"Jace!" Rose's shout was lost under the sounds of music, clapping, and multitudes of voices as she watched her younger brother disappear into the crowd ahead of her. Someone bumped into her as she hurried after him, causing her to stumble a bit as she heard a quick apology without seeing a face. Barely able to catch herself in this getup, she let a frustrated sigh escape her lips. The butterfly patterned Yukata she wore was pretty, but it was so difficult to move around in that she didn't think it was worth donning, even if this was the Obon festival. She didn't get why they had to always participate in these kinds of things anyways when she was only half-Japanese and had lived in America for most of her life. Sure, Bon was something about honoring the spirits of the dead, which was all cool and good, but still. At least it was the last night of the festival.
Once she's regained her balance, Rose made her way through the crowd to try and catch up with him. Really, she was having to maneuver her way around since most people were participating in the Bon Odori ((Bon Dance)). That only made it harder to find Jace, which made her anxious and frustrated despite how beautiful a night it was. The night air was just cool enough to be pleasant, and the sky was clear enough to count the stars. Smiles and sounds of celebration were everywhere. At the moment, Rose found this all to be suffocating and annoying.
She stopped when the crowd thinned a bit to look about a tad frantically in a circle. It was hopeless, though. She'd completely lost sight of him. Taking a deep breath, Rose stilled herself and closed her eyes to focus. The sounds around her became sharper and more clear as she tried to sift through everything she was hearing in her mind. There were so many voices; too many to-
"Rose?"Her eyes snapped open as Jace's voice hit her ears. She rab in the direction it's come from, and soon, a head of brown hair she recognized all too well came into view. When she was close enough she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Jace! I told you not to run ahead." She paused to catch her breath as her younger brother looked at her with a guilty smile,
"Sorry?"She tried to give him a stern, scolding expression, but failed. She couldn't help but give a relieved smile at him being safe, and the air around her seemed much less suffocating than before. A sigh and laugh her brother knew all too well escaped her. He rolled his eyes at what he knew as her relief response to her overprotective worrying. He didn't comment on it, but rather grabbed her sleeve to pull her along behind him.
"Stop being so slow. It's almost time to light the lanterns!"The lanterns were Jace's favorite part of the Obon festival, and the were something Rose actually found to be interesting and quite beautiful. She gave a pleasant smile. Maybe a festival wasn't that bad after all. With a renewed vigor, Rose gladly let Jace lead her towards the river where their parents would be waiting for them. The crowd was starting to migrate that way as well. At the sight of their mother and father waiting near the bank, Jace waved and sped up while Rose's smile disappeared into a neutral expression. In a similar manner, her mother's expression turned cold and hard when her eyes found them.Their father gave a small wave in return to Jace's and handed them each a lantern once they'd stopped beside them. Because they planned to release the lanterns into the middle of the river, their mother was ushering them onto one of the small boats there. When Rose was about to step in, however, something stopped her.
Her mom gave her an irritated sigh and a glare that told her to hurry up, but Rose didn't notice. In that moment she felt something pulling at her, like a soft whisper coaxing her to come closer to hear its words. As if in a trance, she turned away from her family and the boat with lantern in hand to moved farther down the river. After a while, the whispering pull ceased, causing her to blink as she came to a stop. Looking around, she found that the crowd was far thinner here with only a few people lingering around. Reflected on the water's surface in front of her was the full moon, and the way the moonlight danced on the river's surface was enchanting. It was beautiful. A strange, warm peace came over her, and a gentle smile made its way to her lips as she knelt down next to the water. She softly placed her lantern out onto it, and as soon as her hands let it go, a white flame seemed to dance behind her eyes, causing a gasp to pass through her lips. The flashing white flame was gone almost as quickly as it had come, leaving her confused as she felt a strange energy around her.
"...What was that?"