[D7 LE] Lullabies

[Taochusu]

It was nearing the hour when most folks would go to sleep, so Taochusu decided to offer some restful music to help with that. He found a place to sit near the bulk of tents, but not in the midst of them. Sitting and placing his guqin in his lap, he inspects it closely to make sure it was still in good shape.

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

Ryoko, after her day, returned to camp.

She looked tired, worn down, but still had her instrument and tonfa - she wasn't often seen without them.

Pausing, something made her glance toward the man.

She'd never seen that instrument before... drifting closer, she tried to unobtrusively listen, forgetting that she stood out like a sore thumb.

[Taochusu]

It had been a long time since he played this one, it reminded him a great deal of his family. But he was feeling much better about them. Perhaps it was days of interaction with other people and his loneliness leaving him. But his heart didn't ache so much when he played.

D7 LE, Perform: Guqin / Agility, Inheritance +1k1, 2 CR -10: 7d10o10k5-10 20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY-gNjmpIKo

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

Ryoko listened, intent on his song.

It was good. Very good.

Drifting closer, she took a seat nearby, taking her own instrument from her shoulder, resting it between her knees, and placing bow to string. For the moment, her introduction would be musical, not spoken.

At first her song was beautiful, accompaniment to his own, but some inner fire drove her to try and take control of the music, to supplant the melody instead of playing harmony, and it became discordant.

Face flushing with anger and shame, she pulled her bow from the strings, internally fuming.

----

Failed perform -- https://orokos.com/roll/810330

[Taochusu]

With the end of the song, he smiled at the small, horned woman and nodding. "You're pushing yourself too much. Just gotta relax. My mother always told me that music comes from a peaceful place, even more exciting songs," he suggested.

"Play something soft, I'll follow along," he suggests in a low voice.

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

Face red, she bit back her reply. She knew how to play! How dare this gigantic man tell her, an Ongaku, how to play!?

After a moment, she took a deep breath, and placed the bow against the strings, and then pulled it away. She was so tense... why?

The silence stretched for a moment, and then she said, in a voice that oozed a forced calm, "I'm sorry I ruined your song. It was rude of me."

She stood awkwardly, as if planning to flee.

[Taochusu]

"It just didn't work together," he replies, shaking his head. "We've never practiced together. I was always messing up my mother's music when I was learning. She told me it wasn't a difference in skill. It was a difference in understanding. Two people playing together gotta understand each other or be different parts of the same song. We just gotta understand each other's music and we'll do better."

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

Another slow breath, and then she sat back down again, seeming not so different from a cat with hackles raised, still on the edge of flight.

Her stubborn pride brought the bow to the strings again, and she just said, "All right then."

This time, the song flowed smoothly, music rolling from the strings in soulful, delicate strokes. This time she controlled herself, her form not slipping, as she laid out a new melody, moody and passionate, yet restrained, memories of home, of things lost, and things yet to be gained, flowed from her fingers into her song, making for a beautiful, if haunting, melody.

-------

3 raise pass: https://orokos.com/roll/810335

[Taochusu]

Taochusu slowly entered with the music of Ryoko, taking his time and following along with the melody in a seamless way, supporting her song with as much care as he could. It came together nicely. He kept his eyes on his musical partner's fingers and maintained pace with her, allowing her lead to take focus. When it was finished, he waited for her to give her own critique.

D7 LE, Second Perform: Guqin / Agility, Inheritance +1k1, 2 CR -10: 7d10o10k5-10 18

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

As the song ended, she nodded, grudingly. "That was much better."

It seemed he was the better at adapting to other's music.

Small voices echoed in the back of her mind, sneering and cruel, but she did her best to block them out.

"I'm Ongaku no Ryoko."

[Taochusu]

"Taochusu. Good to meet you," he says with a nod. He begins strumming again, a simple lilting pattern but nothing complicated.

"Where'd you learn to play so well?" he asks, curious.

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

"It is my role. I am one of the Ongaku - I play the ceremonies for my tribe, the Takemori."

She sighed. "I've been learning how to play since I was a child, to play and to sing, and to diffuse disputes. We Ongaku are tradition keepers... we belong to the tribe."

[Taochusu]

"I been learning since I was little too. Though only cause I asked my mom to. This is all I got left of my tribe," he says, looking to his guqin. "I think she kind of did what you do. She would play when we did stuff as a tribe. I never stopped practicing even after they all died. My way of keeping her with me I guess. Don't think I ever met your tribe while I was traveling."

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

"We don't stay in one place, so unless you were in the south for long, you may have missed us."

She quirked her head, expression softening. "I'm sorry to hear about your tribe... no one should lose their home. Was it bandits, or nature?"

[Taochusu]

"An illness swept through the village. Less than a year later everyone but me and a cousin were dead. Left him weak and a boar killed him not long after," he explains. "Nothing for it but to keep living."

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

"Ah. Nature."

She gave a sad, mournful sort of sigh. "I pray their deeds were known to the spirits... that they will be given good lives in the new creation."

Setting her instrument aside, she added, "So you wander now? Or have you found a new home?"

[Taochusu]

"Been wandering since I was 12. Since coming on the expedition people have said I might fit with different clans so I might find a new home when this is over. No idea," he replies with a shrug. "Just making my way through life and trying to see something new as often as I can."

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

"Ah."

She nodded.

"You would make a good Ongaku, though I doubt you want to settle for a tribe, when so many mighty clans are recruiting."

[Taochusu]

"No tribes would have me in the past. They let me trade but had me leave eventually. Didn't want me bringing bad fortune or sickness. Might be different now since a lot of them are losing folks to the clans, but I'm not partial to joining them that turned me away before. At this point though, if most people are joining clans it would be a bit odd to join a tribe that might eventually join a clan anyway."

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

"True - but we Ongaku are the orphans and castaways, and you already have the skills."

She laughed, a light, husky laugh, and then added, "Not that you should feel pressured. After all, maybe my tribe will be conquered by a clan, or maybe we will join one willingly... I cannot claim to know what the future holds. We are not a tiny tribe, but we are not warriors. We defend ourselves, no more. If a clan came to take from us, we could not stop them."