Dark Woods Circus: Cirque de Différence
Part 1
Sand-chan: Yeah, it's me again, doing yet another spin-off/continuation/collab/thingy of yet another story of TG's! I can't help to get forty zillion ideas for a spin-off plot line for her stories! They're just that good!
Deidara: Shouldn't you be working on your other stories, un?
Sand-chan: Shouldn't you be dead in the manga/anime?
Deidara: …Touché, un.
Sand-chan: I own nothing, including Kaito's song, "From the Cradle to the Grave"! Except, kinda/sorta, the idea and my oc's, they are mine people!
Note:
"Blah"- Speaking in the fic's main language, which will be French, written in English.
("Blah")- Speaking in a another language (English, Japanese, Russian, Scottish, Irish etc), in, well, English.
'Blah'- Thoughts, any language.
"Blah"- Singing in the fic's main language.
("Blah")- Singing in a another language.
(Does that make sense?)
The sound of horse-like creatures pulling large crate-like carts, much like a caravan, resounded throughout the empty forest near a small French village, a thick dust cloud churned up as it moved along the dirt road. The horse-like creatures' hooves soon met cobblestone, and soon they were traveling towards said village. It was very dark, for it was very late evening; the only light came from the nearly full moon. The man leading the horse-like creatures, not his usual driver, for she had fallen asleep long ago, looked toward the small village with much relief. He had awoke to a sudden, jerking stop of the carts, moved to the carriage's seat, only to find that the driver, hands still clutching the reigns, had fallen asleep and pulled reigns back as she fell backwards lightly as she went into dreamland, the horse-like creatures taking that as an order to stop. He let out a frustrated sigh; He was Madara, for deformities' sake! Ringmaster of the Dark Woods Circus! And here he was, doing his carriage driver's job, when he should be sleeping, not that he was having the best of sleep tonight.
His sleep was being haunted by long, orange hair and cunning, deep-amethyst eyes, both belonging to the only deformity that had, he had seen for himself, get away from his grasp; the other, of which he was sure was dead, was a child-like boy with spiky, dark brown hair, that looked black, and equally dark eyes. His name was Tobi and Madara had put large, bat-wings on him, making him the 'Devil Boy' of his circus; until he, some-how, found a knife, cut the stitching that attached the wings to his back, and ran like a bat out of hell, saying he would get help for the others, but with his profuse bleeding he highly doubted it, as did the other performers in his circus. They never did find him though, so they presumed him dead, all except Zetsu, who still believes that Tobi is alive.
Madara's eyebrows furrowed, remembering the small, blonde male that had escaped from being his 'fox boy' a few weeks ago, but he had punished Kisame, so they wouldn't try anything like that anytime soon. Madara moved some of his long, black, spiky hair out of his face and snapped the reigns, making the horse-like creatures go faster towards the village. After a few minutes of travel, Madara stopped the horse-like creatures in fairly good location, far away enough to not be spotted, but close enough to get food and supplies. Madara tied the horse-like creatures to some nearby trees, went back to the cart he used when going long distances, and fell back into a dream-less sleep, completely oblivious of the shadowy figure that had been watching him.
The shadow turned around, fanned out his deep-gray bat/devil wings, and took flight, flying a miles away, before he spotted a long, wide, fairly tall, white, fluffy, slow moving cloud that was very close to the ground. A small smile formed on the figures' boyish face as he slowed his speed, and as he got closer, the cloud illusion diminished, and revealed a very large, very wide, and fairly tall ship-like flying machine; a good portion of the deck was shaped like a large, metallic circus tent, excluding the living quarters, dining hall, recreational areas, medical areas, and navigation quarters, the hull was very wide and pretty shallow, not meant to sail the seas, but the skies, and a lot of clean, white steam flowing out of the many exhaust pipes around the outside of the ship.
He landed softly on platform near the metallic circus tent, looked around, and spotted one of the people, a natural, fully female conjoined twins, with two, very different female heads on one body, who would know where the captain of the ship/ringleader of this circus was. As he walked up to said person, he tucked his wings in, making it less awkward to walk around.
("Hey Myochi-san! Ryochi-san! Do you know where Kyoko-sama is? Tobi has something to tell her.") The boyish male said, smiling childishly as his dark eyes gleamed brightly, as he walked to the Siamese twin girl.
("The heavily pregnant unicorn of ours went into labor…") Ryochi calmly said, her head on the left side of their body, her long, dark hair covering her left eye, her red right eye gleaming in the light of the near full moon, before the short, shaggy, messy, blonde-haired head, on the right side of their body, her blonde hair covering her right eye, her left blue glinted with a childish glee, Myochi said in a happy, perky manner, ("So Kyoko-sama helped her give birth! The baby was soooo cute~! We just saw it a few seconds ago, so Kyoko-sama should be out soon.")
And true to their word, a woman with long, orange hair, pale skin, and deep-amethyst eyes came through a large, metal door, wearing fresh, clean, sleepwear-like clothes and wiping her now cleaned hands in a clean towel, before she spotted Tobi, smiled at one of her newest performer/member of the 'family', and calmly inquired, ("How was your flight Tobi? You seem to be fully used to flying with those wings. Maybe you can do a performance when we land and set up in the French village that was my home for a good part of my life… But anyway, you have something important to tell me. Myochi, Ryochi, it's very late, please go your room and get some rest; we have three and a half busy days ahead of all of us!")
("Yes ma'am.") Myochi and Ryochi said before they walked in perfect synchronization back to their room.
When they were out of sight and ear-shot, Kyoko asked, ("Now then, Tobi, what did see in the village that has you so shaken up?")
Tobi trembled slightly, the memories of the hell he had to endure, before he was found, on the brink off dying in an unknown woods, by Kyoko herself, who had found him by pure coincidence, before he said in a shaky voice, ("T-tobi saw his ex-circus stop in the village we are going to land in tomorrow…")
Kyoko was quiet, thinking back to when Madara had tried, and failed miserably, to capture her and make her a part of his circus, obsessive about her incredible powers. She knew the male in front of her had family, friends, and his love interest still in that hellhole. 'Madara truly is evil incarnate, a true demon…' she thought, before it hit her; 'A demon…'
Then a dark, little idea popped into her head, before it developed into a full-fledged plan, her eyes taking on a cunning glint as a dark smirk spread across her face as she said, ("Tobi, I believe I have a plan to not only break-out your pals, but also introduce Madara to a little thing called 'karma'…")
Tobi gave a disbelieving look towards Kyoko, before she whispered her plan in Tobi's ear, confused to surprised, then to a dark smile and dark look in his already dark eyes as he replied, ("Kyoko-sama, that might one of your craziest plots yet, but if it's going to work, we're going to need the best healers and fighters you have.")
