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Post by Leith, Veemon, and Shoutmon on Sept 23, 2018 21:44:46 GMT
Things were, in a word, bad. By Leith's perspective, things had gone south two weeks days ago, but by real-world time it was just a little over two days. In either case, the wound was still fresh: after learning Veemon was meant to be another's partner, Leith's 'true' partner emerged: Shoutmon. Of course, this Shoutmon unlike the other one Leith had met was made of flesh and scale, not metal and bolts, but he was a Shoutmon nonetheless. Unfortunately, Shoutmon on hatching didn't know he was a secret from Leith's family. He got himself caught, which through a series of arguments caused Leith to disavow most of his family entirely. That's how he wound up effectively homeless, playing little acoustic sets at the Rosewood Inn some nights for a little cash and a free bed. One plus was that this was quite the generous gig, generous enough that earlier this day he had managed to catch a Trailmon to Terminus, stop by a music shop, and pick himself up a nice new seven-string guitar and amp stack. Leith didn't have brand names or online reviews to help him buy in this world, but he sure had a field day testing things in the shop until he had what he wanted.
Though, the downside to such a big stack was that it wasn't very portable. For that reason, Leith had found himself a nice rock to sit on so that he and Shoutmon didn't have to be cramped indoors and brought his acoustic guitar with him. "I think on that part while you're singing, 'My perfect disease,' you hold that '-ease' while I sing the last chorus behind it."
Leith was talking to Shoutmon, the other half of Haunted Threnody. The project was pretty much nothing and nowhere at this point, but for the first time in Leith's life he'd really grown a passion and a spine, so now he was trying to make it happen. Shoutmon's response was a shrug and, "OK, we can try." So Leith began playing the song from that part while Shoutmon sang,
"You're the darkest burning star,
You're my perfect disease..."
And while he held that note, Leith added,
"The lying, The bleeding, The screaming, Was tearing me apart..."
"I think that worked. What do you think?"
"Yeah, works for me."
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Post by Chiaki Kuroda on Sept 24, 2018 21:37:01 GMT
The digital world was a wonderous impossibility, a world that was connected to hers through the most tenuous of bridges. A world almost idyllic in its natural state, the rolling green fields uncluttered by the detritus of humanity, yet tamed enough to not leave her traipsing through over grown forests and a forest. That wasn’t to say civilization didn’t exist, there were villages and towns that existed as hubs for the various denizens to gather. You had never seen anything that could compare to a street filled with various Digimon great and small winding in and out of a market’s stalls. It had an odd throwback to the markets at home, but just a few minutes walking away from the bustling market, vast field of emptiness rolled on and on as far as the eye could see.
Until recently Chiaki and Tatsu had stayed close to the Village of Beginning, unwilling to travel too far away from the safety offered by the starting village. However, the stories of a town being built up from scratch were too tempting for her to ignore. It had been a …interesting journey which involved a lot of running away…like a lot of it. Thankfully they didn’t have to explore all of the territories all in one go, just an hour or so a day, dropping in and out of the Digital world when they had the time. It had been a nice bonding experience for the pair, and a chance for them to get away from the pressure of the real world. Their time in the digital world had become something of a few moments of stolen pleasure. So it wasn’t surprising that after they had arrived at Rosewood those trips had morphed into something more. While still a trip it had also become a time of solitude. Chiaki had taken to bringing her violin with her on the rips, revelling in the silence as an opportunity to just play for a single audience, delighting Tatsu with fast reels and slow melancholic pieces alike as she let the music flow without any of the strictures that her teachers would normally force on her.
So the new day had found the pair with a backpack filled with lunch, picking a random direction and setting forth to travel as the urge took them. For the most part the two had made their way through the landscape without any real problems, just the sun, the grass and an ongoing competition to see who could come up with the tastiest sounding food. “How about a chocolate truffle crepe with fresh strawberries.” “If you’re going to go strawberries then the truffles useless, just hit it with the basic cream and a few shavings of dark chocolate.” “Yeah…well what about a nice roast chicken with,” “The lying, The bleeding, The screaming” Tatsu stopped, cocking her head to one side as she stared at her friend with something like worry, “That doesn’t sound good at all, what’re you thinking?” The question was delivered with equal parts worry and teasing, a fact that went right by Chiaki as she waved a hand at Tatsu, signalling her to be quiet. “Shhh, that’s a song there’s someone else out here playing it.” The teenager’s head tilted from side to side like a bloodhound as she tried to zero in on the musician in the wilds.
