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 Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 10:34 am
Far below her, a rather small brook was playfully rushing forth between ancient roots and even older rocks. Somewhere high above, hidden by the thick canopy, the full moon sent its gentle light sifting down through the branches. A slight wind stirred the treetops above, but couldn't reach the place where Tousled perched, except as a quiet murmur. This was one of her favourite places that she would come to when she really needed to concentrate on a special project. For one, it was beautiful. Secondly, it was fairly close to at least three places where Bards sometimes got together. Silence might be good for her concentration, but when it came to inspiration, there was nothing quite like a bardic performance - of any kind - so she had sent Tuft off to keep an eye on the area, in case something interesting would show up. Confident that her companion would alert her, she didn't bother listening for any distant voice or music herself, but immersed herself completely in the work at hand. Dead to the world, the ruffled little Deep Woods sat in perfect stillness, eyes and will entirely focussed on the carefully hammered, thin sliver of silver, gently gleaming in the fragmentary moonlight, as it revolved in the air before her and slowly, slowly bent into a perfect spiral pattern. 
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 4:31 pm
The sound of singing, a wordless melody, carried easily in the cooler, still air, much preceeding the singer, and even her cacophany of jangling bells. The song seemed to be meaningless syllables, rising and falling haphazardly, but accompanied by a light, high song, a whistling counterpoint to the low, sweet sound that wus undoubtedly that of a female Sentinel.
It was only a matter of time before the pair (for there was undoubtedly a Parus traveling with the bard) emerged into the open air a few wingspans above the stream, where no trunks blocked the way. Giving a low hoot of laughter, the singer stopped and executed some impressive aerobatics above the water's surface, once diving down and letting the tips of silent wings clip the brook.
She was playing, and very much so, excited and pleased with herself and in a wonderful mood for no reason at all. Resuming her song (all full of 'la-dah's and 'fol-de-roll's) she boomed it out with all the impressive lung capacity of her species, only stopping when she caught a silhouette in one of the nearby trees as she banked. Flaring and slowing herself, she re-angled upwards and flapped a few times to catch an updraft, riding it to the approximate height of the other Sentinel. She had by far given herself away, so there was no point in neglecting to formally introduce herself.
Fluttering in tight loops until she was where she wanted and needed to be, Brightling caught hold of a nearby branch and settled there, watching the crafter with great interest. "Salutations and good evening to you," she said eventually, assuming her typical, playfully formal manner.
Tousled's unique appearance had not escaped her, but damned if she was going to say anything about it.
Somewhere behind her, her parus backwinged and flitted like a chirop between the branches of a pine, reluctant to come closer to a Sentinel she did not know.
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Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 11:13 am
Tousled had been so immersed in her work that at first, she had almost thought that the distant, quiet song was coming from herself - she sometimes hummed when she worked - but as it gained in intensity she slowly came out of her concentrated daze and glanced around for its source.
The bard below her seemed to be dancing above the water, playing in the air with a joyfulness that was quite contagious. Her beak opening into a small smile, the ruffled little female shifted her position to better see and identify this happy creature - but stiffened abruptly when the other suddenly fell silent and turned up towards her, obviously having noticed her presence.
Preening quickly out of nervousness, Tousled looked up just in time to see the other land nearby - and that's when she noticed the bright upside-down corporal's markings on the other female's wings. Ah, this was the juggler! Bright-something... Good singing voice, but really impressive juggling skills and (Tousled glanced at the mock-elite marks again) obviously a rather special sense of humor.
A little like Birch. She remembered the three rows of chest spots and her own silly misinterpretation and couldn't help but smile again, albeit only briefly. She didn't know this bard very well at all, and as always her self-conciousness made her shy and apprehensive at being approached by someone she didn't know, and the stranger being a bard made things just a little bit worse.
