The boy staggered back a bit, his face hardening, as he said slowly, "You could, but you haven't. And we don't care. Call us what you like." He grabbed the hem of her sleeve, and the smaller children clung tighter, the one Zinc was trying to remove growling and baring sharp teeth. Miranda started whispering while she clung, and numerous plants spiraled up Yama's legs, tugging downwards, as the children suddenly fell completely silent, then Miranda spoke up, saying, " She's right," the girl pointed to Kioko, and gently pulled the youngest child from Yama, the one with the sharp teeth, and the boy stepped bacxk, pulling the other two children aside. "Miss Yama, please don't leave," The boy murmered, staring hard at the ground. "We all hate it when anyone leaves, especially people that are as easy to like to us as you."

~-~-~

Dravius watched the children with a slightly sad look on his face, then turned, adding one last, "We all do want you to stay, especially the kids, and Spider." The Co-Master strode down to the beach, sighing heavily as his toes hit the sand. Plopping down on a rock, he stared at the water appraoching his feet in waves, and tilted his face to the side as a girl poked her head out of the water a ways down, yelling something incomprehensable. Raising one eybrow, Dravius got to his feet and traveled down the beach a little, inspecting the strange-looking blue girl, before laying down on his back, and beginning to make a bit of a snad angel, moving his arms and legs back and forth in the yellow-grey beach.

Turning his head, the black-and-white haired boy surveyed the blue girl and said, "Hello. My name's Dravius. What's yours?" The he went back to his sand angel, standing up to study it, before laying down in a different spot and repeating the action. "Do you have any special abilities?" He asked as he finished his third angel, shaking his head to rid his hair of some sand, although most of it remained stuck, tinting his hair the colour of the beach.

Julian stood with his arms crossed, his ex
pression rather nuetral as he watched the youngsters of the Circus cling to Yama. He was pretty sure having them in such close proximity to the Blodwen sister was not a good thing, going by her ex
pression and general air, and he sighed quietly.

Stood not far from Julian, Maya was watching with an obvious element of concern, watching Dravius leave with a sad little frown, Julian also watching after the Co-Master at his departure. Inhaling slowly, Maya turned and walked the opposite way, back towards where Nylat, Raphael and Selvai resided.

She paused only to take the apple she had left earlier. As much as she wanted to stay and convince Yama, she really did not have the energy for it, and she was still tempted to just. Get out of it for a while. Without even so much as glancing at the Ring-Master and his company, she turned again and headed back towards the vans, pointedly avoiding the group around Yama.

As was usual, she perched herself on the roof of her van, taking a small bite from the apple she held before swiftly throwing it over her shoulder. Why bother forcing herself to eat if she wasn't hungry. Sighing, she turned her head slightly to watch the setting sun. Maya adored the sunset, and she enjoyed simply watching it. Besides, she could always hide in her van when it was over. Probably for the rest of the week... And maybe the week after too.

 ~~~

 Raphael had been pretty much immersed in eating his strawberries when Maya approached, watching in silence as she took the fruit she'd left behind earlier and left again.He sighed quietly. Honestly. She was going to do herself more harm than good if she carried on the way she was going.

He had been pondering this issue when Selvai's question caused him to glance over at the magician. He blinked a couple of times, then turned his gaze skyward, eventually spotting the figure up in the giant oak.

He shifted so that his weight was propped on one arm, his eyes on the girl in the tree. "Well hi there," He said, raising his eyebrows. Well that was strange, she wasn't of the Circus that he was sure. "Are you alright up there?... Do you want something to eat?" He asked, eventually moving himself to that he could stand, sliding his hands into his pockets as he did.

"My name is Raphael, Ring-Master of the Majikus, and yours is?"

((Crap post. But I need to sleep. @_@))

[[Yama is punching those kids right in the face, and then drop-kicking those nearby as she makes her exit. That'll learn them.

