Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, a dark figure strode silently through the trees, clawed and feathered feet touching the ground with barely a whisper. He moved with an odd step, not like that of most humans, and his back appeared malformed. But as he stepped out into the light of a large, open clearing, he flared huge, brown wings, flcked with darker brown and with a white underside. The wings were reminescent to that of a barn owl, as were the birdlike feet visible just barely under a trailing cloak. His face remained shaded under the hood of said cloak, but one eye seemed to glow yellow in the dim shadow it was housed in.

The figure walked up to a large skeleton that was picked clean by vultures and other species of gore-eaters, stopping in front of a skull that seemed to belong to a huge wolf, being at least 3 feet in length. He picked up the severed head, stroking the skull as if it were a pet. His eyes met the empty sockets of the long-dead wolf, and he crooned sofly to the bones.

"Ah, my dear pet, it seems I finally found you. You were a good guardian, I only wish you could have lived to help me. No matter. I already planned on hunting down the beast that killed you. This will only give me more reason. Ah, J-5-22-1-11, you were one of my best."

He ran a hand along the skull one last time, before lifting a foot, the knee bending backwards, and grasping the bit of the spine that still clung to the skull. With a sickening crack, he broke off the bones, leaving him with just a head. He held it as a huge snake with midnight black eyes pulled itself from the sleeve of his cloak, draping itself over his shoulders.

"You know, Masssster. We do not have to give chasssse to thissss beasssst you wish to find. If it did thissss to Jevak, then imagine what it could to o you. You do not have the shadowssss, not the ssssize."

The figure looked at the snake, and when he spoke, his voice was chilling, deadly. "What N-25-12-1-20 has done to me is enough already. I will have my revenge. I will have ither the money I deserve. Or I will have blood."

With that, he spread his great wings and took off, taking the skull in his taloned feet. He was up for a long flight, but h was going to find that creature. He was going to have payment.

(Had to post this before I forgot. No, he will not come in until the Circus calms down a bit, it does take a while to travel the distance the Circus has taken almost 2 years to travel. But, then again, Ories is ging "as the crow flies". Hehe. He...he. Anyways. Yeah. Just a teaser to a later incident. One that does not involveMaya getting hurt in any way. xD))

Dravius had remained standing, arms crossed over his bandaged and scarred chest, still without a shirt, but seeming not bothered by it. He looked vaguely angry, as if he wasn't sure who, or what, he was supposed to be angry at. He faced Maya with a flat stare as she began talking, snorting in return to the young woman's similar noise, more at her statement than the ex
pression. His face scrunched up for a split second, and he said, interjecting his words after Maya's, "I'm not the one who nearly died but twenty minutes ago!" He seemed more expasperated than ever, running his hands through his hair with nervous energy. He seemed to grow increasingly agitated, tensing and relaxing muscles at random intervals, pushing off fromt he wall and pacing in a small line, stopping to fix all of his attention on the butterfly winged girl as she began talking.

Dravius' face relaxed, and he looked more uncertain than anything else, hands in his pockets. "Use...?" He looked even more confused, and went back to gnawing on the side of his left thumb, pulling off shreds of skin with his teeth, making a small, almost inaudible-"Don't..no..." He turned back to the wall, and pressed his head against it, rolling his face back and forth on the wood, moaning softly, "Why am I so stupid ALL THE TIME?" He sighed and stared at the butterflies, looking frustrated. He felt like hitting something, but he was afraid of damaging anything in the young woman's van. The tall male heard footsteps and clambered onto Maya's bed,  pressing his face against Maya's ceiling, and saying slowly,

"I don't knwo what to say, really. Uhm. It's like....I want nothing more than to protect everyone in this circus, but it's SO FRUSTRATING that my being here...puts them in danger..." Dravius coughed and continued after a moment, "And it's like when there is nothing happening, even though I'm supposed to be Co-Master, I end up doing nothing, and just standing around..." He sighed and stepped down, staring at the ground, shifting his feet around. "Stupid, stupid, stupid..." He muttered, crossing his arms and snarling slightly.

((Stupid finger spasms...))

Dravius jumped when Maya's face swung into the doorway, stopping his silent critisism for a second or two, tilting his head to the side, and looking just a bit confused as the young woman returned to her van, rubbing the side of his neck slowly, eyebrows furrowed. He looked skeptical to begin with, but as Maya's little speech went on, his ex
pression softened, and he actually looked a little sheepish. He was still a bit disbelieving of her words, but they did make him feel a little better. A crooked grin appeared, even if it was a little tight-lipped. Her pleading ex
pression made his smile grow a bit, and he eventually relaxed all the muscles that had been knotted into cords running across his shoulders and back.

