Part Twenty-nine
[The characters Oromë, Tilion, Vana, and Arien are directly taken from Tolkien's work, although the myths in which they are said to feature within this chapter are not canon to his universe and are mainly inventions of the author of this fic, Rangers Like Us. If you came to this page without seeing the credits relating to originality of this work, go here to view them.]
He had found a tree that was neither the oldest or the youngest. He had found a tree with no apparent nests or stashes. He had called out to ask if anyone objected to him felling this tree and no branch-like arms had sprung out to halt him and no voices had spoken. Even the Elves around the fire had remained silent. He had spoken to the tree to ask it to give its life so that others could have tools, warmth and cooked meat. He had promised that he was not taking more than he would use. He had done all that Dale had instructed and so Duma drew back the small ax.
"Wait!"
Duma froze still and then lifted his head to look at Tsuki. He seemed to stand and watch so calmly.
"Do you know where the tree will fall?"
Dale laughed.
"Downwards?"
Tsuki laughed. "If you strike a notch in the tree at the bottom, the entire tree falls, do you know where the top will hit? Will it disturb other trees on the way down? Land on people? Bring down the carcass?"
Duma clacked. He had not thought about that. He had heard about other Orcs felling trees and building war machines for Wizards. He had been brought wood for his fires. He had never felled a tree before. He did not know. "I do not know. Will you please tell me how I may know that?"
"If properly notched, the tree will fall toward the notched side."
At least Tsuki had explained notching the trunk. Duma had imagined the task impossible when he had seen the size of the ax compared to the tree. He had thought it would take forever to cut through the entire trunk. It still would take a lot of effort to chop all this wood into useful lengths.
"Use up the branches first," Dale had said. "You may want to reserve the trunk for devising a means of transporting the remains when we leave."
Duma still did not know how he would accomplish that, but he understood how he was to use the ax and he understood Tsuki's instructions on how to remove the skin from the carcass in a few large pieces as possible. He understood basically that meat would be cut off bones and suspended above the fire. He understood that the wood should be fashioned into some device for hanging meat over the fire and that smaller pieces would cook through faster.
Duma looked to the top of the tree and tried to visualize what that same distance would be on the ground. One task at a time. He would never finish his chores if he worried about the lot of them without beginning the next. He supposed it was wise to remember there were future tasks. Dale's advice might even be a hint. Perhaps the device was something best made of the slender trunk.
"This side?" Duma asked, pointing to the tree.
Dale and Tsuki both studied the tree and the land around them. The looked at each other and then Dale said, "That will do. Remember to get out of the way when it falls. Call if you need help."
Dale turned and walked toward the fire, Tsuki at his side, carrying their bedrolls, which he had removed while Duma labored to string up the carcass.
Gwindor and Galadhiel were resting and Beryl and Lenaduiniel were sitting up near the fire. She had her bow and quiver out, but not drawn. The other Elves saw Dale approaching with Tsuki. Beryl's lantern was now swinging from the oldest tree, clearly lighting the similarly swinging carcass bleeding out at its side.
"It is much warmer here," Tsuki said.
"It does feel cold tonight," Lenaduiniel said. She was wearing her cloak. "The air is rather damp. Do you think that tree will even burn? It is so fresh."
"Eventually. It will likely be a smoky fire, but that will preserve the meat just as well," Tsuki answered.
Dale agreed with a nod. "I only hope he understands that a warm fire cooking over time will work better than a very hot fire. He does not need to make it hot enough for smelting, for example."
Tsuki shrugged as he spread out his blankets.
"Will you rest then?" Leanduiniel asked. "If we are to stay much longer, it will be Tsuki and Laurel's turn to watch again."
"I am not sleeping tonight...even when I try," Dale said. "If you and Beryl feel your fair shift is over then I will watch until everyone is rested and wanting breakfast."
"Kato will watch with you. He likes to sleep, but he likes breakfast more."
"I will try to rest," Tsuki said. He removed his boots and set them not too close to the fire. "You may wake me if you need anything."
