Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ The Gifted Moon Academy ❯ Dance! ( Chapter 6 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Green eyes trailed upwards to the perfectly clear azure sky above her as Rinsi made her way out to the training grounds. She had come to the school to train herself, to control herself, and she was going to do just that. The day was warm and sunny, and there was only a slight breeze that kissed her skin as it blew by. She smiled to herself, loving the beautiful weather and continued walking with the lantern that hung from her staff swaying back and forth peacefully.
"What a lovely day!" she said, though mostly to herself.
A small meow voiced from near her feet as her ever faithful feline friend seemed to voice his agreement with her statement.
Rinsi frowned for a moment when she quickly remembered why she was out there. She had been summoned to the battlefield to practice her abilities and learn how to use them. Granted, she had been briefed on it, and they showed her the basics of how to use her powers consciously, rather than randomly glowing without her own control as she had done before. Still, there was a lot they hadn't taught her yet, and said she needed to find out on her own with practice. Healing was easy enough, really. She figured that out quickly. However, her 'white magic' of sorts was different. She really didn't know what exactly she could do with it just yet, but wasn't against experimenting, so long as no one got hurt.
Shrugging her shoulders, she brought her hands together in front of her, almost as if she were forming a bowl with them. At first she examined them, but then she began to focus on them. Soon, they began to glow as they normally would if she were to heal someone. However, this glow seemed to take form in her hand, forming a sphere of light. She wasn't sure what this sphere could do, but she had a feeling it was something that, if not used properly or carefully, could do some damage.
She began to concentrate more, trying to figure out what it could do, when she remembered something: there was a dance that evening and she hadn't prepared for it. Like hell she'd miss it too! As soon as her concentration broke, the ball of light diminished quickly, leaving nothing behind. Rinsi took that as a free moment to go prepare.
Walking from the battle field to the main building didn't take long. They were practically right next to each other, and frankly the cafeteria inside the main building was her first concern. She didn't know what time the dance started, and she figured the best place for it would be the cafeteria. Lo and behold, she was right. As she approached the cafeteria, she could hear someone barking out orders amongst the hustle and bustle that was going on inside. She peeked in to find that all the tables and chairs had been packed away somewhere, and that tables had been set up where people were busily preparing food and drinks on them. On the other end of the cafeteria was a young man who looked like he was setting up musical equipment, though not necessarily any instruments. In the middle of the room was the same young man from earlier that had given her a tour of the place, or at least showed her the way to her classroom, and he was the one barking out orders. He was already dressed for the party, wearing a nice shirt and tie, and a pair of nice black slacks. She stepped into the cafeteria, thinking that they could use a hand. It certainly looked like it.
"It looks like you guys could use a hand." She said cheerfully.
The young man turned and looked at her. To Rinsi, he looked rather frustrated, and she began to regret asking. Still it was the right thing to do and she knew it.
"We don't need help right now," he snapped. "Sorry, just a little crazy right now. Dance is starting in a few minutes. Please wait outside the door for us to start."
"Okay then." Rinsi said cheerfully. She needed to get ready for the dance anyway.
Rinsi trotted off to her room again. She had to find the right party dress. She wasn't one to wear makeup, so she didn't really need to bother with it - not like she needed it anyway. She was beautiful without it, though a little body glitter and some perfume wouldn't hurt.
"I wonder if I should leave one out for Nakya anyway." she thought out loud. "She looks like she's about my size, if not a bit shorter."
After a moment of thinking, Rinsi laid out a dress she thought would look perfect on Nakya on her bed. She could only hope the girl would drop by to freshen up a bit for the party. She herself changed out of the cute jogging outfit she wore for training, and into a bright, yet soft yellow dress. The skirt had a slit up the side leading to her hip, making it easy to move in, and seemed to complement her perfectly sized rack. Though the black collar was separate, it seemed to compliment the dress as well. After lacing up her golden looking sandals over her white lace stockings, she slipped on her satin gloves and primped her hair a bit, smoothing it out in places it needed to be smoothed out. She once again grabbed her moonlight lantern staff and headed towards the auditorium.
