Lost and Found | Boromir

[Lúthien Elanessë]

Luthien was barely breathing, lying onto the shore of the island she used to be on before getting attacked along with her partner. She barely saw the body of the man, unmoving. She wanted to reach for him and make sure he was fine but she couldn’t, her leg was deeply cut and she could barely move. These Orcs, these evil creatures, what have they done? She barely remembered anything; she had hit her head against a rock while fighting the creatures off. A few bodies were next to her; they made her want to puke but she restrained herself from doing so, turning her head around and panting heavily in the process. Her entire body was painful, she had cuts here and there, arms and the blood loss made her unable to move.

She spoke in elfin trying to call for her partner but she heard nothing, body still there and quite bloody. Her face was resting against a few rocks and sandy ground, the water was occasionally hitting her face and she was starting to feel dizzy, her head spinning around and seeing double, she closed her eyes preventing herself from feeling worse than she already did. She tried to think, where was she? She didn’t remember, her head was hurting but she didn’t have the time to wonder more about her environment that she heard other footsteps that were becoming closer and closer, she tensed up though couldn’t do much remaining on the ground. Her heart beat rose up slightly and she tried to hold onto something but only ended up holding sand that was beneath her hands. She released it thinking that it might just be her end if it was to be more of these people who nearly got to her.

She heard voices of men though, from a language she seemed to vaguely understand and recognized. It was confusing, she wished she could defend herself but all of her attempts seemed to fail at the moment. She slowly opened her eyes to see a pair of feet that was right next to her face. Her eyes narrowed slightly though the dizziness got back to her. She wasn’t about to do anything but she was quite frightened.

[Boromir]

Boromir had been fighting off a legion of orcs near Osgiliath with a few of his men. They were strong and gave them quite a fight but soon were defeated, a few running away as the Gondorian army burned the corpses. It was then that a scout came and said there were more orcs around, near Cair Andros, the island between the two shores of the Anduin River. Sure his men were worn from the battle they just fought but Boromir blew in his horn to have them regroup and walked in head of line towards the island. He had few archers as they were more following his brothers but he had a few and they shot arrows at the orcs. There were people around as well but they were falling under the blades of their enemies.

Boromir had divided his troop in two, one ready to attack any orc coming to the shore the others on boats to take the island. And he was among them. Not expecting reinforcements from those present on the island the orcs were soon outnumbered and either killed or on the run. Once that done, Boromir asked for his men to gather the wounded and dead. They noticed that among some of their men there to watch the island were elves. Not only that, as Boromir reached the bank, he saw a woman. Now what did a woman do in such a place?

He approached of her and felt relief as he saw her blink. She was alive. He bent down, blocking the sun from her sight. He stared at her, unable to hide his surprise to see she was an elf, a clear thing when you noticed her ears. He looked at her wounds. They seemed for most superficial, at least on her face. But the cut on her leg was bad and he quickly made a tourniquet out of some cloth to stop the bleeding. She mostly seemed exhausted but he knew it could kill just as much as a deep wound. He called out for one of his man and helped to carry her on a boat. They made two more fires that day, one for the orcs and one for their fallen companions, not about to burn them with those vile creatures. They camped on the site for the night as it came down. Boromir had the woman rest and ate in silence by her side, watching her in case she’d start a fever, sign of an infection in her wound. They had cleaned it once they reached the shore but who knows. And he was waiting for her to be in state to answer the many questions going through his mind starting by what does an elf do here?

[Lúthien Elanessë]

Luthien wasn’t sure about what was going on when she saw the two feet until she saw the figure of a man. Obviously not an elf but she didn’t bother questioning herself more about this considering her state, exhausted from the battle and the wounds she had to deal with. She tensed first when the man gave her the cares but seeing he was harmless, she let him do his work. Not quite comfortable during the way they carried her, she only let herself to rest when she was in what seemed comfortable enough for her to sleep. She didn’t know for how long she’d been out but soon enough, her eyes slowly opened, slightly confused about where she was and what she was doing there, she turned her head around to find the man again. Who was he?

