Thine Empty Heart , Full Moon : Part's I & II

[Orkid]

PART I: Empty Heart

The deeply tanned stranger walked into the tavern and sat down in a corner near the fireplace , it's light cast a shadow across his table. He started with a strong dwarvish spirit , it could be seen he hardly had the taste for it. And by all appearances he was a monk , he had a bald head and a bright orange cloth draped over his shoulder and wrapped about his waist , hanging to the floor , underneath it were some simple white undergarments all well kept and every fold in place. He carried nothing with him , all he had was a coin pouch on his belt and a long , what appeared to be wooden , hollow pipe-like instrument stuffed down the front of the inside of his orange wrapped cloth. After half of his first drink was finished he slowly pulled out the flutish-thing and placed it to his lips , he played a meloncholy few notes which seemed quite spastically timed but yet portrayed an air of... saddness? as though a speaking between two low, cold winds. He played a little more of the meandering tune but before long he was approached by a local who bade him,
"heya , why dontchya pick it up a little bit , we're not all 'ere to lamentchyaknow..."
In a perfect Vilhondaen accent the man replied,
"I can only play what is in my heart and my head , and right now it is a sad tale , m'friend..."
"what manner of instrument is that anyways?"
The local asked as he gestured to the flute-thing in the strangers hands.
"This is my kawla, it's a uh... reed flute... made of bamboo"
A look of curiosity came into the mans face and he asked
"well , is dere any thing you'd like to get off yer chest? we are nay a bad lot to bleed out your woes to..."
He said as he gestured around to the many other patrons who it could be seen had their own cares.
"If you would care to listen I would be more than happy to tell you the tale..."
"I'm all ears lad , spin away..."
And so the stranger began, his words meandering like the notes he would play on his kawla..
"This... was in a time before time , a time when there was no sun to circle our heads , no moon to cheer our nights. There was no day or night , only the stars jealously crowding our sky , watching us like ants at their toil. So closely they crowded our heavens that their was light always , much like a dawn or dusk , always encloaking our lives. *placing the kawla to his lips, he plays a few low careful notes, wavering in there pitch and perfection*
Time, then, was nary anyone's concern but the mortals , humans like you and I, who would frantically try their hardest to preserve their lives , so much so that they could not see they were only robbing themselves of it. And the celestial bodies would revel in our suffering and celebration, occaisionally sending us blessings or boons as they would have for their amusement. *a series of lively whistles , crescendoing and falling off to a momentary silence*
... A fellow, his name is not know so we will call him The Man, hard at work in his field took a brief rest and went down to the nearby river's edge to wash away his sweat and dirt , as he stood from leaning over the waters edge , across the river he saw a Celestial Beauty , one that he knew must have come down from the jealous stars for a time. Her hair was long and silver , her face and form immaculate and with out equal as far as The Man had ever encountered. Upon seeing him, she smiled at him *a trill of notes, evoking surprise*
, and moved away from the waters edge , concealed quickly in the brush on the other side. Without hesitation The Man dove into the water's flowing fury , and were it not for him being a strong swimmer he surely would have drowned in the icy river's rush. *a few pensive notes low and powerful*
Out of breath and muscles sore, he dragged himself onto the other side and looked about. There , not far of in a glade , he saw the Celestial Beauty sitting on a mossy rock , speaking with the flowers. Dripping wet and pains cramping his arms and leg, he approached the Beauty frantically searching for words that he knew should be, were there moments ago , but eluded him now. She spoke to him , "why have you risked your body and health like that?" The Man replied, "but for that which you have given , m'lady, to hear your voice..." She laughed , melodically enlivening , at the silly mortal , she had seen his kind many times before. *a flourish of high pitched-blended notes, arrepegios up and down*
"was it worth it?" she wondered to him. "Only if you will laugh again." , he said. And , unbidden of her own will she did , and again she smiled at him and said. "Such tenacity cannot go unrewarded, come, walk with me." Without a word he obeyed and they walked out from the clearing, the flowers bidding them good bye. *four slurred notes falling from a mid range* T
hey walked for a time through the forest , and she told him of her home , of the stars , and of their jealousy at the very mortals whom they watched over , as it was their destiny to hang there in the heavens worshiping creation. He could hardly believe these words , as every mortal was jealous of the eternal stars , and of their perfection and beauty. After a great while The Man realized he had forgotten about his duties on his families farm and he needed to go back to his dull life. "Before I go , I want to give you something ..." , and upon patting himself down he realized he had nothing to offer except one thing. He stooped down to her eye level and whispered into her ear his given name. *two notes, starts low and rips to a high, brief trill*
Now this is no ordinary gift , you see, for in those days to have someone's given name was to have their very soul , with it you could call to that person from afar, or bind them to your will , or kill them. The Celestial Beauty blinked and drew back , so amazed at this spontaneous sign of devotion from this mortal was she that she granted him the status of being her suitor."
At this point the stranger sat back in his seat and cleared his throat, upon finishing the last part of his drink he let out a long sigh, and stared at the back of the inn room , beyond the wall, beyond everything at something no one else could see. It was only at this point that the stranger realized he had attracted somewhat of a gathering , everyone in the inn who wasn't tending bar or too inebriated to move had gathered around him and were listening to his story , some drinking , some others looking at their own unseen quarry.
"well go on!" , someone piped up, " that cannah be the end of it now!"
Smiling ironically the stranger said,
"Indeed it is not , but my throat is so parched , I could use some good wine..."
A few scant moments later he was presented with a bottle of the houses finest. Upon pouring a glass and taking a long draught he continued...

