Play Me That Country Music

[Silence Sei]

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It was, for all intents and purposes, a very strange day in Concordia. The forest had been home to the Ixian Knights for months now, so it was not unheard of for some man seeking vengeance or some brawl of great magnitude to take place along the lush greenery. Ever since Sei Orlouge moved his army amongst the trees and into the giant tower hidden among the foliage, every single day was some sort of emergency.

Except for today.

Today, nobody had approached the castle on the brink of death, no small training regiment took a turn for the worse, no person had to ask for assistance to save their town. The sun was out, the air was fresh, and every person within the walls of Ixian Castle was having fun doing their daily activities. Everything was going off without a hitch.

That is what worried Sei the most.

Maybe he had the feeling of a calm before a storm, that serene silence that a Concordian doe experiences before being devoured by spider magi. Whatever it was, it caused an increase sense of paranoia and panic within the Mystic leader. Everywhere he went, his eyes shifted about, but not in their normal way; the way that would analyze and calculate any situation. No, the way he tensed ever so slightly at the faintest sound seemed to indicate that the youngest Orlouge brother had been fighting a war for far too long, and had become slightly distrustful because of it.

Not a lot of people within the walls of the fortress would be able to take note of such things from their usually fearless leader. However, after only a few months, Sei's middle daughter, Emma Orlouge, had paid enough attention to the mannerisms of the Mystic to catch the slightest hints of uneasiness. It was for this reason that Emma suggested to her father that they take a walk through the trails of Concordia. Sei, happy that the often isolated Emma would make such an offer, agreed.

The birds around Concordia were singing from their hiding spots among the limbs. The smell of dirt after a long night of rain filled the air, subtle trickles of moisture often brushing past the skin of the father and daughter. Every so often, the duo would hear a rustle, only to find that the source of the sound came from a fawn playing around with its family. When undeterred by the mechanization of the Ixian Knights, Concordia truly was beautiful. It reminded Sei of why he called Corone his home in the first place.

Their bare feet stroked the leaves of grass gently as they strolled through the trails that Mother Nature had created for them. It was truly a beautiful day for a family, any family, to be outside and enjoying the rays of the sun...

[Ryari Ksartharjaa]

Ryari didn't want to admit it. Ryari wouldn't admit it. Ryari couldn't admit it. She was lost. The woods all looked the same to her, with a strange-looking tree or animal here or there. The dirt was soggy and the branches wet with dew. Birds she had never in her life seen before flew amidst the canopy, while shrubs of many colors populated the undergrowth. Concordia was indeed, poles apart from the familiar flatlands of Yarborough where Ryari grew up.

Ryari had no clue where she was going. Hopefully she would come across a ranger or a forester who would be willing to lead her into Underwood or out of Concordia. Beautiful as the Coronian woodland was, Wyron knows how long she would be able to survive in the woods with only two small, stale loaves of bread that was starting to grow moldy and a half-empty canteen of water water from the Bradbury River!

It all started when Ryari was taking the West Road from Gisela into Concordia. The trek was going relatively well, until it started to rain...

Ryari was on a weathered road in the middle of the Concordia forest. Without thinking much of it, immediately she ran into the wildwoods area to search for shelter, which she would later regret. Upon finding a spacious hollowed trunk of a colossal tree, Ryari was agitated and very upset to find that her map of Coroné was missing! However it was getting dark, thus she crawled quite bitterly into the hollow and stayed there for the night.

When Ryari awoke, she had the vile taste of muck in her mouth, her hair was a mess, she was practically starving, the stink of wet mold from her ever getting moldier bread was in the air, and she had no idea where exactly in the world she was, save for being somewhere in Concordia...

Attempting to be optimistic, Ryari used up a little of her remaining drinking water to gurgle out the repulsive zest, combed her hair gently with her filthy fingers, endeavored to neaten her unkempt outfit, ripped out the chunks of putrid bread and decided to use the sun as a compass to guide her way out of the wildwoods.

Hoping for the best, Ryari took an Eastward direction...

[Lillith]

Hoping for the worst, Lillith strode roughshod through the forest in a Westerly drive for a solution, some head space, and time away from the bedlam of the Tantalum's 'summer' retreat. How she had let her sister convince her to delay her trip to Akashima for this, she had no idea. With heavy footfalls that could wake the dead, and arms flailing left and right to push low branch and bush out of her way, she continued in her anger for some time. Metres turned to miles, miles perhaps to leagues, and minutes to hours. By the time she stopped still at the centre of a small clearing to catch her breath and check the many nicks and bruises she had acquired along the way it was perhaps late afternoon, and it suddenly dawned on the assassin that she was quite lost.

"<Damnation>" she proclaimed in a heavy but slick Akashiman tongue. The sudden silence washed over her, and she examined the tree line of the clearing intently. It was a lattice work off bramble, holy and bay tree, a threatening natural barrier save for a small well trodden path ahead, and the devastation of her own advance behind. There were few options available to her, but she did not like either eventuality more than the other.

