Disclaimer: It all belongs to JRR.Tolkien. Taken from the Silmarillion.
All reviews are appreciated. Big thanks to Vana Tuivana for the suggestions!
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"Just a little higher, Nelyo."
Gritting his teeth, Nelyafinwë gripped the bark from the tree and stood on his tip toes, trying to give Kano, who stood on his shoulders, some added height.
"Wait… I think I have it."
He looked up and saw Kanafinwë's frown and his tongue sticking out of his mouth as he struggled to reach the ball stuck in the tree.
"Kano, hurry," he said with a frown. His younger brother wasn't as light as he looked.
"Wait! Do not move… I think I…" Nelyafinwë cringed as Kano's weight shifted to his right shoulder and the tips of his slippers dug painfully into him. "I got it!"
Holding the tree, Kanafinw got off Nelyafinwë's shoulders and jumped to the ground.
Rolling his shoulders to ease the tense pain, Nelyafinwë stood up straight looking at the leather ball secure in Kanafinwë's grasps.
"Do you know why they keep opening and closing their mouth?"
Nelyafinwë turned, looking at the fair haired elfling squatting by the pond.
"No," he answered flatly turning to Kanafinw and holding his hands up to catch the ball which used to be stuck in the tree. The ball which Turkafinwë had gotten stuck in the tree.
Kano smiled and threw the ball to him.
"I think I know," Turkafinwë continued.
"Good for you."
"I think they are hungry," Turkafinwë said.
Nelyafinwë sighed and rolled his eyes, throwing the ball back to Kanafinwë . He nodded his head over to the clearing not far from the pond and he and his brother walked there, throwing the ball to each other.
"Look, the ball is scratched because he threw it in the tree," he said, throwing the ball to Kanafinwë .
Kano caught it and inspected the ball briefly before throwing it back.
"He tried to take my wooden warrior yesterday."
"The one with the blue plumes?"
"No, the red one."
Nelyafinwë nodded, catching the ball and throwing it again.
"He started crying last night."
"I know, I couldn't sleep either."
Throw, catch. Throw, catch. Their pace quickened.
"And I got into trouble for the mess he made in the toy room."
Throw, catch. Throw, catch.
"And he-" Kanafinw started as he caught the ball but stopped when he realised a pair of big eyes watching him.
"Kano, can I play!" Turkafinwë said.
"Why don't you play with your animal friends," Kanafinw suggested.
"Alright," he said happily without any hesitation before walking away back to the pond.
Kanafinw threw the ball back at Nelyafinwë.
"Well, at least he listens, I guess."
"But he is still annoying," Nelyafinwë answered.
"Yes."
Turkafinwë came running back to them, his fair hair bouncing behind him.
"I finished playing with the fish!" he said happily. "They're not hungry anymore."
Nelyafinwë frowned.
"Did you feed them?"
Turkafinwë nodded solemnly.
"And they like it."
Both Nelyafinwë and Kanafinw didn't wait to ask what Turkafinwë had fed the fish with; they ran straight to the pond.
The fish were still opening and closing their mouths, perhaps just a little more anxiously though, as they swam in the whitening water filled with disintegrating biscuits.
Nelyafinwë' jaw dropped and his eyes opened wildly when he saw what his littlest brother had done.
"Those were my biscuits!" he shouted at Turkafinwë, who stood beside him.
"But the fish were hungry," Turkafinwë protested.
"So feed them your biscuits or biscuits from the kitchen, not mine!"
"…they still look a little hungry to me," Kanafinw said softly, watching the bright fins jiggle and quiver in the murky water.
"Well you don't look hungry!"
Nelyafinwë scowled. How he hated his littlest brother.
"Come on Kano, let's go," he said and walked away.
"I didn't know that fish liked biscuits," Kanafinw said running to catch up with Nelyafinwë.
"Who cares," Nelyafinwë answered bitterly.
The two walked hastily out of their father's gardens and into the hall. Not even two minutes had passed before they heard the pit pat noise of their little brother running behind them.
"Nelyo!" he yelled, his voice echoing against the walls.
"Walk faster," Nelyafinwë whispered to Kanafinwë .
Kanafinw turned and looked behind his back.
"He is coming," he whispered.
Nelyafinwë too looked behind his back and sure enough, Turko was gaining on them. He turned and looked at Kanafinw a glint in his eyes and a smile on his face.
"Run!"