[Orkid]

Part II: Full Moon

"Hmm where was I?"
He pondered as he finished his first glass of wine, swirling it, judging its taste,
"Ah yes, The Man uh... ran home ... nay!, he flew home so light he felt at the last of the Beauties words. What seemed like but a flash , but was truly almost half a days worth of travel, The Man reached his familial ranch and gushed to his wise, old Grandmother of the Celestial Beauty and his daring attempt to reach her and the subsequent success, though he left out that he had given her his name... The Grandmother asked to hear more of the Beauty and so The Man told her some of what he had been told. The Grandmother's face grew quite solemn and morose the more and more her grandchild told her of the Celestial Beauty, and The Man asked her, "why are you not happy for me, Grandma?" , and she told him, "because my dear , unless i miss my guess that celestial beauty you met and speak of is Willow, *a beautiful flourish of notes, pure and lifting in their sound*
the Maiden Evenstar." The Man , blinked and looked at her blankly as this name meant nothing to him , and he asked "what do you know of her?" And she told him with much regret , but certainty that she should, of the Maiden Evenstar. She was famed for being the most beautiful of all the Celestial Beauties that had ever come down from the heavens , to grace the Nature Mother with her raidiance and ... well , grace. She was also famed for her four suitors , none of these mortal , that sought to win her heart. All of them were great and powerful beings, among them a celestial sprite , thought to be the swiftest and strongest of the descended celestials , and also a powerful shaman who was wise beyond mortal measure , then there was the unparalleled beauty, the Nature Mother's own son, he too was very smart and strong, and finally the Demon-spirit who possessed great cunning and infinite wealth. *he meanders through a projected and extended tirade of crescendos and arrepegios, very beautiful and awe inspiring*
Now, any of these suitors would have made any celestial beauty happy , but the Maiden Evenstar was terrible at making decisions as well as breaking hearts , so to choose who would be her one and only love she assigned them all tasks , they were each to obtain a great and powerful relic , ancient items that were not even know for sure to truley exsist anymore. I will relay them to you , in name but not in story of the great feats and efforts that it took to obtain them all, for we would surely be here until morning. The Feather Robe of the Fire Rat , was the first , the Chalice of a great and ancienct King of the Underworld, was another , the Iron Fan of the Nature Mother was yet another , and finally , a Scale from the pate of the Great Leviathan. At this point, all but one of the suitors has died in accomplishing the tasks she set out for them, but accomplish them they did. The only one who has not died is the Nature Mother's son , and for stealing her fan , she banished him from her arms and he now is forced to encircle the wonder of nature but never touch it , he is the dark and light clouds you find overhead in passing now and again, his tears still fall and let us farm our land that we do. At hearing these tasks The Man's eyes grew quite large and his heart began to race, what task will she assign me? he thought , and how can I ever complete it! *an tremulant, wavering tone drops off to a low howl from the kawla*
After he had been home for some time , preparing himself for what he knew would come next , he set out to find Willow. Not long after he had begun searching for her , she beckoned him to her Palace on a lake , he followed a path that he knew not where he was going but somehow , after wearing through two pairs of sandals , found the lake, so smooth and pristine was it's surface that it was like looking into a mirror. This lake lay at the foot of a great mountain, so that upon looking at it from opposite the slopes of the mountain it looked as though there was a great, dark valley carved into the perfect purple-orange shaded hue of the sky. At the center of the dark valley's maw , on the far shore , he could see the Maiden Evenstar's Palace. He trekked around the lakes edge , quite unaware of anything but the closeness of his goal. *a series of low, short-blasted whistles raising to a higher tone*
He found the Maiden Evenstar , seated in her great ante-chamber on a spectacular throne of gold inlaid with silver in a variety of forms like dragons and fish and landscapes. "I have come for you, m'lady..." The Man announced, as he watched carefully to gauge her words. "As you may or may not know," Willow began, "I have had many suitor's in the past and none of them have proved worthy of the tasks i gave them , you too will recieve a task which you also must complete." And he said, "Anything, you need just ask" shaking in his heart and boots she delivered to him his duty, to retrieve the Mirror of Lord Ocean. The Man nodded and without a word , he turned and strode confidently from the Palace , down through the foothills of the mountain and down to a great city , where he found his heart to be as heavy as his legs felt. He did not even know where to begin , he did not even know what this thing looked like or where to find it. *a slow dirge-like procession of notes , ending in a painful, cold Legato*