edit: and i really don't get why so many like Yama. she's been a cranky buttface threatening to rip peoples arms off and eat them in front of them the whole time she's been here. =I]]

 Zinc had stepped back from the little midget that was trying to bite him. Children, cuddly. But the stupidest things ever. "Please, please don't... you don't know... why... ugh, just let her go, please, for your best interest. I'm surprised she's even warning you. And what's so great about her anyway?" He stomped his foot, a start of a tantrum he wasn't going to throw. "Because she's been, you know, the nicest person here. Always looking out for others. Never ever thinking for herself. She isn't a cannibal. You know if it'd make you all feel better, I could be her. Easy. Just watch." And he crossed his arms and glowered at everyone. 

- - -

 "Happy? Happy for whom, exactly?  And what exactly has been happy? Make me a list. A list of these nice and happy things I seem to have done." Sh'Yama said, fingers clenching and unclenching, a strange whistling noise hissing through her teeth as she glared at the world and everyone in it. "What's wrong? I want to kill you! All of you! Do you not understand?! How much more clear can I make it?! There are some things I can. Not. Control... and YOU... are not... are not HELPING. This is not something. That... can be dealt with. I have EATEN PEOPLE ALIVE. What is NICE about THAT?!" She really hoped she could have just left without people making her make a big scene. It would have been much nicer that way. And now she was shouting. Well, they reap what they sow.

Yama took in an explosive breath of air, a bit distracted by the plants grabbing her, and let out a snarled curse in some language that was quite dead as she pulled her legs free. She glared icily down at the boy, "Your reasons so far for me staying are quite shallow." She snarled, hand raising slightly. Easy to like? That was the single most convoluted and stupid reason she had ever heard. "None of this is about me. This is all about YOU and how sad YOU'LL be. Damn your feelings! I will not give any more reason for my decision, and the next person to try and stop me... "

She let it hang, stepped away, and then let out a growl of intense irritation as she ripped at her cloak, tearing the clasp that held it around her neck off in her haste. "If I am such a beloved aspect to your disgusting circus, then take a piece of me, you rats. That is all you want." She tore the cloak off and chucked it into the ground at their feet.  "A memento for your memory," Yama snarled, and turned to walk away again. She still needed to get her things. How DARE they make such a big deal about this. 

This time she made a whole one and a half steps before being a.ssaulted yet again. However, the culprit this time was covered in cobwebs and sobbing uncontrollably.  Yama would be a bit more lenient in beating the crap out of Spider.

Spider didn't know why everyone was making such a fuss. He was a little jealous. No one would ever make as big a fuss over him, if he was leaving. No they'd just wave, or shove him right out the perimeter of the circus.  She was his sister, not theirs! They already had the whole circus, why did they need to take her too? "You don't have to leave because of me." This was a very muffled, and hard to understand sentence Spider muttered, filled with whines, gasps, and a lot of tears. "I always ruin everything, everything, I shouldn't be here. I should leave. They like you better than me anyway."

You'd have to exceptionally good at hearing and deciphering things to understand what Spider was saying, as he was crying so hard it was hard for even Yama to make out what he was saying. So instead she just growled and shook Spider violently by the shoulders. This did nothing but increase the volume of his crying.

- - -

Zinc decided to blame Dravius for this.

Even as Myrra watched, she tensed her body and rose slightly on her toes, ready to escape at a moment's notice. They hadn't seen her yet -- not clearly, anyways. No-one would just say "Hello," to someone who looked like her. The world simply didn't work that way. As the other man spoke, she sighed, inaudible even to her own ears. Now she faced a dilemma. Before her choices had been simple to make and simpler to follow; now things were a little more complicated.

Leaving now would just be rude, for one. She knew enough about manners to know that much. For another, if she vanished, they might well decide to follow her, and she was sure if she could throw them as easily as she had the others. They had that creature -- more fox than cat, she saw now -- with them, after all. As though it could hear her thoughts, the creature sniffed at the air, then turned to follow the girl with the butterfly wings.

