Chapter 15: "Mastering the Music!"

"Eyaaaahh! What are we gonna do! Mr. Vocal, think of something!" Alaylle glances desperately at Mr. Vocal.

Mr. Vocal thinks for a moment and then starts hopping around his group of Rockers frantically. The Rockers all shake their heads and sweatdrop at their leader's actions.

"Noooo! Mr. Vocal, panicking isn't a plan!"

Mr. Vocal stops hopping around frantically and shrugs in an "I tried" gesture.

Alaylle sighs to herself, "I guess it's up to me… Lemme think…"

As Alaylle tries to come up with some sort of plan, a peculiar repetitive rumbling sound starts and seems to becoming louder.

"…I can't think with this… noise?" Alaylle blinks her eyes. "You know… this sound kinda feels familiar somehow!" She looks in the direction of the rumbling.

The Rockers surrounding Mr. Vocal's group have also noticed the sound, and have stopped their advance. Everyone, even the blue leafed Vocal have turned in the direction of the sound, seeming uncertain what it's coming from.

The rumbling soon turns into a loud bouncing "bloop" sound followed by much quieter "bloop" sounds. A huge mass of pink, yellow, and green suddenly jumps out from a nearby grove of trees and into the clearing where the Rockers and Alaylle are. Once they're in the open it's quite clear what they are: a Mastering and it's loyal following of Porings, Drops, and Poporings!

Alaylle jumps up and down trying to get a better view of the group of the Mastering and it's friends. "Gosh! That's a huuuuuuuuge Poring! And it has cute multi-colored Porings with it too!"

The Mastering quickly towards the sound of Alaylle's voice and then glances darkly at the Rockers surrounding Alaylle. The Mastering whistles loudly and opens its mouth. All of the Porings, Drops, and Poporings quickly jump into the Mastering's mouth. The Mastering closes its mouth and charges at the Rocker circle in a large mass of multi-layered Poring. An explosion of Porings, Drops, and Poporings spread out upon the Mastering connecting with the Rocker circle. Several Rockers are knocked out; some run, and some run after getting their violins snatched away by the Porings, Drops, and Poporings. The Rocker circle around Mr. Vocal and Alaylle's group has quickly turned into a half circle.

Alaylle quickly shouts out, "This way! Towards the Porings before they recover!" and runs up to the large Poring. Alaylle take a careful look at the Mastering and her eyes widen upon seeing a little "X" bandage on top of its head. "Mr. Poring! It's you!"

The Mastering nods and smiles at Alaylle.

"Gosh… What did you eat? You got so big!" Alaylle gestures with her hands.

Mr. Mastering sweatdrops and nods. He then startles at the number of Rockers being lead by Mr. Vocal and gets ready to attack.

"No no no!" Alaylle quickly gets in the way of Mr. Mastering. "This Vocal is my friend! And these are his friends! The mean ones are over there with the blue leaves!" She quickly points in the direction of the Vocal and Rockers carrying blue leaves. Several Rockers sweatdrop and run away upon Alaylle pointing her finger at them. Alaylle quietly pushes Mr. Vocal over to Mr. Mastering. "Mr. Mastering, meet Mr. Vocal! Mr. Vocal, meet Mr. Mastering!"

Both nod at each other, then look at Alaylle for a moment, and then focus rather dark glances at the blue leafed Vocal. The recipient of these glances blanches somewhat, but then points his violin at them. Both sides charge at each other once more, with the battle seeming to be turning in the favor of Alaylle's side.

Alaylle swipes her chain at the legs of a Rocker knocking it off its feet. She also ends up hitting her own legs with the chain and trips herself as well. Alaylle winces as she lands on her bottom. "I'm getting the hang of it slowly!… Okay… really slowly!"

Mr. Vocal keeps close to Alaylle, frequently bashing away attacks and attackers with his violin. Mr. Mastering bashes at several Rockers, but doesn't seem to be doing much damage. He whistles again and opens his mouth, filling it with Porings, Drops, and Poporings. He closes one eye and then starts spitting the swallowed helpers out of his mouth at the Rockers. They quickly snatch the Rocker's violins away as they connect or zoom by. Soon the only one left standing is the Vocal holding a blue leaf.

