Rohan
Theoden: So much death. What can men do against such reckless hate?
Aragorn: Ride out with me. Ride out and meet them.
Theoden: For death and glory.
Aragorn: For Rohan. For your people.
Theoden: The Horn of Helm Hammerhand will sound in the deep, one last time!
#1: Lingerings
Strange, how the words of strangers from the North stayed with him days after they passed each other on the plains. Éomer thought of the outlandish nature of the encounter for days. A man, an elf, a dwarf, flying across the forsaken space so quickly in pursuit of…hobbits. That was the word. He asked around his troop and learned of other monikers. Halflings. Shire folk.
Only children to your eyes. Had he really killed children? In his haste to rid his land of the foul creatures, had he slaughtered the innocent?
In the days after being banished, that was the thought that stayed with him. He thought not of his uncle, aged and decrepit before his time, or his sister, or his cousin, his best friend, dying alone. He thought of that one sentence Only children…only children to your eyes.
#2: Idol
Théodred loved Éomer like a brother. In fact, he loved Éomer more than anyone in the world. His cousin was a year older and, in the Prince's eyes, far cooler than he was. Everything Théodred did in his life was to be more like his cousin, closer to his cousin. He appreciated and desired Eomer's praise more than his own father's.
On the day he died, he kept calling for his favorite person in all the world. And Éomer never answered.
#3: Outsider
Éomer had this amazing relationship with Théodred, who had an easy relationship with his father, the King Théoden. The King loved Éomer because he was smart and strong and became the leader of the Rohirrim army at the age of nineteen.
And through all this Éowyn was like an outsider looking in on a world of boys, a world she would never, could never be a part of.
#4: Partner
It was so easy to fight alongside Aragorn. He was a charismatic leader just like Éomer, fought for his friends, protected his soldiers, was ready to lay down his life for the sake of a single man. Outside of war time they would have been good allies, and later in life they became good friends.
But in the beginning, Éomer was so willing to fight beside this Ranger from the North because he reminded him of his dead cousin.
#5: Horses
A word has to be said about the horses of Rohan. They came first, always, in the mind of the men there. They were transportation, they were power over enemies, but mostly they were loyal companions. A Rohirrim boy could ride well and straight by the time they were seven, but he also knew how to muck out a stable, how to replace a thrown shoe, how to care for his horse.
Everyone had their favorite horse. They were steadfast friends, sometimes the only friend one has in a world that was filled with battles, foes, meanness. One just had to look at one of the beautiful beasts to remember what they were fighting for: the right to be the Home of the Horselords once more.
#6: Banishment
He was banished by his uncle, a man who'd taken him and his sister in when they were young and scared and orphaned. A man who'd given him tutors, who'd given him his first horse, who'd given him his own army, when he was old enough. A man who he loved as a father.
To be banished, to be forced to leave his home, was awful in its own right, but to see his uncle's signature at the bottom of the order…it made Éomer ride away from his home with a awful, sad, bitter taste in his mouth. He could never go home again.
#7: Antics
As children they were terrors. Éowyn, bless her female heart, was often left out. She was younger. She was a girl. She was taken in by the maids and taught to cook, to keep house and learn figures. It was Éomer and Théodred (and later their names would blend together, EomerandTheodred, because they were so often together) who turned the house upside-down. They switched the salt and the sugar. They filled the Golden Hall with hay.
And when they were inevitably caught, they'd grin cheekily and blame each other, in unison, pointing fingers and hiding grins. No one could ever stay mad at them.
#8: Friendly Fire
It was their first hunt with just the two of them, and things went badly from the beginning. It rained, then the temperature dropped below freezing and they had to huddle together for warmth. And the next day…
"Éomer!" They'd split up, and he knew they should be together for the first kill, but the movement in the bushes, so close, was too much to resist. He steadied his bow…
The shout of pain was definitely human, and he recognized the voice. "Éomer?" he left his bow, left his sword, raced through the bushes until he was six inches from his cousin, standing in a puddle of blood.
The worst part was Eomer's stare, so confused, so hurt, and he looked from the arrow to him, as his lips mouthed the word "Théodred?"
He still looked confused when he passed out cold three seconds later.
