A meadow away from the camps of both armies, where Saida takes Jo after she has to leave the army.

Saida dismounted with fluid grace as the horses trotted, taking the tied reins between them and leading them through the long grasses. The sun shone through the small gap in trees, and a few flowers grew, even, ad if this was the one place that had been forgotten by the war. Saida helped her down and gestured towards one of two tents, smiling. "Your tent. I do hope it suits your needs."

"That'll do fine," Jo said, smiling slightly.

Saida smiled back, nodded, then went straight to the topic of the end of her stay. "I can deliver thee baby, if is needed." His thickly accented tone was evident, matter of fact. "Although presume you would want Ru'a to do it, and undersstandably so."

"You know how to deliver babies?" Jo asked, surprised. "I would never have thought you would."

"Of course I do.", he said, "Lived in great tribe, hundred people or more. Delivered Zeventeen in my lifetime.", he said in a thickly lisped voice.

Jo smiled slightly. "That's alot. The men here, they don't usually have a clue about such things."

"Zey ees afraid," he stated simply, taking a few branches off of the ground to feed the fire.

She shrugged and stared at her hands for a moment, sitting down on the ground. "I don't really want this, but yet I do at the same time. I don't really understand my own thoughts anymore. I just want to be back with the army... and Charlie... But at the same time I want to raise this child. If only I could do both."

Saida nodded, noticed the time. "You need rest.", he stated, "As does your child."

"I'm not tired..." Jo said softly, looking up at him again. "I just... I wish I could make sense of everything... but I don't know where to begin."

Saida smiled. "Not to make sense of things we're intended...", he said softly, "Rather to move with them."

Jo sighed softly. "But I want to be able to make sense of them."

"Sometimes...we are not meant to make sense of zem.", he said quietly, looking up at the night sky, "It is all planned out for us...ahead of our time."

"I don't like to think of it as all planned out," Jo said, "I like to think that I can control my own life, and understand what is going on. Because I have a mind of my own I suppose."

Saida abruptly turned around, his eyes glowing with offense and anger. However, he restrained himself, gave a cold nod, and headed into his tent, unrolling his mat and withdrawing his compass.

Jo watched him, unsure of what she'd said that had caused the man to react in such a mannor. But she shrugged, despite her wondering and stood up, walking to her own tent. She stepped inside and lay down inside of it, staring up at the tent's ceiling before closing her eyes and letting her thoughts wander. It was all there seemed to be to do at the moment, wonder why such a thing had happened to her, and yet be partly glad about it at the same time. She couldn't understand herself, or the situation and wished again to be by Charlie's side... to be in his arms...

Saida murmured the last of the words in Arabic and wetted his hands in a small basin, cleaning off his neck and feet before he settled down and rested.

From the camp's edge, a mysterious pair of eyes watched them from the shadows.

((Switch to the next day, maybe?))

Saida stretched; having awoken early and already recited his prayers for the morning, he had just finished washing off his hands and the back of his neck in a small basin after. He left his tent, looking up at the foggy sky for a moment before he began to walk through the woods, searching for blueberries, or so he'd heard them called.

Gretel had risen early and was already working on gathering herbs. A lark sang nearby and she looked up, smiling.

Jo woke up and slipped from her tent, standing there for a moment as she looked out over the meadow. She wished that she was still asleep, that she didn't have to worry any longer about everything that was happening. But she also knew there was no hiding from any of it.

Saida stepped lightly through the mists, his reed sandals crunching in the leaves as he stooped down and picked some of the plants. He started to turn back to bring the berries when he saw a form near him. "Good morning. I was not aware that I wasn't the only one aware of this place."

Gretel looked up on seeing Saida. She smiled, nodding in greeting. "Good morning," she said quietly. "I was wondering when we might speak."

Saida watched her for a moment, a meeting of keen senses from both individuals. "Greetings," he said, reaching down to pick a few more berries.

Nodding in return, Gretel used her boline to cut some stalks from nearby. She smiled. Herbs were abundant at this time, as they should be.

((A boline is a white handled ritual knife.))

(*nods* I actually know a fair deal about Wicca/Druidism/Paganism in general. XP It's one of my interests.)

Saida observed her for a moment before turned, walking with a light stride back towards the meadow.

((That's awesome! :D))

Gretel watched him go for a moment. "You have a soldier with you?" she asked. She'd seen his blue-coated companion arrive before.

(Thankyas~)

"A woman soldier, yes," he explained.

Gretel's lips pressed together slightly. She harbored no love for the soldiers of either army. But she felt a sense of respect rise on hearing the the soldier was female. Few women she knew would be willing to take that risk.

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