Wanderlust (Marina Elemento x Kiyiya Sakura)

[Player Advisor]

Kaine(Rust) Parker



The feeling of swimming in darkness was beginning to become more familiar than Rust would like. When the darkness faded and he opened his eyes, he groaned, his head still throbbing. "W-what was that" When his vision cleared a bit more, he saw strange shadows across his arm. Horizontal lines in the dim, orange light. His eyes went wide and he looked up, seeing the bars to his imprisonment. "No!" He sat up on his knees, the cage too small for him to stand completely up in. He crawled to the bars, wrapping his hands around the cold metal. "Estelle?!" He called. He heard shuffling, then the voice of his love calling his name from behind him. "Estelle," He turned and shuffled over to the other side of the cage, seeing hers across the way. "Estelle, are you alright? Are you hurt?" He reached for her, but there was a large gap between the cages. There was no way he could reach her, even if she reached for him as well.

There was a bang, making Rust jump and look to his left. Another bang, and another, accompanied with a grunt and heavy breathing. It was Bongo! The dark young male was ramming himself at the hinges of the door to his cage. The door stood fast though, showing no signs of damage. He continued, slamming his shoulder into the door over and over, his grunts turning into determined and pained shouts. His breathing went ragged, and his rushes became sloppy. "Bongo! Stop it! You'll wipe yourself out!" Rust called to him, voice hushed. He was afraid the noise would get the attention of their captors. "Bongo!"

 

[RedZeroFive]

As if from no-where, one of the masked men in the stripped jumpsuits appeared between Rust and Estelle's cages. His mask portrayed a face, its crying features exaggerated cartoonishly. He stepped toward Bongo's cage, his feet silent on the wooden floor as he pulled what looked like a baton from his belt. He spun it from a thin rope on it's handle before swinging it at the metal bars. When it connected, the bars, and metal floor, of the cage were charged with hundreds of volts of electricity, bolts arcing from bar to bar with a deafening CRACK!

Elsewhere in the camp, Ekkeheardt watched as performers made their way to the large circus tent, close to the road. He nodded at each one as they passed, smiling. His newest additions should be coming around right about now. He made a mental note to go visit when he was through here.

 

[Player Advisor]

Bongo


As the man with the mask came into view, Bongo rushed him, slamming into the bars nearest the man and snarling. He did not expect to be assaulted with such voltage though, and cried out in pain and surprise when the electricity jolted through his body. He seized, his back arching and his yells catching in his throat, before collapsing, unconscious.

Rust stepped back, recoiling in fear. He looked at Estelle worriedly, then looked at the horrible man in the creepy mask. What was going on?

 

[Marina Elemento]

ℰstelle Dominique ℒareau


Estelle clung to the bars of the cage, still kneeling on the cold floor helplessly. "I'm f-f-fine," she replied, unable to stop her teeth from chattering as she quivered in fear. Before she could even gain enough composure to ask where they were, or what was going on, she froze in terror at the series events that played out before them, unraveling quickly. The masked man was frightening as it was, but what he did next was unfathomable. Her golden amber eyes shut tightly, the flashing of electricity burning vine-like images in her vision. She never wanted to open them again in that very moment, for what she had seen happen to Bongo made her stomach lurch in disgust and horror.

At this point, Estelle's body was quivering so hard she could barely find the ability to move or stand, let alone open her mouth to scream. She could only curl up on the floor and let out small gasps of what sounded like crying, though no tears came.

 

[RedZeroFive]

The man in the mask stepped back, content with his handy work. He turned around, making his way between the two cages. He jumped at Rust as he walked by, laughing as he smacked the bar. The baton was off, however, so a loud clang echoed in the room instead of thunder-claps. He laughed again, sauntering from the room.

A moment later, Ekkheardt stepped into the room, checking a pocket watch. He stepped up to the spot between the cages. "Good evening, Gentlemen, and lady" He nodded toward Estelle. "According to my watch, it's half past three. The show begins in three hours..." He clicked the watch closed, looking at Rust and Estelle in kind. "So tell me, when the show begins of what use will you be? What reason do I have to not put you down like the animals you are?"

 

[Player Advisor]

Kaine(Rust) Parker



Rust watched the man in the mask approach, and jumped back when the goon jumped at him, flinching when the baton hit the bars. No electric shock came, and as the goon waled away chuckling, Rust felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle in anger. As the masked man walked out, another man came in. This guy was obviously the one in charge. He watched this pale faced demon as he spoke.