#9: Phrase
"I know your face."
It had become their greeting, their good luck charm. King Théoden had often told Éowyn that she looked so much like her mother that it made him do a double take. On the day he had welcomed her into his house, he'd paused and stared at her so intently Éomer, older and trying to take up the mantle of an adult, had cleared his throat. "I know your face." Théoden said after a time. And Éowyn had smiled and dipped her head, taking the greeting easily, happily, never knowing that these first words would also be the last her adopted father would ever speak to her.
#10: Goodnight
Their rooms were in a little block. "Goodnight Théodred." Here Éomer would lean over and hit his cousin lightly. They always slept side by side.
"Goodnight Éomer." Théodred would snap, then, louder, "Goodnight Éowyn!"
"Goodnight Théodred! Goodnight, brother!"
"Goodnight Éowyn!" Éomer would call back.
On cue, the King would grunt unhappily from his sleeping room, "Goodnight! Now be quiet!"
#11: Cooking
She burned everything: meet, vegetables. The kitchen women claimed she'd even burnt water, once. So Éowyn had no idea how she ended up being the one making stew on the battlefields, serving it to the starving and seeing their expressions: mixture of gratitude and pain, because she knew, as well as they did, that her food was just so awful…
#12: Royal
Strange, how Éomer and Éowyn had never sought the crown, had never had any inclination for politics save for the few things they could do to help their uncle and cousin. Strange, how Éomer, named heir in Théodred's dying breath, became the Blessed King anyway. Strange, how Éowyn fell in love with the man who, save for Aragorn, would have been Steward of the nation of Gondor.
Strange how they ended up being royalty anyway.
#13: Drinking
The first night of hard drinking came after Eomer's first battle. Théoden had chosen the time – Éomer was fifteen, headstrong and eager. Théodred had begged to go along to battle, if only to watch his best friend's back. But he was the heir apparent. He would have his own time.
But this was about the drinking, when Éomer staggered in with the others, covered in dirt and grabbing Theodred's shoulder, urging him to come along. They sat down and Éomer downed mug after mug. By the end tears streamed down his cheeks as he tried to explain the horrors of war. No words came.
He drank some more.
#14: Trapped
"Théodred. Théodred!"
"Mmm…"
"Shh…we need to get out of here. Before they wake up." Before they kill us.
"Too tired, 'Mer. You can go without me."
"You're bleeding, cousin. You think I would leave you behind?" To die?
"I'm sorry…"
"Théodred. Théodred! Wake up!"
#15: Watch
It had worked out better than he could have imagined, this arrangement to take in the orphans abandoned so suddenly. Théodred had a playmate, a best friend, somebody to compete against. Éowyn brought a feminine touch to a palace that was so desperately in need of one, a voice of reason for a king too proud to know he needed an advisor.
And Théoden watched them grow up, thinking that, perhaps, he may die in peace if these three were his successors.
#16: Death
Éomer rode from Rohan, hoping that, maybe, he'd return to find his best friend alive, on the mend. Théodred had survived the battle, the hard ride. He'd survived that first fateful night.
He got news of his cousin's death only after the battle of Helm's Deep, after finding his sister and taking her hand. One look and he knew. One look, and he felt like his world had shattered. What use was Rohan without its Prince? What use was Rohan without its heart?
#17: Strength
He was not a strong king. He wasn't as strong as his ancestors and he wasn't as strong as the children that would follow him. It was a Ranger from the North who saved Rohan, it was his sister's son who led the army that defended its borders.
But Théoden had strength enough for this, strength enough to ride out of the keep and attack the orcs, strength enough to look up and be grateful and be proud of the man he'd raised from a young boy to a leader of the army.
#18: Dreams
For the first week after Éomer rode to his first battle, Théodred missed his best friend desperately. For the second, he had dreams. Dreams of his cousin dying under a spear, an arrow, falling off a horse, a cliff, a ship, drowning in a river, a lake…dream after dream that ended with Éomer, dead and gone.
Théodred would wake up, looking for comfort, looking to make sure that his favorite person on this Earth was still alive…and he'd look at an empty room.
