Chapter Text
The day was grey, but not bad at all for a day of March in North Beleriand.
Himring was a perpetually cold city, it earned its name fairly, and yet the city was well loved by its inhabitants.
Next to Himring, stood the Himlad national park, mountain, forests, and protected wildlife. That attracted a lot of tourist in the summer season.
Alas, every year there were accidents because those who didn’t know the area and came unprepared were bound to walk into troubles.
However all the inhabitants knew to be careful of the mountain. It could be treacherous more often than not.
And in this season, early in the year, two of such inhabitants were walking on a trek path through out the easiest side of the mountain.
A man and a woman, Oromë and Vána went on a hike, seemingly to enjoy one of the precious first few spring days without a hint of rain.
Oromë was a tall man, built like a man who exercised regularly, long black hair free to fly around his face, he seemed to favour browns and green colours in clothing.
Vána was a petite woman, blond hair, green eyes, an easy smile on her face, looking very much like she was going to burst laughing at any moment.
The trail took them to a nice rest area settled so people could stop and look at the forest below them.
But when they arrived, they weren’t alone there. No.
A young man was sitting on a boulder, petting a squirrel… and not looking very happy.
He was looking like he might be considering jumping from this height to the bottom of the mountain.
Oromë felt the need to intervene, just in case:
“Nice view isn’t it?” He asked.
Instantly, the squirrel seemed to vanish from sight, and the young man sniffed:
“Yeah. In the area it’s mainly spruce trees and Frasier fir. So we have a lovely evergreen forest all year round, honestly, in this season it’s a welcome sight. But there’s more diversity of trees if you go lower than the city of Himring. And if you’re patient, you can see so many deer in the area. Too many in fact, since they have too few predators around the immediate reach of the city.”
Oromë blinked at the sudden amount of information thrown his way.
“What’s your name, kid?”
“Celegorm, and I’m not a kid. Yours?”
“I’m Vána, and this is my husband, Oromë. It’s nice to meet you Celegorm!” Vána said cheerfully.
“Likewise.” Celegorm answered.
“Do you want to get down the mountain with us?” Vána offered.
The young man looked at them oddly, like he couldn’t understand why they even stopped to talk to him.
“I’m fine, thank you. I’ll just stay here for a bit and get down later.” Celegorm answered.
Vána and Oromë exchanged a look at that.
“Look, kid, I’m not going to lie, you looked like you were considering taking a dive from the mountain here and I would rather you come back down with us.”
Celegorm blinked at that, and blinked again:
“Ah, sorry. I’m not. That was never a consideration. I was just… In need of a quiet space to think.”
“That doesn’t actually reassure me.” Oromë pointed out.
“I’m not suicidal! My brothers would kill me!” Celegorm insisted, sounding mildly horrified at the idea.
While that illogical answer seemed to reassure Oromë a bit, still he insisted.
“How about we offer you a coffee and an open ear instead, hm?”
Celegorm eyed the man and his offered hand with suspicion but nodded after a bit of hesitation. It’s not that he wanted to refuse the offer, but there were so many horror stories in the news and Oromë looked like he could easily bench press him so…
Celegorm took his hand, and let himself be pulled to his feet, and down the rock.
They started to walk down the trail, at first in silence and then…:
“You were petting a squirrel when we arrived right?” Vána asked, curious.
“A red squirrel, yes. That one’s a rescue, the daft thing is an escape artist who decided today that he needed to spend the day with me.”
Celegorm pulled a nut out of pocket and the squirrel seemed to have sensed it, appearing seemingly out of nowhere to steal the nut, eating it right there, in Celegorm’s hand.
“Oh he’s so cute.” Vána whispered.
“He’s cute, yeah. He’s also, as I said, an escape artist and is constantly seeking company.”
“Oh. May I pet it?”
Celegorm shrugged but approached his hand to her, adding a few more snacks in his hand to ensure the animal wouldn’t flee.
She petted it shyly at first but seeing it seemed to be enjoying it…
“He’s so soft.” She said.
“His fur is very soft, alas that doesn’t seem to mean he’s a gentle squirrel, he’s in truth a demon who’ll enjoy destroying all your decorations on a fit of typical squirrel hyperactivity.” Celegorm answered, amused.
Oromë winced at that even as Vána laughed: “Someone that shall not be named here gave shelter to a baby deer last year, to a pretty similar result.”
Celegorm snorted with amusement, eyeing Oromë who was looking pointedly in front of him, a faint blush on his face.
“A predictable outcome.” Celegorm said, even as the squirrel seemed to tire of the company and went back to hide in a pouch Celegorm seemingly had under his clothing.
“So, may we ask what drove you here?” Oromë asked.
Celegorm remained silent a moment, deep in thoughts:
“Considerations on my future.”
“Care to elaborate?”
“My father’s a scientist. He thinks that… Well, a man of the family needs to join the scientific community in order to be useful to the community. Or failing that, his father had been army once, and that is a perfectly honourable path. So my father’s willing to pay for my studies in either sciences or officer school.”
Oromë and Vána were listening in silence, although they exchanged a look that Celegorm couldn’t decipher at that.
“But I want neither path. Going into the army almost killed my older brother. I’m not a coward, but fighting a war that isn’t mine doesn’t appeal to me. Walking to the tune of someone else in a strict environment would kill me, I’m pretty sure. As for sciences… I want to become a ranger in the national park, to keep an eye on the Woods and the local wild-life. I don’t want to become a scientist to work in an office all day, which is the path of life my father believes is the best.”
“And your father won’t support you?”
“He says he won’t. And, I mean… I got a partial scholarship for a university for a course I’d love, pending acceptable results for the exams, that’d put me on a good track to become a national park ranger.”
“Partial, hm?”
“Yeah. Enough to be interesting, but I’d have to actually find a job, and possibly an apartment of my own and I have 0 qualifications. One of my brothers, a maths genius said that my chances of success are below average. It’s aggravating that he has no faith in me whatsoever or that he’s so much of a daddy’s boy. It’s not like it’s easy to get partial scholarship in anything. I’m not that bad.”
“And so you hesitate?”
“I still want to try… But I’ll be at odd with dad, and if I fail I’ll just… Have nothing to my name but debts. Not a great start to adult life, or so I’ve been told.”
Vána and Oromë exchanged a look and it’s together that they left the forest, to stop at the coffee-shop nearby, usually frequented by tourists and park employees alike.
They ordered drinks, non-alcoholic ones, and sat together at a table, waiting in silence for their order to arrive.