Just a cute, kinda angsty Halloween fic about a healer and an exile. Not connected to Cúthalion, this is a stand alone fic for the holidays.
The breeze blew the brightly colored fallen leaves this way and that, and carried the cheerful laughter of elflings throughout the province. Alquawen smiled to herself as she walked back home, a rather large pumpkin in her arms, threatening to make her fall over if the wind blew too hard. She grunted a little as she adjusted the weight in her arms. She grinned a little as she started to walk forward, only to give a squeak of alarm as she started to fall backwards.
Her head hit something, or rather, someone behind her, and whoever it was quickly steadied her, and relieved her of the large vegetable. Alquawen sighed in relief. Despite the fact that her rescuer had said not a word, she already knew who it was.
"Hello, Mornar!" She greeted with a smile as she looked up to see the Nargothrondian towering above her, her head resting against his chest.
"Why do you keep bringing random things back home?" he asked, looking down at her with an arched brow. "Last week it was a salamander, and today, it's a pumpkin!"
"Oh, knock it off, Mornar. There was a frost that night, and that little guy would've frozen to death if we hadn't taken him in!" Alquawen pouted. "And the pumpkin is for All Hallow's Eve."
"All Hallow's Eve?"
"Yes. The pumpkin is supposed to ward off evil spirits."
"How?"
"Do you not celebrate All Hallow's Eve in Nargothrond?" Alquawen asked, surprised. Mornar hesitated.
"I was never in the village this time of year, so I wouldn't know." He answered carefully. Alquawen's eyes lit up in surprise.
"Well then, I'll have to show you how we celebrate! Come on!" she exclaimed excitedly, grabbing his arm as she led him back to the talan. Mornar gave an inward sigh of relief that she hadn't noticed his hesitation to answer her.
He knew very well what All Hallow's Eve was, and he had been inwardly praying all day that the holiday in Pessmenel would not be "celebrated" the way it was in Nargothrond.
Mornar jumped as Alquawen jabbed the poor, unsuspecting vegetable with a kitchen knife.
"What are you doing to it?! What did it ever do to you?!" Alquawen looked up at him in surprise at his outburst.
"I'm hollowing it out, of course! How else am I supposed to make a Jack-o-lantern?"
"A Jack-o-what?" He asked, thoroughly befuddled. Alquawen sighed a little.
"A Jack-o-lantern is a hollow pumpkin with a face and a lit candle inside of it."
"Oh." He mumbled as he looked over Alquawen's shoulder as she continued to cut the tough skin of the pumpkin. After a few minutes, she lifted the top off, and passed him a large spoon and a bowl.
"Would you mind scooping out the seeds and stuff while I start making some sweets?"
"Why are you making sweets?" Mornar asked as he accepted the spoon.
"You're supposed to give the sweets to any elflings who come to the door." Mornar nodded quietly, still rather confused by the strange customs. He looked at the pumpkin critically, not caring much for the orange goop inside the shell.
"Ah, well." He thought to himself. "If it makes her happy then I suppose I'll do it." He dug the spoon in, pulling up a rather sloppy spoonful of the gunk. He wrinkled his nose a little at the pungent scent and disgusting look of the stuff before plopping it into the bowl. After a few spoonfuls, he gave up on the spoon and went in with his hands, finding the task to actually be somewhat fun after a while. Soon the whole kitchen smelled of nutmeg, cinnamon, maple syrup, caramel, sugar, and various spices. "Is this what I've been missing all along?" Mornar wondered. "Maybe this holiday isn't so bad after all."
"Are you done?"Alquawen asked, startling him out of his thoughts.
"I think so." he replied as Alquawen surveyed his work. She smiled in approval, which sent a warm feeling through his chest.
"Here, I'll draw a face here, and you can cut the shapes out because you're far better with a knife than I am!" Mornar watched over her shoulder as she carefully drew a face on the vegetable. "All yours!" She grinned as she gave the pumpkin a light push towards him. He smiled as he pulled a small knife out of his belt, and carefully started cutting, holding his breath as the blade cut through the tough shell like butter. His smile grew broader as he looked at his handiwork. He looked over his shoulder to find Alquawen standing there with a beaming smile.
"What do you think?"He asked, hoping that her smile meant something along the lines of pleasure.
