Symphony of Storms (pt.1?)

(A Short Story)
(...Hopefully)


Leisel Rainsong tapped her quill impatiently against her dark-wood desk. A paper lay in front of her, something she was consciously ignoring as her eyes gazed around the room. Above her, the ceiling was covered in a dark thunder-cloud that would give little rumbles every now and again. Even more occasionally there was a small flash of lightning that would make all the students look up. The cool atmosphere of the room helped most of the students feel calm and focused as they scribbled fiercely across the paper. All of them except Leisel.

Halestorm Balestrom was not unaware of the one student in the back of the room who was not completing the test. As he stood on his desk, surveying the class, he wondered if he should just let Leisel fail the test like she had with the last one... and the one before that... as well as the one before that... and also the one before that. Professor Balestrom sighed and decided to just speak with her after class.

Leisel's mind was not on the test, and it wasn't because she didn't know the information to complete the test. In truth she was a very extraordinary Storm Wizard, very good with spells and smart in duels... but as soon as it came to giving her undivided attention to a single task, her mind seemed to vanish, and she was lost in her own world.

When the period ended, all the Master Diviner's stood and handed their tests to Professor Balestrom, chatting amongst themselves. Professor Balestrom tried to look over the crowd of bouncing heads, attempting to spot Leisel. However, it seemed the girl had already escaped into Ravenwood Courtyard. Once the classroom was clear, he hopped over to her desk to find her test laying there uncompleted.

Almost to the tunnel to the Commons, Leisel jumped a good six inches as she felt a hand clamp over her shoulder. She spun around to see her friend, Devon Flamestrider, standing there, a mischievous smirk across his lips. His ruby red eyes gleamed with laughter as his blonde hair shone in the faint patches of light that spilled through Bartleby's branches. "Well you seem jumpy today."

Leisel sighed and ran a hand through her long blue hair, brushing it away from her face, as it seemed to always fall forward. "Just a little stressed," she replied.

"Fail another test?" Devon inquired.

Leisel frowned, scraping the toe of her boot against the cobblestone. "No..."

"That means yes."

"Does not..." she argued lamely.

Devon slung an arm over his friend's shoulder, walking her towards the tunnel. "I say you're in need of a stress reliever. I'll get strawberries."

"I'm allergic to strawberries."

"What? No, the strawberries are for me. If I eat strawberries, it increases my brain capacity, and I'll be able to think of a stress reliever for you."

Leisel smirked. "That's can't be possible."

"What? Why?"

"If you try to increase your brain capacity, it may shutdown as it's so small. It wouldn't be able to handle it," she said cheekily.

They continued to argue as they walked through the sunny Commons and into the shaded streets of the Shopping District. It was fairly busy with the Christmas season coming up. Many other Wizards were shopping, trying to bargain for the best price for gifts for their friends and family. Leisel mentally reminded herself that she needed to find gifts for people as well.

"Meet you at Elik's Edge in ten minutes. I am starving, so I am going to find strawberries," Devon said.

"Alright," was all Leisel replied with. Devon rolled his eyes, knowing his friend was now lost. He knew this was why she always failed tests.

Leisel maneuvered around the people, making her way to the edge. Here there were fewer people, but the hustle and bustle and general noise of people still resonated behind her. Though in a crowd, Leisel was alone, and that was okay with her. Sitting down on the low stone wall, she set her pack on her legs ad rummaged around the mess of stuff before finally pulling out a flute. She looked down at the instrument. It was thin and black, very sleek, and made of a material she could not recognize. She had won it from a Ronin in MooShu several months ago, but there was something wrong with it.

She could not play it.

Leisel was a master at most instruments, and the flute was one of her three best pieces. She had her own, silver flute at home, which she could play just fine. However, when she brought her lips to this flute, not a sound was made.

She did that now. She raised the flute with strong arms, setting it against her mouth, and attempted to blow a G. There was no sound, not even the hissing of her own breath. It was as if she were deaf to it's music, and everyone else was too.

Annoyed, for some reason her inability to play the instrument infuriating her more than usual, she started playing a song, playing it as loud as she could. It was the tune one often heard floating around the Jade Palace, one she had learned by ear. Still, there was not a single note she could hear.

"You called me?"

Leisel jumped for the second time that day. She turned to her right where there was now someone sitting beside her. This someone looked young, perhaps twelve years if not eleven, with straight black hair reaching down to her waist and glowing amber eyes. She wore strange garb: a long robe with dark colored flowers pressed against their royal purple background with a crimson underskirt. The newcomer smiled.

"Who're you?" Leisel stuttered.

"My name is Nieve, the Spirit of Jade. You found my flute some time ago, and I've been waiting for you to call." Nieve stood and bowed with a flourish. To Leisel's confusion, no one around them seemed to notice her. "How can I be of service?"

Confused, but deciding to just go with it, Leisel held up the flute. "Why can't I hear it when I play it?"

Nieve tiled her head to the side. "It is because you do not believe in it. You take your ability for granted, and the flute will only be heard by those who believe."


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


WELL ALRIGHTY THEN

So this was supposed to be a short story. A SHORT story. You know that means, don't you? It means the story is SHORT.

Why do I do this to myself -_-

It's not short anymore!!


Moving on from that, how was it? It was supposed to be my appreciation (something like that) piece for the Sound of Music that was broadcasted live last night (didn't get to see all of it, but what I did see was amazing!!).

Here's the image that officially inspired the piece:

Flute Dragon Water. Digital image. Desktop Nexus Wallpapers. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2013.

Hopefully this will stay under two parts. It's only 1,000 words (just a little over), and I want to keep it that way. I hope you guys enjoyed it! :)


In other news... it rained here last night. Is still raining. And now the temperature is dropping, which means there's going to be ice everywhere. Everywhere! We're finally getting attacked by that fierce snowstorm that's been blowing across the west. I hope everyone stays safe.


~Emma