A light rain and heavy mist cover the city tonight, creating broken halos above all the streetlights. The heat of this summer night weighs down upon the earth and gives off a stale, almost sickly stench. Somewhere on the edge of town, between bright lights and barren countryside, a young woman lives alone in a tiny apartment.

The rain, falling softly outside, lightly raps the glass doors. The sound echoes through her apartment. She can feel itdeep inside her, this primitive beat. It reminds her of distant drums and blazing fires. Something she had seen in a movie, only it was too long ago to remember it now, on this lonely night. The rain's tap-tap-tapping beat continues to rouse her. Quivering as if a cool breeze has just tickled the back of her neck, she whispers "I'm letting it get into my blood."

Snuggled deep into the cozy warmth of her couch, Rahann puts down the book she is no longer reading, sheds her blankets as she stands and walks to the patio doors. She reaches out with a delicate hand and pulls back the curtains, without knowing why. Nothing feels real to her these days. Standing in front of the doors, Rahann lets her eyes wander through the darkness, searching for where the moon might be hiding behind the dense clouds. The heavy curtains pushed aside, the blackened sky is revealed and the darkness reaches in, filling the room until it is tight and close around her, almost touching her. A slow pressure mounts upon her chest and she begins to feel as if she has to fight for each breath. A light sweat breaks out upon her brow and her mouth feels dry and full of cotton. An urgency unlike anything she has ever known before, creeps over her. The rain beats like a drum in her ear. She feels the room get smaller around her. It holds her. The walls creep closer. The room squeezes her, tightly. She can feel something pushing her out into the darkness tonight. Stricken with panic, she leaves through the sliding glass doors, without taking a jacket or thinking to lock up behind her.

The humid warmth of the thick air immediately surrounds her, offering no relief from the closeness brought on by the confinement of her tiny apartment. She walks on, following the new beat that stirs within. Hardly noticing where she is heading, she follows a foot path between the last few buildings and walks on toward the green and golden fields that lie beyond the city. A flicker of regret passes in her eyes, and is lost to the empty night. She hesitates for a few moments at the edge of a park but the beat, now thick in her blood, pulls her onward. Soon she is across the highway and walking out into the fields beyond. She searches for only that which she cannot yet understand; herself.

For now, Rahann only finds herself alone, walking up a hill in a field that she has never been through before. The grass is green and wet beneath her feet, though she cannot see it through the dark. The air still has an odor of stale thickness in it and her clothes have become thoroughly damp with dew-like wetness. Wanting to feel the softness of the grass, she takes off her shoes and draws in a deep breath, still fighting her invisible restraints.

The higher she climbs, the denser the fog and mist grow around her. Rahann almost feels as though a cloud that has plummeted and crashed to the earth has surrounded her. The air is no longer damp, but thick and wet as she reaches the top of the hill. Her movements slow, as she swims blindly through this odd chaotic cloud. A sharp wind comes up from nowhere and blows in all directions. Her hair flailing all around and her eyes watering from the blast, she whispers "Confused, the wind is lost and confused. Like me."

Dizzy from her insufficient breath and disoriented by the strange cloud, Rahann falls to the ground. The hot wind continues to whistle and blow all around her, whipping her with bits of dirt and grass torn from the land beneath her. Lying on the ground, helpless and lacking the strength or motivation to move any farther, she passes out, drifting off into an uncomfortable sleep. The curious cloud ebbs away soon after, leaving her more alone than ever before.

Rahann's eyes begin to open, only a few hours after her fall. She has made it all the way to the top of the hill, but her clothes are torn and tousled. Her hair is matted and cemented with dry, caked-on mud and her face is a pale and sickly green. She lifts her head and shakes it, as if she could shake out all the static and confusion from earlier and make some sense of what is happening to her tonight. Shaking her head as much as she can stand, Rahann still can't get rid of a strange humming sound that had, at first, seemed to be only in her ears. As she raises herself to a sitting position the noise gets louder, seeming as though it was getting nearer to her. Only now it is no longer a buzzing sound but a chanting, a multitude of voices rising, falling, and spinning all around each other in a high speed chase. The rhythm swiftly changes and the chanting breaks into screaming and uncontrolled wailing. She cannot recognize any words, but the beat is steady, even in the pulsing anarchy created by the voices.

