Part 2
Before they could start Snowflake bounced towards her rider, prancing like an overexcited dog. She curled around Wrenlou, rubbing her head against his back, purring loudly. William started laughing when the dragon tried to lick Wrenlou's face.
"Snow... go away. Stop trying to lick my face, it's not going to happen. No... come on... Hiccup, do something."
Laughing, Hiccup stood up and pulled the dragon away from Wrenlou. Snowflake huffed and sauntered over to Toothless again, curling up next to him. As they all watched this, William thought over silently, imaging the orchestral song to try and devise some kind of melodic version for the violin. He was completely unaware of what version Wrenlou intended to play.
"Well, now that that's dealt with," William said, referring to the dragons before he set the violin on his shoulder, "let's play, shall we?"
Wrenlou smiled and raised the violin. He made sure it rested comfortably on his collarbone and in his hand and as soon as he started playing, he closed his eyes. Both of them started with quick bowing, deep on the G string, playing in twos as they led up to the melody quickly, playing in threes as the song built together. Then they rose on their E strings bowing quickly to their first pinnacle and finally separating.
He was dragged into the music and he smiled as he felt the strings vibrate under his fingers. Automatically his fingers found their right positions as he brought the song to life, putting his heart and soul into the music.
Wrenlou took the quick undertones as fast as he could while William broke off to the winding, soaring melodious chorus, heavy with vibrato and smoothing over Wrenlou's quick bowing. They played in tandem to each other perfectly not even expecting how easy it was for them to actually work together to create the song beautifully with two violins.
In a sudden synchronization they played the staccato of the main melody line, its pace was fast and brilliant for only a few lines. They repeated it once, before they flowed into the sweet orchestral music which dearly needed more than two violins. Their time was perfect with each other to the point where they fought to play such a piece more powerfully than the other violinist. They repeated the staccato in the melody line, and repeated the orchestral chorus, each in time, growing more glorious with each moment.
Both of them took steep drops for one time in playing the staccato before they played the sweetness, repeating it over and over, drawing it lower and quieter but still just as fast. It needed drums, a hundred more violins, and choir, but even here they could both hear the piece flowing in their minds as powerful as the whole orchestra.
They built upon each other fighting in threes to keep time as the power of the song rose once more. Faster and faster they played until uncontrollably they broke off from each other again, Wrenlou continued playing the faster part and William the slow vibrato which only proved, Wrenlou was better at playing this song than him. However, William had to be given credit for improvising this so well.
The chorus was played solely by Wrenlou this time, whilst William deepened the song with base notes, long and warm upon his violin. They synchronized again, once more playing the chorus together in perfect time, this time rising before shifting to a higher position upon the neck to repeat the chorus beautifully. They did this twice in the higher position before spiraling down again, winding the song deeper into itself.
William started playing staccato solely on its own to accompany Wrenlou as he continued playing the chorus and it's superb vibrato. They synchronized again, both playing the staccato, Wrenlou played a string of the light rapid notes, while once again, William took the base notes. And how they rung, sweetly growing to Wrenlou as he played in threes and fours quickly.
One last time they took the chorus in synchronization, it was so beautiful and sweet as the two violins rang together. More sweetly than any of the ten times they had played it before. They complimented each other so perfectly it made tears come to the eyes of their judges. William and Wrenlou held onto that last note, drawing it out like a silken thread not a soul desired to let go of.
They descended upon their G strings, three notes at a time which only sounded blissful if two violins sang at once upon the G and the D so that four strings were played at the same time. They played those three notes again as if taunting each other. And finally, William took the base notes in fours, and Wrenlou taunted in return with two notes upon the A string. William grinned and repeated that string of low notes, and Wrenlou taunted him back, unwilling to end.
