I Wish It Would Rain Down

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Dawn watched hopefully as a tiny, wispy cloud floated by. If only it would invite its big, rain-bearing cousins with it, she thought. Maybe then the day would be more pleasant. Even if it did pour down and make a mess of everything, the day wouldn’t be any worse. It wasn’t that anything had happened; on the contrary ever since entering the Kas desert, no trouble had befallen the traveling musicians and Dawn. Actually, they hadn’t seen another soul, let alone highwaymen or whatever kinds of bandits were supposed to prey upon unwary travelers.

No, what made the day so bad for Dawn was completely in her mind. Towards the end of the previous day, Dawn had sat next to the fire, thinking about why she was here. What she’d thought of while staring into the puny flames hadn’t warmed her any more than they had. She’d made up a mental list of the whys and wherefores of this little adventure, along with a bunch of pros and cons, successes and failures, and other such evaluative list-type things. Her social studies teacher would have been so proud of her.

What Dawn found was both depressing and humiliating. What fueled both of those descriptions was her inability to continue lying to herself about her predicament. For days now she had been rationalizing her decision to come here by saying, to herself and others, that she was in search of Xander—who no one from her world seemed to care about. That had been the reason she’d used to come over here, but it wasn’t much of one.

The truth was, she had seen the crystal as a mechanism of escape. With a minimum of pain, Dawn could leave her world for another, one that might contain someone she considered a friend. Wouldn’t it be nice to visit somewhere else, a place with no slayer, no messed up family, and maybe no evil things that go bump in the night, somewhere where she was just Dawn, not Dawn-Buffy’s Sister, or Dawn-The Key. The teenager had looked at the possibility of being somewhere where her supernatural beginnings and destructive potential meant absolutely nothing.

Of course, she hadn’t been planning on staying. The warnings that Wesley had given about the strange dimension being limited-access hadn’t really registered with Dawn. To her it sounded like he was just being the same type of no-fun old person that Giles was, and the others were turning into. From the sound of his other descriptions, the place was a real paradise. Just imagine a world named for sanctuary and asylum.

But shortly after arriving, Dawn began to realize that her decision was extremely impulsive. She had appeared in the middle of nowhere, with no clue as to where she was. For some reason she had visualized herself popping into a nice, comfy room full of people just waiting to help her find Xander. They’d hook up and tour the world before returning to Sunnydale, refreshed from an alternate-dimension vacation. Her first view of this new world, however, didn’t fit with that image.

The last of her illusions were shattered when she met up with the apprentice musicians. None of them were human, which made no sense to Dawn. After all, Wesley had said that only humans could pass through the portal. They seemed nice enough, even if they did act like she was a bit foolish for doing what she’d done. At the time, it had grated on her. Now, though, she understood. They’d seen what she was from the outset—an impulsive little girl who had made a serious mistake.

And a mistake it had been. This wasn’t a vacation world with conveniently marked exits. Dawn didn’t know how to get back to her home world, and no one had mentioned knowing someone who could help her. Most of the people in her own dimension didn’t know a thing about magic. Why would this world be any different? True, the musicians had taken the odd circumstances of her origins in stride, but that didn’t mean they knew or were even vaguely familiar with magic.

Then there were the humans they’d encountered in Baign. Dawn wasn’t sure what to make of them, although she was strangely gratified that the others didn’t either. She’d heard them talking about it one evening, puzzling over the teacher’s rather offensive attack on Dawn. From what she could tell, humans around here didn’t usually act like that.

But the attack had really driven home some painful truths for Dawn. The first of those facts had been that she really wasn’t in Kansas anymore. Most of the inhabitants of this world weren’t human, and those of her species that did live here were very different from the population of Southern California. Dawn had held onto the hope that she would really connect with the people here, since they shared a similar ancestry. As it turned out, she had more in common with her happenstance traveling companions than her own species.

Another thing she realized was that she was overwhelmingly vulnerable here. Without Prall’s fortuitous assistance, Dawn would have been at the mercy of that insane teacher. The orth had had no problems carrying her around like a sack of potatoes. That incident reminded Dawn that she had been depending on these people for much longer than that. There was no telling where she would have ended up had she not run into them when she had. Their stories about human-hunting t’kth-vaali and maith scared her greatly.

