"WHAT?! You can't do that!" Adeline protested. "I can't just run away and join the circus!"
"I know this is hard for you, but you will learn to enjoy it here," Evander replied.
Adeline turned away in fear and curled in on herself. She was terrified. Evander walked up to her, but she tore away from him.
"No! This can't be! You can't do this! This is kidnapping!" she snapped, now running away from them.
"Shouldn't we go after her?" Colossus asked, now standing but Evander grabbed his arm.
"No. Give her time. That stone has caused her to become one of us. She cannot go back to her home." Evander replied gently.
"But what if she runs back to her home right now?" Colossus asked.
"She will not be able to find her way," Evander replied, now turning and walking towards the tent. "Come. The circus will be leaving in a few hours."
Colossus nodded, but turned in the direction where Adeline ran. "She can get lost in the forest." He then turned and whistled to the sky. Soon, a cry of an eagle came in response. Then a griffin appeared and landed on the ground with a large thud.
"You called for me master." He said lowly.
"There is a young human who has just joined our circus." The giant replied.
"A human?!" the griffin asked in surprise.
"And no! You may not eat her. She belongs to the circus now and is under my protection and Evander's." the giant replied sternly. The griffin growled, but nodded in understanding. "Good, now go and find her."
"As you wish," the griffin bowed gently. And with only a flap of his wings, he took off into the sky!
Meanwhile, Adeline was running as fast a she could through the forest. She was determined to find a way back home.
"I've got to get out of here!" she said, now running faster and faster. But as she ran, she failed to see a branch leaning lower from a tree and it was camouflaged in the darkness. She screamed as she felt the smack and it knocked her down on the ground. She cried a bit as she felt a bump, but tried her hardest not to cry. But before she could say anything, she felt something grab the back of her shirt and take off into the sky!
"HEY! LET ME GO! LET ME GO NOW!" She screamed.
"Keep squirming human and I just might," the griffin growled. Adeline looked down and saw that she was soaring high above the trees and squealed in horror.
"H-Help! Help!" she cried out.
"Stop yelling! You'll cause a scene!" the griffin said, now swooping down from the sky and tossing her into a pile of hay. Adeline cried as she crawled out of the hay and felt her sore head. She was definitely having a terrible day.
"This is horrible! I've been kidnapped by the circus and now giants want to eat me too!" Adeline cried gently, now feeling her sore head. What she didn't here was someone slowly walking up behind her.
"Poor little one. Are you alright?" a voice soothed. Adeline turned and saw a large serpent-like creature slither out of the darkness. "Come here and let me sssssssssssssee to your woundsssssss."
He then raised himself up and prepared himself to strike, but Colossus grabbed his neck in a split second.
"Secar, this human is not food!" Colossus growled.
"What?! What do you mean?! No humans are allowed back here," the serpent replied.
"I know, but she is one of us now." Colossus said, now releasing the serpent. The serpent shook himself and then turned back to the girl and changed into a humanoid snake-like creature.
"Apologiesssssss, I did not know you were one of ussssssss." Secar soothed. But Adeline only burst more into tears.
"Perfect! I'm in a circus where EVERYONE wants to eat me!" Adeline sobbed, now sinking down in a mud.
"Oh now, now…shhhh. Come now, no tears," Colossus said, now picking her up from the mud and carrying her to the back of the circus and towards a large lake. "Let's get you freshened up hmm?"
"I-I don't want to get freshened up; I wanna go home," Adeline sobbed, now trying to wipe the mud off of her.
"Now calm down, just calm down. We do not want to eat you. They all just need to know you are one of us. I am going to take you to some friends of ours. They will help you freshen up," Colossus smiled, now carrying her to the lake.
Adeline slowly turned at the sound of splashing and music. As she turned, she saw mermaids swimming around in the water.
"Hello there," one of them singsonged. But Adeline screamed in horror!
"No! They'll want to drown me!" she said, now squirming hard.
"Don't worry. I will explain." Colossus said, now turning to the mermaids. "This young human is Adeline. She is one of us. She belongs to our circus now."
"A human?!" One of them gasped.
"How will she survive?!" Another asked.
"It is fine. We will make sure she is protected." Colossus said, now placing Adeline down. "Please see to her wounds. We will be performing soon."
"We?!" Adeline gasped.
"Of course. You will be in some of the acts," Colossus winked.
But before Adeline could be protest, Colossus began to walk away. Adeline was about to follow, but one of the mermaids gently grabbed her leg.
"Hold on there. Come here," she smiled, now pulling the young girl in. As Adeline surfaced, she felt the mermaids swim around her and began scrubbing her arms and cleaning the wound on her forehead.
"Are you alright?" one of them asked.
"Not really," Adeline said sadly.
"Oh come now," a deep said. Adeline turned and screamed as more of the giants from earlier came out.
"Hey, hey, calm down," a tall one said, now bending down and smiling at her.
"Yes, we aren't going to eat you." The giant girl said.
"Now that we know you belong to Colossus and Cirque Mystique you will be one of us," the giant smiled.
