Fore-Dated to the 14th. Yes the song Neela is singing was not around in the 1980's(Its called The Islander and is by Nightwish); lets just pretend that somebody thought of it in the meantime because I have neither the time nor resources to find good songs that would actually have been around then.
Word Count → 425
The melodic notes of Neela's guitar echoed through the still air, reverberating through the trees as the Collie played, one hand dancing across the strings while the other clutched her bone pick tightly and strummed. The tune she was playing was slow and somewhat sad, yet at the same time calming. If one was to listen closely then they would also be able to hear Neela occasionally singing snatches of the lyrics, the rest simply being hummed.
"An old man by a seashore, at the end- gazes the horizon- in his face." the rest of the song continued much as such, only a scant few of the lyrics actually passing through Neela's lips. Today the Chika was playing not for an audience but herself, trying to calm the raging thoughts insider her head, to calm the anger brought about by recent events, by her nightmares.
Neela was sat in a forest fairly close to Westville. The clearing was pleasant aside from the smell of Neela's blood which permeated the air thickly; Neela had taken off her bandaged to let her wounds get some air and while the cuts on her stomach had mostly healed the wide gash on her arm was still very much open, a crimson slash through her brown fur. Her face was still swollen and her vision impaired by the risen flesh around her eye but that didn't impact her ability to play the guitar; Neela hadn’t needed to look at the guitar while she played for years.
Grynn was perched on a branch nearby, the falcon having made a rare trip with Neela from the house. For the last few weeks Grynn had oddly been refusing to leave Neela's house, immediately settling up in her nest once it had been established for her in one of the smaller rooms.
Neela's playing was largely having its intended effect; Neela felt happier now than she had done in a long time and as she got father into the song her spirits raised even more, until her voice suddenly rose in strength as she reached a high point in the song, "This is for long-forgotten, Light at the end of the world, Horizon crying, The tears he left behind long ago." The words echoed out through the forest along with her guitar, both growing much louder than they had before, before falling again, both music and voice going quiet as Neela finished the segment and laid her head back against the tree she was sitting by, eyes closed as she idly strummed her guitar.
