The two children shared a look of guilt and mild pity, worried about their mother's reaction. "Ma, I-" Calypso began meekly in an attempt to explain himself but fell short, interrupted immediately.
A soft, small palm faced to her son, their mother shook her head with a soft smile. "There's no need to explain, my child. I knew this day would come." She laced her fingers together near her waist, trying to remain calm as a mother should while she spoke her next words. "Lad, I want you to go."
"Ma!" Octavia nearly shouted, appalled that her mother wasn't urging her brother to stay.
Her mother just shot her a look with a frown and replied calmly yet sternly, "Octavia."
His sister held firm, however. "You can't let him leave, Mama, what about us? What will we do without him?" She crossed her arms. "If you let him go, then who will run the errands, tend to the outer land needs?"
"You will," her mother shot back, not missing a beat, "and much like when your father passed, we'll live." She smiled, then her expression grew stern again. "We cannot think so selfishly as to prevent your brother a life of his own, lass. If you ever wished for more than this humble abode and had the means to do whatever it is you will, you know we would support you through and through."
Octavia had a light blush color her cheeks in her embarrassment. "'Tis true." She admitted reluctantly.
"My son..." His mother looked in his direction, and Calypso felt his heart melt like putty at the expression in her eyes. "You must go in the marrow. I implore you. Pack tonight, and head for the village you spoke of."
"But your birthday, ma. Surely you want your only son here for such an event?" Calypso asked her.
She shook her head. "You needn't worry about such trivial things, lad. It's but one of many birthdays I have whence celebrated, and one of many more to be had." She smiled as she walked closer to her children, her daughter rising so that all three stood together close, and the family embraced.
"Thank you, mama." Calypso said with a smile, then kissed his mother's forehead, followed by his sister's.
"One more thing." The woman raised a gentle hand with but one finger extended. "Your father left a gift for you, special for when this day came." She turned around, heading back towards her bedroom. "Come, come." She summoned.
"Father?" Calypso and Octavia spoke in unison, exchanging a glance before following their mother as instructed. They walked down the small tunnel until the very end of the hallway where they stood between three rooms. To either side of the family, there was Octavia's room and their mother's room, Calypso's room being the room down the other tunnelway. The third room sat right before them, roots and ivy blocking the doorway to the room which was once the study. It was their father's study, a room they'd barely touched since his tragic passing save for particularly exceptional circumstances with explicit permission from their mother. Now was one of those moments.
Pulling apart the curtain of greenery and entering the old room, her children following closely, the widow walked to the tangled up mess of roots, moss, and fungi that sat in a clump in the middle of the room. The mass vaguely held the shape of a desk and chair, but the wooden desk and chair underneath had been long consumed. "It is time." She spoke seriously, almost too seriously for the children to feel entirely comfortable in their positions. For a moment, the room was consumed in silence much like the desk was consumed by nature, and then their mother took a deep breath. By the magic of nature their mother held, all the mushrooms and roots seemed to move backwards in time, untangling from their father's desk gently and elegantly. All the plant life receded back into seed and sapling, freeing it from it's earthen prison. As if the wood the items were made out of was still alive, it creaked and breathed much like a tree in the wind. Their mother was powerful to do such a thing, but she rarely if ever felt a need to use her powers anymore; this was a rare sight to behold.
As soon as the desk was back to it's former glory, their mother took a beautiful mahogany bow from the table to match her son's Nyckelharpa. She turned around, and with as much grace as she would if she was holding a royal sword to knight a brave warrior, handing it over to Calypso with pride beaming from her aged face. With awe, Calypso hesitated to take the beautiful bow from his mother's delicate hands, but after some silent encouragement he took it gingerly in his fingers.
He was so happy he felt as though he would cry. "Thank you Ma... I don't know what to say."
She smiled. "Don't thank me, thank your father." She put her hands against his cheeks. "You're going to do great things, Calypso. Your father knew that the day would come that you would walk out the door and follow in his footsteps, to become a man." She touched his hand, wrapping his fingers around the bow even tighter. "If you lose this, you'll find it again, and when you most need it, it will protect you."
