The Circus is in Town! (Open) (1,632 views)

[Maddie]

Dude raised his eyebrows, admittedly impressed by this display. "Wow," he uttered under his breath without realizing it. "Such gentleness and grace."

"Yeah," Star agreed without removing her gaze from the ixi. "That ixi is incredible for suppressing its violent mutant urges."

Cici leaned forward, focusing close attention to Bonita's movements. "I don't think it's just the ixi," he added quietly. "Bonita is definitely influencing it in some way. I wonder how..."

"Yeah," Star repeated, in awe. "Let's see what she does next."

[113shoe]

This mirroring act would continue for another minute or two, Bonita still having control over the powerful mutant. It seemed like nothing could break her invisible spell as she continued the show. But eventually the zafara lifted her hand again, snapping her fingers over her head. At the sound the Ixi's eyes and ears snapped open, as if adrenaline just shot through its system. It was now frozen in place, the sound of its breathing echoing the tent again. Bonita now moved on her own again, circling around the immobile ixi calmly. Even its eyes didn't followed her, focused on nothing but blank space.

"This," Bonita finally spoke up. "is one of the most ferocious creatures to ever dwell under our tents. Stronger than three grarrl, able to knock over anything in his path without effort. Cries able to make zomutt and werhonds howl in terror. Most would flee at mere presence, terrified by the strength and aggression. But this potential danger can and has been controlled, given the right trainer." She snapped her fingers again, the ixi instantly moved out of its frozen state, looking from the massive audience and then falling back to Bonita's side. She grinned and rubbed his head, the ixi looking at her and doing nothing. The preciously aggressive mutant was now acting the simple opposite, calm and relaxed.

[Maddie]

Without thinking about whether or not it was the appropriate time, Dude began to clap in awe for Bonita. It made him a clear target for the performer and her pet's attention, but soon his clapping provoked a short round of applause from all the surrounding audience members as well.

"Incredible," Cici murmured to his sister over the buzz, clapping quietly. "How does she do it?"

"If you knew the secret, it'd be no fun," Star beamed, amused by the large mutant ixi's sudden docile behavior and clapping along as well.

The clatter died down quickly, however, for everyone was intrigued to see what would happen next.

[113shoe]

When the unexpected clapping sounded off, it didn't take long for Bonita and her 'partner' to find the source among the crowd. The zafara smirked ever so slightly, quickly recognizing the colorful kacheeek from the tent. The mutant huffed some air at his direction, actually giving a low low rumble from his throat.

When the rest of the applause came after the performance, Bonita gave a quick and low bow in response. It gave little heed to the crowd as it left, but his ears were a little lower to probably block out the noise around him.

When the applause stopped, the stage was empty only for a moment before Miko reappeared on set, Magic perched proudly on his shoulder. It was time for the ringmaster to present the next act afterall.
"I see you enjoyed this little demonstration." He said in that ever smooth and calm voice. "Well be ready, because that was only the beginning of the show. Next, we have high flying performances and stunts that you could only dream of."

[Maddie]

The three siblings exchanged excited glances and fidgeted in their seats. The water kacheek then placed his paw gently on his older brother's arm. "Hey Dude," Cici whispered quietly as the applause of the crowd died down. With a little bit of shyness, "thank you for taking us to see this." Star overheard, and turned to nod her head in agreement.

Dude smiled broadly in return, glowing with pride. "It's no problem," he replied before directing his attention back to the stage. "Let's see what else Miko has up his sleeve."

~***~

The torches had once again ignite, lighting the exit as Neopians piled out the tent and buzzed with conversation about what they had just witnessed. Dude, Star, and Cici had stayed behind in the bleachers, talking among themselves. Star was eating a large pretzel and retelling her personal highlights from the show, gesturing excitedly and dropping crumbs everywhere. Dude could not help but laugh, amused by her enthusiasm. Cici was reclined low in his seat, sipping a soda while he watched the vast majority of Neopians leave. It was nice to feel alone again.

"Well hey," Dude spoke after Star was finished babbling. "I was hoping we could see Miko again. He's probably back stage right now. I wonder if we should try looking for him."