Kyoko's smirk grew before many voices said, "We're ready."
Tobi turned, surprised he didn't hear any foot steps, and his eyes widened to see almost every being that had either the strongest healing powers or strongest offensive/defensive abilities in the 'family' of a circus.
"How did you-?" Tobi started to ask, before he turned to Kyoko, who then tapped her index finger against her right temple, and he said, slightly embarrassed he forgot, "Telepathy, right. Forgot about that…"
Kyoko smiled honestly, before she walked up to him, ruffled his spiky hair, and said, "Don't worry Tobi, we'll get them out of there, I promise." He blinked for twice before she said to everyone, "Let's get some rest everyone, for much will happen in the next three days…"
Madara awoke slowly from his lavish sleeping quarters much earlier than usual, an instinctive feeling in the back of his head that today wasn't going to be very pleasant, like he shouldn't get out of bed that day, but he was hungry for a warm, French breakfast, thankfully, he parked the carts for the night fairly close to the south entrance of the small village, so it wouldn't be that far of a walk to one of the village's few restaurants.
He dressed quickly, exited his lavish sleeping cart, and said to his few conscious female assistants, "Make sure none of my performers escape, understandable?"
They nodded before Madara turned and walked towards the village.
It only took him five minutes to reach the village as he realized that it was bigger than he first guessed; many open-air shops lined the main roads, the many simple stone houses were fairly close to the other, the school house, church, and the village leader's house were near the center of the village, and, what seemed out of place to Madara, was this tall, thin stone clock tower at the most eastern part of the village. He walked along the main street, not seeing any type of bistro, until he heard a light chuckle.
He turned to see a lanky teenaged boy; the boy had very fair skin that had a bit of a grayish-green tone to it, burgundy colored hair that was shaggy and stuck out at weird angles, even with his flap cap covering a good portion of the shaggy, spiky hair, and had hazel-ish eyes that Madara swore were a different color three seconds ago. The boy had on a slightly dirty, light gray shirt, gray, rag-like overalls, only one of the straps went over his shoulder correctly, the other had been ripped off, with a myriad of colored patches on the overalls, simple, black flap cap that was a bit big for him, for covered a good portion of the top part of his ears, and was barefoot.
"Sir?" the boy asked, a bit of a British accent in his words, before Madara replied, "Yes?"
The boy then said, "I had asked if you were new to this town, but you seemed to be staring into space."
Madara felt embarrassed, but tried not to show it as he said, "Sorry about that, but yes, I am new to this town, would you know where I could a place to eat?"
The boy smiled and chuckled, as if Madara's words were funny, before he said, "Most everyone in this village cooks their own meals or grows it, but there is a bistro at the northern part of the village. I could show the way, if you want."
Madara was quiet for a few seconds; he felt something was off about the boy, but his hunger won in the end before he said, "I guess that's okay…"
Madara followed the lanky male, observing how the boy reacted to certain things; when ever the boy saw a chicken he glared at it, when he saw a cow, he laughed like it was the funniest thing ever, he froze in a fear-like state whenever a goat passed by him, talked about random things in either a singsong voice or a riddle, and pause at random moments, wait a bit, and then start walking again like nothing happened. After a few minutes of this, they finally made it to the bistro, although it was more like a bakery, and both sat down for a late morning breakfast, Madara vaguely noticing the very large field with a large, shallow, pond-like indent that encompassed most of the north part of the village. Madara got a fresh-baked croissant au beurre with jam and black coffee and the younger, lanky male ordered a large, fresh baguette and hot cocoa, the boy looked at the bread like he hadn't eaten in a week, before they started eating, Madara eating more slowly than the boy next to him.
The bistro's owner, a robust man with kind eyes and short, dark beard, chuckled before asking the lanky male, "Helping yet another random traveler, eh Terrance?"
Terrance, the lanky male, swallowed the large chunk of baguette in his mouth, half of the bread and cocoa gone in less than two minutes of sitting there, before saying happily, "Yep! It's fun to help out others!"
Terrance took a quick look at the clock tower to the east and he nearly choked on the cocoa he was sipping when he saw the time.
10:27 a.m.
"Oh crud! I need to ring the bells! Tonight's gonna be a full moon and she's gonna be here soon!" Terrance nearly yelled, eating his food and drinking his cocoa faster than he had before, slightly panicked.
The bistro owner raised his thick eyebrows in question, as did Madara, before the bistro owner asked, "That time of year already?"
The male gulped down the last of his food before replying, "Yep! Put it on my tab please?"
The robust man smiled, before saying, "Sure thing Terrance! Just don't try and weasel out of doing your half of the deal next time."
The boy nodded vigorously, before dashing off towards the clock tower at top speed.
Madara blinked a few times, before looking at the bistro owner and asking, "Is something happening today?"
The bistro owner nodded with a smile on his face before he said, "It happens every May on the day of the full moon at about ten thirty in the morning, Mademoiselle Miracle and her circus, Cirque de Différence, come into this simple little town of ours and puts on a few shows, some outdoor performances, but most of them are inside of the circus tent of her's. She has odd and abnormal people and creatures from all over the world, Mademoiselle Miracle is a bit of an abnormality herself, she many powers and abilities, that it makes me wonder if she really was resident of this small town."
Madara's eyebrows rose, before asking, "She used to live here?"
The robust man nodded, before saying, "It's true, but she isn't of French blood; One day she came to this small village with nothing but the clothes on her back. As she stayed here and her heart opened up to the people of this village, so did her powers, then she met someone like her, someone who had powers like hers, and then she found out that all around the world, there were people like her, but they were being mistreated and abused. She then had a goal: to find these others like her and offer them a sanctuary, she would never force them to join her. She has been all around the world, saved many, healed many, and if they took up her offer to join her, she treats them with respect, care, and love; feeding them warm meals, giving them a warm place to sleep, and giving them a home-like environment for them. She also saves mistreated and abused creatures, no matter how big or small, and if they want to stay with her, she let's them, treating them much like the others; with respect, care, and love…"
Madara listened to it all, until the clock tower started to play out a melody of chimes and bells, making the sound seem enchanting. Then, from the western skies, many winged-beings, humanoid beings with wings ranging from insect to angelic to demonic, were in a V-formation, a large ship-like flying machine a kilometer or so behind the formation, before the formation dove down, their altitude much closer to the ground, before they separated, each doing what they want. Madara noticed that some of them had wings that naturally sprouted from the shoulder-blade area, while the others had used their arms as wings, flapping their arms and gliding through the air easily.
