001 - video

[histori]

[Ori is having a bit of difficulty working his 'smartphone'. There's a bewildered dwarvish face on the screen, face screwed up in confusion as he tries to fix it. A jumble of confused letters appear on the screen and his frown deepens. Finally, the screen clears to just Ori's face, young, pale, his braids messy and his beard unkempt.]

I-I think I'm lost. [His voice is pitched high with nervousness, his stutter more prevalent.] S-something is f-following me, I keep seeing...shapes and f-faces and things in the m-mirror.

[Ori's voice cracks, dropping to a whisper. His eyes are glittering with moisture.] I-I just want t-to go home. I d-don't want to die, I don't want anyone to die!

[The screen suddenly shifts and it becomes apparent that the young dwarf has thrown it across the hall. There's muffled sounds of crying for several minutes before it finally shuts off.]

Comments

[histori]

[Ori blushes faintly and looks down.] I-I would like that, if...if you w-wouldn't mind.

[coy]

That's fine. [ smile!] So tell me about you. Where are you from?

[histori]

[He manages a weak smile in return. It's clear just from this woman's apparel that she isn't from Middle-Earth, but he appreciates it all the same. She's taking his mind off things.]

I-it's called Arda. O-or...Middle-Earth. I lived with my b-brothers in the Blue Mountains.

[coy]

The Blue Mountains sound pretty gorgeous. Are they actually blue or is it just one of those names?

[histori]

I-I suppose they're sort of blue. [When he really thinks about it.] S-sometimes when the light hits them j-just right.

[coy]

I live in a place called Mystic Falls. [ she offers a little bit about herself.] Although we do have some falls, it's not exactly mystical. [ although, it is in it's own way.]

[histori]

[Ori smiles faintly at that.]

It sounds like a m-magical place.

[coy]

It's pretty beautiful. And old. [ okay what else to ask] So what did you do back home? Maybe we can find you something similar here.

[histori]

My home is old too. [Really old.

He hesitates slightly at the question.] I...um...I was t-training to be a scribe a-and a historian.

[coy]

I bet you could still do that here! Maybe train people to be a scribe, too.

[histori]

Oh! [He goes scarlet at that.]

I-I...do you think...people w-would want to?

[coy]

There's a lot of people on this ship who want to learn new things. So I think I can safely say yes.

[histori]

[His eyes brighten.] R-really?

[He's been wanting so badly to be useful, after all.]

[coy]

There's a lot of kids here too, some might need some teaching.

[histori]

[Caroline, you are making dreams come true.] C-could...would you mind...um...helping me? I mean...find people?

[coy]

[ it's what she does. or something. ] Yeah, of course. Once you settle in, we can do a network post, ask around.

[histori]

Th-thank you. [There's a faint blush in his cheeks.]

I-I...you're very kind.

[coy]

I just know how it feels to wake up and not understand what's going on. [ she knows it more than she should. she's a pro at getting kidnapped it seems.]

[histori]

H-how long have you been here?

[coy]

A few months. [ vague on purpose so he doesn't get freaked out.]

[histori]

Does...does it get easier, living in this place? [He's genuinely curious to hear her thoughts on this.]

[coy]

Sometimes it doesn't feel like it? But most of the time, it's okay. [ that's kind of a lie.] Making friends helps.

[histori]

[Ori smiles faintly.] Then it's good th-that I found you.

[coy]

[ she grins.] Exactly. You're golden now.