#negating the reason why Denethor sent her there in the first place is... 💜

[rangers-arecool]

   A glance back at where Boromir lay sleeping was made only to remember why she was letting a man, other than her Chieftain, to dictate her movements. If it also assisted her own leader and kin, than all was well. Once clear of the gates of Minas Tirith, a soft whistle stirred the air and a wild black Rohan warhorse soon stopped at her side. She swung herself up onto the bare back and were gone from sight in a matter of mere minutes. Spoken commands were not required between rider and horse, for they had learnt the silent tells of the other. Companions of old, few knew the true length of their friendship. but all were aware of Star’s unbroken wild nature and that the Rohirrim had classed the stallion as untrainable. A true son of the Mearas.

   The land passed quickly as they moved across the border between Gondor and Mordor, instincts on high alert and remaining hidden from view. Only coming to a stop once Star would go no further towards the Black Gates, the entrance to that terrible land. She knew the limits of her old friend and appreciated that he had taken her this far towards her destination. The wild stallion nosed her gently, before eating a apple from her hand and returning to the greener parts of North Ithilien until her whistle sounded once more. Dark grey eyes followed the dust trail of her fast moving friend until she no longer could see him, before turning and slipping into the ruins of a old castle nearby.

   Haerondir had been turned into a watch post by a few of the Ithilien Rangers, under the current command of Faramir’s Second. She had a quiet conversation with Anborn about what Denethor had sent her to do and left what she didn’t need in the room they had given her. Thoughts slipping momentarily to the Gondorian Captain who she had left behind with her heart. Never thinking that he would follow her to the Black Gates and the scouting task she had been set. A task that few would dare take on and even less would return from; a perfectly good solution that Denethor thought would let his eldest son find someone far more suitable for him.

   With their relationship being so new and his father not liking her, Hal had been painfully aware that she was trusting Boromir with her more vulnerable side. One she had hidden from the world when just the tender age of five. For now though, her attention switched to being fully on the scouting task ahead. Dissociating from her emotions and thoughts enough to concentrate on the Black Gates from her hiding place. Although seeming focused completely on the Morannon, the soft spoken Ranger tilted her head slightly as the familiar presence appeared by her side. Dark orbs remained fixed on the enemy ahead, hoping that for once her senses and instincts were wrong at who it was.

   His question destroyed that faint hope, that it was exactly who she thought. Denethor had sent her on a mission to a place that few returned from alive, getting her away from his treasured eldest son and Boromir had followed her there.

“Boromir…”

   His name was whisper soft on her lips, eyes finally drifting across to focus on the Captain she loved. This was where her ability to multi-task came into it’s own, for she could focus on what he was saying and their surroundings at the same time. Hearing the sadness and fear, Hal reached out a fingerless gloved hand and rested it on his hesitantly, unsure if her touch would be welcome at that moment. It remained there briefly, before returning to her side; a mixture of surprise, love and a quick flicker of fear breaking through the infamous Ranger mask of stone and neutrality.

   “I..-“ Her words came to a stop, something making the expression on her face twist and already dark eyes went a shade closer to pitch black. A familiar shiver of cold went through her, despite the lack of wind, causing her to look up the hill and spotted the ghostly Wain-riders’ Chieftain staring back. Hal turned back to Boromir and tried her words again. “I love you too, Boromir. And I never wanted to leave you the way I did but I was given no choice. But can we return to where I’ll be staying the night, for I don’t wish to be out here when the light fades. It’s not safe.” She murmured quietly, pressing a gentle kiss against his cheek until they got somewhere slightly less dangerous.

@rangers-arecool asked: Leaving a sleeping Boromir in the dead of night was not something that the quiet Ranger wanted to do. But he had spent much of the afternoon and evening dealing with his father, leaving him worn out when he'd finally gone to bed. She pressed a light kiss to the corner of his mouth and slipped out of the room, just as silently as she had arrived.

