The Pale Scout

I have been working on The Pale Scout for a few weeks now. It is an orchestral/soundtrack song for KAITO. I did something similar some time ago, it is The Bringer of Black. This time I work with my sturdy headphones, my monitors are taking a break back in UK.

Without further ado, here is The Pale Scout's backstory:

Kaito, a minstrel sings about an ancient folklore about a Pale Scout who was sent into the jungle to find the legendary Gold Lake. He was also responsible to map out the jungle and finding a good path to build a road. Unfortunately, like many countless other scouts who were sent into the treacherous jungle, he never came back. Thus, the plan to seek out the Gold Lake was cancelled. The jungle was left untouched for several centuries. Until recent years, when town expands and needs more land, people start to clear the jungle. However, there was a rumor that a pale rider, the symbol of Death is guarding the deeper parts of the jungle. Thus, the legend of Gold Lake is again emerging from the stories and songs of storytellers and minstrels alike, gaining an almost immediate popularity in the town and the country. 

Above is the whole reason why KAITO is singing the song. Now to the story of the Pale Scout himself:
His name is Gevore Bard. When he was just a newborn baby, his pale cloudy white coloured eyes and hair were hated and despised because it symbolizes ill omen in the village. Yes, he was an albino child. The village however, does not allow killing of a human baby, so Gevore's parents had to keep him no matter what. Even though his parents took care of him relatively well, they secretly wanted to dispose of him. On his third birthday, a tragedy happened. Gevore's parents poisoned his food, but a strange thing occured, they choked and died suddenly. Gevore cried very loudly and that attracted the neighbours. They were terrified when they found his parents' body on the ground. Not a single soul wanted to adopt Gevore in that village, so the village chief left him in front of a military encampment.

Gevore was picked up by the military men and sent to the orphanage in the nearest town. The people there had no strong dislike for albinism but he was still bullied by the children because he looked different. He grew up learning to spend time on his own and build contraptions to have revenge against those who dared to bully him. On his sixth birthday, he was played a prank that turned horribly wrong. A group of children decided to push him into the river but a strange thing happened, one of them slipped and they were dragged into the strong river currents, except Gevore. All the children hide from him from then onwards.

On his ninth birthday, Gevore was offered to join the military school at the capital. Cadets there looked at him curiously but did not approach him. His dream was to be a general, like a brave warrior. He trained and studied at the best of his abilities for years, all the while with that target in mind. On his fifteenth birthday, his dream was crushed. He was appointed to be a scout. Not a soldier.  He fell into depression but picked himself up and work hard to be a reliable scout. 

As years went by, Gevore had his fair share of war experience and was a very dependable scout for the army. He married a fair lady and they had great times together. When his daughter was born, his wife died. With sheer will, he went over the sadness and brought up his only daughter by himself. His daughter was not an albino like him, so he was relieved in many ways. They were very close to each other. He was near retirement when his last assignment was to find the Gold Lake in a supposedly haunted jungle. There, he saw a ghost of a girl who looked exactly like his daughter. Unable to shook off the bad feeling, he followed her into the depths of the jungle. That is where he met the Grim Reaper. 

The Grim Reaper grimace at him and laughed at his expression when he was showed the terrible past. His death was set when he was three, but somehow he escaped it. Every three years, the Grim Reaper will come to get him, but he always avoided his demise. During his career as the scout in war, the Grim Reaper ignored him because there were too many deaths to collect. However, now that his life is heading towards a peaceful one, the Grim Reaper chased him once more. Gevore surrendered himself in exchange for the safety of his daughter and close friend's life. The Grim Reaper agreed and grinned sheepishly before possessing Gevore.

And then, centuries passed.