Rahann looks all around, seeking the people who are making the chaotic music. She is still on the top of the hill that she had been trying to climb earlier, but it all looks different now. The sky has cleared up, no clouds can be seen, but no stars are out either. The moon is there, shinning its pale blue light down onto her and illuminating the land around her, but it feels closer than the last time she had seen it. It seems larger than usual, almost too big to be real. It offers her no comfort and instead chills her to the bone, despite the heavy heat of the summer that hugs her all around.

Just at that moment a loud piercing screech penetrates her ears, forcing its way into her mind, drilling a large, deep hole in her head. Reflexively her head jerks upward, looking for the source of that otherworldly, icy, grating noise. In that instant a large, winged beast flees across the northern sky, beyond the fields and off into the horizon. Rahann cowers down, her arms shielding her face, as though the bird-like beast had been close enough to touch her. The cry dies away and she realizes that it was never close to her at all. Just what kind of beast it was, she cannot say. It was very unlike any bird she has seen before, too big, exaggerated. The shriek that came from it's awful, gaping, beak-like mouth had been almost human. This is what frightens her the most. All other sounds, even the steady hum of the bizarre chanting, have been obliterated in the echoing of the beast's cry inside her head. Each reverberation, magnified by her fright, sounds louder and more terrifying than the original until the screech completely fills her mind and then is gone. Rahann, disoriented and displaced, tries to blank her mind and get rid of the terrible picture of the beast in the star-less sky.

Rahann starts shaking her head once more, as she sits on the top of the hill, hugging her knees tight and burying her face into her arms. She rocks back and forth, trying to make sense of everything that is happening to her tonight. She still feels detached from the world around her, as if she is really at home lying in bed, living this nightmare only in her dreams. The grass between her naked toes, the dirt in her hair and the solid ground beneath her feet all conspire against her and tear down the flimsy walls of fantasy that she has been trying to build for protection. She struggles with her willpower a few moments longer and resolves to go in search of the people she can hear in the distance. Half with fear, and half with hope in her heart, she struggles to draw in a deep breath and heads down the other side of the small hill, and into the lands beyond.

Less than an hour has passed when she reaches the edge of what appears to be a dense forest. She quickly passes through the first few yards of trees only to find that she is at the top of a tree filled valley. The amber glow of a fire can bee seen now, in a clearing about a mile or so below her. Only the faint silhouettes and shadows of people, dancing as they sing foreign incantations around a fire, can be made out through the trees. She creeps downward, closer to the blaze.

Finding a hiding place behind a ledge of bush-like vegetation, Rahann settles down onto the damp moss and dead leaves that lie beneath her now. Through a chink in the stalks of the plants, she glares downward at the ceremony unfolding before her. Creatures, almost human in appearance, have gathered before a great fire, the heat of which reaches Rahann, still some 100 feet away. Naked and sweaty, their slender, glistening limbs are too long, as if they had once been human, but had been stretched over and over again as the years had passed. They all must be more than seven feet tall, Rahann slowly estimates in her muddled head.

The waves of their chanting and singing wash over her now, crashing and receding, only to crash again. The curling smoke rises above the flames, spreading its tendrils and reaching out in all directions. Bits of ash float past her, following the currents of the air, already hot with mid summer's heat. A great spell of dizziness overtakes her, as she watches the naked dance. Long hair and bare skin, glow in the light of the fire. Female creatures stomp their feet and clap their hands wildly in time while the male creatures pound out the fleeting beat on barrel-like drums.

