#boromir dying in his friends arms terrified and still wanting to help

[imaybeabear]

No you don't understand I love Boromir with my whole entire heart and nothing is ever going to change that

[honourablejester]

An extremely elaborate and specific LotR AU fanfic I’ve had in my head for years but will never write or request b/c it’s a trope I’m extremely finicky about:

A Sauron-less AU where Saruman has become the secret villain off his own bat, playing kingmaker and destroyer among the kingdoms of men for his own amusement, and seeking to remake the long-thought-destroyed orcs and goblins to use as hidden pawns to set men and elves and dwarves against each other.

Which plot starts on the road to discovery when he starts sending Uruk-Hai secretly into the relatively undefended Shire to kidnap hobbits to convert into goblins or other creatures, and for use as slaves.

Specifically, they take Merry and Pippin. Because guess which part of the Two Towers was my favourite plotline as a kid.

So an injured Merry and Pippin are taken captive and brought to Orthanc as slaves, where they meet Saruman and Wormtongue, who is still fulfilling his canon role as Saruman’s mole in Rohan. Merry, who was injured in their capture, is fading badly by this stage, so Pippin tries to manipulate Wormtongue into taking him and Saruman into letting him, figuring that Merry has to have a better chance in Rohan than he does among Uruk-Hai. He largely succeeds, though not without some cost, and Wormtongue takes an only-semi-aware Merry back to Edoras as his personal ‘man servant’.

Pippin, meanwhile, is kept prisoner a little longer, until a delegation from Minas Tirith arrives in Isengard at Saruman’s request. A delegation led by Steward Denethor’s eldest son, whom Saruman seeks to briefly placate with a little gift ...

Meanwhile to all of this, Saruman’s orcs have been attacking strategic settlements and parties to drive up tensions between the races, most particularly between Gondor and everyone else. The attacks on all their homelands and rising tensions cause a gathering in Rivendell among the Northern peoples. And one particular hobbit and his gardener, inspired by his uncle’s tales of the fairness and justice of the elves, make their way across Eriador to attend the summit and bring the big races’ attention to his kidnapped kinsfolk.

Most basically, I wanted slave!Pippin in Gondor and slave!Merry in Rohan, doing their best to survive, bring Saruman to the attention of the powers around them, and at some point reunite with each other. Merry develops a fast and wary friendship with Eowyn, two people alone and under threat in the madness King Theoden’s court has become. Pippin makes tentative inroads with Boromir, who is horrified at the nature of Saruman’s ‘gift’ but too loyal to his father and his kingdom to overtly reject it, but it’s Faramir and Beregond who truly forge bonds with him in Minas Tirith, while Boromir is sent out to ready for war with the North on his father’s behalf. As the Northern forces descend unwillingly southwards and the threat of war rises, it’s up to two small and extremely battered hobbits to derail a dark wizard’s plans.

Things I also wanted somewhere along the road with this idea:

Merry developing a really weird hate/sympathy towards Wormtongue after the man essentially saves his life/prevents him from dying in Isengard, and doing his best to both defeat his goals but also find a degree of mercy for him later, even though Grima’s treatment of Eowyn rapidly erodes much of his sympathy

Gandalf, spurred by Frodo and Sam into suspicion, starting to investigate the kingdoms of men specifically, searching for the source of the hostility, and it’s Merry’s captivity and Theoden’s possession that clues him into Saruman’s treachery in this universe

Boromir sensing the stink of corruption from Saruman, but Denethor is too far gone to the wizard’s (magically-strengthened) manipulations for him to do anything about it, and Boromir cannot let Gondor fall to her enemies, no matter how justified he increasingly fears they might be

Faramir having so much less stomach for Saruman and his father’s actions than his brother, not least because he is so much closer and bears more witness to Denethor’s contempt and ill-treatment of Pippin, and feels torn in two between morality and this evidence of his own ‘disloyalty’ to his family

Faramir eventually breaking and trying to help Pippin escape, but by mischance or manipulation they happen to land right in the middle of one of Saruman’s escalating orc attacks in the attempt. They’re both captured, and Saruman leverages the incident to portray Pippin as having led Faramir into an ‘elvish’ trap, seeking to use it to incite outright war between north and south

Actual elves (possibly Haldir leading a Lothlorien band south to seek the truth) rescuing-slash-capturing them, but not before Pippin has gotten himself slightly chewed upon trying to protect Faramir in apology for the attempt to free him having gotten the man captured, and Faramir is completely frantic for them to save him.

(Rescued, because they’re elves and good and fair and not inclined to eat people, Captured because Gondor is technically well on the way to being at war with everybody and Faramir is Denethor’s second son)

They’re brought north to the elven/dwarven/dunedain/rohirrim war camp gathering in the recently-liberated Rohan

Merry and Pippin reunite, extremely emotionally, and reconnect with Frodo and Sam as well

By which I mean, Pippin spots Merry and practically falls out of Haldir’s arms onto badly-chewed legs to try and get to him, while Faramir shouts hoarsely for Haldir to let him go. Which, incidentally, causes several people to look quite favourably on him

Boromir leads his father’s armies north towards the border as well, hearing reports that his captured brother truly is a prisoner among an elven army, and believing reluctantly and guiltily that Pippin truly has let Faramir be captured in vengeance for his slavery in Gondor

Pippin adamantly defending at the least Faramir and Boromir to the Council forces, and the ordinary Gondorian people as well, because he has friends among them and they’re good people, and Saruman is manipulating people left right and centre, and you cannot go to war with innocent people because of one asshole

