Composing on the walltop

[Lin Renka (Riku)]

It was a beautiful late afternoon, not too warm, with a fresh, chill breeze flowing over the walls of Vum Keep. The sky was a grand mixture of silvery clouds that danced about the sun, hiding it from sight only to reveal its warmth in a surprise burst of light when one least expected.

Lin had just returned from underneath the city to enjoy the light before it got to dark, and to take a break from the oppressive heat of the forges. Ah but the forges had been inspiring; such power and dedication put into some of the most amazing weapons Lin had ever seen if she did say so herself.

Which was not saying much since Lin was no judge of anything except clubs and maces, and even then that knowledge was limited. As she sat on one of the walls that rose up in the great fortress of Vun Keep she let the cool wind blow over her, cooling her sweaty fur and especially her ears which still faintly rang of hammer blows on metal. Despite the stifling heat she had loved every minute of observing the great smiths at work. It had been difficult to get permission to watch when she wasn't considering becoming an apprentice, but Lin’s charming ways had won the day.

If she did say so herself.

“Ah, so… like an epic!” she mused. The idea struck a cord in her and she pulled her Yueqin instrument over her shoulder and onto her lap.

“A smell of soot, of melting steel,” She recited in a slightly sing song voice. She strummed the strings on her instrument and then tuned it, strumming a little more, then tuning again.

“A smell of soot. Of melting steeeel,” she sang a little slower, “Hmm, steel…” This would make a great song if she could just think of the words. She could make a version in her own language much more easily but she wanted this to be in the common tongue.

“Have you ever seen the heart, of a dragon as it beats?
You would not 'cept if you were swallowed whole.

You’re fortunate you are not dead by dragon digestion.
But if you want to see a dragon heart there’s no place like Vum Keep.
Deep down, below, the under forge is where you’ll surely see,
A dragon’s heart that does it part to…”

To… to…

“Protect your fam-i-ly?” she tried, but it was turning the song in the wrong direction. The Khajiit flicked her fluffy tail and rubbed her chin, annoyed that she could not get her impressions of the forge out properly, “A hammer blow, a flash of sparks like fireworks… how do the greats do it?” she pondered. She looked around for a pebble to toss over the edge of the wall, but on finding none she did what her older brother had taught her and spit over the edge instead. It wasn't quite as satisfying to watch a bit of moisture fall the great distance to the ground, landing with the quietest of plops, but it was something.

Guiltily Lin glanced around an case anyone had been watching. It was a bad habit and her mother use to scold her fiercely for doing it. Running a hand over the fur on her cheek she self consciously tried to look a little more prim, sitting up straighter.

[Edward Sharpe]

Edward couldn’t enjoy the late afternoon breeze; he couldn’t feel the freshness on his skin or the wind in his hair, even from the top of Vun Keep. He could, however, appreciate the view. The clouds melted into one another and painted the sky in a variety of colours, the ghost peering over the edge of the keep with a pensive look on his face. He liked to come here to watch the sun go down at times, particularly when he was in a quieter mood, like now.

His day had been filled with aimless wandering around Vun Mountain, surprising the odd traveller or smith coming up towards the keep (or going home) and scaring a few birds when they gathered around a small stream to get water, but his heart just wasn’t in it. He could sense a depression coming, but he was hoping he could tempt himself out of it before it got too bad. Hence his wall-watching.

“It is beautiful,” he murmured to himself with a smile, straightening up from the wall and stretching his arms above his head. He wiggled his bare toes as if he could feel the cool stone underfoot, smoothing out his wrinkled grey shirt, though it made no difference. Edward was just considering paying the forge a visit before night fell when a melodic little voice reached his ears. “Mm?” He glanced around, following it without very much thought. Turning a corner, he spotted a small Khajiit playing a curious instrument, clearly composing something.

Having been brought up in a backwater village, Edward had never laid eyes on any other species, so the little Khajiit was an intrigue to him. He blinked, listening to the makings of her song, arching an eyebrow as she spit over the side of the wall. He quickly disappeared so she’d not see him, but no sooner had she attempted to fix herself up when Edward popped up beside her.

“Hallo!” He greeted, a charming smile spreading across his face. “I was listening to you sing. You’re very good,” he told her, examining her instrument. “What is that, by the way?”

[Lin Renka (Riku)]

Ooc: Confound it! I wrote a nice post and I thought I posted it but it seems it did not go through. >___> This seems to be happening with more frequency to me recently.

Ic:

“Aah!” Lin squeaked and started, nearly falling over as she grasped her Yueqin by the handle on the end of its neck and brandished it at the intruder of what she thought was her solitary composing.

