Episode 44 - Rains

A stack of books in white is tied together when a red thread with a bow on top.

Rick Rounds returns, Olivier makes it rain, and Lady Ethel finishes up some business. The theme of tonight's episode is Rains.

***Content Warnings:** Abuse, Animal Death, Violence, Kidnapping and Abduction, Death + Injury, Blood, Transphobia, Hand Loss, Homophobia, Misgendering, Emotional Manipulation, Drowning, Body Horror, Electrocution, and Religious Violence.*

## Intro - Dead Beyond Thirst

Nikignik narrates Solomon Reed to the dreamers, shortly after discovered the bodies of Percy and Abigail Reed. They describe him falling to his knees on the driveway out the front of his house, his tears running away with the rain. The rains that held power, and stripped his family from him. They were the water that had risen up to consume the earth and drowns those who sinned in their beds. Solomon realises that it must all be apart of God's plan, as this was the reason for his studying.

Nikigink is at the sharp end of Rick Rounds' hunting knife they say that the clouds are dark above the Hallowoods that day, and that they think it may storm.

## Story One - Better From Here

Rick Rounds is trudging through the Hallowoods, lost in a fantasy about confronting Polly again and stealing his Umbrella, when he is snapped back to reality by thunder sounding off in the near distance. He is alone and lost amongst the trees, still in pain from loosing his hand (see Episode 23 - Sunsets). He'd found that his fantasies were pivoting between hunting down Polly, and returning to Fort Freedom to take his revenge on Mrs. Wicker and the likes (see Episode 30 - Stones). He's aware of the incoming rain, so he makes his way towards the sound of running water, which leads him to a large lake, the water of which is quite thoroughly blackened (see Black Water), covered with rocky islands covered with trees. He spots a rowboat on the shore of one of the islands, and above the a barely visible cabin (see Overdue Cabin). Rick contemplates whether or not he should swim across to the cabin, understanding that jumping into water that dark was a bad idea, but also knowing that he needed shelter to escape the storm, and decides to risk the lake, strapping his knife to his backpack. He finds it at first to be an east swim despite his missing hand, and begins curing out Buck Silver in his head for betraying him (see Episode 30 - Stones) and listening to Mrs. Wicker, thinking that was was definitely going to kill her if he ever got the chance to, that her kids would have to find something else to do other then following her around and looking creepy.

Something catches on his foot, initially assuming it's lake weed, he being to kick at it with his free foot, only to feel that it was something large and heavy just bellow the waters surface that he couldn't see. He starts to panic, but pushes it down, swimming faster towards the shore with the cabin, but the thing that grabbed at his foot surfaces in the water dangerously close in front of him. He at first thinks it's a crocodile from the shape of the head, but realises that the shape of its eyes was off and that it had fins, that it was a giant pike. He curses at this, then is pulled under the water as the pike bites down on his leg and drags him down to the lake bed. He tries kicking again, but is only met with the pike biting down harder, which cause him to scream and suck water into his lungs. He bends back and starts to punch the fish, with no result, but then he remembers the knife attached to his backpack, and twists his body in a way that jabs the knife into the fish, causing it to release him. He swims the rest of the way to the shore, but is caught at the last second by the pike, biting down on his backpack, which he slides and scrambles the rest of the way back onto the shore as the fish slips back into the water, making off with all of his supplies. He curses again, and the rain begins to fall.

