Haunting Melody

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Minibit

Returned from the Void
Original poster
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
  1. Looking for partners
Posting Speed
  1. One post per day
  2. 1-3 posts per week
  3. One post per week
Writing Levels
  1. Intermediate
  2. Adept
  3. Advanced
Preferred Character Gender
  1. No Preferences
Genres
Urban Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Quest, Sci-Fi, Time Travel and World Hopping, Steampunk, Action/Adventure, Modern Drama, Mystery, Slice of Life, Romance, and many more.
Name: Kanata
Age: 21
Appearance:
Levi.full.1535856.jpg



Name: Anabelle
Age: 20
Appearance:
tumblr_nol1661BTm1svir81o1_500.jpg


A chill autumn breeze blew down the street, stirring damp leaves around her feet and sending her long black skirt fluttering, and Annabelle pulled her denim jacket tighter around her shoulders.

Montreal was many things in the fall, but forgiving was not one of them. Cold seeped through the holes in her shoes as she stepped through the gutters, hurrying across the stone street to the pawn shop on the other side.

Burning a hole in the cloth messenger bag at her side was a wad of cash; compensation from her friend Mari for the violin she'd broken. It had been an accident; Ana had loaned her the instrument and it had been riding shotgun in its case when Mari's car got twisted around two Hyundais and a telephone pole. For her part, Ana was mostly just glad her friend was all right - miraculously walking out of the wreck with only a cracked collarbone and dislocated shoulder - but couldn't deny that Mari funding her replacement took a lot of the stress off.

Pushing the door open, a brass bell sounded softly above her, and she wiped her worn shoes on the mat, glancing around. The front of the store seemed to be mainly digital; bins of DVDs, VHS, CDs, and secondhand radios. Further back, she could see some guitars up on the wall. If they had violins, they'd be around there.

She avoided the suspicious gaze of the shopkeeper as she headed to the back of the store; she probably didn't look like she had money for back-of-house merchandise; her jacket was very near a hole in one elbow, and nearly all of the hems were worn to the point of freying. The colour was mostly faded away from sun and over-laundering, as well. Her clothes were less damaged, but just as old and over-laundered, and after walking through the wind and patches of rain for twenty minutes, she could imagine what her hair looked like.

Various instruments - mostly guitars - were hung up around the back area of the store. Ana let her eyes skim along the display until she found what she was after.

The violin was a rich, red-tinged wood, and carved in an intricate, whirling design which evoked images of leaves and flowers. Captivated, she lifted it off the shelf.

The design was different from her old instrument, which had been purchased new from the music store uptown - a birth-day present. The fingerboard was tilted rather more, and there were no marks on the neck. Upon closer inspection, it had a few nicks and dents along its body, but nothing too terrible, and none of them damaging enough to affect the sound. There was no bow, but her old one had managed to survive the wreck and would work, although the lighter wood wouldn't match. It meant she would have to test the sound at home, though.

Turning it over, she looked for a price tag. There was a paper patch stuck on with scotch tape; it was just enough for the wad in her pocket to cover, assuming taxes didn't add too much. She had expected more, but judging by the changes from her old instrument, this was probably an old piece; it'd be less popular among most players. Ana just needed something that sounded good.

She brought it up to the counter, thankful for the clerk's silence as she paid. He produced a case from under the counter, and she closed it carefully before returning to the streets.

It had started to rain again, and by the time she returned to her rat's nest of a basement suite, drops were running off of her bedraggled hair and down her back. Shivering, she doffed her jacket and set her purchase down on the kitchen table, crossing the small space to put the kettle on.

A quick shower and a brewing pot of Earl Grey later, she fished her bow out of the mess and carefully opened her new violin's case.

The carvings shone with a strange lustre in the dim light of the light-bulb suspended from the ceiling. Tucking it under her chin, she pressed her fingers to the strings, and carefully drew her bow across them in a simple chord.

It was in tune.

Surprised, she tried another; it sounded perfect, and she transitioned into a familiar melody, creating cheerful, skipping notes on a twirling melody through the dreary flat. It was a tune her mother used to play often, and she closed her eyes, drifting away on the music . . .
 
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How long had he been dead, 10 years, 5 years, 15 years he wasn't sure but he knew it had been a long time. Most of his so called "friends" had moved onto the otherside and was often left wandering alone, his hand wrapping around the amulet that hung loosely around his neck, besides the bleak black outfit he was wearing, with a sliver chain that wrapped around his chest and torso, he seemed kinda empty across the pure landscape.

