Rosie twirled around and around in the rain.
She gracefully leaped from toe to toe in a spritely fashion, splashing ripples of puddles outward. Her pigtails swayed and bounced as she moved around. As her vigorous movements gradually slowed down, she started humming a faint, low-pitched tune which was audible despite the heavy rain.
Her movements, which simultaneously contained the innocence of a child and the elegance of an adult, gave her a sacred, shining aura which was at odds with the dark clouds above. Her hums harmonised with the sounds of thunder and falling raindrops, her tempo matched the intensity of the rain. As she twirled around, her arms rose and fell, sometimes widespread, sometimes clenched. Rather than being someone dancing in the rain, Rosie seemed to personify the rain itself.
Lee and Tabby watched Rosie dancing, mesmerised. Despite being exposed to the heavy downpour, they noticed that her clothes remained dry. As she hopped and twirled and skipped and bounced, the raindrops seemed to magically flowed across her body and clothes before being flung away.
As Rosie danced, her body started glowing brighter and brighter. Several minutes later, the glow changed from from a pale faint light to a glaring bright halo. The raindrops sizzled as they hit the light, further obscuring Rosie in clouds of steam.
Just as the rain was at its heaviest and the light was the brightest, Rosie suddenly stopped, stomping her feet on the ground and clapping her hands together. Her hums changed from being soft and low-pitched to be bright and lively instead.
Lee and Tabby saw the light from Rosie's body pulsating out into their surrounding, growing fainter with each throb. Each pulse froze the falling raindrops for a millisecond, and the rainclouds also grew lighter and lighter.
Rosie stopped glowing as the last note gently escaped her parted lips. Amidst the echoes of a girl's hum in the valley, the weather finally cleared and the rain stopped. Everything around them seemed more vibrant and pure.
Both Lee and Tabby clapped while Sparky flew excitedly in the air. Rosie grinned cheerily and waved at her enthusiastic audience.
* * *
As Sparky and Rosie played in the garden, Lee and Tabby went back inside for a welcome cup of hot coffee.
"Did you know she could do that?" Tabby asked Lee as he took out some mugs from the cabinet.
"Nope, that's the first time for me as well, brown or white?" Lee took out a several tins of sugar and fresh milk. He put several teaspoons of coffee powder in their mugs.
"Brown please, thanks." Tabby replied while super-boiling the kettle, shooting literal fire from his hands in addition to the stove's flames. The kettle started whistling in just under two minutes.
They remained silent as Tabby poured the water into the mugs. Faint laughter and hoots could be heard from outside the window.
Lee contentedly sipped his coffee and took out a light blue book from his dimensional storage. As Lee flipped through the pages, Tabby vaguely heard the rumbling sounds of lightning and thunder from across the table.
"Which cult did you steal that from?" Tabby asked.
"Not every magic tome I own is stolen," Lee rolled his eyes. "This one is my personal hand-written observations of the the Cloud Whisperers in the Basahra Plains."
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"Why would the world's most powerful immortal go and befriend a tribal commune?" Tabby sipped his drink and added more brown sugar.
"To learn of course, "Lee replied, "Tribal dances aren't a series of primitive motions to grab godly attention. Unlike city magic which mainly relies on written and drawn patterns, they are actually performing magic through movements and sound."
"Familiar?" Lee stopped at a passage and passed the book to Tabby. Tabby winced slightly as he was briefly electrocuted. He read the passage Lee was pointing to earlier.
While most rain dances are used to evoke the spirits to bring forth rain in times of drought, there is a secret, sacred dance which was rumoured to change normal falling rain to become a blessed shower. Oral records mentioned that performers of the sacred dance are attuned and communing with the rain. The performer will glow brighter, before exploding when the light is at its most intense. The shockwaves of the explosion is able to change the falling rain to become blessed in nature. This dance is only performed in dire times as it completely burns the life-force of the performer.
"...." Tabby craned his neck out of the window after reading the last sentence. His whiskers twitched slightly when he saw Rosie jumping around trying to catch Sparky.
"We are really lucky that we don't have a corpse in the garden," Tabby remarked dryly. He threw the book back towards Lee.
Lee continued munching on his biscuits. After stopping the book mid-air, he let the book hover and resumed reading it. He stopped and tapped on a page, to which a dancing figure formed of electricity leaped out of its pages and performed a rain dance.
Both Tabby and Lee silently observed the figure's movements. Unlike Rosie's dance, which was lively and varied, the figure's movements were much more stoic and even. If Rosie's dance was likened to a casual conversation filled with spontaneity, the figure's motions resembled a dry, structured and formal speech instead.
Lee dismissed the figure when it started looping. After stroking his chin thoughtfully, he purposefully stood up from his chair.
"On the bright side, I found a safer starting point to help send Rosie back," Lee said. "We should start packing soon."
"I am really glad we won't need to go through that shitty portal," Tabby grumbled as levitated his mug to the sink.
"Don't be so optimistic, we will need to tackle that eventually," Lee replied glumly. Tabby groaned.
"Why do we need to go to the Basahra Plains, by the way?" Tabby asked.
"I want to ask the chief if he can tell me who taught them the rain-dance," Lee said. "I intended to do so last time, but I just vanquished a horde of flaming ifrits and he was horribly injured. It didn't seem appropriate."
"You don't say," Tabby retorted. "Well, I will go check if SUV still works."
Lee washed the coffee mugs as he was thinking about dinner. He looked out at the window and saw Rosie sitting by a sundial. Sparky was coiled up on her head.
She is obviously not a goddess even if she came about from the upper levels, Lee thought. Gods don't need to perform dances to change the weather, they simply will it.
As Lee looked at the sleeping girl outside, he wondered if it was worth the effort to give up his cushy, sedentary bachelor's life for what is shaping up to be an epic trip. He would definitely be much more excited a few centuries ago, but the prospect seems like a hassle now.
Unwilling to travel looking like a feeble old man, Lee's gaunt, weathered form started transforming. His weary countenance and weather skin became rejuvenated and smooth, his grey hair turned black and thick, even his slightly bent posture straightened out.
Lee looked at his reflection in the kitchen sink. He flexed his arms, satisfied with regaining his youthful looks.
Feeling slightly better, Lee took out some dough and begin kneading. Perhaps the trip won't be that bad after all.
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Author's Notes
Rain dancing is a common ritual performed everywhere around the world in different cultures, including the Hopis in Arizona, the Cherokee in southwest United States, the Aboriginals in Australia, as well as the Masaai people in Kenya and Tanzania. The dances are usually performed in a group setting sometimes involving both genders. It is usually performed in hopes of being blessed with rainfall during periods of drought. It also has strong spiritual significance to concepts such as fertility, purification, and transformation.
Basahra comes from the Malay word basah, which means wet.
Ifrits are a form of jinn (genie) in Islamic mythology. They are usually described as large, fiery shapeshifters who can be either good or evil. They can also control the weather and usually do so in more destructive ways.