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Cirque du Verre et de Miroirs ~ Circus of Glass and Mirrors; Tatwu Circus has come to town!
Topic Started: Apr 11 2011, 06:36 AM (4,921 Views)
Himesama
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~Piren~

She gave a sigh, walking through the busy tents and workers, her carefully trained eyes roaming over the heads of performers. She was ready to thwart any lazy, good-for-nothing slacker who might be in the group. There was no time to waste, no moment that couldn't be utilized for perfect the acts. She gave a growl as she saw it, stuffed under the benches.



A slacker.



She stormed up, grabbing the offending person by the ear. "What do you think you're doing?"



The peculiar, curly-haired girl gave Piren a wide-eyed stare. She glanced at her pack of tarot cards, then back at Piren. "The Hanged Man and Ace of Cups are calling you." Piren immediately dropped the girl.



"Keale... Get- get- get to work!" Piren pointed to the ring, where the clowns were running through their act. "Now."



Piren was by no means someone who believed in superstitions, but since long ago, Piren had learned not to cross fortune tellers. Keale's own mother had warned her, her and Tatwu both, that the Death card held a spot for them. The both of them, cocky and sure of themselves as they were, blew her off without a second thought. Piren would still never admit that the cards were right, no, that was a point of pride. Piren would not believe in superstitions or planned fates.



Piren glared at the ground angerly a moment, before turning and further inspecting the group of performers, all trying their best to appear as busy as possible. Someone fell on their face by her. She didn't need to ask, she already knew.



"You were messing around with Val on the wires again, weren't you?" She deadpaned. "I should just let her shank you already. Lord knows I would have if I was her."



"Aw ma!" Pipkins sat up, shaking the dirt out of his hair and leaning back to reveal the bomb he had taken the fall face first for. "You don't wanna shank me!" He gave a mock gasp and then chucked, ignoring his bloody nose as he began tweaking the bomb in ways Piren couldn't begin to comprehend. She settled for pushing him over with her foot. He just kept working on his bomb. Piren shook her head and kept walking.



And only five seconds later, she only narrowly missed a certain flying flamethrower, as he finally escaped the throes of a particularly enthusiastic practice on the clowns behalf. Piren arched her eyebrows as the man hastily bowed, red facepaint from the clown's assault smeared on his mouth and trailing across his right cheek.



"Um... Piren?" He hastily bowed. Upon straightening he met her glare. "You wouldn't have happened to see Nate, have you?" He nervously ran his hand through his hair and gave her a sheepish grin.



Her eyes fairly bulged out of her head as she took a sip of her tea a young boy had brought around, and promptly choked. "No, but for gods sake Arthur, find him before he burns the whole damn place down." She took several deep breaths to prevent the hyperventilating at the thought of her bigtop going up in flames.



Eventually coming to her own private tent, she sat down wearily for a moment. She turned to the slip of paper that was left most recently.



Hush, hush, hush, here comes the Bogeyman,

Don't let him come too close to You, he'll catch you if he can.

~ScareCrow




Piren rubbed her temples a moment, a horrific migraine coming on from both lack of properly caring for herself -The last meal she had was three days ago and she hadn't had more of two hours of sleep and a handful of catnaps through the week- and the fact that running a circus was a thoroughly harrowing affair. Unfortunately, as a clown ran into her tent (And was subsequently dropkicked out, presumably landing on the opposite end of the Circus) her headache only increased tenfold.



She pinched the bridge of her nose, and after shoving the note between her breasts, began at a quick, clipped pace to the sector where the animals were kept. While she usually was shoving unruly circus members in the cages, her lack of sleep was catching up to her and her punishments lessened with each day.



"Zane. Zane!" She called out.



Zane and Wright were the only two you could say Piren relied on in the slightest. Wright was a good worker and dependable man, and aside Pipkins, Zane, Tatwu's younger stepbrother from yet another failed marriage on Tatwu's mother's part, was the only thing close to family Piren had since Tatwu's death, almost 17 years ago.



Actually, now Piren allowed herself to think about it, today was the day, the anniversary of his death. As the anger hit her again, she kicked a wooden stool across the room.



The anger, in her current state, only made her more exhausted. "Zane," she called out again, sounding equal parts tired and exasperated, "I need food. And sleep. Can I commandeer your bed and cooking skills?"