Although she tended to chafe under the yoke of Buffy’s role as sister-mother, Dawn knew that the Slayer looked out for her. She all too often took for granted the umbrella of protection Buffy provided for her. Between the Slayer and her colleagues, Dawn rarely wanted for protection, companionship and affection. Like any teenager, she seemed unable to avoid some conflict with those authority figures, but in the end she still cherished them. Looking back on it, she couldn’t believe she just pitched all that aside in a fit of irrational frustration.

Dawn prided herself on being a mature, wise person. How many times had she protested Buffy’s overprotective nature, saying that she knew the risks of her actions and had enough experience to take care of herself? This little stunt certainly didn’t provide support for those claims. Only an idiot would willingly jump into a sea of the unknown without a plan and some contingencies, especially if they didn’t know how to swim.

Zhaen watched as a variety of negative expressions flitted over Dawn’s face. If her suspicions were correct, the girl was now coming to some rather harsh realizations about her current situation. If that was the case, it was occurring at about the time the dalhari had expected it to. The human had spent most of the previous day being as cheerful and curious as she had been since they met her, although by nightfall she had withdrawn into herself. No one was sure if it was anxiety, fear or simply exhaustion. Today, though, it was clear that Dawn was hurting inside. She wasn’t as observant as she usually was and had tripped over small rocks several times. Duens had taken to watching her every step so that he could catch her when she fell. The girl was so preoccupied that she didn’t even notice the repeated saves.

Sighing softly and pondering the vagaries of travel, Zhaen dropped back to walk next to Prall, who had been walking behind the others. “Will we reach the village by tonight?” She asked softly.

Prall nodded. “Actually, we’re closer than I had expected us to be, considering who’s traveling with us,” He said, referring to Dawn. “Do you see that rise?” He asked, pointing toward the horizon. “Ingh’k is just beyond it. We should be there well before the sun sets.”

Zhaen relaxed a little. Although they had enough supplies to last another day, it would be far better to reach some form of safety and civilization, for all of their sakes. They were all showing the signs of too much travel too quickly, without enough food and rest. Of course, the only things that they could guarantee about the little village they were nearing was that there would be water available. Unless the locals wanted to hear them play, they wouldn’t be able to procure either food or shelter. Of course, they could always search for some other type of employment. While they much preferred their music, since it was the reason they were traveling, none of them could say they’d never done some form of menial labor at one point or another to make ends meet.

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Dawn was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t see Marni stopped in front of her until she ran right into the back of the woman. The f’lh was so tired she didn’t even complain. Dawn understood how she felt. The brief stop they’d made for lunch hadn’t been enough for her to regain her strength, so the girl was about to collapse. She mustered enough energy, however, to look up, curious as to why they had stopped. It was still a few hours until sunset.

What she saw nearly made her cry. There, not fifty feet in front of her, were other people! They had managed to reach the little village that was their destination. Even from where she was Dawn could see orth milling around in the streets between several rows of small, single-story buildings. Duens prodded her on the back as they started moving again. They were so close that there was no point in just standing around.

By the time they actually reached the village, it was obvious that something was going on. The locals were outside in far greater numbers than anyone would have expected, given the scorching heat. Many of them were simply standing around, talking to each other. Dawn didn’t understand a word they were saying, but they all sounded very happy.

The quintet made their way through the little town, right up to the wellhouse that sat in its centre. Prall had explained to Dawn yesterday that most of the small villages that had sprung up in the desert were built around such water sources. It made perfect sense to her—after all, water was the prime commodity in the area.

When they got to the wellhouse, Prall stepped up to greet the guard. After just a moment’s conversation, the orth stepped aside and allowed them to enter. They walked down a dim hallway to a centrally located room, lit by small lamps. Dawn almost fell over in relief when she got inside. It must have been a hundred degrees cooler inside! After she’d finished enjoying the reprieve, she watched Prall and the others as they set their packs aside and approached one of the pools of water that sat recessed in the floor of the building.

The place was oddly constructed, in Dawn’s opinion. There were doorways on each wall leading to other rooms, the contents of which were a mystery to her. In this main room, however, there were four identical pools of water. She watched as her companions removed their boots and socks, rolled up their pants, and waded into one of the pools. She decided that it looked like a good idea, so she began to untie her own shoes. By the time she got over there, they had all taken seats on the raised border of the pool, dangling their legs into the cool water.

