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The Kanaeru name carried weight. More weight than, frankly, Kobo had ever wanted on her shoulders. Why was she the one who got picked to carry the torch anyways? Her brother could do it! Anyone else could do it! But apparently the ‘rains chose her,’ whatever that means, and instead of practicing on her guitar she’s out here, standing waist-deep in the water and getting soaked from the rain and freezing.
“Kobo, remember what I’ve taught you.” Her father called out from the shore. She sighed at that, giving a small thumbs up in hopes of being enough reassurance that he’d stop repeating that every five minutes. He was worried, that was obvious, anyone would be, trying to fully become a rain shaman wasn’t exactly safe. Which, again, why was she doing this?! She was only 15! Sure she wanted to be treated more like a grown up, but that didn’t include being thrown head-first into danger like she wasn’t a child!
Whatever… Time to see if this’ll work.
With that thought and another sigh, Kobo slowly raised her closed umbrella towards the sky, squeezing her eyes shut tight. A dozen different prayers that’d been drilled into her head since the day she had taken her first step into water filled her mind, over and over, hoping and praying this would work…
The thunder rumbled. She could hear a soft mumble from her father, probably praying too. A flash of light. Lightning. Close. The next roar of thunder was so loud it hurt her ears. Any closer and it would definitely damage her hearing, probably make her deaf. That was… Worrying.
The rain started falling harder. Faster. The sky seemed… Upset. …Why could she tell? Why… Why did it truly, deeply feel as though… What… What was…?
The wind howled. The water around her started to shift with the wind, starting to pull at her as a current began. She held her ground though. She knew if she fell over, the chances of getting back up from the current was low. She’d rather not become the first in her long bloodline of rain shamans to drown. Ever since she could understand speech, it had been told to her over and over that ‘Kanaeru’s don’t drown,’ and she’d rather not break that record…
Hail was starting to fall. Hail. It was summer. The sky was trying to kill her. Great.
“What do you want me to do?” Kobo mumbled up at the sky as she opened her umbrella, shielding her from the ice. The wind howled louder. It felt curt in a way. She frowned.
“...Do you want to hurt me?” She asked, not really expecting an answer. She just… Needed to say something. She was scared out of her mind and desperately trying to seem calmer then she actually was. Talking to herself probably didn’t help that, now that she thought about it…
The wind slowed slightly. Hesitant. Kobo stared up at the sky, brow furrowed. Was that a maybe? Wait- It’s just wind, why is she acting like it’s trying to talk to her?!
A stronger burst of wind, small, hitting against her shoulder. Almost like a playful slap in response to her thoughts. …Was this… Was she actually?
“...Are you… Talking to me?” Kobo asked, bewildered. A hum of distant thunder. Yes.
“...Does this mean I’m… That I’m worthy of being a rain shaman?” Kobo asked quietly, sparing a glance towards her father and the rest of her family standing further away, near the entrance of the house.
The wind stuttered. It did not get stronger or slower, it just… Stuttered. Was that a maybe? She really hoped it was a maybe.
“What do I need to do to be worthy, then? Is this a test or something?” Kobo tilted her head towards the sky. It rumbled, deep, warning. …So that’s definitely a yes. It’s probably going to be something really dangerous since it acted that way…
“...I’m ready.”
Thunder clapped so loud it definitely damaged her hearing. She had to close her eyes from how bright the flash was.
Then came the pain. Hot, searing… Indescribable.
Kobo screamed.
Kobo woke up to a mix of concern and relief. Her family was right there, crowded around the water and calling out to her frantically. She was laying on her back, floating gently, the cool water soothing the ache. The storm was gone. …So was most of her old hand-me-down raincoat and umbrella. When she looked down, she saw… Bruises. Burns. But the marks that really stood out were small ferns of damaged skin that feathered out, like thousands of little branches. Right over her heart, creeping slightly up her shoulder, her neck, just barely reaching her ribs…
…She had been struck by lightning.
