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Eclectic Whimsies  by Ellie

Written for the ALEC Harvest Home competition where it came in second.

Summary: The best laid plans of mice and men and elves and dwarves and wizards can be very surprising…

Note: Thanks to Fiondil, Himring, and Alassiel for the beta.

Warning: This story is AU, so my apologies in advance for stepping on any sensitive toes.

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Harvesting Hope

“I led Isildur deep into the fires of Mount Doom, the one place it could be destroyed... ” Elrond paused, meeting the eyes of each of the lords and sovereigns assembled there. “It should have ended that day, but evil was allowed to endure.”

“More than one thousand years have passed since then,” Erestor observed.  “There is no evidence that evil stirs yet again.”

“But I believe…No, I have foreseen that it will return,” Elrond added emphatically.

“Elven foresight is not to be trusted, my Lord Elrond, or so your folk are so fond of saying,” one of the Dwarves reminded him with a scowl.

Elrond bristled, but the Dwarf raised his hands and placated, “But I agree with you. We have fought this evil for too long. We love these lands too much to allow this threat to go unanswered.”

“My people are leaving these lands,” Elrond responded. “The Elves do not have the strength to oppose this evil on our own and neither do the Dwarves.”

Mithrandir took a sip of his wine, carefully setting down his crystal goblet as he offered, “Perhaps the answer lies with Men then if the Elves and Dwarves have not the might to answer this challenge.”

Elrond glared at Mithrandir. “Forgive me, but Men are weak and easily succumb to promises of greatness and all of the glamours of evil. The history of Númenor is written in the blood of those who thought the might of Men could answer any challenge. I do not see the descendants of my own brother’s people providing the sheer strength necessary to answer a threat which may not surface for millennia. Too much can happen: plague, strife… we simply cannot count on Men to provide a solution to this threat either.”

Argeleb flashed a knowing smile at his uncle many generations removed, then rose from his chair and began to pace, gesturing as he spoke. “Lord Elrond does have a point about the return of evil… and it is true that we must be ready to answer this challenge though we know not when it shall arise.”

He paused as if deep in thought, then continued in deliberate tones. “Uncle, however much I admit I gained under your tutelage in my youth, there are things which I have learned in the libraries of my own people – things which my people learned from the Elves of Valinor who visited Númenor and which my people further discovered for themselves. I have found many notes pertaining to certain experiments which were conducted before the fall of Númenor. Lord Glorfindel, among others, has confirmed the research and even Lady Galadriel and the exiled Noldor here have lent their vast knowledge and experience to what we are about to propose. Please understand that it will be up to those with longer lives – the Elves, the Dwarves, and Mithrandir to see that what I…WE propose carries through to the appointed time when the answer to the threat will be needed.”

The King of Arthedain stopped and bowed to one of the Elf-lords. “Lord Gildor Inglorion, if you would please…” Argeleb returned to his seat as Gildor arose and began to speak.

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For many days, the council discussed the proposal, presenting arguments back and forth, offering options and suggestions. Some questioned the morality of it, but none questioned the need. When all was said and done, each party departed with clear knowledge of the task at hand and the responsibilities which lay ahead of all of them at the distant time and place to be determined when the threat once again grew great.

A few years later in 1601, King Argeleb II, on the advisement of the Elves and Mithrandir that all was in place, granted his permission and some land, and so the project was begun.

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Many hundreds of years later found Elrond glaring at a seemingly errant wizard. “Mithrandir, Why did you bring them here to Imladris?! It was supposed to be your task to check up on them and guide them as necessary over the years to see that things happened as we hoped they would according to the plans we made many ennin? ago. ”

Smiling unrepentantly, Mithrandir replied, “Elrond, we both know that the time is nearing when there will be need. I believe that the time is ripe for testing our research to see that it still holds true to the original purpose. Now it is your time to guide as we determined long ago. This is what we have been waiting for. Now is the time to set in motion all that we have planned. The Dwarves are playing their appointed part in this. Now it is time for you to begin to play yours. They await your translation.”

Elrond looked away, looking long out the window as the afternoon waned. “Very well,” he finally sighed. “Take me to them and I will see what guidance I can provide.”

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“ …And that wound will never fully heal. He will carry it the rest of his life,” Mithrandir lamented as he and Elrond entered the library.

“ And yet, to have come so far, still bearing the Ring, the hobbit has shown extraordinary resilience to its evil,” Elrond observed with no little wonder.

“It is a burden he should never have had to bear,” Mithrandir declared angrily.

“Did we not plan for this? Elrond retorted. “Did we not send you to check up on them and nurture them and guide them through the many generations? Did we not commit Gildor and his folk to many ennin of homeless wandering for the sole purpose of making sure this did not fail? Their observations, protection, and guidance were very difficult to provide to these curious creatures without revealing their real purpose, without influencing development too much. Why Gildor even told me that our little subject called him on this with the comment that one should ‘not go to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes’.” Elrond paused, looking Mithrandir squarely in the eyes.

 “I know this has been difficult, but say not to me that Frodo should never have had to bear this, for what have we borne trying to see to the welfare of all of Middle-earth? How many have died in the attempt at bringing this to fruition? You yourself agreed to the implementation of all of this!”

The wizard nodded in profound sadness. “Yes, Elrond. Yes, I did agree to it and I have aided it in coming to fruition. Yet, I have grown fond of these creatures…” He sighed, casting a sorrowful gaze back in the direction of his young charge’s bedroom.

“Still…Frodo must make the choice himself to carry the ring to Mordor. However, I will do all I can to support him in this endeavor for which he was appointed… for which, by our careful planning, he was bred.”

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ennin (Sindarin) – periods of 144 years.

Author’s note: Yes, the Hobbits were genetically engineered to be used for the sole purpose of destroying the ring. I warned you I might step on toes. I just didn’t specify how hairy they might be…

Also, there are many familiar phrases used from the movie and the book The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.  If you’ve seen the movie or read the book, you know which ones these are and trying to use a method of denoting these within the story was most distracting to my beta. So there. Nyah.

Many thanks to Fiondil for the beta and for helping to provide me with some of the necessary quotes.

 





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