shieldmaiden_rohan

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sansa

For Sansa

The days grew colder and they reminded Eowyn more and more of her own land as they shortened and darkened. She was still alone in this place, even with the friends that she had, and she missed her people. She missed the weather, the smell of fires to keep warm as the harvest was brought in, and the way the horses' fur grew more shaggy to keep them warm. Bleod was, in Eowyn's mind, best seen with a full winter coat, even though it also meant much grooming in the spring as the mare lost the now-unneeded coat.

Today she was grooming her mare in the shelter of the practice yards at the stables and speaking to her mare quietly in Rohirric. One of the other horses had been nippy today, and Bleod's fur was ruffled in multiple ways. Eowyn was wearing garments more suited to Rohan than to here, since it was cold, and knew that she was an interesting sight, with her horse and her attire and the way she spoke. She did not care. She was of the Mark, and so she would always be.

When another person came closer, she looked up and smiled at the young woman.

"Well-met, Lady."

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"So he told you about Brienne," Sansa says with a small smile. "She was a dear friend, and as capable a knight as any could be. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for her." She has no qualms about saying as much. Physically speaking, she's not a fighter, and she owes a great deal to Brienne and her loyalty, the oath she kept when many others wouldn't have.

"Was that common where you're from, to be a shieldmaiden, or was it unusual?"

She was glad to hear the Lady speak so well of her knight companion. Loyalty was in both directions, and she respected not anyone who did not realize that. It was clear that Lady Sansa did, however.

"It is known and honored by our people, but not many choose such a life," she admitted. "I know of no other shieldmaidens, though they were common in earlier times when our people were more actively at war."

"We never did," Sansa says. "As far as I know, Brienne was the first." She likes the thought of it, though. Though she's more given to traditionally feminine activities herself, Brienne and Arya might be the two best fighters she's ever seen. It's difficult to imagine Arya being much for rules and order, but it also seems rather pointless to restrict such a profession to men when women are equally capable.

"It's strange here, isn't it? With nothing of the sort at all."

"Quite strange," Eowyn agreed. "There are those here whose lands have never been at war and never been threatened by other peoples. I do not truly understand this, though I sometimes envy them their innocence of such things."

The Mark had been threatened for more than a generation. Peaceful times were desired, but not looked for. Perhaps if the Armies of the West were triumphant in the battle Aragorn had joined, there would be peace.

"So do I," Sansa says, her expression a little bittersweet. They'd had a few months of peace before she arrived here, and she has to believe that they wound up better for the hardship they went through. It will take a lot more time than that to heal, though; some wounds will never do so entirely. So much of what happened shouldn't have had to. Of course she can't help but envy people who've never had to experience that sort of strife.

"Odd as it is, at least it's one thing to appreciate here."

"Indeed so, among so many things I do not know that I appreciate," Eowyn agreed a bit wryly. "Certainly I do not object to my chambers being warmed without a fire at all times, nor bathing without the water being brought to me. But I do not believe I will ever like cars. Far preferable to me are horses such as these."

"Oh, they're terrifying," Sansa says with a slightly exaggerated shudder. She's been assured that they're safe, but it's still strange and disarming to see them tearing down the streets at seemingly impossible speeds. Whatever else there is to appreciate and even enjoy here, she tends to miss certain aspects of the way things were at home, too.

"Some of it is convenient, I can understand that, but they're hardly necessary to get from one place to another. Horses would do just as well."

Eowyn chuckled. Perhaps the Lady Sansa exaggerated her dislike of the cars slightly, but Eowyn understood such feelings entirely and would not question them. She had tried to continue to ride Bleod as much as possible for the same reasons.

"I rarely use one," she agreed. "And never have I driven one. Never will I drive one. If I cannot carry my supplies on my back or with the assistance Bleod, I do not need them."

"I got by without one for my whole life before I got here," Sansa says, "and I've been fine since then, too." Of course, it's easy to think of times that a mode of transportation like that would have been very useful, but that probably wouldn't even be the case if everyone had them, as they seem to here. "It's not even a very big place, is it? And half the time, they seem to just... sit there."'

Traffic is about as new to her as cars are, and it strikes her as completely pointless.

