Chapter 4: First Performance

A couple months had passed and the weather had gotten colder. The Noah's Ark Circus had arrived at the London outskirts and pitched their tents. During the months, Eden had slept in Snake's tent every night-he hadn't the heart to turn her away and it was quite a bit warmer to share the space. So they no longer pitched an individual tent for her. After all, it would be better suited for any new recruits.

Eden stood on a platform that was on a tall wooden pole. Dancing and swaying in the breeze, unleashing flowers to rain down upon the excited guests of the circus, she smiled down upon everything the light touched. It was only when she detected the presence of something quite threatening that she frowned. Stepping off the platform, she dove towards the presence, a grown man with wine-red eyes and dressed all in black. A young boy stood beside him, blue hair and an eyepatch covering one of his sapphire eyes.

The man looked up at Eden and pushed the boy behind him just as a vine wrapped around her waist. It stopped her from crashing into the two but that was not her purpose. Flowers of red and large sharp leaves, thorns pointed in defensive and offensive purposes surrounded her in a display of territorial behavior that she had learned long ago. Face not even 2 feet away, body suspended in midair thanks to the vine around her body, she glared into those wine eyes with her clover orbs.

He appeared bored, as if waiting for something. Her display did absolutely nothing to deter him. Yes, this man was dangerous but he didn't smell normal. He smelled...tainted, evil, like blood... Now that she was closer, she could identify his etherworldliness. He was not human...he was a demon.

Eden had seen demons before at such a young age that she vaguely recognized that he was one. But the demons her family had pointed out were there for a specific reason-to feed on humans. She only remembered a little bit about demons and the way they fed. It had something to do with a specific human. She looked down at the young boy that the demon had pushed behind him. Clearly they had some sort of contract.

Without breaking eye contact with either of them, she lowered herself onto the ground, her bare feet touching the chilled earth. She withdrew her territorial display slowly and continued looking back and forth between the two. A dangerous duo...she could fight but she did not know if she could win. So she did the best thing she could think of and looked at the human boy. Lowering onto one knee, she addressed him in a whisper. "Please...do not kill anyone on the circus grounds..."

The boy looked at her sternly but nodded discreetly.

Eden gave him a smile before reaching into her hair and pulling out a small blue blossom. She gently tucked it behind his ear and stood up. "Enjoy the show, sir..." She gave the demon one last look and nodded to him before turning away and heading off to find Snake.

As expected, he was nearby and Oscar dove at her, hissing profanities that disclosed how worried he was. The earth child smiled at him and gently kissed his head before looking at Snake. "Everything is okay. We need to get ready for the show..." She took his hand and lead the way to the practice tent. This performance felt different than the ones she'd seen in the last months. But as long as everyone ended up okay, she wouldn't split hairs.

xxxX Sebastian's POV Xxxx

The demon butler watched the circus performer walk away, a slight smirk on his face. The young master had removed the blue flower from behind his ear and looked at it in wonder. It was the perfect chance to tease his young lord.

"Do you believe in magic, my lord?"

The young man scowled, narrowing his single blue eye at the older man. Tossing the flower onto the ground, he replied sternly, "Do not talk to me with such impertinence. And what was with that woman anyway? She talked to me as if...she knew what you were..." He walked forward, fully expecting Sebastian to follow him. "Tell me what you know about her, Sebastian," he ordered.

The demon man smiled and waited until they were in the noisy circus tent. "She smells of Earth. She's not completely human but she's not demon. If I'm correct... she's an earth child."

"Which means?"

"Earth children are humans who have bound their bodies to the very earth you walk on."

"Go on. I'm assuming that she's similar to you?"

Sebastian smirked with a shake of his head. "No, my lord. She does not consume souls to live, she cannot make your wishes come true with a single command. And there is no contract mark. It is simply that she is one with the earth that she claims as her own. Typically, they stay in the forest of her birth."

Ciel nodded, sitting down. "But since she is here, she must have abandoned her home. Hmm, we should keep an eye on her... Perhaps she could become a pawn in this game of mine."

xxxX Eden's POV Xxxx

Yes, the performance was different, her first one ever. While Snake danced with her, snakes mingled with her vines and flowers as they grew before the audience's very eyes. Cries of wonder and claps of joy sounded as the two performed with such perfection that it was amazing that none of the snakes were stepped on. Perhaps amazing was not the right word- they had practiced the steps and there was a large degree of trust that had formed in the months they trained..

xxxX Time Skip Xxxx

The last performance was Beast and the tiger Betty. The crack of the whip had a bad effect on Eden so she left to go check the perimeter. The trees were more sluggish during the late fall/early winter months but they still could tell her what was going on around them. She kept everyone safe by serveillance and protecting the circus by ways of her plants. Breathing in the night air, she listened and responded in ways that only the trees spoke.

Time passed and she opened her eyes and Snake was next to her, glaring at someone who had encroached on their territory. She looked the way he was looking and saw the wine-eyed man being threatened by a large venomous snake who was draped around Snake's shoulders. The man simply smiled and apologized before leaving.

Eden stood up and took Snake's hand, kissing his cheek before kissing the large snake, Victor if she guessed right. "Thank you for waiting. And Victor, thank you for protecting the tents. We should go get food... then get some rest. I'm sure Joker and the others were pleased with our performance tonight..."

Snake gently squeezed her hand and smiled at her. "Yes...says Victor. We shall eat together." The snakes around them vanished into the darkness to search for their own meals as the two circus performers headed off to the mess tent to eat their fill.

Over the last couple of months, she'd been able to help them with their food gathering. By gathering, she would simply grow the plants, herbs, spices that they needed and then bring the plants back to their seed-state. It was a very useful and even Peter acknowledged her as more than another mouth to feed. His exact words were, "Well, look at that! Seems the little chippy has a damn good Green Thumb. Guess she's not such a burden after all."

Once fed, they went to their tent and laid on Snake's blanketed cot, enjoying the warmth that they would miss if either one of them weren't there. Winter was terrible when alone but with someone else, they could sleep without shivering for survival. And their scents helped them sleep quite easily. After so long, it would be more difficult to sleep without one another. That left them open to teasing but since they didn't do anything more than sharing warmth and slumber, all they could do was blush at the implications.

"Good night, Eden...says all of us..."

"Sleep sweetly, Snake, Oscar, Emily, Victor, Keats, Wordsworth, Dan, Donne... Webster... Goethe... Bron-te..."

Snake smiled and held Eden close. It appeared that she had fallen asleep as she was wishing everyone goodnight.

((If there are any errors, I do apologize. I have done my best to keep any grammatical grievances to a minimum.))