“By the Celestial plain!” she gasped, “My but you startled me!” She quickly lowered her instrument, pulling her legs up into a cross and laying the Yueqin in her lap.

“My but you put us Khajiit to shame!” She smiled, fear forgotten now that she saw he meant no harm, “I once would have sworn my kind were the most adept at the sneaking but even my sharp ears did not detect you. You must teach me your… how say… maneuver? No, it starts with a “T”…Oh well, never mind, you must teach me how you move so quietly… What was the question?” He had been asking something, but she could not recall exactly what, she had been too busy being startled.

Speaking of which.

Lin glanced over her shoulder and saw that her tail was brushed out to twice its normal fluffiness. Grabbing hold she began stroking it back down. She felt her skin grow warm from embarrassment. How had he sneaked up on her? He was like a Huanxiang or a gui. Most impressive.

[Edward Sharpe]

((Grah! D: That sucks, Riku. Proboards used to troll me like that all the time, so now I write my replies in Word and copy them over. xD Darn reply box.))

“Ah, so it’s a club as well! I see!” Edward was still smiling pleasantly even as the feline-esque creature squeaked and brandished the instrument at him. He resisted the urge to flinch back; while he knew that the thing would only sail through him if she did smack him with it, the ‘duck and run’ reflex was something he still hadn’t quite grown out of. While he was glad she hadn’t gone tumbling over the wall, he was, admittedly, just a little bit pleased to have caused her a surprise.

Mischief gleaned in his dark eyes, and Edward let out an amused laugh. “Trick?” He offered at the mention of the ‘T’ word, tilting his head to her and running a hand through his tousled locks. “Well I thank you very much, Miss, but I’m afraid there’s no trick to it. I am dead, you see.” He beamed.

At that moment a shaft of sunlight burst out from behind a cloud, falling onto the keep and hitting the ghost in the face. He squinted his eyes and gazed down at himself, the light showing him to be vaguely translucent. “Aha, look here!” He motioned at his torso. “I think you can even see the other side of the keep through my middle. That’s another trick to being a ghost, if there are any.”

The sun hid away behind the clouds again soon enough, and Edward leant against the wall beside her. “Oh, I was just remarking on how well you sing. I’ve never seen an instrument like that before. I wondered what it was.” He waved a hand at her Yueqin, curiosity plain on his face.

But suddenly the little Khajiit was fussing over her tail, and Edward’s attention was caught by that instead. “What is it like to have a tail, I wonder?”

[Lin Renka (Riku)]

Ooc: I usually do the same but this time I deleted it from the word document before checking if it posted properly. >__>

IC:

“I see,” she had started to laugh at his explanation, but the laughter died on her lips as the sun revealed that he truly was dead. Her fur rose not just on her tail but up her back, and her hair puffed up slightly. Lin didn't even realize that she was still stroking her tail, her hand automatically continuing of its own accord.

“Iyah.” she hissed under her breath, before shaking her head and coming back to her senses, “Well, ah…Thank you,” she noted at the mention of her singing, “I am glad to hear someone appreciating my yowling.”

She glanced down at her instrument and held it up for him to see, “This here is my trust-worthy Yueqin, an instrument from my homeland of Ri Yan. I had it especially remade for the use of fighting as well, thanks to gnome technology. Now I can play while I fight.” She gave the instrument a good thump on the side of the wall and the strings hummed gently from the vibrations.

“Ah, trick was not the word, but it will do,” she added thoughtfully, “You are a very odd gui, er, undead?” she was not sure what the word for ghost was having rarely come in contact with it, “I thought your kind were with the haunting and frightening in the darkness. You seem rather a nice fellow.” She couldn't help wondering, her curiosity aroused.

[Edward Sharpe]

Edward resisted a smile as the fur on the little Khajiit began to stand on end, and he raked a hand through his tousled hair; it was almost a nervous habit by this point. Not that he wasn’t used to that sort of response (though the people he snuck up on rarely had fur, now that he thought of it). “Oh, it was hardly yowling! I was enjoying it.” He let the smile spread back across his face at last. Edward didn’t like frightening people, despite popular belief about ghosts, and he was glad she hadn’t screamed and ran away.

Curiously, he examined the instrument as she held it up. “Yueqin,” the ghost repeated, though the word sounded awkward and strange on his tongue, and it was clear that he was unused to the pronunciation. “Ahh, from Ri Yan you say! I understand now. I’ve been there only once since I died, but it seemed an interesting sort of place.” Blinking, he watched as she struck the Yueqin against the wall, looking near enthralled by it.

“That’s very clever,” he observed, “but whatever would you need to fight for?” He lifted himself up to sit on the edge of the wall. Much like the gestures, obeying the laws of physics and gravity was purely habitual, but it did lend a touch more humanity to his ghostly form.

