Nylat smiled, her eyes sparking a bit in the contentment that rarely showed anymore.
"Eh. It started out as that, but with all these fumes and cars, its hard to follow a scent, seeing as I'm a bad tracker to begin with. So, after I lost track of you, I just wandered. And happened to find you."
She sat, watching Maya with careful eyes. She blinked slowly, and, in answer to the second question, she flicked her tail.
"You'd be lost without me."
She flicked her ears occasionally, though they usually swiveled around, alert for anything that hinted at hostility. Of course, that could easily be taken care of if it came up. She hadn't tried it before, but she guess she could snap a regular human in two, not that she was willing to. But if it came to survival, she would. She glanced up, judging the time.
"Well, its getting late, and though I take it you aren't performing, and neither am I, I'd rather not miss it. This is a somewhat bigger town than the last, and I look forward to seeing how many people believe my 'stray dog' act."
She grinned. For a while now, she had been doing said act, and found out she was a pretty good actor. Since she only performed half the time nowadays due to her increaseing stiffness, the other half of the time was spent conning food out of the onlookers. This was done by acting like a starving stray. It was rather simple for Nylat, who never seemed to gain weight anymore. And if their food was gone faster, they had to buy more. So it was good for business too.

((I love Nylat. <3))

Maya blinked, then shook her head, the smile slowly slipping. Nylat was right, of course. Despite the fact she was the least human of all of them, she could act the most compas,sionate, and with a sigh, Maya concluded her answer to be accurate. Very much so, in fact.

Letting go of the hybrids snout, she turned away slightly, crossing her legs and placing her good elbow on a knee, her eyes on the sky. "Of course," She murmered, watching a scudding cloud as it made its slow way across the expanse of blue. She remained sat that wya until Nylat spoke about heading back, and the butterfly winged teen frowned slightly. Unfortunately, the fact that she was both wet and cold, left no room for her to argue with the hybrid... Besides, she didn't want Raphael looking for her.

She glanced at the splint that resided on her left arm, then stood, gently picking up the cloak, now soaking thanks to the wet gras,s, and holidng it loosely at her side. "Alright," She said quietly, starting to walk the way she had come, back across the fields and away from the town. Every step closer seemed to put her on edge, a small sigh escpaing her lips as she walked.

((Night, and I do too. <3 >3))

Nylat followed, catching up in a few bounds, until she walked beside Maya, matching her pace. She kept herself alert still, just in case. She'd been paranoid like this ever since she'd been attacked by Jevak almost two years ago.And though that seemingly didn't affect her personality, she was prone to worrying more, as well as a few other small differences. The biggest change was her paranoia. Though she rarely showed it in broad daylight, she became overly so at night. The only place she every felt comepltetly safe wasat the Circus, around everyone else. Outside of the grounds, it kicked it, and doubled when she was with someone else nearby.

The hybrid brushed up against Maya's leg, more for her own comfort than anything, but remained alert and wary, glancing this way and that, only visibly relaxing when they finally got to the Circus camp. At which point, she straightened up a bit, but wasn't completely content. Her eyes hardened a bit, but she was otherwise the normal, calm hybrid she used to be. She flicked her ears up to try and listen for whenever the first customer came, her head tilted slightly.

((Oh, Yama, those ponies can put up a fight. Be careful.))

"Very good." Gem said, writing down the fact that Spider possesed a set of rather large and pointed teeth, looking slightly confused as Spider nearly burst into tears. "What is wrong? I am merely collecting information, young man. That is no reason to be frightened." His brief confusion clearing, his hand still scribbled away, making marks about, "Timid personality, lacking any sort of courage",

"Ahh, no scientific name." Gemini muttered. He had written so much, he had to flip and start a whole new page about both Spider and Zinc. "Any realations, Spider-boy?" Gem asked, as he moved a few feet back, again pushing up his spectacles with the heel of his hand. "Although I there will be no true relations, as you seem to be made of a spider, a spirit, and an enchantment."

