Chapter LXXXI: Clouds on the Horizon ~Rainstorm

 

"Well I guess we are all set to land on Nimbus, right?" asked Rainy.
"Yup, any moment now we should be able to see it," replied Pris.
Rainy smiled and looked out the window, waiting to catch the first sight of his home planet. He had been waiting, and dreading for that matter, the return home. He took a small walk on the train towards the front, growing impatient with every second. He looked out the window again. At first he didn't see anything, but then in the distance he saw a small blue dot. His eyes sparkled as he looked thinking to himself, "That surely must be Nimbus by now."
And indeed it was. The planet came more and more into focus as they began to get closer. Nimbus was a small blue planet, not seeming like much at a glance. As they got closer and closer Rainy felt a small pang of excitement. He ran back to his cabin to find Crux, but instead found him on the way to his cabin with little Kai. Rainy smiled and bent down over both of them.
"We're going to be home soon, Crux," he said with a broad smile on his face.
"This should be fun," Crux communicated to him with a small wink and nod.
The Spectrum began its descent into the atmosphere. Rainy suddenly remembered something. He ran to the front of the train and talked to CR.
"When we get close to the ground, do not land at first. Just let the Spectrum hover for a second."
"Gonna tell me why?" asked CR.
"You'll see soon enough," he replied.
When they got to about ground level, CR complied with Rainys wishes and stopped. The door was opened and Rainy hopped out, and as he landed on the soil, the clouds began to assemble.
"Lady Precipita, I have returned to you. Grant safe passage for my friends that have come with me." As he said these words, he clutched the pendant he wore around his neck with his right hand.
"Oh gracious Goddess, I serve and honor you with my faith!" he shouted.
When the final word was spoken, a bright light gathered around Rainy. The other passengers, curious about the light, wandered towards the windows and the open door to see what was going on. The light grew brighter and brighter until it was too bright to be seen directly. The globe of light around Rainy began to flash, and all of the passengers covered their eyes. When they looked up and the flashing was dying down, they saw Rainy standing in the middle of the light with his eyes closed and on his knees.
"My friends, I welcome you to Nimbus," said Rainy with a smile.
Everyone was a little tenative at first, wondering whether or not Rainys blessing had worked. But in time they all hopped off the train, and it was allowed to land.
"What was that?" Rainy heard from a few people.
"That is what we call the arrival incantation. It is done by praying to your Goddess for safe travel for you and your companions. If I had not done that spell, there would be no way for you to get off of the train. The train would've been crushed into small peices if it had tried to land, and you all would have been imploded."
"Oh, I guess that explains it then," said Jade with a weird look.
"Heh, heh at least I remembered."
Nimbus was as he had always remembered it. The landscape still beautiful to behold. He looked about him at the wonderful fluffy clouds in the air, the pure and white snow at his feet. They had arrived in mid-winter and were on Rainys home continent, near where his hometown was.
"Would you all like to see where I live then?" Rainy asked them.
Most of them nodded or said yes so he led them to him hometown. When he arrived, he noticed something had changed about the wall around the town. It seemed to be in much dis-repair, but other than that everything seemed normal. Rainy went to the gates of the wall, and pressed his hand against the stone, muttering words under his breath the whole time. The gates opened slowly with a shudder and a creak. What he found on the other side of that wall surprised Rainy very much. The town was not as he had remembered, but rather much changed.
"Well I guess that's what time will do to a town..." he thought to himself.
The town was no longer peaceful and open, but instead seemed to be very military like. He walked up and down the streets seeing guards everywhere. He came to the castle gates and questioned the guards.
"What has happened here?" he asked them.
"There is a rumor that there has been a multitude of monsters coming out the Forest lately."
"No, please don't say it's the Twisting Forest?"
"Oddly enough, yes. There hasn't been activity there for close to a century, and yet all of a sudden there has been a sudden flux in the norm."
"Hmmm..alright thank you," he said to the guard. "Well then shall I show you my home?"
Rainy walked down towards the street where he lived so long ago only to find an empty lot.
"I guess that is to be expected since I never came back and my father never had a will..."
Rainy sighed and told the party to go and explore the area, but not to go to the Twisting Forest yet. There was much to be done before going anywhere near it. He scooped Crux into his arms and headed off, leaving the rest of his companions a little confused.

---------------------------

Rainy sat underneath a tree with Crux by his side.
"Do you remember when I found you here my friend?"
Crux nodded her head a little and then levitated up to his shoulder. She seemed to notice that Rainy was not in the best of spirits. Rainy looked up into the sky, hoping just once that he would find someone that he knew, knowing at the same time that was impossible. He drifted off to sleep and yet again had another nightmare. He woke with a start and noticed at once that he was crying. He wiped his eyes clean and looked around. He was alone and night had fallen, Crux lay near him sleeping in a small curled up ball. He picked her up and started to walk back towards the Spectrum.
When he arrived back, he found most of the train empty. He guessed that most had taken his advice and gone off exploring. He walked again outside to look at the stars. They were very pretty this time of year. From his vantage point he could see Lady Raindrops constellation in the sky. He looked down at the ground, wondering why he had been so eager to get home.
"Because you knew you'd have to face the past eventually," he heard a voice say.
Rainy jumped up with a start, "Who's there?"
Out of the mist of the night he saw a figure appear. The figure was tall and slightly smaller than Rainy was. It seemed to be just a shadow, and Rainy couldn't make out anything else about it.
"What do you want?" he asked.
"Come to the castle, you know you must," the voice said trailing off.
"Who the hell are you?!?!" Rainy shouted. But his words were wasted; the fog began to fade and the figure faded thus with it also. Rainy was quite shaken and took a moment to calm himself. He began to think to himself and wondered whether what he had just seen was an apparition of his own making, or a real figure. Just as he was about to conclude that it wasn't real, he heard another voice.
"What are you doing out here all alone?"
Rainy started slightly, but then realized it was the voice of Rynn.
"Just thinking really he replied."
She sat down next to him, "About what?"
"Things about the past that need to be resolved, and things in my present that I have yet to grasp."
"You speak very mysteriously you know that?" she said with a small laugh. "Could you decipher that code for me?"
"There is something in my past that I need to confront. I have to go back to...the castle."
"Old ghosts you need to exorcise huh?"
"Yeah I guess you could say that."
"But what about your present? Didn't you mention that?"
Rainy looked up into the sky wondering how he should start to answer that question.
"It's just that I had a small hope that at least someone would recognize me here. I was foolish in thinking that seeing as how all of my family is gone and my friends..." he trailed off thinking of Ravis. He wiped a small tear from his eye. "I'm just having a hard time accepting the fact that...I'm all alone," he said bowing his head a little
"You're not alone Rainy. You have all of us," replied Rynn.
"I know what you mean, but I still can't help feeling that emptiness let's just say that my homecoming was not at all what I expected."
"You'll find your moment. For the time being, be happy and don't worry about it. You'll get your answers soon enough. I think those answers will help resolve, at least somewhat, your present problems. So cheer up 'kay?" she said with a wink.
"I'll try Rynn, I'll try," he replied with a small smile.
Rynn headed back to the train and left Rainy outside to think with himself again. After a short time he walked back to the train, discovering that many of them had returned. He went back to his room, and slept waiting for the dream to set in.

---------------------

In a small chamber in an unknown place something hovered in a dark corner.
"I will get you soon enough Rainstorm Yoshi, and none of your friends will make it out of the ruins if I have anything to say about it."
It laughed a short laugh that would send a chill through the bravest peoples spines.