Cirque du Mort

[Jabberwocky]

It was only two hours ago that the sun set along the valleys and grasslands of Hyrule Field. The bugs and birds hadn't even had a chance to wake yet before a thunderous bellow came over the hills in the distance. It was at this time those short hours ago that a serpent larger than any dragon peaked its head over the hillside. Its beaming eyes showed its path of travel, never darting away from it. As it crossed the large hills without effort, its slithering shook the earth. It was a violent beast of much noise and power that was dead intent on moving quickly.

It finally lurched to a stop in an open field, hissing smoke to warn anyone nearby that danger was afoot. Its eyes shut and thus the glowing beams ended. That was when a man exited the monster’s skull.

”Arrival! 10 PM! Two hours prior to midnight!”

The skin of the serpent was instantly shed and beasts and people of all kinds exploded out into the open with all varieties of objects in hand. Although equally dangerous as one made of flesh, this serpent was one of wood. A train. And its occupants all chanted wildly and ran about; some even drinking as they worked mercilessly and furiously.

That was two hours ago.

A tent as large as a castle now stands where the train once did. Black and white stripes catch the eye against the natural backdrop of the area. Within it was much noise and light. Outside the tent four massive beams of light scratched across the increasingly dark sky.

A man stood at a stand by the doors. He wore clothes too large for him and a mustache to match.

”Three tickets left! A once in a lifetime event!” he shouted.

[Volkin]

Volkin wandered through Hyrule field. He had been trying to make camp when the lights and noise had woken him up. "Hm? The hell?" He sat off to the side of the site and watched as they set up for their show, both astounded and confused as to what was going on.

It didn't take him too long to realize that they were setting up for some sort of show and after that it was only figuring out what sort it was. By the time the ticket-taker started shouting that there were only three seats left, Volkin's curiosity was already too much for him to turn it down. He quickly closed the distance between them and held a hand out to the man. "I would like one of those tickets, please."

He looked up to the man with the sweetest smile he could muster, although there was still something of a predatory air about it.

[Seyka]

Tonight would be a lazy night. She didn't feel like doing much of anything except laying on the soft plushy grass, and gazing up at the stars. A soft smile formed upon her lips as she mused the thought of counting how many little lights were up in the sky tonight. Though her quiet evening would come to an end rather quickly feeling the vibrations of some unnatural occurrence taking place.

Tremors? In Hyrule Fields? Her feline ears perked up as she picked up the sounds of faint work coming from nearby. So much for being lazy~ Plopping up on her feet, she scampered on over in the general direction to where she heard the ruckus, curious as to what was so vivacious so late in the night.

Her magenta eyes were soon fixated on the sight of a giant tent standing right in front of her view. Her mouth dropped open as she stared in awe for a moment taking an instant liking to this strange appearance. "Cool!" she squeaked. Her tail swishing back and forth expressing her growing excitement. A real life circus~! Her feline ears twitched up turning her attention to a man who appeared by the entrance. His voice beckoning... for three more people to pick up tickets for the show. Or at least that was the gist of it.

Sey Sey watched as a young man approached the announcer, and asked for one of the three tickets. So the tickets were free? No cost whatsoever. That was a steal~! Skipping merrily on over to join Volkin, she flashed a bubbly smile. "Count me in too~!" she mewed, sounding like a little kid, who got a hold of too much sugar, and was going through a sugar rush. To help exaggerate how bad it was, she began bouncing up and down, wasting quite a bit of her energy in the process. Before getting too carried away, she stopped herself, and giggled softly.

[Yasmine Carnelian]

Though it would kill her to admit, Yasmine was rather nosy about some things. She had heard the loud noises as soon as the rumbling started, thanks to her keen rabbit ears. It immediately piqued her interest. The area around Castle Town and Hyrule Field was normally very calm. Just what could be going on? From Castle Town, she saw the large beams pointing into the sky, though they were mere silhouettes. It took all she had to drag herself out of her comfortable, familiar home, to go see just what it was.

Upon arriving, she folded her arms across her chest as she set her carnelian eyes on the massive tent. She seemed pretty unimpressed from the outside, but inside, she wondered just what in the hell that thing was. If she wanted to find out, she'd have to take the last remaining ticket.

She stomped her long legs over to the ticket holder and held out one hand, palm facing up, her fingers slightly curled to show off those long claws of hers. "I'll take it," she said simply, quickly. She could only wait to see just what this was. At least there wasn't a large crowd.