"It's perfect!" She exclaimed, her eyes bright as she jumped a little in her excitement. Mornar laughed quietly, lightly shaking his head in amusement.
It still baffled him how she could get so happy over the smallest things. She suddenly hugged him, taking his breath away.
"Thank you so much!" She murmured softly as she held him a little tighter. Gently, he hugged her back.
"You're welcome." He smiled a little.
"Come on!" Alquawen grinned as she looked up at him. "Let's put it outside." Mornar nodded, picking up the now much lighter pumpkin. Once he set it outside, Alquawen placed a candle inside of it, and the deck of the talan was aglow with a warm light. Her gentle smile seemed to be made brighter by the light, which put a smile on his face.
His smile faltered as he noticed some young ellyn headed towards the woods.
"What are they doing?" He asked, praying that she couldn't hear his voice shaking.
Alquawen looked over her shoulder to where he was pointing.
"Oh, them? They're going on a ghost hunt."
Mornar paled considerably, every word he had to say taken from him before he could even say them.
"Are you alright? Mornar, what's wrong?" Alquawen looked up at him, her blue eyes filled with gentle concern.
He never responded.
He just ran, pretending he couldn't hear her.
He raced onwards, his lungs burning as he blinked back tears threatening to blind him.
He wanted to go back to her, but his feet would not obey him as his flashbacks brought him back again, and again, and again.
He was perched up in a tree, minding his own business, munching on an apple he managed to snag in the market.
He normally wasn't one for stealing, he had a bad enough name without being a thief, but if it came between theft and starvation, he would choose theft.
He only had so many choices in life, and being only sixteen, he didn't exactly have the experience to choose between much else.
His choices were survival and death.
That simple.
His sensitive ears suddenly picked up a noise.
Snapping twigs.
Crunching leaves.
He continued to listen, his dark eyes searching the woods carefully, although the lighting of dusk made it difficult.
There was suddenly a loud hiss getting louder as he stiffened, looking around him wildly.
Mornar gave a sharp cry of pain as he suddenly ran face first into a tree branch, and fell heavily to the ground.
He screamed in agony as something embedded itself in his arm with enough force to knock him out of the tree, and on to the ground, with all the air slammed out of his lungs. He scrambled shakily to his feet, clutching at his arm, looking at the injury with wide eyes as he realized that the offending projectile had been the bolt of a crossbow.
Someone had shot him.
"There! The demon's over there!" Mornar looked about in a panic as the ellyn approached him.
He could smell the whiskey from where he was standing.
Unfriendly hands grabbed him, and he immediately lashed out on instinct, kicking at the ellon in front of him, which earned him a blow to the head. He screamed as someone punched him in the arm. Finally his thrashing paid off and whoever was holding him let go, though he fell to the ground.
He responded to the kick in the side he received by kicking the ellon in the groin, picking himself up, and running away.
He gave a piercing cry of pain as someone grabbed at the bolt, ripping it down and out of his arm.
He raced into the night, ducking into the shadows, staying out of the ellyn's reach, praying that he wasn't leaving a blood trail.
He was about a mile away before he collapsed, clutching his arm, which was bleeding profusely from a deep gash running from his shoulder to his forearm. He scrambled back against a nearby tree, looking around him wildly.
Blessedly, the ellyn had given up the chase.
He tasted salt on his lips.
Had he really been crying this whole time?
Why couldn't they see it?
If sorrow and pain weren't signs of his humanity, what was?
He wept alone in the dark, knowing that the tears he shed were the only tears shed for him.
His breath hitched as he stared unwaveringly at the blood coating his hand.
"Mornar!"
Panic arose in his chest at the sound of Alquawen's voice.
"Oh, dammit! I have to hide it, I have to hide it, I have to..." he thought to himself as he did his best to try and hide the blood steadily trickling out of his nose.
A gasp of shock was uttered, and he looked up to see Alquawen standing before him, a hand over her mouth.
Apparently, she was faster than he gave her credit for.
"Oh, Valar… Mornar..." he ducked his head in shame as she knelt in front of him. She gently reached down, and tilted his head upwards, lightly grazing her thumb along his sharp jawline. "Here. Hold still." she murmured softly as she gently pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket, and carefully used it to stop the bleeding. "Shh. It's alright. The bleeding has nearly stopped. Almost done."
