Author's notes: I continue this story with fear of my own life. I think my cats have discovered I'm revealing their secrets...
Thanks to everyone who has taken Gingerhead in their hearts.
The scenes with Elrond and Gimli are inspired by true incidents. Since most of you are already owned by cats, I'm sure you know of what I mean. Same goes with Aragorn. And trust me, you don't want more details on this.
CHAPTER 4: The tenth member of the Fellowship.
Gingerhead's POV.
He tricked me. I don't believe this. He tricked me.
When Bossy Elf-Lord said that there should be a member of every free folk in the Fellowship, I knew I shouldn't stand up and mew.
Then I saw the glimpse in his eye. I think he's rather relieved to see me go. I wonder why. Perhaps he's still angry with me, for dragging his purple underwear through the council, right out the laundry basket. Personally, I thought it was rather hilarious. The dwarves seemed to share my views. Even pet-human Aragorn seemed amused.
Speaking of which, I don't think he's amused I'm going along. I detect a murderous sparkle in his eyes. I think he's still annoyed with me, for playing 'what's hanging' with his tail that night. We cats love to chase our tails. How could I know humans don't?
Oh, great. Here we go again. Four hobbits, a dwarf, an elf, two humans and my wizard, all for a stupid ring. And a pony named Bill. It was thoughtful of them to bring my dinner along.
Pretty Elf Lady wept when her pet human left. She kissed me, though.
Bossy Elf-Lord smiled. He's happy for getting rid of both his daughter's pets. I stare back at him.
You may be immortal, but I have six more lives. You haven't seen the last of me.
~*~
As Elrond saw the Fellowship depart, he couldn't help wondering if he had sent a wolf among the lambs.
~*~
Gingerhead's POV.
Ok, let's see with what kind of creatures I'm stuck up with this time.
First of all, there's the wizard-servant named Gandalf. He still doesn't have a clue. Not as bright as thought to be, this one. And he still calls me Draco, despite the fact that I've never responded to the stupid name. He's good to me, though. He summons bugs and does little tricks I can play with. He pets me and he's good to sleep on. If he dies, I'm still eating him.
Then, there are four hobbits. I like them. They are fun and they value food almost as much as I do. They also play with me a lot. Their feet, however, are a new kind of hazard. I dread to think what my poor tail would suffer if one of them stepped on it. I'd be the first cat with a flat tail. I wonder what it would do for pet-human's tail. That would hurt. Mental note to explore this later. If one of the hobbits die, I'm still eating him. Providing one of the rest hobbits doesn't beat me to it.
Two humans: Aragorn and Boromir. Aragorn still hates me after seeing Elf-Lady kissing me instead of him, despite the fact he has just as much facial hair. He should learn from a master, instead of holding it against me. I don't like the one called Boromir. He doesn't like me either. He's a dog person. I'm certainly not going to play 'fetch' with him. The only variation of this game that is to my liking is "Boromir, fetch me my dinner". If any of the humans die, I'm still eating them.
Then there's the elf. Cute, nice smelling elf named Legolas. I was surprised to hear he's male. He surely tricked me. But I like him. He smells nice, he's soft and he sings to me. Of all of them, I think he's the only one who understands my name isn't Draco. He's got a nice looking bow, but he won't use it to bring me birds. I'll train him, in time. If he dies, I'm definitely eating him. Softest meat I've seen in ages.
And then there's the dwarf, Gimli son of something. Up to now, I hadn't met a biped with as much fur as a cat. Well, almost as much. He liked me after my trick with Elf-Lord's underwear, but I don't feel safe going close to him. This much fur might suffocate me. And I'm definitely not eating him after he dies. It would be a hard task to reach to the meat under that pelt. The hobbits may have him.
Last but not least, there's Bill the pony. It's a horse. He hates me. I'll probably eat him before he dies.
~*~
The Fellowship attempted to pass over Caradhras, but the mountain bested them. They travelled to the entrance of Moria, to seek a route under the mountain.
Gingerhead was not happy with any of their choices.
Not a surprise, really.
~*~
Gingerhead's POV.
Let's go over the mountain, he said. We can find our way through, he said. Let the ring-bearer decide, he said. Do you want to know what this cat said?
It was cold. Oh, it was cold. I hid inside the wizard's robes, and it was still cold. I hid under the dwarf's beard, and it was still cold. I hid inside the dwarf's shirt, and it was still cold. And when I finally felt I was getting warm, I slipped inside the dwarf's underwear. At this point, I decided I'd rather face the cold than the stench. So I clawed my way out. Dwarf was not happy about it. He looks strangely at me, fingering his axe. I've decided to stick with the wizard until the dwarf can sit on his nether regions again.
And now we're up against a wall, while the wizard tries to remember the password. The rest are finally starting to realise he's not that bright after all. And when we finally got through, thanks to the hobbit, a giant tentacled creature attacked us.
~*~
As the Watcher reached out to get Frodo, the rest of the company launched an attack to the monster.
Naturally, so did Gingerhead.
~*~
Gingerhead's POV.
What's this? Seafood! I haven't had seafood in ages! Let me go, stupid wizard! Let me have it!
Elf fired a couple of successful shots at this giant squid. I knew I'd get him trained, sooner or later.
Wizard dragged me along into the darkness. I'm really, really annoyed. I've missed my seafood dinner, I've lost Bill the pony and everything down here smells of death.
I don't like it here. I want to get out.
~*~
Gollum has caught up with the ring-bearer. His presence hasn't gone unnoticed by Gingerhead, of course. At some point, he jumped off Gandalf's hands, crawled up to the entrance of a dark passage and sniffed the air. Then he arched his back, fluffed up and hissed at the darkness.
Everyone was alerted by his reaction, readying bows and blades, expecting another monster to come out of the shadows.
~*~
Gingerhead's POV.
I can see you! I know you're down there, so better come out peacefully and I promise you a painless death.
Hey, what all that fuss?
~*~
A mouse came out of the shadows and Gingerhead caught him in a blink of an eye.
Everyone sighed in relief. At least, that was the first time it happened.
The fifteenth time, they were all rather pissed off.
~*~
Gingerhead's POV.
It was very kind of you to assist me with my hunting, but I can manage on my own, thank you.
On the other hand, everyone seems rather jumpy down here. I think I can have a little fun now. In every dark corner I'll fluff up and hiss, and see how they wet their pants.
OK, I think I'll stop now. Even Gandalf is annoyed by now. The hobbits are really scared, Aragorn has this murderous stare again and Gimli has started fingering his axe. On top of this, someone has actually wetted his pants. I wonder who that is... The stench is unbearable, worse than the dwarf's underwear. Pretty elf has turned to a light shade of green.
If any of them dies, I'm definitely not eating them.
I'm not that hungry.
Time for strategic retreat under wizard's hat.
Wake me up when we've reached the other side. Or when it's time for dinner, but better wash your hands before touching me.
I'll have to lick that fur, eventually.
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Gingerhead wants some catnip, and I'd like some reviews, please. Reviews are *my* catnip.