Here it goes, Chapter 1. The whole story starts off rather slow, but it'll pick up speed soon. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Di-Gata Defenders or the characters.
Chapter 1 – Clouds gather
The wind was wailing outside, the shutters rattled heavily in their frames every time it tucked at them with force and the streets were empty. Thick black storm clouds covered the sky, ready to flood the earth with their rain. They seemed close to touching the ground and one could already get claustrophobic just from the look at it.
Everyone outside automatically ducked when distant, yet powerful thunder echoed over the plains and the occasional lightning bathed the scenery in a bright yellow glow. Not that there were a lot of people out there at the moment. Only the truly desperate or the insane.
Standing at the window with his arms comfortably crossed in front of his chest, Seth observed the situation around the dojo. Originally they had planned to travel to Arboth today, but if the storm broke loose they would not make it there in time and the whole journey would be senseless.
He sighed.
Now that the war with the Ethos war over, he had hoped that the people of RaDos had the chance to rejoice and forget the pain they had endured over all these months. Instead the joy was gravely dimmed by nature and probably all of them were hiding inside their homes to avoid the bad weather.
Destiny was not on their side this time. Anyone more superstitious than him might have considered this as a bad omen. He only cursed their bad luck.
He was not sure if the celebration at Arboth would even take place as long as the sky did not clear a little bit. The elders of Arboth had planned a big party and some kind of parade to celebrate that the threat of the Ethos was gone and in honour of the courageous ones who had fought in the battle. Rain was the last thing they needed on this occasion.
So perhaps even if the defenders made it to Arboth, the effort could be in vain because the celebration was cancelled and in truth all of them had deserved some rest – or in his case time to think.
The outcome of the final battle had not made him as happy as the ordinary people and he knew that his fellow defenders shared these feelings. Their victory had been achieved at a too expensive cost, too much destruction had been caused and too many good people had suffered.
But at least they were still alive and could return on a new mission, whatever it might look like now that the realm's greatest danger was gone forever. Of course the provinces would have to deal with the aftermath of the war, and Yintos and Altamor were even more devastated than before, but there was now some hope that the future would look brighter. Right now there was nothing to fight anymore.
Depressed by the picture outside he turned his back at the window and decided to search for the others. It was time to discuss whether or not it was wise to take the risk of the travel.
He found them as usual these days in the living-room. Erik sat at the table fumbling with a new invention of his, Mel was on the sofa with her face hidden behind a thick book and Adam and Rion scribbled deeply concentrated on something that looked pretty much like a crossword. None of them noticed him entering until he spoke: "So guys, you're ready to leave?"
They looked up from whatever they were doing and Mel frowned, after taking a look outside the window. "Do you really want to go at a time like this? I mean… it's just not right to be celebrating. Even nature's against it!"
"I'm not taken with the idea, either, and the last thing I want to be is a hero right now, because I just don't feel like one. None of us does. But those people believe in us. They had faith all along and they will be disappointed if we don't show up. That's not a way to repay their trust and that's why I wanted to talk to you about it."
"It's too dangerous, Seth. It could start pouring any second now and if it does while we're on the road, it will turn out to be a disaster. I'm not sure if our bikes can take a storm like this", Erik explained seriously.
Seth had to admit that he had a point there. Arboth was some hours ride from the dojo and without them they did not have the slightest chance of reaching the town before nightfall. Spending all day walking in the rain was not a pleasure, either. Thoughtfully he took another look outside.
"Well, it's grey out there and we sure had nicer days, but after all the weather might hold out until we're there", he finally suggested.
The others regarded him doubtfully. They all had spent enough time in the rain and mud during the past days and they were not eager to relive these feelings. Impatiently waiting for a reaction he carefully scanned the others' expressions. Mel seemed plain uncomfortable, but the one most likely to go voluntarily. Erik was somewhat afraid. He was probably already imagining what could go wrong and expected all the worst possible scenarios. It would take some convincing words to get him going. Rion was obviously measuring the situation. Since his scary experiences with the Ethos and everything he had learned about himself he had become a lot more mature and balanced, though his outbursts of childishness returned from time to time. Much to their amusement. Last of all Adam, who had restlessly started to spin the pen between his fingers, did not look very enthusiastic but would accept his decision with a shrug. Since he had rejoined them he did not break down fights with him that often anymore.
As he did not receive any feedback at all from them, he finally chose to cut the discussion off. It had not been a real discussion anyway, more a rather one-sided conversation: "Alright. We can sit here and marvel over what to do until it's too late to go and the situation clears itself on its own. Or we can act as it suits the Di-Gata Defenders and go right now. Is anyone seriously against leaving?"
He focused his stern gaze on each of them. For a moment Erik opened his mouth to speak, but when he noticed he had no backup from the others he closed it silently. Instead he gave him a defeated look: "If anything goes wrong: Don't say I did not warn you, guys!"
Seth grinned widely. "Perfect. Then let's pack our stuff and get going. No time to waste. We can hang around enough later."
"How come you're so energetic today?", Rion wanted to now as they stood in the kitchen stuffing food into their backpacks. "You haven't been that keen on travelling the last few days and the weather was a lot nicer back then. So why now?"
He had to think about his answer for a second before responding: "Well, I guess I'm just tired of doing nothing. After all, we've been constantly on the road for two years. Leaning back is gorgeous for a few days, but it doesn't feel right anymore."
"You're sure that doesn't have anything to do with the defender's duty stuff?" Rion smirked like a cat who had just caught a bird. He knew him too well.
"Busted. As I said before, we owe the people of RaDos for their support and though we're not fighting monsters, we have things to do. As defenders we've got to be present – and prevent evil from rising. I simply can't shake off the bad feeling about what's to come. We still have the trouble with the Mortigarians to sort out. There might be so many things we still don't know properly."
"A little pessimistic, Seth. I thought the dark forebodings were my role to fill in!" With a big smile Mel entered the kitchen, grabbed some fruits from the table and patted him reassuringly on the shoulder on her way out. "No need to worry. The evil guys lurking all over the realm sure need to get some time off as well."
"You're making fun of me!"
"Oh, just a teensy little bit, Mister Overprotective."
The two boys followed her with their gazes until the door fell shut again. He regarded the food in front of him and as he took a big bite of the sandwiches he mumbled: "Well, if she's that cheerful, why should I worry? Besides, the food's good. That's all that counts." He shouldered his backpack while devouring the rest of the sandwich. "It's … umm … really good."
Rion laughed. "Yeah, it looks like it. Let's hope it doesn't get wet. That would be a shame!", he commented sarcastically and got his own backpack.
When they stepped out on the yard under the threatening sky, they found the others more or less waiting. Curiously Seth examined the changes Erik had made on their stormers. There was some sort of fabric wrapped around the bikes. It was colourless, yet it still looked weird.
"You like it? I don't want to count on those clouds up there, so I improvised some protection against the rain. I know they're not pretty, but I didn't have enough time to worry about that."
"What do they do?", he wanted to know as he carefully examined the thin layer. It felt dry but sticky.
Erik shook his head in confusion: "What they do? Protect the machines against water, of course. Or at least the engines are safer now. I don't even want to think of what could happen if the water reached the sigil drive assembly or the flux chamber with the radiator core! So what else should it do?"
"And what about us? Aren't we protected?", Rion asked and swung himself up on his stormer.
An amused grin flickered across Erik's face: "Well, I've got a mechanical roof for rain protection installed – you better get yourselves some umbrellas."
