Nygrune~

The girl looks away anxiously. "No." She glances back, for a moment. "I-I'm sorry, no thank you."

I bow slightly. "Perhaps some other time." 

A young lady with an eager tongue accepts my offer, and I find out a few interesting things about the diplomatic meeting as we dance. We converse for a few more songs, until another boy cuts in. I let him, and wander out to the gardens for another look at the stars.

Kimi~

I've never been to a 'ball' before. I've heard of them...but apparently I didn't get the memo that you're supposed to wear fancy clothes to one.

I look down at my traveling clothes. I'm wearing all my belongings over my shoulder in a tightly closed satchel, and my bow is strung across my back. I glance back to what everyone else is wearing. Dresses...jewelry...very different from my own attire. I briefly reflect that I've never been one to enjoy dresses anyway.

I shrug. There's so many people here, nobody will probably notice me. And that's how I like it.

For a while I simply wander around, gazing at the shiny decorations that someone had the bright idea to hang within arm's reach. Silver spoons, fancy plates. Jewelry on almost every attendant. I tell myself to look but not touch.

The night is relaxing, and the mood at the ball is calm. Music plays softly; people dance and talk.  It is announced that the stars will soon align.

I remember, back when I lived in the Deocy Forest, when the stars would align once a year. Legend had it that the line they formed pointed the way out of the Forest--but if you followed the line in the wrong direction you'd be lost forever. No one in the tribe ever took that risk--except for me, once, when I was eight. As soon as the stars formed that line across the sky--I was out of there. It was an urge I couldn't control--I just knew that I had to get out of those woods. And somehow, I knew which way to go--which way was the right way--which way would lead to freedom. But my parents came after me. I desperately tried to stay ahead...I could even feel what must've been a breeze coming from the outisde of the Forest--but they finally caught me and took me back to our camp. What I had been feeling that night was called hope, my parents explained. Hope was the Decoy Forest's greatest weapon; it was deadly to anyone within it. And it would be the hardest emotion to ignore.

From that day on out stayed inside my hut for the alignment of the stars. I haven't seen it happen in nearly eight years.

Suddenly the announcement comes--it's about to happen! The roof starts to open and my breath catches in my throat. I never thought I'd see this outside of the Decoy Forest.

Soon the night sky is revealed, and a collective gasp floats up from the audience. Great Claaws, I'd forgotten just how beautiful the alignment of the stars was! I watch, my neck craned upwards, as the stars travel the last few inches to join together. The final result is breathtaking, and the gathering sits in silence.

Adrenaline gets my heart pumping. The air feels crisper, sharper. Something inexplicably fills the atmosphere as the stars become a perfect line.

I need to get outside. It's too cramped in here.

I head out into the garden and breathe a sigh of relief as fresh air fills my nostrils. Suddenly, the aurora borealis explodes across the sky, lights waving and bending like water above the horizon. It's beautiful. But all too soon the stars begin to slip out of their places, and the light show starts to fade. But a subtle charge still fills the night air. 

I hear someone else come out into the garden and I slide behind a spindly bush before I can be spotted. Someone else comes out not long after--I wait until they pass me by before slipping back into the ballroom, where dancing has begun.

Ah, everyone's occupied. Now's my chance to find the food.

Top!

Oh, it's perfectly alright. I don't mind being controlled...as long as you don't make my charrie s randomly explode into rainbow confetti or something crazy.

Davina ~

"Me too."

Aha, I can already tell she doesn't like crowds of people, just like me. I note the food she's dropped is mostly from Northern Kyngdom. Aha, I'm from Northern Kyngdom!

I'm thinking I may actually respect her.

I take food, I don't really care what it is. Traveling for one half of your life and living in a village where food comes from everywhere the other half has made me like that. I note the racoon wears her traveling clothes, I wish I had thought to just wear mine here, too. It's not as if I'm going to dance.  

We make small talk, the racoon a little nervously. I finally introduce myself to her.

"My name is Davina Starr. You?"

" Oh, um, Kimi, " She replies hastily, and uncomfortably. I assume she doesn't like to converse with strangers. 

"Nice to --meet you," She adds, almost as if it was an afterthought . 

"The pleasure is mine," I reply. We go our own ways, me going to the garden.

I find a bench under a lovely cherry tree on the far end of the garden, and I sit down and eat. It's very peaceful outside, and I watch the ever familiar Aurora Borealis. 

It's not quite as majestic without mountains surrounding it, but at least it's familiar.

Some birds sing softly nearby. My cypher bleeps quietly in my pack. I pull it out and listen to what the birds are saying. When I find they aren't speaking about anything interesting, I put it away. 

It's been a peaceful night after all....so far.

~~ 

The music continues, lifting out through the open windows and into the garden. It's an old Kyngdom waltz, a more complex level than the last time. 

I had learned to dance to this song, the tunes carried out on an old radio in the smithy's backroom. Norman had insisted on me learning how to dance, and I spent many frustrating hours of confusion and constant chants of "be graceful, boy" trying to figure it out. Now, however, I was grateful to Norman for pounding the steps into my brain.

I look down at Sprocket and smile.

Her brow is furrowed in concentration, making her look like she is tryingto fix a complex machine, not dance.

Even then she looks amazing. She's wearing a dark green dress that flows behind her gracefully as we twirl. Her hair is styled for once, and her arms are bare, proudly displaying her metal one.

Again I reflect on how lucky I am to have found her. I remember first seeing her face on the wanted poster and not believing it. Then the gradual realization that she was actually alive and near me. That I actually had a chance to see her again.

Sprocket raises her head and meets my gaze.

"What are you thinking about?" she asks.

