~o0o~

They ran through the night, past dawn and into the day. Morindil thanked the sky above for her feline body, for without it she would never have been able to keep up. Her legs may not have been as long as her companions, but her muscles were strong. Where she lacked in the sense that she was not made for speed, her strength would replace it. She put all her power into her legs, to keep on running.

They passed through fields, and trees, and Arwen only looked at Morindil once, Arwen's eyes widened slightly when she finally noticed the immense black form of Morindil running beside her horse. It wasn't until the sun was high in the sky, that the ringwraiths found them. As Arwen and Morindil came out of the woods, the black riders closed in around them. One black rider reached out a for Frodo, but it was a foolish mistake. Morindil grabbed his arm in her jaws, and with a tug, the black rider fell from his steed. Morindil spared no time catching back up to Arwen, leaping over the fallen wraith, taking seconds for the action.

With Morindil beside Arwen once again, she murmured something in a foreign language to her horse. As if it understood her, her horse seemed to speed up even more. Together they weaved between trees, trying to lose their pursuers. Morindil clawed with enough force at the legs of one of the rider's horse that she swept its legs out from underneath it. The horse, in turn, took a violent head dive into the ground, bones snapping.

Together Arwen's horse and Morindil jumped and flew over fallen trees, running as fast as bodily possible for them. Morindil could feel that they were almost there, to where ever Arwen was taking them, because Morindil did not know how much longer she could go on. Already her body was trembling from exertion, Morindil could feel the need to shut down. Yet she pushed on, for Frodo.

Finally, they reached a wide shallow river where Arwen paused once she crossed. Morindil shook and panted from exhaustion, black spots appearing in her vision. Morindil couldn't tell if they were from her headache or exhaustion. The black riders arrived and stopped on the far side of the river, just on the bank. They shrieked and hissed, but Morindil's snarls seemed to drown out their wails.

One of the black riders spoke, "Give up the halfling, she-elf!" with a vice that did not belong in the world of the living. Morindil pressed back her ears and snarled louder in answer, but she did pause when Arwen spoke, "If you want him, come and claim him." Arwen drew her sword, and Morindil let out a roar that shook the trees and sent birds flying.

The Nazgul's horses reared in fright, but their riders took control of them again, and drew their swords simultaneously. Together they began to cross the river, and Arwen spoke in the foreign language Morindil could not understand, chanting, almost like a prayer. Then the sound of rushing water grew louder and drowned out the whines of the ringwraith's horses as they stood in the middle of the river. Morindil looked up the river, and saw a herd of horses made of water. Larger than the trees, the water horses bore down on the Nazgul, washing them far down river, leaving only their screams.

Morindil watched the horses with fascination until they were out of sight. Arwen's cries brought Morindil back, "No! Frodo, don't give in!" She dismounted with him and embraced him. She prayed and prayed until more strangers showed up. Morindil tried to stand in front of Frodo and Arwen, but there ware too many, and Arwen put a hand on Morindil's side, "They are here to help." Morindil still shook, and her growl receded to a rumble in her chest. The strangers, male elves, gave her wary looks as they gently placed Frodo on the back of one of their horses, Arwen's horse was too tired to run any more. Then, in seconds, the rider carrying Frodo took off. Others stayed to help Arwen, one nearly approached Morindil, but she took off as well after the rider carrying Frodo. Morindil heard the shout of Arwen and had a sense of deja vu as she ignored the shout.

Exhaustion clouded Morindil's mind, or she might have stumbled in awe at the city of Rivendell as they passed through it. The stranger dismounted with Frodo and followed a tall man, with long brown hair and a serious face, into a building. Morindil tried to follow, but more of the men with pointy ears (at another time she'd realize they were just more elves) stopped her, pointed swords at her, and shouted in a the strange language. Morindil's mind was already in overdrive, she pinned her ears back and snarled at the elves. They were all ready for a fight, but a shout from the tall man with long brown hair and a serious face from ahead of them, had them backing off warily. The all spoke the strange language, but she didn't mind, her mind was buzzing now with static so loud she could badly focus on walking. As quickly as she could though, she caught up to the serious man and followed him to where Frodo was. Already elves were at work, and Morindil was able to recognize that these people were helping Frodo through her haze. She laid down in a corner to wait, but no sooner than she laid down, the spots in her vision took over, completely covering her eyes in darkness as she passed out.

~o0o~

A gentle breeze drifted in through huge windows, making the curtains sway and mingle with the whispers of the occupants of the room. Morindil slept the entire time Frodo did. She did not even stir when people came and went, checking on Frodo. Although, once, just before Frodo woke up, someone did check on her specifically. An old friend garbed in grey with a matching beard and tall pointy hat, Gandalf. He gently placed a hand on her head, and eased the darkness from the Nazgul in her mind. After he was confident she was asleep from fatigue, and her condition was no longer serious (not that anyone knew about it before), he returned to Frodo's bedside.

