Festival Music ((Open to All))

[Roderich Edelstein]

((I've noticed I'm not the only resident musician or talented character around here, so I thought I would start a thread where any characters that can play, sing or dance can show off their talents. But it's open to anyone. Interaction with our audience is important too! Open to all. Jump in and out as you please-like in "The Parade"))

A smattering of applause erupted from the far end of the Market as the trio finished their last song. They bowed and waved to the crowd and then started to clear their things off readying the stage for the next group.

He watched as the crowd dispersed away from the stage. If one could really call it a stage. In truth, it was a plain wood platform perhaps only 10-11 inches tall and big enough only to fit possibly five performers and their equipment comfortably close. It had an awning like many of the stands to keep the sun and rain off of the performers, but little else. It was placed back towards one corner end of the marketplace far from the bustling entrance and exit of the market, but still within the heavy flow of foot traffic.

Some of the people would stop, listen and watch for a spell, and laugh as children danced and hopped to the more spritely tunes; others simply drifted by lost in conversation to the company at their side. While finally some flitted by, too harried and rushed in their own private errands to be bothered with enjoying the music in the air.

It didn't matter to Roderich, because he was intent on another goal. Securing a good spot. He was looking for one of those prized breaks in the stands, preferably one near a food stall or a bustling lantern booth. Something that was the perfect little shaded corner for a street performer to set up shop. Which basically came out to be two to three square feet of space just big enough for one to two people and whatever equipment they needed along with a case or hat set in one corner to catch what random generosity and luck might be thrown their way.

Of course you had to be there early in the morning when the vendors were first setting up the stands to secure your spot.

Roderich silently cursed the fact that he had been stuck in rehearsals all morning for the University Music Conservatory's performance as the special guest group that evening. He had been one of the special hand-picked players for the small group and it was an honor, but. . . . He relished the times when he could play the current popular tunes, the folk tunes, mess around with the classical arrangements, or even mash the classic and the current music of the day together in crazy medleys without any director or instructor frowning in disapproval and correcting him.

So he was annoyed to lose any festival performance time to the formal Conservatory practice sessions that he could have any time of the year. The music was beautiful and challenging like any religious, government approved compositions that have been commissioned over the ages for various functions, but they could also be awfully dry. Government leaders tended to frown on any experimental variations of beloved tunes during public officiated performances.

They wanted tradition and nothing else. Boorriiing! He was itching to break free and play some music out from under of the restraints of convention. Unfortunately, first he had to find a place to do that, and he'd have to be extremely lucky to catch a spot this late in the day. He gripped his pendent and whispered a prayer to the capricious Lady that she would be generous and smile on him.

((Yes, our Roddy's a wee bit superstitious when it comes to Lady Luck.))

[Kiku Honda]

((Unfortunately, I think the only thing Kiku can play is the frying pan. So I'll just be an invisible spectator for now! Hope you don't mind me joining in!))

A young man stepped out of the train that had come from the Higherlands. Kiku sighed softly as he paid the train citation. Up until now he had been studying for his exams. This was supposed to be his 4th day of a non-stop studying session. Up until now was because his mother, being the good parent she is, broke open his door, handed him some 50 sol and told him to go outside and do something. After walking around the East aimlessly for about an hour Kiku overheard something about a music festival in the Marketplace. Intrigued, he got on the next train going down.

As Kiku stepped out of the train station he noticed quite a few people heading in the same direction. He could hear the whisper of music coming from far away so he decided to follow the crowd. He could hear the music getting a bit louder. Barely audible and already Kiku could appreciate it.

Suddenly, Kiku stopped in his tracks. The small crowd continued on and was soon out of sight. Kiku, all the while, staring blankly at a single lamp-post. Adjacent to it a dark alleyway. Kiku sighed sadly. This is where it had happened. He stood there for a few minutes. Kiku shook his head and looked around. It seemed like he was alone. He thought of just trying to follow the music from here and ask for directions when he heard someone call out to him from the alleyway.

"...Hey." the voice said coldly. Kiku turned to where the voice came from to find a tall muscular man emerging from the alley. A knife in his right hand, agleam with light. Kiku froze.

((Well Berwald was sposed to come save Kiku but she gave up. I'm inviting anyone to come and save him!))

