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 Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 10:06 pm
 Six… Seven… Eight… Nine…
Amber silently counted the drops of blackberry juice as they fell into the glass beaker. On the branch above her, two mus, one black and one brown, were working together to squeeze the red liquid out of a clump of doomed berries.
“Eat! We can?” the brown one called down.
“Yes, you may,” Amberglow replied, putting a lid on the beaker. “Just a few, though. I would appreciate it if you and Gan could bring the rest down when you’re finished. We’ll take them home with us.”
As the two mus gleefully gorged on the juicy berries, the young mother set to putting her tools and glassware into her pack. It had been a long night in the Deep Woods, but she wasn't yet ready to head home.
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Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 9:26 am
"Tomorrow will take us away
Far from home
No one will ever know our names
But the bards' songs will remain
Tomorrow will take it away
The fear of today
It will be gone
Due to our magic songs
There's only one song
Left in my mind
Tales of a brave Sentinel
Who lived right near here
Now the bard songs are over
And it's time to leave
No one should ask you for the name
Of the one
Who tells the story
Tomorrow will take us away
Far from home
No one will ever know our names
But the bards' songs will remain
Tomorrow all will be known
And you're not alone
So don't be afraid
In the light and cold
'Cause the bards' songs will remain
They all will remain
In my thoughts and in my dreams
They're always in my mind
These songs of Specters, Sentinels and Wars
And Elites
Come close your eyes
You can see them, too..."
Fjord was in high spirits as he flew through Deep Woods on that warm, peaceful night. Despite having thicker down than most, due to the type of his father, this warm th was comforting and he found cheer, despite the lingering effects of the Thunderbird's visit. He had been busy hunting and gathering for the clan and at this moment, he was taking a nice break. He even wore his bells on this little outing and crow and Feather came with him. The mus clung to his feathers for dear life and the pica flew ahead.
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Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 6:28 pm
Feeling restless, Amber began to fly in a very roundabout way toward her home. Her companions clung to the back of her neck, their beady little eyes searching for items of interest that might be waiting below.
“Hear something!” Mor suddenly cried, scrambling around on Amber’s back as she tried to pinpoint the direction of the noise.
“Sit STILL!” Amber yelped. Mor’s erratic movements were throwing her off balance. She threw her feet forward and grabbed at a branch. The landing was utterly graceless, but the Wildtype managed to keep herself and her companions in one piece. She opened her wings and flapped hard, forcing the two mus to either get down or fall off. Obviously, the young mother was more stressed than she’d thought, and she wasn’t finished yet. She opened her beak to chastize Mor again, but then she heard something. Snapping her beak shut, Amber listened.
It was a voice. Singing. A very nice voice.
As it grew louder with the singer’s approach, Amber could also hear the tinkling of bells.
“Who could that be?” she wondered aloud.
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Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 10:07 pm
The mother's rather ungraceful landing caught the bard's attention almost immediate, but he continued to sing as he rapidly approached the spot where Amberglow had stumbled. He deemed it only polite to pretend that her near spill had gone unnoticed.
"Out in the distance
There's so much prey
The bounty that I've found
Is more than enough
Far to the hill we've to go
Over the mountains and plains
To the old hill
Where the old Specter sleeps
Blind in the open field’s day
So Noctus please take me away from here
And Brigadier shows the way right out..."
He continued to sing softly until he had perched on a limb opposite of the young mother and although it was a serious song, he sang it softly and almost joyously.
It was not yet finished, but h deemed ot rude to not introduce himself, especially since it was only practice.
"Ah, hello there, m'dear. Busy out and about? Such a fine night, I suppose. Allow me to introduce myself. Fjord the Muse at your service."
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Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 10:25 am
Amber’s feathers rose when she saw the bard, then sleeked tight against her body. She was quite embarrassed and hoped that he hadn’t seen her lose control of her companions (and of herself). It was very unlike her to be so highly strung.
"Ah, hello there, m'dear,” the bard said in his musical voice. “Busy out and about? Such a fine night, I suppose. Allow me to introduce myself. Fjord the Muse at your service.”
Still trying to compose herself, Amberglow took a few moments to look over her new acquaintance. What struck her most about him wasn’t his beautifully dyed plumage, or even that he appeared to be an aberrant. It was his eyes, so golden that they stood out like beacons against his light coloration.
She decided that he was of a good sort, and allowed herself a small smile.
“Pleased to meet you, Sir Muse,” she said. “My name is Amberglow, but please call me Amber.”
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Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 10:46 pm
"Ah, Amberglow, or rather, Miss Amber! A pleasure, indeed."
He replied cheerily as he observed both she and her mus. She was a pretty wildtype, for sure, and although her mus seemed to have caused her little mishap they also seemed like fine specimen for companions. Crow scrambled from the perch on his back and scurried across the limbs on nimble paws, eager to meet the new mus.
Feather zipped back and forth behind Fjord before settling in a much higher perch, where he warbled a few random birdsongs that were echoing in the distance.
As his bright orange eyes drifted over her, he almost immediately noticed the glass beakers.
"Oh, my... Are those... Those are actually glass? Family heirlooms? Such a rare, beautiful, and unfortunately lost art!"
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Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 9:27 pm
Amber glanced down at the strap that held her pack in place. She was always quick to forget the worth of her beakers, since she’d had them for as long as she could remember. “Oh, yes, these are real glass. They’ve been in my family for generations. My father always insisted that one of our ancestors was a Mystic, and that he’s the one who made my set.” She chuckled as she added, “I never believed it for even a second. My Will is below average, hardly becoming of the descendant of a Mystic.”
