Oh, this is a neat one. More building up on the overall story and the super deep lore I have unintentionally created lol.
Like yesterday and the day before, recess was spent indoors in the school gymnasium due to the torrential rain that had been falling nonstop since it started two days ago. The rain was so loud that their teacher had to shout in the classroom to be heard over the noise. In the large gymnasium, the sound of the rain wasn't as bad, though still clearly audible, but they were able to speak at normal volumes.
"Yeah," Stan was telling Kyle. "Our backyard is starting to flood. Sparky won't even go out there to pee anymore, so my dad bought a big litter box hoping that would work."
"Does it?"
"Not really. He pees on it, but not IN it."
"Huh," Kyle passed him a basketball. "I don't think it's ever rained this much before in South Park."
"Pfft," Darren rolled his eyes. "Feels like I'm back in Louisiana…just not as hot."
"Either way, I hate it," Brooke muttered. She was huddled on the floor in the corner of the bleachers, halfway hidden underneath them. She hated water, especially rain, as it always made her feel cold, so she was huddled up with her jacket zipped-up, hood on her head, and had shoved herself between Kenny and Tweek. Kenny's puffy parka helped to add a little more warmth and Tweek's almost constant shivering gave off some heat, too. "Sniper won't go outside, either," she said.
"Mm, yes," Lucy mused. "I had to move my things from the shed and into the house for fear of water damage. Our yard is also collecting quite a bit of water."
"AGH!" Tweek pulled at his hair. "It's the end of the world, I just KNOW it!"
"No it's not," Brooke rolled her eyes. "Trust me, I would know."
"That would be a lot of paperwork…" Lucy mumbled to herself.
"All of this rain just came out of nowhere, too," Kyle said. "All of the meteorologists are stumped where it came from, why, and when it'll stop."
"That's exactly why I started building a boat," Cartman told him. "It's almost complete. I just need a few more nails…"
"Oh," Kenny said. "I found a bunch of nails laying around on the floor in my attic. A lot of them are pretty rusty, though."
Lucy gave him a weird look but didn't say anything.
"Yeah," Craig sat on the other side of Tweek. "Stripe's been freaking out since it started."
"Who?" Brooke looked over at him.
"Stripe's my guinea pig."
"Aw," she said, "cute. I can't have guinea pigs."
"You're allergic?"
"No. My python, Mimsy, likes to eat them."
Craig made a disturbed face.
"Yeahhhh," she sighed. "She REALLY likes those guys."
"I've noticed that the animals have been acting strange since it began," Lucy said. "Though, they have a special sense for these kinds of things, so it's to be expected. Still…"
"What are you thinking?" Kyle asked.
"Well, it could be any number of phenomena, but being a werewolf AND an Oracle, I too have a sense for these things."
"You don't think it's a natural occurrence?"
"No. I do not. There is a familiar feeling to it, but…different."
Cartman scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Well, that tells us SO much!"
"Shut up, fat ass!" Kyle snapped.
Lucy, as usual, was unfazed by Cartman's remark. Instead, she scolded Kyle for his choice of language.
"Cartman," Stan said. "Aren't you still worried about Trent?"
"Oh yeah," Kyle said. "He didn't get to you yet. I wonder what he's waiting for," he muttered darkly.
"THAT'S why I got a taser," Cartman told them. "For when he DOES come." He glanced around nervously.
Once school had ended for the day, the boys encountered Brooke arguing with Lucy off to the side of the entranceway.
"Princess, you can't just do that right now," Lucy hissed between her teeth.
"But I don't want to get wet! You know I DESPISE rain!"
She looked a bit flustered. "W-Well, can't you wait until everyone has gone?"
"That'll take forever!"
"Why will it take forever?" Kyle asked.
"Look outside," Brooke crossed her arms.
The boys exchanged looks then pushed through the crowd of children that had gathered at the front doors. Outside was flooded, the water reaching all the way up to the top step just before the double doors.
"Damn," Darren remarked. "Where was the flashflood warning?"
"God damnit!" Cartman stamped his foot. "I gotta get home and finish my boat!" He pulled out his cellphone and dialed a number. "Mommmm, can you come get me? The school is flooding."
"Looks like the whole town is flooding," Stan looked around.
