Author's Notes: This one actually took a lot shorter than I expected. However this chapter will contain more action and violence than the other ones. It's not particularly a lot, but I'm just warning you.

Chapter 6: ...and Found

Kelsie carefully placed the knife back on the ground, where she had found it. Her plan was to discover the hidden story behind it through observation. Once the knife was in place, she carefully stepped back and surveyed the whole clearing.

It was the same as detecting some mystery crime scene, only it was ten times harder. The only evidence that was clearly visible was the knife. Kelsie knew that there were many more pieces of evidence to be found, but they could only be discovered by very close observation. Or by the keenest elven eyesight, in her case.

"Do you know anything about tracking?" she asked Gimli.

Gimli shrugged. "I haven't really done much tracking myself, but I've seen Aragorn and Legolas do it."

"What do they do?"

"They just stare at the ground and follow invisible trails."

"Okay then," replied Kelsie. I guess Gimli wouldn't be of much help when it comes to tracking. She did, however, follow the advice that was given, though she didn't just stare at the ground. Instead, she decided to actually observe closely to find footprints that would hopefully lead somewhere.

Straining her eyes, she could see just the lightest of footprints that stained the grass. Those must be Legolas' footprints. Only an elf could make such light marks in the grass. Usually, human footprints could easily be detected by elven eyes, but elven footprints were way harder. Most elves didn't even leave footprints when they ran. She guessed that Legolas must have been in a hurry to have forgotten to step lightly.

After a several minutes, Kelsie was able to make out part of what had happened. Starting from a corner, there was a trail of light footprints that led to the middle, where it became a confusing jumble. Then the trail continued in the direction the knife lay, but they were heavier and spread out more. However, they never made it to the knife, for they had stopped short, only a few feet away.

Kelsie was confused. Where had the rest of the tracks gone? Then, she saw another set of tracks, but they weren't just a set of two. They were a set of eight. They had picked up where Legolas' footprints left off, and they were heading out of the forest in the direction they had come.

Kelsie's eyes grew wide. A set of eight? What could possibly have eight legs? Then, it hit her.

Legolas had been paralyzed by the shadows and taken by a spider.

Kelsie froze for a moment, panic immediately overwhelming her. Legolas was at the risk of death. But how could she prevent him from a terrible fate? She was suddenly jolted out of her thoughts by a familiar voice.

"Are you going to stand there all day or what?" said Gimli, very impatiently. "You look like you've just been paralyzed."

Kelsie quickly picked up Legolas' knife, and turned to the direction the spider tracks led. "I found out what happened." Her eyes scanned over the area once more to make sure she had every detail of her discovery correct. "Legolas had come in to warn Treebeard about the shadows, but somehow, he ended up actually fighting them. He must have thrown his knife at them, but missed, because when he came to retrieve it, he got paralyzed severely and he couldn't break through. Then, the shadows must have left him to the spider, which saw him as easy prey! Which means that if we don't hurry, he will get eaten by the spider!"

Her last words rang in Gimli's ears. Legolas had been his friend and loyal companion for a long time, and the thought of him getting eaten by a spider definitely put a lot of worry in his heart. He didn't even pause to think if there was another possible and more positive explanation to the investment. His mind was now set on finding Legolas. However, even as he started to follow Kelsie, another horrifying thought entered his mind and worked its way to the surface.

"What it's too late?" Gimli blurted out before thinking. Then, he resisted the temptation to slap himself for thinking like that.

Kelsie stopped for a moment, then shook her head to get rid of that thought. "It can't be too late. There's got to be hope that he hasn't be eaten yet. I just hope we can actually get there on time."

Gimli took a second to register that, then he nodded. "You're right. We must hurry. And since you can see the tracks, you should take the lead."

Kelsie started to run, but before she did, she silently sent a message to Treebeard, hoping that he would recover soon. As much her mind was set on finding Legolas, she also wanted the Ent to know that he was not forgotten, and that she would also try to find a way to unparalyze him.

She easily leapt through the trees. The spider tracks in the ground were very easy to distinguish, so she could travel at a fast pace while keeping her eyes on the trail. She looked back to see if Gimli could follow her elven speed.

Driven by the desire to find Legolas, Gimli did not notice the speed he was running at. As a dwarf, he could easily sprint fast, but only for a short period of time. However, since he was so eager to rescue his friend, his energy did not go down as he ran. He was able to match Kelsie's speed without breathing too hard.

Kelsie followed the spider tracks around several turns, dodging the trees that stood in her way. Both her mind and her heart were racing. What if she really was to late? To prevent her self from thinking that, she concentrated on her footsteps, trying to be nimble and as light as possible. For several minutes, nothing really happened as they continued to follow the trail. Kelsie would occasionally have to slow down a little for Gimli to catch up, but other than that, they just continued running.

