Chimera of Life

Story Six: Wisdom's Harmony

Chapter Two

By Heartfire

~*~

"I stink!" Gray eyes crinkled in disgust as they eyed the target rings with four knives outside the bulls-eye.

Trowa's lips quivered with suppressed mirth while Keith made faces, five paces away from the target. He surely must buy some earmuffs if he was going to continue standing next to Catherine while she practiced her throws.

"You can say that again! I can smell you all the way to the Swiss Alps! You're the most odoriferous homo sapien I've ever smelled!"

Gray eyes turned to slits as they glared at the sandy haired man, yawning in obvious boredom. "Keith Almeida! Don't you dare give me those big words!" Her hand went back, then sliced the air forward, her wrist snapping, and the knife went true to its aim.

"Bulls eye." Trowa observed with his lips in a slight tilt while Keith whooped.

"See that, Trowa? That's the only way to get her to concentrate!" Keith shouted as he walked towards them while Cathy tapped her foot on the grass, obviously annoyed.

'Wouldn't want to be in his shoes.' Trowa thought as Keith stopped in front of his wife with a wide grin.

"You're going to sleep on the couch tonight." Cathy muttered loud enough for both men to hear then turned around with her chin in the air.

Trowa saw Keith's jaw fall just as Cathy grabbed his arm and started tugging him away. "Come on and lets practice our old act without Bozo the clown over there."

"I was only joking!"

Keith's wail brought another suppressed smile to Trowa's lips.

"Honey! Sweetheart!"

"Aren't you going to answer him?" Trowa asked as he looked down at Catherine's hair. He was a good head taller than her, and with her thick bangs, he really couldn't see her face. She tilted her face up and Trowa nearly gawked at the mischievous twinkle in her eyes, and that smirk on her lips.

"Let him beg some more. He shouldn't have pissed me off." With that, she flipped her wavy hair over her shoulder, and then aimed a glare at Keith who stood near the tree by himself with shoulders slumped.

Trowa couldn't stop it anymore. Just four days in their company and it would make even the saddest man smile. He felt like a new man. The chuckle left him before he could do anything about it. Cathy looked at him with a grin and nodded.

"Ah hah! I heard a chuckle!"

Trowa quickly denied it. "No you didn't"

Cathy rolled her eyes. "Well, anyway, I'm so glad you're laughing again."

The grip on his arm loosened then he felt her arm go around his waist in a loose hug. He felt so secure. "He was right, though. Getting you mad was the key."

"Oh! So now you're siding with him?!"

The playful glare on her eyes showed him that she didn't mind and he only nodded. Cathy exaggeratedly huffed, pouting her lower lip. "If it weren't for Ginger and Ale getting sick, and the circus needing one act to fill a spot, I wouldn't even spend any time with you two. Men! Honestly!"

Trowa felt the urge to tweak a lock of her hair in a brotherly fashion, but instead, he only shook his head. They received a call earlier during the day, asking for help, and Cathy willingly offered her services. She was a bit rusty at first, during the beginning of their workout, but he already saw her skills returning. Just like what happened a little while ago. She wasn't even looking at the target and she was able to pin it.

"We only have two more days to practice. I'll grab some apples in the fridge." Sadly, he edged away from her and saw Keith walking towards them with Cathy's other knives. Keith waved and Trowa nodded slightly.

'One thing was for certain…' Trowa opened the backdoor to the house and walked into the kitchen. Glancing at the window, he witnessed how Keith hugged Cathy from behind. His lips curved up in a genuine smile. 'Keith's not going to sleep on the couch tonight.' He turned away just as Cathy and Keith kissed each other. Opening the fridge, he looked for the apples and briefly wondered how silly he will look once he has the fruit over his head for Cathy to aim for.

…

"Nervous?"

Cathy nearly jumped at the voice. With her heart thudding a mile a minute, she turned and smiled at Trowa. Her eyes raked over him, inspecting his costume. He was wearing a different outfit from the ones he used before, having grown a bit since his teenage years, but he kept the half mask.

She remembered the time when she picked it out for him, trying to put together a costume for the 'new boy'. She knew it would fit him, showing only half of his real self to the world while hiding the other. She was curious of him, and then she began to feel protective of him after she heard some of their fellow performers joke about him. She never regretted reaching out to him… because he reached back to her, even though it took time. "You look good."

Trowa nodded, securing the mask. Half hidden within the shadows of the backstage flaps, he looked at the full house front. "It's packed." He saw Keith over with the other acrobats, helping them fix the trampoline's tension while giving instructions to a teenager, daughter of a pair of their acrobats.

"Yeah." Cathy swallowed. She was nervous and excited at the same time, but it always happens. "I've missed this."

