Disclaimer: I own none of the characters within.

Author's Notes: Am I the only one who does not find Grima repulsive? He moves me as tragically as Gollum, and it is through my fascination of these two characters that their parallels manifested before me. The following poem was created.

Fractured

Once

There were two beings

So different

And yet

The same

One

Born with the silvertongue

The other

Born with the curiosity

Both

Destined for greatness

Through his tongue

The one became wise

And renowned

Through his curiosity

The other became clever

And loved

Through a Ring

Both were destroyed

For the one

It brought a Wizard

And a promise of glory

For the other

It brought a Madness

And a promise of power

Both

Were twisted forever

The one

Began his lies

The other

His first murder

Both

Were cruelly labeled

The one

Became the Wormtongue

The other

Became the Gollum

Both

Were rejected

Lost

Helpless

They turned to their masters

The one

Turned to his Wizard

The other

Turned to his Precious

Both

Sunk deeper in despair

Through the pain

Through the years

Things changed

And things became

Ever more complicated

The one

Told lies

So well that even he

Saw it as the truth

And drew the veil over them all

The other

Went under

So deep that even he

Saw new hatred for the sun

And drew the veil over himself

Both

Further lost

The eyes of both

Hold a thousand tormented secrets

Of deception bleeding

And best friends slaughtered

Wide and intelligent

They reflect the horrors of the world

And yet the eyes are different

The one

Bleary

And red-rimmed with weakness

The other

Sharpened

And sparking with insanity

Both

Wise beyond their time

And then

Everything changed

As a figure entered each world

And ruined everything

For the one

It was a King revitalized

For the other

It was a Thief of the trickiest sort

For both

It was catastrophe

A Grey Wizard fell on them both

For the one

Driven from the Golden Halls

For the other

Driven from the Hiding Caves

For the both

The first time out in the world

For far too long

Confused

And angry

They again sought their masters

For the one

It was his Wizard

Lagging at his heels in the Tower

For the other

It was his Precious

Lagging at the heels of the one who bore It

For both

Only momentary relief

And then both faltered

A tragic mistake is made

One

Angry and ashamed

Hurtled the Stone

From the highest point

The other

Insane and desperate

Led Master to death

By the venoms of She

Both

Humiliated and repentant

A moment too late

Retribution came swiftly

For the one

A thousand secret crimes

Perpetrated during the night

Controlled by another

For the other

A thousand inner arguments

Trailing through the Dark Land

Searching for Master

Both

Plagued by guilt

Between the two of them

Countless agonies

Whispered to the stars

Trying to break away

From their horrible masters

And unable to

Even with freedom a breath away

Darkness is closing

On two lost souls

Weak and weary

Looking for a way out

Redemption is near

As both rise to destroy the masters

That have ruined their lives

And the lives of many

For the one

Pulling a secret knife

Slitting a wicked throat

For the other

Feeding the flames

Destroying the Power

Both

Tragic nobility

But they are not redeemed

And the penalty of death

Has long ago been branded

Upon these wretches

One

Riddled with arrows

In the midst of his run for freedom

The other

Plunged into hell

In his final ecstasy of euphoria

Both

A final sacrifice

On the altar of poetic justice

Both were born happy

And slid to decay

Sucked into the mires of sorrow

Both spent years in darkness

Festering in their anger

Worshipping their masters

And both rose

To free the world of evil

And yet

For their worthy efforts

And their vanquishing of evil

Releasing the world from its' two worst enemies

They were murdered

For this final act of liberation

They were slaughtered

For the first time

In their long and cold lives

They went forth and did something good

They accomplished

What the Hero could not

And for that they were forfeit

But perhaps

It is better that way

In their victory

They glimpsed rapture

Their first exultation

Their last exultation

The ultimate deliverance from sorrow

And then the blessed darkness

Two kindred souls

Drifting through life

Beaten and abused

Shrinking and shrunken

And yet the only witnesses

To the final ecstasies

Of a soul redeemed

Perhaps they'll meet

In some world beyond worlds

And perhaps in the others' eyes

They will see their own tragic life

Recreated and reborn

Cursed upon another

And they will realize

They were not alone

Tears will fall

For those lost

~ The End