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Post by Rose's Thorn on Jul 8, 2008 16:03:52 GMT -5
She shook her head. "Never," she said. "There's always that fear that something'll go wrong and...well, that we'll get it from the d@mn carnies," she decided. She looked through the small holes in her mask up at Dom. His fearless confidence was inspiring to her. How could anyone be in a place like this and ever not feel helpless or frightened beyond their belief? She didn't know, couldn't know, had no idea. It was a sort of bravery - and not the bravery of ignoring it, the way some of them did, but actually facing it and saying, 'You don't scare me.'
She smiled a little at Dom, though he couldn't see it, and started whirling her rainbows again, the pinks and reds this time.
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Post by Noka on Jul 8, 2008 16:57:02 GMT -5
Anjok smiled down at Raychel, pushing a stray strand of hair out of her face. She was beautiful even when she was sleeping. He discretely slipped his hand behind her and laid it gently on her waist. He looked up at the ceiling of the practice tent and allowed his mind to wander. Meanwhile, Bernard watched Leslie out of the corner of his eye. "Huh.... I wonder...." he mumbled. Shifting into a large white tiger, he trotted up behind her and roared. Loud. Anjok glanced over at Bernard. "What an idiot. Is that how he gets a girl's attention?" he laughed. The kid had a lot to learn.
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Post by Blue on Jul 8, 2008 17:13:51 GMT -5
The thunderous roar of the tiger made Raychel bolt up from her sleep and and forced her to muffle her scream. "what the---?
Leslie jumped and let out a frightened yelp. She whirled around and reconized the tiger's markings immediatly. "Bernard!" She put her hand to her heart. "you scared me!" This boy amazed her, and not always in a good sence of the word. But today Leslie was in a pretty good mood, so instead of storming away like she would've on a bad day, she reacher over and scratched him behind the ears. "Ya know, a simple hi would have sufficed." she teased.
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Post by Noka on Jul 8, 2008 17:38:13 GMT -5
Anjok laughed quietly, "It's okay Ray. It's just Bernard being an idiot, as usual." To emphasize his statement, he stuck his tongue out, crossed his eyes, and rotated his finger in a circle near his head; the cla$$ic "cuckoo" gesture. Bernard flashed her a toothy smile and tipped his head to the side a bit; he loved ear scritches. For a moment, he forgot that he couldn't actually speak as a tiger, and uttered a strange half yawn, half growl sort of sound. He shot her a dumbfounded look before actually giving the situation some thought. Realizing how stupid a mistake he had made, he quickly shifted back into human form and gave Leslie an embarra$$ed smile. "Well, a regular hello would have been boring. Don't you think?" he asked with a stupid grin on his face.
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Post by Blue on Jul 8, 2008 17:56:40 GMT -5
Leslie laughed. "Yeah, maybe, but a plain old hey wouldn't have woken up our ring master. Who we kinda need for the show tonight." Leslie giggled again. "I suggest you apologize before her warrior beats you up." Raychel laughed at Anjok's expression. The flames in her eyes danced with happiness; it was obvious that the girl's strength had returned fully. Raychel glanced at the clock in the corner and jumped up. "Oh no, the show starts in like two minutes!" Raychel quickly took off her mask and handed it to anjok, took out her hair and fluidly put it up again. She beamed at her warrior, for a few seconds at least, she was herself again, and she was happy. "Come on everyone, gather your props, its time for the show!"
Dominique looked at belle once more before racing off to join his sister, "Good luck, you'll do fantastic I know it. I'll watch promise!"
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Post by Noka on Jul 8, 2008 18:10:40 GMT -5
Anjok smiled back at Ray and placed her mask back on her face. "You look gorgeous. Good luck opening the show." he wished her. He stood up quickly, extending his hand out to her, an offer to help her up. Bernard blushed and laughed nervously, "Well at least I got her up quickly before the show started right?" He spun on his heels to face his brother, "Hey! Leo! Get your a$$ over here, the show's gonna start!" His pride wouldn't allow him to admit it to anyone, but Bernard actually enjoyed performing. It was the only time he was allowed to run around, expend some of his pent up energy and live a little. Of course, he would have liked more than anything to be truly free, but for now, performing was the best he could get.
