➷ 001 ⌊video→u n k n o w n⌉

[nosimplewalk]

[The video flashes on, displaying two similar looking men–– if not for their (brotherly) looks, but for their clothing attire.]

I have not seen such a sleek surface that was not a reflection of water or glass.. [The larger of the two men said with a squint of his eyes.] Strange. [The only thing that was for sure.]

[The two men seemed to be focused on the object, unknowing of its power. However, having just woken up, it was no surprise that the two brothers have found many strange features thus far.]




{ooc: Faramir and Boromir are both here in their continuation of the "waking up" log, in front of the network, trying to figure out their surroundings, so both will answer and reply to you :) thank you.}

Comments

/SLAMS INTO YOU BOTH. voice for he sucks at computers. incoming tl;dr.

[therangerking]

[ Aragorn hears the voice first. It's not a common voice. Not in that manner of accent. Not in that manner of speech. It comes from- the box in front of him, and Aragorn stumbles, clumsy in a manner he has not been since he had first learned to walk. His hand slams against the- desk, eyes wide, and for a long moment he can do naught but stare.

The voice. The face. Faramir he knows, though not well, but the last Aragorn has seen him, he was healthy and hale with the White Lady of Rohan upon his arm. Yet the last he had seen of Boromir was- with his eyes closed and clothes cleaned, his sword laid upon his chest and his breath forever stolen from his lips. Aragorn had sent him down the Anduin, and now he lives, and he spokes.

No. No, it cannot be. It cannot be, for with his own hands he has felt the breath stop in Boromir's lungs, his heart slow, never to begin its beat again. Does this Tower bring back the dead? If so, then it is worse a tyrant than Aragorn had thought.

Aragorn sinks even further into the floor, his hand slipping from the desk to slam against one of those strange equipment- ]

Have you found no peace, Son of Gondor?

\o\~~ eeeebeee!

[nosimplewalk]

[The voice was heard, and recognized almost instantly –– if not first for that hesitance that made Boromir doubt himself.]

Aragorn? [The heavy memory came in a flash and he was weighted down with the last moment in which he saw his King. Aragorn had given him freedom of that guilt in which Boromir hoarded for his selfishness, for his weakness, and he still carries such shame for the last day of his life. Would Aragorn still forgive him and give him that peace?

Or has he truly ruined it all?

Boromir's eyes fell to the ground in a perfect mimic of utter shame and humiliation. Not only had he broken the fellowship, but he had lost the two little ones to the enemy.]

[laststeward]

[For the heaviness he saw weight his brother down Faramir could be only confused. Should not Boromir feel elation at a familiar voice? Faramir looked from the guilt painted there instead down and back again in the hallway. There was no one to give voice to the words that had been spoken and so it had to be assumed it came from the statue here.]

How have you come to be here?

[therangerking]

[ He recognises him. That voice; that face. Aragorn wishes nothing more than to believe that this is but a trick; an illusion, perhaps, cast by Sauron when he still holds the Ring. He knows that people are able to come from different times - his conversation with Legolas proves that. Yet-

Aragorn's breath shudders out of him. ]

I was taken without my knowledge. [ A beat, then- half-bitten off, as if said in a hurry- ]

Tell me where you are, for I wish to see you both.

[nosimplewalk]

[Boromir held his head hung for a moment, then his hand rose and clasped his brother's shoulder tightly.] The numbers .. of the room we had woken in are four, zero-four. [What could he say for his own existence here? He was taken from life's end to awaken here with his brother?

No.. It was the soft grass that gave his aching body cool comfort, and the feel from the sweat of his brow, tainted with dirt and blood, that called to his interest. The strong roots of the tree in which he aimed for, but in between he fell in the nook of a hollow hole that would have swallowed him whole if it were but a few inches higher. Aragorn's soft words to pull him from his weight of worry. That was where he was. Not here, not before this strange vision of his king before him, no. Not beside his brother whom he never dared to dream to see once again.

He was buried in a nook in the ground, surrounded by dozens of the enemy's pawns –– rotting with them. But he never amused the idea that he would see more than that final moment's ending. A dying man's regret, ––could he answer to Aragorn's wish? To see his king, now that he was not defeated, beaten, dying. Could he look Aragorn in the eye and tell him, without consequence, that he was still proud?]

I know not more, of where I reside.. [It was beginning to sink in, all the more, this world has taken from him his death, and given him a life of shame.]

[laststeward]

Where this is we know nothing of. We shall wait you here, as you wish. Perhaps together fortune may favor us with answers.

[What turmoil his brother was in he could not guess at, and merely clasped his hand on the other's shoulder to show his unspoken support, of a heartsick malady he knew naught of.]

[therangerking]

[ Four zero four. Aragorn's own room was four zero six- and he thinks, has Boromir been here all this while? Has he lingered along the halls and Aragorn has not seen him? Has the both of them appeared in this place before him, and Aragorn throughout his explorations had allowed them to slip from his grasp.

