Fermata (Slow Updates)

00 ~ So it begins

There had always been war. From the day she was born to the day she met them, her home was always calling their able-bodied men to arms. Every day, every hour, every minute a gun fired and a person died. It was a great fear amongst the world leaders that if the warfare did not cease soon, the whole land would be torn apart by death and grief.

So, dating back to about five years ago, the four warring nations came together to hold an annual music competition. This competition allowed for musicians of all ages to join together and compete to see whose musical talent could outshine the rest. The winner would then award their nation a temporary ceasefire, allowing them to recover from their battle wounds and return anew in the next year. And well, there was the cash too.

Up until then, it was always Nation 3 that won. Oddly, the people always found their Hip Hop-like songs touching, for they rapped and sang of the many challenges the warring peoples face during the wars. They viewed Nation 1's Rock as too perfect, while Nation 2's Country seemed too forced. Then there was Leyna's home, Nation 4. While the other nations did enjoy her country's vibrant Pop genre, the common refute factor was that their lyrics bore no meaning. It was all good to the ear, not the heart, they said...

Letting out a long sigh of frustration, Leyna West rested her forehead tiredly upon the lightly-yellowed keys of her aged upright piano, her light blue gaze cast helplessly across their worn surface. The instrument rang impatiently each time she rolled her head, the slight changes in pressure causing odd notes to play.

"I know, I know... I just... I just don't know how," she complained to her beloved instrument, prying her head off of its delicate keys and staring longingly at the rusted copper pedals.

The piano was her heart and soul, especially after her father had passed away fighting in the wars. He had bought it just for her at an antique shop before he left, after learning of her passion of it from her teachers at a school conference.

"Play, my dear. Play, and let the whole world hear your beautiful voice,"  he had whispered to her before taking his final breath.

"I can't father! I don't know how to put 'soul' into my music! I'm already playing through my heart, aren't I? What else do they expect me to do?!" Leyna exasperated, leaping off her piano bench and kicking around the crumpled pieces of paper scrawled with her many attempts at creating a heartfelt musical masterpiece. Why was it so hard? All she had to do was write her feelings, give it a melody, and then back it up with pretty instrumentals. Right?

And besides, it wasn't even just her voice that was being heard. It was her piano's combined with that of her other two band mates's...

"... Blocked as ever, are we Leah?" a soft voice breathed near her ear, causing alarmed shivers to wrack her body.

Jumping, Leyna whirled on the newcomer, smacking her rolled-up notebook into  her poor friend's shoulder. "SHUT UP! It's not like you're any better!" she screamed angrily, glaring into the boy's pretty face with her slender hands balled at her sides.

Landing on the couch behind her with a slight thud, the blond mess of hair that she dared call a 'close friend' let out a small laugh of amusement, his own bright eyes gazing up at her affectionately. "Haha! So says the girl who recently praised me for 'touching her heart with beautiful words'," he mused, his voice noticeably soft and pleasing to the ears.

Furrowing her brows in expression of her frustration, Leyna exhausted a long 'hmmph' before she slumped herself down beside him, not even thinking twice about the fact that another Nation's musician was in her house. Heck, the fact that he snuck in through her bedroom window seemed totally normal, especially since that was the only way her band mates could get in.