TITLE: Blood Moon
AUTHOR: Carrie (CapriceAnn Hedican-Kocur)
RATING: PG, if not G
CHARACTERS: Boromir, Faramir, Théodred and Éomer. Told from Faramir's POV.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything other than the computer that I typed this vignette with. Please excuse any weird web addresses I may include. I wanted you to be able to get to the web sites so I "tweaked" it so that hopefully the addresses will show. All you have to do is take out whatever is in parentheses. The "toast" that Boromir says during this tale was said by Victor Drake (Ian Buchanan's character from the Quantum Leap episode entitled "Blood Moon" ep. 5.15). The campfire tale that is told, I found on
http:(SlashSlash)www(DOT)americanfolklore(DOT)net(slash)index(DOT)html . It is mostly word for word, with a couple of exceptions to make it sound more Middle-Earth-ish. And just so that you know, I did NOT change the name of the witch in Théodred's tale, she really is named that in the original story.
WARNING: "While you're staring at the sky, you might hear footsteps among the trees, the twang of a bow, a desperate scurry to shelter. That's just your imagination." - NASA -
http:(SlashSlash)science(DOT)nasa(DOT)gov(slash)headlines(slash)y2004(slash)13oct(underscore)lunareclipse(DOT)htm
To see an amazing picture of what a Blood Moon really looks like...
http:(SlashSlash)spaceweather(DOT)com(slash)eclipses(slash)15may03c(slash)Overcash2(DOT)jpg
SUMMARY: The Brothers Húrin go on a camping trip.
NOTES: This is my first time writing with the Brothers Húrin, but bear with me on this one. I am typing this with no access to online records, so I have absolutely no clue as to what year Théodred was born. I am going with the assumption that he is the same age that Boromir is. For the purposes of this story Boromir and Théodred are both 22, Faramir is 17 and Éomer is 9. I also just realized that Éowyn is 12 years younger than Faramir, not that that has anything whatsoever to do with this story, just thought it was kind of a neat thing. I also thought that my "warning" fit in nicely with the story.
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BLOOD MOON
"Blood moon risin' in a sky of black dust" - THE FUSE - Bruce Springsteen
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It all started one evening close to the Fall Harvest Festival that was planned in Gondor. My brother and I usually made a camping trip alone, the weekend before the Festival, and this year was no exception. This year, however, my brother had invited his best friend along with us.
"Boromir, where in all of Arda are we going this time?" I asked.
"I told you we are going camping with Teddy." Boromir replied.
"Why ever would the Prince of Rohan go on a camping trip with us?" I just had to ask the big dunce I called my brother.
"Because he is my best friend. Besides, he wants to show his young cousin, Éomer, just what it is like." Boromir told me. "Not to mention I think that he has been practicing writing a new ghost story to scare you and Éomer with."
"I do not scare so easily brother." I stated emphatically. "But if it will make you and Teddy happy, then I will pretend to be scared."
"We are here, little one. Shall we make camp and get the fire started so that Teddy and Éomer will be able to find us a mile away?" Boromir asked.
I just shook my head, and started to make camp. Within a few short minutes, Prince Théodred and his cousin Éomer arrived and we all finished setting up the camp. As the night grew darker, we ate the meager food that we had brought with us, and settled in around the campfire. Within minutes Boromir was trying to get us to go "Snipe" hunting. When I refused to be dragged into that lie, Éomer realized it was a joke.
"Théodred, will you please tell us a ghost story?" Young Éomer asked.
"Yes, Teddy, please enlighten us with a scary tale from the Mark." Boromir asked sarcastically causing Théodred to lob a leftover piece of bread at him. This in turn made all of us start laughing. We finally settled down and Théodred began his tale.
"A long time ago, in a land far, far away…" Théodred was interrupted at this point.
"I flat out refuse to listen to anymore tales of rubbish that you get from your Marshalls, Lucas and Spielberg. If you are going to tell a ghost story then tell a ghost story." Boromir interjected.
"Okay, okay. But first, a toast, to set the evening out right." Théodred said as he passed around small goblets with honey-mead in them.
"I know, the perfect one for this night." Boromir offered. And at Théodred's nod my brother continued, "to stab the hearts of mortal men, they spill their blood like rain. And tonight we offer ours to demons without shame." At this we all drank up, and started to listen as Théodred began his tale once again.
