An Unexpected Arrival

[Balthazar Black]

3 Vhalar 720

Well... Balthazar's trip back to Scalvoris was not going nearly as well as his last few trips around the Untold were. Everything felt further away and in the distance he could see the brand he'd left on Isabella guiding him like a star would guide a better navigator. He thought he'd be home within a few bits but something unexpected happened. The Untold had always been it's own sort of swirling chaos. It had always defied the typical laws of the universe that Balthazar clung to. Accepting that had been the first step in truly learning to navigate it. He could not truly decide anything here other than when he wanted to exit. He started a journey in a direction and the Untold decided how he got there... but the brand gave him direction and direction made everything seem slower.

It was chance that Balthazar perceived the Untold like a thick forest in the snow. There was no cold, merely the crunch of the ground beneath his feet as he trekked through the icy, snow laden trees. Every tree was a dreamer dreaming somewhere in the world- a door into a dreamscape. He didn't notice the black cat weaving through the trees behind him the first time or his lack of a shadow. Yet the further he walked, the more he began to feel like he was being watched and for a mage in the Untold that was incredibly discomforting. There were other dreamwalkers in the world, perhaps he was coming across one of them? Perhaps it was Nimue? He did everything to bury the paranoia and continue onward but when he began to hear the snow crunching behind him and turned to find nothing there, the paranoia returned.

He wanted to reach out with his magic and see if he could sense something but he knew better than that. He had to keep going... so he tried to. Balthazar took off into a sprint, running as fast as he could to try and outpace whatever was following him. He weaved between trees, tripping once but quickly rolling back up onto his feet to keep moving. He could still hear it behind him, getting closer and closer. He couldn't let it catch him... he needed to get out of the Untold. He needed a dream... so he pushed into the nearest tree, his only thought being to escape the shadow following him.

[Seira Shiryu]

The sound of children laughing made Seira's heart ache as she looked down the familiar road. A small group of children walked by, talking happily as they headed towards the school. She and Seri should be going to school too. But they were nearly out of food, and if they wanted anything to eat for the next trial, they would have to work for it totrial. Unlike most children who had to go to school whether they wanted to or not, school was a luxury for Seira and her sister.

With a sigh, Seira went back inside. They were lucky, really. Unlike most street urchins, they at least had a safe place to live. The house had belonged to their parents, and no one had taken it away from them now that their parents were dead. Yet, anyway.

"Are you ready to go?" Seri asked as she handed Seira's hang drum to her.

Seira nodded.

She took the instrument from her sister, and headed towards the door.

"We should try a different bard's corner totrial. Maybe we'll have better luck than we have been if we try someplace new."

They couldn't afford to pay the performer's fee, so the best bard's corners were out of their reach. Those were the ones that drew the best crowds, but only the best musicians and performers could play there due to the required fees. A couple of kids like themselves were more likely to earn a few coins out of mild interest or pity then gold for their skill. They weren't bad musicians, but they were self taught, and as such, they were far from the best of the best.

It didn't take them long to get set up once they had reached their chosen corner. Seira and Seri began to play. At first, they were ignored. People might spare them a brief glance as they hurried on their way, but no one stopped to listen to them play. But as the trial progressed, they did earn a few coins from passersby. That encouraged them enough to keep playing. If they were lucky, they might earn enough to buy enough food to last a few trials.

[Balthazar Black]

3 Vhalar 720

As Balthazar's arms pushed into the bark of the tree, the etheric cracks spider-webbing up to his elbows seemed to shimmer from their usual orange to a purple color. His arms sunk through the body of the tree like they sunk through walls, earth, and anything else Balthazar pressed his body against. In this world, and the waking world, there was no wall Balthazar could not cross through. So he crossed, and as he pushed through the tree into the dreamscape he came upon a far different world than the one he had left behind. Lightning streaked across the skies above him but there was no storm, no rain. He looked around at unfamiliar buildings in confusion, taking small, unsure steps forward down the street. This dream felt more real to Balthazar than most. There was a sadness to it but he didn't know quite why until he finally happened upon the dreamer herself.

He'd been so distracted by the strange city around him, that he almost didn't notice the two sisters playing their instruments on the corner. Bards? They seemed young to be bards and from the few nels they were earning seemed to encourage the girls and that was heartwarming but Balthazar couldn't help but feel a small swell of pity for them. He wanted to chastise himself for feeling the pity. He told himself it was the dreamer's fault. They'd chosen to dream this dream of poverty... but he knew better than that. Not everyone had the same control over their dreams that the mage did. Not everyone had the choice. Some people, when they closed their eyes, only saw more of what they were trying to escape from. So if he could do anything to improve this little dream, he would.

