Two very large wolf dogs came bounding towards me, barking menacingly. I reached for my swords, ready to slaughter them if needed. The door to the house, however, opened and a man stepped out. He was followed by a woman in a dress who stood at the front steps.
"Scout! Raven!"
That voice.
That was Freyr's voice.
The dogs retreated back to their master, running up behind Freyr who I realized was holding a crossbow in his hands.
I slowly stepped down from Weasel's back and told him to stay. Without thinking, I began to walk towards my little brother in a trance. My legs felt weak.
"That's close enough," he warned, I stopped.
"You Freyr Morchant?" I asked, reaching up and lowering my hood to reveal my red hair.
"...aye...who are you?"
"I...my name is Shyra. Shyra Morchant. Your older sister...but then again it has been nearly fifty years and I suppose my brother could have had children and named them after himself and-" Freyr dropped the crossbow on the ground.
I was surprised it didn't discharge.
Suddenly, he was there with arms around me.
My heart sank and I couldn't hold back the tears. I wrapped my arms tightly around his waist and buried my head into his chest.
He had our father's height.
"You're alive…" he breathed through racking sobs.
Guilt washed over me then, and I pulled away from him.
"I am...so, so, sorry for not telling you or...reconnecting with you after all this time, I-I was just scared, I guess, that I had changed and you wouldn't want me to be around, and then as time went by I thought that maybe you would have wanted to forget about me so I just…"
I took a moment to breathe, that took a lot of work.
He reached up and untied the blindfold around my eyes. When I felt the cloth slip away I tilted my head up to him so I could see his outline. Freyr dropped the cloth and just shook his head before choking out a sob of his own.
"No matter how many times you change, I will always love my big sister."
I was bawling at this point.
And he was bawling as much as I was.
He even sounded like our father.
When we finished crying our eyes out, the woman approached from behind Freyr and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Shyra, this is Jenira, she's my wife."
"Wife?"
The woman started doing something with her hands, making symbols.
"She says that you must be Shyra." Freyr translated.
I held out my hand to the woman and she took it. Her hands were soft and warm, gentle even.
"You must be an incredible woman to want to tie the knot with this numbskull." I laughed, Freyr sighed and started making symbols with his hands while repeating my words.
Jenira laughed at my comment and nodded.
"Ada? Who is this lady?" A little boy asked from behind Jenira.
I turned to Freyr.
"You didn't…"
"I did," he said and I could feel that smirk on his face.
I used to tease him about how women couldn't stand to be around him. And here he was, having convinced a woman to marry him and pop out a kid.
"This is your aunt, Shyron, I named you after her and your grandfather."
This was all so much to take in!
"...what's wrong with your face lady?"
Jenira glared down at her son.
I laughed however and knelt down to his level. Reaching out, I ruffled his hair.
"I'll tell you what's wrong with my face, I heard your voice."
Shyron, shut up at that moment, letting my attention be drawn to Freyr's laughter.
"Children! Come on out and meet your aunt!" he declared. Up near the house, I saw six more children come running out through the door and up to us.
Freyr introduced his whole family to me and me to them. There were six boys and one girl who was the youngest. Freya was her name, after my mother, while the other boys were: Vidar, Tyr, Honir, Modng, and Dell.
After they all were introduced Jenira made a few symbols with her hands.
"You must stay for dinner, we have enough to share for a fortnight," Freyr said.
"You sure?"
"Yes! Children, help me herd your aunt into the house. She's being stubborn."
At their father's order, the boys and the girl began to usher me forward towards the house. Shyron kindly led Weasel into the barn for me even after my brilliant, savage comeback.
For the first time, I felt the heavy burden of my guilt and my job lifted from my shoulders.
I smiled at my brother beside me, we had a lot to catch up on.
I hope you all enjoyed reading this! This was my first Lord of the Rings Fanfic. Please tell me what you think!