“Undead?” He seemed to find that almost funny, eyes twinkling with amusement. “Miss, I am no zombie, unfortunately. I am a ghost!” He announced it with a flourish, holding out a hand for her to shake before realising there was no chance of them touching and letting it drop again. “Scaring people is no fun. I like to play tricks. Thank you, though. You seem rather nice as well. My name is Edward, by the way. What are you doing up here? Composing epic ballads?”

[Lin Renka (Riku)]

“Ghost,” Now Lin was the one repeating an unfamiliar word, “I must remember that for future use. Ghost. Huh!”

She twirled her instrument and laid it on her lap, “My name is Lin Renka, though I suppose we’re friends enough that you may call me Lin.

“I use my Yueqin to fight because when I was a youngster heading out on my first journey I was robbed, and my beautiful Yueqin did not protect me, not at all, may it rest in peace and pieces. I decided that my instrument would have to be useful in the practical sense as well as pleasing to the ear if I were to continue pursuing a life of travel.” she paused a moment before moving to the next question.

“Haaah as to what I am doing, I am the composing indeed, though not so much a ballad as an ode,” Her eyes grew fiery as she recalled what she had originally been doing, “I was just in the under forge today, watching them working. A fellow traveler told me it was something to see, and he was right! Feeling inspired I came up for air to think. My composing though, it does need practice.” She finished with a melancholy sigh.

[Edward Sharpe]

“Friends?” Edward repeated, another charming smile spreading across his face. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lin. I don’t think I have all that many friends,” he told her, kicking a heel back against the wall, though it made no sound. The clouds broke overhead for a second, painting the ghost in shades of amber and red, before they smothered the dying sun once more. Edward listened with curiosity at her story about the Yueqin, dark eyes flickering from the instrument to her face and back again.

A faint scowl knotted his eyebrows together. “I am very sorry for the loss of your first instrument. I’m glad that this one seems to be faring better. It sounds beautiful too, even if you’re clubbing someone with it.” He laughed, leaning back on his hands.

“Oh, the forge? It’s quite a sight down there, is it not? Too loud for my liking though.” He shook his head. “It’s hard to surprise people when they’re working so hard, too.” Edward sighed and leapt down from the wall again. “I think your composing is wonderful, the little I’ve heard! Besides, who couldn’t be inspired by this?” He waved a hand at the view.

[Lin Renka (Riku)]

“Indeed!” Lin agreed, though her eyes were on the ghost and not the view at all, a sudden bout of inspiration coming over her.

“What a surprise,
Before me eyes,
A man I can see,
See, see,
Right through him to the trees!

Oh my, He scared me terribly!
My life passed by in front of me!
Many white hairs, I have grown.

Hmm… Grown…

She paused, “What rhymes with grown, besides sown?”

[Edward Sharpe]

Edward blinked as the little Khajiit suddenly burst into rhyme, and a bright grin spread across his face. He released a peal of laughter, rubbing sheepishly at the back of his head and trying to lean over to peer through himself and see these trees that apparently loomed beyond them. “I’ve never had anyone sing about me before, this is all very flattering!” He chuckled.

At the offer to help, Edward was all too eager to assist. This chance meeting had lifted the melancholy from his shoulders, leaving him as charming and mischievous as ever. “Grown, you say? Um… moan? Groan? Stone? And then there’s bone, tone and flown… My, a lot of words certainly rhyme with that,” he said, tilting his head at her. “Does that help you at all? And please, will you sing that to people? I’d feel famous.”

[Lin Renka (Riku)]

Lin laughed as well, pleased that he was pleased.

"Oh, I do not know. I have never been more than a beginner at the singing of songs and composing, though certainly the tale of the friendly ghost will be got out somehow..." she replied, "Perhaps I will simply speak of this incident with a little music for the making of the "mood." The rhyming of the common tongue that must always take place does not suit me much, though it is an amusing trick."

[Edward Sharpe]

“I don’t think you’re a beginner at all!” Edward grinned broadly. “Why, listening to you up here, I don’t think I’ve heard anything quite so lovely in all my time roaming around this place,” he informed her, the charm glittering in his eyes. He leant against the wall to peer out across the vast expanse of hills, glancing back to Lin when she spoke once more. “Ooh, the ‘mood’?” He laughed to her. “Perhaps, if you do tell people of our meeting, I could pop up and prove the story true!” He winked.

On the subject of rhyming, Edward gave it a little consideration. “I suppose it does seem silly, when you think about it. Do the words not need to rhyme in your mother tongue?” he asked curiously. “How nice it would be to know another language. Unfortunately, the only tongue I have is in my mouth.” He chuckled.