Disclaimer: I do not own The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, or any characters associated with them; They belong to their rightful owner J.R.R. Tolkien. We just borrow them to play. ;)
My Elvish sucks. Tolkien forgive me. *sobs*

A/N: So to start off, this was the first idea I had for this story, but I ended up switching it to the third chapter instead of the first. I thought it was a good idea to give you guys a false sense of security here. ;) Because who knows what the other elements will hold for our favorite Middle-earth duo. Hee! Anyway, next element is water! Have a happy time for them. :)

If my Sindarin is wrong, do not be rude about it. Please either politely correct me, or kindly tell me what does not exist and I will replace it with English/edit the scene. Thanks

• Mellon nín: "My friend"

• Baw: "No"

• Iesten: "Please"

• Namárië: "Farewell" (Quenya)

Water

Mid summer had arrived in Middle-earth, and the heat that came with it seemed almost unnatural. Especially for two riders that had no form of protection against the blazing sun overhead. Not a cloud in the sky, no breeze to speak of, not even a village to stop in, and not a tree in sight, they rode slowly across the flat fields that provided nothing but endless heat waves in front of them.

Elves were almost never effected by weather. Their bodies just naturally stayed an even temperature at all times, in both the cold and the heat. They simply did not become effected while those around them would be freezing or burning up. However, for the elf that rode alongside the human ranger, he could argue otherwise.

While Aragorn felt as though he was going to melt atop his mount Roheryn's back, his clothes long been soaked with sweat, his hair clinging annoyingly to his face and neck, Legolas was feeling the effects of the heat as well. To someone like Aragorn, the Wood-elf looked fine enough, as if it was a fine spring afternoon.

To Legolas however, he thought for sure he could quite possibly smell 'cooked elf' and said elf was himself. Sweat beaded on his forehead and rolled down slowly, and his tunic's back was starting to show a line of sweat that had been rolling down for the past hour. This was unacceptable for the elven prince. "It is hot, Estel." He said, an utmost distaste in his dry mouth at the words.

"No, really? I thought it was a beautiful day." Aragorn shot back dryly, rolling his eyes and turning to look at his elven companion. He was soaked to the bone in his own sweat, yet Legolas -aside from the sheen of sweat on his brow- looked perfectly fine. On days like today, he truly wish he had been born an elf. Even a half-elf like his foster father, lord Elrond.

Anything was better than his cursed human body right now.

Legolas snorted quietly and looked at Aragorn, sharp blue-grey eyes narrowed just a bit. "We need to find some shelter and cool down. If not for our own sakes -which I am concerned with- but for the sakes of our horses." He turned his gaze down at his stallion Elbehad he was riding and patted his lathered neck, whispering words of encouragement to keep him moving.

Despite walking at a slow canter, the horses were lathered as if they'd ran a whole day. If they pushed them anymore, the animals would surely collapse of heat exhaustion, and then both ranger and elf would be in even more trouble then they already were. Being on foot in this heat with no shelter and limited water was just as dangerous as being surrounded by a hundred orcs.

At this moment, both ranger and elf would have preferred the orcs over the heat of this summer's day.

Sighing wearily, Aragorn swiped away sweat that was threatening to drip into his eyes once more. The salt of his sweat in his eyes was not something he enjoyed feeling. "You are right, mellon nín, as per usual. Can your elf eyes see any form of shelter around us?" He asked, raising his eyebrows at the light haired elven prince.

Unlike Aragorn, Legolas could see much farther. So while he could not see anything around them at all but waves of heat, perhaps Legolas could spot something somewhere.

Legolas narrowed his eyes in concentration, looking around where they were walking. He knew nothing was behind them for too many miles, so he looked to their left and right and ahead. He pulled Elbehad to a stop and looked to their right, obviously straining his eyes to see as clear as he could.

"Do you see something?" Aragorn questioned, stopping next to Legolas on his left side. He strained his own vision, but he saw only heat waves on the horizon which was sadly all but flat lands.

After several moments under the hot sun and not even being able to feel the slight movement of air that came with moving, Legolas finally turned to look at Aragorn. "I am not sure. There is a shadow over the horizon to our right, but with the waves of heat I cannot discern what exactly it is. It does, however, spread far."

Aragorn once again looked to where Legolas had been looking. Of course he couldn't see a line of shadow like Legolas could, but he still tried to imagine what it could be. "It could be a forest, or a village. Whatever it is, I say we go that way, since there is nothing ahead of us."

