Strange Weather ☂

Solo or RP Format
Counts as 5 RP growth Points
Solo word minimum is 750, RP post minimum is 7

Prompt

As Spring rolls into Summer in Tendaji it appears that something is not as it should be. In fact, strange and unpredictable weather is happening all across the world. Strong storms, bizarre heat waves, unheard of snow storms, floods, and other similar events are happening in all of the countries. Some are superstitious, seeing it as a warning of great evil, others blame the Dretch, some shrug it off as a freaky incident, and others ignore that it's even such an oddity.

However, one thing is certain - all the lands are dealing with these weird weather outbreaks in their own way. How are you handling matters? Do you try to help others, are you too focused on yourself, or do you want to try and find answers for the causes behind these recent events? Or did you get caught out in the disaster yourself and these are your memories of how you had to fight against the odds to get to safety?

Basically this is a solo (or a rp with a friend) to write out how your character is being affected by these strange occurrences in Tendaji.

Please see the below to see what is occurring in each region!

Chibale and Matori are both suffering from snow - something that has rarely hit these warmer countries before! A blizzard especially is unheard of.

Jahaur and Yael are experiencing drought. Rain hasn't fallen for the last couple of weeks...

Tale, Sauti, and Oba are experiencing massive amounts of rain to the point that some of the desert is flooding.

Zena is having the strangest heat wave and some areas once covered year-round with snow and ice are even starting to melt...

Belrea is shaken. Literally. A huge earthquake has ripped through the continent scaring many and even now faint rumbles from its impact shift at random beneath your feet.

There were times when Mahikel thought he preferred to be left alone. Despite having a not-too-terribly-small nuclear family, there were still plenty of opportunities for solitude. His parents didn't adventure like Kel enjoyed doing. He preferred to leave his brother behind when the activities he imagined performing were 'too dangerous.' And his older sisters had more to do than follow their kid brother around all day. Mahikel rarely needed to 'miss' having time to himself and could have it almost whenever it pleased him to do so.

It didn't happen quite as often as wanting peace and quiet, but on rarer occasions, he thought he might want a friend. His family was precious, and he couldn't imagine willing them away under any circumstances... But his sisters and his brother and his parents weren't the same as having a companion: someone his age who he wouldn't have to look out for (like he did with Ezrah), someone who wouldn't worry over if what Mahikel was doing was necessarily safe, and definitely, definitely someone who wouldn't scold him. A friend could be someone he liked for a little while and then didn't have to concern himself with later, if the timing was inconvenient.

Sometimes Mahikel wanted a friend.

But as it turned out, the actual process of obtaining one could be... complicated. And messy. And lengthier than Kel actually wanted to give time to. So it happened that on those rare instances when he specifically wanted to not be alone with a friend rather than family, Mahikel spent a lot of time watching, instead of interacting.

Their little market hub was always abuzz with soft chatter, at all hours of the day and night, though always a bit more in the early mornings, when the Shifters who preferred to be out and about during the day began to rise, but those who were nightwalkers hadn't yet retired to bed. This was the best time to watch, listen, and learn, and uncover the secrets of camaraderie. Mahikel settled himself in the nook of a tree, tucked comfortably in a tangle of leafy branches that hung over the sturdier woodwork that supported the market huts. He had to strain to catch any full conversations, but he could see plenty, and the observation felt like the most important aspect.

Almost directly beneath him was the tanner, and of everyone in the market, the gruff man was the easiest to hear actual conversations from. Mahikel crossed his arms beneath his chin as he settled in on his stomach and peered down at the man as he spoke to a woman with what Kel assumed to be her teenage son, being outfitted for some kind of leather hunting gear.

"Ground's turning solid," the tanner grunted as he flicked a measuring cord against the boy's forearm. "Makes it harder to track, harder to hunt in the usual spots... Not pulling in as much game as we were just a couple moons ago."

Mahikel blinked, briefly surprised by the words, but after a beat of thought, he realized he really shouldn't be. As an adventurer, he spent time both in the trees and along the forest floor, and now that attention had been brought to it, he realized, yes, as a matter of fact, the usually-soggy peat that lined most of the earth had turned rather... crisp of late. When was the last time it had rained? He didn't know a great deal about hunting, so maybe he hadn't been bothered initially, but...

If the ground was turning firmer, there wouldn't be any footprints to trail, not from large or small game. And if it became too hard... He wondered if the wadani would be able to burrow, as they did when they hunted. Would they die off if they couldn't? Or would they just start stalking anything that touched down to the earth...

Mahikel wasn't at all certain he could outrun a wadana. And he knew for sure he definitely couldn't outfight one.

The woman clapped a hand over her boy's shoulder. Kel couldn't see her face, but he thought she sounded confident, despite the tanner's concerns. "That's why Joel is preparing to join the hunt. The young men of our tribe will have to step up sooner than intended, if we hope to see us all fed... Because it's not just the animals, you know. The fruits and nuts from the trees will stop being so succulent, if the rains don't return."

And then, she turned. Her silvery gaze lifted with certainty to Kel's perch, as though she'd known he was there, and she shot him a look- not cold or unkind, but stern and no-nonsense. "All the young men will need to step up..."

Mahikel felt a peculiar heat crawling through his face, and he tucked back as if receding from her stare.

But when it came down to it... She was right. He wasn't a child anymore, and he knew his lands well, maybe not in the same way born hunters surveyed and understood them, but he had his own understanding just the same. And he didn't want his little brother- or any of his family- to go without if things continued to get worse... He'd never exactly considered himself the 'responsible' kind, but perhaps if it was necessary, he could be.

WC: 887