Give Me a Sword and a Thousand Words: Lyra - "And the Wind Held its Breath"

Gathered in his fingers. Pulled out of the air, into the in-between. 

Racing through currents, brushing crystals without touching them. Hovering by the ones he selected; three, this time, simultaneously.

And… let go.

A whoosh of air rushed through the tubes, piping a clean, clear triad of lovely crystal tone. Scap smiled, breathing a giddy laugh that manifested as hazy clouds in front of his face.

Crisp mountain air filled his lungs. His face stung, scrubbed raw by the cold breeze. Not hidden by the mask, for once.

It was a good day to experiment with his elemental abilities. And a good place to do so. The concentration of Sky magic was incredibly high here.

Even if he hadn’t discovered a few weeks ago which powers he’d unlocked coming to the Paperverse, he was sure the thrilling pull in the heart of the Starsong Mountains would’ve let him know soon enough.

He stood still for a moment, letting the natural breeze flow through the crystal tubes and whistles that grew along this path. When he’d first heard of this location, he’d expected something like windchimes, or general ambient sounds of multiple overlapping notes.

And that’s what he got, at first. It was beautiful in a random, wild way, don’t get him wrong. He didn’t dislike it.

However, when he’d stumbled upon this little clearing, he noticed the crystals had been carefully chipped, carved, and coordinated in an ordered fashion. Set up in a musically-logical order.

Like a kid who has discovered the museum exhibit is actually interactive, Scap did what came naturally to mind. 

He played with it. And he had fun.

Was this what Zyklare was talking about back then, whenever he gave Scap those dreaded “days off” to explore, enjoy himself a little?

What a fool I was. Look where that got me; a week of paranoia, one lab accident, and two years of indoors confinement later, before I finally learned to appreciate things like this… 

Scap shook off the old thoughts and lifted his head confidently. “I am going to enjoy myself today.”

The wind whistled through the tubes, surfacing a reminder that had skipped his memory earlier. He amended his previous declaration:

“I am going to enjoy myself for a few hours and then get that job.”

Besides, he had to walk through this way in order to get to the meeting site at the base of the mountain. 

He experimentally played a few more chords and short three-note phrases, though being new to his elemental abilities and rusty with his musical ones, he wasn’t performing any virtuosic concerts anytime soon. Perhaps a simple accompaniment might work?

Fingers into the wind again, testing tubes until he found the right progression. It was just a matter of doing the chord transitions smoothly, so he practiced the movement a couple of times before feeling comfortable.

How did the words go again? Something about frozen time…

Before he even realized it, the words came, carried on a tune, sung in a low, uncertain register. Cracking occasionally. Still a melody.

 

“There’s a moment in time

That I wish never passed

For the roll is unwinding

Alarmingly fast

 

"An unstoppable march

Taking all in its path

To remind us that 

This wasn’t meant to last.”

 

“That’s lovely,” a voice said, directly behind him.

Scap yelled in surprise and yanked his mask down to cover his face. He whirled around, fingers flexed, muscles tense, breathing hard.

He stood facing a figure just around his height, with dark purple skin and silver hair fading to teal (at least, what he could see from under the cloak hood). When she brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, he noticed the slightly pointed end. An elf, maybe? They weren’t uncommon in this universe.

“Hi! Sorry, did I scare you? I know I can walk quietly, but I didn’t think I could be that silent– then again, you probably didn’t hear me coming since you were making such lovely music.” The elf smiled, exuding genuine amiability.

The sudden whirl of words (and was that a compliment at the end?) threw Scap’s brain for a loop. He awkwardly remained frozen in place for a few moments, then remembered himself.

“Thank… you.” Breathing back to normal. Assuming natural composure. “Don’t worry about it. A little adrenaline is good for the body, hahah…”

“Is it? I will make note of that.” She took out a notebook and a pen. “Oh! I didn’t tell you my name! I’m Aurolin but people call me Lin for short, and I don’t mind so you can call me Lin if you like!”

Scap couldn’t help but be affected by her contagious, bubbly personality. He chuckled, then introduced himself. 

“People call me Scap. It’s short for Scapindex but no one calls me that except the Visors, so you can stick with Scap. If you like.”

Aurolin scribbled down some notes before glancing up with a grin. “Nice to meet you, Scap! I don’t think I’ve seen you around before. Are you a new adventurer?”

“Something like that.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I haven’t formally applied yet, since I’ve been meaning to pay the Guild back for last month…”

He stopped, wondering what made him share such information with a near stranger. A very friendly stranger– but still, it had been less than five minutes since they met. “A-and what brings you to Lyra, Lin?”

The dark elf’s bright countenance became shadowed with a troubled expression. 

