Ash'waren Shagress's Story

Webs covered the caravan that Ash stayed in. She had been up for a bit, but as always it took her a bit to come out of her room. Spiders crawled around the caravan as if either interested or guarding the door until it opened. A long slender leg slipped out first. Then two, three...until ash herself skittered out into the light. Her spider half looked like a mix between a turanchula and a black widow and absolutely monstrous to those afraid of her little kin.

She was usually the last to come to breakfast, usually waiting until no one was there or until no one noticed her. Something that she had become used to. She knew everyone here wasn't there to judge, everyone was there for one reason or another but talking to people wasn't too much of a strong suit. The smell of food inticed her, but the amount of people was...troubling.

She started to wander around a bit, fiddling with her fingers a bit as a line of spiders followed behind. As per usual for her mornings...

Ash wasn't one for staying around people for long. Usually enough to get what she needed or listen in on what was going on and leave before anything way a miss. However, the smell of the food made her stomach protest her wandering. She looked behind her, watching her smaller kin stop behind her. She smiled to herself, turning around to lower herself and greet them. "Go see what the others are doing. I'll be back in a little bit." She said as they seemed to raise their front legs at her and scatter to different parts of the carnival as they usually did.

She wandered into the tent, scittering in carefully as she tried to not get in the way of anyone for the moment. She tilted her head to the side, seeing Brink trying to force Callus to eat. Not that this was uncommon to her, but started to pace a bit. "M-Morning Brink. M-morning Nixie." She studdered, fidgeting her front legs a bit out of nervousness. It was well known that Ash wasn't the most socially adept out of everyone in the troop, but at least she tried in some cases rather than just staying in the back.

The food smelled like heaven, thought chairs where not. She simply lowered herself at the table and began to eat, watching the others as she tapped at the ground with her legs. Synthia was polishing her knife again, Callus...she wasn't all to sure and Nixie looking defeated from what she assumed was an earlier argument with Blink. She shrugged at bit, looking to eat as quickly as her she could without choking again.

Brink Orpheus

Brink ran a hand through his hair and listened as people began to ask questions... "Alynna..." Brink's tone was it's cold serious-self when he stared at the girl. "I'm fine with you performing I know your capable... But... Just be careful." Brink touched his eye patch. "Even someone who thinks they know what there doing can end up hurt... I am all to aware of this." Brink let his hand drop from his eye patch and sighed. "You have my permission just take every safety precaution." More people were drifting in to eat... Well at least they were eating or sitting near food.

Brink finally directed his gaze to the twins Maya and Mia. They were kind girls and unlike most he wasn't bothered by the fact they were conjoined. He tried a smile but it came out awkward and strange as always... Brink was one of those people who only smiled rarely and forcing himself only made it weird. Finally he gave up and just nodded. "What would our Circus be without singers... Your tent for tonight was set up last night you should go there and make sure everything is as you need it."

Finally having taken care of the numerous questions tossed his way Brink looked over to everyone else and glared. "Nixie prepared this food now I expect it to be eaten and enjoyed! I have enough issue's to attend without the health of my friends being on my mind." Brink gruffly crossed his arm before finally taking his own seat with a huff.

~ . ~

Nixie Blue

Nixie watched Brink run a hand through his hair. Despite the fact her cousin looked annoyed or stressed Nixie knew from experience that wasn't the case. Brink just wasn't any good at socializing each time he did he sounded like an army general or a murderer. Of course alone in there caravan that wasn't the case mainly because her older cousin would try and treat her like a princess much to her dismay. I mean when she was younger it was pleasant but now a days being forced to sit in a chair why your cousin picked out your clothes and cleaned your feathers was just annoying.

Nixie barely heard Alynna say something about other fruit. "I-I'm sorry I normally don't let the fruit supply get this low... Il head into town after the circus closes up and get some fruit... Maybe I could even get some papaya's or pineapples." Nixie felt embarrassed as if she'd been caught not doing her job. And all for the sake of fruit. Nixie looked around her cooking duties were done for now everyone was eating or sitting at the table even Ash had come out of her hiding place. Nixie jumped toward the older half spider lady and wrapped her arms around her. "Good morning Ash! I think you needed a hug so tada!" Nixie now feeling accomplished flapped her little head wings that was until she noticed the clock... And realized she was late doing her other chores! Wide eye'd she quickly said her goodbyes said why she was leaving and ran out of the main tent trying to think about what she had to do first!

