Henneth Annûn Story Archive

October Babies, episode 3 has arrived... please continue to post here.

12 October - MadGamgee

I'd like to see a moment between Eowyn and Pippin. They're my favorite characters, and undoubtedly they met, both being so close to Merry and Faramir, but Tolkien never tells us about that.

14 October - Faramir_Boromir

My birthday is October 14 and I would appreciate any words about
Boromir

As a new soldier, as a trainee, as a son, as a commander, as a brother, as a figure of affection to his men, in Osgiliath, in Minas Tirith, travelling to Rivendell, fighting in Moria.... I'd just as soon not have death fic, ...something about the man when he is alive would please me best.


16 October - Arquen

My birthday is October 16th, and I'd love a drabble from the POV of someone (other than Tar-Miriel) during the destruction of Numenor. Either one of the Faithful on the ships, or someone watching the wave descend upon the island. Thanks!


19 October - Branwyn

For my birthday (October 19th), I ask for words about the weaving of banners, spiderwebs, or intrigues. Thanks!
Branwyn

*********
crafting a web of words--
cords of sinew, thread of silver

weaving a tissue of dreams--
cloth of nettles, cloth of gold


30 October - Cheryl

My birthday is October 30th, and I'd like to see some friendship drabbles between Aragorn and Legolas. Before,during or after the Ring War is fine. No slash please. Thank you!

October 31—Raksha the Demon: I'd love a Faramir drabble - Faramir meeting Elves after the Ring War (or Legolas in the Houses of Healing), Faramir and Eomer, Faramir and Aragorn's relationship, Faramir as a fighter/warrior, Faramir as a musician and/or singer, a Faramir-Gimli conversation, Faramir's relationship with Gandalf, whichever y'all would prefer. I prefer non-slash.

 

Hey F_B, The drabble-muse has appeared at last - about a week late! Happy birthday and many happy returns! P/s: B is in Osgiliath, though this isn't clear from the drabble. * * * The Lantern Bearer He lifted his face to the stars. Glimmering they were, a thousand torches in the dark. How quiet it was now, this hour before the breaking of the storm. He could feel the hearts of men quickening with fear; he could feel his own, fluttering strangely, like the wings of a bird in flight. "Seven stars, seven stones and one White Tree." Smiling, Boromir turned, and saw behind the golden lantern-light, his brother's shadowed face. "A strange greeting, brother." "Hardly. It is our battle-cry tonight." Laughing softly, he took the lantern from his brother. "And a mouthful it is too."

 

Raksha, I was looking through your list of suggestions for Faramir drabbles, and you forgot one very important aspect of Faramir's character! As I know you like The Infuence of Kindred Desires a lot, here is a little moment of it drabbled. (And in other good news, I am making good progress with the next story in my F/E arc, although it probably won't be ready for your birthday.) Risk and Reward His fingers shake as he unwraps this glorious gift. He fears what he offers in return will not be sufficient. Lips touch gold and cream and pink, glowing in the soft candlelight; his tongue savours her sweet taste as he breathes her in. His movements are slow, deliberate, careful, though his heart and breath are quickening. Her face is turned to him like a day’s eye to the sun; her touch on him assures him she returns his love. Making her his, and he hers, at last, is like a homecoming to a place he has only known in dreams. Happy birthday, again! Cheers, Liz

 

The gooey smacking sound you might be able to hear is that of me melting into a puddle as I read this drabble. Oh boy. And reaching for a fan before I melt. Thank you much! RAKSHA, running off to reread THE INFLUENCE OF KINDRED DESIRES....

