CiRCuS MoNSTeRS

Petal considered this, "Perhaps but I don't know. If they discover we've brought her into our quarters then we'll be in more trouble if discovered and they will come round to check on us after our free time is over. It might be easier to hide her out here." She paused and shook her head, "But you're also right about the cold, that can't be good for her. I can cover in a layer of nice insulating plants to try and keep her warm but indoors might warm her up faster. I don't know, it's up to you." She spoke carefully and quietly, thinking about her words and not wanting to be heard. She was confused and didn't know what to do. She was afraid that this might turn out really badly so did not want the responsibility of making the descision.

Hearing shout and some voices from the direction Night had gone in, she looked over with a worried expression. She couldn't quite make out what was being said, she could only wonder what was going on, "I hope she's alright" She murmered. She felt so weak and vunerable, in a situation she'd never faced before.

 

"That does seem to be our best option right now." Sky said as he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. Guess she wasn't the only one who showed up. He looked at Holden and Ella before saying. "There's something I have to do, so I'll leave this to you." Before they could respond, he had already headed in direction of whatever he saw.

All it took was a glimpse of Sky for Gray to move out of the area. The rumors were right, but why was his brother here in the first place. He continued to think about this until he heard an unholy shriek and the next thing he knew he was standing in front of a tree that had been cleaved in two. "Wonder what could've done this?"

 

♪The Shadow of the Circus, Night Cross♪

Night wasn't going to release her hold of the darkness over the flashlight. No matter how many times the girl changed those batteries, nothing was going to change...that is, until Night heard another round of shouting followed by a yell. She couldn't stop her from jumping slightly and that one little mistake caused her control over the darkness that was coating the girl's flashlight to waver before fully disappearing which caused the light to flood the woods once more. After replaying the shouts in her head, she realized the voice to be Flandre's. She mentally cursed the little devil of their circus as she glanced around the tree to the two. It was official. Night was out of power and she still couldn't leave. She didn't want to led these two back to the circus. She mentally groaned as she hid behind the tree once more, keeping a slightly stiff posture. 'Maybe...just maybe...now that the flashlight works they'll leave. Or maybe Flandre's screaming will scare them off. I highly doubt it since they seem to be too curious for their own good though' Night mused to herself. She would have to talk to Flandre about her temper and shouting once she returned to the tent.

 

"Whoa!" shouted Sammy in surprise. She just about dropped the flashlight when it suddenly started to work, causing a surprise juggling act and a whirl of light as she tried to catch it. She heard more shouting, but it didn't sound the same. It sounded more like enraged shouting. All right this turned out to be a really bad idea. The longer they stayed out here at the edge of the forest at this hour, the greater the danger Sammy felt they were in. And she really didn't want either of them to be on the returning end of those enraged shouts. "Hey. Let's book it. Whoever it was that screamed earlier, I'm sure she's fine, maybe. Well....okay maybe not, but...let's just come back in the morning. When it's more suitable to search, all right?" she said quickly to Cal as she slowly backed away from the forest and silently clicked off the flashlight. Sammy didn't know what sort of wildlife resided in the area. But well...wolves are like sharks. They're more afraid of us than we are of them. I'm sure she's...probably fine...maybe...I just hope she didn't get involved with that circus...oh gods...another victim.... "Come on, let's go," Sammy said as she turned completely around and started to fastwalk back to town towards the bed and breakfast. However, she made sure to turn around multiple times to make sure Cal was following along. Surely he understood that it was now way to dangerous to continue searching?

 

Kokoro hadnt realized how long she had actually been sitting there.
Besides the fact that she had slept through the whole show she was just now receiving the text message from her friends saying how they loved the show and how they would all be heading home. It ticked her off more than anything that she had to be dragged all the way to the show to then be ditched and left here alone under a stupid dirt hole filled circus tent.
She looked up and realized there had actually been holes in the tent which just proved her statement even more correct then it already had been.
She let out a sigh and stood up from the chair she had been sleeping in moments prior and walked away from a crowd bustling out now that the show was over. Kokoro figured maybe she could find another way out. She did not feel like being bumped and pushed around again such as like the way she had entered the place.

She walked down the stairs towards the middle close to where the stage had been and left through the back without being noticed. Luckily she actually didn't care if she was noticed or not she just wanted to leave. She looked around and saw a few of the performers that weren't so amazing... The ones she actually stood partially awake for anyways. She walked by a few of them looking for the exit of this darn place.

 

​

She thought about it for a bit before nodding. It would be better to attempt to meet again instead of making this meeting draw out even more. She was still a little surprised, but she couldn't exactly reveal anything to this stranger. She didn't even know if she could trust her yet.

"After our next show...Meet me out here again."

Now she would have an opportunity to tell the other's what had happened without making any sort of rash decisions by herself. Though...For a moment she started to doubt whether or not she should. What if they told, and she was punished? She shook her head and sighed out softly. With one last glance towards Mai, she turned away and started to walk back towards the others.

