"The music that reaches farthest into heaven....is the beating of a loving heart." ~~~ Henry Ward Beecher

A blithe spirit, a lithe spectral of form, a pearl of great treasure...an elven female sat lightly upon the bench before the piano and placed her fingertips so gently, so lovingly against the coolness of the ivory, lifting her chin, letting her eyes drift closed, as she began to play a simple yet elegant mix of notes that rose up upon the wind from the diminuiative mallets striking the tensiled wires, to fill the night with such music, background for the mortal dramas playing out all around. The saying is tickling the ivories but for as delicately as she touched the keys, they seemed to be doing same to her, as her fingers flew up and down the length of the keyboard, bringing in melody to harmony, one rift to play of another, one hand to another, treble to bass, but never overpowering or interfering with the conversation of the patrons, always being the accompaniment, never the lead.

Slinks out of the kitchen lettuce in hand, sits next to the piano to eat his "feast'

With her eyes still closed, as she played, she would not see the famished Silas sitting beside the piano, but she would feel his energy, or another way to put it, she felt a shift, a disturbance in hers, as he came near to it. not an unpleasant thing, just an elfven thing, a break in the flow of her emminence, something all elves could do, a mechanism for self preservation. She would nod his way, but continue to play, the music all encompassing at the moment.

Leans against the piano as she plays, listening quietly.

Tis a rhythmic and singular-note of song now, each key struck separately and held before moving on to the next, the effect of being a quieting lulling song made to envelope with a quiet serenity the souls of those to whom she played. An original composition one never heard before and likely never to be heard again, but that could hardly diminish its presence, purpose, purloined power. The music was slowly coming to a conclusion, and not because Rande couldn't play anymore, quite the contrary, she could have played all night! But in the supposition that she was reluctant to monopolize the airwaves, in case someone else wanted to do something better done with sound, she had played enough for one night. Fingers striking the final chords, one or two more notes, and her head lowered, her eyes blinked open, and her hands lifted to fall at rest in her lap.

Claps softly for the piano player.

To those most sensitive of elven appendages, ears, any sound way below the decibel range of humans would resound to her...her head swivelled in the direction of the claps, gentle eyes found Silas, she smiled. "I shall thank you for your applause because those truly responsible are not here to do so, so I accept for them. Hello!"

Smiles a big toothy smile:: Hello. I play an instrument myself but I uh....lost said instrument...

"Here I am known as Rande. How are you known?"

Silas.

"Oh' Which one?" curious now and intrigued. "Well met, Silas."

Flute....poorly....but I'm still learning ya know"

"It takes time to learn all you need to learn to master any one art. Be patient. You will get there. Do you have it with you? Would you play for me?"

Nah, I left it back in my village. I kind of had to leave in a hurry so I didn't think to grab it....or....anything else for that matter....heh... Plus, I'm not very good anyways.

"I understand about having to leave rather quickly. I wish I had one to give you. I will keep my eyes open for one. Sometimes, well, you just never know, who has something that they wish to part with, and what you can give them instead." She hoped she was making sense, sometimes she tended to think in circles and it came out that way in her speech.

Yeah, maybe. Heh....people tend to not take me seriously though. ::cracks his knuckles:: I liked your playing though. People sometimes take music for granted so it's nice to hear someone play with feeling you know"

"I do not know why that would be so. People tend to take you as you take yourself. They pick up on it, carry it through. Do you not take yourself so seriously, Silas?"

::laughs:: I dunno...I think people just assume I'm just a dumb kid. I don't think I'm dumb but....who knows...

"I play with feeling because that is literally how I can play. At any instrument. You should try it that way. Feel your way to the music. It makes a wondrous difference." "I know. You are not." She smiled at him now for the first time. "Definitely."

Maybe you're right.::smiles back:: I'm not used to adults talking to me.

"of course." As if to say yes she was, but not going that far. Still, she was hadly vague. "Why would they not?" Truly puzzled, this she could not understand.