"I just wanted to ask," Lenaduiniel started, "but I stopped earlier." She saw Tsuki nod. "In the past, we spoke, and you seemed to want to prove your magic. Do you really believe you have power now? Do you believe because it was proven?"
"I believe now that when I truly need the power it will be there and that I may will beneficial things to happen. It is good working with Laurel. I am not a full Wizard and she is not a full witch and the ways we were taught are different, but I have learned that the parts that we were both taught in common are the important things. It is difficult to explain magic to Elves, because to other races, Elves are magic."
"We would think of it as...spiritual."
"Magic is...largely spiritual, but it is more than what I could define as spirit, it is of the mind and the body and one's feelings. It is...it is. Magic is. You believe that something is and it becomes. But...it is not simply overpowering...not what we do. It is not enforcing your will or power over another. It is...more like surrendering, but not surrendering."
"It is like love," Beryl said, "In that you could sing a thousand songs of it and still not explain it all."
"Yes. And also, I think, in that you know it when you feel it, even though you may not be able to describe that feeling to anyone."
The ax chops echoed in the night and a horse whinnied but no one spoke. The others noticed Dale sat with his head tucked behind knees and arms. The tree fell.
There were more chopping sounds, so they knew Duma was still at work.
"Are you very tired, Tsuki?" Beryl asked.
"I can stay awake if I am needed."
"Would you help the Lady and I watch, so that I may tell a story, or perhaps sing a song, to pass the time, and not be too distracted from my watch?"
"Of course. That seems a good idea."
"What type of story should we have? Dale, what sort of story?"
Dale lifted his head. "Sing about the Elves of ages past."
"An adventure, with battles," Lenaduiniel suggested.
"Not only battles, it should be too depressing, perhaps some intrigue or romance?" Tsuki asked.
"Elven romances can be depressing as well, always someone forsaking immortality or perishing in their moment or triumph or departing west. Let us see...perhaps a story about a young male Elf named 'Silver-Tree'."
Lenaduiniel laughed.
"Alas I did not disguise that name well. I cannot tell tales on Elves known to my audience, particularly not kinsmen of certain ladies' fathers. Let me think...a good story with characters that are all long since dead or departed. Or...I know...I do not think this one can be true, for it is so fanciful, it is about a Halfling that falls in with a Dwarven expedition and ends up stealing a dragon's horde."
"Please, that tale happened in my own lifetime and in every telling I have heard my people come out quite badly," Lenaduiniel said.
"Oh, I had forgotten. Yes, it would have been embarrassing if I came to that part of the story and told it as I heard it, but perhaps sometime you would enlighten me as to the truth behind that story."
"Sometime," Lenaduiniel promised.
"Ai," Beryl sighed.
"Just sing something. I cannot sleep and I do not wish to think."
"Oh, yes, I know. This is a little known story, and I cannot swear it is true. I doubt you will find it in proper scrolls and tomes of lore, but I have heard it sung in certain company. It is a sort of Romance among the Gods, of the Great Huntsman and his companion that carried the silver bow."
"Now I understand what company you have kept. The one that bears the silver bow is likewise male."
"That he is."
"Tsuki will like this story," Dale said, almost laughing.
"Will I?"
"He is also guardian of the Silver Flower and to the Orcs, Silver-Face." Dale raised a hand to the sky.
"Gekka. Moon-blossom. You mean Tsukiyomi that is the god of the Moon."
"The Elves call him Tilion. It means 'The Horned', perhaps for the points when the Moon seems a cresent and shaped like his bow, or perhaps not. The Great Huntsman is called Oromë, it means, 'Horn-blower'."
Dale laughed.
"That is terrible," Lenaduiniel said. "He is only called that because...I mean...well he is a huntsman and he sounds his horn... "
"Yes, yes, what else would I be speaking of? Of course he blows his horn."
"But...you said Tilion was The Horned."
"Yes. I did not make this up! Is that not the name of the moon-spirit?"
Lenaduiniel sighed. "And Oromë was wed to Vana."
