The Skydancer Arrives (Intro, Open)

LOCATION - RED DRAGON INN

"Here y'are lass, the Red Dragon Inn, home of them Sabertooth's who've been watchin' over us. If it's dancin' you wanna be doin', ye can't go wrong 'ere."

Velvet had spent a considerable amount of time travelling with this man since her last job had fallen through. The owner of the tavern she'd worked at before decided that a dancer who couldn't wait tables wasn't worth the investment and had near thrown her to the curb. By some miracle this man, Erick, had seen her dancing earlier in the night and happened to be nearby. He was a travelling merchant, and had spent the last few months travelling across Fiore with his wares. As fate would have it, he was headed back to his home; a place called Ace of Spades, home to the Sabertooth guild and, in his words "the finest damn tavern in the country!" He had taken care of her these past few weeks, sheltering her from the weather and generally keeping her clear of 'bad folk'. And now, finally, they were here. Nerves were creeping in but a gentle hand on the girl's shoulders were enough to calm her. "Don't be scared lass. I've seen ye move. They'd be fools not to take ye in, and if they don't then there'll be 'ell to pay, lemme tell ye." his voice soft in spite of its naturally gruffness. She smiled and bowed to him in response. Thank you Erick. Please, do come and see me. At least I know I'll have one smiling face watching." she replied. He chuckled. "I still dunno 'ow you do that talkin' wivout openin' yer mouth. But don't ye worry, I wouldn't miss ye for the world. Will 'av to bring the wife in to watch n'all. Speakin' of, I'd best make a move. Take care now, ye hear?" Velvet watched the black figure turn grey and then white as the man walked away, and heard the sounds of his cart trundling down the road. She gave a silent sigh, trying to work up the courage to step in through the door.

Okay...let's do this...

With as much confidence as she could muster, the cat-eared dancer stepped through the door and into the hubbub of the tavern. Anyone nearby would immediately feel an unexplainable breeze as she began reaching through the air with her magic, getting a feel for her surroundings in an attempt to ensure she didn't bump into anybody as she made her way up to the bar. She just about made it without incident - although there was a close call with a larger gent carrying a couple of tankards, but she deftly weaved past him, her left ear skimming the bottom of his elbow. Upon reaching the bar she reached a hand out, hoping to catch the attention of one of the bar staff.

Notes: N/A

The Skydancer gave a silent gasp as the barmaid approached her; this girl - she felt and sounded like a girl at least - was a mage, and a damn powerful one at that. Were it not for Velvet feeling the air around her, this girl's power would've probably punched her square in the stomach the moment she'd approached. Combined with her nerves, she likely would have dashed back out of the tavern faster than she'd entered it. Thankfully this wasn't to be the case. She'd never have forgiven herself for that.

The cat-girl took a moment to compose herself before she finally managed to 'speak'. "H-hello Victoria. My name is Velvet and I...I heard you were looking for a d-dancer." Wow, she could stutter when using her mind to speak?! Now was not the time to be learning something new about herself and the limits of her own magic! She shifted uncomfortably for a moment, fighting the urge to flee now and just forget it all. Images played on her mind of how her last dancing job had ended and she had to mentally shake them away before she could continue. Surely this would be different?

"If it's not too much trouble, I would like to apply for the job."

That was better. She'd had more control over her thoughts that time. But how would this girl react to her? Many people got weirded out by the fact Velvet was talking to them without actually opening her mouth. She'd also, unfortunately, had a tendency of looking towards the wrong person when talking. Since her eyes were only lightly glazed over from the blindness, many people didn't realise she was blind and just saw her as some sort of a crazed girl. She hoped that she was looking at the right person this time, but past experiences had made her all to wary. With these throughts running through her head, Velvet began to panic; what if she was looking at the wrong person? What if she was refused the job before she could even show what she could do? She couldn't allow that to happen. She had to act fast to prevent that from happening. "I-I can perform now if you'd like, as a trial. Unpaid of course..."

Notes: N/A

A wave of relief came over Velvet as she heard another voice intrude, that of what sounded like an older man with a level of authority in his tone. She assumed this was the owner or at the very least the one in charge of the inn. He never properly introduced himself though, which was going to be something she'd have to chase up later assuming she got the job here. He explained the situation to the barmaid - Victoria, Velvet ensured to remember the name - and she in turn informed the man of Velvet's proposition; that she would do a dance for free as a trial. The man seemed all for it, offering for her to do it there and then. Nerves started to bite at the catgirl more now, but they were somewhat drowned out by the excitement.

