The Forbidden Melody 2

Hannah will be called Brynn from now on, just because I feel like it and the name sounds less childish, but not too adult, to reflect her character. Mostly because I feel like it.

     The sound of metal upon metal tore across the town, the shock wave spreading like wildfire through every open window, into townsfolk's homes, across meadows and through woods. Nature itself held its breathe for a second, the wind seeming to halt its quiet wandering across the empty streets. Suddenly, the sound ripped through the air once more as the bell high atop the church tower tilted the opposite direction, the small metal hammer inside striking the other side. Time unfroze as if it never had stopped for a split second, the wind continuing its procession through the town of Cheshyr, not knowing that it was passing through a soon to be legend.

     Cheshyr was a small town, with around one hundred and fifty residents, most of whom were men working in the nearby forest. A large river ran through the woods and through the nearby mountains, making it easy to transport the lumber cut within it to the nearby capitol, Kingsport. During the spring when the river ran high from the frequent rains, the men awoke early to start their day of logging, and came home late at night, in an attempt to save up enough money to get them through the harsh winter. Not much logging could be done then since it all had to be shipped over land, so it was all or nothing within these few busy months.

     The small city sprang to life as the inhabitants began opening their shops, heading to work in the forest, and cleaning out their houses to air in the beautiful morning air. It was the first day in nearly a week since spring had began that it had stopped raining. Wives bustled about with brooms and linens, clearing out the dust and hanging their sheets for the sun to smile upon. Near the south entrance to town, a large fountain had been erected in the honor of its last mayor, and upon it sat that very mayor, now in his declining years. The old man had a calculating look on his face as he stared up the road leading out of town, wondering if anything interesting would happen before his time was up, and he joined his ancestors among the heavens.

     As if on queue, a small girl with midnight black hair tied back in a large ponytail came careening out of the forest, stumbling on the road and looking around frantically. She looked like she had been running for quite some time, but not a single strand of hair was out of place on her head, and her pale skin was unmarred by a single streak of sweat or dirt. Her clothes were impeccably straight, as if she had walked out of a tailors shop instead of a large, humid forest in the early morning hours. Glancing in his direction, hope bloomed in her eyes and she started sprinting madly in his direction. The old man merely cocked an eyebrow in her direction and crossed his arms, awaiting to see what would happen.

     Without warning, a large shape exploded from the foliage into the road, stumbling over the smooth dirt and stone, falling forward and rolling to a stop where the girl was once standing only moments before. The vaguely human sized shape lay there a moment, its form heaving up and down as if gasping for breathe. Studying it carefully,the man was surprised to see arms and legs amidst the bramble and branches sticking in its clothing. The creature seemed to be holding some kind of long-necked weapon in its hands as it stood up and faced him. Now that he could see her face, he noticed a very disheveled woman, sweat pouring down her angry looking figure as she locked onto the little girl's fleeing form.
    
     "You can't escape me that easily you little witch!" the disheveled girl cried out. To the old man's surprise, her voice was high and lilting, and carried very well on the air. The "weapon" he thought he saw before he now recognized as a biwa, a popular instrument among young minstrels these days. Rubbing his chin, an idea began to form in his head as the young fleeing girl ran up to him and bowed slightly.

     The little girl ran behind him, clutching his shirt from behind and cowering behind him. "Oh dear little girl, are you in some kind of trouble?" he asked the girl. The other girl came storming up the road, her biwa clutched in her hand tightly. As she got closer he noticed that she was incredibly beautiful, even in her disheveled state. Beneath the dust, her hair shined a golden hue, and her skin was unblemished from the troubles of the world, as many these days were. The woman stopped a a few feet in front of the old mayor, her eyes boring holes through him to stare at the girl on the other side, as if he didn't even exist.

     "No trouble really, just trying to stay away from that cow monster over there before she infects me with her stupidity," the girl said matter-of-factly. The old man would have laughed out loud if it wasn't for the fact that the girl in front of him had started chuckling darkly.

