Chapter 1: Lost and Found
"Inu Yasha help!" Kagome screamed. Inu Yasha looked up frantically. Kagura took the opportunity to blast him with her Dance of Blades. Inu Yasha was knocked flying. He hit the ground hard and slid several feet along the rough soil but he was up immediately snarling angrily. Kagome struggled in Naraku's grasp and hit the demon over the head with the frying pan she had been planning to use to cook dinner before they had been attacked.
"I'm coming!" Inu Yasha shouted, running towards her. Naraku laughed and leapt in the air, Kagome still in his clutches. Inu Yasha ended up running right passed them.
"Let me go you big brute!" Kagome screeched hitting Naraku again with the frying pan. Naraku's eyes narrowed and he tightened his grip on the girl, squeezing her painfully, causing her to cry out. Naraku's smirk returned. He took the bottle containing the shards of the sacred jewel from around Kagome's neck.
"Here is your woman, fool!" Naraku laughed, letting go on Kagome. Kagome screamed as she fell, clutching at the air.
"Kagome!" Shippo cried desperately from the tree he was hiding in. Inu Yasha had hidden him there at the start of the battle to keep him from danger. Inu Yasha spun around and saw Kagome falling. Running so fast that he was almost a blur, he got there just in time to catch Kagome. Shippo couldn't take it anymore, he leapt out of the tree and onto Inu Yasha's shoulder. The lesser demons dispatched, Miroku and Sango joined their comrades.
Naraku landed some distance away from them. He turned to where Kagura was lifting her fan, preparing to strike all of her enemies at once. "Kagura, you needn't trouble yourself with these fools any longer. Go on ahead of me back to the palace. I shall deal with them and join you there soon enough." Kagura nodded to her master and took a small white feather from her hair and threw it into the air. It became a giant feather and she sat on it. She grinned and waved in mock joviality as she flew away. Naraku watched her go for a few seconds before turning to face the Inu-gang. There was a grin of triumph upon his face. He held the jewel shards out so that they could see them.
"Hey!" Inu Yasha shouted. "Those are Kagome's jewel shards! Give them back before I tear you to fucking pieces!" Naraku stuffed the jewel shards into the inside pocket of his shirt.
"Oh I don't think so," he said. "These are mine now. And if you haven't done the math this means that I now have the entire Shikon no Tama. Face it, I've won." Inu Yasha growled and held out the Tetsusaiga.
"Fight me Naraku. Then we'll see who's the victor!" Naraku shook his head and held out his hand.
"Oh, I don't think that will be necessary, hanyou," he said, tilting his head. His hand began to glow. "You see, I have thought of a much better fate for you. I am going to send you far away to another world. Even if you survive you first few minutes, which I doubt-" Inu Yasha and the others were lifted into the air. Kagome reached out and held Shippo to her protectively. "You will never get home." A swirling red portal appeared in the air in front of them. "And you shall never bother me again. Goodbye, pathetic fools." Before anyone could figure out a way to escape they were hurled into the portal.
"Inu Yasha!" Kagome cried, squeezing her eyes tightly shut. She thought that she was going to be sick. She could feel herself spinning fast and could feel no signs of slowing down. Her only comfort was the fox tyke clutched to her chest.
"Kagome," she heard the child's muffled voice say into her shirt. Shippo sounded even more afraid than she was. Kagome opened her eyes and held him tighter.
"It's going to be all right Shippo," she said, fighting to keep her voice steady. "It will be all over soon." Almost as if whatever twisted being was controlling her fate heard her (and had a very cruel sense of humour) a bright light appeared some distance in front of her. Kagome sensed that this was the end of whatever portal they were being hurled through. They would be out soon. They were flying at it at nearly light speed. Kagome turned her head to see Miroku somersaulting through the "air" next to her. In less dangerous circumstances she might have laughed. The poor monk looked like he was going to be sick.
Kagome suddenly felt herself go through the end of the portal and felt a cool rush of air. Then she looked down. And screamed. "Not again!" she cried as she fell through the air. Luckily, something stopped her fall. Unluckily, it was a giant spider web. Miroku landed upside down next to her. Sango landed above her and Inu Yasha landed below her and a little to the left.
