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 Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 3:04 pm
Daybreak.
An ox clopped onto the cobbled road that ran between the main gates of Eyris as the castle loomed high above. The covered wagon it drew behind it was quite large for a single occupant, but then it had quite a lot of occupant to occupy it.
The driver sat back, the reins slack at his feet, picking out quiet, pure chords on his guitar. He was, to put it lightly, unique. The man was an enormous reptiloid, nearly eight and a half feet tall with bright green scales and the tapered muzzle and head of a snake mounted above a long, curved neck. His muscularly slender body created a sense of coiled power and flexibility-- or it would, if not for his completely relaxed slouch as he played, leaning back in his seat. The tip of his long tail twitched off the edge of the wooden bench, maintaining the beat as he raised his fingers to brush one of the long, styled quills of crimson hair away from his one good eye. His other eye was covered with a simple black eyepatch, which matched his loose shirt and pants.
As he lowered his claw to his guitar again, his tail slipped around to tug on the reins and direct his ox to turn into the grassy field on his left. Once they were in, Ganon picked up the reins and tugged until his ox stopped, and stepped down to set the brake and remove the great beast from its reins and harnesses.
"There you are, girl," he murmured, rubbing her nose with one scaly, clawed hand, and then he let her graze as he moved around and opened up the back of his wagon. Inside was a cluttered assortment of drums, some stringed instruments including another guitar, a mandolin, and a violin, stray books, sheet music, and all the general clutter of a professional musician. In the middle of it all was a long cot, and some preserved food in a bag beneath it.
He stepped in and leaned forward, his tail waving out of the wagon, and grabbed his violin and mandolin.
His tail wrapped around a small jhimbe drum, and all three instruments were carried out to a large stump he had parked next to. His guitar was already resting there, and he lovingly set down each of his instruments before he picked up the guitar again and began to play. He raised his head and closed his eye, flicking out his long, thin forked tongue.
"Ah... Eyris." It's good to be back. He began to strum quietly, and then lifted his head and sang in a rich, practiced baritone:
Summer's a pleasant time,
Trees of every colour,
The water runs o'er the heugh
And I long for my true lover!
Aye, waukin O!
Waukin I am weary,
Sleep, I can get nane,
For thinkin' o' my dearie!
Aye, waukin O!
Already, the town was beginning to awaken. It would not be long before word came 'round that Ganon the traveling bard, known to some of the more senior residents of Eyris, had returned.
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 3:13 pm
The morning was calm enough, and Blossom rather liked that. She didn't typically wake up early (she tended to wake up at the crack of noon, rather than the crack of dawn), but it had happened easily that morning, and the weather was nice. Aidan was still asleep, so Blossom took a walk on her own, her scarf ruffling all about her as she moved. Her short hair brushed against the nape of her neck, bangs swinging back and forth across her eyes.
Blossom looked up to the sky. Big, puffy clouds hung against the blue canvas of atmosphere, and it was a relaxing sight. The trouble around the manor seemed distant for the moment. She hadn't checked in on things yet, so she couldn't tell if any developments had been made, but...
She paused in her mental reflections. Was that music coming from somewhere? "Sounds pretty," she murmured. She rushed towards the source, boots muffled by the thick green grass. A few minutes later, the cart came into sight, the hitched ox chewing at the green carpeting as a very tall, very green man with a mohawk played a guitar. It was even prettier from up close.
Blossom didn't approach yet, staying some yards away; easily visible, but not encroaching on his space. She noticed the tail, the long tongue, but didn't comment. A laguz, maybe? she thought. Blossom simply stood in awed silence, listening intently to the chords, notes, and baritone vocals.
[[Pssh, EVERYONE is tall compared to her. xD]]
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 4:29 pm
Although he didn't have time to go investigate, Rhys' ears perked up at the faint sound of music. Whoever it was, they had a nice baritone voice. He paused for a minute and let the music waft around his ears. It made him feel as though...
Maybe I shouldn't be so cross. I like being useful, right? There it is! I'm being useful! I'm making this town a better place! I'm not frail or susceptible to illness. I'm Rhys, the mighty Bishop! A graceful whirlwind of singing stee-WOOD! Singing WOOD. Yes. Haha.
And a smile slowly came over his face as he searched for the homes of his patients, trying to pick up the tune and hum it so he could have it as a pick-me-up.
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 5:07 pm
It was a nice day, really. And what better to do on a nice day than sit outside and watch the clouds go by? So, that's what Nils decided to do.
He grinned to himself, just sitting in the grass, knees pulled up to his chest. His eyes closed as he let out a content sigh. ... Just a few more minutes, and then I'll head up to the manor. The boy thought lazily to himself, not really wanting to abandon the serenity of the moment. He knew that he would have to, though.
"... I guess I should go now." He muttered, his eyes opening again. Slowly he stood up, brushing off any dirt or grass off of his shorts.
