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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"In fact, the mere act of opening the box will determine the state of the cat, although in this case there were three determinate states the cat could be in: these being Alive, Dead, and Bloody Furious."
― Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies
46. Despacito
Despacito! Quiero respirar tu cuello despacito, Kat sang to herself, trying to keep her spirits up which was sorely needed at this stage of the journey.
She had had more pleasant hikes, to be honest. At the moment they were traversing a rocky mountain landscape, with a vast, grey desert extending far below, full of thorny bushes and many, many orcs. Beyond the desert a cone-shaped mountain spewed dark smoke that formed clouds above, effectively hiding the newly freed sun. Mount Doom, the ultimate destination of the Ring.
It seemed hopeless to get there, unless one either grew wings or used a parachute. And even if it were possible to descend safely, there was still that desert with all the orcs to cross unseen before climbing the volcano – a volcano that felt alive, malicious, like its smoke wanted to find all living things and choke them.
Not that there were many living things anyway. Hardly any plants, no birds, no small animals, only stinging insects.
Frodo and Sam had apparently decided to continue alongside the precipice until they found a way down, so for the past few days Kat had scrambled along over the rocky ground a few meters behind Gollum, who in turn shadowed the hobbits; a pair of blurry dots about a kilometer ahead. To a bystander they must look rather ridiculous spread out like that.
During the time involuntarily spent in each other's company, Kat and Gollum had formed a certain bond. It consisted of strong dislike, mingled with the slight comfort it meant to have someone warm to sleep next to at night.
As usual, Gollum muttered to himself when walking, and it was partly to take her mind off his disconcerting personality changes that Kat filled her head with music.
Despacito! Quiero desnudarte a besos despacito, she thought. She didn't know more words than the chorus, but that was okay, for neither did Justin Bieber.
The cheerful song reminded her of happier days; of long summer evenings by the sea when the sun didn't set until almost midnight. By now it was very hard to make those memories seem real. That life felt so distant. Had she ever been a woman relaxing at the beach, trying to get her dark skin even browner and taking a swim whenever she became too hot?
Under the sullen sky, she was forgetting what sunshine felt like on the skin.
Despacito...
It didn't help. Her companion's pathetic whines had grown louder, and soon were impossible to ignore. "Master musstn't go that way. There are orcses! Too many orcsess," he sniveled.