Callus blushed a bit, his cheeks turning slightly purple. He had a habit of getting lost at the worst times, it was almost comical. He wondered how Brink managed to carry him, but he decided to not ask. Questions were quite annoying. He laughed nervously.

He simply smiled when Brink told him to eat, trying to hold back a laugh as he watched the two cousins argue light-heartedly. He enjoyed speaking to most of the people at the circus, there being a few exceptions of course. He noticed Synthia coming in, but he didn't appear to. He had before been acused of having 'fake horns', but he didn't care. People could check for themselves if they truly wanted to be sure his horns were real, but he wasn't going to promise that he wouldn't punch them. He noticed Ash, but he didn't make any noticeable expressions. He looked down at the plate in front of him, wondering how it had gotten there. Had he put it there? Probably. He decided that he would try socializing with the others more, since he had rarely spoken to them. It wasn't that he was shy, he just rarely had any time to speak to others, and most people tended to stray from the horned demon-looking creature. He didn't blame those who called him a demon, and considering his past, this was as good a term as any to define him.

He wondered what had Nixie flustered, but he knew it was probably something little and important to her. He began eating carefully and methodically, appearing to for some reason, have impeccable manners. His purple scars were beginning to show through his face-paint, but he didn't notice. He had been fairly certain that he covered his scars completely. He ate with his unnervingly sharp teeth, his knecklace ratttling slightly as he ate. Most of his past was a mystery, including his knecklace, scars, and family.

He honestly didn't know what to do. He could prepare for his show, but that would be easy and take little time. He could try talking to one of the other performers or workers, but he doubted any of them were free.

Synthia managed to say fare-well to Nixie before she ran off, after giving a hug to Ash she pushed her plate away from herself a bit. She laid out 10 of her knives carefully. She carefully polished each one, she liked trying to hit small targets from a long distance away, it was a talent of hers. She would ask the audience if anyone had an object even a bit of food or a fork and she would hit any part of it that the person who offered it up allowed her to hit. If someone wanted her to hit between their fingers she wouldn't let them but every now and than she would allow them but she would get them to be very still. She did not want anyone them to get hurt or anything so she would make sure that they were absoloutly sure they wanted her to. Looking at Brink as he sat down, she wanted to see Risque's performance now, her food smelled good but she wanted to finish polishing her knives.

"So, how did everyone sleep?" in a voice that was just barely above a whisper, she wondered if they would ignore the question. Finishing up polishing her knives. Putting them back in the leather pouch and than tieing it up to her belt carefully so they would not fall out. She looked up at Callus and than at Brink, she thought that he was soft sometimes but he acted cold but his cold exterior made it hard to tell. She still wasn't yet used to life in the circus even though she had grown up with it, but she was glad that she found some-place to show her talents to other people.

She had a small soft smile on her face as she gave people when she tried to have a conversation, she wanted to get to know theses people better. So starting a conversation seemed best way to do just that.

Ash blinked at being hugged out of no where, not used to the feeling of it at all. She tensed up as bit, the chitlin that covered her legs making an aduble noise from them scraping together. She watched callus, mostly in fasinasion really. Most couldn't say that her body was the work of some extensive surgeries, so she kinda felt bad for callus in a way. Part of her always wanted to take a quick tug at them, but that would be rude in most cases and she wouldn't want someone putting on her legs to see if they were real.

She continued eating, mostly the eggs and meat but wrapped the fruit up in her silk for later. She looked around again at the others. Nixie had run off to the main tent and the others seemed to either be eating or milling around the place. She could see some of her spiders milling around the opening or following people, and started to wonder if any others were hanging around anyone else that she hadn't seen all day. Then again, her web covered caravan was the hub of news, most of it day to day things.

