19 - Rainpetals

It kept raining. Even after we ate dinner, and continuing until the light had faded.

"Well, this is a chance to test our tents," I noted.

"Let's hope they work."Juilana said.

"I, at least, hope they do." I replied.

We called it a night shortly after. I took a spot by the entrance with the Ancient, though out of the rain. The women moved their bedding a little deeper in. Still visible from the outside, but far enough to get their privacy.

As the others laid down to sleep, I just watched the water fall outside. Thousands of little streaks passing in the darkness.

*I will wake you if there is danger. You should rest.* The Ancient told me.

*I will. I just need a moment to think.*

*The Angel's carrier?*

*Her. Thomas and Silence. Juliana. The other billions people who showed up here with no clue how or why.*

*Did you not tell the Sorceress's carrier that you do not have to worry about the majority of those people?*

*My mother could be one of them. That, or she's in his blade. I have friends in college and at work out there too. This may be my reality and world now, but there are plenty of people out there who I still love and worry about.*

The Ancient was silent for some time. *I understand. It has been a very long time since I've interacted with mortals, but the other Soulblades were once mortal, and still preserve their egos. I am quite fond of several of them.*

I nodded. *It brings meaning to life.*

*Perhaps it does.*

I don't know how long it took me to nod off. I do know my veins were sore when I woke up in the morning. Mana had stopped circulating at some point in the night, but channeling it for untold hours left me sore and unwilling to move around.

The rain was still coming, but not as heavy as it was the night before.

I took off my cloak and shirt, picked up the Ancient, and stepped into the rain. It felt good, the small drops pelting my face and shoulders. Leaving my cloak and shirt in the Temple, and went over to the tents to check underneath them for dry ground.

As I crossed the clearing, something vibrant caught my eye. I turned to it, finding a patch of flowers at the edge of the clearing. Flowers that hadn't been there before. I approached them curiously. Some were blue. Others yellow. Still more, pink. The head of each flower was made of six wide petals, that joined like a tulip. They swayed in the rain on their knee-height stems. In the place of leaves, there were vines curled into gentle spirals.

*Rainpetals* the Ancient said simply.

I hunched down on one knee and watched raindrops land on the vibrant flower petals. some drops flowed to the ground, others into the center of the flower. The small patch was entrancing.

Then I realized I had been distracted. Reluctantly, I turned away from the previously-unseen flowers and checked under the tents. One of the leaves we had relied on for waterproofing had fallen in, making a hole in the roof. Besides it, a handful of spots dripped. Mostly between other leaves that had been pelted with far-falling water drops and slid.

We would have to fix them after it stopped raining, but after we came up with a way to prevent them from being done in or moved. After making the analysis, I returned indoors, and let myself air-dry. The torches lighting up the hallway brightened gradually as the sun supposedly rose.

"It's still raining?"

I looked away from the rain to see Juliana awake and approaching me. "Yeah. I checked out the tents. They're going to need work."

"That explains why you don't have your shirt on."

I cringed, then rushed to put it on.

"It's not a problem for me. But she might go red as a tomato if she sees you," Juliana gestured behind her, towards Katie.

"I'm glad she sleeps in, then." I replied, my shirt back on properly.

"She won't be able to forever, though."

A sneeze echoed down the corridor, attracting Juliana's and my attention. Katie sat up, rubbing her eyes. Eventually, she wandered over to us.

"Since you're both up," I suggested, "I want to show you this."

Katie gave me a confused look. I handed them my cloak to use as an umbrella, and led them into the rain.

I wouldn't be able to say how I had initially missed the Rainpetals before, with how easily they shone through the rain. Katie and Juliana saw them on our way, and Katie ran past me, abandoning the shelter of the cloak. She crouched down next to the patch of flowers as Juliana and I came closer.

"They weren't here before," Juliana said.

"The Ancient called them Rainpetals." I replied.

"They're beautiful," Katie whispered.

Like you.

I didn't know where the thought came from, but seeing the blond girl crouched over the vibrant flowers, I wouldn't have been able to say which was prettier.

*Women tend to like knowing when men think they're beautiful.* The Ancient noted.

*I know that.*

*When will you tell her, then?*

*Not now. One day, though.*

I got a general sense of frustration from him.

Once we were thoroughly soaked, we went back inside the temple, where Juliana started a fire to dry us off. It seemed quicker this time than previously for the wisps of flame to answer her call. She was improving.

As we sat in the stone hallway, around a fire without fuel, Juliana asked, "So, what's the plan? What do we need to get done?"

"We need our shelters to be rain-proof. That might be something we do with Silence and Thomas, but it's something to consider." I noted.

"We need a change of clothes," Katie added, "and maybe proper bedding while we're at it."

"Having cloaks for everyone will help too," I included.

"Upgrade housing, new clothes, bedding, cloaks, and I'm going to add tools and traps."

"Traps... for hunting?" I asked.

"That way we don't have to rely on having someone of Silence's skill to kill things for us."

"We should probably consider traps more capable of catching bears than rabbits, then." I suggested, "That seems to be the more average size of creatures around here."

*It is accurate that the majority of creatures in the vicinity are of the size of the beasts you encountered or larger.* The Ancient agreed.

"I wish I had google." Katie complained, "It would be so nice to look this stuff up."

I looked at the Ancient. "We - I might have a way to do that."