Inu Yasha began to struggle but it became immediately apparent that they weren't getting out of there any time soon. "Oh this is just great!" he complained. "Am I the only one who sees the irony here?" Kagome laughed nervously.
"Oh come on Inu Yasha look on the bright side!" Miroku said, the colour returning to his face. This could have been because all of the blood was rushing to his head.
"Bright side?" Inu Yasha yelled. He glared up at Miroku who grinned lopsidedly.
"At least the spider who makes this web its home isn't here. Yet." He laughed and Inu Yasha shook his head in disbelief.
"I honestly don't get you sometimes. I don't see what's so funny. We're sitting ducks here unless we can find a way to escape." He began to struggle again, more frantically this time.
"I think Miroku spoke too soon!" Sango said, a tinge of fear in her voice. "And it's not a spider."
"What?" Kagome asked, surprised.
"It's more than one," Sango said simply. Inu Yasha groaned. "They're enormous!" Kagome looked in the direction Sango's head was facing. Sango had not been exaggerating. The spiders were the size of minivans and they looked hungry. The three creatures rushed towards them in an uneven triangle, drooling in anticipation.
"Shippo, run," Kagome said. She seriously hoped the young kitsune could not detect the terror in her voice. Her heart ached as he clutched her shirt tighter.
"No! I don't want to leave you!" he cried.
"Go," Inu Yasha called up, his voice unusually kind. "At least you can escape." Shippo sobbed and jumped off of Kagome.
"You stupid jerk Inu Yasha!" he cried as he scampered up into the trees.
"I'm not a jerk!" Inu Yasha yelled after him. He sighed, looking back to where the spiders were quickly advancing upon them. "Well guys. This may be it. Sorry I failed you all. I honestly didn't think that it would end like this."
One of the spiders lunged at Kagome. She shut her eyes in terror. Something whizzed passed her ear and she heard a thud. Kagome opened her eyes and she gasped. The spider had been knocked back, and arrow sticking out of its head. Several more arrows whizzed passed Kagome's head and that spider stopped dead in its tracks. There was a swish of tree branches above her and something dropped out of the trees with a flash of gold onto the second spider. It was a blond haired man, strangely dressed. As he landed on the spider he drew twin knives from their sheathes on his back and stabbed them into the spiders back. The spider screeched and reared. The man used the momentum to somersault onto the third spider and drive his knives deep into its brain. This spider screamed and died.
The second spider was still alive though, and it was angry. It screeched horrifically and charged towards the man who stood calmly before its onslaught. When the spider was close enough it lunged, jaws snapping. The man drove both of his knives into the spider's mouth. Unfortunately the spider's momentum was great and it nearly landed on top of him. He had obviously been expecting this because he bent over backwards and the spider flew over him and crashed into the tree behind him.
The man looked up at the Inu-gang and grinned. "You people need help?" Kagome could only nod, causing the man's grin to widen. "Oh yeah, and is this yours?" he asked, pulling Shippo out of his hair on the back of his head, where the kitsune had grabbed on.
"Shippo!" Kagome cried happily.
"I'll take that as a yes," the man said, tossing him up to Kagome. "The young thing gave me quite a start. I'm Legolas by the way. Just let me get my knives and I'll get you down." Kagome watched with bemusement as the strange man pushed the spider that he had killed last away from the tree and reached into its mouth and pulled out his knives. Legolas stared at them for a moment with revulsion before wiping them clean with a rag. "Don't want to get spider guts all over you're clothes now do we?" he laughed. Then he unshouldered his pack and pulled a rope from it. He threw it over a tree branch in front of the spider web and formed a loop on one end. He stuck his foot in the loop and pulled experimentally on the rope. Then, using the rope as a pulley, he hauled himself up to where Kagome was stuck.
"Ingenious!" Miroku exclaimed. Legolas cut Kagome free with one of his knives, holding the rope with his other hand. He swung her down to the ground gently. She rolled and stood to stare up at the others. "This way you can reach us without having to touch the web and get stuck yourself."