"I don't know," I say. "Why don't you find out?"

She smiles slightly and falls silent. It's weird to me that I can't feel her probing my thoughts, but I try to concentrate on how nice she looks and how glad I am to be dancing with her. 

A few seconds pass and then Sprocket raises her eyebrows.

"I doubt I look that good," she says.

"Let me assure you," I say, twirling her around, "you do."

She nods and thanks me.

The song ends and I bow to her, then raise her metal hand to my lips.

I straighten and laugh. 

"I am really glad you wiped off the excess grease when you cleaned your hand."

She laughs and we walk into the ballroom arm in arm. 

Hey!  Lucy here.  Before I start, I'd just like to say that I'm sorry I haven't been keeping up with my characters.  Anyway, here's Iyana!

~Iyana

I follow Mitchell as she walks into a quieter corner of the ballroom.  She covers her face with her hands.  "I hate turning people down!  Why did I have to say that!?"

"C'mon, Mitch!  You can't let one bad descision ruin your whole evening!  Maybe you should go outside.  Getting some fresh air might help." I begged.

"Ugh, fine.  I guess it might help," she agrees reluctantly.  I brush a strand of translucent blonde hair behind my ear as she walks through me to a door.  I trail her, walking through the door she closed after herself.  She knows I'm a ghost, so I can walk through it anyway.

To my surprise, there's someone else out here in the garden.  The thought surprised me.  Why would anyone else be out here at an event ilke this?  I'd think that everyone would be in the ballroom dancing.

She looks at me first rather than Mitchell.  I wouldn't doubt why, I'm so much more interesting.  Maybe it's my ghostly glow, or my translucent body, or my lack of lower body.  Whatever it is, it draws her attention first.

~~~

There's my bad RPing.

I look around several times, extremely tense. I have the oddest feeling something bad is going to happen. 

“Queen Mina,” I hear Master Nova acknowledge below the box seat before she walks into the hallway that leads to the powder room. 

The fur on the back of my neck raises, and I lightly touch Sylenia‘ hand before I quietly follow Nova. 

I slip out of the box seats, relieved that I wore a military uniform and not a dress that would get in my way, before walking across the ballroom and into the hallway. 

Once I round the corner into the bathroom, though, the lights turn off and the door shuts and locks behind me. 

“Don’t worry,” I hear Nova’s smooth voice say. “No one else is here.”

My whiskers twitch and I shake my head. “I’m not the one who should be worrying.”

“Oh Mina, stop with the pathetic threats,” Nova’s voice retorts. “To think you would win at any game against beings thousands of years old.”

I feel a sharp poke at my side, so I lash out only to catch air. 

Nova chuckles. “Faster, kitty.”

“Why are you doing this?” I snarl. “Aren’t you one of the good guys or something?”

Nova snorts. “What’s good, what’s bad? They’re all the same now, aren’t they?”

Suddenly a searing pain irrupts in my arm, and I hiss before clenching it. “What was that for?!”

“You’ve gotten in my way far too much, Mina,” she replies. “The Masters have learned that the quickest way to remove an obstacle is to, well...remove it.”

There’s another lash at my side, but this time I sense it and dodge before grabbing Nova’s arm and twisting it behind her back, causing the knife to clatter to the ground. 

“Very good, Mina,” Nova laughs, although a bit shaken. 

“Yes,” I reply, uninterested. “Now goodbye.”

I quickly get up and walk towards to where I memorised the door to be, grasping the handle. But as soon as I unlatch the lock, the knife digs into my shoulder and I let out a yelp as she twists the blade further. 

I growl and grab her arm, throwing her over my shoulder when she lands with a thud on her back. 

I quickly take the knife out, my teeth clenching, and stand over where I sense her body. 

“How can you see anything?” she wheezes as my boot presses to her collarbone. 

I lean down and whisper in her ear. “I’m a cat.”

She gives a half laugh half wheeze before I feel another blade press against my stomach. 

“Don’t try anything, Mina. I will kill you either way. And everyone you love.”

“Why?” I exclaim, forgetting to keep it quiet. 

“You, the Resistance, Catastrophe. You will all destroy Kyngdom. Only under my rule shall there be peace. And I can’t let you get in the way.”

“No,” I reply, shaking my head. “Under your rule, there will only be tyranny.”

She laughs before launching herself up, and before I can react, she grabs me by the collar and slams me against the wall, this time the knife pressing to my throat. 

“Tyranny is better than other plans.”

“What happened to you, Nova?” I ask, my eyes that she can’t see boring into her. “You used to be so wise and supposedly merciful. But now you are blinded by ambition.”

She shrugs. “Kyngdom changed. I did too. Goodbye, Mina.”

But before she can so much as twitch a muscle, I drive my hidden blade that was previously in my shoulder straight into her stomach. 

I hear her sputter and stumble back. She apparently staggered back against the opposite walls and knocked the lights on, as the bright white starts to flicker to life. 

“Any last words?” I ask, walking up to her. 

She falls to her knees, beginning to writhe in pain as the knife causes her organs to shut down. 

“You will never win!”

I shrug and walk up behind her, quickly snapping her neck before she falls back down, dead. 

There’s a small silence. 

And then I realise what I’ve done. 

~

Mina’s still the same Dolor Felis that met Shadow, and sometimes she’s still an assassin and spy at heart. I don’t think the death of her entire family and Baron helped much either. 

~

Ocean~

I prance down the hallway and then run once I’m out of sight, the bathroom the only thing my mind is set on. The ball has been fun. But I’ve had too much punch. 

I round the corner and tug open the door, and my eyes adjust to the light, before I pause. 

And scream.