Playing in the Street (Sayana)

by **Autumn Wilde** on November 23rd, 2014, 10:11 pm

73rd of Fall, 514 AV

Autumn had officially been living in the Traveler's Row apartments for four days now, and she decided it was time to get out more than just to the Rearing Stallion and back to her apartment.

Today she made a small breakfast and dressed in her regular clothing. Judging by how cold it was she decided to keep her coat on, covering the tattoos spanning her arms and back. She grabbed her gea'tar from it's place against the chest and made sure the key to the apartment was in her pocket and her coin purse on her waist before leaving the room and locking the door behind her.

Autumn didn't know where she was going, just that it was time to get past the welcome center. It was busy as always, Autumn was slowly growing accustomed to swerving through the crowds, and tried to refrain from saying "sorry" every time she bumped elbows with someone. Her polite nature made this incredibly difficult though.

She kept walking, getting deeper into the city into the more unfamiliar places. She was afraid of getting lost but the roads were pretty direct routes so she didn't turn back and she tried to walk as confidently as she could. Even with her head held high and her shoulders set back, she couldn't see anywhere past the average person, so was forced to look through spaces when she got the chance.

It was cold today, getting closer to Winter, and the morning sun had just risen. Autumn's breath came out in a cool mist and her cheeks were flushed a pink color.

Walking through the people was warming her up though and she almost didn't feel a need for the coat anymore.

As she continued walking she came across a small bazaar, a little area where people had blankets set out with all sorts of different merchandise. A middle-aged man with a cap for warmth and a thick coat sat on his blanket behind several different kinds of medicines. An old woman with graying hair sold jewelery from her blanket. People all around were going through the area, looking at all of the products and shopping.

Autumn scanned a few of the people selling their items from blankets, but nothing really interested her. Until she heard a beautiful noise. It was high pitched and soft and flowed so perfectly in the morning air. Autumn's ears automatically pricked up and she followed the sound. It led her to another blanket on which a woman that looked no older than 20 sat upon, playing a flute expertly and seemingly effortlessly. She never took a breath. Just kept playing and playing.

When the woman noticed Autumn standing there, she stopped and smiled at Autumn then put the flute down.

"Is there something I can help you with today?" The beautiful woman asked in a soothing voice. Autumn almost didn't answer, wanting nothing more than to hear her play again.

"I, uh.." She stuttered then took a breath and started over, "I was just walking around and heard you playing. I haven't met any other musicians since I've been here," She paused again and admired the many instruments that were set out. Another gea'tar was there, drums, along with flutes, even an Ocarina and a mandolin.

"Would you mind too much if I sat here and we played together?" Autumn asked the woman as politely as she could. The woman smiled again, very wide, at the prospect.

"But of course! I love having new musicians stop by! Let's see the wonderful instrument you've got there," The young woman spoke up and gestured to have Autumn sit down. Autumn smiled wide at being accepted to play with her then sat on the blanket beside her. She opened her case and gingerly took out the gea'tar that remained undamaged and shined.

"Beautiful gea'tar. Who did the design?" The woman asked Autumn. Autumn thought for a second.

"I bought it off a local in Zeltiva, he went by the name of... Quindel I believe." Autumn wasn't sure if this actually was the name of the man she had brought her gea'tar from, but it sounded close enough. The woman was right though, the gea'tar she owned was a beautiful one. The body was painted a deep scarlet color with an inlet of white roses along the outside of the sound hole. The neck and headstock had never been damaged or scratched so were still in the original condition they were bought in. In fact, one of the tattoos on Autumn's back was of a white rose exactly like the ones on the gea'tar's body.

"Well, I am Sina, I would love to play with you." Sina decided and Autumn smiled again. She closed the case and put the gea'tar strap around her shoulder, resting it comfortably in her lap.

