A/N: There are two songs which inspired me whilst writing this chapter, feel free to listen to them as you read:
1) Senbonzakura - By Lindsey Stirling, indicated by the *. I don't think the writing fits the whole song, but do listen to all of it at some point because I think its a beautiful piece.
2) Kingdom Dance - from Tangled, indicated by the **. This one may need to be repeated to fit the length of the writing.
You don't not have to listen but I think it would create a better image overall. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
The first thing Ren noticed when she got to the castle?
The sheer amount of people there; the barman wasn't exaggerating when he said almost the whole city had come to the event.
She wondered between the colourful stalls that lined both sides of the wide stone pathway, vibrant bunting and patterned cloth hanging between the two tall walls on either side, creating a vivid canopy which cut across the clear blue sky.
There were stalls selling all kinds of foods, ornaments, jewellery, flowers and liquor, the vendors calling out to the passing crowds as they advertised their goods.
The atmosphere was so bright and joyful, people chatting away with old friends, children running about in their excitement to see everything all at once (not that Ren could blame them, she practically felt the same way), the midday sun beating down upon it all and the enticing smells of food filling the air, Ren couldn't help but smile and soak it all in, all but forgetting about her nerves for the upcoming exam in two days' time.
She weaved through the crowds, relishing the anonymity of being surrounded by so many people; this had never been possible in her village, it being so small everyone had known everyone.
Up ahead she spotted two entertainers who towered above everyone else. They both wore oversized outfits, the woman in a red and white striped dress and the man in a red and yellow suit, used to hide the wooden stilts strapped to their feet. They both wore clown-like red and white makeup on their faces with large red noses, and large hats adorned their heads.
Overall it was a very humorous appearance, and judging by the laughs from the surrounding crowd, so was their performance.
Ren made her way over, threading through the crowd to try and get a closer look at the odd performers. She ended up pretty close to them, and was standing near a tall young man with blue hair.
Ren chuckled a few times at the silly performance, the man trying and failing to impress the woman with a flower until he eventually did succeed. Ren clapped along with the rest of the crowd as the performance finished, colourful confetti seemingly appearing from nowhere.
Still in a state of wonder and awe since the moment she'd set eyes upon the castle, she looked to her right, still applauding and soaking up the atmosphere of the crowd. She saw the young man next to her rest his hand on top of a significantly shorter woman's head, the blonde woman next to them smiling gently. She realised that the three must have known each other, but she looked curiously at the short girl in the middle.
She wore a cream hood over her head, a matching shawl covering her shoulders, and as Ren peered into it she saw that the young woman had short red hair as bright as an apple.
Wow, Ren thought, your hair is so beautiful.
Only, Ren hadn't just thought that, she'd actually said it. Aloud. Whilst still looking at the young woman in question.
Upon seeing the red locks Ren had stopped clapping, her hands slowly coming down to her sides as she unwittingly released her awed statement. Not only that but luck was clearly not on her side today, as unfortunately for her the whole trio had heard her statement, having already finished the conversation they were previously engaged in.
The small group all turned to face her, expressions of slight shock and - was that a hint of wariness? - Upon their faces. It didn't take Ren long to realise her lapse in concentration and respect after that, and she immediately froze, her very bones stiffening and locking in place as her eyes widened.
Shit.
An awkward silence dragged on for a few minutes as they all stared at each other, but finally Ren snapped herself out of her shock, her hands suddenly gesturing wildly as tried to explain herself to them.
"I-I didn't mean to say that aloud! I'm so sorry th-that was so disrespectful of me, I mean, I don't even know you and I j-just said that your hair was b-beautiful- not that it isn't! It's an absolutely stunning colour and I'm sure people compliment you all the time on it… Which is probably why you had your hood up to try and avoid that attention, but I managed to interrupt your day anyway… God I'm such an idiot."
Ren had progressively gotten less frantic in her gestures as she went on, her hands eventually dropping to her sides and her shoulders slumping as she finished, her voice also slowing and lowering back down to its usual pitch as she muttered to herself about 'first impressions in Wistal'.
