((Thanks a lot, Ny |:<))

Vayne's words did nothing except cause Kioko to glare harder at him, even though she was still firmly in his control.  Her previous fear over being controlled was pushed to the back of her mind over anger toward the man's treatment of the harmless insect.  She isn't a pest, the white haired girl thought fiercely, wishing she could shout it at him instead.  The pyro was forced to settle for glaring at him as he scaled a nearby tree and occupied one of the higher branches.

Kioko switched her focus to Miyuki as the butterfly attempted to right itself from where she had landed in the gra.ss.  She was inwardly apologizing to the insect for having gotten her into this trouble, when Dravius' enraged voice broke through the trees surrounding them, the co-master himself emerging a moment later.  If she'd been capable of moving, Kioko would have likely thrown her arms around his neck out of relief.

Since she was still under the control of Vayne, Kioko was forced to simply stand still and listen to the man as he spoke of Dravius and his past with Break.  Her stomach roiled in distaste at the mention of the dead man.  Even from the grave (or dumpster, in this case), Xerxes Break still made her feel ill.  

The feeling of distaste quickly changed back to terror, as her arm was forced towards Dravius, a ball of fire forming within her palm.  The white haired girl panicked, trying to regain enough mental control over her power to extinguish the flame, or at least direct them away from Dravius and toward Vayne in the tree.  Struggling, and failing, she was left unable to do anything except widen her eyes in desperation.  I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry.

Yehs and Noh continued staring blankly at Maya, shifting forewards and whining quietly when she moved, similar to an animal with food dangling in front of it's face. Noh seemed to notice that the young woman was paying a lot more attention to his brother than him, and admittedly, it made him rather angry. No one ever paid attention to the smaller twin, just his slobbering, slavering, idiot of a sibling. At the woman's second step, he let out a loud hiss, showing his sharp, yellowed teeth in a cruel facsimile of a grin. He got to all fours, creeping forewards, past the still immobile Noh, growling loudly. Barking once, the boy sank his fangs into the woman's ankle, then springing back and skittering away from the girl, leaving slightly oozing puncture marks just above the bone of her ankle. They both yelped once at the sight of the hybrid, not even trying to stand up to her, panting heavily at Nylat. 

Yehs yelped and ran off with his brother, dsahing into Raphael's van through a back way, nearly tripping over the steps as they went. It was rather unexciting inside, but completely and utterly silent, despite the man sitting in the corner. It was unnerving. They let out a communal whine and backed out of the odd van, smacking straight into a member, who shrieked as a generous glob of spit from Yehs splashed over them. The bite from Noh wasn't appreciated very much either.

-----------------------

"You never were one for talking, Vayne." Dravius snorted, managing to calm himself down enough to cross his arms and glare at the tall man. "You were more one for making sinister schemes and then watching them fail." He added, after Vayne's loosely veiled threats. "Well, I guess I learned a little after Break sent me away for a bit, no?" Dravius stared hard at Vayne. "And it isn't poor Master, really. I crushed his skull and left him in a dumpster over three weeks ago. I would've thought that they'd have taken the trash out by now." He growled, and then raised an eyebrow at Vayne.

"Explain? Break told me to go with Raphael, and I did. Ta daa." Dravius wiggled his fingers sarcastically, looking mildly amused at Kioko and her flame, he blinked once and said, "I thought you remembered that I can't feel pain. Doesn't bother me in the cosmetic sense, either, really." Dravius shrugged and coughed into his elbow and stepped forewards, picking Kioko up by the waist and draping her over his shoulder. "If you don't mind, I'll be leaving, thanks." He grinned sarcastically, and turned on his heel, making to leave.

 ((Evil guys are so much fun to play. xD))

"Me?... Sinister schemes?" Vayne murmered, looking amused. "Funny... You yourself was always a part of some scheme or another, or at least, you were more than willing whenever Master Break sent you someplace." The tall male shrugged, his long, chocolate coloured hair still loosely tied back, strands of brown falling over one shoulder.

At Dravius mention of his doing in Break's death, Vayne's ex
pression became even more stony than it had been previously, losing every trace of it's previous amusement; His cold eyes narrowed. "Oh, goodness me..." He murmered, so quietly that he could barely hear himself. In all honesty, he had hoped, however slight, that perhaps Dravius had merely... Failed, to protect poor Master in some way. But no... To actually hear Wolfe say he had been the one to carry out the deed, well... It formed a very unstable bubble of anger within the tree-sitting male. Although he had had a sneaking suspicion.

Before he could so much as hiss in Wolfe's direction, Vayne had to pause to listen to his next words. "Raphael?" He asked. Who was this... Raphael?... He was pretty sure he'd heard Break speak the name once or twice... But he hadn't known it was in any way related to Masters favourite little boy.