As she made her way back to the auditorium, Rinsi noticed another girl wondering around. She was dressed all in black, but the dress she wore was flattering on her. Rinsi smiled and walked up to the girl.
"Hey, are you going to the party, too?" she asked cheerfully, leaning her staff on her shoulder. "If you're lost, I can lead you there."
The girl nodded at Rinsi, as if to signify that she was, indeed, lost, and could use some instructions. Taking that as the affirmative, Rinsi lead the way towards the cafeteria, which was growing noisier as they approached. She supposed this was because more students were arriving since it was pretty much time for the party to start. The girl she had lead there ran before her shouting how magnificent the party was.
She smiled to herself as she entered the cafeteria, which was now decorated with streamers and a disco ball that dangled from the center of the ceiling, illuminated by a nearby light that changed colors every minute or so. The DJ was playing some music that was fairly loud – though not too loud – that had a nice beat that she could dance to. In fact, she was on her way to the dance floor when she heard the click of heels against the tiled floor behind her. Rinsi turned around to find Nakya approaching, wearing a shimmering silver dress she had picked out for her that had one strap going over her left shoulder, and a split in the skirt that lead up to her hip. The clicking came from the silver stiletto boots that she wore with the dress. Rinsi smiled to herself again.
"I knew that dress would look perfect on you, and I was right!" she said cheerfully.
Nakya smiled at Rinsi's compliment.
"Thank you so much!" she said as she glanced around the room.
Though I wish Logan were here to see it. Rinsi could hear a voice in her head. She was taken aback by this, but did her best not to show it. She had read about telepaths, but had never met one, so it was surprising to her a bit. She smiled at the girl, to show she felt no ill ease or will.
"So," Nakya said, still smiling, "have you seen any cute boys yet?"
"Oh, quite a few actually." Rinsi said, winking her eye slyly.
Rinsi smiled to herself and walked into the auditorium. Everything was so festive and lively that she could hardly contain herself. She walked into the middle of the dance floor and began to spin and twirl gracefully across the dance floor, being careful not to hit anyone with the lantern that dangled from her staff, which she had extended out as part of her dance. She smiled to herself as she danced. She was having so much fun! To top it all off, the joy she was experiencing seemed to radiate through her whole body, causing her to glow ever so slightly, only enough to be noticed by the most sensitive eyes. However, as she danced, Rinsi felt someone pulling on her arm. She was able to catch herself before falling, so she wasn't upset at all. She was merely surprised. Looking up, she saw it was Nakya who had grabbed her by the wrist, and was pulling her towards a table excitedly.
"Yumi, this is Rinsi, my roommate. Rinsi, Yumi." Nakya said once they arrived at a table at which a lovely young blond girl was sitting, dressed in a layered red and white dress that was absolutely gorgeous. Nakya then let go of Rinsi's wrist and plopped down on a chair next to Yumi. "I hope I get to dance with at least one boy tonight."
"Nice to meet you!" she said cheerfully, "I'm Rinsi Starlight. That's a really pretty dress, Yumi!"
"Hi!" Yumi said, smiling at the girl. "That's a beautiful dress," She complimented. "Oh, my name is Yumi. Nice to meet you. I thought I was really late to the dance, but I guess i'm about on time, huh? Hi Nakya! It's nice to meet you, Rinsi. And thank you. It was a gift from my mother."
"Ooooh, your mother has excellent taste!" Rinsi said happily as the girl from earlier that Rinsi had lead to the cafeteria joined them. "Luna, are you having fun, too? Everything is so much fun tonight, I can hardly contain myself. Who wants to dance?"
Jumping up when Rinsi asked who wanted to dance, Nakya said "I do! I might as well have some fun in case no boys show up."
Running out onto the dance floor, Nakya began moving her body to the beat. She closed her eyes, letting the music taking control of her. Her hips swayed and her arms seemingly floated around her. Spinning around, her skirt flew out from the slit and showed even more skin than before.
