Rain (The Quest Trilogy-Book Two)

by Iram Dana

  “That’s not a puddle, silly. That’s the Anyfruit tree. Subodh, you can go back to the beach. We’ll follow later.” she said to Subodh. The old man nodded and hobbled off on his stick.

  Rainbow ran towards the puddle and sat down beside it. She beckoned to Rain to come join her.

  “Look inside.” said Rainbow, gesturing to the puddle.

  Rain looked down and saw himself and Rainbow sitting at the roots of a great big tree. Wondering how that had gotten there, Rain looked behind him, but there was nothing. Confused, he peered into the puddle again and there it was, standing tall and proud behind them with its long branches spread out majestically.

  “Fascinating!” said Rain, looking inside the puddle and then out at the place where they were sitting again and again.

  “Now watch.” said Rainbow, putting a hand inside the puddle. “I want to have grapes.” she called out and Rain saw that the tree in the puddle was now laden with many different varieties of grapes. Rainbow effortlessly plucked a bunch from the reflection, and then drew it out of the puddle.

  “Impossible!”

  “Absolutely possible!” said Rainbow smugly, filling her cheeks with three large grapes.

  “You can have any fruit you want from the Anyfruit tree. Just ask for it and dip for it.” instructed Rainbow, through a mouthful of grapes.

  Rain picked out apples, kiwis, mangoes, even bananas and lychees.

  “This is amazing! Rainbow, you’re the best. Anyone who feeds me is a friend for life.” he declared. Rainbow nodded happily, agreeing with Rain.

  “Lesh go back now.” she chomped out.

  “All right.” agreed Rain, lifting up his haul with both hands and then putting them all into his belt pocket.

  He peeled a lychee and ate its soft flesh.

  “Yum! Rainbow, ever since you’ve come, you’ve filled my life with color.” said Rain, smacking his lips with appreciation.

  Rainbow stopped dead in her tracks and spun around.

  “What did you just say?”

  “Said you brought color into my life. Why?” repeated Rain, looking puzzled.

  Rainbow gave a tiny gasp and there was a popping sound as the hair behind her head flew up.

  The words flowed fast and furious from her mouth, as her eyes scanned his features wildly.

  “Is that the meaning of my core name? Have you just discovered its significance? Are you my soulmate? Gosh! How do you feel? Do you feel any different?!”

  She was clinging on to his shirt lapels now, hanging onto them for all they were worth.

  Rain pushed her away gently. “Er …I feel perfectly normal?” He replied.

  Rainbow gave another little gasp. “So do I!”

  “Okay, just hold on a sec.” said Rain, trying to get the situation under control. “Traditionally, aren’t you supposed to find out the hidden meaning behind my core name at the same time that I figure yours out?”

  That threw her off for a moment.

  “Oh yeah … I am, aren’t I?”

  “Mmhmm.”

  Rainbow clenched her eyes shut, trying with all her might to concentrate.

  “Well … your core name means … it means … I have no idea.” she admitted, looking dejected.

  “Rainbow, where is your packet of deconfusers?” asked Rain, holding Rainbow’s shoulders.

  Rainbow took them out and handed the packet to Rain. He took one of the small squares out, peeled off its backing paper, and handed it to Rainbow.

  “Here. Put this back on. I’m sure it’ll help.” he said.

  Rainbow looked at him through narrowed eyes, but complied.

  “There, now isn’t that better?” said Rain, tapping her on the head as though she were a child.

  He began strutting forward with Rainbow silently walking alongside, feeling confused.

  Rain continued his ramblings. “So you thought …or hoped … that I was your true love. It’s understandable. I guess I’m more desirable than I realized. But that doesn’t mean …”

  Unable to bear his egotistical gloating anymore Rainbow jutted a foot out in his path, tripping him.

  “Have a nice trip, Rain!”

  “Yaargh!” yelled Rain as he went tumbling down. Spitting mud out of his mouth he lifted his head to glare at her. Before he could get back on his feet, Rainbow had run off ahead.