     "Oh? Cow monster is it, you flat chested runt? Stupidity huh? I'll show you stupidity!" She hefted the biwa in her hands like a baseball bat, her eyes dark and firey. The old man, realizing his situation, held up his hands in front of him. Unfortunately, he didn't see the girl behind him sticking her tongue out and making a very unladylike gesture at the girl to his front, but he did see the makeshift bat come careening in his direction before his world shifted to dark.

     "Stupid," Brynn whispered quietly to Sheilah from her spot on the ground. Both of the girls sat kneeling on the ground, their foreheads pressed low to the ground. Sheilah pushed Brynn's head farther into the ground as she raised her own a little to look forward.

     "I am truly, truly sorry for the trouble we have caused, if there is any way I can pay you back please let me know," she said sincerely. The old man sat in front of her in a rickety old rocking chair that looked like it had seen a few adventures. The mans wife was pressing a large bag of ice to his head and she began chucking to the two of them.

     "Now now, no need to get all worked up, it was just a little bump," the elderly lady said with a motherly air. "If Harold got done in by somethin' this small, he may as well go crawl in the ol' burial plot and wait for the undertaker." The woman chuckled to herself as Brynn elbowed Sheilah in the side and stood up, brushing herself off, even though not a spec of dirt was on her immaculate clothing. The old mayor, Harold, glanced down at Sheilah, and snorted at his wife, pointing at the girl with his elbow. She was snoring softly with her head planted on the ground, her butt stuck up in the air. "My heavens," the old woman clucked to herself, walking over and picking the girl up as if she was a roll of bedding.

     Brynn cocked an eyebrow at the elderly lady, wondering if she would be ok. While Sheilah was still young, she was a mature girl, her body was well filled out, and she stood nearly five and a half feet tall. Brynn doubted she could even drag the girl, much less carry her, and this old lady held her as if she was Brynn's size. Shaking her head, she followed the elderly lady as she walked out of the room carrying Sheilah.

     "This poor girl is plum tuckered out, and I can't just put you two out on the street like this now can I?" the lady asked thin air. "Would you to take a bath little one?"

     Normally Brynn would take offense to this, but she knew that this lady was no normal old lady. Bowing her head slightly, she responded politely, "Yes ma'am, thank you very much for your hospitality. My name is Brynn, and she is Sheilah."

     The old lady merely nodded her head and walked through a large towel hanging over one of two wooden entrance-way at the back of the house. Brynn's eyes widened in amazement as a gout of steam assaulted her, clearing to reveal several large heated pools of water set in stone outside. The smell of minerals and soaps assaulted her nose as she took in the sight of the miniature hot springs, surrounded by a large bamboo fence and copious amounts of exotic vegetation.

     "Welcome to my hot springs inn, little Brynn. Many a' weary logger comes 'ere to soak away the cuts and fatigue of the day. The natural minerals in the water speed up the body's natural healing, it comes in mighty handy sometimes in this town," the woman said, setting Sheilah down gently and shaking her lightly. Sheilah awoke with a start, looking blearily up at the older woman smiling kindly over her shoulder. "Come now child, get undressed and soak in this warm bath a bit, eh? You can treat us to a bit o' your singing later if you like, my husband says you have a hefty pack o' lungs on you," she said said with a deep chuckle. Her chuckle made Brynn think of the earth itself, a rich, deep laugh that reached to your very soul.

     Sheilah merely nodded sleepily and started stripping her clothes off. Seeing her nude body up close, Brynn looked down at her own body and sighed quietly, patting her small chest and shaking her head. As Sheilah timidly tested the water with one toe, the old woman spoke from behind her ear in a quiet whisper. "They say these waters can even help to improve a persons figure, if you know what I mean," she said with a light pat on Brynn's back.

