@kumihod didn't ask for a starter but is getting one anyway c(:
Morning lay quiet in Rivendell, where the light itself seemed softened, as though it had passed through memory before touching leaf and stone. The gardens moved in gentle stillness, not silent but at peace with themselves, and Arwen walked among them as if she belonged as much to that quiet as to the world beyond it. There was no haste in her presence, only the sense that time did not press upon her as it did upon others.
A faint movement among the herbs drew her attention, and she turned toward it with calm certainty, her gaze lowering as though nothing within these lands was ever unworthy of notice. When she spoke, her voice came softly, clear and unforced, like light passing through water.
❝You have wandered a little beyond the paths most often taken,❞ she said, and though the words were simple, there was a gentle weight to them, not of warning but of care. ❝Rivendell is safe, yet even here one may find oneself in places less familiar than intended.❞
She approached without urgency, and when she lowered herself to the grass it was not as one who kneels, but as one who simply rests within a place already welcoming her there. From a folded cloth she drew a small offering gathered from the morning harvest, placing it upon the stone with quiet care: soft fruit and berries still bright with freshness, and petals preserved in honey so that what was delicate might be held gently for longer than a single hour.
❝These are given freely by the land,❞ she said softly, her tone simple yet touched with something enduring, ❝and prepared with care, that those who pass through these woods may find comfort in what is offered without demand or urgency.❞
The offering remained where she had set it, neither urged forward nor withdrawn, resting instead in a stillness that felt like invitation without pressure, while Arwen remained beside it, her hand open and unguarded, as though trust itself were the most natural state within this place.
❝Take what you will,❞ she said at last, and there was warmth beneath the quiet of her voice, steady and sure. ❝In Rivendell, nothing is required in haste, and nothing is received without welcome.❞
Her gaze lingered with gentle attentiveness, not searching but simply present, as though she saw not only what stood before her, but the spirit of it as well, and after a moment her expression softened into something faint yet lasting, like starlight resting upon water that never ceases to move but never loses its calm.
❝You are welcome here,❞ Arwen said gently. ❝And while you remain within these lands, you shall not be turned away.❞