No surprise can be found in Rahann's expression as she watches this alien race of people not far below her perch. The immensity of the night's adventure has washed away any feeling of awe or of fear that she may have felt if she were to have gazed upon this scene only a few hours ago. Now she only feels confused, and tired. The chanting dies down to a murmur and the wave of sounds and smells reaching Rahann caress her as gently as lapping waves in a shallow pond would caress the shore. She draws in a deep breath, and finally feels free of her invisible bonds as she drifts off into a warm and restful sleep.

The combination of the stifling heat of the morning sun and the uneasiness in her stomach cause Rahann to slowly rouse from her dreamless sleep. As she opens her eyes to the orange glow of early sky, she remembers the strangeness of the night as though it was only a foggy dream. With twigs and stones jutting into her body from underneath, it takes a few seconds for her to realize that the ground had been her bed. Using her stiff neck to lift her tired head, she can see the remnants of the ceremony that she had watched late last night, before she had drifted off into sleep. The clearing is empty now and the imprint left upon it from last night makes it seem lonely somehow.

Tears of frustration and self-reproach stream down her dirty cheeks as the details of last night come back to her. "What was I thinking, walking out into the night alone, where was I going, what was I running from? Where am I?" She asks herself, uncontrollably sobbing and repeatedly choking on almost every word. She reaches out one arm, positions it under herself and pushes herself upward. Still crying, she turns around to get some bearing on this strange land.

Strange indeed, for this is not the world that she has lived in all of her life. The trees are like those back near her home, but these are taller and thinner. Their colour is wrong, too. Instead of being a rich green they are slightly bluish in hue. The blue of the sky is tainted as well. Instead of its usual 'robin's egg' blue it is a periwinkle blue, almost purple today. Everything seems to be stretched, exaggerated or altered slightly. Almost nothing seems quite right.

A slight breeze ruffles a few boughs of the tree closest to Rahann. It feels slightly cooler against her sweating forehead and back. She closes her eyes, reveling in the brief movement of the stagnant air. Only now she realizes that there is no noise coming from the forest. No sounds of living creatures rustling under the trees in the vegetation below can be heard. No sound can be heard from anything. Nothing. It is as if the land around her is empty. Void of anything. Rahann cannot comprehend how the forest can be vacant like this. She pinches herself just in case she is dreaming, but it doesn't work. There is to be no waking up from this dream, or what ever this adventure is.

"Ahhh!" She cries out, just to fill the empty void left by the lack of noise. Her voice echoes through the trees and soon fades away leaving the forest as empty as before. No answer comes to her, so she decides that it is time to get moving onward, to find whatever is out there. She starts climbing down deeper into the valley, with only the sound of the small twigs crunching beneath her bare feet keeping her company. She soon approaches the clearing, only pausing for a few moments to reflect on her memory from last night, the sounds and smells that had overwhelmed her, and relaxed her at the same time. She misses them, as she wonders where the creatures she had witnessed last night performing the strange ritualistic acts are now. A picture of the strange bird-creature from last night finds it's way back into her mind as she wonders where all the beasts of the forest can be today. Her heart begins to race and she shivers as she walks further into the unknown.

The dull rush of a small stream reaches Rahann's ears after more than three hours of climbing down and westward. Her feet are sore, and bleeding from the hike and she feels exhausted, as she tries to remember the last time that she had anything to eat or drink. The sound of running water also reminds her that she is in need of a cool, soapy shower. She heads for the source of the noise, trying not to smell herself along the way. In another hour she can see the bank of a muddy blue stream, about fifteen feet wide. The sounds of a forest are alive in this area as Rahann can hear the scurrying of small animal running back to the cover of the trees as she approaches the stream. Not sure if she is more frightened by the noise than comforted by it, she walks to the edge of the water. She reaches out her hand and dips it into the murky fluid. It feels not only warm to the touch, but slimy as well. It is almost as though the water is thicker than in her home, sticking to her fingers a little more than usual. "Not too unusual for this place I guess," she says quietly to herself.