Wrenlou didn't want to admit just yet that he loved playing with William like this. The great orchestra he had only heard once or twice in Rome and Venice but he had memorized it so thoroughly for the wonder in its strength, he would give anything to be able to listen to Rubicon in its entire magnificence any time he wanted. He loved playing the violin almost as much as he loved shooting and flying, and Rubicon was one of his, and Hiccup's favorite songs.
"Marvelous!" Ira's voice rang loudly, "Such emotion!" he complimented but his words were directed at Wrenlou.
"Well played," William said, "you clearly have far more passion for that song than I do, you play it so powerfully it seems to come to life!"
"I guess it does." Wrenlou said taking the violin in his other hand and flexing his arm. He felt a tad sore from playing so wildly and with such force. The muscles in his right forearm ached from bowing so quickly, and he tested, bowing a few times and watching his elbow to make sure his speed was not sacrificing good posture, something William kept on instinct.
"This is amazing to watch," Mark said, brushing the red strike from his face, "you are both so good!"
Wrenlou smiled at him weakly, still testing his arm. It had been some time since he had played that fast, and he could feel the effects his lack of practice had on his arm. Stretching his left arm, he inhaled sharply as a sudden flash of pain flared up in his shoulder. He winced at the hot flaring pain, but kept his face neutral, hoping to keep it hidden for now and he gingerly rubbed his shoulder. He caught Hiccup staring at him with a worried frown and he smiled at him reassuringly. It had been quite some time since the burn had hurt like this, and he wasn't sure why it flared up as it did.
He took the violin in his left hand again, setting it upon his shoulder and that's when he realized that the sudden flash of pain came from playing the instrument. He hadn't really played since he had been burned, not very often or very long that is, and his shoulder was no longer accustomed to the weight of the violin. He took a deep breath to steady his heartbeat and while he looked at William, he managed his joyful smile once again.
"Something wrong?" William muttered, panting and flustered by the immense speed at which they played.
Wrenlou shook his head and forced a smile, "it's fine…" he muttered, "so what's next? We're at an impasse."
William chucked firing a short air along his E string, "Oh, I aim to prove you wrong!" he laughed.
Wrenlou smiled weakly before he walked over to the table, grabbing the cup and taking a few sips. He felt Hiccup's hand on his arm and he looked at him. Hiccup had that same worried look in his eyes he had seen every time he had been injured.
"Everything alright?" the man asked softly and Wrenlou nodded.
"It's nothing, really. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." The look on Hiccup's face didn't look like he was convinced and Wrenlou sighed. "Look, it's just playing up a little, don't worry about it!"
Hiccup nodded, but the worried look never left his face. Wrenlou started walking back to William who was waiting patiently, the happy smile warming his face.
Snowflake suddenly wailed from her spot next to Toothless and all heads turned to the dragons. The white dragon stretched, then wandered over to her rider and lay on the ground before him, her eyes gazing up towards the man. Wrenlou put his hands in his sides as he stared down at the dragon, frowning slightly. "Snow..."
The dragon crooned softly as she inched closer and William started laughing. "What does she want?"
"Food." Wrenlou answered with a sigh as he was still staring at the dragon, "I swear, sometimes it's like having an oversized dog."
William laughed loudly and turned his head as he caught a movement from the corner of his eye. He met eyes with a small dragon, the size of a panther with his wings tucked tightly to its sides. "Riley..." he breathed, but before he could say anymore the small dragon jumped forward, playfully swatting at Snowflake's tail.
Wrenlou raised an eyebrow at the sudden appearance of a small, burnt red dragon with peach colored spines along his back and tail, but Snowflake and Toothless were both immensely interested and chased after the dragon as it ran about the room.
The little red dragon was fast as he raced about the room, barely allowing the two Night Furies to keep up with him but only giving them enough time to swipe at him, always missing by a hair's breadth. The Night Furies had their wings reared, ready to take flight and pounce but Riley kept his spiky red wings tightly clutched to his sings.
