SkeleTones

Varying instruments clattered to the ground in a heap at Razel’s feet. He shook out the bag and folded it over his arm, addressing the undead gathered before him.

“This is why we’re here. We’re putting a band together.”

Five skeletons exchanged uncertain glances, expressions limited by lack of meat. Wodehaus pointed to the pile and voiced a concern.

Clack clackety clatter? Clatter clack clack.

Razel frowned.

“Flutes and horns were the easiest to find, alright?”

Clack clackety-

“FINE, you can have the damn Koto. Not my fault you don’t have lungs.”

Clackety-

“Shut it.”

He lobbed the stringed instrument at his house guard who caught it in a deft motion. The skeleton to Wodehaus’ left gnashed and twitched, bound in a straightjacket that looked like it had been left as a relic of his living days. Unfortunately, it had a smell to match.

“Yeah, you get a Banshee’s Blade.”

Razel gathered and unsheathed a ragged sword, then walked up and set it tightly into the jacket’s straps. A wailing metallic mouth sat in front of the desiccated lips. Razel took a step back and framed the image with his fingers, adjusting the straps for maximum flair.

“Don’t worry about getting the words right, the sword will do the work. Just…I don’t know, twitch to the beat?”

His sanitarium skeleton gnashed a reply, bouncing to a rhythm audible to itself alone. Confident in his singer, Razel turned, bent over, and picked up a pair of Lyres, wandering to his two rimebound dead and placing the strings in their frozen fingers.

“There. Remember – you, you’re taller than a tree, and you, you’re not a bumblebee.”

They looked to each other, glanced themselves over, and shrugged, identical features making delineation a pointless exercise. Razel returned to the pile, tossing aside a didgeridoo and withdrawing a large drum bound with treated leaves. He handed it to the final skeleton, its rags draped from a continually rebuilt frame whose singularity of sources was questionable at best. The creature tapped it lightly, a subdued bom catching it unaware.

“Hold on, we’re not ready just yet.”

The bony band inspected their instruments individually. Razel placed the remaining flutes and horns into his bag, keeping out a spotlight built from a worn powerstone. After tossing the sack into a conveniently portable hole, he climbed a nearby tree and sat on an extended bough, anchoring the light to the space in front of him.

“So I need you guys to make this convincing. You’re not making the music, but they don’t need to know that. The important thing is to convince them of the sincerity of our little danse macabe. If we succeed, I win the bet. If they call us on it, I lose. Simple, right?”

One of the rimy skeletons raised a hand.

“…yes?”

It gestured in lieu of audible articulation, agitated by something about its instrument. Razel buried his head in his hands.

“They’re the same. Different detailing but functionally identical.”

It gestured with more vigor, drawing attention to the other Lyre.

“THEN TAKE IT. I DON’T CARE.”

The two traded toys, both seeming pleased with the exchange. Razel pointed at Wodehaus, his voice thick with irritation.

“Don’t even start to complain, that’s the only Koto we have.”

After taking a moment of offense, Wodehaus irritably stuck a single note. Razel paid it no mind and continued.

“So the piece we’re going to do is a bit stranger than the songs you’re used to. Except maybe you.”

The sanitarium skeleton was in the midst of particularly excited headbanging, his own skull missing the handle of the sword in his shirt by centimeters each time.

“…right. Now, this-”

Razel pulled a horseshoe-shaped object from his sleeve, thick and squared at the edges.

“-is a Resonator. It will play the music through you.”

He plugged it into the spotlight, and with a few flicks of some buttons the device began to emit a barely audible thumping. At the sound of the beat, the skeletons began to bob their heads, the straightjacketed individual slowing to keep the time.

“All you have to do is pantomime musical talent and the effects will do the rest. Easy enough?”

They all nodded in unison as Razel grinned widely.

“Alright, let’s get this rehearsal on the road. In 3…2…1…”