Mana ngwen polne mai náne [Unfinished - Discontinued]

Upon exiting his father’s room, Enyo made his way towards the kitchen. He still held the linen wraps and medical bag in hand when he went down the stairs and turned left. His mind was racing, and he almost walked into an open door, had it not been for his twin sister, Meda. Enyo stumbled a little, just barely keeping his balance. Meda took a hard, long look at him, and raised her brows. Her eyes were staring at his hands, rather, the wraps and herbs he still held in them.

“Is atya[1], better?” Always one for the family. And it made Enyo’s heart warm.

“He is awake.”

“But?”

Enyo sighed. Leave it to Meda to catch onto things unsaid. Even when he would rather have left it unsaid. “He… I don’t know how to say it.”

“With your words?” she offered, as a small smirk spread across her face, and she took the wraps from him. “I guess he is doing fine. Since neither you, nor anyone else have left his room screaming after ammë called you all in…” She continued, shrugging when Enyo raised his brow.

“Well, he is alright. As far as I had the time to check on him.” Following his elder twin with a sigh, Enyo and Meda placed the medical kit back into its place. “He is… His wounds are healing. Even the one on his side.”

“Where the metal cut him?”

“More like sliced…” Enyo grumbled. “When I took a look at it, it was fine.” Huffing, the two stopped outside of the kitchen and dining area. “But he was acting…”

“Sleepy?”

“Strange. Like he didn’t know who we- I was supposed to be, or why was mityaruni[2] there. He seemed, not dazed that’s for sure. It was like he was expecting something bad to happen.”

Meda hummed. Her left index finger gently twisting and tugging at a lock of hair that just kept escaping from her otherwise neat braid. “Do you think he might have hit his head elsewhere? I know mityaruni had taken a throughout look, and checked to make sure, but…”

“It’s not his head. At least I don’t think so. He was there, knowing ammë, haruni[3] and mityaruni too.”

“Yes?”

“But he had no idea who I was. Like he had never seen me! And I have seen head wounds, way more severe than his, and they retained their memories. He couldn’t have forgotten me- us! If he did, he should have forgotten the rest of them as well.”

Meda drummed her fingers against the door frame. “We should ask haruni or mityaruni. Ammë will be too occupied to answer. Maybe she won’t even want to.”

“There was just something about his expression Meda. Something wrong. I still can’t place it.”

Meda hugged him. Running her fingers along and into his hair, she kissed his temple. “Don’t worry for now. Either of them yet has to come down screaming for help. As for the rest, I will let our uncles, aunts and haru know about this.”

“No telling the rest.”

Meda nodded. Serious all of a sudden. “Likewise. I don’t want them to worry. Maybe Naryo but… Eh, he can know when we know for sure.”

“Or suspect something.”

“Or that.” Sighing, the nís let go off of her brother. “What did ammë say otherwise?”

“Not much.” Shrugging, the nér pushed the kitchen door open and entered the room, cocking an eyebrow at the picture that welcomed him.

His youngest siblings and cousins were deep in a, what appeared to be, a painting session. Yet there were more paint on the walls and floors then on the papers it seemed. Despite the long hours it will take to scrub them free from the paint, neither Enyo nor Meda minded it. Their parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents, all encouraged them to try out as many creative crafts they wanted to. Which sometimes resulted in scrubbing paint and other things from walls.

“Looks like, we will have some washing to do,” chuckled Enyo, stepping over a pool of paint. “And some scrubbing as well.”

“At least they do it in the kitchen floor and not on the rug. Remember when we had to scrub it for days?”

The twins left the youngsters alone. Hearing their muffled voices of excitement behind their backs. They came to a stop upon reaching the dining room, where most of their family members were sitting. Naryo and Finno were missing, alongside with Írissë and Tyelco, but the majority of them were here.

“I have a feeling those four are outside.” Enyo murmured with a knowing look on his face.

“I’ll get them. You tell what happened.” And with that his sister was off, out the back door looking for their missing family.

“Enyo!” Suddenly engulfed in slender arms, Enyo had to lean on the wall. “Oh, thank Ilúvatar! We were getting worried. How is our brother doing? We heard Nerdanel’s calling you and ammë and we assumed the worst!”

“Faniel, nésa[4] let him breathe a little!” The chuckle came from his right side, and Enyo had to push some of his atyesa[5]’s hair out of the way to see.

“But Ingoldo! Náro could be-“

“He is awake and fine.” Enyo hurried to supply. He had a funny feeling his atyesa was already on the verge of tears once while he was gone. No need for her to think of anything bad. “He tried to get out of bed when we came in.”

“Our brother is a stubborn one,” chuckled his eldest aunt from the corner.

A hearty laugh escaped from the older of his atyanno[6] Cáno, who was holding a bowl of meat. “If I know our brother, a bed was never something that kept him for long. Although…” Trailing off with a mischievous look, the two brothers shared a chuckle. Much to Enyo’s dismay. The silver-haired boy could only grunt at his atyannor’s antics.

His atyesa, despite the news, still held him tight. As if afraid to let go of him. Enyo wondered what had gotten into the youngest daughter of Indis, to be so clingy. The dark golden haired nís eventually let him go, and was now standing in front of her brothers, hands on hips.