She tried remembering the events that happened earlier and the only thing she remembered was the mission she had been given. She wasn’t done with it but obviously, orcs had been around more and more which wasn’t a bad sign. Who gave her the mission though? She forgot. Why was she covered with bandages? She wanted to sit up and used her arms to do so but realizing how painful they were, she gave up on the idea. Instead, she decided she would stare at the man. Who was he anyways? He didn’t have to save her. She touched her ear noticing that it was pointy, oh yes, she was an elf. She glanced at his and clearly seeing he wasn’t one she had to remember of their language.

Judging that he didn’t mean any harm to her she decided that she might as well start talking to him, asking him the first question that really bugged her at the moment. “Who are you?” she asked, arching an eyebrow at the man. She didn’t remember of him, then again, she didn’t remembered anything except a few things which was quite upsetting considering the mission she remembered she had to do.

[Boromir]

Boromir let the woman rest, though kept a plate with food and a cup of water for her should she ever wake up. He never heard of elves teaming up with orcs and so knew she got caught up in the fight and was injured. From her clothes, he also understood she was, if not a warrior, at least able to fight. Maybe a tracker, like a ranger or something. But it brought more questions, such as what was she hunting down. Gondor being right in the face of Mordor, they dealt with its evil forces long before the rest of the world even started to notice there was action there. He had asked his father to send messengers over to Rohan and up north to the elfin lands to ask for help. It took everything for the man to do it but they were obviously in need of more men. Even the soldiers sent from all over the country and their allies were not helping. The orcs were helped by pirates and men from the southeastern coast. It was as if for every of them you killed, three more were taking the place. For now they could hold, but Boromir was wondering just how long it would take. It seemed like taunts, to test the men’s forces. If Mordor really wanted to crush them, he wasn’t certain they could do anything against it.

He heard the elf move on the mat and he turned his head towards her, chasing away his fears and apprehension to focus on her. Ally or enemy, she’d have to answer a few questions. She was still weak and sitting was painful so he helped her, making her rest her back against a tree stump. As he did, she asked who he was. He stared at her for a moment before answering. “I am Boromir, Captain of Gondor and these are my men.” he said nodding in direction of the camp. He picked the plate he kept for her and placed it near her, handling her the cup of water. “Who are you?” he asked back.

[Lúthien Elanessë]

Luthien stared at the man as he helped her up, thankful that at least he wasn’t going to leave her there; as if she knew where she was anyways and who were these people. She sighed, what happened? She wanted to know, but at the same time she didn’t have a good feeling about it. The people seemed to have come back from a fight, which she did too, obviously; seeing the blood onto her clothes and bandages. She clearly wouldn’t have these out of doing house work now would she? She didn’t think she was that clumsy. He presented himself as Boromir; she tried to remember about if she had ever heard of him but everything seemed to be blank, as hard as she tried, nothing would ever come out. She didn’t feel any danger so far so she decided she would trust him the time he would answer to her questions.

She stared at the plate and the cup of water he was handing her, as if she was suspecting it was poisoned but soon grabbed it and took a sip. It felt good, her throat was aching a little due from not drinking so much. She thanked him slightly before wondering about his question. Her name…what was it? She knew she knew it; why was it hard for her to remember something as basic as that? It started with an L…L…Lu…Lut? It didn’t sound that elfin to her. That’s when she noticed her necklace, and pulled the chain out noticing a medallion with a name on it. Luthien. Apparently, It was her..was it her name? Probably. “I’m Luthien.” She wondered about where was Gollum. Gollum, scouting, tracking, orcs. Those were mainly what she remembered the most. “Gollum, where is he..it?” she looked around thinking they could have captured it. Yes, her mission, she needed to finish it.

[Boromir]

Boromir frowned when he saw her struggle. He had no idea what was going on in her head, why she was in that state. He asked a simple question, her name. It wasn’t a secret, really! If she was unsure about telling him that, she’d do everything to hide what she was doing in his land. Why were the elves coming to Gondor, were they spying, judging if they should help or not. It angered him a little at the thought they might have come this far to look how they were doing and that they might actually do nothing to help. It had been a very long time since the elves ever helped. They stay in their forest and as long as whatever threatens the rest of the world doesn’t get in, they don’t care. Maybe he was exaggerating, but he was the one seeing good men fall while no help was coming. He was slowly growing desperate and seeing the others satisfied of their life and doing nothing angered him.

