The girl was naked and singing in the streets when Mr. Goodfellow found her. The Turkey looking man recognized her immediately as a cousin of sorts.

"My my, you have a lovely voice my dear lur lur lur." The man spoke in bird speak, unsure as to whether the girl spoke any common. She had cropped white blonde hair. Her arms ended at the elbow and after that was just bright yellow wings. She blushed and responded with happy trills and tweets. "I run a traveling show and I would LOVE to have you join lur lur lur. Let's get you out of the streets and get some clothing on you lur lur lur." The girl cocked her head curiously but followed nonetheless.

A tall nubian woman met them at the front of the tent. The tent itself was Golden and crimson striped. The woman was a good foot and a half taller than the girl. She waved a crimson fan over her sweating form. She was a curvy woman in a red bustier and skirts.

"Mama, this is a new arrival. Please put her in a nice sundress for me? She's going to sing." Mama, as she was called, gave the girl a scrutinizing look.

"What's her name???" She said slowly. A velvety, deep voice.

Mr. Goodfellow twittered to the girl. She softly cooed back.

"She says her name is 'Aderyn' lur lur lur." Mama nodded and lead the girl into the tent. They passed a few lounging performers, some contortionists pretzeling themselves to wile away the hours. Aderyn found herself distracted when she bumped into someone and ended up on the ground. Looking up, two mismatched eyes stared back at her. A tall, silver haired man glared at her. He had a detailed tattoo around his right eye, and pointed ears. Mama came over and pulled Aderyn up gently. "So I see you've run into Xannick. He doesn't talk much. Be careful or he'll eat you..." Xannick gave Mama a growl, but stormed off sulking. Aderyn's eyes followed him until he was out of sight.

Mama brought her into a dressing room of sorts. Costumes and other things were scattered everywhere. Mama rummaged through the piles, putting things up to the canary and crunching her nose in thought. Finally she settled on a simple white dress made of a light fabric.

Within moments Aderyn was singing in the center ring. It was a quiet, gentle song, but a lovely one nonetheless. In the middle of it, her eyes met Xannick's, and she smiled a little. Something about him was intriguing to her. He merely stared back, unimpressed and unamused. Unlike everyone else.

Then she started to sing in bird speak. A lovely happy song that was also very very short. Some of the girls gushed at how cute Aderyn was. Mr. Goodfellow beamed, "I suppose this means she's our newest member Lur lur lur! Welcome Aderyn Lur lur lur!" Aderyn's face split into a huge smile. Everyone crowded around her, patting her on the back, rubbing her head. All except one.

Aderyn popped out of the crowd and hopped after Xannick. Following him. Hopping like a bird does. The half goblin did not welcome this. He would stop, then she would. He'd start walking again, longing to get away from the canary, she'd start hopping again. A few of the other performers gasped and worried over her. "Be careful Aderyn!"'s and "He's going to eat her!"'s were whispered and passed around the Aderyn was not deterred. In fact, she could only really understand half of what they were saying.

Xannick turned to glare at the small girl, wishing nothing more than to be left alone. He bared his fangs and gave a warning growl, telling her to back off.

She looked at him, her big robin's egg blue eyes filled with naivete rather than fear. Cocking her head to once side, she chirped.

The big half goblin twitched in annoyance, wondering why he didn't frighten her. He took a menacing step toward her, flexing his claws and exuding predator in every way.

Aderyn jumped back a little, but it was not fear in it, but play. She jumped at him after, trying to mimic him in a childish sort of way. She smiled and chirped. The performers watching the spectacle laughed a little. "Big bad Xannick isn't scaring her! Good for her."
Xannick growled again, crossing his arms over his chest in puzzlement. He shook his head, tossing his shaggy, silver hair, and turned to walk away again.

Aderyn stared following him again, this time walking. But then, out of the corner of her eye she spotted oranges being handed out. She flew over and stared at them. The person handing them out, a contortionist, gave her one to hold in her wings. Xannick almost sighed in relief. He had no wish for a bird girl to start following him around. He paused to watch her with the oranges, wondering how on earth she planned on opening it.

Aderyn stared at the orange for a long time. Unblinking, she started to gnaw on the rind, hoping to open it. She noted it was much bigger than the kind she was used to, and hoped it was just as flavorful. Xannick almost laughed. It was certainly a funny sight to see her gnawing on the orange, but kind of pathetic as well. Stowing his pride away, he sighed and walked over to her, holding his hand out for the orange. Holding the orange close in a defensive way. Aderyn stared Xannick down as if to say "This is mine, get your own!" She continued to gnaw on the orange, juice from the bites running all over her face and dress. Xannick rolled his eyes and growled, snatching the orange away before it exploded all over her. He made quick work of the rind with his claws and held the still intact pieces out to her.