"Ah, yes, you too," she hurriedly replied to the greeting. Then fell silent for a moment as she frantically searched for something else to say. "Um... I hope I didn't interrupt you in any way...?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 5:00 pm
"Interrupting me? Oho!" Brightling flung her wings wide in an extravagant gesture of suprise, startling her parus (which had finally settled down beside her) back into the air and earning an angry scolding from the little bird. Shaking her head this way and that, she laughed softly and then became again serious. "I hope indeed that I have not disturbed anything," she said, voice light but very sincere. "I come actually to see that my intrusion was not resented."
Here, she smiled winningly and titled her head to better inspect the wire that Tousled had been working, closing first her orange eye, then opening it and closing her gold eye, regarding it with greatest interest. "Lovely already," she said gently, betraying her own awareness of Tousled's mood and mannerisms. She was a bard and she was obnoxious, but never when it really mattered.
Preening a wing gracefully, delicately rearranging feathers with long sweeps of her beak, she aimed to cool the mood, or perhaps more to break the ice. After a moment's thought, she ceased the preening and looked up again, a silly smile on her face and happiness in her eyes again.
"They call me Brightling, and I'm a fool by birth, Bard by profession." She inclined her head gracefully to Tousled, twisting it to add to her own intrinsic silliness. "By the lovely craftwork, I can only guess at your own profession. You are not a Minder, and nor are you a Teacher. Methinks you are not Elite, and certainly you are not a Scout, or I would not have seen you. So I think I shall guess that you are a Crafter."
She watched Tousled carefully, expression one of bright-eyed attentiveness.
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 4:24 pm
Slightly unbalanced by the bard's very playful and friendly manner, Tousled merely shook her head in reply to the brightly painted bard's concern over her intrusion. Having her little workpiece praised made her fluff slightly with pride and surprise, and she couldn't help but let another tiny smile onto her beak as she shyly let the silver spiral disappear into the fold of her wing.
Brightling's introduction of herself made Tousled's smile widen a bit with amusement. The bard's cheerful and relaxed silliness was already affecting the ruffled little Deep Woods, who was slowly becoming less apprehensive - though she had in no way let down her guard just yet.
"Well, thank you... Brightling." She gave a shy nod of her head. "And you would be right. I am a Crafter. M-my name is... Tousled." She usually wasn't one to state her name unless asked for it, but it seemed like the most polite thing to do after the other had introduced herself so easily. Oh well. It was quite a good way to know what kind of person she was dealing with, anyway. If Brightling started laughing out loud then she would know to just leave while she still had some dignity, at least.
"Pleased to meet you," she said, carefully studying the bard as she dipped into a polite little bow.
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 4:59 pm
When Tousled introduced herself, Brightling paused and considered the implications of all the typical responses. A blithe, 'I can see why,' would have been rude, and she wasn't entirely sure how outlandish a joke would have to be before this fluffly little Deep Woods realized that Brightling was making a joke because that was her personality, not because she thought Tousled's appearance funny. In reality, while it was somewhat comic, Brightling imagined how the female must have been teased (she knew fledglings intimately and recognized a scapegoat at a glance), and it made her a bit sad. So after a moment, she simply gave a bow in response to Tousled's, flipping her tail like a vain little Parus as she answered, "And indeed a pleasure 'tis to meet such a one as yourself, milady."
A quick wink, and she was back to perching serenely, inspecting the scenery that dazzled in the moonlight. The brook was particularly pretty, and Brightling, never quite a poet by nature, felt compelled to make something of it. Her song from earlier, the wordless one, didn't seem to suffice for something as serene as the light fragmenting on the surface of the brook, and Brightling found herself humming a little, tapping her foot in time and sending little jingles up from the bells on her ankle.
When she caught herself not paying attention, she turned her head back to Tousled and spread her wings in something like a shrug, an apology. "I'm sorry," she said, "the night compels a song." Then she brightened. "I could write a one for you, if you so wished..."
She thought it would probably ease the tension even more, and break through the poor little creature's shell.
