Fic: Tributary - Chapter 9

[ingenious_spark]

Tributary
Fandom: The Silmarillion, Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away
Rating: PG13/T
Warnings: Mild child abuse/child endangerment, underage employment
Relationships: Maedhros/Fingon (pre-relationship), Fëanor/Nerdanel (background), other minor background relationships
Characters:Fingon, Maedhros, Círdan, Fingolfin, Anairë, Turgon, Aredhel, Fëanor, Caranthir, Maglor, Celegorm, Ambarussa, Nerdanel, Curufin, Curufin's Wife, Thranduil, Thranduil's Wife, Hildifons Took, Isengar Took, Rog (Tolkien), Original Male Character(s), Original Female Character(s), Original Genderqueer Character(s)
Word Count: 34,139
Summary: Tributary: noun; a river or stream flowing into a larger river or lake.

Moving to another town can be difficult, especially when you're just a kid. Leaving everything you know behind - friends, classmates, teachers, the nice guy at the ice cream shop who sometimes snuck you an extra scoop - is scary, even if you know the place you're moving to.

For Findecáno, son of Ñolofinwë and Anairë, brother of Turucáno and Írissë, it's going to be even harder.

Dropped into a dangerous and treacherous world of spirits and magic, he doesn't know which way to turn, or even who he can trust, but he has to keep his feet under him in order to stay ahead of the great Sorcerer and save his family.

“Want to wander around before we go to bed?” Celegorm offered, and Findecáno accepted, as it seemed like Celegorm had something specific in mind. Indeed he did, as they left through another servant’s entrance, one that wasn’t the terrifying staircase, and he tried to lock the way into his mind. They ended up out near where he thought the paddock was, and Celegorm let out a long, shrill whistle that had Findecáno covering his ears. There was barking in the distance, and a pack of six big, lovely dogs bounded up, the largest making a beeline for Celegorm with an adoring look on its canine face.

“Hello Huan, my dearest friend.” Celegorm said, warm and affectionate as he sank to his knees to greet the already very large brown and white patched dog.

“Are these dogs spirits too?” Findecáno asked, and Celegorm shook his head.

“They’re mortal dogs who’ve wandered into the spirit world. They become longer lived, stronger; sometimes they gain the ability to speak. Huan here is close to words, I think.” Celegorm explained, ruffling Huan’s ears. The large dog’s eyes were closed in pleasure and a big dog’s grin was plastered all over his jowled face. Someone else was making their way down the slight rise, red-haired, but too tall to be Asa or Niph, and too short to be Maedhros.

“Should have figured it was you,” the person grumbled, resolving into the lanky figure of a redhead a little younger than Celegorm, with a strong resemblance to the younger two redheads of Findecáno’s acquaintance, with a rack of antlers still dangling strips of bloodied velvet. He wore a green and brown version of their uniform, and had a thick ruff of fur around his neck, as well as weirdly striped fingers.

“Mírdan, how are you, you crosspatch.” Celegrom greeted. “Fingon, this is Asa and Niph’s older brother. Tano, this is Fingon. He’s my new minion.” Findecáno waved to the older boy.

“Why would they give you a minion? You barely do enough work as it is.” Mírdan grumbled, tossing a wave and a nod Findecáno’s way.

“I do too, I’m not a slacker you bum.” Celegorm bit back, and the two older boys settled in to gripe about work and swap stories of things that had happened during the day. Findecáno was perfectly content to just play with the dogs and be ignored, though it was clear by the way Huan settled next to Celegorm and rested his huge head in the boy’s lap for ear skritches that he would not be joining in the playing. Findecáno ended up drifting off pillowed against one dog’s warm, furry side, and had to be poked awake by Celegorm to trudge back up to the bathhouse, lay out his bedding, and fall over into it, sound asleep.

The days passed in a similar fashion, until a full two weeks had passed. Findecáno had settled in fairly well, and only the frogs and a few of the women spoke of eating him now. Whenever he started to slide into Fingon too much Maedhros would somehow know , and come and pull him out of it. He made a couple more trips down to the goat pens, but it always frustrated him to see them like that, and him unable to help them yet.