[Alfred Jones]

This was a place that Alfred didn't go very often. The marketplace was normally an area he didn't bother going to when the festival came round, he didn't have hte money for most of the wares they had. However, it was nice to go and window shop sometimes. It was the first time since he was young, with his parents, actually...

However, he soon had enough of just looking, and after enjoying the music for awhile longer, he headed on out. Generally when he was in this area, he stayed mostly out of sight, not wanting to be spotted...Really that was more of a game to him though up here. The murder had taken place so long ago that no one recognized him at all.

What he wasn't expecting to see was a young man being mugged. Well, this was strange.Staring for a moment, he shifted from his semi-hidden area, then without warning, took off running towards the two. The would-be mugger never expected someone to actually help, especially not up here, so as Alfred dropped his bag, using the momentum to kick the man hard in the back of the knees while grabbing the armed hand and jerking it behind his back, he only cried out in alarm and, because he lost the use of one of his arms, his face slammed into the ground with a loud thud.

Quickly the blonde stole the knife, tossing it off to the side as his knee dug into his back in an angle that was very painful.Then, without warning, the way he was holding onto his arm changed, and he jerked. With a snap, his shoulder was dislocated, the man crying out loudly in pain before he actually fell unconscious.

Blinking a bit, Alfred poked the back of the mans head, then deciding he was no longer a threat, shifted off of him. Looking at Kiku, he smiled a bit, rolling his shoulders. "Hey! You alright?"

[Belle Johansson]

Jumping off of the train the sun shone brightly over head casting its warm rays across Belle’s shoulders, her green eyes sparkled as she basked in its warmth. She loved sunny days, and there was nothing better than sunbathing! She wasn’t one of those people who burned either; her skin had a natural aversion to that, which was something Belle was happy about because really who wanted icky sunburns?
Sweet yet strong folk music flooded the market place with music. A smile lit Belle’s face jovially as the familiar tune rang threw her ears. Grinning from ear to ear she felt her feet itch as they began to dance the well practised moves she’d been taught so long ago, the rest of the crowd around her danced as well so she wasn’t the only one, something the young blonde was more than happy about (as she wouldn’t have danced if nobody else was). Folk dancing was something she’d studied in her younger years on her mother orders; at first she’d hated it the stern old lady that had taught her was such an old cow that Belle had purposely danced bad. It wasn’t until her mother made her promise that she’d try Belle had shown any talent.

Though she still didn’t progress much she did learn enough to keep her mother happy and the witch like teacher at bay with her sharp nasty comments. It wasn’t that the young blonde hadn’t had a sense of rhythm, it was more the fact she was far too clumsy for her own good. She’d fall and trip over the long dresses they were forced to wear or she’d fall over her own feet, it was inevitable she’d have some accident. As the music picked up pace she span in a circle raising her arms up and down as she nimbly jumped from one foot to the other. She must have looked so foolish but then again she was young most people would have

of course she would have much preferred something more modern, perhaps a song everybody could enjoy. Far too busy in her own world she twirled once more before she stopped as the music came to an abrupt halt. She clapped along with the rest of crowd as she waited for the next act and song to begin. Festivals were so much fun, she couldn’t wait to see what the other acts had in store. The music started again and like before she began her merry dance as the small part of the crowd who were dancing began once more.

(yeey for random dancing Belgians)

[Kiku Honda]

Kiku analyzed the situation as calmly as he could. His eyes were going back and forth, sizing up the man, identifying the knife. The man was taller than Kiku. He seemed built as well. There was no way Kiku could match his attacker in strength. The mugger was holding a knife in his right hand. He was holding it in such a way that he could only use the knife by bringing it down in an overhead stab.

Despite his looks Kiku knew some self defense. Over a few summers he had tried his hand at kendo and found he was rather good at it. Unfortunately a scenario like this didn't extend to kendo. He had no sword to use. Still, the class covered very basic hand to hand combat. Since Kiku wasn't strong he would make up for it with speed and technique.

He would let the man charge with the knife. When the knife came down he would side-step and force the attacker's hand to come full circle causing pain. Kiku would then try to take him down in that position then try to disarm him somehow. Kiku calculated all this within seconds.