I dunno. People tend to ignore people like me. Poor people ya know" I am currently working on winning the lottery though so hopefully I won't be broke too much longer.

She took a moment to reply. "I have heard this expression since coming here. I thought about it for a long time. Not sure I knew why it was used. But I will tell you what it is. I think I understand. Everybody puts their pants on the same way. Yes" Yes!!" She had no idea what a lottery was. Oh, then something occured to her. "Is that like...a raffle" I did just win a raffle prize. a pair of elven knives."

::laughs:: What if you don't wear pants though" Yeah I guess it's kind of like a raffle.

Was there someone who didn't wear pants" She tilted her head to study him. "Who doesn't?" This she 'd like to know!

I know a guy that doesn't wear clothes at all. He tends to hang out on the same corner day in and day out screaming gibberish. I try to stay away from him though since people don't typically open their pockets much around him.

"I think that might be illegal. We used to be able to do it, on Suramar. But then, outsiders came. And they just didn't understand it. We had to make new laws. I hate it when that happens. You know?"

Oh, yeah. I've had more than my fair share of run ins with the law. I can safely say I am not a fan at all.

Gives him a curious look-over. "You look like a regular male to me. I don't see why they would bother you exactly."

Eh...I tend to get into trouble. Bad luck I guess

"Oh. Well yes. If you anger Elune, she can caste your fate to the ill winds for years and years! Not as long as we live, but...long enough to make it very frustrating. For sure. "

what is Elune"

"Oh!" laughter like falcon jesses trickled from her "I do forget. Elune is the Moon. What is called here the moons. There are two here, you know. Only one where I am from originally."

Hmmm....how can you anger the moon though' I figured the moon didn't really take much notice of us down here.

"My people believe...the moon is really a goddess. A deity. We worship her, we worship Elune. She brings all things to us, gives us all things and at times...takes away. I am not from here originally, of course." Most likely it wasn't hard to tell, with her long and pointed ears, her different accent, a bit on the exotic side, and such customs as she was describing. "I am Kaldorei. A night elf."

I must seem pretty boring compared to night elves. Being a human and all. I never saw much use for deities myself....but maybe they do more in the world you come from.

She didn't know exactly that gods and goddesses did different things in different worlds. Their very definition was omnipotent. Wasn't that the same everywhere" "Do....more" They have done it all. Do it all. Will forever do it all."

I dunno.....maybe...So....what are you doing here alone anyway' ::changing the subject::

"Its alright. Some things....we are not meant to know. We are...meant to take on faith. I think." A smile to him. "Oh I am....I was actually hoping I'd run into someone. I haven't seen him in a few days. I rather wish I would."

Yeah....I'm waiting for someone too. Not sure if he made it though.

"What do you mean....if he made it?"

Eh....I got in some trouble back home. We both did. We had to run and I kind of lost track of him in the confusion...

"So you came here on purpose" You knew how to get here when you were trying to go....somewhere?"

I actually just kind of ended up here. I traveled with a caravan for a while and just....kind of....woke up here one day.

"Oh, I see." Clearly disapointment laced her words. "Well, maybe bad luck in that you don't know how you got here so you don't know how to leave. But think about it. You aren't in the trouble you were in when you came from wherever you came from, are you? So thats not bad luck thats actually a good thing." Lets see him follow that!

Yeah maybe....I'm in pretty dire straits though. I mean at least at the orphanage I had a roof over my head and got fed every day. Plus, I'm always worried they'll find me...

"What is ...orphan' How does that word translate in Kaldorei?"

I don't have a mom or a dad.

"Oh, like an egg" You are hatched?"

Heh.....I wish. I'm told they were killed but not much more than that. I was a baby when it happened.

Thinks of a phoenix, the symbol of the one she waited for, she had never asked him if he had a mom or a dad. "Oh. I am sorry for that....for your loss. You have no other family' no clan' no people?" Not sure exactly how to say it, perhaps he'd understand.

