I do not own the characters from Lord of the Rings. They belong to the Tolkien estate.
Aboard the captured Corsair ships that are making their way to Harlond is a hassle of activity. They have almost reached their destination and have to prepare the ships for docking at the port. Onboard Halbarad is making sure that the standard he received from the lady Arwen is ready to be shown to the world once they leave the ship. Looking at his cousin he can see him making sure everything is ready and helping wherever his assistance is needed. Halbarad is glad that he is here with his cousin to aide him in saving Gondor form the attack of Mordor. He has seen in a vision that he would be wounded in the battle and really hopes to survive it. There is nothing he would love more than to see Gondor and Arnor returned to the glory of old at the side of his cousin. Should he die then he will be relieved that it will be while fighting the servants of Mordor.
Halbarad puts the straps on the standard to make sure it stays in order before stands up and making his way to where he can see his cousin standing. As he looks over the railing of the ship he can see why his cousin is standing there. The lower levels of Minas Tirith are burning and on the field of Pelennor, a fight is occurring. From what he can tell most of the forces of Mordor are still outside the gate and fighting the riders of Rohan and forces of Dol Amroth who do their best to protect the city. He can tell that they are doing so as he can see the standards of both on the field and also he can see some their warriors from afar. This tells him that the battle is not yet lost or over. But he can also tell that Rohan and Dol Amroth are on the defense based on their movements. What is actually happening in the city Halbarad doesn't know as he can't see inside it. Based on this he knows that they will be coming to the rescue of the city. Halbarad is certain that their forces will win this battle.
"Is everything ready, cousin?" Halbarad asks Aragorn after a few minutes of silence have passed between them. They could hear the sounds of activity on the ship in the background.
"Yes, everything is as ready as it can be. Once we dock we will show the banner you brought with you to the world. We will make it clear that the heir if Isildur has come forward and will lead the fight against the enemy. Do you want to give the duty of standard bearer to someone else as I'm sure you know that being the standard bearer will be dangerous" Aragorn asks his Halbarad. He does suspect that his cousin will refuse to surrender the duty but feels that he has to at least offer the opportunity to him.
"No, my lord. The honor of being the standard bearer is one I would like to retain if you will allow it" Halbarad answers formally and can see the smile on his cousin's face. They are rarely formal in their interactions with each other. The only time they are is during the most formal events they have to be present at.
"Then I will see you among the front of the troops at my side as soon as we dock the ships" Aragorn tells Halbarad.
"Yes, cousin. See you soon then" Halbarad says as he moves back to the area where the horses are being kept. He quickly saddles his horse and makes sure that everything is surely tied to his faithful steed. By doing this he knows that he has everything prepared as they will soon be docking at the port of Harlond.
Arriving at the port of Harlond everyone is busy making their final preparations for the coming battle and also making sure that the ship will be docked as it should be. Halbarad is sitting on his horse next to his cousin and lord with the folded standard in his hand. He waits for his cousin to give the signal to show the standard to the world. When he gets the signal he pulls the cords from the standard and lets it flow freely in the wind for all to see. Not long afterward the ships are completely docked and they join the battle. As they are leaving the ships he can see swords flashing on the other side of where the orcs are standing and he can hear the music of trumpets and ringing bells coming from the city. As they are coming up on the forces of Mordor he can see that they are being driven away from the city to their position by the defenders. As he looks to see who is driving them he sees the standard of Rohan to the north and blue standard with a swan on it to the west. To which lord that belongs he isn't entirely sure but he believes that it belongs to the Prince of Dol Amroth.
He quickly pulls his thoughts back to the upcoming battle as he knows to not let his thoughts wander when one is in a battle. That usually has disastrous consequences for the person who lets their thoughts wander. He has seen many gotten serious injured by doing so. They meet the forces of Mordor with a clanging of steel. Soon they are in the thick of the fighting and he has to fight for his life just like everyone else. As standard bearer, he makes a really nice target for the forces of Mordor he can tell as they are focusing a lot on him in an attempt to take him out. At the same time, they are also doing their best to kill his cousin but Halbarad is confident that he will get out of it relatively unscattered of even unscattered. Just then he is pulled out of his thoughts by a searing pain in his side and lets the standard fall. He is quick to retaliate by killing the one who struck him and also berates himself for not paying attention to the battle. He really should know better.
