I was about halfway to the village I had originally intended to stay in for the night when the rain came.

And the thunder.

And finally, lightning striking down five feet from where I had been walking.

"Merde." I muttered, glancing up at the sky. I hadn't seen this coming.

I covered my head with my red traveling cloak and hurried my steps. Normally, if the weather was this bad I would take cover in a cave or in an abandoned cabin – the countryside was full of them. Romans and thieves had driven the owners away a long time ago. But this forest was mostly new to me, and there weren't any caves or cabins that I could find.

Just when I was resigning myself to sleep under a tree and hope that I wouldn't be struck down during the night, I caught sight of smoke rising over the tree-tops. I continued walking towards it.

I breathed out a sigh of relief when the forest suddenly cleared and I saw a small village, surrounded by thick fortifying walls of wooden logs. Smoke was rising steadily from several chimneys, and my stomach rumbled suddenly – I had forgotten I was hungry.

There were two short men standing guard at the open gate, though they didn't look exactly thrilled to be standing in the rain.

"Who goes there?" one of them asked at my approach, but he didn't seem particularly threatened – mostly bored. I lowered the cloak from my face so they could see me clearly. I must have made quite the messy picture – black, wet hair plastered to my face, clothes near sopping wet, my feet damp with mud.

"I'm just a hungry traveler, seeking a room and board for the night." I said, and they looked at me for a moment, both puzzled. Then one of them cleared their throat awkwardly.

"Miss? Are you traveling alone?"

Ah, so that was why there were staring at me. I smirked and nodded.

"I am. "

They shared another look.

"You have to get our chief's permission. We'll bring you to him directly, just follow us please."

I had been through this routine several times before in other villages. And yet, this was quite different.

I had never seen a chief and his wife bicker so openly in front of their people before. When I had been brought to their house (the largest in the village, naturally) the wife had opened the door and thrown me a towel even before I could tell her my name.

"My dear, you look positively drenched! " she had exclaimed, before running over to the hearth where a cauldron was simmering with something that smelled vaguely pungent. And there, in a chair that was obviously too small for his stout frame, sat the chief. It looked like he had a bad cold.

The red-headed chief glared at me and rubbed his runny nose.

"it's too late for visitors – much too late, begone with you!" he said, before erupting into a violent sneeze that shook his whole frame. His wife tutted and put his large feet in a basin full of hot water, then spared me a forgiving glance.

"Oh don't listen to him, he's just cranky and repetitive today. What's your name sweetheart?"

"Arabel, madame."

She suddenly gave me more attention then, her eyes full of curiosity. Just the way I hoped she wouldn't react.

"Hmm? That's unusual – where did you say that you were from?" She asked, peering at me. I looked away and attempted a shrug.

"Just here and there, really. So, can I stay? I can do some labor work tomorrow to earn my keep."

"Well you don't have to, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to have an extra pair of hands around tomorrow. It's harvesting season you know. In the meantime I know a family down the road, Fulliautomatix and his wife has a spare room – you can stay there for the night."

I bowed my head respectfully and thanked them.

After eating my fill I promptly went to the spare room and fell into a heavy sleep. I had traveled on foot and slept outside most nights, and it was a welcome change to sleep indoors, in an a actual bed. But I knew that I couldn't stay long – I would never allow myself to do that.

I never stayed long in one place, and it had been that way for over 10 years. I never traveled with company. I was a thief, a trader, anything that would keep me moving from place to place.

The next morning after a small breakfast of fresh eggs and bread, I set out to see what sort of work that needed to be done in the village. Impedimenta, the chief's wife, had tried to wheedle me into sewing tasks, which I balked at. I had never been good at it.

"Do you need meat? I'm a good hunter." I said, watching as a couple of children chased each other between the cottages armed with fake swords and tiny shields. Impedimenta scoffed and laughed at my suggestion.

"Hunting? Oh you don't want to bother with something as odious as that!" she exclaimed, hands on her hips. I watched her silently.

"But you need it, yes?"

