Since he couldn't find the others and there was no sense hunting around the open ocean getting lost and using up their precious stores of food and water, Maedhros' little flotilla set sail for the east again. With luck, the other ships were merely scattered, and they would all meet again in Middle-earth. So Maedhros told himself anyway, and Maeweriel agreed.
He feared he might never see them again, though. Feanaro, Findarato, Findekano, and so many others. But there was nothing he could do but go on. He was good at that, he always had been. Even if he hadn't been as careful as he should have been about where he was going to, and whether what he lost along the way was worth the price.
Maeweriel spoke to a pod of dolphins that came to ride their bow wave, but though the chatty creatures had seen other ships in the open ocean recently that sounded like their friends, they couldn't describe where they'd seen them, or precisely when. They had also seen other ships near the shore, long ago.
After four days of sailing, the lookout aboard the lead ship cried out "Land! I can see Middle-earth." The lookouts aboard the Gannet and the others strained their eyes, and before long most of the crew had seen the dark line against the horizon. Over the next day, that line grew nearer and closer, until it became plain as a line of low rolling hills covered in forest. Maedhros thought they might be the birchwoods of Avernien, but he wasn't completely sure. He had not spent much time on the coast last time, and none on the sea once he had arrived in Losgar.
There was no sign of their friends, or of any local people. They put in at a muddy beach at the mouth of a small stream, replenished their water supplies, and spent a couple of days hunting, gathering, and doing some repairs on the ship.s Being unsure of exactly where they were, they continued sailing north along the coast.
Still no sign of anyone else. Feanaro could not have been killed by something so mundane as a storm at sea, could he? And Findekano, and Findarato, and well over a thousand others of the Noldor? Maedhros did not want to believe it, and all he could think of that they were out there somewhere and the best thing to do was to keep on with the plan.
Finally, they saw a sail! As they came closer, they realized that it wasn't one of theirs. It was smaller, and the sails were red rather than the white the Teleri preferred. It came up to them, and someone called across but Maedhros couldn't quite make out the words. He called out a greeting in Sindarin in response.
The sailor called back, and this time, Maedhros could hear well enough. "Who comes ships... from...?"
"We are Noldor, from Aman, come to Middle-earth to fight Morgoth, help protect your people, and find a new home in the outer lands."
"You ... Belegaer?" came the incredulous question. "I never heard... such a thing. ... sails into the West has ever come back."
"Yes, the Belegaer. You have not seen any other ships like us?"
"Nay. Were you expecting... to?"
"Our fleet became scattered in a storm. We are bound for Eglarest, and hope to meet up with the rest there in time, and to speak to Cirdan."
"Your timing is apt. The lands have become darker, and fell spiders have taken over Nan Dungortheb, while orcs assail us elsewhere. It is said that Melkor has taken up residence in the North."
"It is as we feared," said Maedhros. "We need to speak to Cirdan the Mariner as soon as possible."
"Of course," said the unknown mariner. "I am Hwinnrif son of Earnur of Eglarest."
"I am Nelyafinwe Maitimo, son of Feanaro, the King of the Noldor."
"Well met indeed, my lord. This being more important than my previous mission of conveying letters and goods down the coast, I will accompany you and show you the way."
"I thank you, Mariner Hwinnrif."
They continued to sail north, heading for Eglarest. Two days later, they saw eleven white sailed ships, broad in the beam and rather battered coming out of the west. When they arrived the following morning, Maedhros embraced Findarato with joy and relief. "It is good to see you, cousin. I had feared you lost, and all our people with you."
"And I you," said Findarato. "Where are Feanaro and all the rest of our people?"
"Probably somewhere on the coast behind us," said Maedhros. He sighed heavily. "I do not know for certain. I hope that we shall meet them in Eglarest."
Findarato nodded. "I find it hard to believe a storm could kill the Spirit of Fire," he said. "I think we shall see our people again. And there is nothing to be done about that by us. Whose is the red-sailed ship?" asked Findarato. "Are they Sindar?"
"Falmari out of Eglarest. The Mariner's name is Hwinnrif son of Earnur. They are escorting us to Eglarest."
"Wonderful! I look forward to meeting him."
After three days on shore to make repairs to the newly-arrived ships, they rounded the cape, and could see up the inlet to the delta of the river Nenning, and Eglarest.
A/N: No, I have not given up on this story. I'm just distracted... I am tentatively planning to do some more writing of DS al Fine once I've finished writing and posting Home, but sometimes I get attacked by unexpected and insistant plot bunnies, or by by the dreaded Real Life.
Dream Plane: Thanks.
Guest: Tolkien never really explains how Songs of Power work, so I had to think it over and get a bit creative.
Eta Daring: Yeah, Avatar is fun. As for shipping, I'm really not a romance writer. I'm not even that fond of reading romance. You can generally assume that the canon ships are sailing around somewhere in the background unless otherwise indicated. Meanwhile, the story tends to focus on politics, war, and non-romantic character interactions.
My friend who betas this has a lot of experience with boats, and she is the main reason the voyage and sailing scenes turned out as well as they did. I'm not planning on extending this story into the era where the peredhel exist, but the lack of an Oath of Feanor is likely to make a difference in Beren and Luthien's quest... they could well team up with the Feanorians to go after the Silmarils, you never know.
Shinigami: Yes indeed, no Doom of Mandos, and the Noldor haven't enraged the Teleri. That will have major ramifications later, but I don't want to spoil the surprise. Thingol's basic character has not changed, but he does have less reason to be angry with the Noldor than he did in canon.