Shaking his head, Wrenlou turned his attention away from the crazy dragons and his surprise for seeing a dragon that could turn into a Human, or a Nova in this case. "Right..." Wrenlou mumbled, "okay... eh... back to playing. Do you know Suite de Loudeac?"
At this, Irwin suddenly gasped, "William, you should, you're good at that one," he reminded his son, "we've played it a hundred times!"
"So have I!" Wrenlou responded at this.
William smirked slightly sensing his father almost wished to play along with them. He thought for a moment, trying to remember how the song went, it had been so long to him. He raised the violin to his shoulder, playing a few phrases.
"That's it!" Wrenlou affirmed savoring the quiet trills and quiet ornamentations.
Producing a smile, William stepped over to the long table and drew a long sip from his glass of wine before he met eyes with Wrenlou. Tapping his foot William indicated when to start, then in time they sprang into the Celtic jig of numerous ornamentations. It was very fast, but had a nice rhythm and a very sweet festival sound to it, the kind which Wrenlou was very used to. It was the jig which was forgotten in the corner when one violin played it, the little tune which only he and Hiccup would have listened to.
It was not as smooth and flowing as the other songs they had played so far, and there was a slight crunch in the bow with their inflected notes. It repeated less but once their two violins were completely in synch it became more noticeable in its greatness. They could play in time for a few bars as if with no competition between them. They stood close with their bows almost colliding with each other and the sweet music filled the room once more.
Wrenlou stopped playing and William broke off from him, expounding upon the powers of his violin, it's charming, warm tones. It sang vibrant trills in its own tune as William leaned away from his friendly opponent, moving freely and taking a few steps out into the room. He smiled brightly with every note rising upon his E string towards the end, which upon reaching he gestured to Wrenlou with the scroll of his deep red violin.
Wrenlou picked up the tune where William handed it to him, displaying the abilities of his darker violin, how it was built for deepness, softer music like this. But still it took advantage of the sweet trills and the slight crunch of the bow. He lowered the violin as he played, curling his back and ruining his posture for how his shoulder was aching but he tried to push through it and gestured his nearly black scroll back to William.
Trilling hard by tapping his finger above another with lightning speed, William continued the low tone, quiet and engaging. He loved how heavily this song relied on its trills, light staccato, something which was difficult for him, but kind to his E string. He shot Wrenlou a look of warning and raised his violin tapping his foot once more to give Wrenlou enough time to catch on and in a second they played in time.
At once they held the same note and synchronized happily dancing into the faster tune which caused them to spin, circling each other and making a dance of it. There was no way to hold still while they played, they had to move, the music simply compelled them. Nothing made either of them happier than to be playing violin with another who shared their love for it. Every trait of the two violins was different, as were their wielders but together they made the most thrilling music.
They swayed with their knees bent, bobbing slightly as the forcefulness of their bowing and that urgency drove them to play, move, and let their instruments sing all the more quickly. At an impasse did not sum up their skills which mirrored each other, complimented each other, and played off each other perfectly. It was almost as if they read each other's mind filling their wounded hearts with wonder.
"Faster…" William whispered unintentionally, mostly mouthing it, no one heard, but nonetheless their pace increased, spiraling around each other and tapping their feet like drums, accompanying bodhrans almost.
"Faster!" Wrenlou said as well, letting the notes spin so fast he dizzied as he swayed. He stepped so close to William that the vibrations from the sounds he made with his instrument vibrated in William's as well. Nothing in them wanted this to end. How could it? It was perfect. These two violins like brothers should never be separated, and the sound caused the room to overflow with echoes from the noise.
With one final burst of speed, William and Wrenlou were almost nose-to-nose, repeating their phrases without even counting but knowing the needs and hopes of their partner. They raised their bows once more, and sped to a sudden halt, firing their bows upward to the frog and raising it off the string so that they both held their right arms high. This was the strength of two violins. This was a kind of happiness which was indescribable to one who had never played a violin before. This was the addicting power of the duet.