He sees the despair in Boromir's eyes, clear even through the small mirrored surface staring at at him; clear through the way that Faramir grasps his shoulder, the younger brother offering support to the older. Aragorn pushes himself back, straightens fully and looks at them for a long moment. There are words that must be said, he thinks, though he doesn't think he will ever have the chance to say them- not to this man, this man of flesh and blood who lives and breathes in front of him.

Aragorn takes a single, short breath. ]

Throughout the journey you have walked by my side. [ His voice is soft. ] As I walked through the gates of the White City, I thought I could hear the call of the silver trumpets as you described them to me, though we were under attack and all hands were on weapons.

[ He paused. ]

I know not what the masters of this tower wants from us, sons of Gondor, but I thank them for bringing my Stewards to my side.

[ Then his fingers spider over the keys for a moment, looking for a switch- before he looks at the series of strange ropes that lead towards these square things- and pulls them out.

He heads for the dormitories. ]

[nosimplewalk]

[Boromir inhaled a breath and held it a moment before his eyes moved up to the blank glossy screen. A sound was heard, though he knew not what it meant, but for a while yet Aragorn was not heard from again.

He assumed that perhaps they would be meeting soon. As Faramir had said they would await their king, it was his best guess –– an obvious guess. Possibly the only expectant next step for the two brothers that have woken here. For he did not expect to wake, let alone see Faramir's face, nor hear Aragorn's voice.]

I wish to look upon Aragorn without shame, but I feel it in my heart, and fear that the guilt of my mistakes will fall heavily in my fate here as they have .. before. Though he would say such words to comfort me, it is the very fault of mine own that has brought such ruin to our fellowship.

[His hand slid from Faramir's shoulder and he looked to his brother.] For this, I will tell you now, before any other, I had failed in the temptation and driven apart the strong hold of the group for my selfish ways. Aragorn may have forgiven me, but I would know him to never trust me.

And perhaps.. it is better this way.

[laststeward]

The Hobbit Sam told me of your desire for Isildur's Bane. [What Boromir told him was not known to him but neither was it unknown. It had been clear the hobbits carried with them something terrible and for his own part he had wanted nothing at all to do with it, nor with the creature Smeagol.]

What happened to you before I found you on the western shores I do not know by account but I do know that the Fellowship had served its purpose to that point and that the little ones had need to go on, alone.

It was for a purpose, Boromir, and I have confidence that it was meant to happen that way for their sake. For my own sake all I know was this: I grieved for my elder brother whom all my life I had known to be the best of Gondor, the brightest of our Father, and my fondest friend.

Let shame grieve you not, if you can find it within yourself forgiveness over this. You will find no fault that I would have with you.

[therangerking]

[ There is none better than Faramir who will be able to ease Boromir's guilt and grief, Aragorn thinks, and he knows he should slow his steps, so to give the brothers some time before he arrives. Throughout their time on the journey Boromir has talked much of his little brother, of his love of lore and scholarship and of his purity of heart.

(Thorongil remembers Finduilas; remembers the quiet Princess of Dol Amroth, whom the silent and stoic Steward's Heir had loved. He remembers her spirit, her gentleness, and most of all- the heart that is as pure and wise as the Elves of Nordor, and he thinks that while Boromir has received her beauty and her courage, it is no doubt Faramir who has inherited her heart.)

He reaches their door quickly enough, and Aragorn quiets his steps. With a Ranger's grace and stealth, he approaches it, leaning gently against the wood as he listens. It is perhaps dishonourable to listen so, but Aragorn breathes in the tailing words of Faramir before they fade completely in the air. Then he pulls back- and knocks.

(Will he truly see Boromir? Will he truly be alive? Aragorn knows not, and his hand tightens upon Anduril's hilt. There are tricks that this Tower can conceive, and it will not be difficult to conjure an illusion, or have a monstrous creature take on the faces of righteous Men.

Yet Aragorn wishes nothing more than to believe.) ]

[Video]

[the_white_rider]

[ Upon seeing that, Gandalf activate the Voice function- ]

Could this be...

[ Those voices were too familiar... Those faces he couldn't forget. No possible mistake, those were sons of Denethor- Unless this were yet another one of the tower trick... Unlikely.

He smiled, they couldn't see though as he activated the video only after he had made sure this was no trick. ]

This is what they call a computer. A creation of men from a far future.

[ A pause. ]

Boromir. Faramir. I dare to hope it is really you I see.

Re: [Video]

[laststeward]

Gandalf. [his tone calm and smile shown only in the faintest movement at the corners of his mouth, to show Faramir is relieved to see the great scholar that has visited Gondor on several occasions.]

Lucky are we to have your guidance now in this uncertainty we find ourselves. I do not understand the means by which this computer functions though I am glad for its use in speaking with you.