Finally she talked, and said she was Luthien. He nodded. Well, at least he had the right to know that much. He sighed, wondering if he should let her eat first before he starts questioning her. She was no prisoner, not at the moment. He frowned when she talked of someone else, a Gollum. Who was he, her companion? “Who? Is it you friend’s name? Who is Gollum?” he asked. It was not the questions he meant to ask at first but hey, he was wondering who she was talking about. Plus if she wanted him to answer he needed to know who she was talking about.

[Lúthien Elanessë]

Luthien stared at him bemused as Boromir questioned her about Gollum. Who was it? It was obviously not someone good nor her friend if she was tracking him down. If he was to be free, something bad, really bad was to happen, if she remembered correctly it had something to do with a ring? Or she had only vaguely heard about it. But she was looking for him and at the same time, looking for orcs, see how far they had gone and she assumed that she then needed to report it to her people whom she forgot where they lived at. She was getting annoyed at herself, at the fact that she was forgetting important information like that.

“It’s not my friend, I was tracking it down.” She said, which is what she should be doing now, she should go back to track it before it causes disasters! “If we don’t get it soon worse might happen.” She paused thinking about what had just happened; it was already bad enough with all these orcs around, or at least, with all these dead bodies that were around. The ring, what was so important about that ring? “Ring….one ring to rule them all…” she said though more to herself as she continued thinking about it all.

One ring, sauron…chaos. Those words were slowly floating into her head. One ring that was powerful, Gollum. She needed to track him! She tried to move again but winced slightly and sighed before closing her eyes. This wasn’t going to be good, at all.

[Boromir]

Boromir remained thoughtful as she explained what she had been doing here. He was not expecting it to be this easy. So she was tracking someone down, this Gollum character. Who was he? For an elf to go this far from her home, he had to be dangerous. She confirmed it as she said worse things would happen if they could not find him/it. He frowned. To him things were already quite disastrous. Once again, he lost valiant men. Soon there wouldn’t be enough, they’ll have to send older ones, and children, and the guards and what after, the women?

He was getting grim again when she whispered to herself about a ring. He quickly turned his head towards her, his focus entirely set on her. “Ring, did you say ring?” he asked. Lately both him and his brother had been dreaming about this. And not that long ago, a wizard came do read some very ancient books in their archive. It all had to do with a ring. Was she in it too? And that Gollum? this war was taking proportions he never imagined of. But if elves were involved, then perhaps they would finally come to help. He forced himself to think of it as such, to keep hope. He didn’t want to admit his city, his country would just fall to the hands of the enemy after fighting all its life against Sauron and his creatures.

[Lúthien Elanessë]

Luthien stared at Boromir, trying to remember his name. It was the least she could do; after all he was the one who found her and healed her while he could have left her there on her own. She knew that elves didn’t middle much with humans and at times, she wondered why; they were curious creatures, some claimed that they were destructive but so far she didn’t agree with them. They could be good if given the chances. They just never took the opportunity to be in front of one. So what if they weren’t immortals? They had quite a bunch of knowledge as well even if it wasn’t as much of them but that was because elves were there since longer than humans. It was odd how she remembered such things about elves and humans while she forgot about what happened to her, where she came from and anything before. It was annoying.

She eyed the food wondering about if it was comestible. Then again, it might be; she didn’t even remember what elfin food tasted like. She nodded slowly once he talked of the ring. But that’s all she remembered. “Yes one ring, one ring that can be destructive but that’s all I remember.” She said with a slight frown. God, she looked so dumb and she didn’t like it. What was he going to do of her anyways? Did he just want to question her? Was she going to be in prison? She didn’t think she did anything that would get her into this situation.

Then she realized that she didn’t remember the man’s name…”What’s your name?” she asked. She ahd the feeling she knew it, but what was it again?

[Boromir]

She seemed to be frowning a lot, and have issues with her memory. Well, so much for getting information out of her! Though this ring thing alarmed him a bit. He only had the dream once and barely thought about it now. But as she talked of a ring, it all came back. He was trying to remember it but just like for her memory, he couldn’t. He knew there was the mention of a ring, and it started after that wizard came. He wondered where he was. Well, he had enough things to worry about right here. He’d worry about rings later, once it’ll be clearer what it all mean. Faramir was doing research in their archives too. Perhaps he’ll find out something.

