.: AN :.

Hello!

Second to last chapter is finally up! I'm sorry for the LONG wait. I had a writer's block for a while and couldn't really put into words how I wanted the story to go, so I took to writing small scenes to maybe fit into it and then put them all together. Let's just say that didn't work out and there are probably only 2 scenes out of the 60 that I wrote.

The Poll is still going on, so if you'd like to see a prequel like story about Estella's past adventures, or a sequel involving more of the problem with the Giants, or simply move on to another story altogether, then go to my page and vote for what you think is the best idea.

Anyways I hope you enjoy the chapter, and the last one should be up before Christmas seeing as I've finally overcome the block.

Thank you so much for reading!

xx

Random

"Elvish"

"Eazur"

"English" a.k.a. Common Tongue

'Thoughts'

Chapter 25: Brighter Days

- One Year Later -

- The Shire -

Frodo was sat at his desk, staring out of the small round window, the feather of his quill slightly brushing against his cheek as he rhythmically tapped his foot to the rhythm of an unknown song. The days have gotten so much brighter since the end of the quest, as each day passed the darkness seemed further and further away.

His thoughts drifted from his time in the fellowship, to his time in Gondor to the past few months after returning home. The Shire, although it brought something that resembled peacefulness it wasn't the same as before. He had seen too much, felt too much, changed too much.

He placed the quill down and stood from his seat, picking up one of the books Estella ad given him. The Queen of Eazudal and Gondor had given Sam and him several books; Sam's books had been romances and books about flower and the creatures of Eazur. Frodo's books were about the history of her lands, some in forms of diaries, including some of her own that were in the common tongue, and others simply stories that told of the past, she had said it would be to inspire him to write.

He remembered what Estella had said about stories being distorted over the years and of how in the future he, a little hobbit from the Shire, would soon be considered a hero and while others would be soon forgotten. He had soon gotten frustrated with the idea of some of the sacrifices being downplayed or completely forgotten and decided to write them down for the future generations. At each stroke of the quill he felt part of the burden ease off his shoulders.

He shook himself from his thoughts as he walked to the door with the intention of sitting on a bench outside. As he reached for the knob and opened the door, but instead of facing the fresh open sunny day, he came face to face with the other three hobbits from his adventure. Merry, Pippin and Sam stood on his doormat Sam with his hand posed as if he were about to knock on the door.

"Ah! Frodo! We were about to knock!" Exclaimed Pippin as he grinned and gestured to Sam who lowered his hand and smiled kindly to him.

"I can see that. Why are you here? I haven't planned on writing your side of the story yet." Frodo replied, the corner of his mouths twitching upwards as he talked to his companions. Ever since he woke up after the final battle he found smiling all the much harder.

"It seems as each one of us has received a little riddle. We've found them at our doorsteps and we wanted to know if you've received anything of the sort." Sam explained holding up a little envelope.

"I haven't but please come in, let's see these riddles." Frodo stepped back into his home and gestured to the seats in front of his fireplace.

The four settled quickly, the three guests pulling out their letters from their pockets. Sam gave the riddle over to Frodo to examine.

"It dances and skips, it's read in the eyes but it cheats with the hips. If it meets its match it's easily caught, but it's worth nothing if it is bought." Frodo's eyebrows rose as he read the neat handwriting. "I recognize the writing, it's from Estella. But why would she send you a riddle?"

"I don't know, its indeed strange." Sam shrugged but gestured to the letter. "The answer is the heart though."

Frodo hummed in agreement and gestured to the other two to read out their riddles.

"There are four siblings in this world, all born together. The first runs and never wearies. The second eats and is never full. The third drinks and is always thirsty. The fourth sings a song forever." Pippin read the paper, his fingers tracing along the words. "I don't get it." He stated bluntly, dropping the paper on the floor.

Frodo watched as the paper slowly drifted and landed near his foot, he then bent down and placed it on his leg, tracing Estella's handwriting.

"The answer is water, running but never becoming tired, fire that given enough fuel will never stop burning, the earth that always drinks whatever its given and the wind that is always singing." He glanced up at his friends who were thinking about his explanation, nodding their heads as they concluded that it made sense. "What about yours, Merry?"

"Oh!" He quickly pulled it from his pocket and smoothed it out. "I can bring tears to your eyes and a smile to your face. I form in an instant and last for a lifetime, but I can be forgotten."

"It's a memory." Sam pointed out quickly before shrugging at the three pairs of eyes on him. "Estella once said something to me that sounded similar."

"It doesn't make sense though. Why would Estella send us three riddles?" Pippin asked the question that was on all of their minds.