When Maya wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her face into his shoulder, Dravius lifted his own bare arms and tightened them around the young, pretty woman, wrapping long hanks of hair around his fingers, sighing quietly and saying, "Thanks, May. I'm sorry for being stupid." He laughed, a bit sadly, then began gently running his fingers up and down the bit of Maya back between her wings. It was rather peaceful, but Dravius lifted his hands away from Maya's back and murmered, "We should get outside. I don't want to leave you, and I still have to check up on the others, and tell Raphael to lie down. Or just pick him up and tie him to his bed, eh?" He teased, pulling away and standing up, padding to the door, hands tucked in his pockets.

Dravius poked his head out the door, then stepped down the short set of stairs and tilted his head backwards, his torso following until his head was completely upside down and he could see Maya inside her van, raising one eyebrow and placing his palms on the ground, judging that doing a backbend and flipping over was easier than standing back up. He did so, then turned to re-survey the butterfly-winged woman, saying slowly, "You could lie down and I'll be back in a few minutes, I promise." He smiled uncertainly, hands back in his top pockets.

"It's not bad." Zyano murmerd in response to Erik's homey comment, glancing around the van before returning the blonde's look with a stare. "She can most certainly try, although I really don't see why." He snorted. "But I highly doubt I'd make much of a performer. I'd be of better use elsehwhere. I'm not really prepared to frolick around for the amusement of others." Flicking his ears, he stood from where he sat, then padded over to one of the beds and jumped onto it, sniffing around at the covers.

He probably wouldn't end up using it... He'd probably be more comfortable sleeping on the roof. Still, no point wasting it right now. Flopping onto his stomach on the bed, he rested his head on his paws, watching Erik as he continued to unpack. "Do you have enough storage space?" He asked, his tone completely serious despite the amused look in his amber eyes. "I'm sure we'd be able to get more if we asked."

Rolling onto his sighed, he exhaled slowly, before placing a sand coloured paw over his eyes. "We should probably go introduce ourselves to the others here." Dropping his paw, he glanced at the window. "Perhaps tomorrow." He murmered, noting the gradual sunset.

~~~

"All right." Julian replied, throwing a quick glance at pas.sing members before returning his gaze to Kioko with a slight incline of his head. Well, it was her choice, he supposed. He showed little reaction to her promise to not lock herself away. It wasn't that he didn't believe her, but leaving her on her own at the moment seemed a bad idea anyway.

His ex
pression became somewhat thoughtful as she continued. "I'm afraid I don't know. Last I heard, the boy's who caused this had the cure. So I'd as.sume something's been done." He closed his eyes for a moment, then, noting the possibility of getting Kioko to stop focusing on what had happened to her for the time being, opened his eyes and looked at her. "Perhaps we should go see, hm?" He suggested, sliding his hands into his pockets and looking off towards the general area where those twins had been cornered.

He was positive it had all gone well. At least, none of the Circus members seemed too upset at the moment, which no doubt they would be had any of the afflicted members suffered death. So it was more than likely they were all recovering.

~~~

Maya had been perfectly content to just stand where she was, with her arms around Dravius, though she had to pull back to look at him when he spoke. "You're not stupid." She replied stubbornly, smiling despite her words. Honestly. If he said that one more time she was gonna punch him. Not that that was saying much. She may as well hit a rock for all the good it would do.

Snorting quietly, she went back to hugging the big dope, wings flaring a little when he touched the skin between them. It started off rather pleasant, before the motion became ever so slightly ticklish, and the girl lasted all of two seconds before she started wriggling around, stopping short when Dravius pulled his hands away. She pouted in a discontent fashion, listening to the male's words.

"You're doing it already." She laughed, gently moving her arms from his neck and prodding him in the shoulder. "Being all Co-Master-y." She added, before raising her eyebrows, an over-amused smile on her face. "Uh-huh. Good luck with that. Raphael's a lot heavier than I am, Dravius. You might struggle to get him off the floor. There's also the risk he'll get crabby about being tied to his bed and have you sink waist deep in an illusioned tar pool."

When the Co-Master stepped away, she watched him as he walked to the door, raising her eyebrows at his next motions before walking over. It probably would have been best for her to stay where she was, but she still spent a good moment debating. Sighing, she leant her hands on the doorway, looking out at the grounds. It really did look just too far to walk. And Dravius had said he'd only be a few minutes...  Besides... There was something she really wanted to sort... And she didn't want Dravius knowing about it. Not yet, anyway. Not to mention she needed to talk a few people. Nylat... Zephyre... Maybe Kioko and Julian... And probably Raphael at some point. Definately Raphael. It was probably best if she went with him then.

