Heyo, guys/gals! It's Falc again! This time I've decided to be part of /r/RWBY's MonCon, which had the prompt to write or draw Sun and Neptune and incorporate music somehow. So here's my idea! Super special thanks to The Draigg for letting me bounce my ideas off him and for editing! Enjoy! :P
"I can't believe you talked me into this," Sun said with a humph as Neptune pulled him down the sidewalk.
"Dude, chicks dig musicians," Neptune exclaimed excitedly. "That's why we're starting this band."
"Do people listen to jazz?"
"Of course they do! You know I do!"
"And you're a nerd."
"Intellectual."
"No, you're a music nerd."
The two squabbling teammates walked down the sidewalk of downtown Vale. The sky was grey with storm clouds. It looked like it was going to rain soon. Sun shivered and, in an action that was very uncharacteristic of him, he buttoned up his open shirt. Neptune rolled his eyes and turned the corner to see his target: the Dusty Brass Music Store. He picked up his pace, dragging Sun inside.
All sorts of musical instruments filled the large shop. There was a wall completely covered by a large assortment of guitars, both acoustic and electric. A grand piano sat in the middle of the room, surrounded on all sides by large shelves bursting with sheet music. One corner had been taken up by drum sets. Across the wall behind the counter were brass instruments of every shape and size. In short, the building was packed to the brim with musical potential.
"Welcome to Dusty Brass Music," the tall man behind the counter said with a warm greeting. His skin was dark and he wore a wide grin. "I'm Dusty. How may I help you gentlemen today?"
Neptune flashed one of his many trademarked smiles. "We're looking to start a band-"
"He is, I'm just here because he dragged me along." Sun grumbled.
"Oh, hush," Neptune waved him off.
"Well, what kind of band are you looking to make?"
"Pirate metal, obviously," Sun said with a drip of sarcasm. He really just wanted to go back to their guest dorm at Beacon and play video games against Sage. One of these days, he'd kick his ass at Bash Bros.
"He means jazz," Nep cut in.
"Ah, okay. Well, do you two have any prior experience with music?"
"What're these little black dots all over the page?" Sun said in response. He had picked up a music book and was flipping through to see if he could find any songs he liked or recognized.
Nep groaned. "Those are music notes, genius." Turning back to Dusty, he said, "Yeah, I've played the trumpet since I could walk."
"Nice. Okay then, go ahead and pick out your trumpet, and I'll help your friend here find what he's good at."
"Pssshhh" Sun scoffed. "Music's not really my thing."
"Music is all about expression. It's about empathy. You express how you feel deep down, in your soul, and you get others to understand you through the way you play."
Sun decided to entertain Dusty and pay attention. He might as well, if he was going to be forced into a band.
"So it's like...uh…" Sun trailed off, unable to formulate his thoughts.
"It's like nothing else on the planet." Dusty went over to a recorder and picked it up. "Here, try blowing through this."
Sun picked it up and breathed hard into the mouthpiece. A shrill squeak blasted through the room, causing Nep to almost lose his grip on a 20,000 Lien silver trumpet.
"Yeah, I don't think breathing into something like that is really something my style…" Sun said.
"That's fair, the recorder is a simple instrument, and you'd never be able to do much with it. How about…" Dusty pulled a trombone off the shelf. "...this?"
Sun picked it up and held it upside down with a puzzled expression on his face. "Isn't this a trumpet? I don't want to play the same thing as Neptune."
"That's a trombone," Nep spoke up with a hint of offense in his voice. "It's nothing like the trumpet."
"Here," Dusty said, showing Sun how to hold the instrument. "Like this. Now don't move the slide at all and just focus on blowing."
Sun blew into the mouthpiece, but to his surprise, unlike the recorder, no sound at all came out. His face was contorted further into confusion.
"Now blow a raspberry into it." Dusty said with a smile. "Like making a fart noise. I know it's crass, but that's how you make sound on a brass instrument."
Sun chuckled and tried Dusty's suggestion. True to what he'd said, a wavering tone came out of the instrument.
"Good first attempt, Sun!" Nep said supportively.
"Yeah, well we all know you're the one who's the champ atat blowing, so I'll let you stick to brass, thank you very much."
Nep blushed a little and went back to quietly trying out the assorted trumpets.
"So what now?" Sun asked Dusty.
"Hmmm… How about the keyboard? It's the most versatile, but also one of the hardest to nail. I think you could do it, though. You seem to be a piano player."
"How can you tell?"
Dusty's eyes shone. "When you've been in music for as long as I have, you can just feel these things. I guessed your friend here was a trumpet player the moment you walked in the door."
Sun walked over to the largest keyboard he could find and sat down pensively.
"You said it's about expression, right?"
"Yep. Just let your soul talk through your fingers."
Sun turned the keyboard on and hit the middle C note. The clear sound pierced the silence, bringing with it a new wave of clarity. Sun smiled a little and in a single minute, figured out major and minor scales.
"So…" he said, turning to Dusty. "Jazz has its own set of scales, doesn't it?"
Dusty smiled. "You bet." He pulled out his Scroll and selected a music app. "Listen to this and recreate it to the best of your ability. And remember, jazz is free-form. If you have an idea you like, try it out, see if it works."
Sun listened to the song, a short, melodic beginner's tune called Green Onions. He rested his fingers on the keyboard and tapped the keys, not playing, but figuring out where notes were. He pulled off the headphones and started playing the bassline with his left hand. It was a simple bassline that could be easily recognized. It was iconic for many songs, and for that reason, was easy to pick up. Then, with a flurry of motion, his right hand came in, playing the set melody from the song.
Neptune stared slack-jawed at what he was seeing. His partner, the one who had no prior knowledge of how to play any music, was a prodigy at piano. Sun's hands flew over the keyboard, slowly building complexity into the song. Layers upon layers of flair and originality came together until Sun was ripping through a solo and making the song his own.
Dusty gave a knowing smile and grabbed a saxophone from a nearby shelf. He started playing it along with Sun, and Neptune, not wanting to be left out, joined in with his trumpet. For about an hour, they jammed, Dusty leading the session with new songs to teach Sun and Nep. A small crowd had gathered by the time they finally decided to call it quits.
As Sun hit the last chord on their set, the crowd erupted into applause. He stood up and smiled, as did Nep and Dusty.
"Thank you," he said with a smile. "We're the Seamonkees, and we're glad you could come to our jam session! We'll be playing again…" he looked at Neptune questioningly.
"Soon." Neptune picked up the speech for Sun. "If you want to see us again, we're going to try and get a slot at Jazz Alley in a month or so. Thank you all for coming!"
As the crowd dispersed, Dusty sighed and laid his hand on the keyboard. "So you're going to get this, I'm guessing?"
"Definitely. Thank you, Dusty." Sun smiled wide, feeling the music still pounding at his hands, aching to get out onto the keyboard.
"Alright then. That'll be…" Dusty checked the price tag. "30,000 Lien."
Sun's smile dropped from his face.
"T-Thirty...thousand…" he sputtered. "Uh...Could I work here while I'm in town and pay you off that way...?"
Dusty nodded. "It'd be nice to have some help around here for once. Sure."
Sun grinned.
"Now you can start by cleaning up the mess that crowd made."
Sun inwardly groaned, but remembered he was sitting at his new dream. This would be the beginning of something amazing.