Vanafin: Fulfilling Feanor's Oath (Under Re-Write)

Winding Path

Vanafin snarled and kicked as the brown horse continued to walk along. Celebrimbor, his ever-so-caring cousin, tied him across the saddle and wrapped his mouth shut with a cloth. While he walked freely beside the horse with his sword at his hip and his bow in his hand. Thankfully they had not met any orcs since Nargothrond, but Celebrimbor wasn't willing to walk around without a weapon of some sort with him, just to be safe.

Originally, Vanafin was not tied up in this fashion. Still, after Celebrimbor learned a simple knot around the wrists wasn't going to work against his newfound cousin during a tantrum, Vanafin ended up like this. Tantrum still raging. His back once again hurt from this angle, and the heat from the midday sun was also not helping his position.

Vanafin bit into the cloth multiple times in a hopeless attempt to break through the fabric. He had tried to bite Celebrimbor at one point, but the Elf was quicker, having thrown Vanafin to the ground and wrapping his mouth in the fabric.

"I will only take the cloth off if you stop fighting me," Celebrimbor said, looking over his shoulder to watch Vanafin struggle against his restraints.

Vanafin finally followed as Celebrimbor said, and his cousin removed the cloth. "Will you tell me of the oath now?" Vanafin asked, but Celebrimbor turned away to continue walking. "We can make a deal, Cousin. I'll answer whatever question you ask if you tell me what this oath is."

"The oath is nothing you need to concern yourself with. It was made during a time of grief and will only bring about more grief. Don't go adding to it." Celebrimbor didn't even bother to turn and look at Vanafin. Vanafin could sense the sadness in his voice, though. Still, he pressed on.

"Don't you have any questions for me, though? I know there are some you wish to know the truth to."

Celebrimbor finally stopped. There was silence for a long while before Celebrimbor turned back to him. "Fine," he stated, dragging Vanafin off the horse to stand in front of him. "How can it be that you are somewhere in your thirties, and yet I have never once seen you around Nargothrond?"

"I'm just good at hiding. Mother never had us playing with other kids or being out for long periods of time. She didn't like us being in public."

"Why, though?"

"Because she didn't wish to be linked to father, I guess. She never really explained it to us. Only that we were to obey her."

"Why does your mother hate Celegorm that much?"

"Won't you answer my qu-"

"Just answer my questions first!" Celebrimbor interrupted.

Vanafin pouted before continuing. "Something about her uncle, but I never bothered to really listen as to why. My guess is he did something with her uncle that she didn't like, or something like that."

Celebrimbor gave Vanafin a confused look before continuing. "Alright then, why were you hiding under a table in the middle of the hall during an attack?"

Vanafin shrugged. "I was hiding from the orcs wanting revenge."

"'Revenge'?"

"I killed their captain not too long before the attack, so of course they wanted revenge."

"How could a kid sneak into an orc camp with a dragon and kill a captain?!"

"Because I did."

"A camp? You somehow found a camp on your own, got inside - a place full of orcs and, for Eru's sake, a dragon? - you managed to kill their leader, and yet, somehow, got out alive?!"