A few of them caught his interest; a lovely woman with long, bright purple hair and yellow-orange eyes that had large, intricately colored butterfly wings and long, thin, simple antenna that sprang forth from her forehead as she fluttered above the streets, children giggling and smiling as they chased after her beautiful, butterfly woman, who had a smile of her own. A tall, lanky male who had dark brown feathers nearly all over his body, bird-like knees and legs, sharp talons on the ends of his bird-like feet, longer, thinner feathers flowing from where his hair would be, long feathers sprouting from his arms, with the occasional flap of his wing-like arms as he glided through the air, like a large eagle. But the one that caught his attention the most was the one who lead the group, a child-like male with large, deep-gray bat\devil wings that sprouted from his shoulder blades, wearing a casual gray shirt, gray pants, and an orange-swirled mask with only the right eye exposed and his short, messy dark hair flowing with the air.
He was so caught up with the winged beings that he nearly forgot about the large flying machine, until the loud sound of metal groaning as it was landing on dirt and grass and the hissing of steam, fitting perfectly into the large indent in the even larger field, the metal dock being perfectly with the rest the field, the metallic tent-like structure's entrance facing towards the village as it was fully and safely landed. A few seconds after the landing, the two center folds pulled away, like the material was cloth instead of metal, revealing Kyoko dressed in a silver colored ringleader's coat that had its' two buttons buttoned, white, poofy collared shirt that was visible from under the coat, simple, black bowtie, relaxed-fit dress slacks, black high-heeled ankle boots, and a simple, black top-hat.
She smiled to the crowd of villagers that was at her now, seeing Madara, who was currently seething with rage, perfectly from where she was standing, and said in a loud, booming voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, and children of all ages! I humbly welcome you to join us for the next three days to see the wonders and beauty that have blessed this world that I was fortunate to not only find, but also to save from this bittersweet world! So please, come one and all to Cirque de Différence!"
And with the end of her speech, loud 'pops' were heard and multi-colored confetti was falling from the air, cheers and applause was heard, before unicorns, many pegasus, dragons, and many other wondrous creatures started to walk out of the incredibly large metal tent, along with people of such a variety, it made Madara's circus look like nothing in comparison.
Madara paid for his food and tried to sneak away from the scene, before a engagingly familiar voice said, "My, my! If it isn't Madara! It's so good to see you again! It's been so long since we last saw each other!"
He tensed, knowing she said those words in a way that you wouldn't think were meant to be sarcastic, before turning around to look at Kyoko directly, she stood there, with the masked, devil-winged male on her left and teenaged female with reddish-brown hair, icy blue eyes that nearly looked white with dark rings around her eyes, claw-like fingernails, and raccoon ears and tail, the tail twitching every so often as she looked at Madara with pure distain, bearing her fang-like canines at him on Kyoko's right.
"The feeling's mutual…" Madara said, trying to walk back to where his circus was before Kyoko inquired, "Where's the fire Madara? It's been a while; let's catch up a bit. How about my acquaintances and I have a look at some of your performers, since you had a good look at many of mine… That is, of course, you don't have anything to hide. If you do, that's completely understanda-"
She was then cut off when Madara, who unknowingly walked right into her word trap, said, "Fine then, since you're so interested, but follow me closely, I don't wait for anyone."
Kyoko smirked triumphantly, before she said, almost in an evil purr, "Sure Madara, whatever you say…"
With that, Madara, Kyoko, the masked Tobi, and the raccoon girl all walked towards where the Madara's circus was, Madara completely unknown to the fact that, one, this was the first phase of a very intricate plan, and two, that others were following in the shadows to where they were heading.
They got there fairly quickly, much to Madara's dismay, and they saw that most everyone was up and about, except for his favorites and his other human pets. He smirked evilly for a second before he said as innocently as he could, "Here is my simple little circus, feel free to look around if want…"
Kyoko looked around, before spotting four horse-like creatures that were attached to the carriage that was pulling all the other carts, walked up to them and inspected each one with sharp, observant eyes.
The first one she laid her eyes on was a pure white unicorn, gold horn glistening, as sad brown eyes looked at her as she gently combed her fingers through its' golden mane, she looked into its' eyes with a silent promise to help it as soon as possible, before going onto the one beside the unicorn. It had off-white colored fur, fiery, orange eyes looked at her with caution and misery, its' mane flowing like a flame.
("You must really hate this…") Kyoko whispered lowly, speaking in a language that should have been long dead to the human tongue.
The entei looked her in surprise, but hid it well before it replied, just as shushed as she, ("Understatement of the century… But how do speak in a language that should be long dead?")
Kyoko smirked lightly, before saying, ("You aren't the first entei I've spoken to… I've healed many injured entei, some went back into the wild, a few stayed under my protection…")
The entei snorted, before saying, ("If you get me out of this demon's grasp, I'll join you willing… that, and after a while, one's knees hurt from standing for so long…")
Kyoko, taking the hint, smiled before sending some healing energy to the demon-horse's knees, relief evident in the entei's eyes, before it quickly whispered out, ("Thanks, needed that…")
Kyoko smiled and nodded toward it, acknowledging its' thanks, before saying to Madara, "I'm quite surprised you have an entei in your little troupe…"
"It took me a while to find him too…" Madara said, proud of himself, unaware that the entei was rolling his eyes at Madara's comment, before Kyoko inquired nonchalantly, "Did you know that enteis mate for life? Because I found that out after a third entei, a female one, willing joined my circus, adding to the male and female mated entei I already had. I think those two might be expecting a baby soon, but I'm not quite sure, cute couple though…"
Madara clenched his fists, trying to keep his anger down, as he said through clenched teeth, "Oh, is that so? I didn't know that…"
Kyoko was trying to keep from giggling, but she could literally see the steam coming from his ears as he tried to hide his boiling rage. She moved onto the one behind the unicorn, a pink pegasus with soft looking wings, combing her fingers gently through its' soft mane, looking into its' eyes and made a silent promise to free it as soon as possible. She stopped petting it and moved over to the last horse, a pitch-black kelpie, with equally black eyes.
