Dravius stayed put in the tree for no more than ten minutes, before sitting straight up, blinking quickly. "'M awake!" He mumbled, looking around himself, seeming confused, before settling back against the tree's trunk, yawning again, his jaw producing twin cracks, one on either side. With a satisfied nod, he hung briefly from the tree branch by both hands, before hopping lightly down, and rubbed his face with one cloth-covered hand.

The day was looking to trun out to be nice and sunny, to Dravius' slight disappointment.  Rain was ever so nice to sit in and watch fall down, to feel the drops splattering aginst your skin. With a slight sigh, the Co-Master stretched his arms over his head, and he seemed energized by his short rest, despite the ever-present shadows under his eyes. The long gras.s was still damp and cool, which felt rather nice on his skin. Wiggling his toes slightly, he sneezed twice and shook his head, looking around until he identified Kanec's van, trotting lightly towards it.

 Knocking before poking his head inside, Dravius waved one sleeve-sheathed hand, the white cloth flapping quietly. "Hi, Kanec. How's the little one?" He whispered, stepping delicately in. His bare feet mad nearly no sound, save for the scraping of his over-long cloth pants across the floor. He crossed towards the wolf next to the bed, crouching next to the bed and looked under it, squinting at the wicked-looking blade grinning at him from the shadows. "Nasty lookin' knife," He remarked quietly, strightening up to look at Daniel.

"He's in surprisingly good health, in'in he?" Dravius muttered, absently touching Lily's head, and turning back to Kanec. "Should I come back when he's awake to check out Lily?" He asked, brushing his long sleeves aginst Kanec's neck. He actually owned a lot of shirts with sleeved of similar lengths. It seemed to encourage better treatment when people didn't see your hands were covered in stitches and dried blood.

It didn't take too long to loosen the frame enough to pull it away, and just as Julian managed to do so he heard Kioko's voice, seemingly not directed at him. He glanced fleetingly in her direction, noting the position that clearly stated she had almost rolled onto Sid, before waving slightly at her greeting.

"Good morning," He replied, his voice quiet as he pulled out the window frame entirely."And I'm alright," Holding the frame under one arm, he walked back to the door where the new glas.s was situated, placing the ruined window next to wall. The dark haired male gently lifted the new window, listening to Kioko as he did so, smiling slightly at the girl's flustering words. "Don't worry about it. I won't be too much longer here. See you later," He glanced over his shoulder as the girl left the van, before exhaling through his nose and slotting the new frame and window into the hole in the van wall.

Ensuring it was fixed properly, the sword master rubbed his hands free of any dust, then walked back to the door and outside, being sure to pick up the broken glas.s window as he did. It didn't take him long at all to dispose of the window, and he eventually came to a stop outside one of the tents that was being erected that morning. 

 He was soon joined by Raphael, who clearly had just got up, one eye closed as he ran a hand haphhazardly through his hair.

"Your putting this up early. I thought the shows don't start until tomorrow?" Julian asked, keeping his eyes on the tent frame and crossing his arms. The Ring-Master sighed in response, stretching his arms above his head before also landing his gaze on the tent. "Mmm. They don't. But I don't particularly want anyone having to set this up in a storm like the one last night. It's just a precaution. The tent will stand up much better than having us build it in it." He shrugged. "No doubt there will be another. "He gestured off in the distance, where a group of darkening clouds were forming. "We'll probably have a bit more rain before tomorrow,"

((Ugh... Can't post well... Lack of sleep... @_@))

(( :U I'll join anyways.))

((That is amazing, Iggy. xD

Also. You can post your intro whenever you wish. <3))

((Well...okay then...

...

..

.

))

[[uh okay.]] 

Will was hunched over her computer monitor, typing haphazardly with one hand and sipping a mug of coffee with the other. It would be silly to a.ssume she'd get a lead so soon, but she was still disappointed. Willow Kirk hadn't slept at all that night, not that it was any surprise; she rarely slept anyway. The database was very extensive, and searching through trying to find a match on something that was a bit faded and a bit hard to actually make out was not an easy task. It was not like Will had anything else to do, however, except monitor everyone else in the Circus and wonder what she'd pick out of them at an autopsy table. 

The only thing she had made progress on was the substance Zinc had left behind. And the only thing she found out was that she had no idea what he was composed of. Fascinating. A few of the common things were present, like carbon and oxygen, but oddly there were traces of zinc sulphide. She wondered if that splotch on the floor glowed in the dark. There should be an explanation for everything, but some of the components were undefinable. This of course only made Will curious, and she didn't find it odd at all that Zinc was composed of odd things. After all, he was an odd thing.

