Their elven bard played, as the members of Underneath sang their newest song. It sounded good despite the fact that Nao1"s voice was higher here and SilentSky hadn"t accompanied them, because Ryullusion joined in and sang the ba.s.s lines as though he"d practiced it with them instead of just listening to them practice. Even Aishin who was the most familiar with his abilities couldn"t help but glance at his adoptive father with respect.They sang, "We could say that day, was the first day. We could say this day, is the first day. Even today is another beginning for this Endless Song."
Shinichi"s eyes widened as he watched the sand moving beyond ZipZing. Danika spun and looked behind her. Her movement drew everyone else"s attention as golden sand depicted a rain of fire that left behind a broken statue. The boat didn"t stop moving, and even though Shinichi"s voice had faltered, the others sang on.
Shrubbery gasped and pointed, and on the other bank a fierce sandstorm blew up and battered the two struggling figures. It only took Danika a moment to figure out that there were actually three figures, because ZipZing was huddled atop MatchlessMinion"s head as the dryad struggled forward beside him. It was a snowstorm made of sand.
Shinichi had picked up his place in the song again, and more scenes played out in the sand and fell behind them as they traveled. The snow leopard cub"s rescue, everyone circled around ZipZing and Aishin for the familiar binding, the familiar scenes played out within the golden sands. The song didn"t end where it was originally meant to, although the verses became rougher as Shinichi and occasionally Ryullusion cobbled them together on the fly.
Eventually Eyes on the Sky began to appear in the scenes, and at last Ryullusion joined them. Their first quest together as a guild with Eyes on the Sky posing atop a giant snail slid by. Aishin, Saaki and Edwardian took down a crew of smugglers on a burning boat. Nao1 and MatchlessMinion led a handful of children out of a narrow tunnel. A falling star with a tiny dragon clutching it streaked across the sky.
Even Shrubbery and Kit were softly singing along with the chorus by the time the boat slid to a halt in the shallows of the verdant oasis where the birds waited. Ryullusion drew the song to a close and stowed his harp a moment later. As soon as they had disembarked, the boat slid back into the river and floated away with the current. Danika hadn"t expected it to leave, and watched it go with a worried expression.
There hadn"t been any challenges, only sandy recollections, and she wasn"t sure what to think about it until Aishin heaved a deep sigh and rotated his shoulders. Nao1 reached up and slapped his shoulder and gave him a nod, and Danika decided that maybe she just hadn"t understood the challenge that had just been faced.
Edwardian turned and asked Ryullusion seriously, "Aren"t you too good to really retire yet?"
Ryullusion laughed openly and asked, "Don"t I deserve to just sit back and play around now, while you kids try to conquer a billion hearts?"
Nao1 replied calmly, "Sure, enjoy your rest. We"ll do that."
Shrubbery"s eyes were sparkling and MatchlessMinion had a thoughtful look on his little furry face. Everyone looked around the oasis with interest, and the same red winged water bird that they"d seen at the beginning waded over to them.
"Are you still determined to preserve the memory of this little Endless Song which has barely begun?" questioned the tall bird severely.
Danika couldn"t help it, even though she"d insisted that Shrubbery should lead them through the quest, she blurted, "So much more than I"d realized has already happened." She clapped her little clawed hands over her mouth a moment later and Shrubbery giggled. Aishin and MatchlessMinion were grinning at her, and the others were nodding.
The bird looked at her with scorn and replied, "I guess that a creature with such limited memory capacity might indeed find a remembrance useful. Perhaps when you speak with my sister you should unlock screenshots." It turned to Shrubbery and asked, "Aren"t there other memories closer to your heart?"
Danika winced and held her breath. She"d designed the questioning of the questors determination, even though in the end she"d left it up to the system to determine the content of those questions, and she regretted it a little as the G.o.ddess asked something that might hurt her friend. But Shrubbery didn"t flinch, she smiled.
"Our journey reminded me that this really is only the beginning, and I definitely want to preserve these memories to look back on in the future," Shrubbery said with determination.
The bird questioned each of them briefly, and shook its head and snapped its bill when it discovered that the whole of Endless Song was in accord with each other. "Tsk, people who cling too tightly to what they have are so troublesome," the bird complained. She looked at Aishin and grumbled, "Especially ones like you, I"m tired of your face. Either stop dying so often or move on."
Aishin stared open mouthed as the red winged water bird launched herself into the air and transformed into a fiery phoenix. Everyone except Danika was surprised. The immortal Phoenix shed burning sparks into the vegetation at the edge of the clear pool as it flew away across the golden sand.
A smaller, more ordinary little bird, scolded, "Tsk, so careless." She dove into the water and then fluttered over the smouldering plants with dripping wings that shed more water than a real bird would have, and the flames fizzled. When she finished, she landed on the water in front of the guild.
"Water is more powerful than even those who live within it realize," the bird said obliquely. Her words drew their attention to the small fish that flashed through the clear shallow water beneath her. She turned her head to glance at a small turtle sunning itself on a rock near the sh.o.r.e, and then she turned back to them.
"Will you choose the shape of the vessel that will carry these reflections, or will you leave it to me?" the bird asked curiously.
Shrubbery looked at ZipZing. After a moment Danika said, "It"s up to you, if you don"t choose she should choose what we reacted most strongly to. I think." She was less certain about that after having seen what the system had generated for them so far.
"We"ll leave it up to you," Shrubbery told the small bird.
The bird bobbed her head and launched herself out of the water again. This time she flew to the far bank of the small pool where the golden sand had drifted close enough to touch the water. She circled tightly and a wind rose up beneath her wings and whipped the sand up into a column. The bird circled faster and the column grew until a small tornado whirled dangerously on the sand.
The bird suddenly spiraled away and landed heavily in the water at their feet. She ducked her head beneath the water and rose out of the water as a human dressed in a frock of gleaming crimson feathers. She didn"t pay them any attention, instead she blew a kiss toward the spinning sand and a puff of flame flew into that column of air and sand and a burst of sun hot fire flashed in and out of existence and then sand fell to the sh.o.r.e, to reveal a life size piece of sandstone.
The mortal G.o.ddess turned to them at last and said, "Treasure the weight of your feelings, and may this memory always bring you joy."
Danika stared at the enormous piece of sandstone with shock.
The G.o.ddess smiled gently and clapped her hands, calling their attention back to her. "If you just think a little, I don"t believe that you"ll have very much trouble carrying it home. When you wish to look into the past, water will show you its reflections once more. Safe journey, we will meet again in the end."
Her bright feathers blew away in a gust of hot wind and the little bird followed the path her sister had taken into the distance across the golden sands.