And then, he heard it. The voice, singing clearly and beautifully. The boy felt compelled by the music to move closer. Before he knew it, he was close to Blossom, listening to the music silently and respectfully, his hand occasionally brushing against the ebony and gold flutes hanging from his belt.
Nils wanted to approach the reptilian musician, if only just to compliment him on his musicianship. He felt... just a bit too shy, though. So, he kept his distance, not daring to approach.
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 6:47 pm
Ganon smiled as he continued to play, turning his head and winking at Nils and Blossom. Though it could have been a blink. Hard to tell when somebody only has one eye. He continued to play, gesturing to them to come closer with his tail. He began to pick out the melody on the guitar with extended claws-- built-in finger picks!
"Morning!" he called cheerfully. "Come on over, you don't need to stand over there. I don't need that much space!" he laughed, waving his tail through the air and pressing his claw to the strings to stop them vibrating at last.
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 7:16 pm
Blossom didn't need to be told twice to approach. Once he had beckoned with his tail, a fact that didn't come across in Blossom's thoughts farther than "Right, he has a tail," Blossom jogged closer to the stump, her scarf falling behind her back once she stood still again, now quite close to Ganon and able to see just how tall he was. She tilted her head up in order to look properly at his face, suddenly feeling very small and somehow inadequate.
The small young woman studied Ganon's face in open interest for a few moments. He really was green up close, but instead of having green skin, he was actually covered in a layer of scales. Definitely an interesting development. Granted, she could have figured that out with the tongue, the long tail, the claws, the entire shape of the face, but there was no real way to tell unless one got close to the subject in question, right? She looked at his eyepatch, then the styled mohawk, curiosity as plain in her eyes as the scarf that was clearly cut for someone much taller than her before finally piping up, clasping her hands behind her back, stretching up onto her toes in a futile attempt to not look so tiny.
"Who are you, exactly? I haven't see you around here before. Are you new here, or returning from somewhere?" Blossom looked at his cart, then back at him. "I'm still a little new around here, though. So it could be that. But anyway. What's your name?" Blossom smiled brightly before rocking back and forth slightly on her feet, still looking right up at his face. Clearly she didn't have any trouble conversing with strangers. Not her! "My name's Blossom."
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Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 4:07 pm
The boy nodded, approaching the musician with curiosity. He would have been lying to himself if he said that he wasn't excited, really. For a while, he believed that he was the only musician in Learania. Seeing another with his own eyes? Well, that just made Nils feel absolutely giddy for an unexplainable reason.
He grinned widely. "I'm Nils!"
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Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 10:33 am
Ed was out to get her head on straight. She was still a bit resentful of being foolish the previous day, barging downstairs to meet an enemy that hadn't been there. Then the others went up in a commotion about something she wasn't entirely aware of, something about a letter or a note, but the case remained that she was still a little lost.
Ed didn't like how her reasoning abilities had diminished ever since her previous personality had dissipated.
She liked being able to enjoy life, but now whenever there was a time she couldn't enjoy it, she didn't know what to do. Fighting was fine. Just fine by her. But then it was everything else, the emotions, the politics, the pride. Especially the pride.
The song had been brought to a halt before she came out, so Ed didn't know that a certain someone was in town. That is, until she heard people whispering.
For a moment Ed thought they were whispering about troubles or maybe about the girl walking down the street looking unusually sullen. Then she realized they were talking about...someone. He's back, they were saying. He's strumming his strings and making the sun rise again.
Ed followed their glances and their eyes. She ended up in the same location as Blossom and Nils, and for that split second she recognized only them, but then she glanced up to who they were addressing.
The shadows were driven from her heart. Ed's face split into a grin, but she said nothing, allowing the others to introduce themselves and learn just who this musician was.
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Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 12:44 pm
Ganon stood up, holding his guitar at his side and rising to his full height. He whipped his free claw around in front of his chest as he bowed and swept it out to the side, then stood up straight again. "Good morning!" he said cheerfully. "I'm Ganon.. Firenight, a traveling bard. It's been quite some time since I visited Eyris... seems that good things have been done under the new administration." The verbose reptile flashed them both a smile, tail waving through the air, shiny in the morning sun. "Blossom, Nils, it's a pleasure to meet both of you." He moved to sit again, but paused as he spotted the flutes on Nils' belt!
"Oh! Do you play, Nil--" He stopped mid-thought. His eyes had passed by Nils, to fall upon a face he hadn't seen in ages. His guitar went a bit slack in his claw, and then he grinned wide and set it down as he stepped politely around the other two and in five huge strides crossed the field. "Ed!" he called as he approached, and he leaned down to sweep her up in his arms as soon as he got close, spinning around once before setting her down again! "It's been ages! How have you been?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 1:39 pm
Nils opened his mouth to enthusiastically reply, but before he could formulate what to say, Ganon had already sidestepped by him. He turned around, wondering where he was running off to.
"... Oh." The boy smiled lightly at Ganon and Ed's reunion (he didn't know if it was, but he assumed so).
