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fellowshippers2006-01-18 08:58 pm
v-angelique.livejournal.com) wrote in fellowshippers2006-01-18 08:58 pm
Brethren, Chapter Three
Title: Bretheren
Author: Viktoria Angelique
Email: viktoria_angelique@hotmail.com
Pairing: DM/VM, perhaps others
Rating: up to NC-17, this part PG
Beta: saura_, who was a major help with this part in clarifying my oft-rambling dialogue, and whose LJ name I can't get to show up properly for the life of me :)
Feedback: I rather enjoy it, so please leave a comment.
Disclaimer: Not real. Just my pathetic brain working here.
Summary: Dominic makes a new friend and learns to fit in a little more.
AN: I’ll try to start on a weekly posting schedule; but recently things have been a bit crazy (ie; I was locked out of my flat for two days and stuck sleeping on a friend’s couch without a computer handy) so my apologies once again for the time between chapters.
Previous Chapters
Dominic scowled to himself as he ladled the quickly cooling broth into his mouth. He knew he was behaving a bit like a child, being so standoffish around the other boys, but he couldn’t help himself. Almost everyone there was a German, and though Dominic spoke German fluently and had lived among Germans his entire life, he suddenly felt like he didn’t belong. Since he had been in Bethlehem, he had done as he was told, participating in everything he was expected to, but he didn’t go out of his way to meet companions. Many of the people who had been on the ship seemed a little childish to him, and those who had lived in Bethlehem all their lives were somehow separated from his own experience, sheltered even. He supposed he could make more of an effort to talk to them, but if he did, what exactly would he talk about?
As he bit down on a piece of cabbage, he thought back on his conversation with Viggo, and realised that it bothered him more than he preferred to let on. Viggo was one of the few people in this community that really interested him, but the things he had alluded to sounded quite dangerous to Dominic, and not quite in synch with the teachings he had come to believe. Indian medicine? That was the sort of thing one heard in children’s stories about witch doctors and fierce, evil warriors with skin red as burnt clay and the blood of the Devil burning in their hearts.
But Viggo spoke of these wild, virile men as one would speak of a brother; a companion. Dominic knew that as members of a Christian community they were expected to convert the natives, and even live with them to achieve their goal, but somehow this reciprocal exchange was not what he had expected.
It was a means to an end, right? Not an end in and of itself. The Moravians had to live with Indians in order to achieve their goal of conversion, and this interaction was a necessary evil. But Dominic didn’t understand what Viggo seemed to be implying—that one could actually learn from those savages that all propaganda taught Europeans to disdain, or at least pity, as less than themselves. Viggo didn’t treat the savages as a tool, a vehicle to salvation, but rather as people that could teach him something about healing. This was new to Dominic, and now he didn’t know what to believe.
“Schuldigung. Setzt jemanden hier?” Dominic looked up, snapped out of his reverie, and shook his head, barely glancing up from his bowl. He gestured to the seat across from him and the newcomer beamed, taking a seat and hungrily tucking in the soup and coarse bread as if it were his last meal. “Wie heissen Sie?” he mumbled around a piece of bread, and Dominic bit back a smile at the spectacle. The stranger’s dark brown hair was mussed, his shirt collar slightly out of place, and his blue eyes wild and unrestrained. It was the opposite of what he had grown to expect from a Moravian, but then, he reasoned, America seemed to be full of surprises.
“Dominic Monaghan.”
“Das ist nicht eine deutsche Name.”
“No, it isn’t a German name at all,” Dominic affirmed. “My parents are from England, but I lived in the Rheinland my whole life… oh I’m sorry, you do speak English, right?”
The other man nodded and stuck out a hand enthusiastically. “Elijah Wood. It’s such a pleasure to meet you, Dominic. These Germans are nice, but it’s never half bad to hear a familiar tongue, don’t you think?”
Dominic merely nodded, taking another sip of his soup. The man spoke perfect English, but he didn’t have a British accent. Didn’t have an accent at all, really, in fact his tone was shockingly neutral, almost a bit like Viggo’s.
“You were born here, I assume?” Dom asked, making the connexion as the other took another hungry slurp of soup. Elijah nodded vigorously in response to Dominic’s question, then his eyes darted around quickly and he dabbed his mouth with a grin, unexpected in comparison to his quite crude method of consumption. Dominic smiled back, though, when he realized that the action was simply a mockery, and the young lad went back to slurping down his soup in ignorance of the haughty looks of those sitting nearby.
“My grandparents were Brits, but my parents were born here,” Elijah continued in answer to Dominic’s question.
