Title: Faril Nin [My Huntress]
Author: Codi Lyn { iluvobiwan91
Genre: Romance, Angst, Hurt/Comfort
Rating: PG-13 – R (for descriptive battle scene/wounds)
Pairing: Orophin/OFC [Gwaeron]
Timeline: Begins before the Fellowship enters Lorien in Third Age 3018… concludes during Fourth Age 250
Chapter: 7/13
Chapter Summary: "You would take this mortal and her orphan as your own… You sell the life Eru gave you for such a paltry sum."
Author's Note: I don't know quite what season it is when the Fellowship are in Lorien, and so there are a few changes in time-flow versus how things played out in the movies. Follows movie-verse, but I make a few references to things that happened in the books. But little things like these I have the license to play with, as the author. J.R.R. Tolkien and Peter Jackson have rights to the important stuff, this story is written purely for pleasure.
Chapter SevenThe familiar figure of a ranger strode easily through the paths of the Golden Wood as night fell. Exhausted, but content with what her day had produced, Gwaeron smiled to herself as the talan holding her child came into view. A note from Anauriel greeted her on the table as she came in, explaining that the elleth had left the baby sleeping sound so that she might take time with Rúmil. The woman smiled and touched her finger to the parchment, earning a copy of the well-scribed runes printed on her skin. "It seems I only just missed her." Musing to herself, Gwaeron stepped further into the flat to assure herself that Véredhiel was indeed sleeping deeply.
Fondly touching the little hairs of her head, the ranger pulled back her cowl and pressed her lips to the blanket draped over her shoulders. "Had I known how I would miss you, little one, I would not have stayed away so long." Speaking softly so her daughter would hear only in dreams, Gwaeron was satisfied to watch the child breathe for a moment before moving away to clean herself from the smells of the hunt. A forgotten lullaby Arwen had taught her long ago came to mind and the huntress hummed it until she remembered the words, scrubbing quickly and dressing lightly to lay back down with her daughter and finally falling asleep with the sweet tune on her lips.
With skilled hands Orophin suited quickly in his armor, readying himself sooner than necessary in the hope of having time enough to see her before the march to Rohan. The stillness of an empty armory was soon disturbed when Haldir entered and stood watching his brother prepare, barely acknowledged by a glance from the younger. Crossing his arms, the firstborn lifted his chin and broke the silence. "Rúmil has made mention that your ever-changeable ranger wants you back." Orophin visibly bristled, but continued to fasten and adjust his panoply efficiently. Dissatisfied with the lack of response, he pressed on. "And will you receive her? This girl who alters her words with every wind?" The annoyance he felt toward the mortal bled into his speech, having believed her to be firm in her denial of his brother. A decision he had condoned when she told him of it months ago.
Before the Marchwarden could speak anymore against the woman, Orophin whirled from where he had stood facing away and strode up to his brother until the flames in his glare licked at his face. "I never released her, Haldir." Without raising his voice, the threat in his tone was still delivered through clenched teeth. "And by Elbereth's light, if that girl asked me to give my life for hers, I would fall on my own sword with pleasure."
What distance there was between them closed when Haldir took a step to meet him squarely. "You would take this mortal and her orphan as your own… You sell the life Eru gave you for such a paltry sum." The quiet that followed his words could have split the ears of a son of Man.
Orophin looked him up and down, pity passing through the eyes that had hardened in righteous anger toward his eldest brother. "You know nothing. You cannot know." Backing away half a step, he stood tall and gestured openly. "You do not see that my heart is already in her keeping, that in all but deed I am Gwaeron's bonded. You cannot comprehend the knowledge that Véredhiel was given to us, that it doesn't matter whether mine or Gwaeron's blood gives her life, all that matters is when I hold that baby she is my daughter."
Bafflement and incredulity were all the Marchwarden could spare for emotion in his features, shaking his head slightly in disbelief. "Do you not know you forsake your immortality? You must know will die, Orophin." Though urgency remained, his voice had calmed and was now almost pleading with his brother.
"We may die in battle, Haldir, do we not still fight?" Sighing, Orophin walked a few steps away in resignation, glancing outside to see the sun setting into darkness. There were precious few hours left. Turning his head only, the second-born spoke once more and hoped the elf would understand. "Should the Valar will that I live for all ages and have been able to love a mortal woman, then so be it. If not, and I do fade at her death, then I beg you to accept and know it is my happiness to be ever at her side. Please grant me that, Haldir." With his back to his brother, Orophin took up his sword and left.
Meeting Tar at the door to his flet gave Orophin more relief than he would have thought, for sighting the hound held the promise of seeing his lady, and nothing could have given the galadhrim more pleasure than knowing she was close. Stroking the dog's ears and neck absently, Orophin moved into the talan and silently padded through the rooms, halting when tears nearly choked his vision at what he saw. "Elbereth…" He breathed the Valar's name in awe and knelt carefully before the image of the child asleep in his cot and his huntress wrapped protectively around her. Trembling, he took the hand draped over Véredhiel and held it to his lips in reverence, hoping his beloved would wake but unwilling to be the cause even as tears of relief slipped unchecked from his eyes.
