Chasing the Stars ☾ 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙷𝚘𝚋𝚋𝚒𝚝 / 𝙻𝚎𝚐𝚘𝚕𝚊𝚜

~PROLOGUE~

T. A. 31
Misty Mountains

Fanyawen's POV

"𝕐ou will never catch me," I laughed as I flew through the air. Our laughter was heard from miles away and our feathers glistened in the bright morning light.

Who would've thought that this will be the last time I'll be laughing in a while. Me and my adar were playing catch, flying past birds, circling the mountain tops, as we did almost every day. Those were our little moment of happiness in this bitter world that I always took for granted and will cherish for the rest of my life. Chilly morning air was biting hard on my skin but the warm sun rays bathed my skin in orange light of the early morning.

"Adar! Stop!" I laughed, trying to escape him. I was completely out of breath but still persuaded, determined not to lose. 

"Never, little thrush!" He called back to me and started flying even faster. I giggled and closed my eyes in a pure bliss of a moment. I then looked back but all I saw were blue skies and high peaks of Misty Mountains. I stopped and looked around, trying to spot him. I strained my eyes and ears searching for any kind of movement when out of nowhere, he grabbed me around the waist and spun me in the air. I laughed so hard that my belly hurt but enjoyed it nonetheless.

"I've got you Fany!" He laughed in my ear. Yes, that's what he used to call me, Fany, short for Fanyawen, which means cloud maiden in quenya. It was a nickname given to me in Valinor, when I was still a baby. He told me that my mom fell in love with it the moment she heard it. He also used to tell me that every time he looks into my eyes he sees her, her striking gaze, white hair.

He tickled me all over my belly and laughed at my breathless giggles. Suddenly, we heard something on the wind. Unnatural growling, sounds of metal clashing against metal, of flesh being pierced and  of people dying in agony. Then, I was only 6 in human years, I didn't know what was happening but it still frightened me.

"They found us," breathed my adar. He was so tense that you could see every muscle in his body being rigidly uptight. He tried to gathered his composure and then released me. He looked at me with so much despair in his beautiful golden eyes, it scared me to the core.

"Fany, you must listen to me right now..." he said in an urgent tone. I already opened my mouth to ask what was going on, why was he so frightened, but he put a finger to my lips and stopped me before I could say anything.

"No, you listen to me Fanyawen..." slowly it downed on me that the situation was more dire than I thought at first. He rarely called me by my full name, only when he was angry. He gazed deeply into my eyes making me feel small and helpless. His once warm gaze was now unfocused as if for the first time he truly did not know what to do, he was lost... He was afraid... which meant that something really bad was happening.

"Look, adar doesn't know what exactly is Hh going on but you have to get out of here. Yes?" I nodded my head but couldn't get rid of a small voice in the back of my mind replaying the same word over and over...

Liar.

"Fly away as far as you can. Do not look back, do not return and do not follow me back to the village. You must promise, Fanyawen. Please, for me?" I nodded again. I felt a burning sensation behind my eyes but refused to cry for my adar's sake. I wanted him to be proud, I wanted to be just like mother. That's really all I ever wanted, to make him proud.

"Remember the story?" He asked me. Of course I remembered it when we rehearsed it a thousand times.

"My name is Lómë, I don't remember where I come from, I don't know who my parents are. I woke up all alone, not knowing what happened, remembering only my name," I recited only now putting together the pieces. Why he taught me how to fight, why he made me memorise this story, why he never let me out of his sight. He expected this all along. He knew this will happen and wanted me to be ready when it does. The same word from before started echoing through my mind...