Hi guys, sorry for the horrendously long wait for this new update. Uni has been completely taking over my life at the time being, to the point where it's been making me ill. However, at last a new chapter.
I also have something of a favour to ask - I'm currently in my last year of uni and working on my dissertation. My research involves a questionnaire on reading habits. Would any of you be willing to participate? It doesn't ask any personal details, its just solely based on reading habits. Any help would be massively appreciated.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy :)
Having come to the decision to depart from his home, nothing could be said that would sway Aragorn into changing his mind. He was unyielding, for the young human was now determined that his destiny awaited outside the safe and loving walls of Imladris.
Resolving to leave as soon as possible, now that his mind was made up, Aragorn set about his preparations with diligence. He sharpened his sword and daggers, fletched a new supply of arrows and gathered a sufficient stack of healing herbs to carry in his pack. He also spent much of his free time cloistered in the library, poring over maps and charts of the wild, establishing the course he would follow.
"When you depart, we will come part of the way with you, and part company when we come to the foot of the Misty Mountains," Elladan had told him solemnly, encountering him in the library late one evening. The raven-haired elf had raised his hand to stem the flow of protest he anticipated as he perceived his brother's mouth open to speak. "I know this is your journey, brother, and that you must complete it alone. However, that does not mean you have to begin it alone. Elrohir and I have ever journeyed together and we will be taking an excursion of our own out beyond the Misty Mountains. Surely it is only logical that we all set out together. Besides...it will keep Arwen and Faelwen from fretting too much."
Aragorn's protesting expression softened at the last sentence. "If you wish, Elladan," he acquiesced with a smile. "I must confess, I think I will be glad of the company. Until a couple of weeks ago, leaving Imladris never really seemed like a real option...just a shady possibility looming in the far future. I never thought I should be saying goodbye to it so soon."
"Estel," Elladan purposely used the young man's elvish name. "You will be saying goodbye to Imladris for the time being, not forever. This will ever be your home, whether you are twenty years old or eighty years old. Home is where your family is...and your family is here. Never forget that, my brother."
"I will not forget," said Aragorn solemnly, showing a smile that had been seen with less and less frequency over the past couple of weeks. "I promise, I shall never forget!"
"Good," Elladan smiled in return. "Where do you intend to go, when we part company?"
Aragorn indicated a spot on the north of the map with his finger. "I intend to meet with the Dúnedain. I spoke with Halbarad when he journeyed here to talk with Ada a few months ago. He must have known that Ada was planning on revealing my true heritage to me, for he told me then that he and the Grey Company would welcome my arrival, should I ever choose to join them, and pointed out their typical movements, so that I might find it easier to discover them if I was abroad in the north. I cannot become who I was born to be, or be worthy of Arwen's hand in marriage, if I do not spend time amongst men, and gain experience in Dundedain strategy and combat. I must do this, Elladan!"
"I do not doubt it," Elladan nodded. "Hopefully, what Elrohir, Glorfindel and I have been able to teach you of elvish combat techniques will serve you well, and you may build on that. I think you are going to become quite a remarkable man, young one. A very remarkable man!"
The morning of Aragorn's departure arrived with an alarming alacrity. Faelwen, knowing that breakfast was going to be a subdued affair, and severely doubting her ability to keep her composure, decided not to attend and spent the morning finding dozens of unnecessary tasks to do in her room as she did not wish to make a scene and embarrass herself or her brother. She had known full well, from the day they had taken him as a baby, that Aragorn would one day have to rejoin his own people. However, that day seemed to have arrived far too soon! It really did seem like only a few months had passed since Elladan, Elrohir and Glorfindel had returned from patrol with a tiny baby. But now that tiny baby was a grown man, and he was leaving them for the dangers of the wild.
She was disturbed an hour before noon by a knock at her door. "Come in!" she called, straightening the coverlet on the bed that she had made four times already.
Aragorn came through the door, looking far older and graver than someone of his young years should rightly have done. He was dressed in simple hunting leathers and a dark cloak; a tall and noble figure. But still, Faelwen thought, absurdly young and terrifyingly mortal.
"You missed breakfast," he said mildly.
"I found that I had no appetite this morning, brother," Faelwen said with what she could force of a smile, noticing that he seemed to be hiding something behind his back. "Have you prepared your supplies?"
"Yes," Aragorn laughed. "I have everything that I might possibly need. Between you and Ada, I have been furnished with enough healing herbs to treat a whole town."
"I will sleep easier knowing that you have them," Faelwen said, sitting down on the edge of her bed. "You have an excellent knowledge of the art of healing, and a great deal of skill. Use it wisely...I dearly hope it may prove useful."
"Well, I have had the two best teachers on Arda," said Aragorn, his voice deliberately light in an attempt to cheer her up, before he became grave once more. "Fae, I wanted to ask you something. While I am away, will you promise to look out for Arwen for me? It may be some time before I can prove myself worthy of her, but will you ensure that she is always well?"
"There is no need to ask me that," Faelwen smiled weakly. "She will have not just I, but many others ensuring her wellbeing. But I give you my word, we will take care of her."