"It's good to meet you Sina, I'm Autumn." She introduced herself then struck up a few basic cords on her gea'tar and played a loop until Sina picked up her own instrument, she chose the mandolin, and started playing a set that coincided with what Autumn was playing. Sina started singing then, making up lyrics as she went probably.

They went on like this for a while, and it was wonderful. Autumn never expected that she would find another musician so willing to play a few tunes with Autumn. It was such a wonderful thing and she could feel eyes turning their way, watching the two play their cheery songs in the middle of the street. No she wasn't busking, but she didn't need to. It was purely for the memories that would come from it.

Autumn Wilde

by **Sayana** on November 27th, 2014, 12:35 am

It was a bright crisp day when Sayana stepped out from the windy hallways of the Fortress where her apartment was buried deep within. The Eypharian was now getting used to the colder weather and more importantly having to bundle up each time she left a building. Today she wore her usual long grey wool coat with a soft fur trim with matching gloves on each of her six hands. However, on first glance one might not notice that she was Eypharian since the coat only had two sleeves in which her mid arms fit most comfortably, whereas her others were cramped yet cozy within the confines of the coat.

As the cool air struck her face she was tempted to pull up her hood too, but then decided against it since the cold was manageable and the hood obscured her sight. As she exhaled, a cloud of steam formed in front of her face and a sudden smile lit across her face. It had only been the previous day that she had first experienced the phenomenon and although she didn’t start breathing in and out like a maniac, she still couldn’t supress her smile.

Her path meandered as she walked through the streets. She didn’t have anywhere pressing to be that morning since her work typically started in the early evening and she hadn’t made any promises to Remi for today. She moved through the crowded areas comfortably enjoying the indirect company of her fellow citizens. Was she a citizen? She paused at the thought but then shrugged it off as quickly as it had come.

Her feet led her to the small bazaar outside on the third tier. She had visited it quite often during the summertime but hadn’t thought of it much since it had grown colder. Previously she had hoarded her money careful not to spend a copper despite the longing on her face, and now more than ever was she careful about her spending until her wages came in. There were still a variety of trinkets displayed on blankets but now the owners were huddled up in coats and jackets rather sprawled aimlessly out in the sun.

She was drawn to the sounds of plucking and strumming. Curious, she headed in that direction and spotted the pair of young ladies happily playing away. The songs were light and cheery and in moments Sayana’s step had a slight bounce to it matching the beat of the tune. She couldn’t really help herself since her feet and body just itched to move. So even as she approached her feet took unnecessary steps and she did a couple of turns along the way.

While it was certainly not music from her homeland, it was similar enough to what she was used to at the Rearing Stallion. And with a smile to both the singer and the other musician Sayana began dancing in earnest. Her feet moved lightly to match the quicker tempos and her whole body swayed and twisted during the slower smoother parts. Her single pair of arms made large gestures almost as if compensating for the fact that she was limited to only moving her mids. Quite often she popped her hips up and down out of habit, though the movement was hard to detect underneath her coat. As the song concluded Sayana did a joyful spin and finished by posing with her arms like a triangle above her head and her hands back to back. With a cute head slide back and forth she broke the pose and smiled at the two musicians.

“I feel like I should know you…” The Eypharian said hesitantly to Autumn. While she tried to pay attention to the musicians who would come and go at the Rearing Stallion there were often times when there were a few in a night or that she was simply too focused on her own performance to remember names and faces.

by **Autumn Wilde** on November 27th, 2014, 2:42 pm

Autumn has played duets with other musicians many times before, but this time it was different. Sina was obviously very skilled and relaxed, easily strumming without paying much attention, whilst Autumn had to struggle to keep up. She missed a few chords here and there and accidentally slid her fingers to far in one way occasionally, but otherwise it was the most incredible feeling ever.