"You know, I would, but this dress is horribly warm, and I think I’m going to go change into something cooler." Yumi said, finding a chance to go. "Please excuse me. I'll be right back." Yumi rose and walked out of the auditorium, then up to her dorm.
"That's all I need to hear!" Rinsi said.
She strolled out to the middle of the dance floor, meeting up with her roommate who was having fun spinning and twirling, just as she had before. She wasn't afraid of dancing with another girl. Hell, her dance instructor had been a woman a few years older than herself. To her it was like dancing with a good friend and having fun.
Rinsi took Nakya by the hand, and spun her gracefully as she danced with her roommate, moving to the beat. She herself spun here and there, once again spreading out her arms and her lantern, which was now starting to glow a little.
"Hope you don't mind me dancing with you." Rinsi said cheerfully.
Grinning at Rinsi as she twirled her, Nakya replied "Not at all!"
Nakya loved dancing. It was the one thing she knew without a doubt she was good at. Every time she danced, it was as if something, or someone, took her over. People were always trying to get her to teach them to dance like her, but she didn't know how to explain it. Slowing down as the song changed to a slow one, she again grabbed Rinsi's wrist with her tail, shouting over her shoulder "Let's got something to drink!"Running over to the refreshment table, she got herself and Rinsi a cup of punch. Holding it out to her, she released her tail and smiled.
"Good idea." Rinsi said, laughing a bit. She was having so much fun! However, all the dancing really took it out of her, and she found herself panting for breath and as thirsty as a traveler traversing the Sahara desert.
"Thank you." she said as she took the cup and drank from it thirstily, still smiling happily and still glowing softly. "You dance really well, Nakya."
Rinsi had seen a tall young man enter the auditorium, but she didn't recognize him. She was confused when he called her by name, but smiled anyway.
"Um, hello!" she said cheerfully, "Just out of curiosity, do I know you? I'm sorry if I've forgotten your name." she said bashfully, rubbing the back of her head.
"Ichio?" Nakya asked softly. Hoping he wouldn't realize that she was staring she quickly turned her eyes away from him. "Are you enjoying the dance?" she asked over the music, even though it was another slow song. Running her hand through her hair, she turned her gaze back to him, making sure she kept eye contact.
Ichio chuckled softly. "Well, you did meet me as a female. So it's understandable that you don't recognize me. I did say I was going to go change." He laughed. "I'm Ichio, as well as Yumi." He grabbed a drink, still smiling at the little trick he was playing.
"Oh, I get it now!" Rinsi said cheerfully, "You're a third gender! That's awesome! It must be confusing at times, but at least you can be your own date."
Rinsi really hoped that didn't sound like she was making fun of him. She wasn't trying to do so anyway, especially not in a place like this, where she had been sent to learn how to control her own abilities.
"Ooh, that's an interesting outfit. Are you a cosplayer?"
"Yeah, I am, actually. You're the first person to guess all of that correctly. Most people think I'm a shifter. I love cosplay!" Looking at Nakya, he replied, "Yeah, I'm having more fun than I was as a female, that's for sure." He laughed again. He couldn't remember ever having laughed this much. Setting his drink down, he asked, "Rinsi, would you mind if I took Nakya for a dance?" He offered his hand to Nakya. "May I?" he asked, smiling gently.
"Not at all." Rinsi said, smiling as she give Nakya a small push his way, "Have fun you two!" she said with a wink of her eye.
Rinsi walked back out to the middle of the dance floor and began to twirl and spin in her own graceful dance once more, causing the skirt of her dress to fan out a bit. She twirled and spun her lantern staff around her and above her as gracefully as a fairy as she soon started to glow again softly. She was having so much fun! As Rinsi danced an elegant and beautiful dance that her auntie had taught her as a child, spinning around as she spun her staff around, she began to glow more, now being somewhat noticeable to the average eye. It was the same as when she first discovered her powers. The same dance, the same joy, even the same light. The crescent moon lantern that dangled from the staff began to glow as well, just a little more brightly than she was glowing.