Raising a thin brow at the "like a corpse" comment, he wrote something along the lines of, "Utter moron" in the margins of the paper.

<~>~<~>

Dravius watched Gem, Zinc, and Spider, with a worried ex
pression, before walking over and taking the notebook from him and shaking his head. "Really, Gem?" He said with a sigh, waving Gem away from Spider, before leaning down, but still keeping a reasonable distance before saying, "Spider, y'see, Gemmi doesn't understand fear or, um, personal space. You're going to have to tell him when he's too close. He thinks of people more like objects than anything else."

With a sheepish smile, he dropped Gem's notebook back into his hands, saying, "Gemmi, you gotta give Spider his space, 'kay?" Seeing the older boy nod and go back to muttering about the fabric of the tents and ticket prices, he sighed yet again and murmered to Spider, "He might come back, because whenever he sees something he hasn't before, he wants to know everything about it, so just tell him to stay however far away you want, and after a few hours, he'll lose intrest and leave you alone, okay?"

Tilting his head, he turned to Zinc and laughed slightly, asking, "Are you afraid of Gemmi?" He didn't say it in a mean way, but ratherr in a slightly teasing tone.

[[The one thing Sh'Yama fears.... PONIES!!]] 

Spider was relieved to have his personal space back, and suddenly found himself glowering at Gemini. "Just Spider, thank you very much! Though, though I think "Boris" would be better!" Only friends get to call me Spider! He thought, with finality. He wasn't some specimen to be poked and prodded, and puffed his chest out in defiance of his fear. Gemini's words stung him regardless.

 A mix up of parts... thrown together... just because someone had been bored. That was true. He bitterly scrubbed at the tears that started pouring out of his eyes, and turned his back to everyone. "No true relations..." he mumbled, thickly. That was true, too. "Sh'Yama... doesn't care... Emmy....Emmy and Sera... don't...?"

Yes they do, that's why they abandoned you. Spider squared his shoulders and looked up at Dravius. The tears were gone, and he was almost daring him to mention it. Spider hoped he didn't.  "Is he like a dog? Do you smack him with a rolled up newspaper?" There was a bitterness in his voice Spider didn't like hearing himself use, but he couldn't help it. "No, even a dog would know better. Objects... I can levitate an ob
ject into his head, wonder if he'd understand that."  He crossed his arms, and stared moodily at the ground.

Normally he'd feel bad for saying such things, and probably would later, anyway. But why should he? It's not like he could hurt HIS feelings. In fact, why is it that other people could walk all over him, but it was impolite for him to be "mean"? It wasn't fair. Spider was fairly certain he'd done absolutely nothing to deserve any of the ill treatment he'd been given his whole life. They didn't deserve his poilteness!

Sh'Yama could be mean. See him try and ask her about what she was. Invade her personal space. Does being fearless mean he didn't know not to poke the bear? Probably. Spider worried for a moment that Sh'Yama might cut him open. He'd seen the knives strapped to her belt. Then decided he wouldn't worry because he didn't care!

- - - 

Now look what he'd done. Zinc considered giving the kid nightmares, but he'd just be fascinated and stupid and ugh he didn't want to have to deal with that.  He rounded on Dravius, looking a little peeved. "Afraid? I don't fear anythi--" He stumbled over his words, looking unsure. Well. Yes. He did perhaps fear some things... but not what most would think, and it wouldn't be dramatic to reveal it here. "Hmph. Not fear. Unease. He's unnatural. Sociopaths. Never liked them." He waved a hand in dismissal.

"He better make sure to do what is requested of him, though. Picking on Spider is easy and without consequence-- until Sh'Yama hears about it. Surely he is not quite so stupid to bug that woman? She could rip his throat out as unfeelingly as he dismissed Spider's existence. I should know..." He trailed off, looking grim, and sighed.  "In fact, everyone should be a trifle careful... she seems... calm now, but she can get very unstable without warning... Stopping her when she's like that is not an easy task."

