[PRP-Neued] Dancing Lessons[Senja || Ethelfleade] Fin

[robot kitten]

"Make sure you're back by dinner!" Senja called out after her rascally toddler son rushed off outside to go play with the neighbor's kids. She sighed and shook her head. I wonder if I was ever that bad? She thought amused as she watched him scamper down the ladder to the cobbled street below.

Cobbles, she thought in amusement; something new the Obans brought with them.... Before Neued had been an ancient tree city that vanished into the jungle; but with the new members from Oba and Matori came streets and buildings below. In the past handful of years, these new settlers had changed the city. For the better, if you ask me! Senja smiled, Neued was no longer a quiet sleepy city that had seen better days, it was now a bustling town with all manner of folk! Folk who had a taste for the Shifter style music, food, and performances! She walked outside and cast and eye over the new expanded home and theater of her family's. The change and influx had been good to her family; the Crystal Rain theater was now one of the more popular places in town. Conveniently near several cafes and near the intersection of the Matori and Oban sections of the city it saw a lot of business these days.

Nilah44

backstory added as well as place 8D Senja is outside and easily spotted!

 

[Nilah44]

Ethelfleade had always made a point to make frequent trips back to Neued. It was more like home to her than anywhere had really been. She had grown accustomed to Juahar's heat and humidity and didn't mind it near as much as she used to. On this particular trip to Neued, she had a rather particular destination in mind. During her travels, she had seen a troupe perform. Their movements were so swift and fluid she had began relating them to movements and fighting techniques. It was an interesting topic for her, and she she had made a point to try and learn how to dance to see if it would indeed help her fighting skills. She had heard of a place in Neued that did a little teaching and it was there that she made her destination.

Fleade followed the directions she had gotten from some locals and was almost there and she found herself becoming quite anxious. Seeing a rather familiar face outside where she could only assume was her destination, Fleade's brow creased in the middle as she tried to place the face. "Excuse me, is this the Crystal Rain theater?" Fleade asked as she approached the woman. Her mind still whirling and trying to figure out where she knew this woman from.

robot kitten

 

[robot kitten]

Nilah44

Senja turned to smile at the ice woman who had approached. "It is indeed! There's no shows till later today though sorry." She tried to place where she'd seen this one before. The face was rather familiar.... "If you're here for classes though I can see about helping you!"
The lady was about her age, so it was possible she was here looking for lesson's for her child... Or herself, it's never really too late to learn dancing or music! Senja thought with a smile before she stopped and looked closer at the other one. "Where you, sorry this is out of the blue, captured by the Obans and escaped? You just seem so familiar to someone I saw there... the one who managed to capture the Oban nobles." She spoke this last one in a whisper. There were Obans about here these days and maybe they would hurt the one who'd captured the daughter of the new king....  

[Nilah44]

Fleade smiled gratefully as she was told she was indeed in the correct place. At the mention of shows, she decided she would try to make one some day. And that's when the other offered her help for classes which made Fleade sigh in relief. The lady's question caught her off guard but also sparked her memory. Yes! Her question meant that Fleade was correct in thinking that the woman had been captured with her. Scratching the back of her neck, Fleade gave a hesitant smile before speaking. "I was, actually. Sure it might not have been the best course of action but I did what I had to do to get us out of there." She had been met with some hostility from some, people not approving of her actions. The way she spoke the last part in a whisper, though, made Fleade think that it wasn't the case with this one. "I'm Fleade and I did come here for some classes." She smiled and bowed her head a bit in respect.

robot kitten

 

[robot kitten]

Nilah44

Senja grinned and held out a hand to shake. "Good for you! That capture meant that the Matori were freed! Without your work I don't think Naria would have had leverage to free her people!" She kept her voice low for this but went back to a normal volume.
"I'm Senja! My family owns and runs this place so I should be able to get you settled into a class easily!" She gave a small sigh. "While I was pregnant they wouldn't let me teach or help out so I ended up doing most of the record keeping instead.. Means I know costs, times and all that but...." She made a face. Music and lessons were more fun! She'd been attending a few herself to get back into shape and keep her skills honed.

Casually hooking her arm through Fleade's arm she dragged her off inside. "What sort of classes are you interested in? We've got instrumental, dancing, acting ones. To learn how to craft stuff you have to apprentice yourself but I don't think that's what you're interested in..."

The inside of the building was grand and clean.... it was newly rebuilt and refurbished sine they'd been doing so well and it'd been partially destroyed in the war. It was also furbished with quiet elegance; theaters were all about appearances after all!  

[Nilah44]

Fleade smiled happily, so not everyone thought she had made the wrong decision. In fact, Senja thought she had made the decision that lead to the end of the war! That was a big boost to Fleade's confidence and actually just made her feel a lot better about the whole ordeal with the war. "I've never thought of it that way, but maybe you're right! If anything, at least, it allowed you to have your child away and out of wartime. Is it well? He or she I mean. Not it, people don't like their children called it." She said wth a nervous laugh. She obviously didn't have children or really think of having any soon.

Hmm, what classes did she want to take? "Well, I haven't really ever tried any instruments, so I don't know if I have the aptitude, but an old trainer or mine always related sword play to dancing so I thought I might take a class or two to see if it would improve anything." So her family owned this place? Fleade probably couldn't be in better hands!

robot kitten

 

[robot kitten]

Nilah44

Senja laughed; "It did indeed, for which I' quite grateful. My boy is a scamp who could use a little less energy!" She sighed and massaged her lower back. "Now I know how my parents felt!" She chuckled as she led Fleade towards the practice rooms.
The hallway she turned down had several rooms from which the sounds of voices calling out beats, strains of simple music and the stamping of feet could be heard.

"I've never heard dancing compared to sword play.... but I do know it required stamina and swiftness of foot to do both so why not? It will also help you with speed and balance!" maybe if I use this argument I can try and get Sakhile to do a bit of dancing.. if only to wear him out!

"Would you like to learn to dance then? We've got a lot of instructors here;" she grinned suddenly: "The Matori were quite happy to join and share dances! A pity they don't remember more of their dances... they were captive for so long they lost quite a bit.. but what they do have is beautiful!"  

[Nilah44]

Ethelfleade laughed right along with Senja. She couldn't even imagine what it would be like to have children now or even in the future. But those who had children were definitely strong people. Especially Senja, who had to endure so much through her pregnancy. "Speed and Balance would definitely be helpful!" She wasn't the fastest earthling, nor could she really balance very well, maybe it would help her with her tree climbing!

"I think I would like to learn dance. Its amazing that you've found Matori Dancers. Its terrible that they've lost some of their heritage, but surely there are some Matori somewhere that still remember." Not many things were lost for forever. And perhaps, it was still recent enough for them to have some members of their race who remember.  

[robot kitten]

Nilah44

"Oh goody! I'll be your teacher then... mostly cause I need more exercise and I'm not sure you want to be put into a class? I can get you slotted into a class if you really want it." She chuckled. "Other than chasing after my son, I don't move too much these days, what with composing and music! We'll start off with stretches that ill help with flexibility and warm ups so you don't hurt anything." She said as she walked towards the smaller rooms down one of the many corridors that the theater had.

"These are good for more than just dancing; I normally do them each morning. Helps wake me up and keep me limber!" She chattered as she opened a door; "You want to change into something else? We'll be moving a lot so less clothing is better especially since it heats up fast!"

The room had some spare work out clothing stashed in a dresser next to a wall of shelves filled with empty boxes. "This is the women's changing room, you can store your stuff in one of the boxes and pick anything from that dresser. Its filled with stuff we give away or loan out. It's all clean so no worries about smell!"