author's note: this is only a prologue, and therefore short compared to
the other chapters. this will be the only one written in first person, so
don't worry. most of the fic is already written, but how fast i post the
other chapters depends on you. any and all reviews are welcomed, and i
hope you enjoy.
this one is for rosethorn. thanks for all of the beta work.
disclaimer: j.r.r. tolkien made this dream world, so i will elaborate on what he left out.
~~--~~*~~--~~ Prologue ~~--~~*~~--~~
"I would have followed you, my Brother. My Captain. My King."
Aragorn's hopeless face lingered over mine as I lay there, the last breath flowing from my lungs. I could feel the life leaving me, my soul escaping from my body into the forest. I thought I would find myself in some distant land where Men could find solace in knowing that they had lived their life to its fullest. Instead, I found myself standing next to my body in the forest.
Funny thing, dying.
Thinking became very hard to do after my initial loss of life; I could only watch the scenes play out before me as Aragorn acknowledged Legolas and Gimli. Their faces were full of grief as they stared at my corpse.
Corpse.
A hard word to say, that. How does one look at their lifeless body, a body that had once lived and breathed, and call it a corpse?
Sadly I watched as Aragorn knelt down, picking up my form with the strength of a man hardened by many years in the wild. He did not flinch as the arrows that had struck my body grazed the side of his face, although I was sure that I had flinched.
The water that had once been cold and brought chills up my spine now brought no feeling as I stood watching Aragorn set my body on the bank. I watched as he reached down and ripped the arrows out of my flesh, expecting the blood to flow from the wounds, but I was surprised when it did not. He stripped the vambraces from my wrists and lay them down next to his own gear a few feet away.
Pride overcame me at his realization of my fate and that of his own. He was Isildur's heir, and the heir to the throne of Gondor. This acceptance satisfied me.
Once again he lifted my body and lay it in one of the other boats that Legolas and Gimli had cleared of our supplies. He arranged my hands to hold my sword against my chest, and lay my shield beside me.
Had I been able to cry, I would have begun as he pushed the boat into the flowing river and slowly I began to follow my body away from the trio. I could not yell for them as I had no voice, so my silence followed me downriver and into the darkness that then overcame my sight.
The next time I opened my eyes was to a strange feeling. I was breathing lightly, my chest and every other part of my body in sharp pain. The sword was still in my hand, as was my shield nearby, but they were not the only other things I felt. I felt water spraying onto my face, and I felt my stomach begin to come up my throat as my boat tipped over the side of the waterfall. I was alive.
It was then that I wished to be back in my spirit form.
There were many sharp rocks at the bottom of the Falls of Rauros, and if the lack of oxygen and blood did not finally kill me, I was sure that the rocks would. They were coming at me quickly. The boat, I looked up drowsily to see, was about ten feet above me and to my right. Maybe it would hit and kill me as well. In any case, I was going to die. Again.
My heart began to pound painfully against my chest as I felt the fear of what was inevitably to come.
Then it came.
Instead of the sharp rocks striking against my body I felt water, lots of water. It engulfed my body, pushing me underneath. Hitting the river at the bottom was remotely like jumping from the top of a tree to hit the ground head first. It hurt.
Pain was the least of my worries as I found that my arms would not aid me in returning to the surface. The last thing I remembered was the sound of a thousand rushing horses that was the waterfall above me and the blackness that took over my sight as I was sure that I had died a second time.
It really was not my day.
~~--~~*~~--~~
~~You know you want to review, and I want you to too!!~~
this one is for rosethorn. thanks for all of the beta work.
disclaimer: j.r.r. tolkien made this dream world, so i will elaborate on what he left out.
~~--~~*~~--~~ Prologue ~~--~~*~~--~~
"I would have followed you, my Brother. My Captain. My King."
Aragorn's hopeless face lingered over mine as I lay there, the last breath flowing from my lungs. I could feel the life leaving me, my soul escaping from my body into the forest. I thought I would find myself in some distant land where Men could find solace in knowing that they had lived their life to its fullest. Instead, I found myself standing next to my body in the forest.
Funny thing, dying.
Thinking became very hard to do after my initial loss of life; I could only watch the scenes play out before me as Aragorn acknowledged Legolas and Gimli. Their faces were full of grief as they stared at my corpse.
Corpse.
A hard word to say, that. How does one look at their lifeless body, a body that had once lived and breathed, and call it a corpse?
Sadly I watched as Aragorn knelt down, picking up my form with the strength of a man hardened by many years in the wild. He did not flinch as the arrows that had struck my body grazed the side of his face, although I was sure that I had flinched.
The water that had once been cold and brought chills up my spine now brought no feeling as I stood watching Aragorn set my body on the bank. I watched as he reached down and ripped the arrows out of my flesh, expecting the blood to flow from the wounds, but I was surprised when it did not. He stripped the vambraces from my wrists and lay them down next to his own gear a few feet away.
Pride overcame me at his realization of my fate and that of his own. He was Isildur's heir, and the heir to the throne of Gondor. This acceptance satisfied me.
Once again he lifted my body and lay it in one of the other boats that Legolas and Gimli had cleared of our supplies. He arranged my hands to hold my sword against my chest, and lay my shield beside me.
Had I been able to cry, I would have begun as he pushed the boat into the flowing river and slowly I began to follow my body away from the trio. I could not yell for them as I had no voice, so my silence followed me downriver and into the darkness that then overcame my sight.
The next time I opened my eyes was to a strange feeling. I was breathing lightly, my chest and every other part of my body in sharp pain. The sword was still in my hand, as was my shield nearby, but they were not the only other things I felt. I felt water spraying onto my face, and I felt my stomach begin to come up my throat as my boat tipped over the side of the waterfall. I was alive.
It was then that I wished to be back in my spirit form.
There were many sharp rocks at the bottom of the Falls of Rauros, and if the lack of oxygen and blood did not finally kill me, I was sure that the rocks would. They were coming at me quickly. The boat, I looked up drowsily to see, was about ten feet above me and to my right. Maybe it would hit and kill me as well. In any case, I was going to die. Again.
My heart began to pound painfully against my chest as I felt the fear of what was inevitably to come.
Then it came.
Instead of the sharp rocks striking against my body I felt water, lots of water. It engulfed my body, pushing me underneath. Hitting the river at the bottom was remotely like jumping from the top of a tree to hit the ground head first. It hurt.
Pain was the least of my worries as I found that my arms would not aid me in returning to the surface. The last thing I remembered was the sound of a thousand rushing horses that was the waterfall above me and the blackness that took over my sight as I was sure that I had died a second time.
It really was not my day.
~~--~~*~~--~~
~~You know you want to review, and I want you to too!!~~