Kioko lifted her head as they stepped inside the van.  When Ariskye stood next to the chair and twisted her neck back to look at her, she nodded in understanding and slid off the shape-shifters back into the padded chair.

Folding her knees under her, the young girl rubbed tiredly at her eyes.  "Thank you for your help, Ariskye," she mumbled in her soft voice.  Yawning into her hands, Kioko felt herself beginning to fall asleep when she realized she was missing something.  She lifted her head to see the shape-shifter was still by her side.

"Um, Ariskye?" Kioko asked hesitantly.  "I'm sorry to ask for your help again, but would you go get my bag?  I dropped it near where that Break man was when I had to run off."

((Alright. All these plots and deaths and whatever are fine, just so long as its not one after the other. xD God. I'm starting to crave peaceful moments. xD!! Anyways~ >3))

Raphael watched two of the girls head into Maya's van, then turned to look down at Jazz as she asked about her own travel preferences. He felt an amused smile touch his lips, before he shrugged in a very offhand way. "I don't see why not, as long as you don't mind Julian's company. seeing as his vans been taken already." He replied, before glancing towards Spider.

He could sense the boys seeming hesitation to accept anything he didn't seem to think he was worthy of. He chuckled quietly. "Don't get me wrong, if you prefer being outside, that's fine; And once we reach our next destination your welcome to set up your own space." He looked over his shoulder, smiling. "But do you really want to sit on the van roof for the next few hours?" He asked, gesturing at the vans.

He was pretty sure Spider wouldn't run after the vans, and unfortunately, staying outside while travelling could be a problem, not to mention a little uncomfortable. "If it bothers you though, Maya's van would probably suit you. It's quite literally a minature rainforest in there." He ran a hand through his hair. This need to leave quickly meant he couldn't really situate the new people properly... Ah well, it was only a few hours to their next destination. Turning on his heel, Raphael headed towards his own van, more than ready to leave this particular town behind.

((Alrighty. We'll time skip once everyones settled. o_O Driving vans are not all that fun. :3))

((Pfft, Dravvy. *Patpat* xD))

~Time Skip~ 

The vans had come to a standstill just outside another town, this one far larger than the last. The lead van, as well as all the member vans, resided in a large field that stood not too far from the first streets, a main road pas.sing their field on it's way into town. Behind them, there were more fields and hills, some of them surrounded by stout gray stone walls.

The morning sun had made it's way over the horizon, and many of the members still slept. There wasn't really any rush to awaken, seeing as the actual construction of the Circus itself took little time... Besides, dealing with cranky Circus members simply made Raphaels job harder.

The Ring Master was already awake, pondering over the last days events and the way everything seemed to have just crashed back on itself at the arrival of Break. With an agitated rub of his forehead, he stood up and made his way out of the van, being sure not to awaken the still sleeping Julian and Jazz, both of whom had travelled with him last night.

Yawning, he glanced once at a very clear sky, before spotting Maya sat on one of the stout walls surrounding the field, having woken even before the Ring Master. He glanced around the field, counting mentally the number of members who were awake, before walking over to red winged teen, his face cheerful. "Morning," He said carefully, a smile on his face.

Maya glanced once at Raphael, before turning her gaze back to the orange and black butterfly that sat in her palm. "Morning," She replied, somewhat tonelessly, allowing the little bug to crawl over the fingers on her other hand.

Raphael sighed, just as one of the Circus hands walked over, asking about the pavilion. The Ring Master, once sure Maya wasn't going to leave again, followed after the member and began to hand around tasks quickly. He wasn't going to make any decisions regarding the next show without speaking to Dravius first, and once he'd given everyone something to do, he sat himself outside his van, his eyes on Maya, worry still seeming find him. Even in the light of a new day.

Andrew opened his eyes when the van came to a halt, the stop making his body rock forward slightly. Without so much as moving hs head, he glanced around at the sleeping members in the wagon. Hie nose wrinkled when he realized a girl was dangerously close to him and slipped out of the back of the wagon.

He couldn't remember the last time he had slept, it had been a few months back at the nightmares were intense, allowing maybe an hour or so of rest. This could be a possible contributer to his strange ways and crazed actions and thoughts. Extreme sleep deprivation?

He walked away from the small band of wagon and the sleeping circus members, quietly slipping into the early morning mist. He wanted to get a good view of the surroundings and there was no better time than early in the morning. He went up as close to the town as he could without drawing unwanted annoying attention to himself.

Crouching and watching the people walk around and driven threw the streets. He watched the crime and the everyday patterns of the people that lived here with his usual smile and head cocked to the side. Soon, as he usually did, he got bored and stood up. He headed to the line of trees where he could possible find a place to hang around until he wanted to go back to the camp ground. 

