Roleplayer Guild - Forum Roleplaying Games

"No, its just that..." William looked down as he said it, "Its just that, I have never had girls to... be like that. I-I mean, take up with me... and do stuff with me." His face was red, and he diddn't want her to see, so he started to turn...

Then came a sound, rustling leaves... as if someone was in the woods with them. or somthing. He pretended not to hear it, maybe it was wind in the leaves that were on the ground. instead, to take her attention off of it, he turned back to her. "Oh my, what am I thinking?" He took off his coat and put it around her. "You must be freezing." He said, brushing the hair out of her eyes.

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As we walk down the narrow corridors of life... We stumble and stammer our way through misery and grief. There is, however, a light in the darkness... I am that light -SirPattyIII

It appeared that she had been misunderstood. The idea somewhat angered her as she dug the toe of her shoes into the dirt. The unusual student had long since gone and Felicity remained astute in the assessments of her own insignificance. She was unused to being ignored. Normally, circumstances would have made her seek slightly less desirable methods of reversing her insecurity. Alas, she did not, and with the highest composure, she directed herself back to the classrooms.

The halls came to life with the sounds of many, they did not correlate together, but within their own channels they produced unprecedented sounds of well-educated musicians, each with their own identity. Felicity marvelled as she always did when walking the corridors. In comparison to anywhere else, this experience was to be had nowhere else.

Feeling as if she towered above everyone else, she did not tread the lengths of the hall with caution, instead her slowness of speed was more contemplative and thoughtful, although solitary. Having been here for four years, those who knew of her, only knew her as intimately as the next. She possessed no friends, nor companions or partners. All her previous examinations were independently earned.

The school preferred its students to work together, but with Felicity, they had apparently given up. It wasn't that she was particularly any more skilled than the next student, but that in the end, no one was willing to work with her. She was satisfied with this fact.

As she proceeded down the halls, the lingering smell of cigarette smoke caught her attention again and she halted. The classroom doors to her right were closed and she could hear nothing from inside. Felicity reached for the door handle, but before she put her weight on it, she heard faint voices from within. Choosing not to enter, she released the handle, but lingered, staring through the frosted windows for a moment before moving on.

At the end of the hall lay the main auditorium, to the left of the door was a badly cleaned whiteboard with names and times lined up. She traced her eyes down the list to confirm her details were on it before heading through the elaborate double doors.

Before her, a stage of epic proportions and the room, which the ceiling was not visible in the dark. A mini amphitheater of sorts. The enrolment ceremony was only hours away and the bustle of crew members skittered about in harried sounds as bulky equipment was moved around.

"Miss Hirsch! You are late!"

"I apologise. Madame Cireese." She replied monotonously to a woman of older age, dressed with high acclaim.

"Quickly! The preparations!" The madame barked at some inanimate backstage crews. "Felicity, rehearsal was to be five minutes ago! This kind of tardiness will not be tolerated. The example must be set for the new students!"

The lines on Felicity's face flattened, as did her voice, "Yes."

Now facing the tight greying bun of the Madame, the older woman's hands were raised in the air and came together in sharp claps before she puffed her torso out.

"The student has arrived. Places please!" She then ushered Felicity to the stage with a firm push.

A hush spread across the black shadow of the room as all the lights were terminated. LIghts from above flickered then dimmed to reveal a plaintive backdrop of "Welcome New Entrants!" that Felicity had seen the banner of every year before this one and stood at the center of the stage.

The gentle hum of a piano began its first soft bars that slowly grew in intensity. Before her, stood a microphone and she confidently stared it down. As the movement of the piano shifted, Felicity was already poised ready to take her solo and she accepted it flawlessly. Slow, even, deep, the sounds unfurled like morning flower petals. The tune was now engaging, lulling, but overall melancholic as the minor notes taken from the viola sung its cries.

When the piano had finished its course, only the lonely, weeping of the viola's strings could be heard.

Within closed eyes, Felicity's mind burned with anxiety. Her playing became less fluid when she opened her lips to sing,

Oh please ne'er forget me though waves now lie o'er me.
I was once young and pretty and my spirit ran free...

"No, no, no, NO!" The music was ceased upon the voices interjection.

"Felicity! Your voice is not your strongest element! I have asked you to refrain from using it! There are other students to demonstrate this at the ceremony. Why do you insist on this piece after I have requested you not to play it?"

Her frustration caused her bowing hand to clench tightly, in an effort to suppress the tears.

"My voice is sufficient..." She stammered over the microphone.

It's average. Why can't I just accept that. I'll never be accepted here for my singing, it's just not good enough. I hate her... Could she not at least help me. That's her job, isn't it? For all these new people, I need to show them everything!

"You cannot show them talent when you do not possess it, Miss Hirsch."

At this, Felicity's confidence crumpled and her eyes let her tears flow freely,"What do you know! I have worked my butt off to be here! I've asked for nothing but a chance! Everyone here is the same! Do you get off discouraging your students?"

"That is enough!" Madame Cireese's words literally became spat through her steely exterior. She straightened her shoulders, her nose flaring at Felicity's insolence.

"I've had enough myself." The string player stepped away from the microphone, threw her bow to one side and walked off the stage.

"You.... selfish girl! The world does not cater to one person!"

Picking herself up, Felicity corrected her posture before heading past the many eyes that glared at her before heading out of the auditorium.