The applause of the Emperor and his guests startled them, almost as if they had forgotten they were not alone, connected by music. William saw the Emperor open his mouth to try to draw some kind of result from the tournament but William just grinned and shook his head. No such result could be formed, not with how perfect the connections of the violins had been, with Wrenlou's skill and William's experience. Nothing was more perfect.
Wrenlou was panting slightly, his cheeks red from the sheer intensity with which they had played. He met eyes with Hiccup, his brother smiling widely and he walked over to the table to put the violin down in the case again. The throb in his shoulder had turned to a pain that made it almost impossible to hold the violin any longer and Hiccup shot him a worried glare. Wrenlou didn't even care about the pain in his shoulder. It had been worth it. He had never played like this before. He had never been able to play like this before, with an opponent such as William, and he silently thanked Hiccup for opening his mouth and blurting that he played violin as well. He loved the awing looks he got from Mark and Irwin alike, and his smile widened as he picked up his cup once again.
What silence formed in the room because the violins no longer played was broken when the great doors opened, and William's attention tuned to the young maiden who had entered. She was no more than a girl when Wrenlou first saw her, but she was fair and gentle as William rushed over to her and took her hand. She beamed at him before bowing to the Emperor respectfully.
The woman had creamy brown skin which almost shimmered golden in the warm light of the room from the veranda, her dark curly hair bounced about her shoulders, and on her right cheek she bore two tattoos of purple streaks. She wore a simple, though elegant dark mauve overdress over a light gray chemise, jewelry adorned her neck, and there was a ring on her finger with a black stone. She gazed up into William's eyes adoringly as she spoke in a deep though appealing voice, "When I heard the violins I knew you had guests," her gaze shifted to Wrenlou, Hiccup, and the dragons, "but I expected your father to be playing, care to introduce me?" she requested.
"Ah yes," William nodded still holding her hand, "may I present," the Prince of Novas stated to the dragon riders, "Croía Láidira, my bride-to-be." The girl curtsied to the men a brief moment which was met with nods from the dragon riders, before William gestured to them, "and these fine men are Wrenlou and Hiccup, dragon riders from a place called Dragoncity."
She smiled considerately to each of them but her focus was taken by William as he kissed his love in greeting and affection, and then, with her hand in his, he led her to the table to Ira's left and offered her a seat to gather a meal for herself. William turned his attention back to Wrenlou and Hiccup, "Why don't I…" he set down his violin in its case and started packing it up to protect the instrument, "…take you to private quarters where you can stay?" he offered.
Hiccup and Wrenlou exchanged a glance, then looked around the room to see where the dragons had gone. They were still playing, the three of them, the fast red dragon still leading in the chase.
Hiccup nodded. "We would like that very much. I think we're both tired from the flight and I know Wren can use a rest right now..."
William frowned slightly as he caught the worried glance Hiccup shot at his brother and when he looked over at Wrenlou he saw the brief moment when pain flashed over the man's face as he rubbed his shoulder.
"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice only slightly concerned as he feared he might have pushed Wrenlou over the edge, "we didn't play too much, did we?"
Wrenlou looked up at him, smiling. "It's just an old wound playing up, I will be fine once I rest my arm."
William nodded. He too knew the pain scars could give from time to time. He gestured to the door. "Come. Let me show you to your rooms."
Hiccup hesitated, looking at Toothless who had given up the chase and was bouncing towards him. "What about the dragons? We're used to sleeping with them in the room."
William turned to face the dragons. Snowflake had given up catching Riley as well and the white dragon was now sitting with her tail curled around her paws. A loud purr came from the black dragon's throat as Hiccup scratched his chin.
"I am sure it can be arranged," he said, "this way."
He led them back through the door from whence they came, across the cathedral hall once more and towards more winding halls around the tree's trunk. While they were still in that great hall William smiled warmly, "so many memories in this room, my coronation, every celebration, and soon my wedding to Croía…" he reminisced.