The day was approaching, and everyone was tired, but somehow also ridiculously cheerful. Findecáno frowned around, and then Tolmedli burst into the room, positively beaming .

“She agreed! She said yes!” He yelled at them, all and sundry. They all stared at him blankly, and it was Asa who made the connection first.

“You mean Gwaeleth? She agreed to your offer of courtship?” He guessed, and Tol could only nod around his beaming grin. It honestly looked kind of painful, to smile that widely. Rhanaur entered the room then, rolling their eyes affectionately. Clearly they’d followed their brother at a slower pace, as Tolmedli was breathing heavily, as though he’d run up to the dormitory.

“Yes, and we’re all breathing a sigh of relief,” Rhanaur put in, gently sarcastic but genuinely pleased as well. Tolmedli jabbed his sibling in the ribs, and Rhanaur merely gave him a gimlet eye. “It’s true, and you know it. You’re just lucky nobody among us is more gambling-minded, or we’d have been placing bets.” They informed Tol tartly. Tol sighed in a slightly wistful manner, and Tintastel looked moderately crestfallen at the missed opportunity, before turning a slightly speculative eye at Celegorm. Celegorm shot him a glare, and turned back to Tol.

“That’s great. Niph will probably be happy. You’ve been annoying her for three freakin’ years now.” He grumbled, but he offered his congratulations all the same. Everyone did, though the boy’s dormitory was small to begin with. Tintastel bounced back remarkably quickly – though that was really just how he was.

“I know just what to do!” He chirruped excitedly. Everyone looked at him questioningly. “Our day off is the day after tomorrow!” This was news to Findecáno, and he cast a questioning glance at Celegorm, who smiled wryly back. He’d likely forgotten to mention it, then. It did explain the anticipatory air of the other workers, though. “I'll talk to Pa and Ma and Da, and we can all go down to their house by the lake! I bet they'd make it a big celebration!” Asa chirped excitedly. Everyone looked to Tolmedli expectantly. It was his decision, after all.

“That sounds just about perfect, Asa,” the bear said warmly, and Asa leapt to his feet, all tiredness forgotten.

“I'll go tell them right now!” He chirped happily, making for the door. Celegorm collared him before he made it, ignoring the younger boy’s indignant squawk.

“Not alone you ain't.” He said, and hauled the boy over his shoulder. “I'll take you. You want to come, say hi to Mírdan, Fingon?” he asked, and Findecáno nodded eagerly, following the other two out.

“You know my big brother?” Asa chirped, having been put on his feet again.

“Yeah, sometimes when me and Celegorm go out to visit the dogs, he shows up too. We get days off?” Findecáno replied cheerfully. Asa’s smile dimmed slightly.

“Yeah, Tano has insomnia. Sometimes it's pretty bad. The garden staff’s schedule is swapped from the bathhouse staff’s so I don't get to see him much. And yeah, every two weeks we close the baths and the staff gets a day off. Hey, Celegorm, did you hear?” Asa tugged Findecáno a little faster by the hand, free hand reaching to snag Celegorm’s tunic. “Big brother is courting someone! Like, an actual person!” Celegorm actually slowed down at that, looking incredulous.

“You're joking.” He said flatly. Asa shook his head enthusiastically.

“No, he is!” The osprey insisted. “Maybe we can get him to bring him to the party?” Asa muses aloud. Celegorm looked amused.

“We should try for it “ he said, a wicked smirk curling the corners of his mouth. “Stupid forest pony didn't even tell me, the idiot.” He grumbled, and Findecáno and Tintastel giggled at his expense. Findecáno watched as they went through the bathhouse, shutting down for the morning. They weren't going for Círdan’s stairway, rather a better-trafficked route through a couple side gardens. Soon they popped out into a gently-rolling chilled area. Findecáno could smell the faint scent of water.

“Where do your parents live?” He whispered to Asa, holding a little tighter to the osprey’s hand. Asa smiled at him brightly, tugging him into a run.

“They're actually my grandparents, and just up the hill, come on!” He cried, and Findecáno laughed at the other boy’s ridiculous cheer, stumbling after him. After the hill leveled out, it dipped into a little valley, where there was a massive lake, and a sprawling house by the waterside. There was another cottage not far away from what had to be the main house, and a dock with a little sailboat sitting at the end of it poking out into the water. It was idyllic, peaceful, beautiful.