As she finished telling her family anecdote, the Wildtype’s eyes shifted toward the trio of mus, who were getting in their introductory sniffs and squeaks. She smiled at them, then looked again at the aberrant bard.
“The beakers are truly indispensable, but they aren’t the only treasures I have. Would you like to see what’s in them?”
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Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 9:51 pm
"Ah.... Hmmm... Well, Will varies from one to another. I've seen kin with abilities completely opposite of one another. Even so, it makes for a wonderful story." His amber eyes sparkled cheerily as he spoke and his feathers fluffed in a relaxed manner.
His eyes drifted to the mus, who seemed to be getting along fine. Crow was excited as she sniffed one mus and then the other.
"Oh? What might that be? I'd be delighted." He leaned closer, bu subconsciously maintained a respectable distance, as here had been many in the past who did not want him to "get his aberrant on them."
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Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 7:00 pm
Amber was by no means an aberrant aficionado, but she couldn’t bring herself to dislike the bard before her. She wasn’t bothered by his moving closer; in fact, she was getting excited at his seemingly genuine interest.
Using her Will, as weak as it was, the oddly-designated apothecary plucked a beaker from her pack strap and brought it to hover before Fjord. The cap popped off with another brush of Will, letting loose the scent that was inside. Cherry, mixed with a bit of honey to soften it.
“I make perfumes,” she explained as she waited for the bard’s reaction to the smell. “Not many Sentinels seem too interested right now, but I think it’ll be the start of a whole new craze once it catches on!”
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Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 7:23 pm
His eartufts quivered ever so slightly as he paused and inhaled the sweet cherry and honey mixture.
"Hmmm.... It's lovely... Delicious, even, if I dare say." He quieted for moment after speaking and let the scent linger on his senses. "You know... Believe it or not, it was never something I even considered."
He tilted his head to the side as he thought for a moment.
"Have you had any customers yet? It seems to be good idea. I expect many in the more artistic professions would be interested."
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Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 10:50 am
When Fjord had finished sampling the cherry perfume, Amber put it away and offered another.
“I’ve only had a few customers. I’m afraid it’s partly because I’m not very experienced at selling things.” Her eartufts laid back as she gave herself to a bit of embarrassment. “I accidentally gave away one of my beakers recently, but it won’t happen again. When I trade liquids now, I put them into treated leather flasks before giving them to the customer.”
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Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 9:37 pm
The bard took a silent moment to sample the next new and flavorful scent before speaking again.
"You lost one? Why, that certainly is sad news... Well, every night offers more possibilities! Mistakes teach us well." He gave her another cheery wink. "This one is excellent. May I be so bold as to inquire what is involved in producing it? I think I just might be interested in becoming a customer in the future." His feathers fluffed and his eartufts laid back in a comfortable position.
"I might know a few others who would be interested, too!" His mind drifted first to the pretty artisan he had a nice berry and skurri lunch with, then moved to the other bards at the theater.
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Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:06 am
Why was it that everything the bard said so kind? Not that Amber was complaining, but she'd never met someone so unabashedly nice. And not only that, he now spoke the magic words that she always hoped a potential customer would say.
With a zealous hoot, she launched into her speech, one she longed to but rarely got to give.
"Oh, it's nothing amazingly complicated. A lot of it is just finding the best way to make a natural scent stronger, like concentrating fruit juice until it's practically a syrup. Then there's a few other ingredients that I add, which strengthen it even further and make the smell last longer." She paused to return Fjord's wink. "But, of course, those special ingredients are kept a secret."
By now, her two mus were getting a little bored with the conversation (they'd heard it all before) and were looking for some fun. Mor started grooming herself, while Gan (always the smart one) dug through Amber's pack for something to eat. The Sentinel barely noticed his rummaging until she heard the clink of glass. There was a bit of a panic then, with her grabbing his tail in her beak and fastening the pack's flap with her Will. She made a mental note to find a willing leather crafter to make protective sleeves for her set of beakers.
She dropped her companion and turned an embarrassed grin on her new acquaintence, eartufts flattening. "Forgive me, Sir Muse." Then she shook her feathers out, bringing herself back to her previous state of calm. "Is there anything in particular that you would be interested in? I would be glad to make a special order for you if you wished it."
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Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:23 pm
"Understandably." He commented as she spoke of the special ingredients. "It would be horribly rude of me to ask that much of you. You do have some talent, though."
His eartufts twitched as she mentioned a special order and a smile twitched at the edges of his beak yet again. Being nice... It was something of a facade, though he did enjoy the company of others. He had always been nice. The only time he ever let it slip was around Sly. For some reason he could not keep the happy up with that black feather bag around.
"Special, you say? ... Hmm... I do admit I am fond of the scent of lavender."
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Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 12:42 pm
"Oh, lavender? That's one of my favorite perfumes!" She grinned and nudged her black Mus with a toe. "I put it on Gan every night. He loves it too."
Amber was gleeful indeed, but if the Bard looked at the Mus, he'd see that it's resigned expression said differently of her claims.
The female stepped closer to Fjord and opened her pack again. "I keep a little packet of it with me in case he needs freshening up. You can take it now and try it out, and I can fix up a proper batch for you later at home. How does that sound?"
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