He studied Gwaeron faithfully, taking in the damp hair that curled above her head and draped freely on her shoulder, long eyelashes that fluttered over freckled cheeks and told of dreams he prayed were peaceful. Unable to withhold a caress to that cheek, Orophin smiled to find it rosy and fuller than when last he had beheld her, frail and weakened. Health had restored her vigor and contentment settled upon her figure that he longed to take part in.
An elven horn sounded in the distance to muster the galadhrim and he turned briefly at the offending noise, returning his gaze to her with measured breath. Hovering over them, he laid a kiss upon the child's head but dared not to touch his lips to Gwaeron's, instead pressing his face into the hand he had claimed and breathed her in once more. "I will miss you, faril nin, my love." Murmured against her skin, he closed her fingers and placed the precious hand back against the elfling. With great effort Orophin rose from the bedside and gathered up his deeply colored warden's cloak, fastening it under his armor and taking his helmet in hand before sparing a final look for those he held most dear. Another blow for the galadhrim carried him away.
"I will miss you, faril nin." Gwaeron heard Orophin's voice distantly, but knew it to be his without a doubt. Véredhiel's frightened screams soon filled her ears and the woman found herself at Mirkwood's border where Tar had first heard father and child amidst the trees. The baby's voice now came from the darkened wood. Thoughtless to danger, maternal instincts guided the ranger's body into action and dove into the forest in search of her beloved oath.
Warmth and freezing cold seized her body when again she heard him. "My love…" Orophin's soft words now originated where Véredhiel's cries sounded. Sprinting at her utmost could not bring her to them fast enough and she wove between shrub and oak to come upon Beriohtarion's body, already dead, and the frightened child barely held in his lifeless arms. Rushing to catch her daughter, Gwaeron tucked her safely against her bosom and sought to calm the fretting infant. Her eyes scanned the clearing she stood in for danger, surrounded by shadow and darkness through the ring of trees.
A faint light at the edge of the shadows drew her in, and as she stepped closer the outline of her beloved came just into view, like a tower on a foggy day. Orophin stood in elven armor, his blood-red cloak fanned about him as she reached out to touch him, his actions mirroring her own. "Faril nin… I will miss you."
Gwaeron jolted awake and immediately sought the face to match the voice she had just heard, to hold the hand that had reached out for her own and met only an empty room in muted light. Véredhiel still slept easily at her side and the woman rubbed a palm over her eyes, glancing out the window toward a sunless dawn. An overcast sky put a chill in the air and goose flesh on her arms. Getting out of bed with some stiffness and a shiver, Gwaeron situated her still-warm blanket up and over the baby's ears and tucked her in, wrapping a shawl around herself and moving to stand out on the porch.
Tar awoke gradually and perked up when his mistress stepped past him, hopping up so he could lean into her side, tail wagging comfortingly against her leg. The clouds let out a steady stream to dampen the woods and Gwaeron watched it fall, thinking of Orophin on the borders in such weather. "Orophin, come back soon. I feel farther from you than ever." She spoke softly, half to herself, half hoping for an answer. When the rain didn't calm her as it normally would, she turned to go back inside but stopped when she heard her name being called.
Smiling tiredly at her friend, she ushered the hooded elleth inside out of the rain and took her cloak to dry. "Come and have some breakfast with me, Ana." Trying to sound more pleasant than she felt, Gwaeron soon dropped the pretense as she turned to Anauriel and found her already distressed. "What is it?"
Obviously worried, the elf touched Gwaeron's arm and asked. "He has not come to you? Do you not know?" Seeing Gwaeron's confusion Anauriel now panicked, assuming Orophin had not kept his word, that danger would follow him before ever he met the enemy.
"Who? Ana, who do you mean? What do I not know?" The elleth's worry now rubbed off onto her friend and a knot tied itself in Gwaeron's belly.
"I mean Orophin, and that you do not know the galadhrim have already left." All color left the woman's face and Ana quickly took her hands in her own to steady her as she spoke. "Yesterday Orophin came to the talan and he was… he was himself again! He wanted to see you, he told me—"
"Where? Where is he?" Gently, Anauriel brought them to sit at the table and tried to hold in her own tears as she explained that Rúmil and Orophin were among the galadhrim traveling to Rohan and war. Trembling in fear, Gwaeron stifled a sob to keep from waking Véredhiel. Had his voice been as near as she felt it was in her dreaming? She prayed fervently that Orophin had at least come in the night, had seen the child and had spoken his endearment with the same love she heard still in her mind. Faril nin.