As Kelsie started to enter a more shadowy part of the forest, the spider's prints started to fade away. Confused, Kelsie also slowed down to a stop. The strange feeling of eerie silence she had earlier was coming back now. The silence was suspenseful, like as though she were in a mystery movie, and something was waiting for the right moment to strike.

"Weapons out," she whispered to Gimli. "I think we are near."

Gimli immediately held up his ax and watched as Kelsie began to search for the rest of the trail. It was harder and harder for her to see, almost to the point where it completely disappeared. Soon, it became invisible to even elf eyes as Kelsie neared a large tree. She looked up and narrowed her eyes. Could the spider be somewhere up there?

She turned to Gimli. "I'm going to see if I can spot the spider. If I get in danger, I'll yell 'help', and you can come." Gimli nodded to show that he understood, even though he also didn't like having to follow orders.

Kelsie quickly planted her hands firmly on the tree and pulled herself up. Then, when she was secure, she started to jump up from branch to branch. Twice, she slipped, and once, she almost lost her balance and fell off, but still, she managed to get to a safe, leaf-covered place. Note to self: practice climbing. Slowly, she edged over to the far side of the tree and looked out.

Her eyes widened and narrowed at the same time as she saw the scene before her. The first thing her eyes fell on was a figure in the middle. It was covered completely with spider webs. Even though she couldn't really see the face, Kelsie knew that it was Legolas. Seeing him like this brought much anger to her, and she almost couldn't wait to find that spider and kill it. Every day that spider lives is equal to the end of a life. Or three lives, depending on the number of meals. Tightening her grip on the branch she was holding, she waited for a sign of danger.

Suddenly, a large spider burst out from the trees. This one was even larger than the one Kelsie had encountered the day before. It also looked twice as malicious, its piercing black eyes settled on its prey. It crawled over and started to pick at the webs covering the elf.

Kelsie didn't even think before reacting. She immediately took out her bow, pulled back an arrow, aimed it at the spider's head, and released it. The spider let out a deafening screech as it reeled back, an arrow protruding from its forehead. Silently, Kelsie punched her fist in the air and mouthed "Score!". But soon, her mood faded, and she found herself facing more than she could possibly handle.

She wasn't sure if the spiders were already there, or if they just happened to come. From the trees entered four more giant black spiders, heading towards Legolas, as the first spider tried to locate its attacker. Fortunately, Kelsie was well hidden among the tree leaves and it was hard for them to spot her. Still, her shock was unimaginable as she saw five gigantic spiders gathered so close to her.

She quickly forced herself to get over her shock and start fighting. She pulled back another arrow, aimed it at the spider closest to Legolas, and released it. This time, it hit the spider in the neck. Seeing a second of their kind being injured, the rest of the spiders knew that they were next. However, they still couldn't find their attacker, no matter how hard they tried.

Suddenly, Kelsie heard a rustle behind her, and another spider burst forth - this time, right next to the tree she was hiding in. A large shudder vibrated through the tree as the spider roughly brushed past it. Kelsie stifled a scream as she was tossed up from the branch she was on. As she fell, she managed to grab on to the same branch, though only barely. Now, she was dangling from the branch with one hand, the other holding on tightly to her bow. Her heart was beating so loudly that she would have mistaken it for a drum. One wrong move and I'm over. Kelsie closed her eyes as she felt her hand begin to slip.

"I see it! Over there!"

Kelsie's eyes snapped open to the sound of the raspy, hungry voice. Her mind jolted with fear - a spider had spotted her. "No, no, no..." she said to nothing in particular. "I'm not going to die like this." Desperately, she closed her eyes and waited.

The four uninjured spiders rushed in on her all in once. Their harmful spirits had risen again at seeing another being. This one will soon be joining the meal, they thought. It can't even protect itself, after all. However, as the first spider got ready to pounce on the elfling, it instead met with something they didn't expect.

Using all her strength, Kelsie swung herself forward and onto the back of the nearest spider. Putting her bow away for now, she took out the first weapon she could find - which happened to be Legolas' knife - and stabbed the spider's neck, just as Legolas had done when he rescued her. Then, she wobbly slid off the spider's back and turned to face the next one.

For a moment, she was confused when she saw nothing on front of her. But soon she found out why. Something slammed into her back, hard, spreading pain rapidly throughout her body, making her drop the knife. The impact of the hit was so hard that it caused her to fly several feet and land face-down on the ground. Groaning, she tried to get up, but as soon as she rolled over, she felt a spider's leg press hard against her throat.

Kelsie froze for a moment, not sure what to do. If she moved, the spider would surely kill her. But if she didn't move, the spider would also kill her - or worse, eat her. The three other spiders were watching excitedly, waiting to see some torture. Panic was taking over now. She had to do something, fast. Then, she remembered that she was not alone.

