As the night gently weaved over the horizon, creating the inky cauldron above. The pale moon released his sleepy children as they began to sing, and Varda placed a twinkle in each of their pristine eyes. And as Luthien lay in bed that night, she found herself slightly weary, perplexed wondering in her heart what drew her to make such an offer to a soul she had only just met. Certainly, if her Ada and Nana knew, they would lock her up for the day and her Ada would send out scouts to make sure the stranger was a million miles away before he let her out of his sight. Luthien sighed, slipping her soft hand under her pillow and rolling on her side. A sweet caress swept across her cheek and ruffled in her wavy starlight tresses in the form of a soft breeze as she remained lost in her thoughts.

Earlier in the day, after her morning chores and lessons with her Nana in the healing gardens, which usually brought her such joy. She thought of a word she heard from a traveler: 'Hiraeth', a yearning for a place beyond one's physical home. It is said sometimes one feels in such a way when they remember a life before the one they exist and often become travelers, as this man said was his curse as well as the greatest of gifts. Hiraeth, he said to him, was gathering the pieces his puzzled soul was missing in the form of new lands he swore he visited before, as well as eyes he never gazed but knew almost instinctively. It's not a traditional home, he told Luthien. There aren't grand columns or walls covered in paintings, no.

Often, it was beneath a canopy of trees' or a lark's morning hum. It's different for each of us, he explained. Ever since she heard that word, she found herself traveling further beyond the girdle, where she knew she must never go. But her vanguard heart called to explore and discover the undiscovered. To seek the missing parts she could feel in her soul. On that particular day, she had taken a different path, but in actuality, it wasn't a clear path at all. Just an overgrown grove, forgotten by the hands of time. Or at least, this is what she thought. But the more she lad in contemplation, she began to think—perhaps it was the young mortal that called to her in the deepest parts of her soul and heart.

There was such sorrow in his eyes and she could feel a deep, endless void where once was a gleaming that outshined even the sun. When Luthien lad the soft of her palm over his hand she could almost feel the pain of his hearts song. He explained to her how he lost a precious soul along with the lands in which he lived and his soles told his tale as well. They were sun-bleached and pale, and they were worn around the edges. As if the the soft sighs of the soil wrinkled his tale along the leather and threads. Luthien's gifts were just starting to reveal themselves and she knew whomever this mortal was he was destined for far greater things then even he in this moment could comprehend.

Her Nana had once told her that sometimes the moon and the sun slice along a path and lead wayward souls in our directions for healing or guidance as these were gifts that were naturally possessed by our kind. With this in mind, Luthien knew exactly where she would take him. Beyond the barriers of Doriath to a secret forest were grand oaks like sentinels outstretch towards the sky touching the Valars hands and cloaked in a ghostly mist in which only the Maia can see. Given her blood, she was blessed with the vision to see the veil.


The next day, as hushed scarlet and ambrosia stitched across the horizon, Luthien would meet Myrddin again, as she had promised, and when he inquired where they were going to, she just giggled and weaved her petite fingers through his. “You must learn to trust the path that leads you here, Myrddin. I know of a place that may help you believe again and bring peace, or perhaps assist you in your heart's quest. You see, my Nana is a Maia, and it's a place she goes to when she needs guidance or to be reminded how interconnected all of Middle Earth truly is.

Amidst an inky sky alight, Luthien would lead Myrddin to a secret path where flickering fireflies; celestial choreographers whispered and guided them through a misty grove. And with each gentle step, the bough sighed beneath their feet, imprinting their wandering souls. The air was thick with mossy incantations, and time felt linear as they delved further into the secret forest grasp. Owls tooted with their kaleidoscope eyes and ruffled their feathers as Luthien and Myrddin passed below, and nightingale's recognizing of Melian's daughter rejoiced as she sang a sweet song.

