Songbirds sing for food (open)

[Dhanya]

Timestamp: 30th Spring, 510
Purpose: Training, socialising, earning money.

Pygmy had been singing at the Trough regularly enough to put some money in her satchel, though money earned was easily spent. Pygmy had a tendency to buy rounds when enough drinks had been given to her for free. Still, she couldn't help but like the place. It had a warm and welcome ambience and space for her to sing. The rest, well, the gods would provide. They always seemed to.

Then there was the crowd. Unashamed to be involved and ready to stamp their feet. Pygmy liked a Drykas crowd.

"But it was not your fault but mine!" Pygmy sang, yelled, belted, it was all the same. "And it was your heart on the line. I really fucked it up this time, didn't I my dear?"

Pygmy didn't choose songs that were easy for Hel to play anymore. The older woman didn't seem to appreciate it. Like all the Drykas, if there was a challenge she seemed to enjoy rising to it and Pygmy liked to come along for the ride. She felt on fire, tugging on her tunic to let the air in, passing it off as a purposeful gesture. She was keeping the beat with her hands feet, she wanted to push the crowd tonight. She wanted them dancing. They would forgive the swearing, if they even remembered it.

"Your grace is wasted in your face, your boldness stands alone among the wreck!" Pygmy loved this song, it always set her teeth to a point and made her feel more who she was. "Learn from your mother or else spend your days biting your own neck."

It was as if it was made for people like her, animal, vegetable, mineral and monster imbetween.

[Kayiri]

Kayiri had made sure to visit the Trough on the sparse occasions he was aware Pygmy was singing. This particular time, he had taken his very common spot, his lonely seat in the back, always-exposed arms folded across his stomach in that way he always had them folded, his expression that of a light smile. He enjoyed watching Pygmy. All his life, he had watched people commit their energy only to one thing. Fighting, healing, riding, everyone had a place... or, well, that was the illusion his mind had set up.

Yet Pygmy was such an odd individual. She put all of that energy into whatever she did, be it singing, or dancing, or hell, just walking around. He closed his eyes, listening to her voice ring out through the tavern. If only everyone could have this magical ability to put their energy into whatever they wanted... ah, imagine what the world would be like.

Kayiri gave a glance around, noting he was one of the few people not standing and dancing, or making some form of noise or cheer. What a downer he was. He blamed the Zith. He hated Zith. They were the cause of everything evil, including needles. He didn't know how, but they were. Kayiri shuddered. Needles were his biggest hatred, without a doubt. Damned needles. He laughed at the stupidity of his fear. Kayiri the Proud, he would chase his bow across the Sea of Grass and fight off every Zith in Din to get to a simple bow, but he was scared shitless of a small needle.

What the hell, he should dance, let himself have a good time. Kayiri slowly lumbered up to his feet, joining the crowd and just letting his body move to the rhythm of the music, whatever it may be... Believe me, watching Kayiri dance (which he has probably done once before) is equivalent to watching a train wreck. Thankfully, for the patrons of the Trough tonight, it was a minor bump on the rail in comparison.

[Glayce Lightstorm]

Glayce was new to the large encampment of Drykas tents and thus didn’t really know where to go first. Like any other random visitor, she ended up following the pathways and sneaking into public locations here and there, trying to get a feel for the place. Despite of the fact that she had already settled and made sure that Teval was well cared for, she still wore the clothes she had entered the city in: a sleeveless shirt and pants made of soft leather. As always, various beads were dangling in her dark blond and brown hair and two large white feathers were tied to a single dark strand.

For someone who had never spent much time in larger settlements – almost none, to be exact – she didn’t look very self-conscious. Rather she enjoyed the atmosphere, the thrill of seeing something new and learning things she had had no clue of before. The sensation of getting away from her past with every step she made was overwhelming. And Glayce just went with the flow and awaited the location it would take her to.

Not that she didn’t have anything to do in Endrykas. She did have. But it was wiped from her mind almost immediately when she discovered the Trough. Taverns were strange things … She had heard about them in stories, but her life had consisted of grass, rabbits, horses and glassbeaks so far. The place she had come to was something entirely different.

Making her way through the crowd, flinching at the loud noise and taking a seat at one of the low tables she decided to observe before doing anything else. The atmosphere was clearly cheerful and frolic. A short person was dancing and singing loudly in the middle of the room, accompanied by an old woman who played the tune to the song. Glayce didn’t know whether to laugh or raise her eyebrows at that depiction of singing skill – she didn’t even know whether the girl was good or not. To her, it sounded loud, shrill and disturbing. Why were people coming to that place if it was so noisy?

But the thought didn’t keep her occupied for long. Suddenly an epiphany slipped into her conscious. The rhythm of the music, of the girl’s voice pulsed through her body, electrifying her wild Drykas blood and forcing her to leave the table and join the crowd. She didn’t feel anything … was hypnotized by the tune calling out for her.

