Vagabond Tales – The Tale

by | Jun 27, 2017 | Vagabond Tales

A tribe is a kind of family. A family of souls born under the stars. A group that comes together to celebrate their lives. To strengthen each other. To mend broken hearts. To encourage choices that will change the whole tribe forever.

Our band of vagabonds came together with music and laughter, often playing through the day and night in a wonderful celebration of our freedom! But you must recall- things have not always been as they are now. Once, not so very long ago there was a tear in the fabric of our people. Some decided to chase after the moon, taking their caravans, their children and their music with them. They traveled off into the dark blue of the night until they were swallowed up and disappeared. The remaining members stayed in the sun, content to stay put, happy in their world.

Happy, that is, but for two young musicians- a girl, Luna, from the new Moon people, and a boy, Sol, from the people who lived beneath the Sun. They were joined together as friends and torn apart by the separation of the tribe. Destined to be together, and doomed to be apart- for his fiddle sang beneath the scorching sun during the day while she slumbered, and she was awake at night, playing to the glow of the moon while he slept.

He dreamed of her beneath the trees, under the indigo sky and she imagined him on the dusty sands of daylight and their memories of each other grew dim.

Now these two feuding tribes have always used music as a way of expressing themselves spiritually. The elders once wrote that a series of musical challenges would bring them together again to determine who would lead the musical revels. The victor destined to wear the golden sash as the spiritual leader of this land…a position of highest admiration bringing with it the sacrifice of a life of solitude. And so, when the sun and the moon align themselves over the sacred ground the call to battle is heard. The chosen will converge on this place. They call this place Kumpania…
Sol and Luna found themselves face-to-face, older and different, yet they recognized each other immediately. But now, it appeared as though Time had conspired to bring them together for the competition- not as friends, no, but as rivals-strangers who must compete with each other to win the coveted prize. As the fiddles began to play, they separated, knowing that they were now representing two parts of one tribe, competing to rule.

All around them, the competition raged on, with Moon music battling the sound of the Sun. And although the contest seemed to be in good fun, don’t let yourself be fooled- there was an underlying desire by all to capture the golden sash! Rivalries heat up quickly when there’s a prize to be captured… or to be held onto. Luna noticed the looks of admiration being given to Sol and the looks of disapproval she was being given by the girls from the Sun tribe. He was obviously a favored contestant, his fiddle singing high and clear above everyone else’s.

But sometimes even the most unlikely competitors can prove to be more of a challenge than expected. The competition was fierce, and alliances were quickly drawn.

In the midst of the battle, Sol was distracted by fiddle-playing as fine as his own. To his surprise he realized that his strongest competition was his oldest friend, Luna!

In between the many musical trials, Sol hung his head in exhaustion and defeat. He had not expected it to be so difficult. Luna broke away from the Moon tribe and sat beside him, whispering words of encouragement, lifting his spirits. And as he reached out to hold her- he was swept away by a girl from his tribe, whisked away from Luna.

At the same time the call was given for the final challenge- everyone’s last chance. Thinking she had been rejected in favor of others, the girl from the Moon tribe had determined to rise to the top, at all costs. If she was meant to be alone, she would be alone wearing the golden sash.

She gritted her teeth, and tried not to look over at the boy. She looked up at the Moon, her one constant, and she played as she has never played before, her bow flying across her strings. And determination won out as she was proclaimed the winner, the leader of the Vagabond caravans. Although she had won, as she watched Sol walk off into the darkness around the caravans, Luna knew she had lost something as well.

So our new leader had a heavy heart. All around her, vagabonds were consoling each other on their loss, sharing food and drink, laughing. Yet she remained alone, distanced by her position, held apart from the others by a golden sash. So Luna determined to harden her heart once again, and not let herself feel weak and alone. She was the leader now. If she was meant to be alone, she would be alone, no matter what the cost. She had worked too hard to throw it all away for someone else.

And so, as the morning came, and the caravans slowly moved on, the new leader had announced she would leave, alone, to live in solitude, only returning when she had new music to share. The two tribes would return to their separate and different worlds. There seemed little use in trying to work things out after so many years of discord. One by one she bade farewell to both Sun and Moon tribe members. And again she found herself alone with Sol. She had promised herself she would be hard, determined, that she would be haughty and distant. But she simply couldn’t. She held him close, and for a brief moment, Sun and Moon were one. But then he left her, heading off to the horizon where the sun was rising, and she turned sadly in the other direction to follow the disappearing moon into the hills of dusk, between day and night, alone.

Time passed slowly. In the hot sun, he played with the other tribe members, thinking of her. They all thought back to the friends they had made, the wonderful music that had come from Moon and Sun together. Their music alone sounded hollow without all of the players. And so they began to call out with their instruments to the faraway Moon tribe. And there, in the distance, there was a return to their call. The Moon tribe was desolate. The night had never seemed so lonely before. The loneliness was too much to bear. Alone in the hills of Dusk, between the day and night, Luna had many questions. Many questions, but no one to answer them for her. The night had never seemed so lonely before. Why should they be apart because of some long-forgotten feud? If they were indeed born under the same stars, weren’t they destined to be together?

The Sun and Moon tribes met at the hills of Dusk, where Luna waited. A new choice was made, and they chose Love. And from that day on, the music has been heard as we played to both the Sun and the Moon, through the hot days and the cool nights, and the dark tones of one camp have mixed with the warm harmonies of the other. And the resulting mix has been the most beautiful music ever heard.

 

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