Retribution for Lost Hope

By: WhiteGloves

Chapter 1

Hiranyr had watched the House of Elrond for virtually several decades of his life as one of the Healers. He had devoted himself to Lord Elrond and Lady Celebrian from ever since he could remember, serving them well with care and compassion. He had received a great deal in return, for both the Lady and the Lord proved worthy of his service. They were fairly good to him and to everyone else who was under their command; he was, no doubt, forever going to serve them, for it was what they deserved. He had made a vow to protect the Peredhil Family long before and to shield them from any harm, especially the good Lady Celebrian. She was the gentlest 'she-elf' he had ever come to know: she was a loving wife, a kind mother, and a compassionate Queen.

For many centuries, life in Imladris was peaceful--until the unforeseen evil struck the Queen without warning. She was taken by the Yrchs and had previously received a serious impairment before her twin sons could come to her aid. Hiranyr was among the many elves that yearned to run and slit the throats of all the evil creatures that had dared touch their beloved Queen, but he had been forced to wait. It pained him so much when the Lady had to sail to Valinor to find peace for her soul. It left a mark of despair in his heart and even in his soul.

This pain that lingered inside him formed up revulsion and reprisal that made him change his way of living. He decided to be one of the warriors and take retribution from those who had caused the family this great deal of misery. He made a new vow long ago to punish these evil creatures with his own hands unknown even to the Chief Warrior.

He watched in vain as the Peredhil Family collapsed. Watched when Lady Arwen, the Evenstar for her people, rode to her family in Lothlorien, watched as the Twins mold up their skills to hunt Orcs for their vengeance and continued to watch Lord Elrond's grief-stricken expression to everything that was happening to his family. It all fitted. His pain was reflected to them…

He was not alone.

Decades had passed since then, and alas, he had become one of the mighty warriors. He had destroyed all the Orcs he could get his cold blade on for the sake of his pained heart. He had killed as many as he could. Had killed until there was no one left. But the pain would still return, and it made him even more disconcerted. It made him leave the safe fortress and look for more to kill.

Three years had passed since then, and he ultimately returned to Imladris' walls, only to discover something different with in the gloomy House of Elrond. Something amiss his knowledge had come to the walls and brought the sun back up to its rightful place. But what could it be?

Laughter boomed somewhere, and Hiranyr had to glance around in attempt to find where the merry sound could have come from. Something at his left moved, and he shot a sharp gaze in its direction. He saw a trotting creature come forward out of the bush, clearly delighted with what was behind him. The creature was a human!

Already gaping, what he saw next almost made him baffled. There were the twins running after the small figure, apparently in a lighter mood than they had ever been for ages. The mirth in their eyes was refreshing to others, but not for Hiranyr, who found it confusing--and even somewhat disturbing.

What had happened?

His question was answered by the elves around him later on. They told him of the boy with the name of Estel. Lord Elrond had adopted him when the twins saved him from the hands of the Orcs who had attacked his village and killed his parents three years before, and so the boy was a mere orphan, an orphan who was able to give hope back to these fallen elves.

Hiranyr watched from a corner how Lord Elrond's behavior had change in the three years of his absence. Though the grief was still on the Elf Lord's eyes, it would always miraculously disappear whenever the adan was around. It was the same for the Princes Elladan and Elrohir--even for the Balrog slayer Glorfindel himself, and even for the stern advisor, Erestor. What kind of magic had this creature brought upon Imladris?

As Hiranyr watched from a distant, he felt cold, even though the sun was always up. He felt different among the rest. He felt the people around him had betrayed him. Had they all forgotten about Lady Celebrian? He noticed that the Lord Elrond was almost his old self, akin to when Lady Celebrian was there. The fire of retribution from the twin's eyes had vanished as if it had never lighted there in the first place. Rivendell had once again moved to face light. Except him.

They had all left him alone.

