A Man Who Flies From His Fear May Find He Has Only Taken A Shortcut To Meet It by LadySternchen  

Heights- Eärendil

There is a strange, lifting feeling when Vingilot takes to the sky, leaving the softly rolling waves beneath its keel. Eärendil swallows hard. He has been a mariner all his life, has braved storms that have made his companions quake, seen sails tear and the bow delving below the waves, yet he has never, ever been afraid.

Until he sees the waves fall away below him.

Is he still looking down the gleaming planks of Vingilot, or the white walls of Gondolin? And the green waves look a terrible lot like grass, the wisps of cloud like the smoke and steam rising from the burning city. Suddenly, he can feel Maeglin’s grip on him, feels himself being lifted over the parapets…

Eärendil turns, and lets himself sink to the deck, trying to take steadying breaths. It is a little late now, to remember that he is mortally afraid of heights. He has committed to the task, and there is nothing he can do. So he gets up again, and peers over the railing. He is much, much higher now, and though he is by no means comfortable, it is easier now he cannot see the ground so clearly. He will manage.

And he must surely be the only star in Eä that is afraid of heights.