At 11:21 20/12/01 -0500, Meredith wrote:
So -- who's the Ringbearer? How do they get across Zirak-Zigel, or into and through Moria? Do they, in fact, manage to destroy the Ring? Do they live through it?
***
Excuse Me, Have You Seen My Plot? by AnnaS
Vila was willing to admit that their luck was not always good. However, this time they really seemed to have hit the jackpot, misfortune wise. It was bad enough to be carrying out one insane crusade, without being saddled with someone else's as well. Worse, this one seemed almost certain to involve a great deal of the up-close-and-personal style of fighting that he hated the most. If he had to fight, Vila preferred a few hundred spacials and a neutron blaster.
And being sucked through whatever weird distortion in space time had brought them here had given him a splitting headache.
"We don't have time for this!" Blake said, for what seemed to Vila like the hundredth time. Couldn't the man see that this time pig-headed stubbornness wasn't getting him anywhere? "We have the location of Star One. The key to the destruction of the Federation! If Travis gets there first, who knows what he'll do. Can't you understand that there's the survival of a galaxy at stake?"
Elrond steepled his hands before his face, his wise grey eyes filled with sorrow. "I understand, my friend, but until the Dark Lord is destroyed you cannot return to your starcraft. When the Ringbearer was killed at the Ford of Bruinen, the Three had no choice but to put forth their powers to draw a worthy--"
"Excuse me."
Vila looked round, but no one else seemed to have noticed that Avon had spoken.
"But it will take *months* to get there," Blake persisted. "By then it will be too late. Even now it'll be touch and go whether we get there before he does."
Avon stood up. "Excuse *me*."
Elrond gestured courteously. "Please, speak."
Avon strolled round to the head of the great Council table, to stand beside Elrond. He spent several seconds contemplating the Ring, which lay upon the table before the Elven Lord, then he looked up, and said, "Why do we have to walk all that way? Why don't you put it in a box and get one of those giant talking eagles to fly over to Mordor and drop it in the volcano for you?"
Silence. A long silence, as the Council of Elrond regarded one another sheepishly.
Finally, Elrond spoke. "We, err...we didn't think of that."
***
love Anna