Meanwhile, on the slopes of Taniquetil, Findekano stood beneath the stars. He watched the strange impenetrable gloom that shrouded the lands below, and shivered. He wrapped his thin festival cloak more tightly around him against the cool breeze Manwe had called up to blow the gloom away.
He didn't understand Melkor at all. Why anybody would destroy something as beautiful as the Two Trees… it made no sense. But then trying to destroy the new-made elves didn't make much sense to him, either. At least his father and Feanaro had finally made their peace, though he'd been disappointed not to see Russandol. It had been far too long since he'd seen his cousin.
For that matter, where had the Finarfinions gotten to now? Findekano looked around to find them, and almost tripped over a pigeon. It fluttered about a foot away, then settled again, as if too exhausted to go further. Was that a message canister attached to its leg?
Findekano gently coaxed the bird onto his hand, and took out the message. He wished he had some water to give it. Then the contents of the letter drove all thoughts of the bird out of his mind.
"Manwe, Eonwe, Illmare, Varda… any Vala listening! Or maia!" he yelled. "Urgent message, now!" Around him, heads turned, but no Vala or maia appeared. His heart sank. They'd probably all gone to see to the Trees. He yelled again, then turned to go down and make for the Ezellohar himself. He'd get his horse and ride there himself if he had to.
That was when an elf-man he didn't recognize tapped him on the shoulder. "What?" said Findekano irritably.
"I am Olorin, a maia." Paying more attention, Findekano recognized the distinctive scent of maia on him. Well thank the Valar for that. "You said you have a message for Lord Manwe?" Olorin prompted.
Findekano handed it over. "Melkor is going to attack Formenos," he said. "He's probably doing so right now. I know your Lord is displeased with Feanaro, but please don't take it out on his family and followers."
"We would never do that," said the Maia, looking offended. "I must leave to tell Manwe at once."
"Thank you," called Findekano as the maia vanished into the crowd. He'd get the message to Manwe far sooner than Findekano could. Though there was one other he probably ought to tell… his uncle. Lovely.
Feanaro would probably do something foolishly dangerous. Maybe he'd better find Uncle Arafinwe first, and they'd both go tell him. He could tell his own father afterward, since he was less likely than uncle Feanaro to do something disastrous.
Finding Arafinwe proved easier said than done, but some indeterminate time later he'd found Arafinwe, passed the pigeon to Earwen to look after, and found Feanaro. As Findekano had feared, his half-uncle did NOT take it well.
"Melkor attacks Formenos? How dare he!" Feanaro's eyes blazed, and he raised his voice to carry far across the mountainside. "People of the Noldor," he cried, "attend me now!" Heads turned towards him across the darkened mountainside. "Melkor attacks Formenos! Your King and your kin are in danger. I go now to aid them. Who is with me?"
"I am!" yelled Findekano.
Arafinwe grabbed Feanaro's sleeve, and spoke urgently to his half-brother. "We are all with you, but we need weapons if we're to fight, and it's going to take time to get there. We'll need provisions, water, and it will all be over by the time we get there. The Valar are likely already on their way. We might do better to send healers than warriors."
"Go organize healers and supplies, then," said Feanaro, pulling his arm from Arafinwe's grasp. "I'm getting warriors together right now. I take it you're coming with me, nephew?"
"I am," said Findekano, uncomfortably aware that the most warlike implement on his person was a belt knife. "Where can we get weapons?"
"In Tirion."
"But you're banned from Tirion!" said Arafinwe.
"I don't care," said Feanaro.
"I doubt the Valar intended the ban for a time like right now," said Findekano.
"You stay on the outskirts, brother, while the rest of us go in to get our weapons. There's no sense in you getting in trouble when we can collect them more easily," said Nolofinwe, who'd just come up. "Let's get going. We can make plans on the way."
Feanaro looked at his brother for an instant with something that might have been gratitude. "Just hurry," he said. "I already have my sword with my horse, and I fear Melkor will have been sieging them long by the time we get there."
"We will hurry," said Nolofinwe. "He's our father too."
And so the Noldor began to stream down the mountainside towards Tirion, and onwards, towards Formenos.
A/N: The ripple effects have begun.