Both Nelyafinwë and Kanafinw broke out into a run, trying to get away from Turko. Their laughter echoed, along with Turkafinwë's wailing and he struggled to keep up.
"We'll hide in your room," Nelyafinwë panted to Kanafinwë , who nodded as they both turned the corner, heading towards the room.
In a few minutes they came to the door, Kanafinw opened it and ran inside. Nelyafinwë ran in after his younger brother and went to close the door, but before he could, Turkafinwë's slim arm slid through the crack.
"Nelyo!!" he shouted.
Nelyafinwë pushed his brother's hand out of the way and slammed the door shut, leaning against it and smiling at Kanafinwë . He could imagine Turko right now, red faced from running, frowning because he was angry with his hands on his hips.
"Open the door! Nelyo, Kano!" his high pitched voice screeched, his little fists banging profusely on the door. Turko easily got angry.
Both Nelyafinwë and Kanafinw breathed heavily as they leant against the closed the door.
"Nelyo!"
He hoped that his brother's screaming wouldn't attract any attention. Then both he and Kanafinw would be in trouble; they were supposed to look after Turkafinwë.
By the look on Kanafinwë 's face, he could see that his brother was thinking the same thing.
"What now?" he asked Kanafinwë .
"I know," Kanafinw said. "Step aside."
Nelyafinwë took his weight off the door and watched Kanafinw uncertainly as he opened the door, revealing an angry Turkafinwë.
"Go away, Turko," he said calmly. "We are making a present for you and you cannot see it until we have finished."
Turkafinwë opened his mouth to object but paused.
"What type of a present?" he asked doubtfully.
"You will see when we give it to you," Nelyafinwë said.
"But we won't give it to you if you keep shouting," Kanafinw added. "You have to sit outside the door and wait till we are finished."
Nelyafinwë nodded in agreement.
"…alright," Turkafinwë said slowly and sat down on the ground.
Nelyafinwë softly closed the door and turned to Kanafinwë , his smile bigger than before when they first ran into the room.
"Good thinking."
"Thank you," Kanafinw said proudly.
"What do you want to play?"
"Mmm… I know! Let's play Sea Maiar!"
"Yeh! But shhh…" Nelyafinwë nodded his head towards the door.
Kanafinw nodded.
Making sure that they were quiet enough so Turkafinwë outside couldn't hear them, Kanafinw got out his blue bed sheets – the same ones that he and Nelyafinwë used every time they played Sea Maiar – while Nelyafinwë fixed the bed up to look like a boat filled with helpless Teleri, scared under the wrath of the Maiar.
Perhaps if Turkafinwë wasn't so demanding or if he didn't get angry so easily, they would have allowed him to play with them. He could have easily been one of the Teleri.
With whispered yells they began to harass the invisible Teleri, dragging their mantles of blue ocean behind them. Nelyafinwë liked to pretend that he was Ossë on one of his bad days; he knew all about Ossë and his bad days.
He overturned one of the white little Telerin boats, his mouth gaping open in a silent roar. Kanafinw beside him stomped on the lamp-lit quays. Behind them, Uinen wailed her pleas for them to stop.
The Teleri mariners begged them to stop, but he and his brother would not.
"Oh please!" they cried. "Have mercy!"
Nelyafinwë laughed evilly, stomping over their pretend city of Alqualondë, white with pearl, crystal and diamond.
"Turkafinwë, why are you sitting on the floor by yourself?"
Both Nelyafinwë and Kanafinw stopped dead. Was that mother's voice that they had just heard?
"Nelyo and Kano are making a present for me!" the happy reply.
Nelyafinwë scowled at Turkafinwë's voice. He always had to wreck everything.
The door opened and mother walked in, catching both of them on top of the stomped bed, blue bed sheets shrouded over their arms and back.
Mother wasn't pleased.
"Hey, where is my present!" Turkafinwë demanded, appearing behind mother's legs.
"Nelyafinwë, I told you to play with your brothers," she said, her hands on her hips.
"I am," Nelyafinwë answered meekly.
She looked down on them in a reprimanding way.
"Did you forget that you have two brothers?"
"…no."
Behind mother's leg, Turkafinwë smiled sweetly. Nelyafinwë could have tied and tickled his youngest brother to tears.
"I want both of you to clean up this mess. Afterwards you can take Turkafinwë and play with your friends in the gardens."
"With our friends!" Kanafinw started.
