Chapter 1

First he had lost the first line. Numenor now he was having to leave middle earth all together, not that it was called that any more now the native men of that land called the place Britain and the main city was based in the land Mordor, in fact the city of London covered the entire of the place that was once the domain of the dark lord, the mountain of doom had ceased to spew forth fire about three thousand years ago, but he was leaving his last chance of finding the true line of numenor but if he was exceedingly lucky he might find his son…he was on duty in the crows nest…he liked it up here, it was the only place on the ship where his elven ears could have some form of respite from the ceaseless noise of the crew and of course he was able to get away from the accursed stink of humans who had not washed for several months…unfortunately his shift was coming to an end he could see his replacement scaling the rigging

"Hey there will…your luck is on tonight…"

"…why," Legolas felt a little nervous

"Cos singing and dancing are just about to start"

Legolas grimaced at this remark, the crew of this ship sang about as well as a sober dwarf

"You'd better hurry the captain and his guests are going to be watching"

"Thank you, I will take the swiftest way down" with that he slid down the blossoming front of a sail and landed silently on the deck, he looked up and waved a merry goodnight to the gaping crew man atop the mast.

He slipped in among the crew men with ease as they started to attention, the captain had just come out from his dinning cabin with the mister Swann and his daughter, the captain commanded that they start to sing, the crew complied in grating tones, they were half way through the first verse of a shanty when the captain stopped them again,

"You there…"

"Turner" the boson next to him whispered to him

"Why are you not singing? Are you too good to sing with the rest of the crew? If you are then come up here and sing in front of us all…come on man" a pair of bosons came up to him

He knew that he would be able to knock them both flat all he would gain from this would be a whipping, so reluctantly he went forward with them.

"Now Turner…sing"

Legolas decided to sing an elvish song, the saddest he knew one that talked of an elvish princess who fell in love with a mortal man and died of grief, he poured all the grief of the past three thousand years since Aragorn left this mortal plane.

Once he was finished he found that the grief that had twisted inside him for so many long years was gone, he looked around to see that the entire crew were staring at him, he heard a voice at the back whisper to his fellow crew mates "that was beautiful"

"Mr Turner, I see now that I was right from now on you will serve the officers at supper and sing for us…that will be all"

Legolas returned to the stand with the crew, the captain gave a short speech and then dismissed them. Legolas was just about to find somewhere to rest when a group of thuggish crewmen came up to him

"Hey nightingale, sing for us wont you"

"No"

"Now Turner I don't think it would be a good idea to disobey us"

"if you are going to attack me please do not take your time," at this comment the crew members broke their ranks and fell upon Legolas who was braced ready to fight, next moment Legolas was going from one to the next knocking heads and kicking stomachs, he heard a voice from thee crows nest call, "fight on the foredeck," now all the crew was standing around watching the newcomer Turner fighting alone, being attacked by six or seven of the strongest thugs on the boat, but he was so fast that the thugs were not able to even lay a finger on him, I a very short time Mr Turner was the only person left standing, the officers arrived a split second after the last attacker fell, the captain grabbed a nearby crew man and demanded "what happened here?"

"Thems that are on the floor attacked Mr Turner"

"And did anyone help him?"

"No sir"

"Mr Turner what do you have to say for your self"

"They wished for me to sing and I told them that I would not, and then they attacked me"

"And you managed to fend them all off"

"Yes"

"Do not lie"

"I am telling the truth"

"If you are not lying then how did you manage to defend you self against so many, with out even a single bruise?"

"I practise"

"I doubt it, twenty strokes Mr Mate"

Wonderful Legolas had merely been protecting himself and now he had to stand against a rack and receive twenty of the best, and what was more he would easily be able to escape the situation, if he used his elvish skills.

As the crew were tying him up he whispered to the men tying up his arms,

"Tie me really tight, or I will be up the top mast to the flag before you can say, blimey"

the men tied him up so that his blood could not reach his hand, he heard the drums start to roll, he heard the rope whistling towards his back, when it stuck he spat out the foul piece of animal hide that had been jammed between and called in the grey tongue screaming curses that he had not uttered since Estel had passed away, twenty strokes later his anger towards the captain was gone, the crew took him down to the main cabin and laid him in his hammock,

"That was unfair of the captain…"

"It wasn't his fault; I shouldn't have lost my temper"

"Yeah but he didn't do nothing about the others"

"Probably because I did it for him..."

Legolas was looking through the contents of a small bag

"…how does my back look?"

"Better than the last man who received twenty of the best from Mr Mate…how does it feel?"