"Have any of you received a letter from anyone in the fellowship recently?" Frodo asked the three. Over the months after the Fellowship disbanded the group of friends continued exchanging letters and sending occasional gifts.

"Didn't they recently go back to Griffos? Something about a festival of some sort." Sam replied, leaning back on the chair, twiddling his thumbs in thought.

"Estella isn't one to do anything unnecessarily." Frodo frowned; their friend always seemed to have a purpose and usually became frustrated with doing nothing for too long. "She must have a reason to send us this. What did she want to accomplish?"

"We have to assume she will be successful as well." Pippin pointed out causing the others to look at him strangely making him elaborate on his statement. "Her plans do tend to work out the way she wanted."

"Let's go from there then. She expected you to do something with the riddles." Frodo stood from his chair to pace in front of his three guests.

"The only thing we've done is come here to get answers, to see if you had received one as well." This time it was Merry who spoke up as he leaned his chin on his hand.

Silence descended upon the four hobbits, after a couple of minutes, Sam was about to say something when the flapping of wings and the very distinct caw of a Griffon pierced through the air. Frodo turned to his companions and rushed to his front door, swinging it open just in time to see a hooded figure dismount from the honey coloured winged creature.

"Greetings, Master Frodo." The deep voice of the male figure sounded loud in the quiet afternoon air of the Shire. Frodo couldn't make out any features of the figure as the shadow of the hood covered his whole face. "And you as well, Masters Samwise, Meriadoc and Peregrin."

Frodo turned back to see that the three other hobbits had stepped outside along with him and were just a couple of steps behind him. The hooded figure spoke again, drawing Frodo's attention back to him.

"I'm sure that by now you know who sent me. Tomorrow at noon, four griffons will arrive here and you are to make way to Gondor."

"Why has Estella called us to Gondor?" Pippin asked as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"I'm afraid I do not know the reason, her grace has simply given me instructions to relay to you."

"What about the riddles? Did she tell you why she sent those?" Frodo questioned as he held up two of the three riddles between his fingers

The man, whom the hobbits assumed was a hunter judging by the bow and quiver strapped to his back and the holster of a dagger peeking out from the opening of his cloak, tilted his head leaning forwards as if trying to read the riddles.

"We all know Estella doesn't like do anything for no reason, there is always a reason behind the things she does." Frodo continued, lowering his hands to his sides making the figure stand up straight not having the clear view of the writing anymore.

"She also doesn't like attracting too much attention, much like yourself and your companions." The figure said as he backed up and placed his foot in the stirrup.

"That doesn't answer our question." Merry groaned causing the figure to chuckle again as he swung his leg over the Griffon's back.

"Wouldn't Big Folk attract attention here? Especially one visiting the four people who disappeared for months and returned just recently?"

"That doesn't – " Merry was about to complain again before Frodo interrupted him.

"It does, actually. She wanted us in one place so she assumed we would come together to figure this out." Frodo shook his head as he looked at the papers in his hand.

"Now that you have been informed, I must return to my pack. Enjoy the evening, Master Hobbits." And with that the figure took off into the sky, the Griffon darted upwards as high as it could, and then over to the trees, probably hoping those would give it cover from the curious eyes of the other hobbits.

"It seems like we must pack for a short adventure…" Sam trailed off as he looked between his companions.

- Emerald Wilds -

Legolas and Gimli stood with Hayley, the commander of the Fauna pack.

This pack of hunters is one of the oldest packs that still existed and were known for their detailed archives of the creatures they've encountered, with drawing, hunting patterns, ideal baits and so on. The Fauna pack were also known to help animals in need, protecting those that suffered at the hands of humans or helping injured animals whenever they could, which meant they would always have different types of animals with them in their camps.

Hayley, their commander, was still young, but she had inherited the pack from her elder brother that died alongside Estella's brother Raff. Estella as several years older than the girl, but they were good friends and had joined their packs together for some expeditions every now and then. She was a petite girl, always had been, with red hair and honey coloured eyes.

"The Griffons know the direction they're supposed to fly in, so no need to worry about the direction you need to take. Not that you'd be able to tell which way was which with this amount of fog." She stated as she observed two Griffons being led towards them. "It was nice meeting both of Estella's companions."

"Equally nice meeting you, lady Haley. Good luck on hunting the corrupted wolves." Legolas bowed slightly before moving to mount one of the Griffons, patiently waiting as Gimli said goodbye to the huntress and much less elegantly mounted the second animal.

"Have a good flight, and send Estella my regards." Hayley waved as the Griffons took off, twirling in the air to face the direction of the Gondorian capital.

- Molten Vault -

Gandalf was sitting at a desk, which was covered with scrolls, books, maps and drawings, completely immersed in his reading. He had asked Estella for the location of the entrance of the underground tunnels of the Eazudori ruins and with the help of some hunters he had been researching in the old archives.