There was at least one positive point about this. If elves were looking for someone who had a dangerous ring, than perhaps they meant to help. Though he hoped their help would not stop at getting this Gollum character and destroy the ring. Sure it would help but they needed more help than that! They needed arms, weapons to use against their enemies. For centuries Gondor protected the rest of the world being the force closest to Mordor. It was time for these other countries to prove themselves grateful and help. It was the least they could do, with all the lives they sacrificed for them they have no idea about. he was sometimes so angry about this that he wondered if they even knew about the threat, if they thought that because they were all so cozy, with no bigger trouble than choosing what to wear in the morning that they were fine and didn’t need to fight. If they wanted this to remain, they had to fight at some point. For soon, Gondor may very well fall, and then it shouldn’t take very long for the dark forces of Mordor to attack the rest of the world.

He sighed when she asked again what his name was. Apparently even her short term memory was damaged. “Boromir, captain of Gondor.” he repeated again, softly, not wanting to lose his temper on her when she did nothing wrong. It was not her fault she could not remember. “We will leave camp at dawn tomorrow. I suggest you rest, you’re coming with us.” he told her so she’d be warned.

[Lúthien Elanessë]

Luthien stared at Boromir a lot, feeling bad about the fact that she could barely remember of his name while she was sure he had told her his a few minutes ago! What was going on with her memory? She knew that she had had quite a blow onto her head but she didn’t think it could’ve affected her that much now does it? She sighed and frowned, at least she could remember most of her mission which was a start, was it? She hoped so; she didn’t want to be a waste of time to this man who seemed to have more than enough considering he was a warrior. She looked down at her clothes and assumed that she was one too. At least, she believed so.

She nodded at him once he repeated his name. She almost expected him to explode at her for asking it again. “Boromir…” she told to herself. She would try and make efforts into remembering the name. She looked back up at him when he talked again. He told her that she was to leave with him in the morning and nodded her head again. She assumed that she didn’t have much place to go to anyways. She didn’t even remember where she came from so what was the point into being lost into a world she was supposed to know but didn’t? Yeah, she was better off with them for now, until she remembers at least. She wasn’t going to spit onto their hospitality while they had taken care of her. The seemed to be in need to so she might as well help them along the way.

“thank you…” She said before lying onto the bed. Her back was now facing Boromir as she curled up as much as her leg allowed her to into the bed and wrapped the blanket around her. She winced slightly but she could cope. She assumed that she was a tough one so she could cope the pain for now.

[Boromir]

It was a bit annoying to see the woman unable to remember his name, especially since he told her only minutes ago. But she had been injured, and to the head, which affected her memory as he had been able to notice already. Her short-term one might also be affected. Still, he would prefer if she was able to get his name once and for all. What if they were to ride and she was asking out of the blue for his name, or walk to walk as he was with his men and ask him that? For now, he could take it though. He was not heartless, he understood it was due to her injury. He would bring her to the houses of healing, see if they could do something for her there. But now yet. His men were sore from the recent battles. They needed to get some rest before he could ride all the way back to the citadel.

At least was she offering no resistance about coming with him. Then again, you didn’t need to be a genius to understand it was safer and wiser of her to accept. First, it would not be in him to abandon someone like that but even if, she’d be left all alone, and there were orcs and who knows what around here. And the men left in Osgiliath and around might just attack her in doubt. No one was taking a walk around here, it would be suicidal. She had no idea who she was, where she came from nor why she was here, except for this Gollum she was hunting down. It was vague, and very little information. And she was intelligent enough to understand it would be better for her to tag along, at least for a time. He figured once she’d remember a bit, they could give her some food and all she might need for her to leave, helping her if necessary.

She thanked him and he nodded without a word, watching her curling up in his sheets to fall asleep. He stayed near her a little while longer. But he soon stood up and joined his men. If he couldn’t use his mat, he would stand watch and when it’ll be time for him to sleep, he could still borrow one of his men’s, from those who would keep watch in his place. She was a strong one, if she could take the wounds and the harsh weather and the cold night without a fuss. It was a pity he had no better cure or anything to soothe her pain, but she was not the only one in need.

