Wynmere Alice Gates's Story

Wynmere stood, off and away from the others, warming up for when she would have to perform. Leg stretched high above her head, she watched the others run all about the "backstage" area, getting ready for their acts or getting out of the way of others who were ready to go on. Her wings hung slightly open, relaxing themselves before they would have to almost completely tuck themselves away during her performance.

She lowered her leg from its extended position and bent over, gathering her things in her hands to get ready for when it would be her time to go on stage. She slipped her Romantic skirt on, and positioned it accordingly. Her leotard was covered in all kinds of feathers and sparkles, and the headpiece mixed in with her blonde hair also had various feathers on it. The whole idea of it was to hide her wings as best as possible. She had also painstakingly spent time braiding sparkling pieces into her feathers, so that when the time came to show her wings on stage, they could really wow the audience under the spotlights. That was exactly why she had chosen a Romantic skirt instead of a traditional Classic skirt. The whole illusion of the costume was that it was continuous and flowing. A Classic skirt was simply too sharp for that.

Picking up her Pointe shoes, she made her way past Jane and Dezi, giving the group of performers a wide berth. She had been here a bit longer than Jane, and had noticed how sharp-tongued the girl tended to be. But she, too, was also relatively new to the troupe, and still didn't feel like she was quite a part of "the gang" yet. She didn't even know if there was that group feeling, as there had been in her previous troupe. She had noticed how everyone seemed to fall into their respective places. She was still trying to figure out where she fit in.

As she stood in the wings, though, all previous thoughts vanished from her mind. She was only focused on what was happening on stage, and she probably seemed just as captivated as the audience members.

Her mind soon wandered once more, and she found herself a place to sit for a few moments as she tied her Pointe shoes appropriately. Stretching her ankles a bit, she stood and put some weight on her toes, feeling out her comfort level in her shoes. Satisfied with what she felt, she turned her thoughts to her own performance, and ran thought it a couple times in her head. The one thing she didn't want to do was disappoint, as she had been so graciously accepted into the Cirque from her old troupe. There was no reason to go back to a place like... well, like the place she had been working in. Working with this Cirque was simply too good to give up.

Turning once more to stare at the stage, she stood next to Arella, watching the magician perform, still just as mesmerized by his 'tricks' as she had been the first time she saw them.





Hiro, on the other hand, was watching from the audience. He'd paid for his ticket, enticed by the prospect that there were actually people like him out there.

Huddled into a hoodie, the young man sat in the sea of eyes eagerly watching the stage. So far, he'd been impressed by what he saw, but the people he was most looking forward to were still to come. If he was totally convinced that this place could be of a benefit to him, he'd approach someone in charge. A warm, pleasant rumble began in his chest, but he quickly quieted his mind, and instead focused on the spectacular show before him.

Jane couldn't believe how rude the little animal cat thing, or whatever she was, acted. Who did she think she was to critize Jane's knowledge of the circus, and then to tell her that she have someplace else to be. She was the one who had obviously just joined the circus. She had no idea how this place worked, who did she think she was? "No, I don't have somewhere to be, for your information," she shot back at the girl who was now on top of Victoria's cage. In reality, she was supposed to be backstage with the rest of the performers rather than wandering around circus grounds, but it was boring back there and she still had to wait for Wynmere's act and Dezi and Quiller's to be over before she got to preform, so there was no harm in wasting some time having fun. The Ticketmaster and Ringmistress would be too busy with the show to care about her anyway, she figured.

Victoria then introduced her as a clown and Jane couldn't help but to roll her eyes. It made sense- she clearly had no good purpose in the circus so they stuck her in as a clown.

"Who would ever sign that contract to be a clown? I regret doing it and I'm a real act; you signed up to be a servant. I guess your brain is just as catlike as your ears are," she said, eyeing the girl as she giggled to herself at her own joke. "I'm not doing anything to her," she then stated after Victoria told her to "leave her alone". Why did it seem like everyone was attacking her today for no reason? Everyone else was being mean to her, not the other way around.

Jane had stepped away from the two, peering into the other cages containing freaks before slowly moving back towards the harpy and clown. She heard the clown say "wolf" and her attention spark, remembering the incident from earlier with Ian. "Yes there's a wolf here!" Jane jumped in before Victoria could respond. "He's so mean, don't even try to be friends with him."