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~Leeahlee~



Ants. The whole lot of them, nothing but cheap little ants. She gave a charming smile to a nearby noble- Caedmon, or some other god forsaken name she couldn't be bothered to properly remember. She gave a polite giggle and a little titter on some noblewoman's dress but the quickly withdrew, fluttering her fan at her ample bosom as though she was absolutely at odds with the world and some obscene heat, though in actuality the weather was fair as always.



It was fine with her, if as the mist that was always present in the court would swirl around each of their throats and delicately choke each one of them. The mask was tiresome, the gossiping annoying, and the constant assault of some disgusting poor urchin asking for his well to be fixed or somesuch was utterly mind numbing.



And of course, she could never decline the flea-bitten peasant sacks entrance, lest her status as the people's angel of light be tarnished. It would be easy enough to kill them, she supposed, or at the very least, let Mattis do so in some dark corner.



She hooked her arm into Mattis's own god-given arm, leading him away from whatever he was doing. Such was inconsequential to her own needs and demands. This much they both understood.



She drew her fan up to her lips and his ear down to the appropriate level. The court became more quiet, the sheer horror of whatever secret the queen was whispering of in his ear striking the nobles with quaking fear. Even that perpetually angry lord whose name she could not remember stiffened against the wall he was leaning on and finely arched an eyebrow.


"My dear Mattis, do you suppose you can handle the next rotten peasant that requests an audience with me before his filth taints my throne room? I'm getting exhausted of dealing with them and their petty problems." She allowed her whispering tone to dip into a whine a bit, "And I positively must retire soon. The skirts are far too heavy to continue wearing!"


Edited by Himesama, Apr 11 2011, 10:20 AM.
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Mai-Lynn
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Zane

''Umm, of..of course I like roses.'' Zane's sleep talk was accompanied only by Ceres' soft purring. He was curled up on the hay, his back against Ceres' warm body. The two looked like such a perfect pair, a tiger and his trainer.

Ceres herself gave a tired yawn as nestled her head down beside him. All was quiet, peaceful and comfortable even. Yet all that was shattered within a matter of moments

"Zane. Zane!"

The voice echoed in his ears. He rolled over with a moan. "Five more minuets," he mumbled.

Yet the voice didn't quit.

"I need food. And sleep. Can I commandeer your bed and cooking skills?"


Zane soon realized the Voice belonged top Perin. He rose up with a yawn, pieces or straw sticking out from his hair. He looked at her sleepy.

"Your sleepy? So you have to interrupt my sleep so you can sleep? That's some messed up logic. Besides, didn't you say you had something to tell those two kids today? If so, why not go bother them instead?" he stated groggily. He took his hands and rubbed his eyes before standing and taking along stretch, giving a sigh as he did.

Finally getting a good look at her, he could tell that she did seem tired, not to mention thinner. Zane shook his head. "Woman, you really need to start taking better care of yourself. If something happens to ya, what do you think will happen to the circus?"

Zane walked over to Ceres and scratched her behind the ears. The large cat loped her tail around in enjoyment. Zane only wished Perin was as easy to look out for as Ceres.

Walking to the cage door, he swung it open and hoped out. He gave a remorseful wave to his favorite cat before turning to look at Perin

"Commandeer my bed and cooking skills. Aren't we demanding," he said with a joking grin. "Fine, come on. I'll cook you up a stew"



Victoria

Obnoxious. That's how Victoria saw the court. Each person making marry, putting on their best acts before Leeahlee. Their queen was an enigma, a mystery yet everyone worked so hard to appease her. The though of it was something that made Victoria sick. Mysteries such as their queen could prove just as dangerous as a snake laying in wait.

Yet she herself played along with this act, making her feel disgusted with herself for doing so. However, she knew it was necessary, that it was needed. Until she could learn more about their queen and her motives, the reason for her uncle's death, she would have the be content living a the noble puppet she was.

Victoria kept her eyes fixed on Leeahlee as the woman turned to whisper something into Mattis' ear. If there was one thing she was sure of, it was that Leeahlee and Mattis where a dangerous duo and one not to be trifled with unprepared. One could only wonder what she was whispering to him, what she was thinking at that.

The members of the court looked on around her, fear evident in their eyes. Victoria could only think how foolish and fear-driven humans really where.



Nate

"Fire really is a work of art." Nate watched on with vexed eyes at the small inferno blazing in front him him. He had managed to find some old rope, kerosene, and some carpeting material. What better use was there for it than to make a fire?

