𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐑𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 || 𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐁 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐊

ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏ-sɪx

The arrow had barely gone through Robb's side, more stuck in the several layers of clothing he was wearing than anything else. Barring any serious agitation, his wound would heal within just a few days. Robb could hardly believe it, but both Legolas and later Aragorn seemed confident in the estimate.

Before taking out the arrow, Legolas had briefly wandered off into the woods and come back with some sort of herb, half of which he had handed to Aragorn. The rest, he had done… something with, Robb still had no idea what, until it was some sort of rough paste. After rubbing it on the now-open wound, Legolas had cut up one of Robb's new Elven undershirts with an apologetic smile—needs must; Robb understood—and used it to bandage his side.

By the end of it, Robb was almost relaxed in the absence of excruciating pain.

Boromir fared worse, but he was alive and mostly walking, which they all counted as a success.

Slowly, they made their stumbling way back to the shore. When they arrived, one of the boats was missing, and so were Frodo and Sam. Boromir slumped to sit on a rock with a hiss and wiped one hand over his face. Robb tilted to one side and held onto Grey Wind to stay upright.

"They've gone on?" he asked. Scanning the other shore, he thought he could see a glimpse of light fabric, but it couldn't have been. It had taken some time to patch up Boromir and himself. If that was where the two Hobbits had gone, they were long out of sight. Robb shook his head.

"Yes," Aragorn said, and stayed Legolas' hand when he moved to push the remaining boat in the water.

"...You mean not to follow them?"

Boromir's head snapped up at Legolas' words, but a moment later, his eyes returned to the ground in acceptance. Robb could guess why that was. There was no way the man trusted himself around Frodo and the Ring after what had occurred earlier.

"Frodo's fate is no longer in our hands," Aragorn mumbled.

Gimli leaned onto his axe. "Then we have failed?"

Aragorn looked up, locked gazes with each of them before shaking his head. "Not if we hold true to each other. We will not abandon Merry and Pippin."

Slow smiles spread over Legolas and Gimli's faces. Robb nodded sharply. Boromir mirrored him and stood up, only to list to the side and almost fall over. Aragorn barely managed to steady him, slinging one of Boromir's arms over his shoulder.

There was a beat of silence before Robb sighed.

"We'll only slow you down, won't we?"

Aragorn pressed his lips together in a thin line. He said nothing.

Boromir huffed.
"Robb is right." He patted Aragorn's hand, the one that was resting on his chest to steady him. "I want to go after them as much as you all do—more, even. What I did—I should stop at nothing to find them, save them. I have no right to do any less than that. But I have denied reason for too long. I am a liability. I know it. You must leave me if you want to help the little ones, Aragorn."

"Boromir—"

"And I'll stay with him," Robb added. "It's the best solution. I may be more mobile than Boromir, but I'm of no help to you. You can't leave Boromir alone here, either. It would be a death sentence."

"You are right," Aragorn finally said, exhaling deeply. "Both of you. Even though I wish it were not so."

Only the roar of the waterfall permeated the silence as Aragorn helped Boromir sit back down.

"But you must keep Grey Wind close," Aragorn added, holding one hand out, palm down for the wolf to lick. "He is by far the most capable warrior here, and I would say that even if none of us were injured."

Robb cracked a smile, ruffled Grey Winds' fur. "He is. But…he is an excellent tracker as well."

Aragorn paused, then shook his head. "No. You need him more now than we do. I doubt these Orcs will be subtle, they rarely are. I am a ranger and Legolas is an Elf. They may be far ahead of us, but we will not lose their trail."

He stroked Grey Wind's head for a moment longer before turning back to regard Boromir.

"Will you be returning to Minas Tirith?"

Boromir shook his head. "No. I may be useless now, but I will not abandon our mission. I will go to Edoras and recover, perhaps find out how Rohan fares. If, when I am better, you have not found Merry and Pippin yet, I will join you in your search. If you have, I will return to you still, Aragorn. I may miss my people, but this mission is the best way to help them. I see that now. I— I am yours to command, my king."

Aragorn clasped Boromir's shoulder and smiled. "I would not have you abandon our people, Boromir," he murmured. "One day, soon, our paths shall lead us to the White City, and the tower guard shall take up the call: the lords of Gondor have returned."

Boromir blinked several times, his eyes shiny, then nodded. His lips pulled into a small grin. "I will take your word for it," he finally replied, voice wet.

Robb and Boromir watched in silence as Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn went to check their gear one final time.

"I now realize," Boromir suddenly spoke up, "that I did not ask you before telling Aragorn what I—we—would do now."

Robb spread his hands and shrugged. "I did said I would stay with you. I will go wherever you go. It makes no difference to me. Besides—" Robb chuckled— "I have no map, so…"

"Ah," Boromir said with a smile. "I see your dilemma."

Robb hummed.

"Alright," Aragorn spoke up again. "It is time."

Robb stepped forward and held out his hand. "Good luck," he said as Aragorn clasped his forearm, and nodded at Gimli and Legolas.

"Let's hunt some Orc!"

__________

❄️
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Aaand that's the end of FotR!

The next parts are, as you may have gathered already, where I truly start to go off-script.

For that reason, I'll be taking a short break until I've shored up some more pre-written chapters. It sucks, I know, but I felt it was better to leave it at the end of a movie instead of suddenly stopping my updates right in the middle of the action.

Rest assured, however, that this does NOT mean abandonment of this story, I already have it all planned out and a few more chapters already written.

As a teaser of sorts: Robb will not be having the greatest of times, but we will meet his love interest who is a canon LotR character.
Any guesses? I'd love to hear them.