Soon their fluttering guardians would traverse them through the veiled gardens revealing gnarled roots flowing into forgotten realms and blackened bark with ivy spiraling all around, holding the secrets of the past, present, and future in each leaf. They rustled like parchment, as if they knew the reason Luthien brought Myrddin to this place, and they were eager to whisper to him the scribes they kept. . “This is the land of the Whispering Tree's Myrddin. It's a sacred place that no mortal soul has even seen or would know. " Her voice was gentle as she released his hand and placed the small picnic basket over the silk emerald blades, and then removed her powder blue cloak and smoothed it over a small clearing near the grand oak tree.

With a smile perching on her rosebud lips, she waved her hand over the blanket, inviting him to sit just as she did. From her basket, she took out two small cups and a steamy tea kettle she had packed with her and already prepared for what she had in mind for her new found friend. As she began to pour the steam rose over the cup and held a delicious, sweet scent. It was a mixture her Nana had taught her when she was much younger and she first brought her to this place. It couldn't be seen with a mortal's eyes and as Luthien was told, it was the gateway between all realms.

Neither time nor veiling existed in the magical gardens, and it was a place the Valar used to guide the Maia if they ever needed help. She did not know Myrddin, but she felt something special in his soul she couldn't quite explain. He was destined for many great things. Luthien glimpsed it in her dreams the night before; although it was blurry, there was a halo of gold in his aura. She knew when she awakened that they were destined to meet, and she was to bring him here to guide him in his journey with the Valar's guidance in this magical place. She curled her fingers on the handle of the cup and placed it before him. “You have lost your way, Myrddin. I can see it in your eyes. Your northern star dimmed when you returned to the dwelling in which you were born. As well as the loss of your loved one. The girl... But she never left you. I can hear her calling to you between the swaying branches, and she scribes the leaves in the hope you will see. “

A smile tugged at the corner of her lips, and her eyes twinkled, almost feeling the love and memories they shared. “Drink the tea, dear Myrddin. It contains a blue lotus to reveal the shrouding of the veil here, as well as niphredil, the flower that sprouted when I was born. This will show you your path. The journey you must take to find what you lost, and if you wish, I will accompany you for as long as you wish until you find once again your heart's quest.”

 

Luthien--For as long as Luthien could remember, she never quite felt as content in her lands as her kin. She always felt a longing and yearning, and in her nights she could be found on the very edge of her naneths girdle, overlooking the tapestry of emerald and golds. Even the trickling sounds of the falls called to parts of her spirit, as it was the life force of Middle Earth and veined throughout all the lands, collecting tears, laughter and memories if you had the sight to see or a clairvoyant hand.

In her daily adventures, she once met a wizard with a staff carved from a sacred tree, and he whispered a word to her that awakened her soul, and with watery, fawning eyes, she said, "That's exactly it. How I have felt. "Hiraeth was the word he spoke, meaning homesick for a place one cannot recall. He said it first occurred when we fell from the stars; the valar only let us see long after. It’s why, when we feel lost, we gaze above. Whether be a lost traveller or a young lasses eyes, he twinkled. That was our first home, where we left particles of ourselves in the tearing of time. The second occurred when we took our first breathe in spirit after losing the sanctuary of our naneths womb.

Our first gasp of air, although wondrous and invigorating, was also unfamiliar. The sights and even the smells. Then we get older, and our visions of the world around us carve into how we personally see it to be. Not one elven, dwarf, or even hobbit views the surrounding terrain the same. Some will inhale a summer breeze and feel the specks of their home within. Others see it in the misty mountains or in the streams and brooks that weave through the fields. While others who have evolved and collected the puzzle pieces of the surrounding earth look for the remaining parts of themselves in the glow of a lovers eyes. The eyes are the windows of the soul, and it’s for this reason 'Tis true… We are all made from galaxies that died long ago, with ancient star dust in our bones. We see it glimmer of another’s eyes and that feeling of hiraeth seems to flutter away. It’s home.

