Who Shall Take the Road?

By pmochizuki

Author's Note: I hadn't thought of writing an Epilogue but when reviewer IrethAncalime3791 told me that I should, I decided that hey, that's a good idea! So thanks so much for the idea!

Here is the revised version of "Who Shall Take the Road"'s epilogue.

Summary: When Elrond sends Glorfindel to search for Aragorn and the hobbits, he never dreams that his daughter would wish to take the mission!

"Who Shall Take the Road?" Epilogue

Absolutely beat, Elrond sits at his desk with his forehead resting on the desk. Erestor and Arwen enter the room yet Elrond does not budge.

The two Elves who entered looked at each other with worry. Arwen was the first to speak, albeit hesitantly. "Ada? Are you well?"

Elrond doesn't speak for a few moments then answers in a tired voice. "How can I be well? I ask you to bring me the Ringbearer here safe and sound and what happens?" He finally picks his head off from the desk, a red mark on his forehead. "I spend almost three whole days keeping him from becoming one of those Ringwraiths, and all because of an insignificantly small splinter! Imagine, dying because of a SPLINTER! My reputation would have been ruined!"

Erestor grimaces as Elrond yells. "Well, Frodo is such a little guy. Everyone would have understood completely if he couldn't handle the infection."

Pouting like a child, Elrond crosses his arms over his chest. "But I DID save his life! But only barely, only barely! That little weakling of a hobbit, dying because of a SPLINTER!"

"Yeah, I get what you mean," Erestor says with a shrug. He then mutters under his breath. "Mortals..."

Arwen sighs dramatically. "Ada, you are always over reacting! He's safe now, isn't he? No problem!"

Erestor speaks up in a bright voice. "She's right Elrond, it's not her fault. This would never have happened unless that Ranger hadn't watched over the hobbit carefully."

The Elf-maiden gasps while Erestor begins snickering, pleased with himself for the snide comment he had made.

"How dare you insult my beloved one!" Arwen pokes a finger at Erestor's chest while the chief counselor of Rivendell sighs in exasperation. "He is Aragorn son of Arathorn, Heir of Isildur..."

Elrond groans in the background, "Here we go again…"

Arwen continues speaking without missing a beat, voice rising with each title, "...Chieftain of the Dunedain, rightful heir of the throne of Gondor, son of Arathorn..."

Cocking his head slightly in confusion, Erestor interrupts, "You said that already."

The Elf-maiden gasps again and pokes Erestor even harder, making the Elf wince since Arwen has pretty sharp fingernails. "How dare you mock me? Do you know who my beloved is?"

"ENOUGH!" Arwen and Erestor freeze as Elrond looks very, very angry. "Back to the matter at hand. And that is," he points a finger at Arwen, "YOU still haven't explained why you were the one to take the Road!"

Smiling sweetly, Arwen points a finger to Erestor who is shifting weight nervously. Elrond stands up just as the door opens and Glorfindel arrives out of breath.

"So sorry I'm late! It's just that..."

Elrond and Arwen look at each disgustedly while Erestor moans and smacks his hand against his head, all three forgetting at the moment what they had been discussing.

"Where have I heard this before?" Erestor cries out to the heavens.

"Ada, I beg you please," Arwen whines, "don't give him a chance to talk!"

Elrond nods very seriously. "You're right." He looks at Glorfindel. "We were just trying to clarify why it was my daughter who was the one to take the Road to save..."

"Save, ha!"

The Lord of Rivendell glares at Erestor for interrupting yet continues, "...the Ringbearer from almost certain death."

Arwen tries to sooth her father.

"Remember, it was you who saved Frodo's life!"

Beaming proudly at Arwen's words, Elrond says, "You're absolutely right, it was I who did..." He stops, his face changing expression to one of irritation. "No more sidetracking..."

Glorfindel stamps the floor with his foot. "I have no idea what's going on!"

Erestor pats Glorfindel on the shoulder pityingly. "Do you ever?"

Elrond growls in frustration as Arwen giggles and Glorfindel shakes off Erestor's hand with a snarl.

"Erestor, I had told you to take care of the situation! You cannot let Arwen do whatever she wants, she is not a spoiled child anymore!" Elrond gives Arwen a pointed look while the she-Elf pretends to smooth her skirts down.