#19: Reality
Éomer hugged his sister tightly when he returned from his first campaign. After five minutes of embraces and exclamations he held her at arm's length. "Where's Théodred?"
Éowyn leaned close to him, told him how Théodred had closed himself off to everyone because he was completely, awfully sure that Éomer had died on the fields of battle. As soon as he heard this, the new captain took the steps up to the Hall two at a time. He burst in the door to his cousin's living chamber and found him looking moodily out the window, sword in hand.
He turned, spotting Éomer at once. For a second, it was as if he couldn't believe his own eyes. "You came back."
Éomer rolled his eyes and scooped his friend into a bone-crushing hug. "Do you have so little faith in me, cousin?"
#20: Baby
"You're carrying a baby?" Éomer asked, not for the first time. The woman he'd taken to his bed two months ago, the woman who he'd grown to love in those intervening months, looked up at him and nodded, her hand playing over her still flat stomach. She looked frightened at the prospect of Eomer's reaction.
He lifted her off her feet and kissed her, hard, before putting her down very, very carefully, stunned, "we're having a baby."
#21: Loss
It was what sent him out to the fields of battle for good, what made it impossible for Éomer to be entirely comfortable at Edoras. Théodred didn't understand, couldn't understand why the halls and hills suddenly reminded his best friend of a woman who died with a child still stuck in her belly.
#22: Greatness
He'd heard the words since he was little, but it was only when Éomer was old, seventeen, when he was being knighted, that he actually began to believe that perhaps he was destined to be great.
#23: Poison
"Cousin!" Théodred knelt next to his impulsive cousin as he lay convulsing on the floor. Éomer had run into the room and snatched Theodred's cup out of his hand, downing it in a single gulp.
Now Théodred was kneeling anxiously over his best friend, elbowing Éowyn out of the way. "Why would you do that? You are so impulsive." Tears dripped down his nose, onto Eomer's blue lips, as he watched his friend slip away.
#24: Worth
"Théodred."
"Éomer."
"I thought I was dead."
"You very nearly were. That poison would have killed you had Gandalf Greyhame not been admiring Shadowfax again."
"It would have killed you, too."
"Ah, cousin. I can take care of myself." Théodred debated for a moment, then placed a kiss on his best friend's sweaty brow. "But thank you for your over-bearing protection, you reckless mongrel."
"Love you too, Théodred."
#25: Cloak
Espionage was not in King Theoden's lengthy repertoire of skills, so sneaking the new, glistening, deadly sword into Eomer's quarters while the teenager slept was a daunting task. It was worth it, though, to see his nephew's face in the morning, so surprised, so pleased, so proud.
#26: Dagger
Éomer was sure that his heart had stopped working when Théodred died. His cousin was gone, his best friend was gone. The world had turned grey, and he was going through the motions, launching himself into battle with the faint hope that one would kill him before long.
Of course, his heart would choose this time to restart, on the plains in front of Gondor, looking at his sister's body and realizing he still had much to lose.
#27: Discipline
King Théoden shook his head as he watched Éomer go limping out of the Golden Hall, head still high though it was sporting a black eye and broken lip. The teen, old enough to know better, had flown into a rage when one of the soldiers he'd been training had suggested that Prince Théodred, sixteen and away on his first campaign, was too weak to make it through alive.
Éomer had protected his son's honor, had managed to teach the soldier a lesson with three swift hits, and had only sustained minor injuries for his pains. Théoden had temporarily stripped him of his command.
The King no longer had any idea what he was going to do about those proud, loyal boys he had raised.
#28: Gift
"It's not much." Théodred leaned against the pillar, looking at Éowyn anxiously. For months the young girl had flitted around Edoras, barely speaking, always watching with huge, sad eyes. And Théodred just wanted to see the girl smile, just once.
He was rewarded with a laugh, a hug, a profusion of 'thank yous' that poured out of this reticent young girl as she extracted the puppy from its box and hugged him to her chest, tears dripping into the beautiful fur.
#29: Names
"You have to name him, Éowyn, you've kept him for over a month." Éomer rubbed small circles behind the puppy's ear. Since Théodred had given Éowyn the gift, the dog hadn't left her side. And yet she hadn't given him a name.