"Well, we usually have the men go out and take down a couple of boars-"

"Then that is what I shall do. " I said, leaving her to stand and stare after me as I walked off into the forest.

Since I had been living on my own for so long, it was only natural that I was good at hunting down food when I needed to. I had two small knives for the task always on hand – one for hand-to-hand combat mostly, and the other, longer and sharper blade, was for tasks like these.

I walked silently for a short while before I heard familiar grunts and squeals. In a clearing just up ahead, three boars were grazing. Instead of charging on them from this vantage point, I aimed to get as close to them as I could without them noticing. I avoided the clearing, circling it until the boars were just a few feet away from where I was standing.

One of the three was fatter than the others. Good – it meant that it wouldn't be able to run as fast.

Just as I jumped out from behind the tree and was inches away from killing it, all I heard was the quick sound of approaching footsteps before I collided with someone so hard that we both fell to the ground and rolled around several times before it came to a stop.

A string of colorful curses left my mouth as I clutched at my nose. I looked to my side and saw a short blonde-haired man with an equally blonde mustache sitting up, and similarily rubbing his head from the intense impact, groaning.

He noticed me shortly after, and he scooted backwards, eyes widening as he looked at me. I glowered in return.

"I believe an apology is in order." I muttered as I got up and dusted off my dress. I felt my nose and felt something trickle out – my fingers showing up bloody. Great.

To his credit – he did look mortified by what had just happened. But the mortification on his face gradually turned into an expression that I couldn't place.

"Uhm, hello? Anyone in there?" I asked, and he blinked before clearing his throat.

"Forgive me, I had no idea – I thought I was hunting alone." he said, shuffling his feet.

"You were. I just happened to be here as well."

"Wait here, let me…."

The man took out a small piece of cloth from his pocket and held it out to me. It smelled of herbs. I realized that it was for my bloody nose. I winced as I held it to my face, the blood quickly soaking into the fabric.

"Thank you." I said, and he nodded.

In silent accord, we sat down on a pair of nearby rocks and waited for my nose to stop bleeding.

"You from the village nearby?" I asked, my voice sounding stuffy and he nodded.

"I'm Asterix, do you live around here too? I haven't seen you before…." Was that just me or did he sound very hopeful? I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"Ah, no. But I imposed on your village hospitality the other night. The rain...I couldn't sleep outdoors." I explained.

And for some reason, after I had said this, the man's whole demeanor changed. His posture became stiff, and he started eyeing me suspiciously.

"Is that so?" he murmured.

"Yes – well, I had meant to stay in Gatilafix but it was too far away. "

"So it was unplanned."

"Yes, that's what I'm saying."

"Hm."

It was obvious that he didn't believe me, but why he wouldn't was beyond me.

"Are you implying something?" I asked, frowning down at him. One of the feathers in his hat flickered, his dark brown eyes now hard as flint.

"I'm just observing that it's unusual, for someone like you to come along to this particular village, without an ulterior motive in mind, who just happens to run into me."

There was so much wrong in that sentence I didn't even know where to begin. My temper starting to boil, I got up from the rock and forgot about my bleeding nose. Someone like me.

"What the hell does that mean?! "

"It means that I don't trust you." he said, arms crossed over his chest. I couldn't help it, I growled in annoyance. I reached down and flicked a finger against his chest.

"Listen here shorty, I didn't ask for it. Nor did I ask for your opinion of me. And lastly, what could your village possibly have that I could want?"

This last question seemed to stump him, his expression losing some of its coldness. But before he could answer me, a deep rumble shook the forest floor beneath our feet.

At first I thought it was a large boulder coming towards us, but it turned out to be one of the largest men I had ever seen, and just skidding to a stop seemed to take him forever. Dust settled in his wake, and he was carrying about five boars on his back and under his arms. He beamed down at Asterix with childish glee.

" I won again, I won again!" he sang over and over, until he noticed that I was standing there too.

I waved once at him in greeting, and that's when I noticed that my nose was bleeding again.