Dr. Kirk nibbled on a pretzel and leaned back in her chair, stretching her arms wide to the ceiling. Her van was much louder than it usually was, but Will found it easy enough to ignore. It was somewhat pleasant. The three other occupants of the van were currently sitting at the table. The Spider Witch was arguing loudly about etiquette and common courtesy to no one in particular, while Spider watched on with wide eyes, and Evan agreed softly with Yama's loud exclamations.

They were all eating a nutritious breakfast of potato chips and donuts, which Will kept her cabinets stocked with. She hadn't meant to get them all in here. After she had gone back to the van to get a photograph of the symbol, Spider and Evan had turned up, drenched to the bone. Spider had mentioned he didn't like staying in the van with Zinc gone, and Will had mentioned her very large space, and Spider had mumbled that he didn't want Evan to be stuck here either. Naturally Yama was going to go wherever Spider was.

They didn't have a lot to move, and Will had already looked up methods of transportation and was being all around very helpful with Evan and Spider's desire to get out of this place. Dr. Kirk, however, had asked them to stay just a few more days for her to find out what had happened to Zinc. It was not a freak accident, and she'd rather other members of the Circus not fall prey to a similar demise. Evan had conceded, but muttered quietly to Gervaise that he really would rather not. Probably needed to see some therapy, that one. Might need to be on some medication.

But she wasn't a psychiatrist, so it wasn't her business. Will went back to typing away at the computer.

- - -

It was nice to be clean, in clean clothes, and not wet, Spider decided. He wasn't used to showers, but the one Will had was very nice. Will had insisted he wear some of his new pants, the ones that Em had bought him before he arrived. Spider had put off wearing them because... well he wasn't quite sure. He was very used to the old ones, and they were comfortable. She even let him borrow a coat! It had lots of pockets and he did so love pockets.

His rocks, Zinc's glittery glue and a button that had popped off of Evan's vest were snugly contained in just one pocket, and he was sure he could fit even more stuff in it! He couldn't wait to fill the others. Will was a very nice lady. She even cut his hair (with the help of Yama and Evan). It was even now, instead of being all messy and all over. 

Will had said it would be better short because then he couldn't hide behind it. Spider didn't know what she meant, but he liked the idea of having short hair like Evan. It was still a bit weird though, to not have hair dangling in his face. Much easier to deal with though. Spider thought he was looking quite dapper. Nice new pants, a t-shirt and one of Will's really big lab coats (which was only baggy on Spider because he was practically a skeleton).

He tried to sit up straight like Evan was doing as he listened to Yama talk about how disgusting some people ate. Personally, Spider felt that maybe she should look at her own eating habits before ranting about others, but that was just the way Yama was.

- - -

 Evan had decided that Will was a very strange woman. Sure, he had gotten to shave and get cleaned up, but it was odd all the same. He'd gotten the impression that Will wasn't very comfortable around people she had known for years, why would she let a bunch of strangers into her personal home and let them use up all of her soap? He had the feeling it was because she was very interested in Yama and Boris's past. Probably wanted to dissect them and see if they bled blue or something. 

But she had let him shave and maintaining his personal hygiene was very important so he'd let it slide. The price for her kindness, Evan thought, was him being forced to wear her hand me downs. It wasn't that bad, since Will didn't dress in very feminine clothes and wasn't smaller than him.

But he really liked his nice vests and slacks. Too bad they had gotten to muddy to wear anymore. He was stuck in a pair of gray sweat pants and a red t-shirt that read "expendable". He wasn't sure what that meant and he hoped it wasn't a knock at how utterly worthless he was. 

He nodded slightly at Yama's ranting, sipping his herbal tea and munching on a potato chip. It wasn't what he usually ate, but he wasn't going to be picky.

- - - 

[[write for Yama later maybe.

edit: kay I'm done I think.]] 

Nylat glanced back at Maya as she called out, and shrugged. "Out to hunt a few fat squirrels. But that can wait." She padded back over to Maya's van, jumping up onto the hood before padding up to the roof to sit beside Maya. "Sleep well last night?" She flicked her tail, glancing around. She caught sight of a man sitting in a tree a ways off, but dismissed it as unimportant. She looked away, then turned back, laying her ears back as she realized the tree was just a little too close to be outside the borders of the Circus. Maybe a fault in the shield? No. She didn't doubt Karene. But, still. A little close for comfort. With a sigh, she leapt down from the van, stumbling as she landed, the fur on her back starting to rise. Too much had happened lately for her to not react as she did. She glanced back at Maya, a fleeting smile appearing before she left. "I'll be right back."

