Yankee

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World of Light

Word Count: 2042 (+3 exp)
Level: 8 - Total EXP: 228/80
Location: The Under - Crypt of the NecroDancer
𝙱𝙿 ●●●●●

It turned out that what Tingyun had said (as relayed by Therion) about the undead being bad dancers was completely true. It was to be expected, Primrose supposed, since their limbs would be stiff and their brains would be... well, not all there depending on the undead. So it was that after a few laughably easy dance battles against the undead as a warm-up, Primrose and Nadia decided to go after bigger fish. Much bigger - as they'd be targeting the floor bosses. With Primrose leading the way for once, they walked the crypt's halls in search of one, or anyone that could point them towards one. It didn't take them very long.

They heard the music pumping well before the got to the room, spilling into the hall outside and echoing off of the stone. The large wooden doors were already thrown open, so the girls went right in.

The inside was more dungeon than dance hall. It was all stone from floor to ceiling, the speakers built into the walls above ominous looking spikes. In each corner of the room there stood a white coffins emblazoned with crosses, and along the edges zombies, skeletons, and shades of all kinds moved to the beat. A closer look at the floor in the dim lighting showed that a checkerboard pattern of light and darker gray ran across it, and between the grooves where each brick was laid something electric buzzed. This was the domain of the Floorboss Frankensteinway, and it was impossible to miss him.

He was a hulking monstrosity of muscles and maggots wearing a skull as a belt buckle. He stood in the room's center, idly bobbing up and down, but as if sensing a challenger he slowly turned to the newcomers in the doorway. Though his arms and legs looked human enough, from his torso a ghastly piano rose, half flesh half instrument. The keys extended up and gave Primrose the sense of teeth missing an upper jaw, and from the shiny welding that kept his entire being together some kind of green liquid oozed out.

The first thought that occurred to Primrose was that he was grotesque. The second, though, was that this couldn't be just a dance battle. Unless she was missing something, Frankensteinway looked much more suited to actual, visceral combat than dancing. She narrowed her eyes. So it is like the Canopy Club. Only this time, it won't be a spellcaster I'm up against.

Undaunted, Primrose strode farther into the room and stopped a few feet from the boss.

"I'm here to challenge the floor boss," she declared, earning a few surprised noises from the crowd. Frankensteinway sized up his opponent (presumably, he didn't have a face after all), heaving but otherwise still. Then he snapped his fingers, and the jazzy yet eerie piano tune grew even louder.

There was no preamble. The giant tapped one foot and alternated shaking a shoulder. Primrose smiled, beginning with the same movement. As the beat continued she leaned toward him and shimmied, and Frankensteinway leaned back while doing the same. They traded directions, then they began to move. They circled each other while maintaining the dance, looking for all intents and purposes that they were dancing with each other rather than against. Primrose was not so fooled however, so when things changed she was ready.

The floor lit up, that checkered pattern coming to life with panels of bright green and blue joining the dark brick. The lights flickered on tempo with the music. With no overhead spotlight, the dancers were lit from below giving the affair an slightly more ominous feel. This time when it was Frankensteinway's cue to lean in, he instead took a step forward. He advanced menacingly towards Primrose, and she let him, making her own steps backwards deliberate and timely. She didn't intend to play keep away, just the thought of backing down made her irritated, but she had to see just what he would do.

Their steps pushed Primrose toward a corner, which she realized not a moment too soon. The nearest coffin rattled until a skeleton burst out from inside it. It reached its bony arms out to Primrose, but she stepped aside with a dramatic sweeping motion. At the same time Frankensteinway stomped one foot down just before charging forward in a tackle. He bulled through the skeleton, throwing bones everywhere around the room. Frankensteinway turned back around, pausing for just a moment before he resumed his dancing.

So that's how it is. Primrose swept across the dance floor away from the monster, long legs stepping in time with the music as she bent her torso around in a circular motion. Her arms here pulled close to her body, elbows up, until they unfurled like petals when she came to a stop. Her balance was thrown off when Frankensteinway immediately charged again and she had to jump out of the way. As any professional would do, she got back into the groove swiftly and without even acknowledging her mistake. I suppose it's time to stop playing nice.