"You're right, she's not a spoiled child anymore." Erestor looks serious for just a split second before smiling. "She's a spoiled Elf-maiden now! And all because of that Aragorn..."

"There you go belittling my beloved again!"

"SILENCE!" Once more, everyone in the room freezes at Elrond's outburst. "We shall not speak of that Ranger anymore. Erestor, you still haven't given me your explanation."

"Explanation for what?" Glorfindel asks Arwen in a whisper.

Trying to make sure blame doesn't get put on him for what was definitely NOT his fault, Erestor says to Elrond meekly, "I said whoever could get to Asfaloth first could take the mission."

There is silence for a few moments as Elrond has become stone faced. He suddenly whips his head around to face Arwen and the Elf-maiden cringes slightly. Just as suddenly, Elrond takes on a puzzled look.

"How in the world did you manage to ride Asfaloth? He only listens to Glorfindel."

Sighing in relief realizing that she's not in trouble, Arwen answers sweetly, "Honeycakes my dear father!"

"That's it?" Elrond plays with a strand of his long, dark hair. "Wow, I've been trying so hard to figure out how I can get to ride that magnificent beast. Does he take honeycakes just plain?"

"Well, he does prefer the honeycakes with some oats, not too much or it takes away the honey flavor..."

Glorfindel, finally getting over his surprise at Arwen's confession about Asfaloth's passion, takes on a bewildered look. "Hey, this is MY horse we're talking about! No one rides him except for me!"

"And me!" Arwen announces proudly.

Erestor jumps in, a smile on his face. "Now that I know the recipe, I believe I'll have a go at it!"

"That's not fair!" Glorfindel's looks at Arwen then at Erestor. Seeing as they didn't seem to care in the slightest at his protests, he tries to complain to Elrond. "Lord Elrond, you can't let them…"

He pauses, for in the meantime, Elrond has called in a servant and begins whispering instructions.

"Hurry and get some honeycakes from the kitchen, leave them in the stables for me to find later. And only the ones with some oats in it!"

Servant nods and leaves quickly.

Glorfindel, who though has Elf ears, couldn't catch anything which Elrond had said to the servant. He gives Elrond a suspicious look. "What's going on?"

Elrond, trying to look very innocent, answer offhand, "Why, nothing of course! Well, I must be going now. I need a breath of fresh air.:

The Lord of Rivendell disappears out the door of the office, leaving the three Elves alone. Glorfindel finds an empty chair and sits in it with his head in his hands.

"Want to bet that by the time I get to the stables, Asfaloth won't bet there?"

Erestor's eyes widen in surprise. "Amazing, Glorfindel just figured that out himself!"

Arwen nudges Erestor in the ribs with her elbow and gives him a sharp look. She walks over to place a hand on Glorfindel's shoulder. Instead of feeling comforted, Glorfindel looks up sharply to glare at Arwen.

"You know," Glorfindel remarks coldly, "this wouldn't have happened if you hadn't told your father about the honeycakes..."

Glorfindel stands up slowly as Arwen starts backing away looking flustered.

"Ummm... take it easy...."

Glorfindel grabs her by the shoulders and shakes her. "TAKE IT EASY?! You're telling ME to TAKE IT EASY?!"

Arwen gets out of his grasp and they begin circling around the desk, Glorfindel looking very dangerous indeed.

Laughing nervously, Arwen tries to calm the other angry Elf down. "Haven't we been friends for years? Huh, Glorfindel dear?"

"Save it for your Ranger guy."

Erestor snickers which Arwen hears. She suddenly smiles at Glorfindel who is still trying to corner her.

"Dear Glorfindel," she says with a meaningful look for which Glorfindel doesn't become affected at all. "Who was in charge to make the decision for who would take Asfaloth?"

Glorfindel suddenly stops circling the desk towards Arwen, a puzzled expression on his face. "Ummm.... huh?"

Arwen rolls her eyes but quickly hides it. "It was Erestor! Erestor, right?"

Glorfindel furrows his eyebrows thinking hard. "Yeah..."

Looking slightly worried by the sudden change of events, Erestor says to himself, "I'm having a bad feeling about this..."

