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Wind Chimes

Summary:

Lucky Rabbit Noisette hears a mysterious, bell-like sound while napping. She decides to find the source of the music, taking Noise with her. It turns into an eventful afternoon for her!

Notes:

Another story set in my Book Store AU - a fantasy world take on Pizza Tower. I enjoyed writing cute interactions between the characters; I hope you enjoy reading them~

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

The gentle zwsh-zwsh of the lake water lapping against the bank. The keening buzz of small insects in the grass. The radiant warmth of Sun above and boulder beneath. The comforting presence next to her. And of course, the soft, quiet breeze playing with her fur. Noisette the Lucky Rabbit sure felt at peace in this moment. She was drowsing on a boulder on a wonderfully sunny afternoon, her Kobold boyfriend, Noise, sound asleep beside her. With her eyes closed, she took in all the sounds and smells of the woods surrounding their sleeping spot. She could even smell smoke drifting this way on the breeze; the bookstore was closed today: its draconic owner was at home. Despite mild protests from Noise, she had chosen this specific spot for their afternoon nap because of that dragon. They were close enough to his home that there would be no Hunters to worry about. She was certain he knew they were here, but Mister Dragon wasn’t all that bad; he would let them be so long as they stayed out of his hair (not that he had much of that!) She smiled lazily to herself at that thought. Too relaxed to even giggle.

A swift gust of wind ruffled her long ears and brought a faint, musical sound with it.

tngg-tngg tngtngtnggg

It was almost like bells, she thought. Noisette opened her eyes and perked her ears. She listened carefully. The wind had died down. The bell-sound had stopped. She waited for a few minutes, but the breeze stayed soft and quiet, and didn’t bring any more curious music with it.

Noise snuffled as he shifted beside her in his sleep. His tail curled a little bit tighter around her and he buried his face further into her pink fur. She gave him a little kiss on his cheek in response.

tnggggg tngg-tngggggg

There it was again! Just as the breeze blew stronger! It seemed like it was coming from the direction of town. She gently shook Noise to waken him.

“Hngrgh huh?” he replied groggily. “What’s wrong?”

“Can you hear that music?” she asked him. It was faint, but the swift breeze was still carrying the sound towards them.

Noise lifted himself upright to listen. “I can’t hear any music,” he said after a moment. Noisette’s ears drooped a bit. “Your hearing is much better than mine, bun,” he reassured her. “I’m sure it’s just too quiet for me to hear. Is the old dragon playing music in his house?”

“It’s not coming from that direction,” she explained. She pointed with one ear. “It sounds like it’s coming from town. It’s so lovely; I wonder what it could be?” The wind died down once again, taking the bell-sound with it. She made a pouty face and wiggled her ears. Noise grinned at her. She was so cute with that face! He knew she wanted to find where the sound was coming from. She was tenacious about things like that; he loved her for it.

“I was getting hungry anyways,” he said. “Why don’t we stop by our place first though? You can put on one of your nice dresses and we’ll go to that cafe you like.” Noisette perked up, wiggling her cotton tail and smiling. “Oh yes! Let’s do that! I know exactly which one I want to wear!” she exclaimed happily. The pair dropped down from their warm perch and raced each other back to their home.



Being in town always made Noisette a little nervous. Despite her Good Luck helping to make her less obviously a Lucky Rabbit in a dress, there were just so many people around. There was always a chance one of them could be affected by her Bad Luck in a big way, which could make them suspicious of her. She was very small in comparison to most of the residents here and had no ability to protect herself other than what her magical luck provided. Which she of course had no way to control. It could be frustrating and even frightening at times.

Noise had gone off somewhere soon after they had eaten lunch at Noisette’s favourite cafe. She didn’t think he would try to sneak into the bookstore, not when he had told her he would help her find the source of the wind music. Still, she decided to have a look there first. At least she could visit Mister Goo-seppe, her dear friend who worked there.

