So I finally wrote something again! Sorry this isn't Forgetting If, Remember Yes, but I swear I'm not giving up on that one. School just became a nightmare last semester, and I gave up trying to have any kind of a life. But now I'm on a much better schedule, so hopefully I will be able to update more regularly.

Also, yes, this is a girl-falls-into-Mirkwood-and-gets-rescued story, but don't give up on it just because of that! Legolas isn't even in the first few chapters, and I'm trying really hard not to make Kat a Mary-Sue. For those of you who have read Forgetting If, Remember Yes, don't be surprised if the writing style is a little less formal. I'm experimenting with first person, so I'm trying to be a little less story-like.

My review policy: I'm happy to get almost any review, especially critiques and polite criticism. If you think I'm doing something wrong, please tell me (but if it's about canon, I'm probably not going to be that worried). However, if you really hate this so much that you can only insult me, don't bother. Just stop reading it.

Disclaimer: All characters that you recognize belong to Tolkien (or JK Rowling in this chapter). If they belonged to me, then I would be the published author instead of writing here.

To say that I was worried when I woke up in a pile of leaves instead of my bed should have been quite an understatement. But the cold air and the slightly damp ground shocked me into an almost calm state, that is until I noticed the spider-the-size-of-a-house that had taken up residence in the tree above me. I'd overlooked it in my initial confusion, just going to show how unobservant I truly am. Thankfully though, it seemed to have overlooked me as well. This may have had something to do with the fact that I was quite literally in the pile of leaves. Or it could have just been because it was really freaking dark.

At any rate, once I noticed the ginormous bug, I resolved to stay perfectly still until I could come up with a way to escape unnoticed. You know, I did the whole freeze-when-you-see-a-T-Rex-and-hope-all-those-stories-are-right thing. Apparently big spiders aren't all that much smarter than dinosaurs, because it didn't immediately attack. Then again, maybe it was just biding its time.

I took the time while waiting for the creature to attack to process all the information I could to find out where I was. I figured it wasn't Earth because I'd never heard of spiders that big (and I would have because I'm kind of a Jeopardy freak). At least, it wasn't Earth unless all the Harry Potter stories were true. If they were, hopefully Hagrid would come bounding around the corner at any moment and save me from good ol' what's-his-name, the giant spider friend who nearly ate Harry and Ron.

Alas, no other giant creatures appeared. The darkness did abate a little, so I figured it was getting near dawn. I stopped noticing weird eye-things all around and started noticing the bodies that were connected to those eyes. Great. More giant spiders.

At any minute, it was definitely going to get too light for the spiders to not be able to see me anymore, but I didn't know what to do. I mean librarians don't have to deal with this situation on a day-to-day basis. The worst I ever had to deal with was a nitpicky researcher or two. And then I heard it: a distant horn blast. It sounded friendly in a weird sort of way, but even if it wasn't, I was glad because the spiders all got really tense. I guess that meant they'd heard the horn before and knew it wasn't good news, and apparently I was right because they all turned figurative-tail and scuttled off in the opposite direction.

At first I really wanted to get up at do a little victory, thank-the-lord-I-didn't-get-eaten dance, but then I realized that whatever could scare spiders that big probably didn't bode so well for me. I mean these bugs were like 1000 times my size, and they had all those nasty pincers and stuff. All I had was my pajamas and whatever stick I could scrounge up to use as a staff, which I had no idea how to do anyway. And I really didn't think I would get far running, as it was mostly still dark and I tended to fall a lot when I tried to run.

So I resigned myself to waiting. Perhaps they would be friends and disliked giant spiders as much as I did. Or perhaps they'd want to chop off my head. I heard the horn again, and I knew I was sure to find out within a few minutes. They must have been on horseback, since it advanced so quickly. Either that, or they were as big as the spiders. I shuddered at the thought.

Hearing hooves on the leaves, I stood so as to draw attention to myself. No sense drawing this out, you know. After a few seconds, a party of what looked like young men entered into the clearing where I was. Thankfully they were all normal-sized, if you can call really, really, way too tall normal. And trust me, you could tell they were tall even when they were on horseback.