“I came out here looking for a friend. He ran out from the Guild earlier, and some travelers said they saw him coming up this way.”

Scap scanned the surroundings, but the landscape was arranged in such a way that one couldn’t see for more than thirty meters in any direction before the view was blocked by a hill, a crystal cluster, or trees.

“We were seeing if we could make some noise-canceling device,” Aurolin continued, “at least for music, since the ball is coming up. Dalv had Coeur set as head of security at first, but if music brings out Purple–”

“Coeur?” Scap’s head snapped around. “The talking robot who doesn’t know what a prank is?” 

Aurolin clapped her hands together. “Yes, that sounds just like him! You two have already met?”

Scap tilted his head from side to side. “Kind of acquainted. Never formally introduced. What’s this about music and purple though?”

“Oh! Well… music triggers his bad side. Purple has something against people, and he is difficult to deal with.”

Right, he mentioned that entity last time… Just terrific.

“We’re on a mountain… a musical mountain.” Scap resisted the urge to lift up his mask to pinch the bridge of his nose.

The dark elf nodded. “Hopefully the wind doesn’t pick up. I don’t know what to do if we have to deal with Purple without Dalv here…”

“Let’s move quickly, then.”

Five, maybe ten minutes in, the path began to narrow as tubes and whistles crowded closer to each other. Surely such a tall, immense machine wouldn’t be able to get through without disrupting the structures. 

Unless he were tiptoeing very carefully, Scap thought, which would at least mean he’s not far.

They soon came to an intersection in the path. If his memory was correct, this fork in the road was actually two entry choices for a circuit that looped back to the start. 

But more importantly, the crystals here were cultivated to play a certain type of piece. This particular path was a crab canon. 

Played one way, it gave one melody. Played in reverse, a different one.

Played simultaneously, a two-part, masterfully inverted invention.

If Coeur had come through this way, he would’ve broken off some of the crystals, and the melodies would sound incomplete, dissonant.

Scap glanced at Aurolin. “I have an idea. The crystals light up when they resonate with each other,” Scap explained. “Whichever side breaks off first, or sounds wrong– that’s the way Coeur came through.”

Aurolin nodded, going over the plan in her head. “There isn’t any wind right now. How are we going to hear them play at the same time?”

Scap cracked his knuckles and shook out his wrists. “Leave that to me.”

–––

Reaching through the wind, breezy fingers positioned at the start point. Just a tap… tap… tap… off to the races.

To say he wasn’t nervous would be a lie.

He walked along his side of the route, watching the glow of the crystals. So far, so good. Played so hesitantly, so tentatively, the intertwined melodies added an ethereal chill to the cold air.

“There’s a moment in time…” 

Barely breathed, just enough to calm himself and focus.

“Long ago, ‘round the bend…”

Still glowing. No signal from the Aurolin’s side.

“Staying fresh in my mind… stretching long past its end-”

There, something strange. A flash of green light, scattering into glimmers like a firework, exploded above the treeline. Aurolin’s signal! She had found the broken crystals.

Which meant Coeur would be coming this way.

Okay, Scap. You can do this. You just have to buy time for Aurolin to catch up, and then block the wind from behind.

He forged ahead with the wind at his back, waiting until he saw the glint of metal right… there.

“Coeur!” Scap called, wondering if the machine could hear him. “Your friend Aurolin is looking for you!”

The tall robot turned his head. His lights were still amber for now. It seemed he had gotten himself wedged in a cluster of crystals.

“Please keep your distance. The noise-muting device has ceased to function, and I fear the entity will take advantage of this situation. I am remaining here for the safety of others until the wind goes away at nightfall.”

Nightfall? That was too far away. “If I stopped the music, would you feel comfortable getting out and heading back down the mountain?”

“If that were possible, then perhaps–”

That was all the answer Scap needed. He hoped this worked the way it had played out in his head. One with the wind, he linked his whole essence with the breeze. 

 

It was strange in the in-between. Here, he could see all the wind currents, and divert them as easily as flicking a finger or waving a hand.

To stop the wind, however, he needed to be calm, focused. He inhaled deeply, filling his lungs with air… and kept it there.

He didn’t know how long he could hold it, but hopefully long enough.

 

“When the world ceased to turn

And the wind held its breath–

Then was lost to the waves of time again.”

 

1774 words

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This took quite a different turn than I had originally planned - mostly because I partially used it to explore Scap's latent element... and I got distracted by the idea of the crab canon ^-^" Still, it was an adventure to write! I love the concept of musical mountains.

Thank you Minimaid (Aurolin) and Oriannis (Coeur, Dalv mentioned) for your characters! :D