Calypso didn't quite understand his mother's cryptic words, but he trusted his mother wasn't spouted nonsense, and that when the time came, he would surely understand. "I love you, ma." He embraced her again, holding tightly for a moment, then turned to his sister and embraced her once more as well. Smiling from ear to ear, eyes tearing up slightly, he wiped his eyes. "I'm going to go pack!" He said excitedly, then made way for his room.
Meanwhile...
From the shadows stood a figure staring out into the fields of Pict with an eerie stillness. Not even the moonlight shed light on his identity, for he was cloaked in all black, his face covered in a hood. Next too him was stood a considerably rugged man with wider shoulders than him and far longer hair it seemed as well. "What do you think?" The rugged man asked with a coy grin. "Does he seem like the one you're looking for?"
The hooded figure nodded silently.
"Good, good," the rugged man chuckled. "Shall we get him on his way out then? It's only a short while until dawn."
The hooded figure shook his head. He lifted his hand and pointed to his wrist, like it had a watch on it.
"More time it is then." The rugged man agreed, and the duo went to the west, the very direction Calypso would be headed the next morning.
The Next Morning...
Calypso couldn't sleep much longer and was up earlier than the sun, double and triple checking his supplies to make sure he had everything he felt that he needed to leave home. He had his Nyckelharpa at the ready complete with a brand new bow in her case to be strapped to his back for the carrying. He also had his knapsack to swing over his shoulder and carry all his little things in it - some coin, some food, and a few other like necessities.
He considered saying another long goodbye to his family considering he wouldn't know when he'd next return, but in the end he decided to rush out the door before his mother and sister had even awoken. Instead, he left a thoughtful goodbye note and a small sack of gold for them, wishing his mother the happiest of birthdays and assuring her that the gift his sister had prepared was going to be spectacular. He couldn't bare to do anything more, for he knew that if they did see him off, it wouldn't be until the sun was at high noon that he would taking his first steps for adventure.
As he left, he stopped in the doorway to take a deep, dramatic breath of air with a huge, goofy grin plastered on his face. Shutting the door behind him, he adjusted the strap of his knapsack over his shoulder, then took his first step forward, savoring the precious moment. Finally, he had begun his adventure.
He walked away from the little town of Pict with great joy in his fast beating heart, excited to be out venturing to where he wanted to go, doing what he wanted to do. This would be the first time he left his home since birth without a to-do list of errands and a set time he was expected back by. He could do anything! He could lay in the valley for hours, smelling each and every flower individually, or he could run all the way around the perimeter of the village without taking a single break. He could even follow those girls he met before and meet them in their town as he'd planned, or he do that tomorrow or the next day and do something else entirely today. The world was his for the taking if he could only choose what part to take first!
One Hour Later...
"UUUUUUGH I AM SO BORED!" Calypso fell back into the field of flowers, dropping his knapsack at one side, his instrument at the other. "What the hell do people do when they have nothing to do!?" He rolled around a few times, completely frustrated, then simply stopped, looking up and just staring at the clouds in defeat. He took a deep sigh, sitting there for ages as he watched the clouds roll by.
He thought about what his next move should be, but felt conflicted. He knew he could always go to the village the girls he met in that field spoke of, or even to the town with the docks, and he could pick up some form of work, but he didn't want to leave the work he did for his family just to go work for a total stranger. Despite not wanting to give up his freedom, he hadn't the slightest clue what to do with it, having lived a life where the majority of the time he simply did what he was asked to do, no problem. He wanted something to do, needed something to do...but what was the happy medium between a job and none at all?
The dryad sighed again, sitting there for a time longer, trying to come up with a solution when he heard a distant sound. He sat up, listening closer to the sound which slowly grew louder and louder. "What is that?" He asked the air around him, looking around him. Then, as he nearly laid back down again with a shrug, a bird flew close to his head, tweeting the whole way as it flapped it's little wings and flew away as fast as it came. As it was off, Calypso couldn't help but smile. "What a beautiful birdsong." He said, watching it fly off into the distance.