Zinc was suddenly aware of Spider's glower suddenly turned on him! What had he done? He was just stating it as it was! Honestly, Zinc thought he himself was the only person truly concerned for Spider... and his stupid irresponsible sister had to go and mess that up. Turn him against him. Well, he'd just have to have a good talk with her!

[[Emo Spider needs some icecream and a hug. ]= ]] 

((*Gives Spider a bowl of ice cream and a hug.*  Cheer up! ):))

"Spider?"  Kioko scooted closer to her upset friend and wondered what she could do to make him feel better.  Anytime she'd cried as a young child had been met with a response of "Knock that crap off", so she wasn't sure how to respond when someone needed to be comforted.  Maybe a hug?  She'd seen parents hug young children when they cried, it could be worth trying.

Kioko awkwardly wrapped her arms around Spider and gave him a quick squeeze before dropping her arms back to her sides and stepping back to give him some space.  

"Ah, sorry if that upset you more," she mumbled, looking down at her feet.  "But what you said about not caring?  I care about you, you're my friend, after all.  And I'm pretty sure Yama cares about you as well.  She did seem pretty happy when you two first met." 

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

"Thank you, Mister Raphael."  Selvai replied.  "I shall see to my lodgings, then."  Without another word, he stepped away from the group and entered one of the unoccupied vans.  Normally he would have introduced himself to everyone else, but there seemed to be an undercurrent of tension among the members at the moment.  Introductions could wait till wait until everyone was in a better mood.

Closing the door behind him and making sure the lock worked, he reached behind his ear and gently dislodged Disera, holding her gently one the tip of one finger.  He simply smiled at the unhappy buzzing as she woke up.

"What's happened?  Do you need me for something?" she asked, flipping her wings outward in an irritated manner.

"Ah, no.  I apologize for disturbing you, but I need to change into a dry set of clothing and thought you would like to find another place to rest."

"Fine, then," she huffed as she buzzed away to a dark corner of the van.  "Don't forget to place the warding spells on the door," Disera called out before falling back asleep.

"Of course." Selvai removed a dry set of clothing from his backpack and changed out of the soaked shirt and jeans, folding and placing them in a corner as he went.  When he was finished, the magician pulled a worn, leather bound book from his backpack along with a small bottle of ink and a paint brush.  Twisting the cap off the ink, he placed on the floor near the van door and opened the book, holding it with one hand and the brush with the other.

After dipping the brush into the ink, he began painting a series of strange symbols around the door jamb, eyes never leaving the page as he muttered under his breath.  When he finished, the symbols glowed faintly for a moment before fading, and he stepped back from the door to inspect his work.

Julian shrugged, his eyes still on the sky when Zinc specified his question. "Alright. Your the one who asked "what're you?"... Not, "what can you do?"" He stood up, moving his arms in a way that loosened the leather jacket he wore over his shoulders, before looking over at Zinc. "I'm incapable of missing a target, so long as it's in my line of sight, and my sight goes quite a ways... I'm also the fastest member of the Circus," He replied modestly.

His eyes fell on Gem then, watching with an unreadable ex
pression. The guy was getting just a little bothersome, invading people's personal spaces like that... Julian was pretty certain that if he ever became a source of interest for the glowing boy, he was likely to loosen a dagger or two... He wasn't one for letting people intrude on his personal space, it tended to rile him, and he wasn't usually so easily irritated. Turning his head slightly, he watched as Dravius approached, sighing through his nose as the Co-Master prompted Gem out of Spiders little bubble; And watching with a small smile when Kioko attempted to make the upset boy feel a little better.

"Are you not helping sort out the Circus for the opening?" He asked Dravius quietly, crossing his arms with a shrug of the shoulders, his eyes still on Gemini.

~~~

Raphael, who raised an eyebrow when Dravius walked towards the group, mumbled under his breath. "Guess not," Proceeding to grumble about "unreliability". He glanced sideways at Selvai and ceased on his muttering when the dark haired male spoke, nodding at him with a slight smile. He watched the guy leave, then sighed and turned back to the group in front of him.

With a quick shake of the head, he called over. "Dravius. How about I just leave you here to keep an eye on this one, hm?" He gestured at Gem, then without waiting for an answer, grumbled again, and turned on his heel. The sun by now was beginning to cast stunning orange streaks across the sky, just as the fading blue became a wavering shade of purple, and the Circus grounds became bathed in a soft, glowing light.

