[F27 - PP] Ghosts of Ming Garden

[Nari-Lanreth 0]

She hummed to herself slightly as she read the subtitles produced by the flurry of hand signals that Ghost had managed – wishing slightly that she’d learnt sign language, if only because it would make paying attention easier. She shook her head, as if to answer the question posed – before realising that a further explanation would likely be required.

“I’m not sure about dangers within the cave itself…the few I’ve spoken with who’ve returned from it provided nothing substantial – although, none of them seemed injured, or battle worn. Just…different. I don’t know how to explain it.” She gave a half shrug, listening to NIGHT’s questions as she considered what else there was to provide for information. “I’d love to speak with the ghost, if it was still here.”

She gave a wave of her hand, as if to gesture towards the area around them. Glancing at NIGHT again, she continued. “Unless of course you have an idea of how to recall it to us? Oh, and the cave is near the western edges of the floor, in the territory – or near the territory, rather – of Braso. It’s…a bit of a walk from here…would be nice if Aincrad had some sort of faster transportation, honestly.”

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Word Count: 203

[Koga 0]

Braso? Hadn't that been where he and NIGHT had run across that one cave...had they even bother to go into it? Koga couldn't remember, the whole affair being slightly foggy. But that couldn't possibly be related to this, that was clear on the other side of the floor. It didn't make sense for a ghost to wander all the way out here. At least, if anything Koga knew about ghosts (or people for that matter) held true. Some vague reference to ghosts preferring to stick close to whatever was binding them to the land of the living or something like that.

"Ghost mentioned music earlier," Koga said to the others, again keenly aware of the potential dangers of delving into what might very well be a dungeon for all they knew. "I think she meant your singing though," he added, glancing down at the girl for confirmation. "Maybe that drew it out or something?" Or maybe it was the gaelic, and the ghost had some affinity for the language. Point being, whatever it was that Nari had been doing earlier, maybe it was worth trying it again.

[Ghostie 0]

Ghost nodded to Nari’s explanation, tapping her arm out of curiosity. Not harmed, but still changed.. Is it maybe a quest, of some sort? They really didn’t have much to go off of, but it certainly sounded more interesting by the second, and likewise more mysterious. At least if that’s the case, she might not have to worry about being too much of a chore for the others to look after.

Then she heard Koga say her name, and her attention popped back up to one hundred percent. It did seem odd that the ghost seemed to appear with Nari’s singing, and then vanished once it stopped. At the same time, it could’ve been purely coincidental, but Nari’s voice and the language she used was definitely unique enough in the best way. If anything, it might be a shot in the dark, but could be useful in the cave if not right now. Tapping her chin curiously, Ghost then opened up her inventory and looked toward her various vanity sets. She wasn’t a performer class just yet, but she could probably still provide some entertainment to go along with Nari’s voice! Besides, she’d already gotten it to provide entertainment for herself; might as well get some use out of it!

A small ukulele materialized in her hands, and she took a moment to ensure that it was tuned in, giving a few tests to the strings before giving all three of them a confident thumbs up.

[NIGHT 0]

night's gaze turned onto their would-be performers for the evening and shrugged. as much as she'd wanted to speak about the ghost on the other side of the floor, it seemed as though nari's suggestion about luring their mark out had already struck a chord with the party. the woman shrugged, stepping backwards and offering the floor to her partner with a slight grin. "well, if you two are keen on giving it a shot." she then turned over to koga with the same smile. "so are you joining in too? percussion?"

a jest. she'd not known her friend to be musical ever since she'd known him. instead, to the party, night went through a quick run down of the plan for what might be to come. "so we'll keep an eye out for the specter, and you two just focus on the performance." then she paused, realizing a potential issue. to ghost, she queried, "wait, do you know any songs that nari could sing?"

[Nari-Lanreth 0]

Eyes going wide for a moment as she realised they really were going down the path of a performance, Nari gazed at NIGHT – the one who seemed to be suddenly pushing the idea. Silently, she mouthed some rather choice words at the girl, with promises of retaliation later.

