"Fili, wait for me!" Kili yelled as his brother ran out the door, strapping on his quiver and following as quickly as he could.
"You're too slow, Kili!" Fili laughed as he took off, moving swiftly but quietly through the woods that surrounded their house.
The brothers were going hunting that day. It wasn't supposed to be anything other than just another hunting adventure, shooting down deer or rabbits or whatever other game they could catch for furs and bones to trade in the nearby town for other things they'd need and meat to smoke and dry for the coming winter. Already the trees were turning the brilliant fire colors of fall, and some were barren from heading into hibernation a little earlier than the rest.
"Fili, I said wait!" Kili called, seeing his brother up ahead being still as he stood hidden behind a bush.
"Quiet Kili." Fili held up one hand as Kili came near, silencing the younger dwarf.
"What is it?" Kili asked, squinting through the thick foliage in attempt to see whatever it was Fili was seeing.
"Orcs." Fili replied, the single word sending a shiver through both of them as they shifted to get better views while trying to stay hidden.
True enough there was a band of orcs passing by, all of them on foot. No wargs to be seen, which was odd, but then Kili made a subtle hand movement and pointed to his brother than the small band were carrying one other with them. A woman by the looks of the lithe body, clothed in rags and a hood to hide her face. There was blood on her clothing around a few tears, so she was clearly wounded, and it was Kili who made the first face stating silently that they should go save her. Fili objected with a frown, but Kili would have none of it and quickly moved from his hiding place to a higher ground, his bow drawn and an arrow knocked in the string. He waited just a few moments for Fili to either move into place or get out of the way, and he smiled to himself as he saw Fili swiftly get himself into a position to better ambush the orc party when the assault started. As soon as Fili was still Kili let the arrow fly, the tip finding purchase in the skull of the orc who was carrying the girl. He thought it was best to take that one out first, just in case the others decided to bolt once they found themselves under attack.
It turned out to be a smart move, as once the first orc went down the rest seemed scrambled. Kili took another shot, downing a second orc, and Fili moved from his cover to get between the fleeing remainder and the girl so that they would not trample her. His swords were drawn but none of them put up a fight, choosing to run for their lives instead of facing a mostly unknown enemy. A third and final arrow whizzed through the air, striking an orc in the back and taking it down before he ran from the tree he'd been hiding up to help Fili with the girl.
"Is she breathing?" He asked, putting his bow back across his back but keeping a careful ear out for the orcs returning with wargs or natural predators of the forest coming to investigate the noise of combat.
"I think so. Come on, let's get her up and out of here." Fili wisely suggested, reaching down to grab one of her arms and try to haul her up.
Kili helped, and between the two they managed to get her back to the safety of their small house in the woods. They lived, hunted and did just about everything together being brothers but also because they were awaiting the day when their uncle Thorin would live up to his promise of taking them along on the journey to reclaim the dwarven homeland of Erebor. Being together just made it easier, and this particular time was no exception to the rule as they got the girl inside and into one of the beds in a spare room. Fili went to get their medical kit to start patching her up, but Kili was too curious for his own good and tugged at her hood until it came off. With a startled scream he quickly backed up, pressing his back to the wall just as Fili came through the door.
"What is it, brother?" Fili raised a curious eyebrow, following Kili's terrified stare to the girl on the bed.
She clearly wasn't human, that much was obvious by the shape of her face. It was humanoid but with some characteristics of a cat such as a slightly flat upper lip, a cat-like nose and large ears sticking out of her head. Neither of them had ever seen anything like her, she appeared to be part white tiger and part human, for she clearly had hands and feet and otherwise human proportions but her body was covered in fur and she had nasty looking pairs of claws on her fingers and toes. There was silence for a moment as the brothers got a better look at what little of her they could see before Fili wrapped his head around the strangeness first and walked towards her.
"Kili, write a letter to uncle Thorin and tell him what happened. When you go to town to mail it, trade the furs we have left for some meats since we could not hunt today. Go as quick as you can, we may have to watch her in shifts until she wakes up in case there's something wrong with her that we can't see." Fili wasn't demanding but the tone of his voice said he wasn't to be argued with and Kili did exactly as he was told, rushing to another room of the house to get a bit of parchment, a quill and some ink to begin writing the letter.
In the meantime Fili began to gently remove her clothing so he could get a better look at where she was wounded. He assumed that since she had a humanoid shape she probably had a similar skeletal structure and could be mostly treated the same way he had treated his brother in the past when he'd been injured. That in mind he started with her arms, placing a salve over the deeper cuts before putting on bandages that covered most of her lower and upper arms. Her torso seemed fine, and he was not shy about touching it gently to make sure none of her ribs were displaced, since thankfully her arms did not appear to be broken. With nothing seeming to be worse than just cuts and bruises he slid her out of her pants as well and gave her legs the same treatment as her arms. One of her ankles was a little swollen, probably strained, but otherwise she seemed fine. It was truly a miracle that she'd escaped with little more than cuts and bruises, though Fili thought that for sure there would be some internal damage if she was unconscious like this.
