DISCLAIMER: I do not own Lord of the Rings, or any of the characters within Lord of the Rings. They are all the work of the amazing J.R.R. Tolkien!!!! (Heh, and we can't forget Peter Jackson and Newline Cinemas...) I'm not earning anything from this, except maybe amusement. Please read and review. Onward to the story then....
The Fellowship departed Lothlórien with renewed hope for their journey. The wise words of Galadriel had been of some comfort to all, although comfort was scarce in times as such. Yet not all things she had said were good. Some things said were quite the opposite; ominous and foreboding. Holding a hand up slowly, she signified her goodbye. As the sight of the fair Elf-maiden faded in the distance her voice, although deeper than often is the wont of most females' voices, she sang a quiet lament...
"Ai! Laurië lantar lassi súrinen,
Yéni ú-nót-imë ve rámar aldaron!
Yéni ve lintë yuldar avánier
mi oro-mardi lisse-miruvóre-va
Andúnë pella Vardo tellumar
nu luini yassen tintilar I eleni
óma-ryo aire-tári-lírinrn.
Sí man I yulma nim en-quant-uva?"
And on and on she sang, until at last she came upon the last verses...Si vanwa ná Rómello vanwa, Valimar! Namárië! Nai hir-uva-lyë Valimar. Nai elyë hir-uva. Namárië!" And soon she could be seen no more, and even the last of her song was hardly audible, if now heard by anyone but Legolas.
And still the burden of the One Ring weighed heavy upon Frodo's shoulders, and he could not help but cling still to slight despair. The Light of Eärendil lifted his spirits, if only a little, and pushed him onwards. He rubbed his hands over the smooth surface of the crystal phial, thinking quietly to himself of how he still missed Gandalf, although the marvels of the Mellyrn trees had done some to sooth his sorrow. If he were here...I needn't despair so. His guidance has always kept me from wandering astray...but how far shall I wander now in his absence?
All who had come to know Gandalf through this journey grieved his fall in Moria. An eerie silence loomed over the remaining eight members of the Fellowship. Everyone had taken Gandalf's death differently, but Legolas especially. For an immortal Elf, the sudden departure of Mithrandir left him slightly bewildered. Although he was wise, living in the solitude of Mirkwood for as many years as he had had kept him mildly ignorant to the theory of death. When asked to translate the beautiful elvish laments that had been sung in the honor of the fallen Grey Pilgrim, he had refused saying instead that for him the grief was still to near. Afterwards he had been hardly present with the rest of the Fellowship, although he had taken Gimli with him on occaisions. He did check up on them often, making sure all was well. Thankfully, he seemed in higher spirits by the day of their departure, as did most. All had taken humor in Sam's wholehearted attempt at his own lament, being as it brought more laughter than requiem.
The finest rockets ever seen:
they burst in stars of blue and green,
or after thunder golden showers
came falling like a rain of flowers.
Sam's voice had faltered, and his face had turned a distinct shade of red after which Aragorn had scolded Merry and Pippin for their snickering.
The Elven boats now glided gracefully through the waters of the Anduin, the oars sifting through the rushing water as ones fingers sift through sand. It was true, many changes had taken place in the Golden realm of Lothlórien. Legolas the Elf, once showing mostly abhorrence and dislike towards the Dwarf in his company, now paid him friendlier heed. The two shared a boat, and conversed, although Legolas seldom conversed to anyone for he was a very quiet Elf, as if they had known each other many years. It was indeed a marveling change. None of the Fellowship could figure out just how this had come to be, but it had come to be nonetheless. Legolas sighed his farewells to the Golden Wood. Namarië...
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the startling rocking of the boat he currently occupied. The Dwarf seated in front of him was trying to find a more comfortable sitting position and had decided it would be easier, although likely not right smart, to do so by standing up first.
"Do sit still, Gimli." Legolas said calmly. To this Gimli whirled his head around to face Legolas, further disrupting the calmness of the waters surrounding the boat.
"I'll have no pointy-ear ordering me around!" He replied, more jestingly than anything else. Legolas heaved sighed as the boat continued to totter back and forth dangerously. Pippin giggled as Boromir rowed past the spectacle along with Merry, who sat in the bow of the boat. The others could not help but smile, and for a time all were at ease, with the exception of maybe the Elf who was growing increasingly frustrated with the situation. Nothing good can come of this...He thought to himself, and was all too right.