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Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 12:45 pm
Out of all the responses she had expected and been prepared for, this was definitely not one of them. Tousled blinked and couldn't help but fluff again, so she used the bard's temporary pause to preen and work through her confusion. ...Such a one as yourself... What did that mean? And she had called her milady... was that some sort of sarcasm, perhaps? But she hadn't seemed anything but honest...
She was still trying to phrase some sort of question which might perhaps help to clear her head, when Brightling shook off her temporary daze and managed to confuse Tousled even further.
"A-a-a song?" she stuttered, fluffing up enough to completely ruin all the work she had just put into her plumage. "F-for me? I... That's... Um..."
She took a deep breath, and decided to trust this bright-eyed bard's open-hearted friendliness.
"I... That would be lovely... I'm sure. But... um... why?" Realising that the last part might be considered rude, she hurried to make amends, somehow: "I-I mean... there's nothing very special about me..."
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Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 5:00 pm
Well...
Brightling couldn't help but smile at the Crafter's quiet bewilderment. Tousled's confusion was endearing, and Brightling couldn't help but want to bring her out of her shell and make her laugh. It was an instinct, and a compulsion of Brightling's, to attempt to cheer others up. Spreading her wings wide and then shrugging them, she gave a low laugh.
"The night is begging for a song, the moon is full of music," she responded, speaking in a light, slightly musical rhythm. "But as to why I've chosen you, why not? You and I are here tonight, and we are in the same place enjoying the same scenery."
"It is lovely, is it not?"
She smiled again, and then laughed a little bit at herself, looking at Tousled ruefully. "I am not a singer or a songwriter by profession, though I know the craft. Nothing I write will be quite as graceful as that of those who sing for their supper." And she laughed again, seemingly at-ease with her own iniquities. Her entertainer’s talents dwelt in other fields, though it all fell under the category of bardic art.
"So, what say ye?" she asked with another warm smile.
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Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 4:51 am
"Oh, I... um..." Tousled paused, looking out at the scenery that she had enjoyed so many times before, and thought about how the faint glow of the full moon really made everything shine in an almost mystic way. Brightling spoke honestly, and the fact that she could make jokes on her own behalf made the little Crafter feel more and more comfortable in her presence.
She fluffed her feathers slightly as she shifted her perch and let out a long, quiet sigh. Preening a wing almost unconsciously, and still gazing down at the little stream and how it sparkled in the faint light, she murmured just loud enough for Brightling to hear:
"It is very beautiful... very lovely." She looked up, giving the odd-eyed Bard a shy, tiny smile. "If I was a Bard, I would want to sing about it too, I suppose. So... I say that I would love to hear you sing something. I'd like that very much."
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Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 6:32 pm
That little smile was all she needed for encouragement. Nodding to Tousled, Brightling exhaled, wondering when the last time she composed a song in front of an audience was. Every now and again, she wrote Fledgling-songs, and she had a bit of a tune about being a bard. And she had her juggling song. But she wasn't a composer in any way, shape, or form. And realizing this, she shook out her wings, quickly slicked her feathers back into place, and then thought for a little bit.
A basic melody came quickly enough, and she hummed a bit before composing a few words to go with it.
Moonlight, stars bright,
Birds sleeps, bats in flight.
Good night, sweet night,
Silent wings, pretty things,
Creekflow, voices low,
Sentinels now come and go.
Moonlight, stars bright,
Good night, sweet night...
She trailed off a bit, humming to herself as she thought about words. Her rhymes were simple, but she was aware, and her effect was a bit different from true good Bard songs. But Brightling was pleased enough with it.
Fluffing self-consciously, she ducked her head.
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 8:28 am
Birch just happened to be in the area, carrying the leftovers from the opossum Merlin the hunter had given him. He had decided to take the long way home, only a few hours detour really. And flying was good for you, or so his mother always said. So if he should chance upon Tousled somewhere in these parts that would just be one big coincidence right? Right.
The only problem was that Birch didn't know exactly where Tousled's territory was located. Not that he was looking. But he knew he had seen her in this area before. Not that he was...
