Coconut Grove aasman pe hai khuda, aur zameen pe hum

tagging all relevant parties, but no pressure to jump in.

there was a tempest brewing on the horizon; there had been for some time. unbeknownst to govinda, his chikni raat had felt it coming. he had not. not until the winds picked up to something torrential did he feel it in the marrow of his bones, the sense of all that was wrong. the primal urge to cut and run--and not like he had before.

aasman pe hai khuda

the palms were meant to bend, not snap. and bend they did, arcing with the gusts, their barren fronds whipping along horizontally. he watched them with horror clear in his gaze--

--and then there was a sudden spark, fire.

aur zameen pe hum

oh, god, not again! he lurched backwards as one of the trunks burst into flames, struck by lightning. heart hammering in his throat, he raced into the grove, ducking as branches sought to rip at his pelt, looking wildly around. @Hamartia! @Lucas! @Aiko! he shouted, his eyes darting every which-way. he checked the caches, the hollows, the patches of inland brush. . .

he drew to a halt beside lucas's discovery, the old whalebone skeleton, and his face grew utterly blank as he stared toward the waves.

the waves. the colossal, monumental waves.

aaja kal wo is taraf dekhta hai kam

breathing hard, he raced back into the grove, knowing that time was of the essence, now more than later. the rains came, a torrential downpour, extinguishing the fire he'd been so worried about before. it spattered against him, plastering his pelt sleek and wet against his flesh. he shivered and burned with adrenaline all at once, awestruck by the range of emotions the storm had brought out in him.

above all, fear--and confusion. how had he not seen this coming?

where were they?

hamartia! lucas! aiko! oh, god, what about the stormrift wolves? and--and undersea?!

all would surely die, all would perish---

aasman pe khuda--

the first waves crashed upon the shore, rolling much farther along the beach than usual and leaving all matter of debris behind. they kissed the skeleton, receding--and then with a vengeance, crashed in again, this time making it to the edge of the palm forest. the sky was a roiling mass of dark gray, lightning cutting through the clouds in bright, sharp bursts.

govinda raced through the grove, looking for his companions, vaguely wondering if god had spared him only to take him away, so soon.

aur zameen pe hum--