Six Days of Spooky: Day 5

[illwynd]

A little ficlet tonight!

Silenced
by illwynd
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Rating: PG
Summary: AU. In the back of Boromir's mind, something is happening...
x-posted to sons_of_gondor

Somewhere, in the back of his mind, something was happening. It felt like something scuttling around in the darkness, something small that might be crushed underfoot. It made him uneasy.

He tried to remember the things that he used to do… the things that once made him happy. Food was savorless now, and wine without taste. The joy he had once had at practicing with the blade was gone, and the activity left him weary only. And the people he had liked to speak with were gone—where? He couldn’t remember, and this made the shuffling in his thought grow louder. All that was left was walking in his beloved city, so this he did. He left the Citadel, wandering on a route his feet remembered, though the city was much changed. The few huddled people that he saw seemed to cringe away and scurry out of his path like beaten dogs. At first this had alarmed him, but now he barely noticed.

How he loved his city! This was what he had fought for, gathered an army greater than any Gondor had known since the days of its ancient glory. Men had flocked to his banner, just as he had said. And the victory had come so easy he had almost doubted it, but no more: they had won finally, he was certain of it. He placed his hand on the wall. The white of the stone under his palm was stained dirty grey by the twilight shadow that lingered at all times, and something in his thought grew restless at the sight, but he shook the feeling away. The dimness was comfortable, like a darkened chamber for rest after toil. The silence was the quiet of peace. He patted the wall absently and went on his way.

Even in the darkness, he cast a long shadow on the ground behind him. It grew against his fading form, against the glint of gold that lay on the loose chain around his neck. It grew with every passing hour, finally silencing even the last desperate portion of his true thought, as it slowly, inevitably, engulfed him.

Comments

[just-ann-now.livejournal.com]

HOLY CRAP!

At first I thought it was Zombiefied!Boromir, and that was cool (and creepy), but this is...wow. Just "wow".

*Stands and applauds your creeperifical skills*

[illwynd.livejournal.com]

Heheh! *bows and grins in a creepy manner* What can I say, Boromir wanted to get in on the spooky. :p Glad you liked!

[edoraslass.livejournal.com]

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee I thought he was just a ghost, but no, he's being eaten alive by evil!

The silence was the quiet of peace.
K, that's creepy. Considering how much that's really probably not why it's quiet.

This is great! Great and how EVIL you are. Yay!

[illwynd.livejournal.com]

*is evil* ^__^

K, that's creepy. Considering how much that's really probably not why it's quiet.
Heeh, indeed not! I sure wouldn't want to be in Minas Tirith right about then...

Glad to hear you liked this! Thank you!

[sealover-astara.livejournal.com]

Eek, this AU is creeping me out!!! Who would have thought that living!Boromir could be so scary?!

[illwynd.livejournal.com]

*cackles evilly* Personally, I don't know whether to shudder on his behalf or be scared of him here. Maybe both. ^_~ Glad to hear you liked this (if being creeped out is a good thing)!

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

I have a special love for dark AUs in which the Ring doesn't go where it's supposed to go...

[illwynd.livejournal.com]

*nod* There's just so many possibilities for them too, eh? ^_~ Thanks for the comment!

[were-lemur.livejournal.com]

Ooh, wow. I got all braced for "Boromir doesn't realize he's really dead" and then WHAMMO!

Great work.

[illwynd.livejournal.com]

Heeh, in this case he might have been better off if he were... or at least everyone else might have been better off. O_O

Glad you liked this, and thanks!

[alex-quine.livejournal.com]

Great sense of decay and of a battle lost so recently that the memory lingers. Thanks for posting.

[illwynd.livejournal.com]

It certainly would have been creepy, under those circumstances. Thanks, and glad you liked this! ^_^

[lilan14.livejournal.com]

Oh no...poor, poor Boromir *sniffs*

I particularly love this bit: "the victory had come so easy he had almost doubted it." I'm sure that the part of the "old" Boromir that's still there realizes even now that there was no victory...

It's actually a very, very sad piece...

[illwynd.livejournal.com]

Yeah... poor Boromir indeed.

I'm sure that the part of the "old" Boromir that's still there realizes even now that there was no victory...
*nods* Yeah. Just the idea of being trapped inside himself like that is almost as terrifying to me as night-vision Orcs. ^_~

Glad you liked this!

[lilan14.livejournal.com]

Yeah, night-vision Orcs is pretty creepy...but, thanks to cressida0201, I can now imagine Debbie with a powerful flashlight in one hand and some pepper spray in the other! :-D

And yes, "trapped inside himself" pretty much sums it up. Boromir's death is not a happy-ending either, but in a way, I'm glad it didn't come to what you wrote...

Actually, this makes me think of a character from a computer game I've been playing lately: she actually does get lured into the darkness and ends up where you put Boromir in your AU. Fortunately for her, my character was able to turn her back :-p

[roh-wyn.livejournal.com]

OMG! In my mind, this is one of the most frightening scenarios in the entire book!

Oh, and being inevitably engulfed. So sad. *sniff*

[illwynd.livejournal.com]

Heeh, I know what you mean. And it's just worse if part of him was aware of what was really happening, I think.

Glad to hear you liked!

[foxrafer.livejournal.com]

Creepy and sad. Who would have thought I could be pleased he died instead of having this outcome. *g* It's truly fantastic how this twists at the end, from thinking he's a ghost to realizing he's something much worse. Lovely.

[illwynd.livejournal.com]

Who would have thought I could be pleased he died instead of having this outcome. *g*
Yeah, same here... but I'm sure he would rather be dead than be that.

Thanks, and I'm glad you liked this! ^_^

(And sorry it took me so long to reply!)

[blslarner.livejournal.com]

Oh, I agree--too creepy, contemplating Boromir being devoured by the power of the Ring like this, and the Shadow truly taking him and so manifesting itself.