Crablor Day!

Maglor didn't really track the years. He had molted a few times since he had left the outskirts of Gondor, sometimes into a form with longer eye-stalks, sometimes having one massive claw the size of his body, always with his father's star on his back. (At least as far as he could tell, sometimes his eyes didn't turn that way. Ulmo's gift or curse had at least not left Maglor bound to a shape that could only live in a specific tidepool; instead he grew larger and into a form that better fit wherever he dwelt.) And he didn't track the miles, after spending one turn of the moon getting as far away from those who might hunt him, he moved on only when the fish grew scarce or when he got bored. It's not like he had possessions to carry or friends to stay in touch with.

When Maglor reached the mouth of a large river, he settled in. Wide flat sands were exposed anew with each tide but always wet enough for comfort, occasional freshwater creatures washed out to sea to play with or eat, and once in a great while a boat of speaking peoples sailed by. The other crabs in the area were initially annoyed at his entrance into their territory, but Maglor was large enough to stake a claim wherever he wished, and in a few generations they came to accept him as part of the landscape.

Some of the common crabs even offered him tribute, bringing him minnows and sardines in exchange for hiding beneath him when the gulls came. It had been a long time since Maglor was anyone's lord, but he found the role still suited him. He could understand the relationship of fealty, loyalty and gifts in exchange for protection and responsibility, even if such minor creatures did not.

Of course, Maglor had always abandoned his obligations for shiny objects.

Not that he found a Silmaril in the mud. But the river sometimes brought down strange purple shells - or perhaps stones - thin as seaweed but stronger than his claws could snap. All of them were lovely rounded shapes, nearly as broad as Maglor and larger than any of the other crabs, too massive to be dropped by any fish he could think of.

By the time Maglor had seen a dozen, he was certain they were scales of a truly enormous creature. Hopefully not a dragon, but he couldn't be sure seeing only one at a time.

For lack of anything else to do, Maglor started laboriously dragging the scales into an old den above high tide. It was a mystery far more interesting than anything to do with daily finding enough food; and with better chances of an answer than if the particularly mean gull was Elwing, Eonwe, or just a bird that disliked his shade of red. He arranged the scales along the walls, and though his color vision was not the best, they did seem to be slightly varied, rather than the uniform shine of Morgoth's lizards.

In fact, the color variation was familiar. Elrond was all blues and greys when Maglor had raised him, though his scales had been only the size of Maglor's thumbnail then.

Maglor had noticed that Elrond had continued to grow every year they had lived together, but he had put little stock in that. Elrond had joined Gil-Galad long before an elf would come of age, and his arms had not yet been as long as say, Maedhros's, even if from crown to tail-tip we was a bit longer. Maglor had just assumed that Thingol and Turgon's descendant would end up tall when he matured, and had grieved that he would not see that.

There were fish, Maglor had heard, that kept growing as long as they lived. And he himself had grown far beyond the size of a normal crab, with the power of a Vala turned to him.

Ulmo was rumored to be a friend of Elrond's father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Elrond was descended from a maia himself, and that was the best explanation Maglor had ever come to for why Elrond did not have legs like a typical Man or Elf. (It had been a matter of some concern for a teenage Elrond, and Maglor had asked everyone he could for whatever legends there were. There had been no tales of any beside Morgoth melding beast and Man, and Maglor had not shared those with Elrond.)

Maglor wondered for a moment if Elwing was now, what must be centuries later, a gull as big as Manwe's eagles. She would be large enough to crack his shell in half if so - but was confined to Valinor, and therefore not an active threat.

Elrond though was in Middle Earth, and somewhere upstream of this very river. He might even be welcoming to Maglor, unable to wield a sword or Sing down a fortress as Maglor was now. Certainly Elrond had asked Maglor to meet him, in the last letter they exchanged. Before Maglor ruined the glorious victory and jumped into the sea rather than face justice while maimed.

Maglor now had both someone he wanted to see, and a direction to reach them better than trying to swim the ocean to Valinor.