"Aunty Greenleaf was a gnarled old woman with a wild thatch of gray hair and a crooked nose. She lived in a hut surrounded by pines just outside Edoras, and she sold herbal remedies to the folks in town. Mostly, people avoided her, except when someone got sick because it was said that Aunty Greenleaf was a witch. Her home remedies worked too well to be natural. Folks figured she had to have help from Sauron or his minions." Théodred paused to take another sip of his mead.
There was a sudden rustling of some brush just outside of our camp that startled Éomer. "What was that noise?" He asked.
"Nothing but the wind, little one, now let your cousin get back to his story." My brother whispered.
At the look of all of our eager faces Théodred continued. "There were many stories whispered in Edoras about Aunty Greenleaf. People said she had hexed a farmer's pigs once after he spoke rudely to her, so that they all died, one right after another. One prominent citizen dreamed of Aunty Greenleaf, and the next morning her daughter fell ill with a fever and nearly died. It was also rumored that Aunty Greenleaf and her witch friends crossed the Anduin in an egg-shell and frolicked with the witches in Mirkwood. Then they put a spell on the egg-shell so that it brought them back there before sunrise."
This time when he paused to take another drink no one interrupted him, so he went on with the tale. "In the early fall, folks in town began talking about a large, pure-white horse that was seen roaming the woods near Edoras at night. Several hunting parties were gathered to go after the large animal, but it seemed to be impervious to arrows, and folks began saying it was a phantom horse. Around about that time, several women in the town began having trouble with their churning and a number of cows and pigs began to sicken and die. Folks blamed the incidents on the phantom horse, though each of the people afflicted with the trouble had crossed Aunty Greenleaf at some time in the last month."
Théodred continued his tale. "The men of Edoras got up a hunting party to chase down the animal. They were gone all day, and well into the night. Finally they spotted the white horse. It was the largest horse any of them had ever seen, and was fast too. They couldn't keep up with it. The men got several good shots in, and swore that at least one of them hit the horse, but it just kept running. They returned home empty-handed."
"So why didn't they use their spears? I could have brought that terrible witch horse down with my spear." Éomer boasted.
"Someday, little one, you may indeed bring down a phantom horse or even an Oliphant with your spear, but not until you are old enough to hold one." Boromir chided Éomer.
Théodred just laughed at his cousin, but went on with his tale. "One local farmer became obsessed with the white horse. Every moment he could spare from his work, the farmer would take his bow and go hunting in the woods around town. He saw the white horse several times, but he his shots always seemed to go astray. Finally, he decided the white horse must be a witch of some sort. The farmer melted silver to make arrow tips, and then he took his bow and went out hunting the white horse. He managed to make three shots with his silver tipped arrows and the white horse actually stumbled as if one of the shots had hit it. Then it jerked upright and ran away. He tracked it almost to Aunty Greenleaf's hut, but then he lost it in the dark somehow, which was mighty strange, seeing as the horse was pure white."
Again, more rustling was heard, but this time Éomer wisely ignored it. Well, actually he kept looking towards the area that the noise was coming from and he kept getting closer to me, but at least he didn't interrupt his cousin again.
"The next day, the farmer learned that Aunty Greenleaf was ill. From the moment she took to her bed, the local farm animals stopped dying and the families who were having trouble with their churning were back to normal. Less than a week later, Aunty Greenleaf died and the doctor who cared for her told the King that he had found three silver arrow tips in her spine. After the death of Aunty Greenleaf, the phantom white horse was never heard of or seen again in Edoras." Théodred finished.
He was so wrapped up in the ending of the tale, that Éomer did not even notice what had crept up beside him and started nibbling on his leftover bread. When Éomer finally did notice the white horse, he screamed like a banshee and ran off into the wilderness surrounding our campsite.
When neither Théodred nor my brother mad a move to go after him, I spoke up. "So which one of you had the bright idea to tell him that story when you both knew that I would be riding Simbelmyne on this trip?" I asked referring to my white horse that Father had bought for me when I turned 15 two years earlier from Théodred's father.
"I guess maybe I should go after the little one, since I was the one that loosened the tether on Simbelmyne earlier." My brother said as he got up and went after Éomer.
When they came back several minutes later Éomer seemed to be in better spirits. "Théodred, why is the moon red tonight?" Éomer asked.
"Because it is a blood moon, that is why." His cousin answered him.
"But why is it called a blood moon?" Éomer asked again.
"I really do not know why. Maybe my father will know when we get back to Edoras. Now why do we not all turn in? It is rather late, and we have to get up early in the morning to do some hunting before heading back to our homes." Théodred said as he led Éomer to his bedroll, and we all turned in for the night.