Then it hit him hard and sudden, like a bag of bricks. "That's it!" Calypso thought aloud as he sprung to his feet. "Abby!" He pulled his Nyckelharpa out of it's case and began to play, enjoying himself immensely. "Ah, this bow is so much smoother..." He muttered with relief, then strapped his knapsack and the empty case to his shoulders again before playing even more and walking towards to sea where he knew people would gather in large quantities.
Calypso played his music the entire way to the town by the docks, stopping to play for a few children who were fascinated by his skill and his strange instrument. Before he knew it, his free-styling attracted a small crowd, so he took advantage of the opportunity presented before him. He set out his empty case, smiling widely, playing even more, and watching the gold fall in one coin at a time. As he ended his song and moved onto the next one, he suddenly found himself hearing not just his instrument, but something else, something playful...
Before him at the head of the crowd stood a man in a black cloak holding a large, blue instrument, the likes of which Calypso had never seen nor heard before. The cloaked figure pulled back his hood, revealing a blonde haired, blue eyed man with a cocky grin. Without a word, the man walked close and stood near to Calypso as he played his strange instrument to couple the dryad's tune, and Calypso enjoyed every second of it. The mood was mesmerizing, and as Calypso played to match the man's notes, the man flawlessly followed suit, their sounds meshing perfectly. A hush fell over the ever growing crowd to hear the tune they made, and to fill the silence yet another noise filled Calypso's ears: Jingling.
A tanned man with a scar across one eye, long black dreadlocks, and fangs walked into the circle the two musicians played in and gestured for the crowd to part slightly. He had nothing on but a pair of black pants that fit loosely everywhere save for the ankles and the hips, of which was adorned with a silver hip-scarf made entirely of flat coins that made a soft jingling as he moved. He was rugged, well-built, and had a cocky smile to couple the blonde man's, their familiarity giving Calypso the impression that they knew each other very well. Stranger yet, the man had pointed ears and a long tail with a black tuft at the end, and his eyes were sickly yellow and radioactive green.
This third addition to the show didn't strike Calypso as the artistic type at first, but the moment his body started to move to the music** so rhythmically it seemed almost planned and long choreographed, Calypso ate his unspoken words. His wide shoulders and thin hips twisted and turned with the music, exciting and enticing Calypso more and more, as well as the crowd which went wild and began mass-donating at this point in their awe. The smell of the sea air and the mixing sounds colliding with the sound of the waves crashing to shore made the spontaneous moment seem magical in a way Calypso didn't think he'd ever be able to recreate as long as he lived.
**Just mute the video and watch him dance to the other music,
or pretend that the music in the background of the video is a sitar and a nyckelharpa
- whatever floats your imaginative boat.
As soon as the song came to a close the crowd applauded and cheered, sending a feeling of thrill through Calypso's veins, the exact thrill he was hoping to achieve by adventuring. As the cheering died down, those who hadn't already donated even more coin to Calypso's quickly-filling wooden case before dispersing with whispers about the mysterious musicians and dancer that came to share their talents with the small town at the docks. As everyone went back to their own devices, the three men came together to speak with words as opposed to their art.
The rugged man towered over the two of them, the blonde being a mere head taller than the young and still growing Calypso. He seemed so calm and collected, serene almost as he looked down upon Calypso with a playful intrigue that made the dryad wonder what exactly he was thinking. The blonde man just seemed incredibly pumped up, ready to do it all over again, still drawing from the energy of the music they no longer played.
"Blessed be, fellow artisans!" The dryad said as he approached the duo to meet them half way, smiling from ear to ear. "That...that was indescribable. Thank you kindly for sharing that moment with me, strangers...or should I call you friends?" He extended his hand to whoever would take it, introducing himself, "My name's Calypso. What might yours be?"
The blonde took his hand first. "Demyx." He said simply as the rugged man remained silent beyond a light chuckle as he too shook the boy's hand. "You weren't so bad yourself, kid. Where'd you learn to play like that?"
