Courante;; A piece of music written in triple time; Also an old French dance.

crescendo de crescendo

He was lost in a forest of black and gold.

Cloud halted just for a brief second in his rhythmic steps, just to take it all in. All he could see was black and gold. Faces didn't register in the one second he remained frozen. All he noticed was the way one of the ebony feathers danced recklessly in the breeze, before laying back down to rest. His foot moved by itself. Left, right, left, right, the pattern was imbedded in his head. He didn't notice his timed steps.

The sky was darkened by an incoming storm, but he could still see the gold streaks in the pitch black pillar of feathers. Then suddenly, his moment- had it been a only a second?- was over. He turned a sharp corner, and he was standing beneath the unforgiving, all-seeing lights. He was now in full view of the crowd before him. Their faces weren't important. He only searched for one, which was elevated high above the others. Emerald green shone through the black and gold fog he was in, and his own blue eyes sought out the pale hands belonging to the green eyes. After he found them, the game began.

The elevated one was the puppeteer. He flicked his hand and all the black and gold would follow his command. His hands rose, and Cloud responded by raising the metallic pipe to his lips. The man's fingers cut through the breeze effortlessly, and the puppet wet his lips and blew. The dance began; Cloud's eyes never left the man in control.

Left, right, left, right, place, point, cross, right, left, right, left Cloud didn't even have to think about his feet, they were moving on their own, controlled by the puppet master. He was hypnotized by the rhythmic hands and the commands they were giving.

Lightning flashed across the sky, but he paid no heed. All that was important was obeying those pretty hands and glowing eyes. The hands slowed, and so did he. They sped up, dangerously fast, but he didn't falter. The climax of this show was coming quick, but Cloud didn't even think to worry. Wrapped up in his own world, a world of black and gold and glowing green, he followed every little request of the elegant fingers. Then, in only a second, it was all over. The song had ended, the dance was done.

Cloud wiped the sweat out of his eyes, the black and gold cloud coming alive. The tall pillars of night and morning feathers morphed back into the plumes seated on top of hats, the uniforms took their shape once more. His steps even reverted back to how they were before the deadly dance began, uneven and not at in time.

No longer was he lost in a forest of black and gold.

The emerald green eyes were now accompanied by starlight in the form of hair, the hands attached to arms and a body. The great puppeteer gave one last command with his hands before stepping down from his exalted position. He was done playing as a god for the night.

The whistles and claps from the audience de crescendo-ed, but Cloud couldn't even remember when they had started. His eyes stared straight into the eyes of the retired puppet master.

Finally a deep, seductive baritone voice emitted from the man leaning down in front of him. "Good show, Cloud." And his mind went blank as his lips began a new dance.

de crescendo crescendo

Hey readers, this was certainly an interesting piece to write. I actually wrote this from my point of view of being on a football field marching. Our uniforms are black and gold, which I thought were excellent colors for a highschool in Midgar. At our last performance I just sorta halted for a moment and took everything in. The first thing I noticed was that at all I could see was colors. Faces didn't register. From reflecting back on what I saw, this was created! Sephiroth would defiantly be a drum major if he was in band and Cloud would play flute. XD

So drop me a review or a pm if you would, let me know how I did. This is my first time writing like this, so I would love to hear some feedback. Let me know if you see any errors as well, I don't have a beta reader, so sometimes I miss some mistakes. Thank you.

TornAngelWings