Dancing with the Wolf
The following is an excerpt from my fairytale-inspired space opera, Crystal Magic. It's been a while since I last worked on it, but I've been feeling some recent inspiration. I really liked this scene, so I thought I'd share it with you.
I hope you enjoy!
She was drawn out of her thoughts by what felt like a little pin-prick, a little nudge from some deeper part of her mind, a tingle down her spine. She turned to see a figure approaching, a man only barely taller than her, dressed entirely in black with a golden mask that resembled a wolf somewhat.
“Hello there.” She tilted her head as he slowed his approach. Something about him felt hauntingly familiar—but she could not place why. “You must be here for the party too.”
“I am.” The wolf’s voice was slow, stilting—as if he were struggling for words. “I couldn’t help but come over to you.”
Gwynn raised her eyebrows. “And why is that?”
The wolf smiled—but it was a kind smile, Gwynn decided. “I saw you standing by yourself and thought a pretty girl like yourself couldn’t be left alone like that.”
He then offered her a gloved hand. “May I?”
Gwynn could feel the heat radiating from her cheeks as she smiled all the same. “You may.”
The wolf led Gwynn onto the dance floor with all of the grace of a nobleman, or someone upper-class, anyway. Someone who would know all of the fancy dances that the people dancing with the Governor and her cohort would, at least. She’d simply have to follow his lead. After all, what would an innkeeper’s daughter from the Border Worlds know of such things?
Still, she had to admit that she was thrilled that such a thing was happening to her of all people!
The musicians paused for a little longer, as the dancers shuffled into the crowd and vice-versa. Even Kiana Albion had finally vanished into the crowd. Far fewer dancers now stood in the center of the ballroom, leaving Gwynn feeling exposed.
“Don’t be nervous,” the wolf murmured. “I’ll guide you.”
Gwynn nodded and bit her lip, not trusting herself to speak.
Then the orchestra began again. This song was slower, with more tension in the strings. A waltz, perhaps, but one with an edge that left goosebumps on Gwynn’s pale skin. Beautiful, of course, but a far cry from the previous fast-paced joyous melodies that had filled the ballroom just before.
The wolf stayed true to his word. With a gentle yet firm grip on her hand and her waist, he guided her across the ballroom in the spins and footwork of a more elaborate dance, one that Gwynn wasn’t entirely sure she knew the name of.
“Have you danced before?” The wolf asked as he guided her into a spin under his arm.
“Only when I was little,” Gwynn answered. “My sister and I took lessons at a ballet troupe’s studio not far from home.”
Madame Ciaravola, she remembered the name was. She’d been a student at the Aggripina Ballet School, one of the best in the system. With striking red hair, a more coppery color than the darker auburn-adjacent of Sorrel’s, she commanded attention on the stage. She’d originally come from Perrault, and had formed her troupe in attempt to bring more attention to the stories and culture of their tiny Border World by bringing their stories to life.
“We didn’t last long in those, though,” Gwynn assured the wolf as they came back together. “My sister, she was too impatient, she could never keep still or listen for very long.”
“And what about you?”
“Oh, well, I didn’t want to do it without my sister.” Gwynn could feel her cheeks heating up again. “We were inseparable then. I wouldn’t have thought of it.”
The wolf said nothing, merely nodding to indicate that he was listening.
“Besides, it wouldn’t have lasted long anyway,” she added. “I doubt we really had enough money to keep doing it forever.”
“I see.” The wolf had her on the back-foot, stepping back in time to the music before another spin, the two of them interlocked. “Where is your sister, then?”
“Oh, we’re not really together anymore.” Gwynn’s throat went dry. “She. . . she had her own journey to go on. One I couldn’t really follow.”
He then pulled back, and it was him moving back to the music.
“Have we met before, sir?” Gwynn could no longer push back the nagging doubts in her mind. She had thought it to be nervousness or anxiety about being in the center of the ballroom like this. But there was something else to it, too. Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
“I’m no sir,” he laughed. “I’d rather you never called me that again.”
“Right.” Gwynn bit her lip again.
“You shouldn’t do that,” the wolf chided. “I’d hate for a pretty girl such as yourself to get hurt.”
“You haven’t answered my question.” Her voice dropped, cold as the snows she had left behind.
“I haven’t,” he agreed, and he lifted his arm again for her to spin under. “But I had hoped to avoid the unpleasantness for at least another song.”
“The unpleasantness?” Gwynn’s mind was whirring as she faced him again, her hand in his, the other on her waist. A chill went down her spine. “Versailles!”
He pulled her into a dip, and his grin seemed all the more wolfish as he looked down at her. “I’ve been looking for you, Gwyneira.”
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The best thing about OPLA is that they decided to focus on the friendship aspect of the crew and executed it perfectly.
They talk about their past, they share intimate fears, they are open about how much they care for each other - and that's so refreshing!
The scene where Usopp asked them if they think Kaya actually likes him? Him getting visibly hurt when Luffy mentions his dad?
The one when they send Zoro to talk to Luffy about Garp, because they can tell he's upset?
The whole sequence before and after Zoro fought Mihawk? Nami being concerned to the point of crying? Her reading him stories while he was unconscious and getting mad at Luffy for letting it happen? Her calling him a friend after she said she never had one?
The way Luffy was worrying about him so much that he refused to eat and asked Sanji to make Zoro's favorite food for when he wakes up? How hard it was for him to start talking and how easy it was to admit that he needs Zoro?
Sanji defending Nami even when all of the evidences were against her? Luffy proudly saying she's their friend?
That scene with Nojiko where Usopp calls Sanji the best cook?
The banter between Sanji and Zoro that starts from the moment Sanji first speaks and keeps going even as they fight back-to-back?
We get a glimpse of those things in anime and manga, but it's never this raw. The amount of hugging and touching and overall closeness? How Nami and Zoro get annoyed by it in the beginning and how it brings a more prominent smile the more it happens?
I'm so glad they pushed that narrative instead of trying to directly translate the plot for the 3rd time.
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