A Thunderous Morph

Part 1

Posted: July 2003
Title: A Thunderous Morph
Author: Myr
Fandom: Tolkien
Genre: FCS, RPS
Characters: Haldir/Legolas/Karl/Orlando/Viggo + various cast and LOTR characters.
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: The events never happened. This fic is for entertainment purposes only, not profit. I, the author, make no claim through this work as to the actual lives/preferences/activities of the people mentioned herein.
Warnings: This story is rated NC-17 and will eventually have been containing male slash, violence, angst, foul language, rape and death character (though not necessarily in that order) – so don't read any further if you're already horrified.
Author's Notes: I am absolutely NOT following the storyline, timeline or descriptions as they appear in the books and movies. Just putting my greedy hands on the events, details, cast and characters to suit my own imagination. So obviously Tolkien and Peter Jackson have nothing to do with this pure fiction thing so don't sue me

Summary: Due to lightning on the set, the lives of three LOTR actors change and they become their characters in a parallel existing realm invented by me.

‘…' - Indicates thoughts.

*****

Edoras on location.

The air smelled like thunder and lightning, and occasionally a rumble was heard dimly from a distance. The cast and crew gathered in the canteen tent was pleased that it had not rained yet. Most of this morning's shootings were already finished without weather interference. It was early summer and one might exspect improved weather. The sun peaked through the clouds for a tiny moment just to be disappearing again, but a rainbow had managed to appear all of a sudden.

Orlando watched the amazing scenery with his sweet face cracked in a content smile, "I'll never grow tired from looking at the sun peeping like that!" he said to Viggo who was sitting next to him.

"I know what you mean. I painted that kind of scenery a lot when I was younger."

"As if you'd ever lost your romantic touch!" Orlando caressed the older man's cheek fondly.

Viggo grinned shyly and finished his coffee smirking at the Elf. Then he lifted his sword that lay in full display on the table. He never let it out of sight.

Orlando stuffed the last bit of toast in his mouth and got on his feet as well. He grabbed his Lothlórien quiver, bow and twin knives and positioned them on his back. Viggo stretched his arms in the air and yawned loudly. Orlando left the tent and listened to the thunder rumbles that seemed to increase its interval quicker. But oddly the clouds were still not grey heavy with rain.

"Attention! Now calling to the set are: Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli, Éomer, Théoden, Éowyn, Legolas..." The names continued being announced through the speakers hanging outside the canteen tent, and a handful of actors joined in small groups, were spread on the grass towards the set production at Edoras.

The interval of thunder escalated and everyone looked to the sky. Karl, Orlando and Viggo were walking midways between the trailers, tents and production units and Edoras, where Peter and the camera crew, sound crew, and most of the extras were waiting. Peter watched patiently for everybody to arrive. He wasn't happy with the thunder, but the noise could be edited away in post-production.

Then it happened. A deafening thunder cracked through the air followed by an immediately lightning and in horror Peter watched the lightning strike Karl, Orlando and Viggo. It almost looked like they had disappeared from the face of the earth the same instant. But they couldn't have.

There they were. Lying on the grass. Peter rushed to their aid shouting for the medics to arrive. But he soon realised it was only Viggo lying on the grass. Karl and Orlando had literally disappeared.
Less than half a minute later, suddenly out of nowhere Karl and Orlando appeared on the spot where they had disappeared earlier. Like Viggo, they looked completely terrified and in obvious shock.
What had happened to them for the few seconds they had been away? Peter was too horrified to ask.

~*~

Orlando's POV
Electricity shook through my body. I had been knocked to the ground. It hurt so much. But only when the sensation had disappeared was I able to get on my feet with shaky knees. Something was definitely not right. Everything was suddenly alarmingly silent. I could almost hear the grass grow.

~*~

Viggo's POV
I had once read that your flesh is burning when you're struck by lightning. And it *was* very painful when the electro shock passed violently through my body. And then there was nothing! My senses sharpened. The silence was odd. Had I lost my hearing? No… the rumble was still there. Had I died? I opened my eyes and slowly got on my feet. I didn't believe what I saw. This definitely couldn't be Heaven… or Hell for that matter. It was a numb emptiness.

~*~

Karl's POV
Lying on the ground my body convulsed as if I was suffering from epilepsy. Then I stopped shaking. It felt like a trance or a dream. As if my unbearable pain was the centre of the creation of the world fast speeding. Everything erupted and changed faster than I could comprehend. Then the movie before my eyes slowed down and now I watched in slow motion the scenery in front of my eyes. The pain vanished and I almost felt normal again. I looked around and gasped in shock. There was nothing here.

~* ~

The pain they had experienced as the current ran through their bodies had gone now. It was like it hadn't happened, so the three men didn't pay attention to either that but neither each other as well. They were busier looking around figuring out why everything had disappeared. Then Viggo realized that he wasn't alone but still had Karl and Orlando by his side. They all looked at each other in disbelief.

"Hvad er det, der er sket, for helvede?!" Viggo shouted and turned around himself. (transl. "What the fuck is happening?")

"Beam me up, Scotty," Karl mumbled and took a couple of steps towards where he thought had been the direction of the canteen tent. But quickly he stopped and looked back. Relieved he exhaled at the sight of the other two still standing there looking at him. He went back and sighed again.

Orlando's eyes were glossy with tears that hadn't run down his cheeks yet, "Where's civilization? This is a fucking cruel
joke. They can stop anytime now." His brain worked overdrive to process the information his eyes transferred. He looked at Viggo as if the older man actually could change everything back to normal.