The hours passed slowly as Kili ran into the nearby town to do as his brother had instructed, returning with several cuts of meat and the news that the letter had been mailed out to Thorin explaining the situation and the fact that they really had no idea what this woman was or what to do with her. Hopefully he would reply or perhaps turn up in person if he could, knowing that the boys were not prepared to deal with a situation like this.
"Watch after her, I'm going to cook dinner." Fili got up from the chair he had pulled up beside the bed where the cat woman was still lying unconscious.
"Will do." Kili sighed, taking his brother's chair and sitting down before scooting a little bit further away from her.
The woman, whatever she was, had a set of claws that looked like they were meant to tear right through flesh and the shape of her body suggested she was a warrior. If she were to wake up while under his watch the younger dwarf wanted to be as far from her as he thought was safe while still being able to keep an eye on her for any problems. Fili had pulled some blankets up to cover her, if not to keep out the cold then for the sake of her modesty as she was naked since the older dwarf had pulled away most of the rags that she had worn as a sad excuse for clothing. Good thing, too, as Fili had walked out with them and Kili noticed that they were blood soaked, dirty and generally unfit to wear. Leaving them on her would probably have done more harm than good, and Kili sighed as he reached for a book and began to read while keeping an eye on her out of the corner of his eye. After all, she was breathing pretty regularly for now but one never knew when things would change.
Hours turned into days, and days into a week. The woman stayed unconscious, making it hard to maintain their regular routine. Instead of going out to do something together one brother went to do the task at hand while the other stayed to watch her. Fili changed her bandages daily and made sure she was fed, even if it was just a little bit of broth. She didn't seem to be getting better, however, and just when their hope was running thin there was a sign of hope. A message arrived from Thorin, stating that he would be on his way just a week or so behind the letter to see the mysterious woman for himself and do what he could to help them deal with her. It was a heavy relief for them both as Kili took another shift watching her into some nighttime hours while Fili slept, though he was not prepared for her to awaken during this time.
Still, awaken she did. It started slowly, she groaned a little and shifted almost uncomfortably in the bed. This wasn't unexpected, though, Kili had seen her shift around as if she were simply sleeping several times before. This time, however, her eyes fluttered open and she actually sat up, putting one hand on her head and squinting before seeming to realize she wasn't somewhere familiar. She'd been unconscious long enough for her wounds to heal, and the only bandages that remained were about half a dozen or so smaller ones covering some of the deep cuts that had been stubborn as far as healing, meaning her range of movement was not at all restricted and that potentially made her all the more dangerous. Kili was staying perfectly still, fearing that the movement would draw her attention to him before she had a chance to take in everything around her properly. That didn't stop her from spotting him rather quickly, however, and she drew her lips up before snarling and pulling her body into a crouched stance on the bed. Her fur was prickling and her tail swinging angrily as her golden eyes stared him down.
You! Where am I? What's going on? She growled, eyes narrowing.
However, Kili was not familiar with the language she spoke. It sounded like a cross between the harsh language of the orcs and the mewling one would expect to hear from a cat. Though it was clear that she had asked him a question, Kili wasn't entirely sure how to respond and instead shut his book, setting it slowly on a nearby table and aware that her piercing eyes were watching his every move, her body ready to pounce if he reached for a weapon or did anything threatening. The younger dwarf raised his hands slowly, showing her that he was not a threat, then stood carefully. Thankfully Fili had heard the noise and came to his brother's aid, stopping in the doorway when the feline woman glared at him and hissed slightly in much the way any ordinary angered cat would.
"I don't think she speaks our language." Kili whispered, casting a glance sideways at Fili.
"So we have a language barrier, it seems. This is going to be fun." Fili said with a sarcastic tone, sighing under his breath.
Of course I speak common. I just do not enjoy doing so. Stop speaking about me as if I'm not here. The woman growled, her muscles tensing tighter as she prepared to make a move.
"Okay, calm down. We mean you no harm." Fili took a step forward, not flinching when she twitched as if she would attack him.
In this manner Fili managed to get close enough to extend a hand to her, keeping calm and not showing the fear he was feeling on the inside at facing down a woman who could pounce on him and probably have his face ripped into ribbons before Kili could react. That calm, the expression that said more than his words could in terms of his kindness and the fact that he outwardly showed no fear towards her even though she could smell it all over him was more than enough. Her body relaxed a little as she extended one hand to him as well and shook it, feeling the warmth there as he in turn could feel just how sharp her claws were but at the same time how she wasn't gripping all that tightly and making no attempt to dig them into his skin.
"See? We are not going to hurt you." Fili gently withdrew his hand, watching as the cat woman sat down and seemed less inclined to attack them now that she felt a bit safer.
I hate speaking common, it's such a crude language. She muttered, ears moving in all directions as she tried to take in the strange sounds of the new area and discern what was what.
"Kili, go get some clothes and heat that soup back up. I'm sure our guest is hungry." Fili was once again not exactly giving orders, but his tone of voice said that it was not a suggestion.
