Dance Off, Bro

So it was Maid Marian who had seen her. Rebecca didn't move from where she stood, and instead opted to let the vixen approach. She'd only heard of her in passing and hadn't gotten the proper chance to speak with her. It seemed that was going to change that day. On instinct, she ducked her head down and let a little apology escape her at the initial statement. It didn't quite sound like a reprimand so much as good advice. She should have been more careful about where she was. The square was pretty empty apart from the merchants and the people coming and going, though. They'd given her a pretty reasonable amount of space.

"Aye! I am," Rebecca answered. "I want ta help at the Snuggly Duckling more, and I thought th' best way ta do that was by learning a new trick. Tae keep guests entertained, you see. I'm nae very good at it yet, though." She was trying her best, though. Wasn't that the important thing? Perhaps... could Maid Marian teach her? The idea flicked through her mind so quickly that Rebecca almost glanced it over, but now that it was there? She couldn't exactly resist asking.

"I bet you know a fair bit about dancing. You're so elegant," Rebecca ventured. "I don't suppose yeh'd mind teachin' me...?" Her gaze was hopeful and her tail once more was beating back and forth in a gentle rhythm. She didn't really need to hope that hard. As far as she knew, it wasn't that hard to learn. Surely it couldn't have been.

Glee made itself evident in her big blue eyes when it became apparent that Marian would help her out. Any pointers would benefit her a great deal if she was going to become an entertainer. Besides, it would help keep up things between her and anyone else who might have known what she told Hans and Sitron. Merida would even be amused by it, she thought. So, when Marian began to explain herself and straightened herself out, Rebecca did her best to mimic the first actions. She rose onto her hind paws again and held her front paws outward a bit to try and balance herself.

"Aye. I think I see," Rebecca answered. Now that she felt like she had better balance, she felt more confident to try and spin again. This time, the pup started out a little more slowly. Left paw, then right paw, then left again as she started to try and twirl again. Her steps were still a bit wobbly at first, but it looked like she got the basic idea. Rebecca picked up the pace a little bit with the next few steps. Pretty soon, she was doing it! A twirl was successfully achieved despite the initial wobbly steps.

"I did it!" Excitement led to Rebecca jumping in place. Then her balance was thrown off and she had to hold her paws out again to keep from immediately falling. A sheepish little grin was coupled with a small laugh moments later.

"Well... th'balance is still a wee bit off," she said, "but I'm still gettin' used tae standin' on two paws. I suppose it must come more naturally to you, lass?" Marian did seem to be one of those animals that lived in a world like humans did, after all. Just like Robin and at least one other fox she knew was among their ranks. That must have been an interesting place, she thought. Sooner or later she'd need to ask about it more.

"I don't think so. At least not from what I can remember," Rebecca informed her. It probably wasn't that farfetched to believe that her circumstances were at least known by a small handful of the Wings. They'd found her lost and alone in Corona when she'd first awoken there, after all. Nevertheless, she was remaining upbeat. She'd found a new home with the Gilded Wings. It would be rude of Rebecca to not be grateful for what she had been given, especially considering that she was doing her best to help them.

She decided to practice her twirl again just for a moment, making sure she had the basics down for sure, before letting herself drop to all four paws and padding up to the fountain again. The question posed made Rebecca think a bit. Of course Marian would want input. She was a founder of them, and from what Rebecca understood she was a mate of another member. Robin, if she remembered right. A few moments passed, then she gave her head a shake.

"I cannae think of any way yeh could improve anything. Everything's already better than I could ever've asked for," Rebecca told her. "I've got a home, friends... what more could I want?" Maybe her memories of her old home back, she thought, but those were long gone. The past was in the past, as they said, and Rebecca didn't feel inclined to chase them anymore. Not while she had some better purpose on her paws now. Just to prove that point, Rebecca rose up on her hind paws again and let her front paws rest against the fountain as her tail gave a gentle wag.

"It's like I was destined tae find all of yeh," Rebecca said. "And I'm just glad tae be doin' something to help. Even if it is just chores. And learnin' tae entertain." Her tail wagged a bit quicker as she finished saying that. Small methods for a small pup may not have seemed like much, but she wasn't lying. She felt like she was helping.

"Why do ye ask?"

She hadn't thought of it that way, of course, but Rebecca could see where Marian was coming from. A number of the Gilded Wings were in a similar sort of state to Maid Marian, being taller and able to reach things much more easily than Rebecca could. She was arguably the smallest fledgling, and it was a use that had limited places for it to fit but still was viable. Slowly, she nodded her head in agreement. Then she did so again when Marian brought up her dancing. There was no need to mention that she only wanted to learn because of the lie she and Merida spread to 'Karl.' For all any of the other Wings knew, Rebecca just wanted to help around the Snuggly Duckling when it came to entertaining. Her ears perked, though, at her question.

