[Raellon] Stretch and Bend 5 (Solo)
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2020 3:57 pm
66th of Searing, 120 AS
Bell's ears flicked in annoyance as she stood with hands-on-hips, breathing a bit heavy as she stood and took a rest from her practice. High above the late afternoon sun still cast broken beams of light between the branches of the trees. There was a slight breeze, but it did little to soothe the irritation in the Rathari's blood as she grumbled under her breath. This used to be so easy. She hopped on the balls of her feet, feeling her weight as it moved and trying her best to relax her shoulders and hips. She started with a few prancing steps, gaining momentum as she raised her arms overhead. On the last step, she bounced and tilted her body, moving so that her hands hit the ground as she let the momentum carry her legs up and over. She let the momentum carry her all the way until her feet tilted over the other side, pushing off slightly with her hands in an effort to right herself. Her feet hit the ground, but her upper body did not quite get high enough so as her heels landed she buckled slightly and ended up on her back once again.
The rabbit almost screamed her frustration, pulling at her ears before covering her face with her hands and taking a few deep breaths. The front-hand spring was a parlor trick, something even children could do, so why was she struggling so much? Over the last few weeks, she had gained a lot of her flexibility back, the strength of her muscles was returning to proper form, and she was even working on her balancing exercises like she used to. So why?
Letting her arms drop Bell stared up at the sky above, contemplating what she was doing and going over the motions again and again until it felt like she was stuck in a loop. Her clothing and fur were dusty and covered in dirt, her shoulders hurt from repeated attempts, but worst of all was her pride which stung like a thousand bees in her chest. Slowly she controlled her breathing, and by extension her heartrate, calming herself and closing her eyes. For a time she just lay there, feeling the cool ground beneath her and looking at the fading light through closed eyelids. A memory bubbled to the surface, prickling at her mind as she remembered a day a lot like this one. Reimar was instructing her, his hard voice barking out orders like a general on a warpath, and Bell did her best to follow each and everyone exactly. It was her first cartwheel, and at the time the simple maneuver felt like the most difficult thing in the world. Around her the other acrobats were practicing more daring and interesting maneuvers, making the spine bending movements look simple and easy. Yet there she was, the newest addition to the group, struggling to do what most children could do on instinct.
Don't pay attention to them. Reimar had barked as he caught her looking, Focus on what you are doing. I don't give a damn where the others are at, we are focusing on you and your progress.
She had practiced for hours that day, again and again until she was so sick of the cartwheel that the vowed to never do one again. Reimar was unsympathetic, and so they worked through dinner and into the night. Then, just when she was beginning to think that she had made a mistake and was contemplating quitting... she did it. Bell had been so startled that she had frozen in place, staring at her hands as if they were alien appendages she didn't recognize. Reimar, however, merely grunted saying, There you go, you did it once. Now your body will remember it forever. Get some rest and tomorrow we will start the next lesson.
Blinking her eyes open once more Bell stared at the branches overhead, wiggling and moving her toes as she felt the muscles there work. For some reason, that memory calmed her, and with a sigh she sat up, dusting herself off before standing and stretching.
"One more time." she said, walking back to the starting point, "One more time and then I will call it a day."
Once at the tree that she used as her marker Bell made a quick pivot on one foot, setting hands on hips as she stared at the stretch of ground that had become her stage. As if on queue her mind began to race, turning over the movement in her head, directing it, examining it. She thought about where her hands needed to be, where her feet had to end up, how she should breathe when to push, and when to just fall... The thoughts came crashing one after another until she shook her head, slapping her cheeks hard enough to sting and disrupt the flow.
"Don't think about it." Bell chided, setting hands-on hips once more. Her eyes closed as she breathed in deeply, feeling her heart calm from its raised state once more. Then, expelling the breath from her nose she began to move. This time she didn't think about exactly where she needed to put her feet, or how many steps to take. She didn't focus on each hand and its overall placement. She just... moved. Letting go of thought her body suddenly felt relaxed, and nervousness flooded into self-assurance as she suddenly realized she was upside down. Her feet curved and her momentum carried her over, and just like that she was standing once more, hands outstretched as she stared straight ahead.