Nate had always loved fire for as long as he could remember. He laughed at the thought of his early childhood; his parents constantly scolding him for burning random household objects. He had even been reprehended by the school teacher for burning his books.

It was safe to say he was a pyromaniac, but Nate was also a genius. However, as long as he was able to do what he loved, he could care less..

As he fed some old two by fours into the fire, he head foot steps coming up from behind him. By listening carefully, he could depict who it was without even looking.

"You found me. Guess that means playtime's over eh Arthur?" he asked as he poured some more kerosene on to the fire.



Valeria

Looking down at Pipkins from the wires, all she could do is sake her head. The guy really was an odd fellow, one she would never understand at that.

He had asked to help her in checking the wires but instead he had goofed off until he fell to the ground. Valeria couldn't help but secretly wish he had broken a bone or something for being such an idiot.

Lowering herself from the wires, Valeria climbed up to the trapeze and decided to do a few practice runs. She hadn't been able to try out her new routines as much as she had hoped for with all the assassinations she had been sent out on.

Out of all her acts, the trapeze had to be the one she enjoyed the most. To her, there was just something about the adrenalin and feeling of freedom it gave her. Nothing could compare to it.

As she swung herself back onto the landing, she saw Jeremy climbing up the ladder. He was a scrawny guy who worked as a ringhand.

"Hey Val!" He shouted from halfway up the ladder. "Alek was lookin' for ya. Asked me to find ya." Said he had something to talk to ya about."

Valeria looked at him slightly confused "Looking for me? Did he say what for?" she inquired.

"Nope, just said he had something to talk to ya about," he replied.

She sighed a bit before giving him a nod. "Fine. Guess I better see what he wants" With that, she grabbed back on the the trapeze and flung herself out into the middle before letting go and falling into the safety net with a flip. She looked back to see Jeremy staring at her with a bewildered look on his face.

"Do ya hate ladders or something?" he asked her with surprise in his voice.

"No, I just prefer the faster routes."

Valeria exited the main tent and made her way towards the C&P house where she was sure she would find Alek. He had never been very sociable with the rest of the circus and spent most of his time there with his master so she knew there was no better place to look for him.

Valeria could really come up with what Alek wanted to talk about. Only two things crossed her mind. Assassinations or bragging about some new outfit he had made. She rolled her eyes at the second.

She walked briskly up to the door of the C&P house and gave a few light knocks. She would have been louder and sounded slightly more annoyed if it weren't for her respect of his master Charles and his declining healthy.

"Alek, you there? Jeremy came and said you needed to see me fore something. Couldn't it have waited until after practice?"
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Mr. Alice
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ȵicholas
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The animal tent was a rather big one. It had to be, in order to house the larger animals the circus featured, and cleaning it was never a small task, nor was it always particularly pleasant. But Nicholas had never seen the animal caretaker without a smile on his face, so perhaps it was just something one had to gradually get used to. Nicholas himself had been playing with some of his doves, feeding them treats, petting them and such, when Piren stormed in like a tornado, getting straight to the point, calling out Zane for something or the other. Food and sleep, it seemed like, this time. And nobody would probably blame her. Most could tell that something was bothering their ringmaster.

For now though, Nicholas was trying to calm the birds that had reacted radly badly to the yelling and the kicking of objects. Whereas he reacted with a wince at Piren's voice, the birds twitched and flapped their wings in surprise, setting the whole cage into a small panic. And since he had just been in the middle of petting them, the door partially open, a few of them flew out. Three in total had escaped, though Nicholas had at least reacted fast enough to grab at least one of the white flying objects, pushing it back in it's cage quickly. It ended up being two of them, surprisingly, which left two of them fluttering about.

Chasing after them, Nicholas paused to give Rickett a pleading look for help, before returning to his task when he felt fluttering above his head.




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Nana
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Isabel~

Hiding from Piren was how she would spend her time. Even now, she was sitting against a huge barrel in a storage tent far away from where they would look for her.
She held an apple in her hand, taken from the kitchens while no one was looking.
Piren's been overworking recently, she thought, biting the apple. Apple juice dribbled down her chin, only to be wiped up by the sleeve of her dress.
If only we could return to the circus that we were, long ago. The circus that was full of amusement, even for someone like me.
Hearing noises outside, she abruptly stood up and ran out, on to the next hiding spot.
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Lunar Abyss
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Laverna

