ENCOUNTER


1.

It was late in the evening when Tabrîl first saw them, a group of elves huddled round a small campfire, leaning in as if they craved its warmth, its light. The glow upon their own faces, however, was no mere reflection, and at once she knew them for what they were.

Hivaranna'i. Exiles.

Those who had returned from the Uttermost West. Tabrîl had heard tales of the ill-fated stand they had taken against Ba'ilkôro. She had heard enough to be convinced that their lack of good judgement was as apparent now as it had been when they had chosen to leave. What had they gained? Nothing but a little light, and that was something the world already had in abundance. Tabrîl had no need of fire, not with the stars to light her way.

She watched them a little longer, listened to their whispers in their strange, sundered language that was not even akin to that of the people of Elwë that had also settled nearby. That tongue, Sindarin, Tabrîl had already gained fluency in. It was required, for one of her status. For a m'had'i, a warrior of the Kindi people.

Her elder brother had told her that the word the Exiles held for the Kindi meant 'Unwilling.' Since learning of this, she had been predisposed to dislike them. It showed a profound lack of understanding, and for a people who seemed to consider themselves wise, and to expect others to do likewise? It was nigh-on unforgivable. Keshai, her brother, had agreed with her on the matter. He had spoken with them, and found them most disagreeable.

It was Keshai who had sent her forward, to scout for anything that might impede their progress north-east, towards the river crossing. It was important, he had said, for them to keep clear an eastern path. Due north of them lay the fortresses of Ba'ilkôro, who was kept at bay only by the watch the Exiles kept on the mountains. Keshai did not trust them to maintain this, or so Tabrîl surmised. It was not a thing he might discuss with her.

The presence of these elves, however, was something he ought to be made aware of, and so she spent only a few minutes in observation before she slipped away, back in the direction from which she had came. They had not spotted her, of that she was certain. There was a particular skill to moving unseen and unheard over the land, and it was something Tabrîl took great care with. She moved without a sound, without even the slightest jingle of the silver honor-rings she wore at her belt.

It was all very well for her to do so, she thought with a hint of amusement. She had few enough, she had not been m'had'i very long. It was probably a little more difficult for someone like Keshai, or Aklâro who was his second.

Keshai was there waiting for her when she returned, standing some distance from the others. No doubt she had taken too long with her errand, but she did not think he would mind overmuch, not when he heard what she had seen.

'Sister.' Keshai stepped forward to clasp her hand, and while his countenance remained as solemn as usual, Tabrîl could tell from this small gesture that he was pleased to see her. She knew her brother well enough to read him, better than most. 'What can you tell me of our northern path?'

'It is clear for some distance,' she replied evenly, 'and certainly clear of the servants of the Enemy, but – there are a group of Hivaranna'i very close to us. I suspect they have come from across the river, although I could not say for what purpose.'

Keshai sighed. 'That will make matters more difficult,' he muttered. 'This is not Kindi land we stand upon.'

'Neither is it the land of the Hivaranna'i,' said Tabrîl.

'And that should make a difference? They should claim Kordâla, or even Kuiviénen itself if only they could travel far enough eastward to do so, and it would make no difference to them who dwelt there – Kindi, or Penni, or even those brief-lived Aftercomers.'

'Then that is why they are here?'

Tabrîl's scepticism must have been evident, for Keshai frowned deeply. 'It is. They will give other reasons – revenge, I have heard them say most often, but were that so, they would not act as they do.'

'I suppose that is true.' Tabrîl shrugged. 'As long as they do not encroach upon what is ours, I do not see that their actions matter.'

'Perhaps not.' Keshai turned then, and looked over at the rest of their company. They totalled twelve, all in the grey and dark green that marked out the warriors of their people, and most stood idly now, waiting for Keshai to decide whether or not to go forward. 'How many were they?' he asked Tabrîl then.

'I saw seven at their campsite,' she answered. 'That is not to say that there are not more, but I remained there several minutes and saw no others.'