Not really. My friend....he is like me.. There was a girl but they sent her away. Not sure where or why. I have them. My friends. I guess they're like my clan. Not that I have them anymore though...

"Then you are no longer orphan! You have someone! Good! But, if you have no one, who would look for you? Why would anyone look for you? If you are not of their kin, their clan, why would they try to find you? "

Heh....I did something to make them really mad.

"You" You are so nice!!" Was she teasing"

Heh...I'm glad you think so I don't think they would agree though

"Maybe they don't know how to get here either. You didn't. I didn't. It just happened. So its not like...they can get here. "

I hope so... So....you don't know how you got here"

"Well, I do actually. I just don't want to try and get back the same way I came! It was rather....dangerous. something I'd rather not duplicate."

What happend"

"I woke from a dream to hear a great commotion out my window. Going to it, I found a dragon trapped in a rogue whirlpool, actually in peril of drowning. I dove down into the sea to plug the source of the whirlpool's power....which I was able to do. But when we surfaced....the dragon and I...when we flew out of the whirlpool....we rose into Rhydin...and we were not in our homeland any longer. So you see the difficulties."

That sounds crazy! Good thing you didn't drown. This place seems to be full of dragons...nothing like where I came from.

"Yes. And I thought we were crazy for some time. It was Larry who finally was able to reason it all out and convince me we weren't crazy. We were just lost. No dragons" How do you wage war, if you have no dragons to ride into battle?" This truly puzzled her.

Man against man seems to work I guess. I heard there used to be dragons but a lot of people say that there never were.

"Why, the odds of survivng in that manner would be atrocious! Hand to hand and man to man without dragons. Tsk, that is what should be illegal. You should be rather glad you have escaped such a barbaric place, I would think."

Not always hand to hand. Rifles and bombs seem to be more favorable. Of course this is just what I hear.

"Rifles" Bombs" " Terminology unfamiliar to her.

The village I came from is kind of in the middle of nowhere. Yeah....really loud weapons. You can kill a man from far far away with a good rifle. Heh....we don't have elves were I come from either but I'm getting used to them.

"Ahh. Like dragon spit. Yes. Our best dragons can aim so succinctly they can hit their target from great distances. And of course annilalate them. Obliterate them." Gins.

Heh. From what I hear some of the larger nations have giant war machines made of iron that and crush anything in their way. Or they can drop bombs or poison gas from zeppelins. Of course I've never seen anything like that myself.

"Where in Elune are you from, Silas" You may be glad to be here instead of there, I am thinking!"

a village called Redstone ::shrugs:: I dunno. I've seen some pretty dangerous stuff here already and I've only been here a few days

"Its fairly peaceful where I live. My uh....home....is just off the island where the lighthouse is, in the mouth of the harbour. I spend a lot of time on that island, as a matter of fact. No one has ever bothered me, although I heard that a grizzly old Norseman owns it. But I have never seen him or any evidence of him."

Huh....what exactly is a norseman"

"Ah. Perhaps you are more acquainted with the term, Vikking."

Hmm....we have tales of viking warriors in my homeland Thought they were like dragons, werewolves or horses and they didn't actuallly exist though. Pretty sure if there was a viking on your island he would have tried to eat you by now.

"Well, as I have never seen Gushav, I think his name is, you may have a point there. Perhaps he is merely a Rhydin legend. I looked up the island on the maps in the library. Thats what they list. And...there is a cabin there. Very dusty and delapidated. Does not look as though its inhabited now. But it was once."

Yeah' I might check that out. Sleeping in the street or in this tavern is getting pretty tiresome.

"The statues of limitations is just about to run out though." She grinned. She had a plan, after all. "If things work out....as I hope and pray to Elune they will....you would be most welcome on my island. Once it is of course...my island!"

Once it's your island" Is it not now"

"Not exactly. It belongs to the Norseman. Officially."

I dunno....if norsemen are real it might be too dangerous.. Are you a warrior"

"Well we do have Larry. For a lookout, I mean. He's very accurate at that. And he is loyal to me."

