Disclaimer: Still don't own anything

All thought will now be in italics

Chapter 2

I woke up slowly like I normally would on a day of class. My head was still fuzzy… Why though? Why was it so hard to remember yesterday? I could feel the morning light hit my eyelids because I was again sleeping on my back. I realized that once again I had lost my sleep mask during the night. It is always so gosh darn hard to find I thought. When I brought up my right hand to rub the sleep out of my eye I was met with something unexpected… something fuzzy… I started to freak out that my hand was growing some sort of fungus. My eyes finally came into focus and I realized it wasn't my hand at all. It was a PAW? I looked at my other hand and was met with the same result. I noticed that the fur ran up my arms and disappeared beyond my view. I looked down my body and saw that it too was covered in the thick cream colored stuff and my feet… my poor feet that would never again wear those rockin high heels again, were paws as well. My surroundings were strange to me as well. I could not remember a wood that looked so untouched before.

Ok no need to panic I reminded myself Panic is the enemy and I am probably just dreaming anyway so why freak out?

I then tried to discern what manner of creature I was. Big paws on the hands and feet, cream colored fur, and what looked like stripes on the part of the shoulder I could see. Am I? but I didn't finish the thought when I smelled something. Something musky, probably an animal. I sniffed the air delicately then realized that I was the source of the foreign odor. Oh that was smart…. Real smart.

Then I smelled something different, it had a musk so it was an animal, but it had the twinge of grass to it. I rolled over onto my stomach and took a stab at standing on all fours. My bone structure was a little different than a human's so I was having trouble doing the simple task of standing. My legs were a little wobbly and I made a little more noise than really needed, but the result was satisfactory… I had stood up. Ok so that's not really a great accomplishment but what do you expect? I worked my legs to turn my body towards what was giving off the scent I had found earlier. I spotted a doe in a clearing not twenty feet from where I was standing. She must have been alerted by my attempts at standing for now she was in full alert. One look and she was gone, bolted before I could do anything. I walked over to where she had been standing and found a small pond, the reflection that greeted me was not unexpected. I was a tiger, an overly large tiger even if I was full grown. My coat which I had assumed to be cream turned a deep orange as it traveled up my arms and onto my back. I had the characteristic stripes that framed my face and long white whiskers. I tried to figure out what was bothering me about my appearance. I looked like a normal tiger even if I was huge… there just seemed to be something out of place. Then I noticed my eyes which should have been some shade of yellow or amber, but instead they were a grayish-blue that I had thought I had left behind in my last body. They looked too human on the face of what was known to be a man-eater.

I bent down my head to the pond to satisfy the thirst I hadn't noticed till now. I got down to the water's surface and realized I didn't know what to do. I tried to slurp it but my tiger lips could not create the suction that I needed. Well house cats lap it up with their tongues. I dipped my tongue into the cool water and tried to scoop it up. It was very hard to do so and I had to mentally move my tongue into the water, scoop, and back into my mouth. After a couple of minutes I pulled my head back up from the water, a little frustrated, but ultimately satisfied.

I took another look at my reflection and then the memory of the accident. My mind started processing the memory at a mile a minute. 'Creature of my choice' was a tiger? And what was that name that it gave me? Elita? Yes that had to be it. What was I supposed to do to make IT interested? And what did it mean by 'A world that should not be unfamiliar to you?'

There were too many questions to answer and I didn't know where I was at all. There wasn't any obvious path close by that I could see. Then my ears perked up as I could pick up something like footfalls, but their pattern was too complex for a creature on two legs, it had to be something on four. Oh god I hope it isn't predator then I realized what I had thought and wanted to smack my head into the closet tree. What would possibly want to pick a fight with a very big cat all by itself? Gathering up my courage I tried to pick my way silently towards the footfalls. That was easier said than done since I was new to four legs, but as I drew closer to the noise my legs grew steadier under my massive weight (I'm sure it has to be massive to be that large of a tiger) and the noise of my footfalls all but disappeared under my padded paws. I'm not sure if that's what you would call instinct, but I'm sure I do not have much of it as a twenty year-old in a tiger's body.