“Uh…I don’t really know anything that goes with ukulele, but I think I could maybe adapt if you have some ideas? Usually my songs or more…well, a bit over the place. Definitely a focus on traditional Gaelic, but there’s some…pop songs…and stuff as well.” Her eyes shifted to NIGHT as she spoke, ears going red as she knew this was going to come back to haunt her later.

“But if you’ve got something in mind, we can definitely try it out. I’m open to just about any ideas right now – well, just about any. With some limitations.” She paused as she considered NIGHT’s earlier question. “You know…that may not be a horrible idea. Get everyone involved in the performance. It might have a better draw if we were each engaged in it…can you two play anything?”

Her gaze shifted between Koga and NIGHT, waiting for their response. She knew she had some simpler things in mind if both came back in the negative, but she was hoping to put their strengths to the challenge first – assuming they were able to provide any.

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Word Count: 230

[Koga 0]

A brief bright light at the corner of Koga's vision drew the man's attention as Ghost summoned a small instrument into her hands. "Oh, I didn't know you played the uke," Koga commented. Not that he would know much about Ghost anyways, he'd just met her a day or two earlier. "Dope."

The man then gave NIGHT an incredulous smile. He knew that she knew that his musical talents were about on par with a snail's. "Not unless you want you ears to bleed from my dogshit singing. Or got a piano stashed away in your tracksuit," he replied to her and Nari. And even then, about the only thing he could play was chopsticks...or the chorus to Five For Fighting's Fifteen, but who even remembered that son existed?

The man nodded to NIGHT as she suggested that they keep an eye out for the ghost while the other two played their music. "Uh, do either of you know any Jack Johnson songs?" Koga suggested, knowing that those were primarily played on the ukulele. He could at least hum along to those and be slightly less useless. "Oh, what about Over the Rainbow? Everyone knows that one." Hawaiian songs might also be a good choice...if anyone else actually knew how to speak Hawaiian...

[Ghostie 0]

Ghost listened to them all discussing, one topic in particular being what she could play or what she wanted to play. Thinking about it for a moment, she could just give them a demonstration, based on semi easier ones she knew from when she was younger…

Ghost stretched her chord fingers before immediately going into a light fingerpick instrumental. The beat had sounded oddly and eerily similar to Feel Good Inc. by Gorillaz, although the lyrics were swapped out with well timed singular strums which she altered and cut and added reverb to as it went on. Something so upbeat, fast paced, and charp that it was nearly unmistakable.

As the intro finished, she then switched to the Zanarkand theme from Final Fantasy 10.  In contrast to the Feel Good Inc., this tune seemed more bittersweet, soft, fluid, emotional. Then, as she finished it’s intro, she finally switched to an improv.

going by ear to find a few specific notes, she nodded and then began to strum the ukulele completely normally, the beat and chords to the melody sounding familiar from something earlier.

It was her providing potential instrumental to the Gaelic and English songs that Nari had sung earlier by ear, improvising the lyrics into each other and providing slightly more bounce with the sound of her ukulele to try and bring the currently unsung lyrics slightly to life. Not as much as Nari did, but enough that Ghost could hear the lyrics better in her head. Not that she understood the lyrics, by any means; but the song itself that Nari had sung was beautiful, and that was enough for her.

A ‘níon mhín ó, sin anall na fir shúirí 

A mháithairin mhín ó, cuir na roithléan go dtí mé 

Dúlamán na binne buí, dúlamán Gaelach 

Dúlamán na farraige, b’fhearr a bhí in Éirinn

May it be, an evening star

shines down upon you

may it be when darkness falls

your heart will be true

you walk a lonely road

oh how far you are from home

[NIGHT 0]

oh, she definitely hadn't been expecting koga to buy into the good ol' give-it-a-try. because, from the onset, night hadn't been ready to break out into song in the first place. "i'm not a choir kid," she objected with the fold of her arms -- not that she knew of the names of the artists being thrown about in the first place. and though 'over the rainbow' sounded like a familiar song title, neither was she certain she could recall the melody nor the lyrics. the player merely shook her head, only stopping when ghost's playing caught her attention instead.

