Riders on the Storm

Madeline knew about it before it was even in the news. She saw it in a vision, when she was thinking about how she could afford all those nice clothes over at Theia. It was a strange thing, though - enchanted musical instruments, floating around by themselves, wandering out of the city into someone's farmland. There would be cash rewards for the instruments' safe return.

But some of these instruments were heavy. Madeline couldn't carry too many of these things to the store by herself at one time. So she would need some help. Someone with muscle.

So, Madeline and Shir got off the bus stop together, deep in the agricultural center of Manta Carlos. It was a bright, beautiful day out - for the most part. One of the farms had a miniature thunderstorm brewing over itself - and exclusively over itself, with unnaturally low-lying clouds roiling just above it. It was an island of dark, windy cold in the middle of a bright summer's day.

Madeline smiled up at Shir and put on the raincoat she brought. "I told you we'd need raincoats," she said.

"We should hurry. I think rain is bad for instruments." She would take a hold of Shir's hand and drag him across the road, straight towards the storm.

@Max!!

Madeline just shrugged. "I guess I didn't think that far ahead. It'll work out though." She was certain of it.

As they walked towards their destination, they would notice something strange. A corn stalk uprooted itself right next to them and fell over. Then, moving like a snake, it slithered away deeper into the farmland.

"Well, that happened... must be easier than having to go through and chop all the plants down, I guess." This place was weird.

They would reach a T-intersection in the road. Straight ahead was a different farm, not the one with the storm over it, but in the way. Madeline would keep going straight ahead, leading Shir right onto the farm. "Let's cut through here," Madeline said.

They were heading into another field of corn. They could feel the wind from the storm ahead on their faces. It blew through the field, and from a distance the field looked like it had waves, like an ocean.

"It was pretty weird," she agreed. "But not as weird as hell. I was there." Madeline stopped for a moment and turned around.

"Maybe it's just harder to get me shaken up now. Some of the stuff I saw down there..."

She wanted to talk about it with someone. Someone who wasn't a demon, who could give her a sanity check. But it would be scary saying these things to Shir. What if he heard about the stuff she felt and did and learned down there, and it made him hate her? So she couldn't get the words out of her mouth, she just hesitated until

"AH!"

The wind had blown an ear of corn directly into her cheek. She got terrified, and she flailed, and she slapped it away like it was an assailant. It might have been for all she knew. She'd seen one of these things move.