"Elvish"
Aragorn felt empty of fight and purpose but knew that he had to honour her last requests so after watching the Falls of Rauros as if thinking she'd suddenly appear out of nowhere, saying that it was just a joke and that he needed to get over himself but that never happened.
He stood abruptly, stopping all conversation around him before dropping his pack and only grabbing onto his essentials. Strapping one of Eleniel's daggers that her brother had gifted to her on his waist and his sword and other things, he was packed and ready.
"You do not mean to follow them?," Legolas asked him while he simply nodded.
"Their journey with us has ended. They must continue on to Mordor without us but, I do not feel that this will be the last we shall see of them." Aragorn told him before moving around their camp once again. "We will not let Merry and Pippin suffer at the Orcs hands."
Aragorn grasped onto Legolas and Gimli's shoulder while Legolas grasped onto Boromir's. "The Fellowship may have split but our efforts will not be in vain if we hold true to each other." The others nodded along with his words and followed his actions by getting rid of all that was heavy and only carrying the essentials.
He took off into the forest, following the trail of heavy footsteps that the Uruk-hai left behind with an exclamation of 'Let's hunt some Orc' coming from Gimli as they chased down their already far ahead enemy.
I promise you meleth nin, Aragorn thought as he ran ahead of the others. I will save our friends nor will I let the White City fall. I will become the man, the King you always said that I was.
"The news of Eleniel's death has hit him hard, do you not think?" Gimli told his two companions as they raced after their ranger friend. "I imagined that they were really close but it has been a week since we left the Falls of Rauros and he still grieves for her. It is unlike him to let anything get to him."
Legolas nodded, agreeing with the Dwarf also wondering if there was something wrong with their friend. Boromir merely shook his head at the obliviousness of the Elf and Dwarf. "I suppose it would make sense for the both of you to not understand grief like Men as neither of you are Men but I would at least think you able to recognise love when it appears in front of you in its purest form."
They looked confusedly at him then glanced at each other before once again turning back to him, the confused expressions on their faces not lessening at all. "What does love have to do with this?" Gimli asked him, his eyes once again locked on the back of the ranger running so far ahead of them.
Boromir sighed in resignation before saying, "He loved her my friend. He loved her deeply and I am sure that she felt the same even if she didn't know it herself," Boromir told them, the both of them looking at him surprised. "I imagine that he shall grieve for her until he passes from this world but even in death, he will find no relief from this grief for no Mortal may enter into the Undying Lands."
Gimli and Legolas looked surprised at his words before one of them spoke. "I knew they were close but love? Surely you are confused Boromir." The Gondorian once again looked at them as if he did not understand why they thought their races were superior since they clearly both lacked common sense and intelligence.
"You think women give out their most prized possessions on a whim?," He asked both of them, their minds remembering the jewel pendant hanging around Aragorn's neck. "No. Aragorn loved her and she loved him. I just wish the Valar had given them more time together."
The friends and brothers in arms now, all looked at their ranger friend and King for Boromir. They only felt sympathy for him and even though they hated themselves for it, a little pity as well. Their wish for their friends to have at least a little happiness in their lives so clearly ignored.
They ran for many nights. Neither of them wanting to find rest until they had saved their Hobbit friends. One night they finally decided to take a break when they saw how weak they were getting. Aragorn watched as his companions slept while he slipped into oblivion, his thoughts on Eleniel.
He remembered their time together in Lothlórien and wondered how he was going to face the Lady Galadriel after this was all over and tell her that Eleniel had perished because he wasn't strong enough. Because he had left her alone. Finding his thoughts too dangerous to even think for fear that he will slip deeper into his self hatred, he pulled out his pipe and began to smoke. The smell of pipe weed invading his senses.
Unsure of whether or not he was dreaming, he found himself in their clearing at Lothlórien, Eleniel sat beside him on their bench.
"This is a dream," he told her. "I did not think that Eru would be so cruel as to subject me to seeing your face, to finding myself in the place where I was truly happy with you."
Eleniel smiled brightly at him before she shook her head. "Why must you always say something Estel? Just enjoy this. Enjoy us, together." Eleniel leant forward and pressed a passionate kiss against his lips. His arms wrapped tightly around her waist while her arms wound around his neck, her fingers running through his hair.
Estel did not know when the tears had started falling until he felt wetness rolling down his cheeks. "Why do you cry meleth nin?" She asked him, concern shining in her eyes.
"This-this dream, it has given me what I have wanted since I saw you," Estel light ran his fingers through her soft, dark hair. "To kiss you, to hold you, to hear you call me your love but-" Estel choked on a sob before he slowly slipped his arms from around her waist. His blue eyes ran tearily over her face as if trying to memorize it.
"But this just reminds me that I should have done and said all this to you when you were alive. I did not think our first kiss would only be in my dreams."