Before Maglor left to find Elrond though, there were his subjects. He wasn't sure how to warn them of his departure, being speechless creatures as they were. If he just left they would be no worse off than before he came, but those who had grown up used to his protection might not know how else to hide.

Giving them more places to shelter was at least within his capabilities.

Maglor found his initial building plans stymied by lack of hands, saw, nails, or mortar. Traditional elven structures were beyond him, and a few branches dragged in place would be swept out in the next storm.

Maglor though knew he wasn't going to be able to carry his trove of Elrond's scales with him. Perhaps they could be of use. He was sure Elrond wouldn't mind, having always had a kind heart, and quite obviously not using them.

Maglor found a spot above the tide's reach even at full moon. He built several little structures, piling smaller stones at the sides, topped with a massive scale as roof, weighed down one top with more stones. He didn't build a front or back, making things more like tunnels them stone houses, to keep larger creatures from using them as dens. The structures looked ugly, but were low enough to keep seabirds out and that was what mattered. A few of the small crabs would likely get eaten out on the mudflats, but Maglor had done what he could. He set out north along the river.

____

"Mom, there's a visitor in the river."

Celebrian looked up from her knitting and smiled at Elrohir. Her sons were old enough to walk about the valley without an adult, but knew better than to go in the river alone. Elrond did a good job of keeping the area free of orcs and wolves, but the Bruinen didn't suffer fools lightly, and would consider broken legs merciful for any who didn't respect her power. "Do you know who? I wasn't expecting any travelers, but we can meet them down at the ford."

"Not at the ford, in the river. They didn't give a name, and I'm not sure they can talk."

"Are they hurt?" Celebrian followed Elrohir out the door, and gestured for one the guards on the gate to come with.

"No, but they're not an elf or anything. I can't even see their mouth."

Orcs often had strange features, but if one had made it as far as the river that was ill news indeed. "Did you say anything to them?"

"Just that I wasn't allowed to invite strangers in. You've told me before that people who can enter the valley on their own have already been here so it's okay, but if they're at the border I need to get an adult."

"That's very true."

"And Captain Glorfindel is nice but he can't convince the river like you and Dad, we'd have to go all the way down to the ford and I don't know if Bruinen would let the visitor off the rock they're sitting on. Plus Glorfindel would say that strangers have to give up their weapons and this one doesn't have any."

"That's dangerous, to travel in the woods unable to even fight back against an angry lynx."

"I think the visitor would be fine? They're all hard and shiny."

"How so?" Was all the confusion because Elrohir didn't know what dwarven plate armor looked like? But he had been fascinated enough by Elrond's mail on display in the armory.

"Like a beetle. Or a spider, they have lots of legs but are bigger than me!"

There were rumors of giant spiders in the Greenwood, but Celebrian had not seen them herself. She nearly turned around to get more soldiers, but surely one soldier could hold against a single spider. Especially if River Bruinen kept it out.

Elrohir didn't have much more to share on the way to see the visitor. He had apparently been playing among the beech trees when he heard a strange sound, and followed it to find the visitor clapping.

Celebrian looked in the river.

"That's a crab. Like we saw a few years ago at the sea-side."

"The ones we saw at the sea were tiny though, smaller than my finger!"

"They do naturally get to be a bit bigger, sometimes as large as my face. I've never seen one this big though before."

The crab leaned forward at that, one claw in front and the other extended to the side, almost like a performer bowing.

"Do you understand Sindarin then?"

The crab bobbed leaned forward and back, as if nodding.

Celebrian had the brief thought of Good, I know those who can speak to trees or birds but none to crabs. The whole situation seemed ridiculous, shouting at a beast as wide as Elrohir's arm-span and halfway across the river. "Do you mean harm to any in this valley?"

The crab listed from one side to the other, which was very hopefully a shake of head.

"If I ask the River Bruinen to let you pass, you will be a guest in Rivendell, and must behave accordingly. Would you like me to explain the guest-right?"

The crab shook a no.