Who is Larry" We....I assumed you were a loner like me.

For the first time, Rande gives Silas a look of wariness. "Larry is the dragon. That I rescued that came here with me, like it or not. Why did you ask me if I was a warrior?"

You'd have to be formible I would think to fight a viking.

She studied Silas a moment. "Well. I am....a dragon rider."

I knew a kid named Larry back home....he was kind of a doofus ::laughs::That just seems crazy to me. I've only been in a few fist fights myself...

"Ah. I do not think Larry would be liking that title very much. I'd advise you not to use it in his presence. He's pretty understanding and like I said he is loyal to me. But you know namecalling. Its rather....undignified. And Larry despite what you think of his name is quite dignified." ::laughs:: but....I'm so good at name calling I wouldn't be brave enough to insult a dragon though...I'm sure

"I am just saying. Larry is pretty easy going. But he can and will breath fire at you. And that is something I really have no control over with him. "

Fair enough.::holds up his crappy little dagger:: this is all I got in the way of defense ::laughs::

"You don't really need a lot of impressive weapons if you can control and utilize the elements. And light and dark. That ;is enough for you to escape any danger or return any aggression, if necessary. You do have the ability to practice and control magick, I take it' Your survival will be seriously in jeaporady if you don't."

::laughs:: magic" No way...I hear there are people that but I've never met any Honestly I always doubted it was even real

Just stares at him. "Seriously' You have no dragon' You wield no magick" Silas. You are in a bit of trouble here my friend."

I'm starting to get used to that idea. I've been in trouble a little while now. I'm quick though. Good about blending in and slipping by unnoticed. I'd feel safer if I had a revolver or something though.

"Well here." She whips out a business card and hands it to him. "That may delay your impending doom for a little while. But not for long. I have a little shop in the marketplace where I am most nights. Either there or I'm near the island diving. I sell pearls.": The card read, Teardrops of the Sea. "If you find yourself in danger, in trouble, you get to me. I or Larry or Darius or Ash'tala or Garou will be able to assist you."

Wow....::takes the card:: You have a lot of friends here ::smiles:: thanks

"I don't carry guns. Only pearls. And....elven blades." She grinned. He had a lot to learn, poor Silas.

Yeah....I don't think I've seen a single gun since I've been here...

Laughs. "not really. They all came with me. Except for Darius. Oh and Crowe and Eclipse. Those last three I met here."

Still my friends haven't even shown up. Starting to worry... What is so special about elven blades"

"Do not worry. You have made a new friend, at least this night, you have." A secret smile to his last question. "Ah well. IT has to do with that other thing we wre discussing. Magick."

Magic huh' Can you use magic" I mean...real magic....not like a street illusionist or circus magician. I know that's not real.

"of course! I ride dragons, don't I" Magick...makes the world go round."

Then do a trick for me. What can you do anyway"

"Its not like that. Its not a thing I command. Its a thing I ask to help me, for Elune to intercede. Its not to be taken lightly or for granted or frivolously or to perform parlor trickes for idle entertainment. Its for living, for giving, for life and death, and what?s in between. I know you do not understand this yet, so I will forgive your flippant attitide this night Silas. But it is real. not for show. "

::laughs:: I dunno....I guess I'll believe it when I see it. but you talk of dragons and you yourself are something I have never seen so I'm almost inclined to believe you. plus this world is....strange...

Inclines her head to him as she rises. "As you wish." And is stilled with his last words. "I am the last of my kind. That is true. But I have told you many truths this night. I leave you to ponder on them. You have my card. I wish you well Silas, be well." She moved from the bench in a gliding sort of way, her gown brushing the floor with a soft whisper as she went.

See you around, Rande. Take care of yourself. ::waves:: I enjoyed talking with you.

"Vendu, Silas. Find me if you are in need. I have given you a promise." A parting smile and she moved through the door. To the porch. And into the night that was her own.

::slips into the kitchen to pilfer some more food before making his way back outside to find a decent place to sleep for the night::