“Wow, you live there?” Findecáno gasped. Asa nodded, before tugging him back into a run, this time down the hill. Findecáno tripped, and before he knew it, he and Asa were rolling down the hill, laughing and shrieking, bumping to a stop in front of someone’s legs. The man they'd run into was laughing, and helped them to their feet.

“Careful, little nephew.” He advised, and Asa grinned up at him.

“Thanks Aerandir.” He said adoringly. Findecáno looked him over quickly. The man was older than Celegorm, maybe nebulously in his twenties, which seemed to be where a lot of spirits just sort of stopped. Unless they were super old. His hair was a flyaway mess of sea-green curls, tied at the nape of his neck, and the color was natural, because his eyebrows were the same shade. His skin was a lighter olive-brown, flecked with bright green scales like freckles. Something about the shape of his face was familiar, and Findecáno couldn't figure out what. It was in the shape of the claws, the sharp teeth and the dark green, nearly black eyes.

“No worries. What are you doing down here on a work night, though kiddo?” The older man asked, waving at Celegorm as he finally caught up, and turning to lead them into the main house.

“We wanna have a party!” Asa chirped with irrepressible cheer. Aerandir smiled down at him fondly.

“What's the occasion? Is it for your new friend?” He asked, waving a hand at Findecáno.

“No, Tolmedli finally asked to court Gwaeleth!” Asa chirped, bouncing as he walked. He turned to Findecáno, face worried. “Not that I don't like you, or anything,” he grabbed both of Findecáno’s hands, and he laughed, squeezing Asa’s hands back.

“Dont worry! I know.” He replied, and Aerandir made a noise that could probably be classified as cooing. They entered the house and it was just as lovely and slightly ramshackle inside as out. A pair of redheads were talking in the doorway of what looked like the kitchen, and Asa laughed gleefully, abandoning Findecáno to throw himself at the taller, broader one. The man laughed, hauling Asa up into his arms.

“Tintastel, what an unexpected visit!” He said happily. Asa chirped, hugging the man’s shoulders with his skinny, feathered arms. The other redhead wandered over, and Findecáno was pleased to recognize Mírdan.

“Hey, Celeg. Hey, Fingon.” The elk spirit said laconically, and they returned the greeting. Celegorm went on to ribbing Mírdan about his love life, and Findecáno eagerly turned his attention to the newest person. The man was tall and broad, and looked around the same age as Aerandir, which really didn't tell him much. He sort of looked like he was the trio’s father, which sort of made sense and sort of didn't? Considering Asa had mentioned three parents but then later said they were his grandparents. Then again, Aerandir didn't look anything like any of the redheads. But anyway.

The new man’s hands looked like they were made of bright copper, and it thinned out into a tracery like veins winding up his arms and shoulders under his shirt, and popping up above his collar to trace the same way up his neck and across his face, into the soft red hair. There were bits of copper in his hair, too, or maybe they were just highlights. Three more people entered at that point, and Findecáno was feeling a little overwhelmed, a little out-of-place, and a lot heartsick for his own family. He shrank into Celegorm’s side, clutching a handful of the older boy’s pants to anchor himself. Celegorm set a comforting hand on his head, messing up his straight, dark hair.

Findecáno realized he recognized one of the newcomers, even as Asa wiggled out of the redhead’s arms and flung himself at the trio. The woman knelt to catch him, cuddling him close to her ample chest, the feathers that created two crests on either side of her face raising and fanning. Her hair was long, feathery, and white, tipped with black, and her skin was pale, with dark freckles, a sunburn across the tops of her shoulders and cheeks.

One of the men was Círdan, and Findecáno suddenly realized why Aerandir looked familiar. He had the same facial structure as Círdan, mixed with the eye-shape of the woman. He had gotten Círdan’s skin color, too, the smooth olive brown, but the woman’s freckling. The third was another man, shorter than Círdan, but broader, with shirt, wild grey hair, skin color faintly blue, with the same sort of scaly shine as Maedhros, iridescent grey and blue instead of sunset-colored. His skin was also covered with bright silver markings that looked like webs of lightning. Findecáno had seen a picture of a man who had gotten struck by lightning once, in one of Da’s nature magazines, and the markings looked the same. He also had a tail , scaled and heavily muscled, and heavy black horns curved back along his skull. The claws and fangs were practically expected by now, and didn't surprise Findecáno at all. This man looked like he could be related to the trio, especially Mírdan.