​

 

Mai Tokiha, the flames of Salvation​

Mai waved goodbye to Stitches. Okay then, time to fly home for the night. Mai turned and went into the forest. Once she was out of sight of the circus, she summoned her elements and took off. Flying above the trees, she gained enough distance from that dark place to call upon her mode of transportation. "KAGUTSUCHI!" She called out and as she does, her child is summoned.

Spoiler

She hovers over to his back and they take off into the distance.

 

❝I came to see the Dark Woods Circus❞
___________________________​

Cal flinched slightly when he heard the shout and then the bumping of plastic - Sammy must have lost control of the flashlight. He was perched on the branch like a monkey, looking around for his suspicions. Someone was watching them, he thought. No, he knew, someone had found them here, and wanted them to go away.

"Hey, let's book it. Whoever it was that screamed earlier, I'm sure she's fine, maybe." Cal looked down to where Sammy's voice was coming from and frowned, slightly irritated - how could they know if the girl was okay? They should keep going . . . "Let's just come back in the morning, when it's more suitable to search, alright?"

"Man . . ." Cal sighed, he didn't want to go just yet, "But -"

Ahg, he knew it was no use arguing with her . . . "C'mon, let's go." she said as she turned around. She was going to leave him. He contemplated following. He could manage out here by himself, no problem, but . . . he knew he'd be in for it when he came back to her. Cal didn't like his friend's scoldings . . .

He put his hand to the trunk, quickly trying to zero in on any strange noise or movement - he knew someone was out here besides them. Hopefully, they'd be able to find out everything that happened in the morning. It'd been a crazy night, with the Circus in tow and all.

Looking one last time around the trees, Cal sighed, "Alright, I'm coming . . ." and he hopped down from the branch and began fallowing after Sammy. In the morning . . . they would find out everything in the morning.​

 

♪The Shadow of the Circus, Night Cross♪

Hearing the other's footsteps begin to follow after the girl's, Night let out a shakey sigh. Her heart was still beating rapidly, moreso than the time she was performing. She was just glad that girl was too scared to investigate any further thanks to the yelling from Flandre earlier. 'Okay...so maybe Flandre saved me from getting discovered. But she still needs a lecture about randomly screaming. I don't care how mad she was, she almost got me in trouble' she mused angrily. Making sure that those two were gone, Night glanced behind the tree as her white eyes scanned the area before focusing on the two leaving figures. Moving lavander hair out of her eyes, she hurried back to where the Circus tent was placed. With no energy to sink back into the shadows, Night couldn't move as silently as she wanted. She just hoped that Holden and the others took care of the girl that had fainted. It was getting close to light's out time and that girl didn't need to be around when Victor and Amaya visited their tents just to make sure they were following the rules.

 

Aki's eyes fluttered completely open but her vision blurred. She blinked. The figure of a man managed to shape as she groaned.
Oww my head...
She brought a hand to her forehead and cringed.
Home...I need to get home
She sat up and nausea soon followed after.

 

Petal smiled in delight as she saw the girl finally start to come round, "Woah, careful there, not so fast. You need to take it easy." She crouched down to be on level with her, giving her a friendly smile. She wanted to appear as friendly and not intimidating as possible. The girl freaking out again on them was the last thing they needed. She flicked her finger and out of sight of the girl, not wanting to freak her out, a small flower grew out of the ground. She carefully picked the flower and passed it to Aki, "Here, smell this. It'll make you feel better. Are you alright?" She asked actually really concerned about how the girl was. If she was bad then she really didn't know what they'd do.

 

Aki blinked in confusion and unconsciously took the flower into her hand. She twirled the stem between her forefingers and stared deeply at the flower, allowing its vivid colors the mesmerize her. The hand against her back felt warm as she inhaled deeply savoring the flowers scent. The pain in her head lifted immediately and her vision returned to normal. She turned to her side and gazed at Holden. She frowned.
I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sneak around.
She laughed nervously then stuck her tongue out and hit her head childishly.
I just tend to get myself into trouble whenever it's around. She sighed. Sucks about the autographs though. I was really looking forward to one.
Alright...all I have to do is make up some cheesy story so I don't get into any trouble.
She looked towards Petal and smiled.
T-Thank you for the flower. She turned her face away sheepishly.
Now I just need to act like a damsel in distress and they're sure to let me go free!
Before she decided to end her act a question popped into her head. Umm, just one quick question. You didn't really make that flower grow on its own...did you?
There was an edge of disbelief in her voice.

 

Ella smiled in relief as the girl came around and she could tell that her little flower had done it's job. She'd been dreading it not working as she really wouldn't know what to do. At least now the wouldn't have to worry about hiding her anymore, she did not want the ringmasters to find them with this girl. She wasn't sure they'd done anything wrong but she didn't know how they'd react to it. She was in no hurry to get on their bad side. She watched the girl curiously as she answered Holden's questions. So she had just come to get their autographs? The concept of this was alien to her and she did not know why anyone would sneak back after the show to do that. She seemed innocent enough anyway, she probably got a lot more than she'd bargained for when she went looking for them.