"Oh. I remembered." Vayne growled in response the dark male's next words, choosing to ignore any thoughts as to why Dravius had been told to leave with this other guy. None of it mattered. Break had been murdered by the one he'd favoured among others. That was nothing if not betrayal of the highest scale. That was all he needed to know. Watching silently as Dravius lifted the girl and started walking, a cold, cruel laugh escaped his lips, slowly increasingly in volume until he cut it off abruptly, no amusement evident.

"And you should know me better." He reponded, his voice leaking malice and anger. "That may be your gravest mistake, little Wolfe. As.suming that was the best I could do. That was not the way I planned this. Your physical pain means nothing to me." That was always his issue. Thought he was invincible because he was incapable of feeling pain... That ability, however, did not stop Wolfe from being damaged, whether he could feel it or not.

Vayne grinned, sharp teeth glinting slightly as he crossed his arms, standing to his full height on the bough he currently occupied. He was very nearly the exact height of Dravius. "No. You would do well, to remember my ability." The tall male held out an arm, hand outstretched, one long finger twitching slightly as he forced Kioko's movements again.

This time, it wasn't anything particularly sinister in the way of Wolfe, but rather, directed entirely at the girl. He allowed the control of her voice to falter so that she could clearly express what was about to happen to her. Manipulating the muscles in her arm in such a way that would almost have snapped the bone had Vayne not stopped it where he had. Sure, Dravius couldn't feel pain. The girl, however,was probably an entirely different story... And it was about time Vayne tested just how strongly attached Dravius had become to these friends of his... Vayne did not, in any way, need physical pain in order to hurt Dravius, and besides, it was much more fun this way.

"It's a pity, really, how soft you've become." He hissed, his voice laced with venom. "This girl could do serious harm to herself should you continue to walk away from me... You can't honestly think you could end this that easily?" He murmered, raising his eyebrows slightly, eyes vicious as he forced Kioko's arm back on itself, no doubt causing more severe pain on the girl. "... Besides, It's not like I'll run out of material if this one dies. Tell me, Wolfe. Who was the pretty young woman who walked back with you earlier, hm?... I can think of plenty of things to do with that one, and I'd probably take my time. She would be a lot of fun to control. And to think I wouldn't need to go anywhere near the grounds of your Circus to do it."

