Home Tribes
Miriwë had just helped Celuwen finish her first attempt in sewing when her eyes became darker.
"Hide yourself in the hut quickly, Vanië is coming from over there!" she almost hissed with pure venom in her voice. Thinking that it was must be a reason for that, Miriwë hid until the blonde She-elf had passed by and he could come out again.
"Bad history between her and yourself?" he asked carefully. Celuwen, out of habit, began to braid some long grass before responding:
"She used to bully Mahtan for his red hair back during the summer fests when we were Elflings. More than once it ended with me pushing her into the mud or him doing the same when he had enough of the insults. His hair getting likened to that of fire got old already the first summer…"
Well, that was a reason for dislike which Miriwë could understand. Bullying had never been accepted in his tribe, though there had been friendly teasing from his peers that his silver hair would reveal him for prey animals before they had managed to fell a animal.
"No surprise then. Bullying can give a lasting bad memory of someone. And I hope that she will not try to hook me, because I have a strong feeling that she and Beril would get along like those cats defending their territories against other cats."
Almost as an indirect proof of his words, the angry yowls from two fighting cats could be heard somewhere outside the camp. They both had to share a laugh over it just as Mahtan returned.
"How are the weaving lessons going, honey?"
Clearly Mahtan's presence cheered Celuwen up to be in a better mood, going by the sunny smile she gave her husband. Miriwë held up her handiwork to show him:
"Very well. I am proud to say that she is one of the best students I have been teaching since I invented my first sewing needle as a young Elfling. It helps a lot in that she is already skilled in braiding leaves and grass into clothes, so she knows how to shape something beforehand."
Celuwen blushed by the praise, and shyly looked away as Beril returned as well. She had been on a meeting with other tribe leaders for smaller tribes, to discuss if it was possible to allow some of the tribe members to live with another tribe from one summer feast to another in hope of sharing experience and possibly even finding a mate.
"How did the meeting go? Are we getting some new tribe members for the next four seasons?" Miriwë wondered. Beril, who had her hands up to re-braid her hair, answered:
"Yes, We will switch some tribe members on the way back to our home tribe. I am sure that you may found some new students at least."
That pleased Miriwë to hear, given that more and more Elves had caught on the art of sewing outside their tribe over the years, but there was still some tribes who made things in the old way because they simply distrusted new ideas. Not many protested if a such event happened, they were comfortable in doing things as they always had done so why nag about it?
"Sounds good, it is always fun with some new faces around once in awhile," he said, before starting to weave again.
When Miriwë just had finished the last part of that weaving he had been doing for the past few days, Mahtan revealed that he, as well, had been working on for the last part of the summer feast.
"Look, I have managed to create some kind of jewelry with the copper."
Indeed he had. It looked like he had attempted to flatten the copper pieces as much as he could, before making small holes in them and fastening them on a long thread of wool. Asking Miriwë to be still, Mahtan carefully fastened the thread with the copper pieces around his head.
"Test around the hips as well," Celuwen giggled, making Beril gently pull her brother up on his feet. Once Mahan had fasten the jewelry around his hips as well, Miriwë tested to turn around. As he did so, the copper pieces made a soft noise from his movements.
"Mathan, I think you have found something the shamans will love to use during their spiritual ceremonies to catch the attention of the spirits better."
It seemed like Beril had gotten hooked by the idea as well, since she now was tying some copper pieces around her own hips and doing a few dance steps to check the effect.
~X~X~X~X~X~X~
Soon, the ceremony for the new Leaders was happening. Kneeing in front of the three Elf-Fathers, Finiel was blessed beside Elwë and Ingwë in the hope that they would be strong and just leaders for their people from now on.
"Everyone, greet your new Leaders of the Noldor, Vanyar and Teleri Clans!"
All three of them wore a circlet made from small tree branches and flowers, acting as a sign of their new social status here. More than one Elf smiled, even Ingwë himself, when baby Ingwion insisted to grab his father's flower circlet from the arms of his mother just as Ingwë was about to kiss her and trying to play with it.
"That is not a toy, sweet son," Ingwë said before taking back the circlet so he could wear it again. Since he was already caught by his little family, Finiel and Elwë had to deal with most of the new attention.