"Look at his hair!" Nelyafinwë complained. "It's white!"
"And he talks to birds!"
"My hair is not white!" Turkafinwë exclaimed with a pout, tugging mother's dress.
Mother stood quietly, watching Nelyafinwë and Kanafinw with sharp eyes. She didn't need to shout.
"Oh, alright," Nelyafinwë sighed pulling the sheet off him.
Kanafinw next to him puffed and took his sheet off too.
"Thank you," mother said and left the room, leaving them with Turkafinwë.
"Can I play too?" Turkafinwë asked, reaching for the blue sheet.
"No!" Nelyafinwë said loudly, snatching his ocean away from Turkafinwë.
"Why not?" Turkafinwë asked with a frown.
"Because you always ruin things," Kanafinw said, folding his ocean away for another day and turning Alqualondë back into his bed.
"I didn't mean to…"
Nelyafinwë ignored Turkafinwë as he helped Kanafinw cleaned the room. He hated how being cute could always let him get away with anything. The hair helped too.
Within few minutes they finished cleaning up. Then Nelyafinwë sat with Kanafinw on the bed, trying to think of something to do, while Turkafinwë tried to talk to the birds outside the window.
"We could make him sit under a tree and pretend we don't know him," Kanafinw suggested.
Nelyafinwë shook his head. He could one of his friends accidentally kicking the ball into Turkafinwë's head… then he'd be in trouble for not looking after his younger brother.
"What about finding him a frog to play with? Then we can run away again."
He shook his head again. They had already run off on him once, he would be keeping an eye on them, making sure that they wouldn't ran away again. Even using a frog a diversion wouldn't help; Turkafinwë wasn't that dumb…
But Turkafinwë was dumb.
A small smile began to form over Nelyafinwë' lips as he watched Turkafinwë talk to the bird, an evil plot forming in his little head.
"Kanafinwë …" he whispered.
He turned his head; Kanafinw was watching him intensely, an eager spark glowing in his eyes.
Turkafinwë didn't ask where they were going when Nelyafinwë and Kanafinw stood up and opened the door. He had found a ladybug on the tree outside Kanafinwë 's window and was happy playing with his new friend.
He followed his elder brothers back outside and when they sat down under a tree, he went over near the bush and made a little play pen out of leaves and twigs for the lady bug.
It was only after some ten minutes when he realised that his brother's were being unusually quiet.
He turned to find them still sitting under the tree, opposite each other. They were both crossed-legged and they had their hands spread flat on their knees, their palms facing the sky. Their eyes were closed and he was sure that he could see little halos of leaves around their heads and streaks of mud running across their cheeks and over their noses.
Curious, he left his lady bug friend and walked over to them.
"What are you doing?" he asked, giggling a little at the mud on their faces and the flower chains around their necks.
"Shhh…" Nelyafinwë breathed, his eyes still closed.
Turkafinwë frowned. What were they doing?
A few seconds of tranquil silence passed before they opened their eyes.
"My brother and I," Kanafinw sighed importantly, "have become followers of Aldaron, the Lord of Forests…"
"Can I play!" Turkafinwë asked excitedly.
"This is not a game, Turko," Nelyafinwë said seriously. Kanafinw nodded solemnly. "We have been appointed to care for the trees in the garden and to make disappear all things unclean which rot the trees."
"And you have just interrupted our tree cleansing ritual," Kanafinw said.
"Oh… sorry," Turkafinwë said guiltily. "Can I watch?"
"But do not make a sound…"
Turkafinwë sat crossed-legged too and watched his brothers. At first they were silent, eyes closed. Then Kanafinw began to hum a tune and Nelyafinwë began to sway, back and forth, his arms sweeping after him in graceful movements, "Like the branches of the willow," he said.
This tree cleansing ritual was nothing like anything he had ever seen before. Their grandpapa was a follower of Aulë, but he didn't perform any ritual likes the one Nelyafinwë and Kanafinw were doing. It seemed odd, but Turkafinwë could see that this was some serious business, so he tried his best not to laugh as Kanafinwë 's voice got louder and Nelyafinwë' wiggling more wigglier. Luckily their eyes were closed.
Nelyafinwë took a bag from behind him and reached inside.
Kanafinw was still humming and he could feel Turkafinwë's presence by his twitching. He felt like bursting out in laughter at the stupidity of what he and Kanafinw were doing. Turkafinwë thought it was real though.