He looks back to the enemies that are surrounding him and does his best to take them out while his injuries hinder his movements. Not long afterward he is joined by his cousin who looks at him with a worried expression. Those who came with them form a protective circle around them which enables Aragorn to check on his wounds. As he looks for where the standard he was holding before being injured is, he sees that Halon, his oldest son, has picked it up and is also holding it up. This means that he has now taken on the duty of standard bearer. Halbarad doesn't feel envy that Halon has taken over his duty. He is well aware of the fact that he isn't able to conduct it anymore because of his injuries.
"I want you to go straight to the houses of healing once this battle is over, Halbarad. There will be no talking yourself out of it. Now go back to the ships. You should not be in the thick of the fighting with this wound. In fact, you should be resting right now" Aragorn says as he applies a bandage to Halbarad's side after having checked the wound carefully. He knows that Halbarad will be losing quite a bit of blood during the remainder of the battle if he is not careful but Aragorn is not worried that Halbarad will be losing a lethal amount of blood. It is a deep cut which Aragorn could tell when he examined it and it will eventually need stitches. As they are currently in a battle he knows that it is impossible for him to put the stitches in now. Still, the stitches need to be put in before three hours are passed. Once the bandaging of the wound is complete they join the battle again. Most of the orcs have already felt the field or have been killed while the Southrons and Easterlings are still fighting. Halbarad has the impression that they will fight to the death and won't willing to surrender to spare their lives. He has this impression from what he can see from where he is standing. In the end, they either kill or take Southrons and Easterlings captive. The captured all surrendered once they noticed that the battle was lost completely and wanted to live. Thus they saved Minas Tirith.
Right now it is evening in Minas Tirith and Halbarad is waiting in the houses of Healing until the healers have time to look at his wound. He has already waved off a few as he felt they should put their time firstly in the more seriously injured before tending to him. They need the aid of the healers more than he does.
As he looks around the room he can see Mithrandir entering the houses in the company of a few others. Looking closer he identifies one of Mithrandir's companion as his cousin. The other two he doesn't know what their names are. One of them must be the prince of Dol Amroth based on the clothing he wears but the other he doesn't know at all. Still, he has a feeling that the person he can't identify is also a lord of Gondor. This all makes Halbarad wonder why his cousin is being led here into the houses in the company of these two. He knows that Aragorn wasn't injured and that there are more than enough healers around in the houses to look after everyone. So why they would need him here, Halbarad can't tell. Aragorn needs sleep as he knows that his cousin was already tired before the battle so now he must be exhausted. He hadn't been able to sleep a lot during the trip to Minas Tirith.
Looking back at the company, Halbarad can see that they enter a room which is being guarded by two Gondorian guardsmen. This gives him the impression that Mithrandir wants Aragorn to tend to some high ranking noble of Gondor and the other two will be needed as witnesses for something. But why Halbarad doesn't know. After a few minutes, a man who he believes to be the herb-master enter the room and only spends a short while there before leaving the room again. Halbarad wonders what has been discussed inside as the herb-master leaves the room looking a bit upset. Not long afterward a young boy runs into the room bearing a bundle of cloth in his hands. He can tell it is the same boy who he saw leaving the room not long before the herb-master came. From the size of the bundle Halbarad surmises that it contains some herbs but why a boy should fetch them, he doesn't understand.
A short while later he can hear shouts of happiness to coming out of the room. He can understand some words that are being shouted. Among them is the praise that the king has returned. He smiles at this praise because it shows that it is almost certain that Aragorn's claim to the throne has been acknowledged. When his cousin leaves the room he can tell that he is even more tired than before but still attends on those who suffer from the Black Breath who are in the houses. He knows what the Black Breath is for he has seen its effects in the past and it wasn't a nice experience for him as Halon was the one who was affected by it.
