Secret of Frost and Moon

Rain Check

Alaia Skyhawk: And now for the Nature side of things :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians, the Guardians of Childhood, or any related characters etc. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes.

~(-)~

Chapter 81: Rain Check

Sat here in front of them, Jack found himself wondering what it must be like from their perspective. To be here facing five of the most powerful beings on the planet, who literally shaped and shepherded the very weather upon which all life depended. Five individuals who wielded powers beyond mortal comprehension.

It was probably very very daunting.

He watched as they set up their cameras; one facing him and his peers, and the other facing the tables where they sat. Once both were set away, the obvious leader of these representatives rose to his feet and nodded to the immortals before him.

"I'm Dr Glencove, of the Meteorological Society. I speak for us all, when I say this is a great honour for you to agree to this meeting. As men and women who have dedicated our careers to the study of the weather and its causes, it was indeed a matter of great surprise and excitement to learn of your existence and role in that."

Mother Nature nodded once, but remained solemn. By her manner, despite her previous warm greeting of these people, she now might well have been carved from cold stone.

"I would guess that it would be for you, although I must inform you that the majority of the world's weather forms and happens on its own, as per the natural interactions of the tides, moisture, temperature, and air pressure. It is not our job to micro-manage the system. Our job is to ease possible extremes, by facilitating the expenditure of forces elsewhere in the system when possible, in addition to maintaining overall balance. We are not responsible for every individual drop of rain or snow that falls, but rather the overall whole."

Jack allowed himself to give the representatives a reassuring smile, despite taking Mother Nature's cue for a serious manner on this. They needed that, because this was her at her most daunting.

"I'm sure you can appreciate the reasons for that. The Earth is, after all, really big. Mostly we oversee the changeover of the seasons, and monitor them. We each have side-tasks that we perform, but other than that we mainly prevent the weather systems from stalling."

He kept his tone somewhat cheerful as he said it, noting as he did so that some of the tension faded from the group at the tables. But still, Jack and the others saw the hesitation in Dr Glencove. They could 'see' the question he wanted to and yet hesitated to ask.

When the silence dragged out for almost twenty seconds, Achieng let out an exasperated sigh and snapped at him.

"Oh for moon's sake! Just ask it so we can give you the answer and move on to something else!"

Dr Glencove flinched, as did the rest of the guests, before he cleared his throat nervously.

"Over the course of the years that weather has been documented, up to and including the present, there have been numerous storms of considerable severity. Storms that have caused great loss of life, and/or cost a great deal in damages and lost revenue. As meteorologists, we wonder if perhaps it would be possible for you to prevent such storms happening at all?"

There was another pause, another silence, before Mother Nature tilted her head.

"Ariko. Would you and your peers like to explain what would happen if you four were to heed that request?"

The little Japanese woman's eyes narrowed.

"Certainly." She pinned the meteorologist with a steely gaze. "By your request, you would be asking us to ensure that the weather does not cause a 'nuisance' to you mortals and your daily lives. To do as you ask, would require manipulating weather systems so as to make rain fall only at night when the minimum of people are moving about. In addition to preventing large storms."