Chapter 3 – Rains

When the door closed, the sound echoed for a long time.

A cell.

This was not a dungeon. The air smelled of sweat and rust. Fear was mixed into it.

Sunlight seeped through the cracks, drawing golden lines across the floor.

The cuffs were removed, but the chains had already left marks on his wrists.

"Get in, filthy romantic," the guard grunted, shoving him with the butt of his spear.

Hope stumbled. Then steadied himself with a grin.

"Wow," he muttered to himself. "This place is smaller than the dungeon."

A voice came from the bunk across from him.

"Did you say dungeon?"

It emerged from the shadow beneath the bunk. Orange-tinged hair, messy. His face was pale, but he looked about Hope's age. His clothes were worn, his shoulders slumped. A large sword sheath rested on his back.

"Yes," Hope said cheerfully. "I lived there."

The boy hesitated.

"You're joking."

"No."

Silence.

Then the boy swallowed.

"My name is Kubo."

"Hope."

"Are you a gladiator?" Kubo asked hesitantly.

Hope thought for a moment.

"I guess I'll be one tomorrow."

Kubo's face grew even paler.

"Tomorrow…"

Hope sat in the center of the cell, cross-legged on the stone. The chains clinked softly.

"Are you going out tomorrow too?"

Kubo didn't answer.

Hope noticed his hands trembling. It started small, then grew uncontrollable. His fingers stiffened. His teeth chattered.

"Are you cold?" Hope asked.

Kubo laughed. A short, dry laugh.

"I wish."

Hope moved a little closer.

"It's raining. You might be cold."

"I like rain," Kubo said suddenly. "But at the same time… I'm scared of it."

"How so?"

"Rain is my power," Kubo said. "But it also… reminds me of things I don't want to remember."

Hope listened quietly.

Kubo took a deep breath. He needed to tell his story to someone.

"The place I'm from is Dryx, the driest region on the planet. It never rains… but when I was born, it rained," Kubo said. "For the first time. For days."

Hope's eyes lit up.

"That's amazing!"

"It should have been…" Kubo's gaze darkened. "But when the nobles heard about it, they came to our home."

"For you?"

"No." Kubo swallowed. "For my mother."

Kubo clenched his fists.

Hope struggled to understand.

"So… to make her have children again?"

Kubo nodded.

"Again. Again. Again and again. Like an object."

Kubo struggled to hold back tears.

"They took her. Took her from me. That's why every falling drop reminds me of that day."

Hope's throat went dry. He tried to say something.

But just then…

A scream exploded.

From one of the neighboring cells.

It wasn't a human scream. It started human, then turned into something animal.

Then a sound of bone.

Crack.

The screaming stopped.

Hope and Kubo jumped to their feet.

"Wh—"

Something flew through the iron bars. Long. White. An arm bone.

Someone in the opposite cell screamed. The bone hit the bars, scraped, then pierced flesh.

Blood splattered.

"Gashadokuro Jr.," someone muttered from the corridor.

Hope froze.

In the shadow of the adjacent cell, a massive silhouette shifted. It was playing with bones like toys. Playing with the dead bodies of its own cellmates.

The guards came running.

"BACK TO YOUR PLACES!"

A spear was leveled at the cells.

"Gashadokuro Jr… again? You killed your cellmates?"

Gashadokuro Jr.'s face couldn't be seen. But from its breathing alone, it was clear it wasn't human.

Its cell was soaked in blood. The blood of two lifeless bodies had flooded even the corridor.

"Save this slaughter for tomorrow's show. I'm expecting plenty of death tomorrow."

Darkness fell again.

Hope slowly sat down.

Kubo's trembling could no longer be hidden.

"They're going to kill me," Kubo whispered. "Tomorrow or now."

Hope thought.

"I won't kill you."

Kubo looked at him.

"I don't know," he said. "I can't trust anyone."

Hope found that strange.

"I said I wouldn't kill you. Why don't you trust me?"

Kubo said nothing.

"Try to sleep. Tomorrow will be a sunny day."

The night passed heavily.

Morning arrived with the sound of metal.

Cell doors opened.

"OUT!"

They were led into the courtyard.

The arena loomed above. Massive. Stone stands, chained gates, sand.

The sky was clear.

Hope stopped for a moment.

The sun.

It burned his skin. A slight pain. But he smiled.

"Hello," he said to the sky.

One of the guards stepped forward. A scar across his face marked his high rank.

"I'm sure everyone here knows what's about to happen. But I'll repeat it anyway. The only thing you'll do is fight! FIGHT TO LIVE!"