In her frantic and embarrassed state she had also drawn the attention of two young men, who were standing a little further back from the group, one in a guard's uniform with a few tufts of stark white hair peeking out from underneath his hat, and the other with a mop of black hair and brown, loose fitting clothes.
The two men watched as no one said anything after the girl's outburst, as they were quite unsure of what to say, and as the silence dragged on the girl began to stiffen again, holding her breath until she could take it no more.
No longer willing to wait for a reply Ren span on her heel, squeaking out one last "Sorry!" as she sped away, disappearing into the crowd and leaving behind some very confused, yet now largely unconcerned, people.
The young man with the mop of black hair watched as she sped away, his cat like eyes narrowing in slight suspicion; he would investigate further, just in case, but for now he would enjoy the festival with the others.
The one thing all of them had noticed though, when that strange young woman had fled in her embarrassment, was that the ends of her hair where a rich shade of forest green, and that even despite this unique feature, she had still managed to vanish into the crowd within seconds.
Ren didn't know how long she had been running for, but what she did know was that she was quite out of breath and thoroughly embarrassed.
Great, she thought, a little irritated at herself, the first people I meet my age and I go randomly complimenting them, which is completely rude and disrespectful when she clearly didn't want anyone to compliment her!
She sighed as she continued to walk, head down and a few stalls still on either side of her. She hoped the young woman and her friends weren't angry at her, and even though it was unlikely that she would ever see them again, Ren still didn't like the fact that she had been so disrespectful, saying something like that completely out of the blue to a stranger, even if it was a compliment.
She looked up to see a fruit stall next to her, and her vision immediately tunnelled to the basket of fresh, juicy plums on top of the counter. The dark purple fruit were her weakness, and she quickly purchased a large bag of them, paying the vendor and fishing out a juicy morsel.
Her mood improved significantly as she bit into the purple skin, savouring the taste of the sweet, golden flesh inside. She carried on wondering the grounds as she ate her plums, and she soon began to notice that everyone was heading in the same direction; thinking that it must be something important, she decided to follow them.
Ren found herself as part of a large crowd as she finished her plum, standing in front of two enormous buildings that were connected by a wall half their height, which still towered over the crowd below. There was a large, elegant blue door in this wall, but the crowd's attention was on the battlements on top.
For there stood the two Princes of Clarines; First Prince Izana and Second Prince Zen, standing a little ways apart.
From this distance, Ren couldn't make out much but the dark blue robes and bleached blond hair of the prince on the left, and the white and blue robes of the white haired prince on the right, who was waving to the crowd below. She was able to identify the prince on the left as Izana and the prince on the right as Zen, as she had heard a few descriptions of Clarines' royalty back in her village (granted they were from the two gossips, but unfortunately they had been her best sources for information more often than not).
The crowd were ecstatic, cheering their praises for the two princes and waving at them enthusiastically as pink and pastel yellow petals rained down from the sky.
Where are these petals even coming from? Ren thought, seeing no explanation for the copious amounts that continued to fall.
However, she decided to dismiss that train of thought, instead gazing up at the two princes, feeling a surge of pride at the thought that she could soon be working in their court; forgetting the remnants of her embarrassment from her previous encounter for now, and finally relaxing again.
*It wasn't long after the Princes had returned inside and Ren had resumed her wanderings of the castle, that she heard some music. It was a fast, joyful tune played on a violin, and Ren found herself drawn to it.
She followed the sound until she found herself in a medium sized stone courtyard, a few marble benches dotted around the edges and open corridors with wide, supporting pillars surrounding the area.
But it was what was in this courtyard, or rather who, which drew Ren's attention, as well as the attention of the small crowd of people who lined the outer edges of it, all clapping in time to the violinist who stood off to one side.
There was a troupe of young dancers, all in either their late teens or early twenties, and the young men and women spun around their partners in a colourful blur of reds, greens, blues and yellows. The women's skirts flew about their legs, flying upwards as they spun and as they were lifted by their partners, the fast momentum never ceasing for a moment.
The quick pace of the violin and the troupes dance was infectious, and Ren soon found herself clapping along, having found a gap at the front of the small crowd and placing her bag of plums on a bench nearby, a smile forming on her face at the sheer energy being exuberated from the dancers. And even though she thought it looked fun, she much preferred to just watch the professionals; she'd only ever danced at the village fêtes before, and even that had only been with a few friends, nothing serious.