Show? Was this some sick game for him? He intended to put Estelle and himself through some performance like circus animals or something? This fueled the anger that had been building inside of Rust.

"You're the animal." Rust spat back at the man, his hatred for him prevalent in his eyes. The beast was clawing at the back of his mind, begging to be unleashed. He held it back... for now.

[  

[Marina Elemento]

ℰstelle Dominique ℒareau


Estelle peered between the cage bars as the masked man took his leave, scowling disprovingly when he laughed at how frightened Rust looked. She wanted so badly to be right next to Rust, so at least she could hold his hand and know everything would be okay. Somehow, when they were apart, she felt no reassurance whatsoever and she hated it.

Then, another man entered the room, his very aura the epitome of everything she hated. Estelle inched back away from the bars in the cage toward the center, hugging her knees to her chest. For a moment she thought there'd be no answer, just silence echoing off the walls, but when Rust shot back a snide answer, Estelle's throat closed up. She shook like a frightened puppy. Afraid the man would do the same thing one of his goons did to Bongo, she choked out, "Rust, don't!" but her voice was small, strained; she barely sounded like herself. Her topaz-colored eyes flickered up to the mysterious man and she cleared her throat. "And w-what if we have no use? Why did you take us in the first place? You should just let us go, and not w-waste your t-time."

 

[RedZeroFive]

Ekkehardt laughed. "Oh, I quite agree, my lupine friend. You see, we areALL animals." He snapped his finger, and another masked henchman dropped from the unseen rafters above, landing silently. The face on this one was a woman, her eyes half closed, her lips curved sensually. Ekkeheard placed a hand on her shoulder. "You are an animal." He motioned to his masked compatriot, "She is animal. I AM an animal. The only thing that separates us is the imaginary idea that some of us are better than others. More correct in our beliefs But in the end," He held out his hand, and the masked woman handed him a rounded bundle wrapped in cloth, "Were all the same to our old friend death."

He snapped on end of the cloth allowing it to unroll onto the floor. The head thumped onto the wood. It was what was left of one of the performers. He tapped at the head with his cane. "This is the only escape I can grant you. You have two hours to give me a reason to keep you here. Don't waste my time." He smiled at both of them and turned around, whistling to himself as left the tent. The masked woman glanced at both of them before exiting with a cartwheel.

 

[Player Advisor]

Kaine(Rust) Parker



Rust's eyes never left the ringmaster's. The longer he started at the pale man, the more angry he got. He did not look away when another masked goon came from seemingly nowhere, nor when a bodyless head was unraveled before them. He glared at the man until his back was turned and he exited.

Let me out. the rumbling voice hissed in his head. Rust closed his eyes and clenched his teeth, "Not yet." he murmured. He looked across at Estelle. "We will find a way to escape. I promise." he assured her. "And we will keep our heads" He sat back and thought about what they could do to convince the ringmaster of their usefulness. They would have to play along until Rust could think of a plan.

 

[Marina Elemento]

ℰstelle Dominique ℒareau


Estelle hated the man's logic. It made no sense whatsoever, yet he still managed to make a convincingly terrifying point. Her eyes darted from the masked woman to the severed head on the floor and her stomach tied further into knots. Her jaw clenched and relaxed repeatedly, the frightened look in her eyes replaced with anxiety and anger, two emotions that also did not come easily to her. It bubbled inside of her, ready to spill out as tears had threatened to do moments ago. When the two creeps finally left, she turned and looked at Rust and nodded in response to his reassuring words. But what could they do? They had two hours to come up with some splendid scheme that would save and keep their lives?

"But what are we going to do? The way he looked at us, like we're his property..." Estelle shook her head angrily at the thought of it. "And I am not a showgirl, Rust." She hadn't meant to sound humorous, but even her own comment had made a twitch of a smirk appear at the corners of her lips. In all seriousness though, she felt lost, more lost than she had been in a while.

 

[Player Advisor]

Kaine(Rust) Parker




Rust wanted so badly to go to Estelle and hold her safely in his arms, but that was impossible now. Instead, he could only offer her words of comfort. "I know love, neither am I. But for now, we need to think of something, or we're dead." He racked his brain for something a circus or carnival show wold need. What could he offer, and what could Estelle offer? Rust was so mechanically adept, he could whip something up in a few days, but he only had three hours.

As he thought, he heard a groan come from Bongo's cage. He turned his head to see if his friend was alright. "Bongo?"

Bongo felt like he had just been hit my a car, every muscle in his body aching after the horrible shock he had received. "Urrrfgh..." He grimaced and opened his eyes, blinking groggily. Slowly, whit many groans, he sat up and held his head with one hand. "Mmmmmmhhhh, I hate this place." He growled.