Finding a place he looked around suspiciously before he reached for Sonya strapped to his back, unsheathing it slowly listening to the sound it made as it slide smoothly out of the sheath. He removed the leather sleeve and looked around once again before slowly sliding Sonya across the scarred skin on his forearm. Blood welled up and dripped down his gloved hand.

He watched the blood drip and relished in the pain as it ran up and down his arm making his heart race. This kept his blood lust in check and it also kept him awake and the nightmares away. Once he was done here he would go back and no one would ever know. No one knew now, he didn't want someone trying to help him. he didn't need help.

Once he was finished he took the cloth and wiped the his blades clean before sheathing it once again.

Alto emerged from the woods, a spot of blood on his face. He licked it away and stood in the sunshine, relishing it's warmth. Being a demon, he couldn't eat human food and drink water. He survived off raw meat and blood. He frowned slighty. But animal blood always made him just a litlle off. He could almost hear the demons growling for human blood. He growled low under his breath as he stood there. Silverbane's condition has lessened and her fever had went down. But her wound had opened up and started bleeding again. Alto had fixed her up so that she was new again with the help of Dravius, but he was still worried. In all the time of moving, she had woken up. Not a single time.

As Alto stood outside, pondering the reason why she wouldn't awake, Silverbane opened her eyes. She breathed slow and evenly, taking in the scents and the auras. The powers crowded around in her thoughts and she winced.  When her powers got out of control it always gave her a headache. She clenched her hand, missing her scythe. She smiled slightly when she realized that her blindfold was still on. Good old Alto. Her body felt strange. As if someone with evil intent had touched her. She shivered off the feeling. It felt like worms were crawling on her. She grimaced. She hated when her powers got the better of her. It allowed her to know someone's power and what their spirit is like. Not to mention the color of their aura. But if they touched her, their spirit left a mark on her. It depended on the spirit how the mark felt. The mark always faded, but somtimes, if the spirit was evil, it took longer to fade. She shivered again and sighed, a small raspy sound. 

Nylat sat on the top on her van, watching the Circus members bustle about their business. The top of her van was only a short leap for her, so it was common for her to do so. Being less cranky and having made no progress with Maya, the hybrid was trying to think out another plot. It wasn't easy, but she finally decided upon one, and waited, the steady rise and fall of her breathing being the only movement from her as she set her sights on Dravius's van, waiting. And watching.

((Ohemzee! Nylat's a stalker. XD))

~~

Kanec stretched, flaring his wings for a bit before flopping back on his bed roughly. He had yet to pull on his jacket, and since he kept his van rather cold, he was a bit affected by that fact. His van was rather simply, harboring many paintings and photos of red-tailed hawks and other birds of prey. Other than that, it just had his bed, and space for another.

He really didn't want to get up and face another day around Nylat, but he figured he had no choice, really. It was that or laze around with nothing to do. He sighed, folding his wings a bit as he sat up. He grabbed his jacket from where it laid, draped over the end of the bed, and pulled it on as he opened the door, jumping out and shifting, landing as a tiger. He closed the door and padded over to Raphael, completely ignoring Nylat as he pas.sed her van.
"Hello, Raphael. I trust your day has been good so far?"

~~

Fallow yawned, stumbling from the van sleepily, her wings dragging lazily on the ground. It didn't hurt her, rather slowed her down. And at the moment, she was too drowsy to care. Gale was flopped on her head as she had been last night, and was still snoring loudly. Well, to Fallow. And if Fallow tried to wake the bat spirit up, she'd e heard. Waking her up through thoughts never worked. She just had to yell at her. So she'd have to live with the headache-inducing snores, which made her quite cranky.

((Hurr. Non-cranky Nylat and cranky Fallow.))

Dravius stepped out of his van, looking deeply into the ground. His white hair shaded his face as he sighed through his nose, leaning against the darkly painted wagon. It was strange, when you looked at Dravius and Raphael's vans, they were vastly differnet for people who were so close. One dark and hostile, the other simply bright and inviting. The wagons were almost as different as the people themselves.

Dravius sighed again and looked at Nylat's van, completely missing the large hybrid staring at him, running his fingers through his hair. He started chewing vigorously on his lips ring, and obviously did it too hard as he cursed and spat it out. Dravius had managed to rip the steel ring from his lip.

Swearing softly, Dravius took a dark red rag from his pocket, pressing it against his bleeding lip. "God, this day just keeps getting better." He muttered, his speech slightly slurred because of the cloth. He beat his head softly against the wood of his van, rubbing his bad eye absently.

