When I woke up, it was dark. This thought took a while to sink in, because I was a little busy counting up everything else that wasn't quite right. Between the general exhaustion, the unpleasant sensation of what felt like two days of sweat stuck to my skin, and a combination backache and headache that didn't make a whole lot of sense, waking up in the dark was comparatively minor. All in all, the time it took for me to realize that it wasn't dark so much as bizarrely well-lit despite a ton of stars overhead was not wasted. It was only around a minute or so.

Oh, and there was the bit where I could see in color despite seeing the moon hanging directly outside a...tent, apparently. I was in a tent. And as for the moon mystery, it didn't look like real life darkness—instead, it kind of seemed like the blueish light Hollywood used when trying to give the impression of darkness.

Yay, weirdness. As though I didn't have enough of that in my life already.

Kei, said Isobu's familiar voice, it is time to wake up for real.

What the hell happened? I asked him, spotting the distinctive tails of an Isobu clone just to my left. Guarding my weaker side, as always.

Sure, I didn't know how Isobu had managed to make a clone without me noticing, but I'd been unconscious. Sneaking things past someone passed out on a floor was easy mode.

Many things. I have been listening. Isobu let out a sigh. And once again, we are very far from home, and all the rules are different.

God fucking dammit. I sat up with difficulty. My head and neck felt heavy, like there was some unaccustomed weight strapped to my skull. Several things stopped me from reaching up and trying to take off whatever it was. In order: The sudden realization that my hands and arms were definitely the wrong color, the bangs hanging down over my eyes were also wrong and parted funny, and the sudden realization that there was something stuck to my spine. These three realizations were immediately followed by reaching behind my back with shaky hands and pulling—and feeling the tug of—a literal tail out from behind my back.

The tip of it, shaped and armored like the ends of Isobu's tails, settled easily into my hands. My spine prickled. And I was including the tail in that count.

Did I mention that you also do not look entirely like you? Isobu said cautiously, his voice almost as small as the clone. Because your face is the same, but a number of other things are not.

I met the clone's gaze. But it couldn't just be a clone, because Isobu's chakra wasn't coming from anywhere else. With my eyes on him, the little Isobu wriggled up onto my lap and laid his spiky head down.

Isobu was fucking tiny.

Oh shit. Ohhhh shit. What the hell happened to us?

I wish I knew. Isobu leaned into my touch as my strangely-colored fingers found the old sweet spot along his neck and started scratching gently. Even my nails didn't really look entirely human anymore, thicker keratin with ragged edges. Though that last detail was my fault. Would you like me to tell you everything I do know?

I nodded, even as I reached up to figure out what the weight on my head was and found smooth horns instead of, say, a hat. A weird hat would have been easier. Funny how the texture was the same as Isobu's now-reduced head spikes, though.

Or not. I had suspicions.

Very well. And Isobu did his best. I listened patiently as my friend tried to explain his perspective on the events of what turned out to be the past thirty-six hours. I'd been unconcious since yesterday morning, after Isobu dragged a bunch of carnies— Is that what they are called? Isobu had asked—into helping look after me.

When it was over, Isobu added, I heard one of them call you a tiefling. Do you know what that is?

I thought hard about it, digging into some of the less-used parts of my memory. Even before my ninja life, nerdy things had been among my best-loved hobbies. I didn't participate in most of them, beyond just reading everything I could get my hands on and looking at cool artwork for games I couldn't play and events I never attended, but some information was rattling around in the old headspace.

Just to be clear, I have horns, a tail like yours, and I probably look like someone replaced my entire color palette with something random. Or something that matches you. I kind of prefer the second option if there's a choice.

Yes. Isobu even sent me a little mental snapshot of my appearance to prove it. I probably wouldn't have recognized my own reflection if he hadn't.

And one of the jackasses you killed called me a "devilblood."

I assumed it was a slur, yes. Aimed at you and one of your rescuers. Typical blustering.

…Then yeah, I have a marginal idea of what kind of fuckery we're in for. I mirrored Isobu's deep sigh. And I'll probably have to spend some time relearning every physical technique I have.

Why?

Because I have something like a meter and a half of extra spinal column. I poked at the spiked end of my new tail. And even if that didn't mean a leg's worth of excess weight, my center of balance shifted too. Even walking might be a challenge.

Isobu visibly considered this problem. What are we going to do in the meantime?

