"Ivrin Faelivrin! Gwindor and Beleg! Here once I was healed. But now never shall I drink the draught of peace again," the tall man cried. Then he paused, considering the defiled springs for a moment longer.
Tuor, ever after, wondered if it had the design of the Mighty that his small step forward landed him squarely on a dry twig, for his woodcraft was honed from years of outlawry, and to make such a large noise was quite unusual for him.
But fate or not, the result was the same.
"Who wanders here, friend or foe, servant of Morgoth or unhappy traveller?" the man with the black sword demanded, now staring in their direction. Wincing a bit, Tuor stepped from concealment, feeling Voronwë at his side do the same.
"No servants of Darkness are we," Tuor answered calmly, as the other man appraised him.
"Elves?" he whispered in surprise. "Nay, you are a man, for all that you are clad in elvish mail."
"Aye, I am indeed a man," Tuor responded, doffing his helm. "Though my companion is of the Noldor, I am of the house of Hador." At this, a strange, wistful smile touched the other man's face, softening it.
"Are you indeed?" he replied. "I too, am of that house, though my mother was of the house of Bëor."
"Indeed?" Tuor echoed the other man with a genuine smile. Though he was somewhat alarming, he deemed this man spoke the truth. "Then well met, kinsman. I am Tuor, son of Huor."
The other man startled at the name, his eyes growing large. Then he laughed, not with untrammeled mirth, but with surprise at a welcome meeting unlooked for.
"Well met indeed, cousin," he responded. "I am Túrin, son of Húrin."
This is an AU that had intrigued me since I first realized that Tuor and Túrin were at the pools of Ivrin at the same time. The real question here, though, is which is stronger? Tuor's 'my life is charmed', or Túrin's 'I destroy everything I touch'. Thoughts?