"Yes, well, I've had to do this a few times," Legolas replied as he repeated the same action with Sango. He smiled grimly. "Usually with corpses." He freed Inu Yasha next. Lastly, he stopped in front of Miroku and paused. "This is going to be difficult. How am I going to get you down from here without you landing on your head?"
"Just drop him!" Inu Yasha called. "You can't do any more damage than had already been done."
"Inu Yasha!" Kagome yelled angrily. Nervously, Inu Yasha met Kagome's livid gaze. "Sit!" Inu Yasha slammed into the ground with a small yelp. He climbed to his feet growling under his breath and picking small twigs and bits of leaf from his hair. Legolas stared down at them bemusedly. Kagome sweat-dropped and waved.
"I'll cut him free now. Dog man, can you catch him?" Inu Yasha's eye twitched. Kagome and Sango sniggered.
"Dog man?" he muttered. "Yes I can catch him!" Legolas let himself down to the ground quickly. "What are you doing?" Legolas formed another loop on the other side of the rope. He held it up so Inu Yasha could see it.
"This way I can work with two hands. Even with you catching him I can already tell I'm going to need to." Inu Yasha nodded his understanding. Legolas pulled himself level with Miroku again. The ones on the ground watched worriedly as Legolas fitted his other foot into the second loop and let go of the rope. Legolas obviously had excellent balance because he was steady almost instantly. He cut the threads holding Miroku's upper body first and worked his way up to the monk's ankles. He took one of Miroku's ankles and cut him free. There was a heart-stopping second as gravity took over and the two of them nearly fell. "I'm going to drop him now. Catch him dog man!" He let go of Miroku's ankle and Inu Yasha caught him.
"Thanks Inu Yasha," Miroku said as Inu Yasha set him down. The monk swayed in place and Inu Yasha caught him again.
"What's wrong?" Sango asked, concerned.
"I expect it's because he hung upside down for so long," Legolas said as he landed gracefully beside them. Choosing to simply let go of the rope to save time and effort. This was the first chance that Kagome got to really look at their rescuer. He was very handsome. He was tall and slender with piercing blue eyes, long golden hair, and… and…
"Pointy ears?" Kagome blushed when it became apparent that she had spoken the last part aloud. "Sorry." Legolas laughed.
"Yes, I'm one of the elves of Mirkwood if you couldn't tell." Kagome blinked.
"Elves?" Inu Yasha asked. Legolas stared.
"Yes, elves." He paused. "Don't tell me you've never heard of elves before." Kagome laughed nervously.
"Well, we're from rather far away," she said. Inu Yasha snorted and, folding his arms, looked away.
"I could tell," Legolas agreed. "You're clothes are very strange. And these-" he pinched one of Inu Yasha's ears. Inu Yasha growled slightly.
"No," Kagome shook her head. "I mean really far away. As in not-of-this-world far away." So Kagome told Legolas the whole story. How she fell down the well, the shattering of the sacred jewel, the battles with Naraku. Everything. Legolas was silent but there was a look of slight disbelief on his face throughout her tale. "You do believe us, don't you?" Kagome asked when she had finished. Legolas nodded.
"You're tale is so strange that it couldn't have been made up. Besides, you haven't heard of elves. You would either be from another world or the most ignorant people on Arda not to have heard of the First Born."
"So where are we exactly?" Sango asked looking around. Kagome did the same. They were in a dark forest. The trees were huge and gnarled and looked almost dead. The ground beneath there feet was overgrown with weeds. It made Kagome nervous.
"We're in Mirkwood."
"Mirkwood! You live here!" Inu Yasha practically yelled in surprise. His tone obviously provoked something in Legolas. The elf's eyes widened and his lips pressed into a thin line. Without another word, he whirled around and stormed out of the clearing. Kagome glared at Inu Yasha.
