Chapter 11 - You Don't Understand...He's My Mate

Rei moaned softly as he felt himself waking up. His head was pounding heavily and he could softly smell wood burning close. As his senses started to come to, he could hear the soft crackling of the burning wood and the soft breathing of a man.

Quickly Rei shot up, dagger in hand, aiming it at Boromir. The man merely raised an eyebrow. Rei sighed as he put the dagger away "Sorry I didn't realised I fell asleep."

"Rei…you collapsed not fell asleep!" Boromir said worryingly but spoke more softly "It's fine. Don't worry the rest have carried on. We are to meet them in a few days time" even hearing this did not calm Rei, he slowly looked down at the ground "Don't Rei…don't feel guilty. You are not used to this length of traveling, we've done this for most of our lives, you should not be ashamed to need a rest, best rested than not" Rei nodded and sat up and groaned.

"Man my head" he rubbed his head softly

"Here, this is some mint leaves, it should help" he said handed Rei a cup over that he had been making over the fire "We shall rest for tonight, tomorrow we will head to Rohan. There we will meet with the others, hopefully with the hobbits"

Rei nodded as he sipped from the cup which did sooth him. "What's Rohan?" He finally asked when the night air got too quiet for his liking.

"They are horse men, good people their King is a kind man, his son and nephew take after him. Aragorn has known the King since the King was a young lad" this caused Rei to frown, Aragorn wasn't that old "I believe you and Aragorn have…more to talk about" Boromir stated seeing the confused look.

Rei shook his head to clear it, he didn't want anymore riddles and shuffled closer to the fire. They took in turns on a watch throughout the night, it was Rei's when the first of the sun started to rise and he stood over Boromir, using his foot to gently shake the sleeping man.

"Boromir, wake up we must go" Rei said with eagerness in his voice, he wished to be with Aragorn, even though it hadn't been a day this was the longest he had been from the male, it set Rei's teeth on edge.

Quickly the two packed away and stared to walk over the plane lands, tall grass and boulders scattered everywhere. Currently the two where climbing up a slight hill, Boromir had his hand on the middle of Rei's back, guiding him.

"You…you don't tense no more" Boromir commented with a deep frown, full of confusion "Why is that? Even after everything I've done?"

"I told you Boromir, it wasn't you. I do not see the darkness in your eyes no more, I knew it was the ring and not you" Rei stopped them both and turned so they where looking at one another "I trust you Boromir, maybe that trust has a lot to do with Legolas" Rei giggled at the mans confused look "You give him the same look Aragorn gives me, you might not realise it yet but you love him"

Rei did not wait for a response as he turned around and continued walking. Boromir was frozen for a few seconds before he jogged to catch up to the neko-jinn. "You are right, I do love him, well I think I do, I've never really felt this way before, Legolas is the first being I've..." the man froze, feeling the ground shake beneath them "Shh get down!" He hissed his last words as he gripped Rei's shoulder and pushed him down into a crouch position. The two crawled to where boulders and tall grass could hide them. Rei looked at Boromir with a confused look, which the human ignored.

Minutes passed when a large rumble was heard, the floor they stood on vibrated harsher as well over two hundred men. They were a tough, hardy people, big and powerful with long, unkempt hair and beards their armour nothing like what Boromir wore. The two stayed hidden and quiet until Boromir stood and spat on the floor "Damn Dunlanders, things must be much worse than what we originally thought if their roaming these lands"

"What are Dunlanders?" Rei asked softly as he stood next to Boromir before he let the human lead them back on the trail to Rohan castle.

"They are Wildmen of Dunland. They are vicious men who where outcasted to the misty mountains" He stated as he pointed to a set of mountains much too far to see properly but luckily Rei's sharp eyes barely saw them "King Eorl drove them out around TA 2510. Later on they where also driven from the mountains by Gondor, the reasons why where unclear but this strung a lot of hatred between the Dunlanders and Rohan"

Rei nodded softly as they continued on in silence. Slowly but shortly the sun was slowly starting to lower, no longer up in the middle of the sky and Rei started to get tense again "We're going to have to camp again aren't we?" He asked, the words stressed within his voice as he felt his heart hammer against his chest, feeling like the breath was pulled out of him

"Woah Rei calmed down!" Boromir stated as he gripped the neko-jinns arms in a firm hold "It's okay, I won't let anything happen to you" He promised wincing as Rei let out a sob.

"Thats not it! I've not been this far from Aragorn for this length of time" He rested his forehead upon the humans chest "He's my mate Boromir, I can't...I can't be separate from him like this" He stated as his body shook in panic, tears falling from his eyes.

Boromir winced, mates where rare within their lands and was normally left to the elves, but he had read so much about mates to know how Rei was feeling and Boromir was surprised the neko-jinn was handling himself until then. "Right...mates, I should of known that." The male looked around with a frowned until his face brightened up as he found a heard of wild horses not too far from them "Okay here, rest" He helped Rei to sit on the floor "I got an idea"

Rei sat there, watching curiously as Boromir crouched down and tried to sneak up to the horses. A giggle escaped Rei as the horses scattered, causing Boromir to chase after them. Feeling something rough upon his arm. Rei jumped and landed flat on his back. He instantly calmed though seeing it was just a horse. The horse was beautiful, its coat was jet black along with its hair, there was a single white diamond shape upon its forehead. Rei let out another giggle as the horse started to sniff around Rei's face, before he plopped down, rather dramatically, next to the neko-jinn, resting his head upon Rei's chest

Rei laid still for a few moments before he reached up and petted the horse gently, he could hear Boromir curse somewhat further along, probably still unable to catch a horse. The man came over, huffing for breath "Oh...you got a horse" he said breathlessly as he collapsed next to Rei, the horse thankfully stayed put

"How long now till we reach there?" Rei asked eagerly

"A few hours, look Rei...he might not be there, I need you remember that, they could be a day or two further" Rei didn't like it but he nodded. The horse seemed to sense the nekojinns stress and slowly stood up. The two managed to climb upon the horse, Rei in front Boromir behind, guiding the horse. It was difficult at first but they got the hang of it without any restraints

"Let's go" Boromir stated as the horse picked up speed