[Flashback] A Musical Journey (Dlight)

[Quelen Dran'Sora]

Season of Fall, Day 52, 509 AV

Syna was just starting to illuminate the ocean as Quelen swam towards the beach where she was to meet Dlight. Cautiously she poked her head out of the water, looking for any dangerous landwalkers, before swimming her way up towards the sand of the beach.

Walking up onto the beach, carrying a harp in her hand and wearing her bag on her back, she looked around a little nervously for her dark furred friend. She had heard the horrible stories of what some landwalkers did, and she did not want to end up cooked and eaten.

Still, her desire to meet with Dlight again and keep her promise far outweighed any fear she had, and so she waited for her friend to arrive.

[Dlight]

The nearly silent sound of the ocean's surface being disturbed alerted Dlight to his eagerly awaited company. His dark eyes had been fixated on the coast, body huddled on the thick branch of a tree that had plenty of leaves to provide some sort of camouflage. Dlight had easily discovered that while instinct could lead a man to a place he needed to be, it was not always the most desirable place in the world.

His fur itched from sweat and the odd bug or two that had decided to take up residence. The only relief from the heat may have been the water, but the Zith had had enough of water, and didn't feel like coughing up any more out of his lungs should he fail at swimming.

Dlight's movements were swift and slightly clumsy, his wings newly formed but still cramped, leg muscles equally uncomfortable. He slid from the branch carefully, but landed a bit less carefully, his wings helping slow his fall yet not preventing the sharp ache of his feet when they hit the hard ground.

The Zith stumbled onto the stand but straightened himself by the time that he spotted the Charoda, expression wary from general lack of sleep but hopeful. He was slightly surprised but grateful that the Charoda had returned, and not only returned to a landwalker, but one of the most dangerous kind. Irony at it's best, he thought, but didn't plan on presenting any kind of danger to Quelen.

"You returned!" He simply exclaimed, happiness as present as it could be considering he'd fallen from the sky only a few days ago.

[Quelen Dran'Sora]

The sound of something moving drew Quelen's attention, and she readied herself to run in case it was something not Dlight. When her friend emerged she relaxed and smiled brightly at him, "Of course, I couldn't go against what I said to a friend. How are you doing today Dlight? You look unhurt?"

She was not only relieved to see that it was Dlight coming, but it also seemed none of the frightening land creatures had harmed Dlight. That had been one of her biggest concerns when she left him the other day. Holding out the lap harp that she held in her hand she asked with a smile, "Are you ready to learn how to play music?"

She was both excited and nervous to be going through with this. She was looking forward to helping Dlight, and finding out more about him, but she had never taught anyone before, much less a landwalker. She hoped that she wouldn't make many mistakes.

[Dlight]

Friend was a foreign concept to Dlight, the word having not been heard since years long passed, and even then he wondered if it had meant anything. His life as a Zith was anything but generous to others, and he couldn't remember a time when he'd done something for someone else. The Zith's face twisted slightly in confusion and surprise, but quickly straightened out once Quelen spoke of music. "Yes!" He exclaimed, his voice excited out of eagerness, although his curiosity was taken by the odd object that the one-armed Charoda held out. How was this played? Dlight wondered how such an object could produce music, and how instruments were even born. Did someone, perhaps, just discover them, or were they created by a God or Goddess? "What is this?" He finally asked, his mind ready to be filled with everything she knew about music. Dlight was ignorant to her nervousness and her lack of teaching experience, and as such looked at her with his full attention, awaiting an answer.

[Quelen Dran'Sora]

Quelen couldn't help but giggle at Dlight's excited response to her question. She was glad to see him in better spirits than when they had first met. Nodding at the instrument in her hand she offered another smile to her friend, "This is a lap harp, it's the instrument which I play. Well, I play it less now, but I should still be able to show you the basics."

Sitting down on the sand she crossed her legs and placed the harp on her lap, "I must tune it first, as the sound is different out of the water," she pointed at the small nobs along the top of the instrument, attached to each string, "These allow me to adjust each string so it plays the right note. Like this."

She plucked one of the strings with a finger, frowning slightly at the rather sharp note that resulted. Twisting the nob on that string a little looser she plucked the string again, "Did you hear the difference between the two notes?"