Laverna sat contently on a crate, away from the main hustle and bustle of the big top. Not that she didn't like the circus, she loved it, it was her home, she just didn't like the time that came before a show. Piren gets crankier and everyone rushes around all the time. She sighed. A loud stomping sound broke her peace, and she recognized the heavy footfalls as Piren's. She jumped from the crate and dashed off, staying away from the woman. While Piren was someone Laverna looked up to, she could admit, sometimes the woman was a pain when she was cranky. As she fled the Animal area of the bigtop, she heard Piren's faint calls for Zane. She glanced to the side, and saw Isabel dashing from behind a barrel to the next open hiding spot, an apple in her hand. Looks like i'm not the only slacker here. Laverna thought. Laverna sat against the crate opposite of where Isabel was sitting. "Hey, Isabel. Are you performing in the next show?" She asked. "I need someone to help with my act." Laverna explained.
Edited by Lunar Abyss, Apr 12 2011, 12:23 AM.
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Nana
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Isabel


Isabel looked up at Laverna. "Why, hello there Laverna. I heard rumors that your assistant ran out on you. So it was true. I suppose the local gossip is actually correct at times."
She stood up and threw the core-only apple in the trash. Yawning, she unsuccessfully tried to push her long hair out of the way.
"I have to check with the others about the schedule for the performances, but I'm sure I can be your temporary assistant for one showing, at least. Since I believe your assistant will be back soon after, you won't need me after that, will you?"
Isabel began to walk away, once again in the search for an undisturbed hiding spot. "Just tell me when it's time, and I'll be sure to show up. In the meantime, I feel like resting alone and finding some more information. Because, after all, information is the best, isn't it?" she laughed, starting to skip as her mood lightened.
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Himesama
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Piren



She collapsed on the cot in the corner of the room. She had long ago offered Zane a room but he had declined it in favor of sleeping with Ceres. It was their compromise that he have a bed at least, and this is where he put it.



"You get more sleep than me on a daily basis. I don't feel guilty." She curled around, burrowing into the bed, almost in a feline way.



God... a bed was heaven. Her own bed only got used once a month. She tended to accost Zane every time she was tired or hungry. At least he generally fed her and left her to sleep, with a few notable exceptions that included circus-wide pranks on her.



As she yawned, Zane continued to tell her to take care of herself. "Hey hey hey, I take care of myself just fine, thank you. I'm just busy." She yawned once more and sat up, her top hat tumbling to the ground. She stared at it pointedly for a moment, before ignoring it. This was why she didn't like beds, she remembered.


They were just so damn comfortable that doing productive or sensible things like picking up a hat were nigh impossible. As it rolled across the floor, she finally laid down in her chest, reaching across to pick it up, though it was just out of reach.



She gave a whine and a pout, weighing pros and cons in her head. Leave the nice, comfortable bed to pick up her wayward hat or hope Zane did it for her. She went for the later, curling tightly in the blankets again, only her head visible.


Just poking her hands out of the mass of blankets, she gratefully took the stew and started to eat. With each bite, sleep loomed closer.



"Hey Zane... How're you holding up today?" It'd been 17 years since Tatwu had died today. It didn't matter if Piren had moved on emotionally, she still couldn't help but feel crankier on that day, and she figured Zane still had to think of it sometimes too. Tatwu's senseless death- the hate from it would never fade, as far as Piren was concerned. Not until Leeahlee herself was six feet under and maskless.




Arthur


As he came up behind Nate, Arthur was expecting to see the big tent on fire. At least this time he was given a small reprieve. Arthur sat the bucket of water down with a releived sigh.



Ruffling Nate's hair as Nate poured yet more kerosene on the fire, Arthur chuckled. "Well, playtime isn't quite over. We have our act to practice. Get down to the water tray, we've got a couple of hours to kill before I have to run a mission for Piren." Arthur grinned as he doused out the fire before them with baking soda.



"And I expect you to have a fire in front of the water tray by the time I get down there. A controlled one, if you please!" he called over his shoulder to Nate, who was already heading down at the word practice. After all practice meant fire and that was all the motivation Nate needed.



The water tray was Arthur's own invention. It was exactly what it's name implied- a long, wide, low tray that would be covered up in the ring until the final act-which was the fire tamers block- and it would fill with water.



The problem with most firetaming acts was that they had to cope with how to hold the fire for long periods of time. Some wore gloves, some coated their hands with wax, but either way, when that was gone and there was still fire, someone would get burnt. With the water tray, acrobatics and fire could be combined continuously, though it involved some coordination and a lot of practice, the end result was worth it.



