A/N: I own nothing that is Night Circus—that glory belongs to Erin Morgenstern. I do, however, own my OCs. Just putting it out there. Read, review and enjoy!

Night 1: First Impressions

Or

Through the Chocolate Bat's Wing

Ana's POV

I don't remember how Suzanne managed to drag me out there to the middle of nowhere, or how she even knew where to find it, but I'm glad she did.

The circus was gorgeous and otherworldly, and I fell in love with it the moment I stepped through the starry velvet curtains onto the grounds. I took a moment to just absorb my surroundings, nearly forgetting all about my friend as I took deep breaths of chocolate, cider, popcorn and caramel as it drifted on a breeze, my blue eyes wide as I wondered how long it must've taken them to paint and powder the grass in such intricate patterns. The stark monochrome-striped wonderland was only enhanced by the other visitors, whose everyday clothes seemed almost alien with color.

Suzanne stepped through the curtain, nearly knocking me over as I observed a juggler, and grabbed me about the wrist with a giggle. "What're you standing around for, silly? I thought I told you to go get us a snack!" she shook her head in exasperation before smiling at me. "Never mind, at this rate we won't make it! C'mon, let's go!" I didn't get the chance to tell her that it'd been her I'd been waiting for; I settled for rolling my eyes and grinning at her exuberance as she dragged me into the throng of people gathered around the enormous bonfire.

Only it wasn't a bonfire—it was a giant cauldron that formed almost a cage towards the top, and the fire within was as white as snow. Beside me Suzanne pouted as she looked at her watch. "Damn, we must've just missed the last show. We'll have to be quicker tomorrow!" She said, chin set in determination.

I laughed at her expression. "This place closes at sunrise, right? Let's get started, already!" This perked her back up, and I found myself being dragged along behind her again, this time in the direction of a sort of alleyway between two tents. I tried to read the signs or tags on the tent doors as we passed, but Suzanne was going too fast for me to make out the intricate writing. "Do you even know where you're going?"

She scoffed, tossing her sunshine-colored hair over her shoulder as she swerved around a tall platform. If I craned my neck high, I could see a pretty Asian woman twisting her body in ways I could never have fathomed before. "Of course I do! I came here last night, didn't I?" She had; she'd also spent most of today sleeping as a repercussion, and hadn't woken up until I'd come by to ask her what was taking so long. "Trust me, it's right over here!"

I fought to keep the high collar on my black wool coat closed, tucking a runaway curl of my nut-brown hair behind my ear from where it'd escaped my ponytail. "Slow down, would you?" I laughed, apologizing quickly to an elderly woman who I bumped into. "I'm not getting to see anything!"

"There'll be time for that later! We have to hurry, or we'll miss the show!" she panted, eyes wild. "Ah! See, told you I knew where it was!" she crowed triumphantly and shoved me into a nearby tent flap. There was other, smaller script beneath the unreadable headline, but by then I was through. There were two rows of white wooden chairs arranged in circles around a large, stage-like area in the center of the tent. Suzanne nearly trampled a little boy on her way to grab two empty seats in the front row, practically pushing me down into mine. I opened my mouth to ask her what she was so excited about when I heard the tent flap close, and no matter where I looked I couldn't find the entrance. "Suz, where'd the door—?"

She jabbed me in the ribs and hushed me, eyes wide, just as something large and hard bumped against my leg, nudging it again. I looked down and found myself looking into the faintly glowing, gold eyes of a Siberian tiger. The thing that had bumped me was its head, as it was doing it again, but more insistently. I gazed around the dim interior of the tent to see other large cats dispersed among the audience, slowly making their way towards the center, but this one seemed intent on taking me with it.

"What do I do?" I whispered to her, eyes never leaving the tiger.

"Ah, I see Marishka has found me an assistant!" Chuckled a rich male voice from the center of the ring. "Clever girl." There was the heavy tread of boots across the stage, and a gloved hand entered my line of vision as it caressed the tiger's head fondly. I looked up slowly from the glove, up the white linen sleeve of the poet's shirt he wore to the tight black leather vest he wore over it, briefly distracted by the glimpse of muscled torso so close to my face. Mentally I shook myself and looked up at his face: his bone structure was strong, classical, his lips full and currently lifted up in a bemused smirk, his eyes as golden as the tiger's and framed by his shaggy black locks. "That is, if you don't mind?" his voice was soft, but somehow managed to carry through the entirety of the tent. He offered the hand he had just used to pet one of the world's most dangerous predators, and I accepted it, the leather soft and supple beneath my fingertips as he guided me towards the stage. I spared a glance back at Suzanne, who seemed a little put out that it had been me who was picked instead of her, but smiled when she noticed my nervous expression and game me a thumbs-up in encouragement.

"Now, if you could just stand here," the man said, stopping me in the precise middle of the polished, ebony-painted wooden floor and stepping back. "Yes, that'll be perfect. Now, whatever you do, don't move." He unhooked a coiled black whip from his belt, stepping to the edge of the ring, and cracked the whip at the toes of my boots.