… How am I still alive?
The scars didn’t go away. If anything, they just got darker. When she looked it up later, she found out that wasn’t normal. It was supposed to go away within a day or two, but this one didn’t. She had the feeling it never would. At least she could hide most of it with her new raincoat. After all that, she had been given an ‘official’ raiment of a rain shaman and her own umbrella. She liked both. They both looked nice, felt natural enough to wear…
The main problem was that she didn’t exactly trust the sky or water. She had felt the wind occasionally ruffle through her now white-tipped hair, whistle in low, sheepish tones, almost in apology, but again, it still nearly killed her. Until it proved that it wasn’t going to try and kill her again for not being the perfect shaman, she wasn’t going to trust it.
Which wasn’t a good idea in hindsight, considering the second she voiced that, she was basically shoved out the door headfirst to go ‘find herself’ or whatever. Because of course having her go off all alone for gods know how long with nothing but the sky and water for her company was a great idea.
This was going to be a long month or two…
“No.”
The wind tugged at her sleeve.
“No.”
The wind seemed to whine.
“NO! I am not jumping into a harbor just because you want me to!” Kobo huffed, tugging absentmindedly at her backpack strap as she pointedly walked past said harbor. She could see the water shifting and splashing on its own, clearly beckoning her over. Well, too bad, she was still mad. Actions and consequences, even if it was elements of nature!
Look. It seemed to whisper, wind rising in intensity. I already looked! Kobo pouted, until the wind pushed at her chin slightly, setting her line of sight higher. There was some splashing in the water, someone swimming perhaps? But.. Why would you swim in a harbor? That’s dangerous-
The figure was fleeing from a boat. They had guns. The figure was injured. There was blood in the water.
“...Oh.”
Told you so.
“...What do I do?” Kobo asked, glancing between the two nervously. The armed figures didn’t look like law enforcement chasing a criminal, they… They were dangerous people, weren’t they? What- What should she-
Wind caught her umbrella. Pointed it at the water. Kobo took a shaky, deep breath at the silent instruction, trying to think hard about what she wanted the water to do. Just… Make a gentle divide of water between them so no one gets hur-
…Oooor launch the injured figure into the air with a geyser. That too.
“Oh for- Wind, can you-?” Kobo began, but was quickly cut off by the wind swiftly moving much stronger than normal, shaking the boat as it plucked the figure out of the air, gently placing them at Kobo’s feet. The figure, up close, seemed to be a girl a little older than her with weirdly gray-ish hair, wide, silver eyes staring up at her in utter shock and bafflement. Aaaand now the guys with guns were coming for her. Great. Wonderful.
“Can you walk?!” Kobo asked frantically as she tried to hoist the taller figure to her feet. She got a quick nod, and on further inspection, the girl seemed to be wearing weird scuba-ish gear, seeming more like something out of a spy movie… Ah, whatever, they were about to get shot at, that doesn’t matter right now.
With that, Kobo grabbed her by the hand and sprinted off. Thankfully the wind seemed overjoyed to have someone besides her to mess with and gleefully flipped the boat over with no qualms. At least it was having fun? Whatever, she had a lot of questions to ask and some wounds to heal…
It was a year or two later. The figure, Zeta, had asked for her to join her secret organization (how is it secret if she knows about it?) after seeing her abilities in action from nearly flinging her into space by accident and taking what would have definitely been a near fatal wound and reducing it to a small scar. The other member, Kaela, was especially grateful for that. Kobo had an idea as to why, but she didn’t want to give them any reasons to kick her out. She liked having a purpose beyond being called on every now and then to stop or bring the rains.
