The first to check if it was clear, were Merry and Pippin poking their heads out from under their hiding place. Legolas and Aragorn cautiously also ducked out into the open, checking the skies for any more of the black feathered spies. Calling to the others, they all relaxed and breathed a small fraction easier. Though the idea that they were being hunted, followed and spied upon did not settle well with any of them.

For a while, they were all silent, listening with sharp ears for any sort of disturbance. When the sounds of nature began to return, did they finally deem is safe. They were gathering their supplies and sticking closer to each other when what sounded like a thunderstorm mixed with a heavy rock slide beat the air and shook their very bones.

Preparing for some sort of sudden attack, when a figure in a heavy fur trimmed cloak appeared out of nowhere. The tumbled a few times against the rocky surface as well as managing to spin about to face the direction of where they appeared from. Sadly, the cloak had a hood which was up and also trimmed in fur hiding the identity of the person crouched on the ground away from them.

The dark gray of the cloak cause the person to seemingly melt into the stone, if it weren't for the black of their boot peeking out and the dark stained bow in black gloved hands that broke the grays. The tip of an arrow gleamed in the sunlight that broke through the heavy clouds, but it was not pointed towards them. In fact it was pointed away and above them.

They learned quickly what it was the person was waiting for when what appeared to be a massive stone giant appeared out of nowhere like the person had a short moment ago. It was unlike anything they had ever seen or heard of. The head reminded them of a hound, with stone ram horns curling into dangerous points next to a mouth full of demonic looking teeth. It's shoulders and chest were wide, random areas were covered in stony growths. Long powerful legs and large powerful arms that ended in a strange appendages that were a mix of paw and hand and all claw.

It breath heavily, snarling growls as it stared down the person, whom didn't even flinch. And then the moment the arrow flew across the space between them, the beast shot forward with much more speed then they thought possible. When the beast tackled the person to the ground harshly, they didn't even hear so much as a cry, a grunt, but nothing more. But the person was quick, using their body as a weapon in a way that was strange and foreign to them all.

The beast stumbled back from a sudden and surprise attack, using its clawed hands to dig into the stone to hurl sharp projectiles towards the person, which included a certain Hobbit that had stumbled away from the group in the chaos. The person dove towards them, curling their figure around the dark haired halfling and used their own body to shield him from the flying stones.

Most however, shattered upon crashing into a shimmering wall of light. The beast let out a roar as it began beating against the wall, the figure letting out a soft and near silent huff. They gently and carefully let got of the started Hobbit before launching themselves at the beast straight on. While they no longer wielded a bow, they continued to take on the beast head on.

What happened next stunned them all, yet again, a long whip like attack struck the beast. It was the fact that the whip seemed to be made out of the same light as the wall of light earlier. The person used the whip to flip themselves over the beasts head and land on its shoulders. The whip of light wrapped around the beasts neck, gripping the other end of the whip and began to choke the beast.

They pushed with their legs, causing the whip to tighten around around the beasts neck. It choked out snarls and growls, clawing at the light wrapped around its neck in an attempt to loosen the hold. It's other hand however, was reaching towards the lone Hobbit. What sounded like laughter echoed around them, followed by strange words that they had no way of understanding. The person atop the beast pushed against its back, pulling their arms all the more until finally the light cut through the beasts skin. It let out a deafening roar as it began to turn to ash.

The person dropped to the ground the moment it no longer had something solid to stand upon, though they managed to land gracefully on solid ground, causing a certain dwarf to think they were an elf. The 'elf' in question turned to the dwarf, staring from beneath the hood, before they continued on to where their fallen bow was.

All watched as they shouldered their weapon and turn to leave as if they had never been there. They stopped however when they noticed the Hobbit they had protected, it wasn't until then that they noticed he was holding his arm. His bloody arm. The figure shifted and began to approach the Hobbit, causing the others to shift and prepare themselves.

They knelt down before their injured friend, slowly reaching for the injured arm. When they were refused the arm, they lowered their hands. A few moments of silence, the figure raised their hands and pushed back their hood, shocking everyone. The entire time, the person was... a woman!

