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....

A/N: Wow. Wow-oh-WOW. I didn't know I would recieve so many reviews! Well, for some, it may not be many, but, to me it is, and I'm REA~LLLLLY thankful. *bows* Thank you VERY much. And, well, sorry for the reallllllly late upload. I'll try to do it more often now.

When the mermaid arrived at her destination, she was careful to hide behind some rocks. But when she peered through, there was nobody on the beach, and there was a large pile of wood under some trees. She looked on, curious, and hesitatingly. To swim in and drop the bag, or not to swim in and drop the bag? Being cautious, she chose the former. And wait she did, until the elf came out of the forest with large leaves on his back. She watched in rapt fascination as he piled them all on a wooden frame, sheltered by a few boulders and trees. Fascinated that she was, she didn't notice her bag starting to float away, until too late, ad she gave an involuntary yelp of surprise.

Legolas was just finishing up his temporary shelter, when he heard a small sound- a yelp, most likely, and he turned around to see, just in time, a hand appear behind some rocks to catch a clump of seaweed. He frowned, and in a flash, was above the rock, looking down at his saviour- the water elf. He took in breath sharply, the same time she did, and they looked at each other, and sized each other up. She was looking up at him with large grey eyes half covered by long black hair. He was looking down at her through emerald green orbs shaded by long blonde hair. The water-elf hesitated, before giving him the bag full of foodstuff. "I... It is for you." Legolas nodded his thanks, and switched to her language. "Thank you... for saving me, and for the food. I am grateful." He smiled at her and took the bag.

He gestured at the small shelter he was making. "I am building a place to sleep in. Do you know whether there are other elves here? Or mortals?" She shook her head. "Quon lives in the water, in an underground cave. Quon do not go inland." He nodded his thanks. "Did you save anyone else other than me?" She shook her head. He looked down. "I had a friend with me.... Are you alone here? Or are there other water- elves?" She shook her head. "Quon is alone because she left her sisters, and they have no care that she is gone." Legolas nodded. "Do you know where the Blessed Land is?" She nodded. "It is in the north. Very far away... for Water-elf, it will take several months to swim there. Forest-elf must not try. You will have to wait for help." He looked t her, and he finally realized that she talked in third person... like a child. "I am Legolas. You do not need to call me Forest-Elf." She nodded, and looked at the bag in his hand.

The two of them stood/floated there in awkwardness. She shifted her weight, and he smiled down at her. "Well, thank you, then." He turned to walk away, when she looked at him curiously, before dragging herself on the beach. She winced as sand went under her scales, but still worked to drag herself there. To her shock, warm hands held her shoulders and dragged her onto a large leaf on which she could slide on. She smiled gratefully up at Legolas. "What are you doing?" She asked, as he began to use two stones as flints, and as he skewered the fish and gutted them with his knife.

"I'm going to cook it, of course." He looked at her quizzically. "You mean you don't cook your food?" She shook her head, and jumped back as fire leaped onto the dead twigs. "What?" She reached out to touch it, but Legolas held her hand. "Don't! It's very hot, it will burn you..." At her blank face, he grimaced. How am I to explain? He looked at it. "Erh... it will injure you, very painful... Like blowfish poison." She looked at the fire in amazement and in wonder. "Ah!" She inched away from it, and looked as he put the fish onto the fire. "Why did you leave your sisters?" She shrugged. "We... Quon is different from them... Quon finds it nicer to be away from what they do. What about you? Are you going to stay here?" He shook his head. "I do not know. Somehow, I have to get to the Blessed Land. But here, the calling is not very strong, since I am closer to it. But somehow I need to get there." Quon nodded and looked as he flipped the fish...

"This is very nice!" She said, between mouthfulls of fish. He watched her and nodded, though his thoughts still wandered, especially on how to get to the Blessed Land. While he as thinking, suddenly, there was a clam stcuck in front of his face. "This is clam put under the warm sand! It's already open!" He nodded and smiled at the Water-Elf's curiousity and fearlessness of him, a land- dweller. He figured that maybe htat was why she left her sisters, after all, Water-Elves were known for their fear of land dwellers, as they were curious of their underwater counterparts. He frowned and shook his head. The next day, he would walk more inland and explore. There might be other land-dwellers on the island. But he would return, he thought, looking at the bright-eyed mermaid eating the cooked food.

A/N: Well.... *dodges rotten vegetables* I know I'm really late on this... *ducks* But, I hope you're satisfied with this chapter, but I'll try to make it longer, next time. Don't worry, this won't turn out like little mermaid.... I'm not sure that it'll have a happy ending, and she's certainly not gonna turn human! Oooops! I've said too much, but anyway, till next time! I'll try to update faster. Tell me if this is unsatisfactory, cos I think it is...

Ps, for those who are also reading my Rayearth fic, i've written it down up to chapter 4.... It's just about when I can type it out. *grins & runs*

MoonPaper