Nodding in agreement, Legolas turned his stallion's head to their right, as did Aragorn, and the two began walking the animals in the new direction. As they walked, Legolas continued to try and figure out exactly what it was he saw, and after twenty some minutes of walking the horses, he finally smiled. "It is a forest, Estel."

Though neither of them said it, they had both feared that it was neither a forest nor a village that they were heading toward, but something worse. A pack of orcs came to mind, and having to both fight the heat and the orcs at the same time would not have ended well for the two friends.

They urged their horses on a little bit faster, though they didn't push them too much harder. They both silently hoped that where there was a forest, there would also be some form of water that both they and their mounts could use to help cool off all the more. An hour later, they were riding into the edge of the forest.

Legolas almost immediately looked even better than he had been in the last several hours, his natural connection with the trees helping to heal him, body and mind. He took in a breath of the forest air, clean as it was, and climbed down from his horse's back. "Do you smell that, Estel?" He questioned, looking over at Aragorn as the man also dismounted.

Aragorn landed on the ground of the forest floor and looked over at his elven friend. "Smell what? Trees? I am sorry to say I do not love their smell as much as an elf, mellon nín." He teased, grinning at the archer.

Legolas rolled his eyes. Aragorn was always teasing him about his closeness with nature, trees especially, though he knew it was all in jest and not meant to be taken seriously. "Baw, that is not what I meant. I smell water nearby." He said, turning his head to try and see if he couldn't hear any running water.

The ranger's eyebrows rose at the prospect of getting water after all. "Water? Which way?" He asked, sniffing the air. Though a ranger was trained to smell nearby water, he didn't smell a thing but his own perspiration and that of two very hot horses.

"This way." Legolas announced, following the scent of fresh water. Not five minutes later, Aragorn too smelt the fresh water. And the beautiful sight of sparkling, clear water lay just ahead. Neither ranger nor elf had thought they'd ever see a more beautiful sight than that of this fresh spring water.

"That is quite the beautiful sight to behold." Aragorn stated, smiling while he stopped his horse at the water's edge. He immediately knelt and took a handful of water, rubbing it over his face. "Let's get the horses unsaddled so they can get cool in the water and rest." He stood back up and Legolas nodded in agreement.

The two began the grueling task of unsaddling their mounts. As hot as they were and in need of water, they needed to tend to their horses first. Roheryn and Elbehad deserved a rest in the water more than either man or elf that had been riding them. It was obvious the horses were eager to enter the water, because they knew what would come while they drank.

As soon as they were done, the two friends spoke gentle words to the horses, leading them into a shallow portion of the water after removing their boots. They then began washing the horses off in the cool water, soaking their lathered coats until they were cooled down. All the while the horses were drinking in the fresh water.

When both were satisfied that their horses were cooled, they let them wander and enjoy the cooling water and shade of the trees to rest, with orders to stay within earshot. And then both ranger and elf began to strip down to just their breeches. Though they'd been cooling down in ankle deep water, they still wanted to take a swim.

Before they did that, they both washed their clothes and laid them out to dry. Having fresh clean clothes was rare enough on their adventures, so they took the opportunity each time it was given to them to wash their clothes. Then without anymore delay, both entered the water with intentions of fully cooling down in the quickest manner.

It had been a long time since the duo could just relax and swim like this in leisure, and it was more enjoyable than either could express in mere words. They swam for half an hour before Legolas went to the water's edge and climbed out, fully regenerated from the swim. Aragorn was a little less anxious to get out of the water, but Legolas had a plan.

He searched the forest floor until he found what he'd been seeking, and took two good branches that had been broken off the trees. He sat down on a log at the water's edge, took his dagger and began cleaning the branches of twigs until both were suitable poles. Grabbing some string he'd taken from his saddle bag, he cut and tied a couple long strands at the ends of the poles.

When he was done with that, he secured the poles between some rocks and in the ground, then stood and once again began searching the forest floor. It took a few minutes but he eventually found the things he sought after, and picked the earth worms up. When he returned to where the poles were at, he put them on two hooks he'd grabbed when he got the string and his dagger.

Both elf and ranger always carried one or two fish hooks so they could fish when given the chance. After he fastened the hooks to the strings, he dropped both of the hooks with worms on them into the water, and sat down to man them both while Aragorn continued to swim.

"What do you think you will catch in this body of water?" Aragorn called, having seen what Legolas was up to.

"Dinner, of course." Legolas replied with a knowing smile.