“In Pennsylvania?”
“No, on the Chesapeake.”
Dom raised an eyebrow in surprise, idly trailing his spoon through the bowl as he focused more on the conversation than his own nourishment. “How did you come to move here, then?”
“Well, my parents died when I was young. Ironically, they were actually journeying to Bethlehem with the Moravians who came up from Georgia, hoping to keep me in line a bit.”
“And did it work?” Dominic asked, suppressing a grin. His companion laughed heartily and shook his head.
“Not at all, my friend. Not in the slightest. But it also wasn’t quite as simple as all that. Their death actually came right after arrival, both of them from a disease that no one really recognized.”
“Oh, I’m sorry mate.”
“Thanks.” Elijah paused for a moment, his eyes lowering, but the cloud in his features disappeared soon enough and he returned to his story. “In any event, at the time I was eleven, and an orphan. I ran into the woods; didn’t really want to be trapped here.”
“Trapped how?”
“Well I didn’t have much respect for the rules at that point, I guess. Still don’t,” Elijah added with a grin and a wink. “Either way, I didn’t want to be stuck in this society at the time, especially without my parents. So I fled, made for the frontier.”
“But the Moravians got you back?”
“Not immediately. I got very, very lost. Probably would have died, but an Indian woman found me and brought me to her village. Great thing about the natives, is they would never abandon a child in danger. They care too much about children—in their religion, a child is actually a model for adults, so it’s sort of a sacred thing. I wouldn’t disagree with them, either. I mean, it makes sense, even in Christian terms. Jesus always did love the little children, right?”
“Wait, so you were captured by Indians, then?" Dominic’s eyes went wide, never expecting a story like this to come out of such an innocent-looking blue-eyed boy. Elijah’s skin, after all, was pale and unmarred by scars, and he looked much younger than his age, as if he could still be in the children’s choir. Dominic would easily believe that he’d never done a day of hard labour in his life, and he had none of the signs of a former captive, besides.
“No!” The other man frowned; Dominic was obviously missing the point. “I wanted to go. I loved it there, in their village. Lived there till I was fourteen, and learned all sorts of stuff that they would never teach you here.” Dominic was now the one to frown, obviously sensing blasphemy in his words, but he didn’t speak. “My friend… you have no idea. Well you might have some idea, working with Viggo… “ He winked and Dominic just frowned again.
“How do you know that I work with Viggo?”
“He told me himself.” Dominic just stared, but Elijah didn’t seem to want to dwell on the point. "Anyway, that’s not the point. When I was fourteen, Viggo actually came to my village, with some others.”
Dominic nodded, starting to put the pieces together, and let Elijah continue.
“And Viggo… he has a way with words. He convinced me that baptism was right for me. He didn’t tell me that what I had learned was wrong, told me about different kinds of spirituality. It made sense, in a way, and others from the village were converting anyway. He told me that he’d make sure that I could always return to nature when I needed to, escape the village and all that. He told me that he needs that himself, sometimes.”
“And you didn’t find it stifling at all, after living in the woods? No offence, but from what I can tell you don’t seem to like the village all that much.”
“Yeah, well you’ve been here a week, surely time to observe Viggo’s style of supervision?” Dominic just nodded, and wondered a bit at the mischievous gleam in the other’s eye. “He’s hardly a parental figure. I don’t feel trapped, really. As long as I can stay in the single choir, I’m happy.” Dominic wondered at this young man, the first he had met who did not seem to have a genuine interest in marriage and partnership with a female, but didn’t comment, allowing his companion to direct the conversation. “But enough about me. You’re the new one! I’m curious. You said you’ve lived your whole life in Prussia?”
“Aye.”
“Did you like it there?”
“I did, but it was time for a change.”
“I think I might like to go one day. Maybe not Prussia, but somewhere overseas at least. I have British ancestery, so maybe I’d like it there.”
“You may like it indeed, then. I’ve never even been to England, despite being English.”
“Didn’t your parents tell you about it?
“
"A bit, yeah. Though I can’t imagine you there.” He smiled as Elijah shifted from side to side in his chair, food finally forgotten for the time being.
“I don’t see why not,” he answered, slightly indignantly, and Dominic simply smiled.
“No, mate, I don’t mean it in a condescending way, not at all. England’s not so good as all that, is all. The trees are almost all cut down, and there’s very little open land left. You’re quite the restless spirit, aren’t you mate?” Elijah giggled and nodded, annoyance forgotten as soon as it had come, beaming as if he had been given a very high compliment.