A collective shout of "Hey!" came from the dancers as they jumped and spun 180 degrees, swapping partners as they landed and continued on their dizzying journey.
This seemingly chaotic routine continued, the dancers all managing to weave around each other as they spun and spun and spun. There were no collisions, and surprisingly none of them seemed to be affected by the endless turns. Alternate couples whirled into the centre of the circle the troop had formed, whilst the others span outwards. A young man suddenly appeared in front of Ren, quickly dipping the small, bouncy blonde in his arms, who toothily grinned at Ren from her upside down position before she was whisked away again.
Ren paused in her clapping for a moment, shocked by the pair's sudden appearance, but by that time they had already gone, so she simply giggled at herself and continued her clapping.
She watched as they continued to leap and bound, and at one point all of the women were thrown high into the air by their partners, their arms and legs always remaining elegant as they were caught bridal style by a different partner, the men having rotated whilst they were in the air, spinning of course whilst they did it.
Finally the dance came to an end, the song having increased to such a pace that the violinist himself was out of breath, a light sweat forming on his brow.
The dancers had all ended in a circle, one hand holding their partners as they stretched their arms in a gentle curve upwards, one leg crossed behind the other, only their toes touching the ground as they faced the crowd surrounding them, their breaths heavy but large grins on their faces none the less. Ren was sure she could see a gleam in their eyes, their energy apparently endless.
Ren watched as the dancers caught their breath, amicably chatting to each other as two more musicians joined the violinist, preparing to start the next piece.
Ren decided to stay, curious to see what they would do next and in no rush, as it was still a little while till the acting troupe performed; she'd heard a group talking about it earlier as she'd passed by.
As she stood waiting she noticed the dancers going off to talk to people in the crowd, most of those people then going to join the dancers that remained in the middle of the courtyard.
The short, bouncy blond woman from earlier skipped over to Ren, her sunflower yellow dress gently swishing around her calves as she did so. She stopped before Ren, and despite looking much older than her she bounced on her toes, hands clasped in front of her, and said in a bright, bubbly tone:
"Wanna dance with us?"
Ren blinked, unsure of how to reply to the young woman and wondering if she'd heard her correctly.
Touch was something Ren reserved for her friends and loved ones, a handshake being the most she would offer a stranger, and it was very special to her; it was one of the largest ways she conveyed affection, passion and comfort. But dancing seemed to be a very…..physical activity, and she didn't know any of the people here.
"No thank you," Ren replied, "I'm fine just watching from here."
"Aw, come on! I saw you whilst we were dancing before, you were just itching to come join us!"
Ren wasn't exactly sure how the woman had had enough time to register her expression at the speed she had been moving at, but replied with a small chuckle:
"Unless you all want your feet stepped on I'd recommend you find someone else." This wasn't exactly true, as even though Ren had to admit she wasn't one of the best dancers, she'd never actually stepped on anyone's feet – not yet, anyway.
"But this is the Open Castle Day dance! Anyone can do it!" the blonde insisted.
Ren scoffed slightly, "I don't see how this dance could be any different from all the other dances."
The young woman's eyes flashed with something Ren couldn't quite identify; as though she'd suddenly had an idea.
Yet before she could say anything, the young brunette she'd been dancing with before came over, leaning an arm on her shoulder; he was the same height as Ren, so the blonde was a perfect armrest for him.
"Because we only ever dance it on Open Castle Day, which is only every few years." The young man said; he was wearing a deep marine tunic, which complemented the blondes dress and hair.
"Exactly!" the blonde said, glad for the support but still jabbing him in the side for the interruption, "There's no feeling quite like dancing in the castle, I can promise you that!"
**Ren gazed at the expectant and joyful faces of the pair in front of her, her arms crossed as more people from the crowd joined the other dancers. The only thing stopping Ren was her stubbornness; she couldn't just give up on her ideals like that!