He chuckled coldly, keeping firm control of Kioko's arm in it's current position. "I'd think carefully about your next move... Little Wolfe. I could break this girl's entire body before you took another step."

~~~

Despite the fact those two were, really, only little boys; It was rather intimidating just how stern and animalistic both of them looked. Maya couldn't help but see them as nothing but a threat. The acidic substance the larger kid was expelling made their image far too dangerous to even consider them as mere children.

And there was something so similar about them, though even then the blonde couldn't quite place what it was she recognised. Having had pretty much her entire attention span focused on the two boys, Maya didn't notice Nylat's initial approach, and instead kept her gaze firmly on the two as they approached, the smaller one seemingly agitated.

Shifting her foot slightly, the girl readied herself quite blatantly to either run, or fly herself immediately out of their vicinity; Only then noticing with fleeting relief Nylat's presence. It was that one little slip of her attention, however, that caused her to completely miss the smaller boy's movement, leading to a rather painful bite on the ankle. Inhaling sharply, Maya's immediate reflex was to use her other leg to lash out at the offending being, though she barely needed to as the boy skittered out of her reach just as soon he;d done what he did, before fleeing at the sight of Nylat.

Throwing a concerned look at the Hybrid, Maya glanced quickly off towards where the boys had dissappeared, before crouching so that she could inspect the damage to her ankle. "Ow..." The bite itself hadn't been all that painful... She'd suffered far worse a couple of week ago, and it didn't particularly look that bad. The wound didn't seem to be deep, though there was a nagging, burning sensation around the general area of the wound. Quickly wiping the small amount of blood away using her gauze, the girl look back up at the nearby Hybrid.

"Is it just me, or do those two seem familiar?" She asked, standing, and testing her weight on her injured leg. "... I think we need to tell someone-" The rest of the girl's sentence was cut off by a scream somewhere in the Circus. Oh no. Clearly they hadn't left the Circus. Biting her lip, Maya made a split second decision to follow that sound. If someone had been bitten by the bigger kid, they'd probably be a more worse off than she was currently.

Skirting the vans quickly, Maya halted suddenly in the shadow of a nearby van, wincing as she watched one of the Circus members writhing with contact of the two boys they'd collided with. She was, unconsciously, it seemed, keeping her bitten ankle slightly off the floor. The burning was slowly getting worse, though the girl hardly seemed to notice as she kept her eyes firmly on the other injured member. Shaking her head, she decided the best thing to do would be to call for help, or at least get someone who could deal with the injuries inflicted as soon as possible. And, of course, to alert the Circus.

Slipping quickly from the aside the van, she headed immediately for Julian's. Seeing as Raphael was out and Dravius was elsewhere, he was her only choice. That and the chances of Julian getting attacked by those two were slim. He was, after all, the fastest member of the Circus.

It was on her way towards his van that she ended up bumping into the Sword-Master, seemingly emerging from beyond the borders. "Julian!" Maya gasped, skidding to a stop beside him and limping lightly on her ankle. "Julian... There's something wrong. Dravius got this note, he isn't here, and there are these... These kids-"

"Maya, calm down." Julian murmered, eyes furrowed in slight concern. "... Are you alright? You don't look all that well." He glanced fleetingly at the girl's slightly weeping ankle, before looking back at her, eyes half hidden under strands of black.

"What? No. I'm fine... It's... Just a scratch. Look, something's not right. Dravius got called out, and these... Kids showed up. They're dangerous, Julian. They just... Well." She looked fleetingly at her ankle, frowning, before wincing visibly as that awful sensation spread. "They attacked another member... That way. I don't... Know where they are now." The girl was, strangely enough, out of breath despite running only a short while, and she was beginning to have slight trouble focusing on much besides the pain in her leg.

Julian was silent a good minute or two, before strolling quickly past the girl. "Alright."

Maya watched him walk away, then exhaled sharply before crouching to check her ankle again. It still seemed perfectly fine, besides the fact the pain had almost doubled within the last few minutes. She was also still very much struggling to get her breath back, as though her lungs refused to retain all the oxygen they could. Sighing quietly, she quickly stood and followed after Julian, a rather worried ex
pression resting on her face.

Yehs and Noh had skittered away from the now-howling member, looking almost terrified at the loud sound. Their flight was just in time to avoid the bitten girl, feet throwing up gra.ss as the scrambled around the corner of the van. There was a tap on one boy's shoulder by a curious member, which only resulted in a large spit burn wrapped around the short, blue-skinned girl's forearm, and another loud shriek. Both boys seemed increasinly panicked, running a circle or two around a van, yelping loudly. They skidded to a stop in front of a dark man, dressed all in black and looking rather ominous. Noh sat up straight and made a short noise that was somewhere in between a snapping bone and a popping knuckle. It was followed by a quiet chirping as he crouched down, managing to look rather terrified.

Yehs was following his brother's example, burning a large hole in the dirt as he did so. The woman his brother had bitten was behind the man, so he decided to sit up and bark a bit, leaning back on his haunches and baring his slimy teeth. They were tinted green from the thick film of spit covering them. He stopped short with a sneeze, looking utterly confused, before wandering off to paw at a long plant, paying little attention to Julian or Maya, instead batting at a bee making it's way lazily across the sky, smacking it down before going over to inspect it. He licked it shortly afterwards, making a small "bleck." noise.

----------------------------

 "Yes, sinister schemes." Dravius called over his shoulder, rolling his eyes at the tangent Vayne went off on. "Yeah, well, I was young and impressionable." He replied, sighing. "Yeah, Raphael. You know, tall, blonde, three times the man you'll ever be?" Dravius raised an eyebrow at the apprent sadness writ on Vayne's face. Dravius turned around and faced Vayne, one hand in his pocket, coughing quietly. "Good for you?" He said uncertainly, just a bit unnerved by the other man's creepy cackling.

Dravius' eyes went wide at Kioko's explanation, although he was a little confused at the use of "Dravvy". What. He set Kioko down quickly and strode forewards, grabbing Vayne by the shoulders and shoving him bodily against a tree, growling at him. "Fine. Stop. NOW." His voice was little more than a snarl, and he had his face merely inches from the other man's. "What. Do. You. Want." He asked, releasing the man and taking a step back, breath shallow and quick. "Just...stop. Please." He forced out the last word as if it hurt him to say it, glaring thunderously at Vayne.

