Rain and Shelter

The trail bent downward, stones slick with the day’s humidity. Ishaan was already bouncing ahead, suggesting they should check out one more valley before parting ways.

Aaron gave him a look. “Yeah, sure. Great plan. Except for the fact that the sky looks like it’s about to drown us. Honestly, wouldn’t be shocked if we get washed straight off the mountain.”

“Don’t jinx us,” Estella shot back, swatting his arm.

At that exact moment, a fat raindrop splashed right onto Aaron’s nose. He blinked up at the darkening sky. “...Too late.”

Within seconds, the heavens cracked open. Rain poured down in sheets, soaking them to the bone. Ishaan whooped like it was a festival, Estella shrieked in mock outrage, and Aaron muttered curses under his breath as his hoodie clung to him.

“Over there!” Isebella’s voice cut through the storm. She pointed to a wooden sign barely visible through the curtain of rain: Traveller’s Lodge, a squat, stone-and-wood building huddled against the slope, lanterns glowing faintly in the downpour.

“Let's take cover there, it will be much safer than rushing down a mountain trail in a downpour,” suggested Isebella

“Ya, let's move," cried Aaron as they all rushed towards the lodge.

“Man, we’re completely soaked.”

“Well, that's the fun of rain, you know, Aaron likes it just epic, don't you think?” replied Estella to Aaron’s previous statement.

“Right now, I think instead of enjoying the rain we should really dry ourselves, there are some spare clothes kept here”, suggested Isebella, pointing towards a cupboard.

“Anyways, just curious why there's an abandoned or empty shelter house right here on a tracking spot, and why are there clothes, firewood, and ingredients for cooking?” curiously asked Ishaan, who was scanning the wooden hut.

The hut was completely made of wood, yet it felt furnished and well-polished. The polished look was so clean it looked as if somebody had used marble like wood, and well, there was a smell of disinfectant over there.

“Ah.. these huts are created as shelter for new trekkers who may get lost during trekking, and to take shelter or during rainy situations, it is also maintained by our mountain rangers who make sure these huts are always clean and ready to use”, proudly claimed Estella.

“Damn, quite a neat place”, claimed Aaron after he had changed, but besides the house, Aaron caught the way Estella’s eyes lit up when she spoke of the rangers. He almost asked why it mattered so much to her, but bit his tongue.

The rain hammered against the wooden roof, each droplet drumming like a heartbeat in the silence that followed their chaotic dash into the lodge. A small fire crackled in the hearth, the faint glow stretching across the walls and painting their damp clothes in gold and orange.

“Finally warm again,” Ishaan sighed, plopping down near the fire like a king returning to his throne.

“Warm? You’re steaming like a boiled potato,” Estella teased, her braid dripping onto the wooden floor.

Aaron, sitting on the balcony chair, enjoying the rain and view, quietly spread his sketchbook across his knees, pulling out his pencil almost without thinking. The rhythm of rain, the glow of fire, the calm after the storm—it demanded to be captured. Isebella, sitting not far from him, noticed the way his eyes kept flicking toward her, then to the page.

“…You’re drawing me?” she asked softly, her voice nearly drowned by the storm outside.

Aaron froze for half a beat, then admitted, “…Yeah. Not in a weird way. It’s just—when I draw people, I see things I usually miss.”

Her lips curved into the faintest smile. “And what do you see?”

Aaron hesitated. His fingers tightened on the pencil. “…That you look calm. Like you could hold steady even if the whole world fell apart. But at the same time…” His voice faltered, softer now. “…I see a mask. Like you’re always carrying something heavy, but you don’t let anyone see it.”

For once, Isebella didn’t try to fill the silence. Instead, she leaned a little closer, watching the lines take shape on the page. “Maybe I’d like to see myself the way you see me,” she murmured.

Across the room, chaos brewed.

“Truth or dare, Estella?” Ishaan’s grin was practically evil in the firelight.

“Truth. I don’t trust your dares.”

“Coward,” Ishaan shot back, but leaned forward anyway. “Okay then. What’s one thing you’ve always hated when people do it to you?”

Estella tapped her chin, pretending to think. Then her grin dimmed just slightly. “…Sometimes I hate being compared to my sister. Everyone I meet thinks I am happy and well chaotic, and always tries to compare me to her, like you should be like your sister, look how well she studies, or look at Isebella and how quiet she is and things like that. Even if I do something, I always get shadowed by her.”

Then she curled up, and with a sigh of relief, she said,” Yet I can't seem to hate her, like even if the world compares me to her, she still is the only one who sees me for who I am, and always tries ways to cheer me up”

Ishaan blinked, caught off guard. His joking mask slipped. “…Yeah. I get some of that.”

She tilted her head. “You? The rowdy hero?”

He gave a lopsided grin, but his tone was softer. “Do you know how many times people tell me I’m just ‘the loud one’? Or worse, that I’m only like this because Aaron’s the ‘serious, reliable one’ and I am just the chaotic one? It feels like… no one sees me for me. Just the noise I make.”

The silence between them wasn’t awkward—it was heavy, real. Then Estella smirked. “Well, you’re definitely noisy. But maybe that’s what makes you… You.”

“And maybe,” Ishaan leaned closer, “you’re a little more than chaos. You’re like—chaos with purpose.”

She burst out laughing, swatting his arm. “That’s the worst compliment I’ve ever heard!”

The two dissolved into laughter again, but now the air between them was different. Softer. Honest.

Meanwhile, Aaron finished the last stroke of Isebella’s sketch. She looked at it, her breath catching faintly. He had drawn not just her, but her presence—the calm steadiness she carried without even realising it.

“Is that really how you see me? I am not as confident, as much as I am composed. I'm scared of many things,” remarked Isebella.

“Yet every time I see, I just can't shake off the feeling that you are the most beautiful soul I have seen” Just after saying this, Aaron covered his face as he blushed, realising how cringy of a line he had just said.

“Oh!! Really, I am beautiful, well, thank you,” Isebella grinned hard as Aaron tugged his hoodie higher, like it could hide the red creeping up his face.

“You know I retract my statement, you do have a tainted soul”, commented Aaron

“Hawww… that was so mean”, Isebella reacted while trying to punch him.

As the rain started to stop, the four prepared themselves

“C’mon, let’s make the most of our guides before the sun sets!” sarcastically grinned Ishaan.

“Hey, we aren't tools, you know”, shooted back Estella while smiling.

“Let's go then, my lady”, Aaron extended his hand for Isebella with a tad bit of sarcasm.

“Oh, yes, my good sir”, she replied with the same humour.

And just like that, the crew set off for another adventure, but this time the four of them had found something else: not just shelter, but glimpses into each other’s hidden selves. The trip was still young, and who knows what awaits the four?