"It stings a little, but it will be alright tomorrow morning"

"Do you want some salt on the big cuts to stop them going rotten?"

"No thank you I will absolutely fine" the healing skills of men had reached at ultimate low point once the elves had left middle earth

"Are you sure I thought the same way about this cut on my face and look at it now" Legolas had noticed the infected cut it was close to the mans eye, if the cut were not treated then the man would lose his eye,

"Here let me help you with that…would some one pass me that box"

once Legolas had the box in his hand he opened the lid and sorted through the packets of herbs that he kept for healing purposes he found the ground altheas leaves and added a little of his saliva to a pinch of it and smeared it liberally over the cut

"Don't ask any questions and tell no one of this, I have no wish to end my life being accused of being a witch, the infection will be gone by tomorrow morning, now if you will excuse me I wish to take a little air"

Legolas went out and listened at the door for a little while

"He's a strange lad that one"

"If this is not healed by the morning then we will tell the surgeon that there is a man who is giving out false medicines"

False medicines…it was the surgeon who was giving out false medicines, he clambered up the rigging to the crows nest,

"What da ya want? I'm on duty until the moon sinks"

"Do you want to be?"

"No I hate night shifts, so lonely"

"Would you like to go back to your hammock, if you wanted to you could tell you replacement not to come up either"

"You're going to stay up here all night? That's not safe you might fall asleep, I'll stay but I will suggest to my replacement,

"So, what is your name?"

"Gibbs, your name is Turner"

"Yes…how long have you been in the kings navy?"

"Nigh on twenty years, I'll take it your new…"

"Yes…"

"How's yer back?"

"It is much better already,"

"Did you put salt in it?"

"No…it is not needed,"

"Haven't you seen Phillip's face? He wouldn' put salt in that cut an' look at the state of it now"

"It was state but it is better now I put a salve on it"

"It will not be good luck for you if the surgeon hears of that…"

"…they have decided that if it works not then they will tell the captain"

"They told you that?"

"No I told them that I favoured a little fresh air and listened to their talk after I left"

"You don't sound too worried…"

"That is because I know that it will work"

"So about the fight…who really started it an' who helped you?"

"the people who I beat up wanted me to sing for them and I told them that I would not they threatened me and I, being just a little angry told them that they might as well attack me and they did"

"And I don't suppose that you fought them bravely all alone?"

"How else was I to do it? Ask any of the crew you wish they will tell you that no one helped me, I am just…lucky"

"Very lucky, they were some of the best fighters aboard this ship"

Legolas merely raised an eyebrow at the sailor

"So why does a young scoundrel like you want to come to sea?"

"I have always wished to go to the sea, but not to the port we are headed to, yet there I will rest until such time as sees fit"

"You're very well spoken for a young mutt these days"

"I had a good education,"

"You're a hiding something…"

"…stick you nose where it does not belong and you will lose it Mr Gibbs"

"…it's a beautiful night ain't it?"

"Yes…"~I should have sailed to the undying lands long ago~

"What are you muttering about?"

"I am regretting decisions that I have made…"

"Have you left behind some one who is dear to you?"

"No…all those who are dear to me have long departed to whence I should have gone"

"Why should you be dead?"

"It matters not…"

"But…" Gibbs came to an abrupt halt; there was a long bladed knife at his throat

"I said it matters not"

"Right…where did that knife come from…the captain likes to keep crew's blades stowed away unless we are fighting"

"Boot sheaths…these are my favourite pair of knives, my long bow is in my box"

"Bow? Why do need a bow when you can use a pistol"

"When stealth is needed a bow is the better choice…"

Not to mention Legolas thought to himself the noise of a pistol was almost deafening to his sensitive elven hearing

"You know, one of the crew down stairs he reckons that you can tell someone's fortune by there ears, the shape of them"

"Nay, the only way to read ones fortune is by ones hand, pass me yours" Legolas quickly examined it, "you have a strange fortune,"

"And that would be?"

"Do you really want to know what the future will hold for you?"

"Yes"

"Very well, but do not attack me if you like not what I say"

"Very well"

"this is your last voyage aboard this ship, you will leave the navy and join a man who has lost all, eight years hence you will betray him twice, once he will be a prisoner the second time you will abandon him to his death but save him moments before he will definitely die"

"How can you tell that from a few lines?"

"Only one is needed, this one, if you follow it then you will find lines that connect with it, these are all the people you will ever meet, and this one is me"

"How can you tell that that is you?"

"It is obvious; we will meet again after this voyage, eight years hence"

"Limey I'm tired, how long until the next man is to come and replace me?"