The excitement was also a bonus! …Most of the time. Between occasional near-death experiences and assaults on their HQ, she was having a pretty nice time! Even moreso when one of Zeta’s main associates, Amy Watts or something, suggested for them to apply to the idol agency the detective had already joined a little while ago. Kobo really liked it! She wasn’t sure why Zeta said yes since they were a secret agency but she wasn’t going to complain. She got to focus on making music, having fun… And not a single thought devoted to the elements that kept following her around. Sure they’d remind her they were there sometimes, a playful shove from the wind here, a moody rain cloud there, but other than that, she was finally having some peace of mind!
…And then a certain mission came. Out on the ocean, going after some smugglers. It was meant to be easy, they weren’t anybody special or especially dangerous, but they were delivering their cargo to someone dangerous, so Zeta had suggested going after them in transit and see if that led to the location of said dangerous person.
Which is how she found herself here, dressed in similar scuba gear to what she had first met Zeta in (much to the water’s protest) and waiting for said cat- erm, secret agent’s signal. The main idea seemed to mostly involve Zeta and Kaela sneaking onto the ship and finding their route and Kobo standing by just in case something went wrong. She hoped that she’d spend the entire mission hidden underwater, then….
Unfortunately that’s not what happened. One frantic signal later and Kobo found herself on the deck of the ship, umbrella held tightly in her hand. It was… Chaos. Thankfully no one on this boat seemed to have the mind to bring guns on their little trip, but it still wasn’t… Great. Kaela was nursing a large gash in her shoulder that looked like a narrowly avoided attempt at a stab that, while not digging in, still did some pretty serious damage. Even then, Kaela was still swinging her war hammer without pause, expression somewhere in between a grimace and a clear attempt at neutrality. Zeta looked bruised, but not bleeding… A relief.
…Except Zeta was too busy dealing with the thug in front of her to notice the one behind her. Without a first or second thought, she pointed her umbrella at the thug with a glare. Thankfully the ocean seemed to be done sulking about the scuba thing, and the thug was sent sailing overboard from a huge gust of water.
“A MAGE?!” One of the thugs yipped in fear. Kobo just smiled at that, raising her umbrella once again.
“Yup! Now stand down before I send all of you to a watery grave!” Kobo giggled with a flourish, taking childish glee in the over the top threat that she probably wasn’t actually going to carry out. They tried not to kill people when they could manage that, after all…
“Damnit… You, and you! Keep them busy!” The one that seemed to be the leader barked orders, scampering up to the bridge. Kobo glanced over at Zeta, nodding her head towards the door. Zeta just nodded at that, giving silent permission to pursue. Kobo’s grin just grew wider as she raced up the stairs after the captain, the wind batting any who stood in her way off to the side like a particularly annoyed cat.
Kobo was pretty fast on her feet, if anyone asked, so she caught up rather quickly, just in time to see the captain trying to grab the map of their route, probably to either take or destroy it. Bingo.
“Sorry, I’ll be taking that.” Kobo giggled, the wind swiftly swiping it from the mans hands and into hers. She just gave a big grin and a mock salute before opening her umbrella and letting the wind carry her back onto the deck, landing next to Zeta.
“Found it.” Kobo presented smugly at the swift victory. Zeta glanced over from the fight only to smile right back when she realized what exactly Kobo had found.
“Great work Kobo! Mission, completo!” Zeta pumped a fist in the air before quickly ducking behind Kobo to shove the map into one of the air-tight compartments on her suit to keep any water from getting on it and thus ruining the thing they had come here for.
“Yeah! You and Kaela get out of here, I’ll make sure they can’t follow us!” Kobo called over her shoulder. Zeta seemed a bit hesitant but spared a glance over to the blacksmith. An entire conversation took place over seconds and without words before Kaela nodded with a sigh, and the two rushed to the small discrete motorboat that they had arrived on, leaving Kobo surrounded.
Kobo wasn’t scared though.
…Cockiness is… Not a good thing, though.
Kobo raised her umbrella once more, and lightning struck down, right on the motor on the back of the ship, rendering it useless. It took all of five seconds after the recovery from the bright light and deafening clap for them to realize what she had done.