"Do you already understand elvish guest-right?" Perhaps Cirdan had hosted the crab? Or it had traveled all the way from Tol Eressea near the sacred shores? Or perhaps it was a maia, taking the form of a crab but with divine knowledge?

At the last thought, Celebrian looked to be sure that Elrohir was behind her. She had been young when the so-called Annatar had arrived in Ost-in-Edhil, but she remembered how it ended. Elrohir was paying close attention, but had not yet gone near the river; she took his hand in hers.

The crab clacked its claw to get Celebrian's attention, and she realized she had looked away. Then it nodded, hopefully to the knowledge of guest-right, not her fears of the past.

"Do you pledge to abide by the rules of guest-right, subject to judgement by me as Lady of Rivendell or my husband as Lord, if you cross the river?"

The crab neither nodded or shook at that, but raised one claw - perhaps seeking attention, or stating a caveat? Then it spun to face the other bank and reared - Celebrian could not describe it any other way, half the crab's feet left the rock - twice.

"Do you fear imprisonment? I promise, as long as you harm no one here, you will be allowed to leave whenever you wish."

The crab shook, and then reared again, tapping its shell with one massive claw.

Celebrian looked at the shell, and saw it had far more regular lines than most creatures. Instead of a cobblestone pattern like a turtle, it instead had straight lines radiating out from the center. and at regular angles - she knew that flowers fell into such naturally, but it looked like -

"You appear to have the star of Feanor on your back. Rivendell welcomes all, and asks that the put aside old grievances. There will be some who not love you for that star, but none are permitted to do you violence."

The crab clacked it's massive claws once, and then turned back around. It nodded, and placed its claws together as though folding its hands.

Celebrian gave a regal nod in return, imitating her mother who surely would not be disturbed even by massive crabs that wore the insignia of kinslayers. Then she knelt at the river's edge, trailing the hand that was not holding Elrohir's in the water. The River Bruinen did not pay attention to every conversation on her banks, but always listened when Celebrian or Elrond came to talk. Granted, Celebrian could not threaten to dam a tributary with her body if an argument got heated, but she hoped it would not be needed.

Bruinen took only a few minutes to be persuaded. The crab had apparently been traveling in the river for most of a year, heading upstream, and Bruinen had seen no particular malice from it and so had let it pass. But Bruinen remembered that Rivendell was, in addition to being full of waterfalls, full of people much smaller than rivers and more allied than random fish. So when the crab tried to get out on the bank, Bruinen had simply set it on a rock, to be discussed next time Celebrian or Elrond came down to the river. Bruinen was not concerned that this might be a few days; time meant little to her and she would have let the crab off the rock enough to fish and breathe as long as he only ventured towards the far shore.

Celebrian stood, and gestured for the crab to come forward. It did so with tiny steps - wariness, or simply that its legs were not suited? Either way, Bruinen took control of the matter, and swept the crab to shore with a wave that did not follow the current at all. It seemed Bruinen was tired of having this stranger in her waters.

___

Maglor spent two days in Rivendell without seeing Elrond. Sure, people talked of his foster-son, but he apparently didn't visit the guest rooms. (The corridors would admittedly be small for someone with scales the size Maglor had found.)

Maglor had listened though. Elrond was well-liked by his people, as a friendly lord not just a creature that was bargained with against worse evil. As Maglor had suspected when he first laid eyes on him, the boy he had met at the river's edge was Elrond's son; apparently twins ran in the family. The lady was Elrond's wife, and had grown up in a Sindarin forest realm.

Maglor had worried that Elrond's condition would make romance difficult; he was glad to see Elrond had found a spouse who spoke fondly of him. The mechanics were definitely not a matter for Elrond's father to speculate on.

Maglor had been to the Hall of Fire where there was song every evening, and to all the public areas of the guest wing. He had been to the stables only long enough to confirm the were not hiding an entrance to a den, and to the library briefly before the elf in charge could get mad at him for dripping on things. With dinner provided for him every day, Maglor had plenty of time to explore, as long as he dipped back in the pond in the courtyard every hour or so. (Celebrian had admitted that Rivendell "was not set up for a guest of your stature", but a pond that no one was allowed to hunt him in was far better than he'd had in a while. She hadn't even objected when he dug a small burrow at the bottom, to be hidden from any annoying birds.)