Thankfully, Noisette knew how to find the place; the building was rather small and didn’t stand out much. It was crammed between larger buildings down a side road which didn’t lead anywhere else. The two larger buildings didn’t seem to be in use. The store front was unremarkable, with nothing other than the large sign above the door which read: “Dragon’s Hoard Books”. She hopped up to one of the front windows, standing on tip-paw to look inside. There was no activity. Of course, the bookstore was closed, so neither Peppino the owner, nor Vigi, the assistant manager were there. She’d hoped to have spotted Goo-seppe, who never left the bookstore, but she could see nothing. She tapped a few times on the glass.

After a minute or two she saw them poke their head around a doorway towards the back of the room. She waved enthusiastically to get his attention. Goo-seppe’s default expression was always grinning, but when he caught sight of his friend, his smile grew much larger, exposing his sharp teeth. They moved quickly to open the door for Noisette.

“Ffrienddd!” they cried as she stepped inside. “Happy to sgee friend! Alone t today?” Goo-seppe swished his long tail back and forth, dripping goopy clay all over the floor. He dropped down to his belly, limbs in a very frog-like stance. It was only polite to be at the same level as his friend, instead of looming over her!

“I was looking for Noise, actually,” she replied. “I guess he hasn’t come here?”

Goo-seppe pondered for a moment. “Nno vigisters today. No zneak in.” She figured that was the case, but she still felt a little disappointed. It must have shown on her face, because his grin dropped a little and he cocked his head to one side. “Missig? Noise missig?”

“Not really missing ,” she said. “He just ran off somewhere in the middle of our search and I don’t know where he might have gone.”

Goo-seppe’s tail curled into a question mark shape. “Zzearchh?” they asked.

“I could hear a musical bell sound from in the forest today. Noise couldn’t hear it, but the two of us came into town to try and find where it was coming from,” she explained. “But after we had lunch, he disappeared!” She crossed her arms and made a grumpy face. Goo-seppe smiled at her and gently tugged her tail in a teasing manner; he knew she wasn’t really mad. Her facade broke and she giggled, flopping her long ears from side to side. She gave them a kiss on their nose.

Goo-seppe laying on the ground with his legs in a frog-like pose. His tail is curling happily over his head. Lucky Rabbit Noisette is giving him a friendly kiss on his nose. She is wearing a floral dress.

“Well I’ll just have to look for it myself!” she exclaimed.

“Cgome with bell-szound, maybe?” Goo-seppe asked her. “Noise find?”

“You may be right,” Noisette agreed. “I would just feel a little better if he was with me. There are so many people out there today! Would you come to search with me?” Goo-seppe immediately shrunk back on himself, eyes wide. They stared fearfully towards the door.

“N noooo, not go…..” he said quietly. She knew it had been a long-shot to ask; Goo-seppe never left the bookstore, as far as she knew. She patted him on the head, trying to reassure him.

“It’s okay Mister Goo-seppe, you can stay here. I just thought I would ask.” They calmed a bit and made a trilling croak sound in the back of their throat. She didn’t speak frog, but it sounded positive.

She turned towards the door. “Time for me to go, okay?” Goo-seppe unfolded his limbs and stood up to open the door for her. They both said their goodbyes for the day and Noisette headed back into town, towards the shopping area. Perhaps one of the stores was selling something that could make bell sounds?



It really was quite busy today! There were obviously people here from out of town. Noisette wondered if it was some sort of holiday. She kept herself out of the way as much as possible, although there were a few times when someone tripped or bumped into another person or shop display. She hoped they wouldn’t think too much of it. The wind tugged at her dress as she stood in front of a display of other colourful dresses and hats. Suddenly she hears it close by!

tngg-tngg tnnggggggg-tnggtnggtngg

cling-cling cling-cling

clikk-clakk clkclk

There are many different sounds together! They’re each different from one another, but she still hears the musical bell-sound over the rest. Noisette races away to the source of the wind music just before the owner of the dress shop accidentally knocks over one of their displays. The commotion keeps everyone’s attention off of Noisette.