Keshai nodded. 'We will go around them, then,' he decided. 'It is better that they do not know of our plans, but they are no threat to us. It is likely they are simply passing through these lands to reach their realms further westward.'

'I shall tell the others that we are to leave at once, then,' Tabrîl offered. Her brother's decision sounded sensible enough to her, there was no sense in further delay. She hesitated a moment though, wanting to say something more. 'Keshai...?'

'Yes, my sister?'

'It is the first time I have seen any of the Hivaranna'i. They looked strange, with that light all about them, as if they were not elves at all but some other, shining creatures. What has changed them so?'

Tabrîl could tell that Keshai was reluctant to give her any answer at all, she could see the hesitation in his eyes, but then he shook his head and said: 'It is not for us to know what befell them when they left, to make them as they are. And, Tabrîl, if you are ever to converse with them, you must not place much trust in their stories. They delight in telling flagrant untruths to elves they wish to look down upon, and I would not have you so deceived.'

'I will not be,' Tabrîl said. 'I do not trust them, brother, not when I know well your opinion of them. I simply remarked that they were strange.'

'And that is true enough,' Keshai agreed. 'Perhaps you ought to learn their language – you and Rahilal and Linyô,' he said, naming two others of their company. 'I shall ask Mother Tathilei when we return home. It might not have gone well for you, had they spotted you.'

'They would not have spotted me,' Tabrîl protested, but there was a smile on her face as she did so. That she was to be recommended to Tathilei pleased her, and she suspected Keshai knew it.

'If you say it,' he replied with a faint smirk of amusement, half-teasing. 'But you must go now and tell the others that we must leave, else we shall be here until morning.'

2.

One month later:

'Tabrîl!'

She was disturbed from her rest by the shout, and recognized Aklâro's voice at once. He had gone to the riverbank that morning, and had not been expected back until late afternoon. Yet here he was, and the urgency of his tone led her to hurry over to him. Aklâro was tall, even by the reckoning of their people, and today his light brown hair was unbraided. Untidy, Tabrîl thought, and she wondered if he had not had the time to attend to it. Usually Aklâro was one of the more light-hearted of their group, but today he wore an expression of deep concern, and it was not long before Tabrîl could see why.

Another elf stepped out from the bushes behind them. An elf of the Hivaranna'i, the Exiles, and one that looked uncannily familiar to Tabrîl. She had seen him before, she was certain of it. His people had grown bolder of late, and ventured ever closer to Kindi territory and the outward routes they maintained, but none had dared make themselves known at one of her people's outpost camps before. She stepped forward, began to ask hesitantly: 'Who is-?'

'Where is Keshai?' Aklâro interrupted her abruptly, flustered.

'Keshai?' Tabrîl blinked. 'He and Rahilal left a short while ago. They intend to report back to the hall.'

Aklâro scowled. It clearly wasn't the answer he had been hoping for. 'Very well,' he said, 'I shall have to catch up to them. You stay here, and watch over him.' He gestured vaguely towards the foreign elf that stood behind him.

'What is it that brings him here?' Tabrîl's brow creased in puzzlement.

'He wishes,' Aklâro replied a little impatiently, 'to see Keshai. His people dwell on the other side of the river, and they have learnt that we guard this ford. That is why he is here.'

Tabrîl nodded, knowing that if Aklâro was to catch up to her brother, he would need to leave quickly. 'I shall watch him,' she agreed. It seemed to be all the assurance Aklâro needed, for he promptly rushed off to begin his journey back towards the hall.

When he was gone, Tabrîl simply sat back down without a word to the Hivaran-elf. It was not that she could not speak to him. On the contrary, Tabrîl was learning Quenya quite rapidly, and was glad that she had been allowed to do so. It was not such an outlandish tongue as she had feared. She had even discovered that it was akin to her own language in a few places, and she was making the effort to commit to memory every word that was told to her. She could have attempted conversation, however stilted.