In the end, that was what decided her. If these people could tolerate, even care for and about, a girl with wings, then Myrra herself should be safe enough. Slowly she slipped down the tree a distance equal to that of her own height, using her tail for balance. When she reached the designated branch, she pressed in closer to the trunk and wrapped her tail loosely around an upper branch in case she needed to climb. She was fairly close to them now, but she was far enough away that they would have to climb to reach her. "...No, thank you," she replied quietly in answer to the first question, her amber eyes glinting down at them. Between the shadows the leaves cast and the light of dusk, that was probably about the only feature of hers that they could truly make out, something for which she was thankful. "Myrra."

----

Engrossed in searching for pictures in the clouds (so far she had spotted an ell, a clown fish, and an otter), Shys didn't notice when a boy came up on the beach and started making sand angels. In fact, she was so into watching the clouds shift shape as they p*censored*ed overhead, tinted with reds and purples and oranges, that she jumped and dove under the water at the sound of a voice. After a moment, common sense re*censored*erted itself, and she cautiously poked her head back above water to stare at the speaker.

"Sorry, you startled me," she explained, voice a little shaky. Curiousity took over and she swam forward so that her feet touched the bottom of the beach, though water still covered everything up to her neck. "What are you doing?" 

((I AM an oaf. -FFF's-))

Dravius stood again and dislodged some more sand, saying simply, "Sand angels. You know, like snow angels, but with sand?" Sitting cross-legged on the beach, Dravius leveled his gaze at the girl up to her neck in water."I could ask you the same, really. It's going to get dark soon. And you're not anywhere near to town. Do you live there, or what?" The boy added, "Could you come out of the water? I'm not going to hurt you," Doing a handstand while he said this, Dravius sighed and watched the waves roll in, erasing parts of the marks he had made in the sand, and he hummed a slow circus tune, shifting his lanky weight from one hand to the other.

Dravius knew every single person in the circus, kept records and at least one picture on file for everyone, and he knew that this girl wasn't in the show, neither had she ever been. It begged the question, "Where'd she come from?" He suspected she didn't live in the town, and from the fact that she didn't seem chilled at all in the cooling water, he thought she wasn't completely normal.

~-~-~

The boy let out a small sqeuak and took a step back from Sh'Yama's seething words, and the other children clustered around older members of the circus, whimpering slightly as the cloak was thrown at them. An adult member stooped to pick of the covering and fold it neatly into a thick square, and walked off, towards Yama's wagon, where the member placed it on the front stoop of the van.

Most members jumped at least slightly at the arrival of the loudly crying Spider, murmering among themselves, some leaving altogether, to stand uneasily in scattered groups. A tall girl with a bandaged face stepped forewards, towards the sobbing boy, followed by a boy with green hair. Frou stepped towards Spider, and bowing slightly, said to Spider, You don't ruin everything, Spider. It is simply her descision to leave dear, and we do not prefer her over you, at least I don't. I honestly think the reaction would be the same if you were to try and leave. Please, I ask you to stay. I would be greatly saddened if you were to go." Here Eease interuppted with a string of clipped rustles, looking softly at the drying boy. "My brother says that you should let your sister take the path she wishes, and to stay on your own. He also thinks that paths separate often, but more likely than not, they will join again. Goodbyes are never forever."

There were whispers of agreement from the group behind the two, and the children all nodded vigourously, still clinging to older performers, and a few members stepped foreward to stand beside Eease and Frou, while the bandaged girl held a hand out to Spider and said gently, "If she wants to go, she should."

Shys stared at the boy, confused. "Snow angels?"