Although, I did say I'd try every new experience I can get my hands on, and it's not like this dance is considered intimate or affectionate…everyone just does it on a friendly basis…
Seeing that her plan was working and that Ren was beginning to crack, the blonde added:
"Who knows when you'll get this chance again?"
Ren's curiosity won, and pushing away her inhibitions for now she grumbled, "Fine…"
The pair's faces lit up and the blonde, seeing that she had won Ren over, clapped her hands together excitedly. She then turned on her heel and ran to the centre of the courtyard, taking up her position with the rest of the dancers, but not before she called over her shoulder, "I'm Kana by the way!"
"Ren!" the blacksmith called back, "And you better be right about this!"
"We are!" she laughed as arrived at the group of dancers.
"I'm Shino," the brunette said, shaking Ren's hand, "Now come on, the dance is about to start!"
Shino also ran towards the centre, and Ren had no choice but to follow, amazed at the dancers never ending energy once again.
Once she arrived, she found that she was standing opposite Shino, at the end of a line of partners who also stood facing each other. She saw the trio of musicians preparing to start, the violinist from before and two men playing a lute and a flute. She could also see the grinning face of Kana, who gave her a small, excited wave as she bounced on her toes further down the line.
"Wait!" Ren said to Shino, "I don't know this dance!"
"You saw the one we did before right?" Ren nodded a little anxiously, "Well it's a more basic version of that."
"But-"
"Don't worry about it! Just follow everyone else's lead and relax! You'll get into the swing of it!"
Before Ren could protest anymore, the music started, and she had no choice but to follow everybody else's lead as they skipped into the middle to join hands with their partner.
The line of linked hands created a tunnel of arches, the pair at the opposite end skipping through, before the new couple at the end then did the same.
Ren was soon caught up in the flute led music, the energy even more infectious than before now that she was a part of it, and she forgot her rules on physical contact, just this once; she would allow for a few exceptions, especially when those exceptions made her feel this much joy and her heart beat faster.
Suddenly everyone was in a circle, facing inwards, and they were all clapping their hands above their heads in unison; Ren included. The remaining crowd clapped their hands, continuing the beat as everyone paired off, arms linking with their partners as they faced each other and spun around.
Ren registered that she was spinning with Shino, her loose hair and cloak flying around her, but he only gave her a wide grin as if to say, I told you so, before they swapped partners, this time going into a more traditional hold, one hand on your partners shoulder and your other hand clasping theirs.
Once again they were always spinning, but luckily for Ren her good sense of balance prevented her from getting too dizzy.
But that didn't prevent her from getting lost in the whirling colours of all the people around her, and she was exhilarated by how everyone was somehow aware of everybody else; the dance and the music filled her with passion, and in that very moment it was all that mattered to her.
They leapt into the air, no partners to catch them, and Ren felt as though she could fly, such was the feeling of freedom she experienced as she spun 360 degrees, her arms above her head and her leg slightly bent, landing softly on the balls of her feet.
She found herself spinning to her next partner, a 10 year old girl whose long black hair was in two plaits, and Ren gripped her hands as they spun together, laughing as they did so; at nothing but the feeling of pure joy they both felt.
She finally ended up whirling with Kana, their arms linked as they spun into the centre of the circle, the couples next to them spinning towards the outside of the circle.
"So?" laughed Kana, "Was I right?"
"You were definitely right!" Ren laughed back, a little breathless, "This is amazing!"
They completed their final spin, everyone ending up facing the crowd in a large circle; the same final position as the previous dance the troupe had performed.
Ren was grateful for the firm grasp that Kana had on her left hand, otherwise she might have immediately collapsed; whether from exhaustion or from the sudden stillness after so much movement and spinning, she wasn't sure.
But what Ren did know was that she had had the time of her life; she couldn't remember the last time she'd laughed this much, especially around complete strangers.
"So, you gonna stick around?" Kana asked, the dancers all finally relaxing from their positions, some even collapsing into a heap on the ground; most likely the members of the crowd who had joined the troupe.
"Yeah," Shino said as he came over to the two girls, "We've got plenty more dances where that came from. Up for the challenge?"
"I'd really love to, and I've had such a great time. But," Ren said, a little disappointedly, "I want to go catch the play and I should probably start heading over there now."
