Chapter Text
Voyager enjoyed the mountains.
They were quieter than the city, but full of life nevertheless; the sounds of nature, birds, footprint crunches in the snow and leaves in autumn, the beautiful landscapes that turned first green, then yellow and finally white as the seasons passed and the trees changed their coats.
It was a marvel to admire, and it often inspired Voyager to pick up her violin and play it to sing a hymn to nature and its passing wonders.
It was November, and yet snow already coated the mountain tops. The white path trailed down, almost down to the valley. The days were shortening, and braziers already crackled inside the fireplace to keep families warm.
Voyager was playing the violin on a rock formation covered in snow, and the nearby birds seemed to have come out of their nests to listen to her. Her sound was as clear as a cloudless night, notes twinkling to life like stars in the sky.
Once she was done, she put away the violin and was interrupted by a voice. "Nice playing you've got there, miss!"
Startled, she turned to look at who had talked – a boy decked out in winter clothes, carrying a few chunks of wood that looked a bit too heavy for him; nevertheless, fatigue didn't seem to dim his grin.
Voyager smiled, putting the violin back in its case and closing it. "Thanks."
The boy put down his wood for a second and caught up to her. "Are you alright? You look very lightly dressed for this weather."
Voyager shook her head. She was fine.
He raised an eyebrow. "If you say so, miss. Name's Tom, by the way. Pleased to meet you." He offered her his hand after removing his gloves.
Voyager hesitated, but after a brief pause she shook his hand. She wasn't really all that into the human tradition of shaking hands, but he was a child and she didn't want to disappoint him. "I'm... Voyager." she introduced herself.
"Pleased to meet you. Say, since you're already here and you don't seem to mind the cold, are you interested in joining our torchlight procession?"
Torchlight procession? Voyager was not familiar with the term. She tilted her head, signalling her confusion to the child.
"The village I come from organizes one every year to commemorate our patron saint of the town" Tom explained with a smile. "We all get torches and walk up the mountain, then we light a big bonfire and sing, eat, drink and dance all night. It's going to be fun! You up for it?"
A human tradition... Voyager had never actively taken part in one of them before. She'd usually just watch from a distance, admiring the festivities not without some confusion as to how everything worked. This was definitely a one-of-a-kind chance to get to see something new, and she was curious to watch it all play out.
"I'll be there." she promised to him with a smile.
"Great! I'll show you where my village is, then." Tom beamed. She followed him to his home town. The atmosphere was definitely festive – everyone was getting ready for the procession, it seemed, and there was hustle and bustle all around.
Tom waved goodbye to Voyager and scurried away to give his wood to an older woman, and they entered their home, disappearing from sight.
Voyager took some time to look around. For the festivities, some people had hung chains of lights that flickered intermittently and others had exposed flowers or other similar arrangements.
Most people were too busy to greet or pay any attention to her, but she didn't mind. She got to enjoy the atmosphere on her own terms, and while the hubbub of working humans was much noisier than the usual sounds of nature, she liked it all the same. She couldn't help but smile and even caught herself imitating a hummed tune she'd heard one woman sing as she was preparing the decorations for the event.
As the time of the torchlight procession grew nearer, people started to gather in the central plaza. Everyone got handed a torch; Voyager received one as well, and once the number of people grew big enough, they started walking up the mountain.
Voyager walked within humans.
They chattered amongst themselves, and some of them stopped to greet her and ask her how she liked the festivities. After a short while, someone started to sing, and soon the procession reverberated with the quiet hums of people. Voyager recognized the tune she'd heard the woman sing before, and so she joined in.
All around her, fire crackled quietly as its warmth enveloped the crowd. Sometimes they sang. Sometimes they talked, cheered and chattered. Sometimes they even said things in a language unknown to her, in their native dialect. The mountain itself seemed to come alive as people climbed, a million lights shining and moving slowly upwards.
Voyager looked down and her eyes widened in amazement. From where she was, she saw specks of light all over a darkened mountain – it looked like a night sky, living, thriving.
It looked like home.
As they reached their destination, they stopped in a clearing quite up the mountain, though not at its peak.
There were already some people waiting there, and some evidently had been there a while to prepare everything for the bonfire; to everyone's cheers, the first embers were tossed inside and soon, a big bonfire illuminated the sky.
Voyager tossed her torch inside as well, and she joined in the festivities as best she could. As Tom had promised, people made rounds with food and drinks, and soon everyone was sharing stories, taking turns around the bonfire, laughing, cheering and celebrating.
As she sat down somewhat away from everyone to take it all in, Tom joined her. "I finally found you, miss Voyager! So glad you could make it!" he said with a grin.
"Are you enjoying yourself?"
Voyager nodded eagerly, a sincere smile spreading across her face. Tom looked at her pensively for a second, then asked her: "Hey, what about you play the violin for us? Your piece back there was really cool!"
Voyager hesitated, looking down at her hands. "Wouldn't that be unwelcome?"
She feared ruining the celebration – this was a festival for humans, after all, and she was just that – a traveller. A voyager. She was merely a passerby in their world.
Tom shook his head vigorously. "Are you kidding? The saint of our village stood for peace and union for all. If anything, it would make the celebration even more awesome!" he said with a little happy spin.
Voyager couldn't help but chuckle. "I'll do it then. For everyone."
She stood up and walked towards the bonfire. After Tom got everyone's attention and introduced her, she tuned and then started playing the violin.
She did her own rendition of the song she'd heard several times now, first from the woman and then throughout the celebration, but she added her own spin – she started with a reproduction of the sounds of the mountains, then the theme first quietly and then more and more vigorously as more and more people cheered her on, sang alonside her, clapped their hands to it and finally gave a big loud cheer as she ended the improvised piece with a sped-up and virtuoso rendition of the theme.
Her melody was no longer hers alone – it was the universe and the ocean of stars she brought mixed with the cheers of the people, the ember that became a bonfire, the sea of torches, the sounds of nature, and the wildlife of the mountain.
It was their melody.
As the festivities went on into the night and eventually faded away, Voyager felt a deep sense of community to this world and to these people and she took an important decision: from that day on, she'd been reborn in this world. It was her "birthday".