What Kiku didn't calculate was for someone to charge in and completely overpower the attacker, skillfully bending joints in ways they should not bend. Kiku's savior had obviously done something like this before. Or at least was extremely well trained. After making quick work of the mugger, Kiku met a pair of clear blue eyes.

"Hey! You alright?" the young man said. He seemed to be the same age, if not younger, than Kiku. The way he took out the mugger and his aloof appearance gave Kiku the impression he was some kind of teenage superhero. Kiku blinked. It all happened way too fast. It took a few moments but Kiku collected his thoughts and responded. "Yes, I am." He said calmly before bowing deeply to him. "Thank you very much for helping me. I was quite uncertain what was to happen if you had not appeared." Kiku extended his arm to initiate a handshake.

"My name is Kiku Honda. A pleasure to meet you. I was on my way to the music festival when the attacker showed up. If you have time perhaps you would care to join me and allow me to treat you to something as a token of my appreciation." He said, a clam smile on his face.

[Ludwig Beilschmidt]

He double checked his phone again before he walked towards the stands that held the musicians. Ludwig walked up to where the music was playing as he waved to Roderich who he knew was fuming for the fact that Roderich would want more freedom for the music even though audience wouldn't care either way.

"Hey I got your message. Lucky classes were let out early."

He looked around as he caught sight of beautiful female dancer in the crowd dancing to the music that was playing for them.

"Looks like you got a pretty good crowd Roderich."


((Sorry it's so short.))

[Alfred Jones]

Once again nudging the man who lay prone on the ground as he curiously watched the more delicate boy bow, Alfred slowly stood straight then, brushing himself off with one hand, accepted the smaller mans hand for a hand shake. The way this guy talked was kind of funny though, it was making Alfred smile because he was so...Polite.

"Alfred Jones. It's no problem, you could say it's my job to keep people like them in line." He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "Mmn...Well, I'll go with ya, but I don't need to be treated to anything, really..." He figured the mugger was probably a guy down on his luck anyway. When he woke up and realized he got his ass handed to him he'd probably try to go back to his job. And if not, Alfred would probably see him again!

"This is a little ways from the actual music part though, did you get lost?" He asked, motioning for the petite man to follow him. While he might not live around here any longer, he still knew where things were at least.

[Im Yong-soo]

Yong-soo looked around at the lively festival that was going on in the market place. He’d heard about the music festival and decided to check it out and maybe get a chance to play his guitar. Yong-soo enjoyed the music a lot but the more he listened, the more his fingers itched to play his guitar. He finally set his guitar case down and flipped it open, revealing his beloved guitar. Yong-soo lifted it up and slung the guitar strap over his head. He did a couple warm-up strums before strumming and singing to the rhythm of a song he loved to listen to.

Yong-soo had first found the song when he was looking through his eldest brother’s favorite albums a long while back. Most of the lyrics were in Korean and he could only understand a portion of what it meant but Yong-soo still enjoyed listening to the song. The song had a note of jealousy mixed in with a bit of anger and sorrow. Yong-soo smiled slightly at how the song perfectly fits with his moods sometimes.

[[Here’s a link to the song he’s playing if you’re interested. I hope you don’t mind watching the music video~~ www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1mB3ymyAjU]]

[Kiku Honda]

Kiku smiled softly at the blond. He seemed very nice and energetic. The fact that he said it was kind of his job to deal with people like this solidified Kiku's impression of the man as a superhero. Though he didn't look it, Kiku was admiring Alfred. Kiku wasn't strong enough to take on thugs like that on a regular basis. Alfred seemed to have a strong sense of justice yet still retained a cheerful personality. He seemed like the superhero kids wanted to be when they were little.

"Mmn...Well, I'll go with ya, but I don't need to be treated to anything, really..." the blond said. Kiku gave a warm smile. He seemed modest too. To Kiku, an honest display of modesty only grants a greater gift. "Please, I insist. It's honestly the least I can do." Kiku replied.