He glares and quickly hops away, with Alaylle, Mr. Vocal, Mr. Mastering, and their friends chasing after him.

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Alaylle looks up at the building that the blue leafed Vocal has led them all to. "What is this place?"

A small house made up of irregularly shaped rocks mortared together stands at the top of a hill. The walls of the house are covered in moss and vines, and several of the glass windows seem to have been broken. What makes the building remarkable is that little stone musical notes edge the roof of the house.

Alaylle and company have no time to examine the house, though, as the blue leafed Vocal suddenly bursts out of one of the windows of the house carrying what looks like a violin made out of metal. He growls loudly and charges at Mr. Vocal. Mr. Vocal gestures his troops to hold off and he charges at the blue leafed Vocal as well. Mr. Vocal tries bashing his opponent, but he simply blocks with his metal violin. The metal violin proves to be a deadly weapon as Mr. Vocal is forced to get his own violin out of the way of it's strikes, lest it be shattered, and takes several hits.

Alaylle watches Mr. Vocal get more and more tired and she shakes her head. She glances down at her chain and then at the Vocal. "No! You meanie! I won't let you hurt Mr. Vocal!" She charges at the blue leafed Vocal and strikes out quickly with her chain with a slight spin to her strike. "Steel Twirl!" Alaylle's strike hits the Vocal right in the back of his neck. The Vocal stumbles from the hit to a rather weak spot in its body.

Mr. Vocal quickly regains his wits and jumps closely to the other Vocal. He quickly adjusts the knobs at the end of his violin and then plays a sudden screeching note in front of him. The Vocal winces at the sound, and Mr. Vocal takes advantage of the distraction and bashes the other Vocal so hard that the metal violin flies out of his hand. Mr. Vocal quickly holds the Vocal at violin-point.

The Vocal shakes his head quickly, and runs off, abandoning the special leaf that marks his leadership. Mr. Vocal picks up the leaf, glances it over, then shakes his head and tosses it to Mr. Mastering, who promptly gulps it down.

Meanwhile, Alaylle has walked over to the door of the house and opened it a bit, and is looking inside. "Gosh! Everyone! Come look inside!" Inside of the small house, there are large amount of racks on the walls and rows of stands, many of them filled with violins and bows. "…Is this where all the violins the Rockers use come from?" She continues looking around the room as the others come in and look as well.

Mr. Mastering whistles sharply and looks over at Alaylle. Alaylle quickly turns towards Mr. Mastering. "Did you find something?" She walks quickly over to where the large Poring is.

Next to Mr. Mastering, a metal stand on top of a metal pedestal with a small inscription on its base stands. Mr. Vocal brings the metal violin that the Vocal dropped and places it onto the stand on the pedestal. It seems to have clearly been part of the display.

Alaylle looks closely at the inscription on the pedestal. "Hmm… 'To the grasshoppers that have kept me company and inspired me all these years with their chirping music, I leave these instruments to create their own music with what they have given me.' Gosh! This must be where all the Rocker violins come from!"

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Alaylle walks into Prontera Field, glancing around happily at the grass and the trees. Suddenly a bunch of Rockers jumps toward her, but then a familiar tan Vocal jumps over to her as well. "Hee hee hee… getting used to your new home, Mr. Vocal?"

Mr. Vocal nods as he tunes his instrument. He then quickly taps the wooden part of his bow against his violin to set a beat. Mr. Vocal and his Rockers start playing a song on their violins while Alaylle quietly sits on her knees and listens. Mr. Mastering and his friends quickly arrive at the sound of violin music and start bouncing to the song played.

Alaylle giggles as she is treated to the somewhat strange little concert of Rocker violins and Poring bounces.

End of Chapter 15
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Chapter 16 Preview!

Alaylle: "I'm gonna go visit my friend Karian!"

Karian: "Kyahahaha… at this rate, she'll…"

Alaylle: "What was that Karian?"

Karian: "Uhh… nothing!"

Alaylle: "You're up to something! I know it!"

In the Next Chapter: "Finding Diamonds in the Desert!"

Karian: "It's not that hard… really!"
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