velli's storage

[jacob w.c.]

typhoon:

When the captain, Pincher, had found him being beaten by the strange woman, he hadn't seemed too happy and Jacob had been moved almost immediately. He was kept in the same room as the captain himself, though the man had fallen asleep long ago. He'd been given food and he wasn't bound anymore but it was clear they didn't want him wandering their territory aimlessly. He found himself pacing restlessly. He couldn't usually sleep and after all that'd happened, he knew there was no change of getting any rest tonight. However, his interest was pulled by somber notes that made their way through the wood separating him from whatever the outside of their territory looked like. There was a part of him that considered the music might only be a result of his broken, delirious mind. He had smelled smoke worse than usual all day following his capture and it wouldn't be inconceivable he was hearing things too, though he had to admit it was odd for him to hear anything positive. The chords sounded familiar, though he couldn't quite place them. It somehow reminded him of home. Then he remembered.

"How can I desert you? How to tell you why? Coachman, hold the horses. Stay, I pray you. Let me have a moment, let me say goodbye to bridge and river, forest and waterfall, orchard, sea, and sky. Harsh and sweet and bitter to leave it all. I'll bless my homeland til I die..." The lyrics flowed from him freely and his eyes drifted to the slumbering captain. How embarrassing it would be to not only be mocked for his response to the capture but also the music he now sang in tandem to the odd notes floating just outside. "Tears will never dry, I'll bless my homeland til I die..." He hadn't had a chance to say goodbye. That'd been stolen by the people that murdered his Ma and Pa, the people that'd lit his house on fire, the people that threatened Jersey. He had to leave in the night, like some sort of criminal. Then again, he was a criminal so perhaps it was fitting. Sometimes he forgot that.

He reached the portion of the song that consisted of only humming the melody and he sang the vowel, his voice clouded with emotion. Halfway through, the odd notes outside stopped and he soon found himself landing on the last line, allowing the notes to linger in the air, "I'll bless my homeland til I die..."