Cici sat up in his chair and adjusted his somewhat disheveled coat. "Do you think maybe... he'd come to us? I-If so... m-maybe we should make ourselves easier to find."

Star gasped loudly, alarming her brothers. "I totally want to run around on the stage!" she squealed, jumping from her chair and running down the stairs towards it.

"H-Hey!" Dude and Cici called in unison, both returning their hats to their heads and following after her.

"You can't just do that-!" Cici tried to reason, carefully watching his steps down the stairs. "W-We're probably not allowed down there!"

"Hey, you're the one who said we need to make ourselves easier to find!" Star laughed, turning to face them but continuing her advance. She stepped onto the wooden slab of a stage and began to twirl around, pretending she was a performer. Crumbs continued to fly from her pretzel.

Dude and Cici managed to catch up to her shortly after and tried to remove her from the stage, but she kept running away, giggling like a child. Dude was laughing about it, but Cici looked like he was ready to turn into a puddle.

[113shoe]

It wouldn't have been long before the sound and sight of Star dancing around the area caught the attention of someone other than the kacheeks. A squawking sounded off overhead, the source being Magic as she started to circle around the bouncing star. That bird seemed to be everywhere at the right time. She stayed above their heads as she flew by, amber eyes locked on the neopets below. She continued cawing and flying around them for a while, probably to tell them she was still there. Soon enough she swooped back down into the shadows, but soon reappeared on the arm of the Ruki ringmaster.

Miko still had that common grin on his face as she saw the ever so familiar Dude in the tent, accompanied by two others of his kind. It didn't take a genius to figure out who they were. Magic settled on her master's arm, eying the newcomers... or probably the pretzel Star had. She was throwing it everywhere.

"I assume you all enjoyed the show." Miko said cheerfully, going up the them with cane in hand. He flashed a knowing grin to Dude, knowing he was the one who dragged them all here. "Hello Dude. I'm not surprised to find you here."

[Maddie]

"Oh, h-hello sir," Dude replied with a little bit of embarrassment, doffing his hat. "Sorry about my little sister-"

"Don't apologize for me!" Star quickly cut in, gawking and nudging her older brother in the gut. Dude laughed an apology while Star stepped forward and offered the split ruki her hand. Clearing her throat, she introduced herself, "I did enjoy the show! Sorry for my behavior, the circus just brought out my inner childhood." She laughed.

"My name is Starry, but you can call me Star. And this is-" She turned to Cici, who was looking sheepish as usual. He nodded for her to continue, not wanting to introduce himself. "And this is Cici," Star finished for him, grinning. "He loved the show, too. We all did!"

The three nodded in unison.

[113shoe]

Miko chuckled softly at the three's behavior, taking Star's extended hand to shake. "Charmed to make your acquaintance." He said calmly, keeping that ever so happy smile on his face. Magic kept her gaze on the three, squawking happily as if to introduce herself. Vain little bird.

"And I'm glad to see you did take pleasure in our acts. We do take pride in our performances." He looked over at the three for a second, walking some as his cane hit the ground. Wow, they were really like how Dude described them.

"So why are you all staying behind after the show? It is quite late after all."

[Maddie]

"Oh, I was just hoping I could introduce you to my younger siblings, is all," Dude explained with a big smile, hugging his siblings and jostling them around. "Plus, I didn't want to leave without seeing you one last time. Meeting you has really made this experience all the more better for us, so thank you!" He stepped towards Miko with one of his arms outstretched, inviting him to join the group hug he and his siblings were sharing.

[113shoe]

"It's always a pleasure." Miko nodded, glad to hear that his interaction had made this whole thing worth while. It honestly was rare when he could mingle with people outside of his work, since he was tied up in it quite a bit at times. He was quite lucky himself to have run into Dude during his earlier outing.

At the silent offer of the group hug, Magic glanced to Miko as if to say 'go ahead' before flapping off to most likely heading back to her owner's tent. Miko's grin grew a little wider, stepping forward and joining them. His hands might have been a slight bit cold from the metal gloves he wore, but that was just a little thing.