“Wow, I had no idea villages came with wading pools,” Dawn said as she sank her feet into the water. It was surprisingly cold to her, but that could have been due to the heat outside.

The others smiled at her comment. They, too, were very glad that such pools existed. After a minute or so, Duens reached down to wash his hands and arms off, splashing water on his face as well. Dawn watched as the others followed suit. That seemed like a good thing to do as well, although she would just about kill for a bath right now. “Is this the only water in town?” Dawn asked Prall.

“Yes. There isn’t enough water to justify having wells in other places, and moving it around the village would be wasteful,” Prall replied.

Dawn’s face fell. “How do people take baths then? Do they do it in public?”

Prall laughed loudly. “No! They use one of the bathing chambers,” He said, pointing to the doorway directly in front of their pool.

Dawn peered inside the dark chamber. “Oh! So that’s what they’re for. I was wondering. There must be quite a few, what with the four pools here and all those rooms.”

Prall shook his head. “Actually, only the ones in that room are for bathing.”

“What are the other ones for?” Dawn asked, waving her hand toward the other pools in the room.

“Water facing south is for bathing, which is this pool and that room,” Prall explained. “Water facing north is for washing and other domestic chores,” He said, pointing to the pool and room directly across from them. Water facing east is for drinking,” He said, gesturing toward that pool and room.

“What about the fourth direction?” Dawn asked, looking over at the western pool.

“Water facing west is water for its own sake,” Prall replied. Dawn’s expression told him that she didn’t understand. “It simply is, for no other reason than being. The pools in that chamber are used for reflection, but the water isn’t consumed or used for chores.”

Dawn shrugged. Ok, so they had some pools they didn’t mess with. Whatever floated their boats was fine with her.

Once they had all cooled off, one by one they stepped out of the southern pool and went to the eastern one, stopping briefly to retrieve their water jugs, mugs and containers. First, they all drank their fill, although Marni cautioned Dawn not to drink too much or she would get sick. After they’d rehydrated somewhat, they set about refilling their containers. It took quite a while, since Prall carried so much water with him.

While they completed their chores, Zhaen and Marni discussed what they would do now that they’d reached the village. They would probably have to camp outside the village itself, since they had no way to retain a room.

“Do you think there’s anything we can do around here?” Marni asked Zhaen. If they didn’t find something, they would soon go hungry.

Zhaen frowned. “We can probably find something. Prall said he was going to ask if there was a bard in the village, or maybe even a small guild hall.” It would be perfect if there was, since the guild would be beholden to provide for them, even if it was only enough food to get them to the next town. Apprentices traveling to gain mastery were often helped by their guilds, since it was arduous work, and having the orth Prall with them would ensure at least a token effort.

“Perhaps. Our luck isn’t falling in that direction, though,” Marni replied.

“Stop worrying,” Duens said to them, flicking a little water into their faces. “It’ll work out, you know.”

Dawn watched them bicker, wondering what they were saying. She’d figured out that the musicians didn’t speak her language very often and probably never had amongst themselves until she’d met up with them. It was bothersome, though, because she couldn’t follow. She’d been frustrated by it before, so it was nothing new.

Prall stood up, finally finished replenishing the water supplies. “I’m going to ask around about what’s available here. Something’s going on in the village, that’s for sure. Nobody would be out at this time of day if there wasn’t.”

After the orth had left, Dawn turned to Duens. “Why wouldn’t they be out? Well, besides the heat.”

“That’s exactly why they wouldn’t be outside, Dawn. Usually they would work indoors during the day, as much as possible, and go out only in the evenings when it cooled off.”

Dawn nodded in understanding. That, too, made a lot of sense. After the rest of them had finished filling up containers, they lounged back against the walls of the room, enjoying the cool environment and waiting for Prall. Zhaen said that while they couldn’t just stay in the wellhouse all night, no one minded if they rested there for a few hours. In fact, it was one of the preferred places for people to congregate in most desert villages. The fact that no one was in the place except for them made whatever was going on in the village even stranger.

Dawn had just about fallen asleep when Prall returned with a wide, excited grin on his face. She started to ask him what he’d found out, but he bypassed her completely, heading for the doorway in the western wall. The others didn’t react very strongly to his behavior, so she laid back and waited for him to return. He must have needed to meditate or something, she guessed.