"Well, I think that 'wed' in the case of our gods can sometimes mean 'designated the counterpart' and not 'known to be the lover'. Just because some goddess is the helpmate of a god and designated his counterpart by the creator, it does not mean they must be lovers."
"The Elves call the moon Horned?" Tsuki asked.
"They do," Beryl answered.
"And he is male...that is the way I thought it was...not that I believe very much in gods...the witches reverse it. They believe the Moon a Lady and they say the Horned god is of the Sun."
"With respect to Laurel, whom they outcast, most witches I have met are rather misguided in the details of cosmology when compared to Elves. How clever can they be if they are mistaking me for Oromë in the wood?"
"I am not certain I like where this story is going," Dale said.
Beryl laughed and shrugged. "Now, Oromë and Tilion are certainly two different persons, though the witches seem, to me, to confuse them as one. And Arien is she who tends the Sun, and some songs say that Tilion loves her and so he chases her about the sky and refuses to only appear at night, but at times in the day as well, but that is not entirely true. He has a close relationship with Arien, Tilion does, but they are not lovers. It does seem strange the witches would think the Sun the horned one, when it never appears horned, except when eclipsed by the Moon, and we need not read anything lewd into that. No, Arien is She Who Tends the Golden Fruit of the Sun and her golden hair flows out into the sky, but that is really not important to the story I want to tell. Tilion, before he became tender of the Silver Flower, before he knew Arien, before there was a Moon, before the Elves were sundered, was a companion of Oromë. Tilion was 'horned' and Oromë was 'horn-blower'."
"Do they perhaps mean that Tilion was manifested as some questing beast possessed of a silver horn?"
"An interesting theory, My Lady, but I believe his bow was the sort that one shoots arrows from and one needs hands to carry and use a bow. Tilion was certainly of a like shape to an Elf or a Man, as was Oromë. In fact, other spirits of Tilion's ilk have conceived children with Elves in the past, or even walked among Men and Elves in various disguises...to this day perhaps."
"Perhaps Tilion did not only enjoy males and Tsuki is his son, and that would explain how he lived when the Dark Lord attacked his village," Dale said.
Tsuki laughed softly. "Beryl used to call me Tilion, when we fought together in the war."
"Did he?"
"It is the best Elven translation of his name. That sort of 'ts' sound does take some trying to get used to."
"But you were disguised as a Man then."
"And are there not educated Men that speak Elven? In the western Common Speech that sound is not often made, not at the beginning of a word. Perhaps something close would be the ending of a word like 'melts'."
"Perhaps you could continue the story," Lenaduiniel suggested.
Beryl nodded and began the story again, as Tsuki and Lenaduiniel helped him to watch. Beryl told them how the world had been newly sung into creation then and that there was an adversary who had changed some of the verses and thus there were all manner of fell beasts endangering creation and the newly made Elves and Oromë the Huntsman, who loved the Elves, and Tilion of the Silver Bow, who was his companion, set out to hunt the beasts.
Oromë was passionate, to put it kindly, he could be quick to anger, but he was good to Elves and to animals. He particularly liked Horses and Dogs and, Men would domesticate these creatures by his example. Sometimes Oromë would ride off to speak to other Gods, but most times he lived in the woods and on plains, training his followers in the ways of hunting fell creatures and often he dwelled among the Elves, when they still lived as one people in the east.
Tilion was more youthful and a follower in Oromë's hunting party and quite skilled with the bow. He loved silver and had jewelry of this metal and later, when a guardian was needed for the Moon, he begged for the job, because he loved its silvery light. When in the realm of the gods, Tilion often visited the domain of the god sometimes called 'Dream' and his helpmate 'Rest'.
Tilion lay dreaming by the pool of Rest when Oromë first beheld him. He was clothed only with droplets of water remaining from his bath in the pool, and his jewelry. His skin was white and his hair dark, like the Moon would be in shadow. When he opened his eyes they were grey, as those of the Elves Oromë held precious.