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Post by Rose's Thorn on Jul 8, 2008 20:33:27 GMT -5
Leo rolled his eyes exaggeratedly, quickly following his brother. What an a$$ he'd made of himself in front of Les. Okay, Leo would probably do the same thing, only worse. But watching it gave him the opportunity to call his brother an a$$hole. He growled a bear-like growl in the deep of his throat and trotted after him, brushing his arm against him, and changing his appearance to look like Bernard. He growled. "I'm Bernard," he mocked, "and I'm the biggest, most obnoxious a$$hole in the world!" He chuckled and returned to his own appearance.
Belle half-smiled at Dom's back, forgetting that he couldn't see it. Why couldn't things be simple, and easy? Why couldn't she and Dom have just sat back and chatted for a little while in normal clothes, and not these insane getups? Why did they have to display themselves like the amazing freaks they were? She dropped the colors and followed him, tailing at the back of the group. Which probably wasn't smart - she should be up front with Raychel because she was the first act. But it didn't matter, Raychel would spend some time with the beginning anyway.
the great Lumina would be introduced soon. Again. She sighed miserably.
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Post by Blue on Jul 8, 2008 20:59:05 GMT -5
Raychel smiled as she took his hand and stood up, walking out of the tent with the others in tow. The princess's stomach churned, she was always the first on, and so she was the first impression. If she skrewed up and even one person asked for their money back... she could almost feel the pain again... As they reached the edge of the entrance, she paused closed her eyes and took a deep breath. 3...2...1... Her eyes snapped open and nervous Raychel was gone. Now all that remained was the confident and beutiful Flame Princess. The lights in the tent went out, and her flames shot out infront of her Lighting her path, and swirling around her, so all the crowd could focus on was her. As she reached the inner circle of the ring, her voice once again rose to unbelievible loud levels for such a soft spoken girl. "Ladies and gentalmen! Boys and Girls! Children of all ages. My name is the Flame Princess, and I am the ringleader of this circus. Here, at my circus you will see acts that defy the very laws of nature, such as Gravity, lights, and even death. But before we begin, I'd like to point out that everything seen here tonight is controled by the magic of the circus, and never to try any of it at home. Now, for our opening act, we have a special treat for you. Please give a rousing round of applause for Lumina, Master of Lights and Colors!" With that, the flames circling Raychel danced away, towards Lumina, showing her to the crowd for the first time.
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Post by Rose's Thorn on Jul 8, 2008 21:10:42 GMT -5
Belle felt her lungs begin to tighten. She hated standing up here. The first step was the hardest.
She closed her eyes a little, imagining that she was nothing but Lumina, master of colors.
She raised her hands a bit, starting a soft, pastel stream to come from her hands and begin to light the pathway she was to walk along. She walked along, and the fire died, leaving Lumina to her own devices.
She started the show off, by twisting light pink and blue into a double helix, and they darkened, little sparks flying off of it. She could hear the oohs and aahs of the crowd.
She continued her act, practically lighting the whole tent at points, and at one particular part that she enjoyed, entwined two white lines into a blinding heart that sparkled, then turned blood red. That was near the end. The lights twirled around the enormous tent, lighting along the lines, then coming to the center where the waiting Belle stood. They all ran to her, and when the colors reached her, it all exploded in a ma$$ of colors.
In the mock explosion - it was just a ruse, a trick of the eye - nothing had actually exploded, and in fact the entire display had been thoroughly silent, save for the amazed sounds of the crowd - Belle slipped out, and began to control from the edge. The lights raised and sparkled before dying out.
She hoped she'd done it right. She didn't remember any mistake, but when you're controlling ten different streams of light, your mind in ten different directions, there was never any way to say.
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Post by Rose's Thorn on Jul 8, 2008 22:10:04 GMT -5
Belle shuddered as she watched Ray in the center, recovering from her previous act. She looked over at Bernard and Leo, who were already transforming into their starting animals. She took a deep breath and walked out to the center after a brief blackout in which Ray was stepping into a ring, for the sake of a feeling of security, and a cage was being brought out of the ground. The cage was purely so that the audience wouldn't run out screaming in fear of the "wild beasts".
