Tim and I went back inside only to be greeted with a very drunk Grace dancing on top of one of the tables to a famous pop song that the others must have taught the minstrels the tune for. The other people in the bar were all very entertained, especially those that traveled here after the release of this song. It did remind me of my own world, so I joined in the dancing pulling Tim up on the table as well.
"I can't dance!" The Cleric tried to get off the table, but both Grace and I stopped him and just started to do a weird back and forth thing while we all held each other's arms. There were more drinks and dancing, and food that night before we decided it was time to head home. I don't really remember how we made it back, but I'm sure that the three underaged members of our party had a big part in it.
I woke up the next day feeling like I'd been hit by a truck; it was clear in Tim's face that he felt the same. I could only imagine how Grace felt as she had gone harder than Tim and me, but she was asleep in the next room. I got up and helped Tim to his feet so that we could go to the back yard and wash up. Once we were in the sun, my head started pounding even harder, but we still managed to make it to the water bucket that acted as our wash area.
The three that hadn't done any drinking the night before were already making breakfast for us and chuckling slightly at the view of the Cleric, and I half awake trying to wash from the bucket.
"Ya'll had a fun night, huh?" Derek laughed at us. His voice was ringing in my ears. Tim must have felt the same way because he looked over at Derek with a slight scowl.
"Why are you so loud right now?" He said, which elicited some laughter from all three of them. Grace woke up shortly after us, and we all enjoyed some greasy breakfast, which helped us feel a little bit better.
"So you going to the Guild today?" Sarah asked me.
"Do I need to?" I asked back, Laura facepalmed.
"You've already forgotten Todd? You have to be prepared for the ceremony, remember? Sean is supposed to train you up for that starting today." Laura reminded me of the plans that I'd had for the day.
"Oh yeah. Do you think I really have to take part in this?" The others all nodded their heads. I didn't want to do any of it. The ceremony, the ball, finding a date. It just seemed like a lot of extra stuff that interfered with time that could be spent studying or hunting. Still, Grace forced me to get up and get ready.
"We can go with you if you'd like." She offered. That sounded ok, but the youngest ones wanted to spend the day practicing their skills. "We can go shopping for outfits!" Grace tried to tempt the younger girls, and she was successful, which means that Derek was the only one that didn't want to go. Sarah wouldn't have that, though.
"No, if I'm going to be getting dressed up for this thing, you will be too." Sarah dragged Derek off to go get ready, and the fencer whined the whole time about not wanting to get all dressed up. 'I know how you feel, bud.' We were all ready to go in a matter of minutes. Heading out the door, I looked back at the house. It was amazing how much things had changed in just a matter of months out here.
Before, we were struggling to survive, living off of one meal a day if we were lucky. Now we were going out to buy outfits that we didn't even need. Still, it was nice to see the group happier and healthier than they had been back at that time. We talked as we made our way through the streets to the Guild.
"I really wish we could get our hair done," Sarah said. The other females agreed.
"Yeah, my roots are showing really bad now." Grace had responded. I just noticed that her purple hair was more at the ends of her hair than at the top now. Sarah, who used to have gleaming blonde hair when we first got here, had lost her shine and was now dealing with continually having to twist her hair back into a tight bun to keep the hair out of her eyes when she shot, Laura's hair was still thick and curly I didn't think it looked bad at all, but even she wanted to do something different with it for the ball.
"Well, why don't you guys visit the salon today then?" I asked. They shrugged, and Grace explained that they didn't really have the money for a new hairstyle and outfits for the ball. I sighed and rolled my eyes; I then reached into my bag and pulled out three Witches Fire which I handed one each to the women. "Take these and sell them and go get your hair done." The girls immediately squealed with joy throwing their arms around me and thanking me profusely.
I managed to peel them off, and we made it to the Guild about ten minutes later. Sean was waiting for us as soon as I made my way through the door.
"There you are! You're late, you know! The other silver participants are already here. Where is your dance partner?" Sean was moving a mile a minute, dragging me as quickly as he could away from my friends.
"Dance partner? I don't have a dance partner." We stopped, and Sean looked me dead in the eye.
"You are killing me. What about one of your party members?" I explained that they all had dates and the girls wanted to go get their hair done anyway. This didn't deter the manager, though. He pointed to Tim and Derek. "One of you will be his dance partner today, which one!" The color left the two guys' faces, but Derek being the fleet-footed fencer, he was disappeared as quickly as he could. "Alright, then it's you." Sean came up and grabbed Tim by the wrist, now dragging both of us where we needed to go.
We were pulled up the stairs to the second level of the Guild. It was the first time that we'd seen the area, and it was shocking; there were magic items everywhere items that helped clean the floor or give information about the guild. Stores that sold flaming weapons and armor so that it appeared like the entire store was on fire. Sean caught me looking at that one and told me not to worry.
"It's not real fire, some people just like to use that glamour on their items. Real elemental weapons are kept in the vault here so that they aren't a danger to anyone in the guild." We stopped in front of a sleek metal black door with silver trim. The manager pushed us in, and we were greeted by the piercing eyes of an older woman with her hair tied back in a sock bun.
"You are late. And who is this young man you have brought with you? Where is your dancing partner?" I explained what had happened, and the older woman, with a displeased look on her face, told me to take Tim and join the others on the floor. She then addressed the class.
"I am Grieshalda, the Dance Master. In today's lesson, you will learn how to properly dance the Sirta, which is the traditional dance of our great country. Everyone pair up, and we will begin the lesson." Tim and I awkwardly walked to a place on the dance floor to wait for instructions. "Men will lead, alchemist boy in your case, the taller one will lead." 'I guess that makes me the girl for now.' I thought to myself.
"Leads, place your right hand on your partners back, keeping your elbows up, and your partner will put their hand on your shoulder. Partners place your hand inside that of your leads." Tim and I clumsily tried to follow her instructions; Grieshalda walked past us and clicked her tongue before adjusting us. "At least put forth some effort, you two. Even though I can tell, you have the grace of an ogre between the two of you."
We blushed and continued to try to maintain the position that she put us in. The woman moved onto footwork after that. She had some musicians close by that played what I assumed was a traditional song. After she taught us the basic footwork, we were to practice it in tempo to the music. Grieshalda could be heard throughout the entire song, just counting.
"ONE two three, ONE two three." Then she would yell out corrections at us. There was a lift that had to be done at least once every six counts of three, which Tim and I screwed up multiple times, falling to the ground. The dance master would fly to our side and yell at us for a little while until we were back on our feet dancing.
The class lasted for about three hours, and I was utterly exhausted and covered in sweat by the end of it.