The announcement is made and all eyes turn to the sky. The ceiling is retracted and the stars revealed. A collective gasp goes up as the we see the perfect line that has formed with the stars. It snakes from the east to the west, passing almost directly across the Milky Way. 

I look over at Kristjan and smile at his gawking face. The stars are reflecting in his blue eyes, the miniscule dots of light scatered around the iris. 

He feels my gaze and lowers his head to meet my eyes.

"Amazing, isn't it?" he whispers, his voice full of wonder.

I nod and turn my gaze once more to the sky.

The crowd stands still for a while, the only sounds whispered conversations and the swish of fancy evening dresses. Eventually the music begins to play again and some of the lights turn on. People move around, some going to the dance floor and others milling about on the the edges of the room.

Kristjan leads me to some chairs that line the room and we both sit down. I can't help but admire how good he looks in his ball clothing. I had only ever seen him in dirty rags or worn common clothes, as the street children were never able to get anything better than discarded clothing.

We sit there for a while, watching the dancers twirl around the room. I admire their grace, and at the same time realize that I could never be that coordinated.

Kristjan turns to me and I look at him. He has a glint in his eye that I associate with pranks and mischief. 

"Do you want to dance?" he says, giving me a half smile.

I laugh at him, throwing my head back. 

"No."

He smiles again.

"Why not?"

I look at him. He looks genuinely curious, and I am taken aback at the thought that he actually considered asking me.

"I can't dance," I say simply, then get up and walk towards one of the many doorways that lead out to the gardens. He follows after, but I pay no heed to him. The atmosphere in the room was getting hot, and I needed to get some fresh air.

"Sprocket! Wait!"

He catches up to me outside in a small clearing between decorative shrubbery. The light from the ballroom spills out of the door, allowing me to see the look of confusion on Kristjan's face.

"Why did you come out here?" he asks.

"I needed some fresh air," I reply, lightly fanning my face.

He nods and then returns to the subject.

"Honestly though, why won't you dance?"

"I can't dance!" I say, getting rather frustrated.

"Why?"

I sigh exasperatedly. "I'm a mechanic.*"

Kristjan laughed. 

"That's no excuse."

He moves towards me and grabs my arms, placing one hand on his shoulder and the other in his. I try to resist, but his grip is firm. He puts a hand on my waist and begins to move to the music. It's a simple two-step, but I stumble and try to get away.

"I don't want to dance!" I say, but Kristjan doesn't relax his hold. He moves slowly, allowing me time to realize where to step and how to move.

"If you can't dance, I am going to teach you," he says, and then begins counting out the beat.

"One two, one two..."

Eventually I get the hang of it. I'm not the most graceful, but at least I don't step on his toes. Surprisingly I find myself enjoying it, the movements becoming familiar and fluid.

"See?" Kristjan says. "It's not that bad." 

*kudos if you get the reference! 

@Viola?, Nova is the lawful neutral wolf that was a part of the group of wolves put in charge of protecting the Crown. 

And cool, I’m glad it works! 

—

Ocean~

“Wow,” Rosephine gasps. “Who knew the stars could be so beautiful?”

“They’re stars,” Jon scoffs.

“And?” Rosephine shoots back. 

I groan internally. The twins fighting is never a good start to anything. 

I quietly slide off my seat and weave through the large crowd of people standing in the centre of the ballroom, looking up, talking, and admiring the glittering stars.

I head out onto the balcony and lift my gaze up, but the castle is too high, so it blocks any view I might have. I frown and look around, until I see a small ladder leading the the roof on the side of the balcony. 

I peer around once more to make sure that no one is watching, then I head to the ladder. 

I take one step up then another then another, and when I’m halfway there, I decide to crane my head over my shoulder and glimpse down. The ground swirls and taunts me. 

“Oh no,” I whisper, but then I shake my head. “Okay. Relax.”

I take a few more steps and collapse onto the cold, flat surface of the roof, but oddly enough, I’ve never been on a more comfortable surface in my life. 

I stand up and brush my skirt off, walking to the centre and looking up. 

“Whoa,” I gasp quietly. “The stars.”

The stars literally twinkle, and I watch quietly as the last star aligns. When it does, the skies seems to open. Northern lights explode and warp all around the air, colours of every spectrum raiding the dark night. I hear the anthem of Kyngdom playing loudly inside, but I can’t seem to hear much more. My eyes widen in amazement and I laugh out loud as flying creatures take wing and soar through the night sky, creating their own songs. 

I decide to go back inside and carefully take one step on the ladder, and then another couple down.

Then my heart stops. 

My foot slips and half of my body swings off of the ladder, causing both feet to lose balance. My left arm clutches tightly to the bar. 

I look down and gulp. That’s a massive drop.

I slowly reach for the bar again when my left hand slips. 

And I fall. 

Down. Down. Down. Down. I brace for impact, but it never comes. I look down and realise that a form of golden dust floats around me, gently lowering me to the ground. 

“What?” I ask out loud.

I take a step, and it all diminishes. 

“There must have been something in the punch,” I mutter, heading inside. Might as well dance and get my mind off of what just happened. 

—-

Mina~

”Let’s dance!” Sylenia says once more, dragging me to the near centre of the ballroom.

I groan but smile, as the Felis Folk Dance starts up.