"I'b dot an elfing!"
She giggled a little at his protest. "I know you're not, but I also know you don't like things near your face." she pulled the cloth away, the white fabric embroidered with forget-me-nots stained red. A smile graced her fair face. "The bleeding stopped. With a little luck, it won't start up again."
"Thank you. I'm sorry that I ruined your handkerchief."
"Think nothing of it. It's only a handkerchief. You didn't ruin it, it can most likely be washed." She settled down beside him, suddenly becoming quite serious.
"Why did you run like that? If you don't mind me asking, of course." She asked, her eyes filled with gentle concern.
"Just… just a bad memory, that's all." he admitted softly, looking down at his feet. She shifted a bit closer to him.
"You can trust me." she murmured quietly, placing a hand on his arm, unknowingly above the scar from the incident that had haunted him for so long. "I hope you know that. I hope you know that I won't judge you, or see you as any less than who you are, no matter what you tell me."
"I know, it… it's just I don't want to scare you."
"So what? If I get scared, I have my knight in shining armor, don't I? And besides, it's okay to be scared. It may not sound pleasant, but it's the truth."
Mornar sighed.
"It's alright." Alquawen murmured as she sat up straighter, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. "You need to get something off your chest. I can tell."
He sighed heavily.
"There… there was an All Hallow's Eve tradition when I was there. It was called a 'Demon hunt'. It started when I was about sixteen."
"They would hunt you down, wouldn't they?" she asked softly, her voice laced with pain. Mornar nodded, his lower lip quivering ever so slightly.
"Yes."
"They didn't hurt you, did they?"
He sighed heavily, rolling up his sleeve, exposing the scar from the incident. She gasped, gently cradling his arm against her.
"What caused this?"
He bit his lip.
"A crossbow."
"Oh, Mornar… " she gently traced the scar with her thumb, just as she had at the stream all those weeks ago.
"That's why I was never in the village around All Hallow's Eve. I was always sure to go at least three miles outside the village each year."
"That's why you were so scared." She murmured softly, tears running down her fair cheeks.
"Alquawen," Mornar said softly, his chest tightening as he gently wiped away her tears "there's no need for you to cry for me."
"Yes, there is!" Alquawen snapped so sharply, he swiftly pulled his hand away. "No one else cries for you, and you hardly ever cry for yourself because for some damn reason beyond my understanding, you act as though you believe that you deserved every single bit of pain you've ever felt, which isn't true! You never deserved these injuries, Mornar!"
He watched as she knelt before him, her cheeks flushed, and fire burning in her eyes as she trembled with her quiet anger.
"Since the moment we met, I knew you were hurt in more ways than one, and I made it my job to make sure that you felt at home here." Each and every word made the cracks in his broken heart run deeper. She shook slightly, choking on her tears.
Seeing her this upset killed him.
"I made this promise to myself, and I'll make it to you now: no one will ever hurt you again."
Tears stung his eyes as he held her, gently rocking her back and forth as she buried her face in his chest, wetting his tunic with her tears.
"Oh, Al..." his voice cracked as he cradled her against him, lightly stroking her silver curls. "I don't want to hurt you by saying this, but… you've made a promise that's only going to hurt you in the long run because it's a promise you can't keep." She looked up at him, shocked. He sadly tried to smile. "Someone is always going to be out to hurt me. I've accepted that. There's always going to be someone who has enough hate to hurt another person, and quite often, it's those who are different who often end up getting hurt as a result."
"But it shouldn't… it shouldn't have to be that way!"
"I know, but we don't have the power to change that." a gentle smile crossed his face. "It's nice to pretend, though, isn't it?" she wiped away her tears, and smiled a little.
"I suppose."
They sat together in silence, holding onto each other, a remedy that Monar found numbed the pain, at least for a little while.
If only one could regain the innocence they had lost.
"Look!" Mornar sat bolt upright, startled by Alquawen's outburst. She was pointing at the sky, her once red eyes now bright as twin stars. "The harvest moon!" He looked in the direction she was pointing in, the large golden moon reflected in his dark violet eyes. It rose above the trees, large and beautiful in the starry sky, putting the sun to shame.
"It's incredible…" he whispered breathlessly, completely awed by the sheer splendor of the celestial sphere.