"Damn, that's a shame," Shino said, Kana nodding solemnly in agreement, "But I hope you enjoy the play!"
"Hey, come to think of it…" Kana said, her finger tapping her chin as she looked up thoughtfully, "Isn't there a play that's supposed to start right about now? You know, the one about a princess and a knight and a prince?"
Ren's eyes had widened slightly at this, exclaiming before Shino could reply, "That's the play I'm going to see! You mean to tell me it's about to start already?!"
"Yeah." Kana said simply.
"Well, could you point me in the direction of it please?!" Ren asked a little frantically.
"Sure, it's just through there," Kana said, pointing to an opening on their right, "Just keep following the path and you'll find the right place."
"Thank you!" Ren said, already heading in that direction and grabbing her bag of plums as she raced by. "And thank you so much for the dance!" she added, looking back to see the pair waving at her retreating figure.
"It was our pleasure!" They both called back, laughing as she turned the corner, disappearing from their sight.
Soon they were dancing again, getting lost in the rhythms and pulling in more people from the crowds, the afternoon sun continuing to shine down on the courtyard.
Ren soon arrived at the performance, her hands on her knees as she stood at the top of the stone steps which formed the seating for the play. She stood between two large pillars as she caught her breath, but fortunately for her the play had started just as she had arrived.
Relieved she let out a large sigh and took a seat at the end of the top row, not wanting to disturb anyone and the empty space being the closest one to her.
The raised stage was beautiful, framed by white columns and with a delicately painted backdrop of a night sky and a castle, surrounded by a dark forest. It was a much more upmarket version than any of the ones Ren had seen before, but that was to be expected as she was in the palace grounds.
This was one of Ren's favourite plays, and she knew it word for word; every time some travelling performers had come through her village, this was the one they would perform, and Ren had adored it ever since she was a little girl.
Ren was sitting back, enjoying yet another plum, when she noticed a change in the actor's lines.
She looked up, only to see that there was a completely different actress on stage; this one was wearing a light pink dress and headdress, whereas the previous one had worn a yellow dress, her light brown hair mostly uncovered.
The change in actresses made sense, as Ren had noticed the first one trip and limp off stage earlier on, so the one in pink was likely a substitute.
However, the change in lines did not make sense, and so Ren leaned forward, looking closer at the new actress.
Her eyes narrowed, but quickly widened again when she saw the familiar locks of bright red hair, just peeking out of the actresses headdress.
Oh, Ren thought, I guess she must be an actress then. She does look a little nervous though… maybe this is her first time on stage?
Yet something still wasn't right. The actor who played the Prince was now reaching towards the girls headdress, as though he was about to take it off, and judging from her expression and the fact she had been covering her hair earlier, Ren knew that this wasn't scripted.
Her eyes narrowed and her shoulders tensed at the thought that this man was about to reveal the poor girls hair against her will, but she needn't have worried, for just then the actor playing the Knight appeared out of nowhere.
Ren was surprised to see the actor falling from the rafters, separating the two before pulling the Princess to his side and pointing his sword at the Prince.
She was even more surprised to see that this was yet another change in actors, this man having mop of pure white hair atop his head, especially since it had seemed like there was nothing wrong with the previous actor.
Ren was drawn out of her puzzled musings by the cheers of the rest of the audience, the actress now having left the stage and the two men commencing their duel.
It was quite humorous really, as the new actor appeared to be a skilled swordsman, the Prince stumbling about on stage. As no one else seemed to notice the difference in actors or lines, Ren decided that it wasn't really an issue, seeing as the red-haired young woman had been saved from revealing her bright locks; besides, Ren was quite enjoying these new lines and actors now, laughing as the Prince failed to keep up with the white haired Knight.
Ren wondered through the crowds, walking underneath a brightly lit bridge which cut across the long courtyard. Night had now settled, the sky a deep blue sea dotted with stars, and Ren stopped as she reached the other side of the bridge.
She had been searching for a lantern, but her stubbornness and pride had prevented her from asking for help and now it was too late; everyone else had one of the egg shaped paper lanterns, four colourful ribbons hanging from the bottom, and the delicate paper decorated with simple patterns.
