Straightaway, she noticed two smiles with eyes laced with concern. Out of the crowd, they reassured her the most. Grace nodded, though her expression was a bit glazed, as if the information was having difficulty reaching her brain. There was a nagging feeling she couldn't pinpoint. It wasn’t until the ceasing of the clapping that the self-pity returned.

por tradition, the curtain closed so the stage would be prepared for the seguinte performance. Geisel’s voice rung over the overhead speakers as if por schedule, and the horde of volunteers overpowered the set once again. Grace felt that Geisel was going to meet up with them again, a gathering she yearned to avoid for personal reasons. To add onto that, standing in center of the bustling crowd sparked the need for solitude and breathing room.

Dave and Spyro didn’t notice Grace’s disappearance until a few moments later.

Catching unneeded attention, Grace escaped the backstage and turned at a nearby hall. A swarm of thoughts were at her heels. She choked in air and struggled with exhales, the pounding of her coração consuming her focus. Something flipped her control switch, she convinced herself. People or her own self.

In the long run, she didn’t succeed in going that far. Her awkward steps guided her to a nearby wall, where she lost balance and rammed against it. She disregarded the pain, her mind in a state of a hallucination. Shaky imagens bounced around her skull, tormenting her. Dizzy and out of breath, gravity took over and she slid down the wall, collapsing on the floor.

She felt as if she was hyperventilating. The word ‘hypochondriac’ flashed again. She learned the meaning from her street-days, but considering all the deceit back then, there was no reason for her to rely on that part of her past. For all she knew, she could be composed of frauds herself.

In her hot mess, Grace racked her hands against the wall, searching for air as if it was tangible thing. She reminded herself how to breathe and counted again.

Grace attempted to control her trembling hands as she imagined herself standing before Dave and Spyro, confessing her unexpected and shameful anxiety as nonchalantly as she could. “Oh, guys? I forgot to mention, I’ve never performed in front of a crowd, much less a person. No hard feelings though, right?”

After several minutos of her heavy breathing, the knot in her abdomen loosened and she was able to get to her feet, knees buckling, and relying on the mural to support her.

Vivid images, mirages almost, appeared in front of her, and spoke clearly. Spyro and Dave would be asking what happened, she would give a nervous reply. Grace was not in a well-enough state of mind to recall personally how “professionally” Dave or Spyro played but she could only assume they had mais experience and would be pouring the coals over her head with perguntas she was definitely not prepared to handle.

To be honest with herself, Grace was not depending on them to understand. In any case, she had been leaking the pure essence of disbelief and reservation. Every gesture she made was a vulgar display of her personality. She had a few mysteries within her lifestyle, but her actions and personality wasn’t incomprehensible - for the most part. They couldn't possibly trust someone with such nature.

Her mirage became real, at least halfway. Spyro had found her, checking her over in somewhat shock at her crumbling state. It looked like he was going to call the nurse.

“W-wait…” She rose her hand.

“Are you okay?” He asked. “Wait about what?” His eyebrow rose.

Perhaps he wasn’t going to tell the nurse after all. Grace shrugged and pulled her self together por straightening her posture. Her chest was expanding as she took deeper, mais rhythmic breaths. “Headache.” Unconvincing lie #112.

A very brief state of detest towards Dave for not also coming to make sure Grace was currently conscious passed though the overwhelmed vixen, but even if his reasons were selfish or hate-worthy it would be mais stressing if there were mais people.

“Grace, we don’t know what you think of us exactly,” The hedgehog began, indicating that Dave would think the same, “but we aren’t-”

“Stupid?” The megera, vixen interrupted, startling Spyro to the point where he instantly assuming that she was offended. “After all that back there, and this whole dia in general, I know for a fact that you two aren’t stupid. If anything, maybe too tolerant.”

Silence overshadowed the two mobians as if it followed them around for the past hour. It was becoming mais than a stranger, as if it was a nuvem over their heads. She was quiet, letting the wordlessness stretch until Spyro decided to continue with their chat. “Did something… else happen? I mean you did great out there, did you get like a flashback or something?”

Flashbacks. Grace did not want to hear that word, and especially in a plural sense. One repeated was enough, but having multiple events, all but one in this case being related to happiness, ending in betrayal… flashbacks was not a word she wished to hear. “I’ve… just got past issues, alright?”

“… Oh…” Spyro was obviously nervous about what words to choose next. “Like things you’re trying to run away from?”

Grace cringed at the choice of words: run away. If only he knew her life revolved around just that. There were times in her life where she committed dishonorable acts and was fully aware of it. While there were moments in her past she never planned to reveal, she was willing to confess a few doings without hesitation. Running off was not one of them.

“I know. I don’t plan to avoid them forever. It’s just-” Her head acted on its own accord and lowered, as if the floor suddenly became interesting. Grace‘s voice wandered off. “It’s going to take me time. The moment needs to be prepared. Even if it sounds perfectionist of me, I have to be comfortable.”

“Comfortable?” Dave had caught up. It hit her, they had dividido, dividir up to find her. “Grace if you need o espaço that’s fine, we were just worried is all.”

Dave was obviously in the dark, having come into the conversation so late. But unfortunately Spyro still remembered her most recent reply. “Are you saying we shouldn't?” He had no intention to offend her, and instead he asked as if genuinely concerned.

“Shouldn’t?” Dave echoed. “Shouldn’t… be comfortable?” Spyro groaned and walked a few steps to the side, explaining what he and Grace were discussing.

