Valar mentioned in this part:
Ulmo: Lord of the Seas, known for keeping watch over Elves and Men
Yavanna: Called the 'Giver of Fruits.' Yavanna was the Vala whose province was all growing things upon the earth. She was the spouse of Aulë the Smith.
The chill of the water was pleasant and soothed the pain of his injured shoulder, though every stroke with that arm was decidedly an act of will.
After several minutes, Legolas lifted his head. To his consternation, he was not nearly as close to the island as he had expected. Treading water, he became aware of a strong undertow pulling him far off course. He braced himself and swam more vigorously against the current. The sun began to set behind him and his destination seemed to become less real in the dimming light.
After a long while, the tired and frustrated Elf was almost ready to cry quits. The sea had passed from cool to numbingly frigid, the waves had grown higher with the night wind, and to Legolas' despairing eyes, it seemed he was no nearer to the elusive island than he had been an hour of strenuous effort before. "Ulmo aid me!" he gasped aloud as his leaden limbs outright refused to take another stroke. His body was too light to sink and drown; was he to perish ignominiously from exhaustion?
From below him in the depths an enormous white shape rose to the surface. Legolas made futile efforts to avoid it, but when the water fell plashing and sucking away in all directions, he found himself prone and marooned on the broad back of a huge white whale. And he was glad of it. For a few seconds he merely rested his weary limbs and indulged in the gratifying sensation of being still.
"I am pleased you called on me at last," the whale told him in his mind.
"I was too stubborn, my Lord Ulmo," acknowledged Legolas. "It seemed like such an easy thing, to swim that short distance."
"Sometimes the undercurrents can make the shortest distance into the most difficult task," agreed the whale. "But tell me, Legolas, why did you persist in swimming against the current for so long? You have worn yourself out to no purpose."
"What choice did I have?" asked Legolas, a little mutinously. "My task is to reach the island."
"Turn on your back and float a little," Ulmo instructed him, sinking gently down so that there were a few feet of water between the massive body and the Elf. Legolas obeyed. "Now, look around you. Which way does the current tend?"
Ithil shone brightly in the sky, and Legolas had no difficulty telling in which direction he was drifting. "To the north, my Lord. Perhaps a little to the north-east."
"Aye, Elf. And the island lies due east of you. Now raise yourself up and look carefully for signs of the current's course. Can you discern any?"
After a moment or two of treading water, Legolas said, "The waves dash violently against some rocks on the northern shore of the island, but I know not how to read that. I have no sea-lore, my Lord."
The whale rose again to the surface, catching the weary Elf on its back once more. "There is no shame in being unable to see below the surface, Firstborn. Even the seafaring races cannot always discern how a current will affect their vessels. But you have a good eye: this current does indeed swing east close by the northern shore of Yavanna's isle. If you let it take you, you will catch sight of a sandy beach just yards away from you - be sure to swim hard then, or you will be dashed upon those rocks you saw!"
Legolas slumped in great relief and pressed his forehead against the whale's smooth, rubbery hide. "I cannot begin to express my gratitude..." he began.
"None is necessary, little Elf, if you only carry away with you this one lesson: when caught up in strong currents beyond your control, do not immediately fight them, but ride them a little to see whether they bring you closer to your destination." And with that, the whale plunged gracefully once more into the sea, leaving Legolas to absorb the wonder of the encounter as he let the current take him.
Within a few minutes, the Elf was in striking distance of the promised beach, and he used his last strength to pull himself ashore, collapsing upon the moonlit sand.
The first sensation Legolas noticed the next morning was heat - wonderful heat from the sun, all down his exposed back and legs. The second sensation was of something sweet and juicy being gently pushed past his parched lips. He opened his eyes.
"Good morning to you, Elf!" said the woman sitting at his side. "Have a little more fruit?"
Legolas sat up suddenly, acutely aware of his nakedness. He covered himself with his hands. The woman, lovely and curvaceous, and possessed of perfect skin darker than any Legolas had ever seen, was wearing little enough herself. She laughed.
