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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"Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving."
― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky
49. Whole
Kat's soul left the pleasant void and arrived just above the bed where her body slept. A warmth filled her at the sight. How she had missed herself!
She heard a distant but pretty voice in her head: Call to me when thou art ready.
Then she was sucked down, and her eyes opened, and she was inside her own head again. Her soul was whole.
Time to say her goodbyes.
ʕ(ಠ ‿ ಠ)ʔ
The Voice was gone, and had been for a long time, but Sméagol was still not used to it, not after hearing it for so many years. Now when he closed his eyes there was only birdsong and the murmur of the wind in the trees. No whispers, no arguing, no incessant reminders of his guilt. For the first time since he saw It, he was completely alone.
Good riddance to that horrible thing, the disgusting piece of metal he had once called precious!
He straightened his back, trying to ease a slight pain in his joints. He was not used to standing on two legs – had not been able to, with his crooked spine – but after the kind lord King had healed him he could walk properly. It felt strange in the soles of his feet, and he was getting blisters on his heels, but it was so worth it. The slight sting of the blisters were nothing in comparison with the constant dull back ache he had been living with.
In addition to his bent back, many other little pains and hassles had been cured by the king's hands: his bad eyesight in daylight; that nasty cough and bubbling in his chest when breathing; the rot in his few, remaining teeth. He had also been dressed in fine clothes, soft and warm, and even been invited to the king's victory celebration. Though Sméagol prefered to linger here in the background, nibbling on a piece of fish (sadly ruined by cooking), and just watch the many tables, trying to get used to being among people again.
The last rays of sunshine warmed his shoulders where he stood; the Yellow Face no longer terrified him. Quite the opposite, he had enjoyed it a little too much, becoming burned – but the kind lord King had healed that as well, and then given him a hat.
Sméagol's gaze often strayed to the man sitting at the head table, and his chest swelled with love each time. Not only had his lord healed him twice and provided him with the nice hat, he had also declared Sméagol would get land by the river where he could live like he had in his youth, as a fisherman. The fish he caught would be fetched and delivered to the royal kitchen.