She tapped her front legs in thought, weaving her silk in to a a sort of very fine knit as she looked around a little. "Still need to figure out what I wanna do for the show...see if burtha and Lilith are up for it this time." She muttered to herself as the knit started to grow in shape.

She perked up a bit, hearing the question at hand. "I slept ok...a bit chilly but ok." she said, her knitting growing in size.

Synthia smiled at Ash "good to hear, and yeah last night was a bit chilly, I got goosebumps all over from dozing off under a tree" she leaned back in her chair a bit. One of the legs breaking she fell back eyes going wide tried to grab the counter but her attempt failed hugely, she hit her head on something. As well as hitting her head on the ground she blinked a few times to get rid of the stars floating around her head and sat up and picked up the chair. She moved it and grabbed a different chair sitting back down when Alynna walked in bumping into Brink, rubbing the back off her head looking at her outfit. It seemed just like her and looked nice on her as well "nice outfit Alynna" she looked down at the counter where her food was. She didn't want to start eating it anymore, she was hungry sure but she wasn't sure if she wanted to until her performance was done. Which reminded her she wanted to ask Alynna if she wanted to do something in her performance. She needed someone pretty to be her assistant, looking up at Alynna "Alynna, I wanted to ask if when you are done with your performance if you would like to be my assistant I need someone really pretty to be part of it. Your not scared of knives are you?" she felt a little bit dizzy but she knew taking a small walk outta fix it real quick. She wonder if Alynna would ignore her until she finished talking to Brink, she hadn't meant to talk right after but she didn't hear her. She only knew she had after she spoke, looking at Brink quickly with the tiger around his shoulders, she wondered when it got there.

Looking back at Alynna her expression was like a hopeful child, she really wanted Alynna to be part of her act because than people might look more to see if the pretty person got hurt. She had enough confidence in her skills that she wouldn't hurt Alynna, it was the reason for practicing so late without giving time for dinner in the morning. She was used to the schedule already for the circus, had been used to it for years because of how long she had been part of it.

Firmly holding onto the counter again so she wouldn't fall again, she wouldn't be surprised if Alynna said no to it not many people liked having knives thrown in their direction. She looked down as if knowing Alynna's answer, wondering why she even bothered to ask, she sat in her chair perfectly still and than held her head just a bit. Looking down at the table, she sighed and saw one of her knives had fallen out of her pouch seeing as she was clumsy with everything else a bit except when she was preforming. Onstage was like feeling true bliss over and over, leaning over she grabbed her kinfe quickly wipped off the diry and put it in her pouch with the others.

A soft moan escaped Stella's lips as her eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room. Waking up had always been a dread for the teenager, especially when she barely received any, like last night. She had had worse nights where she gotten none at all, and was barely able to stay awake while preforming. Gladly, she knew today wasn't one of those day. The thought of preforming caused Stella to jolt from her bed. Had the show already started? She was unaware of the time, and this made her skittish. Quickly throwing her normal attire on,-a tank top and a pair of leggings-she groped about for her hairbrush. The small, worn out brush glided through the upper half of her hair, but then refused to move through her knots. The bristles caught between the dead ends of white, tangled hair. Sighing, she took the ponytail on her wrist and wrapped it around her hair twice, creating a messy high ponytail. She'd deal with her hair right before the show.

By the time Stell had exited her sleeping area, she had been up for only a few minutes. The grogginess of sleeping had completely subsided, and her body was now alert. Her stomach seemed to be more alert than any part of her, considering its extremely loud and unnecessary grumbling. Placing her bony fingers on her abdomen, she made her way to the kitchen. Scents of breakfast wafted through the air, causing her mouth to water. Finally, when Stella had reached the caravan, she entered with a hop to her step. To the others, this was normal. From her third day here, Stella had always been so happy and upbeat, even though she felt like she was always dying. Over the years the dying feeling had diminished, and she was thankful.

