by Iram Dana
“Okay, I want my soulmate. Now.”
His Geeya sighed.
“Rain … you’re supposed to do that yourself. Ask the stone for something else, like maybe make a pot of gold appear right now.”
“Oh… okay.” said Rain, giving a sheepish grin. “I wish for a pot of gold.”
A pot of gold materialized beside his foot out of nowhere. Rain jumped up in excitement.
“Whoa! It works! That’s a real pot of gold there!”
He rubbed his palms together. “Now, all that’s needed is a rainbow to complete the scene.”
His Geeya opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off before she could begin.
“Oh, come on. I’m not going to ask the Nahla for that.”
Rain stuffed the Nahla back into his belt and placed the pot at a sunny spot. He then made it drizzle lightly and a rainbow appeared in a beautiful arc because of the showers, starting at a point just ahead of where they stood. Rain placed the pot of gold at its foot and stood back to admire his handiwork.
“How’s that?” he asked his Geeya.
When she didn’t reply for several seconds, Rain turned to her to see what was keeping her. She was standing quite still, staring fixedly at some point above the rainbow. Rain followed her gaze and spotted the figure of a human with arms outstretched, riding the rainbow as if it were a wave, fast approaching the spot where he stood with his Geeya.
“It’s a girl.” he said, now that she had come close enough for him to see her clearly. “Do you think the Nahla decided to grant me my wish after all?” he gasped, feeling excitement and anticipation build in his chest.
With her ebony skin glistening in the sun and whooping and hollering as though she was having the time of her life, the girl came zooming towards them. She halted smoothly at the end of the rainbow when she spotted Rain standing there.
They stared at each other in silence for a moment and then she held up her wrist to her ear, shaking a beautiful blue-green colored watch vigorously.
“Is it time for my next Quest already? How come I didn’t hear my pea-clock ticking?” she said.
She shook the watch again and then spotted Rain’s scarlet Geeya mark.
“Whew! You’re a sequestor, too.” she sighed with relief. “So it’s not time yet.”
She looked at Rain, who was still staring at her mutely.
“If you don’t like the hair, I could change it.” she offered, referring to her short bob which was a bright orange shade. She ran her fingers through her fringe, changing it to a light green shade.
Rain turned up his nose.
“Green not your color? All right, how about this?” she said, running her hand through her hair again, turning it light brown. Rain nodded and smiled. She extended a hand towards him.
“I’m Rainbow, by the way.” she said, looking at him expectantly.
No response.
“Er… do you talk?”
Rain shook his head to clear it and took her hands in a warm, friendly clasp.
“Hello, Rainbow. I’m Rain. Sorry about my behavior. It’s just that it’s so rare to meet people here in Quniverse, I honestly never expected to, you know, just meet another sequestor. Maybe a demon or a monster but not …” realizing belatedly how rude he must sound, Rain flushed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way.”
“That’s all right, Rain. I usually have that effect on people.” she joked. “So, you can make it Rain?”
She must have seen him earlier when he had made it drizzle. “Yeah.”
“Where there’s rain, there’s got to be a rainbow. And where there’s a rainbow,” she said, turning to face the bands of color, “there’s got to be me!”
She held up a palm towards the rainbow swiftly sucking it in and turned to face Rain.
“Ta da!”
“What can you do, Rainbow? Besides absorbing rainbows, of course.” said Rain.
“Me? I can control colors. And since a rainbow is made entirely of colors, I can absorb it. Don’t know what to do with the rainbows I collect, though. At least, not yet. This is my first rainbow.” She announced proudly.
“Well, congratulations! You can keep this pot of gold as well.” said Rain, lifting up the pot and handing it to her.
“Why, thank-you!” she said, accepting it sweetly and then putting it down the next instant.
“I don’t really want to carry such a heavy thing around with me all the time. Not here in Quniverse, at least.” she explained, smiling apologetically.
She bent down and began to dig the earth quickly in order to hide the pot of gold under it.