As the uneasy Dwarf began to take his seat once more, his axe was unfortunate enough to be disrupted from its resting place and threatened to dive into the waters. In a desperate attempt to save his precious weaponry, Gimli lurched forward. Grasping his axe from midair, the boat began to tremble terribly. To everyone's surprise, a very distressed Legolas was able to stay the boat and manage to prevent the Dwarf from plunging into the Anduin.
The entire Fellowship began to roar with laughter at Legolas' frantic display. Indeed it had been an amusing scene to witness. Legolas had seen the error in Gimli's ways just in time to grab hold of the Dwarf's short shirt of chain mail, thus causing the Elf to fall forward slightly, stopping himself with a hand on boats floor. The next problem had arisen because, in his hast to seize Gimli, Legolas had inadvertently let loose his hold on the oar, which he had then been forced to hook with a foot. Pressing down on the oar, he had steered to keep enough pressure between it and the edge of the boat to prevent it from falling. Legolas could feel his face redden, if it is at all possible for an Elf's face to do so. Gimli, although still unsteady in his standing position on the still rocking boat, was booming with laughter as well. Legolas managed a small smile, willing to humor the others, although somewhat nettled.
"Do try not to make the boat quiver so! Please, sit down and such incidents may be prevented from here on. I doubt that Dwarves are very well balanced and I am now lead to believe that they are prone to fall out of boats quite easily. I have no desire to swim in these cold waters..." Legolas said fairly calmly.
"I have fine balance." Came the Dwarves gruff response. In order to prove himself further, he stood at the very front of the boat and slowly lifted one leg.
With that, Aragorn glided up aside the quivering boat and patted Legolas on the back. Legolas was is no position to be patted on the back and began to slip forward...
"Good show." Not seeing that Gimli now stood on one leg alone, Aragorn next proceeded to pat Gimli on the back as well.
Alas, the uneasy stricken Dwarf was in no way prepared for this, and so tumbled forward towards the water. Because of Legolas' grip on Gimli and already stressed position, he fell forward to lay nearly flat on the floor of the boat. Gimli, frantically flailing his arms as he went, took his last step before entering the water directly upon the absolute worst place. The side of the already unsteady boat. And so it was, to Legolas' horror, that the boat tipped, plunging both Dwarf and Elf into the Anduin.
Legolas had been quick enough to snatch his quiver and bow and hold them just above the icy water. Luckily for the two, the Fellowship had been nearing the bank, and even more luckily, had not yet been near to the falls of Rauros, and thus the current was weak and the water shallow. It would have been an unfortunate event indeed to lose two more companions so early after losing the first.
Legolas emerged from the water, his golden hair soaked and dripping, and his features far from pleased. The water was just shallow enough for the tall elf to keep his head above water by standing on his toes. But Gimli was not faring so well, he kicked his legs wildly and flailed his arms more so just to stay afloat. He soon grabbed the overturned boat, still grasping the handle of his axe.
"Wonderful balance, Gimli." Legolas said sarcastically, now more than just a little bit perturbed.
"Oh be quiet." Gimli growled.
"Are you both alright?" Asked Frodo worriedly. He received glares from both Legolas and Gimli and visibly shrank. Had the Fellowship's previous laughs been thought of as roars, these were booms. Boromir and Aragorn struggled to stay the boats in the slowly moving current while battling with their uncontrollable laughter. Merry and Pippin were doubled over and clutching their stomachs. Frodo, who had now recovered from the glares, was coming close to tears from the hilarity and Sam, as much as he tried to cover it up, could not help but join in.
Legolas sulkily swam towards Aragorn's boat and placed his quiver and bow gently under a seat but did not leave the water himself. He sighed and headed towards the overturned boat. Aragorn will never let me live this down...
"An Elf falling out of a boat, that's an eye opener and no mistake." Said Sam quietly.
"I did not 'fall' out of a boat.' Replied Legolas, his hearing more than keen enough to hear Sam's remark.
"Oh, but you most certainly did, mellon nin." Replied Aragorn between laughs. Legolas gave him a fierce glare.
