Short (very short) Sona drabble. Cassiopeia thrown in to liven things up.

A good beat, I thought, thinking the words that carried me through each day. Every song begins with a good beat.

I studied my etwahl in my lap, getting lost in the intricate curves on the front. I adjusted my position on the rock I was sitting on outside the Institute of War, shifting my body weight so that my arms felt free and loose. And then I began to play.

I plucked one or two strings gently, listening to the chord they made as they warbled in the air. A nice chord. I could build a song out of that. I played the chord again, with more notes following, striking them in quick succession, but with enough pause to tell each note apart. Again the chord, backing it up with the beginnings of a melody. The sound carried down the hills I was sitting in front of, and I could imagine the sound carrying down the rolling green for miles, echoing and throwing itself back in a stirring song.

Not a song yet, I cautioned myself. Needs something more. More building, a climax, and then back to the chord. I gently ran my hands along a few strings, listening to the wonderful noise they created. I replayed what I'd already done, adding more, moved by the melody as I let my own spirit flow into the music.

"Beautiful," A voice hissed softly behind me.

I turned to see Cassiopeia lounging on her stomach across the rocks, her snake tail stretched out behind her. She'd approached without a sound.

Reminding myself of who I was with, I accepted the compliment with a wary nod.

A sort of sly expression wandered over her face as she lightly scraped her claws along the rock. "I wonder," she purred. "What you were thinking about as you played."

I swallowed and looked down, feeling a pain grow in my chest. Was she going to toy with me over my inability to speak? Or was that just a genuine comment? If I could answer her I would. If only I could...

I played again, shoving my sorrow and anger into the melody, pushing all the negative energy away, willing it to fly down the hills and never return. I played for a good five minutes, and when I was done I was surprised to see that Cassiopeia was still there.

She narrowed her already diamond-shaped eyes to slits. "Mm. Sad."

We sat in silence on the rocks for a while, watching the last honey-colored rays of the sun disappear and be slowly replaced with a deep blue color. When the sun had fully left and darkness settled, Cassiopeia whispered softly behind me, "What kind of song would you write... about me?"

I let my fingers rest on the etwahl's strings, thinking. After a few moments of silence, I began to play, a sharp and eerie melody with stops and long pauses in it, but also an underlying hint of sadness. To be honest I was following no time signature, just playing what came to me. I don't know how long it went on before my fingertips left the strings.

Cassiopeia laughed softly, a sound deep in her throat somewhere between a rattle and a groan.

"My words exactly."

I heard her tail swish softly on the rocks as she slithered off. I stared up at the moon, glowing fiercely in the sky, a beacon in the dark night.

Closing my eyes, I played Cassiopeia's Song again.

Yay! Hope you enjoyed it.