"But he does have a name!" Éowyn said, startled by the accusation. "It's Théodred!"
Eomer's laugh was long and deep. He didn't know that the dog Théodred would outlive its namesake.
#30: Obsession
"Her eyes! Oh, Éomer, I could stare at them all day. And the way her braids fly when she is standing in the wind -"
"You should do something with this lady, Théodred, if you can talk about her for an hour without stopping."
"But I have ridden her all day, cousin, and I plan to do the same tomorrow!"
Éomer sputtered, choked on the water he'd just put in his mouth. But Théodred is but thirteen!
Then, after his face had turned red at the thought, his expression cleared, became exasperated. "Is Heppa a horse, Théodred?"
"Of course!" The teen replied, startled at the question. "You didn't think I was talking about a woman?"
#31: Grief
Éomer met her on the hill. Neither had talked about visiting their parents' grave on the anniversary of their death, yet fifteen years later here they were, on the side of the same hill, with the same flowers in their hands and the same sadness in their hearts. Whoever said that time healed all wounds had not experienced heartbreak as a child.
#32: Heartache
It was the only time they came to blows, when Éomer walked into the courtyard to find his sister and Théodred kissing amongst the flowers. Théodred nursed the black eye for weeks and stopped his short-lived courtship of Éowyn, but he loved her until the day he died.
#33: Hypothermia
They were crossing the great mountains, looking for Gondor or possibly elves. It was three weeks before they had to report to the army, to their real duties. They thought they'd have fun.
A steep slope, a deep pool, and fun suddenly turned deadly. Théodred didn't know what to do with Éomer shivering in his arms, with the sun sinking into the mountains, with all hope fading.
#34: Fun
They even included Éowyn in this one, which the boys thought mighty big of them. They went off to a stream, one of the few in the barren world of mountains and sand that was Rohan, and played for the whole day. They weren't a prince, twenty and training to assume the throne, or a general, twenty-two with a whole army under him, or an advisor who ran the whole of the Golden Hall on a daily basis.
For one glorious afternoon, they were friends having fun and keeping cool in the summer heat. And they were laughing.
#35: Games
Éomer gravitated towards the elf in battle because, even among carnage and bloodshed, his laugh was high and clear and his shout loud and bold. Everything about Legolas exuded a quiet confidence that Éomer had not felt within himself since Théodred…
With Legolas, life was fun again. With Legolas, everything was a game.
#36: Losing
Théodred searched the room for the familiar face of Éomer. Hadn't they promised each other, years and years and years ago, when the world was young and beautiful and alive, that they would be at each other's sides, should death take them? They promised that the other would not have to walk that final path alone.
Typical, Théodred thought as he succumbed to that last great blow, that the one promise Éomer ever broke was the one that mattered the most.
#37: Comfort
It was refreshing, this search. Yes, morbid in its meaning, looking for a dwarf with an elf (the two were apparently friends, though Éomer couldn't for the life of him figure out why) among the bodies of the fallen at Helm's Deep. And Legolas, crying, looking like an angel in his grief so that Éomer forgot his own loss for the first time since Théodred had died, put away his own grief to help this other man from losing his best friend. Because, Éomer knew quite well, that no one should have to experience that kind of pain.
#38: Wedding
He didn't have a father or a king to perform the ceremony. He didn't have a best friend to wait at the end of the aisle. Or so he thought.
Strange, how friends appear as if from nowhere. On the same day Éomer formally announced his engagement, Aragorn insisted on having the ceremony under the White Tree, a symbol of the allience between their kingdoms. And a dozen men from among his ranks all offered to take on the role of best man.
Éomer left that role unfilled, though, because he knew that Théodred would have liked nothing better than to be at his wedding.
#39: Another Wedding
Éomer straightened his sister's veil before slipping his arm into hers. "You look beautiful," he declared, happy that she had chosen this man. Faramir was honorable, brave, strong, true, and would be Steward of Gondor but for Aragorn. All laudable qualities in Eomer's eyes.
And he was head-over-heels, over-the-moon in love with his baby sister, and the only man Éomer would ever allow to take her from him.