At dawn, one of his men woke him up. He took something quick to eat, drank some water and went straight to Luthien. He wouldn’t have much for her to eat, but he brought a bit. He gently shook her shoulder to awake her. They could not stay here too long, it was not safe. They had to keep moving and remain discreet. Plus, they’d have to ride quite a long way to reach the city. It was best to start early. He shook her shoulder again, with a little more strength.

[Lúthien Elanessë]

Luthien was still on her guard when she slept, but she was able to do it as peacefully as someone would be able to. She could feel Boromir’s presence for a while but soon fell asleep without any particular dream in mind. Sometimes, her pain would wake her up but she still managed to get enough sleep until Boromir returned the next morning to wake her up. She startled at first when he shook her harder than previously and slowly opened her eyes. She tried to recall yesterday’s events. At least, those she could remember. She turned around slowly in order not to hurt her wounds to look at who did so and recognized the face of the one who saved her.

She nodded at him, knowing that he had told her that they would leave the camp soon. It had to happen; there were orcs around if there weren’t, she’d still be scouting and she’d still have her full memory! She moved her hair away from her face and straightened her as much as her body would allow her to before studying him some more. He seemed fair...but what was his name again? She didn’t feel like asking him again and she began to wonder about why she could barely remember it.

“When are we leaving?” she asked him in her own language before remembering he wasn’t an elf. She asked it once again in the human one. “Sorry...when are we leaving?” She said slowly. She didn’t think he’d find her dumb or anything, but she preferred to be understood when she was communicating with people from other races.

She wondered about if she’d be able to walk, losing the use of her members was a fear of hers, but she was determined enough to deal with the entire trip to wherever he wanted to take her. She knew with her instinct that he was saying the truth when he spoke.

[Boromir]

Boromir frowned when she first talked. She was an elf and spoke in her language which wasn’t his. For a second, as he studied her, he wondered if she went from Lothlorien. The Golden Forest was known to Gondorians in tales, but not for its magnificence. More because they were saying their queen could enter your mind and possess it. To his people the Golden Forest was not a magical place but a dangerous one, that you had to avoid at all cost if you wanted to remain alive. Whoever was to get in would not come back, this was the common tale. If she was not from there, then perhaps Rivendell or further north to the Black Forest? He had no idea really as he was staring at her he knew she could not answer him. The woman still looked helpless, her big eyes staring at him though they looked empty. He had no idea how they would help her with her memory but at least the healers would be able to take care of her wounds.

She finally asked her question in his language. At least she knew it. If she forgot things about herself and her mission, she didn’t forget the basics. “As soon as we can. We eat, pack and leave. We will give you a horse, you will ride by my side.” he answered her before giving her some food for her to eat. It wasn’t much but if she was a scout like she said she was, she should be used to it.

Everyone in the camp ate and took care of things, Boromir left Luthien on her own. He came back only when it was time to leave and walked her to a horse, helping her get on it since her wounds would certainly cause her some problems. He then mounted his horse and with a quick order, the whole company left towards the city. He kept close of Luthien the whole time. Not just because he knew she was wounded, but also because she was a stranger and wanted to keep a close watch on her. Until he was certain she really had a memory loss, he would not fully trust her. And he wanted to know exactly what elves were doing here, especially in so small a number when they were getting killed more and more men for their safety.

Arrived in town, he separated with his men, conducting Luthien to the healing houses. “They will take care of your wounds here.” he said as he walked her inside and had healers take care of her.

[Lúthien Elanessë]

Luthien looked at Boromir once she had asked him the question and nodded as he answered her. It seemed fair knowing it was only a camp. She may not remember of major details but the basic and the obvious ones were still there. She grabbed the food that he gave to her and ate it silently. There weren't much to do anyways other than waiting for the steward and his soldiers to be ready so they would go to where he came from.

It didn't take long before she was done and he came to her so he would help her to get onto he horse. She struggled a bit but she was able to be onto the horse and thought that she would be able to travel. Besides, if she needed help, the man would help her; so far he seemed to be helpful while she was completely helpless with her memory loss.

They arrived into the great town, Luhien thought it was a rather large one but she wasn't afraid of it.they went near the healing houses and stared at it for a few moments before nodding. "Thank you" she finally said, giving him a small smile. She managed to get back onto her feet, struggling but helping herself as she held herself against the horse. At least, she wouldn't suffer anymore and it was greatly welcomed.