Aragorn just rolled his eyes. "Fine, do not tell me what type of fish you believe is in here." He said, turning around and swimming to the opposite side of the water.

But it became apparent that Aragorn's constant swimming would hinder the Wood-elf's attempts at catching anything, much less a fish worth eating. "Estel, you are scaring off the fish. Iesten, come ashore with me so that we can catch something to eat." He said, watching Aragorn floating along his back.

"I am telling you, there are no fish to be caught." Aragorn turned to look at Legolas with a smirk. "Besides, even if there were, can you not simply talk to them and ask them to hook themselves?" He teased, grinning as he swam closer to where Legolas sat.

It took a great deal of willpower to stop himself from rolling his eyes at Aragorn, but Legolas managed -though only barely. "That is not how fishing works, not even for an elf. Estel, I believe that awful pipeweed you continue to smoke is muddling your mind." He scrunched his nose at the very thought of the stuff.

Laughing, Aragorn shook his head ruefully. He looked down at his hands, and noticed how his fingers were beginning to shrivel as he stayed in the water. "Alright, alright. I suppose it is time I climb out." He agreed, climbing out after swimming to the edge where Legolas was. He walked out, sitting on the log next to the elf.

As much as he had been enjoying his swim, he didn't wish to shrivel up into an old man far beyond his time. And he had no illusions that as a Dúnadan he would forever be young like the immortal elves.

Shaking the thought from his mind, Aragorn took out his pipe and much to Legolas' chagrin started to smoke the very pipeweed he had mentioned. The elf silently thought perhaps the mention earlier had made him bring it out now, just to torment the elven prince with the smell. He turned his sharp gaze on Aragorn, but the ranger just smiled as innocently as he could possibly manage.

For a ranger, that wasn't very innocent. Especially since Legolas knew him better than most.

After a few moments, both lines were jerked and Aragorn and Legolas both pulled up a decent sized fish on each side. "Looks like we will be eating well after all." Aragorn grinned over at Legolas whom nodded in agreement. "Thanks for thinking of this, mellon nín." He got up and took both fish. "Since you did the fishing, I will do the cleaning and cooking."

"I will start a fire, then." The elf stood and began to gather wood for the fire. As Aragorn cleaned both fish, Legolas started the fire, and soon both fish were being cooked. Aragorn watched them while the Wood-elf checked their drying clothing, which were almost fully dry after being laid out amid the sun's hot rays. "I believe we can dress, our clothes are dry enough." He said over his shoulder, getting himself dressed.

"That sounds like a good plan. Watch the fish while I dress." Aragorn said, standing up when he seen Legolas coming his way, fully dressed aside from his cloak which he was carrying. He sat both his and Aragorn's cloaks down and took the ranger's spot, watching as the fish cooked.

When Aragorn finished dressing, the fish was done, and the two began to eat. The sun had begun to dip toward the horizon as dusk settled, and Aragorn looked up to the sky. "We will rest for a few hours, then get up in the middle of the night and continue our journey. In this heat and knowing there may not be anymore shelter for a while, it will be best if we start traveling by night."

"For once Estel, I believe you have a very good idea." Legolas commented, sitting his leftovers aside to get ready to lay down and get some much needed sleep. The horses were near by and he knew that the trees would alert them should anything approach, so the elf could rest easy for the time.

"Only once?" Aragorn raised a brow at his elven friend, and Legolas laughed quietly at his response, but did not comment further. Huffing, the man laid down after putting the fire out, shaking his head at Legolas with a smile growing on his face.

Legolas lay on the even ground, staring up at the sky. The stars had yet to appear, but he would get the great pleasure of riding under them after they woke up. By the following day he would be better than he had in weeks, and the sun would simply have to work extra hard to get him to feel as he had earlier in the day.

Aragorn laid back with a contented sigh, glancing over at his friend with a slight smile. He knew what the elf was thinking, and was glad that Legolas would be so ready for their journey to continue. He himself wouldn't be regenerated by stars alone, but the night air would certainly do the ranger well enough, and that was good enough for him.

The two friends found sleep easy, laying under the trees protection and the shimmering water that had all surely saved them and their mounts during this hot summer's day.

Fin

A/N: This actually ended up being a tiny bit longer than I had expected, but I figure no one will mind. :) I hope it was enjoyable! Thanks for reading, I know it was slow, but trust me, the next chapter should make up for it. 'Tis a surprise. ;) Reviews are of course always appreciated and motivating.
Namárië.