Birch landed and started preening to compose himself, not sure what to do next. As he arranged his flight feathers the sound of singing reached him, filtering through the trees. He wasn't familiar with the song, or the voice, but the music had caught his interest.
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 9:01 am
Tousled bobbed her head in appreciation once Brightling's last note had died away.
"That was very nice!" she said, her voice a little bit louder than before, her smile quite a bit wider, and her eyes definitely aglow with excitement. "Very simple and sweet - almost like a fledgling song, a lullaby... Did you think that up on the spot, just like that? You should try to remember it. Do you think you could sing it one more time?" Having hopped a little closer to the bard, Tousled suddenly realised that she was leaning forward quite a bit and might be acting somewhat overenthusiastic, so she quickly leaned back with a slight fluff of embarrassment.
"Um... that is, if you'd want to." She studied her feet as one talon made a small groove in the bark, then she glanced up again with a shy, embarrassed grin. "I-I'd just like to remember it, if I can."
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:20 am
Lullaby? Brightling...well...brightened at that idea. She had never thought about it before. True, most of her songs were better-suited to fledglings than adults, but she had never realized that her songs could be something more than just silly things that helped the little Sentinels remember which way was up and what not to eat.
At the cracfter's enthusiastic appreciation, she fluffed up and tucked her head again, staying balled up and sheepish for a moment. When Tousled requested the song again, she blinked. Did she really like it that much? "Well...thank you," she said quietly, awkward for the first time.
"And I'd love for someone to remember it. Most of my songs are unremarkable." Sleeking down her feathers, fluffing them, and then sleeking herself again to regain composure, she gave an awkward little laugh and restarted the tune, recalling the simple rhymes easily.
She was completely unaware of any other company, not that she would have minded. She was probably invading territory as it was, but she had quick reflexes. Long years of practice had made Brightling quite good at getting away from Sentinels that were annoyed with her.
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:51 am
The singing had stopped before Birch could investigate further, but he started flying in the general direction of the music anyway. After only a few wing beats the singing started again and gave Birch a better sense of direction. He could even make out some of the words in the song, and a flash of orange betrayed a dyed Sentinel up ahead.
Moonlight and night... Birch landed at a respectful distance as he saw the singing Sentinel and hooted a greeting when she appeared to be finished. What a wonderful place. The sound of running water came from below and moonlight filtered down pleasantly. It would probably be a scary place during the day, but at night all thoughts of Helios blinding glare and monstrous daytime creatures seemed to be out of place.
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Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 5:30 am
Tousled closed her eyes, the better to commit the simple little song to memory, and smiled happily to herself. It might not be a masterpiece by any standards, but it had a sweetness and a simplicity that the little Deep Woods found absolutely charming. And Brightling had said that it was for her. Her song. That made it even more charming, in Tousled's opinion.
Brightling herself was pretty charming as well - she had the good sense not to make any jokes about Tousled's name or appearance, and what was more, she had actually seemed a bit embarrassed at the little Crafter's praise, though it was hard to imagine that such a bright and cheerful sentinel could possibly be self-conscious about anything. Then again, Tousled thought, remembering a conversation she had had with another Bard, some time ago: Even Bards that were used to performing could get nervous, apparently, so perhaps she shouldn't be so quick to assume...
She looked up at Brightling, still smiling, and was about to say something when suddenly a soft hoot of greeting came from a little further away. She fluffed instantly, recognising the voice even before she turned her head to look at the familiar bright figure that glinted forth between a few branches. letting out a little hiccup of surprise, Tousled immediately gave herself a quick preening while her mind raced.
She had been thinking about him just now! How could he just appear like that? As if she had summoned him with some strange Mystic's power... A small thrill ran down her frame and made her have to preen a bit more. In spite of, or perhaps because of his uncanny appearance on the scene, she was really happy to see him. But right now, she couldn't think of a single thing to say.
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