About halfway through one of the more popular songs that Autumn knew from Zeltiva, a merry tune with plenty of arpeggios and riffs to keep it interesting, a semi-familiar woman in a large coat with what seemed to be fairly cramped sleeves, obviously containing more than one pair of arms, came swaying over with graceful maneuvers and arm swinging. The dancer was practiced, and incredibly impressive to watch. It was hard for Autumn to continue focusing on her own playing with the dancer tapping her feet in time to the tune, swirling and twirling everywhere. Autumn recognized that the song was coming to a close, and made sure to focus so she could get the ending right. Sina was still smiling, watching the dancer with her eyes glistening. Of course, she didn't have to struggle to make sure she wouldn't muss it up. They got to the end of the song and strummed their last note, the dancer ending her dance with her two first arms above her head.

Autumn sat and smiled, ready to start another song, when the dancer spoke up.

"I feel like I should know you..." She had a confused look on her face and was studying Autumn, obviously waiting for an explanation. Autumn felt the weird familiarity too. She had definitely seen a woman with many arms like this one, although that one had six arms and she danced at the Rearing Stallion at night. Autumn occasionally went into the tavern to play along with some of the other musicians, or to watch the show.

She put her gea'tar flat on the ground, resting it carefully, and turned her full attention on the dancer.

"Do you.." She paused and studied the exotic woman again. Maybe in the dim lighting of the tavern she looked different, but Autumn could swear she had seen this woman dancing there before, "You're the dancer at the 'Stallion, aren't you?" She said the question not unkindly, with more of a curious gesture than a harsh one. It was rare that one would see Autumn being rude to someone, even rarer for her to be rude to a complete stranger.

Autumn stood from her place on the ground so she could be at a more conversational level with the dancer, and was surprised to find that they were almost the same height, that the dark-skinned woman was actually even shorter than her. Sina started strumming away with a song unfamiliar to Autumn, and was glad she had been interjected so she wouldn't have to admit that she didn't know it.

Autumn Wilde

by **Sayana** on December 1st, 2014, 12:05 am

"You're the dancer at the 'Stallion, aren't you?"

“Yes I am,” the Eypharian replied with a coy smile and put her hand to the side of head in another cutesy pose. “Sayana is my name. And you must be one of the travelling musicians that were playing there,” she inferred and she gestured to Autumn’s gea-tar. “That’s a beautiful instrument you’ve got.”

The other woman was still playing away but now with a new song. She had stopped her singing, probably out of courtesy for their conversation, but the music was lovely to listen to. Even with the effort to be quieter, Sayana was still drawn to the music and if one looked, you could see her foot tapping away to the beat.

“Do you know this one?” She asked curiously. “I must say, I’ve never come across so much new music in a single season. And the northern music is very different… but just as fun to dance to.” By this point she could no longer stand completely still (and not that she was if you counted her tapping foot). She still remained standing on the spot in front of Autumn but her body was filled with small movements that matched the rhythms of the song. She would shift from one foot to the other; tap her foot in front and to the side then sweep it around to switch feet; twist her shoulders back and forth; and give small belly rolls (though they were hard to see beneath the coat). Her arms generally stayed still and were held in a relaxed T-shape, but every now and then she’d do an articulated circle of her wrist.

Although the Eypharian was curious about Autumn, she was only half listening because she was enjoying Sina’s music so much. And occasionally her eyes darted over to Sina as if trying to anticipate the next phrase of the music.

OOCJust as a side note, the coat that Sayana is wearing is just a normal coat (only 1 set of sleeves) and she uses that for her middle pair of arms (or mids). However, her other arms are reasonably apparent since they are kind of bulky cramped under a coat that was not designed for them.

by **Autumn Wilde** on December 1st, 2014, 9:46 pm

So the Eypharian was the dancer at the tavern. Autumn felt a sense of pride that she had managed to remember something slightly distant in her memory. Her lack of control of her face muscles made her lips lift in a slight, unconscious grin. Not an unkind one, just one that made her face sort of light up a little bit.

Autumn nodded and said "Thank you" when Sayana had complimented her gea'tar's design. Sina was still playing the unfamiliar song when Sayana asked her another question.

