Avian Migration

Tell us about a famous entertainment group within your world!

The whole village was abuzz with gossip. All the adults were too distracted to work, too excited to focus on much of anything. Children who hadn't yet heard the news were running amok, taking full advantage of the slackened parenting.
Hiro's mum caught his collar as he bolted past.
"Oh no you don't!"
"But Muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum!"
"No 'but's. There's something very special happening this afternoon and I need your help around the house."
"Like a holiday?"
"Yep! Like a surprise holiday."
A surprise holiday? That made no sense. Hiro crossed his arms and hunched up in a pout. The effect was somewhat reduced by the fact that he was dangling by his jumper.
"If you're good, and you help me today, you can stay up as late as you like."
Hiro brightened up at this, and his mum set him down. The lad set to lending his mother a hand with the daily chores that couldn't wait- scrubbing dishes, bringing in the wash, and all the rest. As the sun began to wane, she had him change into a clean tunic and brush his hair.
Finally, on the way to the town square, he thought to ask: "Mum, what's happening today? What's the surprise?"
She squeezed his hand. "There's a troubadour traveling through our village. He's one of the Avians."
Hiro considered this seriously, as all small children do. "Are they any good?" His mum laughed and the boy blushed, looking down miserably in embarrassment. She picked him up and settled him on her hip.
"My dear pup, they aren't just good- they're the best there is! You were still too little when the last one came through to remember, but you loved that visit too." The crowd was beginning to thicken, and Mum's eyes focused on walking while she continued to explain. "All Avians have music, it's in their blood. They sing all day and night and get very very good at it. And sometimes, they decide to wander the world to see it, and to hear music from the other Nations, so that they can make their own music even better! Nobody knows music like they do, my pup. So when one comes through town, we all go to listen."
"Oh, it's a surprise holiday!"
"Yes, that's right!"
At last Hiro could see him. He was very odd-looking. His face was long, but came to a point instead of a muzzle. He had stick-straight black hair down to his shoulders, with green and blue feathers woven into it. His sturdy traveling clothes were accented with bright green, blue, and yellow stripes. He wore a cape down to his knees, rather than a cloak; it's hem was a zigzag rather than a straight line; it was blue on the outside and lined with brilliant yellow. He carried a lute which looked shabby to the little boy, but he tuned it with the reverence of a holy artifact.
He rose, and the soft buzzing of voices quieted. The odd man bowed respectfully to the village Elders, seated in front.
And then he began to sing.
The music wasn't just music. It seemed to flow through the air and into the listeners. The first song was lively and jaunty, and the man danced as he sang, with his cape flapping about him like a pair of wings. It wasn't long until many in the crowd felt called by the music to dance as well, and the village was more lively than Hiro had ever seen it, even during the harvest festival. After awhile, with many people out of breath, the man sat and played a few slow ballads. The crowd hushed, enraptured- many felt that they were seeing the story he sung, the music was so powerful.
The concert went late into the night, with the troubadour playing the crowd just as well as his lute. Hiro understood now that it was so much more than a performance, it was an event! The moon was high in the sky when the bard began to play a lullaby, one that all the mothers in the town knew, and everyone sang along. Even though it was fairly loud there was powerful magic in that song, and soon even Hiro, who tried valiantly to stay awake, nodded off to dreamland. The mothers carried away their little ones, and the rest of the village went on listening to the Song until dawn.

Type

Religious, Other