"Pardon, please let me though…"
Finiel tried to not show jealousy on her two male friends as they were surrounded by their family members. She had still been a mere infant when her birth parents had drowned in a flood caused by a very heavy spring rain, and been taken in by Tata to be raised as one of his own children. She did not doubt them loving her as if they had been her real parents, yet sometimes it happened that Finiel had a nagging feeling of not being good enough for the different social roles she had been having prior to becoming the new Leader of the Noldor.
"One of my first tasks is to find a mate… no doubt that Elwë may have to do so as well. We are both still without a mate, but marrying each other may not be the best ideas when both are Leaders."
Had they been leaders for much smaller tribes, and not childhood friends to the point of that Finiel saw Elwë more as a honorary brother rather than a friend, she may have different feelings for him. But alas, that was not to be, not for her.
It was when she had hidden herself between some more far-off huts, as she heard someone laugh in a merry way.
"I think that drink made from the grapes have made you light-headed, silly brother!"
"Says the sister who is half-naked as well...ugh!"
The sound of someone landing in a less than graceful manner to the ground, and another laughter. Curious, she walked closer, peeking around the next hut:
Four elves was around one of the smaller camp fires. She did recognize Mahtan and Celuwen, that pair was impossible to miss with his red hair, but the other two…
They were both darker in skin colour than many others here, yet their similar faces revealed them to be siblings despite the difference in hair- and eye colour. Both were almost naked as the day they were born, yet thankfully covering up their private areas from being seen. But it was not only the copper pieces tied to their hips and heads, making noises as they danced, which caught her attention:
It was the male Elf, who had the most stunning silver-grey eyes she ever had seen. They seemed to shine alongside his silver hair. He was the most beautiful Elf she had ever seen in her life.
"With that kind of dance, the two of you should be able to snatch a mate each without too much trouble!" Mahtan laughed before Celuwen smacked him in the chest, causing him to fall backward on his back.
"I think we all four is a bit affected by that drink. Come on, Mahtan, we better get back to our own hut before neither one of us remember the right way back." Celuwen gave an apologetic smile to Beril and Miriwë before taking a steady hold on Mahtan's arm and pulled him up on his feet so they could return to their own hut for the night.
"We will return to our tribe tomorrow, just so you know!" called Beril as the young couple walked away. A handwave was hinted in the half-dark between the camp fires, before they vanished. A thud behind her told Beril that Miriwë had fallen asleep on the ground. Well, he was not used to alcohol so it was no big wonder, really. Besides, alcohol was rare in their tribe.
"Come on, baby brother, we should get some sleep before we are to leave early tomorrow," Beril said in a gentle voice as she lifted him up in her arms. It was with a minor regret that she felt how tall and muscular Miriwë was now as a adult, a far cry from the newborn Elfling she once had felt in her arms with the help of her parents. It was true that she was a bit overprotective of him, but she tried to allow him as much freedom he could have without getting attacked by some shameless female Elves who looked for a mate.
"If they are serious about getting my brother as a mate, they better be ready for a spear duel against her to win his hand!"
~X~X~X~X~X~X~
Much to her displeasure the next morning, Finiel missed to find Beril's and Miriwë's shared hut before they left. She was not exactly a morning person, which added to her becoming late. Thankfully, there was others who could at least tell her who the siblings were.
"She is a tribe leader as well?"
"Aye, for a smaller tribe that lives roughly ten wake-periods away from here on horseback. But since horses can travel a lot more faster than us Elves, it would mean at least three times ten wake-periods on foot…"
Bushing down her disappointment, Finiel went to have breakfast with some of her fellow ladies.
Unsurprisingly, she met up with Elwë later to talk about something serious between them. Namely the future mates they would need to find now as leaders.
Since they had requested to be left alone, no one knew what words were exchanged between them, but soon anyone close-by heard what sounded alarmingly like a rare quarrel between the two friends.
"...the Noldor and Teleri is too large as tribes to be held together…!"
"Yet it would solve our problems in not having mates! Besides, we know each other from childhood, surely that would be better than being mated to a stranger—"
"That shall come from you who tries not at all to find a mate in the first place!"