Flames flared to life in her hand just as the ground started to change once more. Some squares of light changed, growing brighter and brighter with each passing beat of the song. Primrose had the sense to avoid these patches of light, and was thankful that she did when the spaces erupted in a burst of lightning. It wasn't a one time thing - every few seconds glowing patterns would show on the floor, forcing Primrose to dance away. She carefully kept her movements in time with the music, feet crossing each other as she swayed over the ground. At the same time, Frankensteinway kept on his attack. The lightning didn't bother him whatsoever, and he kept up the same simple tactic: line up and charge.

The coffins in the room began to rattle again, and a host of skeletons began to march out of them. They, too, moved in time with the music, only taking a step when the metronome dictated. They slowly started to close in on Primrose, surrounding her and starting to narrow the area she could dance in. She scoffed, more than capable of dealing with small fry like this. She spun in place, beginning to form a ring of fire. Her intent was to throw the flames out and give her more breathing room, but to her surprise neither the skeletons nor Frankensteinway stopped their approach. Not afraid of fire, hm? She thought. Then come and get burned.

The crowd of undead that wasn't participating, or at least the more sentient ones, grew more excited at the prospect of the spell burning their fellow undead. From the center of the floor she could make out a little of what they were saying, things like "the song's not even half over," and "done already? show her the steinway to heaven!" It was these that made her pause, her flames sputtering. She wasn't even close to finished, Frankensteinway hadn't even landed a hit. So why did they assume the battle to be over?

The spot beneath her feet signaled the coming lightning. The bones around her tip-toed forward. The floorboss bobbed up and down on his knees and took off, hunched with his arms spread wide to snatch Primrose anyway she dodged. She killed her spell and jumped up, placing her hands on Frankensteinway's shoulders she pushed off of him to land outside the circle of skeletons after a midair twist. She landed coolly, drawing herself to a standing position with upward jerks of her shoulders that pulled her body up like a snake in motion.

While she was in the middle of dancing, Primrose's face was always molded into an expression that rarely changed. It was meant to be beautiful, alluring, but not distracting. A small, soft smile with closed lips, her eyebrows drawn down only slightly. Now, though she still held the professional smile her eyebrows were knitted closer together as she tried to figure out what was going on. The crowd murmured amongst themselves, trying to decide if her maneuver "counted" and whether they should tell the crypt's master. One mentioned that it didn't seem like an attack, so it most likely didn't count.

The pieces fell into place as she faced down Frankensteinway and his back up bones. The contract. Right, they were forbidden from fighting weren't they? While the NecroDancer held their souls, they could only dance. There was nothing physically stopping them from attack anyone else besides the fact it would breach the contract, and who knew what would happen to their souls after that? Primrose wanted to sigh. So it's survive until times up, then.

This she could do, although she would have liked to retaliate with her magic she'd just have to win with her skill. So long as she could avoid being hurt to the point it threw off her dance entirely, she already knew she would win. Though Frankensteinway had a little more groove than she'd thought at first, and beneath the horrific appearance was almost cute in the way he kicked out his legs and shook his shoulders and arms as she moved, his movements were simple and repetitive. As far as dancing went, he was no match at all. And as far as fighting went? Even without attacking back she thought she stood to do pretty well.

"I see what's going on now," Primrose said. "But if all we're going to play is keep away, I wish I'd picked a more challenging opponent."

It was still difficult to tell what if anything Frankensteinway was feeling, but after her remark the monster got a little more aggressive. With a stomp of his foot the electric patterns on the floor changed again, this time coming in much quicker waves that washed over the tiles. Immune to the lightning, Frankensteinway clapped his hands and charged. He covered the entire room in one rush, uncaring to the skeleton back up he broke along the way. Now that she knew what she had to do, Primrose evaded it all with poise - save a few seconds zap while she performed part of her Panther Dance for herself, but the pain only energized her. She could relax her steps, stick to a more simple dance that would still easily put her on top while she focused on staying out of harm's way, but it wasn't in her character to do so. Though it wasn't her best dancing, Primrose still put effort into each step she did as she danced out of Frankensteinway's range and over the arcs of electricity that surged over the ground. She did it for herself and her craft, but also because her friend was the audience. It wouldn't do to show Ms. Fortune a lame performance.