She finally found it! One of the shops has a big display out front of beautiful wind instruments, each one unique from its fellows. There were wooden ones, metal ones, even intricately decorated glass ones! The sign on top of the display reads: Wind Chimes. They all make music together when the wind blows through them, making it difficult to tell which was the one she had been hearing all afternoon. She was so enamoured with the chimes that she didn’t immediately notice that Noise wasn’t here. Either he couldn’t find this place or he became distracted by something else. That thought tried to make her a little upset, but she knew he couldn’t help it sometimes. Besides, she was able to find the wind chimes all by herself! She felt a little braver for that.

“Is there something I can help you with, Miss?” asked the shopkeeper, a young woman with very long, curly hair. She had a kind face and wore a similar style of dress as Noisette herself. “Do you need me to bring one down for you?”

“Oh! Umm…maybe?” Noisette stammered. She blushed. “I’m not sure which one though… There was one making such a lovely bell-sound, but I can’t tell which one it is!”

The young woman smiled at her. “I don’t mind if you try them out. People passing by do it anyway,” she said with a laugh. She ducked back into her shop for a moment and brought out a small stool, which she set up for Noisette to stand on. “Please go right ahead!” She helped Noisette hop up onto the stool and then stood back to let her try the chimes. One by one she knocked the chimes hanging in front of her. They all made lovely music, giving her a pleasant feeling in her head, like sitting at the front of her and Noise’s burrow during a rain shower. The fifth chime she tried was the one she had been searching for. The one which caught her attention back in the forest during her nap. It was almost as tall as she was! The bars which hung down were made of metal and made such a lovely deep bell sound when they struck each other! Her heart swelled with joy and she smiled and wriggled with happiness. She had to bring it home! It would be wonderful to hear that sound right outside the burrow!
“Excuse me, can I buy this from you?” she asked. “I love how it sounds so much!” The shop owner smiled sweetly at her. “Of course, dear,” she said. “I accept money or magic as payment!”

Noisette turned to reach into her dress pocket. It was empty. She hadn’t brought any money. Noise had their money, he paid for lunch! Her heart dropped. She had no magic that could be used as payment. Her face flushed as she looked up at the shop owner.

“I….I’m sorry…” she said, her voice quivering. She tried desperately to hold back her emotions. “I forgot I don-”

“I’MHEREI’MHEREI’MHEREI’MHERE!” Noise came rushing up just at that moment. He stopped to catch his breath; obviously he had been running for a while. Noisette and the shop owner stared in surprised shock as he stood panting for a moment, his tongue hanging out, the dust settling from his rapid entrance.

“I’m sorry,” he started. “I’m sorry I left you alone, Noisette. I suddenly thought about what the sound might be coming from and realized I would need more money to buy it. If that was the case… Sorry that I ran off…” He looked at her sheepishly. “You know how I act on a thought sometimes…” He opened his claws to reveal crumpled paper money. Noisette wasn’t sure how he would have gotten more money, unless he decided to sell some of his valuables (or steal it, which she hoped wasn’t the case). She jumped into his arms, wrapping her paws around him in a grateful hug. She smiled hugely and gave him multiple kisses. His candle flame burned brightly, sputtering a bit out of joy.

They finally paid for the wind chimes, which the young woman even tied carefully into a bag. She seemed to pick up on the importance of this purchase and reassured Noisette that no time had been wasted. Noisette thanked the woman multiple times before finally taking Noise’s hand and turning to leave.

“I can’t wait to hang them up in front of the burrow!” she exclaimed, excitement coursing through her whole body. She felt like she could leap over a building right now! “It will be so nice to listen to them at night or when it’s too rainy to go out or-” She stopped. A sudden thought occurred. Her and Noise wouldn’t be the only ones listening to the wind chimes.

