The Living Things Around Us

After I had tried for several more minutes to coax out of him why he was giving me so much help, I had given up. Instead, the three of us had talked about the source that Gimli had translated. We had come to the conclusion that we needed to find more clues before we could take further steps. In any case, as long as the messengers had not returned, there was no point in doing anything other than searching the archives of Minas Tirith for more sources. Since the library and archives were very vast, we had begun to discuss where best to search further. The Elf had suggested the strategy that had already led us to the other two scripts, which both Gimli and I thought was most promising: Browsing chronicles. If we found an entry, we could still see if there were more detailed records for it.

Over our discussion it had become evening, until at some point I was about to leave to collect my freshly washed apron from home before my shift at the Golden Crow.

Of course, the elf had seized the opportunity and now we were walking through the city together again. "Is this going to become permanent now?", I asked when we had just left the First Ring.

"What do you mean?"

"That you'll take me home as if I can't find the way myself?"

"I want you to be safe."

I couldn't object to that, and he knew it. "Listen, Legolas, I'm not a child anymore. I may seem like one to you because I am so young compared to you, but would you accompany Gimli at any time?"

"Gimli has fought battles. I don't think it can compare."

"I got by for four years without your escort and I'm still alive," I retorted. If I hadn't felt that his escort served some other purpose than my safety, I wouldn't have said anything. But this way...

"If it makes you uncomfortable, I will stop it," he said.

Wonderful. Now I was feeling guilty. "No, it's not that..." I gave up. "Tell me about the Greenwood. If we're going to have to bridge the time to the Sixth Ring, I'd at least like to know why you think the script is so important."

"The Greenwood is one of the largest forests in Middle Earth," he began, "It stretches from the Anduin river to the river Running and from Ered Mithrin to the Brown Lands. If you stand in the middle of it and climb one of the trees, all you can see far and wide is a sea of leaves." I didn't dare to interrupt him, his voice had taken on such a soft edge as if he was talking about someone he loved. And maybe that was true. Very likely, in fact. "The trees are home to pitch-black and pearly-white deer packs, squirrels build their nests in knotholes, and Black-emporers perch on the topmost leaf tips. One of the Black-emporers flew after me all his life, he had a thing for me," the elf continued. "His fur was dark gray and his wings velvety black. He told me about how he would love to be as golden as the setting sun. A twisted creature."

"I don't think it's that twisted," I responded. "Why shouldn't you have dreams? Even as a moth." I preferred not to question the fact that he could apparently talk to animals.

He shot me a quick glance and then said, "The world is made up of a set frame."

"Which you can't break out of?"

He didn't respond.

"You could have dipped him in paint," I said with a shrug, and for the first time I saw something like a real smile on his face. "Not just a rebel, but a realist."

I shook my head. "But there are others besides those animals, aren't there?"

"Bats and giant spiders, yes."

With a shudder, I thought of the movies that had captured that aspect very realistically. But I couldn't reveal that to the elf. "Did you seek the script because of them?"

"Not only. They have their raison d'être. But also, ever since the shadow was lifted and it's no longer called Mirkwood, they've been reproducing out of proportion."

"And there's a reason for that?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out."

"Hmm."

We had reached the Lower Gardens and both stopped at the same time. Another question popped into my head, "When I first met Gimli and you, he said you were planting trees. In the gardens?"

"He likes to understand what he wants to understand," Legolas responded, and I knew he meant no harm. Gimli and he seemed to share a close bond that only strengthened with mutual banter. "I'm not planting trees, I want to bring nature back to Minas Tirith."

"Cities aren't particularly close to nature, per se," I pointed out. "Unfortunately."

"That's why I want to make the city's gardens a place where you feel like you're walking through the woods."

Unconsciously, I couldn't help but think of the rigidly straight-cut tree canopies in the First Ring. "Then I assume you were not entrusted with the plants in the First Ring?"

The sour expression on Legolas' face was answer enough.

"I would have been surprised, to be honest. It's awfully sterile. But still better than what I'm used to." Too late I realized that I had unconsciously steered the conversation back to my home, even though I hadn't really wanted to bring it up. Shit. But it was my only point of reference.

He perked up. "So the cities in your homeland are different from Minas Tirith?"

How did I get out of that one? In a rush, I tried to see the cities of the 21st century through the eyes of a human or elf from Middle Earth. "Some," I said, therefore, pressed. "Many are green. But some are also very... bare."

"What's the reason for that?"

Manufacturing. Car traffic. Overpopulation. But I could hardly say all that. So I retreated to the safe post, "Expense issues."

"Your king doesn't manage sustainably?"

Involuntarily, I imagined the politicians of my time with a crown on their heads and bit my lip to keep from laughing. "You could say that."

"Is that why you came here?"

"Legolas..."

We continued walking, it wasn't far from the Lower Gardens to the road junction that led to my room. This time the elf stopped there of his own accord. Apparently he had accepted that I would say goodbye to him here.

"I will let you know when I receive word from the messengers," he said.

"In the meantime, let's keep investigating."

He shuffled his feet. "Would you like my help with that?"

Briefly I considered, then said, "Why not. I think we'd be more efficient if we shared our findings or searched together." Was I just trying to justify to myself why we should stay in touch in the meantime?

"A good suggestion."

"Well then." I raised my hand to leave, but Legolas seemed to want to say something else.

"Aspen."

"Yes?"

He looked past me to the houses on my street. Did he wonder if they resembled those in my homeland? Or was something else going on behind his brow? Finally, he seemed to give himself a push. "I have never met a mortal with as many secrets as you have. They almost slip away from you."

"What do you mean?"

"I have a feeling you'd like to share them."

"Well," I said harshly, "that's where you're wrong."

And that was that.