She walked outside and sat under a tree, watching the night sky. She didn't sleep. and still she sat when morning arrived. Her strange, luminous eyes now fixed on the ground.

Markus woke and dressed and gathered what little he had to call his own and dashed down the stairs. He ordered some breakfast and took a seat at a vacant table. He thought he would wait a little while, see if Luna wanted to come. If she did not appear he would take that as her answer.

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She got up and stiffly walked back into the inn. It was a short distance. "Good," she paused and yawned, "Morning, Markus." she plopped down by him and paid for his meal and room.

(back!)

"You do not need to pay for me all the time, you know?" He asked quietly as Luna sat down beside him. He finished eating his food. "Have you eaten?" He enquired taking in her overall appearance. It looked like she had been out all night and had not slept a wink. He pursed his lips in thought.

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"I know. I just like to." she gave him a small smile. "How did you sleep?" she tilted her head at him, curiously.

He furrowed his brow at her, shaking his head. However he decided not to push the subject. He cleared his throat and returned Luna's smile. "I cannot deny it was nice to sleep in a real bed for a change. And you?" He asked, paying more attention to his tea than he normally would.

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She swallowed. "I didn't." she blinked at him. In her world, that was a normal thing. One of her survival methods.

"I thought so." He stated casually. "Are you sure you will not want some sleep before leave? Or have you changed your mind about coming with me to Lothlorien?" He tilted his head at her as he pushed away his used plate and mug. "Would you like something to eat?"

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"I'm fine." she nearly bounced in her seat "When are we leaving?" she was almost like a little kid, excited about something.

"If you say so." He watched her with mild amusement. "I need to stop by the market and some shops on the way out of town to pick up some supplies." He pulled a piece of paper from his jacket pocket. "It shouldn't take long." He smiled. "Once I have what I need we can leave...Unless you have anything you would like to pick up?"

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She shook her head. She should probably get anew dress, since hers was all torn up, but she didn't care. "Can I come with you into market?" she asked him, again tilting her head and almost resembling a puppy.

Markus nodded his head. "You can come and go whereve you please," he grinned. "For you are free too." He gave her a small wink as he stood and gathered himself. He crossed over to the door and held it open for Luna. She ducked under his arm. Smiling to her he made his way down the street. He stopped at the towns armoury to pick up a sword for protection. He stopped at a clothes shop to pick up some cheap shirts and trousers. Lastly he stopped at the market place. "I am going to pick up some food and drink for our travels. Feel free to take a look around and get whatever you need." He bowed his head to her politely.

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She blinked and nodded, going about and poking her nose into every single vending stall. She wasn't going to buy anything, but she was curious. She came to a particular stand, and found her breath taken away as she looked at a ring. The man came over "That stone there's called a Mystic Topaz." she said in a whistling voice. "It's said that the moon made these stones, and gave them to us as gifts." her mouth formed a perfect 'o' as she reached put to touch it. It sparkled between shades of blue, purple, red, yellow and green. It was gorgeous. Mostly blue though. She forced herself away from it to poke about the other vendors.

While Markus moved around the vending stalls gathering food for their trip he watched Luna curiously. He watched as she stopped by a jewellers stall. She looked particularly interested in a ring. Markus grinned to himself. Once Luna had moved on from the stall he walked over. "How much for the mystic topaz stone?" He asked the vendor. "Two gold pieces," he answered. Markus handed him the money and pocketed the ring. "Pleasure doing business with you." He bowed his head to the vendor and moved on.

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Once she had thoroughly poked through every stall and everyone else's business, she trotted back to Markus. "are we ready?" she asked, clearly excited to get to Lothlorien.