Reverse of the Rain

“We setting camp here,” she said, while she setting her camp like usual. After finishing my preparations, I turned around and noticed Ella looking at me. She had also finished setting up her camp, but it was in a messy state. She stood there, waiting for me.

“Alright, Aria. Let’s go hunt the boar,” Ella said.

“Ella, could you help me with the water supply?” Aria asked.

Her expression turned disappointed, her tip of foots flicked left and right, created small marks on the floor “But, aren’t we going to hunt—”

“Ella, we have a slight issue with that,” she said softly, Aria gesturing towards her face. pointed cheek and traced her shawl down to thigh, then smiled at her.

She tilted her head, confused. However, when Ella mimicked my actions and touched her own face, she finally noticed the mud stuck to her cheek. She looked down at her clothes and saw that the same area I had pointed to was covered in dried and cracked mud.

“Ah! I’ll take care of it. You meant the water supply, right?” she panicked, hurrying out of the camp.

“Ella! The river is over there, in that direction,” Aria pointed towards the west, guided her in the right direction. “It’s not far, just a two-minute walk.”

“Aw wawa, thank you, Aria,” she stammered, her ears turning redder. She turned back and hurried past Aria, heading towards the direction she had pointed.

Aria looked at the mess tents that hadn’t been properly secured set pins to the ground.

“I should fix her tent before it gets carried away by the gale,” she said. So she grabbed some tools and an anchor pin, heading towards her tent.

However, as Aria started fixing it, she spotted the Black Muddy Fish King currently try to leave the camp zone to find his own food again.

“Stop Right There, Rain,” she said.

He looked at me, Tiled his body and his head, then pointed his finger to his face, then pointed at the sky, then back to his dump face again.

I stared at him for a moment, and then addressed him again, “It’s you, Rain, the fish king. Stop right there.”

“Me!?... Ah, okay,” he replied, stood upright with his hands firmly pressed against his thighs, his face, neck, and shoulders locked in a soldier-like posture.

What a trouble. She approached him.

Aria noticed the Red Witch out of the corner of her eye, trying to catch up to him.

“Rain, what is that? How can you do it? Where are you go—”

Aria quickly grabbed the Red Witch’s hand and instructed her, “Faye, help Ella set up the tent.” She handed her the tools and anchors.

“Eh? W—what?” she stammered, confused.

Not bothered by what she grumping, “Follow me, Rain.” Aria swiftly walked out.

“O—Ok—ok” He obediently followed her.

Meanwhile, the Red Witch stood alone as the wind brushed past her, yet her body and clothes remained completely still, not even a slight movement. She gazed at her own hand and then at Ella’s tent, whispering, “Iron Maiden, this is not merely pinning, but a fresh start!”

—§—

Both of them ventured deeper into the forest. Despite the absence of a muddy river, the forest was still damp, with a lush greenery and a foggy atmosphere.

“Where are we going, Aria?” I asked, while pushed large leaf out of the way.

There was no response from the ice lady, who continued to stride forward into the depths of the forest. The sound of insects crawling through the trees filled the air. Suddenly, the temperature dropped, and there was no sign of human or animal presence.

“Aria, don’t you think it’s a bit cold in the forest?” Rain asked once again, hoping for an answer this time. However, she remained silent. Was she mad at me?

Was she planning to kill me in the forest? His face grew bitter and a sense of unease washed over him. Even the forest seemed to mock him... No, no, no, if she wanted to harm me, she wouldn’t have waited this long.

By the way, this forest was teeming with various types of plants. Maybe I could find some good food, even a good part for Rocky. A smile flashed on his face.

They continued to walk deeper into the forest, where it grew denser. There were no signs of larger animals, only tiny insects, plants, and mushrooms scattered around.

“No, no, no, purple plant. I don’t want to eat you. Don’t stare at me,” he said, crossing his arms and looking at a dark skull patterned flower. “Even though you have a cool pattern and a sweet smell, you can’t trick me twice.”

“Don’t worry, Lilyboy, I have an eternal love for you. Oh, ChupaChupa, don’t be sad,” he muttered, grabbed that plant into the poach. This place was perfect for living. Maybe I could find some sacred food.

“Aria, how did you find this island? Do you own this land? Can I take some goodies from here?” Rain asked, grabbed more good stuff to the poach.

“Aria, are you looking for plants?...”

“Look! that multi color beetle...”

“Aria, do you think this eatable... Nah, don’t try.”

“Oh, this one looks pretty...”

“Aria, see, see, that river looking cool...”

“Wow, I found a rare mushroom!”

“Aria, are you the owner of this island? How much would it cost to buy it?”

“This place is amazing. If we travel through the island, we could gather all the seasonings we need for cooking, even though I can’t get much about the taste of food. But I’m sure this place has—”

Aria suddenly stopped and turned back, her blue eyes glowing. “What happened to you?” she asked.

His hand dropped stuff that he carried along the way. Her face was still cool and beautiful as ever, but with an eerie aura surrounding her that sent chills down his spine. “I-I just picked up some things,” he stammered, answered without thinking.