"Ha!" she cried with a triumphant fist bump. She practically skipped back to the tree, patting it affectionately as she looked back down the dirt path. "I guess that was what he meant. I just have to get out of my head."
A fluttering in her heart filled Bell with joy as she returned back to her starting position, setting hands on hips. Once more she closed her eyes, breathing in and clearing all thoughts. Snapping her eyes open Bell started forward, letting her feet move as they wished and giving over control to her muscle memory. She turned over into one front handspring, and then another, and another. She kept the momentum, letting her mind remain blank and leaving control to the days and days of practice she had put in when she was younger. After the third front handspring, her body twisted and shifted, turning the front into a back handspring which she continued for two more rotations. Her heartbeat wildly, her mind buzzed with incoherent thoughts and emotions, and on the very last one as her feet hit the ground she pushed off the ground completely, tucking her legs up close to her chest and wrapping her arms around them as her entire body turned in the air. When she straightened her body she landed on both feet, hopping back a few steps before throwing her hands up in the air as if to signify she was complete.
For nearly a minute Bell stood there, just breathing and feeling her body. Her mind still felt blank, and in a moment of inspiration, Bell shifted her stance slightly. She raised her arms slightly and took several steps forward, using her back leg to spring herself forward. As she did she swung her arms and upper body down, pulling her knees close to her chest as she revolved in the air once before landing with her knees bent and arms out after performing a front flip. Her legs wobbled, and Bell proceeded to collapse completely onto her butt. Everything was hurting, she was tired and more than a little hungry, but she smiled broadly. She still had quite a ways to go, but steadily over time, her body was remembering. How long would it take to get back to where she was before? A few more weeks? A season?
Suddenly so very tired Bell flopped down on her back, letting her arms and legs splayed out around her as she let the evening breeze wash over her overheated body. The ache in her limbs was comforting and made her swell a bit with pride at what she had done. Several hours of frustration and all it took was a few minutes to completely turn her mood around. Her stomach growled, and the Rathari pressed a hand to her middle as she drew herself out of her musings. She thought about the greatest acrobats in the world, and the feats that they could before. They were like dancers in the air, unbound by gravity or the laws that kept mortals on the ground. Once it had been her dream to be one of them, to ignore the ground and those who tread upon it, to swing high above and balance on the very edge of life and death just to say that she could. When had her dreams changed?
It was probably after that first dance she saw long ago. The acrobats were wonderful, daring creatures, but the dancers... They were like the wind itself, graceful and precise in their every motion they almost looked otherworldly. Bell remembered watching them, and the feelings she felt at that time set her soul to tremble. That, the rabbit remembered suddenly, was what her dream was. She wanted to make others feel the way she had felt that one day. To free people of the shackles of normalcy and everyday life, to break the chains of order so that everyone could experience true freedom.
"I did not realize how much I had forgotten." Well whispered. The sun was finally falling below the horizon, and shadows began to turn to the true night around her. Sitting up Bell crossed her legs beneath her body and rested her hands on her knees, twisting her back left and right in an effort to get a good pop or two out of her spine. The more she thought about it, the more the Rathari began to wonder what exactly was her purpose? Up until now, it had been so sporadic, changing suddenly and without warning. That day, though, it had nearly screamed at her. That was why she had chosen to focus on her dancing instead of acrobatics because it seemed that was the proper path for her. As soon as she did, however, that steady drum of purpose had begun to fade, as if it were missing something.
Scratching her head Bell shrugged and stood. This was a line of thinking that was best saved for the evening, after a good meal and a few drinks. Frowning Bell shook her head. The drinking, for now, would have to wait. She could not risk losing her progress just for one night of pleasure. Maybe after Lyss let her buy that boat...