Strolling silently through the Circus grounds, Julian kept his eyes open for sign of the two Maya had spoken of, though came across nothing much of any real concern. It was only a few minutes later a scream rang out through the Circus grounds. Julian, head turning towards that general direction, threw a glance in Maya's direction, before walking quickly towards the source of the noise.

Out of nowhere, two little boys tied together by the neck skidded into the Sword-Master's path, and his dark blue eyes narrowed as he watched them. It was pretty obvious these two were the ones Maya had referred to. It wasn't hard to deduce the acid dripping from the fangs of the larger brother was probably what caused the earlier scream. Glancing quickly up from the boys, Julian saw the member who had seemingly been effected, a young, blue skinned girl who was clearly suffering severe burns and bite wounds. She was surrounded by two or three circus members, plus a member who was skilled in healing, though she seemed baffled by the amount of pain the young woman was in.

Inhaling slowly and delibrately through his nose, Julian looked back towards the two in front of him. They were kids, yes. But there was nothing remotely kid-like about them. They were nothing but animals, or something very close to, as far as he could see. And unfortunately, allowing them out of here was probably not a good idea. He'd probably be unleashing hell on the nearby town if that was the case. Sighing quietly, the tall male wrapped the fingers of one hand firmly around the base of one of the wicked looking daggers, loosing the blade before narrowing his eyes further and glancing once more at the scene beyond the two kids.

In any other situation, Julian would have contacted either Raphael or Dravius, but seeing as both seemed unable to be here at the moment, it quite obviously fell to him. Killing them was out of the question, simply because they didn't seem to have any delibrate issue with the Circus. No. They needed to be restrained. The only issue was how. The acid that larger kid was expelling would probably burn through anything.

Lifting his knife a little, Julian looked momentarily surprised as a shift came over the earth where the boys currently stood. The ground rippled, very much like water, before flashes of silver shot from certain points, attaching themselves firmly to the ankles and wrists of said dog-boys, before another flash shot towards their necks. The silver almost seemed to morph, forming into thick, metal chains, taut as they pulled the boys firmly to the earth quite suddenly.

Both Julian and Maya looked surprised, though the latter very quickly lost interest, grasping Julian's forearm with uneeded force.

"Maya?" The Sword-Master asked, glancing towards the girl before another voice spoke.

"My goodness. Less than twenty four hours and we already get ourselves into another state." It was Raphael, stood just a little ways behind Julian, leaning firmly against the side of a nearby van, eyes set on the boys currently chained to the floor. He still looked somewhat ill. The illusionary chains, having been illusions, would not be effected by the acid the one kid produced. His ex
pression was flat, no trace of his usual demeanor and he pushed himself straight and walked to stand by the Sword-Master. "How long have they been here?" He asked. "And where the hell is Dravius?" He grumbled under his breath as Julian responded.

"Not long. And shouldn't you still be resting?... You seemed pretty far gone this morning."

"Mm. I was. These things vary." Raphael shrugged. "Turned out it wasn't a long standing thing this time. Though I still feel a little like my head is about to explode."

"That's because you've gone straight into another illusion after barely getting yourself to walk again."

"Don't get funny with me." Raphael grumbled, walking up to the kids and simply looking at them. He didn't look particularly angry, but the fact he still looked rather ill made him seem quite agitated; His gray eyes dark. Great, this was all he needed on top of the only just pas.sing killer headache. Grasping Noh's hair with a particularly violent lurch for Raphael, he looked directly at the boys face, the snorted quietly and let go, getting himself back to his feet, being sure to keep well clear of the other boys acidic spit. "... More of Breaks' little minions..."

Julian raised an eyebrow, and Raphael shrugged. "They all look exactly the same. It's rather frightening." He walked back, stopping again by Julian, and looking over towards the injured member of the Circus. He barely had a chance to say much else before there was a quiet whimper, and both he and the Sword Master glanced towards Maya.

The young woman, who had been entirey silent, and had barely noticed much of anything since they'd arrived, was still firmly holding Julian's arm, looking severely pained. She was still very much having trouble with her breathing, though that wasn't really what was bothering her. The pain that had earlier existed only in her leg had spread to pretty much everywhere else, and she was obviously having trouble keeping herself upright. The sensation was almost unbearable, a searing sort of burn "It hurts..." She murmered, wincing, eyes covered by strands of gold.

Neither Raphael nor Julian had much chance to do aything before the girl completely lost her balance. The Sword-Master, being closer and faster, managed to grasp the girl firmly around the waist before settling her in his arms so that he was able to carry her without difficulty. She was clinging firmly to the front of his shirt, and he could clearly feel the heat from her skin, almost fever-like in temperature.

"Kaera!" Raphael yelled towards here the blue skinned girl was, moving to stand so that he could quickly look over Maya as another member shortly joined them. She was a young woman, standing at around 5'3" with light brown hair that was tied back and caramel eyes. She took one look at Maya and immediately shooed Raphael out of the way. "Do you have any idea what's going on?" Raphael asked, looking very, very concerned.

The young woman, who was looking slightly panicked, motioned quickly to Julian. "Take her to her van." She said, before frowning at the Ring-Master. "Honestly?... I don't know. But every single member who's been attacked by those two seem to be suffering in a similar fashion. We're completely unsure of what exactly it is, though." She sighed, then jumped slightly when Raphael spoke again, his voice bordering on severely worried.

"Every single member?..." He repeated. "Kaera... How many are we talking?"

"Six or seven."

Raphael sighed explosively. "This is all I need..." He placed a hand over his face, then dropped it. "Are you-"

"We're doing our best, Raphael. We really are... We just... We need to find out what it is. I'll go take a closer look at Maya. The other's are being cared for already." She touched him gingerly on the arm, then followed Julian's tracks towards Maya's van. The Ring-Master watched her go, before turning his gaze back to the two boys grounded by his illusionary chains. "Damnit. Where the hell are you, Dravius, of all times." He hissed, gently smacking the side of a nearby van with a fist.

