(For Coraliza, Lilithium and all the attendants of the pilgrimage of Thal)
It was probably a good thing that the rooms at The Mizzenmast were thick and well insulated from sound. Certainly, prior occupants of the room had likely been thoroughly romantic and frantic about it - the bard was sure he might find scratches on the floor around the bedposts, if he really looked - but this time, perhaps for once in the room's use, the noise from which adjoining rooms were shielded was not of the ebullient physical variety, but from the deep voice and rather untuned and cacophonous sounds of the lute.
Nathan kicked back on the bed, crossed his knees, and tightened the strings on the instrument, as he'd been doing for the past hour, each twist and pull accompanied by a scrunched face.
He huffed, and strummed out a few test notes, and words tumbled forth almost unbidden from his mouth.
"Violet eyes... burning like fire....
Violet eyes... smoldering in the dusk..."
He stilled the strings and shook his head. "No, that one would put the whole room in the wrong sort of tears..." A further strum was of a lower register, as were his lyrics.
"Lass, I get so lost, sometimes
Days pass, and aching fills my heart
I want to ride away, to some place very far
But every path I take has me returning where you are
All my longings, they return
and the wanderlust, does naught but burn
Without a pause and without pride,
I reach out from the inside...
In your eyes..."
His jaw began to ache, and he clamped hard on the stem of the instrument, stilling the strings, and bringing a moment of pure quiet into the room. "Hells, man, a few pleasant nights, and you're turning out worse than your audience!" He laughed off the tension, and took a few moments of foot tapping before shaking his head, and strumming a mid-ranged chord.
"Pickpocket got caught, last night at the inn
She bumped into a lady, who was fair and thin
And in a simple twist and grab
The little scavenger girl was nabbed
And got sent right out the door
Into the streets once more..."
Fingers stilled the strings again. "Nah... I'm not sure the lady would appreciate it being outed that she could probably snap limbs if she wanted. Save that one."
He drummed his fingers on the fine wood of the lute, and traced the grain idly. "Now, what was that little ditty I had churning during the pilgrim performance, before the night was swept away... Ah!"
He reset his fingers on the strings, and plucked a high note, leading into a fast-tempoed melody, a counterpart to his deep voice as the muse returned to him.
It was an Umbral moon, and it would be soon
That the wanderers set forth
There were wagons as far as a man could see
Come down from the frigid north
With intent to portray a new play each day
The performers had gathered tight
And I said to myself, as the train converged,
"We're about to own the night."
Cause we got a mighty caravan
Sliding through the night
Yeah, we got a powerful caravan
And ain't it a marvelous sight?
Come and join our caravan
And nothin' gonna get in our way
Gonna drive this churnin' caravan
Until we stop for another play...
Caravan...
By the time we got to Camp Dragonhead
We had eighty-five wagons in all
But the drakes were lining up on the hills
Like a writhing, scaly wall
Yeah, the lizards were thick as bees in a swarm
And more were droppin' in from the air
But a cry rang loud from the travelin' crowd:
"Come and get us if you dare!"
Cause we got a mighty caravan
Sliding through the night
Yeah, we got a powerful caravan
And ain't it a marvelous sight?
Come and join our caravan
And nothin' gonna get in our way
Gonna drive this churnin' caravan
Until we stop for another play...
Caravan...
Well, the wagon masters drove the Chocobos on
Just as fast as their legs could move
And the lancers and the archers
Offered up some points to prove
By the time we hit the border
Those lizards were in a rage
Cause we were droppin' 'em like hunted ducks
Thanks to steel and an angry mage
But the stars were all gettin' blotted out
By wings of massive size
Yeah, the Coerthas air was full o' wyrms
and the dragons ruled the skies
So we hunkered down and went for broke
'Cause there weren't no time for words
You could hear the squawks for miles around
As the drivers lashed on their birds
Cause we got a mighty caravan
Sliding through the night
Yeah, we got a powerful caravan
And ain't it a marvelous sight?
Come and join our caravan
And nothin' gonna get in our way
Gonna drive this churnin' caravan
Until we stop for another play...
Caravan...
We crossed the line two bells from dawn
A-headin' into the Shroud
The bridge ahead was lined with drakes
And their shrieks were mighty loud
But the wagon master tipped back her hat, and said
"We ain't stoppin' for lizards tonight!
We got enough doughty fighters here
To take Uldah in a fight! Attack!"
Cause we got a mighty caravan
Sliding through the night
Yeah, we got a powerful caravan
And ain't it a marvelous sight?
Come and join our caravan
And nothin' gonna get in our way
Gonna drive this churnin' caravan
Until we stop for another play...
Caravan..."