"Do you know this one?" The dancer asked with a look of curiosity. Instantly Autumn's cheeks flared a bright red and she looked away, acting as if something had caught her attention off to the side. The one thing that Autumn didn't like to talk about was her absolute lack of knowledge of music from cities outside of Zeltiva. The issue never came up when she had been living in Zeltiva, as it was her hometown. She supposed that this would just be another problem to overcome.

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other uncomfortably and absently scratched the palms of her hands, a sign of nervousness or pressure.

"It is not one I'm familiar with, no. Although I would very much like to learn it." She admitted, trying not to bite her tongue. When she looked down at Sina, the more skilled musician just nodded and kept on playing the catchy tune. Autumn usually kept tempo by clicking her tongue inside her mouth, which she was doing now.

Sayana explained how different the Northern music was to her, even though she still enjoyed dancing to it, and Autumn watched as the dancer got immersed in the silent song and went through a series of small but noticeable movements. Autumn almost wished her balance wasn't so poor so she could join Sayana, but instead she stuck to slightly swaying her hips and rolling her shoulders, keeping in time with the song.

As the Eypharian danced, Autumn started talking.

"I'm not very practiced in the Northern songs either. I traveled here from Zeltiva so I know quite a few of the local tunes there. My grandmother always told me that the only true way of becoming well-rounded in all areas of music is to travel to all of the different areas and learn their music." Autumn ended her explanation and smiled.

"Are you from Syliras? I would like to say the people here are friendly, but only a few of them really are." She felt like maybe this would offend Sayana if she truly was from Syliras, but she was an Eypharian so Autumn was riding on the hope that she was from the desert city Ahnatep.

Sina's music occasionally sped up and then slowed back down until she reached the end and strummed the last chord. Autumn's lack of dancing skill left her with the inability to finish her dance in some impressive pose, so she just ended up stopping the swaying and shoulder-rolling as inconspicuously as she could and looked back at Sina with a smile, thanking her for the music.

Autumn Wilde

by **Sayana** on December 6th, 2014, 1:37 pm

Sayana smiled at the musician’s blush. She seemed rather sweet. Especially to be embarrassed by simply not knowing one song. Her smile broadened more when she saw Autumn’s hips start swaying to the music and even her shoulders rolling with it. In a friendly gesture the dancer tried to match the musician’s swaying and then countered it by moving her hips in the opposite direction, yet still in time.

But when the musician spoke up Sayana tried to tone down her movements so that she could listen to what Autumn had to say. She frowned when the woman said she was from Zeltiva. Wasn’t that also a northern city? She had memorized the locations of several main cities before setting off from Ahnatep but she couldn’t quite recall the exact location of Zeltiva.

“Are you from Syliras? I would like to say the people here are friendly, but only a few of them really are.”

“Do I look like I’m from Syliras?” Sayana asked with a grin and she was about to spread out all her arms when she remembered that four of them were constrained in her coat. “Well you know, if I didn’t have this coat on,” she added lamely with a complete loss of her dramatic flair. “I’m from Ahnatep. The bright city of golden sands and cool waters.” She stated proudly. “And Zeltiva… isn’t that a northern city too? It’s not like it’s in the Eyktol desert.”

She paused long enough for Autumn to answer and then carried on to respond to the musician’s other statement. “The people here… are not like those in Ahnatep. I think it’s the climate. Some of the people are colder here, but there are still some good friendly ones.” She paused again, recalling a certain unpleasant person she had met.

“Hey, have you ever come across someone who just didn’t like you, no matter what you tried to say? Like right from the start?” Sayana asked and her eyebrows furrowed at the thought. “I mean, not that people wouldn’t like you of all people, but you know, one or two that just didn’t…” She paused grasping for words and hoped that the musician would get her meaning.

It was not necessarily the first question one would ask a complete stranger but it had been on Sayana’s mind for several days and she wasn’t going to get much resolution without talking about it.

