Open The Trenches Trembling Treble

[Pomodu lu Modokunomulo]

Pomodu's joy was very nearly radiant at Berchar's question. "She i'su very goo'du tea'cha!" the red panda confirmed, holding still to let Berchar fetch down the coin even as she demonstrated her newly acquired skills. "O'ne, two, tuee, fouh, fi've!" She put a coin on each pawpad to demonstrate. Her smile faltered slightly as she looked down at the menu. "Ah, wha'tu we oh'dah agai'n?" Evidently short-term memory was not the once-princess's strength.

 

[Marie "Whisper" Deftclaw]

Whisper blinked at the approval and promptly hid their muzzle in their paws. They were absolutely not accustomed to taking kind words from anyone but their family, but on top of that, Berchar mentioning tutors made Whisper realise fully how embarrassing it must've been to watch. This deformed runt, struggling to speak fluently and having to think of people as siblings just to get the message through? They were the good teacher and tutor? Whisper anxiety and stress got to them again but not before they've managed to tell Pomodu. "W-water a-a-aand t-two b-beers o-or g-g-grogs f-for you t-t-two, P-p-please..."

They kept their composure somewhat, making them look much more embarrassed and shy from the approval of their skill than actually worried.

 

[Berchar Fleetfoot]

Pomodu’s warmth was infectious; Berchar returned her smile as he hopped back down, setting the high-value coin back upon the table beside her upturned paw. He could only imagine what an unconventional trio they must have made to an outside observer, but in the moment it did not concern him: they had already managed much tonight.

“I think beer’s the safer bet,” he recommended quietly, “but you could get one of each if you’ve never tried grog before. Grog, water and beer, in that case.”

 

[Pomodu lu Modokunomulo]

Pomodu listened to the shifting orders, furrowing her brow as she tried to count them off again. "Okay," she allowed, "So i'fu we ge'tu da'tu, de'n..." It was another three minutes before the pair managed to correct her math and get the order cemented in her mind. To her credit, Pomodu didn't embarrass herself when she went up to the bar, placed her order, and paid exact change. When she came back to the table, a whole tray of drinks between her paws, she was beaming. "I di'du i'tu!" she exclaimed, setting down their drinks, which sloshed dangerously. "I ge'tu u'su di dui'n'kusu!" She passed out the order to each of them, beaming at the pair. "You ah very goo'du tea'chah'su!" she remarked, raising a glass to the pair. "Go so'du you'se'fu!" she toasted, proclaiming the insult with cheerful ignorance to its meaning.

 

[Marie "Whisper" Deftclaw]

Whisper gave a small clap to Pomodu doing her job well and bringing back the correct order and change. Albeit again it made them embarrassed as they remembered that the red panda was a princess, not their younger sister. Still, upon getting a mug of water they eagerly joined the toast, even if it was one rather obscene. With that and after sating some of their thirst, which now Whisper had realised was actually quite consuming so they downed the mug and put it onto the table before starting to speak again. "I thank you f-for e-encouraging m-me and y-your patience. I l-live in The Trenches, q-quite nearby. I-if you we-were to join me. W-we could fi-figure out that teaching t-thing... If y-you want of c-course!" They added quickly to not seem pressing in any way. Still anxious, but at least slightly assured, Whisper was now ready to go.

---

When Pomodu and Berchar came to the first actual lesson, Whisper was absolutely not ready. They did at least clean up their flatlet. It was still a chaos, but it did give an idea of organised one at least. Whisper sat there by the piano as their two pupils were about to come in, still having zero clue how to act or what to do. They only knew one thing, those two beasts trusted them and supported them in their endeavours. Worst case, the fox could just again act as if the two were their younger siblings. Despite the embarrassment, it did work like a charm last time.

And upon hearing the knock to the door. Whisper said somewhat loud. "P-please c-come in!" As they've turned around on their music stool. They were visibly stressed but smiling. Wearing a white shirt and black, baggy trousers made them look professional... as much as a kit would look at their first concerto.