We're going to…introduce ourselves, and thank our rescuers for putting up with all of that. I frowned, running my hands over the new armor plates I'd need to adapt to. This was different from playing with Isobu's power. And then we'll see.

I reached up and pushed the tent flap aside, swaying a little even as all conversation outside of the tent came to a halt. Crawling out was unpleasant, even with Isobu cheerfully dragging himself along beside me as moral support. And in the end, I had to stop not far from where I'd started, with a rough blanket still around my shoulders and aches reminding me they were still hanging around.

Sort of a pathetic start to things.

"Oh, you're awake!" I didn't flinch when I looked up at the voice's owner, though I did pause momentarily. Isobu had called this one—Gustav, he'd said—maybe-human, and I could see that. His ears were tapered and his face was a little too sharp to be fully human. But I didn't have a whole lot of room to talk. I had horns.

"I am," I agreed in a neutral voice as I looked around. Okay, English was the language of the day. Convenient in some ways and worrying in others. "Um, who are you and how did I get here?"

"Gustav Fletching," said the man Isobu had identified as the ringleader. What a thought. And it was nice to hear that family names were a thing here. "Of the Fletching and Moondrop Traveling Carnival of Curiosities. Ring any bells?"

If they were supposed to be famous, I might have played along. The Whitebeards had given me shit for not knowing who they were, though no one took it personally. On the other hand, Isobu's assessments of this group were turning out fairly accurate. This was no whirlwind tour bus situation, with groupies and sold-out shows in big stadiums. Everyone here was fairly poor from the looks of things. "Sorry, I don't think so."

"Don't be sorry. It's no real loss," Gustav replied. "It just means our next show will be a surprise for everyone."

I managed to make it to the campfire with only a little help from Gustav, sinking onto a lump of blanket with my legs folded underneath me. Keeping up seiza for too long was literally a pain, my body was going to take some getting used to all over again. I wasn't even fully sure I could control the tail at the moment.

The pirate adventure had been easy compared to this. I'd only gotten rapid healing and poison immunity out of landing someplace where sense went to die. This was a standard fantasy crock of shit.

Looking around, I could pick out everyone Isobu had identified while I was unconscious. The two halflings—or possible hobbits—were twins named Mona and Yuli, and probably older than they looked. The purple tiefling with the bedazzled everything was Molly, while the big goth was Yasha. That left Bosun or "Bo" the half-orc, Gustav, Desmond, Ornna (who didn't seem to be human), and the mismatched pair of Toya and Kylre, respectively a dwarven child and a toad-like man the size of a small car. Really, for as much of a front Isobu put up about not caring for people, he had a good ear for names even if they came from different cultures.

"So, what can we call you?" asked Gustav.

Given the European-style names I had been hearing Isobu recite? It didn't seem like my nickname or my real name would do much other than pinpoint my as an outsider. Or invite fifty-seven lazy puns, given what Isobu had told me of this group's personalities. Puns were great, but I preferred to be the one dishing them out.

I went with something that sounded a little different.

"It's Caretta," I lied.

Why that?

It's the scientific name of the loggerhead sea turtle.

…What.

I had a biology phase when I was younger, okay? So what if it was a little nerdy? I also literally wrote my way to victory most of the time. And a lot of that kind of Latin sounds like names to people who don't know it.

That doesn't answer my question. Isobu paused. So, do I need to come up with a fake name?

If you want to.

Hm. No. Introduce me as myself.

"And this tough little cookie?" Gustav prompted, indicating the turtle monster on my lap. "It led us straight to you."

"He," I corrected patiently. Isobu leaned into my hand, enjoying the attention like the little drama queen he was. "This is Isobu. He's…not a sweetheart, exactly, but he's my friend. And I'm sorry if he caused you any trouble on my behalf."

"Your 'friend' ruined Toya's scarf," said Ornna, sitting a little too close to the fire to be comfortable. "We're not made of money."

Because this comment seemed far more directed at me than Toya, Isobu growled at Ornna until I clapped a hand down on the top of his shell. The demonic alarm clock impression stopped.

"Quiet, you." I coughed to clear my throat. "Anyway, I'm sorry. I, uh… I'm very grateful you decided to help me even though Isobu caused trouble. And I don't have any money, so…" I bowed deeply enough that though I remained seated, my bangs brushed the ground. "If there's any way I can repay you, just name it."