Two minutes and fifty eight seconds later the music began to fade out. The generators around the room dimmed, the lightning effect coming to a stop. The skeletons that had spilled from the coffins jerked and slowed like their own energy was being cut off. Frankensteinway made one last ditch effort to corner Primrose, and when he charged she waited until the last moment to spin out of the way. She stopped her twirl by planting her feet and raising one arm up, the other resting against her hip. Only once the song was entirely over did she release her pose. She thought she heard a grumble coming from Frankensteinway, the monster clearly discontent with this outcome, but since the dance battle was over he didn't continue attacking.

When she stepped off the dance floor, its lights still blinking as another song came on to fill the silence, Primrose was catching her breath with a hand on chest. It had been a lot, but nothing she couldn't handle. Her hair had been frazzled by the electricity though, so she went about fixing it as she found Nadia in the crowd and gave the girl a smile.

"Not so bad," she said. Thankfully no wardrobe malfunctions. Primrose shook out her ponytail to start redoing it after wiping some sweat from her brow. "Now let's get you some more wins too, and we can see about meeting this NecroDancer."

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World of Light

Two to Tango

Ms Fortune’s @Lugubrious & Primrose’s @Yankee
Word Count: 3291 (+4)

During the many years Primrose had worked at the Sunshade Tavern in the city of pleasures, she'd never had many opportunities to teach others seriously. She'd never wanted it back then either. To be a dancer under Helgenish's employ was to endure pain and degradation, and the other women had treated her as coldly as she'd treated them... save for one. Now, though, those times seemed so long ago. Now she was in a quirky, dancing themed mausoleum with a party of plucky allies who had to perform to get their souls back. Primrose was more than willing to help them.

She was surprised that Nadia was the one who'd accepted her offer - honestly she'd figured that the Feral would jump head first into the competition like she so often did. It was a pleasant surprise though, and Primrose fixed the (younger, as it turned out) woman with a smile.

"I couldn't agree more," she said, chuckling at the pun this time. "Well then, let's not delay."

As they moved to a more suitable area Therion waved the two of them off, saying he'd "figure something out." Once the two girls had a tad more privacy, Primrose appraised Ms. Fortune. If she'd already learned a little from a dancer with a style similar to Primrose, then it shouldn't be too difficult for her to learn more. Though Primrose had no idea what Ms. Fortune had looked like at that time, Her medium height and the curve of her hips and bust as they were now would suit the style well.

"You do have many traits that make up a good dancer," she told Nadia. "Flexibility, confidence, spontaneity."

As she said the words she struck a little pose that embodied each, mostly just to show off. With the last one she transitioned into a slow twirl before coming back to a neutral stance.

"What one lacks in skill they'd usually make up for in repetition and practice, but... without the time for that, passion will do."

Nadia couldn’t help but grin when her volunteer instructor complimented her. “Not to mention super cool, delightfully funny, and incredibly humble.” Hands on her hips, she paid close attention to the poses Primrose adopted, wondering if the lesson had already started. Even if the dread that crept into her heart following the loss of her soul had been buried by newfound determination, she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t still a little anxious. Having never experienced a proper education, she wasn’t exactly the studious sort, instead learning everything she knew from the Fishbone Gang mostly through hands-on experience. Hopefully this would be similar.

Only the intermittent flick of her tails hinted at her nervous impatience, though. On the surface the feral was all smiles, just as always. “That’s a relief! Once ya show me the ropes, I’ll dance my heart out, just you watch.” As if to cement her choice, she shrugged off the somewhat bulky metal pack created by the fusion of her boxcutter blade case and Massachusetts’ shipgirl rigging. After that, off came her well-stocked utility belt; though she could not fault its practicality, it would probably detract from any attempts at elegance. Once she’d set them aside, the catgirl felt light as a feather and more than ready to begin.