If she pressed on, it might be hours before she returned to face the inevitable rural drudgery the Mystics had lain out as a host spread, and worse still, the wrath of her sister. If she turned back now she would be far too hot headed for the ensuing 'discussion' to have anything other than a fiery, embattled conclusion. They had only supposed to stay for an evening, but already it was three days and the Concordia livery and the season's very finest delicacies had grown cold, stale and lifeless before the spirit warder's eyes.

Defeated, she slapped her thighs and perched delicately with her legs to one side on the only defining feature in the clearing. The hunk of granite appeared out of place in the rural setting, and upon inspection, Lillith ran her fingers along the faded and ancient writing that scarred it's surface. The two scrolled arrows pointed left and right, and beneath each were labelled a distant destination. The writing was unfamiliar to her, but she assumed it to have been placed by Sei's ancestors many centuries ago.

"<At least I'm not as lost as I thought I was>" she had that small mercy to hold on to.

For a moment, she closed her eyes and let the gentle sound of the wind shooting over the canopy of the forest calm her nerves and steady the heavy beating of a tired heart in it's cage. She took in the peaty aroma of the forest's depths, and imagined the holy and undergrowth bursting with the colour that would come with the blossoming of it's fruit. There was hope in everything, if only you looked close enough.

She raised her hands before her body as if to play an instrument, and concentrated for a moment on the silver sea that formed in her mind. From The Aria she conjured the will of the Geisha, and with it, a ghostly shamisen to her lap. Whenever she felt alone, afraid or frustrated, it was to the many past lives she had survived that the daughter of Akashima turned. Once, she had been the prime Geisha in a tea house in the capital. In another, an assassin with the providence to kill silent and unseen. In another life still, she had been a shogun, bound in war and honour. In this life, she was a fabrication, a menagerie of spiritual traditions bound in the delicate, Scara Braen daughter that found comfort on a rock.

She began to play, and the delicate melody drifted back along the path she had cleaved through the forest towards the castle, and along the new road to her left, hoping perhaps to catch a wayward ear to make light conversation in the depths of nature's loneliness. She closed her eyes as she played near flawless, and prayed to the kami for a sign or for metaphorical guidance.

[Ryari Ksartharjaa]

Song is sung to the tune of "Kimi o Nosete" from the movie "Tenku no Shiro Laputa". It is also a modified translation of it.

Ryari was trekking on a windswept path that she had come upon not too long ago. She stepped on a branch, and immediately her eyes clouded up and she had a vision:

Ryari was talking to a young woman who had black and white hair with the same height as her. The two were in the Concordia Forest.

The vision started to fade.

Ryari searched her knapsack for her black mirror, round and mysterious.
The back of the mirror was engraved with a picture of cranes feeding at a spring in a valley and flying high in the sky towards the majestic Shirayama Mountains in the background, with many beautiful Sakura cherry blossom trees with their petals gently floating down and being carried by the wind. Ryari had a hunch, from studying her geography books, that the picture was of the Northern Farmlands and Forests in Akashima in the Springtime.

The mirror itself was aphotic. Though small enough to fit in one's palm, the darkness looked as though it was endless and vast. Crafted by the best craftsmen and craftsmaiden in Akashima and blessed by the individual ancient High Seers, though having no real value, the Scrying instruments are a priceless treasure for those who can use it. It had been passed down from mother to youngest daughter in the Yamakita Clan and many other overseas Akashiman families for countless generations. The purpose of it was to aid ethnic Akashimans and their kin while they were away from their homeland of Akashima and the guidance of the High Seer.

Ryari herself was half-Akashiman. Her mother Chanossa was born in Akashima, but grew up in Scara Brae. Originally Chanossa's name was Chinastsu, but changed her name in order to attempt to hide her Akashiman origin and become more "Scara Braen", she didn't fool a lot of people since it was illegal to change surnames, so Ryari's mother became Chanossa Yamakita. Her father was a full-blooded Scara Braen of the Ksartharjaa Family. Not much is known about the history of the Ksartharjaa Family, yet... Ryari's tan skin color came from him, while her shiny black hair was her mother's. No one knows why her eye color was lavender, but it seemed to help in clairvoyance. Once the youngest daughter of a woman who could use a black mirror turned 7, she would no longer be able to see into the future using the mirror. However, as most clairvoyant women have already mastered the Sight, the mirror would be of no use to them and it would be given to the youngest daughter. Which is precisely how Ryari received her Scrying tool from Chanossa.

Focusing her left eye on the mirror, and her right eye at the blossoming trees, Ryari began to see a continuation of the vision:

The black and white haired-maiden made a gesture and walked away with Ryari following her closely. They both seemed to be relieved, especially Ryari. The scene ends with Ryari throwing away her now very moldy bread into the bushes.

After putting away her mirror, she became very animated. Help at last! All Ryari had to do was keep walking in that general direction. The girl tried not to get her hopes up too much, the visions weren't always accurate after all...

Once, when Ryari was 9 years old, she had a vision that her family would throw her a surprise birthday party that anyone who was anyone in a 5 mile radius would attend and give her gorgeous dresses and lengthly novels and almanacs as birthday presents. Two years later…The surprise party came true, but it was more like a quarter-mile radius (like 5 or 6 people including Ryari’s family members). The PRESENT (only one!) turned out to be a coffee mug that had the words “I HEART DHEATHAIN” in bold capital letters. She haven’t even HEARD of Dheathain, much less been there! It turned out Ryari’s family, friends, and neighbors couldn’t afford new clothes or books because of financial problems. Ever since that incident, Ryari has always been cautious when she had a revelation that appeared to be too good to be true.

