A/N: Hi again everyone!

Legolas: Didn't you just write the Prologue?

Chibi: Yes. Yes I did. But it's only the Prologue so it's short. So I like to give my readers more to read by also giving them Chapter One. Honestly, if BlueMouse or Kara were here, I wouldn't have questions like these . . .

Legolas: Well, sorry (sarcasm) if you've never had me as a muse before . . .

Chibi: It's okay! You'll soon get to understand the methods to my madness . . . mehehehehe . . .

Legolas: Um . . . ooooookay then . . . moving on . . . Chibi owns nothing but her OC . . .

Chapter One: In Which There is Much Surprise

Kat wasn't quite sure what had stirred her consciousness. She was quite happy sleeping where she was. It was so peaceful and quiet . . .

. . . Which was odd . . .

A feeling of something being wrong brought her more and more to consciousness. It was too quiet. She couldn't even hear the whispers of her classmates as they talked to each other. Deciding to check what had caused the sudden quiet to come over the classroom, the sleep-deprived teenager forced an eye to wince open . . .

The other followed its twin quite quickly as the girl took in her new surroundings.

000

The prince of Mirkwood passed through the gates, out of the city of the woodland elves. Around five other elves followed him as an escort. The elves walked, leading their horses. It wasn't prudent to ride through the forest with so many roots that could easily trip up and lame a horse. The riding would be saved for after they had gotten through the woods. For now, the horses just served to carry food, water, and other necessities for travel.

If things had not been tense among the travelers bound for Imladris, they certainly were now. The creature Gollum that had been their prisoner had escaped while elves had let him out to climb about the trees. Still, Legolas was determined to go to Rivendell. He would not miss this chance to see his friends once more.

000

Katherine had gotten to her feet, trying to keep from hyperventilating. Trees. All she could see were trees, if she could see much at all in the gloom and dark of the woods. The air was thick and it was hard to breathe. Panic was rising within her and she was doing all she could to fight it off.

"Okay Kat . . . calm down . . ." she murmured, not at all comforted by how loud her voice seemed in the oppressive silence of the forest, nor by the fact it was higher-pitched than her normal tone, her throat tight from fear.

"You've woken up in a strange place, a dark wood with no idea where you are after falling asleep in class . . ." she whispered to herself, trying to keep her voice soft, not wanting to draw the attention of anything in this forest. She was sure it would not be anything good. "I'm dreaming . . . that's the only logical explanation . . . I'm dreaming." she whispered, knowing she was freaking out and going into denial to try and calm herself.

Not listening to any sort of common sense, it seemed to have fled from the dark gloom of the imposing forest, she started to wander off, trying to find someone or something friendly. "There's got to be a cabin or . . . or something . . ." she whispered to herself, having no idea how much trouble she would get into by continuing forwards.

000

The sound of whistling could be heard by the elves and they looked towards the source of the sound in confusion. "A traveler?" one of the elves whispered.

Legolas shook his head. "No . . . they're too far off the path . . . still . . ." he said, considering. If the whistler was threat to his home, it was his responsibility as prince to stop the person however he could.

He handed the reigns of his horse to the nearest elf. "Wait here, I'm going to find out what's going on." he said and jumped up into the trees, smiling a little as the tree moved slightly, trying to make it easier for the prince to keep his balance.

Protests came from the elves below. "My prince! Your father will never-"

"What my father doesn't know won't hurt him." Legolas retorted with a grin before leaving the group behind as he traveled silently through the trees. They were more than happy to lead him to the intruder in the forest, wanting to help the familiar elf in whatever way they could.

000

Kat had started to whistle, remembering a song from a movie she had watched when she was little. In fact, she whistled the tune of the song, but the forest did not seem any less imposing.

Licking her lips, she tried whistling again, but could not get more than a few notes out. She knew she was scared, but she wanted to hide it. She couldn't help but feel like someone or something was watching her and, paranoid, kept looking over her shoulder.

"I whistle a happy tune . . . and every single time . . . the happiness in the tune . . . convinces me that I'm . . . not afraid . . ." she sung softly to herself. She didn't exactly know the words since it had been a long time since she had last heard the song. However, it did seem like the forest was a little less unfriendly so, taking a breath, she started the next bit of the song that came to her head, and she did as the next part suggested.

"Whenever I feel afraid . . . I hold my head erect . . . and whistle a happy tune . . . so no one will suspeEEEEEKK!!!" she cut herself off as she jumped back with a scream as a figure dropped from the trees in front of her. As if to add injury to insult, as she stumbled backwards, she stumbled over a root that she could have sworn was not there a few seconds ago. Then again, she couldn't really see anything, so who was she to say something like that?

"Oof!" Kat had landed right on her rear end and her head had hit the none too soft ground. "Ow . . ." she murmured, rubbing the back of her head. As the stars in front of her eyes began to clear, she still couldn't really see the figure in front of her, and though she was scared, she hid it by getting angry. "Where the hell did you come from?!" she snapped, glaring up at where she thought the figure's eyes should be. She really hated the darkness of this forest. It was annoying.

000

Legolas had been following the human through the trees for a few minutes, holding back a chuckle as she started to sing. She seemed to be quite young, so it seemed only natural she would be scared, particularly if she had gotten lost or separated from whatever group she had been a part of.

That thought made him frown. The trees mentioned nothing of any groups of travelers in the woods and gave him the impression that the girl had just appeared in the woods. But that was crazy . . . wasn't it?

Deciding to learn where she really came from, Legolas dropped down in front of the girl, her little song being cut off by a shriek. He sighed, seeing that she had fallen. He raised an eyebrow at her question before smirking a little. How odd that she'd ask him the question he wished to ask her. "I could ask you the same thing. You're a trespasser here." he said, and though his words were a little intimidating, his smile was kind.

However, Kat's human eyes prevented her from seeing the smile and instead, they widened in fear. "I-I'm sorry! I really didn't mean to! I really have no idea how I got here. One minute, I'm falling asleep in . . . erm . . . and the next I'm in the middle of this forest!" she said, her arms waving wildly to try and annunciate her point.

Legolas let out a chuckle at her antics before he held out a hand to her. "Calm yourself penneth . . . You are not in trouble." he said, though he was concerned at her lack of knowledge of how she arrived in Mirkwood.

Kat sighed a little, glad that whoever was in front of her seemed friendly at least. Through the gloom, she could make out that the figure was holding a hand out for her to take. She figured it wouldn't be polite to reject the offer, especially since she was an intruder, she took the hand and found herself being pulled up.

"Come now penneth, you may travel with my company and me until we're able to find a way to get you home. How does that sound?" Legolas asked, wanting to reassure the girl, he thought more a child.

Kat nodded, a bit distracted as she tried to see through the dark. "Home sounds good . . ." she murmured and then tried to find where her guide was. "Um . . . you'll have to lead me though. I can't exactly see through this dark." she said, her face warming with embarrassment.

A/N: Okay. I'm done.

Legolas: Took you long enough.

Chibi: Stupid writer's block. I wanted to get this up by my birthday . . . grr . . . play season's WAY too busy . . . but I'll will try to update everything by graduation!

Legolas: Speaking of which, you might have a tough time with that considering your grades . . .

Chibi: T-T Why does Kat feel like she's taking on a life of her own?! T-T

Legolas: (sigh) Not worried about grades at all are ya?