Frodo began to stir when the light was bright, and it blinded him slightly when he first opened his eyes.

"Where am I?" he asked with worry.

To which Gandalf calmly replied, "You are in the house of Elrond, And it is ten o'clock in the morning, on October the 24th if you wanted to know." At the sound of his voice, Frodo became more awake.

"Gandalf!" he shouted happily, relieved and surprised at seeing his friend by his bedside.

"Yes, I am here, and you're lucky to be here too."

Morindil heard the voices, but almost as if they were at a distance. She had been doing this for a while now, coming and going from consciousness. Morindil wanted to fully awaken, but the warmth from the sun through the windows cocooned her, and coupled with the soft breeze, she could not resist sleep.

When next Morindil drifted into consciousness, she was able to stay conscious. The sun was going down and excited, hushed little giggles reached her ears, She was fully awake now, she knew those giggles, but she pretended to still sleep.

As Morindil anticipated, the hobbits crept closer, all four crouched in front of her and whispered.

"Should we tackle her? Or just poke her and run?" One hobbit, sounded like Pippin, spoke.

"Something tells me we wouldn't be able to run very far...so we tackle her." Merry answered him, Morindil wished to laugh, but she stayed still as a statue, a statue that snored quietly at least.

Silently she braced herself, then four little bodies collided with her. Dramatically she popped her eyes open wide and rolled over, wrapping her arms around one of them as they all began laughing loudly. Morindil had caught Pippin and laughing so hard he was crying. "S-stop! You know your whiskers tickle!" Of course it was because she was purposely rubbing her nose under his chin.

Movement across the room caught Morindil's attention, she stilled and stared at the door to the room. Her eyes were wide and playful, full of light, her ears were perked forward and she (a giant black cat) was buried under four hobbits. The sight was quite comical to the new arrivals. Gandalf stood at the door with Bilbo, and the tall serious elf-man. Upon spotting Bilbo, Morindil jumped up, letting the hobbits fall to the floor with many a disgruntled exclamation.

Morindil trotted quickly and crossed the room in a couple of strides. Bilbo laughed loudly as she flopped to the floor on her belly, and purred as loud as she could while rubbing her head on Bilbo's chest. Bilbo laughed again as he rubbed Morindil behind her ear.

"How extraordinary…", came from a low smooth voice. Morindil's ears twitched as she gave the stranger a curious look. "Yes, it is good to see you again too, Morindil." Bilbo said, and stopped rubbing her behind her ear, but she didn't stop purring. (Though she did lower the volume a notch.)

"Yes, well, Morindil, there is someone I would like you to meet, but..." Gandalf was going to say more, that perhaps she should go and change first, but a look on Morindil's face made him pause. 'You do not wish to change forms, keeping it a secret then?' Gandalf thought to himself.

"Alright, judging by the look on Morindil's face, she does not wish to change to her more human form. Therefore, we will be keeping it a secret until she chooses to reveal herself.", Gandalf gave a meaningful look to the hobbits, "Which is wise, sorry Old Friend, perhaps another time." Gandalf gave an apologetic smile to his "Old Friend".

"It's alright Gandalf, I understand. Let me introduce myself, I am Lord Elrond, father to Arwen and the twins Elladan and Elrohir. I am most gracious for your assistance to my daughter. As she has told me, without you she would not have made it in the time she did." He inclined his head slightly to her.

Morindil closed her eyes and gave a happy mew, nodding her head in return. Gandalf gave a low chuckle, "Well, lets leave the hobbits and Morindil to their fun. We have things we must discuss, right Lord Elrond?"

"Indeed." Elrond replied and with a nod to the hobbits and Morindil, the two left.

Merry, Pippin, Sam, and Frodo, then proceeded to tackle Morindil again. Bilbo chuckled at them as Morindil very slowly and dramatically (so as to not hurt the little hobbits) rose on her back two feet. She let out a mock "roar" that was as silly and exaggerated as her feline form could do. Bilbo had missed this, spending time with the five of them, they made the day seem so much brighter. And, considering the days that were to come, their brightness would be needed.

~o0o~

There was to be a meeting. Representatives from each race: man, elves and dwarves. Lord Elrond had explained it was a meeting to discuss what was to be done with the ring, and that only Frodo and Morindil would go (because no one would stop her, like she was going to let him go to that meeting where there would be a world of strangers staring at him).

Morindil was excited to see all the different types of people, and to fill the time until the meeting, her and the hobbits would be exploring, or eating, or both at the same time. Until their return home, after the meeting of course, because their job was done, they would enjoy themselves to the fullest.

But little did they know, they would not be going home so soon.