"Of that I have no doubt." Nadia might have even meant it literally, given her abilities. Either way, Primrose set her own things aside and prepared to give her student her full attention. The rest of the Crypt, the contractors, undead, and the bosses, those could come later. "If you don't mind showing me a little of what Shantae taught you? A baseline."

Well, no backing out now. “Uh, comin’ right up!” Nadia took a deep breath, trying to remember what she learned. Then she raised her arms, held them out, and began a slow, fluid rotation, stamping one leg down as she did. As she spun the lessons she’d been given back in Limsa Lominscuttle Town’s Aetheryte Plaza quickly came back to her. Her whole body needed to move in synchronous rhythm, the shake of her hip guided by the strike of her leg. Her arms she stretched out as if luxuriating in the morning sun, rolling her shoulders and her neck as she moved them. Admittedly she had no idea what to do with her tails, since Shantae lacked any of her own, but after a moment an idea struck her. What Shantae did have was an incredibly long, ankle-length ponytail that had trailed behind her almost like Amane’s ribbon, furling and unfurling in an almost hypnotic rhythm. Nadia tried doing the same with her tails. After a few rotations she began to get a feel for the spin dance, her stiffness fading away, and she switched gears. Now she sashayed from side to side, her arms and waist snapping back and forth in sync, undulating like ocean waves. Unfortunately, she had no idea how to finish her dance, so after another couple seconds she threw up her arms like a stage actor. With a quickened heart she stared at Primrose, happy with how she’d done but conscious about her mistakes, and eager for an appraisal.

The more seasoned dancer held her words until Nadia was finished, and when she was Primrose nodded to herself. Even the clumsiest people could manage basic steps, Nadia was far from that. She had a good base, one Primrose could work with.

"You're right, it is pretty similar to how I dance. Not bad at all - you must be a quick learner?" Despite her mentioning that she wanted a shorter haircut earlier, Ms. Fortune's current look added a beautiful, almost hypnotic element just from the way her two tone hair swayed as she'd moved her head. It would make her dances that much more alluring with more turns of her head. They would definitely have to work on her arm motions though. Primrose told the other woman both of these things, and added, "You've got the stomach and hip movements down well already. At a quicker pace, this style of dance just might suit you."

Primrose gave the steps Nadia had demonstrated a try to herself to get a feel for it, mimicking the simple dance with the fluidity of a professional. After a couple of rotations she came back to "base," just the tapping of her leg and the rhythmic back and forth of her hips. Her arms were held at an angle away from each other, slightly in front of her, with her fingers just barely curled in a sense of invitation.

"Keep the movements you just did in mind, then try them a little faster. We'll build off of them. Since we won't know the music ahead of time, from here you'll want to rely on improvisation. That's where the passion comes in," she explained with a smile on her face. "If you ever lose your sense of rhythm or stumble, it helps to have a couple of steps like those to come back to."

While her words sunk in, Primrose kept up the movements, clearly expecting Ms. Fortune to do the same. "When you start feeling more natural doing this, I'll give you some pointers?"

Nadia did her best to follow Primrose’s example, understanding the need for a solid baseline. On the surface her current moves looked simple enough, but the subtleties were the tough part. If she put too much thought into correcting any one element, it was easy to go slack somewhere else–there was a lot to keep track of. Still, for the most part she managed to do a decent job mirroring those movements. That beckoning gesture, though, ended up feeling a little awkward. It was part of what made her somewhat apprehensive about Primrose’s style. Nadia wasn’t shy or anything, as her typical attire made more than clear, and she knew she looked good, but beyond some light teasing she’d never really leaned into that part of her. Never made an effort to allure, to beguile, to entrance, or to seduce.

“Nyeh…” Nadia grumbled, coming to a stop. She was definitely missing something. After that jukebox stopped playing the Crypt’s nexus had gone quiet again. It was hard doing this, especially getting a sense of how to adapt to a beat, without any music. She glanced at Primrose. “Hey, why don’t you try that machine? The music it makes might gimme a good place to start. It doesn’t cost anythin’, it just kinda sizes you up and plays somethin’. What I got wasn’t really dancin’ music though. More like…I dunno, hijinx music.”

