Sunrise Before I Ever Saw the Sun by Himring

The Outer Sea

The first conversation between Fingon and Maedhros after Feanor and his sons return from one of their journeys

A second story prompted by the quotation:"Fëanor and his sons abode seldom in one place for long, but travelled far and wide upon the confines of Valinor, going even to the borders of the Dark and the cold shores of the Outer Sea, seeking the unknown".

Rating: General

‘You were gone for a long while, Maitimo.’

‘We went all the way to the Outer Sea this time.’

‘Did you really? How exciting! What was it like?’

‘I knew you would say that, Findekano!  It was cold. The beach was made up of very fine sand, bone-white. The sea was black and its tides were fierce. But the sky above it was darker and more violent than that. I walked along the shore and thought: Findekano would find this exciting. But how shall I describe it to him?

‘But did you not yourself find it exciting, Maitimo?’

‘Exciting? Perhaps. It was a good trip, very interesting. I learned a lot. And Father was satisfied… But I haven’t finished my tale yet!’

‘Haven’t you? Go on then!’

‘I was thinking: How shall I describe this to Findekano? And at the same moment, I saw a shell before me in the sand—a large white conch, completely intact, although everything else on the beach seemed to have been ground down to dust, almost. And so I knew this must be for you…’

‘You brought me a shell from the shores of the Outer Sea!’

‘Yes. Here it is.’

‘It is large. And so white—colourless, really…’

‘It comes to you from the lightless depths of Ekkaia.’

‘Thank you, Maitimo. I’m glad you thought of me, out there.’

‘Maybe you can come along next time?’

‘Maybe...’

...and maybe not. You like these trips, Maitimo, because of the way your family works together, journeying, each doing their part, so much more harmoniously than at home in Tirion. I have seen it; it’s almost miraculous. I do believe I’ve never seen Turko so calm, Moryo so amiable, Curvo so helpful as when you all are under way together… But it seems the charm only works for the eight of you, now Nerdanel has left. As for yourself, you may miss me on these trips, think of me—and so maybe Turko misses Irisse, Feanaro misses Finwe… But if any of us should join you, that fine mysterious balance is overset; they cannot keep it up. They tolerate me as best they can, for your sake, but I can see they wish I were away…

Chapter End Notes

I had the Living Land challenge at the back of my mind when I wrote this, so although other stories of mine might fit the terms of the challenge better than this one, I'll claim it as a fill.