She wove through the vans, making her way toward the man, before sitting a short ways away, watching him. Was he playing with puppets? The hybrid shook her head, her ears back in amusement now, and her stance relaxed. This guy was likely no harm. Unless there was, like, a knife in one of the puppets. But she doubted it. This guy looked a little insane, having 'plays' all alone. She watched him for a moment before baring her teeth, laying her ears flat again, and letting out a deep, low growl.

~~

Kanec wasn't too suprised by Dravius's entrance, half because of the knock, and half because he'd been halfway expecting someone to come by. Raphael was probably busy with other things, so Dravius was next in line. At the mention of the knife, Kanec grimaced. "It is. It has tasted blood, or Daniel would not have made it." At the praise of his health, Kanec flicked his tail happily. "And I'm happy about that. I wouldn't have found Daniel if he hadn't been in good health. Or if I did, he might not remember me. As far as Lily, I would wait. He seemed more defensive of them than himself when I found him."

Jerking up in surprise, Maccus tumbled ungracefully off of the tree.

Up came the hand, enclose in a puppet that looked uncannily like Nylat. "Well, that's certainly a way to get out of a tree, making me tumbling off. Who're you? What'd you want? Why are you here? Do you sell popcorn? Or are you a puppy? Can you speak? I'm pretty sure you can, other wise I'd be barking at you." Maccus mimicked perfectly, nodding at the puppet. Making his puppet stand up on it's hind legs, Maccus mimed pulling out a knife and throwing it at the real Nylat. "Or I could throw a knife at the puppy, see if it could speak. Can you speak? Speak to the Puppet Master puppy, speak." He continued mimicking, still lying in a crumpled heap onto the ground.  

It's only a dog. Or a wolf. Or heck, even a frigging coyote. I'm insane. Why can't I run away? Get up muscles, speak with your real mouth... Speak... what is that? No.. Cannot. Must keep speaking. Only when it's safe will I get up.  

Dravius tilted his head to the side, rubbing his sharp jawline with a covered hand, nodding slowly to Kanec. "Alright then. Is he going to be alright around all the townspeople when the barrier comes down?" He asked contemplatively. Suddenly he brought the inside of his elbow to his face, muffling a series of ugly coughs. "He's really quite cute, you know. It'll be a wonder if he doesn't attract all the ladies in camp, uh?" Dravius teased, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards, along with his eyebrows.

Gently tugging Kanec's ear in the direction of the door, Dravius whispered, "Come on, stop hovering, Kanec," He slipped towards the door, long arms dangling by his sides. The lanky boy exited the van as silently as he had entered, yawning yet again. It was more of a habit than anything, and he crossed over to the tent that was quickly taking form not too far away.

"Goo' mornin', princess," Dravius flicked Raphael on the ear with his sleeve teasingly. "How're you guys?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest. It looked oddly as if he was wearing a straightjacket in that position, and he looked at the roiling clouds over the horizon with a sharp grin. "Looks like rain. Wonderful." He remarked, clapping his covered hands together once. "I love sitting in the rain. Nobody else does, though," He pouted briefly before coughing a few times and twanging one of the taught tent tethers with three fingers.

Dravius managed to maintain a constantly tired look, every so often rubbing his good eye with a corner of his over-long sleeve. A slight smile still played on his lips as he pulled a small book from his pocket, plainly marked with a black triangle on a white background. Another yawn preluded a slightly leaking pen, and Dravius opened the book and began doodling idly, drawing pictures of all the looming tents and surrounding vans. The pen was bleeding on the tips of Dravius' sleeves, but he either didn't notice or didn't care.

Snapping the book shut, Draivus echaled through his nose, staring at hanks of hair that had fallen into his face. "Need a haircut...." He muttered, stretching his arms over his head and making a small "Uuff," noise. Then he coughed heavily, wincing momentarily.

"Uh. You don't have to put it off, you know." Maya pouted as Nylat retraced her steps back towards the Circus, eventually coming to sit beside the butterfly. The teen kept her eyes on the hybrid for a moment, then shrugged lightly and pulled them away to gaze at her little white companion. The little insect had made it's way to Maya's bare forearm without flying, and now sat sedately facing Nylat. There was almost an air of curiousity surrounding the small creature.

