27. Havenless
Prompt: Grey Havens: "You can never go home again, but the truth is you can never leave home, so it's all right."
--Maya Angelou
Write a story or poem, or create a piece of art on the theme of leaving or returning home.
Ailos turns his back on Lebennin, only for "Sunny" to have home come brutally and unexpectedly home to him in Gondor.
The city looms. They've come to shelter, to go unremarked – to Pelargir, scarred city, home perhaps.
They pass its broken walls, find the burned-out Haradric quarter. Folk stare – 'til someone rips Sunny's hood off, starts yelling.
Death is a mob: Ailos, terrified, wails as Sunny's torn away...
Suddenly, a woman's voice, speaking Westron, pierces the commotion: "You've his hair?"
Shaking, Ailos fumbles his scrip, produces that lock. Uproar: "He's his!"
Folk disperse, muttering; Ailos scrambles up. "Mine?"
"Your servant, Jhanar," she names dazed, bleeding Sunny. "A coward-vowed traitor's saved, but unwelcome." A pause. "Come. Now!"
This is a work of fan fiction, written because the author has an abiding love for the works of J R R Tolkien. The characters, settings, places, and languages used in this work are the property of the Tolkien Estate, Tolkien Enterprises, and possibly New Line Cinema, except for certain original characters who belong to the author of the said work. The author will not receive any money or other remuneration for presenting the work on this archive site. The work is the intellectual property of the author, is available solely for the enjoyment of Henneth Annûn Story Archive readers, and may not be copied or redistributed by any means without the explicit written consent of the author.
