Chapter Six: The Contest
Louise straightened, as the smoke billowed away from her grandly. Smiling prettily, she raised her slim arms, and began to dance.
Her movements were slow and measured, as the hidden musicians made a soft waltz, but then she picked up the pace as the music's timing doubled. She grinned, spotting her prey in the crowd. Captain Mishuzi was staring at her, open mouthed like a fish. He was on his black horse, as usual, but that wouldn't stop the gypsy girl.
Although it wasn't part of her planned act, she leapt off the stage and into her daring captain's arms. She kissed his mouth passionately, much to the approval of the crowd while wrapping a filmy amethyst scarf around his neck. Smiling mischievously, she leapt back onto the stage, stealing a spear from one of the soldiers. Showing more strength than most people thought she was capable of, she rammed the spear hard into the wood of the stage, until it was perfectly vertical.
She finished her dance by swinging around the spear a few times, subtly throwing another smoke bomb so that Tsuge could rise from his place. Out of the corner of her eye, the beautiful gypsy girl could see that Machida was still sitting perfectly still on his horse, his eyes wide and shocked as they followed her every move. She bit back a giggle as Tsuge started talking, loving how she could surprise her captain like that.
'Let's see his mother top that!'
"Ladies and gentlemen!" the spokesperson sang out, determined to do his part.
"We welcome you
To our humble celebration
To the ones
That we owe much.
Throughout the ages,
Few things have endured all
Stupidity! Ignorance! Arrogance!"
A chorus of glimmering gypsy girls rose from behind him, and raised clear wine goblets in tribute.
"In tribute to you!" they sang out half-mockingly, bowing their heads. Tsuge strutted around the stage, getting into the music. He sang the rest of the song with the chorus echoing him.
"But where does stupidity end
And genius begin?
Are they the same,
But misunderstood?
Ah, well… what is a great thing without a ruler?"
Tsuge snapped his fingers, and another pillar of smoke appeared, to reveal an older man with a bit of a beer belly. He was also very ugly, with large black eyes. He was leaning back in a gold-painted chair, and was fondling a cheesy gold-colored crown on his head. He was smiling greasily at the crowd, and winking at Louise, who firmly stood her ground against him. The entertainers extended their arms to the man, and bowed down to him.
"Behold the King of Fools!" Tsuge shouted, making the crowd applaud and boo the man, who grinned again, soaking up the 'adoration'. Louise rose gracefully to her feet, and started singing on a high soprano.
"If any among you
Wish to dethrone our monarch,
Please, step up, don't be shy,
Join the fun, give it a try!"
Louise curtsied gracefully towards the Foolish King, pointedly ignoring his gestures for her to step closer to him.
"Step up, we're all friends here." The breath-taking blonde gave a flirtatious wink to the crowd.
"If a man's found uglier than this,
From me, he'll receive a kiss!"
Her mind shuddered, remembering the times she had to kiss the old man, but always on the cheek, at least. Maybe this year, he'd finally be dethroned.
Being accustomed to hormonally-charged men, Louise leapt to the side, so that the flood of over-dressed men could take over the stage. For some reason, her eyes were drawn to a man that had also stepped aside in the crowd, so as not to be run over. He was strange, for the fact that a crow was sitting on his shoulder, if not for his impressive head mask that made him look just like a cat.
'He looks like someone Haru would like.' She grinned at him. "Want to give it a shot?"
He stiffened, realizing that she was speaking directly to him, as Tsuge started pulling off masks. A few of the people around him laughed, and started pushing him closer to the stage.
"Really, that's not necessary-" he protested, fighting against the people. Louise laughed, and held out a hand to help him up.
"Come on, it won't hurt." Was it her imagination, or was that crow cawing softly like he was laughing? The orange cat held his hands up in a defensive gesture, his green eyes slowly becoming more and more panicked.
"I'd really rather not-"
The people must have become tired with his protests, because three men physically picked him up, making the crow on his shoulder fly away as they firmly placed him on the stage.
Before he could scramble off, Louise grabbed him by the arm, and pulled him into the line. The feline gentleman looked down at her hands on his arm, like they were about to burn a hole through his sleeve. She grinned, used to the treatment. She released him, but he immediately started backing away. A few chorus girls surrounded him, and firmly dragged him back to his place in line as Tsuge and Louise alternated taking masks off of men as they tried to impress the audience with their ugliness. Hinata giggled, clinging to Baron's left arm.
"My, this is a jumpy one. Relax, sir. This is supposed to be fun."
He gulped, still trying to break free.
"It won't be in a few minutes. Please, I don't belong up here."
"But you've got such a great mask!" Sakura protested, squeezing his other arm. "I wanna see what's behind it."
The cat man stiffened further, calculating that Louise would be the one to try to pull off his mask.
"This isn't going to end well," he groaned as the beautiful gypsy girl approached him, grinning widely. Firmly, she placed one hand on each of his furred cheeks, searching for a good handhold.
Baron winced, noticing how her face was slowly changing emotions. He was certain that by feeling his cat head, she was noticing how his fur was warmed by the sunlight and his own blood, and how his skull was shaped with the fur. Hesitantly, she pressed one finger against his chin, realizing that it was really him.
"Oh… my… gosh," Louise whispered; her eyes now wide with horror. Tsuge came up behind her.
"Well? Are you going to take off the mask or what?"
She immediately released Baron, and took a few steps away from him, now terrified of the orange cat.
"That's no mask. It's real."