"Bongo, what are you good at?" Rust asked him.

"What? Why?"

"Because if we don't give the boss around here a reason to keep us alive, we are going to loose out heads, literally."

"..." Bongo had to run that sentence through his mind a few times to process that, but when he did, he frowned even more. "I am not a prancing pony. I don't do acts or shows"

"You do if you want to live. At least until I or you or anyone can come up with a plan to get out of here." He scooted closer to the bars towards Bongo, "I was thinking just now, and I think I have an idea to buy us time to plan, but you need to give the b*****d something to work with." He turned back and scooted towards Estelle, leaving Bongo to think. "Estelle, can you sing well in front of a crowd? Dance too?"

 

[Marina Elemento]

ℰstelle Dominique ℒareau


Estelle sighed in response to his words of comfort and rested her chin in the palm of her hand as she thought. She did her best to think of something, anything at all they could do to impress the creep, but her mind was drawing a long blank of nothing. It didn't help that she felt she was about to burst into tears, nor that she realized she was suddenly very hungry and there wasn't a bite to eat in sight. Annoyed with herself and the situation they were in, she leaned against the cage bars and closed her eyes tightly for a moment, hoping some grand answer would come out of the blue.

While Rust was catching Bongo up to speed, she thought back to any carnival she had ever been to. There was one in Italy, when she was about eight, and it was the prettiest place she'd ever been to. The waterways of Venice had been gleaming with the light of lanterns and torches, and the walkways were dusted with glitter. Everybody wore masks, and if Estelle's taste buds could recall correctly, the food was the best she'd ever tasted as a child.

Estelle's eyes snapped open at the sound of her name, and she looked at Rust, edging as close as she could to him at the corner of the cage. Her eyebrows raised in mild surprise, she replied, "I-I used to when I was little, so yeah, sure... if it means keeping us alive, I'll do anything." Hesitance lingered in the tone of her voice, but she meant what she said.

 

[Player Advisor]

Kaine(Rust) Parker




"That works. Pick a song and start practicing now. It needs to be captivating. A ballad or a folk song. Something that tells a story. Know any?" The gears in his mind where turning. If he could convince the ring master to give him one week, he could create something spectacular to go with Estelle's singing. And during that week, he would slowly gain the necessary information he needed to get them out of here. He was already drawing the plans up in his head.

Bongo thought on what he had, but he was distracted. There was more movement around them, in the other cages. He focused his beast's eyes into the darkness and cursed. It was Garrett, and all of the rest of his pack in their own cages. Snowball, Mischief, Jamie, Marie, Jess, old Slingshot and even little Kylie. He called to Garrett and explained the situation, telling him to pass the info along and keep everyone calm, especially Kylie.

 

[Marina Elemento]

ℰstelle Dominique ℒareau


Estelle thought for a moment, her eyes falling to the floor as she thought about what she could sing. She'd had plenty of piano recitals in her primary school years, but she didn't think she was particularly good at them. Singing was another thing altogether. It had been a while since she'd sung anything in front of other people, but she figured she could give it a shot. If anything, the mere idea excited her, made her feel like she could contribute to the plan perfectly. It was a strange feeling, but she accepted it like she accepted everything else new in her life. She looked at Rust again and nodded. "I think I might remember a couple good ones."




At first all Kylie could see was pitch black, shadows on the walls that looked like zebra stripes. It took her a moment to realize they were not pretty stripes on the walls, but in fact bars of a cage that held her hostage where she lay on the cold hard floor. Her instincts kicked in and she lurched upward, her hair a mess and her eyes larger than usual in terror. She looked around, not able to make much out except for the shapes of other cages too, some close and some much too far away. Too afraid to speak, she crawled to the corner of the cage and listened to the murmur of familiar voices.

 

[Player Advisor]

Bongo



Bongo looked at each of his pack, checking as best he could to make sure none were hurt. He was mostly worried about Kylie and Snowball. Kylie was so young, and Snowball had been injured in the griffin attack. Jamie wasn't much the fighter, but she was a bright young wolf. Everyone else he knew could hold their own. He scooted close to the side nearest Kylie's cage. "Psst, Kylie. It's going to be alright. We are going to get you out of here okay? I need you to listen to me. You are going to be in a show! Did you know? But you have to do something amazing. It's a talent show. When the white faced man comes, tell him how good you are at archery. That will be your talent okay? You do great!" He smiled at her, hiding his fear.