"Cousin, why have your wound not yet been treated?" Aragorn asks once he has seen to everyone in the houses who were being affected by the Black Breath. He feels incredible tired and knows that he needs sleep and food, probably not in that order. Still, he doesn't want leave to eat yet as he wants to see how his cousin and the other injured Dunedain are faring. He isn't happy that Halbarad hasn't been treated but suspects that it is not due to the healers' actions but due to Halbarad's own stubbornness. The other Dunedain have already been treated and have left the houses for their camp outside of the city gates.
"There were other people who needed the care of the healers more urgently than I did" Halbarad says and waits for the rebuke he will receive. He can tell he will get one based on his cousin's current expression.
"Halbarad! You needed their care as much as any other did. You are aware that you will be stuck here in the houses for quite some time now due to your own stubbornness. You need to recover longer now than when you had let the healers treat you when they offered" Aragorn says irritatingly and takes a deep breath to calm his nerves down. Due to his tiredness and his worry for the ringbearer his nerves are fried. He tells an assistant healer to get him the supplies he needs before attending on his cousin.
"No matter, as you didn't want their aide then then you will now accept mine. And I will not accept any discussion about it" Aragorn says when he sees that Halbarad is about to protest to his offer of aid. He takes a look at the bandages he put on the wound on the field and can tell instantly that he has to take them off with water as they have gotten stuck to the wound due to clotting blood. He had feard that this would happen when he bandaged the wound during the battle. Just then the assistant healer return with the supplies he needs and he can take the bandage off with the aid of the assistant. Once he has done so he treats the wound as it should have been treated earlier and in approximately one hour he is finished. With some very clear instructions to Halbarad, he leaves Halbarad to rest. He leaves the houses to eat a bit before going into the city to help those who are in need of his aid.
Halbarad is resting one evening in the room that has been provided to him in the houses of healing when the door opens and Aragorn steps inside. He sits down on the chair that stands next to the bed Halbarad is lying on and looks at his sleeping cousin. He feels bad for having to disrupt Halbarad's rest but he needs to talk to him about the decision that was made earlier. Gently shaking Halbarad's shoulder Aragorn isn't at all surprised to see that Halbarad is instantly awake and reaching for a knife at his side that isn't there. The side effect of patrolling in the north, Aragorn thinks. You have to be able to wake up quickly if someone has seen trouble coming towards where you are camping for the night or if you are touched so that you can defend yourself.
"Good evening, cousin. Did you have a nice nap?" Aragorn asks teasingly. He knows that he had a good nap until he woke him. Teasing Halbarad will tell him how his mood is and how he has to breach the subject he came to talk about.
"I did have a good nap until you woke me up so rudely. Don't you always say to let the injured sleep? Why ever would you break that rule, cousin? Oh, wait. You need something from me don't you" Halbarad shoots back at Aragorn.
"Need something from you, no. I do need to inform you about something which I know you won't like" Aragorn answers.
"Well, what do you need to talk to me about, Aragorn? You never visit an injured person so late to talk about something if you don't have a really good reason to do so" Halbarad says and wonders what is going on. He hopes that it is not something bad as he feels that everyone has earned some peace for the time being. Unfortunately based on his cousin's words he suspects it is will be something bad. How bad he has as of yet no idea.
"Tomorrow we will be marching on Morannon to lure Sauron out and give the ringbearer the chance he needs to finish his quest. We will only be taking those with us who can fight and who volunteered for this. Unfortunately, you won't be among them" Aragorn says and sees dread appearing on Halbarad's face.
"Why! There will be little chances of survival for those that go. You'll die! After everything we went through you'll throw away your life so easily!" Halbarad tells his cousin angrily.
"I don't do that. I know that if the ringbearer doesn't fulfill his quest then all of Middle-Earth will soon be overrun and it won't matter if I will go or not. Also, we don't have the strength to defeat them in a lengthy conflict" Aragorn tells his cousin. He can understand Halbarad's feelings but he won't change his mind. He gave his word so will honor it.
