Fandom Wars Entries

Challenge #1 Entry

I laughed.

"I believe that is a jest."

"No, I'm deadly serious." Something about the way Theodred said that made me believe him. "Don't you ever tell Eomer I said this, but I think we have always been a little scared of you. Ever since we were eight years old, you have been ordering us around."

"You have no idea how much I revered you two," I whispered.

"Be as that may be, you were still so fierce. It's beautiful."

I gave a short laugh.

"No one else thinks that way."

"No, Eowyn. They all do.

We grew up together, the three of us. Theodred, Eomer, and I were like siblings, and the former two were the ones who I looked up to. They were to me elder brothers, with the wisdom and power to be great benefactors to society. Yet when Theodred died, I felt like it was a brother who died, not the would-have-been king of Rohan. And to this day, the things I remember about him are the crazy things he said and the silly way he laughed. Theodred finally became human in my eyes.

I was finally reminded of how much Theodred believed in me. His death gave me my ambition and my courage. I was ready to start living now. Or at least I believed that I could try. That alone was enough for me.

I looked below me. Finally, I was approaching my destination. On the hillside on the other side of the city, there was a cave. It was very much hidden by the bushes and rocks, but it was still there. This used to be our hideout back when we were children. The three of us used to spend much time there, huddled together in a circle, our faces lit by the flames of our little fire, talking about what we wanted to do when we were older. It was on that hillside that we pretended to fight dragons or explore Fangorn; that was the place where we grew up. Up until Theodred death, we still met up there as often as we could.

But ever since he died, Eomer and I have sworn never to touch foot near the place again.

I laughed bitterly. Now we all see how long that promise lasted.

I made my way down the hillside carefully, making sure not to lose my footing. As I neared the cave I lit the torch I was carrying, and now glared at the boulder-covered entrance. Who was it that I would meet here? My dead brother? The stranger who gave me the note? No matter what, there was only one way to find out.

I pushed aside the gigantic boulder that covered most of the entrance and stepped into the cave. It was dark and cold inside there, and I walked cautiously down paths that I had trod hundreds of times before. Soon I reached the part of the cave system where no sunlight reached. A little farther in from there would be the chamber where I spent most of my childhood sitting around a fire listening to, and to a certain extent, partaking in Theodred and Eomer's fantastical tales.

I stepped into the round stone room and looked around me. The ashes of many fires still sat in the middle of the room, as did an empty box of matches. That was all.

Well, this was disappointing. To think that I actually expected a person to be awaiting me here, to think that something miraculous and life-changing would actually happen. I chuckled. I should never have been foolish enough to come here in the first place. This was obviously all for nothing. I was ready to turn around and head back -

But then I felt a breath on the back of my neck. My spine tingled, and my heart raced.

"Hello?" I whispered. I spun around, waving the torch in the air as I tried to find the person I was sure had been there. I was positive that I had felt a presence behind me.

"Oh, right. Sorry, I forgot that you can't see me."

The torch promptly dropped out of my hand. I had never believed in ghosts, but that voice, coming from nowhere and everywhere...

That was most definitely the voice of Theodred.

"Theodred?"

"Correct, my lady. I'm the one and only." Even now, I could hear the laughter in his voice.

"Are you happy, cousin?"

The ghost of Theodred chuckled.

"More importantly," it said, "Are you happy?"

I paused. "Well... you are dead and a war is coming. I'm not sure I know what happiness means anymore."

"Hmm. That's fine too. Eowyn," - the ghost sighed - "I don't even know what I came here for. I thought it was to tell you to be strong, or to give you a final, proper, goodbye. But that's not it. There is more than that. Do you understand me?"

"Of course."

"I love you, Eowyn. I never had the chance to say it when I was alive, but you have been a sister to me. You made me happy. You were there when Eomer and Theoden couldn't be, offering your little words of wisdom and the comfort of your presence. You were the only woman I looked forward to seeing when I returned from our ever-increasing pile of battles with the dangers in the East. I suppose, in the end, I just wanted to apologize. I'm sorry, Eowyn."

"No, please don't. I should be the one to apologize, Theodred. In all my life, I have never done anything great or worthy of praise. I, I..." I started crying again. Why, Theodred? Why?

"There, there... Cheer up, cousin. I don't want to be known as the man who made our princess cry."

Despite everything, I smiled a little.

"Still a gentleman, eh?"

"Always."

A moment of silence passed before the ghost of Theodred spoke again.

"I'm sorry for not being there for you, Eowyn. I'm sorry for leaving you behind and dying. I'm sorry for never telling you how much you meant to me. I know I can never make up for it, but at the very least, I didn't want you to go into this war not knowing."

I wiped away my tears.

"It's all right, Theodred. You never had to say anything. I knew."

"Indeed?"

"That's right. Because I loved you too, brother."

"Thank you." With those words, the presence of Theodred son of Theoden disappeared.

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The accents normally used are absent because I'm lazy. Hope that's okay. :D Word count discluding this note at the end is 1694.