"Only you would be crazy enough to have a kelpie, Madara…" Kyoko said, shaking her in disappointment at Madara's sanity levels.
She walked away from the horse-like creatures, looked around, and noticed that two males, one with pearl-like skin with his eyes shut, long brown hair tied near the end, and colorful, middle-eastern clothing, and the other was a lanky male with narrow, green eyes, red hair-like fur all over his body, and raccoon ears and tail, were talking, or at least the brunette was talking, to the raccoon girl that was a part of Kyoko's circus, curious about others from a different circus.
Kyoko walked up to them, the raccoon girl's ears twitched towards the sound, but relaxed instantly when the girl recognized her ringmaster/mother-figure's footsteps, and Kyoko asked the raccoon girl as she hugged the girl around her shoulders gently, from behind, ("So Nikuta-chan, who are the gents' in front of us?")
Nikuta then said, her voice light, but straight forward, ("The brunette's name is Neji, and the guy who has the green eyes is Gaara, Kyoko-sama.")
Kyoko was quiet for a few seconds as she observed the two males more closely, before she said, mock hurt in her voice, ("I see… and I thought I told you that being called 'Kyoko-sama' makes me feel old…")
Nikuta merely smirked, showing her naturally sharp canines, before she said, ("But I don't feel comfortable calling you anything else, Kyoko-sama.")
Kyoko shrugged, still hugging the younger girl around her shoulders, and faked an exasperated sigh before saying, ("Yeah, yeah, I know, but still…")
Kyoko noticed that Madara was looking around, knowing he was looking for the masked devil-winged male, also known, but not to Madara or his 'performers', as Tobi, and Kyoko let go of Nikuta's shoulders, walked over to Madara, as if she, and she probably did, read his mind, and said, "Don't worry about him, he often wanders around, but don't worry, he's not the type to snoop…"
Madara relaxed slightly, but he was still a bit stiff, so Kyoko tugged his arm and said, "Well Madara, don't you have more unique animals and such to show me? You may have something I don't have…"
Madara tried to smile politely, but you tell by the angry twitch of his one eyebrow indicated his true feelings, before inquiring, "I guess I could, but shouldn't you be heading back to see how the preparations are going?"
Kyoko blinked twice before both she and Nikuta started to laugh, getting inquisitive looks from Neji, Gaara, and Madara, before Madara asked, rage acting up again, "What, may I ask, is so funny?"
Kyoko and Nikuta calmed their laughter, but still giggled a bit, before Nikuta said, "It's just that, haha, you made it sound like, haha, the others, who are setting up for tonight's show, haha, were completely untrustworthy…"
When she finished her sentence, both females started laughing again, slightly harder than before, making Madara's blood boil. After a few minutes of calming themselves down, Kyoko then stated, "I trust my performers Madara, and they trust me. And besides, my telepathic performers are watching the set-up as we speak, if something goes wrong they can fix it themselves, and if something goes so horribly wrong, I can easily teleport there and fix it up lickety-split!"
Madara nearly glared at the orange-haired woman, before she said, "Now then, lets' see those unique animals, shall we?"
Madara faked a polite smile, showing Kyoko his other animals, leaving Nikuta with Neji and Gaara, while she thought, slightly annoyed, 'Tobi, you so owe me one for this…'
Tobi had sneaked over to where he knew Madara's 'favorites' were, before he inaudibly sneezed, a small shiver going down his spine, before he heard Kyoko think, 'Tobi, you so owe me for this…'
He inwardly cringed at the thought, but then realized that Kyoko was keeping Madara busy, so he smiled lightly before he thought, 'Thank you.'
He could sense Kyoko's inward smile, before he continued to look for a specific cart, until he saw it, a large cart with an even larger, green sheet over it. He walked over to the cart, lifting up the sheet slightly and letting it drape over most of his body as he gripped the bars of the cage's door, light coming through the crevice that his body made between the sheet and the cage-like cart, the figure sitting in the opposite corner looked at the masked, devil-winged male with inquisitive, pupil-less yellow eyes, wondering why the lanky male was here, and not somewhere safe. The figure was male, short, messy hair much like Tobi's, but it was a green color, instead of a very dark brown. The half pitch-black, half ghostly-white tinted skin and from the shoulders up was the giant mouth of a Venus flytrap, the sight of plant-like male before him made Tobi remember times they would talk about anything, as long as it made them less aware of the hell they were in during those times.
Tobi moved the mask over so that it covered his left ear and some of his dark, messy hair, before he smiled lightly and whispered, ("It's been a while, eh Zetsu?")
Zetsu's eyes widened considerably, shock written all over his face, as nearly gasped loudly from the shock, but didn't, knowing that it would blow Tobi's cover. Zetsu crawled from the corner he was in to where Tobi was and whispered, ("The locks on the door are loosened, so you can open the cage, but the hinges are starting to rust, so if you open it too far, it will reveal that you're here…")
Tobi nodded before pulling the door open slowly, making sure there was enough space to get in, but not so wide that the door would creak loudly. Zetsu gave an unsure look, making Tobi grin before he tucked his wings closely to his body, sneaking through the crevice in the cage's door easily before closing it as gently as he opened it, leaving the two males in near darkness, Tobi making a loose knot so that a small sliver of light dimly lit the small, garden-like cage. Zetsu pulled the winged male into a light hug, closing his yellow eyes as he inhaled the smaller males scent as he bit the inside of his cheek, making sure that it wasn't a taunting dream.
He opened his eyes to find that Tobi was not only still in his arms, but returning the hug, resting his head against Zetsu's shoulder. Tobi found Zetsu's pitch-black hand and laced his fingers with Zetsu's, missing the warm, at-home feeling that he felt whenever he could lace his fingers' with Zetsu's. The smaller male squeezed the other male's hand lightly, mentally showing Zetsu what had happened the day he escaped to when he ventured off to find Zetsu's cage-like cart. Zetsu was wide-eyed at the memories that Tobi was showing him, and when Tobi was done, Zetsu pulled away slightly, still holding Tobi in his arms, looking at the smaller male in complete awe.