"The moon has just set, he is scaling the rigging"

"Well I had better be on my way…are you sure that you do not need to rest?"

"I rested well this day"

"It is ear reader Jack…have fun talking over the methods of divination together"

"Hey Gibbs, get yourself down to yourn hammock afore you fall down there"

"Yes Jack…Mr Turner is up here…he says that if you don't want ta stay up here then he will take your watch"

"Mr Turner...eh...well captain is in a foul mood so I suppose that I should stay aloft else he will have Mr Mate murder me as he did Turner…"

Gibbs clambered down the rigging and a middle aged man with virtually no teeth took his place

"What are you doing in the rigging when you have just been given twenty of the best by Mr Mate, you should be catching some shut eye, and you should have put some salt or at least some of that paste on to your back"

"I do not have enough altheas left to waste it on my self"

"Your fighting was amazin' how'd ya learn to fight like that"

"Necessity"

"I can tell that you have a very interesting life ahead of you…I could read your fortune for you"

"My fortune cannot be told"

"Will you not even let me try?...I know all the crews fortunes already…"

"What did you predict for Gibbs?"

"He is going to marry and live happily ever after"

"Then you definitely will not be able to tell what lies ahead for me,"

there was long silence, Legolas allowed himself to fall into restful dreams of Valinor, he should have gone, un bidden images came to him of his days with the fellowship, the passage through Moria and his stay in the woods of Lothlorien and Aragorn leading an army against the black gates to help Frodo take the ring to the mountain of fire…he felt an arm tugging on his sleeve

"Leave me be, can't you see…"

"Sorry mate but you was just a staring in ta space…I was starting to get worried you hadn't move for nigh on three hour"

"Sorry I was lost in thought"

"You had better go down on ta the deck its breakfast time"

"Just what one needs in the morning, fresh weevils"

"It's better than nothin"

"Really…"

"Can tell you have never been starving on rationed food before…when that's happened to you then even you will appreciate the ship biscuits"

"When that day comes I will gracefully allow myself to be crowned king…"

once on deck he was caught up in the daily routine of the ship, breakfast of hard tack and water, followed by lifting the sea anchor and making way, after that was the trimming of the sails, Legolas noticed that the flag had become caught at the top of the mast, he pointed this out to another crew member who just laughed and told him that it could not be fixed until they reached port and were able to send a boy up the mast as it was too thin to support a man,

"We do not wish to be mistaken for as pirates do we…I will go and fix it"

"Do you have a death wish? You will kill your self"

Legolas clambered further up the mast, it was not even a challenge, once at the top he tugged the flag free and slid down the mast again to clap the man on the shoulder

"I suppose I do have a death wish but at least I did not kill my self"

The day passed swiftly as he scrubbed the deck with a team of roughly twenty others.

"Turner"

It was one of the bosons

"Yes…"

"The captain will be taking his evening meal shortly you had better go and make yourself presentable…do you have any smart clothes?"

"I have suitable clothes"

Legolas put his holystone away and made his way down to the main cabin; at the bottom of his trunk he found one of his tunics from when he was a prince, a linen shirt, black trousers and soft boots. He took of his shirt, his back was already healed from the lashings as though they had never happened, he heard a gasp behind him, turning around he saw Phillips, his face was fully healed

"Did you use some of that paste on your self?"

"No…"

"Then how is it that you back is fully healed?"

"I am young, cuts like this heal fast"

 He slowly made his way down to the kitchen where he was met by an angry cook,

"Take your time why don't you…take that stew out to the officers and serve it…got that?"

"Yes..."

Legolas lifted the tureen and walked through to the dinning room, the table was laid with silver and china

"Ah...Mr Turner…come on and serve, we are hungry…"

as he moved to serve as the officers agreed, they started to talk of affairs that seemed to the elf so pointless as to be a waste of breath, the officers ate with all the grace of pigs, only person who ate with any grace at all was the young Miss Swann, who once she had finished her food looked up at Legolas

"Mr Turner?"

"Yes Miss Swann"

"It is Elizabeth, I was wondering who you tailor was, your clothes are very fine"

The captain turned his head to examine his clothes

"How does a deck hand come to own such finery?"

"These clothes have been passed through the family for many generations, captain"

The captain still looked suspicious, but clearly decided not to press the point

"Mr Turner as we are all finished, I believe a recital is in order...something jolly this time"

Legolas sighed to himself as be began to sing one of the songs that merry and pippin had been so fond of singing, from an elvish prince to a minstrel for a drunken group of officers next thing he knew he would be a black smith.

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