Chapter 2- Meeting Up Naomi blinked as she slowly came to, wondering where on earth she could be. Her first impression was that she'd somehow fallen asleep in the shower, but that didn't seem quite right- the floor was too… mushy… underneath. Was this a dream, then? No, she was far too wet to be dreaming. Where am I? She sat up, realizing that she was lying in the middle of a small deer trail in the middle of what looked to be a forest, during a rainstorm. The downpour had apparently been going on for some time, since she was soaked and the ground seemed to make a squelching noise every time she moved. As she came to herself, she found that a young man was glaring at her accusingly, as though the whole situation was somehow her fault. He, too, was soaked, and covered in mud. Though… There's something odd about him. He looks so familiar… The young man had fiery red hair and narrow green eyes. He wore an earring in both ears, and wore the remains of what probably was a nice set of shirt and khakis. He wore what looked like leather boots that came almost halfway up his calves. "Are you done yet?" he muttered. She blinked. "I'm sorry. Um…" Her eyes widened as a thought occurred to her. "You! You're kidnapping me!" she exclaimed, pointing at him. Now the young man looked confused, pointing at himself for a moment before he realized that she meant it. "What? Me? Hey, lady, you fell on top ofI me, /Iokay? Don't give me this friggin' crap about me kidnapping you!" "I fell… what the hell are you…?" He rolled his eyes, throwing his hands up into the air. "I give up. Not only is she a future trainer, she's a stupid one. Well, good riddance. Maybe a wild beast will come and kill her for me." With that, he turned and began to stomp off through the woods, squelching each time he moved. "Huh… uh… hey! Wait!" she called after him, struggling to her feet. It was odd, how hard it was for one to get up when one was covered in so much water and mud. "Where am I?" The only response she got was a disgusted look before he continued on his way. Frowning, she began to wring some of the water out of her hair while brushing the mud off of her front. If he thinks I'm giving up that easily, he's got another thing coming! I want to know where I know him from! With that, the two began to squelch their way through the woods, neither speaking, both for their own reasons. "It's raining. Again." This observant statement came from the mouth of a small cave where wild beasts had once lived during the cold season of the region. Now, it was inhabited again, but by completely different species. "Yes, Missie, we noticed," came a dry comment from behind the first person. "Shut up, Sano." Anya glared at the rain for a few more minutes, then sighed in disgust and turned to flop down on her bedroll, which hadn't moved in three days. Four sets of eyes watched her, then three returned to their own interests while Sano continued to watch her. One sat with a small lamp perched on his shoulder, a laptop on his legs as he absently went from checking various "mysterious" networks to playing solitaire. Another sat watching the rain much like Anya had, except with a faraway gaze instead of an expression of disgust on his face while he rested his sword- a true blade now, not a wooden one- in his lap. The last one sat in a far, dark corner, with his large blue cloak settled on the ground and he upon it, meditating. All in all, it seemed a peaceful scene. It was peaceful three days ago, Anya thought rebelliously. Now it's just boring. Over the past many months, the young woman- now approaching her eighteenth birthday- had gained a love for wandering. Naturally, what followed was that she and her small group of Bishonen ended up travelling on foot for twenty-nine days out of every thirty. So, one could easily imagine the boredom Anya had after three days of being in the same place. "This had better not continue tomorrow," she complained after a while of silence. "I don't think I can take any more of this." "You're welcome to go out there anytime you like," Sanosuke said, smirking slightly. She smacked him. "You know I hate getting rained on, Sano." "You hate getting your parade rained on, no da?" asked a playful voice. Both Anya and Sano turned to look at Chichiri with blank expressions. He watched them, then sweat-dropped. "Jeez, sorry. Bad joke, n'da." With that, he returned to his meditation. "Look at it this way, Missie," Sano said. "At least we don't have to be anywhere right now, right?" "Well, yeah, but-" "Hey, isn't that-" Anya glared at him. "Don't change the subject, Sano!" "Missie, there's something out there!" P"Yeah, right."/P "There is!" he insisted, pointing out into the rain. "Yeah, rain, rain, mud, and oh, yeah! Rain. Thanks, I noticed." Now Sano smacked her, though he was just a tad easier on her head than she had been on his. "I'm serious. There's someone- no, two someones… I think it's a trainer and a B- no, a halfling." A what? Anya turned to the mouth of the cave, peering out into the rain. A young half-Bishie male was marching through the rain. It looked like his entire body was covered with mud, and his hair- which was a fiery red- seemed to be completely soaked. He was about thirty or so feet from the mouth of the cave, so it was a little hard to make out any more details through the pouring rain. As for his companion… Anya blinked in surprise. What's she doing wandering around in pajamas? A young woman- undoubtedly human- was marching sullenly after the half-Bishie, dressed in a green pajama set. At least, it had been green before; her entire front was covered in mud, and she, too, was obviously soaked to the bone. Wait a minute… Anya's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Where's her trainer belt? She… she's a newbie!" she exclaimed. "What?" Sano asked. Anya ignored him, jumping to her feet and grabbing Chichiri's blue cloak out from under him. This earned her a startled squawk of indignation from said Bishonen (as he ended landing head first on the ground), but she was far too busy wrapping herself up in the cloak to care. "I'll be right back, everyone!" With that, she darted out of the cave into the rain. There was a pause. Then, Kenshin finally spoke, murmuring, "I thought she hated rain…?"