“Gift for someone who needs it more than I do.” she said, scooping out handfuls of earth. Rain bent down to help her. Busy in their task, neither of them heard the footsteps of the person who was approaching them silently from behind.
“I hope, I am not disturbing you and your wife?” said a familiar voice.
*****
CHAPTER 11
Rain whipped around, not daring to believe his ears. Friendly grey eyes were smiling back at him.
“Heart!”
“Brother Rain.”
Rain got up and embraced the friend he had lost hope of ever seeing again. He stood back after a moment, studying Heart’s appearance. There seemed to be no injuries on him this time.
“Where were you? We thought you had gone for good.” said Rain.
“I lost my way.” replied Heart. “By the time I found the spot where we had camped, you had moved. I knew my Geeya wouldn’t give information on your whereabouts since your Quest is still active and I didn’t know if you were still with Subodh. Eventually, I decided to take a chance and follow the old man. I’m glad my troubles have borne fruit.” said Heart, patting Rain on the shoulder.
“Yeah, me too.” smiled Rain.
Behind them, Rainbow cleared her throat loudly.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Heart, this is Rainbow. Just met her. Rainbow, this is my friend, Heart.”
“Pleasure to meet you.” said Heart.
“I meet two hunks on the same day? This definitely qualifies as beyond pleasure.” said Rainbow, beaming up at the two of them. “So, where are you guys camped? And do you mind if I join you?”
“Follow me.” said Rain, and he led the two of them back to the beach.
*****
Heart had a happy reunion with Subodh while Rainbow was accepted into their circle without any questions. That night, after a dinner of rabbit stew, the three of them sat around the campfire, talking and sharing stories.
“So, you’ve got the belt of Halion, huh? Lucky you!” said Rainbow, pointing towards the belt at Rain’s waist.
“That is one very cool belt.” agreed Heart.
“I know. Dad gave it to me before I came here.” said Rain.
“Keeps stuffing food in it, though.” said Heart, directing a wry glance at Rain.
“Really? Stuffed any marshmallows in there by any chance?” said Rainbow hopefully.
“Actually, I did. Don’t know if I ate them, though.” said Rain, fishing around in his pockets. “Hey what do you know? They’re still here!”
“They must be spoilt by now.” said Heart, crinkling his nose in distaste.
“They’re not. When I first met Subodh, I discovered that he knew how to make any perishable item last for more than a year without spoiling. First, I made him sprinkle his ‘magic food dust’ on all of my perishable food items and next, I learnt how to make the powder myself. Now, I am a man without worries.” said Rain, grinning broadly. He pulled out a fat packet of snowy white marshmallows.
“Yippee!” cheered Rainbow, taking the packet from Rain and evenly distributing the marshmallows between the three of them. She remembered Subodh belatedly and slapped her forehead.
“Oops! I forgot about …”
She was cut off by Rain who had guessed what she was about to say and shook his head vigorously to silence her.
“There’s only enough for three.” he whispere
d to them. “Besides, we wouldn’t want to be the reason Subodh loses the few teeth he has remaining.”
“That is correct.” said Heart, falling in line with Rain immediately. “He takes such good care of us, we must take equal care of him, too.”
Rainbow folded her arms across her chest and looked from one overly innocent face to the other.
“You’re real gits, you know that?”
“A pleasure to have you think so.” grinned Rain.
Rainbow threw a marshmallow at him which he swiftly caught and popped into his mouth. Then he turned and winked at Heart.
“Hey! I’m a git too, remember?” protested Heart.
Heart, too, was rewarded with a flying marshmallow, which he happily caught and skewered at the end of a long dry branch.
“Shameless gits!” said Rainbow, shaking her head at the two of them.
Rain opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off before he could begin.
“Don’t even think about it!” she warned, “You’re not getting any more from me.”
Rain made a sad, dejected face.
“You’re still not getting any.” said Rainbow, unaffected by the display.