Almost taking his fingers in her lips, Aderyn gratefully ate the pieces. When she was done, she ran and got a whole armful of oranges. Xannick blinked and then frowned, shaking his head. No way was he going sit there and peel all of them. Aderyn sighed heavily, wandering about aimlessly, hoping to find someone else to peel the oranges for her. Mama watched all of this nearby with Mr. Goodfellow. "Awwwww she's the cutest thing you brought to this circus since me."
Mr. Goodfellow chuckled "Yes, she's quite the charmer lur lur lur. Even Xannick seems to tolerate her. lur lur lur."

Xannick, undone by her cuteness, put a hand on her shoulder, and led her out of the way of the hustle and bustle. He sat down, crossing his long legs and held out his hand for the first orange.
Aderyn, gasping with joy, began to twitter and tweet a happy song for him. She nearly threw the orange at him, laughing and singing. She could have hugged him had she not been so hungry. Xannick rolled his mismatched eyes at her behavior, his ears twitching at the noise as he finished peeling the orange and handed it to her.

Mama couldn't help but let out a booming laugh when Xannick led the canary away. "Come on now, we have things to attend to." She and Mr Goodfellow went about other business.
Aderyn Gingerly took the piece of orange, giggling happily. Her face was still a mess from before.
Nastala, the girl who had given Aderyn all of the oranges, smiled at the two.
She walked away and started chatting it up with Fiyero, one of the acrobats. Soon it would be known throughout that a small bird had softened Xannick.

After many peelings of oranges and his hands being stained, Xannick gave up in the fruit endeavors and lay back on the ground. The bird girl no longer annoyed him, but rather amused him.

Soon the cheers of the girls caught Aderyn's attention. She got up and jogged over. They were saying somone's name, she couldn't understand. Some of the boys had gathered as well. This left Aderyn very confused. Xannick also perked perked up, but of course, he knew that name. He followed her toward the crowd and for the first time that day, he spoke: "Dustfinger!" Aderyn looked at Xannick, then the tall ginger man that had made his way through and clapped Xannick on the shoulder. Xannick was much taller. Aderyn chirped at Xannick questioningly. She couldn't help but stare at the scars on his face. Xannick smiled, a small one, but it was there none-the-less. "Where have you been all this time you bastard?" He asked jokingly. Aderyn listened to the exchange intently. She chirped again at Xannick. The tone was "Who is this man? You talk? What's going on?"

Xannick looked down at her questioningly, not understanding what she was saying. He shrugged and turned back to Dustfinger. "So tell me. It's been a long time since I've seen you around."
Aderyn puffed her cheeks full of air. Giving him an indignant "huff" Aderyn glared as best she could. Xannick looked down at her again, his smile disappearing. "What?" he asked in a monotone voice. The air slowly escaped her plump lips with a hiss. She sulked and turned back to the oranges, slightly annoyed that she couldn't speak Xannick's language. Xannick frowned and then seemed to realize something. He put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her forward slightly. "This is Dustfinger," he looked apologetically at the fire juggler, "I don't know her name."

Aderyn got a good look at Dustfinger's eyes and started to blush furiously. She blinked multiple times. A soft voice finally emerged. "Aderyn" The accent was Irish. "Aderyn." She said more firmly. She looked away immediately, her face warm.

Xannick blinked and then looked back up at Dustfinger face blank. "I think she likes you....like every other girl here." Aderyn looked slightly confused, but was putting things together. "Likes? Girls?" Her accent was slight, but there.

Mama came out of nowhere. "She's our new singer for the daytime show. You'll have to give her a private performace. A date you call them right?" Mama winked at the fire-juggler.

Xannick snorted at her. "Thats great....set him up to seduce another girl." He turned to Dustfinger again. "You staying for awhile, or just passing through?"
Dustfinger could only laugh and feel...overwhelmed. "I'm staying for awhile. Figure I need to make some money somehow. And I can't stay away from Mama's home cooking." Mama laughed and playfully swat at the man. Dustfinger then focused on Aderyn, "And Xannick, who knows, maybe she'll change me and make me a better man." Dustfinger laughed again. "Aderyn...that's a pretty name."

Xannick snorted again and ran a hand through his hair. "Right....as if anything could do that," he paused, "I have to go rehearse.....come find me if you want to perform together."

Dustfinger sighed and shook his head. "When do I NOT want to perform with you?" Aderyn looked confused. As if to answer her look he said "Just come watch the night time show tonight. It'll be great."

Xannick smirked, putting on the charm that his race was famous for and trailing a claw along Dustfinger's jaw. "Looking forward to it." He licked his lips and then turned away, removing his shirt as he moved towards the practice area.