"I'll... I'll come with you." She responded, throwing a quick smile at the Co-Master. and following him down the stiars. An emerald and Lilac butterfly had, at some point, settled themselves on Maya's hair, and seemed perfectly content to just sit there while she walked.

Stepping over to Dravius, she clung lightly on to one of his arms, smiling at him. "'Kay."

Having dealt with the two newcomers and wandered the Circus a bit--pointedly avoiding the damaged areas--Nylat finally decided that she had absolutely nothing to do. She debated on going back to her van and finishing up with chewing that piece of wood, but decided not to, instead flopping down where she was, realizing she was just a short ways off from Raphael's van. She thought abut making a visit, and telling him abut her placement of the two, but decided to wait until things calmed down a bit, and rather, just laid down her had and dozed, not really wanting to go back to her van, still a little too tensed up to do so.

~~

Kanec nodded, listening to Selvai's recount of the incident. After hearing it, he shuffled his wings, cicking his beak a few times. "I'll be back in a little bit." He seemed almost distracted as he carefully took off from Selvai's shoulder, careful to not hit the magician in the face with his wing. He climbed higher, spiraling to et his bearings before gliding off in one direction, searching the ground for Raphael. When he found the Ring Master, he alighted on his shoulder, clicking his beak. "Sorry to bother you, Raphael, but I must ask: what exactly happened? I got a slight summary from Selvai, but he didn't seem all that sure."

Dravius stared at Maya's sighing form. His mind was already wandering, and he was humming a song that seemed to switch tempos often, his fingers twitching at his sides, as if he was his hand wrapped around the neck of a guitar or other similar string instrument. He focused back on the young woman in her van, seemingly thinking something over to herself. Maya was forever pausing to seem to take some great thought. He shook his head and grinned at her as she came down the steps, offering her an arm, which she took, and set off at a slow pace, still humming, and every so often singing softly a lyric under his breath, before stopping and digging into one of his pockets for a small wooden box, which he opened. The box was lined with thin black cloth,and had small compartments, each containing a different type of sweet, from gummies shaped like fruit to chocolate covered pretzels. Draivus fished out a caramel wrapped in parhment paper and offered it to Maya. It had a small butterfly somehow incorporated into the candy, a simple black and orange insect. "Made 'em myself." Dravius remarked, popping one into his mouth and moving it to the side of his mouth.

"Let's see if we can't find Mr. Ringmaster." Dravius continued his slow stroll throughout the grounds, looking a little intrigued at the seemingly-newly occupied van, then turning his head when he heard Kioko's voice, but he also recognized the tear-soaked waver in that same voice, and kept moving, until he spotted Raphael striding with a sense of purpose. He snorted and gently pulled his arm away from maya's fingers, and trotting up to stand even with his old friend, saying seriously, "I'm going to kidnap you, and you're getting rest." With that, he picked up the man only a few inches shorter than him and draped his friend over his shoulder, performing an about face and marching towards the man's brightly coloured van. "I don't care what you were doing, if you die it won't matter." Dravius grinned, continuing on. Raphael certainly was heavier than Kioko or Maya, and he doubted he could carry the older man much farther than his van, a slight grin on his face. He adressed the most-likely disgruntled Janec, saying, "Sorry, but I, as the Circus' unofficial doctor, am prescribing this man with bed rest and being tied to his matress." He laughed quietly, ruffling Rpahael's blonde hair.

((LOLFAIL))

As Dravius started moving, Maya went with him willingly, keeping a firm hold of his offered arm. Her initial aches had subsided substantially, and only left a rather weak, tired sort of feeling. No doubt a good nights sleep would remedy that, however. Smiling a little to herself, ther young woman glanced off in one direction as they walked, noting the quickly disappearing sun before turning her gaze back to the Co-Master.

She looked slightly amused at his quiet humming, the ex
pression becoming slightly confused as he pulled out the small box. Maya almost had to rane her neck to get a good look at it, blinking when Dravius offered her that little sweet. She took it, then raised her eyebrows at him.

"You made these?" She asked, letting go of Dravius arm and instead hooking her elbow through his so that she could unwrap whatever it was she'd been given. Sheesh. "Is there anything you can't do?" Maya asked with a laugh, looking at the little butterfly on the confection before putting it in her mouth. It really wasn't bad, she had to admit.