He had copied down potions, spells, learned about the magical boarders, part of Eazudal's history that Estella had never mentioned amongst helping the hunters develop new inventions as well, such as elaborate weapons, poisons along with developments for daily life.

Currently he was reading about some combinations of different ores and the properties each combination would have. As he finished reading a section on explosive combinations he looked up across the long hall that had shelves upon shelves of scrolls, rolled maps and books lining the walls and forming corridors in between each row. The door on the far wall opened revealing the face of Kenneth, the commander of the pack of the Watchers.

The Watchers were a special pack; they rarely got involved in the battles. Out of all the packs there were three packs that were never seen in battle, these three packs are known as defender packs, the three packs were the Watchers, the Guardians and the Tranquils. They all knew how to fight, but they preferred to study inventions and eventually defeat their enemies by outsmarting them or with new inventions, be it weaponry or poisons.

The Watchers were composed of mainly inventors and strategists, while the Guardians were slightly more experienced in fighting most of the people in their pack was familiar with healing arts. The Tranquils were a shady bunch, they were rarely seen, they lurked in the shadows and their poisons are the most deadly of all the packs, which is why they rarely needed to go into battle, they would outsmart their enemies drawing them into ambushes.

Kenneth approached Gandalf holding a letter in one hand and a torch in the other.

"Moony sent this." He placed the letter on the table, "My brother has said that he and his pack are almost here, they would probably be the only ones besides Moony that would be able to translate those symbols." He gestured to one of the books on the desk.

Gandalf reached over to the thick black leather book, opening on a random page to see strange symbols and arrows, he could only make out some words that had been written on the very old pages, as well as some notes from more recent years. The book had belonged to the son of the Founder of the Tranquil pack. The Founder, was said to have suffered an injury from a lethal poison but survived and instead went mad, his son after inheriting the pack from his father whom had been declared unfit to lead started researching poisons and after having his journal stolen by enemies and the poisons he created used against the Kingdom he came up with symbols to represent ingredients, soon it became a different language altogether.

"She spent time with them, correct?" Gandalf traced one of the most recent notes on a page, he recognized the word for he had once asked Estella what it meant 'Danger' he thought.

"Yes. It is expected of the new monarch top spend some time with all the packs, years ago it was tradition that the year after the monarch is crowned that they devote to the packs, but nowadays there are so many that it would take years to spend enough time with all packs, so Moony, as well as her brother started as soon as they were old enough, just as her father had done." Kenneth explained his arms crossed as he thought back on the time Estella spent with his pack, as well as his brother's.

Gandalf picked up the letter and read over its contents quickly.

"It seems like my meeting with the Tranquils will have to be postponed." Gandalf sighed; he had wanted to read the most extensive research done on poisons in all the lands. "

"Send Moony my regards. Would you mind taking some sketches of the newest inventions?" Kenneth walked over to another desk and picked up a journal that had several sheets of paper stuffed into it, he then pulled out a string from a drawer and tied the ends together to prevent the paper from falling out.

"Yes, I'm sure she would like to see the most recent projects." Gandalf accepted the book offered, putting it under his arm and getting his staff from where it rested against the wall. "Would you mind getting Snowtip ready? It seems like I have been summoned to Gondor."

Kenneth nodded and together they walked out of the archive room blowing out the torches as they passed each one.

- Minas Tirith -

A couple of days later, within minutes of each other, the Fellowship landed in one of the courtyards of the citadel where Peter waited for them alone.

The first to arrive was Boromir who landed while cursing quietly at the winged beast under him, this easily bringing a smile to Peter's face, especially when Greywing ruffled his feathers before biting at Boromir's hands.

"It seems like you two will never get along." Peter said as he walked forward with another young hunter who started to lead Greywing to a small wooden building in the corner of the courtyard that had been constructed to resemble a stable for Griffons.

The two friends embraced, and just as they separated, two caws sounded in the air.

"It seems like Legolas and Gimli have arrived." Peter pointed out. No one spoke as the two who arrived dismounted and the Griffons were led to the stables. "Now we still missing Gandalf and the four hobbits."

"Where are Estella and Aragorn? They call us here, probably knew we were to arrive today and yet don't greet us?" Gimli complained as he shook hands with the hunter and the Gondorian.

"Well, they arrived just a couple of days ago from Eazudal. They told me to greet you and to lead you to them once you've all arrived." Peter shrugged before turning his eyes to the sky, squinting to see any signs of the next arrivals.

"I can hear distant cawing, more than one, probably the hobbits." Legolas told them as he gestured vaguely in the direction of the Shire.

