Soooo... I don't know if I was really bored or really inspired, but anyway : Here's chapter 2 !I have to admit, I am really not sure if I will be able to update that often every time. I will try, but I can't promise anything...Enjoy !
"You are no Elf," the man simply said after having observed the other sitting in a chair before him.
"Men of South are welcome here," he answered him, rather mysteriously.
"Who are you ?"
"I am a friend to Gandalf the Grey."
"Then we are here on common purpose... Friend," the man stated, before walking toward an elvish statue supporting a sword, broke in six different pieces.
"The shards of Narsil," he barely whispered while grabbing the sword handle and lifting it right in front of his eyes in contemplation and continued :
"The blade that cut the ring from Sauron's hand…"
The man looked completely hypnotized by the relic he was holding. His finger seemed almost attracted by the blade as he slowly ran his finger over it.
"Ah !" the slight cry escaped his lips as he cut himself with the sword.
"It's still sharp."
He noticed the other man was studying him quite intently as if trying to read his mind, so he put the sword handle back on the statue and took a step back.
"But no more than a broken heirloom." he sharply added in resignation before walking away, letting the blade fall on the ground. But as he passed under a stone arch, he was met by a third man who looked very similar to him, though a bit younger.
"Ah ! There you are, brother. I was wondering where you had left."
He stopped in front of his brother, but didn't answer.
"Boromir ? Is everything alright ? You look as if you've seen a ghost." the newcomer asked him, sounding rather concerned. Boromir, simply put a hand on his shoulder and mysteriously told him :
"The past will always be there to haunt us, little brother, no matter how hard we try to get over it."
With that, he patted his brother's shoulder and got away, leaving him quite confused behind.
"Where are you going ?" Faramir asked, quite troubled by the man's behaviour.
"To rest. It's been a long ride to get here." he answered, not even facing him.
"I suppose you have met my brother," Faramir finally said to the man behind him, who had put the sword back in place, after a long silence.
"I have indeed, yes."
"My apologies. He doesn't seem in his right state of mind."
"There is nothing to apologize for."
The younger man simply bowed his head in gratitude and there was a long minute where none of the men spoke. Faramir only stared at the man who had retrieved back his book and continued his reading. He seemed so familiar to him, and yet... He couldn't remember meeting him. He felt himself blush slightly in shame as the stranger stared back at him, a questioning look on his face.
"My apologies, my Lord, but you are not known to me, yet I cannot help but feel that we have met before." the young man immediately answered.
The man frowned, as if thinking of something and eventually answered :
"I'm afraid I cannot remember meeting you before today, Faramir, son of Denethor, but I have been a close friend and councillor to your grandfather, Ecthelion."
"You… You are the one they called Thorongil ?"
"I am."
Faramir shyly bowed his head at Thorongil in amazement. Surely the man looked much younger than what he had imagined.
"It is an honor, my Lord."
"The honor is mine, Captain of Gondor."
"How did you recognize me anyway, if you say we haven't met before ?"
The man pointed him his pauldron with his chin, adorned with the white tree of Gondor.
"To be honest, I know very few blond-haired gondorian brothers important enough to be summoned here, in Rivendell, other than the Steward's sons."
A small smile illuminated Faramir's lips at the simple deduction. He looked about to add something, but was interrupted by the arrival of a beautiful elleth. He quickly noticed the way her and the man were looking at each other, so he simply told them :
"If you will excuse me, I have... Some things to see with my brother."
"Thank you." Thorongil told him gratefully.
With that, the young man bowed to the elleth and left.
"Strangers from distant lands, friends of old, you've been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle Earth stands upon the brink of destruction. None can escape it. You will unite, or you will fall. Each race is bound to this fate, this one doom."
Lord Elrond turned his head to face the young Frodo Baggins in his stone seat.
"Bring forth the ring, Frodo."
The young Hobbit got up and walked to a stone pedestal in the center of the seats. Every look was upon him as he took the precious Ring from his pocket and put it down on the pedestal. Immediately, Boromir gripped his brother's shoulder and whispered in surprise and amazement :
"So it is true…"
Frodo took a step and sat back. Everyone was staring at the ring with both fear and envy in their eyes. Boromir was looking as if hesitating, staring both at his brother, who had considerably paled, and the bane he had in front of his eyes. Eventually, he got up, despite the iron grip his brother had on his forearm and the pleading look in his eyes.
