Songfic! This is based on Franz Schubert's lied "Erlkönig". Rather than have a father/son duo I replaced it so they had a brother's relationship, of course. Gilbert's about 15 or so in this, and Ludwig's only 8 or so. I hope you enjoy!
"Erlkönig"
Words by Johann Wolfgang van Goethe
Music by Franz Schubert
German lyrics:
Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind?
Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind;
Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem Arm,
Er faßt ihn sicher, er hält ihn warm.
"Mein Sohn, was birgst du so bang dein Gesicht?" -
"Siehst, Vater, du den Erlkönig nicht?
Den Erlenkönig mit Kron und Schweif?" -
"Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif." -
"Du liebes Kind, komm, geh mit mir!
Gar schöne Spiele spiel ich mit dir;
Manch bunte Blumen sind an dem Strand,
Meine Mutter hat manch gülden Gewand."
"Mein Vater, mein Vater, und hörest du nicht,
Was Erlenkönig mir leise verspricht?" -
"Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind;
In dürren Blättern säuselt der Wind." -
"Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir gehn?
Meine Töchter sollen dich warten schön;
Meine Töchter führen den nächtlichen Reihn,
Und wiegen und tanzen und singen dich ein."
"Mein Vater, mein Vater, und siehst du nicht dort
Erlkönigs Töchter am düstern Ort?" -
"Mein Sohn, mein Sohn, ich seh es genau:
Es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau." -
"Ich liebe dich, mich reizt deine schöne Gestalt;
Und bist du nicht willig, so brauch ich Gewalt."
"Mein Vater, mein Vater, jetzt faßt er mich an!
Erlkönig hat mir ein Leids getan!" -
Dem Vater grausets, er reitet geschwind,
Er hält in Armen das ächzende Kind,
Erreicht den Hof mit Mühe und Not;
In seinen Armen das Kind war tot.
English lyrics:
Who's riding so late where winds blow wild?
It is the father grasping his child;
He holds the boy embraced in his arm,
He clasps him snugly, he keeps him warm.
"My son, why cover your face in such fear?"
"You see the elf-king, father?
He's near! The king of the elves with crown and train!"
"My son, the mist is on the plain."
'Sweet lad, o come and join me, do!
Such pretty games I will play with you;
On the shore gay flowers their color unfold,
My mother has many garments of gold.'
"My father, my father, and can you not hear
The promise the elf-king breathes in my ear?"
"Be calm, stay calm, my child, lie low:
In withered leaves the night-winds blow."
'Will you, sweet lad, come along with me?
My daughters shall care for you tenderly;
In the night my daughters their revelry keep,
They'll rock you and dance you and sing you to sleep.'
"My father, my father, o can you not trace
The elf-king's daughters in that gloomy place?"
"My son, my son, I see it clear
How grey the ancient willows appear."
'I love you, your comeliness charms me, my boy!
And if you're not willing, my force I'll employ.'
"Now father, now father, he's seizing my arm.
Elf-king has done me a cruel harm."
The father shudders, his ride is wild,
In his arms he's holding the groaning child,
Reaches the court with toil and dread. -
The child he held in his arms was dead.
THUMP-a-da-THUMP-a-da-THUMP-a-da-THUMP-
"Ludwig! Stay awake, Bruder!" Gilbert screamed over the pounding horse and roaring storm around him. He shook him gently once. His head lolled, he muttered and moaned something unintelligible. But his eyes stayed open.
While Gilbert leaned over his brother on the saddle, the wind ripped his hood down again. Cut through all of his layers like butter. He shivered, his eyes watered instantly; harsh raindrops blew into him from every angle, blinding him, stabbing into his face and eyes. He blinked away the hot tears and cold rain, shutting his warm eyelids over his freezing eyeballs again and again to rid himself of the burning. No matter where he looked or where he turned his face he couldn't get away, couldn't find relief from the rain's painful barrage. It covered his vision like a curtain, the lightning occasionally lighting the dark path of his panicked charge. Each breath of the crisp he took was like blades down his throat. Tasting and smelling of the rain.
He wanted desperately to throw his arm up and shield himself from it, but he couldn't. Not with Ludwig in his arms. Sitting limply, reclined with his back and head against Gilbert's chest, drooping in the saddle in front of him as they bounced and jostled violently on the panting horse. He realized selfishly that hugging Ludwig's feverish body to his own was the only thing keeping him warm. Not good. He readjusted the soaked-through, thread-bare blanket over his brother, aware of his coughs and shivers against his chest but hesitant to acknowledge them. If he got any sicker, he wouldn't make it to the doctor's. Gilbert propelled the horse faster through the storm.
Suddenly, Ludwig's eyes widened. He gasped and leaned into Gilbert, covering his face with shaky hands.
"What's wrong?"
"He's here! He's here, Gil!" he whimpered. "Th-there he is! You see him?"
"Who-?"
"Look, look, there he is! The Elf-king! His crown and train!" He struggled against Gilbert, who squeezed his brother tighter, turning his face away.
It took all of his willpower not to panic. "There's no one there. It's a trick of the thick mist, Lud," Gilbert assured him calmly.