“In any case, I imagine America’s just the place for such a disposition. Europe’s nothing but rules and regulations sometimes, especially when you’re from such a station in life as mine,” Dom pointed out, staring into his bowl for a moment.
“Ah.” The other man’s eyes lowered as well, seemingly embarrassed, and he quickly cleared his throat. “Well you may have me right, then… I can’t imagine not having open lands to explore and the ability to roam free whenever I please. Even so, a lot of that can’t be done with the structure of Bethlehem. At least, not officially.” Again, the gleam shone in Elijah’s eyes, and Dominic was slightly nervous. “Don’t worry yourself about that though, not just yet. Best to stay on everyone’s good side whilst you’re new. Still, there are opportunities. Viggo never broke his promise to me, after all. Outside, on the frontier… “ Elijah grinned distantly, a reflective gleam turning his eyes the brightest of blue as he focused on a point in space and lost the conversation for a moment. Then, as quick as he had spaced out, he recovered his train of thought and turned that bright smile on his companion. “Have you ever ridden horses, Dominic?”
“No, I can’t say I have. Horses are the occupation of nobles in Prussia… in fact, I’d scarcely ridden in a carriage before this journey.”
“Well in that case, I shall surely teach you to ride!” Dominic smiled at the vividness of the blue in Elijah’s eyes, and found that he had no problem doing whatever the American suggested, as long as he could see that happy glow.
“Do you ride often?”
“Whenever I have the chance. You’ve been helping Viggo with the medicine, have you not?” Dominic nodded in the affirmative. “Well then, it shall be very simple to borrow a horse from the community. You can gather herbs in the woods. I will accompany you.”
“But how do you get a horse, then?”
“Ah, but that is my job, friend. Someone has to take care of and exercise the animals, and who would find more happiness in that than myself? Except for maybe Viggo, of course, but he is a strange fruit. I’ve seen the man take a horse out alone at night, several times… and well, never mind that. I shouldn’t be saying anything.”
“Wait, what…?”
“Almost time for evening chores!” Elijah exclaimed suddenly, his eyes clouding over as if he had just realised how quick he was to trust. “I hope to see you soon, Dominic.” And with that, Elijah and his dishes were gone, leaving Dominic very confused indeed, scratching his head and trying to make sense of Elijah’s sudden jump from instant friend and confidant to slightly distrustful and wary of divulging details. Still, he supposed, a man’s business is his own, and in any event he would have time to further question Elijah soon enough.
Author: Viktoria Angelique
Email: viktoria_angelique@hotmail.com
Pairing: DM/VM, perhaps others
Rating: up to NC-17, this part PG
Beta: saura_, who was a major help with this part in clarifying my oft-rambling dialogue, and whose LJ name I can't get to show up properly for the life of me :)
Feedback: I rather enjoy it, so please leave a comment.
Disclaimer: Not real. Just my pathetic brain working here.
Summary: Dominic makes a new friend and learns to fit in a little more.
AN: I’ll try to start on a weekly posting schedule; but recently things have been a bit crazy (ie; I was locked out of my flat for two days and stuck sleeping on a friend’s couch without a computer handy) so my apologies once again for the time between chapters.
Previous Chapters
Dominic scowled to himself as he ladled the quickly cooling broth into his mouth. He knew he was behaving a bit like a child, being so standoffish around the other boys, but he couldn’t help himself. Almost everyone there was a German, and though Dominic spoke German fluently and had lived among Germans his entire life, he suddenly felt like he didn’t belong. Since he had been in Bethlehem, he had done as he was told, participating in everything he was expected to, but he didn’t go out of his way to meet companions. Many of the people who had been on the ship seemed a little childish to him, and those who had lived in Bethlehem all their lives were somehow separated from his own experience, sheltered even. He supposed he could make more of an effort to talk to them, but if he did, what exactly would he talk about?
As he bit down on a piece of cabbage, he thought back on his conversation with Viggo, and realised that it bothered him more than he preferred to let on. Viggo was one of the few people in this community that really interested him, but the things he had alluded to sounded quite dangerous to Dominic, and not quite in synch with the teachings he had come to believe. Indian medicine? That was the sort of thing one heard in children’s stories about witch doctors and fierce, evil warriors with skin red as burnt clay and the blood of the Devil burning in their hearts.
But Viggo spoke of these wild, virile men as one would speak of a brother; a companion. Dominic knew that as members of a Christian community they were expected to convert the natives, and even live with them to achieve their goal, but somehow this reciprocal exchange was not what he had expected.