Maya walked quietly with Dravius the rest of the way, noting, like him, the new van and the voice of Kioko. She looked a little worried at the latter, though had to turn her attntion back to Dravius when he pulled free of her grip, Raphael strolling off not far from them.

The Ring-Master, who had managed by this point to visit all the afflicted, didn't even jump when Kanec appeared out of nowhere, throwing a glance at the shifter before replying. "More of Breaks little friends. In short, they managed to poison a few of the members, though they're all fine now. Seems our Dravius isn't entirely out of the woods yet."

When Dravius appeared, he merely grunted non-commitedly at the Co-Masters words as he continued walking. No. What got his attention was the sudden force that lifted him off the ground. Snorting, he hit Dravius in the back of the head. "You'd have to do far better than that." He said, slightly amused as his form seemingly evaporated into thin air; The man himself quite suddenly re-appearing to stroll alongside Dravius, a slight smile on his face. "Tell me. Whatever makes you think I need bed rest?" He asked, scratching behind an ear. "I'm fine. I won't keel over anytime soon. Stop telling me what to do." He laughed, punching Dravius in the arm.

He had to pause when Maya walked over, clearly trying not to laugh. She hadn't really thought Dravius would actually attempt to carry the Ring-Master.

Raphael simply smiled at her. "Are you all right?" He asked, raising an eyebrow, and moving forward to hug her at her nod. "Good. I was just on my way to see you, actually... Everyone else seems to have made a good recovery." He grinned, blowing at a strand of blonde.

"Everyone else is okay?" Maya asked, stepping back a little.

"Just fine." Raphael smiled, looking over his shoulder at Dravius. "Which prompts me to ask... Why are you walking around shirt-less?... And what's with the news bandage?"

 ((Sheesh this went down fast. o_o Uppp.))

Dravius had been marching along, looking very pleased with himself when Raphael went and disappeared himself. Dravius huffed and pouted a bit at Raphael, answering him with "No, I don't think I'll stop that anytime soon. He grinned at his friend, and shoved him as a return for his punch. The tall male laughed openly after that, trying madly to stop, clapping his hand over his mouth and snickering quietly. He calmed down a bit, coughing quietly into his elbow.

Dravius had been listening absently to Raphael, still chewing on the sweet in his mouth, the caramel taste covering ths inside of his mouth. The tall male blinked once at his old friend and said, "Well, all my other clothes got shredded, and the shirt I was wearing before got all bloody, so I washed it, and now it's hanging up. The bandage is because I gat hurt, as usual." He shrugged and sniffed once, rubbing the side of his head with the heel of his hand. "I still think you should lie down, or something." He ruffled Raphael's blonde hair, grinning merrily, and offered Raphael the box. "Did you put the new people in a van? 'Cause I didn't." Dravius asked, tilting his head.

Blinking quickly, the man turned his head towards Maya and said, "D'you waqnt to get back to your van?" He put an arm around the young woman's waist, running his hands through his hair to brush it back from his face, coughing quietly. "I mean, so you can lie down...and stuff...." He trailed off, grinning sheepishly. "Whatever..." He winced and stuck his free hand in his pocket, pausing for an enourmous yawn, murmering, "Mmmsotitred."

((-Derps about-))

Raphael, stood with his arms now crossed and his eyes on the Co-Master, listened to the younger male's words as he explained the extra gauze; Maya stood just beside the Ring-Master and smiling at Dravius' previous laughing fit. He certainly had cheered up a bit, it was rather nice to see.

Upon Dravius' completion of his explanation, Raphael snorted quietly. "Hurt." He murmered. "As usual?" He laughed, then shook his head, causing the long blonde strand at the back of his head to fall over one shoulder. "It's usually delibrate," He added out of nowhere, then grinned and looked off in one direction as a few members pas.sed, before looking back towards Dravius.

"Psh. I dont need to lie down. I was down for just under a day, I think that's about long enough, no?" He laughed, taking a sweet from the offered box and stopping short when the slightly taller male mentioned the new members. "New members?" The Ring-Master's face became momentarily confused, his eyes widening a little after a moment of thought. He must have meant that wolf and red-head. Unfortunately, Raphael had been rapidly falling ill by that point, and had only seen them in pas.sing. "Oh... No... I as.sume one of the other members handed them the accomodation. I should probably talk to them at some point... Unless you've already done so, of course."

Gently running his fingers behind one ear and along his jawline, Raphael looked thoughtful for a minute, his eyes on the floor as Dravius addressed Maya. The butterfly winged young woman, who had been watching the two male's conversation, "hm'd?" at the Co-Master when he spoke to her. She giggled at his words. Lie down and stuff. Gosh he had a way with words. And not in a sophisticated sort of way... More like... utterly random.

