In the skies of morning rises another storm.
It is just as windy and monstrous as the one they arrived with, and with just as much fury does it rock them. But this time, Gimli does not steer the ship. Legolas stands behind him and holds his arms out, teaching him how to feel the water. And he is not scared.
They all embrace the wind as they go forward. The ship does, too, this one being bigger and sturdier than the first, and the waves are easier split beneath it.
Somewhere in the middle of the storm, Legolas holds the seashell close to his heart and leans out over the edge of the boat, calling out to Aragorn in case he can hear him. He is almost sure he is imagining it, but the shell looks as if it is beginning to glow.
Darkness falls when the storm is over. A candle is lit, and they all sit on the deck and speak of their lives. Legolas and Gimli tell Elu and his father about their adventures back in Middle Earth, and how fondly they remember them. Gimli often interrupts to correct Legolas when he speaks of their competitions at the end of the last war.
Elu and Tinnuir have heard these stories before, but not from the mouths of those who have witnessed them. They watch each word and telling come to life before their very eyes, and even the candlelight seems to listen with them.
They can see the elephants dancing in the shadows.
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Passersby ➵ ONC 2021
Fanfiction➵ With his days anything but numbered, Legolas finds himself the keeper of far too much time. ➵ As his dear friend Aragorn has passed at the age of 210 and all reason to remain in his kingdom has followed, the immortal elf ventures away from his la...