I kept picking my way through the forest; the trees weren't too close together so it was easy going. It's a lot farther off than I thought I reasoned and I don't think I was made to do long distance even if I am in a fitter body. Do I still have asthma in this body? After a while I noticed that I wasn't getting winded as I would have back in my old world and everything around me stayed in sharp focus.

As I finally got close to the sound I smell blood. Maybe it's wounded, but by what and is it coming back? My queries were cut off as I spotted the source of the footfalls; it was a normal sized wild boar. It was walking on a small path and on its tusks was a small amount of blood, like it had got into a fight, but probably had only scratched the opponent. It wasn't limping nor had any noticeable disability. Maybe I should leave it alone, it doesn't look very happy. A rumbling in my midsection indicated that I had not eaten in a long time. I am supposed to be a hunter. A man-eater. I should be able to take down this boar; it's even smaller than me. I padded onto the path behind the boar a ways behind it. Adrenaline rushed to my head as I realized I was really going to do this. I could feel my claws moving into position to latch onto the boar's hide. I have never hunted in my life, but I believe tigers would use the first bite to snap the spine, yes that seems like the best way to start. I crept up behind the boar was it continued to walk unaware of my presence, then I took a final leap and sunk my teeth into the boar. Instead of getting the spinal cord in the neck I got the part of the side. I really do make a poor hunter. The boar went wild at this and whipping its tusks around to leave gashes along my side. At the feeling of blood flowing of out of me I pushed myself backwards and out of the range of those dangerous tusks. The boar turned and I noticed it was a little slower now having been bitten and its blood was freely flowing out of the wound. Of course, this was not going to stop a boar now that it was mad with rage. I thought through my predicament in what little time I deduced that I would have now that the boar was making itself ready to charge.

Then both I and the boar were in for a large surprise as we heard, "YOU FILTHY BOAR! COME BACK HERE!" accompanied but the footfalls of a galloping animal, If I had to guess a horse and a rider.

The boar must have been gotten the blood from this person coming up behind us I thought as it turned tail and started running again. I looked to the nearest tree and threw myself at it hoping my claws allow me to climb up. I barely had gotten into the broad leaves before I watched the rider fly past under me, unaware I was following him with my eyes. The rider had a broad sword drawn and a shield on his arm. He was oddly dressed with a long fur cloak waving dramatically behind him. What world did that thing send me too? I gave a quick glance at my wounds and saw that I had been a coward to let go so soon, the blood was already clotted up. What a big pussy cat I am. I leapt down out of the tree and hit the ground with only a little jarring of my bones. Looks like I'll get the hang of this yet. I urged my limbs to race after the two before I couldn't smell the blood anymore.

It wasn't long till I heard a whining of something dying. I crept up in the bushes alongside to watch the boar's eyes glaze over. I had never seen something die like that before. It was really a gruesome sight with the warrior's sword sticking out of its back. He made quick work of skinning the boar and getting a fire going to roast it. During this I realized I was drooling over all of the red meat. I was starving and I saw the man throwing the intestines in the bush right next to me. I sniffed the intestines disgusted at my desire to eat them, but I did anyway. To my surprise they were very juicy, but that wasn't enough to satisfy my hunger. Night had already fallen so the man had set up camp and was settling down for the night.

I could really see his face clearly now. He seemed to have darker, maybe reddish hair. Or was that just the firelight? He had a sort of mustache with a goatee which was the same shade of dark red as his hair. His clothes were quite unusual. It looked like a long tunic with a set of pants, but I was no fashion wizard. You could tell most of the outfit was made of leather, but there was some chainmail peaking out at his elbows above his gloves. He had finished setting up his campsite and the boar meat was slowly cooking on the fire; I saw him open up his tunic which previously I hadn't noticed had a tear with a dark stain. Blood, something clicked in my brain. The man was now taking off his chainmail shirt then along, cotton shirt and you could see an ugly, but not particularly life-threatening, gash on his chest. His chest… I had already seen a guy's bare chest before but never one so well developed with muscle. At least not in person. My face heated up till I mentally slapped myself Stop it You don't even know him. He applied some sort of cream to the gash and then carefully put back on the cotton shirt. I watched him as he ate a large amount of the boar meat and then bunked down for the night. I waited even longer till I could tell his breathing had evened out. Then I picked my way out from the bushes. First, I looked at the man's horse that was nearby. The horse would probably wake up before the man did. Wonder how I can calm it? I got onto my belly and crawled over to the side of the horse; he lazily opened up his eye and studied me for a minute. I remained perfectly still, not wanting to alarm him into waking up his master. He turned his large nose over to me and sniffed my face, against all hope he snorted in my face and turned his head back to sleep. Taking this as a sign of approval I quickly got up and started to inched my way to the meat the man hadn't consumed. All the time keeping an eye on the man and the sword that lay next to him. Easily assessable if he wanted to use it.