Noise looked at her, concerned by the sudden change of emotion. “What’s wrong, bun?” he asked. She couldn’t help it. Tears welled up in her eyes. She hugged the bag with the wind chimes close to her body.

“We won’t be the only ones hearing them,” she said quietly. “Hunters and Heroes and predators….they would be able to find our secret place because of these…” She started to cry, tears streaming down her face and dripping off her whiskers. Noise didn’t know what to do or to say. He wanted to squeeze her tight and make things work out, but she was right of course. The sound would attract anyone within earshot. He wasn’t capable of fending off most threats, unless they were something small. He frantically looked around, at a loss of what to do. There was no way they could give the wind chimes back, that wouldn’t be any less heartbreaking for her!

Whispers started circulating through the crowd surrounding them, but they weren’t aimed at the sobbing rabbit in his arms; in fact people weren’t paying them much attention at all. He could feel heavy footfalls approaching before the crowd parted. Looking up, he felt the same spike of fear as the people moving quickly out of the way.

It was the dragon! Everyone was giving him a wide berth as he ambled down the street; no one wanted to be too close to a dragon! He cut an intimidating figure amongst the crowd, standing nearly twice as tall as most humans, with his long, spiked tail flowing behind him like a banner. He had a disinterested scowl on his face, as usual, and didn’t seem to be paying much attention to the people fearfully scattering out of his path. Ordinarily Noise would have fled; the two of them certainly did not care for each other, to put it mildly; but today, he stood his ground. Noisette had her paws over her eyes, distraught and sniffling.

“Hey! Dragon!” Noise shouted. He stood as tall as he could manage, chest out, fists clenched, candle flame flickering nervously. Peppino stopped and looked down, blinking in surprise. The Kobold? He growled at it. “What do you want?” He then noticed Noisette: she was obviously very upset about something. There was a bag next to her, but he couldn’t tell what was in it. He considered her a friend, he supposed, although her Bad Luck made him nervous. He certainly didn’t like to see her crying.

“What happened?” he asked. “What did you do? Or was it someone else?” Noise scowled at the slight accusation, but he was going to be brave this time! The fat, old dragon had a soft spot for Noisette, he knew that. He decided to take advantage of it. He glared up at Peppino, trying his best to look tough.

“I’m asking for you to help us,” he said, with a slight tremor in his voice. Peppino raised an eyebrow. “Noisette has been looking for these musical wind things for half the day, and we were able to buy them, but now it turns out we won’t be able to hang them up!” Noisette sniffed and looked up. She was surprised to hear Noise asking Mister Dragon for help. They had probably never had a conversation before.

“Don’t you know somewhere we could hang them?” she asked while wiping her eyes. “Please?” she added. Peppino sighed, wisps of smoke curling from his mouth. His stomach growled; he had been on his way to dinner! Being hungry generally made him grumpy. He looked down at Noisette, the fur on her face wet from crying, one lone tear drop hanging from a whisker. He couldn’t be grumpy looking at her face! And the Kobold, standing there looking like his legs would buckle out of fear, but putting on a brave face; he felt a brief spark of admiration. This little critter, defiantly staring down a dragon! His stomach growled again and he sighed once more.

“Fine,” he grumbled. “Just for her, though!” Noisette beamed up at him. Noise looked very surprised. Peppino reached down and picked up the bag containing the wind chimes in one hand, scooping the two small critters up with the other hand. He allowed them to sit on his shoulders.

“Oh, thank you so very much, Mister Peppino!” Noisette cried happily. She gave him a hug and kissed his cheek. “Where do you think we should hang them?”

“I have somewhere in mind,” he told her. He turned around and began walking in the opposite direction to his initial destination. Noise wasn’t quite sure how to feel, sitting on the shoulder of the dragon who could so easily turn him into a snack. He was surprised that the grumpy, old lizard had been willing to help them, but he also couldn’t imagine him not wanting to help Noisette.

