(~(Disclaimer-Pgeh! If I owned them,well, then, I'd own them, wouldn't I? But I don't.)~)

It was raining.

She sighed.

She hated the rain.

--

Jarre yawned. "I hate night watch.... nothin' ever happens around here...especially not at night....." he muttered to himself, huddling closer under a blanket, trying to drive off the cold.

Or, not so much the cold as the wet. He yawned again. After two hours' night watch duty on the edge of a forest, Jarre was about ready to take a nap. Rousing himself, he decided to stretch his legs and take a walk.

Not too far into the forest he came upon an old willow, set in the middle of a clearing on a small hill. Thinking to get out of the rain, he started up.

He had taken no more than five steps when his pace slowed. Jarre squinted up at the swaying branches, uncertain. He'd thought he'd heard something. Shrugging, he continued. Three years of guard duty had stripped away most of his imagination.

A fresh gust of wind blew the rain straight into his face, and he stopped altogether. He may have had little imagination, but he had a very accurate sense of awareness. Not two minutes ago the wind was blowing in the opposite direction.

Shielding his face, he turned up his face to the willow, which had begun to look very foreboding. Now that he saw it, he wondered how he'd have ever missed it.

A woman was leaning against the trunk of the tree, shielded from the rain by a curtain of willow branches. He couldn't make out any distinctive features, and in the pale moonglow, he couldn't tell whether she saw him or not. The winds died down, then altogether stopped. Jarre took a step back, then frowned inwardly. Why was he letting strange weather get to him?

"Hey! Who goes there?" he yelled, only half-expecting a reply. No answer. He took a step forward. "Who are you?" Nothing. He took another step. The rain had stopped along with the wind. He could now see that she wore a dark cloak, of which color he couldn't distinguish.

Her hair tumbled thick over the sides of the hood, and her eyes and nose were heavily shaded. Another step. He could see her mouth, and her chin. From where he was, Jarre thought her skin might be a light brown, more tan than anything. The outline of her lips was thin. In better light, he though, she might prove to be good on the eyes.

He lowered his voice, talking softer. "Look, Ma'am, I'm okay with you being out here and everything to get out of the rain, but I'm going to need to know who you are. Family might be lookin' for you." As he was talking, he was slowly walking forward, like he might approach a child, or a frightened animal.

The wind picked up again, whipping around him. He threw an arm up to sheild his eyes, cringing against the whirlwind of willow leaves flying at him. Stumbling back, he lost his balance and fell, landing on his back in the dirt.

Jarre looked fearfully up at the woman, who hadn't moved during the whole thing. "Wha...." his throat was dry. He licked his lips, eyes darting from the woman to the tree, which seemed strangely alive. Funny. It didn't look that menacing before.

"Wha..what are you?" he finally managed to croak.

She laughed. It was an unnerving sound, one that made him shiver with a feeling that was very different than just a few minutes before. He saw a glint of light off her teeth as she smiled.

'That's funny.....the moon isn't out...it was before.....' was the last thing Jarre though before he thought nothing at all.