Making up her mind, at once, to cross the stream, she takes the first few steps into the strange water very cautiously. The bed of the stream is slippery and mushy, the mud pushing up between her toes. She keeps going forward, feeling with her toes before taking each step. She has walked a few steps beyond the half way point with the water level at her hips when she suddenly falls down into the water. She has slipped on a slick rock under the hazy waters. Gasping for breath and arms flailing all about she cries for help. She feels herself sinking deeper. The soft gushy mud wraps around her ankles and her calves gripping her with a tight suction-like grip. Her head is pulled under the water. She feels too weak to resist. Everything fades to black before her eyes.

Part II

A moment before Rahann would have fallen unconscious a long slender arm reaches down, grabs hold of her shirt and pulls her back up the surface of the water. Rahann draws in a deep breath and spits and coughs out the water she has sucked into her lungs and has swallowed. The human-like creature pulls her to the shore and sets her gently down on her side. She reaches out with long fingers and pulls Rahann's wet hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. Rahann coughs some more, spitting up the last of the water. She looks at the womanly creature before her through watering eyes. She is about Rahann's age and she is beautiful, with long black hair and pale skin she reminds Rahann of the story of Snow White, 'the fairest of them all.' Her enticing eyes look enormous in her thin face, two sapphires shining in a sea of milk. Her lips, soft and full, are the deep red colour of burgundy wine. She is clad in a long green robe with only a silver cord wrapped in a crisscross style from her shoulders to her waist for adornment. Despite her thin frame, her breasts and hips are rounded and motherly, their shapeliness accented by the silver cord. Rahann sits still as the creature strokes her hair kindly, with a look of great compassion written upon her face.

One hundred forevers could have passed for Rahann in that moment. Staring into the beautiful face of the creature before her, she feels safe and protected. Waves of confusions hit her over and over again, lost and forlorn, then happy, then sad and then something she has no words to explain. Trying to sort out this internal puzzle, she continues to stare into the depths of the ultra-marine eyes before her. A few more moments lapse before the woman-creature stops caressing Rahann's hair and taking her by the hand, helps her to her feet. "Come," is all that the woman-creature says as she begins to lead Rahann further westward through the base of the valley.

They walk slowly hand in hand for twenty minutes, following a twisting path through the trees. They arrive at a large bump in the path, smaller than a hill. The woman-creature slowly chants a few words in a foreign language and a door opens up at the very top of the bump. She pushes Rahann forward with a light nudge and tells her softly, "In." Rahann climbs to the top and quickly lowers herself down on to the ledge a few feet beneath the opening. From the platform, another creature, this time a man-like one, helps her down the many large steps to the floor. The woman-creature soon follows, chanting the incantation once again to close and lock the door behind them.

They lead Rahann through a long high tunnel. The walls are red and decorated with a multitude of tapestries. The material, of which the walls are constructed, eludes Rahann's mind. It seems metallic, with a lustrous appearance. However, as they round a corner, touches the wall and it feels, to her, more like etched glass, too textured to shine as it does. The corridor they are following winds around and around, spiraling deeper under the ground. The cool temperature of the air is a great relief from the scorching heat above the surface and the sweat no longer runs from Rahann's brow. She looks around her, to the male creature. He is maybe eight feet tall, and thin of frame, but he is not as fair of skin nor has the depth of the sea in his eyes as the womanly creature. His pink lips are formed into a grave frown and a look of torture sadly plays across his face. He never seems to look down to notice Rahann at all.

The corridor soon opens up into a great hall. The blood red walls are lit with fiery torches burning with bright yellow-green flames. The large room is almost empty, except for a small table at the far wall. As they approach this tiny table across the immense room, Rahann realizes that it is a small and humble altar. Rahann recognizes some of the symbols that rest upon it. A pentagram engraved on a wooden disk, a dulled sword, an intricately carved wooden wand, and a small clay bowl filled with murky water. She knows, remembering a few books she has read back home, that each of these symbols represents the four elements, Earth, Fire, Air and Water. The table is an altar, worshipping nature as God.

