6212/Silent Night

Silent Night
Date of Scene:	18 January 2019
Location:	New York City
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Kid, Kaelyn Silverleaf, Stardust

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Kid has posed:
Nestled in New York City, down in China town, not a person was moving, or a car even driving. Snow was falling gently as a chilled wind blew, making the flakes dance and sway. This silent was known to many, to the homeless huddled in alleys, and those camped beneath cities, those shaked up in warm cozy homes...and to those who sometimes felt most alone.

But for those with the ear, or those with the mind, willing to let a stranger inside. Heard as they rested or slept or be happening to walk, a violin. Playing gently and softly. And the tune that was heard was none other than silent night, offering comfort and wonder and a bit of warmth to those it affected.

And the source of this song was but one lone man who stood in Columbus park. He looked to be much larger than a human, wearing a dapper expansive looking suit, but nothing else despite the cold. He was leaning agaist the tree his eyes closed, those closest to him would hear the phantom music the loudest, but not unpleasantly so.

Kaelyn Silverleaf has posed:
Kae well, Kae, the sorceress turned horse-butt, err centaur sorceress, can be seen wandering said park now, carefully packing a burlap sack into a leather one, the leather sack having odd slightly luminescent silver runes on it... Once she closes the bag she sighs "Oookay, that's taken care of, minor crisis averted, and that much closer to me being able to fix my current problem.." She mutters quietly...

Kae's ears perk, litterally as she hears the music being played? She tilts her head and begins making her way in that direction, heavy hoof falls hardly muted as she wanders along.

Stardust has posed:
    At the north end of Columbus Park sits the pavilion. It has overlooked a century and quarter of history, sometimes a showpiece of the area, sometimes neglected and forgotten, a shelter for pigeons and the homeless. In recent times it has seen a fair bit of love, and is a popular area, when the park is busier. Right now it's inhabited by a lone visitor, sitting on the roof overlooking the park.

    The lone visitor is not particularly noticeable, her light colored outfit blending with the snow, and there are few people around to notice her anyway. A now nearly empty carton of noodles sits beside her, the remains of a late snack. Stardust - for that's who it is - quite often catches late snacks on the roofs of buildings around New York. The superheroing lifestyle just doesn't seem all that good for regular eating habits.

    The sound of the violin reaches up to Stardust's ears. It doesn't occur to her at first that there's anything odd about someone busking in the park, it happens a lot. Usually not on a night like this. The park is largely silent but for the sound, and there probably isn't much of an audience. It's a beautiful sound though, and Stardust relaxes, enjoying the sound. She even joins in for a part, singing the original German. ~'Stille nacht, heilige nacht! Die der Welt Heil gebracht, Aus des Himmels goldenen Hohn, Uns der Gnaden Fulle lasst sehn..." She has a very good singing voice, clean and clear. Too clear. She realizes suddenly that her voice is carrying too well, and it brings her attention to the emptiness of the park. A little surprised, she stands up and walks to the edge of the roof, looking down to seek out the source of the violin.

Kid has posed:
The phantom song carries on. Normal music has been said to have the power to touch your soul. And perhaps this one was being played from the soul. It was fleeting, as if the peace it carried was rare and the one who had it did often let it show. As stardust song, even with her face carrying it...the emotion of the violin seems to alter as if bringing in whatever emotion Stardust had when she sang - and it died as her voice did. A few people sat at their windows seeming to enjoy the mysteriouse music. In a crazy world, where your love ones slept for days on end, when your waiting for the next bit of disaster...when all seems hopeless, it nice to have even a spark of light

The brute in a suit hardly stirred. But as Kaelyne got closer, the phantom sung became ever clearer. There was no doubting he was the source of it - and at this point it would be fairly difficult to not notice a centuar and what amonts to looking like a mafio enforcer standing near each other. He slowly turns his head to Kaelyn his eyes opening as he looks her over. He raise a hand in a simple wave. And once again the feeling of the song changes - it was less melochonly and more...joyful, subtle changes in tune and rythem, not enough to change the song or be jarring, but a gradual shift to incorporate the sensation of a more joyful spirit - one like Kaelyns.

Kaelyn Silverleaf has posed:
Kae blinks at the brute in a suit and shrugs "Nice music. "She says simply, now glancing around curiously, she picks up the singing and looks for the other curiously... She then hmmmms, she looks around again curiously. THen she reaches into her backpack, drawing out well, a hammer dulcimer? Kae grins a bit as she sets the thing up and proceeds to waggle the two hammers for it before raising an eyebrow... At this point there's a couple fwoomps, and Wendy, as well as Jenny both show up, one is a blonde, probably mid way through college, the other auburn-headed and probably just at the age to start..

