Day 5 Domino: Let it Snow: Preperations

[voidtreckermods]

Early Evening

Due to some of the passengers having strange dreams those on the Voidtrecker Express should be expecting something soon and so it is around dinner time on the evening of the fifth day of Domino that everyone's SCA glows with the colour of the void, a holographic message appears with their next mission.

Those going to the dressing car will find the drawers and wardrobes open. Inside are a variety of warm weather clothes, all in team colours. Thick padded winter jackets, waterproof trousers. Hats, gloves, scarves. Thick boots and also a variety of ice skates. There are waterproof covers for a variety of sizes of bags and even some coils of rope.

It seems they are not arriving until the next morning and so they have time to plan as best they can.

Morning: Day Six

No matter if they stayed up late preparing or went to bed early to get some rest before the mission they will wake up the next morning to the morning announcement. "Good morning passengers. Today is day six of the month of Domino. A moment later the voice speaks again. "Our next stop is world#58291. Drop order: Purple, Blue, Red, Orange. Conditions are adverse and so all passengers must be ready to alite swiftly."

There is time for some final preparation.

Comments

[utulien_aure]

Yes, part of him wants to say, yes you were. How thoughtful of you to admit it now, five hundred years too late to do any good.

That part of him is there, an inheritance of the House of Finwe as noticeable as dark hair and sharp cheekbones. An unforgiving mood he'd mostly thought he'd worked through, or at least could mitigate. Something he'd thought he could control, but somehow kept being jostled on this damned train.

"You were skating here, not long ago," he says eventually. "You were having fun- I saw you."

Another pause.

"You know the snow can be an enemy- any winter in Beleriand would have taught you that. But you've never been forced to see it as nothing else. Did you ever notice? The rest of us skate when we have to, but it's never for fun. And when out children wish to go outside, we have to fight against every instinct instinct to keep them inside, where it’s warm and dry and they won't die. We had to do that with Lalwen's boy, until he was sent off- all these people who would have happily spoiled him, but could hardly bear to let him out of doors because they had seen so many children just stop moving.

"And that's just the least affected survivors, Curufin. Do you have any idea what the rest are like? Did it ever even occur to you to ask anyone in Nargothrond while you were there?"

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin knows this apology comes far too late to alter anything. But that doesn't cancel the necessity of offering it. He does so not in hopes of receiving forgiveness, but only in the hope that hearing such an admission from Curufin might make some sort of difference to Fingon.

"I did have fun skating, you're right. The snow and ice reminded me of wintertime during our childhood and youth in Tirion, long before all the trouble began."

He listens.

"You're right, I never had to see winter solely as an implacable enemy. But you did. And that was due to our actions, we Fëanorians. I could not blame you if you saw us forever as the implacable enemies who inflicted on you the perilous cold and the resulting deaths of your loved ones and your people. Thank you for telling me what you experienced. And feel free to say whatever you need to say. The least I can do is listen."

He shakes his head. "No, I never asked anyone in Nargothrond. I was under the influence of the Oath then; I did not know how to empathize and thought only of one thing. Finrod's people were the most affected? Do you mean because they were the rearguard in the march and therefore suffered the longest exposure to the elements?"

[utulien_aure]

Fingon just stares.

"Did you think we could afford all those neat ranks and files? People went where they were needed- scouts and hunters are scouts and hunters, no matter whom they are sworn to, and the able-bodied were needed everywhere."

He shakes his head.

"I'm saying you lived surrounded by these people for years- there wasn't even Lake Mithrim between you this time. And it never occurred to you how a decision you might have affected them."

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin looks back. He said he would listen, and he will.

"No, I don't suppose you could have stayed in formation, now that I think of it. I wouldn't have, in the same situation. And I thought you were saying that Finrod's people were the most affected by the cold and the harsh conditions."

"No Lake Mithrim between us and the citizens of Nargothrond, no. We hunted with them, scouted with them, forged weapons and armor, repaired broken masonry, dug wells, shared all the activities that any community must engage in. I thought of how to be useful, but my mind was no longer geared to other kinds of ordinary human thoughts and feelings. The Oath had completely taken over my heart, by that time. I am very sorry for that now. And I know well that Finrod was your friend, always had been, always will be."

[utulien_aure]

Fingon feels a headache coming on. Of course, that's not uncommon a reaction, when dealing with the whole disaster that was Nargothrond. Or a lot of other things, really.

"Your Oath is entirely self-defeating, do you know that?" He has to snap. "You petrified Nargothrond, our largest city, for a few minor and ephemeral victories. So Ingo could feel terrible before Sauron murdered him. So Artaher could feel... who knows, really, I'm certainly not in his conference. So Tyelkormo could have a mate. And yet as far as I can tell, it keeps alienating everyone you could possibly need for a real victory, over and over again, until the only people who will speak to you happen to share your parents. Is that really what you want, Curufinwe? Because I don't think it is, but for the life of me I can't tell anymore. Everything that happen just seems to point in one direction. "

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin says quietly, "I know. You're absolutely right. The Oath was a guarantee of disaster. It isn't what I want now, and in fact, it wasn't what I wanted even then. But you speak as though these events were just yesterday. And maybe for you, they are. You came here directly from our world, didn't you? I've dwelt in two other worlds since the end of my life in Arda, and I've spent that extra time re-shaping my life. But I do understand that that doesn't convince you. You remember me as I was then, and you remember the terrible consequences of my actions and Celegorm's. I don't expect you not to be angry."

He gazes at Fingon with softened eyes. An expression that Fingon wouldn't have seen since their days in Tirion, and even then, not often. "Thank you for speaking your mind and heart. These are things I needed to hear."