She opened her mouth as hers were pulling something from beneath her cloak, it was her words however that confused Frodo. While her tone was soft and quiet, they held strength. The only problem was that he didn't understand her!

"I'm sorry Miss, but I don't understand you." Frodo hissed when he squeezed his arm a little too tight.

The woman blinked her eyes and stopped her speech, tilting her head to the side slightly. "English?"

Frodo blinked at the odd word, what was English? "I'm sorry Miss, but I really don't..."

"I was asking how your badly injured your arm is." she began to finish retrieving her hands from beneath her cloak, revealing a small container. Twisting her hands to open the container, Frodo blinked at the paste that was inside.

"What's that?" he leaned forward, though his eyes darted up to where Aragorn as he began to approach the woman from behind.

"It is a salve, it helps clean and heal wounds." she raised a hand and removed one of her gloves with teeth before quickly doing the same to the other hand. "Please show me your wound so I may treat it."

A sword was pressed gently under her chin, and with some pressure, forced her to face the one that held the sword.

"I kindly suggest that you please step back."

The woman blinked as she raised a brow, gripping the blade with her free hand and removed the swords edge away from her neck. "It is not poison and I mean no harm."

"You will have to forgive if I cannot believe that." his eyes darted down to the hand that still held the blade, eyes widening when he noticed a a small trail of blood roll down her wrist. "My lady-!"

"To help prove my innocence of crimes I have yet to commit." she pulled her hand away and laved the small amount of salve she had already gathered on her other hand across the cut in her palm. "As I said, it is a salve to aid in healing. Will you allow me to tend to your... friends wound now?"

Aragorn slowly retracted his blade, still shocked that she would have done such a thing to prove herself innocent and not harmful to Frodo or towards the Ring. He would however keep a close eye on her hands as she dealt with Frodo's wound.

"Your arm please." her voice was quiet and calm.

Frodo glanced at Aragorn, only removing his hand and presenting his arm when Aragorn gave a nod of his head. Slowly removing his hand and presenting his injured arm to her, his brows furrowed at the sound of displeasure the woman made.

"I'm sorry you were injured. It wasn't my intent to bring harm to anyone." her words still calm and quiet.

"What was that you fought? I've never seen anything like it before." Frodo asked as he watched her hands clean his wound and wrap it.

"I'm not quite sure. I never asked." she narrowed her eyes as she observed her work. Apparently she deemed it worthy for she started to pack her supplies back to where she retrieved them. "Keep an eye on that, and change the bandage regularly. It should be fine in a few days."

"Thank you..." Frodo furrowed his brows when he realized he didn't know her name.

"Kagome, my name is Kagome." she offered a smile as she stood up. "I'll be taking my leave-!"

"If you forgive me my dear, but I need to know, how was it you were able to defeat that creature?" a deep voice smoky with age drew everyone's attention.

Kagome blinked at the sudden question. "Which part do you mean?"

The old man chuckled as he leaned against his long staff. "You'll have to forgive me, but I mean all that you did."

"Well, where I am from, we can train our bodies to be a weapon on it's own by using specific moves." Kagome blinked, her brows furrowed as she tried to figure out whether or not if she should explain about her miko abilities to these strangers.

The old man nodded his head as he ran his fingers through his beard as he hummed. "And that light?"

"That... that is an ability I wield. It can be offensive, defensive or benign. I will it to what I need." she really hoped that would please their curiosity.

"I see, and what exactly happened to the creature you defeated?" the old man's eyes were suddenly sharp and pinning her to the spot she stood upon.

"...it was... destroyed." her lips pursed slightly when she realized that they were not pleased with that.

"I saw that much, but I don't understand how." he leaned a little more against his staff.

One of her brows rose at his confession. Did that mean they didn't have any priestesses here? Or were the priestesses here something else entirely? Canting her head to the side, she swept her eyes over the entire group that were now gathered back together. It didn't pass her how they positioned themselves around the one she had just treated, protecting him.

"I am a priestess. Where I am from, we are as much warriors and protectors as any soldier, if not more so." her words seemed to either shock and stun them, or throw them completely out of the loop.

As the silence continued, she looked off to the side with her eyes, before she really took her surroundings in for the first time. It looked like any mountain range she had been on before, but it was the group before her that had her confused. Three of them were human, but the nine were beings she had never crossed paths with before.

