LOTR || ⤜𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙩 → [Legolas x OC]

⤜ 1 → half a century later

"Not the beard !!!" Gimli cried, shielding his beloved beard from the swish of an Orc blade.

"Complaining about unevenly cut facial hair again, Gimli?" a pair of twinkling eyes teased behind a bow whilst releasing multiple arrows at once, clearly displaying the skills of an elf.

"Legolas! By Durin I will gladly chop off your head!" Gimli swung his axe around. "Then we shall see how you handle unevenly cut hair!" He killed two orcs in one swing to emphasise his point.

"You would not dare," Legolas warned, narrowing his eyes to slits.

"Aye, I think I wou--"

"If  you two haven't noticed..." a tall, hooded man attired in silver mithril calmly interrupted, "...WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!!!" he snapped and swung his sword at the foul creatures coming their way. "And I would greatly appreciate it if you stop your bickering--" he glanced up briefly. "AND FOCUS ON THE ORC BEHIND YOU GIMLI!--"

The Dwarf spun around, ready to attack the approaching creature.

"Bring yer pretty face to my axe!" Gimli growled, wielding his weapon, looking more than ready to finish the orc. But before his stroke fell, an arrow sliced through and buried itself into the orc's neck, killing the creature instantly.

Gimli looked up in disbelief as the orc collapsed in front of him. Dark blood oozed out of the wound and down Legolas's arrow.

"That one counts as mine!" the Dwarf spluttered, scowling at the elf he had decided to befriend.

Legolas scoffed and shook his head. Even now the stubbornness of dwarves still left him bewildered.

The elf continued to fight with ease and agility. He strung three arrows into his bow, pulling them taut, and fired with incredible speed. Every strike fell and sunk into places where orc armor was the weakest.

"Legolas! On your left!" the hooded man cried out again as more and more orcs swarmed in. There were hundreds in this area of the forest, closing in on the three companions.

Legolas swapped his bow for his twin long knives and continued to slash at anything that moved."There are many in numbers!" He shouted. "We cannot take them all!"

"Aye?! Of course we can!" Gimli tried urging, his unnatural enthusiasm for battle at its peak. The dwarf released a loud war-cry and charged past the two, "AAARRGHH--" only to be stopped by an outstretched arm, "--OOF!"

The man sighed and lowered his arm. Around them the breeze began to pick up and a strong gust of wind threw down his hood, revealing a head of dark hair tangled with flecks of grey. A pair of steel-grey eyes leveled with Gimli's. "Legolas is right. We cannot hold longer or we will never make it in time."

The dwarf grumbled and struck an orc nearby. "But we have all the time in the world, Aragorn. Literally," he tried to reason, seeming appalled by the idea of leaving halfway through an attack.

"Would you like to keep your beard?" Legolas provoked knowing damn well he just lit the fuse to a ticking time bomb...

Three...

Two...

One.

"That's it, Legolas! I am burning your shampoo in the fire tonight!" Gimli turned the same shade as his beard. "Just you wait!"

"You would regret that, my friend." He unsheathed his dagger, leapt forward and plunged it into an orc's stomach. "This Elven serum is formulated to leave your hair soft and silky." Legolas spun around and grabbed a spear thrown at him. "So what do you say, Gimli son of Glóin? A smooth, silky beard?" He ducked and jerked his dagger out of the orc he just killed. "I think you would certainly catch the attention of all the Dwarf-women. Maybe they can use it too, you know? For their own beards?"