When Tobi saw his face, he smiled up at him, the gleam in his large, dark eyes could only be described as smug, before he whispered, ("Tobi promised that Tobi would find help, but it had found Tobi instead. Not only that, but Kyoko-sama has dealt with Madara before, so she knows how to manipulate him into the escape plan…")
Zetsu blinked twice, before a genuine smile graced his lips, something that hasn't happened since who-knows-how-long, and replied in a whisper, lightly touching Tobi's soft cheek with his ghostly-white hand, ("I was the only that believed you, that knew you were still alive…")
Tobi nodded, leaning into the soft caress, before whispering, ("Tobi knows, because when you saw Tobi's memories, Tobi saw yours… And despite what everyone said and what had happened, you still believed in Tobi, and that makes Tobi very happy.")
Tobi leaned up and kissed Zetsu on the lightly, a quick peck, but Zetsu's pale hand lightly gripped the dark, messy hair and deepened the kiss, making it last as long as it could. The need for air forced them to pull away, panting lightly, before voice whispered from the covered cart in front of them, ("Geez, I know you guys haven't seen each other, but do you mind not getting so lovey-dovey on us?")
Zetsu and Tobi tensed, before Tobi whispered, (Please don't scare us like that Hidan! Tobi nearly had a heart attack! Anyway, how did you know it was Tobi?")
Hidan chuckled, almost inaudibly, before he whispered, ("Me and Kisame's hearing and sense of smell are more sensitive than the other 'favorites', we knew it was you from your smell and voice. By the damn way, it's nice to damn know that your alive and shit, but is it fuckin' true that we may be getting' out of this hell hole?")
Tobi nodded, then realized that Hidan can't see him, so he whispered, ("Yes, but not today, however, in about three days' time, Kyoko-sama will have you guys out of here…")
Then Tobi remembered something and it caused a sliver of panic before he asked, ("Is Deidara awake? It might cause a set-back if he is…")
Hidan quickly sniffed the air, before he said, ("Sasori's awake, and probably heard most of what you said, but Deidara's still in a deep sleep. They've been falling asleep and waking up on slightly different schedules for some damn reason…")
Tobi exhaled a sigh of relief, the hand that was still laced with Zetsu's relaxed a bit, before Tobi, along with Zetsu, who still connected by their laced fingers, heard Kyoko say mentally, 'Tobi, Madara's almost done, so you need to get back here soon. Say your 'goodbyes', or whatever, to your friends and your boyfriend, and meet back at where we entered with Madara, Nikuta is waiting there after talking with Gaara and Neji for a while.'
Tobi blushed deep red, before whispering, ("Tobi has to go now, Kyoko-sama can't keep Madara occupied forever, and she does have a circus and its performers to attend to…")
Hidan huffed lightly, before whispering, his tone a bit contradictory to his words, ("Lucky bastard… If we're not out of here in three days' time, I'm gonna escape and beat the crap outta you, ya hear me?")
Tobi lightly chuckled, knowing what Hidan meant was somewhere along the lines of 'Best of luck with the escape plan', and whispered, ("Yeah, Tobi hears you loud and clear Hidan.")
He gave Zetsu a quick peck on the cheek, and whispered the question, ("Do you think you could wait about three more days?")
Zetsu leaned in, so that his mouth was right next to Tobi's right ear, and whispered, ("I've been waiting a long time, but I think I can wait a little bit more…")
Tobi blushed, but then nodded before he kissed Zetsu deeply, pouring all his feelings into it, before Tobi pulled away, leaving a tingly, lingering feeling, and disconnected their hands and lips, before he whispered, ("See you later, Zetsu…")
He crawled over to the cage's door, opened the door quietly, climbed out noiselessly, and lightly shut the door, lingering for a few seconds, before he stepped out from under the green sheet, whispered a barely audible, ("Tobi loves you, Zetsu…"), before he quickly readjusted his mask, spread his demonic wings, and took flight, going to a different location while Madara was still distracted.
Zetsu leaned against the bars of his cage, screaming in his mind, 'I love you too, Tobi!', hoping that his little devil heard his shouted thought, small smile on his face. And as Tobi landed, starting to walk to where he was to meet Kyoko and Nikuta, a giant smile and light blush was hidden by the orange mask before his ears picked up Kyoko's voice.
"See Madara? I told you he would be back before we did!" Kyoko said, smirking triumphantly as she and Madara walked up to where the four entered, Nikuta looking a bit bored and the winged male was standing, a happy, content aura about him. Madara glared angrily at the lanky male, the male seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Kyoko then inquired in a slightly lower tone which Tobi and Nikuta picked out almost immediately, "So, Madara, how about coming to see my show tonight? Free V.I.P. seat, just for you. What do ya say?"
Madara was quiet, not sure as to either accept or decline, but his macabre interest in some of her more unusual performers over-turned his instinct to decline and said, almost as dark as the tone she used for the question, "Why, I would be delighted to be your honored guest tonight, Mademoiselle Miracle…"
Kyoko smirked, but Tobi and Nikuta knew it was a smirk laced with a dark implication, before she said, voice joyful, but full of dark under-tones, "How wonderful! And since it will be a while before the show starts, how about a late lunch and quick tour around my ship?"
Madara smile widened, making him look less and less sane, before he said, "Sound delightful…"
He then called over his female assistants, ordering them to watch over the carts, saying he will be back that was settled, Madara turned his attention back to the orange-haired woman and said, "Let's get this show on the road, shall we?"
Kyoko nodded, before saying, "Yes, lets…"
The four walked back to the flying machine, Madara oblivious to the fact that Nikuta and Tobi were smirking darkly, for the second phase of the plan was already in place, the shadows following them back, also smirking darkly at the long, dark-haired, foolish male, who now had no way out of hole that he had unknowingly dug for himself.