“Fingon! I know you know Da,” Asa waved at Círdan, who winked at Findecáno. Asa bounced over dragging Findecáno away from the relative safety of Celegorm’s side to meet the three strangers. “Like I said, that's my uncle Aerandir, this is my uncle Rog,” here the redhead waved metallic fingers, “this is Ma, Aerlinn,” the woman smiled at him sweetly, and she had regular teeth, which seemed actually kinda weird. “And Pa, Gaurandir!” Asa finished, and the grey man smiled down at him. Findecáno felt uncharacteristically shy as he bowed politely to them.

“I'm Fingon, nice to meet you,” He said softly, clinging worriedly to Asa’s hand.

“A pleasure to meet you as well,” Gaurandir replied, and his voice was like distant thunder. “Cub, what are you doing down here? Don't you have work in the evening?” He asked, frowning slightly. Asa nodded, biting his lip a little self-consciously.

“Yeah, but, Tolmedli finally asked Gwaeleth out, and Fingon’s here and hasn't been properly welcomed, and I thought we could have a party! I mean, if you were okay with it.” Asa whirled and pointed to Mírdan. “And big brother’s courting someone too, and can we please have a party papa?” Asa’s grey eyes went large and liquid, his lower lip pouting out just a little, and Findecáno recognized that face. Asa was surprisingly manipulative. Gaurandir laughed, large and loud. Aerlinn chuckled too, catching Asa’s free hand and drawing him close again. Findecáno tried to let go of Asa’s hand before he got inadvertently hugged too, but Asa’s hold was firm. He was folded up into her arms as well, and after a moment of uncertain stiffness, he melted into her firm grip, tears beading in his eyes as he thought of Mam.

“Of course we can have a party, sweet chick.” she said warmly, squeezing gently before releasing them. “Right, Círdan, Gaurandir?” Warm green eyes looked up at the men expectantly, and both of them gained warm smiles.

“I don't have a problem with it. It's my day off too, after all. I'll cook.” Círdan said decisively. Gaurandir laughed again, his face creasing in well-worn laugh lines. Maybe he wasn't so scary after all.

“Who am I to say no, then?” Gaurandir said brightly, before pointing one black claw at Mírdan who looked, no pun intended, like a deer in the headlights. “You better bring that boy you're sweet on, and no excuses!” He declared loudly, and Mírdan scowled, relaxing and rolling his eyes.

“Fine,” the teenager acquiesced, and they spent a few more minutes talking loudly all over each other, before Aerlinn clapped her hands with a smile. Silence fell, and Findecáno looked around, marveling. Had that been magic?

“Thats settled then, and you boys have work tonight! Best hurry back, sunrise is soon! We'll see you the day after tomorrow, say, an hour before sunset.” They all clamored their agreement, and soon the three of them were all strolling back to the bathhouse, Mírdan alongside them. The deer spirit was going to go invite his boyfriend. Findecáno took a deep, cleansing breath, mind still lingering on his mother and his family's fate. He tuned in to Celegorm and Mírdan’s conversation.

“...and one of the new goats was on top of the damn shed, I swear. I don't even know how he got up there.” The redhead was telling the amused strawberry-blond.

“New goats?” Celegorm asked, laughing. “Also, that would only happen to you, damn.” Mírdan rolled his eyes and smacked Celegorm’s arm.

“You're an ass. And yeah, we got four new goats, like, two weeks ago, where have you been? I swear you only listen to half of what I say. The Boss said to keep a close eye on them for whatever reason.” Mírdan replied, and some tight knot in Findecáno’s chest loosened slightly. Mírdan was looking after his family. That was good. Findecáno sighed, and then yawned.

“Here we are,” Celegorm noted, and they parted ways with Mírdan and headed off to bed.

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