"hey, aren't those the opening bars to..." her voice then trailed off, the woman squinting as her fingers tapped on air to the song's beat. and so did she nod, too, though nothing more aside from faint recognition came to her lips. afterwards, "that's from that one final fantasy game, isn't it?" despite knowing the melody, she couldn't pin which entry in the series it had belonged to.

when it faded out, that mashup of a couple of songs, night found herself glancing over to nari, almost as though certain ghost had been done with her demonstration. "it's all up to you now, sweetie. i'm sure you can do it." her hand reached out to koga's and she pulled him to her side. "we'll be rooting for you."

[Nari-Lanreth 0]

Lost in the music, Nari almost didn’t notice the call to her. A nervousness had crept up through her spine, landing itself in that corner of her mind that she worked so hard to leave behind.

A soft sigh, and suddenly she felt the world around her pushed away. Her vision closed, as she shut her eyes in order to close out everything around her. She knew that if she could just focus inwardly, it would help things to settle better.

“A 'níon mhín ó, sin anall na fir shúirí, A mháithairin mhín ó, cuir na roithléan go dtí mé!” The words slipped from her tongue with ease, coming to her mind without any sort of hesitation or concern. Lost in the music, she felt a sudden tick, a desire. Cocked grin, she continued, switching as she went. “I met her on Grafton street right outside of the bar. She shared a cigarette with me while her brother played the guitar. She asked me what does it mean, the Gaelic ink on your arm?”

The shift, almost seamless, was something inspired, and as she continued she felt the urge to shift and spin continue. “Dúlamán na binne buí, dúlamán Gaelach! I pirouette in the dark, I see the stars through me. Tired mechanical heart, beats till the song disappears.”

Her eyes still closed to the world, she continued her song. Her left arm raising and falling with the tempo, shifting as she spiralled through her collecting, the lyrics beginning to repeat as she tailed their ending, repeating in her mind almost in tandem as they left her tongue. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been singing, but something urged her to continue, to push beyond, to draw forth.

[Koga 0]

As Ghost began to strum her ukulele, Koga began tapping his foot, recognizing the tune of Feel Good Inc, a song he had truly forgotten about until this very moment. It was a good song, easily recognizable if nothing else.

The song faded out and into a new one, the mood identifiable, and immediately linked in Koga's mind to a video game series, although which one, he couldn't quite put his finger on. It wasn't until NIGHT said the name aloud that it really clicked in his mind. "Oh yeah, I think you're right," the man said with a nod, before the song switched once more to something completely unfamiliar to Koga.

When NIGHT grabbed his hand and pulled him aside, and then proceeded to call Nari a pet name, the man gave her an absolutely astonished look. "Who are you and what have you done with NIGHT?" he asked in a half-joking manner. To be fair, the only time NIGHT had ever actually touched him was after extreme trauma, and he sure as hell had never heard NIGHT call DAY anything remotely close to a pet name in public. At least, not that he could recall. Was this some kind of alternate universe that he'd fallen into?

As the two women began to play their music again, Koga leaned back and listened contentedly. They were both quite good, if he was being honest. It was like his and NIGHT's own little private show, with the added stipulation of 'lure in a ghost'. Was it going to work? Who knew, but the man kept his eyes on their surroundings either way in the hopes that either would spot the ephemeral being.

[Ghostie 0]

Usually, Ghost would have froze from knowing that such attention was on her. With her playing the ukulele, however, it was almost like she was a different person. Unlike her usual blank face, her lips slowly curled into a beaming smile the more that she played, and the more that she heard Nari sing. In an instant, it was less of Nari singing to her acoustic, and more of Ghost doing well timed improv to the purple haired tank’s vocals. Especially with how she had switched from Gaelic to that oh so familiar Ed Sheehan song for a bar switch; Ghost quickly adapted the moment she heard the English, still grinning and having a blast.

Looking back at NIGHT and Koga, Ghost continued to play and even danced with the beat and with Nari’s singing while winking at the two watching with pure enjoyment. She really seemed to come alive!

Then she remembered, they were still there for a purpose. Ghost began looking around for what she might as well consider her ghost brethren - even if by namesake alone - as she continued to play, still keeping up with Nari and having fun.