If you would like a link to that thread :

by **Autumn Wilde** on December 6th, 2014, 4:46 pm

"Do I look like I'm from Syliras?" Sayana asked, not unkindly, and then attempted to spread out her arms, only to be stopped short by the limited coat. Autumn understood though and nodded. Then the dancer asked about whether Zeltiva was a northern city. No it definitely wasn't in the Eyktol desert, but Autumn didn't chastise the girl on not knowing where her home city was.

"Actually, Zeltiva is on the Eastern Coast. We have the most marine power in all of Mizahar." Autumn didn't mean to boast, but she was very prideful of her city, and would defend it to her last breath should anyone ever try speak badly of it.

Sayana admitted that the people here were 'colder' than the ones in Ahnatep, but there were still a few of the more friendly ones. Autumn nodded in response, recalling the man that had so kindly offered to lead her to where she needed to go on her first day in the city. She hadn't seen that man since, and wasn't ashamed to admit that she had been looking out for him whenever she explored the city.

"Hey, have you ever come across someone who just didn't like you, no matter what you tried to say? Like right from the start?" The dancer suddenly asked. Autumn furrowed her brows and thought, while the dancer tried to explain her question better, but seemed at a loss for words. Autumn understood what she was trying to say though. Had anyone ever just not liked her?

The musician frowned and really tried to think about it, what about the man down her street, when she was really little? Occasionally he had given her a few annoyed stares, but she lived by him her whole life, so it didn't count as 'right from the start'.

Had somebody not liked Sayana right from the start? Obviously, since she was asking the question. But how could one not like her? She had this air of energy, her dancing was infectious, and she seemed pleasant enough. Autumn supposed that no, she had never really had an unpleasant encounter with a stranger. One where the stranger just openly disliked her. A few times she had bumped into people here and there and they would make rude, offhand comments, but it wasn't like they personally accused Autumn of being something they didn't like.

"I'm sorry, but no I don't think I have. The people I meet are usually friendly enough. Even those who would want nothing to do with me." Autumn admitted. She felt sorry that the dancer would have someone dislike her right away. That's such an awful thing to have resting on someone's conscience. They would walk around thinking "What had I done?" and trying to make sense of it.

Sometimes, when Autumn was still living in Zeltiva with her grandmother, they would go walking around. There was this older man who also walked around, and the man and Autumn's grandmother would passive-aggressively stare at each other or exchange a clipped word or two if they passed each other. Autumn asked who the man was, but Grandma never gave a straight answer. It was always "He's just an old friend" or "Don't you worry your little heart about it, dear." And so Autumn didn't worry, but now it came back to her. Who was that man? What had they done in the past that would make them dislike each other just from looking at one another?

Autumn Wilde

by **Sayana** on December 6th, 2014, 5:35 pm

“Actually, Zeltiva is on the Eastern Coast. We have the most marine power in all of Mizahar.”

“The eastern coast…” Sayana mused. Then quietly she muttered to herself, “New Eypharians Send Word.” Her face brightened as she realized that Zeltiva was on the same side as Ahnatep. Or at least the same coast. So that would be… she drew an imaginary line in the air as she pictured the map she had memorized. Maybe it was in Cyphrus… but that was Claridon, wasn’t it? Regardless, it didn’t matter all that much. So long as she was here.

The Eypharian waited anxiously for the musician’s response to her second question. But despite thinking about it, Autumn didn’t seem to have experienced much of that.

“I'm sorry, but no I don't think I have. The people I meet are usually friendly enough. Even those who would want nothing to do with me.”

Sayana gave a soft sigh. She still felt troubled by it all. “I mean, I’ve come across people who are stupid, and people who are horny… and some people who are stupidly horny.” She recalled incidences at taverns when she had to use her daggers. “And then there are people who don’t like you because they are jealous – but that’s easy to see. And you can either ignore it, flaunt it in their face, or try to be good and tell them that they don’t need to be jealous because they have what is important. And then there are people who don’t like you because they are scared… but if you’re kind to them, then usually things are alright.”