~~~

Having been watching Dravius' retreating back, Vayne could only smiling chillingly at Kioko's agonised screams. Poor, poor little girl. Well ,she shouldn't have been outside the Circus grounds then. In fact, perhaps it would have been more fun. He might have been able to get control of the other girl in that case. Now that would have been interesting...

Snorting quietly to himself, the tall, brown haired male raised an eyebrow as Wolfe apparently went and described Raphael to him. Nope. Could never say he'd seen him. Or heard of him, for that matter. Besides the few times Master mentioned the name, anyway. It wasn't much longer after that Dravius decided to do something about his friend's little problem, and only grinned slightly as his body was forced against the rough bark of a nearby tree.

Please?... Did he actually just ask that?

"My goodness, Wolfe, you have gone soft. I didn't know you had manners." The tall man murmered, slipping a hand towards the belt he wore before glancing fleetingly at Kioko. He could break her arm right there and then, but what fun would that be?... In all honesty, it was probably safe for Vayne to allow both of them back to the Circus. No doubt the twin animals had probably done a good bit of damage. But still... No. He'd asked Dravius out here for a reason, and there was no way he was just going to let it slip without attempting to do what he wished. The whole Circus scenerio was there simply should he fail.

Keeping control of Kioko so that she was unable to get in the way, Vayne allowed her to simply straighten out her arm, keeping her vocal chords beyond his control. It took him a mere second to locate precisely what he was after, and, using the arm that had snaked towards his belt, flung it up towards Wolfe's torso. Yes. He couldn't feel pain. That did not, however, make him invicible. A hole in the stomach would cause some damage whether he could feel it, or not.

The blade that now resided in Vayne's hand was wicked, with a slightly serrated edge, moving immediately from impaling the Co-Master's stomach to being pressed firmly against his neck, now glinting red. It was so old fashioned, to kill this way, but controlling him to his own death would just be boring. Doing it this way was much more fun. If Vayne could get enough hits in, perhaps Dravius would over work his injured body. He'd essentially be killing himself. Dravius was playing for his life, his life, and the life of that little white haired friend of his.

"What I want?" He asked, voice deathly quiet and cold, his glare switched from amused to deadly. is whole aura had gone from teasing to merciless.

"Well." He continued, voice throbbing with an undesguised hatred. "Your death would certainly be appreciated."

Neither boy had been paying attention to Julian for a bit, Noh inspecting the rapidly dissolving bee on the ground, but the dull glint of Julian's knife made both bristle and begin glaring at the man, making small, panting growls. The growls promptly turned to terrified yelps and panicked struggles as they were dragged towards the ground, contoring themselves into all sorts of positions to try and get out of the odd substance that bound them, leaving both small children breathless and looking supremely frightened. The previously sleeping man had returned, it seemed, and didn't like them going into his place of living. Noh let out a rather pitiful whine, bright blue eyes wide and bewildered.

When his hair was grabbed, and his head pulled back, Noh growled and tried desperately to sink his long teeth into Raphael's wrist, although the man's hand restraining him kept his gnashing teeth an inch or so away from the flesh of his joint. It gave both boys a mild sense of satisfaction to see the pretty young woman stumbling a bit, Yehs grimacing and hissing quietly.

Noh smiled creepily and spat towards Raphael, still panting slightly. He coughed several times, then said, almost defiantly, "Bite's bad now. Make 'er blood boil." The boy had a rather reedy vioce carrying a strong Northern U.K accent. "Nerves go out, too." Yehs added with a snort, his voice a fraction deeper than his brother's.

-------------------

Dravius' face only grew darker as he listened to Vayne talk about nothing. He didn't flinch what so ever when Vayne stuck his blade against his lower torso, growling slightly at the man, bending to bring his face closer to Vayne's. The coldness of the metal against his throat didn't perturb him, other than an amlost imperceptable moving away from the sudden chill. Dravius matched Vayne's two-eyed glare with his own one-eyed one, snarling quietly.

"My death would be APPRECIATED?" Dravius asked skeptically, narrowing both eyes and straightening up. "You know something Vayne?" He paused, and crossed his arms. "You're mad. Utterly bonkers. Off your rocker. Take your pick." He waved his hands in the air. "This. This is ridiculous. You just kidnapped a fourteen year old girl. For no reason at all, other than to avenge someone who only used you." He looked almost in disbelief, brows furrowed. "Unless I'm missing something and you have a spectacularly good reason, and I apologize, I'm preparing to beat you into the ground until your eyeballs burst."

Still grumbling audibly over his missing Co-Master, Raphael had situated himself so that his back was pressed against the closest van, a hand resting lightly over his face. His head was still pounding, though at least now he was able to make sense of what was going on around him. Probably a good thing too, with these... Damn little things running about.

He shifted his hand so that he could momentarily glare at the two boys, still tied to the earth with thick, metal chains. He eventually just dropped his hand, sighing through his nose and watching silently as a couple of members carried the blue skinned girl to her own van. It seemed a few of the Circus vans had been ransacked also by the twins.

It was around this time Julian reappeared, a dark frown on his face. The Ring-Master watched his approach, then went back to keeping an eye on the two boys. " How is she?... And did Kaera say anything about what we're dealing with, or how serious it is?"

"Not well. And no, I left her with Maya. She didn't seem to be able to say all that much." Julian murmered, his eyes also on Yehs and Noh. "She did, however, mention the word poison."