It was a means to an end, right? Not an end in and of itself. The Moravians had to live with Indians in order to achieve their goal of conversion, and this interaction was a necessary evil. But Dominic didn’t understand what Viggo seemed to be implying—that one could actually learn from those savages that all propaganda taught Europeans to disdain, or at least pity, as less than themselves. Viggo didn’t treat the savages as a tool, a vehicle to salvation, but rather as people that could teach him something about healing. This was new to Dominic, and now he didn’t know what to believe.
“Schuldigung. Setzt jemanden hier?” Dominic looked up, snapped out of his reverie, and shook his head, barely glancing up from his bowl. He gestured to the seat across from him and the newcomer beamed, taking a seat and hungrily tucking in the soup and coarse bread as if it were his last meal. “Wie heissen Sie?” he mumbled around a piece of bread, and Dominic bit back a smile at the spectacle. The stranger’s dark brown hair was mussed, his shirt collar slightly out of place, and his blue eyes wild and unrestrained. It was the opposite of what he had grown to expect from a Moravian, but then, he reasoned, America seemed to be full of surprises.
“Dominic Monaghan.”
“Das ist nicht eine deutsche Name.”
“No, it isn’t a German name at all,” Dominic affirmed. “My parents are from England, but I lived in the Rheinland my whole life… oh I’m sorry, you do speak English, right?”
The other man nodded and stuck out a hand enthusiastically. “Elijah Wood. It’s such a pleasure to meet you, Dominic. These Germans are nice, but it’s never half bad to hear a familiar tongue, don’t you think?”
Dominic merely nodded, taking another sip of his soup. The man spoke perfect English, but he didn’t have a British accent. Didn’t have an accent at all, really, in fact his tone was shockingly neutral, almost a bit like Viggo’s.
“You were born here, I assume?” Dom asked, making the connexion as the other took another hungry slurp of soup. Elijah nodded vigorously in response to Dominic’s question, then his eyes darted around quickly and he dabbed his mouth with a grin, unexpected in comparison to his quite crude method of consumption. Dominic smiled back, though, when he realized that the action was simply a mockery, and the young lad went back to slurping down his soup in ignorance of the haughty looks of those sitting nearby.
“My grandparents were Brits, but my parents were born here,” Elijah continued in answer to Dominic’s question.
“In Pennsylvania?”
“No, on the Chesapeake.”
Dom raised an eyebrow in surprise, idly trailing his spoon through the bowl as he focused more on the conversation than his own nourishment. “How did you come to move here, then?”
“Well, my parents died when I was young. Ironically, they were actually journeying to Bethlehem with the Moravians who came up from Georgia, hoping to keep me in line a bit.”
“And did it work?” Dominic asked, suppressing a grin. His companion laughed heartily and shook his head.
“Not at all, my friend. Not in the slightest. But it also wasn’t quite as simple as all that. Their death actually came right after arrival, both of them from a disease that no one really recognized.”
“Oh, I’m sorry mate.”
“Thanks.” Elijah paused for a moment, his eyes lowering, but the cloud in his features disappeared soon enough and he returned to his story. “In any event, at the time I was eleven, and an orphan. I ran into the woods; didn’t really want to be trapped here.”
“Trapped how?”
“Well I didn’t have much respect for the rules at that point, I guess. Still don’t,” Elijah added with a grin and a wink. “Either way, I didn’t want to be stuck in this society at the time, especially without my parents. So I fled, made for the frontier.”
“But the Moravians got you back?”
“Not immediately. I got very, very lost. Probably would have died, but an Indian woman found me and brought me to her village. Great thing about the natives, is they would never abandon a child in danger. They care too much about children—in their religion, a child is actually a model for adults, so it’s sort of a sacred thing. I wouldn’t disagree with them, either. I mean, it makes sense, even in Christian terms. Jesus always did love the little children, right?”
“Wait, so you were captured by Indians, then?" Dominic’s eyes went wide, never expecting a story like this to come out of such an innocent-looking blue-eyed boy. Elijah’s skin, after all, was pale and unmarred by scars, and he looked much younger than his age, as if he could still be in the children’s choir. Dominic would easily believe that he’d never done a day of hard labour in his life, and he had none of the signs of a former captive, besides.
“No!” The other man frowned; Dominic was obviously missing the point. “I wanted to go. I loved it there, in their village. Lived there till I was fourteen, and learned all sorts of stuff that they would never teach you here.” Dominic was now the one to frown, obviously sensing blasphemy in his words, but he didn’t speak. “My friend… you have no idea. Well you might have some idea, working with Viggo… “ He winked and Dominic just frowned again.
“How do you know that I work with Viggo?”