 

Dear Nrink, Wow! I knew it was Osgiliath just from reading, then I went back and saw your note. It is incredibly evocative--the pitchblack of night, right before battle. And what a password! I can just hear Boromir's laughter after he heard this one! Thanks so much for a memorable drabble...this one is superb. Are you gonna start posting in LJ to tolkien100 and tolkien_weekly? You oughta! This should be seen by a wider audience... Thanks again--F_B

 

I'm just grinning ear to ear that you like it! I'll drop by those LJs this weekend. cheers, nrink

 

Yeah - come and play, it's lots of fun. ;-) Loved the drabble. Avon

 

;-) Thanks, Avon! I'll pop over - with an armful of Cadburys... cheers, nrink

 

October 31—Raksha the Demon: I'd love a Faramir drabble - Faramir meeting Elves after the Ring War (or Legolas in the Houses of Healing), Faramir and Eomer, Faramir and Aragorn's relationship, Faramir as a fighter/warrior, Faramir as a musician and/or singer, a Faramir-Gimli conversation, Faramir's relationship with Gandalf, whichever y'all would prefer. I prefer non-slash. Hello Raksha, Hope you have a happy "Booo"rth Day! Cheers and best wishes!!!! Vistula ~~~~ Butterflies “I can’t do this.” Aragorn pressed his forehead with shaking hands, surrendering to his nerves. Swallowing a smile, Faramir poured him wine. “You can, m’lord. You’ve faced far worse things. Orcs and…” “This isn’t the same,” Aragorn interrupted, taking the goblet. He nodded gratefully to the steward. “I’ve never presided over a council.” “They’re only men and all support you.” Seeing this insurmountable warrior wracked with anxious butterflies filled Faramir with an admiration for his king that no battle feat could ever match. With a comforting hand on Aragorn’s shoulder he reassured: “Don’t worry. I’ll be right by your side.”

 

I read that "Spiders in the Mist" story and it got me thinking like a spider. Creepy, since I detest the things.... I imagine this would be told by a spider in Mirkwood. -------------------------------------------- Webs There was nothing to do now but wait. Before, there was the craft; the exquisite pleasure taken from a talent long developed, a skill long honed. Darting in, spinning out. Layer upon layer of silk so fine, formed into something so strong that most were incapable of breaking it. Complex it was, combined of simple fragments; much like the lives of her prey. They too spun webs; of deceit, of lies. Hers were out of necessity; theirs, of malice. Yes, nothing to do but wait for one to happen along. Fitting their demise would be brought upon by a web. -------------------------------------------- Happy Birthday! Hope you like! -Arandil

 

Arandil-- Thanks much for the creepy words! I like the spider's self-justification--she lays her traps to keep from starving. However, it doesn't sound like she much minds killing those that walk on two feet.... I haven't read "Spiders in the Mist," but I plan to--I just can't resist the concept of spider slash! Branwyn

 

Raksha-- This worked out to be a double drabble. "Ghost owl" is another name for the barn owl. Hope you like it (it has Faramir--that's a BIG selling point), and hope your birthday is happy! Branwyn Dragons and Shadows "Soon only a silver rim will be left. My father says--" Faramir stopped; with the slightest catch in his voice, he carefully spoke again. "My father said the darkness was merely a shadow. The shadow of the earth, though I know that sounds strange." In the pine tree above them, a ghost owl hissed and ruffled its pale feathers. "For years, he studied the patterns of the stars." Wrapped in sable against the wind, Denethor had stood alone in the courtyard, endlessly searching the heavens. What wisdom had his father hoped to find in the black night sky? Eowyn turned from the moon, her face very still; then, drawing near to his warmth, she rested her head against his shoulder. She could feel the muscles drawn tight over bone. "A shadow? I had not heard this. In Rohan, we say a dragon steals the moon,” she said with a laugh. “He hides it in a grave, with his hoard of silver. That earthen hall is heaped with treasure--rings and cups and ancient swords. But soon, a young warrior, eager for fame, steals life from the thief, slaying the dragon. Then he throws the silver moon back into the sky.”

