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“Again.” Her teacher demanded as she once again failed a difficult step she had been trying to learn. Somehow she kept messing it up and she wasn’t sure where she was having the trouble. That didn’t matter to her teacher however, who had stopped dancing years ago due to her age, as she pushed the young hybrid again and again determined she would get it right. The only thing she could do was try to describe the step which didn’t help her at all. If she knew from the description what she was doing wrong she would have already figured it out and learned the step by now. And it just wasn’t working! “AGAIN.” Her teacher demanded. Nedrima pushed herself to try and get the step but as her ankle gave out underneath her it twisted painfully and she felt herself give up as she fell to the floor. ”I can’t do this anymore.” There was anger in her voice at herself and at her teacher simultaneously. She stood, favoring her left leg so as to not put too much pressure on her ankle. Nedri grabbed her shawl before storming towards the door. ”I need a break!” She yelled as she practically ran out the door. Even before she made it to her favorite of the outdoor gardens tears were falling from the young dancers face. It wasn’t even about her ankle anymore, the pain was almost forgotten, but the emotional pain was the issue now. Nedrima couldn’t remember the last time she had this big of an issue with anything dance related. Heck, she was probably dancing before she could even walk knowing her family! It seemed like such a short time ago that she had no idea what she wanted to do. Why had she even wanted to be a dancer anyway? She was beginning to doubt herself and her ability at this point. Nedri tried to think back to when she was younger.

She remembered there always being dance. Sometimes she’d just see her Mom do a simple little thing almost like she didn’t realize she was even doing it. It came to her so easily Nedri thought at the time. ”I wonder if it had always come easy to Momma…” Nedri said quietly aloud, to no one in particular. Surely it hadn’t. She thought her Momma knew how to do everything but doesn’t everyone have trouble with something at one point or another? Nerdrima sighed, she hoped so. When she was younger she used to look up at the dancers with such admiration and respect. The way they could command a room was incredible, even before they began moving they would attract the eyes of anyone near. Nedri wondered if she could ever be like that. That amazing. That entrancing. That beautiful. Sometimes it seemed impossible but maybe if she just worked that little bit harder, a little bit more, she’d get it. Her thoughts returned to her current situation with her teacher. Why would she push her like that when it was obvious that she couldn’t figure it out? It was ridiculous and she’d get nowhere continuing like this! She felt herself getting angry about it again. Why would she get this old lady assigned to her anyway? Maybe it was time to find out! Nedrima made her way back towards the small studio she did her lessons in, her teacher was still sitting in her chair sipping on a glass of water as if she expected Nedrima to return at any moment. Apparently having known her pupil better than Nedri knew herself, the teacher smiled as she returned to the room. “All cooled off?” She asked calmly like she hadn’t just been pushing her student almost to injury just a few minutes before. ”NO, I’m not all cooled off. In fact, I think I’m angrier than I was before!” There was still a lot of emotion in Nedrima’s voice even if she didn’t shout at her teacher like she wanted to. “Good.” Her teacher said simply. ”Good?!” Soon the young hybrid’s emotions went from angry to confused, her eyebrows furrowed as she watched her teacher set down her drink and stand. “There are usually two different kinds of dancers: the technical dancers, such as you, and the ones that dance from emotion. The later are usually the ones who find dance, the former tends to have dance find them. You were born into a dancing family, and some might say, born to be a dancer as well. But sometimes, little dancer,” She paused as she walked to stand in front of Nedrima. “Sometimes you have to dance from here,” she said as she gently poked Nedri’s chest, “instead of here.” She indicated her head last. And then, the old lady actually smirked! “You were getting so caught up in the ‘steps’ you didn’t even realize that it’s nearly impossible to get from that first step to the next. Instead of improvising, you just gave up. It’s not always all about getting each step right. That’s what can make a good dancer great. That’s what can make you stand out in any auditions you do. That’s what can make you stand out in a crowd. You just have to let the music and dance evoke a feeling from you.” ”So that’s why you would only ever describe it the same way…” Her teacher nodded. “That’s one of the beautiful things about dance is how open to interpretation it can be. You can have two people use the same moves and the same steps and make the audience feel something completely different.” Nedrima’s brows were still furrowed as she thought on her teacher’s words. “Take the rest of the day to think about what I’ve said. We’ll continue tomorrow.” At that, Nedrima found herself alone in the studio.