Today though, Maglor heard an odd rustling noise, as if a horse cantering through tall grass, but it just kept going. He looked up the mountains and saw trees waving in the wind - except the were only doing so along one trail, the rest of the mountain was still.

Elrond had grown quite large indeed. Maglor was glad he was larger than a normal crab; Elrond might not even be able to see something as small as he had been at first.

Maglor reminded himself that in all his years on the shore, never once had he been threatened by a snake. And his son would not harm him, and had generally eaten the same food as elves readily enough. Anyway, Elrond was lord of the valley and Maglor was here under guest right, not as an appetizer.

Maglor therefore went to the main courtyard of Rivendell, to gather with the other residents and greet Elrond on his return. The central pavement was clear, but people sat in various balconies and along side streets.

The librarian walked up to Maglor, and said, "When Lord Elrond gets within the city he'll take up the whole courtyard. I can help you climb up to the sunset terrace, or you can wait in an alley if you prefer."

Maglor looked at the ladder up to the terrace, and admitted to himself that he would need help. Doubtless the inhabitants of Rivendell thought it a great accommodation to elves and men that they even provide such, rather than relying on elven ability to climb the maple tree that angled off to the side, but the rungs assumed a certain arrangement of limbs. Maglor had climbed cliff faces as a crab, but not with an audience or in a hurry. He bobbed, and walked over to the base of the ladder.

Erestor was strong, and willing to let Maglor hold onto his back as he climbed the ladder. The elves on the terrace were likewise accommodating, allowing Maglor a spot right near the railing.

Maglor looked down and saw a figure in the center of the square. Celebrian wore a light green dress, and held a bottle of wine in one hand a thick tome in the other. Maglor's crabbish eyes couldn't see the details of what the book was, but the bottle was reminiscent of homecoming rituals he'd seen among Bor's people. He supposed a single goblet would be hard for Elrond to hold.

The rustling noise grew near, and then picked up another note as scales began slithering over stone, though the rustling through the trees took a few more moments to stop completely. Elrond entered the courtyard in a rush, looping the outer wall before picking up Celebrian in both hands and holding her to his face. She had deftly tucked the book under one arm, and cradled his face in return.

"Welcome back, love."

"It's good to be home." Elrond's voice was louder than before of course, enough that some of the elves beside Maglor winced slightly, but the timbre was the same as when he told Maglor that he would petition at Gil-Galad's camp for the Feanorians to be welcome.

Celebrian lent back and opened the bottle. "The fruit of your lands is given at your return them."

Elrond said, "I accept the creation of your labor," and parted his lips.

Celebrian seemed to have no fear of being in the palm of a creature with a mouth large enough to swallow her whole. She instead raised the bottle, and poured the whole thing gently into Elrond's mouth. Elrond swallowed it down in a single mouthful.

Celebrian then opened the book. "Any major news from outside the valley?"

"There was a tornado across the western road. I cleared the downed trees away, but a look at it from the ground would be good. I expect horses to still have rough going, and the villages in Beechaws might need assistance."

Celebrian wrote down some notes. "I'll send the captain of the guard tomorrow morning, and I just baked yesterday so they'll have plenty of lembas to bring. Any signs of current danger?"

"No. The mountains are free from orcs, and the wolves are still staying away. I didn't see any storms blowing in for the next few days either. How has Rivendell been?"

"We harvested the first wheat, and planted the sweet peas. There are a few matters from the weavers and the carpenters to discuss, but they can wait."

Elrond flicked his eyes up and down, as it would be unsafe to nod with Celebrian against his head. "Did any travelers come through?"

"One group of merchants from Gondor to Arnor that have already left, and a few from the Greenwoood visiting friends. They're aiding in the orchards while they're hear. And one more guest who Elrohir found in the river."

"A guest in the river? Did they fall off their horse?"