The two creatures motion to Rahann to take a seat on the floor as they sit down themselves, long legs crossed in front of them. Rahann stares into the friendly face of the woman-creature, looking for a sign of what is to come. She stares back, smiling for only a short moment before she begins to speak.

For two hours straight, the three of them sit there, legs crossed, on the floor of a vast but empty hall. The woman-creature tells of their kind, with a strange but beautiful accent, very much like Gaelic peoples. The yellow green light of the torches dances across her face, displaying eerie shadows as she explains the ritual Rahann witnessed last night. They are a group of only thirteen, who are bound to each other, as they exist only as a group. One of their number has recently fallen ill, a magical disease, and if she dies, the whole group will fail and they will each die, one after the other. Last night they had tried a healing ritual to prolong the girl's life. It does not seem to be working very well, as their magic is weak without all thirteen participating. At this, Rahann looks towards the man-creature. Silent tears stream down his lean face, slowly dripping from his chin to the floor.

They are also a people of myths and legends and one of the most ancient myths tells of a savior who comes from a far world and cures the tribe of a magical disease that threatens their life. The person who comes to them would have to face and conquer a great storm, a powerful force of nature. Only then, a secret can be revealed to him and he could then go to find the tiny "White Whisper" a small flower, the only one in existence, and bring it back to save the tribe.

"We believe that you are that person. You are our savior, only you can conquer the storm and help us to live. It is no accident that you are here" The woman-creature stares into Rahann's eyes, piercing her with the inevitable question "Will you go to the storm? Will you fight for us? Will you save us?" Rahann turns her stare to the floor. Feeling tired, confused and weak she cannot even make her reply "no."

Time slowly moves about them, turning a few seconds into minutes, into hours. At last, the woman creature moves again. "You may call me Haley for now, and you may call my brother, here, Narro. What may we call you?"

Rahann barely manages to mumble out her name in response. Dizzy from lack of food, the walls spin around her. She is trapped somewhere between waking and sleeping, visions of the cloud from last night and of a soldier doing battle with it, cutting it down with a long sharp sword, swirl around, mingling with her sight of the spinning walls. As a last effort, she looks up and sees a look of excitement in Haley's big blue eyes. Everything fades away, Haley, Narro and the little altar in the big room. She drifts off into her inner world of dreams, with those wide eyes haunting her, every where she turns.

Somewhere in her sleepy dreams she reaches a warm soft bed, and snuggles in tightly as she would on her couch back home. Feeling secure there, she lets her mind wander to the day's events. Those eyes still seem to be staring at her, but for now they are smiling at her, not questioning her. They soothe her, caress her and keep her warm with their smile.

Rahann, feeling peaceful and cozy, wakes up to find herself on a straw bed in a new room entwined with Haley, long, naked limbs wrapped all around her, their bodies pressed tightly together. She looks at Haley, uncontrollably savoring the sight of her unclothed body. The curve of her hips and the fullness of her breasts pressing against her own take Rahann's breath away. She slowly brings herself to meet Haley's eyes and as they meet, Haley moves her face closer to Rahann's and kisses her softly on the lips. Rahann kisses back, pressing her lips more fully to Haley's. They lock in that embrace, rocking back and forth, kissing away each other's fears.

Sometime later, Rahann pulls herself apart from Haley, and starts to stand. Haley gets up as well, hugs her one more time and guides her into the next room. The walls are almost indigo and are lit by the same torches as the great hall. The light reflects softly off a large tub sitting in the middle of the room. Stream rises in twisting green and yellow fingers above the bubbly, watery substance inside. Haley leads her towards the bath and helps her into it. She climbs in after her and begins to wet and lather Rahann's long curly hair. Rahann stares into the face of the girl before her, falling in love with her. She reaches up and kisses Haley on the forehead. They continue to wash each other over and over again, touching, feeling, caressing and exploring each other as they remove any trace of dirt that might have ever been upon them. After drying off they leave the washing room and head towards the smell of food that has reached out and grabbed hold of their noses. They go into the next room and eat together with Narro.