Raphael was deep in thought when Kanec's voice brought him out of his daze. The disaster of yesterday evaporated almost as quickly as it had come, the Ring Master looked at Kanec, then chuckled.

"Considering I havn't actually been up that long, it would be pointless to answer. But yes, it's been fine. So far," He replied with a smile, before standing and stretching. He glanced once at Maya, before looking back at Kanec.

"I take it your still have trouble with our little hybrid?... I should probably talk to her when I get the chance..." He sighed, glancing over his shoulder as Fallow emerged, a smile on his face. "Good morning." He said brightly. "I trust you slept well?"

~~~

At the noise made by Circus members setting up camp, Julian opened one eye, hands behind his head. He'd slept in the pas.senger seat of the van, and shifted himself forward to look at bustle out of the front windscreen with a sleepy demeanor. Damn. They always made so much noise...

With a sigh, he cracked open the van door and jumped from his seat, slamming the door behind him as he walked around the van; Heading towards where Raphael and Kanec stood. With a yawn, he stopped just by the Ring Master, leaning against the colourful van and closing his eyes.

With any luck, today would be quieter than the last...

((I would Kuro, but I'm brain dead atm.  Maybe I can think of something in a little while >_<))

((EDIT: Ignore that, just got an idea for a post.  Kioko gets her own magical back-story flashback/dream! *throws glittery confetti around XD*))

Exhausted, Kioko curled up in the chair, resting her head on her arms and finally allowed herself to drift to sleep.  What began as exhaustion fueled dreamless sleep soon twisted itself into something incredibly disturbing.

Whimpering, the little girl curled even further in on herself in the dark closet.  Her tummy growled again, and she scrubbed at the dried tears that were making her face sticky.  She wished Mommy and Daddy would get back soon and let her out.  The few pieces of bread they had given her were long gone by now, along with the water.  Now she was hungry, thirsty, scared, and, because of not being able to go to the bathroom, dirty and smelly.  Her nose began to run again, and Kioko wiped it on her sleeve.  Mommy and Daddy would probably be very mad when they got back from where ever they had gone.  

It had been two?-maybe three days since the white haired child had been roughly shoved into the closet of the rundown apartment with some stale bread and a half empty bottle of water and been told to "Stay quiet and don't make a mess before we get back."  She'd wanted to cry then, but they had told her not to make noise, so she didn't, even though the closet was dark and scary.  If she could be good, maybe Mommy and Daddy wouldn't be so angry all the time.  Kioko didn't know what she did to make them upset, but it must have been really bad this time, for them to leave her in the closet for this long.

The little girl was about to fall back asleep when the muffled sounds of a door being opened and two people talking loudly came through the closet door.  Kioko recognized the slurred voices and sat up as the closet was unlocked and the door yanked open.  The bright light as.saulted her sensitive eyes, and she raised one thin arm to block it.  A large figure stood in the closet doorway, swaying unsteadily on his feet.

"Dammit," the man swore.  "This closet stinks to high heaven.  Hey!  That kid of yours pissed herself again!  Come clean her up or sumthin'!"  Kioko hung her head in fear and shame as an equally drunk voice answered from the other room.  "Give the little brat a bath yourself, I don't wanna deal with her tonight."  

Kioko cried out in pain as a large hand grabbed her white hair and shook her violently.  "What the hell is wrong with you, hunh?"  A rough, alcohol soaked voice yelled at her.  "We leave you alone for a little bit and you do this?"  The girl whimpered, her skin beginning to tingle hotly as the tirade continued.  She managed to cry out, "I'm sorry," before heat enveloped her and everything went black.

Waking up on the floor, with tears running down her face, was not the most pleasant morning Kioko had ever had.  "Still not the worst, though,"  Kioko reminded herself, thinking of her dream/flashback.  Pushing it out of her head, the teenager wiped the tears off her face with a corner of her cloak, before stepping out of the van and checking out the new site of the circus.

((That flashback was incredibly depressing to write))

"Oh, Dravius..."
Nylat said it in her false sweetness, and the way she said it sent chills down even her own spine. The hybrid stood, leaping lightly from the top of her van, though how one of her size could leap lightly was a question itself. She padded up to the Co-Master, plastering a false smile on her face. She stopped right beside him, her eyes flashing with mischeif as galnced up at him.
"We need to talk."

((Nylat in my head is creepiness at the moment. *shudders* I'd hate to be Dravius right now.))

~~

Kanec nodded.
"So far is a good phrase to use. After all, look what happened yesterday."
He growled slightly but soon recovered and sat, looking toward Nylat as she approached the Co-Master.
"Yes, I am. And if you would, that'd be great. But that may have to wait. It seems as if she's got another chat to attend to."
