"Home is behind, the world ahead"
He sometimes wished he had never left the Shire. The world outside, whose image had once held such beauty and magic in his heart, now filled it only with darkness and despair. He had been so keen to leave for a grand adventure with his friends, but now he was alone, his home far behind him, and death the only thing he could see ahead of him.
"And there are many paths to tread"
This 'adventure' had led him down many unexpected paths, but fear of the unknown had done nothing to shake his resolve to help his friends, not while Merry walked beside him. His cousin was his strength, his hope, and he had never once thought that he was destined to take different path from his dearest of companions. But now the path he trod was a lonely one, filled with hopelessness and despair as his heart mourned for the friends he had left behind.
"Through shadow, to the edge of night"
He had heard that death passed over a person like a shadow. The colours of the world would slowly dim, until you could no longer see those around you, or feel their pain at your passing as they watched you slowly fade away. Darkness like the night-time sky would wash over you, and you would see no more…
"Until the stars are all alight"
…Then the lights of a thousand stars would blind you as they guided your soul from the mortal world, away from those that mourned you, in to a new world full of light and hope and peace. One by one, your friends would join you as they too passed from the world, and you would make stars of your own, to guide others in to this beautiful land.
"Mist and shadow, cloud and shade"
But right now he could see naught of that land. He was suspended in the darkness, constantly wondering if this was it, those last few seconds of black before the lights came for him. He wondered if perhaps his soul was already drifting, his world so full of shadows since he had left Merry's side...
"All shall fade, all shall fade"
But he knew he had to hold on, for Merry, for his friends. Just a little longer and they would come back to him, and the shadows would fade from his world once more. Light would be restored to all Arda, and if he had to light it with his own star to do so, then death didn't seem so bad after all…
A/N: I would like to thank Ducky'sgirl4ever for persuading me to step back in to my LOTR writing shoes, and my fellowship girlies, especially Tiz, without whose continuing fellowship bond this may never have been written
Until next time...
SmileyHalo