As she neared the others already in there, she smiled. The company of others always made her happy. She would eventually greet them, but not before she got her food. Grabbing a plate, Stella piled on eggs and a few pieces of bacon, never forgetting about her daily pear. Then, when she had gotten all her needed items, she seated herself. Once she scanned the faces and saw who was in the room, her smile grew. "Hey guys," she greeted. It seemed as if others were having their own conversations, and Stella didn't mind not being talked to. As long as she said hello to everyone and wasn't alone, she was a-okay.

Ash watched as the others chatted among themselves, watching as others were friendly with each other despite the various differences. As much as she considered herself part of the family, she always stayed at a distance a bit. She was the most obviously abnormal and at the very least most of everyone else could have hid in plain sight. Spiders...not so much.

She slipped out of the tent once she was done eating, slipping away toward one of the nearby trees that she often found with really no one around. She quickly skittered up the tree, soon coming back down on a strand of silk as the breeze blew by. It was like swinging on a swing set as she started spinning a hammock web as she watched the others from a distance. She never really got into a really long conversation with them, but she knew somethings about them from what her little spiders told her about them. Derrick was somewhat mean to them in the sence that he often brushed they're webs out of the way and Leo (they never told her his real name) was often asleep with the lions. Nothing really of too much note, but good to know in that case. Not many people were as acommidated as the others were, but at least there was something she could do here that her form was appreciated.

The hammock was done in a matter of minutes. Though it looked like an open back attached by rope at the branch, is was fairly strong as she folder her legs in and nestled in, fitting her self in to swing in the breeze. he hung her two front legs out with a thick length of silk between them and started to weave again as well as looking around every now and again to check if anyone was coming her way.

The big top could be seen from where Ash swung, normally only going in to practice by herself or preform. She felt a tiny tugging on her finger as she shifted her weight to move again. One of her little informants sounded like an alarm in her own mind. Something was wrong in the big top. The troop was her family and she never liked seeing people get hurt and if it was in the top it had to be bad.

The drider half ran and half jumped toward the big top and looked up, almost ignoring everyone there until she skidded to a stop. She perked her head up and tapped her front legs at Julius to get his attention. "You think she can hang on enough for me to get up there. I think I can keep her from falling if I can get up there." she said quickly. Her back legs were already spinning a human sized net as she started to to skitter on a near by pole.

She looked up at Alynna as she looked around her to see if she could catch onto anything to at the very least bring her down gently. She talked to her every now and again, but never really got to know her that well. Even if she was only known through the sliver webbing of her little friends, she was still part of the family.

Synthia followed Julius through the maze of the tents, she smiled when he tried for the big dramatic entrance only to have it fail into shambles. She still thought it was pretty cool entrance though, walking inside looking at the three sleeping lions and two eating chunks of meat and the third sitting at the gate. She smiled and stepped closer looking at each of the lions as Julius introduced them, she curtsied "nice to meet you all" she laughed lightly. She thought it was strange to be introduced to lions but she also thought it was cool, she walked up next to him when he was petting Nina.

"Hi Nina" she was just about to reach in and pet her but than she heard Alynna's scream, she ran as hard as she can dodging lots of stuff in her path as she followed the scream. Aynna was dangling from the big top, she saw the panther and stopped and saw Julius under her she was scared herself she didn't know what to do or how to help. Her teeth chattered and her heart raced, she just stood there hyperventilating a bit but she didn't have any clue what to do. She didn't know how to help people, or who to get when someone was in trouble her mind was blank she saw Ash and than looked at the panther.

Her legs shook, she couldn't make a sound at all she was like a statue a shaking very pale statue and having the lack of sleep did not help or even the lack of food. She wanted to help but having no way of helping, she felt ashamed at how she was not able to help her at all. She also felt like fainting but her head was on high alert which didn't help.

Spade woke up much later than everyone else, as per usual for the man. Even if he couldn't feel, it didn't mean that he couldn't pretend to like sleep. Besides, he wasn't capable of actually sleeping. His body didn't need rest. It didn't need food or drink or taken care of. Every bone in his skull could be crushed and he could likely still function. But he did enjoy the blank state that he could occasionally fall into. It was just like sleep, but instead of dreaming and tossing and turning, it was just... nothing. An endless world of black, or perhaps it was white? He didn't know, no one could know. Though that wasn't because they weren't smart enough, it was because he was fairly sure there was no other being in this world that was like him. Him, it was interesting how Spade referred to himself as that. Though he obviously was in a males body, it didn't really matter what he was. He was anything, he could be anything. An empty shell. All he knew was that he was Spade.