Not only was the field that Kyoko's flying machine was parked on much larger than he original thought, as was the flying machine, now that he an up-close and personal look at it; the long, wide hull was deeper than he first thought, ten to twenty meters deep, from what he could tell, the gargantuan, fortress-like structure that was located precariously close to the edge of the air-ship's stern, towered over the large, metallic tent, the building had to be more than ten, no, twenty stories tall, large amounts of deck space on both the port and starboard sides of the air-ship, before the large, metallic tent was right in the middle of the deck, and the bow of the ship still had space to spare. Madara truly wondered how this impossibly large air-ship got off the ground, let alone carry the weight over large distances for long periods of time…
Kyoko gave a cat-like grin at Madara's awe-struck face; Tobi and Nikuta had went to where they wanted to be before tonight's show, leaving Kyoko to show Madara to where they were having lunch. As they walked into the enormous, fortress-like building, Madara, the only humanoid being with no inhuman powers or abilities of some sort, stuck out like a sore thumb, the many stares that he got unnerved him greatly, before they got to a metal elevator, the only part of the elevator that wasn't metal was the glass doors that had opened, after Kyoko had pushed a simple, metal button that had an upward pointing arrow on it. The two walked in, the doors closing noiselessly as Kyoko pressed one of the buttons, the floor under the top floor, the top floor being the twenty-fifth floor of the enormous building, but also the navigation room, or so Kyoko had told him when they had walked onto the metallic deck.
The elevator went up in silence, until Kyoko said, "A few of my alchemists found a way to combine tungsten, a strong, durable, but brittle metal, titanium, a metal not as strong as tungsten, but much more ductile, hydrogen, the lightest, but a very combustible, gas, and helium, a slightly heavier, but safer gas to use, into one: making a strong, durable, ductile metal that can float, without the fear of it bursting into flames."
Madara had been listening, his eyes had caught sight of something that looked like a spider's silk-like webbings on the eighteenth floor, but since it was a quick glance, he couldn't be too sure. The elevator slowed slightly at the twenty-third floor, and his eyes had widened slightly at the sight; it was fairly short, but very wide hallway, and at the end of said hallway there was this large, gate-like door, many intricate lock and seals, keeping whatever was in that room locked up tight.
Before Madara could even ask, Kyoko said in a hushed voice, "That floor has my... darker and more dangerous few that are a part of my circus. That floor is off-limits to everyone…"
Madara was about to inquire what she meant, but a light 'ding' noise indicated that they were at their destination, the twenty-fourth floor. The glass doors slid open, Kyoko and Madara walking out of the elevator, the attention of the two other males in the room. One of the males had long, spiky, pure-white hair that was tied at the base of his neck, deeply sun-kissed skin, dark eyes, and red streak marks going from the bottom, outer corner of his eyes to the middle of his cheeks, wearing plain, but formal, black dress slacks, a simple, white dress shirt tucked into the slacks neatly, the top three buttons undone, simple, black dress coat, and simple black dress shoes. The other male, however, was very different; he had long, black hair, his skin was pure-white, his topaz-yellow eyes with dark, snake-like pupils, and purple marks on the inner corners of his eyes to the sides of the bridge of his nose, wearing a simple purple kimono, thin, pale lavender-colored obi tied in a simplistic knot, a black, sleeveless haori(kimono coat) worn over the kimono, and simple geta(Japanese wooden clogs).
Madara merely looked at the two, before Kyoko inquired, ("When the hell did you start wearing formal clothes, Jiraiya?")
The long, white-haired male lightly smiled, before he replied, ("I felt like mixing it up today…")
Kyoko had rolled her eyes at Jiraiya, before a female asked from behind Madara, causing the man to nearly jump out of his skin, ("What's Jiraiya doing now?")
Madara turned and saw a very well-endowed woman with light skin, with the exception of a blue diamond mark on her forehead, pale blonde hair, too dark to be ashen blonde, and warm brown eyes that seemed to into his soul. Her outfit was simplistic; a light blue, sleeveless kimono-like shirt, tied around her waist with a deep blue obi-like sash, equally deep blue Capri-like pants, an open white, doctor's lab coat, and black, sandal-like high-heels.
Kyoko then said, breaking Madara out of his observing, ("Now that everyone's here, let's have lunch! But before that, Tsunade, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, this is Madara and he will be our guest of honor tonight…")
Kyoko then said to Madara, ("Madara, this is Tsunade, my best healer, so she monitors the heal of every resident of this air-ship. She also manages the other healers, alchemists, spirits, and hamadryads.")
Madara was confused for a moment, before the long, black-haired male said, ("They're either trees, plants, or flowers that have sentient spirits in them. In other words, Flora-folk.")
It then clicked in Madara's head as realization spread through his features, before Kyoko said, ("Anyway, the guy with the long, white hair is Jiraiya, he can talk to animals and temporarily take over their bodies, with the animal willing, mind you. He's in charge of the were-creatures, zoomorphs, anthromorphs, centauroids, and the other creatures, like the unicorns, dragons, etcetera.)
Madara was confused as he asked, ("What's the difference between zoomorphs and anthromorphs?")
Kyoko chuckled lightly before she said, ("Anthromorphs are beings with more animal qualities then human qualities, and zoomorphs are beings that have more human qualities than animal qualities. A good example of a zoomorphic is Nikuta, who has the ears and tail of red panda, which, believe it or not, is a close relative to the raccoon…")
Kyoko then said, ("Where was I? Ah yes, and the male with the long, black hair is Orochimaru, he's one of my best Espers, and he's in charge of the other Espers, nature/element users, affixed souls, conjoined twins, beings with extra, usable limbs, and, more specifically, the ones on twenty-third floor…")
It was dead quiet for a few seconds and Madara was about to asked something, but the 'ding' of the elevator broke the silence, and the smell of warm, delicious food broke his concentration as Kyoko said in a singsong tone, ("Lunch Time~!")
The tour was very… interesting, to say the least; each floor was it's own habitat for insanity, the eighteenth floor, he had curiously inquired about, was specifically for the spider creatures and spider centauroids, white webbing all over the place as they had walked through the web-like jungle, leftovers from previous 'meals' made Madara's face tinge a light green color, before they moved on. The thirteenth floor, when he'd asked about affixed souls, had metal armors, life-sized puppets, life-sized dolls, and fake bodies of all shapes, sizes, and colors, physically hollow with only their souls bound to the armor, puppet, doll, or body by either magic, alchemy, or crude, low-tech science. The ninth floor had all the hamadryads, a good two or three meters soil covering the floor, a sprinkler system and artificial sunlight machine put in to help promote healthy growth, Kyoko saying, ("We get most of our produce from this floor. Sometimes, when we land, we sell it or trade it with people in local markets.")
The fourth floor had shook Madara to his core; at first, the halls and rooms appear empty, items scattered about like it was barely lived in, until he put on these glasses-like contraption, and then he saw them, spirits and ghosts from, probably, all over the world.
