Did you know that after it rains in a forest of eucalyptus, the air smells of eucalyptus?
Black Rain
The sky had filled with black boiling clouds. The travelers looked up at the ominous weather intermittently, each housing their own private thoughts, and hurried along. Still no potable water, and this misfortune was now beginning to affect the horses.
The party had decided to walk and lead the animals to spare them. The mood was as dark as the sky overhead. A strong south westerly had begun to blow, whipping stinging sand into half obscured faces. It would be an unsettling and uncomfortable day without conversation.
The first heavy droplet hit Jhary on the hand. He could see an array of similar spotting on the dry and frigid sands about him.
"This is not good." He shouted with effort to his companions above the howling winds, his horse shying and pulling hard at the leather reigns in his other hand.
Looking at the offering from the heavens Jhary quailed. The droplet was not clear as normal rain presented, it was a brownish color and ran down his palm like cold tea. He knew enough of science to be afraid. "Black Rain!" Jhary shouted above the din of the oncoming storm. "Shit! We have to get out of here and find some cover!" Kario and Aurianne crowded about the bard. Beauty's muzzle at Aurianne's knee.
"What's happening?" Aurianne questioned, pulling the cloth wrap from her face momentarily, her blue gray eyes earnestly seeking Jhary's warm brown ones.
"This stuff is black rain, it's nuclear fallout. If we don't get to some cover fast and we soak this stuff up we are gonna be very sick." He omitted the idea they would possibly die. However the bard felt bilious already. On one hand he was glad the heavens were cleansing themselves. On the other he cursed his luck for being caught out in the open exposed to this rain of black death.
"Mount up and ride! We need to find cover and swiftly!" Jhary shouted to the wind, shielding his handsome face as best he might from the increasing droplets of poison rain that at first fell begrudgingly as if to tease the hungry sand, as they always do in arid places. The trio rode fast and the isolated heavy droplets began to increase in quantity.
Kario held on to Aurianne's slim waist, eyes affixed on the water alighting on the back of his hands. It beaded like oil, so familiar to his eyes. Then the familiarity struck him it was not unlike the waters below Nethrizil, oily, inky blackness. The representations of it also frozen into the hilt of his blade. To Kario it was not to be feared, but simply something of home. He felt very confused at the alarm of his companions.
In desperation Jhary decided to break his rule. The thunderous skies would surely deluge soon and he had no desire to be soaked in the radioactive run off. He had seen enough of that terror in the immediate months after the first war. He had spied in the distance among a copse of stark trees, the lone hut of a possible subhuman. It was an oddity as it was standing alone for the creatures usually preferred to live in numbers.
"Over there!" He pointed as his horse raced forward, Jhary low over its shoulder jolting in the saddle, dark mane streaming across his face. Aurianne on the powerful Isabou followed, reaching the corrugated iron and wood structure first. She dismounted swiftly in one fluid leap, Kario following in close suit. Jhary only seconds behind.
Aurianne did not hesitate, bow unslung from her back, shaft poised, she pressed into the dry and seemingly deserted space, eyes searching for threat. The two men behind her weapons also drawn. All that could be heard was the rain spotting heavily on the dry tin above. Even beauty did not growl, for the hut was deserted. "Pull the horses inside as much as we can. We can't be exposed to this." Jhary urged.
It was cramped inside the dusty and very disused shed. This shelter had not been crafted by subhuman hands after all, but was instead a large pump shed. The metal behemoth of the pump still remained, large pipes plunging into the subterranean depths far below. The floor was coated with a fine dust that held the consistency of chalk.
Isabou erupted in a gargantuan sneeze as she sniffed at the dust that coated the floor. Not moments later the skies also erupted in a black deluge.
During its noisome onset Jhary's horse shied and half reared, eyes rolling, further alarming itself as it's head collided with the tin roof and the rain began to pelt the iron above. The three travelers had to reposition themselves out of reach of the mare's flailing hooves. Jhary struggled to get the frightened animal under control. It was obviously unused to being this confined.
Luckily Isabou stayed calm with Aurianne's gentle coaxing. However Jhary's half wild mare pulled the reins through his hands and pirouetted on her haunches making a bold bid for freedom. "Nooo!" Jhary shouted, however the frightened mare was already way beyond any chance of redemption. She sped across the open sands slick with the rain of death.
Jhary sighed as he nursed his aching fingers. The only good to be had was at least he had managed to keep his guitar.
"Well it has rained finally." Jhary stated trying to fill the void he felt at his mount's exit. The trio watching the brim of water falling down the doorway, almost forming a solid sheet as it cascaded off the iron.
"That means at least we should see sun again and some kind of regular weather shortly." The idea of that cheered Aurianne, though she was struggling to understand Jhary's fear of this dirty rain.
"We can get the horses water." She remarked hopefully.
"No." Jhary cut her off. "You have heard the saying, all that water and not a drop to drink? I guess it's supposed to apply to being cast adrift at sea, but equally applicable to here, right now."
"I...."
"We get soaked in this or drink it we will most likely die. I grant you that mare will be dying or dead tomorrow. This stuff is full of radiation, it's been leached from the upper atmosphere, that was why we had the dark cloud cover for all these weeks. It's bad enough we got the little on us we did. We might be very ill tomorrow. I hope not, but it's a real possibility. The good news is we have found shelter, the weather should now begin to regulate, and though this stuff is pure poison it does break down very swiftly."
Aurianne did not know what to say.
The remainder of the afternoon they waited. The rain was heavy and at last seemed to run clear. Isabou fidgeted, wishing to drink, she could smell the water and desired to venture from the confines of the open sided shed. The large mare stamped her hooves, tossed her head and shook her mane. It took Aurianne much coaxing to just keep the large animal in the shelter.
Thankfully Beauty just sat, she seemed in no hurry to attempt to rush back outside. Inaction and the wet had worked in tandem to make the travelers cold. Though there was some wood to burn, with the horse in the shelter a fire though a welcome comfort was not an option.
Jhary was insistent that even after the storm had abated the animals should not be allowed outside. Aurianne found herself wishing she understood this frightening radiation more. Her mother had sought to shelter her from such horrors. She was unsure if ignorance did amount to bliss.