"Poison?" Raphael's head snapped to the Sword-Master, before he quickly pushed himself away from the van he'd been leaning against, looking downright distressed by this point. He quickly shook his head, sighing explosively before throwing an open glare at the twins. "Great. Julian. Find Dravius. And send out a notice... Tonight's opening show is cancelled." He said flatly, turning only when he heard another. His eyes narrowed sharply as they fell on Noh, currently speaking.

Julian, who had been very much about to carry out what he had been asked, paused when he too heard Noh speak, and looked over his shoulder, his ex
pression completely unsurprised.

"Oh." Raphael murmered, his ex
pression nothing if not dark and unforgiving. "So you do have some semblance of intelligence. Enough to speak, at any rate." He nodded quickly in Julian's direction, then strode towards the twins as the Sword-Master dissappeared, stopping short of Yehs acidic aim. "Alright, kid." He said, his voice steely, crouching, and resting his elbows on his knees. "Who are you?... And why exactly are you here?"

~~~

Vayne simply listened in silence to Wolfe's words, his face and ex
pression unchanging. He really was stupid. One movement and he'd be a dead man, yet Wolfe still seemed pretty calm. Or maybe, he was just stupid.

"Yes. Your death would be appreciated." He replied, keeping the blade's edge pressed firmly against the younger male's neck. "And call me what you wish. It doesn't matter. Though you seem to be mistaken in my motives. I've never really been fond of you, Wolfe. And although I know full well Break's... Nature, concerning his little brood, I still find it somewhat agitating that you saw fit to simply run him down."

Vayne snorted quietly, then actually dropped the arm holding the blade. "No. I'm not merely here for him. In all honesty, I've been wanting to confront you for a good while now. Finding Break just gave me your trail." Slipping quickly from around the Co-Master, Vayne laughed coldly, before looking over towards Kioko. It was probably about time Yehs and Noh and done enough damage. He looked back at Dravius.

"As for that girl... I had very good reason for bringing her here, least of all to get you out here. And now that I know just how high you hold your Circus in regard... I think I'll forego killing you for the pleasure of the reaction of my... Other efforts elsewhere." He took a few steps backwards, bowing in a mocking fashion and releasing his hold over Kioko's body. "Killing those who can't feel it is no fun anyway." He laughed, very quickly dissappearing into the trees.

 Well, whatever. He'd done more or less what he set out to do. Dravius would suffer somehow for his masters death. And besides. It was far more interesting this way.

~~~

 Julian, upon deciding that following Raphael's orders backwards would be more beneficial, started a search beyond the borders. He would have, usually, searched the grounds first, had Maya not mentioned earlier that Dravius had actually being called off somewhere.

So. That narrowed the search to the surrounding area and the town. The town of which was further away, prompting the Sword-Master to trawl through the nearby fields and woods, pausing every now and again to ensure he wasn't missing anything.

Due to his speed, he located Dravius in a very short amount of time, missing Vayne's departure by a mere few seconds, and stopping himself some distance away.

"You're needed at the Circus." He murmered, quiet voice strangely loud enough to be heard from the distance he was stood. His ex
pression and tone clearly indicated that his suggestion was not one the Co-Master could refuse. Clearly something was wrong. He had been about to ask about the painless male's current location when he caught sight of Kioko and her tear-stained face. His eyes narrowed, and he turned his gaze back to Dravius.

"You'd better tell me on the way back, exactly what happened out here."

Dravius stayed where he was, arms crossed over his chest, as Vayne took his knife away from his throat. "I didn't see fit to run him down, he was repeatedly try to drag me away to come with him, and eventually decided if he couldn't have me, no one could." He shrugged and stuffed his hands into his pockets, still with a deeply stony ex
pression. "Efforts. Elsewhere." He didn't seem surprised, a blank ex
pression in his eyes. As Vayne ran away, Dravius waved a hand and said, "Well, I apologize for being no fun to kill." Rolling his eyes, he jumped slightly at the appearance of Julain, whipping around and running his hands through his hair at the sight of him. "Yeah, I kind of got that impression from what my...friend told me," He gestured at the forest with one hand, looking exasperated.

Dravius slid his arm under Kioko's back and knees, lifting her gently. "Alright. Let's get you back, huh?" He looked at Julain and began striding back to the Circus as quickly asd he could without jolting the young girl he was caryying, and said, at length. "Uhm. I got a note tied to a raven, and it said that Kioko was kidnapped, and to come get her, so I did, but it turned out it was someone unhappy that Break's current residence is a dumpster, and then he said he was trying to kill me, then he nearly made Kioko break her own arm, and then he told me to go back the the Circus, and then he ran away." After that very long run-on sentence, Dravius rubbed his jaw with a shoulder, looking a bit uneasy and a little sheepish. "What's going on at the Circus, by the way?"