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Post by Leith, Veemon, and Shoutmon on Sept 24, 2018 22:48:46 GMT
"Hey, can we run 'Changing Fate' just one time? I don't know what's taking Veemon so long to get here, but apparently we have time."
"Ugh. I'm hungry!"
"That makes two of us. He knows where to find us, though, and we might as well fill the time."
"Alright. Let's do it." Shoutmon sat up a little straighter, then; much of a wild one was he could be, he at least had focus when it came to doing what he loved, one of very few things he and his still fairly new Tamer had in common. "1-2-3, 1-2-3," Shoutmon counted Leith in before he began to finger pluck his parts of the guitar. Too bad that with just the one instrument he thought it sounded like a little something was missing, but hopefully when he played it later that night it would only be he who thought that. It helped that Shoutmon was improvising his own percussion by hitting the rock he was sitting on with his own hands to fill a little of the sonic space.
Surprisingly, the normally extremely metal digimon was able to tone down his growl for a softer delivery. Frankly, Leith had to really admire the little dragon's versatility, even if it was only to be expected for a digimon who could already play about every instrument known to man or 'mon. Why should singing be any different?
"So ends the tale of a hero, With a true English heart, Of a man who knows pain and sorrow, And fortunes in life..."
Shoutmon made it all the way through the first chorus before issuing the 'cut' signal to Leith, pretending his hand was a blade in front of his neck. "Alright, dude, I'm really not sure about this song. Aren't you supposed to be the queen of England in this song? 'Cause that ain't the kinda queen you are."
Leith glared at his partner. "First off, don't call me that. I'm gay, but I'm not... that. But the song... I don't know. I mean, I can hit the notes. So why not?"
"Like you said, you're still a dude."
"That bothers you?"
"No amount of feminism is gonna cover the fact that you sound like a guy, Leith."
"Come on, man. You know this is like my favorite band. Please?" If someone were to walk in at this point, it seemed they would find the middle of a slowly escalating argument.
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Post by Chiaki Kuroda on Sept 29, 2018 8:01:11 GMT
“Well, I don’t think they’re singing anymore.” Tatsu shot Chiaki a bright grin, the weasel like Digimon almost leaping off the ground, darting up Chiaki’s outstretched draping herself over the girl’s shoulders, resting her head next to her partner’s face as the two shared a grin before Chiaki scrambled over the edge of the hill. The girl let her feet slide down the side of the incline, bringing a loose hail of stones with her as she struck a pensive pose.
“You know, with the right dress and makeup I bet he could make a pretty good girl you know,” a teasing smile pulling at her lips as her hands went out from her sides, hopping down the last few feet of the incline to come to a stop. “The sound, I mean falsetto is a thing…but yeah I kinda have to agree with him. Your voice is all wrong for taking on the female part. You’ll either end up hurting yourself, or not quite being able to hit the high notes. Sorry.”
She knew it was…unusual to say the least to just show up offering advice but well the entrance was one that she couldn’t resist. The digmon curled around the girl’s neck reared up, resting both of her forearms on top of Chaiki’s head as her nose twitched in the air. “That was a nice song though, who is it? I don’t think I’ve ever heard it before and,” she patted the girl’s head fondly with one paw, “she makes me listen to eeeeeeeverything.” The teenager reached up, one hand making a half-hearted attempt to cuff Tatsu before ruffling the digimon’s fur. “Hey you, behave. We honestly didn’t expect to find anyone else all the way out here, it’s an unusual place to practice…not that it’s without it/s benefits.” The girl glanced past Leith’s shoulder, hazel eyes taking in the view before smiling at him, “and the acoustics aren’t too bad out here either from the sound of it.”
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Post by Leith, Veemon, and Shoutmon on Sept 29, 2018 17:06:58 GMT
"I bet he could make a pretty good girl you know.” That nearly knocked Shoutmon off the rock from laughing so hard. As it was, the red dragon had to hold his own muzzle shut to keep from cracking up, and even still he loudly and noticeably snickered. "Oh, screw you!" Leith dismissed his partner, who even after being insulted to his face still struggled to stop trying to laugh. I know I got the hair for it, but come on. It helped that Shoutmon knew he wasn't acting out of anger but mere embarrassment... which, for him, just made it funnier. To this pair of strangers he then groaned indignantly, "This song's not that high. I can hit 'em perfectly comfortably without falsetto, thank you."
