Five things that never happened to Faramir and Éowyn

[altariel]

A drabble exercise I set myself this afternoon. They are a little rough around the edges, but I just wanted to write something.



One

From dark Dunharrow, forth rode Théoden, with six thousand spears, into song and story.

But the oaths that she has taken bind her to hearth and home. She cannot forsake her duty; she cannot escape the gilded cage of her fathers. The days pass; they are dark, and she endures each one as if it were a year. No word comes up from the South. And – under a sky from which, it seems to her, the sun has been stolen never to return – she takes up the sword that was destined for the sinews of another, and slays herself instead.


Two

He follows the dream to Rivendell; takes the road first to Edoras, where they meet; and dies on the Quest, within sight of his home. His companions burn his body.

In the years that follow, she finds that she remembers him on the day when they think of their fallen. She remembers the warmth of his eyes and the kindness of his smile; she thinks how he will never grow old and wither. She holds to herself the memory of him as the first ray of light in the darkness; first herald of the happier days that were to come.


Three

Fair she was; fairer than all the flowers and the maidens of Gondor; lovely and blissful; the Queen of Gondor. Her new people love her for her valour and her honour. Their reign is long and glorious: the King brings healing to the land and the White Tree flowers in the Court of the Fountain.

And ever he stands beside them – faithful and loving, their servant. It is a life long and well-lived. When he dies, all the city grieves; both kingdoms mourn the loss. All speak well of him. Last of his line. Last of the Stewards of Gondor.


Four

The Quest has failed. The Shadow comes to claim them. From the heights of the city they watch the onslaught; watch the darkness draw ever closer. The walls shatter and orcs spew over the ruin. The end will be swift and bloody.

He puts his arms around her; holds her close. “Love,” he says, “my love. How I would have loved you.”

She comes to him and claims the kiss; the last breath before night takes it all. Their lips part, never to meet again in this life.

“You already have,” she tells him, and together they turn to fight.


Five

The Quest has failed. The Shadow devours the land but leaves them living. Their end is slow, the long torment of years. He watches her eyes dim, her skin coarsen, her back bend beneath the burden.

Hope failed them; it left never to return. The sky blackened, the walls fell; all that was green has rotted and all that was lovely is ruined. By sad waters he watches her, and in his heart he keeps the memory of her standing tall and fair and proud upon the walls of the long-gone city of his fathers. And still he cannot despair.

Comments

[lame-pegasus.livejournal.com]

Good gracious.

I would like to say something coherent, some clever words of praise... but I'm speechless.

May I have them for translation?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Of course! I'm delighted you like them! :-)

[matildabj.livejournal.com]

Wah! I love them but can hardly bear to read them all at the same time. Wonderful.

[hafren.livejournal.com]

I specially like the third one.

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

These are lovely. So much loss and darkness, but (mostly) with the light of love in its various forms. Thank you, A.

[kathyh]

These are beautiful and piercingly sad. I love the last line of #5.

[the-wild-iris.livejournal.com]

I heard of these 'things that never happened' challenges in some totally different context, and - wow! Stunning drabbles...

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thank you. You picked my favourite line.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

That one definitely came out best.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I wasn't sure if the first one fit with the rest, since he doesn't appear in it, but I suppose that makes them each the thing that never happened to the other.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thank you :-) Yes, I made myself a bit sad writing them. I think it's in anticipation of the RotK EE...

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

These are lovely.

One made my heart and eyes cry.

[fictualities.livejournal.com]

Absolutely stunning. They all of them, without exception, gave me goosebumps, but you prove that goosebumps can come in many varieties. I love the third, like your other commenters, but I'd like to put in a vote for five as well. If three shows why Faramir/Eowyn is necessary, five shows that it is invevitable and right. And I think you stayed just on the right side of sentimentality there, because if Faramir can't despair, his hope still has failed. It's not a happy place for him to be, but I think that's what would happen to true goodness in extremis.

[matildabj.livejournal.com]

Oh heck, don't get me started. RotK garners the exact same reaction as these drabbles did - love it and can't bear it at the same time, and the thought of 50 extra minutes of that (Mouth of Sauron followed by "For Frodo..." is going to kill me... aargh, sorry, I'll shut up).

[altariel.livejournal.com]

That bit is going to kill me too. With Aragorn's speech, don't forget Aragorn's speech.

[genarti]

Oh, lovely. Lovely and heartbreaking.

I think the last is my favorite; certainly it's the one I found the most wrenching. (Oddly enough, given others' reactions, the third was my least favorite, I think because it's something that gets addressed a lot, as these others do not. But it still is well done, and works well in context.) But, oh, the contrast there, between the memory of proud hope and the hopeless reality... Painful and beautiful.

