//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Synth Fish // Story: Syren Song // by Lucario247 //------------------------------// Chapter 4: Synth Fish "Prancing Prince Pisces, Syren! That's basically the equivalent of a date, there." exclaimed Ripple Syren had met with her friend shortly after the end of class to tell her the news. "It's not a date! It's a vocal training session, that'll increase the volume and intensity of the trainees voice!" Syren flustered. "Ooh, sounds sexy." replied Ripple with a wink. Syren blushed and became even more flustered with her arguments. "Alright girl, calm down. You just gotta play it cool." Ripple grabbed her best friend's shoulders, "That's it. Breathe in. Breathe out." Syren proceeded to inhale and exhale a gillful of water as her BFF continued. "Just be nice and become friends. You can slowly work your way up from there. Just take it nice and slow, and don't lose your head." Syren sighed, "Thanks Ripple. I needed that pep talk." She sort of bowed to her friend.  "That's what friends are for, girl. Now get on over there. You don't want to keep Mr. Ray waiting." she said in a sly voice. Syren turned to leave, but was stopped when Ripple said, "Oh. And if you guys start flipping around, (flipping=f*cking in Capricore slang), just remember that I called it." Syren turned and swam of towards The Reef, her cheeks red from the thought. Ray was waiting by her usual red coral spot. His back was to her, as he was admiring a school of red and yellow fish. When she swam up, he turned and smiled. "Hey. I thought you'd forgotten." "Sorry, I was just, uh, um...just uh..." "C'mon. Play it cool. You can do this." she willed herself. "I was letting my mom know where I was. Yeah! I was doing that. Heheh, yeah..." He nodded. But neither talked for a while. To break the awkwardness, Syren said, "Well, let's hear what you've got." "Oh. Okay." he said, "Um you don't mind if the fish do some background music, do you?"  "The fish? I guess not." she said, confused. He smiled and motioned for the school to come towards him. They swam behind his head and assembled in a slope, like a hood. "Alright. Here goes." said Ray with a small exhale One of the fish began a soft piano melody. Others put in a beat. One was doing a sort of staticy sound, like waves crashing onto a shore. The sound increased and then faded as Ray began to sing. "Lookin up, There's always sky. Rest your head. I'll take you high. We won't fade into darkness,  Won't let you fade into darkness. Why worry now? You'll be safe. Hold my hoof Just in case. And we won't fade into darkness, Fade into darkness! No we won't fade into Darkness, Fade into Darkness!" The fish then conducted a strange synth conduction, that melded the original piano tune with some white noise and kick-and-snares. Ray did a little dance as he waited for the second verse. "This world can seem Cold and gray, But you and I Are here today. And we won't fade into darkness Fade into darkness Nothing to fear, But fear itself. We'll be okay Just keep the faith. And we won't fade into darkness Fade into darkness! No we won't fade into Darkness, Fade into Darkness!" The fish continued with the electronic sounds. Ray began the finale, singing some dispersed "Ooooohooohoh's" and "Fade into Darkness's" And then as the song ended he stomped his forehooves on the ground and panted from his dancing and singing. "Well? How'd I do?" he gasped Syren hadn't realized it, but sometime during the song, her mouth had gone completely slack and had fallen open. She quickly shut her gaping mouth and shook herself back to reality. "How'd you do that?..." she said after a long time of awed silence. "What? The fish? Oh, that's just a thing I can do." he said, trying to sound as modest as possible. He showed Syren his flank. She blushed a little bit from the exposure but then focused on the marking on his hip. It was a picture of a stingray gliding with many fish swimming around it. "This symbolizes my special talent. I have a deep connection with sea creatures." "I know of a sea creature that could use a deep connection." she blurted, "My pet Batray, Jet." "I'll have to meet him some other time, I have to go." he said, noticing the time. "Oh, ok then." Ray smiled warmly at her, his short green mane shifting in the soft current, "Thanks again for the training! Maybe we could do it again sometime..." "Ah, uh...sure!" she stammered "I'll see you tomorrow, Syren!" he said as he swam away. She watched him until he was no longer visible. Syren sat on the red coral and then began processing the events of the afternoon. "Wait til Ripple years about this...!" she chuckled to herself. (Song is Fade into Darkness by Avicii)