"I know that Aragorn but it won't change the fact that I don't like this one-bit" Halbarad answers having calmed down from his initial dread and accepting his cousin's reasoning. Then he starts to wonder if this was not the only reason why Aragorn came to him. Halbarad wonders if he also came to give him a task of sorts so he asks
"Is there some task you want me to carry out for you?"
"Yes, there is. If it is possible I would appreciate it if you could look after the lady Eowyn and the lord steward Faramir while at the same time making sure that you recover" Aragorn tells him. He actually hopes that Halbarad is able to do so as it will take some of his worries out of his mind. He asks Halbarad to look after the young steward so that he has the aide he might need once he takes on his duties. He doesn't like it to leave such a young person alone with such a heavy duty as ruling a country. Currently, Imrahil is looking after Gondor but as he will accompany him on the march the care for Gondor will fall on the young steward's shoulders.
"Of course I will do it to the best of my abilities. Only I don't know who the lady Eowyn or the lord steward Faramir is as I have never met them" Halbarad answers and only then remembers something Aragorn had told him on the way to Minas Tirith so he asks
"Wait! I thought you told me that the steward was lord Denethor. How can it be that this lord Faramir is steward right now?"
"That is a sad tale" Aragorn says and takes a deep breath before continuing "The lord Denethor has been looking into the Arnor-stone for quite some time and saw what force would be coming to destroy Gondor. He didn't know that we had taken control of the Corsair ships. His son, Faramir, was wounded during the retreat from Osgiliath where he was tasked with defending that line. In the end, madness took Denethor after he thought that his son was dying and perceived that the end had come. That moved him to try to kill himself and his son by means of burning. He was restrained in executing his plan by Mithrandir, a young hobbit and a Gondorian. They managed to save Faramir's life but were unable to save that of Denethor. He burned himself alive. Because of his father's death, Faramir is the current steward of Gondor" Aragorn says and is saddened still saddened by this news. No matter how Denethor has always treated him when he was last in Gondor under the guise of Thorongil Aragorn always respected him. He would have liked it if they could have become friends and if Denethor could have abandoned his resentment for him. But it was simply not meant to be.
"That is sad indeed. He is now an orphan as I remember you telling me that the lady Finduilas, wife of Denethor, died years ago. We both know that he isn't the youngest orphan we know of but still one of the youngest orphans who had to take on leadership. Let me guess, the reason you asked me to look after him is to make sure he has the council he might need once he takes his duties on. It will allow him to learn a few things from me and to find his own way in how he deals with certain matters. In the north, we always had one of the elders or another experienced leader act as a counselor to an orphan lord so it won't be much different" Halbarad says and can see the smile on his cousin's face. This tells him that he was thinking in the right direction.
"That is right, it won't be much different than when you acted as a counselor to one of the few young ophan lords we have had in the north" Aragorn says and then stands up. He can tell that he has spent already more time with Halbarad than he intended and will need his rest before leaving in the morning. He moves to the door and once there he says
"I will leave you to rest now. In the morning we will march"
"Of course. I hope that you will be victorious and we will see each other again soon. May the Valar protect you, my lord" Halbarad says as a goodbye and with that Aragorn leaves the room. Halbarad tries to rest afterward but his mind is unable to calm itself. He feels worried for his cousin's life. He would have preferred nothing more than to march with him and to protect him to the best of his abilities. Instead, he has to stay here in the stone city and wait for word to reach him about the outcome of the march. He also wonders about how he will be counseling the young steward. What will be the matter the young steward will be faced with and how can he advise him on those matters.
Three hour later an apprentice healer silently enters the room Halbarad is staying in and sees him sleeping soundly. She is send to check on the patients to see if they are able to rest and if not give them some herbs to induce sleep. She is glad to see one of their patients sleeping soundly on his own and after quickly and silently closing the curtains leaves the room to check on the other patients.