Twinks in Space: Fantastic Voyage - Part Two - 41. Chapter 41 - Music

Over the course of the following hour and a half, the four Voscija boys tried to teach Captain Suoki how to play Catch the Deathling Stars. That proved to be very challenging. The game was very confusing to the captain.

“How did I end up with eight cards?” he asked at one point.

“You must’ve forgot to discard,” Tahli replied.

“And what round are we on again? Do these three cards with the double swords win me any points?” He turned them to face the boys who scoffed and huffed at him. They all replied at once.

“That was last round!”

“Doubleblades don’t mean anything now!”

“We’re in round fourteen!”

“Don’t show us your cards!”

The green-furred barkeep stepped up to the table. “Are you boys swindling Suoki out of his money?”

The four Voscija youths got defensive and protested together, but Hinta and Captain Suoki just laughed.

“Rystiel will be taking the stage in a minute, so pack up your cards, boys, and collect your winnings from this chump.” Hinta put his furry green hand onto Captain Suoki’s shoulder. “It’s almost show time!”

Captain Suoki had been drinking water while trying to learn the complicated card game, and he headed to the bar and ordered himself another crystalgin. The Lapis Lupine was now packed with the vibrant rainbow that was the Voscijas. Their fur grew in every color imaginable, and every color in between.

A few non-Voscija’s were present besides Captain Suoki, but he looked through the crowd to see if he recognized any of the many Voscijas from the time he spent helping them. When the Voscijas were on the verge of annihilation, they had all wasted down to little more than furry skeletons. The treatment of them had been brutal, but Captain Suoki was looking around at a pub full of healthy and happy Voscijas. None of them was the sickly shell they had been when he helped them establish a new home.

The audience erupted as Rystiel took the stage.

The Voscija woman’s fur was red, red like a ripe cherry. She did not have a tail. Behind Rystiel on a riser was a dark blue-furred percussionist, and on either of her sides were musicians holding stringed instruments, one with lighter blue and the other with pale green fur.

“Thanks for comin’ out tonight,” Rystiel said softly into the microphone, and her band’s first song began.

The drummer played a steady but slow rhythm, upon which the guitarist strummed bright chords while the bass line slinked and slunk through the music. Then Rystiel sang.

 

Left down an alley

And right into the bar

I’m just dithering away the hours

Waiting for you to return

 

Rystiel’s voice was silky and sultry, and her lyrics danced across the musical ensemble.

 

Out of your mind and out of town

But I’ll just be hangin’ out

In the meantime

No one’s around

 

The guitarist began to play a grooving riff along with Rystiel’s singing.

 

I can’t hear you

Medicine’s cousin is calling my name

And why not

It’s almost time for bed anyway

 

Rystiel’s voice climbed and the crowd cheered as she reached a higher octave. Her soulful voice dripped with passion.

 

So sing me to sleep

The evening smells like rain

As soon as I close my eyes

I get to wake up again

 

Rystiel fell silent as the bassist and drummer shifted into a thumping rhythm, over which the guitarist played a bouncing solo. His furry fingers danced across the fretboard, running scales and pitch harmonics, and the people applauded for him as the music dropped again and Rystiel’s voice returned to repeat the first refrain.

 

Left down an alley

And right into the bar

I’m just dithering away the hours

Waiting for you to return

 

As the song approached its end, Rystiel’s lyrics altered from what she had sung the first time through.

 

I’m out of my mind and you’re still out of town

And we won’t be hangin’ out

In the meantime

I’m not around

 

As the song ended, the crowd screamed for the musicians. Many of the Voscijas let out enthusiastic howls of joy. It was a sound Captain Suoki had only heard very few times during the relocation of the abused remnant of their people ten years earlier, but now they were proud and strong again. Captain Suoki was nearly brought to tears.

“Good, isn’t she?” Hinta asked before the next song started, pulling Captain Suoki from his thoughts.

The captain cleared his throat. “She’s very talented. How old is she?”

