Jacob sat heavily on a nearby stump, resting his weary legs after hours of travel in the forest. He looked about at the expansive trees and densely packed undergrowth. "Well that does it, I'm well and truly lost." he said out loud. His voice went out into the forest. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the forest did not respond. "And I'm talking to myself." he mumbled. "That's just what I need to do." He considered his options, and they were not pleasant. He could wander about a few more hours, or just turn in for the night. The first option appealed to Jacob's guilt, but the second went right to his tired legs. The legs won out, but it was close. However, even as he lay his cloak out upon the ground, the voices started. In his head, Jacob knew that the calling, haunting voices of his dead comrades weren't real, but that didn't really make it easier to fall asleep. Guilt welled up inside him like a wave. Why had he left them? Why hadn't they listened? Why? Why? Why? Clearly he wasn't going to have any rest until he stopped wondering. So Jacob dispelled the voices and the guilt and the unpleasant curiosity in one of the only two ways he knew how. He pulled his lute out of the box that held it. He looked over the instrument lovingly, and and tuned the thing a little bit before launching into his old standby. He knew the song as "Death Visits" but he was well aware that there were more versions of the song's lyrics than it had notes.
"I sat down in front of the hearth
To sit and think and ponder
When I heard a clatter about
Of the noise I grew not fonder
I stood to see just what it was
It came from my front door
I walked over to the noise
My mood extremely poor
I threw the portal open wide
To behold a frightening visage
Of skull and black and scythe and cloak
Death had come to visit
I closed the door as quick as I could
And ran for the one out back
But by the time I reached it
He was there holding a sack
I turned again to flee once more
When my neck went cold
My sight went black
my thoughts collapsed
My soul was cruelly pulled
Freed from my body
I saw Death
Put my head in his bag
Then he turned and went his way
Sealing his sack with a tag
As my soul fell apart
I couldn't help but wonder
I thought of all the things I'd done
To deserve this cruel sunder."
Jacob's words drifted out into the forest. He released every ounce of raw guilt and torment into the lyrics. The tones he used were dark, and they brought his deep melancholy out for the world to hear. As he finished his song, Jacob slowly relaxed his fingers and loosened his singing tone. He ended the last few lines with much less tension that when he had started. Jacob smiled at the hush that rang out among the trees following his song and reveled at his isolation. No more voices to haunt him tonight. He made ready to go to sleep when he heard a rustling behind him. Jacob immediately whirled to identify the source of the noise. Maybe he wasn't as alone as he thought...