As Cartman wandered off on the phone, the others went back inside to join the girls. Riley and Butters had joined up with them as well, Butters looking quite nervous while Riley listened curiously to Brooke.
"I'm not going out there," she was saying. "Especially if I have to SWIM! I wanted to get one of my servants to come get me, but Lucy was fussing because of all the people around."
"The Council has already given you a final warning about forcing the guards to come here," Lucy told her.
"Pssh," she rolled her eyes. "Then let's just go where there aren't any people!"
Lucy sighed. "Very well."
"Uh, can I come?" Kenny asked.
"Me too!" Darren ran over. "I don't feel like swimming today."
Stan, Kyle, Riley, and Butters also gathered closer to Brooke.
She looked at Riley. "Well, of course YOU can! We live in the same house!"
He smiled and laughed a little.
She smirked at him. "And yes, the rest of you can, too. Come on, let's go to the gym."
Brooke shot a quick glance around as they entered the gym, making sure that no one else was there. "Pixie, Poppy, Javansky, Puff, Tiger, June Bug!"
Six pygmy dragons appeared each as their name was called. Two of them were familiar but the other four were strangers to the boys. All of them were colorful and cute. They all bowed to her.
"Princess!" Pixie smiled brightly. "My favorite person!"
"How can we all be of service?" the smaller red and black female known as Poppy spoke in a soft voice.
"It's flooding outside," Brooke told them. "I just need one of you to bring Lucy, Riley, and myself to our house. The rest of you I'd like to bring my friends to their homes."
"Ooh!" Pixie jumped into her arms. "I will escort the Princess!"
The other dragons made disappointed noises, aside from patient little Poppy. Pixie stuck his pointed pink tongue out at them.
"Then," Poppy turned to Kenny. "I will escort the Princess's favorite human."
He blushed. "Uh, thanks?"
"Ooh," Darren scooped up a yellow dragon covered with jagged black stripes. "I wanna go with this guy!"
"My name is Tiger," he growled but made no attempt to free himself from the boy's grasp.
Butters nervously approached a light blue one that had a teal underbelly and horns. "Hello!" the creature smiled. "Name's Javansky!"
Butters smiled and picked him up. "Aw, they're so soft."
A tiny gray, extra fluffy one hopped over to Stan and peered up at him with round yellow eyes. "I'm Puff! I'm six years old!" Puff was noticeably much smaller than the others.
Stan stared at him, trying not to smile like a fool. "You…are so cute."
"Well," the last one said. She was green with a tint of blue in her feathers and jet-black horns and claws. She looked over at Kyle. "I guess it's you and me, kid."
"Is everyone holding or at least touching their dragon?" Brooke asked.
Kenny bent down to carefully pick up Poppy. "Yeah!"
"Okay –"
"Wait," Stan said. "…Can I keep this one?"
She stared at him. "No. But you can play with him when you get home."
"Okay, cool."
"All right," she said. "See you guys later. Oh, and thank you my little cuties!" she added to the dragons who all wriggled cutely from the praise.
.
"Princess," Pixie said as Brooke settled on her bed. An hour or so had passed since he had brought her home. He had just suddenly returned to her for some reason and jumped up beside her. "I'm not sure if all this rain is related, but we've gotten reports today about how Airavata appears to have vanished."
She looked at Lucy, who was sitting at the desk in the corner. "Didn't you mention a few days ago that he was supposedly acting strange?"
"Yes," she replied. "Residents of the sky district were reporting his odd behavior. They were saying that he had become irritable and wild."
"So," Brooke turned back to Pixie. "You're saying this rain could be from him?"
He nodded. "It could, yes. No one currently knows where he disappeared to. Personally, I find it odd that he would come here, of all places…"
"Then let's go look around." She sighed. "I was really hoping not to get wet today."
"Actually," Lucy said. "It sounds like the rain has finally stopped."
Brooke scooted across her bed to look out the window. "Huh. It has. But – OH MY GOD!"
"What?! What is it?" Lucy hurried over to look and gasped at the sight. The water outside had reached just below the window, and they were on the second floor… "My goodness! If it's not Airavata, then it must be SOME water deity!"
"We need to get out there and figure out what's caused this," Brooke said. She glanced back at Sniper who was hiding in the closet. "Don't worry boy, you can stay here."