"The harvest festival is coming up soon, then." Alquawen murmured, joy in her voice.
"What's that?" He asked.
It seemed that the inhabitants of Pessmenel had many more celebrations than he knew of.
"After the harvest, everyone gathers together, gives thanks to the Valar for their blessings upon us, and then we celebrate with feasting and dancing." She explained, her face glowing with excitement all the while.
Her eyes suddenly softened.
"Do you know how to dance?" She asked, looking towards him with a gentle smile.
"No." he responded, shaking his head.
He never really had a reason to dance.
"Here, I'll show you!"
"Now?"
"No, tomorrow, of course now, silly!" She laughed, offering him a hand, as she attempted to pull him to his feet.
"Hey, don't strain yourself!" Mornar huffed as he got to his feet. "There's at least a foot in height difference between you and I, and I personally don't want to know what the weight difference might be."
"Oh, cut it out with the statistics!" She grumbled, a smile in her voice, as she adjusted his position so that he was standing in the correct form.
"... we're supposed to dance like this?" Mornar asked, blushing a little in the dark as he realized how closely they were standing together. He held her hand in his left, his free hand rested against her lower back, and her free hand rested against his shoulder.
"Yes, how else would you dance?" Mornar was about to respond, but then realized that he wouldn't know anyway because he had no idea how to dance in the first place.
"Fair point."
"Here, copy what I do."
Mornar gasped a little in surprise as Alquawen lightly started swaying, and he had no choice but to try and keep up with her, lest he throw her off balance.
"That's it," Alquawen murmured, smiling gently "you're getting it."
A warm feeling of pride blossomed in his chest as he realized that although he tripped over his own feet occasionally, he was actually doing pretty well.
Until he accidentally stepped on the hem of Alquawen's dress, tripped, and sent them both tumbling to the ground, the silver-haired elleth landing on top of him.
He opened his violet eyes to find himself staring into Alquawen's ocean blue ones, their noses nearly touching, they were so close. They stayed like that in silence for a minute, looking at each other, noticing all of the small details otherwise left unnoticed.
Faint marks on Alquawen's lower lip showed exactly where she had bit her lip when she got worried, hinting that she had a habit of biting that particular spot.
A nearly invisible scar from several years ago from what was most likely a minor injury ran from Mornar's right nostril to his chin, leaving a barely visible silvery line across his lips.
Alquawen's deep blue irises were speckled with a brighter shade of blue, her beautiful eyes seemingly imitating dew-covered sapphires under a starlit sky.
Faint strands of gray marred Mornar's thick black hair with signs of years of stress and worry.
Alquawen's facial features were soft, rounded, and gentle.
His were sharp and angular, almost chiseled.
Their eyes locked as they both relaxed in each other's presence, despite their predicament.
Blue eyes, soft and tender, violet eyes, mournful, yet filled with gentle love.
It was strange, how at another point in time, he would've been terrified by such intimacy, and yet now, he had a small, forbidden desire to get closer, and to know her better. His heart pounded as Alquawen leaned in slightly. He couldn't help but mirror her actions, their foreheads touching, they were so close.
Their eyes closed, and they quietly found themselves basking in the silence, and each other's presence.
Mornar sighed softly, her gentle heart a true comfort to his tormented and tortured soul.
He'd have to tell her one day.
Tell her how he felt, and how much her kindness, her compassion, and her love meant to him.
Years ago, he would've thought that it was impossible that someone could even remotely care about him, but Alquawen had defied all and any expectations he had, reducing the horrors he pictured to mere images he'd conjured as he tried to imagine what would happen if he even tried to love or win love. She was truly a wonder if she was able to care for a creature like him, the creation of darkness that he was. A child born under the darkness of the new moon as the howling wind echoed through the cloudless sky. From what he'd been told, there'd been a chill that night, the night he was born, and even the stars had hidden their bright faces. It had been a cold, lifeless, unforgiving January's night from what he'd heard.
He'd never been told anything else about that terrible night.
Not the day.
Not the hour.
Not who his parents were.
Just the conditions and the month.
He wasn't too sure about the truthfulness of the revelation, but he'd also been told that his mother had given birth to him alone in the snow.
But almost everyone had a slightly different yet somewhat similar story about that night. Some claimed to have heard screams while others claimed to have heard an eerie silence.
