[20:19] It had taken them well into the night, but their stage was finally building properly....

After a mishap where Vira fell through the edge of the stage, they'd gotten back on track and resumed building the rest of the stage- properly, this time. Red and yellow lights adorned the front, gleaming brightly as the sun set behind them.

Hands propped on her hips, Vira assessed the foundations of the building with a hum.

"It seems to be going well," she spoke aloud, completely disregarding that it had taken twice the amount of time to build thanks to her.

Her expression fell to a more thoughtful, contemplative look.

"...we'll need to start actually practicing, soon...."
(Vira Bathory)
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[20:25] The first stage was ... practice. With holes in the roof and carpet that wouldn't rip back up, there's no way that they could use it. It has to be perfect - Or else, they won't be. Their stage should be an extension of themselves, not just somewhere they stand upon to be above those who watch from the crowd.

Taking a seat on one of the benches, Yulia nods.

"Right ... we can't just call ourselves singers, but not put our all into singing. We need to train and train, just like any warrior would do. Because --- we're warriors too, you know? The stage is a battlefield in itself. We need to hone our weapons if we're going to capture anyone's heart."
(Yulia Felice)
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[20:28] Sitting down with a huff, Vira rolled her eyes.

"I mean so we don't embarrass ourselves," she replied to Yulia's spirit- there was a tinge of jealousy to her words, like she couldn't hide the fact that she wanted to be just as passionate and eloquent as Yulia was.

She just found it difficult. In a sense, it was all more than a little bit embarrassing. Vira was still recovering from her choked-up stage-right down in Crafthold.

"It's a different kind of battlefield. I've fought off demons and bandits, so I can tell you it'll be nothing like that."

Because fighting was something she wasn't nervous about.

This...? She was starting to get second thoughts.

"I don't know how you can be like that all the time, either...." the words were mumbled half to herself, curling a lock of dusky lavender hair around her finger as she stared up at the stage.
(Vira Bathory)
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[20:37] "It's just how I feel."

It's said matter-of-factly - Like everything is normal, everything is natural. It's said like she isn't almost overly-passionate, like every word she says doesn't feel like it's hinging on the brink of being destroyed, but still clinging to hope.

"This is something that I have passion about. It means a lot to me. We've grown up in a time where most people ... all they feel is sorrow and hate. All they know is war and death and loss. They need a bright light to look towards - and ... I want to be that light."

The first light of stars begin to twinkle into the night, breaking through the rapidly-dimming sky. Tipping her head up, the girl's lips pull into a smile that's somewhere between fondness and bitter nostalgia.

"I don't, actually, expect everyone on this country to love us. I expect a lot of them to think we're naïve and stupid. I expect people to hate us. But -- I'm going to keep singing as if that hate us love, to show them that I'm not as weak as they think I am."
(Yulia Felice)
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[20:44] All Vira felt like she knew was sorrow and hate. Her head tilt towards Yulia and her lips quirked into a scowl, trying to decipher the other girl's words in a way that was more palatable.

She didn't feel like light at all. The opposite, in fact.

Her hand continued to twirl around her hair, and the Neries was quiet for a moment before speaking.

"I don't know if I could...." she trailed off, furrowing her brow and scrunching her face in thought- like she were trying to think of how to phrase her thoughts, "...I don't think I have enough love to give the rest of the world. Or, like, any at all."

Vira tore her gaze away from Yulia's shining face, tilting her head back to look at the stars instead.

"I kind of think we're naive and stupid, for this."
(Vira Bathory)
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[20:52] At first, the girl's lips open to speak -- but, no sound leaves her throat. For the space of a few beats, she's silent. The only sound around them is rustling grass, crickets chirping, the sound of the river rushing at the foot of this mountain. Then - she smiles once again in that same smile between fondness and nostalgia.

She pushes off from the bench with a soft huff!, twirling around on the balls of her heel to look down at Vira, planting her hands firmly on her hips.

"Then, you'll be my first target."

Looking behind her, she contemplates the half-built stage. It definitely wasn't ready for anything of a performance, and some people may find it stupid to climb up on a building that could very well collapse in on itself and kill you, but --

-- Yulia does that regardless. Without another word, she begins to climb up onto the half-made stage, seemingly with little regard for just how bad of an idea this was.
(Yulia Felice)
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[21:01] Lips pursed into something between a pout and a frown, Vira was having trouble looking directly at Yulia. Her hands fidget against where she'd braced them on the back of the bench, eyes darting around as she fought for something else to stare at.