At any given moment, Grace could have done something unreasonable to distance herself from speaking about her feelings. Her association with the two had taken curves and turns because of the evasions. Yet they considered the fact that she was trustworthy enough. Regardless of that, temptation directed her to the idea of abandonment…

Grace’s thoughts immediately halted to a stop. Guilt settled in the pit of her stomach as the events rewinded in her head. Guilt. It was a common feeling that stuck por her side over the years, and even if she never denied that it existed, it wasn’t something she would express either. Honestly, she knew how much of a brat she was. As if molded por arrogance, unreliability, and utter disappointment, she ended up as a oppressor who was generally unappreciative. Self-pity was in there somewhere, and she reminded herself to extinguish it. Despite the bad labels sticking to her back, there wasn’t a trait of being heartless. Or, at least, she never aimed for that role.

The two boys were still talking to each other when she interrupted. “I didn't mean it like that.” Her voice was barely a whisper, but there was a great meaning to her stumbling hushed tone. Maintaining slow movements, she edge forward, steering the two back. Grace was complex character, and her personality was unexpected. One wouldn’t be sure how she would act, and she seemed different when around certain people, as if she reacted differently according to who she was with. Sometimes, it even depended on her mood. In this case, Dave and Spyro had no idea what she was going to do.

To her astonishment, she spoke softly for the first time, which transformed her youthful defiance into innocent shame. “I actually…”

This position was her déjà vu. First, it was standing before Rynk, then that moment with Craiger, and now it was these two. Gradually, it was becoming easier for her to andorinha her pride and show appreciation. There was no doubt that the people she underestimated were changing her.

It took a questionable cough and gawky body movements for Grace to finally settle her hands and look them straight in the eyes. Deep breath, nervous smile.

“T-Thank you.”

All her courage to avoid cracking her voice failed miserably. Her generosity was pitiful in general, but it was all Grace could muster up at that moment. She fiddled with her hands as she looked up at them, anticipating their consent for her to continue. They cast her a look, and Dave and Spyro seemed considerate for an instant, seeming to understand her experience with gratitude.

Pathetically avoiding eye contact, she proceeded with careful words. “I'll explain everything later, I promise.”

The two exchanged glances as to see if her vow was deemed acceptable. In the end, Dave was the one who nodded.

“Y’know, you were different out there,” he added.

Grace raised a brow, brushing aside the idea of replying with a snarky comment. “Yeah, I don't have a daily dose of panic attacks.”

“I meant on stage. When you were singing.” He waited for what he assumed would be her unsettled reaction, which never came. So he continued, “You probably didn’t even noticed since you were so focus. But you just looked-” He struggled to find a word.

Spyro broke in. “At peace, maybe?”

“Basically some sort of emotion that isn't often seen from me?” Grace partially joked, and tension between the three appear to vanish.

“You seem content when you sing,” Spyro pointed out. His eyes held the pergunta that his mouth was reluctant to ask, but Grace urged him to continue “How come you don’t do it often?”

The megera, vixen tried to hold her dour expression, but she couldn't keep the cunning smile from breaking out across her face. “That’s another answer you have to wait for.”

Down the hall, all three could hear the booming from the speakers, reminding them that the rest of the world went on about its business without them. There was a chuckle of amusement, knowing there was minutos between them and the show, and there was no way to catch up without running. Nevertheless, they did not rush out of the situation. They proceeded to withdraw from the anterior conversation with a brush of their shoulder, and prepared to embark on a journey down the hall, but Grace had other ideas.

“I think I'll head back to the dorm.”

This caught their immediate attention. They felt there was some logic hidden in there if they were to dig deep enough. On the other hand, inquiring of her motives quizzically would frustrate her. There was no harm in her purpose - for all they knew, it might have been personal.

“Well, alright,” Dave reluctantly acknowledge her proposition, and Spyro chose to say nothing against it.

Needless to say, Grace didn’t feel exactly proud of her choice, but she had to keep certain details in mind: there was no way she could make it through the show. She had no shame in admitting that she might even sleep during the how.

With a wave, Grace excused herself from the two and was left behind in the hall. It didn’t take long for her to have segundo thoughts, but she proceeded to find the exit regardless of the fact. Grace planned on walking out of the auditorium just like that, destined to settle in her room, but she paused for a moment when struck with the realization that Rynk was awaiting her performance.

Rynk. Possibly the one friend she had the honor to be closest to. Without question, Rynk was relying on her to be there. Most likely, she was part of the crowd when Grace performed herself. It took not a segundo longer for Grace to decide that she was willing to stay a bit longer for her. She disappointed enough people throughout her lifetime, and her friend was not going to be one of them.

Then there was Dave and Spyro to think about - she could accompany them, too. Besides, a sort of trust had already occurred. She couldn't understand her own reasons as to why she placed her own needs before theirs. Beyond doubt, she was becoming selfless. A segundo hadn't even passed por when her legs led her back to the auditorium.

It wasn’t until they neared the end of the hall that Dave and Spyro noticed she had followed them wordlessly. To put it mildly, they were puzzled. “Weren't you going?”

Grace‘s shoulders rose and fell. “I decided to watch the rest of the show, if you don't mind.”

The two smiled, offering what she could take and nothing else. She matched their pace and they all walked in silence for a long time. It was a secret, the awareness, and they felt content with it.

Although the idea of discussion battered her reserved nature, Grace wasn’t going to dodge yet another disclosure for the sake of her reputation. They already chiseled away her dauntless exterior and uncovered the shell she fashioned together, so there was no reason to hide anymore. Certainly, she would need to summon the two again, and perhaps the rest of the group, to clear things up in the meantime. Maybe not today nor tomorrow, and maybe not anytime soon. But, somewhere in the future, she'll be able to.

Eventually.

Eventually.