Eleniel sighed before pressing their lips together, their kiss as soft as a feather. She leant their foreheads together for a moment, tears now running down both of their cheeks. "If this a dream then it is a good dream," she said to him, lifting her head to meet his eyes. "A dream that I wish to never wake from."
Touching her sarnithil pendant, Eleniel gave him a small smile before kissing him again. "Now, no matter where you are," she told him.
"At least we shall be under the same moon." He replied, a soft smile making its way onto his face. He pressed his lips to hers again, not being able to stop himself from touching her. His eyes closed as he wanted to savour this moment.
When he opened them again, she was gone and he was once again left to his thoughts, the darkness and the quiet of the night the only witness to his heartbreak.
They were now in Rohan. They had found one of the leaf brooches from one of the Hobbits a few hours ago. Looking out over the fields, Aragorn called for Legolas. "What do your Elf eyes see?" He asked him.
"The Uruks turn northeast, they're taking the Hobbits to Isengard."
The four of them glance at each other before picking up speed. The Uruk-hai could very well make it to Isengard with Merry and Pippin if they didn't hurry. Their eyes catch a large calvary in the distance and they immediately hide behind a huge rock off to the side. Once the group pass by, Aragorn moves out of their hiding place, the others following closely behind him and says, "Riders of Rohan! What news from the Mark?"
As soon as they heard his words, the group turn towards them and immediately surrounded them, their spears pointed at them. They hold their hands up in surrender. "What business does an Elf, a Dwarf and two Men have in the Riddermark?" The captain demanded from them. "Speak quickly!" He snapped.
Gimli goes to snap back at him but Boromir slaps a hand over his mouth from behind with a slightly sheepish grin from him and a grunt from Gimli. "I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn." Aragorn said before pointing at the others.
"This is Boromir, son of Denethor, steward of Gondor." He pointed at Boromir, who had started to wrestle against the now struggling Gimli. Aragorn had to struggle to not laugh at them.
"The dwarf is Gimli, son of Glóin and the elf is Legolas, son of King Thranduil of the Woodland Realm." Aragorn looks at the captain with a hopefully reassuring smile. "We are friends of Rohan and Théoden, your king."
The captain sighs before removing his helmet. Immediately the Rohirrim put their spears away and also remove their helmets. "My uncle no longer recognizes friends from foe," The man who introduced himself as Èomer said. "His mind has been taken by the White Wizard and everywhere, his spies manage to fall through our traps." He looks over them suspiciously before settling on a talking Boromir.
"We are no spies. We track a pack of Uruk-hai. They make for Isengard and have taken two of our companions captive, a pair of Hobbits." Boromir retorted.
Èomer shook his head at them. "We slaughtered the pack just this last night. There were no survivors." The group looked saddened at his news. All they could think was that they had failed Merry, Pippin but especially Eleniel, who had used her last words to talk about saving them. Èomer gave them two horses before riding off with the Rohirrim. They sadly climbed atop the horses, Boromir sharing with Aragorn and Legolas with Gimli then began riding to what they hoped wasn't their friends final resting place.
The smell of burnt flesh and a Uruk-hai severed head on a spike was the sight that they arrived at. They immediately began searching for signs that their friends were alive when Gimli came across one of their belts in amongst the carcasses. Grieved, Aragorn kicked a helmet, fell to his knees before screaming in grief. Tears gathered in Boromir and Gimli's eyes while Legolas said a prayer for them in Sindarin.
That was when Aragorn saw something in the grass. "A Hobbit lay here, and the other." He said as he saw the imprint in the grass.
"They were followed," He then picked up some rope found in the grass. "Their bonds were cut." He followed their tracks all the way to Fangorn Forest.
"What madness led them there?" Gimli asked them, hesitation seen clearly on his face.
"Might be the army of riders intent on killing their captors that scared them and the fact that one of the Orcs were following them," Legolas said sarcastically only to receive a sneer from the Dwarf.
Not needing any other incentive other than the fact that the Hobbits were alive, Boromir ran into the forest followed closely by Aragorn, Legolas and a reluctant Gimli.
While the split Fellowship travelled to their various destinations, a woman lay in a soft bed in Lothlórien. Her dark hair splayed all over her white pillow as her deathly white cheeks slowly gained back its colour. She had been lying there for a few weeks now with none in the whole of Caras Galadhon knowing when she would wake. No one knew what was wrong with her, not even the healers, they merely waited.
After weeks, her grey eyes were finally open.
Pretty sure it's obvious who just woke but just because she woke up in this chapter does not mean that she will be in the next few chapters. I know when she's supposed to appear so nope, not happening next chapter lol. Just thought I'd give you guys who read hope for what's to come but seriously, why would I suddenly revive her when she just died last chapter?? We're getting closer and closer to Gandalf's return and the battle for Helms Deep and Èowyn... Anyways I hope you enjoyed the chapter xx