 

[Berchar Fleetfoot]

In truth Berchar had almost elected not to attend the session. Gripped as he was by both doubt and the merciless paw of the Imperium economy the skittish jerboa had needed to steel himself for the encounter, reminding himself that it was to be worth it. He’d long wished to learn to play, after all, even if finding a piano to practice upon would prove another hurdle down the line. Piano had always been the province of his mother: regardless of mixed feelings around his family, afternoons spent listening to her play were a private joy still clung to within his heart. To reconnect with that piece of the past again would be a gift.

Paws stuffed into the pockets of his voluminous patchwork trousers to prevent constant wringing of them after knocking, Berchar’s large ears picked up the greeting and he hastened to move. Opening the door, he flashed the nervous fox a smile of his own and a bright “Hello, Whisper!” before moving aside to hold the door open for Pomodu with a polite inclination of the head. He had not forgotten her title, and old habits die hard.

 

[Pomodu lu Modokunomulo]

Pomodu, for her part, was so excited that the moment she entered Whisper's studio she nearly rushed to pick up the fox and hug them, only restraining herself at the last moment. "Hallo Wisupa!" she enthused, clapping her paws in enthusiastic glee at the sight of the piano. "Di'su i'su di piano?" she inquired, her eyes shimmering as if she were looking upon some expensive, exotic instrument - which, to be fair, from her perspective it could validly be considered. "I'su su'ma'la da'n I ti'nuku." She held up her paws, looking curiously between them and the keys. There was an immediate problem to be seen: the width of Pomodu's pawfingers exceeded that of the keys. She could perhaps get away with playing the keys from the tips of her claws, though it would require perfect posture to avoid producing muffled garbage (at least, more than any beginner produced).

 

[Marie "Whisper" Deftclaw]

Whipser was still by all means pondering if they wasn't making a mistake as the two of their students, something they still couldn't wrap their little head around, came it with smiles and greetings. They stood up from their stool and gave a wave with a nervous smile. "H-Hello! I hope yo-you are ha-having a good d-day. Please c-come and s-sit."

As Berchar held the doors and Pomodu came in, ever enthusiastic about everything, Whisper moved to get a few empty sheets for writing music. Trembling still, they got to pick up some from the nearby drawer. Upon turning to the other guys, they noticed an immediate problem. Pomodu was sizable. Too much in this case.

While very stressful, that was a problem to be solved later. Whisper did give the two empty sheets and gave them each a pencil. Before sitting by the piano again. "Alright, I-I hope you a-are ready be-because w-we need t-to start with t-the b-b-boring t-things. Knowing h-how to re-read and write t-the no-notes. I-It is necessary t-to know s-so I-I hope y-you won't m-mind... B-but! I will m-make su-sure you get t-to play a b-bit too! Just... you k-know... all th-things need t-to start s-somewhere." Whisper hoped that the other two won't mind the learning process. It was tedious and Whisper didn't want to scare the two off.

 

[Berchar Fleetfoot]

Hopping into the room with a polite nod and bow to his new instructor, the jerboa appraised the piano in silence for a moment. Oh, it was a thing of beauty, so much like he remembered, if somewhat smaller; large as the instrument was, the last time he had been so close he had needed to scramble up onto the bench.

Pomodu’s observation drew a worried frown, his own delicate paws dwarfed by her toepads, but Whisper was correct: it was a bridge to be crossed in time. Still, Berchar bent his mind to the thought of it as he listened. She was wealthy enough he wagered she could commission a custom piano of her own designed for badgers and the like to play, but in the meantime she’d need to improvise to manage learning with Whisper.

“I trust to your knowledge, tutor” the jerboa chuckled in a friendly manner. “If notes are where we start, it’s where we start. As you say, we all have to start somewhere.” He looked to Pomodu. “I’m sure we’ll work something out in the meantime.”

