Neder

[inafadingcrown]

[Room 304 has undergone quite a few changes. Most noticeably, it’s not really so much of a room anymore, as it is its own little world.

Anyone who enters will find themselves in a beautiful old forest, surrounded by Mallorn trees, their golden leaves shining as the starlight hits them. And starlight it is, for there is no moon. But it should not be

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[beyondimagining]

[Late in the day Will knocks politely on the door. He'd spent most of the day in his room, merely thinking. His own experience with the mind was limited, and he was uncertain about about many of the conclusions that had come to him. But for now he thought it would be helpful to speak to some of the others he had come to know here.]

[beyondimagining]

That sounds much like something my master would have said.

[For all the wisdom of his kind that Will carried with him,he still knew himself to be very young in many ways. He had the memories and experience of twelve years, only.]

[inafadingcrown]

Does it? I should like to meet him, I think, though I would not wish this place on another.

[beyondimagining]

I do not think he could come. [Will says this rather miserably.] He was very tired, and he has sailed away already. To the land behind the north wind.

[inafadingcrown]

[She looks at him very carefully for a moment.]

Will you come with me, Will Stanton? I would show you something.

[If he'll let her, she'll take him to the beach and stand him in full view of the white shores in the distance and the Two Trees behind them. Will will undoubtedly be able to sense something from it. Even as a product of her memory, it is endowed with the power of Light. It's...beyond sacred.]

[beyondimagining]

I will.

[And he will follow her to the beach and stand watching silently for some time. He could sense some strange power here. It almost felt akin to the Light in some way. Not of the Light, but something about it called to the part of him that was of the Light. For the first time in this world he could feel the Old One in him waking fully.]

[inafadingcrown]

It has many names among the Elves: Valinor, Aman, the Undying Lands. My people do not die, save from grief or mortal wound, but time and memory weighs heavily on our shoulders. It is there that the old and weary may find rest, for it is as unfading and unchanging as we. Across the Sundering Seas, we sail, leaving all else behind.

[There's a longing in her voice and a weariness that she seldom lets show.]

There I was born and there I will return when my tasks in Middle-Earth are done.

[beyondimagining]

[Will listens silently and slowly replies, not so much to her words as to the longing he could hear in her voice. That seemed to him very much an echo of the same longing he often felt.]

There is something very similar among my own kind. We cannot die. For us there is only our duty. And one day, the promise that we might sail to our rest in the land that lies behind the north wind. It is a restful place there among the apple trees.

[Will slips into a singsong tone as he recites the next few lines.]

When the Dark comes rising six shall turn it back;
Three from the Circle, Three from the Track.
Wood, Bronze, Iron; Water, Fire, Stone;
Five shall return and One go alone.

[A sense of wistfulness creeps into his voice then, with a hint of deep sadness and longing.]

One goes alone. Of all my kind only I remain within the world of men. Their task is finished and they have sailed away on the white ships. Mine is only beginning.

[inafadingcrown]

[She smiles somewhat sadly and reaches out to grasp his hand in hers- the hand that still feels so strangely light without its proper burden.]

We understand each other very well indeed.

[beyondimagining]

[He grasps her hand lightly back. The movement pushes his sleeve up slightly, revealing the very edge of a shiny hairless scar on his wrist.]

It would seem so.

[inafadingcrown]

[Her eyes linger on the scar, but she doesn't say anything. She's trying very hard to treat him as an equal and not as a child who needs mothering. She lets his hand go and her arm falls back to her side.]

I have borne my burden far longer than you. I know well that no matter the company, those who carry such weight must do so alone. But if it would bring you comfort to speak of it or to hear me speak in turn, you are always welcome here.

[beyondimagining]

[Will answers slowly and thoughtfully.]

Time has no meaning. Not really. But all the same, I still feel that I am very young in some ways. In this, more than anything.

I thank you for your offer. It is comforting, in a way. Even to know that in this place and in one sense I am not entirely alone.

[inafadingcrown]

And I am glad to offer it. In truth, it does my heart well to know the same.