Concerned grey eyes looked down in to frightened green ones as Aragorn, king of Gondor, knelt down on the grass beside the little hobbit as he sat outside in the spring sunshine waiting for his father to return home from the market.
"Is everything alright, tithen pen?"
Faramir Took nodded mutely. He wasn't sure what the stranger had just called him, but he knew it was something from another language. His father had warned him never to talk to strangers, and this one in particular seemed very strange to him. Not only had he just spoken in a foreign tongue, he was almost twice the size of any hobbit that he had ever seen, including his father and uncle, who were both incredibly tall. He had funny clothes on and there was hair growing on his face. All in all, he appeared to be a highly untrustworthy character to the six year old hobbit. He wished his father would come back soon.
"I was looking for a Master Peregrin; I was told I might find him here?"
"You're looking for Papa?"
Faramir's hand flew immediately to his mouth as he realised his mistake. The stranger chuckled softly.
"It's alright tithen pen, your father is a dear friend of mine. You must be little Faramir?"
The famous Took curiosity fought with nervousness and eventually won out as Faramir made his reply.
"I am Faramir, sir, but I'm not little. I'll be seven next week."
He puffed his narrow chest out proudly. The stranger laughed again, not unkindly.
"Seven is a grand old age indeed, young man. So, where might I find your father on this sunny spring day?"
Faramir was still unsure as to who this mysterious person was, so he still seemed to be a stranger. Perhaps if he could speak to him a little longer, he would get to know him a little better, and he wouldn't be a stranger any more.
"Who exactly are you sir? You seem to know who I am but I still haven't a clue who you are!"
He clamped a hand to his mouth once more as he realised how rude he had been. His parents would be very disappointed; he had been taught a lot about the right way to talk to people recently, and it seemed he hadn't quite got the hang of it yet. The stranger didn't seem to mind though; he merely smiled.
"I think its best if we leave the introductions to your father when he returns. I presume he won't be long?"
"No sir, I don't think so."
They sat once more in awkward silence, awaiting Pippin's return. He finally arrived back about half an hour later, whistling as he strolled happily down the road, basket in hand. As he saw the stranger sat beside his son on the grass outside his home, he almost dropped the basket in shock.
"Aragorn," he cried joyfully, "how wonderful to see you!"
He walked swiftly towards them both and embraced the stranger, leaving Faramir even more confused. How on earth did Papa know this person? Why wasn't he worried about how odd he looked or what he was doing here in the first place?
"Faramir, I would like you to meet a dear friend of mine, Strider, or rather King Aragorn of Gondor."
"Strider will do just fine, Pippin. There's no need to stand on ceremony here. Now, how about a walk down to the river? It's a lovely day and I'm sure Faramir would like to go for a paddle while us older ones talk. There's a lot for us to catch up on I think."
"Less of the old, friend! That sounds like a fine idea to me, I'll just put this stuff inside, and then we can be off."
He hurried off to unload the basket in the kitchen, leaving Strider and Faramir alone again. Faramir was still suspicious of Strider. He loved to go down to the river with his father, but he wasn't sure that he liked the idea of this tall stranger accompanying them. His father may be friendly with this man, but he decided he would have to go and keep an eye on him anyway, just in case. Besides, the river really was the best place to go on a sunny day such as this.
An hour later, Faramir was sat dangling his short legs in the icy cold water of the river. This trip really wasn't quite as fun as he had hoped it would turn out to be. His father and Strider had been talking about a lot of things that he really knew nothing about, leaving him feeling more than a little put out. He knew, however, that it really wasn't polite to interrupt their conversation, so he sat and waited, watching the water as it flowed swiftly by. His ears pricked up as his name was eventually entered in to their conversation.
"Faramir tells me he is to be seven years of age next week. He is growing fast, is he not?"
"I honestly don't know where the time goes, Strider. It only seems like yesterday that I returned to the Shire, so to think that my son is to be seven next week is frankly a bit frightening!"
Faramir lost interest as they began to talk of old times again. His father had told him that he wasn't to move from the riverbank, but he had just spotted a beautiful pebble that would make the perfect present for his mother, just out of reach of his toes. Looking around to make sure his father wasn't paying any attention first, he rolled up his trousers and shirtsleeves and waded out near the middle of the fast-flowing current. His tiny fist was just closing around the smooth stone when he was pulled from the water by his furious father. He dropped the stone back in the water as he was hauled back on to the bank.
"Faramir Took! What on all of Arda do you think you are doing?"
"Papa, I was just-"
"No lad, I don't want any excuses from you! Do you know how dangerous that was? You could have drowned!"
"But Papa-"
"That's enough now, Pippin. Perhaps you should let Faramir explain what it was he was trying to do."
Still silently fuming, Pippin sat down on the bank with arms crossed, waiting silently for an explanation. Faramir found he couldn't look at his father, as full of anger as he was, so instead he turned to face his unexpected ally.
"Well, Mr Strider, I was dangling my feet in the water, watching it flow past, when I saw a really pretty pebble in the water over there." He pointed vaguely in the direction of where he had spotted the stone.
"I thought it would make a nice present for mama, so I waded out to get it. Then Papa dragged me out and started shouting. I didn't mean to cause any trouble, I'm sorry!"
He began to sniffle softly as tears ran down his cheeks.
"Well then, how about I get the pebble for you? I don't think your father would object to that, would you Pippin?"
"No of course not Strider," Pippin said turning to his son, slightly shamefaced, "why don't you show Mr Strider which pebble it was that you were after?"
Wiping his face with his hands, Faramir walked steadily over to Strider and pointed out the pebble that he had tried to pick up.
"It's the round shiny purple one, Mr Strider, the one with the white stripe down the middle of it."
"I see it, tithen pen."
He pulled off his boots, rolled up his trousers and waded straight out in to the current. Faramir watched happily as he picked up the pebble and waded back to the shore.
He ran over to the man and gave him a huge hug.
"Thank you so much, Mr Strider! Mama will love it, purple is her favourite colour."
Pippin walked over to join them both.
"I owe you an apology, Faramir. There was no need to shout at you like that, but you mustn't go wading in to the river by yourself like that, at least not until you can swim at any rate. I'm sorry."
"That's alright Papa. I got mama's pebble anyway."
He gave his father a quick hug before running off along the riverbank, beckoning Strider to follow. He didn't seem like such a strange man after all; in fact he seemed rather nice. His father was right to trust him. First impressions weren't always the right ones after all.
A/N: This was a plot bunny that just wouldn't go away! I thought it would be interesting to write about little Faramir's perspective of a non-hobbit fellowship member, I hope it's okay. It is set during Aragorn's visit to the Shire in 1436 when Faramir is six years of age; I know Arwen comes along too, but she didn't fit so she wasn't mentioned, sorry! It is dedicated to my wonderful friend Liz; I have finally written something involving Aragorn, hope you like! As always, reviews are welcomed; all comments and all readers are treasured.
Until next time…..
SmileyHalo