To Glayce, it was the rustling of high grass, the thundering of a summer storm and the galloping of hooves against the ground. Magic, she supposed, or just sound put into the right order and produced with the right tools. Curious, she danced her way closer to the short girl who was still singing. Not that she had a plan in mind … She just happened to bounce her hip against her opponent’s. Then she saw the girl’s eyes. Her expression lit up. Then her voice slipped through the loud noise like a piece of red silk glowing in the grass, clearly audible for Pygmy.

“Hey, do you belong to one of the pavilions? Your eyes look like food …” Staring at the girl, Glayce hoped that she would receive an answer that made sense. She herself couldn’t really put a finger on what she was trying. Words had just slipped out of her mouth … There was no better way to explain it.

[Dhanya]

Pygmy had been taking a momentary break from singing, pausing to drink some water out of a skin, when Glayce approached her. She smiled, expecting a greeting and maybe a comment on her singing. Anything but the comment she received.

"Uhh, no... I do not." Pygmy replied, thinking that perhaps the girl was drunk or otherwise partaking in substances that switched a few words around in her mental thesaurus. "I can honestly say that no one has ever said that about them before."

She took another sip of her water, looking around the crowd and catching sight of Kayiri. She waved wildly, flicking her hand towards herself over and again, asking him to come over and say hello. He wouldn't have heard her over the crowd.

"Your eyes are pretty interesting as well?" She said, notcing the woman's missing fingers and wondering how she'd lost them. She didn't look for long because it was rude and it wasn't as if it was uncommon to be missing a digit or two. Pygmy was just glad she still had all of hers.

This was not her usual sort of conversation. She wondered how she was best supposed to adapt to it.

"So, got a song request?" She asked.

[Kayiri]

Kayiri saw Pygmy's motion, and began his slow winding way to the front, leaning against a wall for support when he finally reached her.

"Hail, friend," he said with a smile, bowing his head ever so slightly to the woman. "How do you do? I haven't been able to speak to you in a long while, life has been busy being redundant, as always," he then explained, the smile still ever present. Kayiri then noticed the woman standing next to him, the one whom had introduced themselves to her.

"And greetings to you as well, milady. I am Kayiri," he bowed to her, extending his right hand in an effort to shake her hand as part of the formalities he almost always performed. "I'm one of miss Pygmy here's acquaintances, glad to have met you!" he bellowed good-naturedly.

[Glayce Lightstorm]

Glayce gave an innocent grin and said: “I can imagine. Really, I didn’t meant to insult you and I certainly don’t want to eat you” – oh, alone and confused and weird she was, but not yet a cannibal – “but it’s just … true. Somehow. You know what I mean?” While standing there with Pygmy, she started fidgeting restlessly with the beads tied in her hair. The way her fingers moved had a strangely monotone quality to it.

Flinging around when the girl suddenly waved her arms wildly, Glayce caught sight of the young man making his way towards them. She wondered why the short girl had waved at him so wildly, almost desperately. The thought that her presence and the words she spoke might make others want to escape didn’t occur to her. They were just having a conversation, after all. Also, the girl wouldn’t try to escape Glayce if she had just asked her for a song request.

Blinking, Glayce shook her head. Then she stopped, thinking, and smiled. Maybe she did have a song request. “Can you sing ‘Red Sun over the River’?” Every true Drykas knew that song. It was an old ballad passed down from generation to generation when dancing around bonfires. The story it told revolved around the various adventures of a young Drykas, some dangerous, some instructive, some deeply passionate. And of course the hero also fell in love with a beautiful Drykas girl, the daughter of a respected Ankal. However, they had arguments every time they were together. Their opinions differed too much, and because of that they decided to split up and follow their life paths alone, without each other.

Glayce had heard the song countless times not only for entertainment, but also as a lullaby. There were several ways one could sing it, but an unchanging fact was that its length and complexity provided for an interesting challenge for every singer who tried to master it. Glayce wondered how far that songbird with the delicious eyes could go.

Then her attention turned to the young man. His eyes didn’t appear that delicious, but his body was very masculine. Glayce, however, only studied his face. Slowly her cool hand slid into his and was gone before he could properly shake it. “Glayce”, she introduced herself, skipping the name of her pavilion and clan just like he had. Then she curiously tilted her head. “Why would you be pleased to meet me if you don’t even know me yet? Shouldn’t one consider being pleased after a happening?” Naturally, she knew the simple greeting, but she felt like teasing someone. Why were they so loud, so happy, so … social? Why did they attend places like that?

Glayce felt a sickening mix of hot anger and shivering cold distance.

[Dhanya]

"No problem." Pygmy replied, running through the lyrics in her head.

It was not a simple song to sing but she was willing to try it. Hel's guitar would help carry her and she could always adjust the music slightly so it would better fit her current ability. She was going to have to stretch herself as time went by, now was a good time. The crowd was in a decent mood and would be more forgiving.

"Hi Kayiri!" Pygmy said as the older man arrived, considering hugging him and deciding not to with Glayce present. Instead she bowed slightly back, it was better than not.

