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“You seem nervous, brother.” You teased, whispering over your shoulder as a Rivendell elf guided you both to the council meeting.
“I’m fine.” Boromir hissed, causing a mischievous smile to grace your lips.
“If you say so-”
“I do.” He retorted, nudging you with his shoulder as he passed you to take a seat on the other end of the room, avoiding eye contact with the elves and dwarves as he went. As you followed, you met the gaze of a young blond elf, and smiled politely at him. He nodded back, before being pulled into a conversation by a dark-haired man next to him. “I wish I never let you come along.” Boromir groaned as you took your seat next to him. He wasn’t scowling- like he would if he really meant those words- but he did look uncomfortable, perhaps that was because you were the only female of any race here. “Well it was either that or spend my days wandering the halls being ignored by father.” You sighed as you spoke, trying to not to focus the heavy ache in your heart. "Besides, either he doesn’t know I’m here or he doesn’t care.”
“Of course he cares.” Boromir replied, keeping his voice low as he leaned towards you.
You raised your eyebrow at him. “Oh really? When was the last time he stayed in a room with me longer than 5 seconds? When was the last time he talked about his ‘children’ rather than his ‘sons’?” Feeling your voice crack, you turned away from Boromir and focused on the tall man with a grey pointed hat who had just walked in. After a moment of silence, you felt Boromir place his arm around your shoulders, his hand squeezing you, “I’m sorry. I take back what I said earlier: I’m glad I let you come along.” A warmth filled your chest and you smiled, glancing back at Boromir.
“Thank you.” You breathed.
“And for the record,” He began, leaning into your ear as the noise in the room fell silent at the entrance of a tall, long-haired elf. “I care about you. As does Faramir. No matter what, you have your big brothers.”
Your heart was pounding as you sliced your sword through another orc. You heard Legolas call out to you and ducked down just as two arrows went whizzing past your head; fatally taking out the orcs that were just behind you. Running over to Gimli- who had lost his axe in a struggle- and you slid across the floor to pick it up and threw it in his direction. He caught it just in time to behead the large orc in front of him, the grotesque body dropping to the floor with a loud thud. “Many thanks, Lassie!” He shouted over. You offered him a wink in return, sword high ready to face another orc. Then you heard it. A loud booming horn that echoed through the trees, making your blood run cold. “The horn of Gondor.” Legolas said, eyes wide as he looked at you. Heart pounding, you ran, almost flying down the hill, avoiding the flurry of arrows and swords as you went. Aragorn joined you, only stopping to fend off any orcs as you were clearly unable to concentrate on the potential attacks. “I’m coming brother.” You thought aloud, hoping he could somehow hear you.
You were running on adrenaline alone, your legs burning and arms sore as you continued to sprint down towards where you believed Boromir to be. As you came across a cleaning, you heart dropped to your stomach as you saw a huge orc standing over your brother, bow raised and aiming at his head. Without thinking, you screamed as you leapt at the creature- using both your legs to kick into the beast’s side like a battering ram. It growled as it fell to the floor. When you landed harshly on the firm ground, you groaned as a pain shot through your side. The orc got up, drawing his sword, and turned to you just as Aragorn flew in front of you and clashed his sword with the orc’s. You scrambled away, dragging your sword with you. You glanced over at Boromir and was horrified to see several arrows protruding from his chest, his skin already paling. You went to run to him but was thrust to action when Aragorn was backed into a tree, a shield holding his neck in place. You shouted him and ran to the Orc, slicing its leg deeply, causing it to fall to the ground, its sword landing by its side. The creature quickly reached for its sword again, but you managed to swing your own and hack its hand off, the creature howling at the action. Aragorn then took over and finished the creature off, looking over at you and nodding sharply.
Panting heavily, you dropped your sword and turned to run to Boromir, almost falling to his side as you gripped his hand, “Boromir? Wake up, please!” You shouted, causing his eyes to flutter open.
“Y/n... They took the little ones.” He whimpered, trying desperately to gain breath. You stared at his wounds, your heart thumping wildly against your chest. “What do I do, Boromir?” You were blinking away the tears as you spoke, your words frantic as they tumbled out of your mouth. “Please tell me, how do I fix you?”
