A/N: I'm sorry if this chappy is shorter than usual guys, but I hope that ya'll still enjoy it.
Reviews:
To windstar: Yeah, well. Poor Faramir, right! Thanks for reviewing :-)
Uncertain Fates
000
They held each others gaze for a moment, and then Norah broke the silence,
"My lord, I must leave eventually."
"But what harm would there be in you staying just a little while longer?" Boromir asked; he knew that he could use her company.
Norah sat back down somewhat reluctantly. "How are you feeling my lord?" she asked, trying to get into some kind of conversation.
"It could be worse," Boromir replied; "How long have you been in here?"
"I do not know, my lord; for I did not pay any attention to the time."
There was momentary silence which lasted for about five or more minutes, until Norah broke it, and this time she really was leaving.
"My lord, I think that it is time that I left, for I must notify the healers that you have awakened."
Boromir didn't say anything as she headed for the door; but they soon heard a commotion coming from the hall:
"I want to see my son!" boomed Denethor.
"My lord, I am not sure if he is in the best condition for you to lay your eyes upon hi-"
"I care not what you think; I want to see my son now!" said Denethor, cutting the healer off.
"V…very well my lord," said another healer.
With one last glance at Boromir, Norah left the room, and found herself face to face with Denethor; he looked at her coldly.
"Who gave you permission to see my son?"
Norah, feeling as though she was only two feet tall, didn't know what to say to the agitated Steward. "My lord, I was only permitted to see lord Boromir because I could help him," she replied calmly.
Denethor turned and entered his Boromir's room without saying another word to Eowyn's maiden.
000
Faramir had let his anger get in the way. He had taken the elf by surprise, so Jaylyn barely got the chance to fight back; he had continuously punched the elf until he now had Jaylyn's blood on his hands.
It didn't take long at all for the elves to pull him off, and when they did, the bleeding Jaylyn threw some punches of his own.
"You rotten Gondorian! Who do you think you are? You will pay for this, you swine!" he spat.
Before Faramir could say a word, two elves roughly grabbed him by the arms and Jaylyn began to punch him in the face; the commotion soon alerted Selwyn and Sherah, but Selwyn insisted the he went alone to see what the noise was about.
By the time he reached where Faramir and the other elves were, Tatiana was screaming at Jaylyn, and trying to stop him from beating Faramir. But as soon as Jaylyn saw Salwyn, he stopped punching Faramir immediately.
By now, Jaylyn's hands were covered in Faramir's blood, and as Selwyn saw the limp Ranger, he couldn't help wondering what had happened.
"What is going on?" he asked sharply.
The two elves that held Faramir, let him go, causing the unconscious Captain of Gondor to fall head-first on the ground.
"What is going on!" Selwyn snapped, for he hated having to ask the same question twice.
"He attacked me for no apparent reason, Selwyn; I do admit that my anger got the better of me, but can you blame me?"
Tatiana now had some kind of idea as to why Faramir attacked Jaylyn.
"But why would he do that for me?" she thought. In the end, she decided not to tell Selwyn the possible reason why Faramir attacked Jaylyn; for fear that it might make matters worse for Faramir.
"Pick him back up," Selwyn ordered the two elves.
They did so in unison.
Selwyn then grabbed Faramir by his hair so the he could get a good look at his face; he, in truth looked very bloody, but Selwyn knew that he would live. "It will probably do him some good in the long-term. But do not let me catch you doing anything like that again; for I refuse to bring a permanently damaged man beyond the black gates; understood?"
"Understood," Jaylyn repeated, pleased with the fact that he didn't get into any trouble for his evil deed.
000
Legolas had to somewhat drag Aranel for Aranel and Legolas were almost identical when it came to weight.
He was able to drag Aranel as gently as possible, but soon stopped when he noticed that a lot of blood was beginning to seep through his bandages. The Prince of Mirkwood slumped against a tree in despair: he did not know what to do, and as far as he knew, death was at his friend's door.
Suddenly, he heard soft groaning; he quickly looked over at Aranel, and could now tell that he was waking up.