"We'll have to go out the window," Pixie said. "Downstairs is surely flooded."
"You guys!" Riley suddenly burst into the room. "I just went to go get a snack but there's water all the way up to the top of the stairs!"
"Damn," Brooke clicked her tongue. "Yeah, the whole town's flooded. Look and see."
He went over to her side to look outside. "Holy crap! Uh…I-I don't know how to swim."
"Hm," she slid the window open and leaned out to look around. "I guess Cartman's boat wasn't such a crazy idea… Lucy, what are your thoughts on calling some kelpies?"
"Normally, I would say it's a bad idea out in public, but… We don't seem to have any other choice."
"What's a kelpie?" Riley asked.
"It's a water horse," Brooke told him. "Normally, they get people to ride on their back and then drown them, but I have a few tamed ones at the castle."
"Oh!" he squeaked. "Great."
"Don't worry. My kelpies are sweethearts. Pixie, could you fetch three of my lovely water steeds, please?"
"Certainly!" He poofed away.
After a few minutes, a spiked sail like the dorsal fin of some large fish lifted from the water's surface and knifed smoothly through the water towards them, followed by two more in its wake. Once they neared the window, the sails dipped beneath the surface before three large horse heads lifted out of the water to greet them. They shook their heads, snorting and whinnying excitedly at seeing their master.
"Aw, who's my good boys," Brooke reached out and scratched their chins.
Riley cautiously peered over to look at them. They did, in fact, appear to be aquatic versions of horses. They had the front halves of a horse's body but the back halves were what he imagined a mermaid's tail would look like. They also had spiked sails on their backs that folded down, and similar spiked fins on either side of their heads. They were an aquatic shade of blue-green with black manes laced with seaweed and shells, and slits just behind their jaw bones that he assumed were gills.
He watched Brooke remove her shoes and socks then climb out the window onto the nearest one's back, sitting just below its shoulders. She made a face as the water covered her legs. "Oh well, at least I get to play with my horses. Are you staying with Sniper, or are you coming with us?"
Riley hesitated. He was worried about Butters, but he didn't know how to swim, nor did he know how to ride a horse. Much less an aquatic one. "I want to…"
"Well, then get on a kelpie," she told him. "I promise, Riley, they'll make sure to keep your head above the water unless you tell them to dive for something."
One of the horses swam closer and turned to the side to present its back for him. He carefully placed his feet out and sat on the windowsill, steeling himself, then finally jumped off and onto the horse. The kelpie seemed a bit surprised at first, throwing its head up with a snort, but it quickly recomposed itself and swam forward to move beside Brooke's kelpie. She was trying to hold back her amusement at seeing Riley clinging tightly to the creature's neck.
"I'm trusting an animal with my life," he said aloud to himself. "An animal that is known to drown people…"
"Hey," Brooke pointed at him. "Animals are awesome. Besides, these are monster animals."
"That doesn't make me feel better."
"Relax, you'll make him nervous."
"HIM? What about ME?"
"I just said, relax."
Lucy had joined them on the back of the third kelpie. "Let's get going. We need to find who, or what, is responsible for this insane flooding."
"Is it okay if I take this one to go check on Butters?" Riley asked.
"You mean your boyfriend?" Brooke smirked. "Yeah, go ahead. His name is Calypso, by the way."
Unsure of how to get it to move, Riley grabbed a fistful of the horse's mane and gently but firmly tugged it to the side. Following the motion, the kelpie swung its head in the same direction and began to swim away from the group. He rode the kelpie over to Butters' house, using its mane to guide it around to the other side where Butters' room was, then pulled back on its mane to get it to stop beside the window. He knocked on the window.
Butters hurried over and pushed it open. "Riley! You got a horse!"
"It's…not mine."
"You stole a horse?"
"What? No! It belongs to Brooke."
"Oh, that explains why it looks part fish…sorta."
"Where are your parents?" Riley asked.
"In the attic, trying to find an old inflatable boat."
.
It wasn't long after they set off that the girls encountered Cartman using a set of very long oars to row a big wooden boat across the water. Craig, holding a brown and white guinea pig, Clyde, and Darren were on the boat too, as well as quite a few cats.
"This vessel is actually quite impressive," Lucy remarked as she examined the side of the boat. "You made it in three days?"
