Umm.... Help! (Zozee!)

[Klezmer Gryphon]

There was something about summer that made Clovis happy. It might have been the lack of school work and worry. It could have been the fact that he got to be around his sister. Whatever it was, it didn't matter to him. It was in this state of euphoria that the voiceless youngster wandered the streets of La'Marri. He knew quite a few people in town already, and most knew of her older sister, Liarri, so he really had no fear of being attacked or treated with any sort of hostility, which caused him to have his hood down, his vulpine face in full view as he clopped down the street.

[zozee9]

Darya wandered around the town, a full smile on her face. Life was just so perfect. They had successfully found Liarri and there were so many stories to tell... and Maedoc, sweet Maedoc. She had hardly expected anything to happen between them, but was undeniably wrong. She chuckled at her own thoughts. Just thinking back to the beginning of their journey made her realize how much she had already changed. But at the same time, she felt the same.

In fact, she was so happy that she started singing a little tune under her breath. There was no magic weaved into it and it was a song she was writing as she went. While her voice was quiet, a few people still stole glances at her. After all, her voice was beautiful. Peering up at the sky, Darya smiled at the sun that seemed to be smiling back down at her. She had no plans for the entire day and a burst of inspiration hit her as she was singing.

So she walked over to the front of a building and started singing louder. She loved street performing. Her eyes twinkling, Darya sang for all the people walking by.

Don't you worry
Don't you cry
Don't forget me
I'll tell you why

I travelled to find you across the sea
Where you had left me
When I was three
I know you had to
No choice was made
But I needed to meet you
My sweet mother

Don't you worry
Don't you cry
Don't forget me
I'll tell you why

I couldn't wait longer, you left a clue
I wanted to see you
To know it was true
You wrote all those letters
As I grew up
So I fled my chains
My sweet mother

Don't you worry
Don't you cry
Don't forget me
I'll tell you why

But I must leave now, for your own sake
So please don't shake
My still make
It was your life or mine
I couldn't take yours
But please run quickly
My sweet mother

Tears started to wander down Darya's cheeks as she sang, and the same happened to many of the people who had now formed a semi-circle around her. The story was purely fictional—but it still spoke to her own heart. All music did. After a brief moment of silence, her audience started clapping wildly. She took a deep breath and smiled.

[Klezmer Gryphon]

Clovis had been watching this performer the entire time she had been singing. He was actually on his way to the market in his state of happiness when he heard the singer begin her song. The silent halfbreed was captivated by her voice, but was a bit worried. Being a halfbreed, almost every Dahmnait or Sionhai he had met had been scornful to him, well, except his sister Liarri and her friend in the black robes....

As nervous as he was, he was still clapping with the rest of the crowd, as it was a truly remarkable song. However, he couldn't stay long, as he had some things to pick up before his sister got home from the woods, so he walked away from the group as quietly as he could, but his hooves still made an audible clop! against the cobblestone.... A sound to which he cringed as he looked over at the Damhnait singer....

[zozee9]

Darya was overjoyed by her audience's reaction. People loved her music at home, but it was always a joy to play to new people. After all, she wanted to spread her music around the world. And each performance she gave was accomplishing that goal, little by little.

As people cheered for more, Darya started wondering what she should play next. Something happier, she decided. Maybe she'd even take out her aulos. A wide smile spread across her face as she decided what song to play next. It would be perfect. She reached for her aulos...

... and tilted her head to the side. She unmistakably heard hooves on the floor. Not horse hooves, either. Those sounded different. No, these hooves had to belong to a Damhnait. Was it Liarri? Or maybe some other Damhnait that was in the town? She wouldn't be surprised if there were others. After all, Liarri was famous. Her hopes wished for it to be Maedoc, but she knew that wasn't possible. He wouldn't be back yet.

Darya ignored the crowd waiting for more music and instead glanced around the people. She was right, after all. Or was she? It seemed like the person she had heard was a Sionhai. But that didn't make sense. Sionhai didn't have hooves.

She had to know. With an apologetic smile towards the people watching, Darya quickly dismissed herself by saying, "Thank you all for listening! I'll play again for you all some other time!" Then she headed towards the Sionhai boy to figure out why his sound was off. While she had never actually met any Sionahi before, she had read enough lore to know that they didn't 'clunk' when they walked.

[Klezmer Gryphon]

And she was following him. Certainly not what he wanted, not at all. If he could yell at her, tell her to leave him alone, he would, but he couldn't. He was silent, his thoughts unknown, only to be expressed as words on a page or a picture in his diary. So, he did the next best thing.... He started running.

It seemed odd, running from someone in a town where almost everyone recognized you. The markets especially; some of the vendors Clovis visited regularly looked quite puzzled when he clopped on down the road as if he was being chased by a monster... In his mind, he was. If he could talk even just speak simple words, he might've not been so quick to flee. But he lack of words made him prone to even more scorn than being a halfbreed alone.

[zozee9]

At first Darya was going to let the boy get away. That's what she normally would've done. After all, why bother him when he clearly didn't want to be bothered.

But after a half second delay, Darya decided she was in a more selfish mood. So she took off after him.

A boy like that was bound to have stories to tell. Magnificent stories, too. Ones that she could weave into songs like no others. Well, few others. Her songs she created about her and Maedoc's journey would beat any songs she bet she would ever create. Even still, she had to know his stories.

So his clunking down the streets was followed by her own. Darya's aulos bounced on her back, but stayed nicely in place. Nobody tried to stop her. If anything, they simply gave her more room. She was starting to wonder if the town was used to chases.

