...

A couple hours went by as Kinski stayed in the shadows, away from his new 'friends.' He watched as they talked to eachother in their other language he didnt seem to understand. He was surprised to see that there were people who knew how to talk multiple languages, how was that possible? He didnt know there were more languages. He just assumed everyone else in the world spoke German.

Kinski fumbled with his jacks nervously as he continued to stare at the conjoined twins and giant. He didnt want to be on the ship, it made him feel more like an unwanted freak.

Why did all of this have to happen? Why didn't he just stay in the tree back in the forest? Kinski sighed and lowered his head down and stared at his jacks. It was all his fault. He got himself into this mess...now he just had to figure out how to get out of it...

Just then, Barnum's ship, named The Humbug, began to travel down the river, and out along the coast of Germany. Kinski instantly felt himself fall forward, then to the side. He instantly felt sick and held his stomach. Azi noticed from where he stood and came over to help him. Kinski tried moving away, but fell forward to the African wild dog. He fell on his hands and knees. Azi helped him to his feet. The water sloshed and slapped up against their shins.

"Woah, hold on. Steady...I guess you've never been on a boat, huh?" Azi asked while smiling. Kinski held his stomach and looked down at his feet. Azi smirked. "It's allright. It took me months till I got my "sea legs". You'll get used to it...eventually," he added. Kinski didnt say anything. Just then, the ship rocked hard, making Kinski stumble away from Azi and backwards to the other side of the rotten stable.

"Kinski!" cried Azi and Quin. Kinski yelped when he crashed through the splintering, rotten wood and into another stable. Kinski landed in the other horribly conditioned stable with a splash. Mud and sea water was covered all over him. Kinski shivered in his wet clothes rubbed his head and reached to the side of him to feel for something to help him up.

Instead of feeling wood, he felt something cold and wet. He turned his head to the thing he was touching. It was a huge glass tank filled with dark, murky water. Kinski's eyes trailed up and saw a dark figure move inside the glass tank. Kinski gasped and he removed his hand from the tank as he got up. He stumbled a couple steps backwards and stared at the huge tank again.

The dark figure swam close to the glass facing Kinski again, except this time it revealed itself. Its hideous, hairy face pressed against the glass and bared its sharp yellow teeth. It screamed and shrieked at Kinski as it clawed the glass with its small sharp nails. Its' auburn red hair swayed around the creature, but parts of it had knots and tangled nests filled with white sea shells. Its upper torso was furry. Below, from the waist down, was a scaly thing attached to the hairy creature and it was thrashing wildly, creating bubbles to drift upward and pop at the surface. It was all one.

From the waist up, it was a hideous, hairy monster. From the waist down, it was a scaly, fish like tail. Kinski gasped in horror at the monster and began moving backwards from it. He was breathing heavily in shock at a creature that should not even exist.

The creature continued to scream and thrash inside the tank, wanting to attack Kinski. Suddenly, Kinski felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder. He screamed and jumped. Azi appeared and grabbed him out from the stable of the tank monster and back into the big stable.

Rin and Quin came up to Kinski. Quin wrapped her arm around Kinski and hugged him tightly. "Oh Kinski! Are you ok? You must be frightened!" She said as she held him close to her. Rin removed Quin's arm away from Kinski. Kinski moved away from them all and went to a dark corner. He collapsed to the ground and rolled up into a ball and began to cry. Azi went down and hesitated to touch his deformity.

"Kinski, we're very s-" started Azi as he lightly placed his hand on Kinski's deformity, but Kinski's little left arm lashed out and slapped Azi's slender, long arm away from him. "No! L-leave m-me alone!" Kinski cried out to them and curled back into a ball to cry.

He was breathing heavily and couldnt seem to calm down. He saw something in there that would haunt him forever. It was a creature of nightmares to Kinski. A demon creature from hell. Kinski continued to cry in fear. He wished he wasn't on the ship, he wished he was back at the orphanage in his bed under the covers.

"Kinski..." said a soft voice above him. Kinski knew it was Quin but didnt look up. Suddenly, he felt her slender hand lightly touch the top of his head and gently smooth his hair. Kinski blinked open his wet eyes and felt himself gradually relax. He sniffled and his breathing slowly began to calm down. Kinski took a deep, shaky breath, and exhaled as he slowly sat upright and wiped his eyes with the back of his muddy sleeve.

Quin got out a handkerchief from her patched up dress pocket and began wiping his muddy face with it. Rin held Kinski's head to keep him from moving till Quin was done. Kinski stared up at the two headed lizard before quietly looking down at his feet.