Ah, that's what it does? Primrose had seen Nadia go over to it earlier, but with no context for that kind of machine she hadn't given it much thought. Now that she knew the music that had been playing was a product of Nadia using it, she thought that yes, it definitely seemed to give off a "hijinx" feel. It had been high tempo and a little mysterious - like the feline herself.

"Why not?" The Traveler approached the jukebox. She should have considered that for a relative beginner, music would make things easier. Hopefully something suitable for dancing would come up, and not something... dark. After letting its singular eye scan her, Primrose stepped back to observe the machine's face. It read "Now Playing: For Revenge," but also "Up Next: Primrose, the Dancer." Very quickly the first song ended, and the next began.

Unphased by the machine knowing her name (she'd signed it on that contract after all), Primrose walked back to Ms. Fortune and asked, "Is this a little better?"

For a moment or two Nadia just listened, her ears perked up. Then she gave a smile. “Yeah, I can work with this!” It had an old-timey feel, upbeat, a little folksy, a teensy bit wistful, like something she might imagine playing in a lively country inn. Eagerly the feral took up her previous position, starting the motions that Primrose demonstrated once more. She tried to let the music flow through her, the underlying boop, tap…boop tap-tap…boop tap-tap-tap dictating the flick of her motion. After a few moments she ended up closing her eyes, focusing not on Primrose but her own technique to try and make it more natural and expressive. For the sake of practice she continued until the song’s almost three-minute runtime came to an end. As it trailed off she opened her eyes again and gave Primrose a questioning glance. “Any better?’

"Much. You have a good foundation already. Though if I may..." Primrose said, about to deliver some advice that would hold true no matter what style of dance, as far as she was aware.

"Your hands and arms are accessories," Her eyes flicked to Nadia's extra appendages and she added, "In your case, your tails are too. You want them to draw attention to the rest of your body."

Now Primrose did a demonstration of her own, starting with what not to do. She let her hands fall limp and relaxed her arms, and suddenly her entire dance seemed sloppy as the motion of her body jostled her arms up and down. "Not too loose, or your dance becomes a jumbled mess."

Next she did the opposite, tensing her arms until they were still as stone. Though bent at what might have been a more appealing angle, they didn't move at all and made the dance awkward to look at. "Not too stiff, or it looks like you lack confidence... and it's not so appealing to watch either. Though honestly I don't think you'll have a problem with either of these. For you..."

She kicked the energy up until her arms were moving just as much as the rest of her. There were flashes of her elbow and shoulders, quick and distracting movements. "You'll have to focus more energy on your lower half. There's a fine line between too much and too little. Try leading with your hands."

Now she brought her arms back to the pose they'd been at the start, before flipping her hands so that her palms were facing the ground. She dragged her arms up by the wrists, slower than the pace her foot was stamping to. While extended far over her head they accentuated the line of her tall body, leaving the view of her hips and legs unobstructed. Again she let her hands lead the rest of her arm as they came down, resting on opposite shoulders and drawing outward to frame her face and bosom. Finally she rested both hands on her hips, using the added stability to swing them faster and farther. She kept them there even as she slowed down, the demonstration finished.

"Same thing for your conclusion," she said with a little grin, recalling the pose Nadia struck earlier as if she'd just finished a monologue on stage. "Draw attention to the rest of you, even if it’s in the form of... a unique silhouette."

Watching with bated breath, Nadia tried to absorb everything at once, her mind split between processing new advice and already trying to imagine herself using it in her head. Though Primrose’s demonstration of using her arms poorly amused the feral a little, more at herself than anything, those examples ended up being really helpful. Knowing what to avoid might even be more useful than knowing what to do, as it was becoming more apparent to her that there was no definitive ‘right’ answer. She just needed to find what was right for her. What Primrose did next, though, fascinated Nadia most of all. As her feet danced on the floor, her hands danced across herself, used almost like framing devices to perform a guided tour–not just moving herself, but moving the eyes of her audience. That wasn’t just the catgirl either; other denizens of the nexus, whether crestfallen, resting, or practicing themselves, found themselves drawn to Primrose’s display. So that’s what you’re supposed to do with your hands, she mused.