“He told me himself.” Dominic just stared, but Elijah didn’t seem to want to dwell on the point. "Anyway, that’s not the point. When I was fourteen, Viggo actually came to my village, with some others.”
Dominic nodded, starting to put the pieces together, and let Elijah continue.
“And Viggo… he has a way with words. He convinced me that baptism was right for me. He didn’t tell me that what I had learned was wrong, told me about different kinds of spirituality. It made sense, in a way, and others from the village were converting anyway. He told me that he’d make sure that I could always return to nature when I needed to, escape the village and all that. He told me that he needs that himself, sometimes.”
“And you didn’t find it stifling at all, after living in the woods? No offence, but from what I can tell you don’t seem to like the village all that much.”
“Yeah, well you’ve been here a week, surely time to observe Viggo’s style of supervision?” Dominic just nodded, and wondered a bit at the mischievous gleam in the other’s eye. “He’s hardly a parental figure. I don’t feel trapped, really. As long as I can stay in the single choir, I’m happy.” Dominic wondered at this young man, the first he had met who did not seem to have a genuine interest in marriage and partnership with a female, but didn’t comment, allowing his companion to direct the conversation. “But enough about me. You’re the new one! I’m curious. You said you’ve lived your whole life in Prussia?”
“Aye.”
“Did you like it there?”
“I did, but it was time for a change.”
“I think I might like to go one day. Maybe not Prussia, but somewhere overseas at least. I have British ancestery, so maybe I’d like it there.”
“You may like it indeed, then. I’ve never even been to England, despite being English.”
“Didn’t your parents tell you about it?
“
"A bit, yeah. Though I can’t imagine you there.” He smiled as Elijah shifted from side to side in his chair, food finally forgotten for the time being.
“I don’t see why not,” he answered, slightly indignantly, and Dominic simply smiled.
“No, mate, I don’t mean it in a condescending way, not at all. England’s not so good as all that, is all. The trees are almost all cut down, and there’s very little open land left. You’re quite the restless spirit, aren’t you mate?” Elijah giggled and nodded, annoyance forgotten as soon as it had come, beaming as if he had been given a very high compliment.
“In any case, I imagine America’s just the place for such a disposition. Europe’s nothing but rules and regulations sometimes, especially when you’re from such a station in life as mine,” Dom pointed out, staring into his bowl for a moment.
“Ah.” The other man’s eyes lowered as well, seemingly embarrassed, and he quickly cleared his throat. “Well you may have me right, then… I can’t imagine not having open lands to explore and the ability to roam free whenever I please. Even so, a lot of that can’t be done with the structure of Bethlehem. At least, not officially.” Again, the gleam shone in Elijah’s eyes, and Dominic was slightly nervous. “Don’t worry yourself about that though, not just yet. Best to stay on everyone’s good side whilst you’re new. Still, there are opportunities. Viggo never broke his promise to me, after all. Outside, on the frontier… “ Elijah grinned distantly, a reflective gleam turning his eyes the brightest of blue as he focused on a point in space and lost the conversation for a moment. Then, as quick as he had spaced out, he recovered his train of thought and turned that bright smile on his companion. “Have you ever ridden horses, Dominic?”
“No, I can’t say I have. Horses are the occupation of nobles in Prussia… in fact, I’d scarcely ridden in a carriage before this journey.”
“Well in that case, I shall surely teach you to ride!” Dominic smiled at the vividness of the blue in Elijah’s eyes, and found that he had no problem doing whatever the American suggested, as long as he could see that happy glow.
“Do you ride often?”
“Whenever I have the chance. You’ve been helping Viggo with the medicine, have you not?” Dominic nodded in the affirmative. “Well then, it shall be very simple to borrow a horse from the community. You can gather herbs in the woods. I will accompany you.”
“But how do you get a horse, then?”
“Ah, but that is my job, friend. Someone has to take care of and exercise the animals, and who would find more happiness in that than myself? Except for maybe Viggo, of course, but he is a strange fruit. I’ve seen the man take a horse out alone at night, several times… and well, never mind that. I shouldn’t be saying anything.”
“Wait, what…?”
“Almost time for evening chores!” Elijah exclaimed suddenly, his eyes clouding over as if he had just realised how quick he was to trust. “I hope to see you soon, Dominic.” And with that, Elijah and his dishes were gone, leaving Dominic very confused indeed, scratching his head and trying to make sense of Elijah’s sudden jump from instant friend and confidant to slightly distrustful and wary of divulging details. Still, he supposed, a man’s business is his own, and in any event he would have time to further question Elijah soon enough.