Rowan stifled another curse as she pushed her way through the undergrowth. Surely that clearing hadn't been so far yesterday when she was scouting? ~Goddess,~ she thought, ~and I am doing this for fun...~ The constant catching of branches in her clothing irritated her, but once she found the clearing it would be worth it. She desperately needed some time away from the others. Not that they hadn't become a sort of family, but she was the type to need time to herself and that had been of short supply lately. Finally, after a last battle with a branch, she reached the clearing. With a sigh she crossed and sat at the base of a rock that stuck straight and slender out of the ground like an obelisk, leaning back against it. The spot felt good to her, as it had when she passed through yesterday, as if some power welled out of the ground there- a soothing one. She closed her eyes, permitting herself to relax, something she had noticed none of their group did very often. Just as she had sunk into a half trance, her mind becoming empty and quiet, she felt it.
         At first it was just a humming, like her ears were ringing, then it rose in intensity until it seemed like her bones would shake right out of her skin. The rock behind her trembled. A point of light appeared to one side, about six feet away from her seat, and then expanded to a two-dimensional circle of light about four feet wide, horizontal in the air. That was when someone fell through.
         She- it was a she- hit the ground with a painful sounding thump. "Ummph," she said, muffled as she attempted to sort herself out. She had long, pale hair pulled back, and wore a strange, black-and-red uniform of some sort. Despite this her movements were somehow familiar to Rowan. She cursed quietly and desultorily in a familiar language, but it didn't sink in who she was until she stood and Rowan saw her face.
         She looked up at the movement, Rowan half standing, having not noticed another being in the clearing until then. Her eyes, blue so pale it was almost clear, met Rowan's yellow ones, and widened. It was Rowan spoke first, her voice calm and quiet, and disbelieving.
         “Fallon?” she said, and blinked. She had to think a moment and close her mouth else she would have repeated herself. She stood up the rest of the way, leaning one shoulder against the standing stone, seemingly finding some support from it. The other woman nodded.
         “It is,” Fallon said, raising an eyebrow in an unfamiliar expression, a funny sort of smile on her face as she looked at her cousin, "and it isn't." She seemed to be taking it in rather well, unlike Rowan who was feeling a bit out of sorts. “Calle! I…” She looked uncertain what to say, as if too many things were trying to get out at once. Finally she gave a nod, really just a dip of her chin, and stepped forward. She took Rowan's hands and sat cross-legged on the ground, tugging Rowan down with her. After a hesitation Rowan sat as well, knee-to-knee with her cousin as they had sat frequently in childhood. It felt weird. Weird, but comforting… or was that the stone. Rowan shrugged uncomfortably, this was her oldest friend, her heart-sister. Even if hearing that name again hurt in a place she thought had become calloused a long time ago. She looked up, and Fallon was once again searching the clearing. She quickly looked back at Rowan, and gave a little smile. ~She was giving me space,~ Rowan thought, and gave Fallon's fingers a squeeze before letting go.

((That's all folks!))

((Quick background on this, Rowan is not originally from the plane she's now on. She and Fallon were both caught in a wild magic accident and kicked into different universes. Flame (Fallon) ended up in StarFleet, and through no fault of my own actually got to be a captain and then in command of the entire External Affairs division... not bad since she started out Ship's Counselor. Rowan just ended up nealy getting killed any number of times, went though Armageddon, got married and had kids and a nice life (yes, after Armageddon) and eventually died when she got tired of living and wanted to see what was next. Tadaaa. *L*))