Running away? Again?

When the doors clattered and locked together with an almost defeating clang, Felicity leaned against the door as her resolve collapsed and she sobbed silently to herself.

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"Resolve to be thyself: and know that he who finds himself loses his misery." -Mathew Arnold

Blood of the Holy Grail RP Compendium

Sophia felt horrible.
"No, please don't," she exclaimed. "I was just, I dunno, trying to find somewhere I could be alone for a bit, but it's my fault entirely that you screwed up and I shouldn't be here, and I'm sorry...and..."
She stopped, and realised she had been rambling.
"You were good," she murmured quietly. This guy, he looked very interesting. You could tell he was one of those guys who lived and breathed his type of music. The long hair, and the serious sort of face, but it was also full of a sort of mirth.
She jerked, conscious that she had been staring.
"I'll, I'll just go...sorry about that..." she said, and headed for the door. She felt like an idiot, trying to hide from this guy, and violating his privacy.

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I came to end Corruption.
Its stench filled the air, but I could not find its source.
Then I realised that it was all around me, in you, the Human species.
Humanity was Corruption.
So I ended it.

Brian put his guitar down and moved to intercept her. "Please, don't leave. You were here first, I should be the one leaving."
He felt bad that he had interrupted whatever she was in the middle of, and he still felt a little bit embarrassed about being caught playing what he always thought was real half-arsed guitar playing.
"Let me just get my guitar packed away. I can find another room."

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Sophia stood, blocking the doorway.
"Look, its my fault, really, and I'm sorry. I'll get out of here...I just wanted you to know that you're...you're really good."
She smiled nervously, and held out a hand.
"I'm Sophia Greenwood...I play bass and piano...and I kinda dabble in guitar, but I can't do any of that stuff. That's really impressive."

__________________
I came to end Corruption.
Its stench filled the air, but I could not find its source.
Then I realised that it was all around me, in you, the Human species.
Humanity was Corruption.
So I ended it.

Brian moved his hand to take hers but faltered in his movements when she complimented him on his playing abilities.
"What...really? You think so?" The compliment came as a shock to him, he'd built up this image of himself being really bad at playing and now it had a large crack running through it.
But he recomposed himself and to save face, added, "Nah...it's not that great, I'm sure there's a lot of people here who could do better."

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Sophia was adamant.
"Maybe...but its the whole idea of having soul when you're playing. You've gotta make mistakes to be good. That's what someone taught me a long time ago. If you make mistakes, but you're living the instrument, then you're better than some technical freak who can play super speed, but as a robot rather than a human...sounds kinda corny, but I hate people playing down their own talent. Me? I'm the best f***ing (not sure if swearing is allowed here) bass player in the world. And don't you forget it!" She kinda smiled, but she felt like she was making an idiot of herself.
"Hey, look...I think I've got somewhere to be. I'm sorry for interrupting your performance. Maybe we'll meet somewhere else some other time, Brian," she finished, spying his name on his guitar case, hoping it was indeed his. "And maybe I'll have my gear with me, and we'll put you through the paces..." she gave him a wry smile, and then walked out, her heart pounding loudly. She was good at talking when she did it, but it scared the hell out of her. That's why she was always so quiet. If you didn't know how things were gonna go down, then you didn't say them until you were sure they'd be received positively. That's how she thought.
She walked back to her dormitory, and retrieved her massive bass case. It was a square shaped Goliath, and it could probably kill a small child if she threw it at one. When she threw it at one.
It was a little heavy, relative to her small teenage frame, but she managed to get it down the stairs, panting slightly. Hard to believe that all this weight belied a fairly thin, yet massively heavy Fender Jazz Bass, her pride and joy, customised from a generic black body by herself to contain spirally artworks and quotes from her favourite songs, with a little Japanese and Spanish written sporadically in white paint, edging her little drawings. She was very proud of it, she didn't fancy herself as an artist.
She hurried a long, and arrived at lessons, a little later and she would've been late. But her head was embarassingly occupied by a boy playing a guitar, and shrugging sheepishly when Sophia left the music room.

__________________
I came to end Corruption.
Its stench filled the air, but I could not find its source.
Then I realised that it was all around me, in you, the Human species.
Humanity was Corruption.
So I ended it.

Only a moment after asking his question, Jani glanced over to a piece of paper he had tacked to his wall. Standing from his chair, and putting out his cigarette in an ash tray on his desk, he walked toward the door. “I’d forgotten about that assembly,” he said to the girl on his bed. “It should be starting soon...”

With that he opened the door and stepped out, closing it behind her. Jani gave her a nod and started walking from the door. he shook his head then hung it backward to gather his hair into a tail for the time being, revealing the three rings in each earlobe.

It took several minutes to walk through the halls, even at his surprisingly fast, yet casual, pace. Jani turned around a corner to see a girl, the viola player, sitting outside the door to the room where, he was quite sure, the assembly was to be held.

As he approached her Jani began to hear faint sobs. He quieted his footfalls and moved to stand beside her, placing his back to the wall and sliding down into a sitting position, arms resting on his bent knees. Instead of being a fool and asking her if something was wrong, he simply smiled as he looked over at her. “I’m not sure what cause anyone could have for weeping on such a beautiful morning.”

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“May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night, and the road downhill all the way to your door.” - Irish Proverb