Arthur grinned as he headed into the tent. Nate was smart. When it came to firetaming, he had the love of fire down pat. When it came to the taming part... well there was a reason he was still his apprentice. Nate had to learn how to respect the fire, while still directing it. Nate had the tendency to just set the fire and watch it blaze, regardless of what is swallowed and destroyed. Firetamers were similar to animal tamers, in that respect.



Dipping his hands in the watter, he grabbed a few gas-soaked balls, and lit them in the fire, and then began to juggle. Nate would join in, there was no need to tell him what to do.



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Remi
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Aria

Lessons. How dreadfully boring. As her personal tutor drolled on and on for what seemed like eternity, the princess could only sigh and place a hand on her cheek. She glanced to the corner where her tiger, Seti, lay taking a nap.

Lucky cat, she thought, jealous. It seemed the only thing she could actually hear was her cat's snores, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes.

Her mind started to wander, as it often did. Aria was forever daydreaming, and that was usually the reason she got into trouble with her tutor, Mr. Alexson, so much. Once she'd been halfway through a daydream about becoming queen and eating all of the roasted chickens she could possibly find when her tutor had decided it would be funny to pour water on her.

Somehow that event didn't stop her.

Aria glanced out the window, wondering where Asher was. Sometimes he'd cut her lessons short, telling the tutor there was an "emergency". They'd then proceed to leave, flying out the door before Mr. Alexson could say a word against it. Sometimes the two would just roam the castle, sometimes he'd actually have something he wanted to show her.

Which reminded her, earlier that week, Asher had said something about a "special surprise". Well, damn it, now Aria wanted the surprise. She wondered if he had some fantastic feast planned. Now, that would be something pleasant.

...Unlike hearing Alexson's voice droll on and on and on.

She glanced back to Seti. Stupid cat.
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Zane

Zane chuckled silently to himself. God knew he couldn't forget what today was.

Scooping up Perin's top-hat and plopping it down on her head, he gave her a weak smile. "I'm holding up the same as ever on this day. Whether it be 5 years or 20 years, still the same."

Zane had become Tatwu's younger when he was 5 after his father married Tatwu's mother in one of those spur of the moment marriages. Their parents managed to stay together for a good 5-6 years but things had still ended in divorce.

However, Tatwu and Zane continued to see each other as brothers and became like a pair of inseparable friends. When Tatwu came up with the idea to form the cirque and asked Zane to help him and take charge of the animals, Zane told him he was mad, insane even but agreed to help him. He never regretted a moment of it.

"I miss the hell out of my brother but I know that if all I did was mope about over it today, he'd be libel to come back from the grave and whack me over the head for it. He'd then probably tell me to spend my time helping you with the circus or working towards his revenge and Leeahlee's downfall other instead of moping or something like that," he said with a small laugh as he took Perin's now empty bowl from her.

After placing her bowl down on the table, he looked back at Perin with a slight scowl. "And you may say you take care of yourself just fine, but I'm sure Tatwu would disagree with you on that. You eat once ever three days and sleep even less than that. You're gonna work yourself sick or worse at this rate and then all you've done will be for naught."

He knew his tone held a slight bit of anger but he wanted her to see his point. He wanted revenge for Tatwu as well but if they worked themselves to death before they had achieved this, then everything would be meaningless.

He gave a sigh and softened his tone. "Why not assign some of your simpler duties to a few of the circus members you believe you can trust? Many of them still have plenty of free time on their hands and I'm sure it would help you and the circus run more efficiently."
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Jabberwock
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Rickett

Rickett received Nicholas' look of "please, help" and sighed. He dropped the brush he had been using to brush out the excess hair from a young lion, and ran off to help Nicholas.
Being not the fastest, it took a lot out off Rickett to get a dove out of the air, but he succeeded! Only one though. At first, he had attempted calmed himself down completely, and tried to be like a bird. Now, this does sound quite stupid, and for anyone who cares to know, this way failed in entirety. He guessed it only worked with him and reptiles, so he flailed around, and jumped up in the air. He imagined himself to look like an idiot, but, catching the dove was the only important thing on his mind.
After practically wrestling the bird into his hands, Rickett dashed to the cage and tried to force the bird into the cage. As he opened the cage, to put the dove into the cage, another flew out. "Damn!" He cursed, and was hot on the trail of the stupid escaped bird.
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