"This is a little ways from the actual music part though, did you get lost?" Alfred said, gesturing Kiku to follow him. He blinked. 'My, how embarrassing.' he thought to himself quickly. He scratched his cheek lightly, shifting his eyes. "A-ah. I'm afraid I did. How pathetic of me. Getting lost and, afterwards, attacked by a mugger." Kiku said meekly, starting to walk. "However, Alfred, what you do seems very admirable. Helping those in need and not expecting anything in return. I would say one should address you as a 'superhero'." Kiku said, his eyes gleaming at Alfred's.

[Alfred Jones]

When Kiku said that, blue eyes studied him for a moment before he hummed a bit defeatedly. This guy seemed like one of those people who were sneakily stubborn."Well....I guess some strawberry lemonade won't hurt.." he mumbled, rolling his shoulders. He wasn't in the mood to be stubborn back, he supposed.

Listening to the smaller man, Alfred just smiled himself. "Aw cmon, its not pathetic. Stuff happens. Besides, you looked a little distracted anyway..." being called a superhero made him chuckle, then full out laugh. "I wouldn't call myself that, but thank you. Its more of a...need to help those who need it. Even if its dealing with dangerous people."

Another smile was directed towards Kiku, but Alfred obviously wasn't going to expand on that sentence. It wasn't his style to go around telling everyone his sob story...or anyone at all, really. As they arrived, he glanced around, smiling at the atmosphere. "Here we are... hmn, I wish I had some musical talent, sometimes."

[Roderich Edelstein]

<sub>((@ludwig - Okay Roderich's not quite ready for his grandstand performance, but I'm going to pick up your post and character toward the end and you're going to help me wrap the thread up okay?))

((@everyone else - Festival Music ends with the Mainstage performance of the Conservatory Music group's performance when the sun starts to set and the booths close up. They'll play some traditional Festival dances, hymns and ballads. Then the Marketplace area will empty and close for the night afterwards.))</sub>


Roderich smiled as he passed the dancers. He hoped they would stick around for the end performance when he'd be onstage. They looked like an enthusiastic crowd. Though most of the songs were more on the slow side he hoped they would still enjoy them.

Roderich almost missed the small Asian man standing in the corner from where he was when the young man started playing his guitar and singing. It seemed most everyone else was too. Roderich stopped to listen. Tapping his foot in time to the beat to the rhythmic tune. A shame more people hadn't noticed, he was really good.

As the young man finished singing the chorus for the first time, Roderich remembered he had been required to bring up some of the smaller percussion equipment for the concert later that night and he was still carrying it as the strap of the bag bit into his shoulder. Which gave him an idea. He grabbed at the bag on his shoulder, and pulled out the little tambourine there. He held it up for the other man to see. Then with the go ahead, he lightly tapped the head in time working it in with the verse.

As the other man jumped back to the chorus, Roderich let go and beat the head harder and let the little metal disks jingle in time to fill in the parts that a drum set would normally occupy. He noticed more people coming around to watch and listen now. Some of them tapping toes and clapping hands. He smiled, maybe the young man would get a little luck, and some Sol would be laid down too.

_{[[Edit: Redid previous post and made the action a little clearer, so it was less confusing. Originally I wrote it before work and didn't have time to proof it.]]}

[Im Yong-soo]

Yong-soo opened his eyes slightly when he heard the jingle of a tambourine accompany his playing. He quickly found the source of the sound and smiled at the man who was playing it. Yong-soo was about to get ready to close his eyes again but noticed that he was attracting a small crowd around him.

As more people came to watch, Yong-soo couldn’t help but smile widely as he sang. He really liked playing his guitar for other people to listen. Especially when they enjoy hearing and watching him play.

[[Sorry, it's a bit late... I've been having a lot of brain-moments lately...]]

[Roderich Edelstein]

_{[Don't be sorry, I thought you posted rather quickly :) ]}

As the young man finished playing, a couple people in the small surrounding crowd started to clap. Roderich smiled and reached a hand out to the other player and gave him a quick handshake. "Thank you, that was fun. I'm Roderich."

He nodded as he got the other man's name. Then tucking the tambourine under his arm he turned back to the crowd and started clapping too and pointed back to the other player. With the added encouragement more people joined in clapping.

He looked back at the other player, "Well Yong-Soo, looks like you've got yourself an audience. Shall we give them what they want?" With a mischievous smile and a wink he moved a little back of and to the side of the other man, indicating by his actions who was the real star of their little performance. He held up the tambourine ready to begin again.

