A Promise- a LOTR Fanfiction (Legolas) ❤︎ ✓

Chapter 26: The Black Ships

The grass tickles my feet and I shift around nervously, hopping from foot to foot. The sun is uncomfortably hot on my forehead and I watch as the ships sail past us rather quickly. The pirates on board occasionally glance down at us- a man, dwarf, and two elves (I look like an elf, so they can't tell I'm a half-blood)- and start to talk among themselves. I glance at Aragorn in worry, and he tilts his chin up and gazes calmly at the men.

"You may go no further." He calls. "You will not enter Gondor."

The ships are silent for a mere moment. I turn back to the ships to see the sailors laughing, no doubt making fun of us. One man points at me and laughs loudly, and I glare at him with my chin high.

"Who are you to deny us passage?" One man shouts from his seated position. I suppose he is the captain. I raise an eyebrow, feeling smug. Of course, he has no clue that Aragorn is Isildur's heir. The pirates behind him continue laughing.

"Legolas," Aragorn murmurs. "Fire a warning shot past the bosun's ear."

I watch as Legolas quickly notches an arrow into his bow and aims. He has to aim very precisely as to not hit anyone- the captain is surrounded by his sailors. It would be preferable for him not to hit anyone, as infuriated pirates are not something I'd want to deal with.

I see Gimli lean in closer to Legolas and whisper something in his ear, and I frown a bit. Just as Legolas is about to fire his arrow, Gimli tilts his axe and nudges the bottom of Legolas' bow to the side. My mouth falls open slightly as he unknowingly fires the mislead arrow and it embeds itself in a sailor behind the captain. I stare in shock as the man cries out in pain and falls to the floorboards with a thud. My head swivels around to glare at Gimli, who covers his mouth in mock horror.

"Oh!" He cries. Legolas looks stunned, still holding his bow loosely in his hand.

"Gimli!" I exclaim, but he ignores me pointedly, continuing his 'threat.'

"That's it. We warned you. Prepare to be boarded!"

The frown is erased from my face as the pirates laugh at Gimli's statement. They think that we are alone! A small smirk starts to play on my lips as I imagine the look of horror and shock plastered on their faces. They still have no clue what lies within the mountain right behind us...

"Boarded by you and whose army?" Someone on board yells, a laugh quickly following. I chuckle under my breath and fold my arms across my chest. You're about to find out...

"This army." Aragorn mutters darkly as the King of the Dead marches through him. He raises his greenish sword and charges the boats with his army right behind him.

I shiver a little from the icy chills the ghost army sends as they dash through my companions and I, but I try not to be too affected by the fact that there are ghosts running through my body.

The army floods onto the boats and the pirates yell and shout, but their pleas are soon reduced to silence as they are finished off by the ghosts. The ghosts occupy the other boats around us, bobbing forlornly on the water. The four of us approach the river. I step into the cool, blue depths and wade towards the closest boat, grumbling as the water seeps into my clothing. I would have preferred to fight with dry clothes, but now is not the time to be fussy. As we get deeper into the water, we start to swim. The water isn't exactly deep and the current is pretty weak, so it isn't too difficult or time consuming to make our way to the nearest boat.

Aragorn reaches it first and pulls himself up, lowering a hand down for me. I grab his outstretched hand, pulling myself up. We pull up Gimli and Legolas climbs up easily.

As my companions settle onto the boat, I plop down onto the wooden floor and take off my soaked boots. I groan, seeing the amount of water pouring out, and shake the last few droplets out before leaving them to dry in the corner. I lean back against the side of the ship and look up into the clear, blue sky, clothes dripping with water. The liquid soaks into the wooden floorboards and quickly evaporates under the warm sun.