Standoffish as that unfortunately appeared, at least the young had the self-awareness to recognize it, which he didn't always. So the next time he spoke to Chiaki, it was a little calmer. "The song was, uh, 'Changing Fate' by Serenity. You look Japanese? Seems like Serenity isn't real big in that corner of the world, but they're this really cool symphonic metal band from Austria."
"No one wants to hear you geek out, dude," Shoutmon snickered.
"I mean... she asked, though," Leith reacted confused. "Anyway, we didn't actually come out here for the sound. It's just there aren't a lot of quiet places to practice. Wish I could bring my stack out here, but, you know... no outlet."
"The trees do do a cool job of breaking and reflecting sound, actually," Shoutmon had to point out in order to one-up his partner on the knowledge aspect of it. "Leith plays guitar f-"
"-If you say I play guitar for you one more time-"
"-a little band we put together."
"My project you wanted to be on."
"'Course, live stuff's a little lacking 'cause two people."
"Hey, that's... unfortunately true." These two likely argued pretty often like this, but despite it neither of them seemed to show any true maliciousness toward the other. Perhaps that was a testament to how close they really were on a less superficial level.
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Post by Chiaki Kuroda on Oct 9, 2018 20:05:31 GMT
A smile pulled up Chiaki's lips as she watched the pair fall into a playful back and forth, the two of them repeating what seemed like a well hashed argument. Without thinking the girl reached up with her hand, idly scratching Tatsu underneath her chin as the Digimon closed her eyes, a purr of pleasure vibrating through the body resting around Chiaki's shoulders. "You might be able to hit them," the girl allowed, nodded at Leith with a smile, "but it's not in your comfort reason is it? I mean I can hit the low notes if I have to but..." "It's really funny when she tries," Tatsu interjected quickly, "She gets all weird trying to sing the song." The digimon's voice trailed off into a mumble as one pale hand settled around her mouth, Chiaki effectively gagging her partner with a well-practiced motion. "I'm sure they don't want to hear about that, I'd much rather hear about the band."
The teenager offered Shoutmon and Leith a smile, "I mean it can't be that hard to find people to join in, can it? You guys must have one of the only bands in the digital world, I bet there would be a huge demand for you, and a queue of people willing to join you. I know if I knew there was a band here I'd be beating down the door for Tatsu's birthday. Seems like a fun way to spend your time in here."
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Post by Leith, Veemon, and Shoutmon on Oct 9, 2018 23:18:40 GMT
"Are you really gonna make me prove myself?" The words were confrontational, but the tone and facial expression were playful. The young man looked like he more than welcomed this challenge.
Shoutmon didn't let it happen. "I'm tellin' ya, man, we need a girl if you wanna do some of these songs." To the newcomers, he explained, "We decided to call ourselves Haunted Threnody."
"I decided to call my old band that long before I knew about digimon, and I got to keep the name when I had to move out."
"We got a bit of a fanbase here in Rosewood!"
"Do the Monodramon and those twins who work there sometimes really count as fans?"
"And we are metal as fuck."
"That is an extremely emocore way to say it."
"Well, why don'tcha show 'em something, then? And you know for fact that most of Rosewood knows our names!"
"Come on! That can't really be..." It seemed that, again, Leith agreed with his partner on second thought. "...it's pretty easy to get known playing every night in a little town like this, I guess." Was there no amount of good fortune that would satisfy this Tamer? "But, uh... here. Let me play you something. This is what we sound like when we have the luxury of a recorded performance." Leith used his radio plugin to play a song he and Shoutmon had recorded fully already, and as it began to play he tentatively asked, "So, uh... you sing, too?"
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Post by Chiaki Kuroda on Oct 11, 2018 20:08:31 GMT
As Leith and his partner bickered good-naturedly, or at least what she hoped was good naturedly, between themselves the girl had settled herself back onto a nearby rock, legs pressed together. Tatsu had taken the opportunity to scurry down from her perch on Chiaki's shoulders, curling up in the girl's lap where her fingers could idly pick their way through the digimon's fur, stroking and scratching at her mini-angel as she purred contentedly.