He was Spade; now he just needed someone to teach him how to be Spade.

Slowly he rose, pushing himself towards the shelves of clothing to pick something out to wear. When he left the caravan, he was suited in a simple black button down and a white tie with black and red spades all over it. His white hair was left messy, just sliding around wherever it pleased. With every move his eyes changed colors, truly never one color but whatever color his surroundings made them. The man didn't bother to visit the food tent, as mentioned before, he had no need for food. Instead he went towards where he had heard the scream, the big top where the one girl always performed. He couldn't recall her name, actually he had never bothered to learn any of their names really. When he saw her dangling, the only change in his expression was a slight motion of his shoulders dropping as he relaxed slightly. Spade thought someone was actually in trouble. Taking a seat in the stands, he watched, not at all concerned with the panther pacing around or the spider girl climbing. No, just watching, as if it was a show.

---

Derrick listened to Brink talk, another surprising thing for Derrick to do. He was known for interrupting people in the middle of their sentences, either bored with the conversation or wanting to ask a question. But instead he stayed silent, instead concentrating on what the older boy was telling him. It was interesting, actually. Derrick had never seen Brink as a performer, though he knew somewhere in the back of his mind that the man must have been up on stage at least once in his life. He was the damn ringmaster, how could he have gotten the title if he hadn't been able to perform anything? Still, he couldn't quite imagine it. Brink was just so... Brink. Though he supposed the knife throwing sort of fit him, like the snakes fit the boy with the fangs. When he brought up the accident though, Derrick's gaze immediately went to the other boys eye patch, and he winced. Contrary to popular belief, there was no real "accident" that caused him to wear an eye patch. But that was a story for another day. Everyone just knew that he wore an eye patch because he needed too, no one questioned it.

It was just about then when he was suddenly lifted into the air, just as he was earlier that day by Julius. But this time instead of being thrown over a shoulder, Brink was carrying him bridal style. He felt his cheeks get red and he crossed his arms across his chest, sticking his nose into the air and trying to look dignified... while being held bridal style... in the arms of another man. It was quite embarrassing, and he quickly realized that trying to get free was just a pathetic battle. There was no way he was going to pull himself out of the others arms. Now he would just hope that no one saw them, it would probably be the most embarrassing thing ever. At least they were still headed for his tent, which wasn't terribly too far away. The hope of not being caught was rising, since most were probably still at breakfast or preparing for shows, that meant not many would be back here to see them.

When they entered the tent, Brink finally put him down. He was surprised to find the man brushing him off though, even fixing his hair for him. Though he managed to still look completely emotionless, which hurt him slightly but he didn't let it bother him. He was already hurt enough by Julius, he had to stop letting the two boys get to him. Noticing the pale eye underneath his friend's eye patch, he frowned. Hesitantly he reached out, touching the scar but not daring to move the patch. "What exactly happened?"

She didn't let go. She didn't jump and she didn't let go. This was not the time or place for Alynna to develop a fear of heights, nor was it the time or place for Moshe to play the part of a deranged panther, pacing below. Then again, it was only ever all right for these things to be happening when in the context of the show, with everything in control despite how it looked. He wasn't really sure what was going on- Alynna had made this fall so many times, always masked by an illusion. It couldn't be that she didn't trust him to catch her- she'd asked him to do this very thing maybe an hour before. No, nothing was making sense right now, even for a circus.

His attention was divided quite suddenly by the arrival of Ash scurrying out of the shadows, tapping her front legs together to catch his attention. A net- that would be perfect. But time was ticking away steadily, Alynna's grip visibly slipping on the rope until only one hand remained. When this was all over with, they would be having words about safety and not being an idiot. But there was time enough to be upset afterwards- and there would be an afterwards.

