• Solo • Dance for Life

[Seira Shiryu]

7th Saun, 721


Seira woke slowly. She yawned, and stretched as she looked around her room. The morning light must have been what had woken her. It felt strange to Seira. This was the first full night of sleep that she had had since she and Seri had gone to help look for survivors when part of the Dust Quarter had collapsed. It was nice not feeling groggy and out of sorts. She hoped that not having a nightmare last night meant that she had recovered from the trauma she had suffered while searching for survivors.

Seira got dressed slowly, enjoying the feeling of being fresh and ready to face the trial for the first time in trials. When she left her room, she found Seri waiting for her.

"You slept in." Seri said simply.

Her sister was smiling, and Seira could see the relief in her eyes. She grinned back at her twin.

"I didn't have a nightmare last night. Hopefully this means that I won't have them anymore."

The twins went to the kitchen and found the animals waiting for them. Ryu looked...stronger somehow. Less frail. Seira was pretty certain that that was all in her head, but there was one thing for certain; Ryu wasn't having trouble jumping onto and off of things anymore. And that gave her a deep sense of relief. It also gave her a sense of pride and accomplishment because she had been the one who had made that possible. With Seri's help, of course. It was much easier to dance when she had music to dance to.

After feeding the animals, Seira and Seri found the makings of a small meal for themselves. Seira watched the kittens playing as she ate, and enjoyed the refreshed feeling that meant that she had gotten a full night's sleep without any nightmares.

"Do you want to dance and use that ability of yours on Taerin totrial?" Seri asked once they were finished eating.

"I do, yes. But I think that this place really needs a good cleaning first. It's been a while since the last time that we cleaned the house aside from spending a few bits picking things up here and there, so it really needs to be done. As much as I wish otherwise, if we wait until after I've spent breaks dancing, I simply won't have the energy I need to do much in the house." Seira admitted.

"Cleaning the house is tiring too." Seri pointed out.

Seira nodded.

"That's true. But I could probably manage to dance for a break, maybe two after we clean the house. That will help Taerin a little at least. Then I can dance for her some more the next trial, and the one after that too if necessary."

"That's true, I suppose. I was hoping that you would say that we should put off cleaning the house instead, though..."

Seira grinned at her twin.

"The sooner we get started, the sooner we will finish. So let's get these dishes washed so that we can get started."

Seri grumbled at her for a few trills, but she grinned after that, and they got to work cleaning up after themselves.

[Seira Shiryu]

Housework was a task that neither Seira nor Seri cared for much. It was a necessary thing though, so in their eyes, it was a necessary evil. Seira started on the laundry while Seri swept the front step, and organized the pantry. Part of that job involved checking all of the food they had, and getting rid of any that wasn't any good. Then she took all of the dishes out of the cabinets, and dusted the cabinets before putting everything back into them when she was finished.

Seira was still doing the laundry when Seri finished her tasks, so Seri helped her sister with that next. Doing the laundry was hard work due to the heave scrubbing that was involved. But with the two of them working on it, the task was finished faster than it would have been had Seira had to do it on her own. When they finished washing everyone's clothes, they hung them out to dry in the sun.

The next task they tackled was dusting everything in the house. Like the last time they cleaned the house, that was a task that they tackled together. And like last time, they made a game of it in the hopes of making it a bit more fun. Well...fun wasn't exactly the right word when it came to cleaning the house. More entertaining, perhaps. They decided on two contests; one to see who could dust more of the figurines that needed to be dusted, and one to see who could dust a room faster. With the latter contest, the size of the rooms was taken into consideration, and it they were unequal, the people who was dusting the smaller room had to dust two of the smaller rooms before the other could finish dusting the larger room she was working on for the win to count.

Once the dusting was done, they went through the rooms and made certain that everything was neat and tidy. That was followed by fluffing the cushions, and checking under them for crumbs. This too was made into a contest to see who could fluff the cushions better and faster than the other. Cleaning the bathroom and the kitchen was next.

Finally, all that was left was to wash the windows. They had already dusted the windowsills when they had tackled the dusting, so that was one thing that didn't need doing. So once they had the supplies they needed to clean the windows, they split up and each washed a different window. That became a contest too; who could wash the most windows in the room?

By the time they had finished cleaning the entire house, Seira and Seri were tied on the number of little contests that each of them had won. That was often the case, but winning or losing wasn't really the point of the contests they came up with. It was more about making an unpleasant task that neither of them enjoyed more tolerable, and even interesting. Their contests could also be amusing at times.