“Is this assento taken?” Craiger asked the trio as he scooted towards them sideways. The maneuvering he had to go through made it almost look as though he was hula-dancing without the hula.

Grace had a double take as he got closer, surprised por his appearance. She noticed the empty assento and attempted to casually shrug. "No. Go ahead."

“Thanks.” The Ausey raposa moved somewhat awkwardly past Dave and Spyro and sat seguinte to the Vixen. The two band-members seemed a bit wide-eyed, perhaps even jealous, both with very different reasons.

“Hope you didn’t mind but I decided to watch the song from backstage.” Craiger informed, “I wanted to hear the singing, not the screaming from the audience.”

Craiger gave a short sort of awkward chuckle, “Alright that was a lie, that wasn’t why I stayed backstage. You did well, all of you.”

She kept her head towards the stage, but moved her eyes back and allowed herself to smile. "Much appreciated." Grace tried to speak calmly as too not sound too flattered. "The good luck might have helped."

“Might’ve?” He questioned, grinning back. “I can live with that.”

“Do you two want us to get you a room?” Dave commented. It wasn’t very noticeable if this was a hostile comment or a humorous one. Spyro barely noticed as the seguinte act began, a fireworks show in which the talent used mind powers to control the fireworks.

Grace focused her attention to the bursting lights, almost engrossed. "Nah, this is good enough." Her intention with the comment was unclear, but she wasn't trying to push any buttons.

“You’re waiting for Rynk’s performance or just enjoying the others?” Craiger asked, purposely ignoring Dave’s comment.

"I'm here for Rynk," she muttered, as if it wasn't obvious enough. "But if the rest of them are interesting enough I might pay attention for the time being. What's your reason?"

“I wanted to congratulate your performance and sit on if anything seemed interesting. But… well according to the listings she’s not on for another hour.”

Completely overlooking stereotypical, lady-like behavior, Grace groaned and slumped against the chair in a crude posture. She plucked an neglected pamphlet off a nearby assento and hovered it over her lap, as if she was contemplating on whether it could be a sleep mask or not. "If I end up falling asleep, please wake me up for Rynk's part."

“Well you could always get some elbow room while you wait.”

“Does this mean we have to wait for an hora plus until they announce the winner?” Spyro questioned tiredly.

“I don’t think they’d be able to announce the winner without, y’know, judging everyone first.” Dave informed.

Grace turned her head to the crowd around her. "Do they think the students will actually wait that long? They should at least consider a few breaks in between."

Craiger shrugged his reply. “My guess is that people are only sticking around for people they know. Geisel set this whole thing up herself from what I could tell so I can see how some things aren’t thought through all the way. An intermission would be helpful though.”

"I'd like to know what her plan is," Grace mumbled.

The three boys decided to allow Grace rest time, Dave and Spyro due to their anterior conversation, and Craiger most-likely out of not wishing to annoy. Many loud acts unfortunately passed through, which would keep her awake for most of the show. At one point the idea of fastening the paper on her eyes into earplugs drifted in and out in fear of inner-ear paper-slicing. Had the chairs been uncomfortable this would be unbearable, but thankfully and unfortunately the seats were actually increasingly comfortable, which made Grace both tired and anxious.

Even if she was not in dream-land sleep-wise, Grace was able to manage a day-dream, while briefly taking in Geisel’s introductions from time to time. Everything else was a simple unrecognizable murmur to which she gave no thought. She could swear that far mais than just one hora had passed, and held back the urge to look at the listings in fear of losing her peaceful state. It would be a long and tedious wait, or to be mais accurate it would have been a long and tedious wait, had not the word “Ribbon” echoed from Geisel’s vocal chords. Finally it was Rynk’s turn.

The curtains slowly parted, and the audience clapped accordingly. They faded soon after when nothing was in sight. The background was the normal brown-red wood-looking style, and no props or equipment was visible. Ribbon… A dance perhaps?

Twenty segundos passed before action, this was probably meant to add suspense. Silence filled the stage, and then a blast of red-colored energy surged into the floor from out of nowhere. It created a sort of water-like pattern, reflective and bright, hypnotic almost. Its loud zing, a whirring, got higher and higher until it vanished as soon as it came, with the after-effect of a red smoke in its wake.

The smoke was frozen, moving not at all, but instead changing color, from red, to a tolet, violet shade. As this happened a tune began to build up from a guitar, which gave a three-note signal as parts of the fog finally changed to a deep blue, and formed into first arms, then feet, then near the end of the song’s introduction, the entire person.

The música was recognized as “Into the Night” a song por “Santana”. The person, Rynk, was in a crouching position, kneeling with one foot forward, her arms crossed above her cowered head, and her long ears laying on each side. As the song ended its instrumental introduction, the lynx rose, eyes-closed, and arms now apart. Her expression was blank until she opened her eyes and gave a medium-sized grin to the audience in chorus with the song’s tune.

Her attire for the act was a long pink-purple no-sleeve dress with purple designs on its left. It dividido, dividir at the bottom middle, and had a long tail at the back, which was spread out around her. Just below her elbows were gold armlets, both similar to her usual single armlet. Her hair looked longer than usual, spreading over one half of her face, and highlighted with purple and red on different edges. Around her arms, legs, face, and ears, she now had mais gem-piercings in addition to her normal chocker-necklace and earrings. Her eyelashes faded to a purple.

As the vocalizing began (Like a gift from the heavens, it was easy to tell,
It was amor from above, that could save me from hell) the lynx began to give very slow, and very stretched-out, backward cartwheels, with the dress following as if clinging por static, and waving about in a reflective pattern.