At the end of the long and filling meal, Rahann feels contented in her stomach, but her head churns with frightening thoughts. Her new found love sits across the table from her, with a grave expression on her face. Her life is in danger and Rahann may have the power to save her, but isn't sure if she will try. So many things have happened to her in the past two days, she feels that she hardly knows who she is anymore. How could she be the hero of an ancient myth, written in this strange world, so close and yet so far from her own home? How could anyone conquer a storm, even a great soldier let alone a weak, tired and confused young woman? How can she look into the gaunt, tear streaked face of the silent Narro and tell him that she would let them all die? How could she have fallen in love with another woman, when in her home it would be a great sin even to want another woman in any sexual way? Will she ever get home? How did this come to happen to her, and why? Would any of her questions be answered?

Haley speaks, breaking the circle of questions spinning round in Rahann's head, "I can no longer ask you to go to find the storm. I love you and I will make no demands on those I love. It must be your choice to go. I can tell you only this: If you try, you may succeed for you were named in the myth, Rahann. Your name in our language was once Rahain or Rain. You are linked to us and to the storm in ways too old for us to remember now. I saw you watching us last night, and followed you into the Sinking Stream. I heard your heart beating, in the emptiness of the forest and I knew that you were the one, the savior. Your heart beat in time with the woods around you, speeding up and slowing down as the vibrations of the forests energy changed from place to place. Only the heart of the savior could feel those vibrations and keep their time. You have to power to save us, but again, I will not ask it of you."

The small eating room closes in on Rahann with the words that pour from Haley's mouth. Once again, she can feel the restraints pulling tightly around her chest. Her heart beats so loudly that she imagines it echoing off the shrinking walls. A need to escape begins to overwhelm her as she comes to a tough decision. She will go, must go or she will never be able to bear the guilt. "I love you, and will not stand idly by as you die before me, knowing that I may have the power to help."

Standing at the stairway to the door, only a few moments later, Rahann says a long goodbye to Haley, thanking her for opening up a place in herself that she may never have known existed. Tears well up in Haley's vast blue eyes and stream down her face. She reaches down and kisses Rahann firmly on her mouth. No words need pass between them. Narro reaches out and touches Rahann's hand and turns quietly away, the tortured expression never leaving his face.

Haley speaks the spell and the door opens, the pink twilight jutting into the torch lit hallway. "The storm will find you. Good luck," and she turns away letting Rahann crawl out of the hole on her own. The door shuts quickly behind her. Less than two days after setting out on this journey, she sets out alone once more.

Dressed in the robe and sandals that Haley has given to her, she sets off westward once more with the heat weighing heavily upon her. The sun is almost set below the tops of the far hills, creating long shadows that keep Haley's image fresh in Rahann's mind. She walks forward, following the last rays of the sun deeper into the forest.

Rahann reaches a small clearing in the trees when a stiff breeze comes up from behind her. Black clouds creep across the pale face of the large moon, blotting out its blue light. Rahann can only hear the whoosh of the wind in the boughs of trees and the trickle of Sinking Stream just to the south. She stops in the middle of the clearing, waiting as the breeze blows her hair across her face.