"My lady, you said you are a priestess? I was not aware a priestess was capable of such abilities." the man that had held his sword against her neck was the one that drew her attention back to the group.

"I did say that. I also said that where I am from that a priestess is as much a warrior and protector as any soldier or..." she raised a brow as she took them in, realizing that the two younger human males looked like... " knights? I am unsure of your stations, so you'll have to forgive me."

When another silence settled between them, Kagome let out a sigh and figured it was time to move on and figure out how to get back home from wherever she currently was. Because based on their looks, which were far more European than she was used to seeing in Feudal Japan, she was not anywhere near Japan.

"Well then, I guess this is were we part ways. I wish you all the best in your endeavors." she bowed to indicate her departure.

"Wait, please!" a sudden cry, from the one she had treated, Kagome stopped walking. Turning her face away it screwed up in slight aggravation. Couldn't these men just let her go already?

Taking in a deep breath she turned to face the one that called out to her. "Yes?"

"You said something about priestesses are different where you're from." the male furrowed his brows and fidgeted on his spot. "Where exactly are you from?"

Frodo was confused when her expression suddenly became distant and she offered them a rather forlorn smile. "I'm afraid, very far away from here."

"It can't be too far. Perhaps we can-!" his words were halted when one of the men placed their hands atop his shoulder.

"Frodo." he shook his head, slightly causing his darker hair to fall into his face.

Chuckling, Kagome offered a much more warmer smile. "You have a noble heart, don't ever forget that. But I do not think any journey across this land or boat across the waters will help be get back home. Besides, you're already on a very important journey of your own. No need for distractions."

The old man narrowed his eyes slightly, obviously contemplating her words. All of them. "Is your home so far away?"

"I'm afraid it is." Kagome smiled in response as she tucked her gloves under her belt so she wouldn't have to continue holding them.

"How are you so sure?" he stood up straighter showing his impressive height, which was made all the more daunting due to his hat.

Breathing in deeply, Kagome figured to toss caution to the wind. "The feel of this... world is so much younger than my own." she couldn't help but smirk at their reactions to her answer.

"Worlds?" Frodo blinked wide eyes as he took the woman in. She stood tall, strong. Everything about was foreign yes, but he had merely thought it was because she -was- an elf or from a distant corner of Middle Earth. But from a different world?

"Yes. Shocking isn't it? I know I was when I realized it, now I just have to figure out how to get back home. But usually that involves knowing the magic that brought me here... and I don't." her brows were furrowed as she picked a random spot on the ground to glare at.

"You also mentioned that we were on a journey." Gandalf felt there was more to this woman than she let on, more than the fact that she apparently came from a distant world.

She nodded her head. "As a priestess, I can sense things... things of power." her eyes fell to Frodo, her face no longer holding smiles. "That is a heavy burden you bare. Very heavy."

"You sense it?" Aragorn was instantly on alert, if she could sense it without it being in her sight, then she was a risk to it and Frodo.

"Whatever your friend is carrying? Then yes." she raised a brow at the tense postures at her words. The other quickly followed when they all took a step forward to place themselves between her and the one that carried the item. Rolling her eyes, she waved a hand as if to clear the air of something distasteful. "Oh please. Like I would want whatever that is. My instincts are telling me to destroy it, but I don't even want to touch it to be able to do such a thing."

The Hobbits relaxed, something inside them easing at her words and deeming them truthful. The others slowly followed when she continued to stand there.

"Would... would you care to, join us, Miss Kagome?"

All eyes fell to Frodo. Most shocked and confused, but as for Kagome herself, a smile slowly grew. "If that is your wish, then I would love to. Life had been getting boring for me as of late."

"But what about... that thing?" one of the other smaller males waved his arm to indicate where she had been fighting that creature.

"Oh that? I call that Monday." she smirked as she approached the group. If they were willing to take her on a quest that meant taking down an evil after Frodo's burden, than she was all for it.

AN: Another Lord of the Rings idea, I just didn't want to post it at the same time as my other one. Picture a 25+ Kagome that can kick ass is all I can say. Read, enjoy, and review!