For the Love of Solitude...

[Anonymous]

Deep within the forest, a soft melody could be heard floating through the earth-scented air. The solo was sweet to the ears like honey was to the tongue, and mesmorising with its slow beats. The soft pangs of the plucking of strings was a backdrop to the notes, which were played with an advanced hand, flowing together like many raindrops to a river. Its beauty was overwhelming, and would make just about any creature's eyelide grow heavy. As was the song's intent, for it was an enchantment, a sort of spell hidden within the notes of a song. The music kept weaving through the forest, the magic entwined with it. It was reaching its summit. ....And then disaster struck.

Poing!

"Aw, man!"

The enchanter, sitting against a strong oak tree, looked over his harp, disappointment and frustration in his violet eyes. The instrument had been strapped to his thigh so he could play it without having to worry about it slipping from its rest on his shoulder. It also held it up straight, which made fingering easier. But that wasn’t what he was paying attention to at the moment. He was looking at a slender wire, attached to the inside of the frame towards the left side of the harp. However, it wasn’t attached to the bottom, but instead was curved up in a spiral. He’d broken a string.

“Darn it!� he said quietly to himself, “And I almost had that enchantment done, too!�

He sighed, and plucked the wire from its root in the top of the frame, placing it in the pocket of his coat. It was worn, black, and rather large on the boy’s small figure. The cotton shirt and brown slacks we also wore were rather baggy as well. The two items, despite their raggedness, were rather warm, but he still wore his coat. The morning air was rather chill. He ran a hand through his messy brown hair.

“I guess that’s all the playing I’ll do today.� he spoke to himself again.

He often left his friends, whom he lived with in a broken-down shack towards the edge of the forest, to go have some time alone... unless you count the trees as company. He’d usually spend that time playing his harp, practicing his enchantments, but now that a string broke, he’d have to wait until he could buy, or maybe steal one. However, he didn’t want to go back quite yet. As he recalled, Legonae usually isn’t in the best mood in the morning (the boy wondered if all gryphons are like that), and was probably wreaking       on everyone else in the little band of thieves.

The enchanter leaned back against the trunk of the oak, looking into the green foliage above him. He smiled to himself. It’s spring and it’s still cold in the morning...

[Anonymous]

Nearby an angelic youth was putting her hulking warhorse through his paces. The pair tromped around the small clearing, the lithe figure of the albino guiding the stallion through tight figures and complicated movements. A long willowy branch was positioned in her hand as an extension of her leg, tapping the brute’s mahogany sides when he became dull to her aids. Her brows were knit above her crimson eyes in a look of stern concentration as she laid a sequential pattern of aids from her weight, seat, legs, and hands upon the stallion. Quickly the bay beast obliged and leapt to the air, striking out suddenly with his thick hind legs. Landing with a surprising softness, the young woman reached up to stroke the stud’s cresty neck.

“’Atta boy, Ye’Dar,� she cooed before returning the praising hand to the reins. Placing a leg upon his side and opening the opposite hand, she led him onto a circle. Smoothly, she asked him for sharp transitions between his paces; trotting energetically forward a few strides, then leaping to a round and uphill canter for a few more. The stallion’s ear’s being finer tuned than those of the pale woman’s upon his broad back; Ye’Dar heard the faint music wafting through the trees first.

He came to an abrupt halt, nearly tossing his rider over his ears. The brute’s neck was upright, ear zeroed in on the notes on the air. After getting out her fair share of curses mainly directed at the heavy horse beneath her, Gabriella shut her mouth and tried to catch what her keen horse was listening to. Just as the soft music began to reach her ears, it ceased blatantly. “You silly boy,� she jested. “There’s nothing there.� Collecting her reins and seat, she tapped the strong hindquarters of the stallion; attempting to snap him from his entrancement. However, being young and fresh, Ye’Dar answered her question with an unexpected buck, snaking his head between his knees and popping his back forward. This motion unseated the young woman, who landed in a crumpled heap next to the warhorse. Leaping to her feet, Gabriella hardly had time to open her mouth before the stud was off like a rocket.

Ye’Dar hightailed it through the woods in the direction the music had come from; his youthful yet naïve mind swimming with curiosity. His large ears cocked back slightly as he heard his master call after him, but he paid her no heed; his mind was set currently on running, and he was executing the thought quite well.

“Hey!� the albino screamed as she ran, brandishing the sapling branch like a sword. “You better get back here you lazy brute of a horse!� Her legs pumped after the animal, spurs jangling madly as her booted heels thudded against the plush ground. He’d tire soon enough, she thought hopefully as she gasped. But instead of gaining on the stallion, his form before her began getting smaller and smaller, until he disappeared into the underbrush. “Stupid beast,� she cursed to herself. “When I get my hands on you I swear I’ll skin you alive! I’ll make a rug out of you!� Her pace slowed and she eventually stopped, her eyes focused on the direction she had last seen her mount gallop off to. Heaving breaths in heavy gulps, Gabriella spotted the young man sitting nearby.

“Hey,� she called out breathlessly. “Have you seen a horse gallop past?� She questioned, pointing the makeshift crop in the stallion’s general direction. “He’s about yea tall and would be galloping like a spaz,� she said, raising her hand above her head to denote the height of Ye’Dar.

[Anonymous]

Two pairs of brown eyes peered through a bush at the slight young man sitting peacefully against a great oak tree. His fingers danced along the strings of a harp. Sometimes the fingers moved quickly and blurred. At other times, they moved so slowly that it felt as if the rest of the world was rushing by far too fast. Always, though, the music was beautiful.

The two pairs of eyes slowly closed, while the head of the larger pair moved slowly to the ground as the body relaxed and laid down on the ground. The other pair of eyes had no choice but to follow the descent, since they belonged to the head of a fairy seated upon her fairy steed. The fairy rested her head upon that of her mount's, enjoying the sweet sound of music.

Homesick already? Yes, she did miss the nightly dances in the fairy rings, but if she had never left home, the fairy would never have known for sure that music as lovely as this could exist elsewhere. This music would have fit in with the music played in the fairy rings. Her kinsmen would have enjoyed luring humans with this music, bedeviling them, enchanting them, confusing them and leaving an experience the human would never forget for the rest of his or her life.

Abruptly, the music stopped. The fairy's eyes popped open. She raised her head slightly. It was a shame a string broke. She could tell the song was had nearly reached its natural ending, and was curious as to how the boy was intending to finish it.

Also abruptly, the red and white head of the fairy's mount leapt off the ground, knocking into the chin of her rider. The steed's large red ears were stiffly upright, facing full forward. A sound like thunder approached, then leaves and branches rained and crashed down upon the short pair. The fairy steed took off after the thundering giant, with her rider gripping her neck in desperation.

"Modlennnnnn!!!"