-----------------------------------

Yehs and Noh returned Raphael's flat glare with one of their own, identical blue gazes facing the Circus Master. They listened to the bright and the dark one talk, words flying to fast to decipher every meaning. They did catch the word "Poison" more than once, which both knew what made all of the people Noh bit expire so fast. Also made them IMPOSSIBLE to eat. Noh snorted at the time he had tried. It had tasted a bit like expired fruit, which wasn't so bad, but then mixed with ditch water and dead insects. Noh stuck out his tongue, making small "Nnnmph" sounds.

Both boys pulled back as far as they could when the bright one approached them, bending down to their level. At the questions, which luckily the man had asked rather slowly, Yehs said his name at the same time Noh did, growling at his brother. Couldn't he just wait his turn? Noh snorted at him and said, "Sent 'ere. Dunno who it was, but he said he'd feed us," Yehs finished with a "If we mucked up your place a bit." Yehs' voice had the sound of someone talking with their mouth half full of water, mostly due to the large quantity of spit that he had to keep moving out of the way so he didn't swallow it. Made his stomach upset. Noh tried to sink his teeth into his brother, but found his neck too short. Growling, the boy said, pausing slightly. "Are you going to feed us? If we tell you how to cure all the people?" He looked hopeful, eyes wide.

Nylat, having spent a good deal of time trying to hunt down the kids--which they seemed at least in looks--had not been deaf to what she was hearing, and she was not happy. She had taken her time in looking for the two, as they left a clear path of injuries and destruction behind them, and they seemed rather terrified of her. And now, it was well that they should be. She'd been out of the Circus's trouble long enough. She was one of the oldest members, it was time to take care of something. Whatever happened to the Circus always seemed to end up hurting the older members in one way or another. And Maya seemed to be the recent victim.

Sure, she was upset, but this was not going unpunished. She was bristling and growling to the point that members made sure to not be in her way. With a flick of her tail, she prowled through the vans, following the destruction and scorched earth. It wasn't long before she did find the two, along with Dravius, Raphael, and Kioko. But she paid them little notice, growling as she came to a stop just a few feet from the two. "You two are going to die so painfully, your grandparents are going to feel it! This much I swear. You two, coming into my home, detroying it, and hurting my family...I think you deserve worse than death, but luckily for you, I can do no worse than make your death as painful as possible. And I promise. I will." Her ears were laid back, and her fur along her spine was standing nearly on end. Her eyes were harder than sapphire, and her growl sounded savager than it had in a while.

She'd had enough.

~~

Kanec had been pretty much daydreaming when Disera seemingly appeared out of nowhere. But he knew better. When she handed him his jacket, he took it carefully, shrugging. "It's alright. I don't really need it unless I'm flying up high, but usually, when I'm up there I'm a bird of sorts. I guess I just use that as an excuse..." He trailed off, not really wanting to lead into the real reason he worse his jacket. "Anyways, thank you. This thing isn't too old, and I don't want to lose it quite yet." At that point, he flicked his ears, catching the screams from elsewhere in the Circus. Casting a worried glance over at Disera, he slipped on his jacket quickly. "Come on, I have a feeling that can't be at all good." He shifted into a red-tailed hawk, spiraling above as he waited for Disera to join him.

((Fail, but at least I finally got the chance to post for him. I'll try to post for Daniel after I eat when I get home.))

Yehs and Noh had been getting rather impatient, chanied to the ground and unable to move. Noh sighed and pulled up a piece of gras.s with his long teeth, making sounds of dislike as it got stuck to his dark blue tongue. Both boys stared at Raphael as he started his apparent thinking process, wiggling a little bit in the illusory metal. At his rather unclear agreement, Noh grinned and said, "Really?" At that very moment, Yehs sneezed violently, spattering the ground in front of him with a mixture of spittle and snot, both sizzling loudly on the plant life.

"Can you....let me go?" Noh asked, wiggling his fingers and staring at Raphael. "I can't...help you like this. He coughed, pulling up more bits of green, shredding them. Both boys seemed very bored, with Yehs moving his head in a circle to create a pattern of partially melted gra.ss. Yehs looked up and said, "You need me too." Noh nodded and said, "He bites the people that I bit, and my spit gets rid of burns." He shrugged, blinking slowly.

--------------------------

"Yeah. Friend." Dravius said, sarcasm infecting his voice. "Peculiar doesn't really cover it, once you think about it." He raised an eyebrow at Julian's little story, furrowing his brows and saying, questioningly, "Little. Visitors." Any questioning look was obliterated into one of shock as he saw the back of his van, small claw marks scraping the wood near his back door.

His attention was quickly brought back to Raphael as his friend said something, and he said dazedly, "Kioko got kidnapped and I had to save her. I'll be....right back..." He walked towards his back door, turning sideways to make sure Kioko got through all right. He stopped only a step inside and stopped, mouth slightly open.

