Half of us.

I do not own LOTR movies and books. Only the OC's are mine. Sorry for any grammar mistakes.

Bold: other language.

Italic: thoughts, past events or distant conversation.

The young girl nervously glanced around before planting her clawed hands on the soft soil surrounding the stream. Thirsty, she plunged her face to the nose in the cold water and quenched her thirst.

A branch cracked closely and her long pointed ears flicked back a bit as she raised her head. She let out a relieved sigh when a partridge slowly waddled out of the bush it had been hiding in.

The teenager rose and walked back to the deer she had killed earlier and resisted the temptation to take a few pieces of raw meat. Its blood smell was making her pupils shrink and she licked her pointy fangs before shaking her head. The Innkeeper would notice the missing pieces of meat or the blood that would certainly stain her tunic.

She grimaced; his dear wife would also certainly offer her to cook a part for her…And once cooked the meat would taste awful… It disgusted her; both ways. Raw meat was absolutely repugnant and dirty business and cooked meat now tasted bland and did not appeal to her anymore. One was disgusting in appearance and tasting like heaven and the other was quite the opposite.

The girl also knew she would never complain nor refuse his wife; the couple was charming and very kind…the only people that had been kind to her since…since some time. The Innkeeper had accepted her help; he was providing a roof over her head and companionship. He also did not ask a lot of questions, which was agreeable for her.

In return, she did all kind of jobs around. She hunted for him, supplying him with the meat he needed to feed his clients and she was giving him a hand with his farm.

Plus, the Inn was also opened late at night, serving as a bar; it was useful to have someone like her around to watch drunken men and get them out if need be.

Stretching, she pierced the nearest three with her thin claws and proceeded to sharpen them on the bark. She dragged them down and shuddered at the pleasant sensation.

'' I must look like a big cat…'' She thought stupidly.

However, since she became like that, she learned this little ritual was very important to keep her claws sharp and to prevent little skins to accumulate around their bases.

Ethelred looked down at her clawed hands and put her leather gloves on; if the village people learned what she was… and they did not even like her to begin with.

The teenager replaced her bow and quiver before picking up the animal corpse and beginning to walk out of the forest, toward the village.

xxxxxx

'' Ethelred, you should not carry around beasts like this on your shoulders; you will hurt yourself! '' The elder woman exclaimed.

The innkeeper's wife was a woman nearing sixty years, wearing a puffy dress and apron at all time. Her rounded cheeks always seemed to be red from some efforts.

The girl closed the kitchen back door behind her and let the animal slide to the floor.

'' It's just a deer, ma'am Leofhild…and a small one at that.''

The innkeeper appeared, a large smile on his face: '' Ah! Ethelred, quite a nice catch you got us! I will butcher it later so my Leo can put it in the stew for supper.'' He said happily as he carried a tray full of empty mugs.

'' We have visitors?'' the girl asked.

''Yes; men from the war…on mission apparently. They are staying here for the night. ''

''Have they said anything about…'' she trailed off.

He frowned and shook his head: '' No…nothing about that.'' He responded to her incomplete question, knowing what she was talking about.

Ethelred looked down and let out a deep growl, making Leofhild jumped, startled.

'' Excuse me, sir.'' She excused herself curtly and went outside, behind the inn stables.

Two months and a half she had been here and no one had heard of the person she was looking for…no clues about him or his whereabouts.

Then she had other problems… bigger ones. She shivered at the mere thought of these. Just to reassure herself, she pitched her nose in the air, smelling the wind.

Horses, pines, humans…. Dry herbs. Yep, everything was normal and under control. She stared dejectedly toward the east, the large meadow in front of her bathed by the sunlight.

Suddenly, her right ear twitched; someone was coming her way

''Ethelred…''

Slowly she turned to him: '' Sir?''

The innkeeper scratched his graying beard: '' I do not know what you seek exactly, but you will find what you need someday, if you are patient and keep looking.'' Dernhelm said to comfort her.

The girl sighed: '' Did you need me for something? ''

He extended an arm, probably to give her a friendly tap on the shoulder, but she quickly jumped out of his reach. His hand stopped in the air and he stared at her, confused:

'' You know we wish you no harm… Are you afraid of me? You've been here for over two months… do you not trust us by now?'' the man said on a hurt tone.

Her long ears fell to the side of her head, just like a sad dog: ''I-I am sorry…no, of course not, I'm not afraid of you; you're a good man. ''

Afraid of him…where was this man getting these ideas?! She was the monster! She had fangs and claws for Eru's sake!

Dernhelm smiled a bit at her ruffled state and guilty eyes; he knew now she had not meant to offend him.