#40: An Almost-Wedding
Theodred was nine when he tried to marry Eowyn for the first time. He gave her a ring of daisies and she wore her best dress and they would have gone through with it, too, if Eomer hadn't come up to them, asking why they weren't in the hall for supper yet.
The wedding was postponed for beef stew, and they never really got around to having it after that.
#41: Reception
Éomer didn't know how Rohan would take to him. After all, he'd never been groomed for the King's position (that had been Theodred's job, and Éomer was all for letting him have it). But when he returned to the home of the horeselords, with the tired but proud army beside him, he was greeted as an old friend, as a leader, as a king.
And Éomer thought he could get used to it.
#42: If Only
If only that arrow hadn't pierced so deep and Théodred had lived through the battle…if only he could defend Éomer when Théoden ordered him out of the kingdom…if only he'd been there at Helm's Deep, during the carnage and blood and thrill of battle…if only he'd gotten to meet Aragorn, the bravest, noblest man Éomer had ever known…if only he'd gotten to see Legolas and Gimli, fighting like warriors and bickering like a married couple…if only he'd gotten to see the downfall of the lord of the rings and the return of the rightful king…if only Théodred had lived to see everything put to right…
Well, the world would be a much better place.
#43: Observance
Théoden had always wished for a brother for his son. Brotherhood went beyond bonds of friendship and loyalty and love. It was truly bone-deep, soul deep. And now he watched his son playing with this boy, watched as the two rubbed against each other, sharpened each other's edges, smoothed them down, played and laughed and fought and grew and learned how to make their way in the world, with the knowledge that they would always have each other.
#44: Calling
Éomer did as the king bid and called his sister from that dark place, but as he did he couldn't help but wonder, if he were in her position, Théodred and father dead and gone, would he want her to call him back from the bliss of the unknowing world?
#45: Slip
She went crashing into the opposite door, legs spread in a parody of a split, and landed head-first into the bathwater. Wet and sputtering, she looked up to find Théodred and Éomer laughing at her distress. "Karma, sister!" They both cried, hands circling around each other's waists.
Éowyn never tattled on the boys again.
#46: Darkest Before
A young boy, barely old enough to be a Rider, spoke of hope the moment before they surged down the mountain with the dawn, trampling into Helm's Deep.
"Hope," Éomer said bitterly. "I've learned to live without it."
#47: Knowledge
He knew the hobbit Pippin for a fleeting instant before he was spirited away by Mithrandir, but in those few snippets of conversation he came to know a spirit that was so alive, so vital, that not even the knowledge of his friends (and, indeed, all of Middle Earth) facing certain doom didn't belay his cheerful demeanor.
And, as the hobbit was put on a high horse and ridden to Rohan, Éomer spared a moment to acknowledge the fact that, perhaps, Halflings and their backward ways may have a thing or two right after all.
#48: Gifts
For king Théoden it was a whistle carved out of ivory and polished until it shone, a whistle so low and mournful that every horse nearby pricked up its ears, were called by his desolate cry.
For her brother, a picture of their parents, drawn painstakingly from memory and painted with great patience. It was the most precious thing she could give.
For Théodred, Théodred, who may just be the love of her life, though she wasn't old enough to know it yet, she gave her heart, a smooth pink stone she'd found on the river bank. With a chain threaded through it, it became Theodred's good luck charm for the rest of his days.
And Éowyn was content, because she'd brought happiness to all the boys that she loved.
#49: Hate
Eomer hated people sometimes, because in the middle of war, when you knew that people were going to die any minute and it may just be a kid, may just be a baby, may just be you, hate was just easier than love.
#50: Love
Love: (n) 1. A profoundly tender feeling for another person
2. That time, right before Éomer and Théodred rode off to war together, right before Wormtongue corrupted the king, right before everything got so damn difficult, when they were all together in the Golden Hall, and Éowyn was laughing and looking ten years younger, and Éomer and Théodred were singing, and Théoden was smiling, because how could evil things ever happen when there was so much good in the world?
3. Love can be for a country, a sister, a surrogate father, a best friend, a brother, a captain, a king.
4. Family.
There is almost nothing to go on about Rohan so, yeah, we made 98% of it up.
As always, pick a couple of your favorites and we'll tally them up and write a one-shot.