But how nice it would be to finally get some help! Concluding to follow the advice of her apparition, Ryari warily trudged forward.

After traveling in that general direction for some time, the girl heard a strange music echoing from ahead. Could it mean help? As a precaution to show that she meant no harm, and to compliment the lovely music being played, Ryari started to softly sing in harmony with the tune, with the best accent-free Akashiman she could muster:

The horizon is shining,
It’s hiding you somewhere
When I see so many lights,
My heart feels so very dear…

And my eyes shine very bright.
Bringing the dying of the night.
Let’s go out, with a knife, a lamp, and a piece of bread,
In a pack that’s cherry red…

The world is spinning, hiding you.
Your eyes are shining, the lights twinkling too.
The world is spinning, weaving the threads of fate,
Tying together us who’ll meet each other someday….

My father gave me his burning will,
My mother gave me her look of hill,
The earth is spinning, weaving the threads of fate,
Tying together us who shall meet each other someday….

Hadaja calms the sea so can meet,
Myra is taming all the beasts,
Our deaths, Shirahime, has agreed to stall,
Aozor the Heron has blessed us all…

The world is spinning, weaving the threads of fate,
Tying together us who shall meet each other someday….
Oh, the world is spinning, weaving the threads of fate,
Tying together us who shall meet each other someday….

The world is spinning, weaving the threads of fate,
Tying together us who shall meet each other someday….
Oh, the world is spinning, weaving the threads of fate,
Tying together us who shall meet each other someday….


This song was sung for centuries by the Akashiman settlers in Yarborough. It was considered a love song and a homecoming song, though it was always open for interpretation. Always promising to return to their homeland Akashima like what Ryari was trying to do, besides being part of a guild like the Ixian Knights, Ryari would, no will meet Akashima someday...

Hopefully the black and white-haired maiden will know the direction to Shirayama!

[Silence Sei]

The blades of grass brushed gently against their legs, prompting Emma to remind the caretakers of Ixian Castle to attempt some level of professionalism outside of the walls of the fortress. They walked the growing over path for at least a mile, taking in all that the forest had to offer. It wasn't until Emma stopped dead in her tracks that Sei had even started his worries up once more.

"What is it?" The mute asked, his daughter unresponsive to the question. Instead, the girl merely silently mouthed several words, before turning to her father.

"Tying together us, who shall meet each other someday," Emma spoke, as if the line were a fact. Sei raised his eyebrow at the girl, curious to know what she was talking about. It was strange for Emma to just spout nonsense and give pause for no reason. The girl shook her head as she headed off in an eastern direction, Sei giving pursuit.

"It's an old song, a folk song in Akashima. You aren't hearing it because you're not as open to hearing the music everywhere like I am." It was true. Whereas Sei could see inherent flaws in strategies, point out the mistakes that others were making, Emma had a knack for hearing music where there was none. The hum of a light, the Concordia Woodpecker looking for food, even a deep guttural growl of a drave was made into music through Emma's ears.

So when Emma told Sei she was hearing a song that he could not, he believed her. Following his astute daughter, the Mystic weaved through trees and bushes until arriving at their location. A few small lines of blue liquid formed over Sei's features from where a few stray branches had barely scratched him enough to leave their mark. Of course, what the two saw at the end of the makeshift journey surprised the both of them. It was a girl, seemingly hallucinating and (from the looks of it) starving.

Without a second thought, Emma stepped out into one of the clearings behind Ryari.

"Excuse me Miss? Do you need help?"

[Lillith]

Though the guidance she sought eventually came in the form of a reprising song, Lillith did not expect to be greeted by two wandering metaphors. She looked gob-smacked at the new comer for a few seconds, her fingers struggling to maintain tempo and accuracy before she clocked the familiar sight of Sei's daughter (one of many, she noted) and frowned.

"Here I was expecting a moment's respite from the buzz of civilisation, only to be happened upon by the familiar," she looked back at the young girl who had replied so beautifully and harmoniously in her native tongue, "and the oddly strange."

Emma's question carried enough weight in it to give Lillith no reason to ask one of her own. She uncrossed her legs and adjusted her attire whilst she waited for the feverish looking newcomer to respond. With a flourish of energy she cast away the ghostly instrument and let the last dredges of the song she had been playing drift out through the forest. The canopy and the sweet honeysuckle blossoms which bobbed to and fro in the gentle afternoon breeze echoed with the harmony of the roiling forests of her homeland, it's Sakai and dancing lights.

For the time being, the Akashiman lady became just another woman in the woods, and she forgot what awaited her when she eventually returned to her sister's side. Like a dutiful lap dog to lick the wounds of it's old war veteran master she would trot to her untimely put down. She cocked her head to add a metaphorical second line of questioning to the mystic's, and smiled pleasantly and friendly to mirror the lack of malefic or harm in either of them.