Child of the Woods by Aprilertuile

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Chapter 12: The years between

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Years passing, punctuated by a number of travels throughout Valinor and by a number of grand projects from Fëanáro and Nerdanel, Makalaurë and Celegorm himself, proved correct Aulë’s assessment of young Turkafinwë, indeed the child grew into a teenager and then an adult elf who hated more than anything to work with his father in the forge and barely tolerated to work with his mother in her workshop.

He felt no interest for the arts of politics either and music was just a passing fancy. He liked drawing, but what held his love in truth was the outside, and the Hunt.

The freedom of being out there.

The joy of learning to understand and talk to every animal he could see.

The unrestrained wildness of running with Oromë’s Hunt.

The comradeship he found with his fellow Hunters.

The pride of having Oromë’s friendship.

The adoration he had and shared with Huan...

The mean humour he felt when someone came into the Woods unprompted, uninvited and without warning and got lost only to find there the terror of their lives.

Forests in Valinor could be places of unique joy and welcome.

Forests in Valinor could be fun to wander in.

Forests in Valinor could be utterly safe and boring.

But that was NOT Oromë’s Woods.

No. Oromë’s Woods was freedom but also darkness. It was life but also death. It was fun, but also fear. It was a forest... But also not. It was quiet and yet loud. It was chaos. It was timeless. It was a place of wonder.... And screwed with people like no other place in Valinor ever did.

And it was there that Tyelkormo felt the most welcome and natural. Deep within the shadows of the home of Oromë.

Oromë’s Woods were his home. Were the place where his heart lied.

But Tyelkormo also adored his family, and so he shared his life between his two homes. Between the Woods, and his family.

And the family grew.

From three siblings, they grew to four, then five, then seven.

Much to his dismay he found himself babysitting his little siblings whenever he was available. It wasn’t always a success.

Carnistir always had a way to make him feel stupid, starting in his teenager years.

He knew he wasn’t but damn, that kid could still make him feel like he was missing something more often than not.

Then Curufinwë had come and they had... nothing in common. When the child had been introduced to Aulë, the child had laughed joyously, and from the moment he knew how to talk, Curufinwë was asking questions: ‘how does that work?’, ‘where does that come from?’ ‘Why?’ ‘What’s that?’...

Their mother named him in truth Atarinkë, little father, indeed. His baby brother delighted with everything Fëanáro crafted for him. And mostly delighted in trying to take them apart and to try to put them back properly.

And the twins... Tyelkormo’s biggest success was introducing them to the outdoors and the joy of hunting.

They didn’t feel quite the same thing he felt for it.

They didn’t speak the animals’ languages so they couldn’t hear the terrified pleas of the animals that spotted them. Couldn’t hear their last words. Didn’t feel the act of hunting as viscerally as he himself did.

But nevertheless, they were soon good hunters, and enjoyed the outdoors far more than being indoor. Thankfully.

And then Curufinwë fell in love.

The girl was only a dainty thing if seen from afar, in the dark, while drunk. She was a spitfire, far more than his own mother, she loved to invent practical things. She also loved to absolutely put in their place the people that annoyed or challenged her.

One of those instances had led Curufinwë to meet her fiery temper from up close and personal and he had fallen in love on the spot.

Much to Tyelkormo’s despair at the time.

If there was ONE thing he refused to hear about, it was his brother’s dreams about married life or sex life.

There were things too terrible to contemplate out there.

His siblings being sexual beings was one of those things.

The marriage, in time, was lovely.

The confidences from his brother after the wedding nights were far less appreciated.

Tyelkormo could swear Huan found it hilarious and was still laughing at him for that.

When one year later his nephew was born, he was the first one, after Curufinwë and his father, to hold the child.

He was adorable. Less adorable, he proved to be a child more active than his father had been!