Chapter Twenty Five: "The Concert"

Lord Wyldon was terrified. He had to go onstage and tell every one who'd come to hear the Tortallans play – which was quite a lot of people – that there would be no Tortallans. No playing. No music. No band. Drawing a deep breath, he began to take slow steps up to the stage. Making his way to the center, he finally faced the angry-looking audience.

"L-ladies, and g-gentlemen," he began, horrified at what might ensue. "The band w-will not be pl-playing tonight, as they are all – for the most part, anyway – deceased…"

He was met with mass booing, and cringed. Dropping to the ground, he wrapped his arms around himself, trying to avoid being hit with the vast amount of rotten vegetables being hurled in his direction. When suddenly, a lone trumpet began to play…

Alanna had returned. Her body, although full of holes, speckled throughout her torso, arms and legs, continued to live on.

Soon, she was joined by a flute. Daine – still a doll – was only barely managing to hold up her instrument, when another flautist and a clarinet joined in. Thayet, uniform- less was back, as was Kalasin with beautifully manicured nails.

Next, came the sounds of three more clarinets, and another trumpet. Neal – completely bald, Cleon – with tire marks down his chest, Kel, and Seaver – with a large hole in the middle of his chest, were all on the stage playing like there was no tomorrow.

Then, Owen returned, adding his drum to the mix of music, despite the huge throbbing lump on his forehead, and then came Buri, playing her alto saxophone while balancing a baby I nher arms. Then there was Raoul, Jon and Myles – with a beer bottle clearly stuck in the middle of his neck.

Finally, Coram, George, Lalasa, Merric, Numair and even Onua were all back, and playing as beautifully as they possibly could.

Lord Wyldon knew then, that he was the happiest conductor-in-training to ever walk the halls of badn camp. Proudly, he rose to his feet, brushed the tomato juice and carrot stems off, and stepped up to the front of the band. What had been an "interesting" noise to begin with was suddenly intensified once Wyldon started conducting.

The band was toget her, and although their happy times at band camp were over for now, they would always stand unified as one.

A perfect band.

(Even if their music still sorta sucked.)

Authoress's Notes: The End! Thank you so much everyone! All of you wonderful people who reviewed and put up with this story through it's very bare beginnings waaay back in 2003. This truly was a work of… well… not love… insanity maybe, and I'm very glad that it has been completed. Thank you all!