  “Coward! Come back and face me!” shouted Rain, running after her, but she was flitting between trees and he could not see her anymore.

  He looked up and it started to rain all over the forest as far as the eye could see. She came out from behind a tree a minute later, soaking wet and glaring daggers at him.

  “You play dirty, Rain.” she said, pointing an accusing finger at him.

  “Give up?” he smirked.

  Rainbow nodded slowly. “Now stop the rain.” she said.

  “Say you’re sorry, first.

  A lock of wet hair fell on his forehead and he reached up to brush it away.

  “Please, allow me.” said Rainbow, quickly raking a hand through his hair and turning all of it grey. “There, much better now.” said Rainbow, looking at him appreciatively.

  “What did you do to my hair?” asked Rain, looking at her suspiciously. When she didn’t say anything and started walking ahead gaily, he frantically removed a mirror from his belt and stared at his reflection, aghast.

  “My beautiful hair! Turn it back, turn it back!” he demanded, half panicking.

  “Are you sorry?” asked Rainbow.

  “What? Are you crazy?!”

  “Say you’re sorry first.”

  “Arrgh! Rainbow!”

  Rain lunged for her but she was too quick. She jutted a foot out and Rain went tumbling to the ground again.

  “If you’ve repented, I’ll be waiting for you back at the hut.” she called, before turning and making a dash for the beach.

  *****

  Three months had passed and Heart was still to make an appearance, but Rain knew better than to give up on his friend this time. His faith paid off shortly thereafter when he found Heart wandering in the forest, apparently having lost his way again. They were sitting beside the hut and catching up when Rainbow came rushing out of the forest and straight towards them.

  “You’ll never believe what I found!” panted Rainbow, holding her sides.

  “You’ll never believe what I found.” said Rain, pointing towards Heart.

  “Heart! When did you get back?” said Rainbow in surprise.

  “Lost my way again and was wandering around close by. Luckily, Rain spotted me and brought me back.” said Heart, looking happy to be back among friends.

  “You’ve been okay?” he asked Rainbow, who was still trying to catch her breath.

  “Couldn’t be better.”

  “So what’s the excitement all about?” asked Rain.

  “I found unicorns! Back there in the forest! And I begged them to give us a ride. And guess what? They agreed! Heart, you come too.”

  “Unicorns! I can’t believe it! Well, what are you guys waiting for? Let’s go already. We haven’t got all day!” said Rain, leaping to his feet.

  A stout stick touched his hand and Rain stopped.

  “Did you say unicorns?” rasped Subodh.

  All three turned to look at Subodh. The old healer had never shown any interest in any of their previous expeditions.

  “That’s what I said.” said Rain, eyeing Subodh curiously.

  “Mind if I tag along?”

  “Not at all. But we have to hurry, or they’ll leave.” said Rainbow. “Subodh, do you mind if I carry you?”

  Subodh shook his head. “I don’t mind.” Rainbow bent forward but two strong hands landed on each of her shoulders, restraining her. Rainbow looked behind to see both Rain and Heart standing behind her, looking offended to the extreme.

  “What?” said Rainbow, to the two strapping young men staring down at her.

  “I’ll do it.” said Rain and Heart together.
<
br />   Rainbow rolled her eyes and backed off to give them space.

  “Male ego’s!” she said, under her breath.

  Heart looked at Rain, who nodded, and then scooped the old man into his arms.

  The three of them ran as fast as they could to where the unicorns stood, tall and huge, like seven storey buildings. They stopped short a few feet away from the magnificent beasts, staring up at them in awe. Rain set Subodh down gently. The old man shuffled forward as soon as his feet touched the ground. There were three unicorns ahead of them, occasionally beating their great wings: One silver, one white, and one grey.

  Their thick manes were shiny with large open curls that looked like clouds resting on their necks. Rainbow walked up to the white unicorn and patted its neck.

  “Unicorns maintain peace and balance in the world. They used to freely roam the earth a long time ago but evil people started hunting them down for the magical properties possessed by their horns. So they flew up to the sky, where they now live … among the clouds. They come down extremely rarely.” She explained.