[Jabberwocky]

The man opened his smile a little bit and a cigar fell out inbetween his teeth. It was already lit and smoke plumed into the faces of the three that quickly arrived. Of course the tickets would go fast! This wasn’t your mother’s circus.

”Ah, yes, welcome, children!” he began and exhaled another puff into their faces, despite most of them being fairly old. Not as old as this classy gentlemen though. He bent over his pedestal with tickets outstretched. A smile so long, the seller spoke ominously, ”Welcome to Cirque du Mort! Enjoy your stay.”

The entrance to the tent peeled back slowly just then and light poured out into the field. Inside was exactly what you’d expect: an arena full of people all clamoring and laughing as they got to their seats. Clowns with large, red shoes and noses darted about the center of the arena, tripping and striking each other for lame entertainment right before the circus actually began.

There was no one to guide the party of three to their seats nor assigned seating. Although the place was packed, seats were constantly opening up as the arena magically expanded to meet the demand of the customers. If the group decided to separate or sit together, it wouldn’t be a problem to find seating.

But they should do it quickly! A dwarf shuffled into the center of the arena, sweat dripping off his half Bare body as he waddled in. Using a funnel thrice his body height to project his voice, he called out, ”Seats! Seats! It is time to begin!”

And the lights shut off.

[[Oh yeah, no posting order! Don't wait on others to post. =) ]]

[Volkin]

Volkin wrinkled his nose at the smoke but did little else to protest. He wanted that ticket and if he had to smell a bit of smoke to get it then he would smell a little smoke. His eyes turned to look at the other two who were coming to snatch up the last tickets and quickly noticed that they were fellow minish. "Hello, nice to meet you. I'm Volkin."

He gave a quick wave to the two of them and ducked through the door and into the tent. "Woah, neat!" He let out a laugh and sprinted toward the closest seat to the front that he could find. Volkin wanted to see everything.

[Seyka]

Sey Sey gagged at the blatant smoke being blown at her face, waving her hand bluntly in front of his face, before coughing up a storm. Her magenta eyes glittered with excitement, kind of ignoring the smoke factor, before receiving her ticket. She stretched it out for a moment, holding it up within the light, as if trying to see if there was some subliminal message behind it.

Nothing showed up out of the ordinary~ Her short attention span was diverted from the ticket, and onto Volkin who introduced himself. She flashed him her happy-go-lucky smile, "Nice to meet you~! I'm Seyka."

She turned her attention over to the rabbit Minish, who stood taller than the petite kitty Minish by a landslide. She gave her a peppy smile, before giving her a wave. "See ya inside!" she meowed in a rather too perky tone.

Three Minishes out for the evening to enjoy a circus troupe. What were the odds of that happening? Following suit after Volkin, she scampered inside, quickly finding a seat within the middle so she got a good view of everything. Not quite so close to the action, but at the same time, not too far in the distance where everything looked like ants. Happily plopped onto her seat, she watched as the lights instantly turned off. "Ooooooh~!" she gasped.

[Jabberwocky]

[Skipping Yasmine.]

The group entered the tent without care and quickly separated to their own individual seats. Volkin to the front. Seyka to the middle. And Yasmine to the back.

Almost instantly upon getting into their seats, the lights turned off. It was pitch black. Nothing could be seen or heard, minus the occasional cough from the crowd. The darkness sat there for a brief moment in this awkward silence. Just enough to create anticipation.

And then a beam of light shot down into the center of the arena. Within it was a fat monster, bowing to the crowd with a tophat in hand. The crowd cheered instantly and slowly died down as he straightened and placed the tophat on his bald head. The creature was a blueish gray in tone with pointy ears sticking out from below the brim of his hat and glasses. Wearing an inhumanly tall smile, his massive jaws didn't move as he spoke.

"Welcome!" he shouted as he threw up his short arms and the crowd cheered briefly before dying down again. "Welcome to Cirque du Mort! The world's only circus of FUN! We have various festivities today planned for your viewing pleasure and I do hope you enjoy them. So without further ado, I present to you the opening act... " A snicker passed through his lips.