"Your thanks is enough—" Gustav tried to say.

"—but you're on dish duty for a week," Ornna suggested, cutting him off.

"Ornna—"

"Words don't put food on our mouths or coin in our pockets," Ornna told him, scowling. "We can't afford any dead weight!"

"Caretta can't even stand right now," said Bo, though not with any particular conviction. I was just a hapless stranger, after all.

"I understand," I replied, my head still lowered. After a few more seconds, I sat back properly and added, "I'll help out wherever I can." And a week of light duty would give me plenty of time to try and figure out the limitations of my new form.

"Well, it would be nice to hand off some of our chores." Molly grinned. "Consider it a bit of a hazing."

"How good are you at sewing?" asked Toya, from Kylre's arms. "Or—"

"Or foraging," Desmond put in.

"Oh no," I muttered, though it was perfectly audible.

Molly seemed to be having fun. "Have fun being everyone's assistant!"

Ohhhhh no, I repeated silently.

Typical.

In truth, it took me at least another day to even get to my feet properly. Between leftover weakness from whatever bug I'd caught, the changes to my body that repositioned my center of balance to somewhere around my ankles, and a limb halfway between prehensile and a thagomizer, I didn't have time the following week for much other than adaptation and chores. While Isobu was happy to help by keeping other people out of my way—primarily by threatening to run over their feet if they got too close—the circus crew seemed more interested than commentary than assistance. They had their own jobs to do.

The circus didn't tend to really stop in small villages. While Gustav and the others would happily perform for coppers and single-digit counts of silver coins when just drumming up cash, the big tent stayed where it was packed. Maybe Molly would do a bit of fortune-telling for passing children, or Ornna would flash her fiery fans because small-town folks were easily entertained. The Knot Sisters would occasionally disappear, coming back with small change that probably hadn't been earned legally. Kylre slept in a wagon, keeping out of sight of people who spooked too fast, while Toya would sing travel songs to keep everyone's spirits up.

And every night, all of the circus members would celebrate in some small way. Even if it was as simple as just having a good-natured argument, it was endearing in some ways.

This wasn't my world, but they seemed quite happy. I just tried my best to stay out of their way as I built my strength back up.

About three days of running errands and completing chores for whoever asked, I earned a little time for just testing my flexibility while the caravan stopped for lunch. A few people even thought of exploring the river they were following slowly north, refilling waterskins and trying their hands at fishing. With little chance of being randomly, say, attacked by dire bears for no reason, it felt safe enough.

I sat down in the grass and got to work.

So you can still do the splits.

Only sideways, now. The tail's a pain. I still had full rotation in my joints otherwise, even if my neck remained stiff thanks to extra weight from the horns. And I'd probably never wear hats or hoods while I had them, but that was a smaller sacrifice.

You will learn how to use it.

Hopefully soon. I got to my feet in one smooth motion, glancing around. No one appeared to need me for the moment, so I picked Isobu up to let him climb onto my shoulders. It was a little like having a mutant Squirtle following me around, only Isobu was about three times as ornery. Right now it's like having a flail stuck to my ass. If the chain was my spine. Not a great combination.

"Caretta," said Bo, as lunch was being passed out. Desmond seemed to be handling that particular task just fine, but I trotted over to where Bo was waiting nonetheless. "I don't think anyone asked before, since your little friend punches like Yasha, but do you know how to fight?"

I nodded while Isobu made miffed noises at the back of my head. "If I have to, I can hold my own."

Bo sized me up carefully. "I wonder… Well, if something does happen, try to help Molly and Yasha out. Molly might be able to lend you one of his practice swords…"

"It's all right. I know I didn't make a good first impression, but you don't need to make any special considerations for me." I pasted a smile to my face. "Really, don't worry."

Bo looked doubtful. "Well, if you're sure."

"I am, but thank you for being considerate." I bowed again.

"Please don't do that," Bo said. "It'll make the locals think they can walk all over you."

And I will make them regret it if they try.

Hush.

"Well, that was all I really wanted to talk to you about. Here, Desmond has food," Bo said, and directed me to the serving pot.

Road trip food wasn't really any worse than the rations I was used to from past missions. Sure, there was a dire shortage of rice, fresh meat, or really fresh anything , but it was consistent. I only worried that my appetite was straining the group's supplies, and thus made the decision to go foraging after Ornna's complaints got a little too persistent.