Azi came up and sat down next to him. He placed his hand gently on Kinski's shoulder.

"We're sorry we didnt tell you about Feejee," said Azi after a couple seconds of silence. Kinski looked up at Azi. "F-Feejee?" he asked. Azi nodded. "Yeah. Feejee the mermaid. Half monkey, half fish. She is always cranky, and she doesnt want to eat you; she was just saying "Hallo."" Azi said smiling. Kinski smiled a small smile, but then it disappeared when he heard Feejee from the other stall growl and thrash from inside her tank.

"Feejee was Barnum's first creature he caught when he first started up his circus," the African wild dog continued. Kinski felt his heart stop. His eyes widened as he slowly turned his head way up to Azi.

"C-circus?" he asked. Azi nodded. "Yep, we are in The Humbug, 'The Greatest Floating Circus Show on Earth!'...well, thats how Barnum puts it...its really a living nightmare," he muttered the last part as he narrowed his eyes. Kinski felt his legs tremble. He had heard about circuses in his homeland. He remembered when Spengler always teased him about selling him off to one and say how the clowns would chain him in a cage and not give him any food to eat.

Kinski began to tremble in fear. Suddenly, the sound of locks being unlocked was heard. Azi, Kinski, Rin and Quin turned their heads, just in time to see Barnum, Hugo, and Kayto enter into their hold. Rin and Quin gasped in fear and moved into the shadows when they saw Hugo.

Azi stayed next to Kinski. Barnum came up to the two and grinned, revealing his sharp teeth. "So, how are my lovely ladies and gents?" he asked in his British accent. Azi averted his eyes from Barnum and didnt say anything. Kinski didnt say anything either, also because he had no idea what Barnum was saying.

Barnum squatted down to Kinski and patted the top of his head. Then he looked up to Rin, Quin, and Azi. "In a couple days, we'll be getting ready to stop along the coast of England. Kinski here will be performing with Feejee, our beautiful mermaid, and he will be our wild hunchback," he said. Azi didnt say anything. Rin and Quin stayed away from Hugo as much as possible, even when he turned his head over to them, they looked away.

Just then, they heard Feejee scream and thrash wildly in her tank again. Water was heard being slapped up against the glass in the other rotting stable. Barnum looked back down at Kinski. "Have you met our mermaid yet?" he asked. Azi looked up at the wolf in the top hat. "He did," he said.

Just then, Hugo came up and smacked the tall wild dog upside the head. Azi screamed in pain and lowered his head. "Speak when you are spoken to!" shouted Hugo. Rin and Quin gasped and tried coming up to Aki, but Hugo turned his head to them, which made them stop. Kinski turned to Azi, but Barnum grabbed him by the ear and turned him back to him. Kinski yelped as he was lifted up to his feet. He stared up at Barnum's cold, black eyes.

"So you have met Feejee. Well, you two must have gotten along just fine," he chuckled. He released Kinski's ear from his grasp and straightened up. "Brilliant! This is going to be fantastic! We arrive on Saturday, so get our little hunchback here ready and to know what is going on, ok?" he asked.

Azi had his huge hand on his head. He looked over to Hugo, then over to Barnum before nodding his head. Barnum grinned. "Fantastic! Come gents," he said. With that, Barnum left, along with Kayto and Hugo.

Hugo was the last to leave. He stopped at the stable door and turned his head to the conjoined twins. He gave Rin and Quin a creepy smile before leaving. Kinski rubbed his ear gently before turning over to Azi. Azi sighed and removed his hand from his head. He checked it to see if he was bleeding. Thankfully Hugo didnt smack him that hard to bleed.

"Are you ok, Azi?" asked Rin. Azi nodded. "Yeah..." he muttered. Kinski instantly felt bad for Azi. He began to realize that Rin, Quin, and Azi were held against their will as well. They were in the same situation he was in. Barnum was a collector. He went around the world and took anything that he thought would look good in his "floating circus."

Azi looked over to Kinski. "You ok, Kinski?" he asked. Kinski nodded his head. "A-are y-you ok...A-Azi?" he asked, stuttering. Azi smiled and nodded his head. With that, Kinski, Rin and Quin helped The giant up and helped him to a dry place to sit.

Rin and Quin were quiet as they sat down next to Azi. They stared down at their hands in their lap. Kinski could tell that they feared Hugo. He came up and sat down next to them and held on to the sides of the wooden box he sat on to kee himself from stumbling off again.

The ship rocked as it went on its way to England. Feejee was heard in the other stall, screaming and thrashing around wildly in her tank as Kinski, Rin, Quin and Azi sat in silence in the big stall.