"No cause for blushes, Legolas. You will need little clothing here on my warm island!" But she handed him a ridiculously large leaf, from what kind of tree he did not know, and he was able to fasten it round his trim waist for a modicum of decency.
"Thank you, my Lady Yavanna," said Legolas, remembering his manners at last. That caused another peal of laughter. "Call me Yavanna, my dear," she said. "We do not stand on ceremony on my island. We are much too busy growing and thriving!"
She took him by the hand and led him inland. Truly she had spoken no more than the truth - never had Legolas seen such variety and abundance of living, growing things. Brightly-coloured birds and strange animals flitted in and out of the enormous trees and thick undergrowth. Yavanna led the way with practiced ease into a small clearing thickly carpeted with long, lush grasses. Seating herself upon a natural tree-stump smoothed with age, she invited Legolas to take a similar seat. She plied him with wondrous fruits, large and small, fibrous and juicy, filling and delicate, and all the colours of the rainbow. "This is truly a magnificent paradise you dwell in, my L... I mean, Yavanna," said Legolas rather indistinctly through a sweet mouthful of pineapple.
"I am pleased you like it," responded Yavanna with a lazy stretch. "Nothing is forbidden or restricted here, nothing held back. True, it can be a little wild sometimes." Legolas could swear she winked at him, and he shifted uncomfortably. "But all around is the joy of merely being alive!" A little creature with a long tail but oddly human-looking hands and face came to sit on her shoulder, and the Elf watched fascinated as she played with the lively and intelligent creature.
So rapt was he that it took a few seconds before Legolas became aware that a snake had glided silently up his left leg and now insinuating its way around his middle, past the half-discarded palm leaf.
Yavanna looked over in mild alarm. "Do not move," she said quietly. "The bite of that one is poisonous, and he is easily startled."
"Yavan..," began Legolas, but she shook her head, warning him not to speak. Legolas held still, repressing his natural impulse to throw the thing off as it eased its sinuous way across his skin. Twice and three times around Legolas' bare torso the snake wound itself, while the Elf scarcely breathed. The Vala sat completely still at a short distance, watching the Elf's heroic efforts to suppress every twitch. Her gaze was dark and unblinking, almost hypnotic. Like that of the snake itself, Legolas thought, with a sudden and most untimely desire to giggle hysterically. He dug his teeth into his lip and watched the reptile coil itself lazily back down towards his legs.
All around him the vibrant wildlife mocked his enforced stillness. Birds cawed and shrieked more loudly than before, it seemed, flapping their way in streaks of scarlet and yellow across the brilliant blue sky. Only yards away, Yavanna's small companion and his brothers chattered away in fervent monkey dispute. Small insects droned in the air about him, causing strenuously-repressed shudders when they landed and crawled on his neck and shoulders, so unaccustomed to being bared. Everything around him moved freely while Legolas sat paralyzed by the reptile.
The Elf became aware that Yavanna had silently possessed herself of a long, sturdy stick. "Do not," he murmured against orders. "He will harm you."
"This snake and I have long since made our peace," she replied in an equally low tone. "He can no longer cause me grief." She moved the end of the stick closer to the snake's head.
Nearby, a lion abruptly roared as he chased another magnificently-maned lion across the clearing. Legolas jumped, and the snake dug its fangs deep into his upper thigh, then slithered discontentedly off into the undergrowth.
Yavanna was between Legolas' knees in a second, her plump lips against the pale wounded flesh, sucking as hard as she could. Eventually she raised her head and spat. "How do you feel?" she asked urgently.
"Dizzy and a little sick," whispered Legolas, clinging to her for support without fully realizing it.
"Aye," she said with understanding. "But it will get no worse and will be fine in the morning. I have extracted the worst of the poison. Come and lie down."
She helped him on to a broad lower branch of one of the great trees and lay down with him in a hollow that could have been shaped for a bed. Feeling safe at last, he buried his face against her breast and drifted off to sleep. His last conscious memory was of her gentle whispers in his ear. "You see, little Elf, it is best to make peace with the snake. If he chooses to bite, all the holding still in the world will not save you. Now sleep, precious little Firstborn. You will need all your strength for the morrow, when you will meet with my dear, gruff old husband."
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