Of course they saw me and stopped. They surrounded me so I couldn't escape, and I held up my hands in the universal sign of resignation. Then we just stared at each other. There were eleven of them in all, and they could have all been brothers. I suspected that my initial guess at men was wrong, because they were all fabulously gorgeous, with long blonde hair and obviously very fit bodies. They could have passed for brothers, every single one, and I was sure that not a one of them was older than my twenty-five years.

Finally one of them spoke. He was the only one not wearing a sort of green and brown Robin Hood outfit. His was entirely black and rather foreboding looking.

"Just what are you doing in these woods, mortal?" he intoned. It was a rather nasally voice, and though it didn't sound unkind, I knew we weren't going to be best friends.

"I'm sorry, sir. I just woke up in this pile of leaves." A few of his companions snorted at this, and I felt a little better. Anyone who has the ability to laugh at ridiculousness can't be all bad.

"Hmm," the snobby one continued, "you just woke up here. How…odd. And did you know that you were trespassing on the lands of Thranduil, king of all the Mirkwood elves?"

Wow. King. Oh, how I hoped it wasn't him. And Mirkwood seemed like a really good name for this dark place too. "Well, no. I don't think I've ever heard of Thranduil." The name did sound familiar though, like from something I'd read a long time ago. It was quite possible, but working as a librarian did allow for a lot of reading, so I never quite remembered what I read as a kid.

The snobby one looked quite offended at my statement and I cringed. Pissing him off wasn't going to help me any. "Are you King Thranduil, sir?"

"No. I am one of his councilors. And sir is a term for mortals, which I am not."

Not mortal? I was really in an odd place. I don't think even Harry Potter's world had immortal creatures, unless you counted Voldemort going all crazy and splitting his soul a bunch. I guess my shock must have showed on my face, because the snobby one explained.

"We are elves, and we are to be addressed as 'my lord.' What did you think we were?"

"Elves?" I practically squeaked that one. I'd always pictured elves as cute little Santa's helpers. These guys didn't look like they made toys all day, or brought tons of joy to good boys and girls every Christmas. They looked more like the ones that might have defended the Santa's castle from the abominable snow monster. And looked really good doing it.

Snob-elf's eyes narrowed. "I do not believe her ignorance," he hissed to one of his companions. "We will take her with us to the king and he may deal with her."

One of the elves rode forward on his command and extended a hand to help me up onto his horse. Unfortunately the thing was definitely taller than me, and I'm not good with big animals. I tend to stick with small things like pugs or cats. At any rate, by some feat of strength he managed to pull me up to sit in front of him. I'm not saying I weigh a ton, but lifting a half-resisting girl from ground to horseback can't be easy either.

We turned and rode off toward what I supposed was the palace. I was really tense, mainly because I was on top of a horse. I guess the part about me being taken prisoner hadn't sunk in yet. The elf must have noticed that I was kind of freaking out, because he gently guided my hands to the horse's mane. "Hold on here; you won't hurt him."

Once I felt less like I was on a death trap, I thanked him. Good manners can get you out of many a bad situation.

"Do not worry so, my lady. The king is much kinder to strangers than Dínendal would have you believe."

I figured he was referring to Snob-elf. "I'm supposed to believe he's nice when he hires elves like that as his councilors?"

The elf laughed softly. "Dínendal is one of the younger councilors, and he has a rather high opinion of himself, my lady. The king has many nicer councilors."

"Well I suppose that's good news." We lapsed into silence for a few moments before I had to ask. "What's with all the 'my lady' stuff?"

"'Tis only polite," he replied. "And I do not know your name."

"It's Kat."

"Kat? That is one I have never heard."

"Well it's really Katriona Elisabetta Eversleigh, but if you call me that I may have to declare war. It doesn't really suit me. So I shortened it to Kat."

"Very well, Lady Kat, I shall call you as you wish. I am Amras."

"Amras. Okay. Or is it Lord Amras?"

The elf chuckled again. I really was beginning to hope that King Thranduil was as friendly as Amras. "I am no Lord, Lady Kat, only a guard. You may call me simply Amras if that is what you wish."

"Well then I insist you dispense with 'Lady' and call me simply Kat."