I didn't want to make a fuss. These people were not the Whitebeard Pirates. Not everyone owned a quarter of the world's deadliest ocean, with resources to match.

I apparently wasn't the only one with that idea.

"Yasha? She does that sometimes," was all Molly said when I looked around in confusion one morning. It was hard to miss a two-meter barbarian with arms like girders, so her absence was equally notable. "Don't worry, she always finds her way back. She's reliable that way."

"I'm not totally sure how she always finds us," said Toya in her soft croak. "Sometimes we end up really far from where we said we'd meet up, but she finds us anyway."

I have to wonder if she just goes from town to town asking about the literal circus, I commented to Isobu. My gaze slid to Molly, who was cheerfully bickering with Mona and Yuli. And probably losing. Or, failing that, for an ostentatious purple tiefling.

You are hardly less inconspicuous now, you know.

…True.

At first, it seemed like the rest of the day would pass peacefully without Yasha. They made it through one small town and lunch before anything happened.

Now, I hadn't been idle. While my trip through a world infested with homicidal Marines and pirates had been a lot more fun in some ways than this strange adventure was turning out to be so far, it had taught me a few things. Among other precautions against being caught unawares, I'd traded out my lackluster holdout kunai seal—in the sole of my foot, I'd created a storage seal for a backpack stuffed to the brim with supplies. I was certainly grateful for the circus's generosity, but wasn't without resources despite lacking money.

Konoha liked gold and so had the Grand Line, but paper was a lot more convenient. This world probably didn't even have widespread printing. But that was a bit off-topic.

Anyway, I spent a long evening's watch—even without much firelight—constructing a mess of utility seals with my emergency supplies. Getting caught off guard hadn't been fun the first time, and chasing a box of paper across Nanohana had been downright embarrassing. Because putting physical sealing tags inside the storage seal in my foot was a bad idea on several levels, I kept them stuffed in my pockets. Then I stowed everything else, backpack included.

Thus, on the next free day, I wandered away from camp around noon, focused primarily on seeing what counted as wild food in this strange country. Tracking seals pasted to the bottoms of wagons kept me from losing my way back, even if the way forward was going to be a little vague for a while. I'd get the lay of the land eventually.

Everything was fine.

I do not understand why I must stay and watch the camp.

Because if you scream, I'm guaranteed to hear it.

Isobu grumbled, but he let me chase down dinner in peace.

Half an hour and three rat rabbits into my hunt, Isobu lit the figurative fires of Gondor with a horrific shriek. Without hesitation, I bundled my catches together with steel wire and hung them from the nearest tall tree with all the care of skipping a stone. Then I tore off in the direction of the circus camp, slamming chakra into my legs to go that much faster. And, amazingly, my body didn't protest at all. In fact, my coils everywhere but my left arm felt in top shape.

So much for taking it easy. On any count. Hurtling over the river in one leap, I said to Isobu, What are we looking at?

Six bandits, same weapon types as before. Yasha absent, Bosun down. Kylre and Molly are surrounded. The rest are not fighters. This could go poorly.

Not for long. Isobu's chakra pulsed in my right arm as I ran, focusing to a needle-thin point out of only one or two tenketsu. Clay-like pinkish gray matter grew on my palm, extruding in a rush as I hurried toward the fight.

I just shot two. Here we go!

When I arrived, Molly, Kylre, and Isobu were back-to-back-to-back in the middle of camp, though only Toya was entirely defended by all of them because she was back against a cart. As I skidded to a stop in a whirl of flying leaves and dust, crouched there for a fight, I assessed the enemy.

The bandits matched Isobu's description, even if they were a bit more drenched than they'd probably expected. The biggest of the attackers was probably half the height of Kylre as the lizardman stood up on his stubby legs, barrel-sized arms pumping at enemies who made the mistake of getting in arm's reach. People he hit wouldn't get up again.

Very well, then. I stuck two fingers in my mouth and blew out a piercing whistle.

Two bandit heads whipped in my direction. "Where the hell did she—?"

"The Hells, probably!"

Too slow. And then I was crashing into the ones who looked, a foot meeting the skull of one hard enough for the bone to give way. Before the other could recover, I wheeled around on the spot, pivoted on my back heel, and brought a coral-coated palm slamming up into the other bandits' throat. The coral shattered, chalky shards flying.