The lights flashed on in all their brightness. After their eyes adjusted, the three would find that the crowd had changed. Their heads had dropped to their shoulders and their eyes were focusing upon Volkin, Seyka, and Yasmine without blinking. Upon further inspection, some of the crowd was now made of gray decaying flesh and bone while the other fraction of the crowd was partially transparent and floated above their seats.

"The living!" the man in the center called out. Everyone in the crowd gave ghastly moans and shrieks now.

The monster held out his hand toward the crowd, and said, "Come, come, my friends. Join me in the arena! You are our guest stars!"

What had they gotten themselves into?

[Yasmine Carnelian]

( Sorry, sorry! I'll try not to be so slow and distracted this time. )

Already Yasmine could tell she would regret doing this. Not because it was a circus, but because of the company that went along with her. The kitty girl was just... too bouncy. At least the other Minish wasn't as hyper. Yasmine had followed them into the tent, and sat down behind the two, sure to stay away.

In the darkness, she grunted a little. Impatiently tapping her armored foot, she squinted her eyes to try to make out any forms or figures. Suddenly, the center of the tent was lit up and an odd looking man began to talk. All through his performance and speech, Yasmine just sat there, unimpressed and mildly irritated. Her arms were folded across her chest. Just what was this anyway?

Then all of the lights popped on. The rest of the crowd looked so... disgusting now. In an instant, her mood suddenly changed. She was now a little intrigued, but thoroughly annoyed now. Disgusting... she pondered to herself as she scooted away from the ghouls close to her.

As the monster called out to her companions and herself, Yasmine shook her head. "There's no way I'm going out there." Though she didn't know what would happen to her if she didn't go... And if she did go, she'd be getting away from these disgusting creatures around her. Perhaps Seyka or Volkin could drag her away, because she surely wasn't going anywhere with that stubborn attitude of hers.

[Volkin]

A wide, excited grin spread over his face as the lights dimmed and he found himself bouncing in his seat as he waited for what was coming next. He'd never been to a circus before, hell, he wasn't even entirely sure what a circus normally contained. As the lights came up he began to clap but slowly stopped as he realized he was the only one doing so.

As the man spoke, Volkin's excitement rose. A circus of fun? He straightened up in his seat as the first act was getting ready to start. But then the lights turned on him and he closed his eyes, raising a hand to shield them before re-opening them again. "Huh? The living?"

Having been sitting in the front, Volkin had not paid attention to the audience until this point. Now, on looking around to see the crowd staring at him, he could feel his skin starting to crawl. "Gyah!!" Volkin let out a yelp and scrambled into the center of the ring. "Guest stars? What sort of show is this?"

Volkin kept his distance from the ringleader and brought a hand to the sword that he carried with him. "What did you do to the audience?" He turned to the ringleader, starting to swallow down his fear with anger.

[Seyka]

Seyka waited with impatient anticipation, but she was quite excited about going to a circus. She had to contain herself in her seat as the lights went out. The darkness that permeated the joint made the cat girl even more restless. What was going to happen next?! She folding her hands together to keep her composure even remotely calm. How could you be calm at something as entertaining as a circus, right? Perhaps that was a bit of an overstatement.

"Dear Din," she squeaked at the roar of the crowd. She beamed brightly with a giddy smile across her lips before settling in her seat. Her magenta eyes flickered with glee and wonderment on what was going to happen. Soon enough after the ringleader, who looked like he could make the moblins seem like super models, finished his announcement, Seyka found bright lights flashed on upon her lithe frame. Her smile quickly faded at the mention of living. Just what in the world did he mean by that? Her answer came in the form of a rather unpleasant visual, surrounded by all sorts of undead creatures.

Yuck. Ew. Ewwy ew ew ew! This place is so gross. My grandmother is turning in her grave, I swear. EEEEEEWWWWWWW! Oh my Goddess, that light is killer, turn it off!

... Why is she still sitting down?

The attention span wore thin again. The mental cat girl finished her spazzing rather quickly, and stood up - no, flew out of her chair. She bounced on over to Yasmine and linked her nimble little arm around hers, latching on tightly, in a half-tugging, half-dragging fashion. "Come on~! Don't be shy," she mewed. The whole matter of a tiny cat girl dragging a tall, slender rabbit minish was quite a sight to see~ She expected the possibility of protests along the way, but wasn't it better than being sitting down next to ghouls, and... grotesque looking dead people? Of course, she was still scared out of her wits about this whole thing, but her attention span didn't run well on thinking on the fact that there was the possibility that this could become dangerous~

So with that said, she brought her companion to the ring, and stood next to Volkin. Safety in numbers right?

