The rain was a blessing. It was salvation. If not for it, the seeds sown wouldn't have given rise to so many healthy saplings in such a short time.

It was a welcome embrace on their bodies and they had danced in the rain, feeling every drop glide over their skin, splashing their feet on the muddy soil and hollering in glee.

It was a week since that incident, and Jonathan could not stop thinking about it. It was his latest encounter with these natural forces. He had each moment engraved in his mind. Somehow, the whole incident left an impact on him greater than it should. It was a common occurrence, if one were to speak over the span of months. But yet...

He had this notion. He could seemingly point out the disparity. The clouds. They seemed so huge, so high. This perspective was extreme. He felt as if he were reduced to the size of ants...and even then would it make everything so out of proportion?

Jonathan raced his palms through his hairs and pulled at them. It was maddening. This contradiction, this lack of connection with his own self. This feeling of it being his first time here. He knew everything, yet felt like learning everything from the ground up. Were the others feeling the same way, or was something awful happening to him?

"Jonathan! Jonathan!" a voice called out to him accompanied by advancing footsteps, breaking him free of his mental turmoil.

"Mary." Jonathan acknowledged. "Good morning, my dear sister." He gave a warm smile. He regarded her as his closest friend. They were not set apart by age that much. She was only two years younger than him.

"Good morning, brother. I have readied the wagon. Orlando is handling the buffaloes. I think you are good to go."

Jonathan looked towards the ground, observed a moment of silence, then replied back, "Oh, wonderful. I will be right there."

Mary stood there a moment longer, then she came over to him and rested her palm over his shoulder. It caused Jonathan to look back at her face. It was compassionate. She gave a quick hug, gave a cheeky grin and said, "Don't worry. It won't fatigue you too much , hopefully. It's nice and cool now. And I know you've been distressed lately, and I haven't been coming to talk to you too much...but I am willing to listen if you are willing to say," she said, with a glint in her eyes.

But Jonathan had no intention of ruining her day by saying all the things he had inside him. It was better if she could do without him, better if she just bantered around with her friends; a bliss in ignorance.

But, for how long? How long was it going to stay this way? It was why he had to do something. And the day for doing that 'something' had finally come.

"I'm fine. Don't let it bother you." Jonathan replied with a pained smile.

Mary turned around to leave, her expressions a little heavy as Jonathan didn't choose to share his worries with her. But she stopped. "Oh, I almost forgot. I would be sure to keep the refreshments ready. I know it's a long journey."

"I appreciate it." It gave him hope when his sister took care of him this way. She had always been caring of him. So, naturally it was disheartening to see her in the state she was in during the sacrifice. She was good at not showing emotions. But that blank face back then had spoken enough.

He got up, walked up to her and kissed her forehead. "How about I try and bring something for you? What would you like?"

"Oh you would?" She was delightful. "How about you get me some pearls? I can try and make a necklace with it!"

"Oh, absolutely. I would look for them." Jonathan had a glint of surity in his eyes, reflecting the authenticity of his promise. "But what are they? I have to have a clear picture in my mind if I am to buy them, right?"

"Oh right." Mary rushed out of his room, then came a little later with her Book of Salvation. "Here, take a look. I forgot that each of our books has slightly different contents based on our position and jobs in this village. It's only natural you won't know about them." It was strange for her to say such a thing as it was known to all of them. The Books of Salvation were the relics left behind to all of them to fend for themselves in this world. They had a lot of pages, but the last ones were locked. Only as time progressed and the children grew older, did some pages unlock, providing knowledge to them of previously unknown things. It was always a surprise to them when new pages unlocked and it filled them with excitement.

But why did Mary casually speak of this common fact to him. It was not something one could forget. It was a part of their lives. Did that mean she was also having the same feeling he was having? This being her first week in this world, in contradiction to all her memories?

Jonathan try not to openly say anything about it. He saw that pearls were round white objects created by shelled creatures of the sea. How he wished to behold the sea someday. "They are indeed lovely, if they don't cost too much I would bring two dozen of them for you. That should be enough for a single necklace. It would look good on you!"

"Thanks!" She blushed, and gave him a hug.

"I shall get going then," he spoke to her softly, caressing her hair in slow smooth waves. "I bid you adieu for the meantime. Stay with Walter like you do. And don't go doing anything stupid or running wild!"

"Yes of course. I am not a kid anymore." She puffed her cheeks.

Jonathan cackled at that. "Oh, you still are."

Outside, a cool breeze was blowing. The landscape was not as rough as before and weeds, grasses and few small flowers had grown in the red soil. The deserted wasteland that it was, had been rejuvenated into something more delicate and embracing, it's past forgotten as yesterday.

The mules were neighing. The supplies were stacked at the back of the wagon and divided in kind. The wooden wagon was large and it was ready for making the delivery. Mary had organised the items just fine; like always.

Jonathan was walking up to it when he heard the clatter of buckets and water jostling. He looked to his side to see Martha coming, two buckets in hand, Grace accompanying her. Martha was a year younger than him, a redhead with a compassionate heart, and a dear friend to his sister.

She set the buckets down before the mules and they drank from it. She smiled as she watched them intently.