"Do it now," He replied, lips in a thin line as he remained underneath Alynna in case the spider woman didn't spin her web in time. Best cast scenario, Ash's web prevented her from falling and he wouldn't have to catch her. Worst case... He drove the thought out of his mind, eyes momentarily wandering to Moshe.

"Get out of here," His voice was uncharacteristically sharp, as much a product of nerves and worry as confusion and irritation. Moshe wasn't doing anyone any favors now, prowling beneath and making Alynna even more terrified to let go, and surely he must realize that. Whatever the reason, he didn't need Alynna freaking out even more.

Ash nodded and whistled loudly in a calling. Two dog sized spiders raced into the tent and stopped beside her as she started to climb up the nearest pole while the spiders climbed the poles on either side and started to spin their webs. Ash herself crossed the rope with ease toward Alynna and started to spin her shoot as fast as she could. "You're gonna be okay Alynna. The nets are on the way." She said simply as a pouch her size started to form. Below the monster spiders were working over time as a large net started to form and other smaller spiders seemed to be pitching in where they could as the net grew in thickness and size.

Synthia snapped out of her daze and looked at Ash and than Julius and than she saw Spade in the stands, "I-I'll go get Brink" she spun around and ran as fast and hard as she could. Tripping on a box and scrapping her knee badly so that there was blood flowing down her leg, she got up and started running again. She found Derricks tent and threw open the flaps "BRINK!!!" she fell to her knees panting so hard her lungs hurt "Alynna........Big Top......Panther......help". She almost passed out, she looked up and saw that they weren't there she slowly stood up and walked around the room. She thought that they would be there that was where the snakes were, she heard Derrick from somewhere and looked around there wasn't any door. She couldn't find it but they knew they were there so she said at nothing "Brink, Alynna was rehearsing at the big top by herself and me and Julius heard her scream and when we got there...there was a black panther. She wont let go and fall into Julius's arms when he told her to... Ash is there to I came to tell you" she looked down, wondering if her heard her. Still trying to catch her breath "if you guys can't hear that than it is fine I guess" she fell to her knees again, her chest hurt so much. She fell on her stomach just barely conscious, closing her eyes she concentrated on her breathing she was breathing slowly. She knew Derrick didn't like Alynna but a life was a life and she didn't want to see anyone die, no matter who it was.

she felt the blood on her leg from the cut on her knee, slowly and carefully she lifted herself off the ground groaning and sat back looking at her knee. She was still dizzy and her head hurt a lot and so did her lungs but she was okay . She poked were she was bleeding to try and see how much damage happened to her knee, running did not help. She hoped that she could still preform later on she would just have to wear pants this time. She did not want the audience to worry about anything if they even did, after all they were just circus folk it wasn't even set that there was going to be a show that night.

She tried to stand but it made her even more dizzy.

((sorry Bandgeek))

He gave a kitten like meow when he heard Julius's voice. He didn't need Alynna knowing what he was, or who he was...but then again, she needed to come down, and him being a wild panther wouldn't help. He'd give another growl and swat, before sniffing Julius as if he were now curious about people. Out of the corner of his eye he saw two large spiders and he literally yelped. Quickly running he'd skitter to a stop when he saw Brink. This wasn't good... not at all. He'd nuzzle Brinks hand hoping that would reassure him that she'd be ok. Giving a meow, he'd hop and skip off hoping she'd be ok. Curious he'd sniff out Synthia's scent hoping she was ok. He'd stop at Derrick's tent, he didn't know the snake charmer that well, but the poor girl looked scared to death. Shifting his form he'd start walking in the tent, in his half and half form. He looked like Moshe, but had the fur of a panther. "Synthia... are you ok?" He'd ask quietly before giving a breif nod to Derrick. "Sorry to intrude." He'd say calmly as the fur seemed to be sucked back in his skin. He stood there awkwardly in the snake charmers tent as he looked on that smaller girl.