He laced the last two sentences with worry, mainly for Nylat. He himself knew that she could be quite violent when she lost her temper. And, knowing Nylat's closeness to Maya, and what'd happened the previous day, he could bet that this was not going to be a walk in the park for Dravius.

~~

Fallow nodded, rubbing her eyes.
"Yea. I slept well. A bit too well, I think."
She yawned, and finally got up the energy to lift and fold her mas.sive wings. Well, they were mas.sive compared to her slight frame. Compared to Kanec's wings, they were normal-sized. The girl blinked slowly and sleepily, stretching.
"And how was your night?"

[[KIOKO NEEDS HUG. *hug*]]

Spider hated repeating himself. Why answer a question if it was just going to be answered again? Was it the best of two out of three? Hmph, well, he hated games like that. So he was very glad for the sudden transition of time that made it so that he didn't have to answer any questions. He wasn't sure where he was at, either, as he was quite sure he was still sleeping. Because the pink girl was there again. And he had only just realized that it wasn't a girl at all.

He felt better here, regardless of the strange pink man. It was nice and quiet and the only questions asked were concerning food. Do you like scones? Yes, very much. No deep thinking or worrying required. It was the way dreams should be. They were having a picnic. It was a dream he had often, and usually included the family he never had. He figured if he had had one, that they would go on picnics.

The second best part of this dream was that he was normal. Appearance-wise, anyway. Just a normal goofy looking human boy with freckles and dirty blonde hair. At the present, he was dangling from the tree their checkered picnic blanket was under. The discussions so far had been about the picnic, the weather, and whether or not Spider should climb that tree. All of these were well and good, but Spider had some questions for the lady like man. His first question, was whether his cousins had something to do with this.

"No, not really," Zinc said, as he leaned sideways and picked a flower out of the gra.ss. "I just happened to be eavesdropping about their idiotic plans and decided someone should be watching you. You're still just a child, but they don't seem to understand."

Zinc absently plucked another flower and started making a flower crown. Or attempted to, at any rate.  "I don't want to be here." Spider said, flatly. Zinc's eyebrow twitched in amusement and he smiled thinly. "Then wake up, stupid." he told him, kindly. Spider dropped out of the tree and into the gra.ss with a grunt. "No, I mean the Circus." He grumbled. "Some of them are awful nice... but... it isn't a place for me."

Spider trailed off and dropped his head into his hands. Zinc shrugged his shoulders. "You'll get used to them. You can't hide from other people forever. Don't worry, you'll feel better after awhile. And if you don't, well, I'm sure Emmy will take you back home." If only to irritate her brother. Zinc thought, with a frown. Spider stuck his lower lip out in a pout, but said nothing. The pink haired man paused in his work, and looked up as if he could hear something. "Hmm, time to wake up I think. A lot of 'em are already up. Go face the day, every day is a new adventure or something like that." He stood, dusted his hands on his pants, and stared impatiently at Spider. "Now."

The spider boy stubbornly refused to wake up, but despite his resolve, found his eyes opening any way. He groaned and threw his arm over his eyes at the sudden sunlight. He wanted to go back to the picnic. Spider couldn't for the life of him remember where he had slept last night. He remembered getting frustrated and flustered with Raphael's questions and having a near panic attack having to answer a question he had already answered.

He remembered throwing himself into the nearest empty place in a trailer attached to one of the vans. It was a good enough place to sleep, though some of the things already being carried in the trailer were not the most comfortable of items.  His suitcase dug painfully into his side, and as he sat up he rubbed the spot with a bitter frown.

As he clambered out he nearly fell into a puddle of mud, and tried to keep himself from marking this day off as a bad one at the start. The only thing he could really think of was that he was hungry. He just realized that he hadn't eaten since yesterday morning, and hoped there was something to eat around here.

Dravius jumped hugely as Nylat came to a stop in front of him. "Mmmm?" He said through the rag, looking warily at the hybrid with her sugary, false smile aimed towards him. Nylat's fake smile was not the same as one on a human. Nylat's smile was like looking into the eyes of a grinning shark, or something of the like. With Nylat approaching him with a smile made of knives was never good, from the first day he had met her.

"About what?" Dravius asked carefully, removing the rag from his face as he nervously rolled his bloody lip ring inbetween his first two fingers. "And don't smile at me like that, most people usually see it before they loose some skin." The Co-master had to quickly re-apply the rag to his lip, looking nervously at the grinning hybrid.