Chapter Text
A beautiful late Summer day with a slight breeze and small, puffy clouds in the sky, floating idly by. The breeze held a coolness to it that whispered the arrival of fall. Ghouls and Siblings alike were enjoying the lake today, soaking up the last vestiges of the season. Well, everyone except a certain Earth Ghoul. Mountain was sat on the dock, his feet dangling in the water. It wasn't that he didn't want to swim, he just had never learned in all of his time topside.
All of the other Earth Ghouls had learned, which would sometimes send a pang of jealousy through Mountain. However, he felt that he had been around long enough that it was too embarrassing to admit that he couldn't. Rain would certainly teach him without judgement, but there were far too many people around now. The image of him wearing floaties and an inner tube flashed into his mind and he cringed. He was snapped out of his thoughts by said Water Ghoul popping their head out of the water right below him.
"Hey petal, not getting in the water again?" Rain asked, his head tilting slightly.
Mountain shook his head, his auburn curls bouncing. "Maybe next summer." He said dismissively.
Rain floated on their back a bit. "Suit yourself. I'm going to give you lessons in the gym pool this winter though. You've been saying maybe next summer since I was summoned."
Before Mountain could argue, they dipped gracefully back under the water, swimming away. Mountain sighed, leaning back to soak in the rays of the midday sun, before standing and making his way to the forest. He loved the lake, he really did, but there were several things about it that just scared him. Drowning being the main thing, he couldn't drown in the forest. So, he was content for now to just stick with his own element.
He was so lost in thought that when he looked up again, he realized he had walked all the way to the cliff that overlooked the lake. He watched all of the Ghouls and Siblings that were splashing and playing in the water with a smile on his face. There was a small part of Mountain that wanted to join, but when he looked down, he got painfully dizzy. He tried to back away from the cliff's edge, only to bump into someone.
"Hey there, dirt boy."
Mountain whirled around to see not one, but a group of ten Siblings. They all had wicked grins on their faces and most of them were holding some sort of blunt object in their hands.
"You know, I didn't think it'd be you we'd take down first."
"What are you talking about?" Mountain growled.
The boy laughed. "I'm talking about the downfall of the Ghost Project!"