He hurries through the trees trying to one again locate the cabin he'd seen while also trying to maintain pressure on his injured leg. He does find the cabin, still no light shining through the window, the door cracked open and the word "overdue" carved into the boards. He enters, slams the door shut and collapses against it, finding that the room smells of burnt hair, and realises that there were black feathers and what looked to be burnt human remains and ash in a corner of the room (see Episode 9 - Birds), and there was a large cage towards the back of the room. Rick assumes that this had been Polly's doing, and says as much to the corpse. He's quickly able to locate an oil lantern and a box of matches, lighting it and finding a number of books under a tarp, of which "Twelve Testaments of the End", "The Stair Eternal", and "Of The Powers" are named, though he take little interest in them, think to himself that he might die of boredom before starvation. He continues looking around, and finds a toolbox, several hunting knives, and a pantry full of canned food, which he considers a jackpot. He sits down on the cot in the corner of the room, and unwraps the bandage around his wrist stump, seeing that the skin was turning black, and wraps it again so he didn't have to think about it. He starts making plans to continue hunting down Polly, and reclaim Fort Freedom. He thinks that maybe he'd been to hard on Buck, that it wasn't really his fault what'd happened to him. He goes to sleep.

### Interlude - Taste the Rain

Nikignik asks the dreamers if they liked the taste of rain on their tongues, the way it haunted their throats and wrote strange words in their lungs. That the wheel was turning (see Marolmar) and the red dawn was there, that the clouds were not an omen but an invitation. The end was here and they could be apart of it, if they gave up their fragile lives, skin of paper and eyes of flesh. He asks if they loved the world around them as it twisted and changed like a flower, just as they twisted and changed. Life was no longer complex, but beautifully simple, change old life into new, protect that which now grows. They could not save the old world from its fate of falling rains and rising oceans, but they could be heralds of the new world that is to come. But if someone hadn't tried the black rains yet, it would be best to keep it that way, as it was a drastic change and some it affected better then others.

## Story Two - Replacement

Olivier Song stands in the doorway of Solomon Reed's house, wondering if it had been poor choices, or no choice at all that had lead her to where she was, because for all she'd been through, she had nothing to show for it. Solomon was standing next to her, talking to Clara Martin, her replacement (see Episode 43 - Relics). She finally realises that she hadn't been being tested, that C. S. Blackletter had actually expelled her from Downing Hill public library (see Episode 15 - Cards), and that she was alone and nobody wanted her. Solomon's offer (see Episode 43 - Relics) didn't mean anything if she couldn't go back to Downing Hill, couldn't see Friday Rescher again. It had taken her ten years to earn her cape, and Clara had been given her present after a month. She backs away, retreating into the house (which goes unnoticed by both Solomon and Clara), and starts thinking about where she might go next, she couldn't go back to Downing Hill, and she couldn't stay with Solomon. She remembers the Scoutpost, she might not have known anyone there, and tried to kidnap Riot Maidstone, and warned Solomon of their invasion attempt (see Episode 36 - Swords), but it was all about balancing out the bad with the good, so she was going to need a leverage.

She goes down to the basement, and starts to call out for Percy Reed, who responds immediately apparating next to the harp he was nor attached to. He asks her what she wanted, and she asks if they knew him at the Scoutpost, and he confirms this. She takes a moment to calm her nerves, and graves the harp. This confuses Percy, who reminds her that the harp was him, and she tells him that she was going to be getting them out of Solomon's house, and if he could put in a good word for her at the Scoutpost. He tells her that he would, and she tucks the harp under her arm, and flies back up the basement stairs. She pauses for a moment in the living room to look around for a back door, only to realises that Solomon was looking directly at her from the front doorway with a horrified look on his face as he instantly puts together what she was doing. He yells at her to put his son down, and Olivier summons a wind that slams into him, sending him flying out the front door, with Olivier soring out after him quickly gaining altitude until she was flying above the tree tops. She laughs to herself, wondering why she hadn't done this sooner. Percy tells her that Clara was following them, and she looks behind her o find just that, though Clara was clearly not yet experienced with flying. Oliver summons a storm, clearing a path in the rain for her and Percy, though doing no such thing for Clara, catching her up in turbulence and forcing her to fall back. Olivier keeps flying until she reaches the Scoutpost.