The more she danced, the happier she became - something others might think impossible given her cheerful attitude. The happier she got, the more she glowed, until a pair of ethereal looking wings made of pure light seem to sprout from her back. She was having so much fun!
However, just then she heard a crashing sound. She spun around and saw a young man crash through a high window and fall to the ground. Not so much concerned with the window as she was with the person who fell through it, she trotted up to the young man and began to check for wounds, her ethereal glow and wings dimming slowly.
"Hey, are you okay?" she said, worried but still chipper.
Rinsi saw Nakya run over to her, obviously worried.
"Are you okay?" Nakya asked.
"Yes, I am fine. I was far enough away that the glass didn't touch me. Are you okay?"
Taking a deep breath, Ichio changed, becoming Yumi once more. This was going to tire her, eventually. Standing back up, Yumi stretched her arms to the sky, summoning the energy of the glass to her. The shards melted, one by one, and slid along the floor towards her. They climbed her baggy clothing, and converged at her fingertips, flattening and broadening until they formed a single pane. She pulsed energy into it, until the pane began to glow and sag, then forced it up, higher and higher, till it was flush with the broken area. Yumi threw her hands forward, so the pane slammed into the break, sending the entire window aglow. It was fixed, and now was glowing a soft yellow. Yumi sagged, her breath heavy with exertion. Changing back to Ichio, he knelt on the floor for a moment, collecting his exhaustion and stowing it away inside Yumi. She'd sleep for a long time, but for now, Ichio was fine. Standing, he walked back to Nakya, looking at the being that'd just flown through the window.
"And I suppose that was your grand entrance, then?" he yelled at the guy, who'd gone to meet one of the girls.
Seeing Ichio and Nakya take care of the situation, Rinsi went looking for people who might have been injured from the falling glass. There were a few scrapes, but nothing too serious. It was nothing her healing powers couldn't take care of quickly, though it did take quite a bit out of her since she still had no control over energy consumption in that area yet.
After she was all done, she encouraged others to get back onto the dance floor and have fun by stepping up herself. She was very tired now, but she wanted to dance more, and she wanted to know that warmth and peace she felt while dancing the only dance she knew of that could create the glow that came from such happiness. She wanted to know that happiness again, even though she was happy enough on her own. Even if it meant she passed out later from exhaustion, at least she could sleep well that night and still have fun.
Rinsi once again began to spin and twirl both herself and her staff. It took a few moments longer this time, but once she got going she began to glow softly again, filling her with a warmth and peace she wished everyone could know, and not just herself.
Rinsi liked the beat of the new song that began to play not long after she started dancing. It was an upbeat tempo that almost demanded that she step up her moves, almost begging for her to spin and dance faster. She couldn't very well deny such a song its longing plea, and began to speed up her dance a little bit, keeping to the beat of the song. She began to glow a little brighter, and though she didn't know it consciously, deep down inside her sub conscious she knew that her wings would soon appear again, promising supreme happiness for her and - if she could ever learn to control it - everyone else in the room. Right now, she was content with the dance that brought the ethereal glow to her fair skin and brightened her already joyous smile.
As Rinsi danced, she began to glow a little more brightly. She loved this feeling and wished she could bring it to everyone in the room. Such peace and joy! The whole world should be filled with it!
As her joy increased - joy brought from the dance she was doing and increased by the power within her that reacted to joy and enhanced it - ethereal wings began to unfold from her back once more, glittering and glowing with their own power as the glow took over her own body. She was so happy she thought she would burst, so she concentrated her happiness to the lantern on her staff, which began to glow brighter than ever.
Ki'iro handed everything back off to the DJ who continued to play. He made his way back down to the dance floor and joined Rinsi. He smiled brightly at her. She looked so extremely happy and beautiful. He lipped the words "Mind if I join you?" to her and waited for a reply. Ki'iro began dancing, another thing he loved to do. He wasn't the greatest, but he definitely didn't have two left feet. Shadows whipped up at Ki'iro, though they were not threatening. The glow around Rinsi and the shadows around Ki'iro morphed together, flicking at each other.
