A fine day for music

Oh, what a wonderful sunny day!

Brisa could practically hear the birds chirping outside as she woke up. The wind dragoness opened up her window and gazed out at the delightful morning over the great dragon city. Many non-dragons were already on the streets, heading out to begin their exhausting days at work.

The teenager wouldn’t be much of an exception; she had another boring day at school in the Dragon Spire ahead of her. Still… that wasn’t for a couple of hours. She grinned, and she spun around to dash about her bedroom.

She put on her school uniform and brushed her mane back to get it neat. Not that there was too much to worry about; Brisa always kept her red mane trimmed short so it didn’t slow her down in flight. Once that was ready, she slipped on her satchel over her shoulder, and turned toward her dresser, where she kept several musical instruments on display. She always had quite the selection to choose from; there was her harp, her flute, and her trumpet, as always. But at the very end, one particular little device always left her heart fluttering; the ocarina. Brisa always tried to take good care of the instuments her mom made for her. Sure, the last ocarina she had got into a bit of an… accident. But Brisa wasn’t going to let that happen again… not after how much begging she had to do to get her mom to give her another.

Brisa summoned up a little cyclone, and the ocarina was lifted up off the dresser. It flew through the air, and right into her loving grasp. Brisa playfully patted the ocarina, before sealing it inside a very special compartment of her satchel. And then… it was out the bedroom door as quick as a flash!

Brisa’s mother, Aella, was in the kitchen working on some dishes… and her skirt was blown against her legs as her daughter thundered into the kitchen. Brisa whisked herself into a seat, while her mother turned around and grumbled, while Aella groaned and turned around.

“Good morning, Brisa.” The older dragoness raised an eye ridge. “Too much of a hurry to walk down the stairs?”

“I can’t take too long, Mama.” Brisa chuckled awkwardly. “Not when the weather’s looking so great for flying.”

“Uh-huh…” Aella pointed at the counter, where a plate of hot-cakes and strips of bacon were waiting on a platter. “Well, there’s your breakfast. Eat up, and-“

There was another whoosh as Brisa sprang over to grab the plate. She then sat down and was about to tear into the breakfast… only to stop when she saw Aella scowling at her. Brisa laughed nervously, and made to very carefully cut the food with a knife.

“Uhh… Th-thank you for making breakfast, Mama.” She said with flushing cheeks. “I love you.”

“Uh-huh…” Aella crossed her arms. “And I love you too, sweetheart. Especially when you… behave?”

Brisa sank down in her seat, when another dragoness called in from the living room of the cottage.

“What’s going in there?”

Brisa looked up to see another wind dragoness walk in. This dragoness had red hair, like Brisa’s, and was in the middle of putting on a guard’s outfit. She looked at Aella, and then at Brisa with pursed lips.

“Brisa, are you giving your mother trouble again?” She asked with crossed arms.

“I didn’t mean to.” Brisa frowned. “I just… I just wanted to hurry up so I could go flying around, Mom.”

“Well, you should learn to go easy on your Mama Aella.” The other dragoness waved a talon in the air. “You’re not a little girl anymore; you’re liable to knock her over with your wind-bursts.”

“Sorry…” Brisa leaned down.

Aella sighed and rolled her eyes. “It’s fine, Pilvi. I’m made of sterner stuff than you might think.”

“Maybe…” Pilvi walked over and wrapped an arm about her wife. “Still, it never hurts to be safe.”

Pilvi was Brisa’s biological mother, from a previous relationship. Unfortunately, Brisa’s father died when she was still an egg. During a period of self-discovery, Pilvi decided to marry another dragoness. So, Brisa grew up with two mothers: Her momPilvo, and mama Aella.

Once Brisa had finished eating her breakfast, she hugged both of her mothers and made to head out the front door.

“Make sure you get to class on time, Brisa!” Pilvi called after her.

“I will, Mom!” Brisa said over her shoulder.

“And make sure you take care of that Ocarina!” Aella said with her hands at her waist. “I mean it! If that one gets broken, I won’t let you back into the store for a month!”

Brisa gasped, and she frowned back at her. “I promise I’ll take good care of it, Mama.”

“Alright, get going, you.” Pilvi pointed out the door. “You be good now.”

“Bye!” Brisa dashed outside. “I love you two!”

Aella sighed and waved after her. “And we love you too.”

Soon, Brisa was out the door… and Aella sighed in exhaustion as she leaned against the wall. She put a hand on her chest and took a breath. “That girl’s going to be the death of me someday, Pilvi. I can’t keep up with her anymore.”

“Well, she’s growing up, hun.” Pilvi chuckled as she hugged her wife. “Pretty soon, she’ll be wanting to bring home a… well, I guess we’ll just have to see which one she likes.”

“If it’s a boy, then you give her the talk.” Aella snorted. “You’re the one with expertise on that field.”

Pilvi gave a hearty laugh, and then leaned in to nuzzle her wife on the cheek. The two then turned to clean up the last remaining dirty dishes of the morning…

~~…~~

Brisa dashed through the air, zipping and swirling around in delight. She did some somersaults and laughed happily as she gazed down at the cityscape. There were so many towers and spires across the city; so many places to dash around between.