She didn't know much about snow. She'd seen it before, a couple of times, and she'd touched ice -- once -- but to be honest, snow and ice weren't things she was really familiar with. Sand was something she ran into quite a lot, but that didn't mean she understood what a 'sand angel' was. "I don't get it," Shys declared after a moment, lifting her legs from the bottom of the sand and laying flat on the surface, letting the waves wash her up so that she had her elbows propping her up on the wet sand. There was still quite a bit of water lapping at her; the waves crashed at her neck, keeping the rest of her body invisible, save for her feet, which she had kicked up behind her. They were blue and translucent, like glas.s or water.

"I like the water," Shys replied after a moment. "I'll just stay here, kay?"

((Ack, short.))

Stupid. That's what this was.

As much as Julian could relate to Yama's feelings, he was kind of, in a strange way, in agreement with the youngsters. Not so much with Yama personally, but more the idea of simply wanting someone to stay. He personally thought Yama was being a little over-dramatic, but saying that... He'd probably do the same. Not quite so obviously, but something along those lines.

Unlike Dravius and the others, Julian remained where he was, more to keep an eye on the kids than anything. He was pretty sure Raphael wouldn't be too happy if Yama stuck to her word and happened to get hungry for kid-meat. He'd probably be fast enough to get in and out before it came to that, though. Again, he actually doubted he needed to do much. Zinc clearly had it under control.

Julian's ex
pression didn't once change when Spider appeared, nor when Kioko left, his eyes simply roaming the slowly dispersing crowd. Clearly Yama's last words had given most of them a reason to leave. He eventually turned his gaze back to Spider. Well. Whatever happened now was Yama's choice and hers alone.

[[now, seriously, please listen to Zinc. you're only making it worse for my socially inept spiders. they're going to spontaneously combust at the next stressful thing to happen.]]

"Shut up!! Get away from me!! I don't believe you, you're a liar! A liar! This isn't my home I want to go home!" Spider actually let out a small snarl of displeasure, jerking roughly away from the people trying to coax him away, tugging Sh'Yama with him. Now he was very sad, and very angry. He continued to blubber incomprehensibly, but shouted with a much higher pitch. "I hate you! I hate you!! Leave me alone!! You... you can't tell her not to leave, and, and throw a big fit and then expect me to drop her like a piece of trash!! She's MY SISTER. SHE ISN'T YOURS. GO AWAY!! Your brother is a STUPID IDIOT and I don't care what he THINKS!"

He tugged Sh'Yama's sleeve angrily and hissed at the bandaged girl. He had something to say about leaving, but couldn't force it around the lump in his throat. Instead he mumbled something, which sounded like nothing more than a whine, and locking his fingers around Yama's wrist, he turned and dragged her to her van. This might have been difficult, but Sh'Yama was being lenient. She was too busy trying to fight back those god awful tears. Everyone was going to die. Just as soon as she got that speck of dirt out of her eyelid, man was that annoying.

With a hardly suppressed howl of rage, Zinc stepped forward. "Okay, no more, no no no. Please, for the love of everything good and innocent. STAY, and DO NOT, bother them, anymore. You're making it worse... sweet jumping Jehoshaphat... if you'd have just let her simmer down... sheesh. No, I freaking mean it, I will hit you in the face with a BRICK if you so much as look in their direction... Why do I have to fix everything? Rename me Fairy Godmother and shove me in a freaking bonnet."

 He muttered a few more lines of exclamation as he followed Spider and Sh'Yama, both now shouting angrily and incomprehensibly at each other. "I swear to Somebody, this is why people are such a drag. " He growled, grabbing both of them by the collar and dragging them through the door. They just needed a nap. Too much stress. Sh'Yama sure as honey had made up her mind. Idiots. "Ughh..." Zinc moaned, stepping back outside the van and sitting himself down on Yama's cloak. He dropped his head in his hands and considered putting on an ugly face. Pink was too friendly for a bouncer.

It wasn't that hard to make someone fall asleep. Dreams being his business, obviously a sleeping person is a better target. They wouldn't wake up until he decided he wanted them to. Until then, they'd have a nice dream meeting. No other random voices to try and sway them. Just a nice, civilized talk with each other. Which is how it should have been in the first place. Who asked her that question to begin with? Julie. Zinc looked back up, a look of slightly increased irritation on his face.