[Kiku Honda]

Kiku, himself, gave a little hum of victory. "Strawberry lemonade and perhaps a soft pretzel, then." He said happily.

Kiku smiled softly as Alfred laughed. "Still, It is a very honorable thing to do. I imagine, from the way you speak about the matter and how easily you took down my attacker, you have been doing this for quite some time. It is people like you who deserve more recognition." Kiku said, thinking if he could do something as demanding as this. It was apparent the odds were against him. He could barely take care of himself for one day without something happening. Alfred Jones... he truly was something else.

The sound of music was getting louder and before he knew it, he and Alfred were at the festival. A group of musicians were on the stage. It looked the festival wasn't quite over just yet. Kiku looked around. The atmosphere was incredible. Nice music, happy people, the entire area just seemed to glow with joy. 'I spy, with my little eye, a refreshment stand.' He thought whimsically. Kiku walked in front of Alfred and turned to him. "Thank you for bringing me here, Alfred. It is certainly a wonderful spectacle. I, myself, understand how you feel. I certainly lack any musical talent of any kind." He said, smiling. Perhaps he should at least try his hand at some kind of instrument. They say it can be the key to the one you love's heart...

"Ah. I believe I see a promising refreshment stand, Alfred. Shall we get ourselves a snack?" Kiku said, pointing to a small stand a few meters away.

[Im Yong-soo]

Yong-soo happily shook Roderich’s hand. “Nice to meet you, I’m Yong-soo.” He smiled shyly at the applause and bowed.

Yong-soo gave a childish grin at Roderich’s question and nodded. He thought for a few moments before he started singing and strumming again. The song was also found when Yong-soo was looking through his brother’s favorite albums (he used to do this sort of thing a lot…). This song, however, has a much sweeter tone and would probably fit the mood of a young man innocently in love.

[[oTL… the song is called “You (Great Coincidence)” by Sweet Sorrow www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xCqcK2vxcM]]

[Roderich Edelstein]

Roderich bobbed his head a little as he timed himself to Yong-soo's quick taps on the guitar body. He hit the skin of the tambourine in time to the downward motion of the other man's head and body as he strummed the first chord. It was a nice light song. He didn't know the lyrics, but he could tell from the melody and tempo that it was a song written by a happy man. Which meant odds were it was a love song. He hummed along and tried to harmonize a little at the chorus. Though he stuck with your typical 'la la ah' rather than butcher or stumble over the unfamiliar words.

He gave a big smile when they finished. He set the tambourine down next to him and asked the other man, "Don't suppose you know Early in the Mornin? My grandma used to sing it to me."

When he saw the other man shake his head no, he continued, "Hm, well most people don't, though most are familiar with the tune. It's a variation based on the Drunken Sailor sea shanty."

He pulled out the pendant that he always wore partially hidden beneath his jacket. He held the little ocarina up to his lips and gave a couple warm up puffs on it to loosen his mouth. He played a bit of the chorus on the little wind instrument to give Yong-Soo the tune.

"It starts in E minor, and then goes A, G, D and flips between those. It's actually very easy. Just follow my lead OK?"

Roderich's eyes twinkled merrily as he began playing the intro. Then he stopped and his voice took over the tune as he started singing the verse acapella. He didn't usually sing, though he had a decent voice. He preferred playing, but luckily the tune was designed to be a singing chant and relatively easy to sing. As he came near to the chorus, he picked up the tambourine and signaling to Yong-Soo with a couple preemptive taps to join, guitar and tambourine soon added to his tenor.

Music www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRoWjhlxlp0
Lyrics www.mp3lyrics.org/k/kingston-trio/early/

[Alfred Jones]

A glance with a small pout was sent the smaller mans way, but he didn't say anything to the addition, for now. Shrugging faintly in response to the young mans talking, Alfred just smiled. "I'm just picking up the slack that the police miss, that's all."

Once they arrived, Alfred smiled at the sounds of the music. The only thing he wished was that it wasn't all playing at once! He wanted to be able to focus on things completely. Blinking when Kiku turned around again, another smile was directed towards him and he waved a hand. "Nah, it's nothin', really." Still, he arched a brow, surprised that the other said he couldn't play any instrument. Usually rich kids were forced into learning SOMETHING...He had been on the piano since he could articulate his fingers, before the incident had happened.