Taking a deep breath she'd try pulling her hand up when she saw the large spiders. "Ohmygod!" She'd squeak before looking down at Ash and Julius... there was a crowd drawing, along with the panther that seemed to only want to torture and scare her. How come Julius wasn't scared of the cat? Well that's obvious... he's constantly around big cats... he wouldn't be scared.... this wasn't going to be good If Brink should' see her. As if that thought ran through her head, Brink seemed to rush in the tent. The look of fear on his face crushed her. "I-I'm sorry Brink..." She'd whimper, though his voice seemed to soothe her, remind her she was one of the best illusionists in the world. Looking back down at Julius, she'd smile, seems he'd scared the panther off... that was a great thing. It helped her relax and re inspired by Brink, Julius, Ash, and her late father, Alynna would let go, taking a deep breath as she free fell to the ground, her leg getting stuck on the web that was starting to form. That didn't even phase her, as she dangled upside down, seems that the web was strong... "Ash... gotta tell you... strong silk..." Her voice was shakey, but she wasn't as high as she was, in fact, she felt almost eye to eye with Julius. "Uh.. Hi... Leo....er.. Julius..." She'd say awkwardly before waving at Brink. "I'm in trouble aren't I?" She'd ask her face full of dissapointment, and worry.

Ash felt the jerk as Alynna caught on her net, but held strong like a catching a large animal in it. She nodded as she scooped under her. "Then it's done it's job. I'll get 'cha down." She said as she secured herself on the rope and started to lower herself down with her cargo. The sack acted like a hammock as she lowered her to the ground, the two large spiders lifting up their legs toward the bottom of the sack as if trying to make the decent easier as they reached ground level.

Her head perked up from the sound of clapping, something that one wouldn't expected to hear such a thing. Once she and her cargo where safely on ground level, she looked in the stands and watched a man be chastised for clapping as if this were a show. Then again, getting someone to safety with a whole horde of spiders of all sizes could be considered a show in itself if one was so inclined. She looked down at Alynna and tried to smile as best she could. "You okay to step out of the sack yourself, I can open it some if you need it." She asked as she attached the top of the sack to the spiderweb net above them.

Brink Orpheus

Brink closed his eyes tight when Alynna let go praying to some deity that she would not get hurt. When he opened his eyes again he found her on the net. Letting out a long shaky sigh Brink looked at her. "In trouble?" He said the words carefully trying not to break down into tears and yell at her. "Alynna... I'm not going to scold you... Just be more careful! How many times have I told everyone to be careful! I can't have anyone getting hurt! So! y-your not in trouble but if you ever scare me like that again! Il let Nixie give you the scolding of a life time!" Brink's voice cracked a little so he paused to take a few deep breaths. "Ash..." He looked over at the spider girl never in his life had he been happier to see a bunch of spiders. "Thank you..." He gave a weak smile before turned and leaving before he broke down. He still had Synthia to worry about... He just needed to keep it together for a little while longer just a little while... With those thoughts repeated in his mind Brink started walking back toward Derrick's tent all the while trying not to end up crying and running toward Nixie.

~ . ~

Nixie Blue

Nixie grinned. "It's no problem Callus you know I love taking care of everyone... Besides I have some face paint back in my caravan it's thicker then the stuff you use and better too so ha!" Nixie grabbed and dragged the boy out of the main tent toward her and Brink's caravan. She opened the door and pushed Callus in so he would have no choice in the matter. Once inside Nixie went to work on finding the face paint and soon she did. "Voila~" Opening the container Nixie made Callus sit down and soon she was painting his face a perfect ghostly shade of white. Humming to herself Nixie twitched her head wings to the little tune and gently continued applying the face paint being very careful around the scars and very precise around his jaw and nose as that spot was always a pain in her experience.

Julius' breath caught in his throat when she let go, falling down, down towards the floor of the big top below. But it wasn't a free fall of flailing and fear, no it was as controlled as any of her falls had been in her acts, in her normal practices when she hadn't had a near meltdown high above the ground, struggling to keep from losing her grip. He winced, actually winced, when her leg caught in the net Ash had hastily spun- and he had never been more pleased to have Ash's spiders on hand(while not an actual arachnophobe, seeing spiders that were larger than they had any right to be was still a little shocking, and this was coming from someone who snuggled with lions). And there she was now, dangling in quite a different position from earlier, now smiling sheepishly and swinging in front of his face like a pendulum. There was that nickname again, even if she did just catch herself.