Hiro's smirk grew as he watched the magician perform - he rather liked the 'tricks' he had seen. The man had made an audience member disappear, after all! It was definitely the best illusion he had ever seen. His eyes searched for a trap door or something on the floor, but didn't see one from his perch in the stands. "That guy is top notch..." he muttered to himself, wiggling himself a bit more into his hoodie. He was excited to see who would follow such a performance.

He was not disappointed with the puppet master who came on stage next. The male had a talent with kids, and he had a knack for jokes. The dolls were fascinating as well, as... well, they didn't seem to be attached to anything. He watched intently as the young male continued his performance, and clapped loudly when he exited the stage. "Wonder who's next..." he muttered. At that moment, a sort of smell caught him off guard, and glanced around himself for the source. He wasn't quite sure where the smell was coming from, but it disappeared almost as soon as it had shown up.

It wasn't long before his eyes focused on the form of a young woman, clad in all white, as she almost fluttered onto the stage. Her costume seemed to be covered in feathers and sparkles, and it looked like she was wearing ballet shoes or something of the sort. "Interesting follow up..." he muttered again, causing the person sitting next to him to give him a look. Hiro didn't notice, or at least ignored the person, as he concentrated on the stage.






Wynmere had watched the end of each of the acts before her, and as Casper came off the stage, she took a deep breath in, exhaling as she mentally prepped herself for her performance. Giving one final stretch to her toes, she walked on stage in the most elegant way she could muster. Arms extended in a form of greeting, she acknowledge her audience before taking her place on the stage.

The music began slowly and rhythmically, in an almost playful way. She began to move as she had rehearsed, slowly with the music; arms stretched to their limits, toes pointed perfectly. Her movements continued with the musics tone and tempo, eventually coming to a playful gait.

The crowd seemed almost surprised at the change of performance type. But her act was sort of meant as a calming one - in order to calm them from their "high" with the acts before, before the real show stoppers came on. They enjoyed it though, some trying to clap along to the beat of the music, while ultimately failing because of the frequent change of tempo.

Wynmere made a note as she continued to dance that she would have to ask Ave to play the violin in her act sometime.

As the dance came to finish, she ended with a large set of fouette turns, and just as the music came to its frantic end, she extended her wings as far as they could go, sending a wave of shock through the audience. Finishing in the most elegant and showy pose she could, she waiting for the applause to end before rushing off the stage with a bow.

Mirie was awed by the beautiful dancing french puppets, but she cringed when Casper joked to all the parents in the audience. She tried to ignore his talking, sliding down a bit on the bench, focusing on the puppets as they danced around with the children he pulled onto stage. She squinted, looking closely. She was amazed that there were no such strings or wire attachted to the little beings, but having seen the magician’s act, she believed Casper told the truth when he said he could control their very souls.

All too soon, the puppeteer sent the children off stage, and he and his puppets made their exit. Mirie was still pondering the puppets when the beautiful lady clad in white stepped onto stage. Her mind snapped to attention though, when the music started and the woman started dancing... Mirie’s own legs twitched, yearning to move too, as she had during the acrobatics act. It was so beautiful, she could but bob her head slowly to the music and gaze admiringly at the woman.

She finished with a flourish, and she... unfurled wings? Was there no end to the amazement of this place? Mirie had to giggle, thinking also of the Dezi girl she’d seen too. This only added to her list of questions that she would have to ask Ave later.

She watched Wynmere slip off, and blinked. She shook her head a bit to bring herself fully back to her seat, trying to see through the exit to the next act coming on, hoping it was Ave or Dezi.

She was so absorbed, she perhaps didn't notice a slight stench or heard the rustlings of movement below her.

Awed, Kat watched the woman's graceful dance through a pair of slim female legs. The woman had an elegance, the way she moved her body in perfect timing to the music. It wasn't what you'd call a typical circus act, but Kat, with her head spinning from the whisky, was mesmerised. When the woman spread her wings, she looked like an angel, garbed in white and radiating beauty. She's a hell of a lot prettier than the Harpy, she thought to herself.

Her face felt warm, but she wasn't sure whether it was from the flames or the alcohol. She tried to keep her eyes peeled on the dancer, but the girl's legs were fidgeting and obscuring her view. "For fuck's sake," she whined, and whisked out a hand and grabbed one of the ankles to keep it still.