A couple of minutes later, Four Griffons landed smoothly on the ground. Boromir, Legolas and Peter helped them get off from the backs of the animals and after the greetings they started shooting questions.

"Do any of you know what this is about?"

"What were the riddles for?"

"Is there something wrong?"

Peter chuckled, while the others shared large smiles at the inquisitiveness of the hobbits.

"I do not know why they called you all here, I'm only here to greet you, but I do not believe there anything is wrong. And what riddles are you talking about?"

"Estella sent riddles to Merry, Pippin and Sam to bring us all to one place so that when a Griffon landed it would be less suspicious the hunter to visit just one of us rather than all four." Frodo spoke pulling out the riddles from the pack on his back. The riddles were passed around before being returned to Frodo.

"We were also led on a wild goose chase." Gimli said a scowl slowly forming on his face. "Quite literally."

"What did she do to you two then?" Boromir asked looking at Legolas who also had a slightly annoyed expression.

"We were in the Emerald Wilds, near the area we passed by before the corrupted wolves attacked. We were hunting for something to eat and we kept hearing geese but it turned out to be a hunter leading us to their camp." Legolas explained causing Peter to let out an amused snort.

"How did you fall for that?" Peter asked, laughter shining in his eyes.

"As I've said, we were hunting. I had thought the geese was far into the woods so we started following the sound, but by the time we noticed it wasn't getting any closer, we were already near the camp, so we started to hear laughter and smell the cooking meat."

"We knew there were hunters in the area because we had met a group a week before so we had information on the approximate locations of some packs." Gimli explained though his tone still held a tinge of annoyance. "We approached the camp and there was a caged goose with a note on top reading: ' Don't kill the messenger. Ask for Hayley.' "

The group laughed silently, Gimli and Legolas eventually joined in with the laughter, admitting it was a creative way of getting the information to them.

"What about you, Boromir? How did Estella contact you?" Pippin asked and all the eyes shifted to Boromir.

"A note tied to Greywing. ' One last time, please? ' " He huffed, rolling his eyes, causing the group to fall into laughter once again.

I didn't take long for Gandalf to arrive on Snowtip, the group stood where they were near the doors leading into the halls as the wizard approached them.

"Now that we are all here, let us go find our two friends." Peter clapped his hands and opened the doors, turning to the right, and leading the group to the room Estella told him to take the others.

It was a reasonably short walk, only having to up a couple of steps into a small dining room, with just enough seats to seat all of them. The room had a large window to one side and paintings of the lost Kingdom on the opposite wall. For the wall opposite to the entrance was another set of double doors that led into the private wing of the citadel.

"You're all here!" Estella's voice sounded from the double doors that were now opened revealing the two monarchs as they stood together. Aragorn wearing no crown but a fine velvet tunic, while Estella wore a pale blue dress and a discreet diadem holding part of he hair away from her face.

Once everyone had greeted each other, Estella ushered each one of them into a seat as food was brought in, much to the delight of the hobbits.

Over their lunch they exchanged stories of the past few months, Frodo told how far he was with his book and although he refused to allow anyone to read it before it was finished he promised they would all have the opportunity to read it. Sam told them of Rosie and how he planned to ask her to marry him. Gimli and Legolas told them of their travels and the extraordinary places they visited, including some villages near the border of the lost kingdom, hidden in the depths of the Emerald Wilds. Boromir told of his visit to Rohan and Helms Deep that was still housing some people of Rohan who had had their home destroyed. Gandalf told them of the books, jewels and artefacts he found in the Molten Vault. Aragorn and Estella told them of the final restorations of the city as well as their recent visit to Eazudal.

After nearly two hours the group found themselves still sitting around the table, with some fresh cookies and cakes on the table.

"Now that we have eaten, would you please tell us why you've called us here, Moony?" Peter asked as he sat up straighter in his chair.

"You've been dying to ask that question haven't you?" Estella smirked as she nibbled on some cookies.

"I'm curious to know, neither you nor Aragorn have been clear as to the reason for this," He gestured around the table, "reunion."

"And you have a light in your eyes suggesting that you know something that we do not." Gandalf pointed out, "I've known you long enough to know when you are up to something."

"Well we were going to announce it at dinner later." Estella grinned, knowing that would make Peter even more frustrated, and she was right, for as soon as the words left her mouth Peter groaned.

"Now, love, let us tell them now, they must know before we go out into the town tomorrow." Aragorn smiled at his wife, reaching for her hand and placing a kiss on her knuckles.

"Alright, there is no harm done in telling them a bit earlier." Estella conceded smiling gently at her husband, before turning to the others a grinning brightly at her closest friends.

"I am with child."

'Yes,' Frodo thought 'the brighter days have finally come.'