Chapter Text
Celegorm was worried. In the past it had been a somewhat common occurrence to catch sight of a beautiful figure, dressed in all white, lurking around the edges of Nan Elmoth. He was almost positive that it was Aredhel, for he had spent many long years roaming through the woods of Valinor with his cousin, and knew well the sight of her from a distance.
Despite his confidence that it was her, he had never visited the woods to seek her out. Curufin had learned through his friendship with the dwarves that an elf named Eol dwelled there, so if Aredhel dwelled there, it had to be as his guest. What exactly their relationship was, remained a mystery, but Celegorm had never known Aredhel to stay anywhere she did not want to be.
Knowing how charming his younger cousin was, Celegorm would not be at all surprised if she and Eol were courting. He didn’t much like the idea of some strange elf courting his cousin, but he'd learned the hard way that Aredhel was not appreciative of her kin interfering when she was being courted. Though she had never shown any real interest in any of the elves who had pursued her, she had liked the attention and presents, and Celegorm had on more than one occasion faced her wrath for chasing her would-be lovers away.
Hence he had stayed away from Nan Elmoth, not wanting to provoke her wrath by getting in the way of what might be a serious courtship, for he could think of no other reason for Aredhel to remain there for over a decade. He had always figured that if she lost interest in Eol, or if the two of them decided to get married, then she would seek out her kin at that point.
It had been three years since he'd last caught sight of her though, and it left him unsettled. At first he hadn’t really noticed it, since it wasn’t like he was constantly thinking about his cousin, but once the thought had entered his head that he couldn’t remember the last time he'd seen Aredhel, it would not leave him alone. He could not help but feel something was terribly wrong.
And so, he had made the decision to head to Nan Elmoth to check things out, hoping that all he would find was an annoyed cousin.
From the outside, the forest looked like any other at first glance. As he approached it though, his skin seemed to crawl slightly, every instinct telling him that the trees were far from normal. As he entered in under their bows, they seemed to creak slightly, as if readying themselves for action.
"I seek my cousin Aredhel, for I fear some ill has befallen her," Celegorm told the trees. He did not know if they could understand him, but on the off chance that they were as sentient as he believed they might be, it might help. "Have you perhaps seen her?"
Even if they did know where Aredhel was, or had no way of responding to him, sharing his purpose might hopefully at least make them less inclined to attack him. He was not entirely sure how he'd go about fighting trees, fire would probably be his best bet, but then he might end up burning the whole forest down.
The branches above him swayed, despite there being no wind, clattering together in a loud cacophony. It sounded nothing like words, but Celegorm seemed to get the feeling they were trying to communicate. Finally, several of the branches stretched out, their ends all pointing in one direction.
"That way?" Celegorm questioned, wishing he knew the language of plants, like he did animals. That would require him to spend time in Yavanna's presence though, and he had always found her annoying. Not that there were really any of the Valar he didn’t find annoying these days. It was hard to feel anything but disdain for them now, even the memories of the joyful years he'd spent as part of Orome's hunt seemed tainted.
Beside him, Huan let out a soft whine, and Celegorm gently rested a hand on top of the large dog's head. There was no point dwelling on the past, nothing could change it, what really mattered was the present and the future still to come.
"Well? Shall we go where the trees are pointing us?" He asked Huan. He did not think it likely that the trees were sending them into a trap, even if they had more sentience and intelligence than normal trees, it didn’t change the fact that they were indeed trees. If they wanted him dead, they likely would just rip him to shred with their branches.
Of course, it was also possible that someone was directing them, but Celegorm's instincts told him that was not the case.
Huan let out a bark, letting Celegorm know that he approved of following the trees. Slowly the two of them made their way deeper into the forest, their movement speed slowing as the trees and underbrush grew thicker. With each step they took further into the woods, the atmosphere around them seemed to grow more and more disturbing. There was something unnatural about the place, as if something eldritch coated all that resided there, a remnant of the many years Melian had dwelt there.
Celegorm was far from cowardly, but he could not help but feel uneasy as he walked, only the brush of Huan's fur against his leg providing any comfort. What kind of elf must Eol be to dwell in these woods, and to get Aredhel to stay there as well. Or had he been wrong, was it possible that his cousin had never been in these woods at all, that his eyes had deceived him?