[aervir.livejournal.com]

Taking up a drabble challenge (even if it's a self-imposed one *g*) is, IMHO, one of the hardest things to do for a fanfic writer, because it's a lot easier to be verbose than to be precise. But you really manage to say so much within such a strict form! How heart-wrenching, to cite the expression of another reader, can you get in 100 words? Obviously very heart-wrenching indeed, although I can't decide whether #1 or #5 is the most depressing (and most evocative) one. I think I now have to watch the EE trailer again to lighten my mood a bit...

[nolivingman.livejournal.com]

Great drabbles, all of them. I also thought #3 was probably technically the best, but the what-might-have-been of #2 really got me. He's the one that got away, but is still giving her hope. *sigh*

[vasiliki.livejournal.com]

I love them all, but especially that last sentence of the 5th one gives me the chills! Happy chills! :D

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thank you :-) I was thinking of all those women whose young men died in WW1, who kept their photographs of them, still young while they grew old themselves.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

It makes me far too sad to think of her staying behind, and I do think that's what would happen. Leaving Edoras is a choice for survival on Eowyn's part.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you like them. I can't explain myself better than in that drabble, but I don't believe he would marry if she married someone else, and I also don't believe he would let that destroy him.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I'm very glad you like them :-) It's an interesting idea for a story - lets the writer play with all the AUs she is never going to write, but they still (hopefully) have the impact.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Glad they were the good kind of chills :-) That line was my favourite of the lot.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I am very glad you like them. "Inevitable and right" - so very true! I was thinking of his line in the book, "It is long since we had any hope", and yet how it doesn't stop him fighting. I am in two minds as to whether or not he does despair briefly after the quarrel with Denethor (I've certainly ficced it that he does, but can see the character logic that says he doesn't). But Eowyn's arrival puts a stop to it. From the moment he sees her, it seems to give him a reason to continue living - and I thought that would continue to be true even if Gondor was taken: "I would not have this world end now, or lose so soon what I have found."

[klose.livejournal.com]

I'm had to sift through many other (rightfully) praising comments, so hopefully mine won't seem old! But for something that's supposed to be rough, I'm truly amazed. Not only are the drabbles original, but they're also well done. I had a feeling of being "raptured" whilst reading them- thank you for posting these. :)

[kerravonsen]

I can't decide which one is my favourite -- though "favourite" seems the wrong sort of word, as if these were pieces of chocolate when they're much more... tart, sharp, piercing.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I can see some word repetitions here and there and some clumsy bits of sentences that I ought to tweak, but I think I'd rather leave them as they came out. I wrote all five of them very quickly, and was shifting between them as I wrote - maybe that was a bit like rapture in its own way. I'm very glad that you like them :-)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I am very glad they worked for you :-) #3 is probably the best-executed, but #5 is the one that does for me. I don't think I could write more than 100 words of that AU.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I'm very glad that they worked for you - if in a depressing way. I have had to go and watch the EE trailer over and over as well, if that's any consolation!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I'm very glad they work for you :-)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I'm very glad they work for you :-)

[dolamrothdame.livejournal.com]

Actually number two does it for me as well, though I liked the one where she was the Queen of Gondor too. Going to bed in search of more coherency.

[ladywenham.livejournal.com]

Absolutely beautiful. Five reasons you're my favorite Faramir author. ;)

Would you mind terribly if I added these drabbles to your work over at A'mael Taren?

[nrink-nrink.livejournal.com]

Altariel,

I love them all! Three is especially heartbreaking:

"And ever he stands beside them – faithful and loving, their servant. It is a life long and well-lived. When he dies, all the city grieves; both kingdoms mourn the loss. All speak well of him. Last of his line. Last of the Stewards of Gondor."

Lady Wenham wrote:

Five reasons you're my favorite Faramir author. ;)

I'll second that! ;-)

[windswept1.livejournal.com]

Very chilling! All of them!

But I particularly liked the third one. It's very Faramir :)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Hope you got a good night's sleep.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thank you :-) Please do add them to A'mael Taren, of course!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you like them :-) Yes, he would just stand by and be terribly loyal and self-denying about the whole thing, wouldn't he?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Hi nrink! Thank you, I'm glad they work for you :-) Poor Faramir, in that third one, standing by for all those years.

[dolamrothdame.livejournal.com]

Actually, I did. Went to bed at 9:30 and slept until 5:30 when the dogs decided they wanted out. Stayed up for about an hour, then went back to bed and slept till 11:30. Total vegetable, but I feel MUCH better now.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Brilliant night's sleep. I'm really glad you're feeling rested. I'm off now to sleep in for as long as possible, having worked out how to turn the alarm that Mr Altariel had fixed to go off at 7am each morning... (including this morning, gah).

[rubynye.livejournal.com]

These, all five, are just splendid!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :-)

[scribendi.livejournal.com]

I stumbled here after joining tolkien100. I'm in tears now, and shivering in the best possible way. Thank you.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

And thank you for taking the time to let me know that they worked for you :-)