"Mm? Uh, sure. Just the strawberry lemonade, please." Smiling, he shifted his bag lightly. "If you don't mind, I'll just kinda hang out over here where not many people'll see me. Sometimes they get pissed seeing a lowlander come up here." He backed away into a somewhat out of the way area from the festival, where people wouldn't see him unless they were looking for him.

[Kiku Honda]

Kiku pondered on what Alfred said for a few seconds. It made sense. Alfred probably spent most of his time out of the public's eye. After all, when he helped Kiku he came out of nowhere. It might not be so much of a stretch to assume Alfred went around hopping from rooftop to rooftop on patrol. As for the people around disliking lowlanders... "Ah. I do not mind, at all, Alfred. Please excuse me for a brief moment." Kiku gave a quick bow and walked briskly to the drinks stand.

After a few moments Kiku returned to the spot where Alfred was with two cups of strawberry lemonade. The music was picking up. He handed one to Alfred and took a small sip from his own cup. 'Hm. Strawberry lemonade.' Kiku thought sharply to himself. This was actually his time tasting the drink. And it was quite tasty. After savoring the atmosphere for a second he turned to Alfred again.

"While I don't mind you choosing to stay back here, I have to ask; You mentioned some of the people here might get irritated at you for being a lowlander. I'm afraid I do not go down here very often. And I'm acquainted with very few lowlanders as well, so please excuse me naivete when I ask, Is such discrimination quite common? The lowlanders I've met have been quite nice and, in this case, was nice enough to save my life." He said, a curious look on his face.

[Alfred Jones]

Nodding at the smaller man agreeing, Alfred just settled on back, finding a rather nice spot near a tree for shade. As Kiku returned, he accepted the drink with a thank you before taking a small sip. It'd been forever since he'd had this.

As the other man turned to him though, he blinked and then smiled a bit. This guy must not get out too often. "It kind of is. It's not outright discrimination, but a lot of highlanders usually consider themselves much better than lowlanders. Especially one that looks as scruffy as I do." He pointed out.

"I don't really know why the discrimination happens though, I mean, we're all people..." Pausing to take a sip of the lemonade, Alfred hummed out. "But I can see why they'd get mad at a lowlander for coming up here. I mean, they usually assume they have their own festivities, and they figure that lowlanders can't buy anything anyway. Even though a few of the vendors here are lowlanders." He pointed out, arching a brow.

[Kiku Honda]

Kiku frowned a bit as Alfred explained. He silently cursed his own naivetè. To say he does not go down here very often is a spiting understatement. The thought that it was more than likely that some of his relatives, his neighbors or even some of his friends might think that way. He needed to wise up. Everyone else he knew probably had.

Still, Kiku couldn't help but smile a bit at Alfred's last remark. A light chuckle escaped him. "Oh, I wouldn't say scruffy. I think one should call it the appearance of experience." He said lightheartedly. "The look of a street-smart vigilante hero who dances in the night!" Kiku said happily, taking a huge gulp of his strawberry lemonade.

Kiku nodded, his cheeks were becoming a bit red. "Alfred... We're all people. Highlander or lowlander should make no difference. I feel so foolish for not knowing." Another big gulp of lemonade. "If you can see why a highlander would get mad at a lowlander for coming here, a neutral area, that... that should change..." Kiku took another gulp of lemonade.

"Thank you, Alfred. I've learned a lot from our conversation." Kiku bowed, stumbled a bit and stood up straight again. Kiku's cheeks were a bit red. "Now. Back to our previous topic! Alfred! Of all the comics I have read and all the shows I have watched. I say that there is not hero quite like you!" Kiku said, a sparkle in his eyes. "You are already so mysterious. Ah! Mystery. Alfred, would you consider wearing a mask when on patrol?" Kiku said enthusiastically. He took another gulp of lemonade. He finished his cup already.

"...Alfred. Pflwease answer this questyion. I didn't get one for you becus' you spesifyd strawb'rry lemonade however, what exactly do they add to the drink when you choose their option of 'add whiskey 5 sol'? *hic*"