After a good deal of procrastinating, I have turned up this little chapter.
Shit happens and Earendil has to deal with the mess.
Onwards to Valinor
No one really expected the Feanorions to snap. On hindsight, they did quite a fair job holding off in their Oath for as long as they did. I shall not enquire as to how many letters of demand they sent to Elwing in my absence. It was to my understanding that it was the three middle brothers who led the charge at the Sacking of Doriath. Perhaps we were all mistaken about how much control Maedhros had left.
I never expected anything untoward that night a seagull flew into my sail and stunned herself. Our standard action would be to bag the bird for a possible breakfast side. At least until said gull transformed into my wife Elwing, complete with that damned Silmaril. Not sure why I didn't just chuck that stone overboard, perhaps I thought it might be worth something in trade. No, there was no nonsense about me wearing that stone on my brow like those silly bards claimed. I never went for bling, which was a bit of a surprise to my Noldor kinsfolk, even now.
I was wondering what I did to offend Lord Ulmo and his Maiar to end up with a hysterical wife on board. Once we got poor Elwing calm enough to start making sense, we realized our home was probably up in flames. I spent a good hour or so cursing Ulmo for not saving my boys as well. Does one need to hold a shiny stone to get their attention? Of course, Olorin will probably start his spiel on sacrifices for the greater good. All the well for him to say, given he was not the one who had his sons brought up by two dangerously unstable guardians. Fine, Elwing was a bit flaky, but at least she is no kinslayer.
I was debating whether to risk my crew and wife by returning to Sirion to try getting our babies back when who should pop up but Lord Ulmo himself. Basically, he wanted me to hand over the gem and he would lead us to Valinor. Oh, and he gave us reassurances my parents were alive and doing well on some island and my sons were in good hands. Naturally, I did not buy his fairy tale, so he decided to just drag us all to Aman, Vingilote, Silmaril and all.
Well, I did not agree to any deal and if he wanted to act all pirate-like about it, I was not giving him that stupid gem without a fight. The minute we made landfall, I took the Silmaril and hopped off my ship with Ulmo roaring behind me. There was this golden-haired guy Eonwe waiting on the quay who offered to take me to meet the King of the Valar. That shut Lord Ulmo up. Great. I suppose if he is the king of the Valar, we could get an army to go back and thrash the Feanorions to avenge my sons.
It did not work out the way I expected though. The Valar took an awful long time to get anything done. I had loads of time to share our experiences in the Hither Shores as they call it with our new friends. In the course of offering to fix up my ship, Lord Aule made her fly. I accepted the offer as she was looking a tad battered after being dragged to Aman by Ulmo after all. Elwing settled in with her distant kinsfolk in Alqualonde and they even built her a tower like the one back home. Then came the Choice. We both chose elfhood. It would be really awkward to put our newfound kin off by going grey and dying in the Mannish style.
There was some pesky rule about us no more setting foot on Middle-earth or Beleriand. The only way I could bypass this was by accepting the job offer of carrying the Silmaril through the sky on the prow of my new and improved Vingilote. No, I do not wear it on my brow like the bards claimed. It is my prow, not brow.
Flying took a bit of getting used to. I had Great Eagles guiding me along. Let's face it, those birds are far more agile than my vessel could ever hope to be. You will never catch me doing loop-the-loops and somersaults through the clouds. Part of me missed the sea, but on the other hand, I did greatly piss off the Lord of the Waters and I am not too sure of his goodwill.
Somehow, I managed to get myself a place in the great army from Valinor heading east to smite Morgoth. Wait now, I would be content just smiting the Feanorions to avenge my boys or getting them back alive and well. When did Morgoth get into the equation? I mean, that problem has been bugging Arda before the Sun and Moon rose. Why now? If you meant to do something about it, you could have acted earlier, like before Gondolin fell. Or did I just happen to waltz in amidst your big war council to smite Morgoth and got caught up in it?
It was about this time as I was kissing my now far saner wife farewell that I reflect that the Valar had no clue what we are doing at all. I mean, downing a few tankards of ale with Lord Orome and having him go all maudlin about Celegorm the Fair? Or listening to Lord Aule singing praises of Feanor the smith and his son? I did not swear any false promises to Elwing about our boys. I had no guarantee after all the years spent in council with the Valar if they were still alive, taken in by a loving family or what not. I had the sense that they might not be that keen on coming to Valinor at all.
Author's Notes:
Earendil senses he is caught up in something way, way over his head. During the time Earendil is sitting in council with the Valar, his boys are being brought up by their loving foster dads.