Belle stepped out, flaring fire all around her. "I bring to you, the amazing, the incredible Fire Princess!" She waited for the cheers to die down, and kept her fake flames all around her. Bernard and Leo were coming out. "Tonight, the Fire Princess will be displaying for you an incredible feat - she will be performing acts of immense precision with various highly trained animals."
Leo snorted at that comment, in his bear form.
"And now, I present to you, The Fire Princess!"
She stepped out of the way for the brothers and Ray to perform. She hated standing in front of crowds. She hated that it was her responsibility for Ray's acts - which, unfortunately for her, were rather numerous.
Leo hunched up his fur in preparation, the lights searing into his back.
Here goes nothing, he thought, and made the customary roar.
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Post by Blue on Jul 8, 2008 22:17:45 GMT -5
Raychel hated this act, and it was no secret either. All the others knew, even the guards knew. With a flick of her wrist, her weapon became evident. A whip. Raychel glared at the firey weapon. This was why she hated this act, she was against the use of whips more than anything else, but if she didnt use it, they'd punish her. Or worse, the boys. So Raychel pushed her feelings of them aside and Cracked her whip on the air.
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Post by Noka on Jul 8, 2008 22:33:14 GMT -5
Bernard watched the whip as it sailed through the air, finally jerking back, causing a loud crack to sound off through the crowded tent, amazingly, audible over the ma$$ive crowd. For dramatics, he reared up on his hind legs, letting out a guttural roar. For this act, him and his brother were no longer Bernard and Leo, but fearsome beasts, ready to kill at any moment. He got back down on all fours and lowered his head, turning to give the audience a menacing glare.
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Post by Rose's Thorn on Jul 8, 2008 22:43:00 GMT -5
Leo rounded The Fire Princess, growling viciously, pretending to be feral and untamable. He felt a crack resound through the air, the sound practically boxing his ears. As part of the act, he cowered back, pretending to magically become tamed. The crack again and he jumped up on the stupid little circus stool they always made him balance on.
He fought to suppress a horrible memory in which he'd slipped off it and, because they had no way of determining which bear had slipped, both he and his brother had been nearly incapacitated with torments.
But, of course, that wasn't something to think about now.
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Post by Noka on Jul 8, 2008 23:47:56 GMT -5
Bernard watched his brother become a puppet of the Flame Princess, and hoped to God that neither of them would screw up. He charged the princess, snarling ferociously, acting as if he wanted to literally devour her. The whip cracked in his direction and he immediately stopped in his tracks, trying to look as submissive as possible. With head down and ears back, he crouched close to the floor as he listened to the roaring and cheering of the crowd. Another crack of the whip and he headed towards his stool without a moment's hesitation. The thing was small, shaped somewhat like an upside down cup, pink on the bottom with a yellow top that ended in a zig-zag pattern. He carefully stepped up on it, barely able to fit his two hind paws on it, and stood up, arms waving awkwardly through the air, with his gaze fixed on the Flame Princess.
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Post by Blue on Jul 9, 2008 15:50:31 GMT -5
Raychel did the act as normal, but something wasnt right... But she couldn't figure out what it was. She was on cue, so were the boys, what was wrong? The princess wasn't sure, but she had a feeling deep in her gut, she knew she shouldn't crack that whip again, but she had to, or she'd be punished. Raychel took a few steps closer to the boys, and raised her whip, their act was almost done. her conscience was screaming at her, she shouldn't crack it. Raychel pushed the voice out of her head. She had to. Her arm came down, seeming to her as is in slow motion, the flames of her whip spread, even if only for a second longer then they should have, and the whip cracked, hitting Bernard in the process. Time returned to normal, as his fresh wound began to bleed. Raychel's eyes widened, and filled with tears. 'What have I done...?' Still in shock, the young woman turned to the crowd and bowed before glancing back at Bernard, and racing out of the ring, just as the lights faded out for a scene change.
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