He raised his hand and pointed at Kubo.

"Step forward, young man."

Then he scanned the crowd. Somewhere in the back, he pointed at someone tall, thin, corpse-like.

"Yaat. Step forward."

When Yaat's face emerged from beneath his torn hat, everyone recoiled in horror. The area around his mouth was ripped and stitched. His eyes were pitch black. Terrifying. Like a walking corpse.

When Kubo saw Yaat's real face, he fell silent. His trembling slowly stopped.

The gate opened.

And now the two of them stood in the arena.

The arena filled with a roar.

The announcer's voice echoed.

"FIRST MATCH!"

Hope raised his hand.

He tried to smile at Kubo.

Hope hadn't been able to say what he wanted, and as the gates closed, the arena swallowed everything.

Kubo's story kept spinning in Hope's mind. The arid deserts of Dryx. Rain bringing a curse instead of blessing.

Kubo had told it all. In detail.

"My mother was the most beautiful woman in the village," Kubo had said, his voice trembling. "Blue eyes. Hair like golden sand moving in the wind."

"But when my powers appeared at birth, the nobles came. Horse-drawn carriages, kicking up clouds of dust."

"They broke down the door. They killed my father first. He fought with his sword, but… they tore him apart."

"My mother screamed. She hid me, but they didn't want me. They wanted her."

Kubo's eyes had filled with tears. "They chained her. Dragged her into the desert. Locked her in camp tents."

"Every night… a different noble. A different pain. I heard her screams when I crept close."

"The smell of blood. Bruises from beatings. Broken bones. My mother resisted, but each time they broke her."

"Like an object. To plant their seed. So children like me would be born."

"In the end… she couldn't endure it. She died. When it rained, her blood mixed with the desert sand."

Kubo clenched his fists. "Since that day, rain has been my curse. My power, but also my pain."

Hope had listened. Silently. Remembering the dungeon. Dead bodies. Bloodstains. But this… was different.

Cruelty done by humans. Not monsters.

Hope had wanted to answer. I couldn't save your mother, but maybe I can do something for you.

But the scream had cut him off.

Now, Gashadokuro Jr.'s massacre.

Hope remembered it. The scream. The crunch of bone.

In the neighboring cell, the shadow had moved.

Gashadokuro Jr. A massive man. Bulging muscles. Pale skin, visible veins.

He was holding his cellmate. His neck already broken.

But it wasn't enough.

He shoved his fingers into his chest. Spread the ribs. Blood burst out.

The scream filled the cell. But it was short-lived.

Gashadokuro laughed. "Weak bones. But they make good weapons."

He pulled out a rib. Scraped it against stone. Sharpened it.

Then threw it. Through the bars.

Target: the opposite cell. The man was sleeping. The bone pierced his throat.

Blood sprayed. The man thrashed, hands reaching for the wound. Useless.

Gashadokuro watched. With pleasure.

Another bone. This time an arm bone.

He ripped it free. Chunks of flesh hanging.

He threw it again. Another cell.

Screams multiplied. Chaos.

The guards arrived. Too late.

The corridor was a pool of blood. The smell flooded the cells.

Hope tasted iron in his mouth.

Gashadokuro Jr. grinned at the guards. "More bones. Practice for the arena."

A guard stabbed forward with his spear. "Enough! Let the crowd see it tomorrow. For money."

Gashadokuro retreated. But his eyes gleamed.

The night passed filled with fear.

Kubo couldn't sleep. Neither could Hope.

Morning.

Metal sounds.

The doors opened.

The courtyard.

The arena above. Massive walls. Stands filled with noise.

The sky was blue.

Hope stopped. Sunlight hit his face.

Warm. Painful, but pleasant.

"I haven't seen you in a long time," he murmured.

The guard shouted. "Fight! Fight to live!"

He pointed at Kubo.

Then to someone in the back.

"Yaat."

Yaat stepped forward. His hat lifted.

His face… horrifying.

Torn skin around the mouth. Stitches. As if stained with blood.

Eyes black. Empty. Dead.

Pale skin. Long, dirty hair.

A cold aura. Like calamity itself.

People stepped back. Whispers spread.

"He's… cursed."

"Don't get close. He brings death."

Kubo looked at him. His trembling stopped. Fear gave way to numbness.

The gate opened.

The arena.

Hot sand.

Roaring crowd.

Announcer: "FIRST MATCH! Rainbringer Kubo versus the Harbinger of Calamity, Yaat!"

Hope watched. He raised his hand.

But the gate closed.

The words he couldn't say remained stuck in his throat.