Hiccup glanced about the darkened room lit by only the pale green lights high above and a dying fire towards the end of the room, "seems a bit dank and musty…" he pointed out.
William chuckled, "Ah true, but not with the fire roaring, the torches are high, and the singing, dancing, and music is filling this room!" They exited the dark room into the bright hall which was lined with windows. Each window was a tall ovular shape like branches of the tree had grown over the hall ledge, and a shimmering golden light could be seen between them. This William also explained as the neared the edge to look over the city, "The windows are protected by a barrier from the power the tree gives off, these barriers will prevent you from falling out unless there's sufficient railings."
Curiously, Wrenlou—despite being deathly afraid of heights—walked right up to the edge and reached out the window, however his hand was stopped when he came into contact with the gold barrier. His heterochromatic eyes lit up in wonder as the barrier stopped his hand from leaving the window sill. "Amazing!" he shrieked, "It's real magic!"
William chuckled and continued down the hall as Hiccup tested the barrier in the same way, "I don't know how to properly explain it to a human. But the tree has so many strange powers we don't care to call magic. It has granted something like immortality to the Emperor, agelessness to me as well as my father and uncles, and physical perfection to young Novas, like my dear Croía."
Hiccup and Wrenlou stared down over the market from very high above in this hall. The people below were like ants and they were able to see the world beyond the city, a rolling landscape dotted with large rocks and small trees. It was proof that this kingdom was ever so young.
"Are you coming?" William indicated, standing at a door he had opened into a hall, deep within the tree.
The dragon riders nodded and followed, finding themselves ascending a dimly lit, wooden, spiral staircase which seemed to go on so long they mounted their dragons and rode the way up. William didn't seem to be affected much by the tiring amount of stairs. At the top, William pushed open a heavy door and they were blinded by the gentle light filling a lustrous room high up in a tower.
There was a small living space with a sofa and a table, several book cases, a dining area for about six people, and a veranda, only closed off by light blue curtains. William stepped over to two separate rooms opening both doors and indicating there were spaces to sleep, they were not large but the padded niche beds appeared very comfortable, and the lack of light that reached them when the doors were closed suggested it would be very hard to wake up from such a dark, all encompassing sleep.
William smiled and regally stepped over to the door, "I'll just leave you two to settle in, and I'll send for you when it's time for dinner, unless you would like a tour of the castle in an hour or so?" he offered as he took the heavy handle.
Both dragon riders looked at each other, then back to William. "I would like to see more of the castle," Hiccup said, and Wrenlou nodded as well.
"Very well. In that case, I will be back in an hour. Is that alright?"
Hiccup nodded and Wrenlou smiled. William gave a curt nod, then opened the door. As soon as the door closed behind him, Wrenlou sighed as he started removing the pieces from his suit, quickly stripping down to the short sleeved blue tunic and brown pants he wore underneath. With a painful grin he sat upon the bed, massaging his shoulder, feeling the rough scar under his fingers.
After removing his own suit, leaving him in his green tunic, Hiccup sat down next to him, the worried look still on his face as he ran a hand over Wrenlou's shoulder. Wrenlou shot him a glance, his cheeks still red.
"I'll be fine, really. It doesn't even hurt that bad anymore."
Hiccup smiled and stood up, walking over to where Toothless had curled up on the floor and he dug around in the saddlebag for a while. He pulled out his notebook and his pencil and sat down next to Wrenlou once again.
"Do you think Broghan will believe any of this?" he asked while he quickly filled page after page with the many things they had already seen in the city. The marketplace, the cathedral, the castle, the tree itself, they all came to life under Hiccup's hands.
Wrenlou watched him for a while, marveling at Hiccup's ability to draw so precisely, much the same way Hiccup marveled at his ability to play the violin. He looked around the room, the wooden ceiling high above them and sighed before he finally answered.
