"Alright, stand in line." Theano ordered.
The hunting party stood side by side facing the direction of the Randerkse with Calypso bringing the quiver to her front then moving to face Theano who was at one end of the line. She picked out an arrow and in a moment she enchanted its point making it wave in the same way the tea at Ceres's cabin did.
Calypso carefully handed it to Theano, where he knocked it onto his bow. She did the same for the rest of the crew, handing each a ripple tipped arrow and then offering them a smile, which really did not fit well with her aggressive eyes.
Luni stood next to Memor, who was at the end of the line. Peeking at his side, Memor watched as Calypso enchanted an arrow then handed it to Luni, through the veil of smiles, Memor could decipher a hint of envy in Luni's eyes.
That's interesting. With his emotionless self, Memor received his arrow from Calypso, its wavy tip emanated an aura of destruction. In his years of interacting with his uncle, he had been shown many powers and abilities, but none of those released an aspect he could sense.
Memor instinctively moved the arrow away from his body, carefully he knocked the arrow onto his bow making sure its tip never went anywhere close to him.
Calypso placed the quiver on the ground after enchanting the last arrow for herself. Now that everyone was prepared Theano order."Draw."
Memor drew his bow, just like the rest of his party. looking up in the sky, in the left corner of his eye, he spotted a slightly darker cloud drifting closer, he didn't pay it much mind.
After everyone drew their bows, in the next moment, the arrows shot through the air, leaving no whistles for the Randerkse to notice.
The arrows arced through the skies, falling onto the herd of Randerkse. From afar, four from the herd fell to the grassy fields, lifeless. Irritated by the sudden attack, the rest of the Randerkse sprinted towards the closest forest in sight.
Despite their large builds, the speed at which they escaped into the forest was astonishing, Memor had never seen anything run as fast as it could, not even the fastest horse at the stables.
Memor lowered his bow, his vision lingering at where the Randerkse disappeared into the trees. Just then a stressed yell came from Theano, striking him out of his stupor,"EVERYONE IN THE WAGON NOW!"
Memor turned to his right, seeing the rest of the crew staring up into the sky behind him, he looked as well.
The once grey cloud now loomed above them, darker than it was before. A trickle of rain shed from the cloud, as the hunting party ran into the wagon close by. Theano first went to the front and ripped the straps connected to the horse with his bare hands before joining the rest of the crew.
What? Is it just rain we're running from? Memor had ran with the rest of the party, oblivious to what danger they were in, the same was with Luni, so it wasn't a surprise when Luni looked at Theano with curious eyes.
"It's a Sorrow Rain Luni, in the village you are protected by the Fragment Shield so you are not affected, but out here, if you get hit with a handful of it, you might die." Theano stated, as his voice was being drowned by the churning rain.
Theano warned, his expression dim,"once you feel it, do not, and I say, do not get distracted by your thoughts, alright." he gestured at Memor and Luni.
They both nodded. The downpour had started, all the sounds were now muffled under the intense pitter of rain. A gust of wind blew, inviting the cold vapour of the Sorrow Rain into the wagon.
Just then, they felt it, a sadness from deep within. It gnawed at their consciousness, attempting to replace it by the memories of past griefs and loss.
Tap.
A tear drop fell from Luni's face, followed by more and more, not only from Luni, but the rest of the hunting party. Their faces turned into lifeless statues, each entranced in their own memories, unable to escape. The crew's bodies were still, at times, one would lift a hand or move a leg, but they would return as fast as they came.
The wagon floor was now wet in tears, each party member had their own puddles, slowly gaining in volume except for Memor.
Huh? I'm immune? Is it because I'm…Well it doesn't matter, how do I hide this fact? From the beginning, Memor watched, as his teammates got dragged into a state of trance. He was not affected by the Sorrow Rain, he theorized that it could be because he ate a Bayel flower, but he scrapped that explanation instantly, as Learners have a similar ability which allows them to change their emotional state. The other reason was quite straight forward, it is the same reason as to why he has to eat Bayel flowers everyday to live, because he was not protected by the Fragment Shield.
Memor stared at the falling rain, unworried of the other party members noticing him.
I should try it out, what's the worst that can happen? Stretching out a hand, Memor slowly moved it under the rain. When his tips felt the cold raindrops, a sense of grief swelled up in him, not enough to incapacitate him, but he felt it.
His mind wandered to a past memory from his youthful years, he searched and found. Nothing. There were no memories of himself at those times, but between those empty spaces he found grief and sorrow that dwarfed all the others scattered across his memories.
Huh, it seems I'm not immune. He retracted his hand, drying it on his sleeve.
Now, how do I replicate the state the rest of them are in? Memor pondered for a while till an idea struck him. He sat similarly to how the rest of the cast were sitting, a slouched back, slightly opened mouth, and distant eyes.
Now, how long will this rain go on for? I'd rather not sit like this. Memor glanced at the rest of the crew, then at the rainstorm outside the wagon. He decided to endure, it wasn't one of the worst experiences he had, he would go as far to say that his training sessions with Uncle Ceres was more uncomfortable than this.
Memor kept his eyes wide open, not blinking for the whole duration of the storm, soon a puddle of tears formed under him, not much smaller than the others.
