Drabble prompt: Character ability
This drabble prompt was to write about an ability one of our characters has, that may or may not be related to the game abilities. While I think it was implied we were to write about our own original characters, I think Zelling belongs to all of us, am I right? Besides… the point is to exercise our minds a little anyway, so… ;)
(This is another installment between Zelling and Anatalya, who are doing some paperwork together, preparing for a task they must do…)
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Thomas Zelling was humming a melody under his breath, seemingly unaware of doing so as he studied the charts. Anatalya gazed at him, completely losing her place as she listened. After several moments, he felt her eyes on him and looked up.
“What is it?” he asked her. “Do you need help with something?”
“I was just listening,” she said. “You sing beautifully.”
“Oh.” He seemed embarrassed, and he went back to the charts.
“Sing some more,” she coaxed.
“I… I probably shouldn’t,” he said, rifling through the papers. “It was something I did… before… and Miss Voss advised me not to dwell on--"
“You don’t have to lose everything that made you who you were,” Anatalya interrupted firmly. “You have a gift, Thomas.”
He sighed, looking away. Then, he took a deep breath, and as though it had been bursting to break free, song poured out of him like a river of gold:
Bring the winds and fill the sails
And gentle come the mighty swells
The wind blows now from the east nor’east
Our ship will scud ten knots at least
The skies be clear, our course be true
The sun be shining from its ocean of blue
Look to the sea for our needs supply
Such one with life we’ll never say die…
Anatalya sat, spellbound… and it was more than just the music. She had noticed the winds blowing and shifting in response to the tidesage’s voice. Clouds that had been brewing were suddenly swept away and the blue sky arched above them, the sun touching her skin with gentle warmth.
She gasped aloud and Thomas stopped singing.
“You did this… just now,” she said in wonder. “You gave the song… magic.”
Again, he seemed embarrassed. “Well, yes.”
“Do all Tidesages sing?”
“All Kul’Tirans sing,” he corrected, smiling sadly. “But the songs of the Tidesages bless the ships, bring fair weather and calm seas, or bring a good catch. We don’t have to sing to invoke our powers, of course, but-” he trailed off pensively, and once again his eyes dropped to the charts and scrolls in front of him.
He sighed.
“We’ll never get this done if we don’t get to work.” he said softly.
To Be Continued…