For Part I: http://www.dailywaffle.co.uk/2014/11/sonata-sun-part/
Adagio’s geography was one with many twists and turns: from swamps to tundras and dark forests to beautiful lakes, everything was there. Nocturne would surely visit many more locations with his beloved lute. As he neared the edges of Chroma, he saw something peculiar in the distance: a pack of wild Gandrez. Gandrez were elephant like creatures with extremely short tusks made out of a combination of wood, ivory and gold. As such, they were always heavily hunted, almost extinct and the only kingdom where they lived in relative safety was Adagio.
But what was going on? The pack seemed to be running from something. Nocturne drew closer and noticed they were not hunted by people…But what then? What could drive these magnificent animals so wild?
‘We must hurry, before he catches up!’
‘But he’s one of our most beloved elders, we should help him!’
‘He’s done for, we’ve done everything we could possibly do for him..’
Nocturne approached one of the Gandrez:
‘What is going on here? What are you running from?’
The female Gandrez, calling herself Clementine, spoke to Nocturne:
‘Ahh, a human with a lute, maybe you can help us!
You see, for days our Gandrez elder was plagued by shifting dreams: one day he would wake up and rise, leading us in confidence and happiness, the other day he would be moody and depressed.
The thing with us Gandrez is that if after a certain time these dreams aren’t processed properly, we become…whatever takes over at the time.’
Nocturne wondered what could possibly drive this animal so insane, let alone make him chase his own so violently. Slowly he sneaked up on the elder Gandrez, the one who was called Eliah.
‘Why…Why have you all forsaken me?! Did our time in the pack mean nothing to you?! Why are you all running and hiding..?!’
Nocturne spoke to Eliah in a strong voice:
‘Oh, most beloved Eliah, what is it that bothers you? Why are you so angry at those who love you most? What has gotten hold of you?’
Eliah turned his gaze towards Nocturne:
‘WHO! WHO ARE YOU! Did THEY send you?! What are they up to! Are they gonna try and seize information to find out how they can further manipulate me?!’
‘CALM DOWN!’, Nocturne shouted,
‘No one is here to HURT YOU! Everyone out here is trying to help you, believe it or not.
You’re being haunted by something unknown and you should not give in to it.’
Eliah stood for a second to think, but then his eyes turned red: he was out to run towards Nocturne. He charged towards him blindly, without any thought, driven by what seemed to be pure hatred towards nothing. Nocturne dashed, and barely missed Eliah’s charge. As Eliah turned around, he thought to himself what he could possibly do to break this beast’s blind and unknown rage.
The Gandrez elder aimed for Nocturne once more, and set up an extra speedy charge.
All the other Gandrez looked in fear, as the beast rushed towards him. But Nocturne stayed in place and whipped out his lute from his back. He started playing a melancholic, yet swift upbeat song. Eliah seemed to slow down, yet still charged towards him.
Nocturne’s song breathed a deep feeling of love, a declaration of some sorts. Yet at the same time, the key declared the lament of unhappy feelings which cannot be placed yet. The song made Eliah feel abandoned, forgotten, as if he had to go through a certain hardship for something he was not even sure of if it would ever come back again. A deep longing went through his body as he heard Nocturne’s lyrics:
‘Seems I’m not alone at being alone
A hundred billion castaways
Looking for a home’
Eliah seemed to calm down for a bit. He stopped and started thinking to himself. Nocturne waited. He wasn’t sure anymore if this would be enough to overcome this obstacle on his journey. Yet the Gandrez already flocked around him to congratulate him.
‘Not so fast, you fools!’ Nocturne yelled.
As the Gandrez came closer, Eliah looked at his pack. Something grew over him again and he screamed and shouted, stomping his feet on the ground. He was making all sorts of noises, yet he did not seem to charge just yet.
‘Easy there, Eliah…Listen to me!’ Nocturne said.
But the Gandrez elder was still growling and stomping, preparing to charge in on the group. The Gandrez were shocked and couldn’t move. Nocturne started playing once more. This time he played more fiercely, trying to move Eliah in unexpected directions. It was a gamble, but it seemed to pay off.
His song was once again in a key that expressed both happy and unhappy love, but this time blind rage for the unhappy was being fought by a feeling of patience and discipline. His chords seemed to remind Eliah of what would happen if he would let loose his untempered rage. It would mean the destruction of his pack. Instead of bottling up his dreams and then releasing it on his herd like this, he just needed to talk, and if he couldn’t talk, he should look for other ways to release it. In a way, Eliah reached a certain emotional catharsis as Nocturne’s lute play became more fierce and passionate.
Eliah reminded himself of what he promised his herd, as well as himself. The song reminded him of what he fought for: he led the group for a future for the Gandrez, a breed that was already thought to be long gone and extinct. He fought because he wanted to prove that not everything has to go as the world expects: even if the world seemed to want the Gandrez to be removed from these plains, he shouldn’t give in to that. It wasn’t always up to the world for that to decide.
‘I can’t shake this feeling now
We’re going through the motions
Hoping you’d stop’
As these lyrics closed Nocturne’s song, Eliah started crying. The pack came near him and sat around him as he remained silent for some time. Nocturne looked at Clementine and she told him to stay around for a while, the pack would take care of him when it came to food, water and shelter. After two nights and two days, Eliah started to speak and the pack stood up.
‘I must thank you immensely, Nocturne. You’ve shown me that determination and conviction can only bring a being so far, one must also let his soul get some rest by purifying it from any cropped up feelings from time to time. But not in the way I did it. I do not know yet what could prevent this from happening again, but I do know I will find out before it can ever happen again. I have a responsibility to bring my pack to safety and let them live a happy life, no matter what darkness takes a hold of me.’
‘As a token of my gratitude, I will give you this bottle, made out of our tusks. You can also have these Shears of Edamantine, which is an old artifact of our kin.’
As Nocturne thanked Eliah and left the pack, Fatum appeared before him:
‘And now you know the key of C minor, dear traveler.’
‘Was that C minor? Funny, considering the C Major seemed a much simpler task..’
With that last thought Nocturne continued through Adagio. He didn’t know what was waiting next for him, nor did he feel as ecstatic and euphoric as after his first challenge.
But he knew he would push on. He would find the unknown key showed before him and he would play in it. He would see the end of his journey.