I can say it's because I'm not a Learner, if they ask me why my puddle of tears was smaller. Or is there a difference between a Learner and a mortal's tears? Memor ponder in his frozen state, he chose not to jerk his body from time to time as it wouldn't make much of a difference. Just then a voice resounded in his mind, it was Ceres.
'There is no difference between your tears and theirs, but I doubt they will suspect anything.'
Alright, I guess I should just continue like this till the storm stops. Memor's eyes darted around the wagon, from facing the outside to making out the details of his peers, which he found quite interesting. Theano held a secret just where his leather collar and skin met, a hint of a large scar peeked through.
It was interesting to observe the others, he learned more about them through it, like how Calypso's eyes are naturally sharp looking making anyone who interacted with her thinks she hates them, or like how Iro's bold head would gleam at certain angles which he never paid attention to, but throughout this whole process, he never spoke a word in his mind, he thought of nothing, he reacted to his observations purely with his feelings.
An hour or so has passed, Memor limbs had started to ache for a while now, though not enough to interrupt his observations. His eyes were still watering despite his forgetfulness of it. The storm has gradually turned into a trickle again, clearing the land of its bleak semblance.
The crew steadily gained back the life they were missing, starting with the eyes which began to blink, then to their postures, straightening out, finally movement. Theano looked around, checking on his teammates, nothing seems out of the ordinary. He waited till all his party members had regained their consciousness then moved to step outside.
A hand grabbed his arm, it was Luni framing a worried expression,"Isn't it dangerous outside?"
"Not anymore."Theano reassured, he stepped outside, the rest of the party followed suit moments later. Memor's limbs were still aching from the long sitting, his endurance is incomparable to that of Learners, so he borrowed Luni's shoulders to assist him in getting off the wagon.
Memor stepped onto the wet grass, looking down at his feet, he felt nothing of the unordinary.
It seems it's the act of raining that brings sorrow, not the rain itself. Memor raised his head to the sky, the overhead cloud had already moved quite a large distance from above them, allowing the golden light to slip past.
Memor looked at where the fallen Randerkse were, the land glistened in white sparks slightly obscuring his view. Just then he felt a light tap on his shoulder, he turned around to see Luni point in the direction of the wagon, Memor followed his finger, noticing the trail of blood slipping under the gaps of the wagon wheels. Memor circled around the wagon, trying to get a clear view of where the blood came from.
The rain was that loud, huh? A couple meters behind the wagon, two horses lay lifeless on the field, their skulls shattered from what seemed like repeated impacts.
Did they slam their heads together? As Memor approached the carcasses, he could see the frowns on the crew's faces. It was a horrifying thing to come across, but from the way they acted this did not seem like the first time. When he was close enough to inspect the body, surprisingly enough, they were only injured on their heads—there were no nearby rocks or boulders covered in blood either.
Suicide? That would make sense, huh? Quite smart of two horses killing themselves through each other. Memor stared at the dead horse for a moment before turning back to the rest of the hunting party. Everyone had climbed back on the wagon under Theano's orders, while he moved to the front of the wagon, grabbed the dowel with his hands behind him and started pulling.
"Come on Mori!"Luni yelled, in which Memor ran towards and climbed in from the back of the wagon. They sat in silence, everyone seemed mentally exhausted. Theano hauled the wagon down the hill they stood on towards the fallen Randerkse.
He is much stronger than a Learner, is he of similar strength to Uncle Ceres? It was a short journey to the Randerkses. Surprisingly, Theano didn't even break a sweat dragging the whole wagon of people.
They disembarked, Memor didn't know the reason for it, but he followed suit, afterwards Theano pulled the wagon to face one of the dead Randerkse, and then he moved to the side of the wagon, placing his hand on its frame.
With that, the carcass rippled, its wavy form so distinct it attracted all of Memor's attention, it was similar to the times that Uncle Ceres would teleport items, but during those times they were too fast for Memor to track.
The carcass kept its ripple for a minute, then it disappeared, as if it was never there.
Are they teleporting it or somehow storing it in the wagon? Memor shifted his gaze to another dead Randerkse, just then he realized there was no arrow sticking out. He looked back at where the vanished Randerkse once laid, and there it was, an arrow's fletching sticking out the ground. Just then Uncle Ceres's voice came.
'They are teleported to the village.'
I thought you weren't keen on educating me?
'...'
Memor sighed internally at his silence. He watched as Theano dragged the wagon to face each Randerkse and teleport them away. Calypso then would collect the arrows as they were not damaged. In the corner of his eye, he could spot Haris displeased, standing alone in the fields.
After finishing with teleporting their catch of the day, each person hopped back on the wagon. As Memor climbed back in, he looked back at the field where they had shot dead the Randerkse. The spot where his arrow had landed, he was displeased, even if he had trained in archery with Uncle Ceres, missing a target at a hundred meters was a disappointment in Uncle Ceres's eyes and his. He didn't dwell on it though.
The hunting party took turns in dragging the wagon back to the village, in which no one spoke, still weary from the Sorrow Rain.
When the crew reached the entrance of the village it was already evening, from the opening at the front of the wagon, Memor peeked through, at the village entrance a man stood, staring at the upcoming wagon.
From a look, one could tell that the man was a messenger, he had a scroll in his hand as he stared at the crew. Once close enough, the messenger gestured a hand to halt the hunting party.
The Messenger spoke,"Theano, Leader of Salvos, your team is summoned by the council for an immediate meeting."