Oromë was struck by this youthful and beautiful god and desired to share himself with him, for of course the gods also expressed affection in this manner as Elves would. And Tilion accepted the offer, for Oromë was one of the eight most powerful gods under The Creator and Tilion was enchanted by his rugged appearance and green woodsman's garb.
"Oromë is like a Ranger?" Tsuki asked.
"Very much," Beryl agreed, "I think many a Ranger has followed in his example and swears by his name."
Leanduiniel sighed, believing Beryl meant that all Rangers easily shared themselves with other in their brotherhood.
Beryl continued, relating how Oromë and Tilion had shared themselves with each other near the pool. He used many Elvish euphemisms and did not give the most intimate details, but it was clear from Beryl's words that Oromë and Tilion had shared various sexual acts and enjoyed each other very much.
"Then Oromë took Tilion with him on his white horse and rode over the ocean to the east where he loved to spend time and made him a member of his hunting party and they were close companions thereafter. Even today, as Tilion is steering the Moon across the sky, you can often see the Great Huntsman, Oromë on his way to visit his lover there."
"Not a myth I have heard told before, but it is a sweet romance, I suppose," Lenaduiniel said.
"Tell another story, please, Beryl. Tell me of one of their hunts," Dale pleaded.
Beryl agreed and began another story. He told of the demons and evil creatures that were abroad in those days and how Oromë and Tilion had hunted demons, saved each other from attacks and used their various skills to slay the demons. There were giant spiders, demons of fire, and many other terrible creatures. And even being gods, when manifested as flesh, Oromë and Tilion both could be wounded. Of course they both knew well how to tend wounds in the field and to treat evil wounds from dark and enchanted weaponry.
"And when Tilion was feverish with poison, Oromë stayed at his bedside and sang to him, for all his kind sang most beautifully. Tilion was near mindless with the venom and his body weak, but he fixed his mind on Oromë's song and fought to return to him as Oromë tended his body. And then Tilion regained ability to move and clarity of mind and Oromë was joyful and embraced him. And when Tilion was strong again they went out and avenged themselves against the spiders and Tilion slew one of the largest with a single arrow from his bow."
"And then in celebration they went to the Elf village and had a few drinks and danced and lay their swords aside each other before going to bed?"
"Of course."
"But was not Tilion armed with…?" Tsuki began, but then understood Dale's inference. Tsuki saw that Dale winked at him to be sure he understood. "I see your meaning now. Though I do understand Elven, I think sometimes I do not understand the full meaning of your songs and stories, at least not at first reading."
"Do you know any romances involving Wizards?" Dale asked Beryl.
"I should not tell one if I did. I am fairly certain the heroes of my last story would not strike me down for the retelling, but I cannot say the same for Wizards. I am somewhat wary of their kind. Very secretive. I do not know that a lone Elf is a match for a Wizard."
"Perhaps it takes more than one to please them!" Dale suggested.
Lenaduiniel groaned. It was an unladylike sound, but she found Dale's joke in poor taste. She knew her brother had been sharing himself with Tsuki, as Dale also had.
"I wonder if Elves would understand Wizard romances. They must all start out with taking a staff in hand and then progress by listing in some carefully devised order the best attributes of their lover and further on detail in steps, as if in a recipe for a potion, every move that is made between the lovers down to the percentage of the surface of one's lips that touched the other's…" Dale's voice started to fade as he heard Tsuki begin to chuckle. "And being no strangers to word play themselves, I think they would finish with all the heat, explosive force and stars before the eyes inherent in a display of fireworks," Dale finished quietly.
By then Tsuki was laughing quite loudly, rich silvery peels of laughter. He gasped for air in trying to stop himself and to Dale it seemed the whole episode, down to the slit eyes and tilt of the head that exposed the throat, seemed so much like Tsuki in ecstasy. When Tsuki next opened his eyes he fixed them on Dale and somehow managed to look sated and hungry at the same time, which should have been impossible. Dale wondered if he looked like that when he said, "Again!"
"That is as good as poetry to my ears," Tsuki said.
For a second, Dale thought Tsuki meant 'again', but he had not said that aloud; Tsuki meant the attempt at Wizard romance.
