"We will go to my village and draw attention in the middle of the square."
For the first time in a long while, Alexandre didn't question, didn't complain, didn't argue, nor did he reply with words. He was anxious, but not reckless, and he knew that time was crucial at that moment.
He simply nodded with a cold and serious expression.
In the midst of it, a fine and pleasant rain began to fall, confirming his earlier thoughts.
Plop, plop, plop.
Alexandre unsheathed his sword, and Evandro extended his under the rain — which grew stronger and stronger by the second.
Plop, plop, plop. Plop, plop, plop.
Quickly, the rain washed away the remaining dirt from their clothes and bags, from their belts and swords.
And not only material dirt, but also the internal. They felt their souls being washed. It was a rain that emanated a different feeling than what they were used to.
The mud flowed back to where it had come from. Around their feet, puddles of water formed, covering the ground with mirrors produced by the reflections in the accumulating water.
Plop, plop, plop. Plop, plop, plop. Plop, plop, plop.
Evandro walked toward a puddle a bit farther ahead, but still within the edges of the clearing.
And he stood there, looking at his reflection, with his hair and beard dripping along with the rain over the small accumulation of water.
He crouched down, placing his sword to the side on the ground, and slowly, he saw his reflection transform into what he had previously seen in his dream.
Alexandre then approached Evandro.
"Get up, we don't have as much time left as before."
Evandro, with a firm voice, murmured quietly, "Are we doing the right thing?"
Alexandre took a deep breath.
"We need to change this miserable reality."
He paused, thoughtful.
"I am impulsive and anxious, but the rain... The rain and I have an interesting relationship... Because whenever it rains, hope is renewed the next day — so, if I were a little more prudent than usual, I would say what my mother used to say about life.
'What you are not changing, you are choosing.'"