Timestamp: Vhalar 10, 720 following Under a Violet Moon
The man opened his eyes and looked around him. To his left, he saw a long road winding along next to a stony coast line. There were many tall-masted ships in the harbor, backlit by the moons, green and crimson and white, behind them. There were many peoples of all walks of life, men, women, human and beastman and everything in between, all walking in pairs toward the man. The pairings were just as varied as the people within them, and there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to them other than they came in twos. That and they were all finely dressed, but in vast array of styles from many walks of life and culture.
The man cast his eyes to his right now. There, he saw a forest, standing tall and foreboding pine trees, their bases shrouded in fog, lit by a blue moon over them. There was a road there, and people were walking out of there, alone, one by one. They didn't seem to notice one another, and all were dressed in various rags and threadbare garments. As they crossed the edge of the town, they seemed to wake out of their stupors and notice their surroundings.
The man cast his eyes downward, seeing that he too was wearing rags. He must've come from the forest too. He looked back toward the town, seeing that couples only seemed to be moving in his direction, when he saw them heading off behind him. Turning, he saw a massive building, giant doors thrown open, as music, light, and laughter poured out. There were no guards, no weapons, no fences or security. There were simply an endless number of people dancing in an impossibly large building.
The man walked over toward the nearest couple, "Excuse me." The couple stopped, one being a black furred felinesque woman in a corset and a hoop skirt and her partner being a human woman in a tuxedo. They both smiled at the man, "Yes?"
"Where can I find some better clothes?"
The two laughed, "They will find you."
Confused, "Well, how do I get into there?"
The feline woman stepped forward, touching his hand gently, giving it a squeeze, "When you find your dancing partner, it will make sense."
The man smiled at them, "Thank you." The women nodded at him and they started walking toward the dancing hall. He held his hand up, the vague semblance of a memory there. Someone had squeezed his hand before. And he felt comfort and safety emanating from his hand. Small gold and silver pulses washed out in a sphere around him, gentle tides. And those from the forest that walked through them began to feel that comfort and safety too.
And a name escaped his lips, "Elisabeth."
He didn't know who that was, but he did know that Elisabeth was to be his dancing partner. And that was when he realized that he didn't know who he himself was. And in that realization, fear and loneliness set in, and the waves of gold and silver shifted to reds and blues, and as they touched the forest people, panic and depression began to spread among them. The man's eyes grew wide, and he began to walk swiftly away from them, seeing them return to normal as he distanced himself. He walked past some of the couples, but the waves just bounced harmlessly off of their exquisite outfits, and they continued to walk on, not seeming to notice anything had affected them at all.
The man wanted to dance. He wanted to find his dancing partner. But he didn't want to bother anyone, including whoever this Elisabeth was. And so, he began to walk further into the town, away from the forest peoples, but also away from the dancing hall. Maybe he could dance by himself, in the darkness.