  Subodh limped up to the white unicorn

  “O magnificent unicorn… I, Subodh, humbly request you to grant me a few tears.” said Subodh, holding out a small glass vial. The great white unicorn bent its head and closed its enormous eyes, shedding a few pearl-like drops. Subodh hurried forward to collect them in his vial.

  “Thank-you ever so much.” said Subodh, gratefully accepting the tears.

  He put the vial to his lips and drank the tears in a single gulp.

  “It has strong healing properties.” whispered Rainbow, to the Rain and Heart.

  The silver unicorn then came towards Rain and touched its spiral horn to his shoulders. The scars left by Miti magically disappeared at its touch. Seeing this, Heart stepped forward eagerly and lifted his T-shirt to expose the scar in the middle of his chest. The unicorn touched Heart’s scar and it, too, disappeared.

  “If you boys are done beautifying yourselves, can we please leave?” said Rainbow, tapping a foot impatiently.

  “How do we climb up?” asked Rain. “They’re too huge.”

  Rainbow turned to the white unicorn who bent down on its knees and spread its wings. Using the wings to support herself, Rainbow quickly climbed up the unicorn’s back.

  Rain looked at the silver unicorn. It bent down and flattened its wings for him. Heart ran over to the grey unicorn and climbed astride too. The unicorns began to flap their wings, letting up a cloud of leaves and dust. Rainbow looked down at Subodh as they rose slowly into the air.

  “Goodbye, Subodh!” she called, waving out to him. “We’ll see you later!”

  The three unicorns zoomed off into the skies, flying high above the clouds at great speed. They alternately took over each other, so that sometimes Heart would be at the forefront and Rain and Rainbow at others.

  Rain, who had never had a bigger adrenaline rush, was having the time of his life. The wind rushed through his hair, cold and hard, but wildly exhilarating. He whooped and hollered as the unicorns climbed up steeply, and then dived down into a spiral dip before taking a full three hundred and sixty degree turn.

  Several times, Rain almost slipped off the unicorn’s smooth back, surviving only because he held on so tightly to the unicorn’s shiny silver mane.

  The unicorn smelled of a sweet fragrance that Rain had never smelled before and Rain pressed himself closer to its body, wanting to be enveloped by the scent. They took another sharp dip and Rain saw dark, stormy clouds ahead.

  “Uh oh. This flight is in for some turbulence.” said Rain, tightening his grip on the unicorn’s body.

  But as they got closer, Rain saw that the grey clouds were simply a large cluster of dark grey colored unicorns running together, their manes flying rhythmically in the wind.

  Shortly ahead, there was a rainbow. All three unicorns headed straight for it and landed smoothly on one band of color each. They glided down the sparkling slides of color, gently coming to a stop at the end of it. They spread out their wings to enable their riders to get off.

  Rain reluctantly climbed off his unicorn, quickly breaking off a small strand of its silver mane to keep as a souvenir.

  “Thank-you all!” said Rainbow, hugging her white unicorn before jumping off.

  Once they were all safely on the ground, the unicorns rose into the air and disappeared into some clouds floating overhead.

  “That was great, wasn’t it?” said Rainbow, twirling on the spot.

  Rain and Heart exchanged a high five.

  “The best!” they both agreed.

  “I cannot thank you enough for inviting us to share the experience.” said Heart.

  Rainbow bowed, graciously accepting their thanks. She turned to the rainbow in front of her and absorbed the beautiful bands of color into her palm.

  “Shall we, gentlemen?” she said to Heart and Rain with a sweep of her hands.

  They walked all the way back to the hut animatedly describing and discussing in detail the unicorn rides they had just had.

  *****

  In the days that followed, all of them showed a marked improvement in health but none more so than Subodh. The old healer no longer walked with a limp. And what’s more, he was growing new teeth where his old ones had fallen off.

  “Well now, Subodh, it looks like we’ll soon have to get you a wife!” said Rain, ribbing the old healer good naturedly. Subodh’s walking stick came down on Rain’s head but Rain ducked it.