Years had passed again, and finally a time came when Hiranyr was fated to meet the boy they all call Hope. The boy was thirteen years old back then, and he was prone to danger more than any elfling Hiranyr could ever remember. One long afternoon, he watched in awe as the boy tried his best to climb a tree using only his bare foot, again. He had been watching the adan for a long time now and found it interesting that the boy did not show any sign giving up, when finally at the last step near the top - Estel fell and dropped on the ground with a loud thud. Hiranyr was amused by this and took a step out from his hiding place.

He watched as Estel massage his back, cursing plainly with what the elf thought were dwarfish curses. After that, Estel made another attempt to climb the tree.

"Why do you not give up, hir nin?" Hiranyr found himself asking the boy, who turned sharply to see the elf approaching him from behind.

Estel suddenly smiled, which somewhat distracted the elf, and he ceased to move another step.

"I will, when my brothers start loving Orcs and wargs," he answered.

Hiranyr frowned. "The Princes of Rivendell should never be compelled to think such thoughts."

Estel chuckled and turned his back on the elf. "Then I, too, should never be compelled to think such thoughts of giving up."

A wave of wonder flickered over Hiranyr's green eyes and he felt suddenly light. "Why do you do this?" he found himself asking the boy and stepping a little closer. He saw something from the boy's eyes that he could not explain...

Estel stopped and glanced back at the elf with his curious eyes.

"Do what?"

"Everything."

Estel blinked and watched the elf he knew to be one of the warriors but had never come to meet him until now. After a while he shrugged and said,"Because I am alone."

The tone of the boy's voice was not of bitter resentment, but of his normal-stating-fact-tone. But the elf had heard different. Hiranyr suddenly felt a flush of sympathy toward the boy. Somehow, it dawned on the elf that he was not the only one feeling the same thing.

"How can it be - you have your family - " the elf continued to inquire as the boy made his way near the tree once again.

"I have them," nodded Estel, "but I am a human, sir Elf, an only one in the midst of your kind."

Once again, the elf ignored the light voice of the human, mistaking it with something close to regret and pain.

A familiar feeling crept up on Hiranyr. A feeling of belonging with this adan. They were both feeling the same thing - they were both alone. Something in the boy's eyes was different than the rest, something Hiranyr felt that should belong to him. The elf suddenly felt much better, and a smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Estel!" the Elf Lord's voice suddenly filled the air.

Both the adan and the elf snapped their heads at the sound of the Elf Lord's voice, and Estel smiled to himself.

"I'm coming, ada!" he shouted enthusiastically. Turning to the elf, he called back, "I have to go - so long!"

And with that, he sprinted to the direction of his father's voice.

The feeling of loneliness slowly crept its way back into Hiranyr's heart, and the elf felt the sudden pain once again, the pain he had never wanted to feel again. He was tired of it - he wanted to get rid of it. But how?

He stared at the sight where Estel's back had disappeared and understood something.

"You are indeed my estel," he said, his voice becoming suddenly cold, and he swiftly left the area.

------------------------------------------

Eight years has passed since that fateful encounter, and Hiranyr had never forgotten a single detail about it. He watched from a distance how the adan turned into a man with skills that could be compared to that of an elf. How the man had engaged an undying friendship with the Prince of Mirkwood, and how he continued to give Hope to the House of Elrond! He was well aware of it, but he knew his Hope was not. Aragorn, for that was his name now, had forgotten him. The man had forgotten the bond they had shared for those few moments in the garden. Forgotten how he, too, felt the loneliness that flowed into the elf.

Fear and doubt filled Hiranyr through all the years that Aragorn paid him no heed. Ire and fury filled him every time he saw his estel being surrounded by the traitors who had abandoned him to his loneliness long before. Selfishness willed his heart to go on and wait for the right time until his estel finally becomes his - only for himself.

The right time would come, and he would take the Hope that had been taken from him.

And he made yet another vow.

~TBC~

Thanks Katrina! XD