Enyo tried to contain his grin at the scolding the two were receiving. But even when he wanted it to play out, curious about the outcome, he had information to share. And Meda had returned with the missing members. Right on time, as always.

“You haven’t told them yet, I presume?”

“Told atyesa when she wouldn’t let me go.” He shrugged earning a half pointed glare from Faniel. “But I was mostly waiting for you.”

Anairë and Eärwen, who had been silently smiling and watching the scene play out, were now at full attention. The quendi gathered around the table, and Enyo stood at the head. He glanced around, seeing he worried faces of his family, and sighed.

“We heard that the news are good. But are they truly?” The light golden haired son of Indis asked, lightly holding his wife’s hand.

Enyo nodded. “Yes atyanno Ingoldo. Atya is awake and moving around, as much as he can. He seemed to recognize everyone, when we all entered. Mityaruni haven’t found any indication that his head wound caused more damage, and his wounds are healing.”

A relieved sigh was heard from the others, as they waited for Enyo to finish his retelling. The adults had sat with more ease, and the younger ones looked brighter. Knowing that they were not about to lose a family member, their eyes lightened.

“That is good news. I assume ammë requested more rest?”

“He should rest a week or so, before he can leave the bed. And even then, we should continue to watch his recovery. I suspect we should be all able to visit him, once mityaruni or haruni gives us the opportunity.”

“So, will he be all right?”

Meda kissed Arno’s head. “He will be. You heard your eshanno[7]. Atya is strong. And he is in good hands. Between Enyo and mityaruni Indis, I don’t see why he shouldn’t recover.” Hugging her younger brother tighter, Meda and Enyo shared a knowing look.

Arno had been the one who was with their father that day. They had been in the forge for an hour, Arno just starting to learn how to fold metal into shape, when a loud crash sounded through the house. When they had come downstairs, Arno was standing in the doorway. Pale as freshly fallen snow, bloody and scared. He had told them their father fainted and hurt himself. Meda had lifted Arno up and took him to clean off, while Enyo and Naryo dragged Fëanáro out of the forge - bloodied, bruised and half alive. While Enyo ran for his medical kit, Tyelco and Naryo tried to stop the bleeding, Laurë heralding the youngest with Calyo to stay out of Enyo’s way.

It was hectic chaos.

Their ammë, once Meda could reach her through ósanwë[8], came running home with their harunar[9]. And soon enough their mityaruni arrived, followed by their atyannor[10] and atyesar[11]. They had helped around the house, cooking, helping the children, helping their atya… That was, two or so weeks ago.

But now, their atya was awake. Even with Enyo not liking how he acted, he was awake and fine. It will be fine. It had to be.

“So now we just need to bring him his food.” Her brother’s voice snapped Meda out of her thoughts.

“I’ll help!”

“I want to help too!”

“Me too!”

The adults chuckled at the eagerness of their children, and Meda found it hard to surpass a smile of her own. She watched Naryo lead the small army of children to the kitchens. The voices became louder once they entered it, their younger siblings and cousins all yelling at the chance to cook for Fëanáro.

Once the voices died down a little, and the clattering of pans and pots were heard – with an occasional shriek of joy – Meda nodded to Enyo. “There is still… Something we need to talk about.”

The air in the room seemed to freeze for a moment, as the adults sat back down. Curious and scared glances were shared among them. Each sibling gulping, while their haru[12] Mahtan hardened his stance, eyes stubbornly looking forward, at Enyo. Refusing to blink and let the worry pass. But Meda and Enyo knew him well. His left thumb was gently moving along his folded arms. A sign to show that he was nervous and scared.

“Is there something wrong?” Mahtan asked, cocking an eyebrow. “Something the younger ones shouldn’t know?”

When the twins nodded their grandfather sighed.

“Should we call Naryo and Laurë in then?” Finrún asked, already turning towards the door the two disappeared behind.

Enyo shook his head. “No. Meda and I agreed to only let maybe Naryo know if we know something.”

“We don’t want him to worry. The others are too young to know anyway.” This earned Meda a soft chuckle from Vanimë. “What?” Meda let her brows rose to the middle of her forehead. The eldest daughter of Indis rolled her eyes and mouthed ‘later’ before turning back to the conversation. She winked at her eldest aunt, Fëacuina[13].

“Right… Enyo, you were saying?” Lalwendë grabbed the attention back, eyes boring into Enyo’s.

“Atya seemed… Different when we entered. Like-like, he was expecting something bad to happen.” Meda reached over and grabbed his hand. Thumb gently caressing his knuckles. He looked at her, flashing a small smile before continuing. “When we came in, he was… Scarred? He looked at ammë like he did something horrid! He avoided haruni’s eyes, and he… There was something in the way he behaved when he saw mityaruni… I can’t- I just can’t place it.”

A low hum was emitting from the néri in the room. Each looking at the other with growing concern in their eyes. “Anything else Enyo?”

“He… He didn’t seem to recognize me.”

[1] father, informal

[2] step-grandmother – lit. center grandmother – personal invention

[3] grandmother

[4] sister

[5] atya + nésa = father’s sister, aunt

[6] atya + hanno = father’s brother, uncle

[7] es + hanno = eldest brother, personal mash

[8]  interchange of thought

[9] grandparents – personal invention

[10] uncles

[11] aunts

[12] grandfather

[13] spirit of life