[Jabberwocky]

He continued waving his hand toward himself as the group made their way through the maze of undead and down to him in the center of the arena. As they arrived beside him --well, perhaps cautiously close-- the monster gave a single clap and then bowed once again.

"Thank you for being good sports!" he said between low snickers and then standing back straight. "What have I done to them? Who, the audience? I would never do anything to my beloved audience! What is a circus without an audience? Isn't that right, my loyal fans?"

The ghouls all clapped (at least, the non-specters), some managing to pan out a whistle and a cheer.

"I have been given many names over my long history, but you will know me as Jabberwocky. But that is Mr. Jab to you!" The fat elfish monster rose up his short leg and slapped his knee, snickering away. "And today! This today! This lovely night of fun! You three will be my lovely performers. Now! To positions!"

He clapped and the lights all shut off. Almost as fast as it had shut off, they returned.

The females found themselves each on their own high platform. Between them was a series of horizontal rods hanging from chains. Oh, and look at that, their clothes had been changed to items much more revealing. The crowd cheered and whistled! How delightful. Better than the last couple of women that Jabberwocky had thrown up there...

Fortunately for Volkin, he didn't suffer from a wardrobe change. However he now stood beneath the hanging rods beside a trampoline. His mission was clear.

Jabberwocky's voice entered the air: "I bring youuuuuuuuu theeeeeee famous...Minish Trapeze Duo!"

And the crowd went crazy! Some even clapped their decayed hands into dust.

[Volkin]

"...then...that's how they normally are?" He looked around to the audience and noticed that they did seem to be enjoying themselves. An embarrassed sort of look crossed his face and he rubbed the back of his head. "Oh...sorry about the yelling then."

As the lights shut off once more he closed his eyes, expecting to get another spotlight to the face. Instead he reopened them to find a trampoline in front of him. Tilting his head to the side, he smacked his hand against the top of it a few times before looking upward to find the girls now wearing significantly less than they had just a few seconds ago.

A quick wave of panic went through him and his head snapped downward to inspect himself. Volkin let out a sigh of relief to find himself not scantily clad like the others. There was some disappointment, however, in finding out that he was supposed to be part of the entertainment. That disappointment was mixed with a bit of happiness as well though, this could be a lot of fun.

Volkin took hold of the trampoline and kept his eyes on both of the girls, ready to catch them if they should fall. He had originally expected that he would be asked to jump on it but upon hearing the act announced as a duo, he was sure that this was his part to play.

[Seyka]

There was something fishy going on with this performance. First of all, what kind of circus - let alone a circus filled with undead - gets their audience involved in their acts? Sey Sey quirked up an eyebrow not really getting the feel of all of this. Or at least a positive feeling this was going to end well~ Though things were beginning to progress at a rather hasty pace. For as soon as the lights shut off, and turned back on, she was not in the same place as she was a couple seconds ago.

"..."

Her magenta eyes blinked. Then again a second time. A third. Until it began to dawn on her where exactly she had been transported to. A high platform. A string of mental questions began to scream in the back of her head. Her porcelain cheeks turned bright red as she felt the foreign material clinging snugly onto her skin. She was not in her own clothes. Her dark kitty cat tail with a white tip shot up straight as a nail in response to the dramatic shock settling in. "Dear Din! What is this?!" she squeaked. There was a draft which sent shivers down her spine not liking it. "It's... so... high..."

She felt dizzy. She bit her lip from passing out from the lack security this had. Her cat ears perked up at the title of the act. Famous? It made no sense! They weren't famous or anything~ However the sound of the audience clapping and all made her feel somewhat better. Sey Sey's always wanted to be an acrobat~

"Hmm..." she pondered. She extended one of her lithe little paws at the closest rod suspended on chains to her platform. She gulped softly, not at all confident about this, and looked back over to Yasmine on the other side. Probably wasn't at all happy about this than the kitty was. "Someone has to start..." she said with a small sigh, "Here goes nothing."

With a good jump, she dove off of her platform, and began her small descent until the chains clattered at the new weight, and pulled her forward. She began to swing forward, hanging for dear life onto the rod, as it was the only thing she had secure. Air beneath her feet, and miles above the ground...

Scary~!