(She had fogo in her soul it was easy to see, how the devil himself could be pulled out of me) Rynk stopped in mid hand-stand as the first half of this song’s section began, raising higher than normal, then fell progressivo, para a frente into multiple summersaults, and leading into a downward bow of a sorts before slowly rising again and twisting to the side in preparation for her seguinte move.

(There were drums in the air as she started to dance, Every soul in the room keeping time with there hands) The acrobatic performer began giving off mid-air flips in a circular pattern, and occasionally showed off three or so pirouettes, then as the words “And we sang” started up she shot up a bit higher than in the others, while at the same time two glimmering ribbons of red energy began to emit from her armlets.

The main theme blasted in volume just as Rynk lunged her arms progressivo, para a frente sending the electrifying ribbons soaring progressivo, para a frente into the air. She gave it little time to float, and soon yanked them back into a twirling as she flipped and twirled around while moving the ribbons around herself accordingly.

The lynx danced about the entire stage, giving a high-up backflip while waving her ribbons progressivo, para a frente at the end of the main chorus.

The song went on in its verses, each time with a new twist. For the segundo Rynk began to run in a círculo on the wall, floor, and roof of the stage, with her ribbons following and stretching till she passed them repeatedly, so many times over to the point where they created a sort of sea of red, purple, and blue, with Rynk’s shadow behind them. This was followed por her lunging off the stage and dashing around the walls surrounding the audience, leaping back and forth, up and down, occasionally maneuvering the ribbons between members in the crowds, and finishing off the segundo verse por leaping backwards off the middle steps into the auditorium back onto the stage, and landing into a position where her right foot was progressivo, para a frente in a kneeling position again, her head facing down, and her arms pointing backwards at her sides.

As the bridge to the third Verse began Rynk slowly unsheathed her claws and moved her arms across from her neck in an X while slowly stepping towards the audience further. And as the chorus began to build and the third verse began, ten ribbons blasted from her fingers just as she leapt upward once again as ten mais came from her feet.

Almost the entire area now glowed purple, blue, and red, with the ribbons and the twirling lynx going everywhere, and occasionally forming imagens of flowers, stars, a giant crescent-moon, and what appeared to be the end lyrics of the song shooting out at the audience. As the final piece of the song set in, Rynk slowed her performance, the ribbons retracting, causing her own self to begin glowing, and finishing off with a burst of the energy blasting out from her in a brief fireworks display, forming a single word in the air,

“Sparta”.

Grace’s poltrona almost snapped from the firm pressure of her hands. She was dumbstruck, speechless even. The crowd seemed to share the astonishment with open mouths and uttering “oohs” and “aahs” as the lights subsided. Several thoughts ran through her mind: How did she manage to pull it off all? Rynk had assembled help, no doubt, but the radiance of the whole act was all from her. From the beginning, the lynx filled her days with endless wonder, but this was just breathtaking.

Absentmindedly, Grace rose from her chair during the crowd’s dazed bewitchment and activated the start of a standing ovation - a single individual sticking out from the crowd like a sore thumb. In reality, she would never have done something that caught attention. The clapping snapped surrounding students from their shock, and they too staggered on their feet and joined the applause. Gradually, rows and rows of people united and multiplied the sound until the auditorium’s ceiling and walls shook. Cheers and whistles could be heard over the duration of the clapping, as if the people knew Rynk themselves, but Grace only focused on her friend onstage.

The lynx gave a somewhat odd-looking bow. She rose her arms in the air from behind, almost like a bird-wing imitation, with a dip of the head and kneeling down before raising to her feet again. It must have been how Mobocan-Mobians bowed.

As Rynk exited the stage she did so a bit wobbly, no doubt she was at least partially exhausted from the performance.

A distance away from where she was standing, a voice called out for her somewhere among the seating area. Emerging from the crowd, Grace stumbled toward Rynk while waving with a frantic hand and smiling. She took notice of her lack of energy and lowered her arm, but kept a sympathetic smirk as she walked closer.


"How are you holding up?" Grace asked once she was within earshot.

The lynx’s ears and head darted around for a bit in opposite directions before focusing on Grace. She promptly walked towards the megera, vixen dizzily and answered sloppily “Don’t do drugs kids.”

Grace held her arms out in front of her, concerned over whether Rynk would lose balance or collapse any minute. "How about you take a assento first and then we can talk...properly."

Choosing not to fall on her face, Rynk accepted Grace’s offer. She promptly fall backwards on her rear, vibrating slightly, which caused mais glowing around her.

Startled, Grace kneeled down and almost wrapped an arm around her, tempted to lead her to a proper chair. But her gaze fixated onto the aura. "Rynk, what's the glow radiating off of you?"

“U-um…” Rynk looked away slightly. “It’s kind of a long story. I found these… er…” She was hesitating. She found something that caused her dizziness and bursts of red energy and she was hesitating to explain.

Grace's brows lowered as she watched Rynk struggle for words. It almost stung to see her confidence chip away so easily. Grace raised her head and glanced around, trying to note if they were catching any unwanted attention. The megera, vixen then titled her neck in an attempt to meet Rynk's eyes. "You don't have to explain it here. Maybe not even later." Her voice lowered. "It's whenever you want to."

Rynk’s ears stood erect at this. “N-no I can… it’s just I don’t want you to take it the wrong way.” She continued to procurar over what words to use in a haze before sighing out “Guess there’s only one way to say this… There’s this weird stuff I don’t think you’d know about called ‘Identity Serum’. I used it once and it let me do some stuff like the ribbons. I wasn’t allowed to bring it on to campus so I had to leave to get two- er… well anyway they’re… injections…” She cringed when giving the last word then promptly hit her own forehead “Sorry that sounded… I can’t think when I’m dizzy.”