Grace softly grabbed Jonathan's arm and handed him the list of what they needed for the ensuing time period, until the next delivery. "It's better than...uh...last time. Hopefully, you'd get these just fine." She was not looking at him. Her eyes were fixated on the ground. Her forehead was undulated with something which could only be the result of being distraught.

"Hey, are you alright? You don't look too good," Jonathan offered, putting both his hands on her shoulders. He observed her from top to bottom. Her posture was not solid. It was odd for her not to stand confident and firm.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine," she said, hurriedly.

"Is it something I should keep watch for? Something I need to be aware of?" Jonathan pretended he had not heard her reply.

"Nothing, it's nothing." She covered her face up in a false smile.

Jonathan frowned. "Come on, now. I can't leave like this. What is it?" This time he had a bit more volume to his voice.

Grace looked away, her eyebrows curving even more, and then sighed. "I've been thinking, you know. I've been wondering, like you." She looked at him at once, something deep in her eyes was hammering at his heart. "This place, this way of life, this mode of living...it really doesn't feel right. I don't know what's wrong with me. I have been living like this from when I can remember. But my gut is telling me that- that this isn't how it's supposed to be! Did you feel the same? I remember you saying things like this even before Elbrus' demise."

Jonathan grew less tense on hearing that. He smirked. "About that. I think I know how our situation can be helped, or at least, I can maybe find some details about it. Find more of what there actually is, out there," he pointed outwards with his finger, "or even up there." He looked upwards. Then he looked back towards her and smiled. "Look forward to hearing from me when I return. I should have some new information, at least." He smiled warmly at his troubled friend.

"Come up already!" Orlando was complaining. He already sitting at the driver's seat, ropes tied to the mules in hand.

"I would see you later today, then. Bye." Jonathan gave a quick hug to her and boarded the wagon.

Orlando whipped the mules, and they neighed loudly, then started galloping onward the route to the habitation of the Upper Class Society, Sepiden, and the last of the village that Jonathan saw that morning was mostly centred on Grace waving her arm and giving well wishes on their journey. "May the grace of the heavens be with you!"

The ride was peaceful. For Jonathan, this was the only road he had ever known, the only path he ever travelled. This route led to the establishment of the Upper Class Society, the city of Sepiden, harbouring people whom they provided sustenance to. In return, they provided them with basic requirements.

Jonathan's life, like the rest of the others in the village was bound to this. Grow, provide and survive. What was the point? Why did they have to live so far away from these people? Wasn't it easier if they lived closer? The lands were the same, it was the same kind of soil everywhere. So, there were no agricultural advantages. Why was it this way, then?

"You know, you've been pretty mum the whole ride. Is there something on your mind?" The sudden voice of Orlando caught Jonathan off guard and he started.

He had his mouth open but didn't say anything immediately. "Ah...well, I uh...have been looking forward to this. I do plan on doing something today, other than what we usually do."

"Oh, what do you mean?" Orlando showed interest.

"I'm going to ask them. There is so much we don't know. So much that doesn't make sense." He went on to confer about the questions that spun in his mind. When he finished talking, the look on Orlando's face wasn't pleasing. He hadn't received it well.

"Well, you do know that they are not people you ought to speak unless it's necessary, right? It's why we only visit them when we have the produce ready. I'm worried. I don't think they will take this behaviour of yours in a good way."

"Isn't it only obvious? How can I keep this all to myself? It's been such a long time, yet there's nothing new that we have come to know. Nothing that helps us gain some hope in our lives. Nothing that could make us feel better. I don't want any of us to live that way. At the mercy of nature. We must figure out ways that can help us evade these attacks, or maybe even fight back!"

"That's ludicrous." Orlando scoffed whipping the mules, making them run faster.

"I know, it is hard to put your faith in something like this right as of this very moment, but we must keep belief. There must be some way to get around this. And we provide them with foodstuff so we must also have a right to our say!"

"I can't disagree with you on that." Orlando broke into a smirk.

"Haha, right!" Jonathan slammed his palm onto his shoulder and grinned.

"You do know that I am stronger, right?" Orlando glared.

"I have no doubt about it." Jonathan still had the grin on his face.

"Alright then. Don't do it often is all I'm saying."

"Yes, sire." Jonathan gave a cheeky grin and retracted back inside the wagon. They were almost halfway there. The sun was nowhere to be seen but they could tell from the shadows it was not long before noon now.

They travelled till it was an hour past noon, judging from the shadows now shifting from being directly above them to skewing a bit to the side.

"We should eat now," Orlando said, jumping off the carriage and going over to the back.

"Yeah. You unpack the foodboxes, I will feed the mules," Jonathan said, walking alongside Orlando.

"You do that."

The mules were tired from the ride and they happily munched on the leaves and berries, drinking water from the buckets that Martha had brought. Only once had they stopped before to make them drink from a river.

Jonathan and Orlando coursed through their meals, wondering what could possibly happen when they did enquire about all the questions they had kept under their stomachs till now.

A robed boy looked at the wagon from afar. He was hiding in the cliffs out of sight, doing what he was asked to do: spy. So far he had learnt a lot, and his gut told him there was much more to be uncovered. He smirked.

Some pebbles fell down from the top. He looked up, then saw a few birds in the bushes. He turned back to watching the people in the wagon.

However tiring it might be, it was an important task assigned to him. And he must do it. For the future of their village depended on it.