Isobu didn't miss a beat. He shot a blast of water at a bandit trying to creep up on Kylre by ducking under the toad's massive bulk. Then he was rolling rapidly between each one as a distraction.

Molly burst into action, both scimitars swinging and carving into the club-wielding bandit who'd gotten in his face. Ice glittered all along the edge of one of his swords while blood ran down his throat. He hissed something in a guttural language, and the bandit trying to kick Isobu clutched at his skull like he'd just been punched.

Kylre's fists slammed down on the prone bandits. There was some pained wheezing, but I didn't get the impression he'd needed my help much. They could have hacked at him all day and not gotten anywhere. His thick hide and fat layer turned all blades aside.

Ornna's arms darted from under the cat and scooped Toya up, removing her from the remainder of the fight.

My coral sword abandoned in the dead bandit, I cut out the middleman and punched the last man standing square in the throat. He collapsed, gurgling, and I kicked him one more time just for good measure.

Still, the fight was over. Five of the six bandits were dead.

"Fashionably late?" Molly asked, as Kylre started dragging bodies away from innocent eyes. Such as there were. Hopefully he hurled them into a ditch.

"Hunting," I said, shaking my head.

The sixth bandit did get to his feet, but Isobu's last water bullet hurled him ass over teakettle into the river. I didn't hear a crunch, but Isobu knew his business. If he didn't want people alive, they tended not to walk around for long.

"Thank you for protecting them, Isobu."

"You're thanking the devil turtle?" But Molly didn't seem to expect any response, already rushing over to help Bo back to his feet.

I shrugged to herself and picked Isobu up. The little monster wrapped a tail around my tattooed wrist to swing up and onto my back, unphased by the fight. Because of course he wasn't. He placed approximately the same value on human life as he did on money, laws, and steel-toed shoes. To whit: None.

"Is everyone okay?" Gustav called, while Kylre continued to remove corpses.

He looked a little roughed up, with scuffs and a bit of blood here and there. There was no serious damage, and likewise Bo was roused without difficulty. Across the way, Ornna, Toya, and both of the Knot Sisters emerged from their hiding places unharmed. Still, there were a workable number of replies, so I didn't worry about them.

Instead, I picked my way to the river and fished out the bandit with the cracked skull, who appeared to have also broken his neck thanks to Isobu's little trick. There wasn't anything else I could do for either him or the circus folk. Though it had been years, at least body disposal was a familiar job. After, I even had a chance to go retrieve the rabbits and drop them near Desmond's stewpot, for whatever it was worth with lunch hour ruined.

And when that job was done, Ornna was waiting for me.

"I'm a little torn," Ornna said, leaning against the cart.

I didn't reply.

After a few seconds longer, the fire genasi sighed and asked, "Is where you come from going to be a problem for us?"

If my and Isobu's ocean adventure was any indication? Not only did Konoha not know where we were, there was little chance they'd be able to do anything even if they did. Worlds were a little harder to cross than countries. Even if Konoha had a problem with my current accommodations, I'd never allow people who helped me get hurt by my friends.

"No," I said.

Ornna glared at me. "Keep it that way."

Or what? I wondered.

Empty threat.

Ah. Good old Isobu. Viciously defending me even when no one needed to.

That wasn't quite the end of things, of course.

Molly caught up with me while I was painstakingly stitching a hole accidentally opened in Bo's clothes.

The half-orc hadn't said much as they all fell into the usual routines. I was still the gofer, especially with my sword lying snapped in the back of one of the carts. The coral shards seemed interesting enough to keep once the blood was rinsed off. If nothing else, the material could sell for a pretty penny to jewelers in the Dwendalian Empire. Good luck to anyone who wanted to find out what species it was, though. I'd never figured that out.

Anyway, Mollymauk. All Molly had to do was hop up onto the end of the cart alongside me and tuck his tail safely away from the wheels.

I didn't really know what to think of him yet. Someone with that much flash and gilt glamor crammed into a skinny frame reminded me of the Grand Line, only without the same kind of power. While I did tend to scrape by on first impressions and chakra sense when I could, this place was as devoid of worthwhile foreknowledge and other chakra-users as my last cross-universe trip. Knowing things like how Deidara liked to make things explode didn't get a lot of use here.

"So, Caretta," Molly began as he pulled a packet of playing cards from some hidden pocket of his coat, "care for a reading? Free of charge, of course."