He grinned: '' You know…I spared you a piece of that deer… and Leofhild has not touched it…''

Ethelred frowned: '' why? ''

The man shrugged: '' I noticed that you preferred your meat raw… I don't know why, but I know you can't help it. I also know you've been eating whatever Leo has served you only to please her.''

Her cheek reddened and she looked away: '' well…thank you.''

Xxxxxx

Ethelred sat alone at 'her' table in the corner of the inn first floor. It was near a wall, half hidden by the shadow and half lit by the fireplace close by. She raised the heavy mug of beer to her lips and drank a few gulps of it as she surveyed the people around.

Dernhelm was sitting with the men that had arrived today, listening to the recent news and how war was going. She was listening too, not that they knew it or noticed. Dunlandings had been raiding the Rohan for some times now, Orcs as well. King Théoden had not been himself for years and was apparently advised by the wrong person.

The girl knew things were getting bad in Rohan, but now she heard that Orcs had also been seen near Gondor's borders or inside of them. Well…war was moving, expending every day.

One horseman began to speak in a hushed voice and the others fell silent, drawn by his words.

''…survivors from raids are speaking of a new race of Orcs… Bigger, stronger; they can bear the sun's light and they are fast and tough; they can run for miles… ''

She watched Dernhelm's face closely; his brows were knitted together in concentration.

''… some soldiers have seen them too…well, those who were fast enough to flee from them…Most of these beast are taller than men, broader too. They stood straight, just like us, but they have claws and fangs… like these vicious Orcs. ''

Ethelred's fingers curled on the table, her claws piercing her gloves.

''What do they look like? I mean, besides the claws and fangs.'' One of them asked.

'' Their skin is like dark copper, brown or black. They have hair like horses, thick and long. Otherwise…I can't tell: I've never seen these beasts before. ''

One of the men threw his head backward and emptied his beer in a few gulps, before slamming his mug on the table: '' …And you don't want to meet them: I have seen the remains of the villages that were attacked… I have seen butchered children, elders, women…'' He snorted: ''…the women; believe me… they would have preferred to die quickly. '' He said somberly.

All the soldiers gave him a look of horror; Ethelred's claws dug deeply in the wooden surface of the table, leaving four parallel marks.

''They call them Uruk-Hai…''

''You should try to smile a little more darling; you look like you're about to tear something apart! No man is attracted to a brooding girl! '' Leofhild pulled her out of her reverie.

The lady refilled her cup, but only half way, winking to her. The innkeeper's wife said it was not appropriate for a young lady like her to drink that much.

The teenager snorted: '' You want me to smile, eh? Look at this.''

The girl stretched her lips, revealing her sharp fangs and the two pointy teeth surrounding each one of them. At least, only these teeth were weird…the rest of them were pretty normal looking. Leofhild appeared deflated by her behavior and Ethelred chuckled bitterly: '' There goes my non-existing suitor…''

The woman shook herself and placed her fists on her hips: '' Tst! None of your sassy attitude now! '' she said as she swiped her with the dishcloth in her hand before leaving behind her counter again.

The young girl tried to heed her words and released the tension in her muscles and tried to enjoy the warmth of the fire and the bitter taste of the beer on her tongue. She stretched her legs and placed her booted feet on the chair facing her. It could be far worse for her… This place looked like heaven compared to before…she had wandered alone in the wild for some time…she spent a few nights under the rain… she slept into trees… in disgusting, humid caves. Hunting and drinking into streams was not that bad…it was the lonely nights and days. It was the chilly wind that went through her tunic and pants. It was the fear that gripped her inside: it kept her looking over her shoulder all the time. It kept her constantly smelling the air; searching for any threats.

Unconsciously, her hand reached for the scars hidden by the collar of her tunic…sometimes, it felt as if they were still hurting. There were at least three or four of them, placed low on the base of her nape. She sighed and drank some more.

Finally, the girl rose bringing her mug with her, drew out the knife at her right hip and began to throw it at the target nailed to the wall in the back of the room.

After a few minutes, Dernhelm showed himself: '' You looked pissed…Care to share? '' He said as he leaned on one of the beams.

'' who says I'm pissed? '' she grumbled.

The man rubbed the back of his head: '' well…for one you've been drinking for at least two hours and now you are destroying my target, again.''

Ethelred glanced at him then at the men, who were all staring at her.

'' You came here because these lads are curious about me.'' She pointed out.

'' Excuse them; they have never seen an elf before.''

Ethelred wanted to laugh; an elf… Ah! She'd give anything to be an elf. People saw her pointy ears and they believed what she told them. And none of them had ever truly seen one so they had nothing to compare with…

Elves had no fangs and no claws.

Their ears were almost human and not as long as hers.

Their noses were normal…hers had a feline touch to it.

Finally, they had no vertical pupils.

The peasants around believed anything.