("They're benevolent, unless you provoke them, if you do, well then… good luck!") Kyoko said with a laugh, making a cold shiver go up his spine, and it wasn't from all the spirits and ghosts in the room.
When the tour was finished, it was nearly sunset and people were walking in, paying for their tickets with either money, livestock, or food, just so they may see the show.
Madara looked over at Kyoko with a questioning look and she replied with a small shrug, ("Some people don't have the money for tickets, so we trade supplies that we're low on for tickets. It's a system that works…")
Kyoko called over a male who looked no older than twenty, his dark hair pulled into a spiky ponytail, his dark eyes held a bored, but observant expression as he got a quick look at Madara, before turning his full attention to Kyoko, who had asked, ("Shikamaru, would you please take Madara to the V.I.P. booth? It's almost show time and I need to double check something really quickly…")
Shikamaru shrugged lightly and mumbled, ("Yeah, troublesome woman…")
Kyoko almost rolled her eyes at him before she smiled and said, ("If Temari-chan heard that, she'd you smack upside the head!")
With that said, she teleported away, leaving the two males, before Shikamaru said, ("Troublesome, but whatever, follow me to the V.I.P. booth please…")
Madara was quiet for a bit, but soon he was following close behind Shikamaru, unaware of what was taking place.
Tobi was sitting in his room, thinking of how Kyoko's plan is going along so well, until a light knocking on his door broke him out of his thoughts as he got up to see who was knocking. He opened the door and he was shocked to see Kyoko there, the grin on her face rivaling the Cheshire cat himself.
Tobi asked, surprise still evident on his features, ("Kyoko-sama? Isn't the show about to start soon?")
Her grin widened, if it was physically possible, before she said, ("It is, but the performer for my finale act is still in his room and not getting ready…")
Tobi blinked a couple of times, quiet for a few seconds, before it clicked in his and eyes widened as he pointed at himself, completely speechless as he asked a silent question in his eyes. Kyoko nodded, be she said, ("Yes Tobi, I want you to be my finale performance, I think you're ready. Now, get your ass down there and be ready as soon as possible!")
Tobi quietly smiled lightly, mock saluting before he said happily, ("Yes Kyoko-sama!")
He opened the simple window and flew down towards the large, metal tent, before a male voice behind her said in Italian, words heavily accented, ("Madam Kyoko, what should the signal be for when we…")
He was abruptly cut off when Kyoko said, Italian passing her lips fluently, ("You begin the rescue when Tobi begins his finale song, and I wish for it to be near complete by the end of his song, but knowing you Aquila, you guys will be done before he finishes…")
Kyoko smirked, as she faced the brown-feathered, lanky male, the long feathers that had covered his hands earlier, during his flight over the village earlier that day, were now relaxed and showing the smooth skin of his hands, his topaz-colored eyes gleamed with a fiery, fighting spirit, and his hook-billed face held a smirk that of a wise, but powerful warrior, before he said, ("You know me too well, Madam Kyoko, you know me too well…")
Kyoko's smirk grew before she said, ("Indeed I do… You are dismissed.")
Aquila nodded, walking over to Tobi's open window and taking flight, going in the direction of the others that were a part of her escape plan, leaving Kyoko alone with her thoughts.
'It's a bit sad that they don't know that the Madara that did those horrible things isn't really Madara, but I guess they'll see truth soon…' She thought with a small, melancholy smile on her face before she teleported to her room to change into her outfit for the show.
("Wow…") was all Madara could say about the V.I.P. booth, as he walked into the rather lavish 'booth'; long in length and medium width, the red-painted booth had a long, comfy-looking, black parlor couch that was placed near the balcony-like opening, which over looked the center of the extremely large, metallic tent. The booth was situated between the lower rows of seats and the higher rows, better known as the 'cheap seats'.
Madara was deep in thought, before Shikamaru said, ("So troublesome. Anyways, there's a small bell over there on the end table next to the couch. If you need something just ring it and someone will come to get you something to eat, drink, or whatever…")
Shikamaru then turned and left, leaving Madara alone in the room. Madara walked over and sat down on the comfy parlor couch, and true to Shikamaru's word, a small, simple bell was placed neatly on a black-stained, wooden end table. Madara exhaled lightly before a small headache started to rise in the back of his head. He cringed before he closed his eyes and went into a short meditative state.
He opened his eyes to see the inner world of his mind, still in the robes he wears, and in front of him was a man with equally long, spiky dark hair and light skin, wearing simple, but ragged clothes, kneeling on the ground as large, heavy chains held the man the dark floor of inner world of his mind. The male lifted his head to reveal the same dark eyes that the male in front of him, but instead of the cold, heartless glint, they held many emotions, before the chained male said, ("Why hello, you bastard of a demon, here to shut me up again?")
The male in front of the chained male smirked sadistically, showing off the fang-like canines as the long, black, spiked hair turning red-orange and dark eyes turning blood-red, before saying, ("What else is new, you pathetic human.")
The humanoid demon in front of the real Madara, who has possessed his body for a long time that the real Madara forgot how long ago it was, watching from inside his own mind all the horrible and cruel that the demon controlling his body did. The demon Madara started to use a sedation spell on the real Madara, to keep the human in front of him from giving him migraines, an annoying thing that the real Madara did to try to take back his body.
Before the real Madara fell into a sedated unconsciousness, he shouted in his mind, 'Kyoko! Please help! Please…'
The demon Madara smirked darkly at the chained male in front of him, smugly thinking that the S.O.S. couldn't possibly be heard, before the red-orange hair turned to black and the eyes regained the dark color as "Madara" opened his eyes to see the tent had filled up a bit, but not nearly enough to fill all of the rows and chairs in the large tent. The lights dimmed lightly, spotlights quickly moving in pattern-less directions, before a booming voice announced, "Welcome, one and all, to the first night of Cirque de Différence!"
A spotlight then landed on a lone table in the middle of the center ring, and on one side of the table was a black, formal vest, a black, formal blazer, a simple, black top hat, a monocle, a cane, and a pocket watch. The other side had a sexy, red dress that tango or salsa dancers wore, metallic, red bangles, and a rose hair-clip. Madara quirked an eyebrow, before two loud lion's roars broke his thoughts as he saw a lion and lioness, gracefully jumping through hoops, before walked up to the table, the lion on the side of the table with the vest and blazer and the lioness on the side with the dress. The lion and lioness seemed to smirk, before effortlessly standing on their hind legs, their balance was impeccable and they stood almost like a human would, and put on the outfits in front of them as the lioness purred out as she put on the dress and her long, hair-like fur clipped back by the hair-clip, "I guess old habits never truly go away, right sweetie?"