"I haven't gotten the whole story, but I don't think they had one."

Maglor swept a bow, careful to keep his claws closed for the sake of the elves around him. Elrond looked over at the motion, tall enough to not only see past the crowd but indeed be looking down at Maglor as much as over.

"I would love to hear the longer version of the story later, if they will tell me."

"They understand Sindarin, but don't seem to be able to speak."

"Hmm. If there's nothing more pressing, I have a few ideas."

Maglor gathered his courage and gestured one claw flat, then stepped forward exaggeratedly. He would like to clear this up as soon as possible.

Elrond raised one eyebrow, then extended the hand with Celebrian in it to the terrace palm up. She stepped off, saying "I'll come by this evening after dinner.

Maglor climbed on.

___

Elrond set down the massive Feanorian crab right outside his den. It would be simplest to grab his writing implements from there.

"Do you need water? I confess I am not an expert in how crabs breathe."

The crab bobbed from side to side, pointed at the sun, and then nodded.

Elrond was unsure if that meant the crab needed more water out of the shade, or if it was referencing the passage for time, but the solution was simple enough. There was a small creek outside his den, convenient if he got thirst in the night, and the discussion could just as easily happen on the banks. He said, "this way then", and the crab followed him.

"To start off, I want to make it clear that I respect that you are a guest here, and your answers will not change that, not even if your people and mine have been enemies for years. Only your actions can violate it. But I am considered a lore master, and would have the tale of your journey here, and anything you care to share about your personal history as well."

The crab bobbed. Elrond wished he could take notes, but the slate boulder was hardly large enough for more than a few lines. His memory was good though; he could record it in charcoal on the tiles later, and Celebrian or Erestor would write it down on a smaller piece of paper with no text lost. Elrond could with care still turn pages in books, and his eyesight was thankfully keen enough to read the text even with whole pages smaller than his thumbnail, but writing in his own hand was wasteful of paper.

"To start with, can you write? There is a charcoal stick there, if you can grasp it in a claw."

The crab pinched at the stick, first accidentally knocking the stick away with the tips of its claws, then grabbing too hard and bursting the charcoal apart. With a third attempt through, the crab grabbed the stick, and held it victoriously aloft. The crab then began industriously drawing out several characters.

The lines were certainly an attempt at the tengwar, which Elrond had truthfully not expected. However, the crab was obviously unpracticed at wielding a writing implement, which raised even more questions as to who had taught a crab had to read but never bothered to let it write. The first letter was either vala or formen or parma; the second was ango or anca; next was either anna or lambe or osse followed by romen - unless that was one character and it was another osse.

"I'm sorry, I can't read that. If you stay here a while we can certainly get you more practice at writing should you wish it, but for now I am afraid this will have to be done with me asking questions."

The crab threw the stick to the ground and raised its claws, looking like nothing so much as the very old Noldor bemoaning that they were Doomed whenever they had a stubbed toe or other minor inconvenience.

"Yes, we'll have to work on it. For now, tell me of your people - if you have one that is? Are there more crabs such as yourself?"

The crab nodded, then shook. It held its claws out in front, pointed to itself, and then held them close together.

"There are others, but they are smaller?"

The crab nodded.

"Right, do they all understand Sindarin? Do they understand Quenya or other elven tongues? Any Mannish, Dwarven, or orcish language?"

All of these were negated by the crab.

"Can you speak with the others?" Perhaps the crab was a translator for its kindred?

But again the crab shook its head.

"That must be terribly lonely."

The crab raised one arm with the claw pointing down and then the other, in what Elrond chose to interpret as a shrug, then bobbed in acknowledgement.

"Is that why you came to Rivendell, to find someone to speak to?"

The crab was apparently more thirsty or dried out than expected, because it jumped in the water at this question. After a few moments though it emerged, holding up one of Elrond's scales. (He was rather glad he did not shed all at once like a true snake; the small itches of a loose scale were bad enough and he couldn't imagine how it would feel to have that on his entire body below the navel.) The crab then walked forward and touched the scale to Elrond's side, aligning neatly with the edges of nearby scales.