 

My birthday is October 30th, and I'd like to see some friendship drabbles between Aragorn and Legolas. Before,during or after the Ring War is fine. No slash please. Thank you! Happy Birthday to you Cheryl! My drabble muse for Legolas and Aragorn wasn't cooperating until a chance thread on the yahoo list jogged this little piece out of my lethargic brain! Hope you enjoy and have a wonderful day! Cheers, Vistula ~~~~ Reluctant King “Elessar, wait.” Laughter like the fall of moon silvered water, stayed the man’s steps. Aragorn sighed, shaking back his elven cloak, and turned to face his pursuer. “Where do you think you’re going?” Legolas questioned, his voice touched with mirth. He crouched easily on the garden wall, watching the attempted escape with amusement. “Away. Anywhere but here.” “You cannot elude your advisors so easily.” “I can if you don’t help them,” the fugitive king muttered. “I suppose I could grant you a few hours – for old times sake.” Heart filled with understanding, Legolas relented, throwing him a rope. “Come on…”

 

Branwyn, that is *so* beautiful! I'm in awe of how you have packed in so much in in just 200 words. Avon

 

Happy birthday, Cheryl. Here is a movieverse double drabble of Aragorn and Legolas friendship. I'm haunted by this scene and one day, I swear, I'm going to find a way of doing it justice. ********************************************************** Awaiting Death He is there when I reach for my sword, holding it ready like a page serving his master “We have trusted you this far and you have not led us astray. Forgive me. I was wrong to despair.” I smile at him and clasp his shoulder. “U-moe edaved, Legolas.” There is nothing to forgive… for I do indeed lead us all to our deaths. The words tremble in my mouth and beat against my ribs, but I swallow them. He is frightened too. I see it in his eyes and in his set face. He looks like a youth waiting edgily on the eve of his first battle and, for all his hundreds of years, the truth is close to that. Legolas is a warrior of the woods, where one hunts one’s prey with cunning, then launches sudden, quick attacks from the vantage of the trees. Now must he face his first true battle surrounded by walls of stone. My dreams tell me that here, perhaps, do I face the great doom Elrond foresaw for me. Desperately do I wish I could save my friend from it. I tighten my clasp: may I share courage if I cannot give hope.

 

Vistula, thats great! “You cannot elude your advisors so easily.” “I can if you don’t help them,” the fugitive king muttered. LOL! Somehow I can see Legolas doing something like that...a Wood Elf must get bored in the city Thank you!!!! Cheryl

 

 

Avon, that is lovely! Your interpretation of the scene reminds me very much of mine, but with some insight I'd never considered before. I tighten my clasp: may I share courage if I cannot give hope. I especially liked that line. Thank you! Cheryl

 

LOL! Somehow I can see Legolas doing something like that...a Wood Elf must get bored in the city Plus, who but Legolas could understand the "caged in" feeling that Aragorn must certainly feel as King. There would have to be days that he really regrets he is no longer a Ranger. I'm glad you liked it. Vistula

 

My brother's watching RotK and I just saw the part where Aragorn is being squished by the troll and Legolas is trying to reach him. It inspired me to write this less-than-cheerful piece, which has no troll in it. So Happy Birthday for tomorrow, Cheryl!

The End Has Come Foul beasts swarm about me and the evil of Mordor fills the air. We have failed. I have failed. Adar forgive me - first for departing without your leave, and now for dying. Aragorn fights beside me, as always; but this time there will be no sudden respite. We knew that here we would meet our end, but it was to be in hope. Now Frodo has failed and our futile hope has been shattered. Sauron will regain the Ring, and his victory will be complete. The world will end in darkness. I will live only to see my friends fall.

 

"Dragons and Shadows "Soon only a silver rim will be left. My father says--" The man stopped; with the slightest catch in his voice, he carefully spoke again. "My father said the darkness was merely a shadow. The shadow of the earth, though I know that sounds strange." In the pine tree above, a ghost owl hissed and ruffled its pale feathers. "For years, he watched the patterns of the stars." Wrapped in sable against the wind, Denethor stood alone in the courtyard, endlessly searching the heavens. What wisdom had his father hoped to find in the black night sky? She turned from the moon, her face very still; then, drawing near to his warmth, she rested her head against his shoulder. She could feel the muscles drawn tight over bone. "A shadow? I had not heard this. In Rohan, we say a dragon steals the moon,” she said with a laugh. “He hides it in a grave, with his hoard of silver. That earthen hall is heaped with treasure--rings and cups and ancient swords. But soon, a young warrior, eager for fame, steals life from the thief, slaying the dragon. Then he throws the silver moon back into the sky.” " Wait - is that supposed to be "Denethor" in the courtyard, or Faramir? I'm a bit confused. Am I missing something? Nice work, though. Love the legend of the dragon stealing the moon, and the theme of shadows and ghosts... Thanx, Branwyn; and everyone else kind and talented enough to give me birthday drabbles - I love them all! RAKSHA