The walls were obliterated. Every word, even the recent handprints gone. Dravius set Kioko down on his shredded matress, stripped of it's sheets and springs sticking out at odd angles. "Gone...." He muttered one word, dipping his fingers into a puddle of marbled black and silver ink. A pile of slivers stained cherry were the remains of Maya's gift. Dravius face grew dark, a mask of utter fury. Stepping out the front door, Dravius seemed in a haze, stepping towards the two children chained tot he ground. "I'm going to kill them." He stated calmly, bending down to stare at the two. "I'm going to kill them half-way, let them heal, and repeat." He grinned vacantly, wrapping his hand around Noh's jaw and lifting the child's head, teeth bared.

Yehs and Noh, had starting arguing quietly, jabbing each other and growling about something. They swiftly stopped when a tall, dark man positively oozing fury. Both shrank back as far as they could in chains, Noh whimpering when he felt the cold hand close around his jaw, eyes wide. This man was exuding malice, and the blank look on his face terrified the small boy. Noh took a deep breath when he was released, curling up as far as he possibly could. He was panting slightly, gulping quietly in between breaths.

Noh raised his head again as he heard footsteps, blue eyes large and wet. Gulping once more, he perked up at the sight and smell of meat, looking bewildered at the bright man's threats, although thankfully the man was talking slowly enough for both boys to decipher the words. When they were released, the boys sat up and back on their haunches. They flinched when the still very angry tall man came closer and said something very fast, opening his mouth and then pointing to their own. Noh got the gist of it first, and tilted his head with his nouth open and his tongue hanging out.

---------------------------------

Dravius made no sound when he was pulled away by his collar, shaking his head slowly back and forth, muttering something about "nasty little...". He coughed quietly and turned his attention to his old friend, ex
pression changing from a blank slate to slightly concerned. "Maya?" He said slowly, tilting his head to the side, at the same time his eyebrows arcing downwards, before resuming their furrowed ex
pression, looking infuriated again. "Well then. Tell them to fix it."

When the boys were released, something occured to Dravius, and he took the few strides that was necessary to go closer to the two and said, "Open your mouths." Apparently they weren't the best at understanding words, so he opened his own mouth and then pointed to the smaller one's, bending down to look at the darkened surface of the boy's tongue. Barely visible on the flesh of it was a black roman numeral ten. Snorting, Dravius turned to the other one and repeated the same gesture, spotting the more visible numeral eleven on the inside of the boy's cheek. "Isn't that peachy..." He muttered, stepping back and glaring at them.

------------------------------

After, rather strangely, having their mouths inspected, both boys yawned and shook themselves, a bit like a dog, then sniffing around, catching the pretty woman's scent, following it to a van, and squeezing into the van, Yehs sneezing, splattering small holes in the floor. The woman was laid out on a bed, low to the ground. The punctures on her ankle were swollen and oozing an awful looking clear fluid. Noh made a small "euch." sound and shoved his brother forewards, who sniffed a bit more, pulling level with her shoulders. He siffed her shoulder and collarbones for a bit, purely because they smelled a little like pancakes. Without warning, Yehs sunk his teeth into a spot just above the woman's heart.

Noh had been licking at Maya's ankle, and it seemed that the tooth marks inflicted by him earlier were slowly closing up, although that stuff her ankle was giving off tasted terrible. Yehs eventually dug his teeth out of Maya's flesh, although a huge burn raced around her shoulder, and a large one in the middle of the bite marks. Noh had managed to completely close up the wounds on her ankle, and had started running his marked tongue over the burns and bite marks, a look of concentration on his small face. Yehs sat back down, yawning hugely. "'Kay." He said to one of the members in the van, pointing at his brother and Maya.

Nylat appeared upset and impatiant as she listened to the deal-making and followed as it was to be put in place. She was borderline mutinous, but supressed it. This was their only hope, and she was not going to throw it out the window. She slipped on the van just behind Dravius and Raphael, sitting in the corner, tense and ready to attack if this proved disastrous. When Yehs bit Maya, she had to pull out all the restraints to not go insane, and just laid down, covering her face with her paws, whining. She hated this. This. This was torture. Sitting around while these beasts might be killing her friend faster. Finally, she just got up and left, slipping out of the door silently. She flicked her tail, wandering through the Circus, her eyes closed, not really wanting to see where she was going. She bumped into a few vans, yes, but for the most part, she managed to smell it a step before she hit it.

Finally, she stopped, opening her eyes. Sighing, she regretted stopping here. But she flicked her tail and approached the trio she had found. She walked up behind Daniel, flicking an ear as she saw Zyano, her eyes hard. Then she glance dat the boy, speaking in her native cat tongue, as it was more comfortable for her than her rougher languages. "Ah, surely you aren't bothering these two, are you, Daniel? Don't want to anger anyone."

He pat her on the head, responding in plain english. "I not gettin any'ne mad I thin." Nylat flicked her tail, smiling.

"Good. Don't want to drive anyone off, now do we?" The sarcasm in her voice was plain to anyone who knew how to recognize it, even in catspeak.

((Hehe. Catspeak. Chatspeak. *shot*))