His eyes softened as he looked back at her. He could tell. The circus was a part of her. That was why he stayed, even after she left to help Keith with his studies. He stayed because they were precious to her heart. He stopped performing on the very day she said good-bye, waving and smiling, yelling she would be back. A small voice doubted her, a bit jealous of Keith because he was taking her away from him. But now, he understood.

One of the lions roared from behind them, shattering through the noise around them. Trowa quickly turned and walked to the cage, holding out a hand to the four lions.

He frowned.

They seemed… tense.

"What is it?" His low voice was calm and soothing. One of the lions moved towards him and licked his outstretched hand, nearly tickling him. Golden brown eyes stared at him. Troubled eyes. His own deep forest green met them, wanting to understand what it was they were trying to tell him.

Something moved within the shadows to his right and he quickly turned to it. Nothing, save for the flapping tent cloth. His hand curved over fur and rubbed while eyes slanted and searched for whatever it was.

He felt as though he was being observed… He hated such a sensation, especially since he was usually correct whenever it happens.

"Trowa."

The sudden contact of flesh against his bare shoulder nearly made him move into defense mode, but he turned as though nothing happened while his hand slowly moved away from the lion's head.

"We're up."

The sparkle in Cathy's gray eyes, the breathless sound of her voice almost made him forget his apprehension… almost. He stood up and walked beside her, waiting for their prompt. The moment they were announced, they moved into the light.

Cathy chanced a look at Trowa, his face the usual mask of stoic unconcern, his rippling muscles in a relaxed stance. She looked in front of her and noticed Keith wave to her and give her a thumbs up sign. Her smile grew wider, but her unease also multiplied. They may have been separated by more than a year, but she was as receptive to him as ever. She knew that look in his eyes, though he hid it well. "Trowa, what's wrong?"

He didn't even bother to lie as his eyes darted here and there within the shadows of the stands. "Just perform like you've always done, Cathy. Let me worry about the other."

She nodded, understanding. "Just be careful." With that they forked their path. Cathy walked to the other side while Trowa walked towards the large bulls eye, uprighted table. Again, his eyes skimmed the audience then paused by that patch of shadow at the topmost stand on his left.

There.

The person hid well. He could barely distinguish it, but he knew it was there. He looked back at Cathy as she did her beginning act and waited for them to call him.

It seemed as though time was moving fast, and he found himself spreading his arms and legs over the table, getting his hands and feet secured. He saw the question in Cathy's eyes, but he couldn't answer her yet. The person hasn't done anything. It seemed as though whoever it was, it was just content to sit and bid its time.

A knife landed mere inches away from his ear but he didn't flinch. Another landed between his fingers and the feel of cold, sharp steel echoed the one in his heart. The crowd had gasped. Cathy was doing her job well.

All too soon, the show was over. He was quickly untied, and he turned to help the person unknot the ropes. When he looked back up at the patch of shadows, he saw no one there any more. The person had left.

Cathy walked up to him then held out her hand. He enveloped it with his own then they bowed to the cheers.

"Well?" Cathy asked, her anxiety showing through cold hands.

"We were being watched." Trowa whispered just as they turned away from the crowd and started walking towards the back flaps.  Once they were within the safe shroud of the tent, Cathy faced him and Trowa saw the fear in her gray eyes. Fear for him. Her concern.

"Trowa…"

The catch in her voice made him shake his head. His hand involuntarily went to her cheek, and Cathy saw that the half of the face uncovered by the mask had an almost indecipherable smile.

"I'll take care of it."

She tried to smile, but something tugged at her heart. The feeling of danger. But she knew him, and she could only nod. "I know you will."

He could see her confidence in him and he was determined to find this person. "I'm going to change. Stick close to Keith." That said, he turned away and walked towards the trailer that he, at the moment, shared with two other men.

His senses were alert, scanning the areas around him as he walked through the dimly lit paved soil. His eyes searched for any life inside the blue colored trailer but he only saw darkness. Trowa opened the door and shadows enveloped him as though he stepped into an abyss.

He unhooked his belt, his eyes already focused on that part of the door where the hook was nailed. "What do you want?"

Something scraped in the direction of the window- a chair.

"No one could ever surprise you…"

His heart stopped. His hands grew cold and clammy in less than a second. He was ready for anything. He was ready for a gun against his neck, a knife against his back, even a charging body… but he wasn't ready for that… soft whispery voice.

Slowly, with his heart pumping the fastest in such a long time, he turned around. Large blue eyes stared at him from the direction of that sound, and it felt as though the cold hands of death clutched him by the neck.

A multitude of emotion coursed through him, but the one that dominated them was anger. "Must I repeat myself?"

The eyes disappeared and Trowa could almost imagine them, looking at the ground. They were gone for so long that Trowa nearly imagined that he must have dreamt all of this. Then it appeared once again, soft blue eyes that met his hard glare.

"I need you."