It was probably a good thing that the rooms at The Mizzenmast were thick and well insulated from sound. Certainly, prior occupants of the room had likely been thoroughly romantic and frantic about it - the bard was sure he might find scratches on the floor around the bedposts, if he really looked - but this time, perhaps for once in the room's use, the noise from which adjoining rooms were shielded was not of the ebullient physical variety, but from the deep voice and rather untuned and cacophonous sounds of the lute.
Nathan kicked back on the bed, crossed his knees, and tightened the strings on the instrument, as he'd been doing for the past hour, each twist and pull accompanied by a scrunched face.
He huffed, and strummed out a few test notes, and words tumbled forth almost unbidden from his mouth.
"Violet eyes... burning like fire....
Violet eyes... smoldering in the dusk..."
He stilled the strings and shook his head. "No, that one would put the whole room in the wrong sort of tears..." A further strum was of a lower register, as were his lyrics.
"Lass, I get so lost, sometimes
Days pass, and aching fills my heart
I want to ride away, to some place very far
But every path I take has me returning where you are
All my longings, they return
and the wanderlust, does naught but burn
Without a pause and without pride,
I reach out from the inside...
In your eyes..."
His jaw began to ache, and he clamped hard on the stem of the instrument, stilling the strings, and bringing a moment of pure quiet into the room. "Hells, man, a few pleasant nights, and you're turning out worse than your audience!" He laughed off the tension, and took a few moments of foot tapping before shaking his head, and strumming a mid-ranged chord.
"Pickpocket got caught, last night at the inn
She bumped into a lady, who was fair and thin
And in a simple twist and grab
The little scavenger girl was nabbed
And got sent right out the door
Into the streets once more..."
Fingers stilled the strings again. "Nah... I'm not sure the lady would appreciate it being outed that she could probably snap limbs if she wanted. Save that one."
He drummed his fingers on the fine wood of the lute, and traced the grain idly. "Now, what was that little ditty I had churning during the pilgrim performance, before the night was swept away... Ah!"
He reset his fingers on the strings, and plucked a high note, leading into a fast-tempoed melody, a counterpart to his deep voice as the muse returned to him.
It was an Umbral moon, and it would be soon
That the wanderers set forth
There were wagons as far as a man could see
Come down from the frigid north
With intent to portray a new play each day
The performers had gathered tight
And I said to myself, as the train converged,
"We're about to own the night."
Cause we got a mighty caravan
Sliding through the night
Yeah, we got a powerful caravan
And ain't it a marvelous sight?
Come and join our caravan
And nothin' gonna get in our way
Gonna drive this churnin' caravan
Until we stop for another play...
Caravan...
By the time we got to Camp Dragonhead
We had eighty-five wagons in all
But the drakes were lining up on the hills
Like a writhing, scaly wall
Yeah, the lizards were thick as bees in a swarm
And more were droppin' in from the air
But a cry rang loud from the travelin' crowd:
"Come and get us if you dare!"
Cause we got a mighty caravan
Sliding through the night
Yeah, we got a powerful caravan
And ain't it a marvelous sight?
Come and join our caravan
And nothin' gonna get in our way
Gonna drive this churnin' caravan
Until we stop for another play...
Caravan...
Well, the wagon masters drove the Chocobos on
Just as fast as their legs could move
And the lancers and the archers
Offered up some points to prove
By the time we hit the border
Those lizards were in a rage
Cause we were droppin' 'em like hunted ducks
Thanks to steel and an angry mage
But the stars were all gettin' blotted out
By wings of massive size
Yeah, the Coerthas air was full o' wyrms
and the dragons ruled the skies
So we hunkered down and went for broke
'Cause there weren't no time for words
You could hear the squawks for miles around
As the drivers lashed on their birds
Cause we got a mighty caravan
Sliding through the night
Yeah, we got a powerful caravan
And ain't it a marvelous sight?
Come and join our caravan
And nothin' gonna get in our way
Gonna drive this churnin' caravan
Until we stop for another play...
Caravan...
We crossed the line two bells from dawn
A-headin' into the Shroud
The bridge ahead was lined with drakes
And their shrieks were mighty loud
But the wagon master tipped back her hat, and said
"We ain't stoppin' for lizards tonight!
We got enough doughty fighters here
To take Uldah in a fight! Attack!"
Cause we got a mighty caravan
Sliding through the night
Yeah, we got a powerful caravan
And ain't it a marvelous sight?
Come and join our caravan
And nothin' gonna get in our way
Gonna drive this churnin' caravan
Until we stop for another play...
Caravan..."
"But in the laugh there was another voice. A clearer laugh, an ironic laugh. A laugh which laughs because it chooses not to weep."
![[Image: 3610850.jpg]](http://assets-cloud.enjin.com/users/1266293/pics/original/3610850.jpg)