Lightning licks its forked tongue across the sky in a flash of blue and pink light. The thunder roars and rolls, causing Rahann and all the trees at the edge of the clearing to tremble. The wind gathers strength and blows at her with an intense force, knocking her down to her knees. Rahann hardens her will to the wind, determined to stand again and push back. She makes it to her feet and begins to push forward, into the swirling wind. Just as she starts to move, another streak of lightning flashes in the sky, striking the tree nearest to Rahann. One of the top boughs breaks off and is pushed by the wind towards Rahann. It strikes her across the back of the shoulders and pins her to the ground. The wind knocked out of her lungs, and bleeding from where her head hit a rock as she landed, Rahann struggles against the storm once more. Pushing herself up to her knees, she takes hold of the bough and waves it in the air, screaming threats into the wind. The wind only blows harder, forcing rocks up from the ground and throwing them at Rahann. She backs away, into the edge of the circle of trees. The rain begins pour down from the sky, causing Rahann to slip on the slick grass as she tries to rise up to fight again. Lightning begins to fire up in the sky again and again, cutting down the trees around Rahann, the wind hurling the debris at her bruised and beaten body.

A loud piercing screech and the noise of flapping wings far above the clearing make Rahann shiver with fear. Remembering the cry of the bird-like beast, she covers her ears, pressing her hands tight to them, giving herself a terrible headache. The rain continues to beat down upon her and the wind pelts her with broken sticks and heavy stones. Rahann cries out into the night, screaming out her failure. "I can't do it! I can't win! I can't beat the storm. I'm too weak! I am WEAK!" The tears she's crying cannot be seen through the flowing of the rain on her face. She closes her eyes and all she can see is Haley, her love, lying in a bed of straw, skin tight and drawn, her body withering away.

Shivering from the wetness and the pain, Rahann realizes that she cannot fight the storm and conquer it. She opens her eyes and pulls herself, to the center of the clearing with the last of her strength and rolls onto her back. She screams for the last time, crying out the words "I don't hate myself," and closes her eyes. She accepts her faults, her inability to live up to all the standards she had set for herself and her beliefs as to what societies morals are, by accepting the storm and letting the wind fill her up. It enters into her first from her mouth and nose, then through her ears. She can feel her head filling, as if it is growing larger with each breath she draws into herself. Needing more, she reaches down and pulls up the skirt of the wet robe and opens her legs. The wind touches her gently, pushing her apart, squeezing into her and making her whole. Filling her with all the feelings she had once rejected, or hid from herself. She drifts off into a dream-filled sleep, contented with knowing that its okay for her to love, herself included.

Part III

Rahann awakes in a grass filled meadow, the green floor shining almost blue. Looking around the field before her, she tries to remember the dream she has just been having. Only one word comes to her now Araina. Try as she might, she cannot remember anything else and she cannot put this strange word out of her mind. The blue purple sky above her, reminds her of the events of the past few days. Thinking about the storm, she feels an intense pride. She did it, by accepting the storm and loving it, she conquered it. Now all that remains of the battle are a few bruises and cuts, already half healed.

Wondering how she ended up in this field, she wanders off in an easterly direction, following a narrow foot path. The grass is cropped short, and is worn away in the trail. Mountains can be seen rising into the few, wispy clouds left dancing in the sky. The land before her rolls gently up and down, as the path twists this way and that, always following the lowest route. The sun is warm, but not hot as it has been during the past week. Rahann breathes the fresh air, feeling strengthened and renewed by it. She continues following the path with the strange word, Araina, still fresh in her mind. Her path takes another twist around the base of a hill and straightens out once more.

Rahann happens to turn her head to the right and lets her eyes fall to the grass on that side of the path. Only two feet from the little road she can see a small spot of white surrounded by the blue green of the grass. Walking up to it, repeating the odd word from her dream quietly to herself, she sees "White Whispers" the tiny flower, the only one of its kind, and for the first time since she awoke she forgets the word that has been churning around in her head. The expression on her face goes blank, as she looks down to this delicate little plant. Instead of the relief or the joy that she had expect herself to feel, a sense of overwhelming grief takes over her heart. The flower is beautiful, almost more beautiful to Rahann's eyes than Haley. A large knot finds its way into her throat as she thinks of picking the tiny thing. It's petals shimmer like opal and it's tiny, frail stalk is as clear as crystal. It stands less than two inches high, but somehow its presence feels much bigger to Rahann. It seems to grow as she stares at it.