It was, well she wasn't going to lie, it was kinda enjoyable to watch the others going back and forth with one another. There didn't seem to be any maliciousness behind their argument, it was more like watching an old married couple who knew just where to cut it to tease and annoy without going too far. Just the right level of disagreement, exactly what she hoped that she and Tatsu would turn into as they grew together.
"Well you know, even if it's only Rosewood, everyone has to start out somewhere right? The Beetles weren't superstars over night, but if they like you here then they'll probably like you everywhere else too." The girl grinned, her hands waving in the air, describing an arc in front of her. "Think about it, a digital world tour, I bet no-one else has ever tried that before!" There was a definite grin on the girl's face as she injected herself into the conversation, she'd have to stick around Rosewood for a bit, see how the pair's chemistry translated to the stage when the played. And the music, that had come as a surprise to her. Without thinking about it Chiaki found her hand slipping away from Tatsu's back, tapping against her thigh, fingers counting along to the beat as she closed her eyes for a moment, letting the sounds wash over her, carry her away with them till she imagined she could actually see the notes dancing tantalisingly infront of her.
So caught up in the music was she that the girl almost missed Leith's question, her hazel eyes flicking open as she glanced over at him. "Hmm, ah yeah a little. I mostly play the violin," the girl reached down to tap the case she'd settled down on the ground next to her, "but my parents wanted me to learn to sing too and I kinda like it. Apparently your voice is the best instrument you'll ever find, so I might as well train it right? You're the lead singer for...haunted Threnody right?"
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Post by Leith, Veemon, and Shoutmon on Oct 12, 2018 22:04:57 GMT
Shoutmon grinned good and wide when Chiaki went and made the comparison between Haunted Threnody and the Beatles. He never actually even heard any Beatles music in his (still short) life, but he certainly knew the legend of the most influential band ever to walk the ground... the real world, ground anyway. That top spot was already claimed in the that dimension. But here? The top spot's empty. Haunted Threnody: the Beatles of the digital world. Nope, wait. The Beatles: the Haunted Threnody of the real world. Oh, yeah... that's the one. Shoutmon wasn't good at hiding his head's inflation in progress, nor was he trying to. His smirk became an arrogant grin.
The opposite effect happened to Leith. "A digital world tour?" balked at the thought. He exhaled sharply out of his nose like it was a joke. "I don't think we're on that level."
"Killjoy."
Leith cut the song and silenced his digivice. "Alright, friend. If you're a musician, too, let's see what you got." The smile Leith flashed then was supposed to be warm an encouraging, but it came off as a little bit like a taunt, too. "I showed you mine, so you show me yours."
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Post by Chiaki Kuroda on Oct 17, 2018 11:55:59 GMT
"So, so it's like that is it?" The teenager couldn't help but grin at Shoutmon's reaction to her simple comparison, but then there was no reason why they couldn't fill that slot. The Digital World didn't seem replete with musical sources but if Tatsu's reaction to TV and music was anything to go by then human inspired music was bound to be a hit. Letting her hand drop down to the stone she was sitting on Chiaki rolled her shoulders slightly, Tatsu taking advantage of the movement to scamper down the girl's arm to curl up on the rock, nose twitching ever so slightly as she stared at her partner with interest. Freed of the weight Chiaki bent down, fingers flicking at the locks on her case, extracting her violin and bow as she straightened up. The girl's eyes were closed as she brought the instrument to her shoulder, resting her chin against it as she let the bow press lightly against the strings, holding the post for the moment. Just for the briefest of moments before, with her eyes still closed, the girl started to move, the silvery sounds of hte violin filling the clearing.
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Post by Leith, Veemon, and Shoutmon on Oct 18, 2018 1:45:27 GMT
Leith sure didn't give off the vibe of someone who appreciated a classical partita; the scruffy long hair and black shirt covered in skulls probably seemed counter-intuitive to that. Shoutmon's loud and boisterous attitude likely didn't make him seem like a fan of a nice violin recital in the woods either. Nonetheless, both seemed to show genuine interest in the impromptu performance they were seeing. They were leaning forward, being attentive, occasionally showing surprise when a more difficult-looking part was successfully played, and they never said a word throughout the whole thing. Even more surprising? Leith identified it correctly.