Smiling, the blonde girl dropped the ex
pression when the hybrid spoke, looking at her with a curious ex
pression. "Oh... Alright." She murmered, watching Nylat jump from the van and head off in the direction of the Circus boundaries. She glanced fleetingly at the white butterfly, then looked back towards where Nylat had headed. It took her moment to notice what had clearly caught Nylat's attention, and Maya frowned slightly at the sight of the strange man in the tree.

A moment later, the young blonde decided to follow her friend, and slipped onto the hood of her van before placing her feet on the damp ground. The little butterfly had taken off with the somewhat sudden movement, but eventually came to land on Maya's shoulder as the teen started walking. It didn't take too long to catch up with Nylat, and the butterfly-winged young woman came to a stop a little ways behind her, eyes on the man in the tree. From here, she could easily see what seemed to be sock puppets, and hear, quite clearly, the one man conversation.

Blinking, Maya watched when the young man fell out of the tree, proceeding to take a step backwards when he addressed Nylat. She was pretty syre she'd never met or even seen anyone quite as... Strange, as this person. And that was saying something, all things considered.

"Are... You alright?" She asked tentatively, being sure to keep her distance as she kept her slightly concerned eyes on the crumpled heap under the tree. How bizarre.

~~~

"Storms. I don't mind them." Julian crossed his arms, looking at the glowering dark clouds in the distance. They difinately seemed to heading in this general direction, and by the looks of it, was likely to last a while once it got here. The members currently constructing the tents had increased their work speed, though it was clear that the construction was almost complete. Still, better to hurry and get it done that have to faff around with it in the oncoming rain.

Raphael, who had also been watching the tent's construction, rolled his eyes slightly and chuckled, just as Dravius approached without any prior warning. He tilted his head quickly away from the Co-Masters well aimed sleeve, snorting quietly in response to his comment. "We're alright," He responded, straightening himself up and clapping Julian once on the shoulder. "Right?" He asked of the darker haired male, a smile on his face as he crossed his arms loosely over his chest, slightly wrinkling his dark blue-gray shirt.

Julian's gaze was penetrating as he glanced fleetingly sideways at the Ring-Master, eventually just sighing in response when he turned his gaze back to the tent. "Mhm."

"See?... Just fine. How're you?" Raphael raised his eyebrows slightly in question, before continuing after the Co-Masters statement regarding the wet weather. "I'm pretty sure your not the only one who likes rain," Laughing, the blonde Illusionist uncrossed his arms and scratched a temple with a finger. He watched the younger, white haired male when he produced the little sketchbook, before looking up at him when he mentioned needing a hair cut. "Mmm. Your forever needing your hair cutting." He said with a slight smile. "We could always ask Julian over here to do it. No doubt his knives are sharp enough, and he's pretty good with his aim... Cutting hair can't be that difficult for him."

What resulted of that statement was a withering look from Julian, Raphael returning said look with a amused grin. With a sigh, the Sword-Master exhaled in a huff of breath, then rolled a shoulder. "I don't know where his hair has been, why would I risk soiling my blades?" The dark haired male murmered, the smallest of amused twithes pulling at the corner of his lips, before he strolled past the two, slightly taller males, heading in no particular direction.

"My goodness, was that a sense of humour?" Raphael asked with mock surprise, ducking when a knife came flying his way. The glinting metal embedded itself into a nearby wooden pole with a thud. Pff-ing slightly, the Ring-Master waved quickly in Julian's direction as he left, then shrugged and looked at Dravius, his face amused. "One another note... Think you'll be up and running to do shows this week?"

"Well, Julian's in such a sunny mood, it's almost infectious..." Dravius flashed a large, sharp smile. "I'm fine. Didn't get much sleep but, eh." He shrugged, stretching his arms out in front of him. "No one likes to sit out in it with me, though." He pointed out, tucking his hands into his upper pockets.

"It just grows too fast," Dravius muttered, blinking lazily in the bright sunlight. "Although it's growing out black. Maybe when it's all black it'll start growing out white." He rolled his shoulders, cracking them several times. "And I wouldn't trust Julain to cut my hair. He'd probably end up shaving it all off," He smiled, waving his hands around in the air.

Dravius snickerd at Julain's departure, waving a goodbye quickly. He chuckled a little louder when Raphael was forced to duck, tugging the blade out of the pole, handing it to Raphael. "I checked out Daniel. He doesn't seem to need any medical attention, besides a bath, at least not on the surface." He remarked, twirling his pen inbetween the fingers of his left hand. The side of that had was coated with dried ink, the bandages on his wrists blackened from the writing tool.

"I'll be fine in shows. It actually doesn't take much effort, other than the mind numblingly boring bit of actually stitching yourself up afterwards." Dravius nodded curtly twice, watching as the final bits of the tent were put into place. "When are we gonna let the people in to gawk at us, n' sell tickets?" He gestured to the few townspeople still determindly trying to find a way in, circling the camp with puzzled expressions on thier faces. "Where is Ree, anyways?" Dravius looked from side to side, but shrugged at not finding the woman. His bad eye didn't move with his good, staring milkily straight through the hair that had fallen over it. The scars moved with the slight furrowings of his eyebrows as he focused back on Raphael. "I heard Vi-Vi was back. Where is she? I've not seen her at all."

(( Yeah he's a weirdo :U He gets less weird as you get to know him though. Maybe.. ))

Making up his mind, Maccus sat up and stretched, buttoning up his rumpled white shirt and black tuxedo jacket. Staring at the young blonde in confusion, he went through his pockets, softly muttering with his normal voice, the English accented one. After pulling out all his pockets, he finally located the puppet he needed, and pulled it out. This one was severely lacking in features, looking more like Tinkerbell than the young blonde woman staring at him. Replacing the Nylat puppet with this one, he made it nod it's head. Maccus refused to speak to the stranger, puppet or no.  

((Lol... o-o))

Biting her lip slightly, Maya watched the stranger carefully, trying to figure out whether or not he was dangerous. The fact that he seemed to be some level of insane didn't help. He could either be incredibly dangerous due to that... Or complately harmless, and the butterfly refused to stand any closer to him until she felt certain.

"Uh... Uhm." The young woman watched as the tall male produced another puppet besides the canine one he had, eventually going on to nod it's head in her direction. 

...

What?... As weird as anyone was in the Circus, no-one was quite like this. Maya was beginning to feel a just a little more unsure, and chose that moment ask Nylat a question with her eyes, just as the rain started. She shook her head, then looked back at the being on the floor. She wasn't sure what she should say to him... Inviting him back to the Circus could either be good or very, very bad.