Darya wasn't the fastest damhnait around, but she was in shape enough to keep up with her target. And her spectacular breath control gained by singing made it so she could run for quite a while.

"Wait!" she shouted, her melodious voice ringing through the marketplace. "I just want to talk!"

[Klezmer Gryphon]

And now she was chasing him. Could this day get any worse?

Clovis thought for a moment what he was going to do as he was running, and had an idea. Coming upon a corner, he noticed that there were two stores in actual building instead of market stalls... So, turning the corner, the half breed kicked off of one wall, then the other.... And then let out a yelp as someone grabbed his tail and pulled him down.

"Where are you going, Clovis?" she asked. Immediately, he knew who had pulled him down; it was his older sister, Liarri, and upon turning around to face her, Liarri's Sionhai friend, although Clovis never did learn his name. Evidently they had just got back into town. And both looked in the direction Clovis had just come from when they heard the sound of another pair of hooves clopping down the road.

((OoC: Yes, Clovis can scream, yelp, etc. His lack of speech is more of a psychological issue than it is a problem with his vocal chords))

[zozee9]

And her shouting did no good.

Darya was getting close to giving up on the chase. Chances were, she'd see him again. After all, she'd be staying in the town for a while and a guy like him wouldn't go unnoticed. Nonetheless, she figured she might as well keep running for a couple more minutes. It was probably good for her health.

As Darya rounded the corner, she skidded to a stop. She almost ran into Liarri, who seemed to have appeared out of the blue. And then there was a Sionhai boy—but not the one she was chasing. She hadn't met him, either, nor heard about him. Apparently Liarri had left out the information about there being others in the town that she'd want to know about.

After a brief pause to catch her breath, Darya realized that the boy she was chasing was also there. She had almost missed his figure behind Liarri. But she knew it would be rude to completely ignore her companion. So she curtsied and said, "Nice to you you again, Liarri." Darya turned towards the boy accompanying Liarri. "My name is Darya. I arrived in this town just the other day." She glanced over to the Sionhai with hooves. "Might I ask your names, as well, in case I ever get to write a song about either of you? Ah, I'm a musician, by the way." She threw them all a gentle smile and hoped she wasn't intruding on anything.

[Klezmer Gryphon]

Clovis wasn't sure who Liarri was angrier with; him, or this Damhnait girl that decided to chase after him. Either way, his head wouldn'tfeel good.

With a quick thwack to both Darya and Clovis, Liarri began her ranting.

"I leave for two hours... TWO HOURS, and I come back into town to find you, Darya, chasing my younger brother! And Clovis, climbing onto the roof?! I know you know better than that!" She yelled, almost whacking the two of the again were it not for the fact her friend in black had confiscated her staff after the first round of blows.

"Liarri, calm down. I'm sure this was just a huge misunderstanding... Right Clovis?" Her friend said, turning toward Clovis, who seemed to just nod in agreement, or because his head hurt. Either way, he accepted it as a valid answer.

[zozee9]

Darya groaned when Liarri hit her. She still wasn't used to it. The first time the Damhnait had done it, she had thought that Liarri hated her. Now she realized that she did it to everyone. Apparently even her brother, which the boy was.

Wait, what?

"Your brother?!" Darya exclaimed, her eyes wide. Then she realized how that must have sounded. It wasn't like she had anything against Soinhai and Damhnait breeding. She had heard of it before, though didn't know it still happened, and thought that nothing was wrong with it. But she didn't know Liarri had a brother! "Why wasn't such a fascinating boy in any songs about you? I haven't even heard him in ones that involve the rest of your family!"

Turning towards the other boy and slowing down a little, Darya explained, "I wanted to know why his feet made such a beautiful sound but he ran..." She paused for a second before adding in, "I suppose I know now, though."

[Klezmer Gryphon]

Liarri wasn't really sure where to begin about her brother. He was, to the majority of their family, an outcast, not really accepted in either society, Damhnait or Sionhai. Before she could even say a word, her friend in black stepped in.

"You should learn to ask questions when they're warranted. It's obviously an uncomfortable topic for both of them, even more so now because you decided to be a bit too curious." He said in a sharp, but calm tone. He wanted to get the point across that somethings are just better off being unmentioned.

Clovis just looked on all the while. He was annoyed that there were so many songs, so many tales about his sister, but it wasn't that in itself that annoyed him. What annoyed him was that he couldn't speak his mind, couldn't tell this Damhnait bard to shut up and leave, and take her songs with her.

Liarri, sensing his annoyance, sat on the ground next to him and smiled as she scratched the back of his head, which immediately set about a change in his mood.

[zozee9]

Darya's shock was clear on her face.

She supposed she was being a little too personal, but wasn't it a bard's job to learn stories no matter what the cost?

Without wanting it, her eyes started to tear up. She wasn't used to being yelled at... even if he wasn't yelling. She knew she was spoiled. But she did her best to keep others in mind. Rubbing at her eyes, Darya apologized with her pain clear in her voice, "Sorry..."

She wanted to sing. Whenever she was in a bad mood, that was her solution. And now she could just sing away her humiliation. Or she could, if she wasn't worried about the boy yelling at her more. No good would come from her staying there. It would make her cry and the others upset and she felt worthless.

Briefly glancing at Liarri, Darya said, "I'll see you tonight, I suppose." Then she turned around, sniffled, and started walking away before she humiliated herself further.