The lion chuckled deeply, placing the top hat neatly upon his head and putting the pocket watch in the blazer's pocket, before he said, "Indeed they do, dear, indeed they do…"
As they finished up, the lion cleared his throat and said loudly, "We welcome you all to tonight's show, however tonight's show will be slightly different from previous times…"
The lioness then said, "But not to worry, we're merely short of hand at the moment. It will regulate after tonight, so we apologize for any inconveniences…"
The nagging feeling "Madara" had earlier came back, slightly stronger than last time, before he shrugged it off as the lioness continued with, "But, like every year, we thank this village's residential changeling for ringing the bell tower to sound our arrival. -*Please give a warm round of applause for Terrance!"
The spot-lights suddenly landed on the table, showing the odd boy that "Madara" had talked to earlier, but he was slightly different; he had a thin, gray tail with burgundy colored tufts at the tip, his ears slightly longer and more pointed, eyes a deep-orange color, and two small black horns jutting out of his forehead slightly, the boy took a few polite bows as the audience clapped and cheered for the changeling boy.
"Thanks, but now let us begin tonight's performance!" Terrance happily bellowed out, before disappearing like the Cheshire cat, a grim smirk and dark glare aimed at "Madara".
"Madara" gritted his teeth for what seemed to be the millionth time that day; Kyoko's circus surpassed his circus in every way possible, even as that night's performance went on. Each act was choreographed perfectly, not one thing seemed out of place. They had true smiles on their faces as they performed with inhuman grace and agility. Hell, they were inhuman, even the ones that looked human, mainly the alchemists and some of the beings with fixated souls.
Finally after many of the acts were finished, Myochi and Ryochi came out, Ryochi's long, dark hair covering her left eye and short, shaggy, messy, blonde-hair covering Myochi's right eye before they loudly said, "Ladies and gentlemen, the finale of tonight's performance has dark themes that may scare and disturb young children and the easily frightened. So if you feel you're not comfortable staying we suggest you exit the tent as quickly as possible. Thank you for your cooperation and see you again tomorrow…"
Some of the families and easily frightened stood from their seats and left, satisfied with the performance and excitedly waiting for tomorrow's show. "Madara" leaned back comfortably, sipping the red wine he had ordered earlier, as he wondered how 'dark' this finale will be, completely oblivious of the plan that was happening behind the scenes.
Aquila landed lightly, attracting the attention of the others hidden in the shadows near the caravan-like carts near the edge of the woods.
"Well? What did Madam Kyoko say?" one of the shadowy figures quietly asked, excited and anxious at the same time.
Aquila smirked darkly before saying, "We go in at the beginning of Tobi's finale song and should be done by its' end…"
One of the other shadowy figures smirked as well, before saying, "But knowing you, you'd want it done before the song is half way through…"
Aquila nodded and said, "You know me too well…"
They all looked at each other before nodding curtly at the other, a silent command to get into positions.
As the small intermission was coming to a close, "Madara" had his wine glass refilled, starting to get impatient. And as the glass was refilled, Ryochi and Myochi walked forward, both had their bangs clipped back, keeping the hair off the previously unexposed eyes, but they had one eye closed and the other open. "Now let the finale begin!" They both bellowed out, opening the opposite closed eye to something shocking; Ryochi's left was a emerald green, contrasting greatly against the ruby red of her right eye, and Myochi's right eye was a light orange, opposing the deep blue of her left eye. They faded into the shadows as music started to play in the background and center ring showed young male that almost looked like the real Madara when he was a teenager. Then a shadowy male figure was floating above and slightly behind the smaller male, bat wings extended, before the light exposed the winged male to show dark hair with equally dark eyes and pale skin with child-like facial features. "Madara's" eyes widen at the sight, before Tobi began to sing.
("Now, you, who was hoped for and birthed under blessing
Loved by your parents and will provided
Grew up well, under happiness and a loving light
Let's go and make lots of friends, okay?")
Tobi moved closer to the smaller male, nearly talking right in his ear as he sang.
("Is everyday really fun?
Do you have someone that you really like?
Have you made any friends?
Oh, that's rather nice…")
Tobi then was floating in front of the mini-Madara, the smaller male looking quite scared. Tobi smirked darkly as he continued.
("Ahh…? Led on by your friend…
Did you notice, that it's a dark slope that way
I wouldn't mind it if you like it that way, though
Please watch out on what's beside you…")
Tobi did few mid-air tricks and was now back near the Madara look-a-like, who now looked like he was in his late thirties, early forties before Tobi sang on, floating close to the Madara look-a-like's right.
("Noticed it's quite dark around you
You've fallen quite deep indeed
Your face has changed completely…
By the way, where did your friend go?")
Tobi quickly floated over to the Madara look-a-like's left before he continued.
("Is everyday really fun?
But I guess there's no time for this
All the scary people
Are getting to YOU…")
The winged male moved so he was floating right above the Madara look-a-like's head as he continued.
("Well, well, this time, of your own will
Are going to jump from the pitch-black cliff…?
I wouldn't mind if you like it that way, though
Please watch out on what's around you…")
Tobi flapped his wings far above and away from the Madara look-a-like, which now looked in his mid-fifties and was drenched in another's blood.
("Completely stained true-red
Wiping it off, again and again, but it won't come out…?")
Tobi did a few more mid-air tricks during the instrumental; the Madara look-a-like now looked so old and decrepit, that he looked like he was keel over and die at any second.
("Well, well, it happened all too soon…
But it has indeed ended, though
That is how it is, all in all, so
Please don't let it sadden you…")
And suddenly, the Madara look-a-like dissolved into a pile of dust, and the wind blew it away. "Madara" was shocked beyond regular comprehension, so as he tried to quickly escape from the V.I.P. room, but was suddenly hit hard behind his head. As he drifting into unconsciousness, a feminine voice said softly, "Watch out for your next life, that is, if you have a next one…"
What is the truth about Madara? What does Kyoko have planned? You'll find out next time in: Dark Woods Circus: Cirque de Différence!
Please review! ^_^