  That seemed to be the only purpose of the stick now -to give the occasional blow- since Subodh no longer seemed to need its support while walking. Rain rubbed his palms together, still smiling, when he noticed some peculiar growth on Subodh’s shiny pate.

  “Waitaminnit … Subodh, is that new hair you’re sprouting?!”

  Subodh shuffled away, ignoring the question.

  “Geez!” exclaimed Rain, “what next? A growth spurt?”

  He hadn’t seen Subodh come behind him and therefore, wasn’t expecting the blow that came down on him, this time finding its mark.

  “Yeow! You should stop doing that, you know? Especially now that you keep growing stronger by the day!” grumbled Rain, looking towards the others for support.

  Nobody paid any attention to him.

  “All right, fine. A guy knows when he’s wanted.” said Rain, getting up and heading towards the forest. “Going for a walk. Don’t wait for me if I’m late for lunch.” he called over his shoulder.

  “Too much company can sometimes be a bad thing, too.” he grumbled to his Geeya sometime later.

  “Only because they are not supporting you.” she noted sagely.

  “Maybe … but still …” he argued, in no mood to listen to reasoning. He put his hand into his pocket and drew out the sword of Halion. It calmed him down instantly. He stared at its ornately carved hilt and the pale yellow color of its blade and then held it up proudly for his Geeya to observe. “I got one of my own.”

  “You did well.”

  “Thanks!”

  “But keep your ego in check.”

  “Aw, come on. Not you too? You know I do it all just for fun. I don’t seriously mean the things I say!”

  “I know that, Rain. But prevention is better than cure.”

  “Fine. I’ll take the advice … but only because it’s good.” said Rain, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He lifted the sword and swung it around in the air. There was a deafening shriek and then a semi-transparent body fell near his feet, neatly sliced in two.

  There was another scream a fraction of a second later, which Rain recognized as his own.

  “What!? How?!” he gasped, looking wildly around himself.

  There had been nobody here besides him and his Geeya. How had he managed to kill somebody in this much time?

  “Calm down, Rain. Take a few deep breaths.” advised his Geeya.

  Rain obeyed her without argument, taking deep breaths to calm himself.

  “That is a
n undead.” explained his Geeya. “She had taken a fancy to you and had been following you for some days now.”

  “What?!” said Rain, yelling because he could not keep his horror down. “Why didn’t you say anything about it to me earlier?”

  “Because you never asked me to. Besides, she had only taken a fancy to you, and didn’t mean you any harm … as yet.”

  “Oh, for …! Were you waiting for it to harm me and then inform me?!” said Rain, looking at her incredulously.

  “Of course not!” said his Geeya, sounding offended. “I would not have let it harm you.”

  “Look, will you please warn me the next time something like this follows me?” said Rain, trying to keep his voice even. The two halves of the undead’s body were beginning to disperse into the air like small particles of light.

  “All right.” said his Geeya looking affronted.

  “Thank-you.”

  His Geeya turned up her nose. “You’re welcome.”

  Rain laughed, his temper cooling off at her dainty sense of offence.

  “What is an undead, by the way?”

  “The undead are souls of people who have taken their own lives. They cannot join the naturally deceased, neither can they join the living again, for technically, their bodies are dead. So they roam the world … restless souls that have no place to go. They see and hear everybody, but nobody can see or hear them. Before long, frustration sets in, and they start making mischief … troubling people, haunting people …and things like that.”

  “You’re starting to creep me out.” warned Rain. “People take their own lives here, in Quniverse too?”

  “A lot.”

  Rain fell silent, more disturbed by that piece of information than he could understand why. He looked down at his chain to find it glowing. “Oh, look …my chain’s glowing.”

  The trees of the forest blended into one another as everything blurred past Rain.

  It was time.

  *****

  CHAPTER 14

  He was on a lonely stretch of open countryside. The path was rough, strewn with stones both big and small. Occasionally, he came across one or two dilapidated houses. “Looks like a deserted place.” said Rain.