When he did come back, though, they were all full of questions. He waved them aside and just started talking, however. “I’ve got great news!”

Marni cocked an eyebrow. “The inns here don’t charge for rooms?”

Prall ignored her. “It’s going to rain!”

The others shared a confused look. There must be some significance attached to rain. Dawn ventured a question. “And that’s important why?”

“Because that means there’s going to be a festival in the village!” Prall exclaimed.

Comprehension dawned on the other musicians’ faces. It didn’t rain much here, so when it did it was a big deal. Of course the villagers would celebrate it. And what kind of festival didn’t have music? This stopover might just end up productive after all.

“But it’s sunny outside,” Dawn remarked, not making the connection.

Prall shook his head. “One of the guards pointed it out to me. There’s a storm coming in—you can just see it on the horizon. It should get here before nightfall. The guard I talked to introduced me to the village elders. There aren’t any musicians at all in this place, so they’re quite excited that we’ve shown up. They want us to perform, as soon as we feel that we’re able to!”

Duens crowed his delight. That meant several things. First, they could get some fresh food that hadn’t been moldering in their packs. Second, they could sleep in real beds. Third, and most importantly, they got to play. Oh, they could play whenever they wanted to, but the point of this journey was to perform—in front of others, to learn the nuances of the interactions of musician and audience in many different situations, among different kinds of people. In the time they’d been traveling together, they had never played at a spontaneous festival like this. Normally, the music at festivals was preplanned and had little place for traveling apprentices. This was going to be an invaluable experience for all of them.

Dawn watched the musicians be all excited over their new gig. She wished she could help them out somehow, but she didn’t know how to play much, except for the recorder she’d had to learn in the fourth grade, and a couple of simple things on the piano. She couldn’t even run errands for them, since she didn’t speak whatever language the villagers did.

Zhaen saw Dawn slump back. She wished the girl were more enthusiastic, but she could see why she wasn’t. After all, she wasn’t a musician, so why would this matter to her? More importantly, though, Dawn probably didn’t see very much for her to do while they were there, probably because she had no idea what went on at festivals. Zhaen would have said something, but it would be more fun to just let Dawn figure it out.

“So,” Prall said, “What do you think?” He spoke in the trade tongue so that Dawn could listen in, having noticed her frustration at not understanding them when they used other languages.

Marni frowned, thinking. “You say it’s going to be a few hours before it starts raining, right?” She asked. “We can’t play out in the rain unless they’ve got some sort of shelter.”

“They do,” Prall replied.

“Then we can start after we’ve eaten, take a break, and then pick up again when its about to start,” Duens suggested. “That way we can get a little rest in.”

The others agreed with him that it was a good idea. Dawn thought that they might stay in the protective shelter of the wellhouse, but that was not to be. Prall led them outside and over to the area where they would play. It was the front of a small shop that had a wooden awning shading it. The storekeeper looked thrilled to have the only entertainment in town setting up right at his door.

“Yimkia, Dawn?” Zhaen asked, smirking, as she offered the girl a large chunk of the stuff. Dawn took it, wrinkling her nose. “You don’t like it?”

“It’s ok, but I’ve had quite a bit of it over the last couple of days,” She replied, chewing on the tough stuff.

“Ah. Well, we’ll probably have something different this evening,” Zhaen said, placidly eating her own lunch. They were consuming the last of the yimkia, leaving them with little else to eat.

Once they were done eating, Prall went over to talk to the storekeeper, who was also one of the elders. After a few minutes, he returned, bearing more news. “He wants us to start soon. Dawn, I asked him if he had a place for you to rest. He’s got a room in the back that you can use.”

Dawn looked up in surprise. How had he known that she was about to fall over asleep? “Thanks! Man, I am tired,” She said.

Prall pointed her in the direction of the storekeeper, who was waiting just inside. “If you would follow me,” He said, gesturing at Dawn. She did so, soon finding herself in a small storage room in the back. Most of the place was taken up with boxes of stuff. The storekeeper had spread some blankets over a couple of the boxes, creating a makeshift pallet for Dawn to rest on.

“Thanks for this,” Dawn said to the storekeeper. He nodded and closed the door behind him. Dawn set her pack down and pulled out her own blankets, to use as pillows. After removing her hat and shoes, Dawn climbed up on the crates and curled up to take a nap.

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