 

Raksha-- Wait - is that supposed to be "Denethor" in the courtyard, or Faramir? I'm a bit confused. Am I missing something? If that isn't clear, then it means this piece of writing doesn't work. Would it help if "Denethor stood" were changed to "Denethor had stood"? Though I liked the sound better without the "had," and I thought (wrongly) that the earlier past tense references to him had established that he was dead. Is it clear that the couple are watching the eclipse of the moon? Regards Branwyn

 

Elvenesse, What a lovely drabble....in a sad way, but you know what I mean. The despair is right on. Thank you so much!! Cheryl

 

October 31—Raksha the Demon: I'd love a Faramir drabble Raksha! Happy Birthday! I'm squeaking in while it's still your birthday at least in my time zone! I don't actually have a drabble to offer you, but only because no matter how hard I tried, I could NOT get this idea to drabble length. I don't think there is such a thing as an eighteen-fold-plus-one drabble and Word counts it as 1801 words. So please read Fever Dreams because it was your request that inspired it. And many, many thanks to Tanaqui, Cheryl and Lady Aranel who helped me thwap this story into shape in a very short time. Gwynnyd

 

... since I hadn't yet met you on your birthday! Skilled With A Needle Throughout that rainy winter Faramir watched, fascinated, as Eowyn wielded needle and thread as skillfully as ever she had handled her sword. “I did not spend all my time in the practice-yards,” she laughed. “Come evening, my nurse would sit on me to make me take up my needlecraft. I fought long, but finally surrendered, and now am glad of the skill.” She held up her handiwork, a small jacket as exquisite and intricate as a spider’s web. A tapestry, Faramir thought. Each day, some new knowledge; a new thread added. We weave our lives together, a work in progress. ***** Best wishes, somewhat belatedly! Ann

 

Ann-- *Dance of joy!* I love this; it is so right. They would have had so much to learn about each other in those first months together. Growing up in a household that lacked sisters or a mother, this may be the first time that Faramir has sat and watched someone doing fine needlework. She held up her handiwork, a small jacket as exquisite and intricate as a spider’s web. And it is the first winter after their marriage, so she is making clothes for the expected child! We weave our lives together, a work in progress. That is very beautiful. Thank you so much! Branwyn

 

(Curtseys) Thank you, thank you! I wrote the first two paragraphs in 10 minutes, but then took 2 days to come up with the third. Good thing I write only drabbles; nothing would ever get finished! Ann

 

Thanx much for a long and lovely Faramir mega-drabble! If I understand the end right, Faramir is somewhat conflicted, but sorrowing that he is crying for the joy that he has dreamed the King will bring rather than crying for his father. Wonderful story! RAKSHA

 

A very happy, and very, very belated birthday, Faramir_Boromir. Sorry I couldn't get this to you earlier. Anyway, I've finished.

---

Inspired by Aeneid's '110', which is obvious. This was not mentioned earlier; apologies for confusion and ire induced. Many days to Rivendell, and each as hard as the next. On the thirty-seventh, he approached a fire, and discovered that it was an Orc-fire too late to back away. On the seventy-third, he was in unfamiliar lands, where the very air seemed strange, and everywhere he felt unfriendly eyes watching him. Oh, how they watched. By the hundredth, days and nights had merged into an incoherent haze. And finally – he did not know the day, but it felt as though he had set out from Gondor some time in the First Age – he reached Imladris at last. Pity him.

---

Hope you enjoyed your birthday.

