.