A chain made of black obsidian rock, usually found around her neck, and a note explaining she'd been asked by Denethor to go scout out the plains near the Black Gate were the only items left of her presence. At the bottom of the note and written in a very hesitant hand, were the words, 'I love you.' // 💜

Scarred in three points, the span of flesh on torso and chest, the proof that survival and resolve bested Orcish powers, tainted weapon and blackened hearts. Awry and tired, turned more ugly in matters of body, the concerns of the skin, Boromir was, nevertheless, glad to be home. Marble stone and concrete - pillars that reached to the skies above, glistening in pikes and peaks of pearl and silver - banners caught in the breeze, blues and whites swayed. Returned to his people, the ones most loved, those for whom sanity had been lost for. Good friends who smiled so bright; their embraces most welcomed, so needed, the gentle touch of kisses upon cheeks. Hands clasped in firm grip, the feeling of fingers wrapped around and refused to let go, the warmth of Faramir when the chance to be alone graced. Dressed in their garb but as far from warriors as could be had, brothers together again with the happiest of tears, the sensation of wetness dripped down. Onto the jawline, throughout beard and stubble-hairs, until there seemed to be no more cries left.

Ever a loyal and proud son, Boromir relished in the reunion of he and his father. Denethor enthusiastic - within the grand throne room, sunlight brought against window and opened curtain - thin lipped smiles sweeter than the previous scowl, eyes all but colored in a familiar radiance, what had once been but could never be anymore. Accompanied by Pippin and Gandalf, worries for the war melted from the afternoon into the night, the change of bold sun into vibrant stars. Diplomacy married well with obligation of family, the unknown and the understood made into one, a ranger cloaked in her regalia, ever there but quiet. Never beyond the glance of Boromir, Hal and he were inseparable. Since the day that Orcs dared to poison, their brutal force pernicious, an effort to kill committed without pause. An attempt that went not beyond the woods where it started. Finished there, Denethor hid little of his unease about her, always a look of disdain for dear Hal. A soldier of small regard to he; a thorn in his side, an object of undoubted distraction meant for his eldest, the apparent keeper to a gentle heart.

A phantom affection, the kiss that Hal gave to Boromir lingered still. A mysterious possessor's token. Past the hours since she was last within his bedchambers, sheets not slept in and hardly tossed around an exhausted body. Clothed despite, never gone through the process of undress, the letter and chain that dangled in his hands were heavy, sleep-placed haze slowly lifted from Boromir once he removed himself from the bed, wandered and walked the space of his room. She loved him. Hal loved him. Cared for he and adored, gone off to the Black Gates, the request of Denethor but for more reason than the obvious. Overwhelmed but not unhappy, with her chain around his neck did he follow her path, the way that was asked of her, onward to the entrance of Mordor. Surely reckless, a death unneeded would have come for poor Hal. Captured, tortured, used against the intentions of good; Boromir could not stand to think of it, his locks uncombed and his person unbathed, dirty from the prior journey but unable to care.

Run across hill and valley on foot, shield and Arphendil in hand, favored sharped blade, Boromir only stopped once he saw her. Crouched low nearest a mound of soil and weeds, Hal with her hood drawn over the head, focus shifted from one enemy to another. Fixed to the situations of her surroundings; clever, the greatest of her kin, bound to know it was he who followed. Grand tries made in the effort, Boromir had yet to trick, to conceal or to remain unnoticed. Hal was marvelous.

"Did you really believe a letter would be enough?"

Boromir asked, sank low in his stance, a captain within the bounds of cover, baritone stern but not in threat or anger, rather blanketed in sadness and the tremble of fear.

"Forgive me, Hal, for approaching you so boldly, but I must have my say. After all the moments spent together, fighting the foes of Mordor, of which we stand before now, you left me. Parted from me with but a kiss - a kiss that I know for certain was of your lips - a letter, and a chain of black obsidian. Under the command of my father, I understand, but nonetheless, you left. You left, and did not allow me the chance to return my affection. You were gone from me, and I didn't get the chance to say goodbye."

Gray irises brushed glossy, the delicate gathering of tears, Boromir cleared his throat in rough cough, muffled by the back of his hand.

"How could you come here alone? Your strengths are beyond measure, your capabilities unable to be compared, but Hal, can you not see? Never mind the wants of my father! Gods forbid, had the evils that lurked here taken you, stolen you from your friends and family... can you not see how great my heart would break? That my dreams would be filled with nothing but torment? That my happiness, all that I have come to know of it, would disappear, be forever gone? Hal, you left behind a letter, but so, too, have you taken my heart. It came unexpected, but I do not deny what has come over me. Never for the sake of my father, never toward myself."

"I love you. With all my body and of all my soul, I love you. Try not to discourage me from this place, for I will go where ever you do. You'll not be alone - not as long as I live. Scold me later, if you must, but promise me that you will give me time to repay your devotion, to make right what I have wronged. Because, my darling Hal, I am desperate for another chance at your kisses. Their touch has not abandoned me - I feel for you still."