He'd get him back for that one. His fault or not, an excuse was an excuse.

"Yeah, see, when you move your arms up and down, it looks like the sleeves of the robes angels are supposed to have, and your legs make the hem," Dravius crouched and pointed at the "sleeves" of the angel. "Oh. Okay. You're welcome to come up to the Circus and eat or something. I work there," Flopping back onto his back, Dravius stared at the now dark sky, his arms and legs splayed out. "You been in town yet? We're here on vacation, but me 'n Raph are terrible at vacations." Sitting up, with his hands supporting his upper body behind him, his hair sticking up in the back, stiff with sand.

"Uff. I love the smell of the ocean. Can't swim, though. 'S it nice?" Dravius asked the girl floating in the water, crossing his long arms in front of his chest with a heavy sigh. "I wonder if we can start a bonfire..." He remarked, leaning forwards onto his haunches. "What's your name, if you don't mind?" Dravius's bright blue eyes focused on the girl, and his sleeves were pushed up over his elbows, black stitches raised on his arms. Dravius began chewing on a set on his inner elbow, shifting from side to side. "Ah, dammit. I forgot to eat anything. That's not gonna help..." Flopping back on his back, Dravius stared at the stars again, one leg bent at the knee, and he took a deep breath, filling his chest with the salty air.

((Pfft, Dravvy.  Go back and read Disera's part of my post o-o)) 

((Rawr.))

As the bird landed on the sand and began to speak, Shys directed her attention to it, eyes wide. Talking birds? "Land really is strange," she marveled. "Angels made of sand, talking birds..."

Shys froze. "T-town?" She stumbled over the familiar word, a word that even now brought her 'fight or flight' instincts to the forefront. Memories of buildings, chains, and cutting words came to mind; she pushed them away. No point in thinking about the past. It was done and over with. "Swimming is the best thing ever," she declared, pushing herself up to sit on her folded legs. "I'm Shys."

----

"I dislike towns," Myrra replied after a moment, during the pause that Raphael left for her to reply. She listened as he continued to speak, flinching slightly at the word 'freak'. There were memories *censored*ociated with that word -- bad ones. The tree-lady closed her eyes momentarily as she reordered her thoughts, letting the bad memories settle back into their designated spots. When she opened her eyes again, the other man was bowing and telling her his name.

How old fashioned of him. And how polite.

"I followed the streams," she said quietly after she'd figured out precisely what to say. "...Thank you?"

"No one seems all that fond of towns," Raphael chuckled quietly, his eyes on the tree-being. Well, no surprise really, most people in the Circus had bad memories emanating from those places. Or even people like them in general.

"It's awfully nice to meet you," The Ring Master continued, inclining his head slightly before turning his gaze from Myrra to watch Selvai. He smiled slightly, before looking back at the young woman in the tree. "Are you hungry, at all?... You could join us down here?" He asked, waving a negligent hand over the bowls of fruit that resided on the laid out blanket.

The sound of a distant scuffle caused Raphael to look over his shoulder, just in time to see Spider and Yama in the distance, Spider looking distraught and Yama... Well... Like Yama. Zinc was also present, ushering the two into a van.  Oh?...

Standing up and briushing himself off, Raphael smiled at Myrra. "Your also welcome to stay, if you have nowhere else to go, but for the moment," He glanced quickly over his shoulder again. "Excuse me~" And he bowed, before turning to Selvai. "I trust you won't scare her too much," He said with a smile. "I'll see you later,"

With that, the blonde turned on his heel and walked back towards the vans, pausing only to watch the dispersing crowd. Oh great, now what?... With an unreadable ex
pression, Raphael asked the closest memeber, who immediately filled him in before walking off. "Ah," The Ring Master sighed, glancing once at Zinc and the van he was guarding, before turning his gaze to Julian.