"Because it already is someone who I want to have as mate…!"
Finally losing his patience with how childish his friends behaved in front of almost the whole camp, Ingwë climbed up in a tree beside them and poured his freshly-filled waterskin on them both from above.
"Enough, you two! Stop acting like a set of half-grown Elflings, or I believe that the Elf-Fathers may regret their choice in successors to the Noldor and Teleri clans! Now get back to your respective clans and think over how your actions affects the clans. If it is mates you seek, then go outside this familiar area and seek a mate from the smaller clans if there is no one here who have caught your eyes for a mating ceremony next summer!"
Being the oldest of them three, Ingwë sometimes ended up in this kind of situation where he seemed to be the most mature one in the trio due to already having a mate and a child. Glaring at him from underneath their wet bangs, Finiel and Elwë departed in different directions as they still was upset with each other.
"Perhaps it truly is for the best that they do not mate to each other, I have a strong feeling that it would be a rather stormy relationship in the long run… and I better keep an eye on my sister too, I saw her glare with a alarming hungry look on that same Elf I am pretty sure Finiel have fallen for as well…" Ingwë though for himself before he started to climb down from the tree. It was not that he would refuse his sister to marry, but she had a worryingly bossy personality and tended to refuse to accept responsibility if something went wrong.
~X~X~X~X~X~X~
Unaware of the minor disagreement he already had caused in the large camp, Miriwë was very happy to return home to their tribe. Sure, it had been fun to leave for visiting a bigger camp and finding new friends here, but in the long run, home was the best.
"It will be wonderful to come home, I have missed our home camp," he said as their group on ten riders rode on.
"Aye, and as I have said earlier, there is no rush to find a mate, little brother. You will find that lady soon enough, enjoy your free life until then. At least, that is what I plan to do until that I finds my own mate as well," Beril smiled from where she looked over her shoulder in the front. Agreements was heard from their following riders on that. Among the siblings' packed belongings, was the copper pieces from Mahtan and Celuwen as a gift of friendship.
Little over ten wake-periods later, they were finally back home in their tribe's camp. Once the tribal Elves saw that it was Beril and the others who had returned from the journey, they were much welcomed back.
"They are back, lady Beril is back!"
"Everyone is back from the journey!"
"Welcome back home!"
Since he was rather popular among the children thanks to his patience and willingness to explain things for them, no one raised a eye when Miriwë was hugged by the young children around his legs and hips, even laughing as they caused him to fall over.
"Miriwë is back!"
"Please show us again how to weave and sew, Miriwë! You are the best one of our teachers!"
Many of the children loved to have Miriwë as teacher in the skills he knew, so it was no big surprise in their pleading.
"Alright, let my brother get back up on his feet, children," requested Beril and carefully removed two of the children from Miriwë by taking hold of their tunics before lifting them up. The other children were quick to obey her request so Miriwë could sit up.
"Glad to see that I will have free training about how to raise my own children in the future," he joked with a smile, grinning friendly at the youngest toddlers who now tried to climb on him. Beril, who held up her spear above her head to avoid the Elflings harming themselves on the flint stone, nodded in agreement before telling the children no in her semi-strict voice.
"Everyone without a mate should learn the basics of caring for children even if they may not plan to have any. Who knows if they may end up needing to be around children for a longer time and they have no idea how to do something?" she said with a warning glare on a boy who tried to snatch her spear from behind her.
"If so, I pity those parents who have children but really should let their children be raised by someone else because said parents simply can not care for the children in a good way," Miriwë muttered for himself before readjusting his high ponytail as it had gotten loose from earlier.
~X~X~X~X~X~X~
Author's note: I doubt that the first Elves had the same idea of time as their descendants later in Valinor during Years of the Trees and when the Sun and Moon was created to replace the light from the Two Trees, due to only knowing the star-filled sky. Meaning that currently in-story before Valinor, a wake-period is their version of day and sleeping-period are their word for night aka sleeping time. As for why Finiel and Elwë not becoming a couple, well partly for their future canon marriages and not all childhood friends being a good match personality-wise and such. Three times ten and such mentions are their current way of courting, using their ten fingers and toes as a base.