Alternate Reality Challenge Part 2- [Lord of the Rings PG]
For those just tuning in, this is part of my challenge to pimp crossovers/alternate realities. Give me any two fandoms and I will write a crossover (see here) or see the alternate reality challenge here.
For AnimeFreak42
Fandom: Lord of the Rings
Title: Behold the Flowing Years
Rating: PG
Genre: Angst. Introspective. Poetic Navel-Gazing.
Word Count: ~420
Summary: Eowyn does not regret.
Notes for animefreak42: It's really funny, but as soon as you gave me the prompt, my first thought was how it would affect Eowyn rather than Aragorn. I hope that you enjoy my very abbreviated take on that!
Author's Notes: So the side branch here is that Arwen died at some point during the War, for reasons unknown. My immediate thought on this was that they probably wouldn’t inform Aragorn until it was over, because the last thing they would need would be already ambivalent emo-'King of Men' becoming razor blade-friendly emo-'King of Men' in the middle of the war for Middle Earth. But what would he do once he found out? And what would his long-term thoughts on it be? Strangely, I immediately thought of Eowyn. And the flashfic was born…
Behold the Flowing Years
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow,
Who shall gather the smoke of the dead wood burning
Or behold the flowing years from the Sea returning?
-JRR Tolkien, 'Where now the horse and rider?' from 'Lord of the Rings'
Eowyn does not regret.
It was her devotion hers that kept the King of Men alive, even at the cost of her heart, her happiness.
Eowyn had not wished to be Queen.
Despite what the world has thought, it was the man Eowyn wanted- the strength, the compassion, the force that would stand with her (forher). A beautiful fantasy, but she had not known that then. They forget that she was a queen in her own right. They forget many things, these tiny men, these remaining shadows of the once-glory of Middle Earth.
But they do not forget Arwen Undómiel.
Eowyn knows what they say of her, even now, even when the years grace her head and face as her grandchildren and great-grandchildren grace the halls.
They say, 'Opportunist', 'Advantage-Taker', 'Witch'.
They have never forgiven her for saving them from the Witch-King. And what woman would defeat a Witch-King who was not herself a Witch?
She knows that it would not be like this, that they would not speak this way, think this way if the King of Men did not condemn her by the defense of silence.
They do not know, these little men, of the months spent in the House of Healing, pulling (herself) the King of Men from the edge of self-death after he heard of his Lady's end. They do not know how she made him see he held no fault that the Lady should meet an end in a time of war, in a way so utterly unrelated to the tragedy of the Age.
They do not know that the first time she made him laugh, it felt as if her soul had been struck with lightning. They do not know that until then she had known neither life nor love.
They do not know the look in the eyes of her husband when they first lay together, when she presented their first child.
All that has faded and been forgotten, by men, by the King of Men, but it matters not to Eowyn.
Arwen Undómiel, undying, beautiful is welcome to her ghost husband, to a devotion never earned in blood and tears and years on the body worn as trophies for their passing.
Eowyn carries memories like treasured jewels.
Eowyn carries joy that has earned its way fierce and fire-hot through trials she had never planned.
Eowyn carries the love of her children and family and those she can aid so well as the Just Queen of Gondor.
Eowyn…
Eowyn does not regret.
-Teleth-
For AnimeFreak42
Fandom: Lord of the Rings
Title: Behold the Flowing Years
Rating: PG
Genre: Angst. Introspective. Poetic Navel-Gazing.
Word Count: ~420
Summary: Eowyn does not regret.
Notes for animefreak42: It's really funny, but as soon as you gave me the prompt, my first thought was how it would affect Eowyn rather than Aragorn. I hope that you enjoy my very abbreviated take on that!
Author's Notes: So the side branch here is that Arwen died at some point during the War, for reasons unknown. My immediate thought on this was that they probably wouldn’t inform Aragorn until it was over, because the last thing they would need would be already ambivalent emo-'King of Men' becoming razor blade-friendly emo-'King of Men' in the middle of the war for Middle Earth. But what would he do once he found out? And what would his long-term thoughts on it be? Strangely, I immediately thought of Eowyn. And the flashfic was born…
Behold the Flowing Years
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow,
Who shall gather the smoke of the dead wood burning
Or behold the flowing years from the Sea returning?
-JRR Tolkien, 'Where now the horse and rider?' from 'Lord of the Rings'
Eowyn does not regret.
It was her devotion hers that kept the King of Men alive, even at the cost of her heart, her happiness.
Eowyn had not wished to be Queen.
Despite what the world has thought, it was the man Eowyn wanted- the strength, the compassion, the force that would stand with her (forher). A beautiful fantasy, but she had not known that then. They forget that she was a queen in her own right. They forget many things, these tiny men, these remaining shadows of the once-glory of Middle Earth.
But they do not forget Arwen Undómiel.
Eowyn knows what they say of her, even now, even when the years grace her head and face as her grandchildren and great-grandchildren grace the halls.
They say, 'Opportunist', 'Advantage-Taker', 'Witch'.
They have never forgiven her for saving them from the Witch-King. And what woman would defeat a Witch-King who was not herself a Witch?
She knows that it would not be like this, that they would not speak this way, think this way if the King of Men did not condemn her by the defense of silence.
They do not know, these little men, of the months spent in the House of Healing, pulling (herself) the King of Men from the edge of self-death after he heard of his Lady's end. They do not know how she made him see he held no fault that the Lady should meet an end in a time of war, in a way so utterly unrelated to the tragedy of the Age.
They do not know that the first time she made him laugh, it felt as if her soul had been struck with lightning. They do not know that until then she had known neither life nor love.
They do not know the look in the eyes of her husband when they first lay together, when she presented their first child.
All that has faded and been forgotten, by men, by the King of Men, but it matters not to Eowyn.
Arwen Undómiel, undying, beautiful is welcome to her ghost husband, to a devotion never earned in blood and tears and years on the body worn as trophies for their passing.
Eowyn carries memories like treasured jewels.
Eowyn carries joy that has earned its way fierce and fire-hot through trials she had never planned.
Eowyn carries the love of her children and family and those she can aid so well as the Just Queen of Gondor.
Eowyn…
Eowyn does not regret.
-Teleth-