Find A Way To My Heart

(19 Olaesta 5115; The Landing)

It was time for the Apprentice Bardess to check in with her mentor now that the Spitfire had left town. She made her way to the Raging Threk, and found him at a table. He waved her over immediately.

His greeting was cheery. There had not been much cheer for her the past week (and change), so it was a welcome change.

“I have some questions when you have time, there is no rush,” she quietly told him, sitting down to wait her turn for his time.

The man retrieved his armor from Japhrimel, and listened to the last of the loresinging results. She admired his expertise in loresinging, and felt lucky he instructed her to make hers better.

Japhrimel turned to her with a smile as the man left, “So! What’s up?”

She told him, “I have had some items confuse me with their lore songs.”

He nodded at her, and asked her to explain. He asked for examples, and what she had heard, what she had sung. She was sure a more experienced bard would be able to accomplish it.

“Finding another bard wont help, they’ll hear exactly what you did,” He sounded encouraging as he went on to explain a few tips to her. “A loresong simply isn’t going to provide further information to such things.”

She was somewhat relieved that she had sang the loresong true, but mysteries still did not sit well with her. But this piece of information helped her confidence by a lot.

“Also … 30th promotion happened this week,” she told him, a little hesitant to brag, but she knew she needed to let him know.

His face lit up at her, “Congratulations!” Then he reached into one of his bags and rifled through it. He pulled out a tiny piece of cubical urnon and handed it to her.

“Loresing that,” Japhrimel told her.

He was testing her, or perhaps teaching her. Maybe both; she was never quite sure, but she always trusted him, and would follow his instructions. She looked at the curious little thing and began the flowing traditional words in Elven.

The cube shuddered and she was in awe at the song that began to unfold.

She wove the flowing Elven melody about the urnon, and it began to shudder intensely as if it was on the verge of breaking.  It melted into a small puddle in the palm of her hand and began to emit a piercing shrilling noise that was heard more in her mind.

 

As she attempted to match the tone, the urnon’s noises increased in tone to an almost urgent pitch, and her vision flashed briefly with images too fast to comprehend or decipher.

The bardess gawked at it, a little frightened, a lot curious. Japhrimel nodded at her to continue.

Singing again to match the cubical urnon’s faint hum heard before, her voice rose with the same urgency it now seemed to speak within her mind.  Faint feelings flashed across her senses as the urnon rippled violently, and she felt its power reaching out to her…

 

A vision suddenly flashed across her eyes, too quick to see clearly, though it broke her concentration and brought the song to an abrupt end.  Looks like she’ll have to try again.

“It’s awesome!” Japhrimel reassured her.

She lifed her voice once more with the cubical urnon’s metallic humming with perfect clarity this time, and it shivered violently as its tones mixed with hers.  Suddenly her senses were utterly overwhelmed by flashes of feelings and visions…

 

She felt embraced by everything in nothing…
She drifted endlessly in a sea of intense joy and immense sadness…
She laughed the laugh of a madman comprehending all…
She saw everything yet her eyes were shut…
She heard all, but she had no ears…
She lay dead on the floor, but felt more alive than she had ever felt…
She massacred a field of people, yet they smiled invitingly at her…
One thing remains constant as the different feelings passed over her… a faint shadowy presence loomed across each like a predator in wait.  As the visions and sensations passed, she gtt the sense that she felt the touch of pure chaos for the briefest of moments.

“This is … not pretty,” she stammered out after the shock of the cube’s song had passed.

“It’s intense, though,” he told her.

She had to agree and handed the piece of urnon back to him rather quickly, very happy to get it out of her hands.

“What are you going to do with it?” She asked him.

“Not a damned thing,” he explained to her, “No merchant will ever work on it. And now you know why.”

“Did you get any of the slings or sashes from the instrument shop from the Spitfire?” he wanted to know.

She nodded to him, explaining, “I have one, I put it away in case I ever need it. I do not want to expose my instruments.”

“What if I fell on it? You know, one of the many times I die,” she added.

“Then it would gain a bit of character,” Japhrimel told her.

“They have quite enough character without me risking them,” she replied to him.

“All of life is a risk. You accept it or you do not, and you continue on,” he told her. What a nugget of wisdom, she knew he was teaching her again, but how did he know…?

“If I disappear from around here, just so you know, I may go out to the Nations,” and with those words to him, her mind was decided, she was going to go after all.

“It does a bard good to travel. See the world!” his words reassured her. “If you need help, let me know.”

“I need to clear my head, finish some songs,” the bardess confessed.

He nodded at her, “I’ve done the same.”

She smiled, feeling newly empowered by both her decision and his approval.

“I think you already heard my new song, May Have Been, right?” she was going over a mental checklist of everything she needed to tell him while he was available.

He almost sighed at her, “Your songs lately make me think you should stop dating people and join a convent.”

She could only nod slightly and stare at the floor. He did know. She had nothing to say for herself.

Japhrimel pulled out a a porcelain locket painted in a wash of sunset hues and handed it to her. It was beautiful. She wondered what its song would be.

“You should save that for the future when you know who to give it to,” he told her.

She stared at the stunning locket for a moment, overcome with the layers of understanding wrapped within this simple gift. That was enough to turn her eyes against her; tears began to fill.

“That is the sweetest thing anyone has said to me in … a while,” she revealed to him, knowing he meant it. She was so touched.

“You might be almost as sentimental as I am,” she told him with a gentle smile.

“We’re bards,” was his succinct summary.

“Thank you ever so much!” She tucked it away, she did not want the magic in this precious locket to capture her likeness with red eyes.

“You will hear at least one more sad song, just so you are prepared for it,” she told him, thinking of an unfinished page in her notebook.

“Fair enough,” he nodded at her. “But sad songs give way to hopeful and happy songs.”

“And angry songs. And silly songs.”

“And the cycle continues,” he finished, “Until it doesn’t.”

She heard the irrefutable grounding logic of an Elven Bard, reminding her not to lose perspective. She felt lucky he had taken her on as an Apprentice.

A beautiful woman arrived at the table and the bardess smiled inwardly. For the first time in quite a while.

“I will see you when I return,” she told Japhrimel, giving him a hug of appreciation.

“Or maybe sooner, you never know!” he chimed back at her.

With a merry laugh, he waved at her and turned his attentions to the lady who had just arrived.

 

Author: GSBardess

A young bardess named Luxelle is currently learning her trade and hoping to one day make a name for her songs in GemStone IV. Follow along with her adventures in life and song.

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