"Not at all." Rinsi said happily.
Rinsi took Ki'iro by the hand and began to dance with him, dancing and twirling as she concentrated her joy to her lantern staff, causing it to glow more and more. She watched the shadows and the light dancing together on the floor and couldn't help but giggle. Everything was so much fun! Even the shadows and the light seem to have fun and dance together.

"Starlight, that suites you," he commented, referring to her last name, "You're very aglow tonight." He laughed. The shadows around him danced quicker as he turned with her and danced. "May I call you Star? It seems to suit you very well," he said. His dancing pace picked up as the song changed. "I love this kind of music! It's probably my favorite." Ki'iro's face was so bright and happy at this moment, all his worries were gone. He noticed a girl sitting in the corner of the room and he motioned for her to come and join them in their dancing.
"I don't mind at all." Rinsi said happily as the lantern began to glow more with her dance, and her bright ethereal wings began to grow in size. "You have good taste in music. I can really dance to this!"
In spite of her panting for breath already and her quickly draining energy, Rinsi was having so much fun that she could not stop. Normally by this time she would have stopped, as her auntie had warned her to, but she found she was having so much fun that she couldn't stop no matter what. And as the dance continued, she found two words echoing through her mind, growing louder and louder, as if begging for her to utter them. Finally, she gave in. Lifting her lantern high in the air while holding the bottom of the staff with her other hand.
"STARLIGHT!" she announced just as the song ended.
At the uttering of those very words, the lantern at the end of her staff glowed so brightly that it seemed to fill not just the auditorium, but the campus itself. With this light - which pierced not only the shadows, but directly into people's hearts - came an intense joy and peace that had never been known before, not even to Rinsi herself, and it was this joy that filled even the deepest crevasses of everything in the campus.
As the glowing dimmed, Rinsi finally realized how tired she was. She hadn't known, and still didn't know, that the dance she just did was a secret spell passed down in her family, a spell to bring supreme happiness to everyone around her. It was a very large spell that sucked up a lot of energy from her, and left her feeling very weak. She was almost gasping for air, and beads of sweat were dripping down her face. She suddenly felt so weak that she couldn't stand on her own. She brought her staff down - perhaps a little harder than she should have - and held on to it with both hands, using it to hold her up as she panted for air.
"Heh...heh...heh..." she said between gasps for air, almost at a whisper, "Ooops....Now I know...why auntie didn't want me to finish that dance..."
"Are you ok?!" Rinsi could hear someone nearby saying. "You look terrible, you need help. Do you know where the infirmary is, I'm new here so I don't."
Rinsi wanted to keep dancing, in spite of her exhaustion. She was still in the middle of the dance floor, grasping her staff for dear life to hold her up underneath her incredibly weak legs. She even tried to dance, to move at the very least, but her body wouldn't let her. She had spent all of her energy, and could feel a sense of unease wash over her as darkness seemed to creep into her vision. Had the spell failed? Had the happiness she had tried to spread to everyone somehow missed all of them? Why weren't they smiling?
Rinsi did her best to try and pull herself up on her staff more, but her body was still unwilling, and the darkness in her vision was only drawing closer. She knew she was about to pass out, but she didn't want to. She stubbornly tried to force it away by gathering up what little energy she had left, but she had none to gather up. She noticed the new girl was nearby, but her voice sounded far away, and growing farther. She tried to look up at the girl, but she couldn't even do that.
I'll have to thank her later and get her name, she thought to herself as the darkness closed in even more, I just hope she isn't too worried.
"Damn...." she whispered to herself as she knew she couldn't fight it anymore, "I must have...failed...."
Rinsi sank to her knees in the middle of the dance floor, unconscious before her knees landed. The only thing holding her up was the staff she so stubbornly leaned against.