When the other girl jumped up to her feet, Vira blinked- drawing her attention back to Yulia with a more skeptical frown. An eyebrow quirked at her statement, the awkwardness fading to something more curious as Yulia made her way up the stage. The Neries wasn't about to object, considering it'd been her blunder on a similarly unfinished stage that had messed up the last one....

Folding her arms over her chest, she leaned back.

"I guess if you can't even convince me, then we'll never convince anyone else...." her tone was low, another muttered, pessimistic phrase meant only for herself.

"Fine! Try me, then!" she yelled louder, her voice carrying like a fierce challenge.
(Vira Bathory)
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[21:14] A challenge that she was more than happy to accept.

It was true -- if she couldn't move the heart of someone who she was supposed to be sharing the stage with, could she call herself an idol...? ...No. Not at all. If she's that much of a failure, she may as well throw herself off this mountain here and now.

...Was that drastic? Yes. Was that the response any normal human being should have to failure? No.

The boards of the barely-finished stage creak and crack as she steps forward, taking a deep breath and closing her crimson eyes. A hand finds her chest, feeling for her heartbeat, and another reaches out-- like she's trying to grasp the space in front of her.

Then - she begins to sing. Her voice is high and clear, and it echos off the top of the mountain without any sort of musical or magical backing. This --- has to be purely her -- It has to be her feelings that she puts on the line in order to sway Vira.

The song is about being there - It's about being something that someone can come back to. It says I'm here, don't doubt it. The song looks to the stars to convince those that are hearing it that this is a place where they will belong.

Yulia only hopes that it reaches even the surface of Vira's heart.
(Yulia Felice)
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[21:35] It wasn't cool to admit you felt things. That was the first rule.

Vira watched with narrowed eyes, her expression pinched like that might hide any emotion the song stirred in her. She gripped her hands against the bench she sat on, watching Yulia sparkle up on their newly built stage.

She wouldn't admit it reached her- not really.

But the music resonated in a way that felt nostalgia, perhaps before she'd hardened her heart to most things. She was still young, afterall. She still carried those dreams because her childhood wasn't over yet, no matter how much she might try to deny it. She could wear every emotion on her sleeve but this one- this one, she wanted to hide.

Vira sighed in a low exhale, letting her gaze drift up from Yulia and towards the stars again, listening to the song.

"...alright, alright...." she murmured, the words soft, "...you proved your point."
(Vira Bathory)
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[21:40] She could go farther than this.

She could go higher than this.

It's what she thinks as she sings -- She thinks that this is her starting point, that this is where she's kicking off from. She needs to take this moment and go higher, higher --- Push herself until she shines so brightly that her body can't take it, and then go ten miles further.

When the song ends, her chest heaves as it begs for breath. While it wasn't a performance that involved any dancing or movements, it involved her putting her entire heart on display. She needed to prove that this wasn't something that was a fool's idea.

At Vira's admittance, she laughs a laugh of relief, sitting down and swinging her legs over the edge of the stage.

"Good. I don't know what we'd do without you, you know?"
(Yulia Felice)
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[21:45] Even as she watched Yulia, she didn't think she'd be able to reach it- as the other girl sang and flew higher, it felt like she sunk lower. It wasn't something she was capable of, to have so much passion and to transmit so much care into her voice- why did Vira even want to sing, anyway?

All she really wanted was for them to look at her. It wasn't anything so noble.

"...probably have a lot more fans, without me," her voice was sardonic, with a light smirk that twitched over her lips, "I'm already a bit infamous, aren't I? Don't you think I'm going to drag down our reputation?"

But she already had fans, didn't she? Thoughts of drakanite boys and gifted stone made her scowl, eyeing the stage again. It was partially a debt she owed, and she hated owing people.
(Vira Bathory)
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[21:47] Shaking her head, she looks down at Vira with a smile that almost makes what she's saying not seem insulting.

"No way. A group needs an abrasive one. If all of the girls in an idol group look the same, sound the same, act the same ... then, why are there four of them? You work so well with us because of how you are. There are people out there who are super into your kind."

It's punctuated with a wink and a thumbs-up.
(Yulia Felice)
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[21:50] The abrasive one....

Well, she couldn't quite deny it- and admittedly, it made her smile. Flicking her hair aside with one hand, she folded her arms over her chest and nodded, content with the assessment.

Though she was a little bit perturbed by the idea of people being super into her kind....

Hopefully that wasn't a joke about her horns.

"Oh, fine. I'll take that, I guess," she shrugged like it meant nothing, but there was clearly a very pleased smile on her face, "The rest of you need someone actually strong, to defend us when our concert is inevitably attacked...!"

Because though Ithaca had her beat, Vira was still an overdramatic fourteen year old.
(Vira Bathory)