Wayward Daughter, Carry on by Himring

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Chapter 2 (of 3)

Here's where the Valar come in.

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‘Your parents are worried about you, young one,’ said Manwe’s voice to Ramavoite.

Ramavoite was very aware of that. It was the reason why she was perched in a secluded spot well out of their way. Manwe was not as easy to avoid, however, at least not if you were an eagle in Valinor.

‘You have been sad and anxious for weeks. They do not know what happened and you have not told them or allowed them to ask.’

‘Do you not know what happened, Lord Manwe?’ Ramavoite asked.

‘I know a little more of what happened than they do, but I do not understand either. Will you speak to me so that I can understand?’

Reluctantly, Ramavoite began to tell him about the dare.

‘So,’ asked Manwe, ‘you are unhappy because you lost a dare and were unable to impress your age mates?’

‘No!’ answered Ramavoite, as if that should have been obvious. Indeed, she had almost forgotten about the original challenge, although she had not bothered to think that through until now.

‘Then what is it that troubles you?’

‘Soon I will be old enough to serve as your messenger, Lord Manwe.’

‘Yes. And?’

‘What use is a messenger that is too cowardly to fly to Middle-earth?’

‘Cowardly? You use harsh words for yourself, young one! In fact, many of my messengers carry messages that do not take them out of Aman. And, in any case, the importance of my messages is not measured only in danger! You could serve me perfectly well without flying to Middle-earth.’

Ramavoite looked as mulish as it is possible for an eagle to look.

‘I can see that you will not be convinced, young one. You will not believe in your worth, if you cannot fly to Middle-earth, will you? Then we must find a way for you to do so. But after what you experienced, out there above the Belegaer, you should not try alone.’

‘But I wasn’t alone!’

Manwe’s voice made a Valarin noise of disapproval that was almost like tut-tut.

‘I did not mean a flock of inexperienced youngsters—those eagles still have never been to Middle-earth themselves, you know!  I was thinking of somebody who knows Middle-earth well… Orome shall take you.’

‘Lord Orome! Why would he want to bother with the likes of me?’

‘Oh, Orome will not mind! I will talk to him.’

*

Ramavoite had the gravest doubts, but it seemed that Lord Orome did indeed not mind being burdened with an overanxious eaglet.

‘Welcome, Ramavoite!’ he said, when she hesitantly approached. As with other Valar, his voice boomed a little, resonating even when he was toning it down to converse with other beings.

‘You can ride on here for the time being’—he extended a gloved hand—‘but I have also arranged this perch for you on Nahar’s back.’

Tall Nahar turned and looked at her with wise eyes. It seemed he did not mind the idea of having a young eagle on his back either.

‘Now, listen to me Ramavoite,’ said Orome. ‘This is serious.’

Ramavoite tensed, but it turned out that Orome was not addressing her panic above Belegaer at all.

‘When we leave Aman, but especially once we reach Middle-earth, you must do exactly as I say, do you hear? Especially if we should run into one of Morgoth’s creatures. You are too young to fight and untrained. If anything like that happens, you stay on your perch on Nahar’s back and you do not move from there. He will take care of you, but I will want my hands free. Do you understand?’

Oh. Somehow Ramavoite had never thought beyond getting to Middle-earth and hardly spent any consideration on what would happen when she got there. She supposed that ought to have been more frightening than the thought of the crossing but she found that she was not afraid. Orome and Nahar exuded such an air of calm, trustworthy competence that she did not doubt at all they would take care of her.

‘I understand,’ she assured Orome.

She hopped onto Orome’s arm and they took off.

*

Manwe’s plan worked. Not only did Ramavoite cross the Belegaer on Orome’s arm without panicking, both ways, on this journey, on a second journey she was able to fly for short stretches alongside, returning to her perch on Nahar’s back when she grew uneasy. Orome and Nahar encouraged her all the way.

And when she was older and trained, she flew and fought with Orome and Nahar. Later, she also flew to Middle-earth in Manwe’s service on her own. But her story does not end here.

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Chapter End Notes

Problem solved? There will be another crisis in the third chapter, nevertheless.