That familiar feeling, the aching pull—we gravitate like binary stars and fall upon each other's lips. Home is in the collection of colours in their eyes. Relics alive in their spirit. Their lips the interwoven words unspoken truths that when pressed alight the secret chambers of our hearts' song. In their arms you find your home, and you realize it’s not a place you have been searching or anything rooted to the soil or a structure at all. It’s in the soul. It was in the soul all along.


Myrddin--“Hiraeth” is a word that holds a special place in the hearts of the Welsh people. While it lacks a direct equivalent in English, its meaning is rich and evocative. At its core, “hiraeth” describes a deep and nostalgic longing for a time, place, or person that may no longer be accessible. It’s a wistful yearning for a connection to the past, often accompanied by a sense of melancholy and nostalgia. This emotion can be triggered by a variety of factors, such as homesickness, memories of childhood, or the desire to reconnect with one’s roots.

Luthien-- As the young man spoke, she could see a certain melancholy sparkle in his eyes. Like the glimmer of a fae's wings singing to the embers of a dying fire. She had only recently heard the word, but something about it haunted her young elven soul. Who in truth always seemed to gaze far past on most nights, beyond the entrapping of her home. The misty mountains overhead that loomed like guardians in the watchful, onyx sky, with spirits of old. Those that perished whispered of their lives, and many secrets untold. Some honorable warriors who took their last breaths over the gold and emerald valleys and into the veining streams. While others, poets and travelers, sought scripted words of inspiration from the frothy clouds overhead and the cries of the Valar that spoke to their souls. Luthien raised her small hand over her violet eyes as strangles of gold cast both shadow and light upon the young man's face, and as she did, she became more intrigued, for he looked like a traveler himself, and she was always a curious young lass. "Do you know the word passed the breaths it took to speak it? "She said softly. "Are you searching too for a home unknown, one you have yet to claim?"

Myrddin--He looked at the young fae woman, she was beautiful and wise with it, her words spoke as if from one of the Ancients, but of course he knew they had longevity.  What he did not know, was that in years to come he would befriend many of the fae and their kind.

“I wander now, for my home was lost many summers past.  I returned to save it, but to no avail, and in doing so I left one behind that who now seems lost to me.”

 His eyes fell upon the earth as he recalled her face in his memory.  “I ask the Gods to show me the path back to her, but it seems I must first be punished, perhaps when my debt is paid they will find it within themselves to once again unite us.”

Luthien-- It was far past dawn, and the morning star rose perfectly in the pristine azure sky as a frothy cloud cloaked her unyielding light for just a moment, and Luthien swore she could see a tear cascade past his kind, unwavering eyes. She did not know his age, but from the looks of his mortal skin, she knew he had not lived much of his life. But in his dark hues, the mystical chambers of one's soul gleamed with gems seemingly stolen from a long-forgotten sky. Her heart ached as she sighed, revealing her sorrow at hearing his words of loss and what she felt as regret. He broke his gaze from her tender violets to the soil below, still damp from a melting winter's hand.

Luthien too looked upon the now soft soil as a small smile tugged at the corner of her rosebud lips, and she knelt down, bending her knees just enough as her soft fingers cupped a sproutlet readying to bloom. She would not pick it, and she never understood those that did. Its beauty was meant to flourish freely, not to be caged in a home as a novelty of love or care. Luthien felt the silken petals and nectar, wet and gleaming in the sunlight, as she tilted her head upwards to show the young traveler the little flower. "When one has loved so deeply, rooted such as this gentle flower,. Spring will always return to the winter of a soul. As the Valar teaches us, as the seasons change, so does the seasons in one's life. But what truly was ours will always return again and is never lost." 

She stood up once again, and dusted off the hemming of her cloak, placed her hand over his, and spoke once more. "Perhaps it was not meant at the time you knew each other. Maybe more lessons needed to be learned. And maybe, dear new friend, you stumbled upon me for a reason. Its fated chance. One never really truly knows."

A warm smile blossomed on her lips and glinted in her fawn-like eyes. "Could I interest you in a picnic? Tomorrow? I could make a basket, and we can meet here again as dusk settles in the sky."