"Sit Boy! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit!" Satisfied that the hanyou had been justly punished she ran after their only friend in this new world. "Legolas wait!" The elf stopped walking but did not turn around. Kagome paused for a moment when she reached him to catch her breath. "Legolas I am sorry. Inu Yasha often speaks without thinking. I have a feeling he is regretting his words now though." To her surprise Legolas laughed.
"I heard. How do you do that anyway? No don't tell me. Some things are better not knowing. And I am sorry for walking off like that. I just decided that I had wasted enough time here and I didn't want any more to do with him. I am worried about my friends," he explained, looking agitatedly in the direction that he had been walking.
"You're friends?" Miroku asked, as he and Sango joined them. Legolas began to walk again and gestured for them to follow. Inu Yasha followed several paces behind them.
"Yes, despite what many of my people, especially my brothers, say I do have some common sense. I do not leave the city alone unless I have good reason. This forest has gotten even more dangerous of late." Legolas shook his head sadly and looked around. "It wasn't always this way. Not before the Necromancer. The council exorcised him but Eryn Lasgalen never recovered. Now they call it Mirkwood instead of Greenwood the Great. My friends were taking the prisoner out to the tree but they still haven't returned." Seeing the Inu-gang's puzzled faces he continued his explanation. "Some time ago the Lord Aragorn brought us a small, wretched creature called Gollum for us to watch over. He told us that there was still some hope for its recovery and to treat it with kindness. So we have done so. There is a tree that he loves to climb, where he can feel the breeze on his face. But he has not come down for days. I received... a tip that something might be seriously wrong so I have come to investigate. I saw you in trouble so naturally I rushed to help. I never miss an opportunity to kill the spiders that have invaded my homeland. But now I have this feeling that I may be too late."
"We'll get you there faster," Sango said. "Kirara! Kirara!" She looked around. "Where is that cat?" There was a small squeaking noise and the neko tumbled out of one of the sleeves of Miroku's robes. "What were you doing in there?"
"Probably making sure she didn't get separated from the rest of us," Shippo said jumping down and scratching behind her ears. "She's smart! Probably a bit dizzy though."
Legolas stared down at Kirara." I am sorry. But how will this help reach my friends faster?" Kirara suddenly transformed. Startled, Legolas jumped back and drew his bow with a cry. "Ai, Elbereth!"
"Easy Legolas! This is Kirara. She's a cat demon but she is also my friend," Sango explained. "She is very fast and will be able to carry you, Shippo, Miroku, and I on her back." (AN: I've seen her carry three normal sized people, and when it comes to riding size, Shippo is practically nonexistent.)
"But what about Kagome and Inu Yasha?" Legolas asked, waving his hand in their general direction.
"I can carry Kagome on my back. I'm as fast if not faster than Kirara," said Inu Yasha, hoisting Kagome onto his back.
"First you are a dog, now you're a horse! What next Inu Yasha?" Legolas laughed when Inu Yasha growled. "A sweet revenge. Let's go, Sango. No time to lose." Sango nodded and spurred Kirara on. Legolas directed her to the tree and Inu Yasha and Kagome followed after. Kagome got to get a good look at the forest around them. It was dark and close. Spider webs hung from many of the trees. She could almost feel the trees' anger and hate. It was a completely different feeling than Kagome sensed in the Sacred Tree in her family's shrine. It made her afraid. How can anyone live here? she thought, shaking her head.
After a time, Legolas called a halt. He dismounted from Kirara. "We're nearly there. I don't know if anything is wrong but it would be best not to be noticed if they have been attacked."
"What would attack them?" Shippo asked. "More spiders?"
"No, worse. Orcs have been on the move of late. They usually don't travel this deep in the forest, for they know that the Elves have a fairly strong grip here. I know those two, they could handle anything that lives in the forest. But a battalion of Orcs would simply be too much for only two Elves no matter how skilled." Legolas shook his head. He readied his bow. "Just be ready for anything." He motioned the others forward. Suddenly, Legolas cried out and sprang forward.
"Legolas wait!" Inu Yasha called. "What is that fool doing? Wasn't he just talking about avoiding notice? He's going to run right into them!"