The Sword Master had his eyes on the kids, and glanced up only once to meet Raphael gaze. With a nonchalant shrug, Julian turned and walked off, in the general direction of his own van. Well, at least that was over... For now, anyway. Maybe after Spider spoke to Yama this whole thing would blow over. He certainly hoped so.

 Raphael sighed slightly, then, spotting Dravius on the beach, headed in that general direction.

"Dise-" He started in greeting as he approached, pausing to look at the shifters new form and the girl in the ocean. Funny. He didn't know this one either. They certainly were showing up at a fast rate these days. "Hello there," He said, blinking. Another one, huh?

Blinking, Raphael looked down at Dravius with a smile and a merry wave, his face pretty much blocking Dravius's view of the stars. "Something on your mind?" He asked with a slight laugh, glancing once at the girl in the ocean before turning his eyes back to Dravius.

"Hello, Shys," Disera greeted the girl in the water.  She plopped down on the sand and stretched out, flaring her three set of wings out behind her.  The shifter smiled at the girls declaration.  "Swimming is fun.  I only got to swim for the first time a few days ago, myself."  Disera glanced over at Dravius.  

"Pfft.  You and Maya are the same.  Running around dealing with everyone else's problems, and not taking care of yourselves.  How are you supposed to help Raffy run the place if you're falling over from starvation?"

Sighing, Disera leaned back on her elbows, her tails tracing patterns in the sand.  "Like earlier today.  The poor butterfly was a wreck after those cops toted you off.  And the first thing she does is go to calm down the little firebug." The shifter lifted one shoulder nonchalantly.  "I know Kioko was shook up by the whole deal, and I'm not faulting Maya for taking care of her.  I'd be disappointed if she had ignored the girl, to be honest.  But you can't really take care of others if you don't care for yourself.  You'll end up worn out, with nothing left to give."  Disera looked pointedly at the white haired boy.  "People like Maya need to be taken care of, whether they like it or not.  Something you should remember."

"So, Shys, are you on vacation too?  We've been here a few days, and I didn't think anyone else was using this beach."  The blue skinned woman shifted gears, speaking to the girl as though she hadn't just been giving Dravius a serious speech.

She looked over at Raphael when he arrived.  "Hello, Mister Circus Master."  

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

"Hmm."  Selvai nodded to Raphael as he left, and sat cross legged down on the blanket, giving Myrra plenty of room if she wished to join him.  "As Raphael said, you are welcome to eat with us." He smiled in what he hoped was a disarming way.  "I promise I won't scare you."  He joked.

The blue woman stretched out on the sand and Shys grinned. Anyone who agreed that swimming was awesome was great in her book, whether they were humans or blue skinned women with three pairs of wings. As Disera spoke to Dravius about some girl named Maya (Shys made a mental note to meet this girl), Shys raised on hand and pointed from Dravius to Disera and back again. "Dravius," she murmured, pointing at the white-haired boy covered with sand. "Disera." Her finger landed on the blue skinned woman. "Dravius. Disera. Dravius. Mister Circus Master."

Her finger moved to point at the newcomer. Shys smiled. "Hi!"

----

Myrra concealed a shudder when he gestured to the fruit. "No, thank you," she murmured. It was far too much like cannibalism for her tastes, and besides, it wasn't strictly necessary for her to eat. Taking nutrients from the sun, water, and earth was handy at times.

As Raphael left, Selvai sat down, leaving plenty of room on the blanket for Myrra, should she choose to come down. Another difficult decision. After a long moment of silence, Myrra uncoiled her tail from the branch and slowly began to descend. She'd already revealed herself to these people. There was no point in being too reserved now. Myrra slipped out of the tree and carefully sat down a fair distance away from the sorceror, bringing her tail around to rest on her lap. "I thank you for the offer."