Saving Boromir (A Boromir love story)

Prologue:

Prologue:

It was a beautiful summer night as Autumn set up her campsite. The sun was just setting behind the hills and already the symphony of crickets had begun to play the evening melody. The breeze was chilly and the young woman shivered, thankful for her flannel-lined jeans and black under armor. The leather jacket she wore over her top shielded her from the wind while driving up to Westros National Park.

She pulled her small backpack from her motorcycle and pulled a book of matches from the side pocket. She was going to need to get a small fire going in order to keep warm. She stooped low to the ground and pushed the fallen leaves aside to reveal the hardened earth. Not wanting to set the whole forest on fire, Autumn set to work gathering small stones to circle the earth with. Content with the size, she placed a handful of pine needles and dry leaves to use as tinder.

Next came the task of gathering firewood to ensure that her fire stayed lit throughout the night. She ventured off a little into the thicket and came up with an armful of fallen branches that she snapped and piled near her camping gear. She then proceeded to light a match and blew softly, trying to coax the flame to catch on the tinder

To her relief the flames flickered, slowly growing bigger and bigger as she added small sticks to her fire. Content with it's size for the meantime, she turned her attention to her backpack. She had packed for a short camping trip: a tube of toothpaste, a tooth brush, a pair of wool socks, an oversized flannel shirt, a pair of gloves, a First Aid kit, a hair brush (complete with several extra ponytails and bobby pins) some jerky, protein bars, a couple bottles of water, a flashlight, a box of matches, a small sewing kit, and of course, her Bowie knife. She also included a change of underclothes and about three feet of fishing line complete with several hooks.

Autumn wasn't planning on being gone long, after all, a night out in the woods seemed like heaven to her. She'd even purchased a new pair of hunting boots for the occasion. It was the first night of the summer and to reward herself for finally wrapping up her sophomore year of college, she decided a night out in the fresh air would do her some good.

She smiled softly to herself, she felt as if she was on an adventure. She'd always dreamt of adventures and what it must have been like back in the days of King Arthur and his knights. She wondered if this setting was what it must have been like for characters such as Aragorn and Boromir in the Lord of the Rings books.

She pulled her dark hair into a ponytail rubbed her eyes wearily. It had been a long drive up to Westros- even more so for her motorcycle. She'd had to check it in near her campsite near the bottom of the hill. She'd carried her backpack and sleeping bag up by herself, thanking the sweet Park Ranger for the offer to help her.

Autumn mentally kicked herself for being so stubborn.

The guy was only trying to be nice.

She made a note not to refuse chivalry when it was offered, but she'd always been stubborn. Maybe too stubborn. But after Richard broke her heart she wasn't sure she'd be able to trust a man anytime soon. A tear rolled down her cheek when she remembered that it had been almost two months since he had shattered her heart.

Richard had never truly understood her, nor her love and interest of JRR Tolkien's epic book "The Fellowship of the Ring". When they had first started dating, he had told her it was 'cute' that she enjoyed the Lord of the Rings, but he soon began to grow weary of her. She told him of her favorite scenes in the movies and how well the majority of it matched up to the books.

Autumn told him of how much she admired the character of Boromir and how she had wished he had survived in the books. But it wasn't just that she loved the books and movies too much, Richard couldn't understand why she loved them so much. "They're just books," he told her one day. "And movies."

"There's just something about them," she had smiled, a light in her gray eyes. "They're full of adventure and heroic deeds... I just wish I could be a part of that."

"You are part of something," he had told her. "You're a part of me." When he proposed to her she was taken aback. The two had only been dating a short eight months, but he told her how much he loved her, and that he truly could see a future for the both of them. Naturally Autumn was flattered, she honestly did love Richard- even if he did argue with her over her standards for their relationship.

Early on, Autumn made it clear to set boundaries in their physical life, informing Richard that she would not engage in anything dishonorable until marriage. It frustrated her that even after their engagement, Richard still pressed her for more than she was willing for their physical life. After finally telling him for the last time that she would not, Richard stormed away.

It wasn't until a few days later did she learn of his affair with a woman at his office. When she confronted him, he told her that if she would not fulfill his 'needs' he would find someone else who would. He ended their engagement that night.

Autumn unrolled her sleeping bag as the sky grew darker. She settled down atop her covers and used her backpack as a pillow. Tomorrow will be better, she promised herself, blinking away the tears that threatened to roll down her cheeks. as she grew drowsy. Tomorrow I'll forget all about him. Tomorrow will be a new start.

As she started to fade into a soft sleep, a single thought hit her: I wonder what it would be like to a part of the Fellowship of the Ring... I wonder if I had been there... Would I have been able to save Boromir?

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The ground felt harder than it did when she had originally fallen asleep: cold, granite-like- almost as if she had fallen asleep on the floor of an unfinished basement. As she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she found that she was no longer near her campsite. In fact she didn't think she was anywhere near Westros. She woke with a start finding the trees and earth to have been replaced by crumbling walls and broken pillars. But yet, she felt as if she was not alone.

In front of her stood a row of pillars that supported a massive stone ceiling- but there weren't any walls- in fact, all she saw in front of her was miles of green plains beneath a moonlit sky. As she shakily stood to her feet, she found that all she had with her were the clothes on her back and her backpack. She sighed outwardly picking up her pack and drawing her Bowie knife. She didn't feel as safe as she should've.

"Where in the world am I?" she asked herself, peering out the open spaces in front of her. She was up high, perhaps in an old building or something, but how she managed to get here was beyond her comprehension. She looked up at the sky, eager to see if she could get her barrings- but as she looked up at the sky her jaw dropped.

It was as if she had never seen the sky before... these constellations- these were all new to her. She had never seen such stars, nor did she remember the moon being so large or so bright. She wondered if she was dreaming and even pinched herself, but found that she did not wake up.

Suddenly she heard the crunch of a stone beneath a boot and whirled around to come face to face with a Man. He was very handsome. The mysterious man had shaggy dark hair to his shoulders and scruff across his cheeks, chin and above his lips. His eyes were gray-green: tired and kind. He looked just about as surprised to see her as she did to see him. "Who are you, my lady?" he asked her not in a threatening way, but in surprise.

Her eyes dropped to his attire- brown trousers, weather-worn boots, a leather jerkin, a dark shirt, and a black cloak. His hand was on the hilt of a sword- but what really surprised her was the ring he wore on his finger. It had a silver band but bore two serpents, both with emerald eyes. One was devouring the other while the second was crowned with golden flowers.

She brought her eyes up to meet his and in shock choked out: "Aragorn?"

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I hope you are all as excited as I am to start this! :) This is the first Lord of the Rings fanfiction I've written where someone from our world crosses over to Middle Earth, so please be patient with me! :)

I'm open to suggestions and advice on what you all think! :)

Please let me know what you think in the comments below!

-Alexis-