Open To Anyone For Anything RP Post

[questionablewit]

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/grabby hands =D

[returnedgold]

He manouevers them to a quiet alcove under the stars, where they may speak and not be overheard, leaning against the balustrade and looking back at her.

He shakes his head a little.

"For clarity in vision, you will have to ask the Lady Galadriel - and even she cannot see all ends clearly, only the suggestions of what may be. But I knew, as Earnur fumed, that it was not our Enemy's time, and it would not be Earnur who struck the final blow, little though it pleased him to hear it. Poor Earnur! He was ever too reckless, that one, more a warchief than a king."

His blue eyes weigh her and he adds gently. "You feel unworthy, do you not? That it might have been anyone else on that battlefield to strike that blow. And you would be somewhat right, in that - it was his time, and any hand might have done. But it was not any hand - it was yours, and Master Merry's. You were there, in the right time, at the right place, and you took the chance that came to you, even as you felt your courage shrivel in your chest."

He looks away, voice meditative. "They sing of my battle now, as if it was something glorious, Glorfindel and the Balrog. But it was far from that. There was no one else there, that day - for my friends and fellow captains were dead, and Egalmoth had to vouchsafe the Lord and Lady and the other refugees. I was terrified - I knew I would die there. But I was there, and those I loved were behind me. What other choice did I have? I think it was the same for you, eh?"

[withoutswords]

She shakes her head. "Not unworthy, nor without choice," she corrects. "I was..."

She considers, and suddenly realizes what she feels is angry, a deep burning resentment. "I wished for renown, once," she attempts to express. "A sentiment that may sound meaningless to one so long-lived as you. But we have shorter lives, and it seemed all the more important therefore that they burn the brighter. It is true that when I faced him I was not thinking of glory, nor even of necessity; I thought only of protecting my uncle, and cared nothing for whether I lived or died doing it. But I still would that I had succeeded because of my own ability, my own choice, and not merely because his time had come."

[returnedgold]

"Ah." One blue eye catches hers, and Glorfindel hums. "And have you not considered, that his time was come because you were there?"

[withoutswords]

Stormy grey eyes meet calming blue, and are calmed themselves. This thought clearly strikes her for the first time, and she does consider it. "I had not," she says finally. "And yet, if it might have been any woman..."

[returnedgold]

"But it was not." He says simply. "It was you, and one you had to protect behind you, as it was for me that day in Gondolin. You could have turned and run - most did. But you did not. And so you are his bane, for you were there, when others were not. That, and only that, is what makes the heroes of which folk sing. That you were there, and you did not run."

He cocks her a wry grin. "Of course, you did better than me - I died, to defeat my foe."

(I am writing a fic about this meeting and this is super helpful, thank you ;) )

[withoutswords]

Some unacknowledge tension inside her uncoils; some knot begins to unravel. From anyone else, even Faramir, she might not have accepted these words, this argument. For they were not there, and did not know what it was she faced in that moment, what had brought her to it, what forces might or might not have driven her steps to that place, that time. Even Merry, dearly as she loves him and closer as his understanding in, could not grasp it.

Glorfindel does, as no other can. Their eyes hold for a long time, until finally she smiles a little, silent gratitude and acceptance and release. "At the time I thought I had, and sometimes am not so sure I did not," she says, a little ruefully. "For all that I did not awaken on a far shore. Did your victory change you so completely as mine did me?"

=D gimme link when you are done

[returnedgold]

He smiles at her, and although he is old, and she is young, in that moment they are kin, as only those who have faced such things can be.

"How is it that the Men put it? 'Any battle you walk away from'... " He muses playfully and shrugs at her.

"I suppose it did, but death does tend to change you in unexpected ways, I think. It certainly made me value life much more."

pft probably I'll send pieces sooner and ask what you think

[withoutswords]

"I have never agreed with that saying," she says, leaning on the balustrade next to him and looking out at the stars. "Then or now, though my opinion of it has changed. I no longer think that a death in battle is the highest, most honorable ending, at least for myself. But I still believe there are battles it is better not to walk away from."

She smiles at him. "All the same, I too learned how to value life more highly. Perhaps we were both lucky."

lol ok

[returnedgold]

"Death in battle is death all the same." Glorfindel agrees. "It is glorious for those who write tales, maybe. I find it hurts terribly and is oftentimes tiring, messy, and in my case, actually a little embarassing, not that anyone will sing about that bit."

He grins at her.

"I think we are."

[withoutswords]

"Embarassing?" She looks at him curiously at that. "The rest I knew--aye, and knew before I ever rode to the battlefield, whatever others may have thought--but embarassing, that is not one I would have expected. Though you speak as one who has died not once, but many times!"

[returnedgold]

He grins at her abashedly.

"What none of the songs will tell you, is that the reason I fell with the Balrog was because it had a hold of my hair."

Cough.