Glayce's reply surprised Pygmy, who was then surprised by her surprise. It wasn't as if she put much effort into pleasantries unless it was necessary or she specifically wanted to. This seemed to be somewhat in the other direction.

And well, Pygmy quite liked Kayiri. He had put up with her nonsense quite regularly and not a lot of people had the patience. He was a good guy.

"Hey, lay off him, he was being nice. It's, you know, an idiom... An expression." Pygmy said, arms folding, harkening back to things she'd learnt as a child. "You're killing his mellow."

Killing mellow was not the done thing, in Pygmy's book. She should have recognised that Glayce possibly had difficulty meeting new people and was doing the best she could. Pygmy was, as usual, making a snap judgement. Even if it was noble to defend a friend, it was not wise to ignore that Glayce may have had her reasons for behaving as she did.

[Kayiri]

Ah, Kayiri had seen that look in her eyes before, the one of contemplation on whether to hug people or not. He pounced before she could realize, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her off the ground, hugging her whilst spinning her around playfully in a little twirl. He was a free spirited man amongst friends, and to be quite honest, he didn't give a damn what Glayce or the crowd or anyone but Pygmy thought of the spontaneous action.

Kayiri gave a simple shrug of his shoulders. "I'm glad to meet everyone I meet. Even the nameless stranger on the street," Kayiri responded simply. "They all impact your life in some way, and it doesn't matter to me how small that impact was, I'm glad that they had made their way into my life and given me that insight, if that makes any sense," Kayiri's logic didn't exactly make sense, but it was Kayiri. Did he ever make sense? One would think not.

He didn't exactly get what Pygmy had meant by killing his mellow. Killing his calm? That was the only description of mellow he knew. Maybe he was missing some message... and here he was digging too deep again. He decided to just leave it at that and return to speaking to his friend and newcomer.

"I could help you sing the song if you wish, Pygmy, although I am not the very best singer, I feel that I may be able to manage..." Kayiri trailed off, shrugging. "All right, I'm an awful singer, but I'll at least be able to help you with the beat and the tempo," he then admitted with a slight laugh.

[Glayce Lightstorm]

Glayce sighed noiselessly. She could have guessed the answer even before Kayiri voiced it. Wondering how those people spent their lives she observed the man’s hug attack. Ridiculous to hug someone in front of others, even if they were good friends. After all, there were many more subtle ways of telling the opponent that one liked them. Naturally, people were different. When observing those two, however, Glayce was relieved that she didn’t resemble them.

She watched Pygmy’s preparations and Kayiri’s eagerness to assist her. They seemed to be quite good friends. Glayce felt a bit awkward, standing there with them and not saying anything, but she had never had a problem with opening her mouth. The typical Drykas temper caused her to comment on everything and anything she could form an opinion about. Gesturing vaguely around the room she suggested: “In here it probably wouldn’t make much difference whether you’re a good singer or not. It’s all about atmosphere.” Suddenly she froze and frowned, thinking about what had just come to her mind. Speaking about atmosphere … “Wait a chime, would you?”, she smiled and was off to the bar. For someone lacking any sense for socializing, she appeared to know quite well where the drinks were located.

After a while she slowly made her way back to where the other two were standing. A mug of fresh, golden beer crowned with white foam lay firmly in her right hand. She smiled to the others in delight and took a sip. Not drunk yet, but maybe she would get soon. Turning to Kayiri, she said: “Honestly, I didn’t want to kill your mellow or whatever. I only know the Sea of Grass and my pavilion. What’s your family like? Are they here in Endrykas?”

Shooting a quick glance to Pygmy, she shifted and assumed a more comfortable posture. Hopefully the short girl didn’t forget her song request. There was quite the possibility that Glayce herself would forget it, but for the time being she remembered what she wanted quite well. Talking to Drykas, however, always was easier. Although Glayce’s own memory of her family was laced in pain and rejection, that didn’t stop her from interrogating others she came across.

Perhaps it was instinct, a crazy, self-destructive urge to find out if anyone had experienced the same.

[Dhanya]

Pygmy laughed as Kayiri spun her. By nature she was tactile, being able to affirm a social bond gave her pleasure and put her at ease. It was enough to make her overlook Glayce's comment about skill in singing. Being self-centred, Pygmy had assumed it was directed at her and not Kayiri. She raised an eyelid when Glayce stepped away for a moment but didn't comment.

"You'd be welcome to, if you want to. You can sing the chorus with me! If you have any friends who want a moment on stage, they're welcome too." Pygmy replied to Kayiri.

When Glayce returned, she had a beer in her hand. Pygmy was used to others offering to do a run if they went to the bar, though it was hardly a global standard. Glayce did not owe her a drink or even an offer to retrieve one for her, she found herself mildly annoyed and ignoring the mitigating facts.

"I have to get back to it, I have one more song to sing and then you come on up, hey Kayiri? Bring some friends." She nodded her head to Glayce and walked back onto the stage.

They had a few moments to speak, as Pygmy was conversing with Hel about the next songs in their set.