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Whenever he closed his eyes, he could see the burning tip of the cigarette being lowered down onto his exposed forearm. It was just one of those nights, he assumed, that the nightmares wouldn't wait until he was asleep to begin their attack. Tonight they had to sleep in the woods, since he and Bre were too far between towns to spend the night at an inn, and besides, that would have cost money neither of them had. And so, instead, they unpacked their blankets and set them onto a clear spot on the ground, blessedly free of rocks and twigs, and settled in for the night. Somewhere overhead, the owls were hooting softly and the faint snapping of branches and other foliage signaled the awakening of such other nocturnal animals, all sounds which Aramis had grown accustomed to. Bre, however, wasn't used to such sounds.

"What was that?!" she gasped, hearing a faint noise in the distance.

"That's just a screech owl," Aramis confirmed, shifting a little as he leaned against a nearby tree. Things had fallen silent for a while.

"What was that?!" Bre exclaimed again, sitting up in her sleeping bag.

"Probably a wolf," Aramis surmised, picking up a stick and drawing circles in the dust before him. Again, momentary silence.

Suddenly, a rapid succesion of snaps and rustles erupted from the woods. "What was that?!" Bre shouted, leaping out of her sleeping bag and huddling next to Aramis. "And don't tell me it was an owl or some mouse or something!" "No, it wasn't," Aramis confirmed, yawning loudly. "It was a female Astalonian Blood Eagle, and it often hunts at night for delicate animal flesh which it can bring back to its nest live so it can gradually feed its young the freshest meat. You know... sometimes they even carry off young women..."

Bre immediately slapped Aramis' arm, trembling in fear. "You're lying, damn it!" she screeched. "I am not!" he laughed, rubbing his arm. "Come on, I've been all over these parts; why do you think I'm staying awake tonight? It's because I know the Blood Eagle might come around tonight and try to snatch you up!" Bre sneered at him and crawled back into her sleeping bag. "You are soooo full of it, Aramis," she sneered, pulling the slack of the bag over her head. "I swear, I'm gonna get you one of these days..."