~~~

Yawning once, Maya shuddered slightly, paying little attention to the surroundings as they headed back to the Circus, her thoughts focused entirely on how cold she was feeling; That, and the growing worry that she seemed unable to shake, knowing she was walking back towards the camp. The setting sun caught the butterfly's wings with a strange, fiery kind of light, the shimmering, blazing colour aflame. She glanced at Nylat when the hybrid brushed against her leg, and knowing of Nylat's paranoia when it came to the darker hours, felt a momentary pang of pity for her.

She automatically reached out a hand, finding one of Nylat's ears and gently running her fingers over it. She kept her hand on the hybrids head as they walked, and once they reached camp, almost walked into Raphael seeing as her eyes had been on the ground.

The Ring Master had barely taken a single step away from the group when Maya and Nylat approached, a relieved sigh escaping his lips as he pulled himself to an immediate stop before he walked into them. "There you are. I was beginning to think we might have to look for you both," He said with a smile, his eyes on the two older members of the Circus. "Are you alright?" He asked Maya quietly, his memory of his last meeting with the girl strong in his head. Well... It had only been today...

"Mm," Her reply really wasn't all that satisfying, but she was looking off towards the main tent with an abstract face and was clearly trying not to pay much attention to anything around her... It was a conscious choice, and it was working for the moment atleast, seeing as she hadn't even spotted the slightly creepy, glowing-eyed Gem yet.

Raphael sighed, then scratched his forehead, looking down at Nylat. "What about you?" He asked, stretching an arm, more for the sake of conversation than for any real need to know.

Nylat nodded, smiling a bit.
"I'm fine, thank you. No human would dare mess with me, not if they wanted to keep their throat."
She grinned a bit at this, but her eyes betrayed her slight fear through her false boldness. She flicked her tail, glancing up at Maya worriedly. She looked back at Raphael, and decided to find a different subject.
"So, anything interesting happen?"
She unsheathed her claws into the soft, rain-drenched ground, before sheathing them again. She normally did this multiple times, as a warning, but right now, it was more of while she was thinking.

((Aw, don't worry, Spider. *gives ice cream* Nylat's more of a kunjumble of creatures. <3))

((-Gives Spider a hug and a rack of ribs- All better.))

Dravius sighed at Raphael's words, saying softly, "I...guess." Lookng back at Gem, who had apparently inspected the tents to his satisfaction and was staring at Raphael intently. Dravius closed his eyes and clenched his jaw as the glow-eyed boy noticed Kioko, intercepting Gemini as he was about to shove his face in Kioko's. "Gem, are you going to stay with the Circus? If so, you can share my van. it's over there." Pointing, Gem nodded mechanically and peered at the dark wagon, slipping his notebook and his pen back into his bag. "I have to perform tonight, so please don't come into the main tent, okay?" Watching Gem nod again and head towards his van, he sighed and smiled weakly.

"This should be fun." Dravius muttered, flicking his white hair out of his face. "I really should help. Bye, Spider, Kioko, Julian." Nodding, he trotted up to stand beside Raphael, smiling at Mayanna and Nylat. "Hey." He said simply, waving a bit.

Dravius looked up at the sunset, his lips twitching up in another smile. Dravius had a rather crooked smile, as the falling shadows slowly shaded his face, he stuck his hands in his pockets, his smile fallen from his face. It turned into a grimace as a large thud came from his van, accompainied by a brief puff of glowing white smoke.

 ((Spidur. D8 *Hugglesquish*... Poor Dravius. Stuck babysitting Gem. xD <3))

Smiling slightly at Nylat, Raphael sighed. He didn't really think Nylat would harm anyone, well... Not unless absoloutely necas.sary, anyway... "That's good to know I guess..." He replied with a slight chuckle, looking off towards the main tent. He looked back at Nylat when she asked her question.

