Unexpectedly turned into a cat, Kat falls into Middle-earth with the mission to prevent a death. In a feline form she can only communicate with the elf Legolas - and that he is such an attractive specimen is certainly not helpful...
A humorous (but...
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"The night was as black as the inside of a cat."
― Terry Pratchett, Wyrd Sisters
8. Where the Light Does Not Shine
Gandalf made his staff shine faintly or it would have been impossible to continue. The steps were made for dwarves and therefore low, for which the hobbits and Kat were grateful, but they were slippery and the walls on either side of them slightly moist, emitting a moldy cellar smell. They had to walk slowly and look carefully where they put their feet – or paws.
Kat walked with the hobbits, who were miserable. Pippin clung to Merry and both of them looked exhausted, struggling to lift one foot after another. Sam cried quietly, worrying sick about the fate of poor Bill among the wargs and lake monsters, and Frodo was trembling from delayed shock after his near-monsterfood experience.
Kat could not do much except be there, for what it was worth, stroking herself against their short legs whenever she could. She wondered what the monster had been. A colony of snakes? A giant octopus? Perhaps a hydra from the Greek mythology? Anything seemed possible in this world.
At the top of the stairway they took a short break to eat a little and take some Miruvor – the last that was left in the bottle, unfortunately. And then they continued, not wanting to waste time resting.
The air further inside was warm but still damp. The darkness was beginning to grate on Kat's nerves now, she had become used to her night vision but here it was too little light even for her. Sure, her cat's eyes came with drawbacks, she had noticed the colors tended to be a bit less bright and she was terribly nearsighted – but that was not very different from her human self. Without her contacts on she could hardly see who was in the back row of her classroom.
She wondered how dwarves managed to live all their lives like this. No fresh air, no plants, no vitamin D. It could not be healthy. Maybe that was why Axe Guy was grumpy? Though, she had to admit, since they came here he had been so cheerful she could have changed her internal name for him to Happy.
The mines were a maze. With every few meters they passed openings on the sides, sometimes with long corridors, sometimes with stairways leading up or down. Thankfully Gandalf always seemed to know where to go or they would have been lost in no time. The road was worn with many cracks and holes in the ground, some so wide Kat had to jump over them – and the hobbits too. Most were shallow, but at one point there was one over two meters wide and they could not see how deep it went – there was just darkness below, and the distant sound of running water.
"What do you think lies down there?" Pippin mumbled to the other hobbits.
"More monsters, perhaps..." Frodo swallowed.
Kat edged herself closer and peeked down. She felt a surge of nausea and an irrational worry that she might accidentally drop something important into the chasm – even though she obviously was not carrying anything.