The girl's question, however took Petal completely by suprise, "What? Oh, um, yeah, why?" She answered, only afterwards wondering if that had been the right thing to say. It sounded like the girl thought what they did was all an act, none of it was real, she couldn't be more wrong. She glanced at Holden, should she have said it was all an act? The girl would probably think she was even more of a freak now. But then again, she didn't really want to lie and the truth was more spectacular. Either way, it was a little late now and the flower she'd just given her couldn't have been a trick. If she was to do her research, she'd find that you wouldn't find that flower growing of it's own accord there, the climate was all wrong. That particular flower only grew naturally on a small island, miles away from an human habitation. And it was fairly clear that the flower had been freshly picked only moments earlier. She probably should of choosen something more common but that was a favourite of hers and it was quite effective.​

 

That was all she needed to hear to clear any doubt that stirred in her head. Aki bit her lip and stared wide eyed at Petal for a moment as if she had learned a dark secret. It took a while for her mind to process the information that she had just received, and the fact that the flower was 100% percent genuine. But when it all cleared she actually felt relieved.

I see. She smiled. That's amazing! So you're some kind of Poison Ivy from Batman or something, but like good and all.

Her eyes twinkled in amusement and her heart leaped. It took her by surprise to feel this much excitement again. Her thoughts raced as more questions came to mind, but she turned to look at Holden and her smile slightly faltered. The nagging feeling she had felt since the end of his act had grown and her eyes slanted into determination.

Well, what about you? I'm sure you act was just smoke and mirrors. Tch, nothing special really...

Aki bit her tongue and mentally face palmed herself. Crap! Why do I always come off as a cold hearted person when I try not to. But then again, that's who I've always been...

 

Ella blinked a few times as what the girl had said sunk in, she hadn't turned on her and called her a freak. Maybe these people were different after all, she felt hope was over her and a grin spread across her face. She'd instead compared to a good version of a super villian and called her powers amazing, that was a definate improvement. "Oh, really? You think so? Well I guess that's one way of looking at it." She quite liked the girl but as emphasised by what she said next, she really had no idea about them.

As she made the comment about Holden's powers, Petal had to do everything she could not to laugh. This girl was clueless. She watched Holden to see how he'd react and he did not disappoint. She had to look fast to keep up with her friend, she had to appriciate he could really be quite intimidating when he wanted to be. She finally gave into laughter as she watched him until they both vanished. She carried on laughing for a few moments but as they didn't reappear straight away she stopped and sighed. "Oh come on!" She said to the empty air, she hated being left out and missing all the fun. This was the most fun she'd had in a while.

 

Flandre, the Scarlet Devil​

Flying into the tent from the top, Flandre sees Holden relaxing in the stands and a girl she didn't recognize in the Ring. "Well now! What have we here?" She said evilly. Flandre flew down to the floor, landing next to the trespasser. Summoning her spear, she brought it up to the girl's cheek and tapped her with it. "Holden, I know youre a bit of a pervert, but I had no IDEA that you were so sadistic as to want to get a random girl killed by Victor just to get your kicks!" She gives Holden a sideways look with an evil glint in her eye

 

♪The Shadow of the Circus, Night Cross♪

As Night rushed back to the circus, she noticed that Ella was standing outside the tent by herself. She slowed down to a stop and looked around, trying to see if she could spot out Holden, the girls or the others. Not seeing them anywhere in sight, Night looked back over at Ella "What happened? Did...the girl ever...wake up?" she asked a little curious. In the back of her mind, she knew that Ella's answer would be a 'Yes,' why else would Holden and the others have just...vanished out of nowhere. Still, that didn't explain why the other was out here all by herself. There were a lot of questions that Night had and wanted answers, but she was sure the others had questions too, especially about what had happened in the forest when she left to go check it out. Her heart was still beating rapidly from the fear of getting caught.

 

Petal looked up at Night, "Oh hey." She smiled quietly, "Yeah, she woke up. Quite funny really, she seemed to think our powers and stuff were just an act, none of them real. She seemed to be quite amazed when we told her otherwise. But she didn't turn on me, she didn't call me a freak. Gives me hope, you know, that maybe these are different. Maybe they'll respect us as people instead of just freaks." She trailed off a little, a distant smile on her face before snapping back to reality. "But as I was saying, she told Holden his powers were just smoke and mirrors. So funny. He reacted by giving her a demonstration, you know his vanishing and appearing act as he corrected her. He can be quite intimidating when he wants to be. But then he touched her and they vanished off to god knows where, leaving me alone. Typical. Just as things were getting interesting too." There was a touch of annoyance in her voice as she said this but she was still smiling.

She shook her head as she looked at Night, "Anyway did you find anything when you investigated those voices? What was it?" She looked with genuine interest, ever since they came to this place things had suddenly started happening. If that was a good or a bad thing, she did not know but for now she was just willing to go with the flow of things.​