"Thank you, gwaleth nin. I...um, I also wanted to give you something," he said, suddenly looking rather sheepish. He produced the item he had been hiding behind his back – Diel, the stuffed rabbit that Faelwen had passed onto him over fifteen years before, who now looked very worn indeed. "I thought I had best return him to you now...so you do not forget me."
With that last phrase, Faelwen's determination to keep composed went out the window. Her eyes filled with tears as she got to her feet and grabbed Aragorn into a bone-cracking hug.
"Fae, please do not cry!" Aragorn hugged her tighter, running a gentle hand over her fair hair, a gesture which was easy now that he was the same height as she was. "All will be well."
"I am not crying," Faelwen said tightly, furiously blinking back tears while her heart and stomach twisted with fear. This might be one of the last times she embraced him. Once he left Imladris, he might never come back!
That afternoon, many members of Elrond's household gathered to bid farewell to the young man who had become such an important part of the family. Arwen, having already said her own private farewells to the man she had given her heart to, did not leave her room, but every other elf who had had a part in shaping the life of the young mortal came to the courtyard to see him off; Elrond, Faelwen, Glorfindel, Erestor, Lindir and several others. The mood was a very sombre one, all the more so when the time came for the final farewells to be said.
"Take care of yourself, my son," Elrond told him affectionately, embracing his son tightly. Despite their differences of opinion regarding Aragorn's feelings for Arwen, Elrond's regard for his foster son remained just as strong as it had ever been. "I rely on your excellent judgement and your good sense to keep you safe. Take no unnecessary risks. And remember, the doors of Imladris are always open to you."
"Thank you, Ada, for everything," Aragorn replied, returning the embrace. "I promise that I shall be a credit to everything you have taught me. Here my heart will ever dwell until I return once again."
The young man had similar exchanges with the other elves who had helped raise him – Erestor advising him to always use his head, Glorfindel teasing him that he could be a thorn in the leader of the Grey Company's side now, Lindir wishing that the Valar would keep him safe until he returned – before he came to Faelwen, who was doing her very best not to weep.
"You do not need our help any more, little brother," she said unsteadily, tears slipping from her eyes. "You are a man now; in charge of your own destiny."
Aragorn's own control slipped a little as he suddenly pulled her close into a tight hug. He had been so close to his foster-siblings – it was going to be uncommonly strange not to be seeing them on a daily basis! How he would miss their company! "I'll always need you, Fae," he whispered into her ear, before he drew back and kissed her cheek. "Please do not worry too much. I will return."
"Be safe," Faelwen's voice was thick with tears, and it was taking a visible effort now to choke down her sobs. She placed her hands on either side of his face, and kissed his forehead. "May the stars watch over you."
With that, bidding one last general farewell to his family in every way but blood, Aragorn fell into step beside the twins, who had waited patiently throughout these goodbyes. Side by side, the three dark-haired figures proceeded along the neat pathway and into the shade of the trees which bordered Imladris on every side. There, they vanished from sight.
Faelwen, who gave into the urge to weep as soon as her brothers disappeared into the trees, felt the strong arm of Glorfindel about her shoulders and allowed him to guide her back indoors once more, suddenly aware that it was going to be many years at the very least before she saw Aragorn again.
"Hail and well met, my young lord!"
After many days' travel, and a solemn parting from his brothers, Aragorn had travelled north until, with the superlative tracking abilities taught to him by Glorfindel, Elladan and Elrohir, he had been able to find the trail of the Grey Company and venture towards their whereabouts. After following their tracks for three days, he had encountered this group of noble men, gathered around a fire.
He had been greeted with both friendliness and respect, the tall men welcoming the newest recruit who was, by birth, their leader. Halbarad, who had commanded them since Arathorn's death, had informed him that travelling and living as a member of the company would provide him with experience which might prove very helpful in his future quest to regain his birthright. Thus, the young man assumed his rightful place as the sixteenth chieftain of the Dúnedain, and began a whole new way of life, time flying past at such speed that Imladris began to feel like the echo of a dream.
Without Aragorn, life in Imladris suddenly seemed a little empty for many of its inhabitants. Without the training of their younger brother taking a priority over patrols, the twins spent more and more time abroad; sometimes alone, and others in the company of the Dúnedain, and as a result, Faelwen found herself suddenly desperately lonely. She had the fondest regard for Arwen, but even her sister's company did not make up for the three absences which suddenly made Imladris far too quiet. She took more and more to dividing her time amongst Imladris, Lothlorien and in Mirkwood, with her biological family.
Weeks turned into months, and months into years. Twice, Faelwen and Haldir appealed to their respective parents to be allowed to wed, and twice they were told that they must wait; that the future was uncertain and they each would have a certain part to play. The less docile side of Faelwen's character wished almost to rebel when, several years later, Aragorn and Arwen plighted their troth and were accepted, while she and Haldir, in love for more than a decade longer than they, were still condemned to wait.
She watched uneasily as Elrond, Glorfindel and Erestor became worried and preoccupied; there was talk of approaching darkness, the end of the time of the elves and the rise of 'the enemy'. Faelwen was not sure what the future was going to bring....but she began to be afraid of it.