Ren sighed as she resigned herself to just watching the final event of the day, happy to just watch what was likely to be a beautiful sight.
A few of the lanterns were already being released, floating up into the sky, but before Ren could follow their journey a soft voice next to her said:
"My dear, do you not have a lantern?"
Ren looked to her left to see a middle-aged woman standing next to her, a little boy standing on her toes, his back leaning against her legs, both holding a lantern in their hands.
"Oh, no, I left it too late to get one and I didn't know where they were, as this is my first time here." Ren explained to her, a little embarrassed.
"Then you can have mine, dear." The woman said, offering her lantern to Ren.
"Oh! You don't need to that, really! I wouldn't want to be a bother!" Ren said, frantically waving her hands in front of her.
"But I insist! It wouldn't be right for you not to have the full experience on your first Open Castle Day!"
"No, no, I'm fine just watching!" Ren's embarrassment only rising, as well as her voice as she insisted, "It's my own fault really, I should have asked someone sooner! There's no need for you to give me your lantern, and I wouldn't want to intrude."
"You are not intruding my dear, and besides," she said, patting the small boy on the head, "I can just share with Hitoshi, right sweetie?"
The small boy nodded his head shyly, looking up at Ren through the long strands of hair which covered his eyes. The mother smiled at Ren, once again offering her the lantern.
With a small sigh of, "If it's not too much trouble then…" Ren gingerly took the lantern from the woman's hands, muttering a quick thank you before looking down on it thoughtfully and as most of the other lanterns around her were released into the sky.
Unbeknownst to her, Ren's embarrassed exchange with the woman and her son had drawn the attention of the group standing on the bridge above.
Obi had been the first to notice, hearing her distressed voice as his back leant against the side of the bridge. He looked over his shoulder, down into the crowd below, and recognised the frantic hand gestures, cloak and green dipped hair.
"Hey," he said to the others, still looking below, "Look whose here."
They all looked down to where Obi was gazing, and spotted the strange girl from earlier who had complimented Shirayuki's hair, and who was now reluctantly accepting a lantern from a smiling woman and her son.
"Huh," Mitsuhide said, "I guess she has talent for getting embarrassed and causing a commotion."
They all chuckled at that, remembering her huge embarrassment over something so small, and her confusing, agitated reaction afterwards.
The group looked back at the sea of lanterns floating by, but Obi looked at the girl for a few more moments; he would still investigate, for the sake of the Miss and his Master, despite the fact that she looked pretty harmless. But looks could be deceiving, and he knew it wouldn't be too hard to track down someone with forest green dipped hair.
Ren was looking at the lantern in her hands, and she heard the kind woman who had given it to her say to her son:
"Now don't forget to make a wish before you let it go, Hitoshi."
Ren stared at the delicate paper in her hands, the amber flame glowing inside.
A wish.
She could wish to become the Court Blacksmiths Apprentice. Wish to win the examination in two days' time. She could wish for all the money in Clarines so her parents would never have to worry again. She could wish for the means to freely travel the world, nothing to tie her down or stop her.
She could wish for anything, but as the lanterns floated into the inky sky above, she could only think of one wish, one thing that she truly desired.
She thought back on her first day in Wistal, thought of the kindness, generosity and joy shown to her by so many people; the barman, Kana and Shino, the woman and her son, Hitoshi.
No, there was only one thing she could possibly wish for as she closed her eyes, gripping the lantern tighter.
I wish to stay in Wistal. To stay in the capital, no matter the outcome of the exam. To stay with these people.
She finally released her lantern, pushing it up into the sky as she opened her eyes, watching its journey as it struggled to catch up with the others, the lanterns soon becoming nothing but glowing dots in the vast night sky, their wishes being swallowed by the stars.
A/N: Thank you so much to the people who have favourite and followed my story, it means so much to me to see you enjoy it, you made a shitty day better. Although if you don't leave reviews I don't know whether I'm doing anything right or if I'm doing anything wrong. Like if I use to many commas or if my dialogue is any good... So... wink wink nudge nudge, PLEASE REVIEW!
-Limegreenarcher