 

[Pomodu lu Modokunomulo]

Pomodu seemed a little confused at the mention of reading music; she glanced at one of the sheets of music on the piano, furrowing her brow before her eyes widened. "Ohhhhhhhh," she exclaimed. "I'su di li'tu woh'm! My sisuta she si'ngu to me!" She put out a pawfinger and mimicked a worm crawling along the ground as she sang what seemed to be a set of off-key scales. "Ki-ku-ne-me-nge-ba-ga-ko!" She beamed happily at her teacher before glancing about for somewhere to sit. Finding most of the furniture in the room was too small to safely contain her bulk, she carefully lowered herself and sat criss-cross on the ground, a position that left her still taller than either of the other two. She accepted the page and quickly wrote out a series of what seemed to be eight simple characters in her native script at the top of the page. "Di'su?" she inquired, holding it up for review.

 

[Marie "Whisper" Deftclaw]

Whisper was very shy and bashful as Berchar related to them as a "tutor". The Little Fox for sure did not feel that at all like someone who should be considered one. Sure they were knowledgeable and capable, but they were not in any way socially ready.

Pomodu interjecting helped clearing their mind. Especially as... they sung out a rarely used octatonic scale. Truly the place the Red Panda was from must've had very interesting musical taste to find it a standard. Whisper got excited for a moment, to the point of a gentle wag of their tail, before realising they would have to explain that standard Imperial scales were heptatonic.

And it also didn't help at all Pomodu shown a very different method of writing notes. Whisper was getting overwhelmed. Fast.

But they endured, those two beasts trusted them enough and considered them worthy. Even if Whisper didn't think so, they wouldn't fail them.

Humming out Pomodu's native scale, Whisper promptly copied her symbols onto their sheet. Then put down the set of standardised imperial notes. below. Fortunately all were crotchets. As well as putting down the standard Imperial heptatonic C major scale.

"O-ok. P-P-Pomodu..." Whisper started, still struggling with remembering to ignore the fact of having literal royalty in their tiny flatlet. "I-I s-see you ha-have b-basics covered. In t-the I-Imperium, th-that is how w-we write d-down quarternotes t-that are equivalent t-to what you s-sung. But... we-we do use a di-different s-scale. This one." Then slowly they had turned to Berchar. "I sh-shouldn't assume you-you k-know nothing... S-so if s-something is t-too basic f-for you, d-do t-tell me... n-now this is what a s-standard Imperial s-scale so-sounds like:" Whisper promptly sung it out, pointing at the each note to make sure they are known. "Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Si-Do!" They repeated a few times over and over before getting back to the two. "It h-has se-seven sounds, the la-last o-one is t-the s-same as the fi-first one, just an o-octave h-higher... that w-will take a mo-moment to c-come to. For n-now please, s-sing along w-with me, try to ha-harmonize." Whisper started again, this time with one paw smoothly playing out the scale on the piano behind to give more sound to harmonize with for the two.

 

[Berchar Fleetfoot]

As Pomodu settled herself on the floor Berchar was possessed for a moment by indecision. Out of sheer necessity the red panda had found it the only option, but would taking a chair seem churlish, or worse, disrespectful to a princess of all beasts? Even if he was to take a seat chances were his eyeline would still be below hers, but it felt somehow inappropriate. Fortunately he was equipped with the solution and loosely coiled his tail beneath himself as an impromptu seat. Thus, he settled beside Pomodu and listened to be beginnings of their lesson.

Long ears twitched at the red panda’s scales, some distant memory of a visit on the estate tickling at the edges of his consciousness, but it was too far and too foggy to grasp. Intrigue turned to acceptance (whilst familiar enough with his mother’s music he was by no means expert and content to start from scratch) and soon enough to trepidation at the idea of singing. He never had considered himself one for singing, and to do so in front of others…

Still, he had committed. Though he could feel his cheeks and eartips flushing pink to do so, he began to follow Whisper’s lead and started to sing the scales. It was not the worst a jerboa could manage, though one would have been hard-pressed to hear his quiet attempt over the piano.

