* I don't own any Inuyasha characters except for the ones I have made up,( such as Liz, Susan, blah, blah, blah, you get the idea ) and taken from my own twisted and disturbed mind *

And so the story begins...

Chapter 1 - A Trip Through Time

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Lost.

That was the only thought that was going through Liz's mind, that and how in the *world* had Susan *ever* convince her that going on this camping trip would be "fun". * Fun, yeah if you consider getting lost in fog thick as peanut butter as fun *,thought Liz sourly as she made her way through the forest, muttering as she goes of all the things she was going to do to Susan when she found her way back to camp. Stopping for a moments respite, she thought back to earlier that day when this all started.

~~~ A week ago ~~~

"C'mon Liz! You have to go!" says Liz's best friend of the last ten years.

Not looking up from her endless cleaning Liz said a bit distractedly, "Nah I have too much to do today. Besides unlike you, I am not living with anyone else who doesn't give a damn if I don't have a job or not and is free to do nothing day after day."

Unable to deny anything Susan just stuck her tongue out at Liz and then turned away to think up a way to get Liz on this trip. It was either Liz or someone else and god dammit, she wanted Liz to come. The *always* did things together. *Well, usually*, thought Susan dejectedly. Ever since she and Liz left the orphanage last year, she has done nothing but work, work, and work. Then a thought occurred to her. *Yes! It'll work* she thought as she smiled to herself with evil glee. With her back still turned toward Liz, and trying to keep her the gleefulness out of her voice and trying to put a casual edge to it, she launched her first missile, "You know, ah, Jason might be there."

*Can we all say BULLSEYE!*, she thought to herself as she watched Liz's reaction to it and knew all she had to do was nudge her a little more; she waited for that opportunity.

Liz had stiffened ever so slightly at Jason's name. She stopped for a moment where she was cleaning the bookcase, and said with studied nonchalance, "Oh really? I hadn't realized he liked camping." She went back to her cleaning; however, she obviously distracted by thoughts of her crush now.

*Really convincing Liz, real convincing* thought the tall brown-haired woman, but out loud she said with affected casualness, "Yeah, Rick told me he was coming but if you don't he'll ask *her* to come with us on the trip." *DOUBLE BULLSEYE!* Maniacal happiness was just bouncing around Susan's mind as she witnessed the final missile's impact on her friend. She wasn't the least bit disappointed, in fact she was tickled pink.

Liz snapped out of her daze upon hearing that and narrowed her dark green eyes at the unseen foe, and had said foe been standing right there, they would be dead faster than you could say "Jumping jack rabbits!" "Really", said Liz with deadly calm, "well I might have some vacation time coming to me; I might be able to ask for two weeks off." However, to herself she thought, *God dammit, Emily is doing it again! Trying to steal a guy I like again! Bitch! If I see her, I'm going to give her a five finger sandwich. After what she did to me the last time, she dares to try it again!?*

Watching Liz from across the tiny apartment Susan let her grin turn into a large evil Cheshire cat smile. She had gotten her way again, even if she had to fib to get her way.*Oh well, no harm no foul!*

So the rest of the week was spent in preparation for the day of the trip. Amazingly, her boss gave her the vacation time she asked for on such short notice. So the day before the trip the usual stuff was packed: 21 pairs of socks since they would be most likely sloshing through some streams, extra under clothes just in case something happens, a jacket, pants, two first aid kits, two canteens, a lantern, flash light, batteries, back up batteries for the batteries, and so the list went on.

"Oh, and just to be sure Susan, Rick has the rest of the stuff we need such as the food, bottled water, tent and sleeping bags?" asked Liz as they paused in their preparations.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, when we get out there he'll divide the stuff among us so we're responsible for our own gear. Then we hike for three hours to get to the spot her picked for us, it's a really gorgeous spot near a water fall and stream. "

"'K." said Liz as she went back to putting stuff into her backpack. Little did Liz know how this trip would change her life in ways she never thought of.

~~~ Present ~~~

Thinking of that morning and how Susan convinced her to go on this trip still makes Liz wince, because as soon as they got there, guess who decided to show up? That's right that man-stealing, two-timing, back-stabbing hussy! Yup, Emily showed up, and with Jason on her arm to boot! Liz didn't want to think on it, because it was just one disaster after another, ending with her getting lost in a fog that suddenly that showed up out of the blue. Liz winced again in remembrance as she sat against the rotten log she found.

*Lets see,* thought Liz irritably, *we had to hike five miles in the late afternoon ~wince~ Emily showed up ~wince~ it got dark FAST and to beat it all I GOT LOST!!* She wasn't sure how she got lost but somehow she did. One minute they were in front of her talking away and Liz starts to slow down a bit from the weight of her heavy backpack and the next thing she knows a thick fog rolls in and blocks her view of everyone, but she can still hear them and continues on walking towards them, or so she thought. After a half hour their voices are slightly muffled, and then another half hour goes by and soon she can't hear them at all.

Then getting tired of walking and moving off the trail she spies a decaying log not too far from her. Liz saunters over, takes her backpack off, and sits on it gingerly before placing her entire weight on it that wasn't a lot thanks to the track team and volleyball team keeping her fit and trim so, there was no real worry after she sat down. However, after a while she started to feel sleepy, so she got up and using the log as a backrest Liz decided to take a little nap. *I'll just sit here and ~yawn~ till they realize I'm lost and come looking for me.*

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A/N: I know it's not very long but I thought this would be a nice opener. So, just review and tell me what you think.

Misato_Katsuragi2