Rain arched an eyebrow and leered at her lecherously.
“Ugh! Stop that!” cried Rainbow, automatically flinging another marshmallow at him.
“Yes!” said Rain, as his hand shot out and caught the marshmallow before it could hit him.
He then skewered the marshmallow at the end of a twig, too and began to roast it over the crackling flames, whistling a merry tune. Not to be outdone, Heart turned towards Rainbow, fully intending to earn himself another marshmallow. Rainbow, understanding what he was up to, quietly picked up a rough, golf-ball sized pebble and turned to face him.
One look at her set jaw and the rock flipping up and down in her palm, and Heart decided that his pile of marshmallows was quite enough for the time being, and he lowered his eyes chastely.
A few moments later, Rainbow’s shoulders slumped in defeat and she shoved her pile of marshmallows over to Heart.
“Here.” she said blandly. “You can have them. I don’t feel like eating them anymore.”
Rain’s head swung towards Heart who was looking down innocently.
“Rainbow, don’t! That’s what Heart can do! He can make you not want what you want!”
Heart scowled at Rain. “Spoilsport!”
Rainbow’s eyes narrowed. “Is that so?” she said, swiping a hand over the marshmallows and turning them into a sickly, spoilt, greenish-yellow color. Then she passed one to Heart.
“Any takers?” she asked sweetly.
“Gross! No way! Keep them to yourself!” said Heart, turning away from the revolting looking marshmallow.
Rainbow nodded in satisfaction. Just then, there was the sound of a soft pop and the hair at the nape of Rainbow’s neck flew up lightly. She looked skywards and huffed.
“Not again!”
“What was that?” asked Heart.
“My deconfuser just popped.” she replied.
She reached into the pocket of her shorts and drew out a packet with small, red squares inside it.
“What is a deconfuser?” said Heart.
Rain, who was busy chewing on a marshmallow nodded at Rainbow, indicating his eagerness to know about the same.
Rainbow plucked out one small square, peeled off its backing paper and stuck the square at the nape of her neck. Then she held up the packet so that Rain and Heart could take a good look at it.
“These are deconfusers. They were invented by my father especially for me. You see, sometimes, my thoughts run like an out-of-control steam train and then my thoughts and words tumble over each other and I say one thing while thinking of another… basically, I can drive people quite mad without a deconfuser on me. This un-clutters my thoughts and helps me think clearly.” explained Rainbow.
“Why did it pop?” asked Heart, and Rain nodded again, unable to speak through his stuffed mouth.
“It popped because right now, I was annoyed and it overloaded.” she said simply.
“Your father invented that?” said Rain, once he had managed to gulp down the contents of his mouth.
Rainbow looked fondly at the red squares. “Yes. And my mother gave me this watch.”
She held up her hand to show the beautiful blue-green watch. Rain noticed then that it was in the form of an exquisite peacock.
“This is a pea-clock. It starts ticking when it’s time for one of my Quests, warning me to be prepared.” she explained.
“Its beautiful.” said Heart, staring at the watch with a sad look in his eyes.
“What did your parents give you?” Rainbow asked Heart.
He gave a short sigh. “Nothing. My parents were never sequestors.”
He had their attention now, so he continued to speak.
“I was born in Damascus. I have six siblings. Four brothers and two sisters. Including me, we are seven. I am the eldest. Since I was very young, the only thing I have witnessed is the fights between my parents. They were always shouting and yelling at one another. My father would come home drunk every night and my mother would kick him out of the house. The next morning … the fighting would begin all over again. He would beat her for throwing him out in his inebriated state, she would cry, we would try to save her, get beaten up ourselves … it just went on and on. I vowed to myself, when I get married, it will never be like this. As I grew older, thoughts of escape began making my heart itch. I yearned to run away from all of that negative energy … but I had nowhere to go.”
“How did you end up here?” said Rainbow, eyes wide with intrigue.