He then turned to Blossom, finally addressing her. "Hey, Blossom! It's been a while... What, four months?" He rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "... Something like that. Anyways." The boy smiled. "How have you and Aidan been?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 4:37 pm
Ed laughed as the reptilian bard swept her up and spun around, and in turn she clung to him to avoid being tossed away. She suddenly felt extraordinarily exuberant now that an old friend had resurfaced from the shadows of forgotten memories. When she felt her feet touch the ground again, the girl stepped back and grinned up at Ganon, nearly tripping over herself because of the spiked boots catching to the earth.
"Ages is right. I've been a lot better these days! Well, in a lot more danger too, but you know." She dismissively waved that detail off. "How about you? I see you're still with the musical elements." She clasped her hands behind herself and cocked her head.
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Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 6:37 pm
Blossom's eyes widened impossibly as Ganon rose to his feet. She tilted her head back, far back, craning up to see all eight feet of him, his black eyepatch and floppy red mohawk and green-scaled face (well, body). She didn't quite pay attention to his tail, despite the flash it caught off of the sunlight. Before he was sitting, Blossom pointed right to his face, astonishment clear in her expression. "You're... tall! Really, really tall!" she paused, then stamped a foot on the ground. "No fair! Everyone's--"
Nevermind. Ganon was already busy swinging Ed about like a ragdoll and hugging her. An old friend, perhaps? Blossom pouted for a moment, jealous for losing the attention. She's taller than me, too...
Her thoughts broke at Nils' question. She turned to look at the teal-haired boy. Someone who was at her own height. Thank goodness. Everyone else positively towered over her. "I've been on lotsa mercenary missions, y'know," Blossom pointed out. She reached towards her back to draw the thick, long sword she was used to carrying, then realized it wasn't there. Oh, right. I just went for a walk this morning! She put her hands at the small of her back once more and rocked back and forth amiably. "So I actually haven't been spendin' as much time as I'd like to with him. But we're both keeping up well. We've been talking 'bout some more serious stuff, but we're the same as always." Blossom smiled brightly at Nils. "What about you?"
She glanced at Ganon. He was incredibly intriguing now, this giant of a newcomer, a snake man with an eyepatch (A pirate?) and his guitar (A singing pirate?) and a rather large cart (A wandering, singing pirate?) that seemed to now be catching up with Ed (An animal-loving, sword-fighting, singing wanderer pirate?).
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Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 7:20 pm
(( Nrgh, WISW? post drained posting ability out of me... must replenish... at next stop... -collapse- ))
Nils shrugged. "Oh, the same ol' stuff with me... Been practicing with my flute a lot! I've taught myself a few new songs..." He nodded slowly. "... Pretty much boring."
The boy turned to look at her. "How were those missions? Where'd you go? Do you know what Aidan did while you were gone? Why isn't he with you now? What kind of serious stuff were you talking about?" He asked, barely pausing for breath between each of his questions. He looked at her wide-eyed, already anxious to hear the answers to his multiple questions.
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Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 4:08 pm
"That's really fun, though!" Blossom protested. She smiled brightly at Nils. "I can't play any instruments. It's great that you can. You're really good, you know. I still don't understand how it works, the playing rejuvenating us or making us stronger. But however it works, I like it. It's useful."
She gestured vaguely to the north. "Snowy area up there. I can't remember the name now... wanna say Ilia, but that's not right," she chirped. "A lot of dealing with bandits. It was really hilarious; they didn't expect me to be someone there to stop them! I didn't use Lysander for some of the missions, kept a smaller sword that got mostly hidden under my scarf. Really scared a few of them." She smiled brightly and giggled. "Aidan, I think, um... lots of keeping up with things. I hope he ate all right. He can't cook very well. And he's still asleep right now. I just woke up and decided that a walk was a good idea, so here I am!"
"And as for what we were talking about... Shhhh. It's a secret." Blossom winked and put a finger to her lips before giggling again. She looked back to Ganon, studying the large reptilian man in open interest. "So why are you here?" she asked innocently, focus shifted back to the original target.
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Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 4:26 pm
Nils listened to Blossom with interest. When she finished talking and turned the conversation back to him, he was a bit caught off-guard, lost in his imagination about how her experiences were like. "Oh... uhm, I just wanted to spend some time outside, you know? I mean, it's such a nice and peaceful day..." He stretched up to the sky, a big, goofy grin on his face. The boy left his arms there, suspended for a moment as if he were trying to grab a cloud, before he let them drop to his sides.
"... But I should be getting back to the manor now. I mean, I left without telling anyone! For all I know, they could be running around flailing and shouting 'Where is Nils'!" He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "... Okay, maybe they wouldn't do that, but you get my point, right?" He smiled at her. "I'll see you later, alright? Tell Aidan that I said 'hi' and that it was nice meeting Ganon for me!"
Then, he turned around and headed on the path to FEFGA's.
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