"Yup," Cartman ceased rowing to stretch his arms. "I was just going to save myself, but then I saw this cute kitten soaking wet and stuck at the top of a tree poking out of the water…"
"Yeah," Clyde said. "Now, he's picking up every cat he can find."
"A worthy cause," Brooke said.
"Sweet water horses," Darren reached over to pet the face of Brooke's kelpie.
"Too bad you're still wet," Cartman remarked. "Where are you two going anyways?"
"Nowhere, yet. We're just…riding it out."
Lucy rolled her eyes.
"Anyways," Brooke grinned. "You should steer that boat towards the junkyard. Cats like to go after the rats over there."
"We should check on Kenneth, too," Lucy said. "If the two-story houses are halfway under water then their single-story little…shanty has surely turned aquatic."
"KAREN!" Brooke suddenly shouted, startling everyone, including her kelpie. "Go, Draco! GO!"
Her kelpie shook its head with a loud whinny then bolted forward through the water at a remarkable speed.
Riding a kelpie at full speed through the water made the trip to Kenny's house FAR shorter than usual. At first, there didn't appear to be anything there but open water. She probably would have passed it up if the tops of the garbage mounds weren't protruding from the water.
"WHOA!" she pulled back on the mane. Draco halted, thrusting his head back and his thick tail forward, and sent a small wave away from himself. He snorted irritably. "Sorry," Brooke rubbed his neck. She glanced around and spotted two figures sitting on something further off to the left. They seemed to have noticed her and started waving.
"I told you it was Brooke riding a green pony!" Karen jumped to her feet as they approached.
"Are you guys okay?" Brooke asked. They were standing on the very top of the center of the roof which was the only bit of roof left just above the surface.
"If the water gets any higher," Kenny said, "we'll have to climb up the sodosopa ruins." He looked up at the unfinished construction and rebar. "I'm guessing you know why the town's flooded?"
"I might," she replied with a smile that made him glance at his feet. "I mean, I'm pretty sure, at least. I just…have to find him."
"Who are you looking for?" Karen asked. She was on her hands and knees and reaching one arm out to try and touch the kelpie.
Draco moved a little closer to let her pet him. "I'm looking for an elephant," Brooke said.
Kenny looked bewildered, thinking that she was being sarcastic, but Karen only smiled. "Oh," she said. "I saw a big white elephant yesterday!"
"You did?!" Brooke and Kenny were beside themselves.
"Yeah! I just thought I imagined it. Like the fairies that came to play with me the other day."
"What fairies?" Brooke asked.
"Charles and Lamar," she replied and Brooke flinched very noticeably. "Are you okay?"
"Uh, yeah. Karen, where did you see the elephant?"
"When I got home from school yesterday, I saw him flying over our house."
"Fly- What?" Kenny gave both girls odd looks.
"It was raining so hard, but I could see him really well. He was big, and white like the snow with bird wings."
"So, it IS him!" Brooke said. "Where did he go?"
She pointed away from the town. "Somewhere over there. I lost him in the clouds."
"Brooke," Kenny said. "Why is my sister seeing giant flying elephants?"
"There was only one," Karen told him.
"His name is Airavata," Brooke said. "He's the Lord of the Nether's sky district, and a god or something in the Hindu religion. Not sure how that part happened… Anyways, he creates clouds and rain. Lucy mentioned the other day about him acting strangely and just today, Pixie told me that he went missing."
"Maybe he's sick," Karen suggested.
"Maybe…"
"Hey guys!"
They looked over to see Darren waving at them from a boat full of wet cats.
Cartman stopped rowing as the boat reached them, panting and leaning back to give his arms a break. "Oh god…heavier…now."
"How many cats does this town HAVE?" Clyde pushed one of the cats away from him as it tried to rub against his leg.
"Too many…" Lucy muttered darkly. The constant yowling and meows were beginning to annoy her.
"Oh, Lucy has a water pony, too!" Karen moved to pet the other kelpie.
Cartman finally caught his breath. "Any cats around here?"
"Over on that junk pile," Kenny pointed.
Lucy sighed with great relief as he rowed the boat away and the sounds of cats grew quieter. "Oh, thank Sol."
"Who's Sol?" Karen asked curiously.
