Wise man, what do you know? (EM, D7)

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

Ryoko had began to feel... strange.

Really strange.

It wasn't the pain of previous days, but almost as if a part of her body which had been numb her entire life was now regaining sensation, with pins and needles, and also an incredible... awareness... of her self.

Perhaps this wise Shinsei man would know what had happened, since the so-called gods did not.

So she went to his tent, early in the morning, to see if he had answers for her.

She hadn't noticed, but her horns were starting to grow, a little bit longer, and her hair was beginning to grow longer as well, unnaturally fast. Whatever was changing in her, it was moving quickly.

[Shinsei]

Shinsei left his tent with a roll of his shoulders and a yawn, which paused abruptly when he noticed that, once again, he had company at his tent. His eyes quickly scanned the newcomer, taking note most prominently of the horns protruding out from the rim of her hair.

A moment later he resumed his yawn, completed his stretch, then gestured casually towards his sitting rock. Any keen eyed individual who had visited his tent prior might think it was the same rock that was always there, but carrying a rock around with yourself would be crazy.

"You are here seeking something, I imagine." It was less a question and more a statement of what he knew was the reason she would be here, in the broad sense at least.

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

"I am."

She quirked her head, and then glanced at the rock.

Was it big enough for two? She wouldn't sit and leave him standing.

"I'm told you know many things."

[Shinsei]

The rock had plenty of room for two people to sit, as that was the most common arrangement for Shinsei divesting himself of knowledge.

"That is a very common belief. What is it you are seeking to know?"

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

"About something that has happened to me. Do you know anything about Ogres?"

She took a seat on the rock, knees tucked up against her chest, arms wrapped around those knees.

"I have had an experience and after it... I am not myself."

[Shinsei]

"I know something of the other races, but the knowledge is limited. I will try to answer what I am able. What was this experience, and in what way do you no longer feel yourself?"

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

Ryoko related the vision she had experienced, and then added, simply, "At first it was pain, like fire running through me, in ways and places I did not know I had."

Raising one hand, she studied it, quietly, "Now it is like a part of me that was numb has regained feeling. Like a limb which fell asleep, but is now back under my control... though I don't yet know how to move and sense it. I cannot explain it."

[Shinsei]

"That stone again. Can you recall precisely what was sung?" Shinsei was becoming less fond of that rock every day.

"As for the other matter, your words sound like an awakening. Such is often the case with enlightenment, but it is usual not so... boisterous. It may be that you've awakened a latent power within yourself, and are beginning to tap into that strength. I know something about this."

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

"I don't know what could have awoken, when I did not know I was sleeping. As for the song..."

She closed her eyes, going back to the memory, and then began to hum, finding that tune again.

After a moment, she sang, nearly exactly:

"Marching, marching, ever onward
The legion knows the way
We tread the path and roll the wheel
Between both night and day
The sky strikes down on mortal hands
The heavens ere to fall
We march onward unto victory
Lest thousands bear the pall."

[Shinsei]

"Many who sleep never know, until the dream abruptly ends."

Shinsei titled his head to the side as he listened, a curious expression on his face. "And yet another reference... who could have created such a thing, and what does it mean for us to stumble upon it so easily..."

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

"A reference? To what?"

Ryoko quirked her own head to the side, mirroring his motion.

"I only know that when I sang my own song, it seemed to... harmonize."

[Shinsei]

"Hmmm... have you considered that your music could be linked to what happened to you? Or even the state of mind you reached when the moment occurred? I've never met one of your kind before, so this is quite fascinating."

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

"I don't know, my music has never done that before... perhaps a state of mind. I was thinking of, and singing, a song similar to that one... one passed on to me by the elders of my people. Ogres who still remember centuries past."

Ryoko sighed.

"I begin to wonder if perhaps I stumbled onto something I was not meant to... or perhaps something I was meant to... I'm not sure which one is more frightening."

[Shinsei]

"Both seem equally possible and equally frightening. But perhaps you are correct in that your thoughts about the distant past were what created the connection." Shinsei shifted a little on the rock. "The song you heard speaks of things that are ancient, and seems to be tied to a force that is itself ancient. Perhaps, in the presence of this stone, you touched upon that ancient force, and unlocked the changes occurring in you now?"

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

"Perhaps... I really don't know. I have no idea what these changes are. I feel a growing ache... like a muscle wanting to stretch, but I am not sure it is safe or wise to stretch it."

She frowned.

"I do not want to cause trouble."

[Crow]

At the word trouble, Karasu flitted out from behind the tent and landed squarely on Ryoko's instrument, claws wrapped tightly around the neck.

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

Ryoko twitched in surprise, but otherwise remained very still, not wanting to startle the bird.

"Hello there..."

For a brief moment, she was entranced by the glossy black bird.

[Crow]

The glossy black bird, it seemed, was entranced by the instrument, evidenced by the fact that it seemed keen to play it. The strings made a fairly awful sound as the bird's talons alternatingly gripped and plucked at them.

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

Ryoko winced, gently sliding the instrument from her shoulder so it could lean against her knees, and she could look at the bird.

Glancing back to Shinsei, she raised an eyebrow, with an unspoken question.

[Shinsei]

Shinsei sighed, then whistled, to no avail: the bird continued his assault of the defenseless instrument.

"He gets this way sometimes. Perhaps if you played something for him he might settle down."