...sort of.
When Chiaki finished, Leith and Shoutmon exchanged glances with each other, followed by simultaneous snapping applause. "I know that one! Shit, that's... Chopin, I wanna say?" For confirmation, the young man looked to Shoutmon.
"How the hell should I know?"
"Oh. Right. No, wait! That was Bach." Leith snapped again then. "I know that one's Bach. Music appreciation teacher said it was one of his favorite violin pieces and used to play it all the time, and he'd kill me if he found out I mistook it for a second."
"Some good shit, though!"
The metalhead Tamer sighed. "Yes. Your rendition of Partita Number 2 was 'some good shit,'" he echoed, mocking Shoutmon.
"Dude, that's what we need! A live violin player! Anything live is better than prerecorded, ain't it?"
"Shout, you can't just- you can't just demand strangers join the band. We'd have to try it out a few practices, see how it goes, figure out creative chemistry shit..." Before going on to list other reasons why he shouldn't spontaneously ask Chiaki about Haunted Threnody, though Leith apparently had a more pressing thing to think about: "But, uh... I don't suppose any force in either world would convince you to try and fit violin in a metal band?"
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Post by Chiaki Kuroda on Oct 18, 2018 21:16:06 GMT
The girl slowly let her eyes flick open, chest heaving slightly as she lifted the bow away from her violin. It was always the silence after a piece after she'd finished playing always got to her. It was the emotion in the piece, the ending of that outpouring of emotion and feeling that left you feeling bereft like you had lost a piece of your soul. THat part of you that connected to the music, sent it flowing through your body.
For a moment the teenager had forgotten that there were other people in the clearing, their jubilant shout of triumph as they identified the song brought a smile to her lips. "You know, I don't know why I tried that one, it's one of the toughest pieces I've learned," the brunette admitted, "but in the end I guess that...well we all wanna show off don't we?" The truth was they'd been a great audience, almost a perfect one, appreciative, silent and eager to listen and appreciate it. The least she could do was hear them out but that idea was...tempting. "I might be convinced to give it a try, or at least show up to some rehearsal and see how it works out but," the girl held up one finger a playful smile wreathing her face as her voice took on a playful tone, "I have one condition. From now on you let me sing the female parts before Shoutmon forces you into a dress."
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Post by Leith, Veemon, and Shoutmon on Oct 20, 2018 1:21:36 GMT
"Aha-"
"Shut the fuck up!" Leith demanded that just before clamping his hands down hard around Shoutmon's muzzle, the Tamer's attempt to keep his loud and shameless digimon from laughing hard enough for the whole of Rosewood to catch them. This resulted in a brief wrestling match, as Shoutmon didn't want to take it lying down this time. Surprisingly, despite his smaller size, Shoutmon proved to be much stronger than Leith, successfully getting his face out of Leith's grasp so he could laugh like he just couldn't stop.
"Holy shit, we are so putting you in a dress!"
"Don't even try it!"
"That dude from Killswitch Engage does it!"
"'That dude from Killswitch Engage' gets paid a shitload more than we do!" While Shoutmon pounded his fist on the forest floor, unable to stop, Leith shouted over him to make himself heard. "Hey, tell you what: if you're really and truly interested, let's wait for the burgers we sent Veemon for a while ago. Then we can find somewhere to plug in and see how it works. Sound good?"
"I am so putting that on Tamernet!"
"Fuck you!"
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Post by Chiaki Kuroda on Oct 22, 2018 0:09:45 GMT
The violin was returned to its case, the girl settling down on the rock that she had claimed as a seat earlier as Tatsu scampered up. Placing her feet in Chiaki's lap the digimon rose up onto her hind legs resting her front paws on Chiaki's shoulder as the girl scratched her back idly as she settled back, a smile playing across her lips as she watched Shoutmon and Leith arguing back and forth. "You know, that sounds like a great plan...the burgers not the Tamernet thing. I would never countenance putting something like that online." The girl gave the pair an angelic smile before winking at Shoutmon, the smile turning more playful, "not when it would make such great teasing material after all."
The teenager wasn't entirely sure what she had gotten herself into but...Leith and Shoutmon seemed fun and she couldn't deny that the idea of joining a band had always had a lure to her. And now a band based in the digital world...could it get any better than that? She certainly didn't think so.
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