This story is part of the Wanderer series.
The fire burned brightly. The drum beating picked up. The singing began, first with some quiet vocables sung by a firestarter here and there. Then, as others joined in, responding to their calls, the atmosphere brightened up. Long shadows danced across the clearing.
Nozomi and Rin intently watched this ritual spin up, carrying their eyes from one element to another. Nozomi eventually fixated on the drummers, drawn to the loud and rhythmic beating as well as their lively motions as they drummed. With a wide smile, she could not help but spontaneously wave and swing her arms in the air in an amateur imitation, swaying side to side from where she sat just like the drummers. Rin, on the other hand, watched with a mixture of entrancement and perplexity as the atmosphere gradually overwhelmed her.
Men and women, as they vocalized, began to revolve around the fire as they danced. Their movements, lively as they were, had a sense of restraint. They were structured, in a way, predetermined rather than freeform. Pairs formed throughout the pack. Yet, with the twists and turns performed asynchronously from the other pairs, there was a chaotic manner to festivity.
As one of the dancing women swung by the two girls, beaming at Nozomi’s enthusiasm, she hollered an invitation for Nozomi to join them, holding out open arms to her. Perking up, Nozomi expelled an excited laugh, taking the woman’s hands and standing up. Quickly, Nozomi turned back to Rin, holding her hands out in the same way for her to join. Rin drew back upon the sudden invitation, her hands unwittingly lifting out of her lap to defensively shield herself. Seeing this as an acceptance, Nozomi leaned in and grabbed her hands. She exclaimed as she was unexpectedly yanked up, stumbling forward into the ring. Though she flashed an irritated glance at the pink-haired girl, it quickly washed away as the rest of the congregation engulfed around and swept her forward.
Faced with the crowd and no sensible way out, Rin looked around with uncertainty. She immediately felt out of place as she walked while the others danced. Instinctively, she trailed close behind Nozomi, the only other familiar piece of her surroundings. However, soon the girl too began to dance, shedding her cover. She knew her lack of movement stood out, and all the eyes aimed inward compelled her to do something at the very least.
Nozomi, high with enthusiasm, did her best to imitate the men and women, bringing in her own bumbling manner of dancing to the entourage. Knowing not what they were doing, she started with a bit of a hopping march. When she found herself moving forward too fast, running up against the people in front of her, she started halting every once in a while, the abrupt stops adding hops into her dance. Eventually, as they occurred more often, she integrated them into her dance, hopping on one leg, then another.
Rin, knowing not what to do either, reluctantly copied Nozomi in a more awkward and less enthused manner. When that too felt mechanical and inadequately lively enough, she tried adding some spontaneous turns in place to match the others, managing to produce an even greater bumbling style of dance as she lost her balance trying to twist while maintaining a forward motion with the circle.
Despite their graceless hopping, the men and women around them paid no heed, ensconced in their own dance. Their steps gradually steadied as the two girls made one, two, three revolutions around the fire, falling into the beat. Passing by one of the women at the drums, she, squinted eyed with merry, heartily laughed in their direction. “You’re doing well, sisters!”