Not a sound could be heard in the forest. The birds were quiet, no squirrel was moving nor were there wolves hunting. The trees stood silently in the windless night, casting large inanimate shadows on the ground below. The little river that courses between the trees has gone dead silent, all water has stopped flowing. Nothing was moving, nothing was breathing, and nothing was making a sound.

And in the middle of this frozen nature lies a lake, a lake so smooth that, at that moment, it reflected the countless stars in the night sky. The clouds shining a bright blue in contrast with the darkness that lurked behind them. Nocturnal fowl was halted mid flight and could be seen hanging in the air as if strung up to the sky by a string.

But the most notable detail of this scene is the moon. A bright blue moon loomed over this timeless landscape casting the whole in an easy light. The ground, usually stained vibrant green by the abundance of grass, was now a pale blue surface without motion. The shadows made by the trees created dark blue figures on the canvas below, yet none of it is moving. Everything was deadly silent.

That night was an empty night.

But somewhere in this vast ocean of motionlessness was an anomaly. A single specter was able to move in the shadows of the trees. Lurking only in the shadows, the figure passed by two motionless butterflies that hung in the air and approaches the mirror lake at the center of it all. This person does not find this scene too strange, in fact, it was exactly according to plan.

Approaching the edge of the tree cover, the figure stepped out into the moonlight to reveal the true form of her existence. It was a woman clothed in but a single piece of black silk, her pitch black hair falling on her back like a waterfall. The dress she wore was nothing extraordinary but it outlined the features of her figure nicely. It did not restrict any movement, not in the legs nor in the arms, and this is why it was perfect for this occasion.

The woman continued towards the lake and stops at its edge. She then lifted her dress and placed a foot on the surface of the water. After shifting her weight onto that foot she dropped the dress and continued walking forward, across the surface of the lake. Every step she took created the slightest ripples on the surface, but in mere moments these motions died out and the surface returned to its smooth appearance.

Only when she reached the middle of the lake does she stop. She looked at her surroundings to get a grasp of the situation and then proceeded to placing her back towards the moon. She stood in an upright position, arms by her side, slowly breathing in and out with her eyes closed. Some time passes and the surface of the water was back to reflecting the countless stars in the sky.

Suddenly, the woman raised her hands to both sides and bends her arms slightly. Two fans of identical green appeared in both her hands and with an audible snap she closed them. Placing her right hand in front and left hand in the back, she bend over just slightly and she reopens her eyes.

She then proceeded to dance. Placing her right foot slightly outwards she uses it to pivot on her left and turn her entire body. As she did this, the fans opened again and started to move in a rhythmical pattern. Continuing to turn on the same spot, the fans moved up and down creating a mesmerizing rhythm. She never stopped any motions, her movements were as fluid as water, moving only in arcs and circles.

The water underneath her feet did not stay unchanged. For every step she took and every turn she made she created another ripple on the otherwise flawlessly smooth surface. The reflection of her body in the moonlight was distorted to a point where she would not recognize herself were she to take a look.

And then her fans started to glow bright green, making them the only other source of light other than the move in the entire area. The woman didn’t mind and her motions didn’t falter, her arms becoming even more fluid than before. Green stripes of light surrounded her entire body, encasing the alluring movements of her dance. Any onlooker would have seen a whirlwind of green light at the heart of the lake, but such onlookers did not exist as nothing was able to move.

As if attracted by this spectacle, green orbs of light approached the dancing woman. Countless little orbs were flying towards her and fused with the fans in her hands. Orbs were flying in from every corner of the lake, all of them fusing with the whirlwind of light. With every orb that fused with her dance, her motions grew wilder and more aggressive. At some point, the water underneath her feet became so wild that waves were pushing out in all directions.

Once the last light was absorbed, the woman smiled. The hardest part had just been completed, the rest only required a lot of endurance.

And with that thought she changed the dance. The once fluid motions became more acute, even faster than before. The two fans that used to be on opposing sides at all times were now moving at irregular and different speeds. The water, which was raging like an ocean before, had become dead silent again. The reflection of night sky was clearly visible again and if one looked closely, they could see the woman’s feet hovering above the water’s surface.

Floating up in the sky, the woman does not stop moving. Her feet pushing off from an invisible surface, the dance just keeps on going.

And once she reached a height of 5 meters, the green light disappeared. Instead, the woman was surrounded by a magical aura, a transparent blue ball of spiritual energy had materialized around her.

This, too, put a smile on her face but she kept on dancing. The dancing wasn’t going to stop. She had become one with the night.

Edited by Wesley Au (Paradox)