[Seira Shiryu]

When they finished cleaning the house, the twins exchanged glances. Without needing words, each knew what the other wanted to do. Seira went to get her dance shoes on while Seri went to get her fiddle. The two sisters met in the family room when they were ready. Taerin was asleep on her bed, carefully tucked away in the corner where she wouldn't be disturbed. Seri began playing the scales as a warm up while Seira did some stretches to ensure that she didn't hurt herself as she danced. Then they began in earnest.

I dedicate this dance to you, Daia. Thank you for giving me the ability to give new life to my beloved pets through the beauty of dance Seira prayed silently as she began to dance.

Seira gave herself over to the music completely. Everything else faded away as she moved in time to the lively jig that her sister was playing for her. The song had a fast tempo, and the beat changed a few times within the song itself. If someone wasn't expecting it, that could through someone off whether they were playing the song, or dancing to it. Or singing it for that matter. But it was a song that Seira had sung many times in the past. So that helped her somewhat. Getting the timing of the beat as it changed tempo was tricky even for someone who knew the song well. It was a challenge that Seira relished though. And the best part was that if she made mistakes...which she did...no one was going to judge her for them. Neither Seri nor Taerin would care if she made a mistake in keeping to the rhythm of the song.

When the song ended, Seri switched to a slower paced one for the next song. Seira's movements slowed to match the rhythm of the new song. She knew this song very well, and she hummed it softly as she danced. The song was meant to be danced with a partner, but Seira didn't mind dancing alone. She preferred it, really. This way, she was able to dance the way she liked rather sticking to a formal type of dance.

The third song was a faster paced song again. Seira felt her heart pounding in excitement as she moved to the rhythm of the music. She could feel the energy flow through her as the ability she was using to make Taerin younger worked through her. And Taerin slept through it all, oblivious. The elderly dog had exhausted herself earlier playing with one of her toys.

As time passed, time itself lost all meaning. Seira's entire world consisted of the music, and the rhythm that she was dancing to. It was very freeing. But afer a while, her feet began to ache, and her calf muscles burned with exertion. Reluctantly, Seira stopped dancing.

"How long was I dancing?" she asked her twin as she began doing her cool down stretches.

"Three breaks. How do you feel?"

"Tired. But good all the same. I don't feel up to dancing any longer, though. Not totrial, anyway. Still. Three breaks of dancing means three arcs of life were given back to Taerin, and that will help. I can dance for her some more when I get the chance."

Seri nodded.

"What do you want to do now?"

"I want to get off of my feet for a while, so I think I'll go cuddle up with Ryu and a good book for a few breaks. She was sleeping on my bed when I went to get my dance shoes on. What about you?"

"I think I'm going to give the kittens a ball of yarn, and watch the chaos unfold."

Seira laughed.

"You'll have to clean up the mess they make."

"Yes, but it will be worth it. The kittens will have a great time, and they'll tire themselves out so they aren't racing around all night again playing. And the enjoyment I'll get from watching them play is worth a little more work."

Seira laughed again, knowing that her twin was right. Then she retreated into her room in search of a good book to read.

ooc

1) The dance shoes mentioned in this post are these: Sometime after the ball, Seira is sent a pair of dancing shoes, which provide protection from anything she steps on, without compromising the grace of her movements nor making undue noise. They are simply dancing shoes that provide protection from harm to her feet and ankles, and were earned here, 2) Seira i using the Dainaya ability Invigorate: The Favored has the ability to generate more Lifeforce than they need while dancing. Passively, this keeps the Favored young and vigorous, staving off the effects of aging. However, when used in the presence of decay, decrepit, or anything past the prime of its life (as this only applies to living things), this ability will turn back the biological clock, returning them to their peak, and never younger. This is strictly physical, and does not affect the mind, memories, etc. For simple things such as plants and small animals, this affect kicks in over the span of a few minutes. For more complex beings, such as older animals and people, it requires roughly one hour of dance per year of invigoration. This ability does not affect time, so it does not remove scars, injuries, etc. in this thread.

[Pig Boy]

Player Name: Seira

Points awarded: 10
Magic xp: none

Knowledge:

Dancing: x 3
Endurance: x 1
Strength: x 2

Renown: 0
Loot: none
Injuries/Overstepping: a little bit of soreness.
Wealth Points:N/a

Skill Review: All Skills used appropriately to PC's level

Notes: I would've included Logistics in the skills used, as much of the first two posts were spent cleaning the house, which is the remit of the Logistics skill. Yes, endurance and strength would likely be tested in these tasks, but please in the future include logistics in skills used for times when Seira is cleaning house.

That said, I thought it was nice that Seira is using her ability to Invigorate to give more life to her precious pets. That's a really useful ability to keep your animals young, I must admit!

The dance was well described, between the fast-paced jig and the slow dance by herself, your writing was clear and I could envision the dance she did easily. Well done!

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this review, feel free to PM. Enjoy your rewards!