Curious, but considerate, Grace decided to not push anything mais out of her. Franky, she wanted to get a better glimpse of what Rynk was trying to say, but the urges for respostas would have to wait. "Alright," Grace started out, softening her stiff posture she was unaware of, "Let's hold if off until it's easier for you to talk, and...maybe I can try to understand better then." Honestly, she wasn't sure how complicated of a subject it could be to her, but this was not the time to judge.

“Thanks.” Rynk sighed in relief. “I’ll just need a, m… minute. Is there a water… thing near?”

“Hey!” Craiger called over as he and the other two boys walked over to the girls. Rynk gave a short wave, smiling a bit.

Grace shrugged. "Not that I know of, but there should be refreshments somewhere, especially for the contestants. We can look." She quickly caught her obliviousness. "Nevermind. I can find it myself if you think you're going to have trouble."

“Hey!” Craiger called over as he and the other two boys walked over to the girls. Rynk gave a short wave, smiling a bit.

“Do you two want to get a victory desert?” The Ausey raposa offered. “I know the winners haven’t been announced yet but still you two deserve it.”

Grace waved off the compliment and focused on the thought of food. She calmly shrugged as to not seem too hyped for the occasion. "I guess I can't say no to an offer like that." Her eyes shifted to Rynk and waited for her answer.

“That’d be a good idea.” Rynk replied. “I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”

Grace paused and blinked. "You really worked all dia for this." She then turned and clasped her hands. "Alright! Looks like this is going to be a da- outing."

“Great!” Craiger turned to the reactions of Dave and Spyro, who had been silent up till now. Spyro seemed to be distracted por the current act, and probably heard none of what they said, but Dave seemed frozen, wide-eyed, at Rynk. Rynk didn’t seem to have noticed quite yet, but Craiger decided to snap his fingers in front of Dave to wake him up. “Hey, oggling’s over.”

Dave jerked back, giving Craiger a cross-look, which turned to a defensive wide-eyed stare back and forth from him to Rynk and Grace. “Ogg- I wasn’t!” The male raposa gave the male lynx a smirk of disbelief. Dave kept to his story, looking to Rynk and Grace for approval. “I wasn’t, I swear.”

Rynk shrugged, not particularly caring which it was.

Grace displayed no visible emotion herself, having no motive to doubt his explanation. Nevertheless, she was rather curious as to his reason was. She wouldn't bother with asking, though. Frankly, she wouldn't blame any guy if they had to take a segundo glance when it came to Rynk.

She looked over to Rynk and back at him, waving a hand as to brush the issue off. "We're all cool here."

“Then let’s go.” Craiger led the group out with a waving-motion of his arm.

The cafeteria was mostly empty due to the majority of students still being inside of the Auditorium. Those who were not were either scattered around the school, or going in or out of the bathroom.

True to her word, Rynk was quite hungry, going through the sobremesa milkshakes, and two burgers. she still appeared dizzy, but was beginning to recover.

"You weren't kidding about not eating. How long did you practice exactly?" Grace sat across from her, picking at a cake she was able to snatch.

Rynk quickly forced her last bite of burger down, and chugged the last of a glass of water. Once she had her breath back she replied "Well it took about an hora to get the routine down. I heard the song from someone on campus a couple days atrás and spent an hora looking for them. They gave me a copy of the song and I got to work. However getting to my Mobius, grabbing my stuff, and getting back took about two hours both times. Once I got back I kind of just winged it. I hadn't used the serum before but I've done the dancing on occasion so I just had to remember the song and go from there. Running on empty though was a terrible idea. I was gonna get something to eat but I didn't want to miss your song, and when," She paused long enough to get a lung full of air then continued, "when it was over I remembered that I left my outfit in my dorm. I half-thought about bribing Spyro into helping with my hair or something but he was gone so I had to put on the piercings and stuff myself." Her face turned pale as the lynx went back to recovering oxygen.

Chewing slowly, and granting her to breathe more, Grace allowed the words to configure in her mind. She couldn't pinpoint just one thing that she had a pergunta on, considering the whole explanation needed mais details, but "serum" brought her back to the conversation from earlier. The megera, vixen mentally slapped herself for forgetting. "Right...the serum. You were telling me something about that. So it helped with that whole thing?" She made circular motions with her fork to emphasis the point. However, she wasn't sure if Rynk was ready to fully explain it.

Right!" Rynk concurred. "It's basically a mix of nanites and Chaos Energy. I injec-..." she hesitated, "I injected myself with one of the syringes..." The lynx paused, cowering just barely as she awaited the reply of her company.

At a slow pace, Grace lowered her fork. "You...You said you never used it until now." She took a deep breath, cringing at the thought of needles. "Did you know what it was going to do before you did that?"

Rynk looked surprised. "I said that? ... W-well anyway, yeah I used it before. I was in a bad situation and it was my ticket out to not walk into the light. It hasn't really affected me badly... but... "

"Should... we be concerned about this?" Spyro's voice cracked a bit with this notion. "Aren't drugs not allowed or something?"

"It wasn't... well... actually I don't know if it counts or not..." Rynk replied. "Maybe Craiger knows."

Upon his named getting mentioned the male raposa cringed.

Resting her elbows on the table, Grace turned to Craiger and noted his reaction. "Care to elaborate?"

Craiger shook his head. "No."

Rynk decided to intervene. "H-hey let's just... I was just hoping we could all have a mais celebratory time or something. I should've said that in private..."