The two fell silent again, jolting roughly on the back of the horse. A chill that wasn't from the cold rain spread down Gilbert's back. He mentioned the Erlkönig. The spirit who takes the souls of children. He suddenly realized with a heavy weight on his heart that he was racing Death. He could feel it, breathing down his neck-
"Stop it!" he yelled at himself, shielding his face from the stinging rain. "Nothing is chasing you. He is not dying." He pressed the horse on faster, resisting the urge to look over his shoulder like he was actually being chased.
Ludwig squeaked in alarm. "He's whispering to me," he said, fingers scratching painfully up his arm. "You can't hear him? You can't hear the promises he breathes in my ear?!" His voice rose in pitch with each word, and he grabbed a white-knuckled grip on Gilbert's cloak, clinging for dear life.
"Stay calm, Lud!" he soothed gently, wiping some sweat- and rain-slicked blonde hair from his brother's forehead. "Be calm! Lie still, just breathe. It's the leaves, ja? Look, how they rustle in the wind! See, it's only the leaves! Say it's just the leaves!" he begged. He was starting to notice just how hot his brother felt against him. Uncomfortably so. Sweaty. Shaking.
"It's just the leaves . . ." he whimpered. "Mein Gott, they're trying to tempt me! They wanna lead me away from you, no no no! Can't you see it?! Can't you see them dancing?"
"Who, Bruder?" He stroked his hair again. A vain attempt to calm him.
"The Erlkönig, his daughters! Oh, please save me, Brother!"
Gilbert leaned over his brother and saw the way his chest heaved and saw the terror in his flitting eyes. Wild and wide. Back and forth, back and forth between Gil and the trees.
He blinked some rain water out of his eyes and looked around desperately to see something, anything, to protect Ludwig from, to calm him down. All he saw was the grey line of spindly, bald trees along the trail. Verdammt! He was becoming spooked, like Ludwig. "I can see the trees clearly. It's just the trees blowing in the wind, Lud, I promise," he pined. He turned Ludwig away from them, huddling over him protectively. Suddenly wary of everything around him despite feeling foolish. Could he really protect Ludwig from . . . a spirit?
Afraid of a spirit? A legend? Never! The Erlkönig was not coming to take Ludwig's soul.
The wind whipped painfully cold around them but it seemed to only whisper to Ludwig. He shuddered, eyes widening in fear. He gradually grew stiffer and stiffer, tenser and tenser, pressing himself as close to Gil and as far away from whatever he was looking at in front of him. Gilbert realized he was far away, his eyes staring at something his own couldn't see. "It's not the Erlkönig. It's not! He won't have you!" he resolved to himself, hugging him close.
Suddenly, he thrashed wildly about in Gilbert's arms.
"Ah! Lud!" Gilbert struggled to hold on and keep them both on the horse as Lud's shrill screams pierced his ears, and the night.
"Aaaaaaah! LET GO OF ME! B-brother, he's got me! He's taken hold of me! He's got me, he's got me, he's got me! HELP ME!" Gilbert pulled back on the reins to hold his brother and nearly lost control of the horse. He pressed his thighs into the saddle as hard as he could, and wrapped both arms and the edges of his cloak around his trembling brother.
"Luddy! Ludwig!" He shielded his brother's face from the rain and tried to get him to look at himself. But his brother's eyes were closed tight in fear or fever, Gil couldn't tell. He wormed and wiggled, trying desperately to get away from what he saw. Shoving, elbowing with all his little might.
He tired quickly from his illness. His writhing grew weaker. Suddenly Ludwig fell limp against Gilbert, letting out a low moan. His head tossed back and forth and he struggled in a feeble, feverish fit against Gilbert's chest. Then he fell silent. Unconscious in his arms except for his groaning. His eyes watered up despite his resolve and with a sob of despair Gilbert pressed the horse faster and faster until it nearly tripped on its own powerful gait. He could see the lanterns. He was only about 50 yards away. He could make it.
He could make it. Inch by inch, yard by yard. Gilbert puffed, gasped, wheezed, whined in rhythm with the horse, heart willing it to take him there faster, to get his brother help soon. Seconds stretched into hours. Precious seconds literally slipped away from him.
The horse ate the distance up and clamored into the courtyard, kicking up stones. Before it even skid to a halt Gilbert slid himself and Ludwig from the saddle. His brother's dead weight slammed on top of him and he collapsed.
"Bruder! Bruder, we're here! We made it!" he said, gently shaking Ludwig. "Ludwig?" He wouldn't wake up. He was pale and cold. Realization clutched his heart. But a stubborn part of his mind wouldn't accept it yet. He lay his brother on the ground and placed his ear to his chest. Nothing.
There, in his arms, his brother was dead.
A/n: Just a little something I've been wanting to write! Based on Franz Schubert's lied "Erlkönig." I encourage you to Youtube it! When I learned about this song in my music history class last semester I instantly replaced the father/son duo with the German brothers! I also slightly changed the dialogue of the song a TINY bit, but the mood of the text remains the same. Let me know what you think!
The song is just AWESOME because of the piano rhythms, actually SOUNDING like horse's hooves! And also, the upper range is used for the Erlkönig and the child, while the lower is for the dad! Plus, the major modulations for the Erlkönig's parts makes it sound like he's beguiling and nice and all! I think it's the bomb dot com!
-Keyblader