"Mm. Some new members showed up. Newer than the new ones," He yawned. "One of them just happens to know Break... He has no emotion, so if he happens to invade your personal space, telling him to get lost is an easy matter. It won't hurt his feelings, at any rate,"

At the name "Break", Maya's eyes snapped to the Ring Master, shuddering against her will. A friend of Breaks, here?... And Raphael was letting him stay?... Not to mention... No emotion?... How enviable, she thought with an unconscious flare of her blazing wings.

She was about to retort, to argue, a subtle fear in her eyes, when Dravius approached. Exhaling sharply, she looked back towards the main pavilion, glancing only once at the Co-Master when he greeted them; A mumbled hello barely audible as her eyes remained on the tent, though she eventually looked sideways at him with an unreadable face, watching him as he watched the sunset. She shuddered again with cold, then glared at the unoffending splint on her aching wrist as a way of stopping herself from looking at Dravius any longer than she had to.

Raphael glanced over his shoulder at the Co-master, then snorted, a good natured smile on his face. He watched in silence as Gem walked into the Co-Masters van. "You alright with him staying with you?" He asked, just as a thud came from the van, causing both Raphael and Maya to glance over.

With a slight frown, the blonde male turned to Dravius with a raised eyebrow, then shrugged. "Guess we should get this all out of the way, yes?... I think we still have a bit before people start showing up," He said with a quiet laugh, just as Maya grumbled something, then started walking away. It figured, really... To get rid of Break only to be followed by another one... She shivered again at the thought of the tall street performer. His name was enough to scare her, and seeing as she had been more than just a little unstable the past day, it really was not helping her situation... The fact that she was cold, wet, and suffering from a severely aching wrist definately didn't help, and Dravius, well... That was the bulk of it, and it was still as painful as it had been yesterday, if not worse. She shook her head violently, attempting to stem her emotion before it ran away with her.

Raphael watched her with a slightly concerned ex
pression, then focused his eyes on Nylat, a question on his face. He sighed, coming to rest one hand in a pocket. What a day.

[[GEMINI EXPLODED. oh well. He died as he lived. In a glowing explosion of pain.

Poooorr sensitive Spider-face. he'll get over it.]]

"Oh, wouldn't have expected that. And well, what you can do is a bit attached to what you are. I figured you'd have realized I could tell whether or not you were an ickle human, seeing as I am a far superior creature. So when you say fast, do you mean like... ninja fast? I bet. But I dunno, I might be able to out run you."  Zinc was a bit disappointed that Spider was the only one to notice him telling everyone Sh'Yama could rip your face off without batting an eyelid, but, oh well. They'd find out eventually. 

"Someone's a grumpy grumpus." Zinc said, in response to Raphael... of course he said it once the man was out of ear shot. "Mreh. Now I'm grumpy." He did a good job of sticking his lip out and looking frazzled. Even the sunset did not please him, and he continued to look as grumpy as he could without wrinkling his forehead.

Sh'Yama would have punched him. But she was still sleeping.

- - - 

What were the feelings of strangers compared to the people he known and loved all of his life? He didn't know Sh'Yama, he barely knew Kioko-- though he did like her, and he doubted he could ever think badly of her and believed everything she said, but all of these other people... he was just another number. Another person to stick in a van. Just someone else to keep track of.

He sighed, a bit disappointed the hug had been so short. He was cold. "It's fine... hugs don't upset me. I like hugs. And... and it wasn't you... or Yama... it's different. My cousins. I was..." He couldn't say it, he could barely even keep talking. You're not supposed to bring up what someone was crying about! That just makes them start crying all over again...

Spider didn't want to be near anyone anymore, it was embarra.ssing enough that Kioko was here, he was pretty sure crying in front of someone as non-wussy as Julian was about as embarra.ssing as crying in front of a girl.