And pure it was with rippling fields of tulips and roses and large trees that were decorated with flowers of many various some even being of the rare variety. He was sitting down near edge of a river, where the water barely brushed against his bare feet.

"It's so weird being dead." he muttered under his breath, wishing that he has his violin with him, with that at least he could let the loneliness he was feeling being drowned out by the ripling melody.

A sudden sensation tore him up right as the sky ripped open seeing a young woman playing a violin. It wasn't just any violin, it was his and she was playing a wonderful and sweet song, the melody stretched through every fiber of his being warming him up even though it had been so long since he was alive, he reached his hand towards the sky and gasped as the amulet began to grow and stretch almost descending down and wrapping around the girl.
 
As she played, a warm sensation surrounded her like a summer wind, and the world seemed to melt away around her.

It was the change of sensation around her bare feet that caught her attention and froze her bow hand; instead of patchy carpet, she felt cool, growing grass around her feet. Her brown eyes shot open, and she blinked, rapidly.

Somehow, she was in a field. Long grass and flowers in many colours bloomed around her; nearby was a thicket of trees, and she could hear running water.

Whirling around, the violin forgotten at her side, she saw a river, sparkling in the sunlight of a clear spring day, and on its bank, a man in dark clothes.

She gaped, her jaw unhinged as she tried and failed to form words.
 
He was silent as he looked her over, she was rather young and very beautiful looking and he sighed as he noticed the violin, it seemed damaged somewhat but he noticed something hidden about her expression and the way she looked. "I didn't know that could happen. I mean bringing someone hear...normally doesn't happen." Kanata said shaking his head a couple times as he stepped back, nearly tripping over the rock that was behind him and sighed for a moment.

What should he say and what he should do. should he explain where they were, comment about her appearance about the song that had brought her here?. What would she think about him and what would he think about her, it had been a while since he had been around someone and here he was an actual human being..not a spirit.
 
Eventually, she managed to summon enough air and composure to form a question - well, two questions:

"W-where am I? Who are you?" she asked, a note of panic slipping into her voice as she looked around. The young man seemed very melancholy, but not especially surprised at her presence. He murmured something she couldn't hear.

Her fingers gripped the bow and violin tightly, her knuckles turning white and her breath growing short as she waited for an answer.
 
"You can relax or you might start hyperventilating. " Kanata said simply looking around and walked over to one of the rocks and sat down, playing with a stand of grass in between his fingers, more to calm himself down then to help calm her down. "You're in taro. or bridge in some other language..you're basically in between being alive and being dead. I'm Kanata...my violin summoned you to this place for unknown reason and I'm not sure..how or when you'll be able to go back, if you'll be back at all. and I apologize for that." he said shaking his head for a moment as he looked up at her and reached his hand and tugged his hand through his hair. "That melody you played was amazing." he explained looking at her.
 
She did her best to listen as he gave his cautious explanation, but still felt confused; she didn't understand how any of what he had said could be possible.

"I'm - I'm-" Ana did her best to calm down, forcing herself to take a slow breath.

"Am I . . . dead?" she asked, not quite understanding what was going on. Looking around, all she could see were fields and trees, and the river. There didn't seem to be another soul around.
 
Kanata paused for a moment, quietly thinking. Was she dead?. he wasn't so sure at that moment and he glanced over at her noticing her body language and how she kinda held herself. "No..you're not dead. Though I can't be all that sure." he sighed as he took a deep breath letting out the cold air wrap around his lungs, well his supposed lungs, he wasn't exactly a living breathing human being anymore, so he wasn't sure if he was even human and that was the one thing that was bothering him.
 
Not dead. Well, that was a relief. Sort of.

"You've got to send me back" she said, venturing forward a couple of steps to show she meant business, although she was pretty sure her knees were still shaking a little.

"I've got- I've got-"

She stammered, and then fell silent, a frown creasing her pale brow. What did she have? A shit-paying job at the theatre to rehearse for? A crummy suite on Rue d'Katrine to live in, which she was pretty sure had mice? An ocean of debts to pay?

It was sunny here; warm. The grass felt nice on her feet and while being alone in the middle of nowhere with a strange man wasn't number one on her list of ideal situations, this one seemed more interested in sighing than attacking her in any way. At any rate, he was almost thinner than she was, and there was something . . . off about him. He seemed of less substance, faded somehow. She was pretty sure she could take him if he tried anything.

"Where is this?" she asked, resigning her previous demand to the back burner until she could properly ponder what exactly it was she had to get back to.
 
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