Title: 'What I Live For'
Author: Calenlass Greenleaf
Disclaimer: My last name isn't Tolkien. It's Greenleaf (Yes, it is, though in a different language.) Characters belong to him and him only.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: LOTR in general
Warnings: Angst warning
Genre: Angst/General.
Summary: 'Everyone lives for something. No life is pointless.' Aragorn POV—in first person (Actually, if you think about it, this could be any ranger's POV). Written for OAA prompt 114—Free.
A/N: "My people" in general refers to the Dúnedain.
What I Live For
"That they live as if they will never die… and die as though they had never lived."
- From "Interview with God"
Rangers are odd folk in the eyes of many. The common folk gaze upon us with a mixture of fear, contempt, or disgust.
It is small wonder that they do not know that in every Dúnedain, a philosopher exists. For our travels in solitude give us much time to think, to ponder the shortcomings and longcomings of life.
Though our lifespan is longer than that of most, we are still mortal—susceptible to disease, wounds, and death. Perhaps it is our longer time on Middle-earth that makes us judge life more harshly than others do. We find ourselves answering questions that seem to baffle others, and our knowledge is only surpassed by the Eldar.
There is one particular question that everyone has asked at least once in there lifetime—
"What is the meaning of life?"
I do my best to answer it; though I am quite sure others may speak differently or have a better reply.
Everyone lives for something. No life is pointless. But it is possible to live either for good or for evil.
Rulers lives for the sake of their realms. Parents live for their children. Scholars live for learning. Artisans live for the crafts. Warriors live for fighting.
Robbers live for stealing. Assassins live for the thrill of taking lives. Drunkards live for wine. The rich live for their money. Sloths live for themselves.
Others do not live for things, but for beliefs.
Such as love.
Faith.
Hope.
Freedom.
And others, bitterness.
Hate.
Anger.
Pain.
Whether they wish to admit it or not, everyone lives for something.
"Then what does a Ranger live for?" You ask. "For glory? Fame? Power?"
"Nay, not any of these things," is my reply. "Things that are so much simpler."
I live for so many things—my family, my friends, my people, and even for strangers who distrust my kin and I.
I live for hope, and in hope.
The list stretches on and on, and not ever a book as thick has a thousand pages or more could fill it. For I live not in vain.
If you were to ask me what is the thing that drives me on, the thing that I live for the most?
My answer is but one word.
Freedom.
I live so that others may have this freedom. For those I love. For those who know me. For those who scorn me. For those who live not in fear of the Shadow in the East, but live in the hope that light will someday dispel the darkness that creeps ever upon us.
And if I were to die in the attempt to bring freedom, I die willingly, without fear or murmur.
For I know I am not alone in my goal. Others will take it upon themselves to finish that which I have not completed.
Freedom is the pledge upon our lips when we fight, the thing that spurs us on—
There is no nobler thing than this, the thing I live for.
Freedom.
The End
Translations:
Eldar – Elves in general
Side note:
The prompt was partially inspired by one sentence from Interview with God, a slideshow detailing an anonymous person asking God a few questions. If you wish to read the transcript, it can be found in my LJ, on June 1, 2008 (It's not locked). Or you can search "Interview with God" on Google. I can't post a link because FF-Net eats links. :(
A/N: I apologize if I seem to ramble in this. A headache's been plaguing me for the past two to three days, and my mind's not very clear. But the muses decided to attack me, so I was thus force into writing (I'm not exactly complaining; it's been very productive this way!).
A/N #2: Yes, yes, I will soon post a real story—at least, new chapter for my WIPs.