#kirthaven

A skipped step turned to spill into a full-body roll. A rippled wave of hands came with a pair of hops. Legs parted one following the wave of an arm as the woman leaned low and forward only to swing back accentuating her figure until arms crossed at their forearms over her head with a flash of flame. For each motion of her upper body, there was another at her lower half. Rolls of her wrist, soft abs pushing and pulling. Steps would slow and quicken.

Each of the following motions pushed with the intensity of the music, if it slowed so did Cypris' motions. Something about all of it coming together and the way she incorporated the flare of fire brought a subtle bob of Ava's head with a mirrored sway of her shoulders without her offering in much thought as she watched.

A stumbled step brought Cypris to a stop once she realized she was being watched. A broad smiling grin spread. A hand lifted to wave the girl in. Ava looked over either shoulder then motioned to herself, "Me?"

Cypris laughed and nodded, "Yes you, gawking girl. Try it... I'll show you." Nodding to a portion of the floor, "Stand there. We'll go slow. I saw you bobbing your head."

There was a brief hesitation before Ava moved in and took the space. "I've only... um we didn't learn these dances in the city."

"Neither did I. It's more letting the music flow and moving how it makes you feel. When you really get in the rhythm loosen your core and let the fire flow with you. Second best release I know." Cypris explained as she squared her feet with a double stomp for the girl to mirror her pose. "Listen more to the music than watching me. If you feel something different then do it."

Cheeks darkened as Ava rolled up her sleeves and pulled her pants a little higher. Feet settled similar to Cypris'. With the start of the next song she watched the first set of motions before working up the nerve to follow with the next identical set. The movements were stiff.

"You have to breath and feel it, let down the wall Lairn told you to hold. We won't hurt anything here. "The elder firestarter continued to coach. "There you go, Dove"

The praise came with the slow loosening of Ava's motions. There was a slow emersion of some inner skill showing the girl had an ear for the music. She was more fighting the years of formal training that had built her reflexes. In some ways the training made some of the motions appear more graceful than the loose flow of her mother.

"That's it... Stop thinking so much..." A bob of her shoulder spilled forward with a crouching rush only to straighten into a similar spin from earlier. Shoulders pressed forward and pulled back with a rippled down her belly.

Steadily the pair began to feed off of each other. Ava letting go of her need of perfection as she got used to the freedoms that eventually worked themselves out with small bursts of flame and Cypris pushing the limits of feeling sore and months previously without formally training working to find the old groove.

For the first time since coming to the dwarven country side and learning of her mother, Ava started feeling a bit of connection with the woman.