"Well... I wouldn't mind workin' with a partner," Rebecca answered. "Though I'm nae sure who would be a good fit. So far I feel like I'm closest ta Merida out of everyone here, but I don't want to make her be my partner." She knew Merida well enough to guess that dancing was probably not what she'd want to be doing. Who, then, could she learn to entertain with? One of the other fledglings, perhaps? Rebecca had seen a girl who often hung around with a pig, but... she didn't know how she felt about dogs.

"I mostly just wanted ta learn ta dance in general," she explained. "The idea of doin' so with others is kind of exciting, I have ta admit." Her tail wiggled back and forth in a steady rhythm. Clearly, she was excited by the prospect. Sure there would be hurdles to leap over to make it happen, but she didn't care.

"I guess mostly I just want ta do what I can," she went on. "Maybe even someday usin' my size ta help you all somehow. 'Course... I won't be a pup forever." She giggled. Imagine that. A puppy who refused to age. Rebecca knew that dalmatians tended to get taller as they grew older. Perhaps not as tall as a great dane, for instance, but she'd get taller sooner or later. They might as well make the most of her size while they could. Rebecca also knew her place, though. Fledglings weren't supposed to go around volunteering themselves for missions unaccompanied. Someday, though, Rebecca would do something along those lines. She was not the kind to just be content sitting around and doing nothing forever.

A thought stirred in her head after a moment, though. There were a number of dogs among the Gilded Wings. Perhaps they could make use of that.

"If you're taking suggestions still," Rebecca mused aloud, padding back and forth in front of Marian for a beat, "I did have one. With so many dogs among the Gilded Wings... perhaps we could learn to work together as a sort of team?" Her head tilted upward and her tail started to flick back and forth a little bit.

"I don't mean right away. It's just something I noticed. A good pawful of us are canines and... well. One of us is part wolf. I just feel like maybe we could make use of that somehow." She shrugged her shoulders. She wasn't sure where it could be applied, but surely it could work. Somehow.

Ever since Scamp arrived at Corona, it seemed all he wanted to do was explore. There were just so many curiosities about this place that made it way cooler than Snob Hill; he could wander for hours in the main square alone and still not be satisfied. He had a lingering feeling that he should have been at the Snuggly Duckling instead of wandering aimlessly around the city, but he couldn’t help it. With everything to see and do, how could he stay away!?

He had been sniffing around the market when he noticed the pair of Rebecca and Marian twirling around the fountain. He couldn’t help but stop and watch, thin gray tail wagging as he did so. It took a lot of restraint to not interrupt their lesson, never mind the conversation that seemed to follow. But as soon as he could jump in, he approached the group, making it a point to say hi.

"Woah! Slick moves!”

His tail began to wag again, even more fervently than before. He looked down at the Dalmatian puppy, and then back up to Marian, a smile on his face as he addressed them. He’d never been much for dancing, but the pair had a lot of talent – he had to give them that much.

Talent like a certain someone else he knew.

But Angel’s moves were so… different from what these two were showing off. What they were doing was more like when Jim Dear and Darling would twirl in circles around the living room. It was more polished than back-alley parkour, though no less impressive. Maybe he could get some lessons for himself from them.

“Do you want to see some of my moves?” he offered. “I… kind of have my own style.”

Scamp's eyes lit up, though he realized the impact of what he had just offered to do after the words left his mouth. Oh he'd just backed himself into a bit of a corner, but he'd have to keep good on his word. His skills were never quite up to snuff as Angel's were, but after all of the time he'd spent watching her, he was sure he'd have picked something up. After all, how hard could pulling off a few fancy moves be? 

"Oh -- okay!! Well then, watch this!"

He backed up a bit, making sure he had enough space on all sides, before going for whatever came to mind first. Instantly, he wound himself into a spin, chasing his tail in an attempt to emulate Angel's trick. But like so many other times he attempted this trick, he landed flat on his back on the cobblestone. He got up and shook himself out, a little dizzy and embarrassed, but ultimately undeterred.

He then approached the fountain, using the ledge to pull himself up onto two legs. However that fox could do it for so long, he would never know -- this was hard! He tried doing a few steps, even attempting a twirl of his own. But he quickly ended up on his bottom, landing on his tail with a high-pitched "YIPE!!"

This was quickly getting embarrassing. 

Once again he dusted himself off, attempting to put together a grand finale -- or, at the absolute least, salvaging what was intended to be a display of his own skills. He studied the edge of the fountain, preparing to try a move he hoped would impress. He took a few steps backwards to 'wind up,' and ran, jumping up on the ledge and attempting to flip off of it, using the statue in the middle for leverage.

What he did end up doing was slipping and face-planting directly into the water.

His head shot up out of the fountain and he coughed, looking at his new acquaintances sheepishly. It seemed he had only succeeded in proving what he already knew: even though he was older, he still really wasn't very coordinated. So much for showing off.

"I guess I could use a few lessons, myself," he chuckled, shaking the water from his fur and perching on a drier spot of the fountain's lip. "Name's Scamp! And, er... why are you guys dancing out here, anyway?"