Hinta glanced up at the stage. “Rystiel is probably sixteen or seventeen.”

“So she was just a kid during the genocide.”

Hinta nodded.

“Poor girl,” Captain Suoki said with a frown, but Hinta smiled wide.

“Suoki, it’s been generations since my people were in as good shape as we are now. Most of us Voscijas who are old enough to have survived the killings, now wear our tail-lessness as a badge of honor. We’re survivors, and you and Lyoth were part of that.”

Hinta brought his soft green-furred hand to the outside of Captain Suoki’s arm, as Rystiel began to sing again, and the two men fell silent. The second song was more energetic.

 

There’s no such thing as forever

So baby

Let’s destroy something beautiful together

We’ll tear down the heavens

Extinguish the stars

And the darkness in between it all will be ours

 

Rystiel began to strut around the stage as the song evolved.

 

There’s no such thing as solitude

So baby

Give me every bit of that bright blue attitude

Take me or leave me

It’s all in your hands

Every little piece of you is all that I demand

 

The musicians dropped, playing a stuttering line together while Rystiel sang a few breathy lyrics.

 

So long to the conventional

And welcome to all things reprehensible

 

The song burst into another energetic movement, and Rystiel sang her lyrics with power.

 

There’s a hole in the sky

That the world fell through

And it crashed into this place

Where I was far away from you

It took us by surprise

Like an unexpected kiss

And every little death

Has been a little bliss

 

Rystiel stepped back as the musicians took the song through a series of key changes. Their energy was infectious, and the audience began to cheer over them, which only encouraged the musicians all the more. Then Rystiel’s voice returned, and she stomped across the stage, posing and twirling as she sang.

 

There was magic in the air

When the world fell apart

Like the entire universe

Had a broken heart

It was scrawled across the sky

Like bloody clouds at dawn

That the most they’d ever share

Was to make each other fawn

 

The song moved into another version of the verse that was more staccato and gave the music a sassier feel.

 

There’s no such thing as forever

But baby

That doesn’t mean we have to simply

Accept never

Two worlds collide

And I find you right by my side

Looking fate in the eyes

And the end of the world between the thighs

 

Again, the music softened for two lines of lyrics, before bursting into a powerful crescendo chorus that hinted the end was approaching.

 

So long to the conventional

And welcome to all things reprehensible

There’s a hole in the sky

That the world fell through

And it crashed into this place

Where I was far away from you

It took us by surprise

Like an unexpected kiss

And every little death

Has been a little bliss

 

Rystiel repeated the first verse, and the music slowly began to diminish behind her voice.

 

There’s no such thing as forever

So sugar

Let’s destroy something beautiful together

We’ll tear down the heavens

Extinguish the stars

And the darkness in between it all will be ours

 

Rystiel sang a final refrain of the chorus about the hole in the sky, but the last time, the music dropped so only her voice was accompanied by a quiet riff played by the guitarist. She let the words slide from her lips in a softer, sultrier pattern to the end, and the word bliss hung in the air as the guitar died, and when her voice finally also fell silent, the audience exploded in raucous applause and howling.

During the rest of Rystiel’s performance, several Voscijas who recognized Captain Suoki came up to him at the bar. There were two Voscija women who joined him, one with teal fur and the other with grey, and an older man with a cane also came hobbling over. His fur was beige, but much of it had lightened to white over his years.

“Kipa,” Captain Suoki exclaimed to the woman with teal fur, “and Grodrin,” he cried to the one with grey, “how marvelous to see you both! Get over here and give me a squeeze. Oh my gods, and Thulla?” the captain added to the man with the cane.

For years before the systematic annihilation of the majority of the Voscijas, Thulla had been part of relief efforts for the poorest of his people. Eventually he was imprisoned, but once in Glinterdale, Thulla was instrumental in helping Lyoth and Captain Suoki provide aid to the survivors who made it there.

Kipa had not been anyone important before the genocide, but once the Voscijas were safe in Glinterdale, she had shown herself to be an uplifting leader, and Kipa was the first chief elected by the people in their new home.