Viggo didn't meet his eyes. He struggled too. Trying not to go insane. There was an odd feeling in his gut. A feeling he dared not explore. Instead he went along the train of thought Karl had initiated a minute ago and went looking for marks on the grass that would indicate that somewhere the trailers, tents etc. were actually there. Maybe in an invisible state or something. But he came back to the two young men empty handed.

"There isn't any civilization to be seen, except Edoras,"Orlando mumbled. The others accepted his statement without really wondering how he would know this. A handful of small village huts and the Edoras castle lie there on the hill 500 meters from them. It looked real in the beautiful sunlight.

The heat of stress and the warm noon sunlight was starting to get at Orlando and he needed to cool off. He put his hands to his brow and slowly pushed off the wig down his neck, only it stuck.

"Karl? Can you help me? I can't seem to get it off..."

Karl sighed and motioned towards him and grabbed a handful of hair and the thick braid on the back of the wig and yanked it off.

But all that happened was Orlando yelping in pain, "Ouch! Stop! Stop! You're hurting me!" Karl frowned and yanked again much harder. Orlando cried louder, "STOP! Jesus! You're ripping my scalp off too!"

Karl let go of the braid with an air of disbelief. Small strands of hair with real hair roots attached danced in the wind between Karl's fingers. He stuttered, "Christ! Orlando… I can't pull it off. It… it's real!"

Viggo's brow creased in a frown and looked questioning at Karl, "Real – what do you mean real?"

Karl showed Viggo the hair he had ripped off of Orlando's scalp. "I'm saying that Orlando's not wearing a wig anymore. This hair is fucking real!"

Viggo couldn't believe it and so he grabbed Orlando's head.

"Don't pull!" Orlando yelled, but all Viggo did was gently digging his fingers into the mop of blond strands, only to find that the edges of the wig had disappeared. All he felt was warm moist skin and living blond hair growing from every pore.
He slowly let go of the golden locks and looked into Orlando's expressive sapphire blue eyes. Fuck! Blue eyes!!!

"What?" Orlando asked in a restrained calm voice. He was so scared of the expression in Viggo's eyes that he hardly dared to breathe.

"You're… you…" Viggo mumbled and swallowed hard because his throat became suddenly dry, "Please take out your contacts for me."

Orlando blinked at few times only to realise that he didn't feel the lenses in his eyes anymore. He put thumb and index finger to his left eye, and squeezed around the eyeball searching for the edge of the lens. But it wasn't there. He tried the right one too. "Oh. I must have dropped them," he began. Then stopped and glanced at Viggo. It was obvious that he hadn't lost the contacts. "My eyes are blue. Is that what you're trying to tell me?"

Karl and Viggo nodded simultaneously.

Orlando took a long deep breath and exhaled, "My ears?"

Karl examined one of the pointy Elven ears, "No gelatine. They're real too."

Suddenly Orlando began undressing himself frantically. He pulled off the weapons and struggled with the tunic and silver shirt because his hands were shaking. Lastly he began unlacing his leggings. Karl and Viggo watched in confusion. What was he doing? Orlando pulled the leggings down his left hip and cried, "Oh no! My sun is gone! And my underwear..." Looking and looking didn't make the tattoo he'd had on his belly since his teens come back. He fell on his knees on the grass and shook violently. He looked up at Viggo with a begging expression on his face.

"My scar. Please tell me it's there!"

Karl looked baffled and followed Viggo to stand behind Orlando, "What are we looking for?"

Gently spreading the long blonde hair to either side on Orlando's back, Viggo answered quietly, "A 30 cm long surgery scar along his spine from when he broke his back… and it's wiped out, Orli. I'm sorry man."

Viggo hesitated and exchanged glances with Karl. Then he proceeded, "There's another thing, Orli."

Orlando rose slowly and closed his eyes, "What would that be? Just say it."

Karl cleared his throat; "You have a butterfly shaped mole on the small of your back."

Orlando frowned and said coldly, "Sure I do. Came with the costume."

Viggo remarked, "Did you always have that?"

Orlando glared at him angrily, "Fucking hell, Vig. If I don't have my scar or tattoo anymore, why would I have preserved a fucking birthmark? I do not have that mole normally." Then he began dressing again. "But apparently Legolas does," he said grimly.

Suddenly Karl yanked at his own wig. "No, no, no!" He couldn't get his off either. Strands with real hair roots were examined in disbelief. He started ripping at his costume. Copying Orlando's frantic dance from a minute ago. He also looked for marks and particularities on his person, but he too had lost any marks he'd achieved in his Karl-life.

Orlando dug his fingers into Viggo's wig. It had become real too. Viggo didn't even bother looking for his appendix surgery scar.

They all were silent for a while looking intently at each other to figure out if they were about to group-panic or what.

Then Viggo broke the silence, "OK. So now we know this much," he said, "We're not at the set any longer. We've lost our identities and for some reason our character appearances have snuck up on us." He grinned, "Isn't it ironic? I'm normally blonde but is now a brunette. And you two brunettes are now the blonde ones!" He laughed for a little while then shut up afraid to become hysterical.

Orlando went to Viggo, and they hugged a few minutes, "Am I Legolas for real?"

Viggo looked at him with a wry smile while caressing the small of his back, "Nah... You're Orlando all right."

"I don't want to live forever. I want my fucking life back." He was so grateful that Viggo was there.

"Snap out of it, Bloom," Karl hissed and went passed them finishing getting dressed. He wasn't entirely comfortable with the nine fellowship casts' affectionate touching whenever and apparently wherever.

"Your mother…" Orlando replied.

Viggo had to suppress a smile and shook his head, "Why don't we find out if Edoras holds an explanation to this madness?" Karl and Orlando nodded. And so they began to walk towards Edoras.

Orlando cupped Viggo's left ear and whispered chuckling, "My pubic hairs are blond too."

*****

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