 

[Pomodu lu Modokunomulo]

Pomodu's confusion registered on her face at the introduction of a heptatonic scale, but she did as was instructed and followed along with the scale - this time, not nearly as off-tune to the Vulpinsulan ear. "Do-Rei-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do," she sang out, a lot more clarity in her tone than her rather squeaky voice would normally indicate. She clapped her paws in an excited outpouring of energy, the strings of the piano humming threateningly at the vibration. "I'su fu'n!" she enthused, a wide, childlike smile on her face entirely at odds with the regal imagining of her that Berchar had adopted.

 

[Marie "Whisper" Deftclaw]

The childlike almost joy of Pomodu, combined with shy efforts of Berchar, did really allow for the fox to once more get into that state shown at the tavern before. Whisper imagined the two to be their little siblings, so enthusiastic about learning yet shy about making mistakes. It truly did allow for the fox to now be more confident and willing to experiment.

With that, Whisper could now go into more detail, slowly spending this first lesson on making the two familiar with the notes, what sounds they make, what sounds Piano does make and as a result what notes are where on the piano. It wasn't much maybe, but Whisper was meticulously working the way they knew worked with their siblings. Just step by step, little by little, combining learning the science behind the music with learning to feel it.

After this whole section, as the lesson was coming to an end, Whisper did show the two how to play the scale, how to do the pawfingering and came to the last part.

They quickly composed a simple melody in their head while the two were trying to play the scales increasingly faster and faster to train their right paws. After stopping them, Whisper beamed with joy and pride at the two, despite still a bit of a shaky and anxious look. "You t-two are do-doing s-so great! Well... I am c-certain you t-two will manage n-now a little p-parting task..." She put her written score on the Piano now and quickly shown the two how to play it while singing the notes out.

"Do-Do-Re-Miii. Do-Do-Mi-Faaa-Miii. Do-Do-Mi-Reee. Mi-Re-Do-Re-Miii. Do-Do-Re-Mi. Do-Do-Mi-Faaa-Miii. Do-Do-Mi-Reee. Mi-Re-Do-Re-Dooo."

Then they stepped away and gestured at their piano. "Your turn! I a-am sure you t-two can ma-manage it!"

 

[Berchar Fleetfoot]

There was something to be learned, here, he was certain of it. Beneath Berchar’s evident surprise that a princess should behave as Pomodu did (why he remained so after the manner of their meeting he did not know), there was...something about her earnestness. She appeared to all intents and purposes utterly content with herself. There was no second-guessing, no masking her joy for fear of embarrassment or awkwardness. One had to wonder what she had been through – or not been through – to be so very free-spirited.

He wasn’t quite certain if it made him jealous or protective of such joy. In his confusion the jerboa found himself less inclined to thinking on the blush on his face and ears and more on the content of the lesson. Much of it ignited far and fuzzy explanations his mother had given him as a youngster, though his paws had rarely graced the keys for fear of spoiling her music. Whisper was, by his reckoning in comparison to tutors of old, far more capable a teacher than they perhaps gave themselves credit for.

Now, staring at the piano as an adult, there came a strange sense of...something. Once again he could not place a paw on the emotion which suddenly gripped his throat and made speech difficult; something deeper in him realised he hadn’t had to consider how he felt on a matter for years. Looking back up to the red panda, this bastion of reassurance and self-congruence, he gestured to the keys. “After you, ma’am.”

 

[Pomodu lu Modokunomulo]

Pomodu eagerly watched Whisper's example, her eyes darting between the keys and the sheet music to compare the sequence. Despite her exuberance and many apparent misunderstandings, she wasn't slow; when invited to take a turn at the piano, she hovered her paw over the keys and, delicately, played out the sequence using the blunted tips of her claws. The greater difficulty for her seemed to be in the fine motor control to press the key she intended, rather than the one next to it, and it took her three tries before she got the sequence correct.

"Da'tu i'su righ'teh?" she inquired, pulling her paw away from the keys and looking anxiously to Whisper and Berchar for approval. For whatever reason, she seemed especially eager to please with her performance.