"I thought you needed a question to ask, first," I replied, vague recognition tickling at my brain. Hadn't I skeptic-rambled my way out of one of these a long time ago?

"The standard reading should do well enough. Past, present, future. The usual," Molly assured me. I was not reassured in any way. In all honesty, Molly's speaking style and idea of persuasion reminded me of a used car salesman. Or a used wagon salesman, perhaps.

"If it'll make you feel better." I shrugged, neatly stitching a line and pulling Bo's shirt back together. The bouncing cart didn't bother me much. If I could freehand a skull with carnations on a turtle's back, carts were child's play.

"Ordinarily, you know," Molly went on, "I'd follow my father's advice. Never do anything for free you could be paid for. But you did rush into a fight and try to help."

You did rather more than help, Isobu growled from behind our backs. He'd been the one to break the coral into efficient pieces with his teeth.

Molly shuffled his cards with the practiced motions of someone who told fortunes for a living. Or maybe worked at a casino. "Hmm, let's start with your past."

I listened with one ear while Molly pushed a sack of flour out of the way to clear a space for his reading. That accomplished, he drew the first card. As Molly set it down, Isobu clambered up against my back and wrapped his tails around anything heavy enough to secure him.

I was going to end up with a Tailed Beast hat someday soon. Isobu hated being short.

"Ah, Death. Sometime in the past, you made a clean break from something and threw your life into a chaos. Seeing as you're still here, it seems to have worked out for you. Quite fortunate, given the Raven Queen's domains. That phase seems over now, at least."

Molly gave me a winning smile, but I held back on judgment. His cold-reading skills were impressive, at least. He was even making me do all the work to apply the card's supposed meanings to my life, just like astrology.

Still, I had a question. "Who is the Raven Queen?"

"...The goddess of death, fate, and blood," Molly said, with only the barest pause.

"So, the present." I directed a stray thought at Isobu, silently adding, "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift," right?

Sound a little less like you plan to teach a panda to fight, and perhaps we will have that conversation. Isobu huffed. I am not a tortoise.

"Of course. Now, most people don't need much insight into their day to day lives…well, until they do. And then they often find their way to me," Molly said, and he drew a second card to place next to the first. "The Chariot, reversed. You're confused and indecisive at the moment. If nothing else, you're in the right place for that. The circus is full of people with nowhere to go and no idea where to start looking, if you pay attention."

Well, that was oddly accurate for a blind draw. Interesting.

"No comments yet? Well, how about your future? Might loosen your tongue," Molly said without looking up. He drew again. "And… Oh, I see. Judgement. It seems like someone's in for a reckoning, though I can't say if it's you or just someone in your way. Probably them, given what I saw today." Molly hemmed and hawed for a second. "It's a hopeful sort of card, though, so chin up. "

If I don't have to punch out a second god in four years, I'll be a happy woman. I sighed. "Did that make you feel any better?"

"I'm merely a humble vessel for higher powers," Molly insisted, still smiling. With a quick sweep of his hand, he cleared the space between us and was already shuffling his deck again. "It's really about your feelings, not mine."

"Okay. Then do one for Isobu," I suggested, knowing full well Molly wouldn't.

Molly paused, cards already hidden again. "He's…kind of a pet, isn't he? A very dangerous one, but—"

Isobu, who had been just patient enough to spare Molly's cards, spat a bubble in his face out of sheer pique. I popped it with a finger before Molly could get drenched again, then shoved Isobu back behind me again.

"He also holds grudges, so don't talk about him like he's not a person." I held up the shirt I'd been working on. Not entirely crap. "Hey, Bo! Your shirt is fixed!"

"Thanks!" Bo called back. "Stick it in the back."

I folded it neatly and set it back safely in the wagon. I felt Molly's blank red eyes on me and met his gaze squarely a second later. "It was very nice of you to read my fortune. Thank you."

"Well, that was hardly any trouble. You've been very helpful." With that, Molly left me sitting there on the back of the cart, immediately fluttering to the next person like a social hummingbird. Toya's sweet singing voice floated back toward me a minute later, so I sat back and hummed quietly along.

I do not like that one.

You don't like most people anyway.

And I have no intention of changing that policy now.

Fair enough.

But I did find some "new" clothes laid out in my meager circus-derived belongings later, so maybe there were only hard feelings from Isobu's end.