She sits on the grass beside the little flower and begins talking to herself. She tries to reason out her problem. Killing a plant or letting a people die. She has not the strength or the will to chose to do either. The tears fall softly from her eyes as she sits there for a long time, saying her thoughts aloud, in the hope that she might hear some reason in her own voice. Eventually, the one sided conversation makes its way back to the strange word that she had heard in her dream, only a few hours ago. "Araina. What is Araina? ARAINA!!!" She cries aloud in frustration. Surprised at the strength of her voice, she falls silent again, watching the little plant.

A small voice talks quietly into her ear, astonishing her, as she is alone in the field. "Tell the girl to make tea, and to drink of me," the voice repeats. Rahann looks around, seeing nothing she stares once more at the tiny white flower. A slight breeze brushes gently past the girl and flower. One of the tiny petals falls from the flower and is softly guided, by the breeze, to a spot on the ground next to Rahann's hand. She hears the small voice again "Make tea and drink of me, tell her this and all will be well. I will help, for you have spoken my true name, Araina of the rains, and share in my origins. Untamed and uncontrolled, we are softness and fury, light mist and full blown storm. Deny your self no more and you will find the way, for you are already on it. Good bye Rahann of the rains."

Rahann picks up the tiny petal and thanks the flower. Squeezing in tightly in her hand, Rahann shuts her eyes and lets go of her self. She feels a dizziness coming on and doesn't resist the sleep that follows. She soon awakes back in the hole under the ground, as she knew she would. Sleeping is beginning to feel like the easiest mode of travel for her in this world. Lying on a bed of straw in an otherwise empty room, she opens her hand, and looks at the little shimmering white petal, with a smile on her face. She closes her hand and holds it close to her heart as she stands and walks from the little room into the hallway. Feeling her way with her heart, she follows the passage to the Great Hall. Haley sits before the altar, waiting for her with a severe expression on her face. Rahann slows down, taking the time to memorize each detail of her love's countenance. Hearing the rustle of Rahann's robe, Haley turns to her, her wide eyes questioning. Rahann smiles wider and walks to the altar. She gives a slight bow to Haley as she reaches out and places the single petal on the top of the table. "Make tea from this petal and your sister will be will if she drinks of it."

Haley raises herself up to her full height and bends down to hold Rahann in her arms. She kisses her with many thanks before she says a quick prayer over the altar and takes the petal from the room. Left alone for a few minutes, Rahann kneels before the altar to give thanks to whatever god or goddess might be looking after her. Before she stands again, Haley is back in the room, Narro by her side. Narro reaches out his hand, showing Rahann a small satchel resting in the palm of his hand. Haley motions for Rahann to take it. Rahann looks into Narro's face one last time as she accepts the gift. His pink lips are curled into a wonderful smile. He bends down and kisses the top of her heard before turning and leaving the room in long strides.

Haley leads her back to the bed room and cuddles with her on the straw bed. She whispers softy to Rahann that the little gift will help bring her to this world whenever she is in need of anything. All she has to do is sleep with it under her pillow and while she is asleep, she will be back here, wrapped in Haley's long and slender arms.

Snuggled in, with Haley's hot breath on the back of her neck, Rahann drifts off once more into her dizzy dreamland. In her dream, she walks back up the hill from the valley to the green and golden field just beyond her city's limits. She slowly climbs the to the top of the little hill and lies down, in a extraordinary trance-like state, in the heavy mist and confused wind of the strange cloud that had brought her to the strange land.

She soon awakes on her couch back in her tiny apartment. She would have thought all of her adventures to be dreams, except that she was still wearing the long green robe and the sandals from Haley. The satchel hangs from a silver cord around her waist. She reaches down and takes it into her hand, squeezing it tight and smiling. A few moments later, she lets the satchel go and picks up the book she had once been reading.