Ebbing Tides
By: MoonPaper
Summary: When Legolas and Gimli set out to the Blessed Land, they encounter something unusual- a storm. And amidst all that, Legolas finds himself stuck on an island with a mysterious creature taking care of him. But there are a lot of things on the island undiscovered....
"Legolas! Jump! Jump for your life! NO! Legolas!"
Gimli, Son of Gloin, looked up at the deck from the wet safety of the cabins below, and watched in horror as a large wave swallowed their ship. Though it bobbed up again, being made by elven hands, the prince of Mirkwood was nowhere to be seen. With a stricken expression, Gimli offered a prayer for his friend, hoping he was still alive and beached somewhere. But meanwhile, he had to survive.
Nearby, under the frothing waves, there was a swish of a tail, the silver sheen of scales, then wings- finlike wings, gliding through the water, which was streaked with long, jet black hair, flowing like oil. Grey eyes the colour of seamist looked at the akward, unmoving body before her, and she swum around it,curious as if she had never seen such a figure before. But when she saw the pale marble white face, and the lips with a certain shade of blue, she knew what must be done, and held on to the collar of his tunic tightly, before givng a powerful flick of her tail and pulling him gracefully through the water, as if he weighed nothing.
All night, she worked hard and pulled him up the beach and covered him with leaves. After making sure he was alright, she went under and caught a few fish, making sure that it wasn't poisonous. With a wrapping of leaves, she left it by his side and swam off at the first sign of the sun. From afar, she watched, fascinated, as the figure brought a hand to his forehead and groaned. Her 'wings' twitched involuntarily as bright emerald orbs opened, and as the sandy hand came up to rub them. It was apparent that he was remembering last night's events, and trying to orient himself.
Legolas was fairly confused. He was on an island, but he was too far in to have been beached by the sae herselof. He looked at the horizon and saw nothing, nothing except for the sun and more of the sea. But marks on the sand confirmed his suspicions. he wasn't beached, someone had dragged him onto the land. But the marks showed his body- that was obvious, and also, a long, heavy dent in the sand, with a few handprints. He frowned as he bent down to examine them. Whoever had rescued him had dragged him/herself and had dragged him with themself. As if... he took in breath sharply as tales of sea-elves were remembered. Elves of the ocean, who had lived in it for so long that they lost their ability to walk, and instead, grew tails to swim throught he waters.
Then a scene of last night was made available to him as he looked around. The creature- he was sure it was female, with a long tail, longer than her torso, and the six long fins on her back that could've been mistaken for wings. He had thought he had died, and an angel had come to take him to the Valar. But apparently, he was mistaken. He spied the package of fish and looked out at the ocean. It sounds crazy, but it doesn't seem like anybody else is here. He looked at it's blue depths and waded out. Cupping his mouth, he shouted. "Thank you!!" There was nothing, but however, he had the feeling that the water-elf had heard his gratitude.
From behind a rock, the mermaid's mouth curled up in a smile unconsciously. He was funny, at least to her. She didn't know what he was talking about- she spoke in Quenya, not in Sindarin. But she knew it was a shout of gratitude. When he went back to the inner beach, she watched as he disappeared in the trees for a while and came out with dead twigs, and as he formed a fire to cook the fish over. She grinned, and with a small splash, disappeared under the ocean surface, off to get maybe some of the wonderful clams. As she surfaced, this time near her cave, she struggled to hold the clams as she put them in a basket of seaweed. Then she smiled as she passed some of the tree's overhanging branches, and she took some of the nuts and put them in, swimming back to the direction of the beautiful elf she had rescued.
A/N: HOW WAS IT??? Ok, seriously, I crave reviews, and usually, I decide whether to continue a story or not through the number of reviews I recieve on it. So, I'm REALLLLLLLLLY, REALLLLLLY, hoping that you would review me. Please?