“You can’t. It is my time.” He breathed, his eyes gazing into yours.
“No, please no.” You were shaking your head, tears falling down your cheeks and onto his armour. You felt a presence by your side as Aragorn placed his hand on your shoulder. “Frodo, where is Frodo?” Boromir asked him, his eyes wide.
“I let Frodo go.” Aragorn whispered, his eyes not straying from Boromir as he spoke.
“Then you did what I could not.” Your brother replied solemnly.
You held his cloak tightly, stroking the hair from his face, “Shh lie still, brother.” You whispered, any louder and it would have been a sob. Your heart was breaking with no hope of repair. “Forgive me,” He begged, gazing at you again, “I have failed you-”
“Stop it.” You pleaded, eyes stinging with tears. “You have never failed me before and you certainly haven’t done now.” You flinched when Boromir grasped your hands and tilted his head forwards to be closer to you. “Remember. What I taught you. You have already shown your skill. As a warrior of Gondor.” He loosened his grip as he let a small smile grow on his lips. You let your mouth fall open, breathing through the sobs were you desperately holding back. Looking over your shoulder, you could see Legolas edging closer, sorrow in his eyes as he looked on, head tilted. You heard a scraping of a sword and flicked your head over to see Aragorn handing Boromir his sword. Shaking fingers wrapped around the grip as he pulled it onto his chest. “Never forget that I love you, dear sister.” He said as he looked at you.
“And I love you, dear brother.” You replied, voice breaking uncontrollably, and you felt Aragorn hold onto you even tighter. Boromir then looked at Aragorn, his eyes now focused and sincere. “I would have followed you, my brother. My captain. My king.” His last words faltered before he exhaled and his movements stilled. “No...” you whispered, shaking your head as you gripped onto him tighter, willing the light in his eyes to shine again. “No! Boromir!” You cried, the sob now finally overflowing. Aragorn pulled you away and wrapped you in a tight embrace, cradling your head as you went limp in his arms and howled like an injured animal.
Memories of your brother flashed through your mind as you cried: him teaching you how to use a sword; how to climb a tree; even how to read. When you had your ‘first blood’- the symbol of your womanhood- he found you cowering in the corner of your chamber and called upon the servants to clean your sheets as he held you tightly, keeping you calm and doing his best to explain what was happening to you; trying to remember what your mother had taught him before her tragic death. Boromir was more than your brother; he was your best friend, your wise council, your role model. And now he was gone.
“Be at peace, son of Gondor.” Aragorn whispered before pulling you up to stand with him. He pulled away from you and tilted your chin to look up at him, “We must stay sharp, y/n. We will not let his death be in vain.” You nodded at his words, then began wiping your face with your sleeve. “Legolas, walk with y/n for a while as Gimli and I make some preparations.” Aragorn released you and you ambled over to Legolas, the kind elf offering you his most sympathetic smile as he held his arms out for you. You smiled in return and embraced him, before silently walking through the trees as he held you under his arm.
You stood at the edge of the river, watching as the boat carrying your brother went over the Falls of Rauros. Closing your eyes, you prayed for his safe passage to the afterlife, fingers gripping the fabric of your breeches. You turned as you heard scraping behind you, followed by splashing water. “If we are quick,” Legolas breathed as he heaved his boat into the water, “We will catch Frodo and Sam before nightfall.” Following Aragorn’s eyeline as he silently looked to the shore opposite, you could make out the hobbits as they disappeared into the forest. “You mean not to follow them?” Legolas’ voice caused you to look over your shoulder at Aragorn.
“Frodo's fate is no longer in our hands.” The ranger replied, as he tightens the leather bracers around his forearms.
“Then it has all been in vain...the fellowship has failed.” Gimli sighed, a defeated look on his face.
“Not if we hold true to each other.” You stated, all three men looking at you. Walking over to join them, you glanced at Aragorn and nodded, “We cannot abandon Merry and Pippin to torment and death, my brother would not stand for it.”
Aragorn smiled at you and strapped a knife to his side, “Leave all that can be spared behind,” He ordered, “We travel light.” You share a look between Gimli, Legolas and then finally at Aragorn, who had turned to you all with a glint in his eye, “Let's hunt some Orc.”