"We saw ya grab one of yer instruments...." Says Wendy before pausing... And well for her? out comes a flute, Jenny grabs up a Mandolin, all old instruments but very nice sounding when played together... Probably a good thing Jenny's sis isn't here or there'd be bag pipes.... "Ok, so mind if -we- join in?" she says with a smile.

Stardust has posed:
Stardust leaps off the roof of the pavilion with a showy flip, no doubt aided a little with a sneaky bit of flying, and makes her way across the open area and into the trees, for the source of the music. As she rounds a large tree and the mafioso-esque man and centauroid sorcereress are gathered, she walks forwards a little more slowly, head canted to the side. She's conscious of two peculiar things:

Thing the first, there is no violin visible.

Thing the second, there is a centaur visible.

    The presence of the centaur seems to Stardust to be the thing worth focusing on first, as centaurs are supernatural, semi-mythical, and not indiginous to Manhattan. Also, in this case, they are...

    "Kae? Kaelyn, is that you? You uh... you appear to have grown a horse. I know you like ponytails, but this is ridiculous."

Kid has posed:
The man let out a small deep chuckle. His eyes lazedly wander from person to person....and than to the instrument. He gestures to to Wndy and Jenny to join in freely, and even gives Kaelyn an appreciative smile, small...definintely has larger canines than usual.

The song plays on encorporating the sensations of those near the man. Even if one of those things may be humor or surprise, or simply in a word, fun. Though the violin does change in pitch in order to better harmonize with the instruments presented.

A voice is 'heard' but much like the song, it was but a phantom, calm, peaceful and yet quite familiar to those who have heard Kid's telepathic voice before. o O ("Maybe Kaelyn has has a spare instrument for you")

Kaelyn Silverleaf has posed:
Kae blinks and peers at Colette curiously. "Yup it's me. and yus, I've sprouted a horse's ass..." She says and shrugs, then glances ack and huffs "A big one... " She says and shrugs "Yay for draft horses for lower bodies and litterally weighing near a ton... and umm instruments?" She peers at Colette... "You have an instrument you prefer to play?" She asks curiously....

Stardust has posed:
Although Stardust has met Kid before, she hasn't heard his telepathic voice before, and he didn't look much like this last time, even if Kid's current human form is rather gorilla-like. Thus she doesn't make the connection, and peers at him with more curiosity than anything else. This is, after all, New York. Weirdness is normal.

    Stardust considers her options for a few moments, and quickly comes to the conclusion that a magically-enhanced jam session is frankly way more fun than superheroing, so she grins wide, steps forwards, and nods to them both. "Uh, you got a guitar in your backpack by any chance, Kae?" she asks.

Kid has posed:
Kid gives a tip of hs hat o O ("Malcolm, Ironwood, at your service ladies") before putting the apparent hat back on. The song slowly comes to a close. But he doesn't leave just yet. Instead he 'says' o O ("Any special request...if I know it, I may be able to play it") he informs them.

Kaelyn Silverleaf has posed:
Kae umms "Lots of mandolins... They're double strings, but fret like a guitar..." She says simply... She draws another Mandolin out and digs around in her bacpkack, nearly sinking her whole torso in the thing... Now she litterally looks like a horse who's head is stuck in a backpack... It doesn't take long before she's withdrawing her self and pulling out a couple larger Mandolins, but in there is a really nice combo mandolin/guitar.... She then tilts her head and offers that to Colette.. "See if that's comfy..."

Stardust has posed:
     Stardust takes the mandolin/guitar from Kaelyn with a smile of thanks, and tries it for size. After a little adjustment to get it comfortable, she plucks experimentally at the coursed strings, taking a few moments to get the hang of plucking and fingering, then trying a couple of experimental notes and chords. When she's satisfied she'll be able to get a decent tune out of it, she looks up with a smile and a shrug. "Uh, no particular requests, I'm... well I play music quite a bit, I'm happy to go along with what you guys know." As she speaks she strums a few chords then plucks a little pizzacato melody, too short to be immediately obvious, but long enough to sound familiar.

Kid has posed:
The man nods and once more closes his eyes. He layed the silent linger for a few minutes. He goes for a purposely more uplifting song this time. Though he could only project one instrument, what it was would tell enough. The phantom song this time was 'Flying Through the Air' - one best known from the movie where a boy and a snowman fly to the northpole.