 

Dear Noldo, Thank you so much! I'm gladdened to see more Boromir fic, and this really captures the weariness and disorientation a man travelling alone would feel. You can sense his loneliness, and the eyes upon him as he moves. Your ending "Pity him." is a knife to the heart--it would have been better for him (though perhaps not for others) if he had never reached Rivendell. What a great present! F_B

 

Recognising the soundless tread that announced his visitor, Faramir did not look up as the shadow fell across him. "Welcome, Legolas." "I thought that I might find you here," the elf said, the smile evident in his voice. He looked up at the tall beech tree that crowned the hill in solitary splendour and down at the man who sat against its bole, a book in his lap. "It is good to see you returned to Ithilien," Faramir said. "It is good to be back," Legolas responded, and sank down gracefully to join the Steward. He handed him an unstoppered bottle. "Dorwinion - a gift from my father," he said briefly. As they so often did, the two sat in companiable silence, passing the bottle back and forth. The late summer sun descended into the West, painting the vale of Emyn Arnen below them with dappled shadows until at last twilight lay upon the high places and the low. -------- Have a great year, Raksha! cheers, Maya

 

Just lovely, Maya! Great image of Faramir sitting against the beech tree with a book in his lap. And the end is wonderful... Thanx much! RAKSHA THE DEMON

 

In the hope that I will still be alive and around HASA October 23 next year, I am being very brave and daring: I would like to ask for a drabble about Elrond. I would not be averse to it turning out to be a romantic drabble - without Celebrían. Yours Juno... with one year to go to the big 3-0...

 

Juno, if you would like that to be written as a story, you could also request it in the "HASA Story Requests" forum. I'd be happy to write it for you, as long as there was a long enough deadline. CLF

 

Well, I think with a long deadline I'd say I choose October 23 2005 and leave this here... with at least something to look forward to in connection with getting completely decrepit with old age. ;-) Yours JunoAlreadyFeelingAncient

 

Hi Juno Consider this a very belated 29th birthday present (or a very early 30th if you prefer). Elrond and a little "love at first sight", although possibly not quite the kind you had in mind. Refuge Featureless the wild moorland seems, yet ever our path is cut by deep-cloven valleys. Over and over, we scramble down their steep sides and toil back up their weary slopes as we escape north from the Deceiver. ’Tis near nightfall when we stumble down into another vale, to find a swift-flowing river fed by many white-foamed waterfalls. We are sheltered from the ceaseless winds of the heights, but I hear the trees whisper softly in counterpoint to a nightingale’s song. A white star shines down and blesses me. ’Twould be a good place for weary warriors to rest, I think. Happy (late or early) Birthday! Cheers, Liz

 

Oh, how beautiful! Thank you, Liz! This is amazing. It feels like looking out of the window and suddenly seeng Middle-earth. And I think you can fall in love with a place, too. When you are finally home. Yours JunoInAwe

 

Oh, how beautiful! Thank you, Liz! This is amazing. It feels like looking out of the window and suddenly seeng Middle-earth. You're welcome. I'm glad you liked it. And I think you can fall in love with a place, too. When you are finally home. Absolutely. I doubt Elrond chose just any old valley to found his refuge, even if he was engaged in retreating north from Sauron. Cheers, Liz

 

Happy (Belated) Birthday! Healed A young hobbit burst through the door of the Houses of Healing. “Where is he? Where is Merry, my cousin?” Eowyn walked over and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “You must be Pippin. Much have I heard about your valor from your cousin.” She smiled at the confused Hobbit. “I am Eowyn, of Rohan.” Pippin stared up at her in wonder. “You are truly as beautiful as Lord Faramir has told us.” He curtsied deeply to the astonished Sheildmaiden, who unexpectedly softened her gaze towards him. “Your cousin is well,” she answered softly. “We both have been healed.”

 

Happy Birthday! Annatar All has transpired as I had hoped. The pride of Man is not something to be taken lightly, or tossed aside. Nay, it is a gift to those who know how to manipulate it, to bend it to their will. Foolish Men, believing their might was as great as those who helped in their creation. Even I have the sense not to oppose the Valar directly. But Men, in all their overconfident self-importance sought to do just that. Blame me, do they? Did I man their ships? Did I send the wave? Did they not wage war upon me first?

 

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