Kingdom Hearts One-Shot: What a Strange Tune

He was but a simple musician, armed with nothing but his sitar and voice. Nothing but the clothes on his back and the coins in his pocket, watching the drunken men and cheap whores wander about the Tortuga as he played his simple tunes, humming along quietly and careful not to catch the eye of anyone who might be looking for a fight.

He sang on through the night, played through the harsh screeches of screaming and fighting and brawling about. Fingers plucked expertly at the sitar in his hands, refusing to miss even the smallest of notes. His music was nothing short of amazing- though he himself was humble enough not to believe that and no one in the Tortuga seemed to care all that much.

All that mattered really was that he survived, anyway, on the rare few coins that would be dropped for him. Occasionally he’d play at the tavern too, dancing along with a pretty lady or two or watching the men gamble (always careful never to get too involved). The pay there was always better, though he had gotten beaten a few times for merely trying to stop a few fights.

But this was life in the Tortuga. This was how the people all stayed, in their run-down homes and he in his small shack that could barely pass for a decent home, dreaming away the places he had once known, the beautiful lands and the forgotten faces known as “family”.

Broken momentarily from his own thoughts to find that his fingers had slipped, he gave himself a small rest and leaned against the side of the building on which he had been playing. The women on their corner had long given up on him (he never had the proper coin, anyway, not that they knew) and left back to their brothel and whatnot already. People wandered about the streets, but for once the Tortuga seemed to be reasonably quiet.

It was nights like this that made playing on the street corners worth it, being out here later than anyone else. There were no other real jobs to take other than joining a crew and he most certainly didn’t want that. And there were always the stars to look at after everyone had finally left the streets.

While he was a true admirer of all good tunes, he most certainly did love this rare sound- silence.

It wasn’t ever heard in this street during the day, and most of the night. But most of the night had passed. The sun would be rising in a few hours. Anyone who wasn’t partying or servicing someone else was likely asleep. So the quiet there in the street lingered about, covering everything like a cloth.

He stood from his seat, stretching his arms and wrapping an arm around his dearest sitar as he tilted his head this way and that in an effort to crack his neck and ease some of the stress there. There would be no more business to be had here for the night. The only thing now to do would be to rest and then count his coin again just to be sure that he would be able to eat.

Smiling as optimistically as he could- he had never been one to be releasing negativity about, never had been one to allow his friends or anyone else close or anyone at all to see how he might actually feel inside when truly frightened or upset- he walked about through the darkened streets, glancing up towards the starlit sky every few moments.

He had never been one for truly artistic thoughts, never been a true admirer of visual beauty, but he made an effort to try to trace out the different symbols in the sky that the sailors at the port would often use to tell direction. Maybe one of them could always take him home… But damn it, he never could quite make out any of the constellations.

His ears pricked slightly at a crash in a nearby alley, and he stopped in his steps and peered down into the dim place in an effort to see what had caused such a disturbance in the silence. Tilting his head slightly and narrowing his eyes, he took a few careful steps towards it when he heard from further down a horrified scream.

While he might have ignored this and continued on like any sane man had anyone been outside, he lost his better sense and ran over in the direction of the sound. He couldn’t help himself- he hated the thought of just allowing someone to become hurt if he couldn’t do anything about it. Perhaps in a crowded area his judgement would have been made easier, perhaps he could have pretended not to hear such a scared little noise.

But he wasn’t. So into the darkness of the alley he went.

The alley itself didn’t seem to be too dark at all. Glancing this way and that as he ran towards the end, he quickly found the woman who had voiced her terror. But she didn’t seem to even hear him nearing her, the poor thing, and it was just as he was about to step closer that he realized that there was a dark creature sitting there on top of her, yellow glowing eyes staring blankly into her.

It tilted down into her and he watched in horror as the monster destroyed the woman completely. Wisps of shadow flew about as he retrieved the glowing light from within her- the glowing red that had to be the woman’s own heart and soul.

He didn’t have time to think. He had to react. He ran at the creature, smashing at it with his sitar desperately in an effort to get rid of it, to slaughter it as it had the woman. But no matter what he did, the sitar seemed to be the only thing taking damage, and soon the body of the instrument was completely removed from the bridge.

He dropped away the remnants of his sitar and took a step back, eyes widening as he realized that there was no way he could harm this creature. He found himself releasing his own cry for help, as he stumbled back, tripping miserably over his own two feet as the creature crawled ever closer to him, its claws raking across his chest and a cool yet burning pain spreading about him.

Before he knew it, wisps of shadow were rising up from his own body as it clawed away the flesh, and he fell back completely, head hitting hard against the stone ground.

Death had always been a tune he hadn’t quite enjoyed.