[Maddie]

Dude squeezed the group tightly together with his big buff arms (so much that Cici squeaked for breath), before releasing his grip and giving a boisterous laugh. "Well! It's been fun, but me and my family should really be heading home before it gets any darker," he explained, pointing to the exit with his thumb. "But hey-" his features suddenly dropped into a serious expression, "-I'll be watching out for you, Miko" he said in a low voice, pointing at the ruki. After a pause, he smiled to show he was joking. "And by that I mean I look forward to the Seti Circus' next visit!" he laughed with a wink, nudging Miko on the shoulder. "I'll be sure to tell all my customers about this; so if you get more publicity, you'll have ol' Dude to thank! Anyway, goodbye for now. May we meet again some day in the future, my friend."

Star gave a curtsy and Cici gave an awkward bow with a doff of his hat before the three kacheeks turned away full of smiles, looking back to wave one last time before finally exiting the tent.

[Blue]

The next morning...

"So, where's this circus you've been telling us about?"

A group of four neopets: an excited baby Kacheek leading the way, a faerie Shoyru clinging to a speckled Kiko, also counting the one which seemed to only appear as only floating clothes, were seen in the crowd of tourists.

"Right over there!" B pointed over to the tents up on a clearing, hastily wanting to get a closer look. "I heard from a friend, who heard it from his friend, who heard it from his friend, who heard it from HIS friend--"

"Just get to the point." Sweet stopped him, sounding quite annoyed.

B breathed in. "They say there's this new circus in town... called the Seti Circus! Never been to one before, so I wanted all of us, the whole family, to go check it out! This'll be like... a bonding day!"

The four were approaching the site, which is still peaceful as the crew were resting from last night's performance.

"W-wait, is this going to take long?" The faerie Shoyru asked, continuing to hold onto the kiko's arm while fixing his cloak. "A-and are we allowed to be here?"

"Ah, don't cha worry, mate!" Pawkeyt reassured his brother. "You're with us! Thar's nothin' t' worry about!"

"I also heard it'll start in the evening... but I really wanna see what goes on in events like these!" B enthusiastically began exploring the tents as his siblings follow.

[113shoe]

Miko straightened himself out after the warm embrace, fixing his jacket and hat back to normal. He kept his classic lively yet calm expression as Dude mentioned they be leaving and the recommendation of his show, nodding happily at the idea. There was no better advertisement than word of mouth. "I wish you all safe travels until we meet again." He said, nodding them off with a farewell as they left the stage. Now the ringmaster ruki found himself alone in the ring, taking a moment to take a deep breath. "Those three really are something." He chuckled to himself, standing for a few more moments before turning and exiting the tent himself. It was still now that everyone was gone, the performers having turned in for the night to sleep. They earned the rest, as did he.

----------

When morning hit, the tents were as still as they were at night. Since the main parts of the area were set up yesterday, the circus dwellers had more time to train... or more often sleep. Nothing stirred, minus the flaps of some tents waving in the wind once or twice. The main tent was closed off for the night, tied with a simple rope. The sounds of a few animals could be caught once or twice, probably just being petpets that were included in certain acts. There might've been one of two people awake, but they wouldn't be found that easily. The performer tents could be a maze if you didn't know the way.

[Blue]

Minutes later, B, Pawkeyt, Azelf and Sweet were in the middle of tents.

"Uh, are you sure this is the right way?" Sweet asked, tired.

"Sure! It's... uh..." B looked around, not knowing where else to turn. "Were we here before? I could've sworn that tent had a slightly different angle--"

"Great, genius. You got us lost." Sweet remarked sarcastically.

"Can't Azelf just fly over this here uh--"

"No thanks!" Azelf burst out. "I-I mean, no thanks... It's safer on land..." He blushed in embarrassment.

"Nah, that spoils the fun!" B pouted. "Plus, don't you guys wanna explore some more?"

The 4 continued to babble at each other as they wander further through the tents without a clue how to get out unless they all can fly.

[113shoe]

(So so sorry for the last reply. I honestly forgot about this.)

The tents remained still and quiet for a while, almost as if no one was here. They had missed the opening show, so why were they back here when there was no action?

Inside one of the larger tents, Magic would be awoken by the new noises outside. The airax would ruffle her feathers and flap her wings, jumping off her perch and flying right out of the tent to investigate. The bird would soon be seen above the group on the grounds, squawking and cawing loudly in alert.