"I would never belong here. I'm just a human," Adeline said sadly.
"Hey," a mermaid smiled, now lifting Adeline's chin. "If they allowed you to be a part of us, then you do belong."
"They could have destroyed you." Another mermaid answered.
"Yes, the giants are very protective over their privacy." Another mermaid said, making Adeline gulp.
"But, that was before we knew who you were. Now relax…you will enjoy being a part of our world," the biggest giant chuckled, now letting a finger gently wiggle on Adeline's chin, making her giggle.
"Quite a cute human." Another giant crooned.
"I like her already," the giant girl smiled. The others chuckled and then stood and walked back through the dense forest. Adeline let out a sigh of happiness. Having the giants like her was making things easier.
"There, all better," a mermaid said, now putting the rest of the healing salve on her head and wounds.
"Thanks," Adeline said shyly.
"Don't be so shy little one. You will get used to us. Hey! What are those?" a mermaid asked, now looking down in the clear water and seeing Adeline's toes. She dove down and began gently running her nails over them. Adeline began laughing immediately and then began gently tickling the mermaid's tail in retaliation. The mermaid began giggling under the water and surfaced.
"Why you little mischief maker," the mermaid chuckled, now wrapping her arms around Adeline. "I like you Adeline. My name is Shell."
"Nice to meet you Shell," Adeline chirped back.
Within a few moments, Evander walked through the brush and grinned. "Come little one. It is time for our show."
"What am I supposed to do?" Adeline asked, now seeing him extend his hand and she took it.
"You will join me in the ring as the assistant ringmaster for now," Evander grinned.
"What?!" she gasped.
"Yes, you will enjoy it." Evander replied. But Adeline couldn't help but be excited! This was going to be the experience of a lifetime!
Meanwhile…
Colossus was explaining to all of them who Adeline was so that no one could mistake her for food or for an intruder. Adeline was nervous and waited to see everyone's reactions. But surprisingly, no one said anything. They all grinned at her.
"Welcome," the centaurs smiled, now coming forward. Adeline recognized him as the one she touched before. Feeling shy, she slowly slid behind Evander, making the centaur chuckle. "Oh, you're not shy are you?"
"Come on out little one. Don't be afraid," a unicorn chuckled, now coming around and nudging her with his nose.
"Come. We want to meet you," a minotaur snorted playfully. Adeline slowly came out from behind Evander and smiled shyly.
"Nice to meet you," Adeline said, now blushing. But then she giggled as the beings came forward and began sniffing her and nuzzling her. "EEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!"
"Well well where is this laughter coming from?" the centaur smiled, now gently poking her in her side.
"I am not sure, but I like it," the unicorn smiled, now nuzzling more.
"I believe it is what the humans call…ticklish," Colossus smiled, now poking Adeline right in her stomach. The young girl was soon in stitches as she gently knelt down to the ground and the beings continued to playfully greet her. After a few minutes, they stopped to let her breathe. As Adeline sat up, Evander helped her to her feet.
"Welcome little one. Now then…let's all get ready for the show. Once we are done with this one, we will head to another realm." Evander said.
"W-What other realm?" Adeline asked curiously.
"Do not worry about that now. We will talk about that later." Evander smiled, now ushering her towards the trapeze artists. "Help this little one get into costume."
"Ok," they replied, now leading Adeline towards the back room. Once she was gone, the centaur turned to Evander.
"Which realm are we heading to after Earth?" the centaur asked.
"We will be heading to Ryu's realm." Evander replied.
"King Ryu?!" a griffin asked.
"Yes, Ryu…the dragon king," Evander replied. That made everyone stop and look at him. Traveling to different realms was always full of adventure, but it was a whole different story when you enter the realm of the dragon king.
Meanwhile…
"Colossus…be careful when entering the dragon king's realm," a large giant said.
"Yes, those beings cannot be trusted. Especially Ryu." A female giant replied.
"I know. I do not think we should go at all, but Ryu has paid a very high price for entertainment." Colossus said.
"Entertainment hmm? Colossus…just make sure you understand what type of entertainment he is looking for. Especially now that you all have a new addition to your team." A giant warned. Colossus turned to his friend, known as Thunderfoot.
"What do you mean Thunderfoot?" Colossus asked.
"Now that you all have a human in your midst, that could be trouble." Thunderfoot said. "Ryu has eyes and ears everywhere. He may already know you have a human."
"But that is no concern of his," Colossus replied.
"Colossus…Ryu has never cared whether something concerns him or not. He is the dragon king. He knows no boundaries. When you go to their realm, make sure Adeline says very little and she stays in disguise or out of sight. If Ryu knows you have a human, he will do what he does to every human that has ever gotten into his realm by accident. Eat them." Thunderfoot said gravely, making the entire area of the forest go silent.
guestsurprise: Oh my! There is a lot happening.
newbienovelistRD: AWESOME! Love it, Amiga! Btw, to answer your question, Transformers is okay, but I'm not like a die hard fan, y'know?