I just had lifted the meat up off the ground in my mouth when a bone fell off and hit the ground. The man immediately woke up, unsheathed his sword, and hard start towards me. Serves me right for stealing I guess. I dropped the deliciously tasting meat and started to circle around the camp site watching the man do the same.

"We could talk this out you know," the words tumbled out of my mouth for no reason other than I was nervous. I really didn't want to die again, especially not the same way as the boar.

I shouldn't have worried though because as that one sentence left my mouth the man almost dropped his sword in his surprise 'I will also make it so you can speak the language'… How could I have forgotten that? I guess most animals don't talk here. As if to prove a point his horse woke up again and snorted in our direction.

"Y-you can speak?" He blurted out. DING DING DING we have a winner.

"I guess I can," I shrugged, "do most animals not talk here?"

The man drew himself up to his full height and sheathed his sword, "None that I have encountered, Do you have a name animal?" he asked pompously.

"It's Elita," I answered. I could now see a crest on his leather tunic near me. A crest of a white tree. Something nagged at the back of my mind, but I could not place where I had seen such a crest before.

"Are you native to this region, Elita the thieving cat?"He taunted.

"No I don't believe so, are there other cats like me anywhere?" I countered. He looked at me for a moment obviously trying to remember and then he had said.

"I have heard of such cats in the deep south beyond my country, but the land is so barbaric that none of my kinsmen travel there," He answered with tact.

"What is your country? Are we in it?" I asked eagerly… Maybe I can get my bearings.

"No, we are not anywhere near my country, who are you that you do not even know where you are?" His curious eyes, gray eyes, were focused on me so intently.

"I-I don't rightly know, but I asked you a question first," I stammered.

"My country is that of Gondor." Everything clicked into place in my mind. Gonder… so this is Middle Earth. I used to be a fanatic of the Lord of the Rings when I was younger, it was more acceptable to society then. As I got older I read less about it, fantasized over it less, and eventually rarely even thought about it. The crest of the White Tree should have given it away. I then remembered 'I will make it a world that should not be entirely unfamiliar.' So that's what the sly old dog meant.

The man was looking at me even more strangely as I was staring into space and working all of it out in my brain. "What is your problem?" He asked not too kindly. He's still wary of me. I guess that's to be expected.

"Please, I'm not going to attack you, I was just hungry," to empathize my point my midsection growled. The man just looked at me and nodded towards the rest of the meat. I took that to mean I was welcome to it. I sat down and started to tear into the tender flesh. For some reason, now it didn't taste right. Maybe I need fresh meat like a real tiger. After the last bite was gone I licked away the oil that had formed on my paws. The man sat down cross legged in front of me. He didn't say anything, just sat there, staring at me, studying me. I tried to reason in my mind who he was. White Tree… traveling far away from Gondor… warrior…. That's not much to go on, but it couldn't be HIM right? I finished my cleaning and I could feel my stomach was satisfied now. But my mind wasn't.

"I've told you my name," I stated, breaking the silence, "Now what is yours?" I'm not sure if I was hoping it was him or hoping it wasn't.

He threw out his chest as he said "I am Boromir son of Denethor and Captain of the White tower of Minas Tirith." I was right... I have now met Boromir, one of the fellowship who will… die. I pursed my lips.

I asked the question that was foremost on mind, but the one I already know the answer to. "Are you heading to Rivendell?" the name felt strange on my tongue, I hadn't talked about LOTR in many years, but I remembered most of it.

Boromir's eyes widened again in surprise, "How'd you know?" His mouth was slightly open.

"That is a long story," I smiled slightly; This could be a long and interesting night.

Like it at? Please Review!