The Council (and Faramir) being a bit amazed at his vehemence, given the evidence (and Faramir’s guilty admittance) of how badly he was treated

Gandalf knowing that it’s because once a hobbit decides he likes you, there is no force in Middle Earth that can persuade said hobbit otherwise, though there needs to be cause in the first place to earn their loyalty

Pippin panicking at the thought of war and cooking up a half-baked scheme to run back south and try and head Boromir off, explain the truth to him somehow. Merry joins him, because they’re not being parted again, and Merry knows all about going off half-cocked to protect your humans by now. Frodo and Sam follow because sod it. It is the worst ‘escape’ attempt in the history of hobbitdom, not least because Pippin himself can still barely walk, and in the end it’s Eowyn who scoops them up and masterminds an actual exit for them all

Eowyn is coming, because a) it’s the absolute least she feels she owes Merry, b) hobbits are extremely prone to getting themselves almost killed in her experience, c) she’s been warming up to what she’s seen of Faramir in his captivity/guesthood and doesn’t want him hurt, and d) if Boromir so much as looks funny at those she’s pledged her personal loyalty to she’s going rearrange his spleen for him

Gandalf knows full well what they’re doing but lets them go, because there’s no one better for stopping wars than hobbits, given motivation

Elrond possibly also knows what they’re doing, but is willing to let them try

Faramir is absolutely horrified and terrified that Boromir is going to feel he has to kill or harm them, and that after everything Pippin’s death is still going to be his fault

Theoden and Eomer are also horrified, and if your brother harms a hair on Eowyn’s head, my son, you are going to be in deep shit. But, also, not your fault. Hobbits do this. Trust us, we’d know better than almost anyone

The hobbits and Eowyn are … not exactly captured by the Gondorian army after basically planting themselves stubbornly in their path, but they’re brought to Boromir under guard and not exactly friendly circumstances

Boromir has no idea how to feel about Pippin, angry or betrayed or frantic or guilty, and it’s so much worse seeing him among his own people, with Merry in particular, who Boromir knows Pippin spent all his time with them hoping wasn’t dead. But Pippin led to the capture and possible death of Boromir’s brother, and even if it’s their own fault, Boromir cannot forgive him that

It goes badly, it goes so badly, with shouting and violence and threats from all corners, until Pippin in a fit of tearful frustration rips one of his trouser legs off to show Boromir his wounds. Neither elves nor men leave teeth-marks when they hurt people. The orcs did this. Saruman did this. Boromir knows this. He’s always known it. Yes, Faramir is a prisoner of the northern forces, but they’re not the real enemy, doesn’t he know that, can’t he see it? You can’t let this happen, Boromir. You can’t.

And Boromir does know it. He knew it from the moment Saruman offered him a slave as a welcoming gift, and the moment his father not only allowed it but welcomed it. He’s known from the beginning that there was something rotten in the state of Denmark, but it was his kingdom, his father, what would they have him do? To treat with them would be treason, even to save his brother’s life. Beregond, back in Minas Tirith, is already imprisoned for what was believed to be his role in letting Pippin take Faramir. He is sentenced to death upon Boromir’s return

This nearly kills Pippin to hear. It nearly snaps him in two

Eowyn saves them. Again. She knows, she does know how Boromir feels. She knows what it is to have a father/father figure lost to Saruman’s control. She knows what it is to betray them to save them. But they cannot let this go on. To fight on Denethor’s behalf would only be to betray him in truth, and leave him, and his people behind him, enslaved to the wizard’s will. From what she has seen of his brother and him, surely they have more courage and honour than that?

And, in the end, no more than his brother, Boromir cannot ignore his conscience long. Not even for family. Not even for the father he loves.

Boromir agrees to travel with the group and a small honour guard north to meet with the Council forces, leaving his armies waiting under trusted commanders between Minas Tirith and any northern forces should he be betrayed and not return

They meet near the Falls of Rauros, because of course they do, where else would I have them meet?

Boromir reunites with his brother and, though hardened and guilty and suspicious of all around them, they meet in earnest with the Council to discuss evidence of Saruman’s treachery and the appropriate responses thereto

The bulk of the arrayed northern armies will turn towards Isengard, to destroy Saruman and his orcs once and for all

Theoden and Rohan will stand the bulwark between all forces, maintaining the peace until the threat is removed one way or the other. They have suffered under Saruman’s thrall. Of all nations represented, they will not bend to his manipulations again

Gandalf initially meant to go to Isengard as well, to guard their forces against Saruman’s magic, and to make Saruman answer for what he has done. However, another mission comes up concurrently which he believes requires him more, so he leaves Saruman to the justice of Elrond and Galadriel, in order to shepherd …

… four certain hobbits, two heirs to Gondor, one heir to Rohan, and perhaps a certain Hunters Three to Minas Tirith, because Beregond is sentenced to death, and Pippin will actually die before he lets that happen, and Merry and Faramir in particular will die before they let that happen, and everyone else is perforce along for the ride

And maybe, if they can, they might save Denethor from Saruman’s influence along the way

Also, possibly reveal and crown a new/old king along the way (hi Strider!), to draw Gondor forward from the pall of treachery and manipulation it has fallen to. Though for his own part, Aragorn sees little wrong with the heirs Gondor already has

… Yeah. I’ve not had this stewing in my brain for a literal decade, not at all. Can you tell which canon storylines bashed their way all the way inside my heart, way back when? Heh. It’s too big and unwieldy inside my head to ever be written at this stage, and I’m very, very particular when it comes to slavery in fics, but … I do sometimes wish I had the stamina for it. I really, really do.

(Who am I kidding, I never had the stamina for this, but a girl can dream)