Grace held up her hands in defense. "Sorry. I'll drop it, then." She glanced over to Rynk with a wan smile. "Don't blame yourself. Let's just...change the topic."

Rynk gave a small smile of gratitude. The awkwardness would eventually wear off. It just needed the proper timing. "Oh I just realized, how did you guys get your música idea?"

As Grace proceeded with her dessert, she thought over how it planned. "I remember standing in the hallway throwing ideas out with Dave when he heard I needed help with assembling a band. I mostly listed bands I knew and he thought of the song. It was so last minuto we just stuck with the first suggestion we agreed with and had the experience to play." She paused to andorinha a bite of her food. "After that we just all got together and taught ourselves how to perform it."

"How long did it take to learn the song?" Rynk added, becoming immersed with the process.

"Two... two hours right?" Dave stated, awaiting his co-workers' approval.

The megera, vixen shrugged. "Seems about right. We did pretty decent with the little time we had, huh?"

"You did great!" Rynk complimented. "All the seats where taken so I just stood on the mural to watch but I could hear that's for sure."

"Really?" Grace glanced down for a moment. "If I had known you were out there it would've been easier."

Rynk widened her eyes, with her ears slowly lowering correspondingly. "I'm sorry. I, I'm not sure how I was supposed to do that... b-but I WAS there..."

The fork immediately dropped. "No, no, I didn't mean it like that!" Grace's hands waved frantically out in front her. "It was dark and I couldn't make out any faces so there was no way-" She struggled with words, then immediately halted to cover her face. "This is going to get personal but...sometimes, seeing a familiar face in the crowd, maybe even maintaining eye contact, just gives me a calm feeling. But, even if there wasn't anything I couldn't look at, I didn't think I was alone. I mean, Dave and Spyro were behind me, Craiger wasn't far, and I knew you would be there." Gradually, her hands lowered to reveal her eyes. "I was asking too much with that last statement. You did what you could with your busy schedule, and I appreciate it."

Rynk gave Grace a concerned stare before answering. Craiger, Dave, and Spyro waited for what either would say, though Craiger pondered if he should speak up. Eventually Rynk took her friend's hands. "I understand. I know I couldn't really do anything about but... still I'll try harder seguinte time."

"Hey!" a student yelled as he entered the cafeteria. "They're announcing the winners! C'mon!" He dashed off before anyone could even react, wanting to not miss it himself.

Grace blinked as she processed the information. Turning back, she lightly squeezed Rynk's hand as a silent "thank you." She clearly wanted to say more, but she wasn't about to hold up the others. Grace stood up and smiled to the rest for good luck. "Let's get to it, then."

The group dashed to the Auditorium where everyone, or nearly at the very least, was gathered around the stage as Geisel had just pulled out the winners' envelopes. She had three in her hands, one brown, one grey, and one yellow. This most-likely stood for bronze, silver, and gold, but how hard was it to simply make them those as cores instead?

Some of the assisting students had to yell the crowds down so that Geisel could begin. As the brown envelop opened, it seemed almost like slow-motion, Geisel's usually higher-pitched voice in a long deep trance. "In third place..."

The pause seemed somewhat endless. No one was extremely excited for third place, but to place at all had to earn them some kind of recognition and reward. So who was it?

The paper began to unfold, then unfold again. Geisel held the letter in the air and announced loudly "Clocks, por Spyro, Grace, and Dave!"

Grace almost staggered back while people began clapping. Out of all the performances, did they really make the topo, início three? She quickly shook her head, believing she misheard it, then spun to Dave and Spyro to check with them. Jerking her thumb toward Geisel, she questioned with wide eyes, "Did we just-"

Dave seemed just as shocked, Frozen - Uma Aventura Congelante stiff... Spyro however began to scream at the topo, início of his lungs, repeatedly air-pumping his arms gleefully.

The lynx girl pulled the trio into a large hug. Dave was still realizing their victory, but Spyro decided to accept the loving.

Thrown off por the feeling of being squished into a group hug, Grace's arms hung beside her. To put it bluntly, she had boundaries when it came to showing affection, even if it was in friendly terms. However, with relief washing over her, she couldn't care less about her comfort zone. Every good rule has an exception, and gradually, the people she met were becoming her exception.

It was a struggle to even raise her trembling arms, but Grace accepted and returned the hug with all the appreciation she could offer. She wasn't going to cheer or cry - even that was a little to much for her. At least, she wouldn't for her own achievements. Her head lowered and she muttered inaudible thank you's and words of disbelief over and over again. It was only an award, but it felt like a milestone for personal reasons.

When the tight friendship hug lightened and released it appeared that the only one not to have joined was Craiger.

"Shy?" Rynk teased.

"I'd rather be invited." He replied bluntly.

Grace looked towards the others, expecting someone to speak up, but eyes were on her. Although it flustered the megera, vixen to think of it, she was struck with the thought that maybe it would have been better if she made the choice, considering the harsh behavior in the past. With the events that happened today, she concluded that she really didn't have anything to hold against the guy. Wordlessly, and with a sheepish smile, Grace held up an arm towards Craiger with the indication that he had the permission to come closer.

The male raposa accepted her gesture, giving her a gentle hug. Neither could see at their side as Rynk gave a teasing act of passing out with fluttering eyes, stopping herself before landing on the ground.

Grace returned the hug and slipped out of his arms after a moment, clearing her throat and mumbling, "Thanks...again." It was then that she remembered two envelopes remained. She turned to Rynk and smiled while pointing back at Geisel. "Don't you think you've got a chance, too?"

"Hm?" Rynk barely managed to stop her background teasing before anything was noticed. "O-oh. I dunno, maybe. I think we missed segundo place though in the celebrating." She chuckled.