As Ash brought the performer down from her web, Julius' face twisted from a sort of panicked look to a mix of concern and disappointment which, if anyone actually had seen his disappointed face before, was something akin to a kicked puppy. You didn't want it aimed at you.

"Are you all right, Alynna?" He finally asked, unsure if it was more because he wanted to know if she was all right or hoping she was all right so that he could tell her how utterly stupid she'd been, practicing alone- and she'd been wearing heels too! Honestly. She was lucky people had been nearby, that she hadn't dropped to the ground and broken her neck.

"Probably?" Julius quirked an eyebrow skeptically, arms crossed across his chest. "You definitely should. We were all worried about you. Just... try to be more careful, all right?" He sighed a little shakily, uncrossing his arms and running a hand through his curly locks. He didn't have it in him to scold her right now, to tell her that she was lucky there were people around, lucky Ash came to help, lucky the worst hadn't come to pass. No, all of that could wait until after tonight's show when, hopefully, his nerves had calmed down enough. He might put his life in danger every day, might watch his friends do the same thing, but that just made moments like this- when it was out of everyone's control- all the more terrifying.

But this wasn't about him and his feelings. Things hardly were. No, this was about Alynna's life being in danger and, now that that particular scene had played out, there were other things to be concerned about. For instance, Brink, who had retreated from the tent with an expression that had betrayed the fact that tears would soon follow, once he was out of sight. As ringmaster of the Cirque du Soir, especially a young ringmaster with plenty to prove, there was enough stress and worries on Brink's plate without the addition of someone almost dying in a very preventable accident. He was always so busy checking on everyone else, a fact often hidden by his calm and reserved exterior, well, why shouldn't Julius return the favor?

"Look, I'm going to check on Brink. You just..." He trailed off, grasping for something to say. "Don't practice anymore? Take a break or something. And, Ash. Thank you. You really saved the day." The thanks was filled with honest and clear emotion, a warm smile twitching on his lips. With that, he turned around and exited the tent.

The question now was where had their young ring master gotten to? Well, yes, he could have run off to find Nixie- it's what Julius would have done in his shoes, run off to someone closest to him. Then again, maybe he was all right after all and had gone back to Derrick where they were presumably working on tonight's act, only a short while away. It was a bit of a stretch, even in Julius' mind, but the snake tamer's tent was on the way to the food tent where Nixie presumably was, so he might as well stop in there, just to be sure.

The circus was coming to life, more and more people awake and inside their own tents, preparing for the nightly entertainment. The moon had risen even further, lighting the sky with aid from the bright stars above that had just begun to sparkle to life. The walk to Derrick's tent was short, Julius' pace brisk in an unusual deviation from his normal slow, almost lazy way of walking.

"Hey, Derrick, have you seen Brink-?" It hadn't crossed his mind to just peek in, to give some warning before throwing open the tent flap. Now, he really wish that he had because apparently Brink was here, sobbing desperately into Derrick's shoulder, the younger boy held in a tight hug in their ring master's lap. Julius' face colored brightly, eyes darting to the ground. All right, not what he'd expected to find but that was fine. Well, maybe it wasn't fine. That feeling for earlier, the horrible nausea and knot in his stomach feeling, had returned ten-fold, almost cripplingly so, and he really couldn't bring himself to tamp it down. Ohh, God, he was a horrible person, wasn't he? An absolute horrible, awful, terrible person because it was just comfort, and here he was feeling jealous. He was jealous wasn't he? But he didn't need to be at all, and, really, even if he was jealous, it wasn't intimate, but, then again, it did look awfully intimate and-

"Sorry, sorry. I'll just," He blurted out, spinning on his heel before he looked even more like an idiot and exiting quickly, almost tripping over the tent flap as he fled, embarrassment and just the slightest bit of distress on his face. Okay, time to go now. Exit stage left, go find lions and get them ready, pretend this never happened.