But after a good while of flying here and there and back again, Brisa felt her wings getting tired. She decided to come to a landing and stetch out her limbs. And what better place to relax than a tower overlooking a nearby park? She came to a landing on a ledge, and sat herself down whilst swinging her legs over the side.

It was a pretty good spot, too; she had a good view of both the Dragon Spire, AND a nearby clock-tower. And she still had a bit of time before classes, too. She stretched her arms over her head and sighed in delight; what a great way to start a morning.

Suddenly, Brisa’s ear frills twitched as a new sound came against them; music. And not any music, but a violin! She opened her eyes and gasped in delight; the tune was pretty feint, but distinctly there.

Brisa looked down at the park; it seemed that the violin was coming from there. She scanned her eyes around… and soon spotted something quite out of place amongst the green grass. There was a dragoness leaning against an old tree, and she was dressed in weird black clothing. Brisa squinted her eyes; she couldn’t make out many features of the dragoness… other than her beautiful violin. Even from far away, Brisa could tell it was something special from the way its wood shined in the sunlight.

Brisa wasn’t to get completely enraptured in the music… but something wasn’t right. She recognized the tune straightaway… and there were long gaps. Something was missing from the music, and Brisa’s brain immediately guessed at what the missing piece was. She looked down at her satchel, where her ocarina was tucked away… but did she dare do it? This stranger might not have liked her butting in…

As the song continued, Brisa couldn’t resist temptation; she flapped her wings and made to rise up to glide down toward the violin player. Worst case scenario, the violinist would just be annoyed and tell her to leave… right?

Brisa flew gracefully around the side of the tree, and listened in as the violinist started playing the song from the beginning. The wind dragoness stepped quietly forward; her foot instinctively tapped along to the tune. She reached into her satchel, grasped her ocarina, and bobbed her head in time to the music. And then, when the next long empty gap in the violin started… Brisa played.

The violinist gasped upon hearing the ocarina’s melody fill the air. She turned and looked at Brisa incredulously, as the wind dragoness played her instrument. Brisa looked over and saw that it was a dragoness; a purple-scaled dragoness at that. Brisa had never seen anyone with quite that scale color… not that she was too inquisitive about that at the moment. She just bobbed her head up and down in time to the melody as she continued to play.

And when her part ended, she looked over at the violinist with a smile. The dragoness stood dumbfounded with her jaw wide, unbelieving of what this stranger was doing. And yet, as Brisa continued to smile… the purple dragoness’s hand shook around her bow. With an uneasy face, the violinist began to play once again, and she took on her regal stance to continue the song.

As the purple dragoness resumed playing, Brisa joined in with her ocarina. The wind dragoness continued to bob her head in time with the music. She even took a few steps forward and back, still in sync with the melody. The violinist had wide eyes, as if she’d never seen someone get so into the music before. She gradually stepped forward and back as she played, with cheeks flushing all the while.

Brisa gave her a playful smile as she stepped around the violinist, who’s blush widened as she gradually gave in to the melody; soon, she stepped forward and back with the same rhythm. And then, the two dragoness circled each other as their music filled the air; they were soon moving in perfect sync. When one musician’s instrument reached a gap, the other will fill it in, and vice versa.

Soon, the melody reached its proper climax. Both dragonesses played with their full hearts as the music swelled to a fever pitch. And then… the song ended, and both musicians lowered their instruments.

“My oh my…” Brisa gave a chuckle as she looked over the dragoness’s violin. “That was some seriously great playing. I didn’t think anybody else in the big city knew of Evaristo’s Sunrise Sonata.”

“Huh?” The dragoness’s eyes widened. “You… You know of the violinist Evaristo?”

“Well, yeah.” Brisa shrugged her shoulders. “What wind dragon worth their salt hasn’t heard of one of Aeroshard’s greatest composers?”

“Wow…” The purple dragoness put her violin bow down and coughed a bit with a hand over her paw. “I… I guess I really lucked out. N-Not many people I’ve met know of his music.”

“I’m guessing you don’t meet many wind dragons where you’re from?” Brisa raised an eye ridge.

“I… guess you could say that.” The violinist carefully held her violin against her chest.

“Well, it’s great to meet another fan of Evaristo.” The wind dragoness smiled as she held her free hand out to the violinist. “I’m Brisa. Welcome to the big city!”

“Uh… thanks.” The dragoness cautiously shook her hand. “I’m, uh… Annie. Call me Annie.”

Just then, the chimes of the clock tower filled the air. Brisa looked over at it and gasped.

“Oh geez! I’ve got to get to classes in five minutes!” She exclaimed. The dragoness quickly put her ocarina away and flapped her wings. “You take care, Annie!”

“Uh, I will…” The purple dragoness blushed a bit as she took a step back. “H-Have a good day.”

“Will do!” Brisa zipped in a circle through the air about the tree to gain altitude. “Let’s play music together again sometime!”

“I’ll… k-keep that in mind.” Annie said cautiously.