INGYDAR ; dungeon meshi

01 - leap

Music resonated through the second floor of the dungeon on The Island, bouncing off of the many trees. The sound was eery, hair raising even, though not in a discomforting way. It was almost nostalgic in an unrecognizable way, The kind of sound that makes you yearn for a past you can't quite remember. It made the party of four ponder on where it could be coming from.

One member of the group, a short brown haired half-foot with large ears, was the first to notice the sound due to his heightened senses compared to the rest of his party. "Do you guys hear that? The music?"

"Now that you mention it... is that violin?" A blonde elf's pointing ears twitched as though searching for the sound as she fiddled with her large, brown, twine staff.

"No... same kind of instrument but it sounds deeper? honestly, it's not like I know much about music, maybe it is a violin."

"Who could be playing music down here?" Asked a short, stocky Dwarf with a large brown beard and a dinged up helmet. "That can't possibly be safe with all the monsters..."

The tall-man of the party, donning a full suit of armor and a long sword on his hip, stayed out of the conversation. 'I wonder if it could be him..." he thought wistfully to himself, he knew it wasn't likely so he moved past the thought.

"Do you think it's a kind of monster?"

Now this comment brought the blonde man into the conversation immediately. "Do you think it could be? Have you guys heard of monsters that use music on this floor?" He was practically drooling at the thought. "I can't hear it yet so I can't tell you guys if you're right." He seemed to pout. Some days he wished he weren't a tall-man, he often caught himself thinking his own species is 'plain'.

"If anyone has heard of a monster it's you Laios." Said the half-foot, visibly unimpressed. He did not want to go on a wild goose chase looking for this 'new monster'.

Laios seemed to pout even harder. "I guess you're right..." he paused to think. "There are supposed to be sirens on the next floor down, but on this floor the only monsters that use sound are mandrakes, and those aren't exactly musical."

"Well, that settles it." Said the blonde elf. "It's not a monster, so it's probably one of those crazy people I was talking about just earlier. We should steer clear and focus on getting to Falin as fast as possible."

Laios seemed to get spacey for just a moment before snapping out of it. "Marcilles right. Chillchuck, can you tell us when you hear that noise and from where if you hear it again? We can't afford too many distractions right now."

"You got it."

And so, the party continued in their way.

——————-

The player paused his bowing, only for a second, when he felt the vibrations of his music pass and hit what felt like a familiar silhouette. He resumed when he realized the person was too far away to truly tell and he was being too wishful. There were plenty of tall-men in the dungeon who dressed head to toe in armor.

——————-

"It's that music again." They had just harvested mandrakes, little screaming root vegetables, and were working on making lunch with them and their other ingredients. The party was just about ready to leave this floor of the dungeon when Chillchuck announced the sound again. "It's closer than it was the first time we heard it, you guys will probably hear it soon too, they just started playing."