By this point we had ridden quite a while and I saw what looked like a bridge in the distance. "It is the bridge into the palace, Lady Kat. After we cross it, we will enter the cave that is the city of Mirkwood. The palace is inside, and we should be there in a few more minutes."

A few more minutes was all I would have left until I met this King Thranduil. I immediately tensed up again, but Amras either did not notice or knew that nothing would calm me this time. All too soon, we were dismounting from the horses and walking into a gigantic room. I was slightly comforted by the many empty tables inside the room. At least they didn't make me kneel in front of some king in a gigantic throne room decorated in the Baroque style or something else that hideous. I've always disliked over-decorated space; it makes me feel like I'm nowhere near fancy enough.

At any rate, we passed through the dining room and into a much smaller space, like an office. It was a beautiful room, with subtle leaf carvings on the woodwork and paintings hung to assuage the lack of windows. I of course was too taken with my surroundings to notice that there was another blonde elf sitting behind the large desk in the center of the room.

Amras finally cleared his throat and I snapped into a rather jerky curtsy-like movement. I suppose I should have been grateful that I hadn't fallen over, but I was too conscious of my bare, muddy feet and baggy t-shirt that read 'DeKalb County Public Library.' Compared the elf that was standing up behind the desk, I looked like a sad little poorhouse worker from the days of Charles Dickens.

The aforementioned elf, who could have only been Thranduil, was standing at least a little taller than my escorts and Dínendal. He was wearing a sort of shimmery-but-still-doesn't-detract-from-my-masculinity robe thing and on his head was a circlet of gold leaves. It blended in rather nicely with his long blonde hair and definitely brought out his bright blue eyes. He didn't look any older than me, but one glance at that face and I knew he was way smarter.

Dínendal cleared his throat to begin accusing me of all sorts of crimes, I'm sure, but the king held up one perfect hand to stop him. "What is your name, my dear?"

His voice was kind in a way that did not make him sound less powerful. All in all, he was exactly how I'd imagined a king should be. Unfortunately the shock had set in for real this time, and all I could manage to do was gape at him like a rather unattractive species of fish.

"It is Katriona Elisabetta Eversleigh, my Lord Thranduil, but she wishes to be called Kat." Thank the Lord for Amras.

"Is this true, Lady Kat?"

Finally I recovered my powers of speech. "Yes, your highness."

He chuckled, sounding almost exactly like Amras, and I relaxed. "There is no need for the formality, Lady Kat. Would you please tell me of how you came to be in my kingdom?"

"Of course, your—I mean Lord Thranduil. You see, I was just asleep in my own bed in Atlanta, and when I woke up, I was in a pile of leaves surrounded by really big spiders. I stayed put, hoping they would not recognize me as food, and eventually your elves scared them away and brought me here, for which I am very thankful."

"Hmm," the king mused, looking very thoughtful. "I have not heard of this Atlanta. Perhaps Mithrandir will know where it is."

Dínendal finally piped up: "Mithrandir is on the quest to destroy the One Ring, my Lord. As is your son."

The king's eyes narrowed. "Yes, I suspected he would go." He sighed in a rather beleaguered way and then focused back on me. "Well, since you seem to not know where you are, and I assume you mean us no harm, you are free to stay here as my guest until Mithrandir is available to help you. We can assign you a job if you wish, but if not, I will have someone give you a chamber and show you around."

The prospect of a job was rather exciting. I'd always loved hard work, particularly in the library at home. "Do you have a library, Lord Thranduil? I worked in one at home, and I'd be happy to help out there again."

The elves behind me shifted nervously, and I hoped I hadn't said something awful.

"We do have a library, my Lady Kat, but we have no one who works there. It has not been open since my wife died nearly three thousand years ago. I do not believe you would wish to enter into the mess."

After I managed not to faint at the notion that this elf was over three thousand years old (I guess Dínendal really did mean they were immortal), I spoke up. "If you would not mind, I would like to try to restore some order to it. I detest disorder in libraries."

The king smiled. "Very well. I shall have a maid show you to a chamber and I shall appoint you one to assist you in personal matters. You may begin work on the library tomorrow after breakfast." With that, my interview was over, and I followed Amras out into the dining room again.

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