Elves, Rangers and Shire Border Patrol

A/N: Performed some major and much needed editing – nothing really different. Enjoy. ^_^ Ah yes - I do not own Lord of the Rings. As such I do not profit from this story in any way except in the glow of the lovely reviews! ^_^

Aragorn rode into Imladris with a grin on his face. Following him were a company of Rangers (who wore identical grins), four Elvish lords, and several Elven archers. Elrond stood next to a waiting Erestor, who was trying desperately to conceal a grin. "Erestor, may I ask what the hilarity is in this situation?" Elrond questioned his chief adviser. Erestors grin turned into a full blown smile.

"I think, my lord, that all will be revealed in due time." Erestor smiled at him then turned his attention back to the riders. Elrond shook his head slightly as he stepped forward to address the company. "Welcome to Imladris. I trust that your stay will be a restful one." He bowed to them, they bowed back murmuring greetings. Stable hands walked forward to collect the horses and the visitors were shown to their rooms.

Later that night

Elrond noticed that Halbarad stood at a balcony, overlooking the valley. "It is a beautiful night, is it not?" Elrond murmured walking up behind the man. The man's spine straightened as he turned slowly.

"My Lord Elrond." He exclaimed with a bow. "I did not notice that you there." Halbarad moved as though to leave, but Elrond stopped him.

"Do not trouble yourself on my account. I merely wished to speak with you." Elrond smirked internally when he saw the flicker of worry that graced Halbarad's face for a moment.

"About what, my lord?" Halbarad asked nervously, clearly wanting to be anywhere than here.

Elrond leaned against the railing before speaking, liking the way he unnerved this normally controlled Ranger. "You may have noticed that Lords Glorfindel, Legolas, Elladan and Elrohir were riding among your company?"

Halbarad swallowed before answering. "Y-yes my lord."

"You also may have noticed that they didn't look too happy when they came into Imladris this past noon."

Again Halbarad swallowed and fidgeted nervously before answering. "Yes, my lord. I did."

At this Elrond stood up and spun sharply to face the Ranger (Elrond was sure that if Halbarad had been a few winters younger he would have squeaked and run away), who stood up straighter. "I would like you to tell me why." Elrond phrased it as amicable conversation, but his eyes and body language spoke otherwise

"Ah, my lord. Well you see... It was Aragorns fault entirely! We were just following orders! Please Lord Elrond. spare me. I beg of you." Halbarad was on his knees pleading with the Elf lord.

"Aragorn you say?" Elrond mused for a moment, Halbarad's desperate eyes on him the whole time. "Thank you Halbarad." Elrond clapped his shoulder and walked off.

Halbarad let out a breath, smiled, got up and went back to admiring the view.

Aragorn and Erestor were sitting in Aragorns' room, laughing heartily with two goblets of wine on the table. And that was how Elrond, lord of Imladris came to find his adopted son and chief adviser - laughing themselves silly, drinking wine and laughing some more. "Aragorn, I need to speak with you." Elrond called. Aragorn and Erestor instantly stopped laughing at the sight of Elrond. The silence and tension was thick enough to cut through. "I was talking to Halbarad earlier." Elrond spoke softly, aware that the two watched his every move as he walked over to a spare goblet and poured himself some wine.

"You do not need my permission to talk to my men." Aragorn answered slightly nervous.

"Do you know of what we spoke of?" Elrond asked him, ancient eyes boring into Aragorns.

"No, my lord."

"Four elf lords." Elrond smirked when he saw the shared look between the two standing before him before Aragorn spoke. "Which four, my lord?"

"Glorfindel, Legolas, Elladan and Elrohir." Elrond was satisfied to see all the colour fade from Aragorn's face. "They were a little... annoyed when they entered this land, were they not?"

"If you say so." Aragorn muttered, wondering exactly what Halbarad had said and beginning to plan his revenge on his kinsman.

"So..." Elrond began, taking a long sip of his wine. "Why were they?" Again – this was phrased as an amicable conversation but his body language delivered a clear warning to the human before him.

"My men and I were tired of them making us look like bumbling idiots and inexperienced children, so we... turned on them... for lack of a better phrase." Aragorn winced and traced the pattern on the floor with his eyes.

"Hmm. And tell me. What part did Erestor play in this?"

"I'll answer that." Erestor spoke. "Aragorn came to me and I helped with getting all the supplies in order for the trip, which included several arrows that were not fit to be shot, and a slightly unbalanced sword, which happened to look like Glorfindels."

"Hmm, and they were wet because...?"

"As we were going through some towns, they had opted for a saddle, and when we were crossing a river... we may have..."

"I'm sorry Estel, I didn't quite catch those last few words." Elrond hid his grin by taking another long sip of wine.

"We may have undone the girth straps."

At this Erestor burst out into uncontrolled laughter. "Can you imagine their faces? One moment, prim and proper Elven Lords, maybe slightly annoyed at the Rangers, leaning over to check the depth of the water and SPLASH! One-by-one falling into the water."

Elrond started smiling at the almost childlike way that his chief adviser used to describe the situation.

"So does this mean that my men and I aren't in trouble?" Aragorn asked hopefully.

"My dear boy." Elrond spoke. "I've been trying to get those four elves at once so that I could annoy them, and/or watch them be annoyed. Pay back you see. But you and your men beat me too it. False arrows and unbalanced swords... Genius..." Elrond slapped Aragorn and Erestor on the back before leaving the room, laughing to himself.
Instantly Aragorn and Erestor stopped laughing. "Lucky we didn't tell him that the knives we gave them were only wood dusted in metal, or that we ran into several Orc patrols and wild men." Aragorn muttered. Erestor nodded then they looked at each other.

"I'll get your horse." Erestor told Aragorn.

"I'll pack my things." Aragorn muttered. The two left to hurriedly complete their tasks.

It wasn't until after Aragorn had fled the city (closely followed by Erestor who had to take invitations to Loth Lorien himself) did Elrond learn the whole truth. It was said that Aragorn could hear the angry shout from Elrond deep in the wilds. "I'm looking forward to returning to Imladris. Think I'll steer clear of Mirkwood too... And maybe Loth Lorien. Right... I'm on border patrol of the Shire," he paused doing some quick calculations. "For the next ten years."