~~~

"Yeaaah. Nice to Julian so bright and glowy," Raphael snorted, laughing quietly and watching the tent. Many of the members by now had moved on, the tent having been completed. "And you very rarely sleep for more than a couple of hours each time. That's nothing new, or abnormal, in your case." He glanced back towards Dravius, a smile still playing on his lips.

He ended up laughing again at Dravius's next few sentences. "Ah... I think you can trust him... The problem is convicing him." Scratching just behind an ear, the Ring-Master crossed his arms, before lifting one to take the blade from the younger male. "And that's good. Less work for you..." He thought in silence for a moment, then sighed. "Who knew Kanec had a brother, hm?"

He listened to Dravius in silence, then nodded "Alright. As long as you think you'll be able to do them. I take it your fevers lifted huh?" He smiled slightly, then glanced at the blade in his hand. "We'll open the booths tomorrow, and find people to run them. As for Karene, probably still asleep, and yeah. Violet came back. i don't know where she is though.I'd guess she's in her van though." He shrugged lightly, then chuckled.

"Well. I'd better take this blade back to Julian, and then take a route around camp. Check up on everyone, that sort of thing. Take care, Dravius. I'll talk to you in a bit." Clapping Dravius on the shoulder, the Ring-Master took one last look at the completed tent, then headed off to Julians residence. It was on his way when the first drops of rain started again, and he sighed quietly. Rain. It was probably a good thing after the dry weather at the beach.

Kanec didn't answer Dravius, but rather waited a moment, watching Daniel, before slipping out just as silently as the Co-Master had. He then shifted straight into a hawk, beating his wings to get airborne. He circled a few times, then angled toward the tents, his wingbeats steady. He caught sight of Raphael and Dravius before he slowly circled down, landing on the former's shoulder. He cleared his throat and flicked his tail, a few feathers falling to the ground behind Raphael. He readjusted his feet and glanced at the Ring-Master, his green eyes sharp. "So, how hard would it be to keep my van free of pests?"

~~

Nylat gave the man a hard, flat stare, blinking rapidly in slight amusement. Or rather, from being weirded out. This guy was a complete nutjob. At the appearance of the two puppets, she was even more creeped out. With a flick of her tail, she stepped back, watching him warily. She glanced back at Maya, giving her a look that said it all: 'What is wrong with this guy?' She sneezed slightly and turned back to the guy, shifting slightly and bringing her injured paw closer to her. "So, what do you think we shoudl do, Maya?" She never took her eyes off of the nutcase, but made it obvious that she was talking to her friend, even before she said her name.