"Had it not been for the stiff necks of Dwarves and your own stupidity, Aragorn, this would not have happened." Said Legolas, struggling to flip over the boat and keep Gimli from sinking in the process. Neither wished to drift further down the great river.
"This is true." Said Boromir from his boat, controlling his laughter. Aragorn smiled sheepishly.
"Aw, I suppose it is. But Legolas, if only you could have seen the look upon your face. Never before have I seen such a hilarious expression, especially from one so calm as you!!" Aragorn said jokingly from the relative safety of his own boat.
"I would not say such things if I were you, mellon nin." Replied Legolas heatedly.
"And why is that?"
"Because-" Legolas began as he finally managed to flip the boat over, and pushed Gimli in. "I have a very large supply of water and a certain man more than deserving of a good bath. A non med." Legolas swam quite close to Aragorn and cupped the cold water in his hands.
"What do....!?" Aragorn was cut off entirely by a portion of that huge supply of water splashing him directly across the face. "LEGOLAS!" Aragorn spluttered. "Si non med!!!"
"Aragorn, mānyes na le a tíro Pheriannath, an ar hain si nef hi nen nuva le. A med."
"O, a med?" Aragorn said, suddenly starting to laugh again.
"What did he say?" Sam nudged Frodo and asked in a hushed voice. Frodo had caught a scarce few words of what had been said.
"Um...something about water." Frodo replied, a bit unsure of himself. Legolas had spoken too quickly and too quietly for much of what he had said to be understood, at least for Frodo.
"I said that I am wet and that it is good that Aragorn is watching over Halflings, for without them he would be here on this side of the water. And wet." Legolas said smugly. With that he splashed Aragorn a good few times before grabbing the edge of the drifting boat and pulling it towards the bank, Gimli included. Aragorn sighed, wiping his face dry, then signified for Boromir to bank his boat as well.
The bedraggled Elf trudged out of the water, his entire attire soaked and dripping. Heaving a long sigh, he began to ring the water from his hair and removed his cloak, for it had become increasingly heavy. Gimli followed in sync, although considerably less gracefully.
The Fellowship made camp beneath the protection of the green boughs of the trees. There was a small rock overhang to fend of the elements. A small fire had been made and the Hobbits had occupied themselves with preparing something to eat. Whenever anyone would dare to look at Legolas or Gimli, everyone would burst into laughs, even more so when a dead fish had been discovered in Gimli's overturned helmet. Even Legolas could not help but smile, and he was willing to humor them once more. A drenched Elf is indeed a very humorous scene to behold in any case. Legolas had managed to dry the majority of his golden hair, but his clothes were still dripping wet. Besides that, his boots were filled with water and he desperately hoped that there weren't any fish in them, like in the Dwarf's case. Legolas sighed as he un-braided his hair.
"That's the last time I ride in a boat with a Dwarf." Legolas said, grinning jeeringly. The Dwarf scoffed and began mumbling gruffly to himself.
"You are one to talk..." Aragorn said, walking past Legolas with a bucket of water. "For an Elf who fell out of a boat..." And with that he emptied the water contained within the bucket over the stunned and already soaking Elf. Giving him a small pat on the back....he dashed away to follow the others as quick as he could. No one wants to suffer the wrath of an angry Elf.
"ARAGORN!!" Yelled Legolas as he sprinted after the man.
And so for a time the Fellowship forgot their worries...at the expense of a certain Elf.
Cela sui sûl, Aragorn!!!!
Ahem...my Sindarin is not the greatest....but 'mānyes na le a tíro Pheriannath, an ar hain si nef hi nen nuva le. A med' translates to 'Good it is to thee to watch over Halflings, for without them, here on this side of water will be thou. And wet.'
The long elvish lament that Galadriel sings as they leave Lórien is from The Fellowship of the Ring and the translation is on page 424 of FotR, and Sam's lament is also taken from the book. Most of you know that 'mellon nin' means 'my friend.'
'O, a med?' means 'oh, and wet?' 'A non med' means 'and I am wet.' 'Si non med,' means 'now I am wet.' The last bit 'Cela sui sûl,' means 'go away like the wind.' I really hope you enjoyed this!! I'd love to know what you thought of it...bye for now!