It felt like an eternity that Huan and Celegorm walked, but finally the two of them emerged into a clearing, at the far end of which sat a small pond. As they stepped out from the trees into it, the oppressive atmosphere that had surrounded them seemed to lessen slightly, though it did not entirely vanish.
Glancing around, Celegorm found himself puzzled as to why the trees had pointed him in this direction. As far he could tell there was no sign of Aredhel to be seen, nor could he see anything that hinted where to go next. Had the trees misunderstood his question perhaps? Or maybe he had been wrong about this not being a trap.
"Do you smell anything Huan?" Celegorm questioned, still looking around in search of anything that might help him. As he did so, the hair on the back of his neck stood up and he got the sudden feeling he was being watched. He was trying to figure out the cause of it, when Huan let out a soft whine, drawing Celegorm's attention to the far end of the clearing.
There, half hidden behind a tree where one was not likely to notice them unless you were looking, was a small elfing. He peered out at the two intruders with narrowed eyes, his expression fearful, and Celegorm felt his heart stop at the sight of him. He looked like Aredhel.
Celegorm had at most thought that Aredhel and Eol might be courting, but had she in fact married and had a child? He found it hard to believe she would do so without telling any of her kin, and yet the elfling before him was living proof that it must have happened, he looked too much like her to not be her child.
As Celegorm studied the child further, his surprise turned into concern. It was clear from his size that the elfling was quite young, the oldest Celegorm would place him at was twenty, and he was far too skinny. It looked as if he had not had a proper meal in ages, his clothing hanging off his frame as if it was supposed to belong to an older child, and he was covered with grime.
There was a sick feeling in Celegorm's gut, he knew there was no way that Aredhel would allow her child to end up in such a state, not so long as she was still. It seemed his fears had been correct, something had happened to her. What exactly had occurred he still needed to figure out, but that could wait, he knew his cousin would want him to make her son his top priority.
"Huan," All it took was one word from Celegorm to send the dog back into the trees, years of constant companionship making it easy for the two of them to convey plans without having to speak them aloud. Huan would circle around behind the elfling, cutting off his route of escape in case he decided to run when Celegorm approached. If he disappeared into the trees, it might be impossible to find him again.
Once Celegorm was sure that Huan was in place, he slowly took a step forward, doing his best to make himself seem unintimidating. The elfling tensed up as he saw him moving, and Celegorm gently called out to him, his tone coaxing as he tried to keep the boy calm.
"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you. You're Aredhel's son, aren't you?" He hadn’t been entirely sure whether or not the elfing would understand him, he looked old enough that he should know how to speak, but Celegorm didn’t know what he'd been through. Celegorm had seen trauma affect elves in weird ways.
At the sound of his mother’s name though, the child's ears perked up, and his eyes widened. Although he was clearly still tense, some of the wariness in his face had been replaced by curiosity as he watched Celegorm.
"My name is Celegorm, your mother is my cousin." Celegorm told the elfing, as he got closer, and he saw a light of recognition in the boy's eyes at his name. Aredhel must have spoken of him before. "You look like you could use some help, do you want to come here and I'll see what I can do?"
Celegorm stopped a few feet away from the elfling, leaving it to him to make the choice to close the distance between them. It would likely make the boy less frightened, if he was the one to make the final approach.
The elfling stared at Celegorm a moment, his expression warring between fear and what seemed to be hope, before finally taking a step forward. And then another. And then a few more, until finally he was right in front of Celegorm, who reached out his arms to pick the boy.
It had apparently not been what the elfling was expecting, for he began squirming in Celegorm's arms and trying to escape. Although he did not like the fact that he was causing the boy discomfort, Celegorm did not dare to let him go, lest he run off as soon as he was released.
Seeming to have figured out that his squirming was getting him nowhere, the elfing glared at Celegorm, before sinking his surprisingly sharp teeth into the older elf's arm. It was surprisingly painful, but Celegorm did not give the boy his hoped for response of dropping him, and instead felt rather amused. This was definitely Aredhel's son.