### Marketing - Hurricane Claudette

Lady Ethel Mallory cuts off Nikignik with her marketing segment. She announces that Hurricane Claudette had come early for the season, and was expected to disperse over the remains of Old Florida, though, Dreaming Box users weren't going to even notice this from the comfort of their dreaming pods, seeing as that Dreaming Boxes were designed to withstand even the strongest of storms, so there wasn't any change of a black out in the prime dream. She claims that the rains nowadays were not as potent as they were when they first fell twenty years ago, as whatever had been contaminating them had be diluted when it mixed with more water, but trace amounts were still present, as with in drinking water. But those inside the dreaming Boxes didn't have to worry about exposure to the black water thanks to Botco's purification system (see Episode 75 - Loyalties). She tells the dreamers that the effects of the Black water was no small thing which was why they were working so hard on helping Valerie and Riot Maidstone recover (this is a lie).

### Story Two, Continued

Olivier is sitting in a dark room at a table tied to a chair with a bloody nose, after presumably getting beat up by someone or other from the Scoutpost. Berne Keene enters the room, lighting a candle, and beginning with the "I've put thirty-nine scary thing in the ground, and I'd like to make it forty" speech that she'd already given twice before, she tells Olivier that she'd had a Ghost at her table (see Percy Reed), and a sewn-up zombie thing (see Diggory Graves), but what was Olivier? Olivier tells her that she was just herself, and begins her bargaining pitch, saying that she was willing for forgive getting hit in the head and threatened, that she wanted food, shelter, and books if they had any. She begins to lay out what she could give in exchange for these things, but trails off when she notices Bern death glaring her.

Bern asks why Olivier did it, which Olivier tells her she didn't know what she was talking about. ern starts to list off all the things that Olivier had done to the Scoutpost, Riot, Percy, Diggory, and Walter Pensive (see Episode 36 - Swords). Olivier begins to defend herself, saying that it wasn't her fault, and that Solomon hadn't even been home, but Bern tells her that yes, it was her fault, and that she'd wanted to put a crossbow bolt between her eyes right then and there, and that it looked like she might still get her chance. Olivier reminds Bern that she could destroy the Scoutpost if she wanted to, but ern tells her that she could destroy her skull faster. Bern tells Olivier that she [Olivier] was spying on them for Solomon, and asks her what he wanted to know, but Olivier tells her that she wasn't a spy, and that she couldn't go back to Solomon, he'd kill her for stealing Percy. Bern tells her that that wasn't her problem, hat they were grateful to have Percy back, but she didn't see Olivier acting sorry for anything she'd done. She turns to leave, but Olivier starts apologising, telling her that she'd thought she had no choice, that she consistently made the wrong choices, and that she had nowhere else to go. Bern tells her it wasn't her decision to make on if she got to stay, and leaves.

Olivier starts to cry, to her own confusion and disappointment, aware that this was her last chance and she was messing it up. The door opens again and Riot steps in. Riot tells Olivier that she had her down as "Cloud Witch" (see Walt's Almanac), but Percy had told her that her name was Olivier, taking the set across from Olivier at the table. Olivier confirms this, finding fascination in Riot keeping a journal, Riot asks if Olivier's powers were just her, of if she'd picked up a cursed amulet or something, and Olivier tells her that it was just her, that she'd had them since she was a kid. She asks if there were others like Olivier, and she tells her that there were lots (see Covenants), but she was the only one who could 'speak to the weather'. Riot nodes and closes the almanac. She introduces herself, and tells Olivier that she'd just wanted to finish off her entry before she killed her, sliding out her sword. Olivier kicks back, failing onto the floor, and summoning wind, though she was to concentrated on the sword far to close for comfort to use it. She begins to plead with Riot not to kill her, but Riot also reminds her of her attacking Diggory, attempting to kidnap her, and getting Walt killed. Olivier apologises again, but Riot tells her that it didn't change anything. Olivier begins to try and bargain again, telling Riot that Solomon had made her do it, that she hated him just as much as Riot did, that she could help them stop him. She tells her about Solomon's plan to kill everyone in the Scoutpost for his Organ (see Episode 43 - Relics), and that she didn't know why Solomon had killed Walt. Riot tells her that she really wanted to hurt her, make her pay for everything she'd done to them, but she was going to give her a chance, and tells her about her plan to storm Solomon's house, that Olivier was going to help them. Olivier asks if this meant she could stay, and Riot tells her that it depended on how helpful she was.