"And now for the bark vitality spell!" Nelyafinwë said airily. He didn't even know what 'vitality' meant. It was just a word he remembered hearing grandpapa Finwë say while watering his plants.
He opened his eyes and brought the bag between him and Kanafinwë . Kanafinw put his hand in the bag too.
"What is that?" Turkafinwë asked, reaching to put his hand in the bag.
"Touch not the Bag of Growth!" Nelyafinwë bellowed.
Turkafinwë quickly took his hand away from the bag, slightly frightened by his brother's seriousness.
"Hallowed by the hands of Aldaron, Lord of Trees, Kementari, Queen of the Earth and Súlimo, High King of Arda, the Bag of Growth must not be touched by those other than the Aldarondili," Kanafinw said, and continued to hum.
The sides of Nelyafinwë' mouth twitched as he tried to maintain a straight face.
"Come, my brother," he said, "Let us cleanse this garden of its impurities."
They both closed their eyes again and took out the leaves that were inside the bag. Nelyafinwë threw it in the air, shouting aloud, "Be gone bad things which make unclean the trees of Aldaron."
"Oh, Bag of Growth," Kanafinw wailed, waving his hands in the air. "Work your magic and make disappear all the impurities in the garden, all the things that have ever harmed the trees and all the things that cause poisonberries and mushrooms to sprout."
The two began chanting their names backwards now, Kanafinwë 's voice louder and musical that Nelyafinwë' deep solemn voice.
"Oylen! Onak! Okrut! Oylen! Onak! Okrut!"
Nelyafinwë chanted along with Kanafinwë , trying not to laugh and hoping Turkafinwë wouldn't recognise the words they chanted. So far, it seemed their plan was going well.
They began to sway now, here and there, their arms flailing and their heads tossing.
"As the wind blows through the bows of Ninquelótë," Kanafinw cried aloud.
Then they began to throw more leaves from the 'Bag of Growth'.
"As the dew falls from the leaves of Culúrien," Nelyafinwë cried.
They chanted a bit more and then suddenly, they stopped, sitting in silence their eyes still closed.
Turkafinwë sat dumfounded, staring at his brothers.
"The ritual is complete," Nelyafinwë said softly and opened his eyes.
Kanafinw opened his eyes too and looked at Nelyafinwë, a hint of excitement and amusement in his eyes.
"Where is Turko?" he asked.
Turkafinwë, who was sitting right next them frowned.
"I am here," he said.
"Where?"
Nelyafinwë looked around the garden too, his eyes purposely passing over Turkafinwë.
"Turko, where are you?" he said aloud.
"I am here!" Turkafinwë said annoyed.
"Come and play where we can see you Turko!" Kanafinw shouted.
"But I am here!" Turkafinwë shouted back, hitting Kanafinwë 's knee.
Nelyafinwë gasped.
"Turko! Did you cause harm to any of the trees while we were performing a ritual!"
"No…" Turkafinwë said with a worried frown. "Yes… I made a house out of leaves for the lady bug."
Kanafinw gasped and looked at Nelyafinwë.
"Does this mean… that we have made Turko disappear?"
"No!" Turkafinwë wailed.
Nelyafinwë nodded solemnly.
Of course he and Kanafinw could really see Turkafinwë, but this was their plan.
"You have harmed a tree, Turko. You have been made to disappear," he continued.
"No! Make me come back!" Turkafinwë shouted angrily, his face getting red with anxiety.
"We cannot. The magic cannot be undone," Kanafinw said sadly. "You will remain invisible for all eternity."
"No! Please, Nelyo, throw some magic from the Bag of Growth on me! Please make me uninvisible!" Turkafinwë said frantically.
Nelyafinwë could see his brother's bottom lips trembling, his eyes filling with tears. He loved scaring his little brother.
"The magic cannot be undone," he said.
Turkafinwë stood up angrily, tears beginning to streak down his face. He kicked the Bag of Growth and run off towards the house, crying their mother's name.
Nelyafinwë and Kanafinwë sat in silence, watching the fair haired child bounce away in tears.
"Good idea, Nelyo," Kanafinw said, when Turkafinwë was far away.
"Thank you," Nelyafinwë said taking off the flower chain and the leaves in his hair.
"At last, he's gone."
Kanafinw reached into the Bag of Growth and took out a ball.
Nelyafinwë stood up and ran some distance away from Maglor.
He smiled as his brother stood up.
"Kick it to me!"