“Hope you guys feel like paddling! Now if you’ll excuse me-”
Footsteps behind her. Angry growling. Kobo spun on her heel, umbrella at the ready, but too late. When did the captain get behind her?! He was still on the bridge a minute ag-
“You little-” The captain growled, lunging towards her as he pulled something out from his pock- Wait, was that- A switchbl-
Sharp, searing pain. In a flash it was out, leaving a harsh ache and choked gasp of pain. Kobo stumbled back, holding the stab wound in her side, staring at the captain with wide, panicked eyes. The captain just snarled, then, without another word, shoved the rain shaman. Hard.
Kobo went overboard. But as she did, she heard the wind roar with anger, thunder rumbling with hatred, lightning shrieking with rage-
And then nothing. Nothing but the sharp sting of salt water in the wound and darkness. Kobo opened her mouth to scream in pain.
The water didn’t go into her lungs. It didn’t even go into her mouth. Somehow… Somehow she was breathing. It didn’t make sense. Kobo kept thrashing around in the water, trying to scream in pain and fear and adrenaline-
Shh…
...What?
It’s going to be okay…
The water pressure shifted around her, holding on to her gently, as if cradling her in a pair of invisible arms, holding her through the fear. the pain… There was… Comfort, in the way the water held her. It felt safe. For once, she didn’t fear it. It felt like it really did want to protect her…
I do. The water seemed to say.
I know.
Gently, oh so gently, she felt a pressure against her back. Felt gravity slowly returning as she floated up, water pushing her to the surface. Careful, very aware of its strength and making sure not to harm her.
And as she surfaced again, staring out at the utterly destroyed boat, torn apart by what was undoubtedly lightning, lightning that had been carefully placed and angled away from the water so it wouldn’t hurt her, or, as she looked to the side, her companions either…
“KOBO!” Zeta screamed in a mix of alarm and relief at the sight of Kobo, quickly directing the boat over and, with the help of Kaela, hoisted the girl out of the water and onto the boat. Her side was bleeding a little less than before. The wind swept behind the boat and urged it along even faster as Kaela took over controlling the rudder so that Zeta could try and do her best to patch Kobo up in the meantime, frantically trying to stop the bleeding…
And really, only one thought was in her mind as she found herself drifting in and out, only kept awake by the occasional splash of sea spray on her face or frantic shaking from the agent in a desperate bid to keep her awake. Only one thought echoed as they neared the shore, as Amelia greeted them there, frantic and concerned at the state of the little rain cloud, as the actual doctor out of them all patched her up enough they could get her to a hospital without bleeding out, as Kaela carried her all the way there in spite of her own injury…
Why was she afraid of the water again?
Her side hurt. The bandages felt itchy. But other than that, she couldn’t complain much about still being alive. She was lucky, apparently, according to Amelia. Something about how utterly impossible it was that the salt water hadn’t gotten the wound infected, how if it wasn’t for the extra speed of the boat, she might not have made it. Kobo wasn’t surprised. In fact, all she had really done was mutter a soft prayer of thanks under her breath, looking out at the sky from the hospital window.
Thankfully she had been given a clean bill of health relatively quickly, leaving only stitches and bandages and a mostly healed wound. She was glad, she wasn’t one for being confined to a little room that smelled like bleach and was that weird off-white color. Then again, she doubted anyone liked being confined to a bed…
Well, whatever, doesn’t matter now. Now she’s perfectly free to lay in contentment in the grass, dozing off as she looks up at the sky. She felt… Better. A lot better, not just from the wound healing, but in general, about her powers, about the elements she had been raised to command, but had instead found some companionship in after a rocky start.
Kobo let out a soft, content sigh as she laid there. A soft breeze tickled her face and neck, gently playing with her hair and pressing a careful, gentle touch to the scar, just barely peeking out from her shirt collar. Affectionate, caring... Kobo smiled softly at that, gazing up at the sky.
Friends? The wind seemed to hum.
“…Yeah. Friends.”