The cats emerged from the shadows around me, eyes glinting as they began to slink around my legs in ever-growing circles until I was completely surrounded by a swirling mass of claws, teeth and muscle. I heard gasps from the audience as I tried to keep stock-still while being brushed against and pushed at by felines that weighed more than I did. He cracked the whip again, and they burst apart, disappearing into the shadows to come sprinting back out, weaving through each other and around me in patterns and knots that put the audience (and me) in awe. Another crack of the whip had them going so fast they almost seemed to be flying, and they jumped over each other in their haste. Somewhere in the dark I heard a child giggle in delight. Their master grinned with pride and excitement as another crack had them leaping over my head, the rhythm of their paws pounding heavily across the ground racing against my heartbeat. Which would break the sound barrier first?

When I thought my heart would fly free of my ribcage, the lash bit at the floor one more time. The enormous felines stopped, turned to face me, and charging forward leapt up. The audience gasped in either horror or delight; I couldn't be sure. I had a horrible vision of them all crashing down on top of me, crushing me under their muscled bodies, but instead all that rained down was a silvery shower of sparks. I spun around in a quick circle, searching for them, but all I found was the man beaming at my side, raising my hand in his as the audience roared with applause.

"Thank you so much for your help." He said, bowing low to me as the crowd filtered out through the re-appeared opening.

There's not much one can say after almost being obliterated by a large pack of large felines, so I settled for a smile and a quick, "It was no trouble."

He straightened, a smirk on his lips. "So I saw. Well, Lady Ana, the pleasure was all mine."

I raised an eyebrow. "How do you know my name?"

"Your little friend over there has been trying to get your attention for a bit now." He chuckled, giving her a little wave. "I'm Kristoff, by the way." He added, recoiling his whip.

"Pleased to meet you." I replied automatically, heading towards the exit.

I was stopped as he grabbed my wrist, pulling me gently back towards him. He waited until I looked him in the eyes to speak. "Do come back and see us tomorrow." Us? I thought, but felt a familiar nudging at my hip before I could ask. A quick glance downward showed that it was Marishka the Tiger again.

"Okay." I was slightly embarrassed at how softly the word came out, but he just smiled and released me, ordering Marishka to his side.

"What was that all about?" Suzanne asked excitedly as we walked back towards the main thoroughfare, clutching at my arm. "Never mind, wasn't he amazing? He's so gorgeous! Aren't you glad I took you to go see his show?"

I laughed, steering us around a family of three absorbed in staring at the cauldron of fire. "I didn't really get to watch a lot of it, you know, seeing as how I was in the middle of it."

She rolled her brown eyes heavenward, bumping my shoulder with hers. "The show wasn't really important—he was!"

I turned to her, about to tell her how ridiculous she and her thought processes were, when I rammed dead-on into another person so hard it knocked me backward away from Suzanne into the throng of people.

Widget's POV

The electric hum in my body occurred unprecedented. I was strolling between the tents towards the snack vendors, trying not to read the pasts of the people around me, when it began. It was just after midnight as I lifted the chocolate bat to the firelight to better appreciate the image of a pretty girl caught in the intricacy of the fine chocolate swirls in its wings when I felt it. It pulsed out from my heart and reverberated like a low-voltage vibration through to my fingertips. I nearly dropped my snack in my surprise. What was that?

Mom and Dad would probably have some idea, I thought with a mild sadness. Mom and Dad had decided to leave the circus some odd years ago, leaving the Cirque des Rêves short one wild-cat tamer. Their replacement, in my opinion, was less than an equivalent exchange, but Poppet, Bailey and I had respected their decision.

And now we had him. Kristoff Chamberlain, the new (and by far more irritating) wild-cat tamer. I went out of my way to avoid the tent now, though I noticed subconsciously that the girl from earlier entered with her friend. I tried to push her face from my mind as I weaved among the crowds, running a hand through my wild red hair. It was stupid to try to have a romantic relationship with anyone who wasn't a part of the circus: they would grow old and die, while I stayed frozen like this for however long the circus went on. Besides that, the circus would have to leave eventually. It always did.

Ugh, I was depressing myself. My stomach growled, reminding me of my ever-present need to snack, and I devoured the chocolate bat, glad for the magic that kept it from melting in my hand as I wandered. I popped into my tent, pausing in there for a short while to record some of the more interesting "stories" I'd gotten off of some of the patrons and run through some of my favorites.

My stomach growled its unhappiness at me some while later, so I left in search of something to sate its current appetite. I went to visit my dear friend the popcorn vendor, who grinned at me and handed me a bag of chocolate- and caramel-drizzled popcorn without me having to say what it was I'd come for. The vendors know my stomach about as well as I do, I thought with a laugh as I turned, already happily munching away.

And promptly walked smack into her. The girl I'd seen through the chocolate bat's wing. She fell to the ground, her friend continuing on a bit as if she didn't realize her companion had been separated from her at all. "Oh, jeez, I'm so sorry!" I apologized, reaching down to help her up. She gave me a small smile, taking my slightly-sticky hand in hers and moving to stand. The current that passed from her palm to mine and back made us both gasp, and she fell again when I released her quickly.

She looked at her hand, slightly smudged with caramel, then at me, her sapphire eyes wide. "What—?"

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