“Because of my best friend, Abu – now Arrow. He told me about the Quest. Told me that I would find my soulmate if I went. I needed no more persuasion. I did all sorts of odd jobs and began to collect money. When the two of us turned eighteen, we ran away together … and that’s how I came to be here.” said Heart, removing the almost burnt marshmallow from the end of his twig and putting it into his mouth.
There was silence for a while and then Rainbow began to speak.
“I come from a small village in Botswana. My parents were both sequestors. The people of my village are very poor and it is rare for us to be able to leave for our Quest. Those who do go, are treated as heroes on their return. My father toiled days and nights in order to save enough for me to go on my Quest. Then, around ten years back, a sequestor, Najubu – core name Malice – returned successfully from his Quest. Since nobody from our village had returned successfully for many years, Najubu was treated as more than a hero. He was instantly given the reins of the village and made chief. Najubu saw many wonderful things while on his Quest, experienced moments that he had never thought possible … and now, he considered Quniverse his personal playground. He began to feed the villagers horrible stories about Quniverse and soon made it punishable for anybody to leave for their Quest. He had a special patrol set up every year at the entry and exit points of the village for all of November and December. When it was finally my turn to go, I remember crying every night, because I would miss going on my Quest…
Then, somehow, my father managed to bribe the men manning a remote exit. That night, we all escaped from the village for good.
I arrived at the Seeker’s Field one day before the pass was revealed. I was extremely lucky. Mother and father gave me their gifts at the mouth of the Seeker’s Pass and then they left. I wanted to cry when I saw them leave but I was so happy to have made it, the tears just wouldn’t come!” Rainbow smiled at the memory.
Heart turned to Rain.
“See, Rain? Didn’t I tell you? Nobody can steal your destiny. Ill-wishers may delay you, but they can never take away what’s yours.”
Rain turned to Rainbow.
“Don’t listen to him. He’s just saying that because he revealed his Quest to me.”
“Really?” said Rainbow, “What’s your Quest, Heart?”
“My Quest is to heal my
heart.” came the prompt reply.
“Cool! My Quest is to find the significance of the seven colors of the rainbow. I’ve got five down already. Two more to go.” she said, happily.
“And …” continued Heart, “I am very close to the end of my Quest, too.”
He was staring ahead with that wistful look in his eyes again.
“What’s with the look?” asked Rainbow.
Rain rolled his eyes. Girls! They just had to know everything.
“Because my mini-Quests will end with the meeting of my soulmate.” answered Heart.
Rain gave an exasperated sigh. Heart! He just had to answer everything.
Rain looked from one to the other, disapproval written large across his features.
“Why’d you two do that? You’re not supposed to reveal your Quests to anybody. It’s very careless of you two.” he reprimanded.
“Don’t listen to him.” said Heart, “He’s just saying that because he revealed his Quest to me by accident and now he is afraid.”
“Exactly! It was an accident!” said Rain, defending himself.
“He revealed his Quest to you? What is it?” said Rainbow eagerly.
“He has to collect twelve wisdoms.” said Heart sagely.
“Hey!” fumed Rain, “Keep my Quest out of your philosophies, okay?!”
He then grabbed the hot marshmallow at the end of his branch and angrily popped it into his mouth. It scalded his tongue and his eyes started to water but he continued to chew on it hastily, appearing quite comical in the bargain.
Heart and Rainbow dissolved into fits of laughter while Rain forcefully gulped down the marshmallow.
“Tell us something about yourself, Rain.” said Rainbow, wanting to diffuse Rain’s anger by distracting him. It worked. His face lost some of its color as Rain began to talk about himself.
“My parents were both sequestors. Both of them finished their Quest and were out of here in two years.”
“Just two years!” said Heart in astonishment.
“Yeah. Cool isn’t it? Anyway … so six years after that, me and my brother Star were born. We’re twins. Mom died a few days after giving birth to us. Dad’s raised us single-handedly since then …”