"Yes, waiting for a small light to change colors so that they may drive before they sit further," Eowyn joked. "The colors do seem to prevent them from having as many misunderstandings about who may go when, but still I think horses are best. They will determine for themselves who may go, and we go with them when they do."

When a horse decided it would go, especially one of the Mearas, it went.

"It's much simpler, isn't it?" Sansa asks, smiling in amusement. Of course, she's never tried to drive a car, and knows very little about what doing so would entail, but it still strikes her as excessively complicated. Had she grown up here, in a place where driving cars is normal and riding horses something it seems that comparatively few people do and only for leisure, she's sure it would be different, but the same could be said of just about everything here.

No matter how well she can go through the motions, she doesn't quite fit. It's nice not to be the only one for whom that's the case.

"But no, they'd rather all ride around in machines that seem to break down all the time."

"And need to be provided with fuel that smells far worse than a bale of hay," Eowyn agreed. She would admit that what came out the far end of a horse was not quite as pleasant-smelling, but she did not think the smoke and smells that came from the far end of a car was pleasant either.

Bleod perked her ears at the word hay and Eowyn chuckled.

"Bleod things that she should be given these things whenever they are spoken of."

"Of course she does," Sansa says with a little smile. She hasn't spent a lot of time caring for animals, but she's still been around them enough to know that they're smart enough to recognize things they enjoy like that, or things they don't. "At least there's plenty of that here. And all this open space. If it were just the city, it would feel far more... confining."

She doesn't dislike it, exactly. Its trappings are unpleasant, but under the look and the strangeness of it, she knows she's been worse places. Still, she wouldn't want there to be nothing but that. A break from it, a little peace and quiet, goes a long way.

Eowyn patted her mare, since there would be no hay at this moment, and Bleod snuffled in a way that left Eowyn with no uncertainty as to the meaning.

"I was fortunate to be given chambers near to the ocean, so that I might walk there, but when I moved to the countryside I found myself far more comfortable."

It was unfortunate that her comfort was due to Aragorn's departure, but she thought he would wish his cabin to be used and not to rot into the earth.

"I live near the ocean now," Sansa says, nodding in understanding. It's a nice area to live in, at least compared to some of the other parts of the city, but she knows she would be happier living out in the country. Of course, it still wouldn't feel like home — nothing else ever could — but it would be a far more familiar and comfortable setting for her. These past few months, she's been so focused on getting settled that she hasn't considered moving, but it might be something to look into at some point.

"It's something, at least, but living in the countryside sounds much nicer."

"There may be a home available for you," Eowyn noted. "There have been some that have departed here, and their dwellings were left. I do not know what condition they are in, but you could speak with someone about it if you would wish."

She had been fortunate that her dwelling had been left and she had been able to show to the city that she had known the former inhabitant. She cared for the Lady Galadriel's treehouse as well, though she had never dwelled in it. She was not a creature of the trees as the Lady had been. The Rohirrim were creatures of the land.

"I ought to look into that," Sansa says, pleased by the idea. Nothing will be what she's used to, not in a place like this, and she's learning to be alright with that. Regardless of the condition, though, she does think she would prefer somewhere quieter out in the country than the apartment where she lives now. The extra space might be nice, too, though she's not used to having to care for her own lodgings. There have always been other people to do that for her.

"It's still not terribly far from everything else, but not right in the middle of it, either. I think I'd like that."

"Indeed so," Eowyn replied, in agreement with all parts of that statement. "And it is not as far from the stables as the Ocean View Apartments, so that you may ride as often as you like."

That was a detail that was most important to her, though she did not know its importance to Lady Sansa.

"I would like that," Sansa says with a smile. At least it's one way of feeling closer to home, different as even this part of Darrow may be to look at. She'll take what she can get on that front, since actually going home is out of the question. She still wishes she were there, certain that she would be happier that way, but it isn't as if there's anything she can do about that.

"Thank you for the advice. I think it was easier, when I got here, just to stay where they put me, but now there's no need to."

“Of a certainty it would be,” Eowyn agreed. “This world is so different from the worlds that we left that some measure of simplicity and certainty is welcome at first. But when it is not needed, it can become less useful and more confining.”

She was confident the Lady Sansa would move into the countryside in due time.

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