Still smiling sweetly, Arwen tries to encourage Glorfindel to continue. As he is still looking at her cluelessly, she helps him along. "Sooooo... technically it's all Erestor's fault, right?"

He finally gets it and brightens up. "Definitely."

Arwen and Glorfindel look at Erestor who is trying to make his way towards the door.

Erestor laughs nervously. "Listen, it's all over and done with. Let's just get over this quietly and calmly..."

Arwen and Glorfindel look at each and they both say together, "Riiiiiiight..."

Moments later, a frightened cry is heard all over Rivendell...

Later on, we see Erestor sitting glumly at the dining hall of Rivendell. His left hand is for some strange reason hidden underneath the table in front so that he is sitting uncomfortably close to the table. Swarms of Elf-maiden fawn all around him. Erestor tries smiling politely but utterly fails, looking most dejected. Snippets of conversations can be heard of the Elf-maidens surrounding the poor Elf.

"We were so at luck to find Erestor here in the dining hall!" One Elf-maiden says with placing a hand on Erestor's shoulder.

Another Elf-maiden bats her eyelashes at Erestor who reacts by wincing slightly. "It's so wonderful to be graced with his presence!"

"He IS the most eligible bachelor in all of Rivendell, besides the glorious hunk of a blonde, Glorfindel!" Thinking of the blond Elf warrior, another she-Elf sighs.

"But he's not here," the first Elf-maiden remarks. "So let's concentrate on sweet Erestor here." Saying such, she squeezed Erestor's shoulder.

At her words, Erestor looks like he is about to gag but hides his expression by taking a sip of wine.

Hidden behind the great stone pillars of the dining hall, we see Glorfindel and Arwen trying to contain their laughter.

"Would you look at Erestor's expression? Ha ha!" Arwen stops a moment to let her giggles take over. "He looks like he's going to throw up!"

Glorfindel mimics an Elf-maiden, clasping his hands in front of him. "Oooh, sweeet Erestor!"

Still sniggering, the two Elves leave the halls of Rivendell to walk in the gardens.

"That certainly was a brilliant idea to tie his hand to the table! Brilliant, Arwen! Brillian!"

Arwen acknowledges the praise with a modest nod of her head. "Indeed, but I do feel sorry for him. Let's free him in about, shall we say, an hour?"

They look at each other, then suddenly start laughing

"Nah!!!!" they both say with another burst of giggles.

After they had calmed down somewhat, Glorfindel says brightly, "Well, I feel in the mood for another good prank. Any ideas?"

Arwen looks slyly up at the tall Elf. "I think I've already done a good prank."

Glorfindel looks down at her suspiciously when they hear the whinny of a horse and someone crying out in alarm, then the sound of someone falling to the ground.

Arwen pretends not to hear anything so instead she says, "Did you know that Asfaloth is just a little bit allergic to oats? He suddenly starts acting like he's got a fly up his nose and gets really antsy. Starts bucking and rearing a bit."

Glorfindel furrows his eyebrows in confusion. "But you told your father..." Finally getting it, he winks at Arwen. "Now I get it. Nasty she-Elf."

Smiling sweetly, Arwen linked arms with Glorfindel. "I hang around my brothers too much. Remember the time when we..."

"Oh, I remember that one! The time you put a sleeping draught into all of the cups at dinner?"

Arwen smirks. "Pranks are my brothers' specialty! Let me tell you about a time when..."

The two Elves walk away arm and arm, never for a moment looking like they had been enemies just a few days ago.

THE END

Author's Note: Sooo, did you guys like it? That's finally the end of "Who Shall Take the Road?" Hope you liked it! Anyway, this is the first of a series of humor/parody vignettes I'm going to be writing. It'll be a serious of stories called the "Why Did They Do That?" series dealing with the Elves of Middle Earth. Did you ever wonder why Arwen went to rescue Frodo instead of Glorfindel? (explained in this story.) Other such confusing and strange events will be explained in my series in very funny ways. If you're excited about reading more, tell me in a review! Or if you have any ideas, share them!

Next "Why Did They Do That" story should be coming out soon. Deals with why the Elf twins, Elrohir and Elladan, and the Rangers of the Dunedain do not go to Aragorn's aid.