It would be better to have some time to himself. When had he gotten that? For five minutes this morning when his shoe got stuck in the mud... Shoe... clothes. "Ah! I left... some things. I'm going to go get them." He started walking, and paused. "I'll be right back." He said, as if that would convince everyone to stay put. Food van, food van... he must have left his suitcase under the table.

Julian snorted, then crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow at the pink haired Zinc when he spoke about being a superior creature?... Really now?... The Sword Master smiled only slightly in spite of himself, running a hand through his hair. He glanced back at Zinc at the mention of speed. Ninja speed?...

He snorted again, chuckling in his throat. The guy was amusing, that was certain. "Probably faster. Much, faster. Perhaps you'll find out one day, hm?" He replied, still smiling, then glancing over at Raphael when the boogeyman decided to comment. He rolled his eyes. "Perhaps you should try running this place?... It isn't easy." Julian raised an eywbrow. "Actually, come to think of it... I'm surprised you havn't gotten to know him. His ability is actually very similar to yours. Only he does it the other way around... The boogeyman... Don't you deal in dreams and nightmares?" He mused, then shrugged.

He turned to watch Spider in silent speculation, then spoke on a whim. "Think you can find your way?" He asked quietly. If need be, he could escort him back to wherever he'd left his things, or even retrieve them, if Spider chose to tell him where they were. He wouldn't be particularly bothered if Spider chose to not accept his as.sistance, but he wasn't sure he wanted the boy getting lost in this place... With a show being prepared, things were likely to get hectic very soon.

Almost as soon as Raphael left, Kanec shifted into his human self, not wanting to stay a creature much longer. After all, he still had the performance that night. In which he planned to shock everyone.

~~

Fallow, once Raphael left, rounded on Kanec, her eyes fiery with frustration.
"Watch my wings, hm? Why don't you watch you mouth? At least your wings can be somewhat hidden. Mine are a foot taller than I am. And ya know what? I've noticed you watching me, ever since I came. What exactly is it you want, hm?"
Without waiting for an answer, she turned sharply and walked away, trying to calm down. It wasn't in her nature to stand by while she was messed with about her wings. So what if she couldn't fly? She was positive she could figure out, help or not.

~~

Kanec, a bit puzzled, stood where he was, watching after Fallow as she left, rubbing the back of his head.
"Uh..sorry?"
He knew she hadn't heard, but he was completely confused on the matter.

"I should put my things away as well," Kioko mumbled to no one as Spider hurried away.  She hoped she hadn't made things worse with the hug, even though he seemed to be eager to get away now.  Darnit, she'd only wanted to make him feel better, not chase him away!  Shoulders slumped, she opened the door to her and Yama's van, making sure not to make any unnecessary noise when she saw Yama sprawled out in a tangle of limbs, fast asleep.  

Placing her pack by the other chair, Kioko sat down with deep sigh.  She rubbed at her face with one hand, suddenly bone tired again.  "I have no idea what to do," she muttered to herself, pausing as Yama shifted in her sleep.  Satisfied when her roommate didn't awaken, Kioko began sorting through the few belongings in her bag, settling into her side of the van.

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

Finished with the inspection of the wards, Selvai re-capped the ink and set it aside, then retrieved the rest of his books from the wet backpack.  Carefully looking them over, he examined each one individually to ensure none had been touched by the rain.  When each one was looked through and deemed to be unhurt, he placed them in a neat stack in a chair on the other side of the van.

His work done, Selvai stepped outside the van, making sure to close the door securely.  Doing a visual once over of the Circus grounds, he noticed that the group of people from before had thinned somewhat, with Kioko and two of the males having left while he was inside.  The only ones left were a dark haired man talking to an usually tall creature with pink hair and a brown haired man who was being yelled at by a younger girl with what appeared to be bat wings.

Deciding to begin with the calmer of the two scenarios, he walked over to the pair of males before addressing them with a polite nod of the head.  "Ah, hello.  I didn't have an opportunity to introduce myself properly before.  I am Selvai Mayoso.  I am pleased to make your acquaintance."