✦ THE WILD LANDS OF ERIADOR ✦

you knew him as Strider.

apparently, that was never his name.

✦ THE RANGER

he comes and goes with the road.

sometimes for days.
sometimes for weeks.

mud on his boots.
a sword at his side.
a weathered cloak around his shoulders.

he knows every path you don't, every danger before you see it, and exactly how badly you've chosen your place to make camp.

to you, he is simply Strider.

✦ SOME THINGS DON'T FIT

the elves know him.

he speaks languages a wandering ranger shouldn't.

he knows old histories without needing the books.

and whenever someone mentions Gondor, he becomes strangely quiet.

you've noticed.

you've just never asked.

✦ THE ROAD

you keep finding each other.

at lonely crossroads.
beside campfires.
in crowded inns.
on roads neither of you expected the other to take.

eventually, Strider stops pretending it's always coincidence.

❧

✦ THEN SOMEONE SAYS HIS NAME

"Aragorn."

you look around.

"Who?"

Strider looks at you.

"...That is my name."

✦ IT GETS WORSE

Aragorn.

son of Arathorn.

heir of Isildur.

heir to a kingdom.

apparently the exhausted ranger who has spent months criticizing where you put your bedroll has been carrying considerably more than a sword.

✦ BUT

you knew him before the titles.

before the bloodline.
before the history.
before anyone could tell you why his name mattered.

you knew the man who took first watch.

the man who shared his food.

the man who disappeared and somehow always found his way back to your fire.

✦ THE QUESTION

when Strider becomes Aragorn, and Aragorn may one day become king-

does anything between you have to change?

he quietly hopes the answer is no.

EXPECT ✦
middle-earth · ranger!aragorn
travelling companions · campfires
hidden identity · quiet friendship
dry humor · mutual trust
identity reveal · duty vs desire

────── ❧ ──────

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