She found herself laying on the cooler floor of the studio as she was lost in her thoughts. Subconsciously she knew her teacher was right in a way. Nedri remembered watching some dancers end their dance with tears streaming down their face, how the music and dance making them feel so strongly. Sometimes the dance wasn’t so perfect but no one really ever noticed unless you were looking. What people noticed was how the dancer’s moves seemed empowered by her emotion making the audience feel a portion of what the dancer was trying to portray. It took dance to the next level. Watching people discover their love of dance and learning to dance like that was what made her want to learn how. She groaned and threw her arm over her eyes. Could she get herself to look past the perfection she held herself to when it came to dance? There was only one way to know. She would just have to try and try again. Nedri wasn’t going to give up on dance, it was something she knew she was meant to do a long time ago, so she’d persevere and learn what she could. Outside the door, an old lady watched a young dancer begin to find her fire, a small smile on her face as she walked away.

Nedrima stared at the bag that was opened on her bed. She was supposed to be making a decision that would change her life for the next couple of months if not longer. Her siblings were supposed to be leaving for their trip tomorrow which meant if she wanted to go, she needed to decide today. She couldn’t put the decision off any longer. It almost seemed impossible to choose. What was it that she had told Cahira though? ‘Rarely is anything impossible’? Or something like that. Though that might be the case, it didn’t seem to make the choice any easier. Nedri knew that if she went with her siblings it would be a pretty extraordinary experience. She’d be meeting all kinds of new people and seeing new lands not to mention the kinds of things she could learn from all these other kinds of people! She also knew how hard it would be on their parents, especially her mother, and Nedri didn’t know if she could go away and know how sad it would leave her. Even if Nedrima didn’t think about anybody else involved and only what she wanted, the decision was no easier. It’d be nice to go see all this other stuff but she was also just now making an advancement in her dancing! If she ever wanted to be able to prove herself to her mother and take over the family business one day could she really afford to take that much time out of her training? Granted, she wouldn’t stop dancing completely. Nedri would likely still practice if she went but it would be a significant decrease from her current training schedule.

There was one other option that Nedrima had been contemplating for some time now. A former dancer here, Itotia, had moved and started her own business in Matori. It was relatively close to the border she was told so Nedri had wondered if it might be possible to travel there and learn from Itotia. She had always found the yaeli interesting, not just for her race, but as a person. Learning from Itotia was something the young dancer thought she could benefit from as well as just being in a new location where not everyone has known her since she was a child. She could grow as her own person, as her own dancer. Maybe make a name for herself though that seemed like a much loftier goal to Nedrima. The move was something she’d been thinking about for some time but had never thought herself ready enough for it. To herself, she had never been ready to leave home or had progressed far enough in her dancing skill and knowledge. Now, however, perhaps she was ready for both. Leaving home would still be difficult for her and she was still having trouble with that idea, hence her hesitation to leave with her siblings. Would heading off on her own to Matori be any better than going with her siblings on what could possibly be an adventure of a lifetime? They’d surely have a lot of sibling bonding...as much as she loved her siblings she knew she was always a little bit apart even if it was just how people viewed them. Nedri sighed, she wanted to go with her siblings and have that adventure with them but she also had her own goals to look towards now, ones she desperately wanted to see come true. She felt torn by the two halves of herself. One half wanted to stay with her family, her Momma, while another needed to go and see what was out there. Even that part was torn on what and where she should go. Should she follow her heart and be with her siblings? Or should she follow her dreams and go to Matori? Breaking it down like that really helped her to see that she already knew what she wanted to do but was afraid to make the decision and hurt the other party in the process. Taking a very needed deep breath, she set to packing her bags. Once that was done, she made her way down to her Momma’s office and knocked before opening the door. ”Momma? I wanted to talk to you. I want to go to Matori and train with Itotia if she’ll allow me.”

[Blurb: Nedrima is faced with a hard decision that will majorly impact her future? Does she go with her siblings on their grand adventure, stay home and keep her momma happy while training, or another option? In this growth quest, Nedrima decides to follow her dreams and accomplish her own goals!]