Kaelyn Silverleaf has posed:
Kae tilts her head at Kid now and hmms at the phantom song... SHe shrugs and begins playing the dulcimer right along with it, somehow some ghostly notes appear above the instrument, telling her what notes to hit and when and whatnot while she plays... She then shrugs 'Sorry, havn't played everything, and I got a bit of an enchantment that tells me what notes to play and whatnot so as to be able to play a dulcimer's roll with most musics and whatnot.." The notes? Well the music from Kae's hammer dulcimer are rather nice.... THe instrument is really of top quality, and Kae is no slouch with it... After a moment, she gets a pause, and then takes that opportunity to fold all four legs under her, and get the dulcimer closer to play further. Where as before she was bending over uncomfortably to play, her current size of and all allows her to 'lay' down her lower half and put her at a more comfortable height to play the instrument...

At that point, Wendy peeks at the notes and joins in with the flute, and the Blonde with her also begins playing too...

Stardust has posed:
    Kid's choice suits Stardust very well, and when she recognizes the opening chords, she smiles at him and nods her head. The mandolin has an unfamiliar handling, but the song is well suited to the pizicatto style she'd adopted, and the chords are easy. She blends the mandolin easily into the opening, but leaves the heavy lifting to Kid and Kaelyn, playing backing with Jenny and Wendy as she's not too confident of the instrument. Then she starts singing.

~We're walking in the air~
~We're floating in the moonlit sky~
~The people far below are sleeping as we fly~

    As her voice spreads with surprising power through park, it quickly becomes apparent that Stardust is a /really/ good singer. She sings with an aching purity, and a soft, well-controlled vibrato that spans into a delicate melisma at the end of certain lines, giving her own slant to the performance.

    It wouldn't be unfair to say that Stardust is a better singer than she is a superhero. She may be missing her calling in life. She honestly wouldn't disagree if you said so.

Kid has posed:
The powerful voice makes the massive man's ears twitch. And it brings forth a powerful memory, both painful and happy. Another voice joins Colette, a phantom one. It didn't sound like the 'voice' he used before...it was distinctly different. It sounded like...a memory.

The phantom voice was deep and had a spanish accent to it. It was no where near as good as Colette own singing, rough, unrefined, but comforting no less

~We're holding very tight~
I'm riding in the midnight blue~
~I'm finding I can fly so high above with you~

Kaelyn own efforts do not go unnoticed, as a whisper of Kid's 'voice' says to her o O ("No need to apologize. This is just for fun...") okay it was for more than just a bit of fun, at least for kid. But he truely didn't mind. His head swaying to the music the Quintet makes.

Kaelyn Silverleaf has posed:
Kae grins and plays along for now... Meanwhile another blond... Judy.. Jenny's twin has shown up and is putting some instruments out as well.. If the other 3 get to play so does she! Kae blinks and raises an eyebrow at her.. Judy smiles "Shop's tended." She says simply and Kae nods slowly... "Closed up?" She asks quietly, and Judy nods... Kae nods back and motions to her, the other blonde picks up a fiddle and begins to join in now as well...

After a moment, Kae even chimes in, seems chanting magic, and dealing with spirits and all, one proably needs a good voice.. Kae is no exception, she has a really nice female Irish tenor at this point, she probably sings a soprano when she wants... IE, if she wanted she could sing just about any gaelic song for a female voice out there... Still, she's singing along with the others, pitching her voice so it helps out the other two singing....

Stardust has posed:
    Stardust flashes a grin to Judy when she shows up and the quintet becomes a sextet. To be honest she has trouble keeping track of Kaelyn's assistants, and it doesn't help when two of them are twins. She only remembers Wendy's name anyway, but on the bright side, she can get away with referring to the other two as 'the twins', so that helps.

~On across the sky,~
~The villages go by, like dreams.~
~The rivers and the hills, the forests and the streams...~

    In the break before the final verse, Stardust turns to flash a big, encouraging smile at Kid. She's not really sure what his deal is, but there's something about that Spanish-accented voice that makes her feel like it's the right thing to do at the time.

Kid has posed:
Malcolm gives Judy a small wave. Telling twins apart was not to difficult for him. And the addition of a fiddle was certainly nice. This was perhaps one of the oddest renditions of this song. From the choice of instruments, to the various voices. But even so, when it all comes togeather, it seems to lift spirits. Togeather their unsual collection seems to transcend individual experiences, circumstance and ability. The world for the briefest of moments feels almost as if it had stopped.

For those with the hearing, the sound of other groups singing in their own alleys or homes can be heard. While the holidays have passed, it seems the spirit of them could still be kept.

Kid sees the smile, and offers only but a small one back, appreciative but...unsure. But none the less the next and perhaps final verse comes.

~We're surfing in the air. We're swimming in the frozen sky~
~We're drifting over icy Mountains floating by~

As this verse ends...the 'music' Kid made slowly seems to die. He simply listened to the others, almost as if he could not go on.