[Jabberwocky]

[Yasmine is sick. I'll try to ignore her as long as possible. Just means I get to torture you guys some. ;D]

With a leap of faith, the cat-like female grappled the rod for dear life and swung in the air miles above safety! Little did she know that a ghost with boltcutters was awaiting this moment. It quickly cut the rod's two chains and faded away with a mischievous snicker.

The chains instantly gave way and Seyka began to fall... And fall... And fall!

Volkin better be ready!

[Volkin]

As Seyka lept from the platform, Volkin tightened his grip on the trampoline and kept a close eye on her. "Hey, look out!" He tried to warn her but it was too late, she was already in the air.

"Don't worry, I got you!" Volkin yelled up to Seyka as she began to fall. He moved as quickly as possible, situating the trampoline so that it would be under her. Should the trampoline not move, he would try his best to catch her.

[Yasmine Carnelian]

After seeing what happened after the cat girl jumped to the rods, Yasmine planted her feet firmly on the platform she was standing on. There's no way in hell I'm doing that. This situation was not monkey see, monkey do. From this height, she could see any threats that were coming. Yasmine slowly grabbed her longbow from it's clip on her back, and positioned an arrow from the quiver on her hip against the strings. It was her job to snipe any threats to herself... and fine, to the two other Minish that joined her.

Sure, she may dislike interacting with people, but she wasn't going to let two innocent ones get hurt just because she's a ***** and lacks social etiquette.

[Seyka]

"KYAAAAAHHH~!!"

Talk about having the worst of luck. Seyka heard the chains snap, and soon enough gravity took it's hold, and she fell. For a split second she began to flail out of sheer panic. Tears forming in the corners of her eyes, but it didn't last long before she realized she was a cat.

So gathering what courage she had on her, she stopped panicking, and positioned herself in mid air so that her legs would meet the surface. Her magenta eyes flickered, down at the bottom, noticing Volkin moving the trampoline underneath her.

"Nyaaaaao~!" she mewed. No matter how strong her knees were locked, having hitting the trampoline made them bent, as the bounyancy tossed her up. Using the leverage back up into the air, she performed a somersault before landing as gracefully as she could back onto the ground. However, her legs gave out on her from the fright she took from the fall, and fell to her knees shaking slightly.

"Dizzy... I'm dizzy," she said with a nervous laugh. "Are we done? I'd like to go home now..."

[Jabberwocky]

As the cat girl flailed in the air, Volkin prepared the trampoline. Thanks to keen precision on both their parts, Seyka bounced off the trampoline with ease. When she landed, she was struck with shock and immediately her legs gave out.

The crowd cheered at the display of grace and teamwork! Even if Yasmine had chickened out.

"Go home?" the ringleader's voice bounded. "But that was only the first act!"

The lights flashed black once again. When they came back on, the three Minish were all center stage. They had their clothes changed back to normal and everything seemed to be in order. That is until...

"Ladies and gentleman! All the way from parts unknown! I bring you the Vliiiiiiiiiirrrr Lioooooonnnn Taaaaaamers!"

A beast of great size landed behind the three Minish with fair force. Although the ringleader referred to it as a lion, it was definitely a chimera. It had the head and fur of a lion, but it had a crown of antelope horns jutting out from its head and along its body and legs were thick scale armor. It gave a great roar only made more menacing by the snake-like hiss hidden within.

King of the Jungle
----------------------
KRILIK

KRILIK:

VOLKIN:

YASMINE:

SEYKA:

[Volkin]

Lion tamers? Volkin's eyes went wide and he looked at the chimera in front of him. That did not look like any lion that he had ever seen but he had a few ideas going though his head on how to deal with this situation. He doubted they needed to defeat it, much like they had not needed to actually perform acrobatics so much as fall.

Volkin decided that he would put into work two ideas at once. He appeared to step forward and pull a whip from his belt. He first lashed the whip out toward the ground with the distinct cracking sound that they are known for. "Sit!" He ordered the chimera in a commanding voice. If the chimera did not listen, he would lash out with the whip such that it hit the chimera's paw.

Meanwhile, while the illusion played with a whip, the real Volkin used it as a cover to try and climb onto the massive beast. If he could not climb one of its limbs he would attempt to wrangle with the tail and make his way onto it's back that way. Once on the chimera, Volkin would make his way to the head and sit down, grabbing tightly onto the antlers.