Windmill

Part Three - Jubilation

willow was already knees deep in the water, wading through the pond behind their house. They were pulling a boat behind them, the same boat Nathan had fixed ages ago. The sloshing of dark, wet fabric and the early songs of territorial birds were the only sounds in the area, no one else but them are aware of a new arrival. No one else knows that something wasn't quite right with their peaceful little world.

From the edge of the still waters, Nathan can see a figure, too still, in the middle of the pond. His heart was pounding in his throat uncomfortably.

not right not right get away not right not rig- shaking thoughts away from his head, Nathan hurried after willow. The water was cold and provided a nice shock of awareness through him. Already, willow was sitting in the boat and rowing quickly toward the figure.

save them not right get away from them help them

Meaningless thoughts. A tangle of feelings and odd emotions that swim around his mind and cloud his own judgment.

"Are they-?" He called, stumbling awkwardly. The figure is in blue, a pretty shade of blue. A prettier shade than the uniform forced on him, surely. He still can't see features, but he can see a tangle of dark brown hair streaming around them and the awkward splay of stiff brown limbs. Beyond that, all he can focus on is how still they are.

not right not natural odd dangerous get away get away get awa-

"no." willow's voice is as soft and raspy as ever, but carries towards him. They stop and Nathan a few moments to catch up and get in the boat. It takes several more minutes of concerned, heavy breathing and persistant rowing before willow stops. They don't bother to raise the sleeves of their sweater and casually plucks the figure from out of the water. "time?

Document the time as if this was a birth.

In an odd way, it is.

It takes Nathan a few moments to register what willow has said. "T-time." Not a question. what time is it? The early morning light coming through behind grey clouds is tea-stained, yellow-brown and the air feels thick and hot, difficult to breath. Reminds him of his nightmare.

This isn't right, no arrival has made the air around them feel like this and it's throwing him off considerably.

"time?" They repeat, voice a bit less soft than usual, as if Nathan couldn't hear them the first time. Their voice shakes him out of it, brings him back to this scene.

"6:48 AM." Just like willow has the ability to know where arrivals are, Nathan had the somewhat mundane ability to know what time it is. Clocks, watches, any other kinds of time telling devices are readily available in Windmill.

It isn't a really super ability to have, if you ask him.

"let's take her home." willow says, holding the apparently female figure bridal style. Nathan meets the blacked out eyes again. He can see her face now.

She's pretty, he supposes. She has a hooked nose and a spattering of freckles across her face. Her skin has a sickly pallor to it and dark, painted lips are slightly parted. She looks like she's sleeping and that's rather concerning. An eternal sleep, he remembers a woman telling him once about what death was.

"Are you sure she'll be oka-?" The lady of the hour answered his question personally by raising up suddenly and coughing up lungfuls of the dirty pond water, all of it dripping down willow's shirt, before sighing and falling back into their arms, eyes still closed.

and chest way too still

"she'll be okay." willow nodded, turning to face Nathan, happily ignoring the fact that water now drenching their front. The mask twitched, evident enough that they were smiling behind it. "she'll be fine."

she'll be a friend. someone other than Nathan, who was really great and really nice, to talk to and want to talk to him.

"L-let's go get her some help then." Nathan's voice shook but both chose to ignore it.

Rowing back was near-silent, baring the songs of birds and other early morning risers. "What do you think her name is?" Nathan asked.

Silence answered him. Time can only tell in cases like this.