"That's saying that there is anything there," Miroku pointed out. Then they heard loud growls and shouts in a strange, guttural language. "That can't be good." Legolas was suddenly running back towards them with surprising speed. It became apparent why only moments later when a large group of what had to be the ugliest men Kagome had ever seen appeared chasing him. These must have been the Orcs that Legolas was talking about.
"InuYasha!" Kagome cried.
"I see them," Inu Yasha said, unsheathing and transforming the Tetsusaiga. He lowered himself into a battle crouch. "I'd say it's about time we repay Legolas for saving our life don't you?"
"You'd better do it fast! Look!" Sango cried pointing at Legolas. The elf had staggered, a look of intense pain on his face. He tried to get up, but he fell again. That's when Kagome saw the arrow.
"He's been shot! If you're going to save him, now would be the time Inu Yasha!" Inu Yasha nodded and leapt forward.
"Get down Legolas!" Inu Yasha yelled swinging his sword back. "Wind Scar!" Sango spurred Kirara forward and she scooped up Legolas.
"Are you alright?" she asked? But Legolas was staring at Inu Yasha as he fought.
"He took out half a battalion of Orcs with a single swing of that sword!" he gasped in amazement.
"I'll handle the rest!" Miroku cried, pulling at the rosary that sealed his wind tunnel.
"No! Don't use you're magic!" said Legolas. Miroku paused, unsure. "Most of this branch of Orc use poison weapons. You'll probably kill yourself by drawing in their poison."
"Damn!" Miroku let go of the prayer beads. Sango dismounted from Kirara. She swung her boomerang and took out several of the Orcs. A couple more swings from the Tetsusaiga and another toss of Sango's boomerang and the Orcs were all slain. Kirara landed softly and Legolas slid from her back. Kagome helped him limp to a tree and he sat down, resting his back against it.
"That was stupid of me," Legolas muttered.
"You're damn rights it was!" Inu Yasha yelled. "What were you thinking charging the enemy on your own like that?"
Legolas looked away. He turned to Kagome. "Do you have any bandages?" Kagome nodded and reached for her pack. As she got the bandages out Legolas removed his boot. He unshouldered his quiver of arrows and put the strap in his mouth.
"What are you doing?" Sango asked. Without even bothering to reply Legolas took hold of the arrow in his calf and reefed on in. He let out a muffled scream and bit down on the quiver strap. "Oh," was all Sango could say. Legolas rolled up his pant leg to reveal the wound and Kagome quickly bandaged it. Legolas looked at the arrow and said something in an unfamiliar language that Kagome suspected was a curse.
"What is it?" she asked, concerned. Legolas looked up at Sango.
"Listen very carefully to what I am about to say. If you head North-East you will reach a river and on the opposite bank it will look completely different from the forest around us. By then you will be in the Elven City. Tell the guards on the bridge that you have wounded. Mention my name if you must. When they take me to a healer, and they will, show them this arrow." He handed the arrow to Kagome. "Make sure to ask for Prince Calengaladh. Got that? Calengaladh. Or Prince Mithsirion. They will help you. You must tell one of the princes that Gollum has escaped. This is the most important thing of all."
"Why are you saying this?" Kagome asked.
"Remember what I said… about most Orc weapons being poisoned?" With that Legolas fainted.
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AN: I know that I shouldn't be starting another fanfic but I blame my muses. They have been annoying me to no end with plot ideas for this story for weeks now. They pretty much had it all planed out before I finally even sat down to type it.
Daisy: It's a good fanfic. What's wrong with starting another one?
Mortimer: She's got a whole bunch of other ones that she hasn't finished yet. And she recently got back to typing Tears of the Phoenix. Turns to the Reader Read that one too by the way.
Daisy: But she already has writer's block. And you know as well as I do that writing in another story helps her get ideas for fanfics that she's stuck on.
Erenriel: You guys can stop talking about me as if I'm not here any time now… Anyway, please review. If you do I'll give you a Sesshomaru plushie! And I wrote a longer chappie like a lot of my reviewers have been requesting.