LOTR || ⤜𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙩 → [Legolas x OC]

⤜ 19 → magic bean

"Well, well," purred a voice next to Rosa's ears. She gasped, whirling behind a tree. Had her father caught her already? No, no that was not her father's voice. It sounded strangely feminine.

Cautiously, Rosa peered around the tree. She narrowed her eyes for signs of movement within the shrubs and the undergrowth of the rainforest. But the only movement was that caused by the wind or the rain. Nothing out of the ordinary.

She slowly inched out of her hiding place, wondering if she had just imagined the voice. Mud squelched beneath her boots as she roamed the area.

"This is no hour to be wandering the woods, young lady."

In a flash of panic, Rosa stumbled back. But a thin, wrinkly hand grasped her arm before she could fall into the dirt.

The little girl yelped, blindly swinging her fists around. "Let go of me!" she screamed, kicking up dirt and leaves from the forest floor.

The hand let go immediately.

Rosa took a step back, breathing frantic and eyes as wide as saucers. Standing before her was a woman, wizened incredibly with age, for her face held the most wrinkles Rosa had ever seen in her life.

She took another step back. "Who are you?" Rosa demanded. Her stance was defensive but the slight tremble in her voice gave away her fright.

"Fear not, young lady. I only ask you come with me."

Though young as Rosa may be, she was well aware not to give away her trust so willingly. Especially to strangers. So she shook her head.

This only made the old woman frown. She cocked her head to the side and raised a single feathery brow. To Rosa, it looked like a cat sizing up its next meal. After a lengthy pause, the woman sighed. "Very well, then. I cannot give you what your heart desires."

"Hearts cannot speak," Rosa argued weakly. "How can a heart tell you what it desires when it does not have a voice?"

The woman only cracked a smile. Despite the young girl's earlier act of defiance, she was still very much a child, and her naïve answer only confirmed that. But rather than replying, the old woman turned and began to walk away.

"Wait!" Rosa shouted, confused as she ran a few steps ahead. "Wait! Please. Did my heart really tell you what it desires?"

The woman's movements halted and she turned around. Dreadfully slowly. A coy smile curved her wrinkled lips and Rosa suddenly regretted ever asking that question.

"You are burdened with glorious purpose, sweetheart. And I have waited long for this," she said, briskly coming to crouch before the girl.

Rosa, despite all her efforts to push away, stood rooted to the ground as the woman's cold hands grabbed hers and carefully placed something inside her palm. She glanced down, uncurling her hands to reveal the mystery object. A small gasp escaped her lips as a shiny golden bean flashed in her palms. Her fascination lasted for about two seconds before visible confusion washed across her features.

"You offer me a bean?"

There was a glint in the woman's eye as she gave an intent nod. "A magic bean," she clarified. "Though there are very few left in the world. Most have been destroyed. The ones that still remain are scattered throughout the realms."

Still rather puzzled, Rosa pouted. "I do not understand what's so magical about this bean?"

A cool hand came to rest on her cheek and the little girl looked up into the strikingly green eyes of the woman. She instantly became distracted, noticing how age had not seemed to dull the old woman's eyes. Nor had it clouded the bright colour, which now glinted like emeralds in the twilight of the forest.