Balthazar placed a hand behind his back and tried to govern a bag full of nels into it. Nothing happened. He cursed beneath his breath, remembering that the ability only worked in his own dreamscape and he looked at the belongings he had with him. He'd sent most of his things back to Scalvoris the proper way and decided only to carry his sword, Nimue's dagger, his grave gold armor with its flecks of dark red in the metal, and a few other things in a rucksack that he'd believed would be useful. He had nels, but they were real. Did he want to give away nels to make a dreamer feel good? Not really... would he? Probably. So Balthazar moved over to the dreamer playing her instrument and he listened to her performance with interest. Maybe he could find some other way to help her?

[Seira Shiryu]

As Seira continued to play, she tried to judge what her audience wanted to hear. Sometimes when she guessed successfully, she was able to earn a few more coins than she might have if she didn't tailor her performance to her audience. Many of the people who had stopped to listen to her play were mothers with young children who were too young to be going to school yet. So she began to play children's songs, the kinds that she had heard her classmates singing when she was younger. The children clapped and laughed. Some even sang along with the songs that she played. It made their mothers happy to see that their children were enjoying the music, and some of them tossed some coins into the jar they had set up.

Eventually, the mothers and their children moved on, and Seira and Seri continued to play. A few couples strolled by, and Seira began playing some romantic ballads she had taught herself. Some of the couples stopped to listen to her play, and Seira began to sing for them as she played. Seri joined her, taking the other part of the ballad, so they sort of sang to each other as they played the roles of the "characters" in the song they were singing.

That was another thing that Seira had learned over the arcs. Pretending to be the character within the song helped to give a life to the song you were singing that might not otherwise be in your performance. When done well, it could enhance a performance considerably, but if you failed to pull it off, it would fail horribly.

After a while, the couples moved on as well. For a while, no one stopped to listen to the girls play, but they knew that they couldn't give up. As long as they continued to play, someone else might stop and toss them a few coins. But if they gave up, that was it. And they needed all of the money that they could get. The next person they saw stop to listen to them play was a man. Something about him made Seira think that he was a soldier of some kind, though if he was wearing a uniform, it wasn't one that she recognized. Was he a mercenary then, instead of a soldier? It didn't matter much to her either way. In her experience, fighters liked songs about war and glory, so she began playing one for him. The melody was simple enough for her to be able to play it well, but it was fast paced enough to be challenging for her. For the duration of the song, she focused solely on her music while Seri sang the lyrics.

When the song came to an end, the man was still there. He seemed to be enjoying himself, and she wanted him to enjoy her performance enough to pay her a few coins for it.

"Is there something special that you want to hear?" she asked the man politely.

"I'm not a real bard yet, but if it's simple enough for me to play, and I know the song, I'll be happy to play it for you." she said earnestly.

As she spoke, something felt strange. Something about this man being a soldier or some kind of fighter made her think that she was one too. No...that wasn't it. But it made her think that she was connected to fighters in some way, and that was just ridiculous. She dismissed the impossible thought, and focused on listening to what the man had to say.

[Balthazar Black]

3 Vhalar 720

Balthazar listened as the duo began a somewhat faster song. It seemed like they'd chosen it for him and he appreciated their efforts enough to produce a few nels from his pouch. He set the nels in their jar and listened to the song as it carried on. What was a few nels compared to the joy it would give them? They deserved some reward for their efforts... even if the efforts were merely those of a dreamer. He listened to the tune as it went on and closed his eyes once to listen more closely. Music was not what it once was. Music was beautiful, but only one of the infinite multitude of sounds that Balthazar had the capacity to hear now. Still, the song these two played was enough to keep the mage happy.

"I do not know many songs. I have heard bards in Yaralon, Viden, Melrath, Scalvoris, and Quacia yet I do not know any songs to ask you to sing to me." Balthazar admit when the little bards offered to sing him any song he requested. He listened to songs over and over again while he drank away in the bars, yet he remembered none of the music. He remembered Kalortah and Devin, the dueling bards. He remembered his own turn at poetry. But he had nothing to request. He looked around briefly and his expression seemed to shift into curiosity. Where was this dreamer? Not Scalvoris. It couldn't have been Scalvoris. He was still a distance from the brand he'd placed there when he fled into this dreamscape. "What's the local favorite?" Balthazar asked, hoping to figure out where the dreamer was. Unfortunately there was no way to be certain that she was dreaming of where she was and not somewhere she wanted to be. Regardless, this was the dream he'd found and the one he had to cross through.