PM to join (A-Not-So) Happy Birthday! (Natalia)

[Alia Beaudouin]

1st of Summer, 514 AV

Sometimes, Alia thought the very gods hated her.
Her luck seemed to be horrible today. She had woken up, jumped out of bed, and immediately tripped over her own feet and hit her head on the dresser. Even though it hadn’t hurt much, it had bled a lot. After washing off the wound, Alia soon realized she didn’t own any bandages, unfortunately. That was one of the moments where she was extremely grateful her hair was the same color as blood.

Even if someone did notice it, it wasn't as if it would be someone she knew. She was heading for the beach, on the first day of summer, so it was cooler than she expected the rest of the summer to be. It was a bit sad, actually, going to the beach to celebrate your birthday alone. Then again, only oneself could buy the absolute best present for oneself. And the best present, Alia had gotten.

After two seasons in wait, Alia had finally gone out and gotten herself a mandolin. The absolute best present she could have hoped for.
Happy birthday, Alia, you got yourself a mandolin and no one wished you a happy birthday. Have a great day. She let herself wallow in self pity for several chimes before reaching the beach and forcing herself out of it. She was being silly and she knew it. Stupid, even. She hadn’t told anyone it was her birthday, so no one would talk to her about it. It was obvious, how come she was sulking over it? She had the best present anyone could have gotten her, and now she had a place to play it. She should be rejoicing.

Speaking of rejoicing, it seemed as if all of Riverfall was celebrating the change of season. Apparently, The Leadership of Riverfall had called in a festival to celebrate summer. There were plenty of summer themed decorations, flowers, bright colors, the whole package. It still looked and felt like spring, yet Riverfall was very ready for it to be summer. In reality, so was Alia. Remembrance or not, she still got to feel secretly special about how she was one year older today. Twenty, if she wasn’t mistaken. Officially an adult, she guessed. Then again, she had been an adult since she left Wind Reach nearly a year ago.
No, this years’ birthday was like every other one, except this time, she had a mandolin strapped to her back and was heading towards a sunny day on the beach.
Hopefully.

Alia carried with her the mandolin, slung over her shoulder and firmly attached to her back, along with another bag. Said bag contained her inspiration notebook and her waterskin, which hopefully still contained cold water, if the sun hadn’t gotten to it.

Sliding her mandolin off her back and into playing position without missing a step, Alia plucked at the strings, tuning it to perfection, or what Alia thought was so.
Sitting on a large, exposed rock from the aftereffects of low tide, Alia strummed a few meaningless notes before launching into the short tune of Happy Birthday.
She made up some lyrics to go with the notes, parodying off of the original.
Happy Birthday to me,
as I sit by the sea,
watching the ocean,
yes, happy birthday to me.

[Natalia]

It had been a fairly uneventful morning thus far. Natalia had woken up very early, as soon Syna made her way into the dawn sky. Once her body transformed into her Ethaefal form, she never wanted to sleep further, even if she had gotten very little sleep. In the daytime, the rays of sun were her source of energy. She felt recharged while she bathed in Syna's light.

Today Natalia had something to look forward to; something that she'd been waiting for after a slow spring season. A parade was being thrown to celebrate the start of summer, and Natalia couldn't be more excited. She remembered a time when she hated going outside with people bustling everywhere. She grew anxious because she did not yet have that bond with her Goddess so she knew everything would be alright. Thankfully she was in a much better place now. She loved being outdoors and meeting others. In Riverfall it was even easier because the people were usually very friendly.

She dressed as soon as her feet hit her wood floors, not wanting to wait a minute further to go outside and enjoy the weather. She wore a long, but thin linen dress that was strapless, and wore her long blonde hair down in tresses. The colors of her hair and horns had been changing, but for the first day of summer, Natalia was happy to find that it was all solid now. It must've been because Syna's reign was finally in session, but Natalia looked more radiant than ever today. It was hard for all to not stop and stare at the beautiful woman.

She left soon after she woke even though the parade wasn't for another couple of bells. She left straight for the beach, wandering the shores for a couple of bells while she watched the sunrise. It was a perfect view to see where the horizon met the still morning waters. Her skin shimmered in the light, and her hair looked like it was dancing when Syna's rays reflected off it it. After walking in silent prayer with her Goddess, she started to make her way up to town to catch the parade. But it seemed like her plans would be paused for the moment as she heard a familiar tune being strummed on a wonderful sounding instrument.

The red haired girl caught her eye, and she turned towards her, still a good distance away from her. She stopped and listened for a couple moments, listening to the music. Suddenly, she heard to girl sing, and it was beautiful. You could tell she had a natural knack for it. She found herself swaying to the music and closing her eyes. When it stopped, she opened them back up, wondering what happened. The girl sat there, looking lonely. It didn't look like anyone was coming to meet her, so Natalia thought of an idea. She'll go over there and keep the girl company.

She slowly approached the girl, a friendly smile on her face. "Hello. That music you were playing was wonderful. Would you mind playing another?"

[Alia Beaudouin]

"Hello. That music you were playing was wonderful. Would you mind playing another?"
Jumping a bit from the unexpected voice, Alia turned to find a tall, rather beautiful woman speaking to her. Though, with more observation, ‘rather beautiful’ became evident to be the wrong words. She was stunning, and though Alia was never one for the thought that external beauty defined a person, it seemed different for this woman. Like her external beauty defined her inner beauty, like this was what she looked like inside.

Then again, Alia was never one to be good with strangers, so no matter how pretty this particular stranger was, it didn’t stop her stammered speech. ”I- Uh, yes, I guess I could… Uhm… Sing another…”
Momentarily returning her mandolin to her back in favour of the backpack, Alia drew out her inspiration notebook and flipped several pages before finding one she could use. It was a song her mother used to sing to her at night. It was one of her favourites, so she practiced it often. Plucking at the first few notes, Alia cleared her throat and, now facing away from the ocean and towards the woman, began to sing.

”There are loved ones in the glory,
Whose dear forms you often miss.
When you close your lively story,
Will you join them in their bliss?”

Performing in front of strangers was literally in the job title of acting, yet when it came to singing or playing her mandolin, it seemed nearly impossible for others to like it. Then again, her acting skill came in handy as she tried to keep a straight face and stop herself from seeming so pathetic.

”Will the circle be unbroken,
By and by, by and by?
Is a better home awaiting
In the sky, in the sky?”

The song was quite long, as it wasn’t the fastest paced, so to stop herself from taking up too much of the woman’s time, Alia skipped several stanzas of the song.

”You can picture happy gathering
Round the fireside long ago,
And you think of tearful partings
When they left you here below.”

Her inspiration notebook was perched on her lap, just in the right position to allow her to see both the notes and lyrics. She had perfected that position when she first started playing, as a music stand was almost never provided when she found herself performing. She returned once again to the chorus of the song, a thousand thoughts running through her head, but mainly, she was processing how to sing the song her mother had taught her all those years ago.

”Will the circle be unbroken,
By and by, by and by?
Is a better home awaiting
In the sky, in the sky?”

Realizing she had reached the end of the song, Alia slowed her pace a bit, missing several beats but getting back on track quickly. She couldn’t mess up the final part, it was her favourite line from the song.

”One by one, their seats were emptied.
One by one, they went away.
Now the family is parted.
Will it be complete one day?”

Strumming the final few chords, Alia let the last note stay suspended in the air for several seconds before being almost literally washed away by the sound of the ocean. Awkwardly doing a half bow from where she sat, Alia waited for the woman’s reaction, hoping she would have enjoyed the short performance.