But no, Tabrîl would not speak to him. He had approached them, and that meant he had no fear of them. She wanted to see what he would do, left seemingly alone within their camp.

At first, it seemed that he would do nothing but stand there, in obstinacy or in bewilderment she could not say, but eventually he walked slowly over to her, and sat down beside her. Then, to Tabrîl's utter amazement, he spoke words of greeting. In Sindarin. Strangely-accented Sindarin, to be sure, but Sindarin nonetheless, and she wondered if he mistook her for one of Elwë's people. It had not occurred to her that he might have learnt a language other than his native tongue. It was difficult to imagine the arrogant Hivaranna'i that Keshai had spoken of doing so.

For a moment longer she was silent, and then she looked back at him and said: 'And who are you?'

He appeared taken aback by her blunt response to his courtesy, but merely smiled back at her and said, 'My name is Calnor Arannion. Once of Tirion, now of Dor Caranthir.'

'Calnor.' Tabrîl raised an eyebrow. He named himself in Sindarin also, she noted. 'Perhaps you do not know that we do not take kindly to intruders in our midst.'

'I am hardly an intruder,' he said. 'Your companion invited me to wait here until your lord returns, so that I might speak with him.' He paused for a moment, considering his words. 'And would it be too much for me to ask your name?'

'Tabrîl,' she replied curtly. 'Tabrîl of the Kindi, and we do not have a 'lord.' We do not recognize such titles. My companion, as you say it, has gone to fetch Keshai yon'Habti yon'Safwë who commands this outpost. It is he that you will speak with.' She decided against informing him that Keshai was her brother. It was not necessary that he know it, and likely as not it would only complicate matters.

'As long as he will discuss the matter of the river crossing with me,' replied Calnor. 'I live with my daughters on the other side, and it is of concern to my village that your people have been seen so frequently there.' He ran a hand through his dark hair, looking uncomfortable.

'By the river?' Tabrîl frowned. 'We guard that place. We keep it safe. For your people as well as our own, it would seem.'

'Yes...' Calnor sighed. 'We simply wish to be sure of it, perhaps to establish some form of agreement with our Avarin neighbours.'

Tabrîl tensed at the insult. Avarin. Unwilling. So it always was with these Exiles. 'You shall discuss it with M'had Keshai,' she said carefully, with finality, and crossed her arms, lapsing into silence. This seemed to cause Calnor even more discomfort, if the way he fidgeted and picked at the hem of his finely-made tunic was any indication.

'Are you a warrior, Calnor of the Hivaranna'i?' she asked finally, several minutes later. He carried a blade, she had noted, but that meant little among his people, and his nervous demeanour was certainly at odds with the stoic ideals that the Kindi valued.

The question took him by surprise, and he fixed his gaze upon the far horizon as he answered. 'I am not. That is to say, I was not. I was but a simple tailor, in Tirion. Yet we all must take up arms at need, and the need has been great in years past. It still may be. I will not hear accusations from you, understand. Sometimes the price of duty is high indeed.'

Tabrîl watched him intently, intrigued. She had made no accusations, nor questioned his sense of duty, and so his words seemed incongruous to her. His mind was troubled, she supposed, and that was not so unexpected, after what he had told her. 'You say that you are not, and yet you are,' she remarked. 'Such uncertainty must be quite the burden.'

'It might be called that.'

It would be prudent, Tabrîl thought, for her to drop the subject. Among the Kindi, either one was a warrior or one was not, and probing further into Calnor's circumstances would almost certainly be inappropriate. The ways of the Exiles were strange, and doubtless it would not be long until Aklâro returned with Keshai.

((Notes: The language and culture of the Avarin tribe in this story is entirely non-canon – but then Tolkien never really told us much about them to begin with. It's perhaps unlikely that the Avari made it this far west, but not impossible, and so this is really a 'what-if' story. Calnor and any other Noldor that may make an appearance, unless otherwise stated, are just regular elves, commoners of no particular significance to history. ))