000
When Denethor entered the dimly lit room, he thought that he was dreaming when he saw was alive and awake.
"My son!" he exclaimed, rushing over to the side of his son's bed; he was going to embrace his son, but Boromir stopped him.
"No father, I don't think that I'm well enough to receive your hugs."
"Of course," said Denethor, "I was worried about you—when I received word of your condition, I thought that you was going to…" his voice trailed off, for he could not imagine losing his first-born—and of his favorite son.
"There is nothing for you to worry about, father," said Boromir, trying to reassure Denethor.
"Why did you not heed my words?" asked Denethor, ignoring what his son had just said. "If you had, then this might not have happened!"
"None can know that for certain father."
"Why are you so relaxed about it? This is your life! What would I do if I lost you?" Denethor asked, and then it seemed as though his anger switched to Eowyn. "If she had not run away, then none of this would have happened; if she would have stayed and lived out her duty, then you would have been wounded by those foul creatures! We will find her and bring her back; but this time she will have no chance of escape."
"No father," said Boromir, "I fear that we are already too late."
000
When Faramir opened his eyes, his head hurt him terribly; but he saw someone peering over him with a wet cloth. It was Tatiana.
"I am glad to see that you are awake," she said sincerely. "You should not have done what you did."
"How could I have just turned a blind eye? Tatiana, I am not a heartless man who will see things like that and just turn away."
She looked down for a moment; "You should not have done that for me. For look at what he has done to you!"
"This I can live with, for I would rather have him unleash his anger at me than you."
"You are a very honorable man," said Tatiana.
"It runs through our blood," said Faramir, referring to his family.
"You have not yet told me your name," Tatiana said suddenly.
"Can you keep it a secret?" Faramir asked, hoping that she would not say a word if he told her.
"Yes," she replied, for she was a very trustworthy elf.
"My name is Faramir," he answered.
Tatiana's mind instantly began to race…was it the 'Faramir, Captain of the Ithilien Rangers'? For she had heard of the son's of the Steward, and the Steward himself; all of the evil Shadow Elves did not like them too much.
"Faramir, Captain of Gondor?" Tatiana asked.
"I am none other."
000
Marcus and his men had reached Osgiliath by now, and had searched the city; but not a trace of Faramir was to be found. But Laddyn unknowingly added to Marcus' frustration.
"I do not think that it is right for us to hunt down Captain Faramir, so that we can bring him back to Minas Tirith where he will be murdered—it just is not right.
"If you do not hold your tongue, then I will personally hand you over to the next orc that I see!" said an agitated Marcus.
"What? Do you not think that they will lord Denethor intends to execute him?"
"Laddyn, be hush," said Gybren.
"You know that I speak the truth, why aren't we trying to stop them from executing lord Faramir? We all know that none can take Gelmir at his word!"
"Hold you tongue!" snapped Marcus, "do not make me rip it out."
000
The elf groaned in pain, as his wounds gave him a painful reminder as to what had happened.
"Do not move," Legolas ordered. "You are badly wounded, but I am sure that help is not far."
Aranel opened his eyes, but could not say anything, due to the terrible pain from his wounds. Legolas examined the cuts and gashes on Aranel's arms; he did not want to make the elf despair, but he was beginning to lose hope, for he was not sure if Aranel could hold on much longer—and by the looks of things, they would have to wait for a while until help came.
000
That night, Eowyn, Strider, and Arial reached the Field of Celebrant; and now their journey was almost over; as Arial lay on the grass, thinking about his brother, Eowyn and Strider sat together, looking into the starry sky.
"I cannot believe that our journey is almost over," Eowyn said.
"Well I am just glad that I was able to help you, my lady," was Strider's reply.
"But there is only one downside about us reaching Mirkwood."
"What is that my lady?"
"I do not know if I will ever see you again," said Eowyn, turning to look at him.
Strider slightly smiled, "I think that I will see you again, Eowyn," he said, turning to look at her.
"Do you promise?" she asked, allowing the words to just slip out of her mouth.
"I promise."