She winced. "Er, n-never mind that."
"Lucy," Brooke said. "Karen saw Airavata yesterday."
"Oh! Then we must find him as quickly as possible."
"Can I come?"
They tilted their heads at Karen.
"What?!" Kenny said. "No way!"
"Why not? I want to see the flying elephant."
"No!"
She looked upset.
"He…could be dangerous right now," Lucy soothed. "Then again…"
Kenny shot her a look of mingled confusion and disbelief.
"Er, sorry," she said. "Airavata is usually quite kind towards children, that's all."
"We're children," Brooke said. "But yeah, Lucy has a point. He'd never hurt an innocent little cutie like Karen. Maybe she can help?"
"WHAT?!" he almost fell over.
"We don't have time for this," Lucy told Brooke.
"You're right." She said. "Karen, hop on Crook's back with Lucy. Draco, snatch up Kenny before he figures out what's going on."
In an instant, the kelpie had used the strength from its muscular tail to lunge its front half out of the water and snatch Kenny's parka in its teeth before falling back into the water with a splash. Kenny struggled a bit, startled and confused and now soaked, before he gave up and let himself hang from the kelpie's mouth.
"Are you fucking kidding me right now?" he said.
Lucy carefully assisted Karen onto the back of her kelpie, having the younger girl sit in front.
Brooke giggled at seeing the boy dangling from the monster horse's teeth. His unenthused expression made it even funnier to her. "Aw, poor Kenny. Do you want to ride on the back?"
"No," he said stubbornly. "I'll just hang here. It's fine!"
She shrugged. "Suit yourself. Let's go, Draco." The kelpie kicked its limbs and pulled itself through the water with powerful muscles.
Meanwhile, Karen was looking very excited to be riding Crook and was smiling brightly. "I've always wanted to ride a pony!"
"Well," Lucy chuckled. "This is a little different, but here you are."
"The big white elephant, is he an angel?"
"Pardon?"
"That's why he's so pretty and has big feathery wings, right? I wonder if my guardian angel actually does have wings…? Can angels hide their wings?"
"Er, well, yes they can, but Airavata is…or is he?" Lucy suddenly appeared lost in thought.
"And you two know him?"
"Yeah," Brooke replied. "Um, I'll explain later, okay?"
"Are you really going to tell her?" Kenny looked quizzically over at Brooke.
"Shh, no. I'm hoping she'll forget later. Besides, the guards might have to come after all this mess is sorted out."
The sun was sinking ever closer to the horizon, and they had been traveling across deep water all the while. Finally, as the bottom of the sun touched the distant horizon, they came across a massive formation of closely-knit clouds that was swirling slowly in the shape of a huge dome. They paused to look up at the wall of clouds as flashes of light shone from within.
"Uh, can I ride on the back now?" Kenny peered worriedly up at the formation.
"Only if you give me a kiss," Brooke joked.
He flinched so bad that Draco almost dropped him. "HUH?!"
She laughed. "What? I'm just messing with you."
"O-Oh!"
Draco threw his head to the side, tossing the boy over his shoulder and onto his back behind Brooke. Kenny had to turn himself around to face the correct way. He was already flustered, but being this close behind her made him catch his breath.
"Is the elephant angel in there?" Karen asked.
"If he's not, then I'm stumped," Brooke replied.
They pushed through the clouds and entered the cyclone. The inside was pouring loud, icy rain while lightning clashed overhead and thunder beat their eardrums. It was a dramatic change from outside. Flying up in the center of the storm was a huge, pristine white elephant with broad white wings. A golden bracer decorated either of his magnificent tusks and four legs.
He let out a loud, echoing trumpet at the sight of them. So loud, it could be clearly heard over the storm. Raising his trunk up, he spewed more storm clouds above himself and reared his front limbs up at them.
"Toofaan mein jaane kee himmat kaise huee! Tum Airaavat ke paanee mein doob jaoge!"
"WHAT IS HE SAYING?" Kenny shouted over the rain. The elephant had a voice that boomed louder than the thunder.
"SOMETHING ABOUT DROWNING," Brooke shouted in response.
"WHAT!?" he was shocked.
"I THINK IT WAS A THREAT."
Kenny was horrified.
