Music or the Misery

Chapter 1: Out There, With Her

Today was the day! Today was the day that Quasimodo would finally go outside and enjoy the Festival of Fools, and it was all because of her. That 'her' would be Quasi's younger sister, Charani. Although Charani lived in the convent while Quasi lived in the bell tower, they were virtually inseparable – except for when Judge Claude Frollo reared his ugly head – than the girl would escape down into the square bellow. When Charani was very young, the archdeacon, her adoptive father, told her to stay away from Frollo, but never gave a real reason as to why, simply saying that he was a bad man with a guilty conscious. For the most part, Charani heeded her father's words, but she still remained curious as to the real reason why she wasn't to be seen be him.

"Quasi, look! They're setting up for the festival!" Charani called down from where she was seated high in the rafters, peering out over the square bellow. Quasimodo smiled happily and made his way through the rafters to join his sister on the ledge.

"Do you really think that we can do it, Chari? Hide from my master?" Quasimodo asked, nervously toying with the end of his shirt.

"Of course we can!" Charani said as she stood up, balanced on the wooded beam, and walked towards the bells. "I've managed to evade his sight for nearly 20 years now, I think I can handle avoiding him for a few more hours."

Quasimodo just smiled at his sister before climbing back down to his balcony.

"Good morning" he says to a baby bird that is perched in a nest on the railing of the balcony. He gently nudged the bird with his finger, coaxing him awake and into his hand.

"Will toady be the day? Are you ready to fly?" he asked the bird. The bird shakes his head in refusal.

"You sure? Good day to try. Why, if I picked a day to fly, oh, this would be it! He Festival of Fools! It will be fun – the jugglers, and music, and dancing..." Quasimodo exclaimed wistfully, trailing off as the bird began to flap its wings and fly.

"Go on! Nobody wants to be cooped up here forever!" he moved his hands and gestured to the flock of birds outside. The bird tweeted and flew off with the flock. Quasimodo smiled longingly before retreating back inside to find his sister. He looked around, but caught no sight of her

"Chari, where are you?" he called. He got his answer after he heard a yelp and saw Charani begin to fall from one of the lower rafters. Quasimodo quickly ran and caught her in his arms before she could hit the ground.

"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly as he set her back on her feet.

"Yeah," Charani fell into him once she was set on the ground, "I just rolled my ankle," she said with a sheepish grin up at her brother.

"Here," he said as he helped her over to a chair, "let me help you." Quasimodo quickly found some bandages and started to wrap up Charani's ankle.

"You have to be more careful when you're up there," Quasimodo chided as he finished wrapping up her ankle and helped her to her feet.

"Thank you, Quasi," Charani said as she enveloped him in a hug. There was a gasp from across the room.

"Impossible," Frollo said as he looked with a mixture of fear and horror at the woman before him. Charani quickly gathered up her skirts and ran out onto the balcony. Frollo and Quasimodo followed quickly behind her, but before they could catch up she jumped off of the balcony and slid down the sides of the bell tower and cathedral until she landed safely on the ground. Charani spared a moment to look up and her brother and the man that should have never saw her, before sprinting across the square and ducking down an alleyway.