"The Winter Broke", by Himring ("In the Bitter Rain" Challenge)

[hhimring]

Title : The Winter Broke
Author : Himring
Fandom/Source : LOTR, Appendix A II (The House of Eorl)
Rating : PG13
Characters : Hild, sister of Helm Hammerhand and mother of his successor Frealaf
Disclaimer : Tolkien's characters (no offence intended, no monetary recompense received).
Spoilers/Warnings : Even the longest winter breaks. (Although this is probably not a spoiler?) That one was the worst winter ever, for the Rohirrim...
Summary: In Dunharrow, Hild experiences the end of the Long Winter.

Hild lifted up her face into the rain. It was coming down in torrents and bitterly cold, but at least it was not snow. Indeed, it was rapidly washing away the banked-up snow around Dunharrow. Many new streams ran down the slopes of Starkhorn and Irensaga. At the bottom of Harrowdale, the Snowbourne was already in flood.
Too late. The thaw had come too late for her brother, her nephew Hama and so many others. Starved and soaked, she stood, finally allowing herself to weep.
Better late than never. She went to see to her son’s and her people’s needs.

A/N: The title is from LOTR, Appendix A II. This drabble is paired with a drabble from a female POV from the other side of the conflict, just posted to tolkien_weekly, but the two drabbles can be read quite independently.

Comments

[liadt]

This left me wanting to find a blanket to keep warm!

[hhimring]

At least, unlike her brother, Hild didn't freeze into a statue of ice!
And things in Rohan improve from this point on.

[fredbassett]

Very vivid! That's not a period I've thought much about, but this makes me want to read more.

[hhimring]

I wrote a couple of drabbles for Tolkien Weekly set in that period some time ago, but I remembered I hadn't managed to get Hild in, so here she is. The other little set focussed on her niece, Helm's daughter.