"I am going to the stream," Tsuki said. He took his cloak and one sword and stepped awkwardly over their sleeping companions to head toward the water.
Dale watched Tsuki go, and then after a moment, lifted his sword and followed.
Beryl watched them until they faded into the shadows and then turned to regard Lenaduiniel. "Forgive me if I assumed too much."
"No. There is nothing to forgive. I do understand. Dale and Tsuki do not share themselves as two young Elves might, prior to taking spouses, in their youth, and while they explore their desires. They are devoted to each other as much as spouses should be. I have known that for somewhere near two months, since I met Tsuki again in River Forge. I knew, even though it is not the most usual sort of devotion, and I do not mean that Tsuki is not an Elf. You know, and that is why you chose those stories, because Oromë and Tilion did not only share themselves while waiting to go to their wives; they were devoted to each other. They were in love."
"Still are, most likely, being immortal."
"It is sad," Lenaduiniel said.
"Sad they do not love females?"
"No. I meant, it seems sad that there are songs and stories which are only told in certain company. There must be many beautiful songs that are only sung in secret. I am 600 years old. I knew there were such couples of course, but they are not often made mention of in public conversation."
"Elves are good enough not to say negative things on the subject, but many do not say anything at all. I think that Men similarly ignore the truth of this matter. They have secret meeting places and codes for which to meet each other. It is somewhat different with Men, for they do not seem to share themselves as openly as Elves. Men are not thought right if they share themselves with other males, even in youthful exploration. I imagine it is the same with females, though I have less experience with such things."
"I feel it would be improper to relate my experiences to you, except to say I have yet to be devoted to any person and that I suspect you are correct in that the race of Men may have more difficulty in dealing with such matters, though Elves may not have the very best means either. I stand by my opinion that it is sad there are so many secret songs. I have a mind to collect such stories now, though I think I should be found most strange for asking for them wherever I travel."
"At most I could tell you half the stories."
"Dale," Tsuki said as Dale's feet stopped on the bank of the shallow stream; he had not heard the Elf approach. Tsuki touched cold damp hands to the back of his neck. He thought that one who was Elf and Ranger was likely the stealthiest sort of person one could find.
"You came for cold water then?"
Tsuki thought Dale sounded disappointed. She shook his hands free of water and then stood. He turned to look at Dale directly. "Which Tsuki should I be now?"
Dale did not answer immediately. He raised his eyes only as high as Tsuki's mouth and then looked down at the water. He almost told Tsuki that he should take his own advice and simply be himself. The advice Tsuki had given Dale at Beryl's house had seemed valuable lately.
Dale wanted Tsuki to say he was devoted to him. Since they had made their bargain in Kato's house, Tsuki had not confessed his feelings directly. Dale wondered, when he had lain in that hay behind the stable in Stone Keep, what percentage of his lips had been touched by Tsuki's in that momentary kiss.
He wanted Tsuki to say how he felt. Dale wanted to hear it again. Only, it seemed wrong to expect Tsuki to say it when he could not say the same in return. He wanted it to be true. In some strange disassociated way he wanted his friend Tsuki to be with that person he was devoted to. He wanted that person to see how beautiful Tsuki was. He knew he was that person, even if Tsuki did not say it anymore.
Dale wanted to say he knew he was devoted only to Tsuki, but he honestly was not certain that was true. He still questioned how and why Tsuki could want him. He did; it was obvious when he slipped his arms about Dale's shoulders.
"Do you…" Dale rasped and then cleared his throat. "Do you still want that other person? Are you still devoted to them…even now?"
Tsuki had been very much aroused by Dale, but when he spoke those words, it put a sick sinking feeling in his gut and a lump in his throat. "Yes! Oh, yes! I do not only feel devotion and longing for his body…Dale, I love him. Do you understand? I know now that I love him and love is like magic. It does not matter what your past is or what manner of person you are, when you need it, you will feel it all around you, because it is always there for you."
