Obviously, none of this was according to plan. And, well, with everyone freaking out, there was hardly any room for her to freak out.
Someone had to keep their head screwed on straight.
Lake's song had been cut short when Rain had shouted at the sleet to stop. Now it was only sprinkling. Though that was manageable, it was still cold.
Lake sighed.
"Okay," she said, voice forcefully firm. "Fish, grab your sleeping bag. Rain, get ready to move. I'm making us a shelter just in case."
With a deep breath, she faced the snow wall surrounding them and sang an old snow-moving song to create a roof. Even as she started the first note of the melody, she could feel a hum of energy in her throat, and in her fingertips. With careful hands she directed the snow to carve over their heads like a roof, blocking out the rain.
The snow came arching over them with a rush. Lately, she'd had to practically fight with her magic and drag it along. Now, suddenly, it was like it was over-eager.
The snow roof came together, but it stretched out even further than she intended. It reached over the dogs, and the sled, and completely closed them in so that they couldn't see the sky.
The only light filling their snowy cage was the flickering, dim light of the fire that had been dampened by the rain.
With a deep breath, Lake sang another song, this one soft and under her breath. Just to give the fire a gentle nudge.
The wood dried instantly, and the fire pulsed to life with a crackly roar, back to its former glory.
Lake stiffly planted a hand on Fish's shoulder. She didn't even finish the melody before he poofed up, all dry.
The dogs barked at that.
"Okay," Lake said with a deep breath. "So... so we've got stronger magic, is all. No biggie."
"WHAT is going ON?" Fish yelled, his newfound poofiness finally shaking him out of shock. He seemed overstimulated with everything going on but was still hyperfocused on the dogs.
Rain still had her sleeping bag pulled over her head like a salty burrito, torn somewhere between shock and misty-eyed discontentment. "This isn't 'stronger magic'. It's not like I can just control the weather like-" she snapped, and it instantly thundered so loud it shook them all to the core. She yelped and edged closer to her friends, looking up fearfully.
"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?" Fish yelled in exasperation, edging away from her again.
"I DON'T KNOW!"
"Rain," Lake said, still forcing her voice to be steady. "I think maybe your uh, your mood is affecting that."
She turned towards Lake slowly, blinking. "That makes no sense whatsoever. What am I? A cartoon? This my literal-rather-than-metaphorical rain cloud?"
"I'm not saying it has to make sense," Lake said. "I'm just saying that's what appears to be happening. Fish is apparently hearing the dogs talk. That doesn't make sense either. But he's freaked enough that I believe he's not making it up."
"I'm not going crazy. Are you going crazy? Dogs aren't supposed to talk," Fish said defensively, trying to convince himself more than the girls.
"I'm probably not the best person to ask about going crazy," Lake said with a shrug. "I have a pickaxe with my dad's name on it and I had a dream about finding god."
"Rain. Think happy thoughts. Make it stop being so cold. If you can really change the weather, do it again. Right? Can you do that? Or is that crazy?" Fish said.
"I can't control the weather." She glared and a gust of freezing air came swooping into the little cave, putting the fire out. "... I really hate this." It started thundering again.
"Would it make you feel better if I did a little warm poofy spell on you too?" Lake suggested.
"Guys, I'm freaking out here, it's cold, and it's dark. What if something attacks us?" Fish hyperventilated.
The dogs seemed to react to the thundering and dark chaos, now whining and moving in closer and brushing up against them, which of course, made Fish freak out some more.
"Yeah, hah, nope, nope, nope, don't like that! Quit talking!" Fish said... presumably to the dogs wailing.
Lake sighed, reaching out in the darkness to find Fish's shoulder. She pulled him in, arm firm around his back.
"Fish," she said. "If the dogs can understand you. Just try telling them to shut up. They're pretty obedient if you just say it like you mean it."
He was quiet for a moment, her touch seeming to ground him. Lake was barely able to make him out in the embers lighting the little room, but he was also trying to make her out too.
"That's kinda mean though..." he muttered.
"The dogs will be fine," Lake said flatly.
Rain sighed, and a deep rumble of thunder reverberated outside. She looked around. "That is insane. This isn't happening. This can't be happening."
Rain was in denial. Lake kind of was too, still, but she was just going into crisis management mode. It was hard to deny when with every grumble Rain caused a rumble and with every dog's whimper Fish would twitch.
"Just try it," Lake said after a pause, patting Fish's back. "Tell them it's okay. The storm will pass. Be quiet and go to sleep."
"Okay... okay, fine," Fish sighed, sitting up straighter and deeply concentrating on the dogs. "Hey... dogs. Yeah, I, uh... hear you."
A few of the dogs barked back excitedly since this was the first time they were getting direct attention with words they could understand.
"Shhhhh... shh. Be quiet, okay? The storm will pass. Yeah, take a nap... Sure, you can get a treat. Later. Just -- be quiet, okay?"
It was odd hearing a one-sided conversation of language between man and dog, but Fish and the dogs seemed to understand each other. And just like predicted, the dogs were obedient and quieted down, only panting.
"See?" Lake said with another shoulder pat. "There ya go. You're more in control than you think."
"I don't get it," Fish mumured. "Why can I talk to dogs? Why can Rain control the weather? And why can you --" he gestured to their snow ceiling, "-- do this, whatever this is?"
"Do you think I have a real answer to that?" Lake asked with a raised brow that he probably couldn't even see.
"I don't know, you're the one with weird visions," Fish huffed.
Lake pursed her lips.
Yeah. Maybe if she slept on it she'd get another dream.
She pulled away from Fish and turned her hands back to the dying embers.
"Maybe it's a sign we're going in the right direction," she said before lowly humming the fire song to try to keep it contained.
The fire roared back to life - the flame jumping in the air before it settled down with its previous crickle-crackle.
"Okay. Fire's back on. No more heavy sighs, Rain," Lake joked - even though it wasn't really a joke.
About that time, she noticed that the air had gotten warmer and the outside world was calm. It was clear Rain had been distracted by listening to Fish and the dogs and the fire. Now, though, she looked up, and there was a silent flash of lightning outside.
"Is... this can't be..." she edged closer to the opening. "Alright. Fine. I'll bite. If I can control the weather then--"
She pointed at a tree a few dozen yards away and lightning struck it. She yelped again and laughed nervously, torn somewhere between shock and delight as she turned back to her friends. "I am GOD!" She stared down at her hands.
"Oh god. Put. Your hands. Dooooown," Fish said slowly with his hands out in front of him, treating Rain's like like they were guns.
Lake stared at the fried tree.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Lake said, on the edge of nervousness. "We still have a lot of night ahead of us. We need to get some sleep."
wc: 2705/2500
Gender:
Points: 3255
Reviews: 174