Laughing, she used an elbow to nudge him in the side. "I'm pretty sure lying down is all I'll be doing, Dravius." She replied, prodding him a few times before wriggling out of his arm. "And I will... You head back. I need to talk to Raphael first." Maya had been so close to pushing the Co-Master off in one direction, then decided against it. She'd never be able to really move him. Not unless he was on wheels and even that would be a challenge.

The Ring-Master, who had still had his mind elsewhere, looked up when he heard his name. "Oh?"

Maya smiled at him, then pushed Dravius a little in his side, avoiding the injury, before walking quickly to Raphael and tugging on his arm; Eventually stopping a few feet from where they started. "What is it?" Raphael asked, looking slightly worried.

The young woman glanced off quickly in Dravius' direction, then looked pleadingly at the Ring-Master. "I need a big, big favour." She said quietly, tugging on the front of the blonde male's shirt.

"Oh... All right?"

"Tomorrow. I need you to take Dravius out of the Circus for a couple of hours... Please?... There's something I wanna do for him and I kind of need him out of the way to do it. You can go into town with him, right?... I think he needs to go shopping anyway."

"Wait... What?... And you're asking me because...?"

Maya smiled. "Because Dravius is a fast shopper. And you can always... I don't know. Take your time. Or Illusion up some distraction or something if he decides he doesn't want to stay out there." She paused, then sighed. "He's always worrying about stuff he doesn't need to. And then there's stuff he does need to worry about, and theres one problem I think, with help, I can fix for him. Pleaaase?... This is important. Pleasepleasepleas-"

"Okay okay." Raphael threw up his hands, smiling at the young womans ex
pression. "All right." He laughed. "I'll deal with it. Just don't... Overdo it. You had a bit of a narrow escape today, you know."

"I'm fine." Maya responded, quickly hugging Raphael around the waist before letting go and smiling at him. "And thank you."

With a funny little noise of excitement, the girl hugged Raphael again, then turned and sprinted off after Dravius. She mentally reminded herself of who she needed to speak to tomorrow as she caught up with him, clinging to an arm once she did. "Okay... Now I'll go back." She said, looking around before smiling at him. She sincerely hoped everything would go smoothly tomorrow.

Dravius snorted slightly at Raphael's rather dry observations, and said quietly, "Not as of late, really." He blinked at the shorter man, and nodded, repeating, "New members. The overly friendly one and the overly indifferent one." He paused and sneezed suddenly, blinking rapidly afterwards, looking just a bit bewildered. "Mmm. Maybe Ny, although she seems to hate the...wolf-y one." Dravius wiggled his fingers vaguely.

The tall male seemed a bit hurt when Maya laughed at him, but more in a teasing way than being actually offended. "Well, I don't know. You're rather odd, you know." He snorted again, louder this time, and stretched his arms over his head, making a small "Nnn" noise, coughing when he was elbowed in the side, making small noises of protest. "Wait, why?" He looked incredibly clueless, but went on his way anyways, walking along the gras.s. He jumped suddenly at a loud, startling noise, a laugh that sounded a bit like two hyenas together. Dravius shivered and stuck his hands in his pockets, a crop of goosebumps rising along his spine. He jumped again when Maya latched onto his arm, raising his eyebrows at her and asking, "Well, what was that all about?"

The man made it back to Maya's van in short order, ducking his head slightly to get inside, and sitting on the floor next to her bed, yawning hugely and rolling his head back and forth, producing a series of cracks, and he winced, eyelids drooping. Dravius then got up and wrapped his arms around Maya, gently sitting down on the young woman's bed with his arms still around her, snuggling his face into her hair, then letting go and yawning again, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

Ny, who was half asleep, didn't take notice of the two pairs of approaching footsteps she heard until they stopped, and she glanced up, blinking sleepily. "Ah, hello there, Julian. Kioko." She stretched, standing, and shaking her fur out. "Ah, nothing much. Just felt like taking a nap. 'Course, I didn't realize how late it was already." She yawned, before answering Kioko. "Ah, nah, 'mfine. Seems those two were scared outta their skin of me or somethin. Not sure. You are fine, yes?" She yawned again, before rubbing her eyes with a paw. "Aye, today's been a long day. Dunno why 'm so tired. Anyways, I'm gonna be off now. Kioko, you want to join me or just come back to the van later?" She didn't wait for a response before starting off, but walked slowly, glancing over her shoulder.