Calypso couldn't stop smiling. "I come from a long line of musicians in a town of merriment and feast - Pict. We all play different instruments of our choosing as soon as we're old enough to hold one. Fellow villagers who play the same thing teach us if our parents can't, and our parents offer the same grace to the other village children in return. I was personally taught by my father and my neighbor simultaneously." He was clearly proud of his heritage, stopping when he thought he was rambling.
"Well I'll be, we just passed by there on our way here!" Demyx said with a bright smile back. "Funny it took all the way 'til now to bump into one another, ha!" He giggled. "That's a really exciting history there, kid. Innit buddy?"
Demyx turned to the rugged man and elbowed him playfully, who merely nodded with a coy smirk in return. "Indeed, Demyx, indeed."
"What about you, friends? What kind of instrument even is that, and where did you learn to dance so exotically - I've never seen or heard anything like either before! Both are so beautiful" Calypso was having a hard time containing himself.
"Thanks man! We dig your work too!" Demyx sat his instrument upright, leaning against it almost. "Arpeggio here is a Sitar that I taught myself to play." He explained. "Your Nyckelharpa is pretty neat too; it got a name?"
"Arabesque. Abby for short." Calypso responded, happy to know his village wasn't the only one that named their instruments.
"Pleasure to meet you, Abby." Demyx bowed to Calypso's instrument, making his sitar bow as well, before standing upright again and leaning against it comfortably once more.
Calypso laughed freely in his excitement; he felt so uncomfortably comfortable around these two - he couldn't really explain it. "What about yourself, sir?" He turned to the larger man now.
The rugged man crossed his arms. "In a faraway land by a talented and brutal woman named Zira." He said simply, swishing his tail from one hip to the other.
"Oh!" He stood up straight suddenly, then gestured to the wooden Nyckelharpa case full of gold coins. "It wasn't nearly this full 'til you two came along. Feel free to take your share of the spoils, guys, I insist!" He stepped aside so they could walk past him to get some.
The rugged man just held up a hand, showing off his long, black, pointy claws. "It's all yours, Calypso."
"Are you sure? It's a lot of coin." He pressed, but the rugged man just shook his head, and Demyx seemed to stubbornly agree with his friend. "I...wow, I don't know what to say. Thank you, uh..." He trailed off. "I don't believe I caught your name."
He chuckled darkly. "You may call me Scar." He trailed a finger across the scar over his eye, then patted Calypso's head gently with one of his enormous hands. Something tugged at the back of his mind, telling him that he should be rejecting this relaxed feeling, but he couldn't help it. This man was all muscle despite his skinny build, and yet Calypso didn't feel the least bit threatened, not justifiably so anyhow.
"So where you headed?" Demyx asked, pointing at Calypso's knapsack. "You seem like you're on a mission." He smiled politely.
Calypso paused, not entirely sure how to answer the question. "I, uh... I'm not certain." He admitted after a few moments, anxiously rubbing the back of his neck with the hand not holding his bow. "I only left home just today. I was thinking of picking up work in the area, perhaps raising enough to get on a ship." He laughed. "Thanks to you two I suppose I have enough to get on three ships, haha!" The trio shared a laugh before the dryad continued. "I want to explore you see. I've been dying to see more of this world and all the other worlds out there, should they even exist," he laughed nervously, "though that must sound very childish of me..."
"Not at all," Scar reassured him, "in fact..."
"We'd be glad to offer you work, yanno, if you're interested." Demyx offered, his tone a lot more sly.
"Would you, would you really!?" Calypso jumped on his words with no further thought. "What sort of job is it?"
Demyx and Scar exchanged a knowing glance with identical smirks, then turned back to look at Calypso. "Let's talk over brunch, shall we?" Demyx said, wrapping an arm around Calypso and walking him away as Scar picked up the boy's case full of coin and his knapsack for him.
{M} A Whole New World IC ♥ Red & Cartel
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