Heroes of Dreamland Reimagined: Swingin!AU

A Beginning (Solar)

The year is 122. Girls' capes are growing more and more sparkly all the time, the automobile is quickly becoming ubiquitous, saving is out and spending is in, everyone wants to look better and happier than they really are, the magical prohibition is in full swing, talk is cheap and love is cheaper. Thanks to the Great War against the Halcandrans just a few short years ago, the world was thrown into chaos, a chaos from which nobody's really found a solid grounding again yet. The chaos is still in full swing, and nobody has answers—but everybody has their own personal solutions. Some people try to ignore the chaos. Others jump right into the rapids and do what they can to make the most of it—I'm a proud member of that category. But above all the chaos, one thing reigns supreme, playing everywhere, filling the air with the sound of a new music like none other.

It's the year 122, and swing is king.

Outside on one of the busiest streets in Startropolis, the lights are bright. You can hardly tell it's nighttime thanks to the flashing marquees and glimmering neon lights that adorn the front of the capital city's biggest nightclub, the 'Shooting Star.' Several other, smaller nightclubs scatter the street, but very few cars are parked in front of them. They're where you go if you don't have money but like to pretend you do. But if you have money, the 'Shooting Star' is the place to go, a veritable palace of jazz, dancing, and Star World's fattest wallets. After checking my appearance in the large, gold-trimmed glass front doors, I tighten my grip on my short top hat and the black cane I carry at my side, and step inside.

Within the doors, the gas lighting is low, setting a romantic mood. Even though it's darker, though, it's just as loud inside as it is out on the street. At least a hundred Star Warriors are dancing around on the nearby dance floor, while a couple dozen couples sit at the bar or at the tables around there, sipping on punch, cola, or sparkling juice, and chatting over the raucous noises of the dancers. Above everything else, though, is the swinging sound of jazz music, filling the air with the sort of almost-magical energy that makes everyone want to get up and dance.

A male Waddle Dee server quietly takes my hat and cane near the door, and I readjust my crisp white gloves with golden cufflinks before straightening my best black cape. My black shoes are polished to perfection. In short, I look exactly as an inactive Lieutenant General should look for a night out on the town.

Quietly, I make my way to the dance floor, making sure not to interrupt or disturb any of the revelers. I lean against one of the walls rather than dancing. After all, I'm not here to dance so much as to enjoy tonight's act, one of the most sought-after swing bands known to Star World—Miss Dee and The Revolution.

Up on stage, under brighter lights, a lovely lavender Star Warrior girl and a particularly-attractive Halfling girl are crowded around a microphone together, alternating leaning in toward the device and leaning away and dancing as they exchange the lines of the song. The Halfling girl, Miss Dee, tends to be the lead singer, hence why her name is in the band's name. This song, though, is one that she and her backup singer, Terra, share more evenly.

Terra wears a lilac-colored flapper cape and a purple feathered headpiece that matches her violet-shaded makeup, which makes her purple eyes look a bit darker. Purple tap shoes and lacy white gloves complete her ensemble. But as lovely as she is, the real showstopper is Miss Dee herself, with a sparkling pink flapper cape, a light pink feathered headpiece with a cherry blossom attached, lacy white gloves, and dark eye makeup that makes her chestnut eyes look smokey and intense.

Behind the two girls are the rest of the band, which is composed of three young males. The bassist, named Geo, is a green Star Warrior with dark green eyes who wears a pair of dapper black gloves and matching black shoes. He stands on a stool so he can be tall enough to control his instrument, which is twice as tall as he is. The pianist, the youngest member of the band, is a white Star Warrior with dark gray eyes named Blizzard, though they tend to call him 'The Ivory Blitz' in the magazines and pictures. He sports a light-gray bowtie and matching gray shoes and gloves, as well as a gray golf cap. If Miss Dee is the member of the band who serves as the heartthrob for all the men in the audience, then Blizzard is the one there for all the younger ladies to fawn over. Of course, he's got quite the competition in the trumpeter, Augustine (also known as 'Saint Augustine, King of Jazz,' or 'The Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy,' thanks to the fact he spent time in the army as a bugler and soldier during the Great War), a light-blue Castelolian with ice-blue eyes who's the oldest member of the band by five or six years. He wears a black fedora with an ice-blue band around it, and white gloves, as well as black shoes.