"Maybe, maybe not. Does it matter? He chooses to stay in Dragoncity instead of explore. And besides, he hardly ever believes anything."
"True..." Hiccup muttered, adding details to his drawing of the cathedral. He had a great eye for the small things and looking at Hiccup's drawing, Wrenlou saw things he hadn't even noticed.
He watched a little while longer, then stood up. He walked out onto the balcony and closed his eyes as he replayed the songs in his head, his and William's violin singing together in perfect harmony. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as he felt the music run through his veins and he silently vowed to practice more often when they got back to Dragoncity. He placed his hands on the railing, leaning forward ever so slightly to look at the city far below and again he marveled at the fact that the tree was so big, so beautiful, yet nowhere near as old as Dragoncity.
He looked up when Hiccup joined him, his notebook resting on his hand as he continued to sketch with his left. It was silent between them as they enjoyed the peaceful moment, listening to the wind rush through the branches and play with the leaves.
"Wren? What you did back there... play like that, that was... just fantastic. I never knew you could play like that."
Smiling, Wrenlou turned to face his brother. "Thanks," he whispered, "I guess I should practice more."
"You should play in the Hall more," Hiccup pointed out, closing his notebook, "really Wren, I don't understand why you're afraid to play in front of larger groups, you're good enough."
"It's not that I'm afraid to, I just don't like it very much."
"Well, I'm glad you did, it was marvelous. And yes, I am going to say that a thousand times more. You and William are truly equals. I wish I could play like that."
"It's not too late to learn," Wrenlou hummed, "I could teach you."
Hiccup laughed nervously. "Yeah, I don't think that's a good idea," he said, staring down on his hands, scarred and calloused from years of working in the forge, "no, I'll stick to listening."
Wrenlou chuckled at this comment and turned around, leaning against the railing while he looked back into the room. Snowflake and Toothless had curled up next to the sofa. From the looks of it, the dragons wouldn't move for quite some time.
He smiled and strode back into the room and towards the book cases, taking down the first book that caught his eye. It was a large book which was not very thick but he took it over to the table at the sofa and opened it upon the flat surface to see printed, accurate and detailed maps of the land they had come upon. It was as if everything about the kingdom could be seen from the tree and therefore it could be mapped out more accurately than any mortals could unless they rode on the backs of dragons.
He flipped to the next page, revealing another map, just as incredible in detail as the first one. Every page he turned revealed more of the land they had stumbled upon by accident and with every page his smile grew wider.
He forgot the pain in his shoulder as he kept flipping through the pages, going back and forth between the maps, trying to memorize everything he saw so that they could explore other parts of this kingdom after they had left Lucis de Cælum.
"What did you find?" Hiccup suddenly asked next to him and he jumped up a little.
"Maps," he said, showing Hiccup the book. "Look, the city." He pointed to a large tree drawn in the center of the map.
"Incredible," Hiccup muttered, pulling the book from Wrenlou's hands. He flipped the page, Wrenlou hovering over his shoulder which he started massaging. Hiccup eyed this action worriedly, seeing how the strenuous violin playing had stirred up Wrenlou's wound on his shoulder, "You should probably get some rest," he suggested with his brows drawn, then he handed the book back to Wrenlou, "or at least help yourself to a thicker book and not strain your shoulder for a while?" He tried to force a smile.
Wrenlou glanced up at Hiccup, fingering at the corner of a page gingerly in thought. "You're right…" he whispered as he closed the book and got up slowly to fetch a thicker one, "I definitely want to have the energy to play more tonight!" he beamed, just loving the idea of playing violin with William again.
(Another note from E-Kathryn)
For those of you who are thinking, how the crap does Wrenlou know all the songs William is suggesting? Trust me, I am a violinist, everyone in the fiddle community knows Harvest Home. And everyone should know Suite de Loudeac and Rubicon! Also if you play one violin too closely to another they will resonate together its really weird!