Welcome to Gaia! ::

“I wonder when the rain’ll let up.” said Brielle, leaning over to stick a hand out from under the umbrella they were all squeezed under. Sure enough, rain was still hammering down in big, thick drops.

“Soon, I hope. The park is turning to mire!” Kiefer kicked the ground in front of him; with a soft squelch, a small rock popped out of the muddy soil and promptly half-sank in again.

“It’s not so bad, really.” Riordan said. “I mean, it’s only water.”

“Freezing water, you mean.” snapped Gwenyth, giving Riordan a little push. “You want to go out there and get soaked? Fine, more room in here for us.”

“b***h.”

“Hey!” Matilda suddenly shouted, causing the other four to jump. “This is my umbrella we’re sharing, and I don’t want any fighting!”

This was true, as Matilda was the only one who had thought to pack one. So here were four adults, a steer, a dog, and a little girl, jumbled together under a little pastel green-with-big-bright-lavender-flowers child’s umbrella.

“Fine, sorry. Touchy.” Gwenyth rolled her eyes and hugged herself.
“Ah, crap, wind!” shouted Kiefer, gripping the umbrella’s handle tighter. “Somebody grab something; it’s gonna get blown away!” Three pairs of hands instantly reached up and groped for a metal spoke, and Matilda, too short to reach, helped Kiefer with the handle. A strong gust of wind tore through them, catching the umbrella like a parachute. Caught by surprise, Brielle accidentally let go of her spoke.

“s**t!” Gwenyth, trying to grab Brielle’s back for her, let go of her own piece. Another blast of air made its way toward them, this time taking the umbrella with it.

The little umbrella traveled at a surprisingly fast speed; this did not go unnoticed by No-Name. The dog tore after the umbrella, barking and growling so viciously that any outsiders would have thought him rabid.

“No, No-Name, no!” cried Brielle, flapping her hands nervously. “Oh, he’ll follow it into the street! He could get run over by a coach!” Behind her, Kiefer crouched low to the ground like a marathon runner.

“What are you doing?” asked Riordan, prodding Kiefer in the small of the back with his walking stick.

“I—stop that— I’m going after him.”

“He caught it!” shouted Matilda, not sure if she should be happy or angry. “Um…I think I need a new umbrella. Mine died.” Indeed, they did. No-Name was galloping around the park, umbrella clenched firmly in his teeth, swinging his head savagely back and forth. Kiefer sighed and stood up again, shaking his head.

“You’ve got to train that dog of yours, Brielle.” Brielle nodded shakily. She knelt down on one knee and clapped her hands.

“No-Name, bring that here, please.”

“Too soft!” Gwenyth scoffed. She whistled sharply.

“Hey, No-Name! Over here, now!” she ordered briskly. No-Name’s ears perked up. He turned around, tail wagging, and trotted over to Gwenyth. Gwenyth yanked the soaked, bent, and ripped umbrella out of the dog’s mouth and thrust it at Matilda. “Here, Tilly.”

“Thank you.” Matilda said sarcastically, holding the umbrella at arm’s length.

“The rain should wash the dog slobber off.” Kiefer took a suitcase off of Tourmaline’s back and held it over his head. Not that it made much difference; all seven of them were already drenched so thoroughly that any hope of being fully dry again seemed far-off and fanciful. Matilda groaned in disgust and dropped the umbrella to the ground.

“Sorry, everyone.” squeaked Brielle, eyes lowered.

“Nah, it’s all right.” Riordan said, waving a hand dismissively. “Like I said, it’s only water, right?” Next to him, No-Name shook himself vigorously, spraying everybody with mud.