     As Sheilah gingerly eased herself into one of the hot pools, a dark shadow swiftly flew over her head, splashing loudly into the water, sending a large gout of steam into the air. Shielding her face, she noticed the top of Brynn's head poking out from the water, only her eyes and nose visible. Shaking her head, Sheilah sighed contentedly, leaning her head back against the smooth stone and throwing her arms over the sides. The water bubbled over her aches and pains, caressing her body like a lover, making her moan quietly as the kinks unwound from her muscles.

     Brynn closed in silently on the large globes of her envy cresting from the waters like large buoys. "Really, what do you eat..." she mumbled to herself in the water. Tiny air bubbles came from her mouth, bursting into little puffs of steam as they escaped to the outside world. Sheilah cocked her head a little to look at her with one eye.

     "You say something, brat?" Sheilah said sleepily, her fingers making lazy circles in the water. The steam was starting to build up in the room a little, so she missed the other girl looking at her quizzically. There was no way she could have heard her mumble underwater, and she was a good six feet away. There was only one way she could have known, but Brynn didn't dwell on that for now. It was why she had chosen her, after all.

     Sheilah's chest started to rise and fall in a slow rhythm as she dozed off, and her body slipped a little as it slid on the smooth stone. Before she could slip into the water, Brynn slid up next to her and sidled up under her arm, propping her up. "I swear, what would you do if I wasn't here..." Brynn started to say, before Sheilah's arm slid down over her shoulder, clutching her softly to her chest. Looking up in anger, Brynn almost made a retort before she noticed that the older girl was still sleeping. Snorting, her face red, she slid her arms around the older girl and closed her eyes herself, dozing off a little, her cheek resting softly on Sheilah's shoulder. Their hair twirled together in the eddying water, a colorful mix of gold and black as it circled the unlikely pair.

     Letting the cloth drop behind her, the older lady walked out to the common room of the inn and started taking down chairs from the table, lost in thought. Harold walked in behind her, all traces of the injury from earlier gone, a rueful smile on his face. "So, what do you think?" he said to her softly, one leg cocked up on a chair as he leaned on his knee with his elbows.

     His wife turned to him, tears in her eyes as she smiled, laughing lightly and wiping her face. "I can't believe we lived to see them, Harold. This is amazing. They're really here, in our town," she whispered, tears of joy rolling down her face. She ran to her husband, flinging her arms around him as he spun her around. They both laughed joyfully together as if they were forty years younger, dancing around the common room.

     Passing bystanders looked quizzically into the entrance, wondering if the old couple running the inn had finally lost their mind. With a laugh, they opened the doors to the inn and walked out front. "Today, we celebrate!" Harold yelled. "First round is on me, who's with me!" Amidst the cheers of tired loggers and the groans of wives who knew their husbands would be home late tonight, everyone began filing into the inn to begin a night that few who were there would choose to remember, but many would whisper about for years to come.
     


    


    

Author's Note

This took about an hour to write, I tried to fix some of things reviewers noted on in the last story, like the dialogue running together and getting confusing. Let me know what you think! Feel free to be picky about spelling/grammar/etc.

Reviews

[Adam Lebzo -RonninWarri..]

In a way or another we have the same fiction muse, though I am more of a poet but had my fiction side as well, and this is a better version of the first indeed. However, be more accurate in your punctuation, would help the reader immerse better in the read, but a very good story indeed, you have a story teller mind :)

[Cheshire]

Yea you're right, this story was the first one I ever wrote lol. (Well part 2 of the first story I've ever written)

[Adam Lebzo -RonninWarrior-]

great start indeed!
please do read my story "Silence in the house of tongues" 1 and 2
I'll be honored

[Holly M. May]

I really love this ^^ it's amazing to me that it comes to you so easily, I truly believe you have a real talent. =3 As I have said before I absolutely love the imagery and how you keep hinting there is something bigger than what it seems.

I do get a little confused about where it is taking place, because it sounds very Asian but the wife has almost a southern accent? So maybe it's explained later in the book or just to make her seem a little more warm as a character. And you seemed to use the word "assault" a lot during the description of the hot springs (just saying since you said to be picky x3).

But anyways still looking forward to more of this story! ^v^