"In a dream, Faramir and I saw the eastern sky grow dark…" he began. He rapidly noticed his brother was desperately pleading him to sit back. He hesitated slightly, but looked back at the Ring and continued however, his eyes still fixed on the Ring, "But in the West, a pale light lingered. A voice was crying : 'Your doom is near at hand. Isildur's Bane is found.'"
He brought forth his hand and brought it closer, and closer… He couldn't resist it… If he could just… touch it... "Isildur's Bane…"
Elrond and Gandalf immediately got up from their chair, shouting :
"Boromir !"
Faramir jumped from his chair and seized Boromir by his both arms in an attempt to pull him back. The sky suddenly went dark as Gandalf began shouting :
"Ash nazg durbatulûk ! Ash nazg gimbatul ! Ash nazg thrakatulûk ! Agh burzum-ishi krimpatul !"
Every Elf winced as the Black Speech reached their sensitive ears, a blonde one looking particularly uneased. As the wizard finished and sat back in his chair, Lord Elrond turned to face him, a look of anger and disgust in his eyes.
"Never before has any voice uttered the words of that tongue here in Imladris."
"I do not ask your pardon, Master Elrond," Gandalf began, "for the black speech of Mordor may yet be heard in every corner of the West ! The Ring is altogether evil."
"Nay, it is a gift. A gift to the foes of Mordor." Boromir tried to get up again, but this time, his brother managed to restrain him back and look at him in a way that clearly meant 'Don't you dare any closer to this thing again'. Boromir shot him an evil glance, so dark that Faramir couldn't suppress a gasp at the sight, and involuntarily drove away from him. Boromir took the opportunity and got up to speak to the other members of the Council.
"Why not use this Ring ? Long has my father, the Steward of Gondor, kept the forces of Mordor at bay. By the blood of our people, are your lands kept safe. Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy ! Let us use it against him !"
"Boromir ! Stop it ! This is madness ! The One Ring cannot be controlled ! Not by any of us !" Faramir finally shouted and rose from his seat, shocked by the speech his older brother had just held in front of the entire Council. He couldn't take it anymore. Boromir was a sensible man, how could he…?
"You do not understand, little brother. This Ring could be the key to all the issues our country faces or will ever have to face !"
The younger man shook his head, a look of our disbelief and incomprehension on his face.
"Boromir…" was the only word he could get past his lips before he fell back to his chair.
"Your brother is right, you cannot wield it ! None of us can." the voice of Thorongil suddenly raised from beside him. Boromir turned to face him, a look of pure anger in his eyes, but the other man kept on.
"The One Ring answers to Sauron alone. It has no other master."
"And what would a Ranger know of this matter ?" Boromir asked him sceptically.
A young blonde Elf and Faramir got up in the same time. Faramir was ashamed of the disrespect his older brother had just shown to their grandfather's friend and support, but it was the Elf who spoke first :
"This is no mere Ranger. He is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. You owe him your allegiance."
Both brothers turned around to face the man. Boromir, with a look of suspicion and Faramir, looking full of pride and joy.
"Aragorn... This is Isildur's heir ?" the older man asked.
"And heir to the throne of Gondor," both the Elf and Faramir added in the same time, but the man only whispered it as he was hit by realisation. That's why he looked so familiar… He had seen him...
"Havo dad, Legolas," the man gently ordered in Elvish to the blonde Elf. He looked surprised when Faramir fell on one knee and bowed his head in front of him.
"My King, I beg you to accept my most humble excuses for not having recognized you in the first place."
"No no ! Please, get up." he told him hastily.
"Please, get up Faramir. Gondor has no king. Gondor needs no king." Boromir simply told him.
Again, Faramir could only listen as the angry words passed his brother's lips. He still gave him a slight knock in his knee as they both sat back, which owed him only a questioning glance from the older man.
"Aragorn is right," the voice of Gandalf broke, "We cannot use it."
"You have only one choice. The Ring must be destroyed." Elrond finally stated.
"What are we waiting for ?" a dwarf next to the brothers asked, getting and going to swing down his axe on the golden Ring. It exploded just as the blade touched it, reducing the fine dwarfish work into pieces on the ground. The young Hobbit named Frodo immediately put a hand on his face, as if in pain while the other dwarves got their companion on his feet.
"The Ring cannot be destroyed, Gimli, son of Glóin," Lord Elrond explained, "by any craft that we here possess. The Ring was made in the fires of Mount Doom. Only there can it be unmade... It must be taken deep into Mordor and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came ! One of you... Must do this."