### Interlude - Too Few Words

Nikignik apologises to the dreamers for the horrors that have befallen their world, there the final chapters of their storied were going cur short and written with too few words. They want the dreamers to know that it was not out of malice for Earth that they reviled in the rains, they do it because the rains mean that in the end Marolmar won, in some small way. It might have been one word instead of thousands that fell, but it was a world none the less, one word that Syrensyr didn't have access to (see The Industry), one sun that Tolshotol laid no claim. He compares it to finding a painting that a loved one made years after they died. Marolomar had been gone for so long, yet still a new world grew because of him.

## Story Three - The World in Red Twine

Lady Ethel Mallory steps off of her sky ship (see Episode 9 -Birds) into the rain out font of Solomon Reed's house (see Episode 25 - Spiders). She stops for a moment to taste the rain, enjoying its corruption. She notices Solomon sitting on his front porch, also being soaked in the rain though not enjoying it as Ethel was. She asks him if something wrong, and he tells her that his Son was missing, and asks if Ethel had seen him. Ethel thinks to herself that Solomon was in need to a dreaming pod to sleep in. She tells him that she hadn't, and that she wasn't aware that he had children. He confirms this, and asks Ethel if she wanted an Umbrella, though he was unsure if he had one big enough for her, but she tells him that she liked the rain. She says that she was there to finish their business together, as she was going to be leaving the Hallowoods soon, and Solomon tells her that this was unfortunate, as he hadn't had his fill of her company. She reminds him that he agreed to hand over his method (see Ghosts), and he informs her that she would have them shortly, but he didn't have Riot for her. She says that this was fine, that she'd almost forgotten about that part of their deal.

Solomon brings up the Scoutpost, saying that he had to 'deal with' them. Meanwhile Marco Torres speaks up into the earpiece Ethel is wearing, telling her that someone else was approaching. Ethel offers to drop a bomb on the Scoutpost for Solomon, but he tells her not to, as he'd have no materials to work with in that case. Clara appears hovering down on her broom, which both Marco and Brooklyn Williams comment one, causing her to mute them over her earpiece. Ethel asks Solomon where he "[found] these people" (see Covenants), and he tells her that they come to him (see Downing Hill public library). Clara tells her that they [Olivier and Percy] had gotten away, and then she notices Ethel (see Lady Ethel Mallory). Ethel gives her a small wave, as not to scare her, and asks her what her name is, and Clara answers, she tells her that she had a surprising skill, which Clara takes as a compliment. Ethel reiterates to Solomon that this was going to be her last visit, and that she wanted his method. Solomon tells her to run inside and grab his books, which she does and hands them off to Ethel, who accepts them and tells Clara that if she ever planned on changing carriers she could come and work for her. They bid each other goodbye, and Ethel turns her earpiece back on, to Marco and Brooklyn alarmedly telling her that Clara was Riots' girlfriend.

## Outro - Rains

Nikignik talks to the dreamers about rains. He tells them that it was within their books that once a vengeful god had drowned the old age to make way for the new, and that the sky had shone with prismatic when the survivors walked into this new age. He states that their books had t wrong, because that was not past, but now. The rains had pored down, and they were looking for an ark. It was bold of them to assume that these waters would fall, that he new world would welcome them as the old had.

##### Until next time dreamers:

> "*Until next time dreamers, please be aware that some clouds are carnivorous — they look just like the rest and you'll hardly know you're walking into one. It might just seem that you're walking into a fog. Honestly, it's best to stay indoors altogether*."
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