#guimel

He crouched down after making sure Dilandau wasn’t about to snap at him again, calling him a “pack rat”. He sifted through some piles of junk before his eyes laid upon a small, cylindrical object. It had holes on the top side, and was made with an intricate dragon head on one end. One tooth was missing from it’s open mouth, but aside from that, it was beautiful. He dusted it off some and took off the cap over what he found was a mouthpiece. He stood up with the flute in hand and blew off some of the dust and dirt. Giving a quick glance around he blew on the mouth piece just gently enough to make a small sound.

“Whatcha doing?”

Chesta jumped and found Guimel’s head rested just above his shoulder. Panting hard he stuffed the flute into his pack and shook his head. “N-nothing, just looking for something interesting.”

The fluff haired soldier smiled. “Come on, Lord Dilandau has called the exercise off,” he said and gestured for Chesta to follow.

Back at the camp, Chesta pulled out his findings and cleaned off whatever survived the ride back. Unfortunately the cup crumbled so he was back to a strict metal cup again. The flute was wiped down, cleaned out and dried off before he sat down to attempt playing it again.

He wasn’t sure where to put his fingers, but after some trial and error he was able to play a couple notes well enough. The menacing head of the dragon let out a beautiful and soft sound.

Chesta had to kick himself for not thinking about taking the music lessons they had before his original home was burned down. They taught some Dragon Clan culture, under Folken’s insistence that the seers needed a wealth of intelligence and knowing the various cultures would only help them in the future.

He only knew one song, and of course it was the one he heard in the back of his mind all the time. He’d heard it sang every time they were at Folken’s temple on the empire. Sora, the matriarch of his kind, sang the haunting, yet mysterious melody.

He tried to find the first note; it was a simple enough of a song that he could probably figure out the notes right?

After some trial and error, and having to hide the flute when a couple of the others came looking to see where the noise came from, Chesta snuck away from his tent to practice more. He found a tree close enough to be safe, but far enough to play without disturbing anyone’s sleep. He played low, so if someone called for him he could easily run back. Or if by the chance someone tried to attack him, he’d be able to outrun them back to the camp.

A few failed attempts and Chesta was ready to throw the flute to the wind. He would find the right sound, but couldn’t remember which fingers went where at each time. Remembering the song, the notes and the fingering was hard enough for him as a beginner.

Frustrated he took a deep breath. One last hard blow before he decided to just chuck it out of spite.

The flute was snatched from his fingers before he gave in. He jumped to see Guimel again standing behind him; somehow able to sneak up behind him without being seen.

“A flute?” Guimel asked, first positioning it to the side to run perpendicular with his face like a normal flute.

“Yeah, but it goes outward. The other way,” Chesta said.

Guimel brought the mouthpiece to his lips and played a couple notes.

“I was trying to do the folktale song. The one that Sora sings?” Chesta deflated and rested his chin on his palms. “I’m not getting it right at all.”

Guimel stopped and hummed a few times. “How does it go?”

“Win dain… a lotica…” Chesta said the lines softly.

“No, sing it.”

Chesta flushed. “Why?”

Guimel grinned. “It’s easier for me to hear it sang correctly than to hum it myself.” He crouched down at level with Chesta and waited for him to start.

Chesta took a breath, hoping that he wasn’t about to ruin the song for all time.  

With a weak voice he sang the first couple lines. “Win dain a lotica… En val tu ri… Si lo ta… Fin dein a loluca… En dragu a sei lain…” He took a deep breath, and his voice cracked a little, only adding to the slight embarrassment of doing this. “Vi fa-ru les… shutai am… En… riga-lint.” He had the hardest time with the last lines but was able to get it out.

Guimel played each note with near-perfect precision.

Chesta, speechless and impressed clapped happily. “Teach me how to play?”

Guimel laughed. “Some people can play things based on sound, others can only play if they see the notes written down somewhere.” He tapped Chesta on the head with the flute. “I don’t know how to play well enough to teach, but maybe one day?”

Chesta deflated again, but smiled. “Then you keep the flute, it will probably be better taken care of by you than me.”