"Rainy, wake up, Sweetie."
The girl rolled away from the whisper and pulled the sheet over her head. She groaned.
"Leave me alone. I finally get to enjoy a bed, and you want me up before sunrise?"
The man in her shadow had no compassion. Not only had he basically abandoned her for a week, but he was wanting to start training already?
Rain nestled into her bed but paused.
Her teacher didn't call her affectionate names like Rainy and Sweetie.
Rain sat up quickly in her bed, her confusion only deepening at the sight before her.
"Mom?!"
The figure in the dark room sure looked like her mother. Maybe she hadn't actually woken up. She rubbed her eyes.
"Am I dreaming?"
"No, baby, I'm here." The soothing tone coupled with the cool air from the balcony convinced Rain that this was real. The figure wasn't an apparition or a monster meant to trick her—her teacher wouldn't have allowed the latter while she was sleeping. In front of her was the real deal.
She leapt from her bed and wrapped her arms around the other woman's neck.
"Mom!"
Noble hugged her daughter tightly. Not as tightly as she could, but much more than she had ever before. Rain was an Awakened now, and she could handle the outburst of Noble's motherly affection.
"I can't believe you are here. I've missed you. Wait, how are you here? We are a long way from Ravenheart!" Rain scrunched her brow.
"I felt something was happening to you yesterday and flew toward your connection all day. When I finally found you, I couldn't resist waking you. I hope you don't mind." Noble felt Rain's hug tighten.
"How could I mind being woken by my mother who flew across the Domain just to see me? Ah, I have missed you!"
The two women stood like that for a long time, each too happy to move. But as daylight soon threatened to start peeking over the horizon, Noble knew they needed to keep things moving.
"So, tell me about what has happened since I last saw you."
While the mother would have loved to just whisk the girl away to another location, she wanted to get Rain's version of events first. Not only did she selfishly want to hear it from Rain's mouth before the rest of their family, but she also didn't want to accidentally slip up and mention information that her daughter did not freely offer.
Rain pulled away and sat down on her bed. "Where do I even begin? I guess you got my note from…the messenger…when I disappeared?" Rain hesitated, not realizing how her mysterious teacher had delivered her message to her family nor knowing about the contents therein.
"Yes, I know that you were protected from the Skinwalker and had to flee. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough evidence to prove your innocence to Clan Song, or we would have brought you home right away." Noble explained.
Rain's face became downcast.
"I'm so sorry. I never meant to cause you trouble or worry you. If I had known it was going to happen, I never would have chosen that day to…"
Noble shushed her daughter gently. "You had no way of knowing. Only a seer could have foreseen that kind of event, and as far as I know, you aren't one of those, are you?"
Rain shook her head. "No."
"What's past is past. It happened, and I am just glad you are alive and well…" Noble looked around. "And in a palace? How did that happen?"
Rain looked embarrassed for a moment. "I, uh, kind of made friends with a Legacy. She's young. You might have met her at the Academy. Her name's Tamar of Clan Sorrow..."
Noble didn't make a habit of naming her students even when telling stories about them, so it wasn't odd that Rain had not heard of the girl before.
"We might have crossed paths once or twice. Seems like a nice friend to have."
Rain nodded. "She's a bit standoffish at first, but you get used to it. As for how I got here exactly. That began with running away after the Skinwalker incident. I joined a construction crew and then a survey team. Don't worry, I didn't use my real name. I went by Rani…"
"Rani?" Noble raised an amused eyebrow at her daughter.
Rani flushed. "I panicked! Anyway, you and Dad call me Rainy, so I thought Rani might be close enough that I would still answer to it."
It made an odd amount of sense, and Noble couldn't exactly fault her for it in such an intense situation.
"Anyway, when I joined the survey team, Tamar was in charge along with two other Awakened named Fleur and Ray. You may know them too, actually." Rain paused.
"The names ring a bell, yes," Noble would tell her about their houseguests later.
Rain went on to tell about the attack, her fall into the canyon, and the flood that drove Tamar and her far from the rest of the group and her subsequent journey across the wilderness of the Song Domain.
No amount of preparation could have helped Noble be ready for the tale her daughter relayed. It was a journey worse than some people's first Nightmare, and yet Rain relayed it as if it were only natural that things should progress as they had. The girl had no slip-ups when it came to mentioning Sunny, which told Noble he had only watched from the shadows during the entire ordeal.
Rain became increasingly animated as she reached the climax of her adventure.
"And then, we were stuck between the cliffs and the monster. There was no way out, but I wasn't willing to give up. So I stopped and committed all my focus toward forming my core…" Rain paused for dramatic effect. "And I did it. After years of trying and in a hopeless situation, I did it, Mom. I Awakened!"
"That's what I felt yesterday. I knew it was big! Oh, Rainy!" Noble embraced her daughter, the elation of the accomplishment washing over her a third time. "Excuse me, Awakened Rain."
The mother dipped her head as she pulled away.
Rain's smile grew. "It has a good ring to it. My new strength allowed me to lift Tamar's sword and finally finish the monster off once and for all. Then we climbed down here and were welcomed by Clan Sorrow. That…about sums things up."
"I'm so proud of you," Noble beamed at the girl. "I love you."
"Thanks, Mom. I love you, too." Rain soaked in the praise.
Child of Promise sighed happily. "Ah, it is so good to see you. The boys and your father will be overjoyed to hear you are doing well. They will want to hear all about your adventure as well."
"I look forward to telling them someday," Rain smiled.
Noble's grin grew. "Not someday, today!"
The younger woman furrowed her brow. "What?"
"That's right! I've come to take you home. Gather anything you need, and we can go right away." Noble glanced around to look for any possessions that might be her daughter's. The nightgown clearly wasn't, but she could change before they headed out.
Noble's thoughts were derailed by the words that came out of Rain's mouth.
"I'm not going."