Probably not, happened too recently. Idiots.

She snorts. So literally anything they say about our chances of success are contaminated.

They're not omniscient anyway.

To be fair swords versus a god probably isn't the best bet.

So we just sit here?

No, of course not, but it makes pessimism a lot more reasonable.

I think you're just a pessimist by temperament.

No, I'm pretty sure it's the direct result of everything going to hell around me when I thought I was safe. Twice.

I'm so sorry.

You have been such a comfort to me. But you can see why I'm--wary of trusting that things are going to go alright, when historically they haven't.

Fair enough.

Well, everyone's agreed on leaving, now. That's something.

Yeah.

They march out. There's a pass through the mountains that surround Valinor; they cross it. They skirt Alqualonde and head north. It gets colder. It gets windier.

Idaia and Imliss conjure warmer and warmer clothing as it gets colder.

The Elves don't have that option, but they do have, well, being Elves. They plunge on.

Dreamshaping can do a little here and there but the twins were mostly working on the problem from the getting-over-the-ocean angle and hadn't gotten far enough on that to do any real good.

And the path gets colder and windier and icier and eventually the realization sinks into all their bones like the chill -

I don't think this can be done.

What other choice do we have?

Go to Alqualonde, ask them to teach us how to build boats - it'll take a Year, to build enough of them, but I'm not sure this is crossable even in a Year, I'm not sure it's crossable at all -

I'll talk to Father.

I should've thought of that while we were there.

Well, we weren't expecting all light in the world to be extinguished.

No, but we were looking for a way out.

The King is not in a very persuadable state of mind but as the travel gets more and more hopeless he is persuaded. Alqualonde it is.

Oh, good.

And they march south. They're eating through their supplies. Not dangerously fast or anything, but there's no obvious avenue to replace them other than settling somewhere, having Imliss and Idaia make light, and singing up a harvest, and that won't feed a host of this size.