So , The Man did the only thing he could think to do, he set out to find great masters of learning and ancient tomes that hopefully may be filled with the knowledge that he sought. He searched through every town , every library, every mountain top temple , and even every hermit that he could manage to locate. He gathered knowledge and information until he thought for sure his head must explode, but it never did. He studyied and sought for so long that his life time was already half over by the time he felt confident that he could even try to actually begin to obtain it. He had grown handsome in his age , if not as verile , but he was also sternly trained of body as well as mind. And by the time he set out to get the Mirror of the Ocean Lord , history and humanity had all but forgotten him , he had dissappeared from the mind and view of everything we mortals knew and followed."
At this point the stranger stopped again and took several long drinks from his glass, until he could fill another. Nothing more than a few murmurs from the spectators showed any sign of protest at the break , many were glad to remember their drinks again , and even the serving maids were listening intently between fairying tankards to and from the bar. The stranger shook himself , stretched a bit and continued.
"Nothing was heard from The Man again , for many years his family , brothers and sisters, looked for him and all they could find was that he had dissappeared. *at this point many listeners began to voice objections and express anger, and to quiet them the stranger said* Now , now , let me finish, the best is yet to be told, for I do know what became of The Man. He did indeed obtain the Mirror, it is not know how , but it can be assumed it took much effort and many great feats, and we know he did this by the accounts of fishermen off the shore of the lake at the bottom of the mountain. For it was told in inn rooms, much much later , after the story had been passed from traveler to traveler, of a very old man , carrying a most perfectly reflectant mirror into the old Palace no one ever dared to enter anymore. This was The Man , baring the fruition of his task to his love. And when he came to her room , she still flawless and the image of perfection , he quite old and worn by the ravages of aging, she smiled to him and he smiled back. "I've come to join us for enternity , my love" The Man said, and the Maiden Evenstar said, "You are the only one to have completed my worthy task , you are my one true love." And she put out her hand to except the Mirror, and with great pain in his heart and the coldness of duty in his eyes, he smashed the Mirror of the Ocean Lord on the floor of the ante-chamber of the Maiden Evenstar's Palace, and instantly he was cast into the heavens, now himself a celestial body , but old and ravage by time he is the one imperfect celestial body *the stranger points out a nearby window with his kawla , at the pock-marked surface of the silver moon*
For in his studying and searching he found what no one else ever knew , about the Maiden Evenstar, these relics she was having gathered for her were the components necessary to make herself the one and only celestial body in the heavens , and even though it destroyed his heart and he knew it would d**n him to never see her again , but only chase her throughout the heavens until the end of all time , he broke the Mirror to save the beauty of all creation. Willow , the Maiden Evenstar, used what power she could from the relics and became our shining morning star , the sun that circles us and keeps our time and is still the most beautiful and wonderous of heavenly bodies. And so they mark time around our sphere having pushed back the jealous stars, the Moon but a pale reflection of the glorious Sun both watching over the wonder of the Nature Mother in their own roles, the full moon with it's empty heart, and the lonely Sun forever drawing him after.

[Orkid]

Epilogue

Much of the gallery sat quiet for a time after the stranger had finished, many bought him drinks and many others wandered back to their tables and fell into hushed conversations. After his head was too full of drink and he could see the lonely Sun would soon begin to rise, the stranger wandered up to his room and sat infront of a mirror there. After sometime of staring into it, reflecting, he locked the door and began to wipe off the makeup of his disguise and pull the padding from his cheeks and clothing. Staring into the mirror wondering who he was looking at now , the Zenchou cloaked himself in a magical invisibility ward and stole into the early morning , imperceptably passing by and exiting with the out-flow of the locals...