Eye of the Storm
A Lord of the Rings story by Deana Lisi
Disclaimer: I don't own Legolas, Aragorn, or any other LOTR character.

Hey everyone! Here's chapter 1, just like I promised! Enjoy it, you're about to have a wild ride...not as wild as Legolas and Aragorn's though, lol!



Aragorn laughed as he stopped rocking the boat that he and Legolas shared. The two friends floated down the Forest River towards Lake Town; King Thranduil had asked his son to select someone to carry a message to Galen, Lake Town's Master. Aragorn was visiting, and it'd been quite a while since either of them had been to the floating city, so Legolas had eagerly volunteered

Aragorn gave the boat another rock, making Legolas glare at him. "Why does it bother you so?" the human asked. "Does the motion upset your stomach? The elven healing ability would not prevent that..."

Legolas shook his head as he rowed. "It does not affect me in that fashion. I simply do not wish the boat to tip."

Aragorn grinned. "You do not want to get wet."

"And you do?" said Legolas.

Aragorn chuckled and stuck his hand in the water, scooping it up and shooting the elf a mischievous look.

"You are in a peculiar mood," said Legolas. "Here, you can row, then."

Aragorn caught the oars as Legolas thrust the handles at him, and they switched places.

Legolas leaned back with a relieved sigh. "Now, since you are occupied, I need not fear your antics," he said, grinning.

Aragorn smiled back as he rowed.

A few hours later, the boat drifted slowly as they ate. Legolas was looking at the sky behind himself, frowning. "I believe that it will rain."

Aragorn laughed. "Then you will get wet after all, and through no fault of mine!"

Legolas shot him a mock-glare.

It didn't take long before the sun was hidden by dark clouds. It began to grow windy and both elf and human grew concerned.

"Mayhap we should head towards land," said Aragorn.

Legolas nodded, handing his friend one of the oars. "We can try, but the rain will begin far before we reach it."

They changed their direction, but Legolas was right; thunder rumbled a few seconds later, and the wind suddenly picked up dramatically.

The water began to churn, and Legolas knew that they were in serious danger. "Faster!" he said.

The human complied, and the sky unleashed its fury. They were instantly drenched, and the wind whipped their wet hair in all directions. The two friends quickly grabbed their weapons and strapped them to their body, not wanting to risk losing them.

The storm was very severe; the lightening left the clouds, the resulting thunder loud enough to hurt their ears. Several times the boat almost tipped; usually from Legolas' side, as he was lighter than Aragorn.

The elf and human lost control of the boat when Legolas' oar suddenly fell from his hands as the boat almost capsized again, nearly throwing him into the water.

The boat turned, back into the original direction that they'd been heading in. The churning waves filled the boat with water, but it was unable to sink as the storm propelled them down the river at an alarming rate.

The two friends held on for dear life, one hand on either side of the boat, trying to prevent it from capsizing. They were losing the battle, and a sudden strange sound made Aragorn look over his shoulder. What he saw shocked him. "Legolas!" he shouted.

Legolas turned, shocked even more than the human, at a sight that he'd never beheld before despite his long life.

A funnel of water, stretching up to the sky, was directly behind them.

Aragorn let go of the boat and moved up next to Legolas, grabbing his arm in an attempt to avoid being separated when the waterspout hit them.

A minute later, they were flying through the air.

The elf and human lost their grip on each other and plunged into the water, as debris from the wooden boat landed around them.

Aragorn nearly didn't know which way was up. He fought to make his way back to the surface, ignoring the pain that flared through his body. Breaking the surface, he choked on water that he'd inhaled, frantically searching for his friend. "Legolas!" he shouted, coughing.

There was no sign of the elf.


When the waterspout hit the boat, an incredible pain shot through Legolas' body, but he had no time for his mind to register the cause before he was suddenly airborne. When he hit the water, he nearly lost consciousness, but as soon as the liquid entered his mouth, he fought to swim, even as the horrible pain increased.

Just when he thought that he was about to die, a hand grabbed his and he was yanked upwards. The pain that it caused his body made him gasp involuntarily, making him inhale more water.

Legolas suddenly felt his head pulled above the surface and he gasped-in some air, choking harshly on the water in his lungs. It was then that he realized where the pain was coming from; his right side. Coughing caused the horrible pain to double, and he nearly lost consciousness again.

Aragorn was alarmed when the elf made no effort to grab onto the piece of wood that he'd found, instead slipping out of the human's grasp. He hefted the elf up and put his arms around the wood for him. "Hold on, Legolas!" he exclaimed.

Legolas managed to maintain a small thread of consciousness, and tried to obey as they were swept further down river.

Aragorn shifted closer to the elf and wrapped his arm around Legolas' on the wood, being sure that his friend wouldn't fall off. With the other hand he undid his belt. "Hold onto me!" he said.

Legolas let go with one arm and grabbed his friend, praying that his weakening grips would hold.

Aragorn looped his belt through Legolas' and then through his own sword belt, buckling it so that they would not get separated. That done, he grabbed onto the wood with one hand and his obviously-injured friend with the other.

For countless more minutes, they shot down the agitated river. The storm eventually decreased in intensity as it moved away, and Legolas' arrows—which had been knocked out of his quiver—kept floating by. Aragorn was usually the one to grab them, and he stuck them inside his sword belt, knowing that they could be easily knocked from Legolas' quiver once more.

Several times, their heads went under water, and Legolas eventually lost his grip.

Aragorn held onto the wood tightly, using his other arm to fish for his friend under the water. He grabbed Legolas' arm and pulled him up, but the elf was finally unconscious.

Aragorn was losing his own grip on the piece of wood as his arm grew tired. He watched a large piece of the boat that had remained intact, praying that it would float closer to them. When it did, Aragorn let go of the wood, reaching out to grab it. He succeeded and painfully climbed onto it, quickly reaching down to pull up the limp elf. He left the belt attached to them both and laid Legolas on his stomach, where he lay unmoving. Unable to be sure if the elf breathed, he slapped his friend's back, hoping to jolt him into coughing.

It worked after the third blow, and Legolas began to choke on inhaled water.

Relieved, Aragorn dropped in an exhausted heap beside the elf, not seeing the red stain that was slowly growing underneath his friend…