Annie Marne's Story

Annie Marne

Annie jumped off the train cart as soon as it came to a stop, happy to be on still ground finally. Her body was a sore and tight, unuse to being unused for more than a day or a so. The first thing she noticed was this area was small, about half the size of their usual area, and there were a third of as many tents. Immediately, that unnerved her. The circus performers, although have been working together for quite some time, had not grown as close as you would expect, and she guess that sharing a room with them would be weird.

She reached back into her train cart, grabbing her suit case and duffle bag. She stared at the tents around, trying to guess which was hers, then she saw a telephone pole with a new, fresh white piece of paper on it. She read the words printed on quickly, realizing she was in tent 3 along with the other two acrobats. She sighed, unsure what to expect, and turned towards the tent with a large 3 over it.

Annie would'n really consider it a tent, although the top was a tent like material, hoisted up on wooden beams, it was on a prebuilt wooden padeo of sorts. She prodded over to it, going up the three stairs in front and pushing the flaps apart to open it. Inside, there was a queen bed on each side, and a couch on the way to the back. She couldn't decide where she wanted to sleep, and she didn't want to claim a spot before the other acrobats arrived, she couldn't stand them being mad at her. So, instead, Annie plopped down onto the floor, waiting for the other acrobats to come.

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Athena stared out the window in the train cart as the train came to a slow stop. Far back, there had been a city, but as the slowing increased, so did the open and bare land. By the time they had reached the claimed land, it was as humanless as the desert, but that didn't bother her. She knew people would come to see the show, they always did, and she couldn't socialize with anyone out of the circus either, so it seriously didn't matter.

She jumped out of the train cart, her backpack on her back and saw a girl, Annie, running off to a tent with the number three. Athena went to where she saw Annie stop and check something, reading the sign on the telephone pole and finding her tent number to be 5, seeming to be with all the other circus children. She made her way to the tent, and as she entered it, she was surprised at the sight.

There was one bunk bed, a queen bed, and a couch. But there's four children, she thought, realizing that two of them were going to have to sleep together. She sighed, turning to the flap as other children entered.

Kagami looked around from where she was standing. 'Interesting place this is...' She started walking around with her backpack on looking for her tent. 'Etto... Tent 3, tent 3.... Ah! Here!' She ran into the tent with a large 3 on it and said with a loud voice, "Hello!" With her arms in a "V" Shape, she put them at her sides when she only saw one of the two people she was to stay with on the floor. "Ohh, sorry... I'm a little nervous so, I kind of, well, yeah..." She set it on the ground and said, "Hello. I'm Utatane Kagami, but you can call me 'Mirrors' or 'Sound', or just Kagami." She smiled and played with her hair nervously. "You know what, just call me Kagami."

Rodney stood up and stretched out his arms, then his legs, and popped his knuckles a few times as he walked off the train cart when it stopped. Was it normal to have so few tents around? No, he was sure he remembered them all having their own. However, Rodney didn't bother to spend too much time thinking that over. It wasn't his job to think about who slept where, or how many had a tent to themselves. He was was here to be an acrobat and entertain the crowd. At least, that's what he kept telling himself. Rodney went back to grab his bags and then looked for his tent. Tent one... tent two... tent three. He laughed a little at himself for counting them out in his head, but how awkward would it be if he walked into, say, tent one, and had to excuse himself because it wasn't his tent? They may've known each others faces, but beyond that, they might as well have been strangers.

"Hey," he said cooly, nodding once, as he walked into the tent. Two girls had already beaten him to the tent, and by looking at the list, he knew them to be Annie and Kagami. Did they know his name? Hmm... maybe this was a little awkward, but it wasn't like Rodney to not make the most of a seemingly weird or bad situation. He sat his things down and then took a seat as well, looking at both of them. "I'm Rodney if you didn't already know, but feel free to call me Ronnie." He ran a hand through his hair and thought back to the question previously on his mind. Why so many to a tent? No harm in asking them. "Not that I have an issue with roommates, but do either of you know why they decided to change the tents up like this?" Rodney decided to get comfortable and lean back onto his forearms. After all, this was his new home.

((Okay, now you can all post more, so I'm taking back what I said about not posting more than once))

Annie smiled at the girl, nodding her head. "And I'-" she cut herself off as she sensed another presence, and turned to see a boy in the room Rodney, she thought. She had made a point to memorize everyone's names, even if they didn't have the slightest clue as to what hers was. She smile as he told them they could call him Ronnie. She listened to his question, already knowing the answer from a discussion on the train.

"Here's what I know. So I was talking to the ring master's apprentice, Athena, and she said that Hector was talking to-" Her voice cut off as she almost said Neil, but couldn't make herself say it. "The circus master had a budget cut, and this was also the biggest place they could get. And they didn't want somewhere too big because they didn't want huge crowds to find us when we are not preforming." She smiled when she finished, realizing she still hadn't introduced herself. "Oh. And I'm Annie by the way."

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Athena smiled at all the people entering, slightly getting overwhelmed. She spotted a small girl, about 7 years old, and recognizing her, smiled at her and walked slightly away from the group to her. "Uh Hi i'm Athena" She said, putting her hand out to her to shake. She was one of the kids she was talking about, one of the kids that would certainly get a bed to themselves if Athena had anything to say.

Kagami saw the boy come in and looked at him. "I'm Rodney if you didn't already know, but feel free to call me Ronnie. Not that I have an issue with roommates, but do either of you know why they decided to change the tents up like this?" She was about to say something when the other girl spoke up."Here's what I know. So I was talking to the ring master's apprentice, Athena, and she said that Hector was talking to- The circus master had a budget cut, and this was also the biggest place they could get. And they didn't want somewhere too big because they didn't want huge crowds to find us when we are not performing. Oh. And I'm Annie by the way." Kagami smiled warmly at her then looked again at Rodney and introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Utatane Kagami, but you can call me 'Mirrors' or 'Sound'. Or you can just call me Kagami."

Rodney didn't bother to comment on how she cut herself off. Was there something going on? Why not finish the sentence? But they barely knew each other and maybe getting into her business wasn't the right idea for now. Would he ask later? Yes, probably. Rodney was a curious person and didn't like having unanswered questions in his head. He nodded at what she said and thought it over. "Budget cuts, huh. I thought the circus made enough money to avoid problems like that." He raised an eyebrow and looked over at the entrance to the tent. Oh well. It was better than everyone in one tent. Or no tent at all. "Nice to meet both of you." He stood up and wiped his hands on his pants. "You two can go ahead and pick out your beds. I'll take whatever's left." It'd be rude to just take one when there were two ladies who hadn't gotten to pick, no?

Kagami smiled at Rodney and picked up her backpack. "If you insist. Annie-san..? Which bed are you going to choose? I'll take the one on the left side, if you don't mind..." She took her bag and threw it onto the bed, accidentally letting the front zipper pocket open. The corner of her diary slid out and she rushed to close it up again. "Err, gomen gomen... I mean, sorry..." She zipped the pocket and sat on her bed. "Nee, what are we supposed to do for the meantime?"

"I'll take the couch," Annie said, picking up her bags and walking over to it, dropping them on the floor next to it, and plopping down onto it. "I'm assuming we aren't suposed to leave the tent. The circus master doesn't normally like us to." She smiled at her two new room mates, hoping they didn't snore loud or something like that. "Anyways, it's getting dark." She didn't say more, hoping they would catch her drift. They knew about the gypsies in the circus, and they also knew about the other gypsies that would come from the nearby town to see them. "PLus, we have early morning training" She sighed.