These conflicting emotions almost left the Dragon Slayer distracted, so much so that she jumped slightly as another voice chimed in. This was another male, younger than the owner/manager was judging by the lack of depth to his voice that age naturally gave. She took a moment to take in his words and flushed even more as embarrassment decided to join the already battling feelings in the pit of her stomach. She turned around in an attempt to face the person who had spoken, although she couldn't be sure of who it was or where they were. "Thank you...and n-not at all, I can't stop you from watching after all." she replied as calmly as she could, which is to say she was not particularly calm at all. Nonetheless she bowed - again hoping she was facing the right person - before carefully finding her way to some sort of a stage.

She assumed there would be a raised area somewhere. But whether it was her nerves or whether there actually wasn't a stage at all, she found herself completely unable to find such a place. Stress began to kick in for a moment before she stopped dead. If I can't find a stage then I'll have to make one... she thought to herself. This thought brought out her inner dancer; all the stress, the embarrassment, the nerves and even the excitement left her, instead replaced by complete calm as a blue-green aura surrounded her. She began to walk forward again but this time she began to step upwards as she walked on the air. Then, in mid-step, her focus turned to the music already being played and she began her dance, almost as if she'd been dancing the entire time the song had been playing, not a single beat missed.

As she twirled the wind aura whipped around her. As she extended her hands and legs, the aura flicked out almost like ribbons before snapping back to her body again. Even as she danced she felt the air around her - there were many mages here, some of whom were recovering from injuries. A small smile would be seen briefly across her lips as she pushed her magic out further, touching each of those injured people with enough healing magic for them to at least feel its effects, if not outright heal them up. She continued going, the dance continuing for a good few minutes as she rose up to a few meters into the air, dancing around the inn and over peoples heads, no worry in her mind as she knew she wouldn't touch them - not physically at least.

After she'd done a full circuit of the inn Velvetcould hear the band beginning to slow and so she did too, returning to the spot that she'd started at and lowering herself to the ground as she continued her motions. As she lowered herself she reduced her feel for the air around her so that it was in her immediate vicinity, just large enough so that she wouldn't end up hitting anyone. Then, finally, the music came to an end and so too did she, doing one last twirl and turning it naturally and effortlessly into a curtsy...before taking a step forward and walking straight into a stool, stumbling over it and, with her feel for the air disappearing immediately, faceplanted the floor. She fumbled around for a moment, her blindness completely overtaking her with panic.

Notes: N/A

Velvet had braced herself to hit the hard floor, her eyes closed tight and teeth gritted and yet the floor never came. Instead her face met with something solid, but considerably softer than what she'd expected. And it rumbled as a voice came from above her. It took her longer than it should have to realise that she'd fallen face-first into someone's chest and even longer to pull herself away, going beet red in embarrassment. I-I'm so sorry! She began before hearing what the man had said about her being blind.

This was followed by a second voice, female this time - Victoria's voice - asked if she was okay. As she was about to answer, a third voice interrupted. That voice from before, the younger male one, chimed in, praising her dance before asking if what the deeper voiced man had stated was true. It was a mixed feeling that crept into the catgirl's heart for a moment but she pushed it aside and regained some composure, smiling before giving an answer. "I am fine, thank you. And yes, I am blind." she began again, giving a bow to the older of the two men. "Usually I am fine but crowded places make things...a little troublesome." she continued, accidentally letting out a nervous chuckle - this controlling her voice thing was difficult when she was embarrassed. She had to get some semblance of control over her situation. She had begun to let some of her magic out again, getting some sort of a feel for her surroundings once more. It seemed these three had come to her first as they were closest to her. Not only that, each of them had magical power within them, each at varying levels of strength. She'd felt Victoria's before of course, but the other two were new. This knowledge plus her gaining some idea of what was happening around her made the girl considerably more relaxed, yet also very curious

"You all know magic too?" she asked, her head tilting to one side for a moment before she mentally snapped back to what she was supposed to be doing - she was here for a job! "N-nevermind! Forget I asked that! I'm sorry for my stumble, but I hope my dance was good enough." She bowed at Victoria now; she was the most powerful of the three and, more importantly, she worked in the establishment herself, so Velvet would have to spend a fair amount of time with the girl if she were to get the job here.

Notes: N/A