"LOOK!" Karen pointed. "SOMETHING'S STUCK IN HIS FOOT."
They squinted up through the torrent to see. Sure enough, there was a strange pointed object buried in one of the elephant's front feet.
Airavata flew down at them, head lowered and tusks at the ready. Before he was able to ram them, Lucy had transformed and leapt onto the elephant's face to distract him. Surprised, he threw his head up and stopped mid-charge, the force of his wings almost knocking the others below the water.
"HOLY SHIT!" Kenny barely managed to duck out of the way as one of the broad paws nearly kicked him in the head.
"THERE!" Karen reached out and grabbed the large object protruding from the foot. She tugged at it. "I CAN'T PULL IT OUT!"
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" Kenny shouted.
"HELP ME GET IT!"
He hesitated a moment, but grabbed at the object as Brooke reached over to touch the elephant's skin to try and calm him down.
Airavata thrashed wildly as pain surged through his body from his foot. He was confused, in pain, and a beast was blocking his eyesight. Then, suddenly, he felt a faint wave of calm pass through him. He paused, very briefly, but it gave the others enough time to yank the object free from his foot. With a loud, furious trumpet, he kicked out his feet and beat his wings at the final surge of pain, accidentally knocking something in the water.
Trying not to harm him, Lucy had not been using her claws or fangs to hold on and finally lost her grip, and she fell into the water alongside Karen who had been knocked off the kelpie's back.
"Fuck! KAREN!" Kenny shouted as the rain ceased. He was about to go after her, but the kelpie beat him to it.
Crook dove below the surface the instant he had realized that the girl had been knocked from his back. Mere seconds passed before he returned to the surface with both Karen and Lucy, now returned to human form, clinging to his back.
"Karen!" Kenny gasped. "Are you okay?!"
She coughed a little and held something up. "I got it."
The object was as long as she was tall, pointed and sharp on both ends, and black with a pulsating red glow.
"Wha-" he blinked. "What were you thinking!?"
"I just wanted to help him…"
"You could've been killed!"
"Good job, Karen," Brooke said. She was leaning heavily on Draco's neck.
"Brooke!" Kenny snapped.
"Let me see that," Lucy took the object from Karen. "How odd…"
"She could've gotten hurt or killed!" Kenny was yelling at Brooke.
She glared at him. "You honestly think I'd have brought her if I thought that would happen? Believe it or not, I was watching her the whole time. Even in that flurry of chaos. She just got knocked into the water from the air force from his wingbeat."
"But what if –!"
"Stop yelling at each other!" Karen shouted. She looked very upset.
They stared at her, surprised, then exchanged saddened looks.
Airavata slowly lowered himself near them, attracting their attention. The rain had completely stopped and the clouds had dispersed, and the white elephant looked elegantly divine in the golden light of the sunset.
"Krpaya mujhe maaf karen. Gusse ne mera dimaag hila diya."
"Airavata," Lucy showed him the object that was once lodged in his flesh. "Where did this come from?"
"Mere ghar mein ek buree cheej toot gaee. Mainne use kuchal diya. Vah sab mujhe yaad hai."
"Strange…"
He lowered his massive head to bring his eyes down to Karen's level. "Bahut bahut dhanyavaad. Aap bahut dayaalu hain."
Karen looked over at Brooke for a translation.
"He said 'thank you very much. You are very kind.'"
She smiled and looked back up at the elephant. "You're welcome! I hope you feel better."
"Airavata," Lucy said. "If you don't mind, I would like to speak with you further…after all of this water is removed."
"Haan, haan. Main ise theek kar doonga!"
Brooke glanced over her shoulder at Kenny sitting behind her. "Um, I'm sorry I made you worry about Karen's safety. One of the things Quinzel is always fussing me about is my…compulsiveness."
"Oh. T-That's okay." He had actually thought she'd be mad at him. "You're right. I know you would protect her with your life."
She smiled sweetly at him.
To be continued…
Airavata is a real-life Hindu god, depicted as a pristine white war elephant with wings. Normally, he's also described as having multiple trunks or heads and more tusks than two but in this story he only has one head, one trunk, and two tusks. He is known to produce clouds and rain and is a water/rain deity. In my story/world he is a Nether monster that (somehow) accidentally became a god to the Hindu people. Lol