Her glowing eyes remained. What did I do wrong? Were my hands dirty? He swiftly wiped his dirty hands with his shirt and looked back at her. Her eyes glowed brighter. No, no, no, it was the wrong choice. Cold sweat beaded around his head. I needed to think, Rain. Use your smart brain, Rain. Solving this problem shouldn’t be that hard. She would not kill me. She was just mad at me for something. Let’s trace back what happened. She remained silent for a long time. I picked some plants and edible mushrooms, just asking her about the ownership of this island. Lastly, when I grabbed a plant, she looked back at me as if she wanted something from me. AH! I know it! Haha.

A smile spread across his face, looked back at her with proudly pose. His left arm touched the tree, supporting his body, while his right arm raised his hair. “Do not worry, milady. I already know what you’re concerned about. Milady owns this land. I’m just a mere forest collector. According to the harvest and tribute law, I will give milady half of the stuff, 50:50. Are you satisfied with this condition?” I winked at her for a bonus.

Chirk! Chirk! Chirk! the sound of cricket roams around the area.

Her eyebrows slowly furrowed, her face darkened. She really looked like an iron maiden that I saw on the deepest floor of a prison. Please believe me, I also heard the sound of iron crashing together. Was I going to die today?

“Wait, wait! Aria, please don’t be angry, okay? What do you want?” No more proud acts. Only a little lamb remained in his heart. He hoped that this day wouldn’t be the turn that he will be sacrificed.

“Could you stop talking? We were hunting. Do you think a boar would stand still if it heard you talking noisily with your plant friends like that?” she said in a controlled voice, making sure only I could hear her.

Rain suddenly covered my mouth and spoke in a very low voice. “Um! I’m sorry, but I don’t bnow that bhy we are bere? why don’t you just bell me we boming to hunt? A boar right? It is far to that Di—”

Aria stared at Rain. “Stop that noisy babbling!” she said.

He shook like a lamb and answered, “…ok…”

Her eyes stopped glowing. She turned and walked forward, leading the way.

He reached towards his dropped pouch, but suddenly stopped. sweat cool bud came, A cold gaze from Aria stopped him.

“Just take this pouch, okay?” I said.

She didn’t answer back. She just turned and continued walking. A faint voice escaped her lips, “why am I angry?”

Grabbing the poach and tying it to my waist, I softly tapped it twice. “You’re safe, my friend,” I whispered quietly.

After walking around for half an hour, we finally found a sign of a living being, a boar’s hoof footprint in the area. But it was huge, the size of my head. So we followed that sign. Eventually, we encountered our target.

She raised her hand, signaling me to stop and look back at her. Her gaze locked onto mine.

“I know, no talking, right? Have I spoken to you since then?” I whispered. I hid my body in the bushes, peering at the boar through a gap in the leaves. It was a massive creature, standing at six feet tall with black fur and long, menacing tusks. You’d surely doomed if you stabbed by it. Luckily, we were downwind, and it hadn’t noticed us yet. Aria was truly skilled in her field. She knew the way and where to hide, even the smallest details like as instruction me to throwing out mushrooms, to be removed attraction odor.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not your plant,” she said. Covering herself with her cloak to prepare for the fight.

She stepped closer to me. Even though I wasn’t particularly good at judging beauty, I could tell she was stunning. blue mana that gathered and flowed on her eyes and hair perfectly matched, and droplets of water floated around her, giving her an almost saintly appearance. Even in her camouflaged cloak, her radiant aura couldn’t conceal. She spoke in a lower tone, “You attack it from the front, and I’ll come after you to distract it as much as possible.”

“okay...” answered without thinking. I just attack from the front, sus easy task. “What!! What?! Aria, are you joking? I don’t know how to fight! And even if I did, how could I take on that enormous boar? Look at my scrawny arms and legs!” Rain eyes widened as he looked at her.

“How do you not know? You can fight against me. Dodge my attacks, move swiftly like a mouse in a rice field,” she replied.

“That’s not a fight at all, it’s just running and fleeing for the life, For the Earth mother, a rat? Do you think of me as a rat? Are you a farmer trying to catch and destroy me, thinking that I damaged your rice field, right?” I said, while using three fingers to mimic a rat pointing out of my nose.

“I said mouse, mouse in the rice field, not rats in the sewer! There are difference. mouse are mightier and cuter!” her voice rose.

“Ho ho, are you a fan of rodents too? In my previous castle, I had a lot of rodent friends. Someday, I’ll introduce you to my best friend, Remy. He’s really good at cooking. Maybe he can teach you to become the best chef,” he said.

“Rain!” Her voice rose to the maximum.

The boar sensed something, looked at the noise, but there was nothing moving, only beetles flying around... It seemed to hate the beetles, only releasing a huff to express its annoyance, then continued digging in the mud.

“sheeehhh, Aria, lower your voice. You’ll make the boar notice us,” Rain said.

She looked at Rain with half-lid eyes, and suddenly, his back felt wet. His brain alerted telling him he needed to apologize quickly, right now. Stop thinking and just say it, “Sor—.”

“Are you going to fight?” she asked in an icy voice.

Like a lightning flash striking him, he answered without thinking, “Sorry, no—” His brain alerted again. It disappointed and felt sorry for him. Why couldn’t it be my usual smart brain? Damn it, sorry, brain. We might die today. At least we have someone to die with. He tried to grab his friend by his side, but he wasn’t there.

Aria smiled at Rain. Not a sweet smile, but a cold one. Goosebumps rose, and cold sweat covered his body. “Okay, then let your friend fight instead.” She showed him his best friend, Rocky. It looked so helpless in her hand, looking at Rain as if it needed help.