Sylenia and I dance it perfectly without misstepping once. After all, we grew up dancing this. I snicker as the humans try to catch up to the progressing speed of the music.

Afterwards, we both head to get a refreshment, and photos are posted that were taken moments before of the stars. It’s a perfect night, a perfect setting. What could possibly go wrong?

@Viola?

Yup! 

~Mitchell

I slide into my box and Iyana goes invisible as the stars begin to align.  For a happy few minutes, I am glad to see that she is as breathless as I am.  We both stare at the stars like the rest of the auitorium, and there is silence.  

As the stars finish aligning, I get out my sketchbook and record what just happened in a few swift strokes, then put it away again.  As people leave their boxes, Iyana appears in front of me, and cries, "That was awesome!  Like the way they all aligned and --"

"Yeah, we all saw," I cut her off.  "I'm glad I got at least a few minutes without your yammering."

"Aww, come on!  I'm not that annoying!"

I leave my box as the rest of the room starts dancing again.

~~~~~~

CLEARLY I have no idea what I'm doing... 

Oh, right! How could I forget... Also, I thought there was an open roof? As in, there is no roof. Meaning Ocean couldn't go there. And where are the boxes? Sorry, I'm just trying to lay out a mental map and it's not really working. Can I get a detailed description, drawing, anything? 

Nygrune~

The stars align.

There is a collective gasp, ooh-ing and ah-ing and the snapping of photos, fading into a few long minutes of quiet appreciation. I raise my binoculars and watch the shifting constellations. The pinpricks of light glitter, white and yellow beads strung across the sky. Slowly, gradually, the long thread of those aligned begins to warp and the music starts anew.

I tear my gaze away from the above and slip towards the boxes at the edge of the ballroom. Couples begin to dance. I'm looking around the room for a partner when I feel an echo of something familiar in my core.

Magic.

I scan the room again, this time for spells. I see only dancers and watchers. The echo is gone. I've never felt magic that way before... I could look it up, I suppose, in one of my books back at base. Which means it will have to wait. I file away the thought and return my focus to the dance.

A movement catches my eye, and I notice someone still in their box. A girl, around my age, blue-haired and petite. I walk over to her.

"Hello, my name is Nygrune. May I have this dance?" 

Sorry to interrupt this RP, but I have a question. Does Nova live in Northwestern Kyngdom?

Moonshadow~ 

I've always felt out-of-place at balls. I'm a wolf. I don't dress up, I don't dance. I walk on four legs. Out in the world I feel completely normal. But these balls...they're so...human. I never feel like I belong.

Sometimes I wonder why I even attend. Maybe it gives me something to do, or maybe it's because by now I automatically expect Catastrophe to crash these and I want to be there to fight when it happens.

But this time, it's going to be even more awkward.

I haven't been around much lately. I was there and then I wasn't. I was doing important things, attending to important business. And while I was away, everything in Kyngdom kept moving. Now that I'm back after all this time, I'm not even sure what's going on, or who needs help, or what I should do. I don't know if anyone remembers me, even though I remember every one of them. 

And now I have an even bigger responsibility on my paws. Or, rather, around my neck.

I got the news about my uncle months ago.

Murdered. 

I'm still not sure who did it, but whoever it was, they did it because of the Power. And they took it. It took me months to track it down, but finally, I found it.

The little white horn hand around my neck now, glinting under the light of the wrought-iron lanterns and bejeweled chandeliers, carved perfectly into the shape of a howling wolf. I hope it won't draw any...unwanted attention.

I will do whatever is necessary to protect The Power of Howl, for now that my uncle's gone, I am it's guardian. 

I've always loved the stars. I think that's the only reason I came. And that Anwen begged me to. She enjoys the balls, even though she doesn't know many people either. I can feel her long midnight-blue skirt brush against my fur as we walk through the building, finding our reserved box seats.

My fur prickles. Is it just me, or is it getting stuffy in here? Suddenly, among all the chatter and people, I feel dizzy. I take a breath and and walk out onto the balcony for some fresh air. I take a few deep breaths, and then notice a ladder to my right. I immediately decide to climb it. It is a skill that not many of us with four legs posses, but one which I have learned, for many purposes. I can watch the aligning from the rooftop, without worrying about the people or the ball. I climb slowly, paw over paw, until I reach the top.

I walk out onto the roof, and watch the stars align. They're beautiful. They burst with an aurora of color and light, and for a moment, it's hard to believe they aren't alive. My breath catches in my throat as I stare at the string of white lights, like snowflakes on a black roof, and suddenly I forget about everything else, about the ball and my discomfort, and I simply stare in awe. Then, slowly, the stars move away from one another, going back to where they came from.

I glance across the rooftop, and for the first time, I notice a girl with golden curls in a blue dress standing there. So I'm not the only one. She turns and begins going down a ladder on the opposite side of the roof, and suddenly, I hear her give a barely audible yelp, and hear the ting of someone slipping off a ladder. I cringe and wait for the thud at the bottom, praying she'll be okay, but it never comes.

Strange.

I trot to the edge of the roof and peer down. She floats in a cloud of gold dust, lowered gently to the ground. Confused, I decide it's time to go back.

When I enter the ballroom again, the dancing has begun. I sigh, and go sit in a somewhat shadowy corner, watching the couples spin and turn, skirts swishing, feet gliding, shoes tapping, only just audible.

~~~~~