The Elf Lord let the words ring, apparently waiting for an answer that did not. No one knew what to say or do but eventually, Boromir spoke :
"One does not simply walk into Mordor."
"What do you mean, Boromir ?" Gandalf asked him, but it was Faramir who answered him, afraid of what his brother might say :
"It's Black Gates are guarded by more than just Orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep. And the Great Eye is ever-watchful. It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire, ash and dust. The only air you breathe is poison. To even pass the Gates is nearly impossible."
"Have you heard nothing Lord Elrond has said ? The Ring must be destroyed !" the blonde Elf named Legolas angrily replied back at him, which startled the already perturbed man.
"And I suppose you think you're the one to do it !" the Dwarf shouted at him in reproach.
"Don't you dare speaking on this tone to my brother ever again !" Boromir got up and scolded the Elf too as he tried walking threateningly to him. But he was stopped as he felt his brother's trembling hand on his shoulder.
"Leave it, Boromir, please." he told him pleadingly. The older man turned to face him. His entire body was shaking and his eyes were red.
"Sit down, please…" he barely whispered to him. He looked so desperate… This vision struck him right into the heart and finally, the darkness disappeared from his eyes, he nodded, and sat.
"I will be dead before I see the Ring in the hands of an Elf !" they heard the Dwarf shout. This must have irritated the other Elves, who immediately stood up to support their comrade. So did the dwarves.
"Never trust and Elf !" the red haired dwarf shouted one last time. This time, it were the men who stood up. Even Gandalf joined the argument.
"Do you not understand ? While you bicker amongst yourselves, Sauron's power grows !"
In the end, the only one who had remained sat were Aragorn, Faramir, Boromir, who had passed his arm behind his brother's shoulder and was holding him gently, Elrond and young Frodo. The Hobbit was staring intently at the Ring before him, as if it were talking to him. In fact, it was talking to him, it was trying to get him closer and closer...
"None can escape it ! You'll all be destroyed !" the wizard's voice rang, but it seemed so far away to the young Hobbit. The only thing he cared about right now we the Ring… The one Ring… He was so close… He just… But suddenly, flames appeared on the golden surface. He immediately became aware again of his surroundings and gathered back his thoughts.
"I will take it." he said, but no one seemed to hear him, so he repeated, louder this time :
"I will take it."
Everyone turned their faces to stare at him in obvious surprise.
"I will take the Ring to Mordor." he bravely continued, "Though... I do not know the way."
"I will help you bear this burden, Frodo Baggins, as long as it is yours to bear." Gandalf stated, a protective tone in his voice.
"If by my life or death I can protect you, I will. You have my sword," the voice of Aragorn immediately followed, while he moved forward and kneeled in front of him.
"And you have my bow," the young Elf named Legolas quickly added, stepping next to Frodo.
"And my ax," the dwarf joined, probably more by pride seeing an Elf had come, more than real desire to help.
After a few seconds break during which the two gondorian brothers nodded at each other in silent acknowledgement before getting up.
"You carry the fate of us all, little one," Boromir said, stepping forward, "If this is indeed the will of the Council, then Gondor will see it done."
His brother quickly followed him and kneeled in front of the young Hobbit.
"You can count on us, Master Hobbit. We won't let you down."
Suddenly, as all the men had gathered, a little voice came from behind a bush and a second Hobbit joined them.
"Hey ! Mister Frodo's not going anywhere without me."
"No indeed, it is hardly possible to separate you, even when he is summoned to a secret Council and you are not." Lord Elrond told him, an amused smile on his lips as Sam put a look of shame and guilt on his face. But as soon as he had said these words, two other young Hobbits came, running out from behind a pillar where they were hidden :
"Oy ! We're coming too !" one of them shouted on the way. Elrond states at them as they rushed past him, a look of disbelief and confusion on his face.
"You'll have to send us home tied up in a sack to stop us," the young Hobbit finished as he took place with the other one next to Frodo.
"Anyway," the other one added, "You need people of intelligence on this sort of... Mission… Quest... Thing !"
"Well, that rules you out, Pip," the first one whispered to him.
When he was sure there wasn't any more Hobbit hidden anywhere nearby, Lord Elrond stared at the men, Elf, Dwarf, wizard and Hobbits in front of him.
"Ten companions... So be it. You shall be the fellowship of the Ring !" he finally declared, looking full of pride.
"Great ! Where are we going ?"
Havo dad : Sit down