"Well let's see." Dave suggested, turning back to Geisel's announcement.

Geisel opened up the final envelope but said nothing yet. Instead she pulled out her phone and texted something. The crowd was becoming impatient and became rowdy again. Quickly the assistants calmed them down with Geisel's help of screaming in a somewhat hoarse voice "THE WINNER OF FIRST PLACE IS..."

A spotlight could be seen moving around the crowd searching. Geisel kept silent, staring up at the one controlling it. Finally she called out just as the light hit the tip of the winner's pele, peles "Ribbon Dancing, por Rynk!"

They lynx didn't gape but her eyes did widen three inches mais than she thought possible. The crowds moved aside allowing the light to only cover the grand winner. Geisel and a few other students began walking through the crowds to greet her. All that Rynk managed to do before they arrived was tilt her head slightly saying to Grace "I was joking." then smiling.

Grace was alarmed, to say the least, though it had mais to do with the crowd than Rynk knowing of her achievement. It might have came in a suprise at first, but Rynk just had that insight in her. As for her winning, it was rather obvious that the act had mais of an impact, so it couldn't be much of a shock to the group.

Even if they were now separated por the students and Geisel, Grace wanted to at least congratulate her friend. However, she was able to shoot back a smile before people started to gather around and almost andorinha her.

A select number of students picked up the lynx, holding her up in a sort of seating position, and began walking out of the auditorium. The crowd followed closely behind.

As the stampede made their way to what seemed to be the front yard of the school, Rynk's dress-tail seemed to be covering many of the students behind her, creating a domino's affect. Thankfully only a select few students fell.

The doors practically exploded with the amounts of people exiting, all screaming or flailing their arms. In the middle a set of what appeared to be winner-platforms, for third, second, and first, stood waiting for them.

Grace was at the heels of exhilarated students, trying to avoid their dancing and attempting to look over their heads. When noting the platforms, she was tempted to push through the horde, but not without the other two. Grace found Dave and Spyro after almost completing a 180, and with a wave she was able to get them to notice. With elaborate hand signals, she attempted to tell them that they should march down together. Thankfully, several students seemed to recognize her as the one of third place winners, and they had the decency to part and create a walkway.

Geisel led the three sets of winners to their platforms. The second-place winners appeared to be two Lizards, both of them covered in soot. They had gotten their place por attaching rockets to each other, and flying about while controlling each other's rocket. At the moment their nerves were still recovering.

Geisel went down the line of the winners congratulating them all before turning to the crowd. "For third place," She announced loudly while pulling out a ten-inch plaque shaped in the esmeralda of the Academy's logo. It was a bronze color and had a marker tied on. Geisel handed the plaque to Grace who stood between Dave and Spyro. "You write your names on the lined space, makes it personal." She whispered .

The same was done for the second-place winners who had trouble holding onto the plaque with their somewhat weak hands. For Rynk Geisel gave a slightly larger plaque in gold, along with a segundo envelope attached.

Once all the trophies were presented Geisel turned to the crowd and yelled out "THE WINNERS OF THE FIRST EVER MOBIUS ACADEMY TALENT SHOW!" A marching band song played in the background as the winners stood there, being given a minuto to drink it all in.

Unsure of what to be doing exactly, Grace imitated a royal wave as to push aside the nervousness. She then looked over to the other winners observing their award. With squinted eyes, Grace held up the plaque so Dave and Spyro could get a good view. "Our names, huh?" She lowered her arms and glanced at both of them. "Who wants to write theirs first?"

Spyro started to raise his hand but Dave cut him off saying "You started the band, you get to go first."

A bit thrown off por the insistence, Grace was tempted to disagree with an argument. However, he seemed firm with the assertion. Fingers struggled to untie the marker, and when popping the boné, cap off, she had to control the trembling. She rested the plaque against her other arm and concentrated on the fact that the marker was most likely permanant. With tongue protruding out, she painstakingly scribbled her name in her signature, blocky handwriting. After a moment, Grace held out the plaque and marker for the seguinte person.

Dave and Spyro quickly jotted down their names, and held up the plaque as if it was some kind of symbol.

The three sets of winners held up their plaques together now, and after a bit of cheering they were let down. Soon however the crowds became few. Few noticed that the time was late, Nine P.M. in fact. Despite their burst of energy most of these students were quite tired. As they slowly dissolved Geisel could be seen sleeping on a nearby bench.

"You'd think we won a football game." Dave chuckled. The second-place winners had left and now the small group was all that was left.

The megera, vixen yawned. "I honestly hope this doesn't happen often." Grace had taken a assento on the platform long before, quite tiresome herself. Noting that they were assembled again, she eventually slid off and first walked up to Rynk with a weary smile. The lynx’s stripes were glowing again as they did just about every night while outside.

Gesturing toward the envelope, Grace titled her head. "So, you got an extra with your reward?"

Rynk nodded as she pulled out her extra piercings from her face and arms, cringing repeatedly. "Yep, some kind of currency but I don't know what Mobius it's for."

Grace had almost suggested asking Geisel, but decided against it after taking notice of her slumber. She could only answer with a shrug. "We'll probably find out eventually. Does it seem like a lot?"

The lynx shrugged, jerking her shoulders after yanking off the last piercing. "I guess so. Anyway I got a plague so I'm good regardless."


"You and me both." Another yawn. "Now all we got to do is hang them and marvel at them for the rest of the year."

Rynk nodded. "I know this is... touchy, and well, out of the blue but I wanted to tell you earlier and we were busy and I forgo-“ She stopped herself before going into a large ramble, took a breath then continued, “but... I think I saw, I think I saw Dante in the crowds, when you were singing... It means he cares at least, right?"