That just left the dancer’s final suggestion. “A unique silhouette…” Nadia echoed, thinking with her eyebrows scrunched together. She did have a couple aspects of herself that she could play up, though she got the impression that Primrose probably didn’t mean that her student should dismember herself. Either way, putting a spin on the dance that suited her sounded like a good idea. After another couple seconds spent brainstorming, she readied up for one more go.

Nadia began with the stamping right foot and its accompanying sway, moving at a good clip. Now that Primrose’s song was in her head she could synchronize to it pretty well, and even dial up (or back) the frequency if needed. At first she kept her hands at her sides, but they were neither stiff nor still. As her foot came down, her hips went left, and her left shoulder moved backward; when her foot went up, her hips went right, and her right shoulder moved forward. The movement of her shoulders dictated a slight, natural sway to her arms. On every swing of her hips she also flicked her tails, allowing their secondary motion to compliment the rest of her body’s rhythm. Once Nadia established a good baseline, she began to deviate. With measured slowness, the arm swept horizontally from the opposite side to outstretched on the same side, then it drooped slightly as she sent her other in a crescent loop. Then she suddenly leaned forward and to the left, almost horizontal, one hand on her hip and the other dangling like a curtain. She kept her swings going as she swept her upper body around to the right. When she straightened up she did so far more slowly, using her free hand to trace an upward path along her leg and torso. Getting an idea, she twisted halfway around to leave herself back-facing, looking over her shoulder with her hands held up like cat paws as she performed exaggerated side-to-side swings of her hips and tails. Then she whirled around, paused, whirled, paused, and finally bent over backward. Using her flexibility, she performed a backflip handstand and slowly touched down on all fours. At that point point she slid down to lay her chest on the ground, one arm curled up for her head to rest on, while her lower half remained on her knees to achieve a pose like a stretching cat, her bottom unabashedly jutting out while her tails curled over her head.

“How’s that for unique?” Nadia grinned, more than a little red in the face.

Her teacher gave her a round of applause, a wide genuine smile on her face. If there was some light in a dark world, it was dancing. It was easy to see a person's personality in the way they moved their body, and Primrose felt she'd gotten a good glimpse of Nadia Fortune. Her display had been charming in an unexpected way, enjoyable to watch even because it previewed what the future had in store for this budding dancer.

"Very good! Pick the pace up and you shouldn't have any trouble."

“Hell yeah!” Pleased as punch, Nadia picked herself up off the ground. That had been fun, and even if it had only been practicing for about ten minutes, she felt pretty ready to try it out for real. Hopefully performing for real would be a blast too. If she could enjoy risking her life in a fight, why not in a dance? In fact, she could hardly wait to give it a whirl against a real opponent. Normally she’d be tempted to put it all on the line by taking on a Floorboss straight away, but it made sense to stage a few trial runs against the Crypt’s undead first. After all, you can’t rush art, she thought with a smile. In that spirit, she looked over at Primrose as she extended an arm toward one of the doors leading out of the nexus. “Wanna take the first dance? I’ll cheer ya on from the sidelines if you do the same for me afterward!”

"It would be my pleasure," Primrose purred, leading the two of them down a hall and out of the center area. Some real practice would be good to build confidence, and seeing the skill level of even the worst dancers in the Crypt would be useful.

"I'm sure we'll be able to win our souls back in no time," she said as they walked, seeking a suitable opponent. Her own statement gave her pause, her casual tone in contrast to the rather serious subject matter. But she quickly moved on. "Once we do, we can better assist those that have yet to. And though I would have liked to see some of the others dance as well, it's better that they didn't get mixed up in this."

Picturing Ganondorf dancing was an amusing sight, and she thought Rubick and Jesse's eccentricities would make for very entertaining moves. Alas.

As soon as the pair came upon a room and pumping music they liked, they strode in ready to tear up the dance floor.

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