Elrond was very used to holding his lower body still when there were others nearby, though staying still enough not to knock over someone touching him was trickier. Luckily the crab backed away after a moment, and looked up at Elrond expectantly.

"You are right that is one of my scales, though I don't see how it brings you to Rivendell."

The crab held up one claw as if to call attention. Then it picked up the scale and went back to the creek. The crab dipped the scale into the creek and walked downstream a ways, then pulled it out onto the back. The crab then clacked its fingers together and skittered back in forth, pointing at the scale. Next, the crab pointed from the scale to Elrond several times, and began walking upstream again. After a few paces, the crab stepped away from the creek and gave a bow.

"You saw one of my scales downstream, recognized it as mine, and decided to come to Rivendell to meet me?"

The crab nodded.

"I am flattered, but I don't recall meeting you before."

The crab pointed at Elrond, held its claws wide and then brought them together, then pointed at itself, and reversed the motion.

"We met when I was smaller and you were larger? Well the first part makes sense, I have grown every year I can remember." Elrond paused. "Forgive me if this is a rude question, but were you a crab last time we met?"

The crab shook its head.

That was at least an explanation for why Elrond didn't recognize them. Not that Elrond knew anyone who turned into a crab, but he doubted people who knew his mother as a child would say she could turn into a bird. "Are you Lord Ulmo?"

The crab shook its head very energetically.

"I take it not one of his maiar either?"

The crab shook its head.

"Another Vala or maia?"

Another negation. Then the crab spun around and pointed at the back of its shell.

Elrond had noticed the shape, but asking that out of the blue was even ruder than asking if someone had always had the shape they had now. "Are you one of the Feanorian Noldor?"

The crab nodded enthusiastically at this.

"There a few others in the city, though they are all in elven forms. I can take you to meet them if you like; I admit I don't recall all the names from that long ago." Elrond's memory was far better than that of a Man, especially one of advanced age, but still he forgot details of things that he did not often bring to mind. Most of the elves who had ridden with Maglor and Maedhros and helped guard him as a child had died in one battle or another, and Elrond had not been close to many of them.

The crab shook its head, and pointed at Elrond.

"You think I will know your name?"

The crab nodded, and gestured to the slate boulder again.

Elrond looked at the letters, and tried to make them out again. Of names that started with vala...

"No, it can't be. They said you jumped into the sea in despair!"

The crab nodded at that, and pointed to itself, and spread its claws wide.

Elrond supposed there was rather a precedent of people jumping into the sea with Silmarils and being transformed.

And apparently, a trend of it happening to those who raised him.

"Maglor, it's been so long. I thought you were dead, everyone did..."

The crab walked up to Elrond again and began stroking on his side, just like Maglor stroking Elrond's back when he cried so many years ago.

Elrond found he was crying now.

"Can you change between forms? Is Maedhros with you, have you seen him at all? Is Celebrimbor somehow still alive and also transformed?"

Elrond realized that he should have asked the questions more spaced out, to give the crab - Maglor - a chance to reply. But the crab shook its head continuously, as apparently the answer to all the questions was no.

"May I pick you up? It's just, I don't feel things as well with the scales."

Maglor nodded, and stepped onto Elrond's palm when he lowered it. Elrond held the crab up to his chest, and wept at being reunited at long last.

Maglor tapped his feet in Elrond's hand, and at first Elrond worried it was a request to be let down. But moving his hand away only caused Maglor to point firmly back at Elrond's chest, and continue to tap out with his legs.

Elrond realized after a moment that the taps were in a simple repeating rhythm. He cast his mind over tunes, and at last recalled a lullaby that Maglor had sung to him and Elros. Maglor was even tapping different legs against against Elrond's palm with the different notes.

Elrond hummed along, and let himself relax in making music again with Maglor who he had through to never see again.

ao3 link

___

This is a prequel to two this fic about Elrond with a body of a snake, and a sequel to this fic about Crablor, but is hopefully understandable without them.

Picture of Maglor from google images: