Shattered Sanity

Riven woke up the next morning feeling barely rested, as the thoughts of the strange vision he had experienced during meditation continued occupying his mind throughout the night.

’Was that a dream? Did I accidentally doze off while meditating?’

He wondered, as he desperately searched his memories for any evidence that could prove the vision had been real, however, aside from how vivid everything had felt, there was nothing around him that suggested any of it had actually happened.

There was no rain upon his clothes.

No lingering electricity crawling across his skin.

No thunder rumbling above the camp.

And certainly no enormous storm answering his every command.

’Maybe it really was just a dream...’

Riven wondered, as although part of him refused to believe that something so vivid could have been created entirely by his imagination, he eventually found himself questioning whether exhaustion had simply caused him to fall asleep during meditation.

”Come on, sleepyhead, you need to quickly collect water from the fresh dew leaves before we start today’s march.”

Stacy suddenly said from behind him, as the unexpected voice jolted Riven out of his thoughts and caused him to instinctively turn around.

”I’m going.”

Riven replied, as he quickly stood up and grabbed several empty canteens before preparing to leave the campsite.

However, just as he was about to start walking, something caused him to stop.

The wind felt different.

There was something unusual hidden within the cool breeze brushing against his skin, as although Riven could not explain how he knew, it carried with it the unmistakable promise of rain.

’Is a storm approaching?’

Riven wondered, as he instinctively raised his head toward the sky, only to find it completely clear without a single cloud visible anywhere above the surrounding wilderness.

’No...’

He thought, as instead of disappearing, the strange certainty inside his chest only grew stronger.

’It’s going to rain within the hour.’

The thought surfaced so naturally that Riven found himself believing it before realizing how little sense it made, as there were no dark clouds, no distant thunder, and no visible signs of an approaching storm anywhere around him.

’How do I know that?’

Riven wondered, as he continued staring toward the cloudless sky while searching for anything that could explain the strange certainty settling inside his mind.

However, finding nothing, he eventually scratched the back of his head before dismissing the feeling as another lingering effect of the strange vision from last night and continuing toward the surrounding vegetation, where he took advantage of the early morning moisture to refill the group’s canteen.

A few minutes later, the day’s journey officially began, and it was business as usual, however, throughout the early minutes of the march, his attention remained fixed upon the sky, as the certainty he felt in his stomach refused to disappear despite the gradually brightening morning sky.

As instead of disappearing, as the minutes slowly passed, Riven found himself becoming increasingly sensitive to the wind moving through the surrounding forest, as every faint breeze brushing against his skin somehow seemed to carry information that he could feel without properly understanding.

’It’s getting closer. It’s coming from the North’

Riven thought, as he instinctively raised his head toward the sky once again.

Nothing had changed.

At least, not yet.

However, sometime later, Riven noticed the first scattered clouds appearing across the distant horizon, as while nobody else seemed particularly interested in the ordinary change in weather, he felt his stomach tighten upon seeing them.

’No way...’

Riven thought, as over the next several minutes, the clouds steadily grew darker while the wind moving through the wilderness strengthened enough to send the branches above them swaying.

The temperature gradually dropped, the morning sunlight disappeared behind the gathering clouds, and before long, the clear sky Riven had stared at earlier was completely gone.

Drop

Then something cold struck his cheek.

Riven instinctively reached up and touched the small droplet of water running down his skin, as before he could properly process what had happened, another drop landed upon his forehead.

Then another.

Within moments, rain began falling steadily across the wilderness, as Riven continued walking while staring toward the dark clouds above with an expression of complete disbelief.

’It actually happened...’

He thought, as instead of answering any of the questions occupying his mind, the arrival of the rain only left him more confused.

Predicting a change in weather was not necessarily extraordinary, as experienced hunters and travellers could recognize subtle changes in the wind, temperature, animal behavior, and surrounding environment before a storm arrived.

However, Riven had done none of those things.

He had simply awakened that morning, felt the wind brushing against his skin, and somehow known that rain would arrive within the hour despite the completely clear sky above him.

’Was it really a dream? Or if I reach out to the clouds will thunder really answer my call?’

Riven wondered, as the rainwater steadily soaked through his clothes while the memories of the previous night returned with uncomfortable clarity.

He remembered standing beneath the largest storm he had ever witnessed while commanding the wind, ocean, and lightning as though they were extensions of his own body, and although he had convinced himself that exhaustion had caused him to fall asleep during meditation, the certainty he had felt this morning made that explanation increasingly difficult to believe.

’If that wasn’t a dream... then what exactly happened to me?’

Riven wondered, as he continued marching beneath the steadily worsening rain while an unsettling realization slowly formed inside his mind.

Whatever had happened during his meditation had not ended when he opened his eyes, as something within him had undoubtedly changed because of that experience.

However, although he felt that way, he currently had no means to prove it.

’Should I discuss it with Garron?’

Riven wondered, as he briefly glanced toward the instructor marching near the front of the group.

However, after thinking about it for several moments, he quickly decided against the idea.

After all, what exactly was he supposed to tell him?

That he had seen a strange vision while meditating, dreamed about controlling a massive storm, and then somehow predicted that it would rain the next morning?

Even Riven thought the entire story sounded ridiculous when he put it together like that, as if Garron dismissed everything as a coincidence or scolded him for confusing a strange dream with reality, he would probably lose the instructors respect.

’No... I should wait until I have something more concrete.’

Riven decided, as he lowered his head and continued marching through the rain.

For now, he would keep everything to himself and continue paying attention to the strange changes he had begun noticing, because until he understood what was happening, there was no point embarrassing himself by telling anyone else.