Kaelyn Silverleaf has posed:
Kae grins a bit, continuing to sing along and add in her own little flavor to the tune... Meanwhile Wendy pokes at Kae and motions to another bit of music, Kae nods a bit and as she turns the page on her music above her dulcimer, silently 'paints' a slightly glowing "All Soul's Night" next? in the air, with a slight grin..> This makes the other girl's eyes completely light up...

Kae has nooo problem happily turning things into a jam session, it's fun!"

Stardust has posed:
    When Kid backs out leaving the sextet as a quartet again, Stardust's playing falters momentarily, but it's barely noticeable in the instrumental bridge - her contribution is much more obvious in the vocals. She frowns a little with concern and looks over him, trying to catch his eye. There's a story there.

    Stardust is a touch uncertain at the start of the final verse, mind still on the enigma of Kid, but just for a moment.
~Suddenly, swooping low~
~On an ocean deep,~
~Rousing up a mighty monster from his sleep~

    The final verse segues almost seemlessly into the final chorus, and Stardust's voice rises up to meet it, singing with all the joyfulness she can muster as if she somehow senses this is the one that really needs to count.

~We're walking through the air!~
~We're dancing in the moonlit sky!~
~And everyone who sees us, greets us as we flyyyyy...~

    She carries the last word in a sustained vibrato, holding it to the end of the playing, and letting it fade out into the quiet of the night. She remains silent and still a few moments, as if not wanting to interrupt the quiet that somehow becomes part of the song, before taking a long slow breath. Then she looks up again at Kid and reaches out to give his arm the slightest of touches.

    Stardust looks down at the ground for a moment then up again towards the glowing text. Flashing a smile to Kaelyn, she says "Loreena McKennitt? 'I can see the lights in the distance...'?" she gives a slight shake of her head. "I don't really remember the lyrics, but I'll give it a go!"

Kid has posed:
Kid turns his head on Colette, a beastial look in his eye as if he JUST might rip her head off, even barring his teeth showing 4 excessively large canines - a complete 360 from the calm and peaceful man who just moments ago was 'singing' in his own way. And as for his arm...there wasn't any cloth - instead Colette would feel...fur of all things. He takes his arm away.

Could it be...KRAMPUS?!?!?! Dun dun dun!

But a moment passes, and he seems calm once again. o O ("...sorry. Just got...riled up.") is all he relays. He shakes his head and looks to the quentit. o O ("I do not know this...All Soul's Night...but it would be nice to hear") wanting to go back to the more peaceful moment....though it may be gone from him now, as his body language never quite shifts back into that calm stance.

Kaelyn Silverleaf has posed:
The girls around Kae all swap instruments, A hand drum, a few other instruments, including well a sitar of all things... Kae then glances around and shrugs.. She grins at Stardust "I kinda know what the girl's want... If you wanna join in after I start?" She says, one of the girls begin to play the drum, and another a fiddle, and another the sitar... Kae has has swapped from a hammer dulcimer to a full on massively multi-stringed mandolin which she's playing..

Then the vocals hit, and yes, Kae could probably have a second occupation as a full time celtic music singer as she starts singing the McKennit as though she were genuinely trying to cover it, and well she really is, she is also not juuuust doing a passing rendition.

Kae grins a bit and lets her 'hair' down so to speak, the air around her seeming to ripple a bit and what could be some kind of borealis affect appearing above the small group, or maybe coven, of witches now, it's not ominous, just heart warming and welcoming as the magic users sing proper Beltain music now...

Stardust has posed:
Stardust does not seem too fazed by the quartet of fangs suddenly bared at her. She's seen worse - it's a lot more worrying when Raven flashes a quarted of glowing red eyes at you, for example. Well, that plus the whole feeling invulnerable to harm thing, which is only mostly true, but does tend to make her act as if danger is something that only happens to other people. What's more, while she hadn't heard Kid's telepathic voice before, she has seen Kid's fangs before, witnessed his sudden bestial rages before, and indeed touched his arm before.

    "Jua?" Stardust asks, her eyes narrowed a bit, head canted to the side. Before she can follow up, Kaelyn starts up with the next song. She gives Kaelyn a nod in agreement, letting the first few bars play out before picking out a few notes on her instrument. She's heard the song a few times before and soon enough gets into the swing of it, accompanying Kaelyn on the choruses at least:

~I can see the lights in the distance,~
~Trembling in the dark cloak of night.~
~Candles and lanterns are dancing, dancing,~
~A waltz on all souls night.

    It's not Beltane yet, and All Soul's is long past, but then it's not Christmas any more either. On a night like this, it doesn't really matter. It's cold, it's snowing, and the last few weeks have been a nightmare for the whole planet. Music is a balm for the soul, and that's just what the doctor - or the mage - or the gorilla - ordered.