Grodrin was a healer, and she had also connected with Lyoth and Captain Suoki as her people got settled. Voscija anatomy is unlike many other humanoids, and Grodrin was the primary caregiver treating the ill and injured.

All three of them got warm hugs from Captain Suoki, and they joined him at the bar. In between the songs played by Rystiel and her band, the old friends talked.

“Kipa, are you still the chief of the Voscijas?” Captain Suoki asked her.

“I kept the position for nine years and only recently stepped down. It’s nice to be retired.” Kipa wrapped her arm around Grodrin. “Neither of us ever had a litter of our own, so our life is pretty quiet.”

Grodrin smiled. “It’s nice to take it a little easier these days. I’m only working part-time at the town healing center, and I’m doing some teaching on the side.”

“How marvelous,” Captain Suoki replied. “Kipa, congratulations on retirement. By the looks of things, you have led your people well. And Grodrin, please tell me more about the teaching you’re doing.” He leaned toward Thulla. “Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about you.”

Thulla chuckled. “I’m a patient old man. Go ahead,” he added to Grodrin.

“I’ve been training a few younger Voscijas who are interested in becoming healers. Suoki, I don’t know if you remember, but Voscijas have two hearts, no liver, a pair of organs we refer to as the left and right stopstars; our medical treatments are unique to our race.”

Before Captain Suoki or the other three Voscijas could continue their conversation, a pair of indigo-furred hands came to the captain’s shoulders.

“Suoki,” growled a voice behind him.

Captain Suiki blushed, and he turned as he said, “Deega? Hi, Deega.”

Deega leaned forward with his wolfish snout and kissed Captain Suoki right on the lips. “I like the beard,” Deega rumbled as he pulled away from the fawning captain. Deega’s dark purple fur shimmered in the light. He was wearing a hat.

“Oh that’s right,” Thulla said with a laugh. “You two had a little thing, didn’t you?”

“Mmm…” Deega hummed, “it wasn’t a little thing.”

The five of them got a table and talked until green-furred Hinta behind the bar started turning up the tavern’s house lights. Captain Suoki got one more very satisfying kiss from Deega, and he hugged Kipa, Grodrin, and Thulla before they all began to make their ways away from the Lapis Lupine.

When he eventually returned to the safe house with a sack full of food he purchased at the Lapis Lupine, he was surprised to find a second ship docked next to the one he borrowed from Lady Talula.

“Lyoth, are you here?!” he called out, but there was no reply.

The captain also noticed an alert was waiting for him on the Garnet Star’s communicator. He could see through the ship’s window that the light was blinking in the cockpit.

Captain Suoki headed to the door of the safe house. “Lyoth?”

No one was inside.

After putting the bag of food on the table next to the packaged goods from ten years earlier, Captain Suoki headed back out to check the message. Lady Talula’s face appeared on the Garnet Star’s screen.

“Suoki, I’ve just received word from Quigley that the home where he lived with his family has been destroyed.”

Captain Suoki was shocked.

“He’s headed to meet up with his wife’s sister,” Lady Talula’s message continued, “but he asked that I reach out to you for him. I don’t know if he’s planning revenge or just to hide out, and I don’t know who did this; he didn’t say.”

Quigley’s headed to Boullia Bay, Captain Suoki thought.

Lady Talula kept speaking. “He and his family have lost almost everything they owned. They’re going to need help, and I told him I’d join them whenever he figures out where they are going to settle. Quigley doesn’t have many close friends, and I understand that his wife and daughter have felt very isolated for the past few years. I hope you’ll be free to join them at some point after they figure some things out.”

No friends? the captain thought.

“I know you have a lot going on, so don’t worry about returning my communication, and keep the Garnet Star as long as you need,” Lady Talula concluded. “I’ll get in touch again when I know more.”

The message ended.

“Okay, well, I guess I’ll wait for Lyoth then.” Captain Suoki headed back into the safe house and closed the door.