The confident shell Grace composed immediately crumbled. Her posture stiffened and she sighed with eyes downcast. "I know that." Grace pursed her lips in thought. "He as indirect ways of showing it but I know it. Yet, I still pergunta if it's...genuine sometimes. I sound doubtful saying that but I just-" She abruptly stopped herself to avoid storytelling.

"I get ya." Rynk quickly replied. "I just thought you might like to know." She rose up from her assento and gave the megera, vixen a brief hug.

Grace swallowed hard and soon relaxed. "Thanks for telling me. It...helps a bit."

The lynx gave a smile nodding to her friend.

"You guys headin to bed?" Dave asked with a yawn of his own.

Almost dozing off, Grace nodded in affirmation as she replied, "I don't have anymore plans tonight, so I'm definitely sleeping after this." The anterior worries were replaced with the thought of a comfortable bed. "I guess this is goodnight, then."

The male lynx nodded groggily as he waved goodbye, heading back inside.

“G'night everyone." Spyro waved as he followed suit.

"Happy dreams." Rynk replied. Craiger waved his goodbye.

Dante situated himself inside his room for mais than an hour, staring intensely into a book or open space, and occasionally stretching his legs. Earlier, Shade had knocked on his door and invited him to come accompany the others to watch the show. He never gave her an answer. When he finally forced himself to open the door after several minutos of silence, no one was on the other side.

It wasn't until later that Dante convinced himself to enter the auditorium, but it was only for one act and one act only. He swore to himself that his motive was to see how she was doing, nothing more, nothing less. After the crowd's fair response, he departed back to his room without giving himself an opinion on it. For a long time, he was in solitude. Even when cheering erupted outside his window, Dante didn't budge, and he didn't know why. Now, he was just waiting for his roommate so the dorm didn't feel so empty.

Stress can play tricks on the mind. What seems like an hora turns out to have been three minutes. And as the tension builds one’s senses sky-rocket. Every creak of a passing student could be the one he expected, and every knock on a different dorm-room’s door could have been for him. As many of these passed, doors opening, closing, slamming, creaking, the tension decreased. The expectance of an arrival diminished. Maybe it was time to sleep, or attempt to sleep at least.

No, a moment later, just a few minutos more. A few segundos later there was a knock.

A rush of adrenaline shot through his veins. In that instant, he was on his feet and walking across the room, his emotions dividido, dividir amid relief and agitation. He wasn't expecting anyone other than Craiger, but opening the door unnerved him. Eventually, he unbolted the lock and turned the knob, knocking down the boundary between him and the person on the other side.

Instead of Craiger being the one at the door he came face to face with... over-sized ears. Then when he looked down a bit he saw that Rynk was attached to them. "Hi." She greeted in a semi-meek tone, waving shortly.

Bewildered, Dante said nothing at first. He definately recognized her, but the fact that was standing before him was straining his mind. After looking behind her ears and seeing no one, he concluded that she was alone. With brows lowered, Dante met her eyes and swallowed the lump in his throat. "Uh, hey, Rynk." He couldn't recall having much conversation with her. "Considering the time, I would think you'd be...in your dorm."

"Yeah insomnia does that to ya." She joked with a shrug. "I just came over to say a few things is all... is that alright?"

Dante awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. There wasn't anything he could think of that needed to be talked about, but he had an assumption. "Yeah. That's fine." He stepped off to the side to make room. "Would you like to come in for this?

The lynx paused at the offer. She only needed a moment but didn't want to seem rude. "Alright" she said finally, "Thank you." She stepped in, giving the room a quick look before turning to face Dante agan.

He closed the door and cleared his throat. "So, what is it you wanted to talk about?"

Rynk did not immediately reply. It seemed that she forgot what she was about to say almost. When Dante addressed this she spouted out quickly “I know you and Grace have a past, and I'm not going to try to interfere as best I can but... I just want to know if you want to make right with her."

"Well, of course, but-" Certain his eyes displayed uncertainty, Dante glanced down at his feet. His voice faltered for a moment, collecting jumbled words and weaving them to sentences. Finally, he spoke clearly, "I'm not aiming for things to be exactly like they used to. That's an unreachable goal." Stiff shoulders suddenly softened as he continued. "The thing is, I want it to be at a point where when I do something, she doesn't assume it's an act, and when I say something, she doesn't hesitate to believe it. That's all." Once he considered the words to be enough, he stopped talking. He felt desperate for unwillingly spilling his thoughts out, but he was suffocating from the burden that needed to be released. Rynk was deemed as notable candidate for listening, at least. As for what she was going to do with the information that remained a mystery to him.

The striped feline gave him a segundo or two to make sure he was finished. She turned her head to the side without eye-contact. Dante might not know or even guess, but there was an echo in his story she had heard before.

"Alright... I..." she looked back to him, "I think you're doing the right thing but even so, don't," she took a short breath "Don't give up. I know that we aren't friends or anything but I'm glad you're trying. I hope that you guys can make up at one point... That's pretty much all I came to say."

The lynx stepped to the door again but paused and turned back to the lobo and quickly added "If anything, I think you're a nice guy, Dante."

The words hung in the air, and his head tipped slightly to the side at the comment. At some point, a faint smirk lined his muzzle, his modesty showing. "Thank you." Before she was able to cruz the doorway, he managed to stammer weakly, "The fact that you tried to help settle the issue - it's admirable really. I'm not completely sure who you're doing it for."

A single chuckle came out of Rynk's mouth before she left. "To tell the truth neither do I. Good night."