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A Silent Witness
by Pirate Turner
He walked through the forest, passing unheard over fallen leaves and green grass, until he came to a little hill. He stopped there, and his head rose proudly as his blue eyes carefully scanned the land that rolled out from the hill. Moonbeams caught strands of his long hair in the light, its silver light playing amongst his fine blonde strands. There was not a sound to be heard, and a gentle smile graced his lips as he breathed in the scents of the night and was reminded of his home that lay so far away.
All too quickly, the silence and the rare moment of peace was shattered by the slamming of a door that came from only a short distance away. The Elf's head snapped up, and his blue eyes narrowed as he tried to pinpoint the source of the sound. "NINE!" a voice, wretched with panic and fear, screeched. "NINE?!"
His keen eyes caught sight of a swiftly moving object, and the Elf's head turned to gaze upon the creature that ran swiftly down the road. He began to reach for his bow and arrow just as moonbeams caught her fur, and he relaxed as he realized that it was only a cat. "NINE?!" His head snapped back up as he again heard the woman screaming.
Distant howls broke the air even as the Elf gazed intently back down at the running cat. "She's looking for you, isn't she?" he spoke to the feline whose back arched at first at the unexpected voice. Green eyes met blue, and Elf and feline stared into each other's eyes. "Why are you running from her, little one?" he asked, his words but a breath of a whisper though meeting the cat's ears with the slightest of ease.
"NINE?!" The swift slamming of feet against road accompanied the voice this time, and Legolas realized that the mortal was indeed chasing after the very cat who still stared up at him. Both feline and Elf darted to hide: Legolas taking cover behind two trees that stood close together while the cat dove into nearby bushes.
The woman arrived, her lungs gasping for oxygen, and Legolas' eyes widened slightly as he took in her appearance. What manner of woman would come chasing after a cat in nothing but a slim, blue nightgown? "NINE?! NINE?! NINE?!" The woman turned slowly, blue eyes desperately sweeping her surroundings, and Legolas felt a twinge in his heart at the fear he bore silent witness to in her eyes.
"NINE?! COME ON, PLEASE, HONEY! I KNOW YOU'RE AROUND HERE SOMEWHERE! THIS IS WHERE YOU ALWAYS COME!" As the woman pleaded desperately with her pet, Legolas' eyes drifted to where the cat lay motionless in the bushes. He watched her and was not surprised to find that she was staring straight at the woman.
Howls again broke the air, and all three heads snapped up in alert. The howls were still distant but were coming steadily closer. A shiver ran through each even as the Elf realized how hungry the wolves were. "Please, sweetheart," the woman begged as her eyes returned to frantically searching the bushes and hillside, "I know you're in there! I can't see you, but I know you're in there!"
Legolas' eyes widened in disbelief. She had heard the howls, and yet still she stood there, trying desperately to get her cat to answer her? He again glanced down at the cat, and his jaw set with anger at the way she simply sat there, staring at her mistress but refusing to answer. The woman breathed a hefty sigh, and Legolas' attention returned to the mortal.
"Damn it!" Her voice shook with emotion as tears suddenly began to fill her eyes. "I don't know why you always have to do this! I do everything I can for y'all! Everything! Shelter, food, water, attention! I do everything I can for y'all, but nothing's ever enough! Why is that, huh?!" she demanded passionately, her blue eyes blazing despite the tears that streaked down her cheeks. "All I ask is that you stay in at night, and even that's for your own safety! What is it?! Do you have a death wish or something?! Do you just want to be ate?! You know the Orcs and coyotes are out there and would just love to eat you! You can hear them coming, but you won't even come in! WHY?!"
Legolas' mouth nearly dropped open in shock. She knew about the Orcs, and yet here she stood, in only a flimsy nightgown, pleading with a cat who refused to obey her to come in so that the cat would be safe?! She did not even appear to care about her own safety, only the animal's. The howls broke the air again, and he recalled that she had called them coyotes. What were coyotes, any way? Some cousin of the wolf's?
"Fine!" the woman suddenly exclaimed, snapping Legolas out of his silent reveriore. "You don't love me! If you did, you wouldn't just be in there, watching me making a bloody fool out of myself, but would be coming out here so that we could get back inside where it's safe! You may not love me, but I still love you and I'll be damned if I let anything happen to you!" Picking up her skirts a few inches above her ankles, the woman began to make her way toward the hill.
Legolas' breath caught and held in his throat as he watched her. He looked back down at the cat, but the feline made no sign of moving whatsoever. Legolas stared at it in shock. The cat had a brave woman who loved it and was clearly willing to do anything for it, and yet there it sat with no regard whatsoever for the human who was risking her mortal life while trying to find it just so that she might keep it safe?
Howls broke the air again even as the human began to carefully edge up the hill. "Damn it, Nine! They're getting closer and closer, and you know I'm afraid of heights but what are you doing?!"
It was then and there, as he watched the woman, that Legolas made up his mind. His gaze left her to look down at his feet, and he bent slightly and soundlessly to pick up a few rocks. Taking one in one hand, he carefully skipped it down the hill. The rock caught her attention, and she turned slowly, careful to neither put her back toward the top of the hill nor the distance that the howls came from, as she watched its descent.
Legolas' grasp on the second rock grew tighter for a second as he concentrated his aim. He pulled back his arm, checked his aim again, and then tossed the rock. It flew through the air only to strike the leaves right behind the cat's tail, and the beautiful feline leapt from the bushes in a blur of brown and white that streaked right for her mistress. Legolas grinned as the woman gasped in surprise.
"Nine?!" The cat barreled toward her, and the woman knelt to gather the cat in her arms. Green eyes filled with terror met blue eyes brimming with tears as cat and woman looked into each other. "It's okay, girl. It's okay," the woman hurriedly reassured the cat even as howls again broke the air. "I don't know what just helped us, but I'm thankful," she said, turning with the cat nestled securely against her bosom, as her eyes scanned the top of the hill.
The Elf quickly ducked behind the trees again. He waited until he heard the mortal turn and begin her descent down the hill before turning back to once more watch the two before him through the tiny space between the trees. "If we had more time, I'd like to investigate and find out," she continued to tell the cat, "but then again, maybe it's best we don't know."
Legolas stood silent guard as he watched woman and cat swiftly make their way back in the direction they had previously came. The Orcs and coyotes were drawing closer still, but he waited until he knew they had enough distance to allow them safety before turning and heading back to rejoin the others at the camp site. He shook his head silently as he thought back over what he had just witnessed, and his own heart ached.
What kind of being could not appreciate the kind of love that that cat had taken for granted -- the kind of love that he had yearned for for so long? That night, as he made his way back to the Fellowship and his thoughts still filled with the mortal and feline, the Elf knew only one thing for certain. If he ever did find love like that, he would never take it for granted like that crazy animal did.
The End