Dale pressed his lips to Tsuki's face, just aside his mouth. He said nothing for a long moment, but kept his lips pressed to Tsuki's skin. "I can't say those things," Dale whispered then. "I wish I could say those things, but what kind of person am I? What kind of person can…? Tsuki, I said that Men were the ones that went traipsing about siring whelps with those they have not the slightest devotion to! And I…Tsuki, what kind of person does not even know if they love their child? What kind of person is it that is not certain they love their child no matter how it came about or what deformities it has?"
Tsuki sighed and held Dale more tightly. "It is not for me to judge that person. I only know that I would love them for trying to love their child that came to them under very strange circumstances. Dale, you know who the person is. I love them, even if they fail to love."
"Tell me what to do," Dale whispered. "Tell me I can make you happy until you are with your lover and kissing his lips. Tell me what I can do for you, Tsuki. Tell me that I am wanted!"
"I want you!"
Dale put his hand to the laces of Tsuki's pants and pulled them loose. "Tell me what you want me to do. Even if it hurts. Even if I suffer. I will do it."
"I do not play like an Orc. You are suffering enough, and I think you will like my game. Make Oromë proud, Elven Ranger. Find my horn and blow it."
"The Moon is horned tonight, then?"
"You put me through all my phases. I can be full for you as well."
"I know just how to fill you, and I can put you through your paces as well."
"You will mount me bare back?"
Dale got his right hand into Tsuki's pants. "Mmmm, I love your bare back, though it is a bit cold tonight."
"What do I care when I have a hot stud to cover me?"
Dale laughed softly. "Oh, Tsuki, just when I think that life is all nightmares, you make me want to never wake."
"If I wake like Tilion from a dream, I hope I find you waiting like Oromë and wanting to share yourself with me."
"That is the only thing I would wake for now!"
"Your touch is like magic."
"And my mouth is at least as equally talented as my hand."
Duma could see them, as he stood near his fire adjusting the wooden rack and the slabs of horseflesh upon it, he had seen Tsuki and Dale walk to the stream. He could see them now, still.
He saw Tsuki remove his cloak and lie upon it. He saw Dale drop lightly to his knees and lean over Tsuki. He was not certain what to make of the activity. It was not breeding ritual. Duma was fairly certain men and Elves only bred with those of the opposite gender, so he inferred this must be recreational and one was like a pet. Though, neither acted like an Orc pet.
Marduk's own pet had lately been telling others that Men were not always pet and master but sometimes either role. He said they switched places. Perhaps the one called Dog was correct, Duma thought. In darkness, his hearing was even more accurate than his vision and Tsuki was not making sounds like any master Duma had known. He did not say, "Do not bite. Take it all in. Finish." He actually seemed to be complementing Dale's ability.
Even when Duma tried to give pleasure no other Orc said anything like, "Thank you for being used to make me come so well." The closest they came to thanks was not deciding to punish a pet.
No pet looked as eager as Dale. Duma had only tasted Orc flesh to service and only tasted Man flesh to eat it, but he still did not think it tasted so good that Dale should look so happy to get his mouth on Tsuki. Man flesh actually did not taste very good, Duma thought. It was rather bitter.
When Tsuki had come, Dale and he whispered to each other in Elven and then Tsuki turned over. Dale seemed to put his face at Tsuki's rear. Duma could not tell what he was doing, but from Tsuki's face and posture, it seemed very agreeable with him. Dale reached inside his shirt for something. Duma supposed it to be a lubricant when he put it on his fingers.
Duma had always heard Elves did it facing each other. Perhaps it was different with two males. Orcs had long made a big deal of Men and Elves having females. Duma himself had wanted to try playing with a female, but bigger Orcs always got them first. But for all of that, here was an Elf mounting a Man in something like Orc fashion.
They were not like Orcs at all, except for the position. Now they both seemed to complement and encourage each other. Dale's words often came in Elven, but the tone seemed very kind. Elven never sounded very ugly to Duma. Superior and perhaps manipulative to his ears, but not ugly.
Duma wondered if the strange relations between Dale and Tsuki would be
of interest to Marduk.