Knowing this was her only chance, she opened her mouth and cried out in the loudest voice she could. "Gimli! HELP!"

The spider pressed harder against her throat. "Careful, elfling, or I'll have to slit your throat. And nobody will come to rescue you." Kelsie gulped nervously, then regretted doing so, since it made her throat hurt. Please, Gimli, please come fast, she prayed. She cried out as the leg started to cut into her skin. It was pain she had never experienced before. Especially for someone who lived a life in a much safer world and had never fought battles before, this was certainly a tremendous step. She bit her lip painfully and waited to see what would happen.

Suddenly, a stout figure burst from the trees. With a mighty roar, Gimli ran over to the spider holding her and brought his axe down on its neck. Remembering to thank him later, Kelsie threw the limp spider's leg off and got up.

With renewed determination, she pulled out her sword and faced the next spider. It tried to swipe at her, but she quickly cut its leg off. Then, she bravely charged forward, dodging all the blows that were aimed at her, and stabbed upwards. The spider screeched, then fell limp. Kelsie then tried to tug her sword out, but found it harder than she expected. She managed to pull it out successfully, but almost fell over. Then, she looked around for the other two spiders, but saw that Gimli had taken care of them already.

Then, she turned to see the two injured spiders huddling over a figure. With horror, she realized that they were getting ready to eat Legolas. "Why did I forget?" she muttered to herself, smacking her forehead. Then, along with Gimli, she ran over to them, sword out in front of her.

Kelsie jumped at the one nearer to her, stabbing its back with her sword. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gimli bringing his ax down on the other one. She tugged out her sword correctly this time and ducked as the spider screeched and spun around, almost slamming into her. Luckily, she jumped back just in time, and swiped her sword again, making a deep slash across the spider's hideous face. With the pain being too much to bear, the spider finally sank to the ground, defeated.

Kelsie stood there panting for a moment. Did...I just...kill those...spiders? Even her thoughts reflected how exhausted she was at that moment. She summoned her remaining energy and painfully walked over to Legolas. The pain in her back was growing again, and her throat had a deep red mark across it. She drew her finger across the scar and looked at it. It was covered in blood. That's nice, she thought sarcastically. A scar across my throat. Not bad. But her expression portrayed the opposite.

Her body calling in protest, she managed to help Gimli remove all the webs from Legolas, who was still paralyzed. After they were done, Kelsie sat back down painfully and observed the spiders. She noticed that their legs were sharp along the edges. That must be where she had been hit. She slowly reached behind and located the spot on her back she had been hit in. A line of pain spread from the middle of her back as she got there. She quickly withdrew her hand and looked at it. To her relief, there was no blood, so she assumed that it might have been bruised.

Gimli noticed her discomfort. "Does it hurt too much?" he asked.

Kelsie shrugged. "It'll wear off. Eventually," she added, not surprised at how feeble her voice sounded.

The dwarf shook his head. Then, he grabbed a handful of the webs he had just pulled off and handed them to her. "These may help stop the bleeding."

Kelsie took the webs and inspected them. Nobody could blame her for being suspicious of anything that had to do with spiders, especially after she had just fought them. Deciding it was best to use them for now, she stretched them over her throat and tied it in the back. It wasn't the most comfortable cure, but it was the only available one.

Having nothing else to do, due to her current condition, Kelsie moved herself so that she was sitting leaning against a tree. In her mind, she traced over all the events that had happened over the past few days in Middle-Earth. She remembered meeting a spider for the first time. Since she didn't have much experience at that time, she had only managed to chop of the spider's leg just in time. She had survived only because Legolas and Gimli were there to save her. So much had happened since then, even though it had only been a few days. Now, she had extended her skills to a point where she could actually kill spiders on her own - though just barely.

Treebeard was right. I still have a long way ahead of me. She wondered what she would have to battle next, and what new skills she would discover. Looking over at Gimli, who was kneeling over a still unmoving Legolas, she remembered the mental note she had made during the fight.

"Thanks for saving me, Gimli," she said, gratefully. "You came right on time, before the spider killed me."

Gimli looked up for a moment. "I did what I had to. I knew you were in trouble when I heard your call, and I couldn't bear losing another friend." His voice was heavy as he said this.

"Legolas is not lost," Kelsie said, her voice getting a little stronger.

"I know," Gimli nodded. Then, he turned back to Legolas and became silent again.

He is not lost, Kelsie repeated confidently in her mind. But even as she said this, her eyelids started to get heavy. She would have to wait a bit longer to help. Exhaustion was starting to take over, and she doubted she could stay awake for much longer. Soon, she was fast asleep, her eyes closed firmly. Even as she slept, her thoughts stayed in her mind. She knew that Legolas was not lost, and she would do anything to stop the shadows and the spiders from causing more harm, even if it meant more injuries. But for now, she needed a break from fighting.