By the end of her long winded ramblings she realized just how depressing the subject had gotten. Even Sina had switched to a song with a mournful tune – whether accidental or cheekily deliberate, Sayana couldn’t quite tell. Regardless, she shook her head to clear her thoughts and said, “Anyways let’s focus on something happier. You – nothing sad.” She pointed accusingly at the woman on the blanket.

“Let’s do another song. Do you want to play something fun that you know, or join me in dancing?” Sayana asked Autumn and held out her hands invitingly. Whether or not Autumn knew how to dance, the Eypharian was confident that she’d be able to get the woman moving and having fun – especially since it Autumn was already rather musical. “Oh, and I didn’t quite catch your name. I’m Sayana.”

by **Autumn Wilde** on December 8th, 2014, 8:55 pm

The dancer gave a disappointed sigh at Autumn's response. She felt bad that she couldn't fully understand what she was going through. It wasn't a good feeling when Autumn couldn't do something to help.

She nodded along as the Eypharian went through her rant about people liking and not liking you.

"My grandma has always taught me to be kind, so that's probably why I don't really have a problem with very many people." She replied to the woman. Sina's song had grown a little dark. Long and slow arpeggios with a few minor chords to make it seem slightly dreary. It was almost funny, as Sayana's tone had also grown troubled.

Before Autumn could comment though, Sayana shook her head and looked accusingly at the woman on the ground.

"You-nothing sad." Autumn laughed and Sina just shrugged, plucking faster chords, something upbeat and merry.

"Do you want to play something fun that you know, or join me in dancing?" The dancer asked Autumn and held out her hands in an obvious invitation to dance. The girl hesitated. In all honesty, she wanted to continue playing. Dancing was not something that came easily to the clumsy girl, and really only knew the common dances one would use at a party in Zeltiva. Most of these kinds of dances included minimal leg movement. It was all in the hips and arms. But the Eypharian had been so kind and fun, and Autumn was sure she wouldn't mind too much if her dancing was just plain awkward.

Autumn smiled and took the dancer's invitation.

"I'll dance. But I must warn you my skills are very minimal. Please don't laugh, She joked to the girl, with a small laugh, "And my name is Autumn. It's very good to meet you, Sayana." She let the music work it's way in to her body. She had always had a knack for 'feeling' the music. More for playing it then for dancing to it, but she figured the two weren't so different. She wasn't sure what to do with her hands though, since they were usually busy plucking and strumming. So she left them to do their own thing, just trying to make her body move in time to the music and focusing on not tripping over her own feet.

Autumn Wilde

by **Sayana** on December 19th, 2014, 11:23 pm

“Autumn, Spring, Summer, Fall. The fairest season of them all.” Sayana replied in an almost sing-song voice recalling some musical line. “See what I did there?” She added cheekily. As Sina started up the merry chorus, Sayana couldn’t help herself and began skipping about in a circle around Autumn with the cheerful tune.

“Dancing is about feeling the music in your heart,” she said loudly over the sounds of the mandolin. “Then letting it flow through your whole body.” To emphasize her point she fanned out all her arms – ditching her coat in the process. She’d probably regret it later, but right now she could relish in the freedom for a song.

The woman, Autumn, seemed rather musical in her movements, though they were small and condensed. Perhaps it was the winter gear, or just her lack of confidence in her skill. Regardless, Sayana reached out with her two mid hands in effort to take Autumn’s hands in hers. “Now it’s time to dance with me,” she said with a smile. She wanted to spin about holding hands, much like a child who just figured out how momentum works. To twirl Autumn about in turns, in which the musician would go under the bridge formed between their arms. And to finally link arms and skip around in circles much like the dancers she had seen at the Harvest Festival. And then it would be time to leave for the Bazaar or other errands that needed to be done.

OOC :

Completed Playing in the Street (Sayana)