It all depended on who he talked to.
That is, who would talk to him when he tried to bring it up.
And here he was, in love with a beautiful maiden, born on a warm September morning, under the golden light of the sun, to a family that loved her.
It was awfully funny how life worked.
Her warm breath lightly tickled his lips, and he suddenly realized with abrupt shyness exactly how close they were.
Gently, he respectfully pushed her off of him, blushing deeply all the while.
"I'm sorry." He mumbled. "I should be more careful."
"It… it's alright." She replied, her cheeks as red as his.
"Damn, you idiot. Why didn't you just kiss her? You were so close to her! You know you love her!"
"Oh, shut up!" Mornar inwardly grumbled at his inner monologue. "You may love her, but you don't know if she loves you!"
"Do… Do you want to keep dancing? You were doing so well before we fell over." She inquired shyly. He bit his lip, quietly contemplating her statement. Part of him wanted to decline for fear of falling again, but the other half of him wanted nothing more than to dance again, just so he could see her smile like she did when she was cradled against his chest enjoying their time together in silence. She looked so serene and relaxed, their hearts beating in rhythm with the slow dance. He briefly wondered if he was being selfish by wanting to see her joy.
"If you want to, then of course I will." He responded, smiling slightly as she blushed a little as he stood up, and offered a hand to her as he playfully bowed. "May I have this dance, my lady?" He joked, trying to sound like one of those fancy lords who used long words and pens instead of swords. Alquawen laughed in delight, shaking her head at his antics. She allowed him to assist her to her feet, before curtsying with a cheeky grin.
"You may." She said, using the primest accent she could muster before dissolving into giggles.
He couldn't help laughing.
Gently, he took her hand in his own, a lovesick smile on both their faces.
They got back into form, a quiet sigh escaping Mornar's lips as Alquawen rested her head against his chest, unaware that he was silently renewing his vow, under the witness of Tilion, to protect her at all costs. She looked so innocent with that smile on her fair face, the moonlight bouncing off her ivory features. It melted his heart to know that she had never known the kind of pain he'd grown so accustomed to. And yet, he held no jealousy as he might have done in years past.
Instead, he wanted nothing more than to keep it that way.
It was strange to think that at another point in time, he most likely would've felt nothing but contempt and hate for a being like her, who had it so easy compared to him.
But Alquawen was not your everyday elleth. That much was obvious.
He couldn't hate her even if he tried.
He gave a whispered gasp of surprise as she held him a little tighter, burying her face into his chest. A smile spread across his face as quickly as the red colored his cheeks.
"Why does she have to be so damn adorable?" He thought to himself as he took the liberty of holding her a bit tighter, resting his head against hers, his cheek pressed to her soft silver locks. He closed his eyes, allowing himself to fade into the moment, listening to the crickets singing their favorite songs. Mornar quickly found himself lost in time. All he felt was his breathing become steady, and the amazing creature in his arms.
It seemed almost magical.
Unreal even, that she was as perfect as she was.
"Eru must've taken his time to create her." He thought to himself as he opened his eyes to find, with utter surprise, that it was already dawn.
He glanced down at Alquawen to find her half asleep against him, the rays of sunshine giving her silver-sheened hair a golden glow.
Guilt washed over him at the thought of the fact that he'd kept her outside in the cold all night, but was soon washed away when she smiled at him.
"Come on," she said, stifling a yawn "let's go home."
"I'm sorry that I kept you out for so long." he murmured, feeling bad once again as he took in her exhausted appearance.
She only smiled.
"Think nothing of it. It was by far one of the best nights of my life." a shy smile crossed her face. "I'll be counting on you for a dance when the festival happens."
"I'd be more than happy to."
~ Fin ~
Well, there you have it!
I hope you all enjoyed this short story, I'm sorry it came out so late, this was meant for Halloween, but obviously that didn't happen lol.
(Mornar and Alquawen: "No kidding.")
(Moi: "Oh, knock it off, I tried!")
Hope this brought some fluffy feels, and that you all have a wonderful holiday season this month!
(I also may have been writing another short story for Halloween that didn't exactly happen… So if anyone wants to read through my incredibly painful first attempt at writing horror, stay tuned, because it will hopefully be out soon! And if you guessed that my main character for the horror story is a certain redhead… you might just be correct…)