The trio made their way down the main street, leaving the shopping area behind. The Sun was getting low in the sky as Peppino turned down a side street, heading towards his bookstore. He hadn’t expected to make a stop here today; it was supposed to be his day off! Noisette tilted her head to one side and flopped her ears curiously. She wasn’t expecting to return here again today. But at least she could see her friend once more! Noise felt a bit nervous, his claws gripped a bit tighter into the dragon’s shoulder. He only came here to attempt to steal, never to visit. It felt a bit strange to be brought here by the bookstore owner himself!

“I thought I would let you hang your wind chimes on my store,” Peppino said to Noisette. “You would be able to listen to them anytime you came to visit Goo-seppe. I’m sure he will like them, too.” He unlocked the front door as he spoke and went inside. Immediately Goo-seppe appeared through a doorway. They looked surprised to see Peppino come in to work at this hour, and even more surprised to see his passengers! He smiled happily at Noisette and walked quickly over.

“Ffffriendd! Boss Peppino! Szo happy you c cgome vigzit!” he exclaimed. “Wworkigg tonight?” Goo-seppe tilted his head and scratched his cheek with a finger in a questioning manner. He looked over at Noise, who squirmed a little and avoided the golem’s gaze. “Noise found!” he said, happily.

“I had stopped by earlier looking for you,” Noisette told her boyfriend in response to his confused face. “We found the bell-sound, too! I can’t wait for you to hear it!” Goo-seppe’s tail swished happily, dropping more goop to the floor they had recently cleaned.

“I’m not here to start working,” Peppino explained to him. “I needed some tools to hang this thing up out front.” He indicated the bag he was holding. “Watch these two while I grab some things.” He set the bag with the wind chimes down on the front counter and motioned for Noise and Noisette to jump down. Noisette picked up the bag to untie it, so she could show the chimes to Goo-seppe. Noise sat at the edge of the counter, dangling his legs and watched Peppino go into a side room.

tnggg-tngg tngggg

Goo-seppe was holding the wind chimes as Noisette lightly hit them to make sound.

“See? Isn’t it a beautiful sound they make?” Goo-seppe was fascinated. He had never seen something like this in person! He had certainly seen them in a few of the books he’d read, but they were much more interesting when they could be played with. The sound made his head feel all tickly. It was pleasant.

“Verrr nice music,” they told Noisette. “Metal poles zhiny!” The two of them laughed together.

When Peppino returned, he was carrying a small, rectangular piece of lumber and a few tools for hanging the wind chimes. He stepped outside and attached the piece of lumber near the top of the door, between it and the window.

“Bring those chimes over here,” he beckoned to Goo-seppe with a claw. The clay golem hesitated for a moment, then walked closer to the door. He stretched out his arm to hand over the chimes, without leaving the store. Peppino gave a small snort of impatience, but didn’t say anything, instead leaning through the door to take the offered wind chimes. He secured them to the piece of lumber he had attached to the wall and stood back to make sure everything was in order. It had to look nice if it was going to be attached to his store. He flicked one of the metal tubes with a claw.

tngtngtng tngg-tngggg

His tail coiled around in satisfaction. “What do you think of that?” he asked Noisette. She hopped outside and he picked her up to have a look. The wind chimes hung upon the small piece of lumber, which stuck out from the wall. The wind could play with them nicely there! She was so happy! She wiggled and clapped her paws.

“Oh thank you thank you!!” she cried. She jumped up to give the dragon another hug and a kiss on his nose. He blushed and smiled at her, his tail twisting around itself.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” he said to her, ruffling the fur on her head. She beamed at him. Noise was looking at the hanging chimes from around the doorway. They did look nice up there, he thought. And if Noisette was happy, so was he.

tngg-tnng-tnnggg

The deep bell-sound of the chimes rang out as the wind played through them. It really was a very pleasant music.

Notes:

I hope to add a few drawings in the future, if I find the time. Please feel free to create your own art if you wish~ Tag me on tumblr at LittleWhiteRabbitB if you do! I would love to see it.