Authors note: hey guys^^ back again... Yeah, when I said some of the chapters were different lengths... This was one of them- I just split it where it felt right and it ended up like this. Anyways I hope you enjoy it as always- any reviews would be awesome^^ that's all for now though, see you tommorow!
The giant (strangely not disgusting) lake drew in both picnickers and dog walkers alike, but Hiccup was neither so he tended to just take the path around it. Still, now there was no people for him to avoid looking at (lest they have that dreaded, awkward moment of eye contact), he didn't have to fix his eyes on the floor like he normally did.
He half heartedly glanced up- not really looking. The park was pretty, he guessed. Thousands upon thousands of tiny blossom petals had fallen and were scattered across the grass and the path... But he couldn't really bring himself to care about it. In the dark cover of night, they were all just dull, white specks on the ground. He supposed they were meant to be a soft pink, but they were just blank to him. Besides, it wasn't like this didn't happen every year: flowers died, their petals fell and landed all over the floor. It was just a part of nature- nothing special about it.
Without really paying attention to what he was doing, his eyes swept over the lake- following an only half bothered thought that the giant puddle would probably be full of blossom petals too... He did a double take and froze into place, eyes bugging out of his head for a moment in shock.
A soft white aura was dancing effortlessly across the lake- gliding just above the surface of the impossibly still water; spinning, curving and looping its way around the lake again... and again... and again. Wait, was it skating? It was ice skating around the- definitely unfrozen- surface of the pre Autumn lake. Or was it above it? And what was it? Hiccup found himself walking closer to it, trying to figure out what he was seeing...
It was a boy- or, at least, the ghost of one.
Pearly white light highlighted the boy's shadows and features. The light fading curiously across his skin, making him nearly transparent in some places. The effect was one as if he was from a black and white movie where the black had been removed, leaving only wispy variations of white behind. But that was a poor description of the spectral figure he saw before him. It looked like a part of the moonlight that had captured in the lake's petal scattered mirror had been breathed into life.
What was this? Hiccup thought. The world seemed to be changing right before his eyes... It was beautiful. It wasn't quite as dark as before... and there was colour. The grass was taking on a viridescent hue- the petals touched with a soft pink. A tiny bit of colour was starting to reach his dull, monochrome world. Even the sky. He'd heard people say it was a deep, dark blue before now, but he'd only ever seen it as black. But now... he saw it. A deep, midnight blue that was reflected flawlessly in the moonlit lake- perfectly framing that soft, whitest of whites that was the ghost's translucent figure. There were millions of stars reflected around him like the sky had been scattered with glowing dust- and yet, the stars seemed dull next to shining spirit.
It was breathtaking- and the way he was dancing... He flowed across the surface like breath of wind- his figure slim and elegant like a picture perfect ballerina, and yet full of a freedom that was nothing like the tight, uniformed posture of a ballerina. There was presicion and form in his movement, yes, but it was done so effortlessly- casually, almost! He tried to fit it to any style of dance or skating he knew: waltz? It was too quick for that. Flamenco? No way- it wasn't nearly flamboyant enough for that. Tango? Don't be dumb, he thought, it was far too careless and cheerful to for such a serious dance. Calypso? Cha cha? Country? If he had to force a guess, he'd say it seemed vaguely ballroom- but that wasn't right either.
It was just so... free... Like he was inventing his own, breathtaking, new style of dance- one that took the best elements of existing dances and wove them seamlessly into his own. But it didn't even look like he knew what he was doing. To the spirit's mind, he was probably just dancing. Entirely unaware of the mastery his watcher saw in the performance. Heck, he didn't even know he had an audience; he was just skating for the fun of it.
Hiccup lost himself to the beautiful, skating dance. The spirals and turns... light arm movement that looked like they were guided by the wind... precise but easy footwork gliding flawlessly around, and around... He made it look so easy- flowing from each move to the next like a river... For the first time, in a long time... Hiccup started to think of how beautifully a piano would've accompanied the movements.
He could almost hear the tune right now- the perfect notes to work in seamless harmony with the fluid dance. Long, smooth notes that bespoke beauty and elegance... and then a soft, running melody would come in... slowly and gently... and then eventually it would go off to play by itself- light, carefree, and content.
Without even being aware of it, his fingers started tapping lightly on the bottom of his coat. Pressing the invisible keys he saw clearly in his mind. He didn't know how long he would've stood there, his mind creating the most beautiful score for the incredible scene before him, but everything came to an abrupt halt as he suddenly faced that moment he always dreaded when he was around other people.
That awkward second of eye contact.