Doing as his brother asked, Kili got up slowly and made his way out of the room. He was aware of the woman watching his every move but tried not to think about it as he vanished back into the main of the house to put some of the soup back over the fire and try to find clothes that might fit the taller woman. She clearly had no regard for her own modesty, or at the very least was not used to wearing clothes wherever she came from, but that hadn't stopped the entire encounter from being extremely awkward despite the obvious danger of it all. By the time he had returned with what he'd been told to go get Kili could hear talking and stopped outside the door to listen in.
"My kind calls me Milah." The voice was gruff, deep but with clear feminine aspects on the edges and an accent that was unlike anything either of them had ever heard.
"The pleasure is all mine, Milah. I am Fili, and my brother is Kili. We found you being carried off by a band of orcs. Do you know what happened to you before that?" Fili was keeping his voice calm, talking as if the woman was not some stranger that had just woken up after being unconscious for a week or so but rather a friend that he'd known for many years.
Before she could answer Kili decided to make his presence known, walking through the doorway to the room but noticing that Milah was looking at him as if she already knew he'd been there. Didn't surprise him, though, and he put the soup on the table beside the bed before holding out the clothes to her.
"Here. I'm not sure if they'll fit, but you're quite a bit taller than both of us and this is the biggest we have." Kili waited until she took the tunic and pants from him before he went to lean against the door, waiting for her to answer Fili's question.
"Thank you. As to your question, Fili, I do not really remember much." Milah sighed, standing to pull the pants on before she continued. "The last I can remember, I was fighting against Alduin in the Sky Haven Temple. I think I….I stabbed him and then there was this bright light. That is all I can remember." With the pants hiked up and the slightly too small tunic on she looked a little awkward, but no more so than when she had been nude a few moments ago. "Where is my armor? My weapons?" She questioned, tilting her head at Fili in much the same way one would expect a curious cat to do.
"You did not have any when we rescued you. All you had were ragged clothes." Fili didn't like breaking such news, but it was the truth and he knew she would sense that in his voice.
"I see. That is too bad, I had much on me." She sighed, then perked up as if she'd had an idea. "Do you think that come the light of day we could go looking? I am sorry to impose, but I would at least like to look for my things."
"Of course, we found you not far from here and know what direction the orcs were carrying you from. But come now, you must be hungry and the hour is late. Eat and then sleep, we will wake you on first light." Fili stood, giving a slight bow before leaving the room.
Kili was not too far behind, and the brothers retreated to their own room on the other side of the house before daring to speak to one another about Milah and what they were going to do about her. They whispered so as not to be heard, and Kili had obvious objections to going out in attempt to seek her belongings when they could be miles off but Fili would have none of it. He and Milah were going to head out at daybreak to look, and Kili was to stay at the house and wait in case Thorin came. Letters could be slow and travel fast, which meant that the older dwarf could show up at any moment and one of them would need to be there for it.
"I don't like it, brother. You shouldn't be going out into the wilds alone with her, she's dangerous." Kili protested, pouting.
"And she knows that we saved her life, she will not hurt either of us. Besides, if we do manage to track down her belongings then it may tell us something more about her. After all, I don't know about you but I've never heard of a place called Sky Haven Temple in Middle Earth. Either she took a blow to the head and is not able to properly remember what happened or there is something more to her story. Even if we find nothing of hers, we might find where the orcs came from and that alone would be nice since you and I both know they've never been this close to our home before. This will be good, no matter the outcome." Fili was pressing, and again he had a tone to his voice that said this was not up for debate.
"Fine, you win. I will stay and wait for uncle Thorin then. Just promise me you'll be careful out there, will you?" Kili was still pouting, but that stopped as Fili reached a hand out to ruffle his dark hair.
"I will, Kili. Now, get some sleep. We will both need it for tomorrow." Fili laid down and closed his eyes, confident that his brother was not far behind. A good night's sleep and perhaps they would all see things with clearer vision after a proper rest.
A/N - Hey guys, Anica here! That's right, this crackpot story is mine, not Lilith's. Well, Lilith helped me come up with the idea and encouraged me to write it, but the writing is all mine.
I'd like to first say thanks for even reading this first chapter and giving this story a chance. I realize it's a bit strange even for a crossover, but I'm trying my best to make it good for all you faithful readers out there.
Second, I would like to address some questions that have been asked via reviews. Namely for this chapter why I chose a Khajiit. My first play of Skyrim was a Khajiit, and after having done plays with all the different races the Khajiit remains my favorite of all the playable races. Argonians are a close second, but I love the Khajiit just a little bit more. Also someone mentioned that they were about as un-Tolkien a race as you can get, and while I wasn't thinking that at the time I think that just adds to the strangeness of her presence in Middle Earth.
Finally, I think there's a bit of confusion going on because I didn't make it super clear. Milah is of the Suthay-raht variety of Khajiit, whereas the kind seen in Skyrim are the Cathay. There's really not much of a difference except that the Suthay-raht are a bit smaller and have what are called plantigrade legs. It basically means that their legs look kinda like a squirrel's hind legs instead of human legs. I'm just actually sad that you're stuck playing the Cathay variety in Skyrim, because if I had a choice I'd always play a Suthay-raht :)