Faramir

Head aching, Faramir's surroundings seemed ghostlike and grey. "So this is what dying is like. Can it be long ere I see Boromir again?"

A beautifully melodic voice danced in his brain, "Nay, Lord Faramir. Now is not the time of thy death. Tis some time ere you will greet Boromir again."

Faramir glanced around, but the voice was fleeting. He couldn't say which direction it had come from. He seemed in a fog, which he assumed must be a dream. "If I am not dead, where might I be?"

This time a fleeting glimpse showed him the face of an Elven lady. Judging by her regal appearance, he thought she must certainly be a Queen among them.

She smiled a wistful smile at him, "Be at rest Faramir. Where you are may not be a place you can conceive of, it is an Elven place- not discussed among men, even such a man as yourself."

Faramir shook his head as if to shake off the fog surrounding his mind and thoughts, "There is little I understand my lady. The last thing I remember was battling a Champion of Harad on the Fields of Pelennor. We were almost to the city- the last of us- but then all was blackness and I felt the cold hand of the Dark Lord upon me."

"Aye, my Lord. As you struggled upon the Plains, you were struck down by a dart from the Nazgul- the wraith riders themselves. Fortunately, a sortie from the city reached you at the time you fell. Your body was brought back to Minas Tirith, where it lies."

"My body lies there! Where am I? What has become of me?"

He felt the soothing caress of her touch- or was it just that wisp of air- he seemed to lay in a blanket of grey clouds, "Be at rest my Lord. It was necessary for me to spirit you away from your body for the present. Your father, Denethor, is sorely troubled- for the loss of your brother and now what he believes is the loss of you. Now is the time for you to be here, for your father is beset by a force he must either battle now or succumb to- and I know not which it will be. In the meantime, I have brought you to a place to await the moment when you must return- but that moment is not now."

"Since I am seemingly embodied in the air, with no place to go- please enlighten me where I am, dear Lady."

"Well, my Lord Faramir- first let us dispense with formalities. I am known as Galadriel-- I see that you have heard of me?"

"Aye, the Lady of the Wood. Lothlorien, the ageless place. My brother feared thee, but I argued that though tales of strangeness are what little we hear- surely thy wood could not be evil."

"I welcomed your brother Faramir. I am sorry at his loss, but he was valiant til the end."

Faramir smiled, "It does me good to know that you may have changed his mind on the matter of your woods. But you have not answered me- where am I, if my body still resides in Minas Tirith?"

The Lady hesitated, "The place is a place known to Elves as they leave the Havens upon the trip to the West. It is a place of cleansing their thoughts- leaving the old behind. It was not intended for such as I now use it- but for my needs, and yours, it will suffice. To explain in terms you might understand, dear Lord, I am maintaining your mind in a place I think unreachable by the Dark Lord. The cost is dear, but until your time is at hand, is worth the toll."

"I feel very dreamlike and insubstantial dear Lady."

The Elven Queen's smile seemed to warm him, "That is the nature of this place my Lord. There are other pecularities that you may discover as well. Rest now, it may be some time before it is safe to bring you from this place- but know that time has no particular significance here, it is out of step from time as you know it. A mere moment in the world can be a long time here."

HD

superb concept, love it already

Faramir

Thanks HD- and thanks again for authoring the challenge

***

A strange sight seemed to form on the insubstantial horizon. As Faramir watched, he realized that what he was seeing was something he had no knowlege of. It appeared to be a different world than he had left and he wondered if he was hallucinating.

"Lady Galadriel, are you there?" He sent his thoughts into the mist.

"Aye, my Lord. I am always here, though you may not be feeling my presence. I maintain you here in most ways."

"What am I seeing?"

He could sense her turning her long-distance gaze to the sights he saw. "I do not know my Lord. It is like no place I have ever seen. One of the rumored properties of this place- and why it is the place of cleansing- is that it is the grey space between. I have no particular knowledge of between what, but it may well be that you are seeing another place, mayhap even another world. I am sorry that I can't be more clear Lord."

"Is there any danger?"

Galadriel quietly laughed, "There is always danger Lord. But it is amusing for one such as yourself- who battled their way back from Osgiliath against the Dark Lord's hordes and has haunted the shadow of his land for seasons to ask about danger."

Faramir quietly replied, "I meant for thee Lady."

Now it was her turn to be quiet, "I am already in graver danger than you can fathom Lord. That will not change with my efforts for you."

Faramir considered her thoughts without replying.

He quietly watched. In many ways what he saw was completely amazing to him. "A place with metal birds- that escort people?" He shook his head at the thought.

bjorn

Great start Faramir :thup:

I'm being drowned in this story, it's just like I'm Faramir myself :eek:

Faramir

Thanks bjorn

****

He seemed to snap awake, the calling quite clear. What the calling meant, he couldn't say- but he knew one who might.

"Lady Galadriel?"

"Aye, my Lord."

"I sensed a sudden calling clearly in my mind. Enough so that it wakened me from whatever dreamlike slumber I seem to have here."

"Let me check on several things Lord."

The minutes seemed to pass by, yet the place that held him also seemed to render the time passed as fleeting- though he knew it was some measure of time.

"My Lord?" came back her troubled voice.

"Yes?"

"There seems no change that I can perceive in your status. Your body lies in its grey pallor in Minas Tirith, but I can detect no change- nor any reason that you might be receiving some kind of calling."

"Could it be the work of the Dark Lord?"

He could sense her unrest, "I suppose it is possible, yet I do not sense his cold bent. His mind is locked on other things at present, I doubt he could spare the energy to even make his presence known to you here. Even for I, this contact is a drain on my measure to maintain thy woodland."

"What might it be then dear Lady?"

Her voice fell back into the calm, melodic rhythym he had gotten used to hearing, "Well, Lord. It may have to do with the properties of this place. I told you this place was never intended for such use as I make of it. Mayhap, there is something about its ways that is affecting you. I will endevour to discern more."

OMDave

Fine start. Another epic on the way :thup:
A good opportunity to live up to your name, no wonder you thanked HD several times...

Faramir

OMDave- You're absolutely right about that- that is one of the reasons I thanked him often, because this story is somewhat home turf for me

Did take me a while to come up with a concept I liked to tell the story- but I was planning on doing the challenge whether it was official or not.

glamdring

Looking excellent so far

Not sure how many of these stories I'll be able to keep fully uptodate with, but I'll definitely be following this one! I've always liked Faramir as the character who "rescued" my favourite LoTR character from her despair

I quickly decided I'd have to use some other angle than my forum name for this challenge though

Faramir

The calling again. Yet, though it was a calling it was not such as somebody desperately needing help. It seemed more of a calling that friends might make each other as they hailed each other across a narrow valley. There didn't seem any urgency to the call- only the knowledge that Faramir was the target. He struggled back out of dreamland.

"Lady, I heard the calling again."

"Lord?"

"It was unusual- there seemed no distress in the calling. It seemed to have something of an affinity for myself- though that hardly begins to explain the small amount of feeling I could sense from it."

"You could sense feeling in the thoughts?" the Lady asked wonderingly.

"Aye. Is something wrong dear Lady?"

"No, I don't believe so. I had not thought it possible, but maybe there is a blurring of worlds across the cleansing area. That might explain the unknown place you saw. It may also be that some kind of kindred spirit is reaching across the thinning boundries that are found in the area."

"It didn't feel threatening, more like a lost brother suddenly found. Could it be Boromir!"

"Nay" stated the Lady sadly. "Boromir is beyond the pale and could not reach this place. Your memories must be enough of your strong-willed brother, it will be some time before you meet again with him."

Doctor Who

This is quite an intro. Good stuff :thup: