disclaimer: same bs

Guards passed through the Roman courtyard, lighting torches that shined enough light to give the stone a warm glow. Tomes was where Anika left him, on the bench by the wagons and horses, but now his head was slumped onto his chest in a deep sleep. Dani chuckled lightly as he went over to wake the older man.

Anika had always liked Dani. He was a simple man of 38 years of age. His hair was dark brown, kept short, though his beard was longer. Wrinkles, caused by years of smiling, crimped the skin around his deep blue eyes. A scar marred his left cheek, from the side of his nose, curving down to his jaw line. Short-sleeved and brown was his tunic, while hard leather gauntlets covered his lower arms and trousers of dark brown covered his legs. Shin-high boots of leather covered his feet and a leather belt around his trim waist held a long sword on his left side. Even at his age, he hadn't let himself go, eating and drinking with no end. No, Dani was different. He kept his scarred body strong and buff.

He was always the one to care for others, as he had done for years before joining the troupe. His circumstances of joining the troupe were close to Anika's but more costly. The lives of his wife and two young children, one boy, one girl, had been taken by Woads with the attack of his village. At times, Dani would stare off in the distance, gaze lost, and the others knew he was thinking of the past, of his family. He missed them greatly but would never take his own life to be at the Gates of Death to be with them. The troupe was just as important. They had all grown as close as family.

Anika smiled lightly as Dani shook a grumpy Tomes awake. He often treated Anika, Lolon, and sometimes Rosala as his own children.

Rosala climbed into the back of one of the wagons and looked around at the courtyard. Even with the darkness of night and the oncoming approach of storm clouds, the crowd didn't disperse, rather grew larger, as people bought their dinners of bread or jerky or hunted rodents. Now would be the perfect time to perform, as they had come to Hadrian's Wall to do.

~xXx~

"Ladies and gentle folk!" Tomes cried to the crowd, standing now in the center of the courtyard. People moved away from him, leaving a circular clearing around the older man. "I have the honor to introduce some very special friends of mine. We are the Traveler's Troupe! You will see things that could only ever happen on the pages of a fairy tale. You will be dazzled!"

Dani stepped forward as Tomes stepped back. A few swords were held in his hand. Setting all but one down, he lifted his head back and touched the tip of the blade to his lips. With a faint smirk, he opened his mouth and slipped the blade slowly down his throat. The watchers from the crowd gasped and whispered, amazed by such a talent.

Anika stood with Rosala and Lolon by the wagons, waiting their turn to dazzle the crowd. The numbers had grown considerably as Dani slipped a second sword into this mouth. Even six relatively stoic men watched from the far right side of the courtyard, hidden slightly from view by the pillars that ran parallel to the walls. Anika smirked a little, watching the one who looked to be the youngest of them all. He was boyishly handsome; eyes bright and shining with excitement and wonder.

Shifting her eyes to another, they set upon the tall, scarred one with the silver eyes. His stubbled jaw clenched lightly from the words another said to him, a man with curly dark hair and two swords upon his back.

Dani pulled three swords from his gullet and set them aside before pulling out his own sword, whose length was about four feet long. Crowd watching with wonder, he lifted it up and swallowed it whole, easily. This brought him happiness. He always liked to dazzle with what he did best.

Anika continued to watch the scarred giant. His stature and appearance made him seem menacing and dangerous but Anika could see his actions towards another of the knights were gentle and kind. A gentle giant, perhaps? She smirked a little. Such a man would be worth watching more.

Dani left the circle with sword in hand as the crowd clapped for his performance. Rosala and Lolon took his place in the clearing, juggling small wooden balls between the two of them. Rosala passed her three balls to Lolon who juggled all six of them as the dark skinned woman began to twist and turn her body in ways no other could. Tomes slipped through the crowd, stopping by individuals and their friends, performing small magic tricks that made eyes shine with curiosity. They were all so good at what they did.

Dani passed Anika and smiled. Sitting on the end of one of the wagons, he pulled a rag from his pocket and began to wipe down all the blades, returning his to the sheath on his hip.

The fire-eater turned her eyes back to her other friends. Lolon continued to juggle the six balls, a broad smile brightening his features. Lolon was the definition of young innocence. Big, bright blue eyes, short, strawberry blonde hair, and a slight body clothed in a sleeveless brown tunic, black trousers, and leather boots, all too big for him. He was also like Dani and Anika in the fact that he had lost much before finding the troupe. He father had been a warrior who died just shortly before his mother gave birth to him. Sadly, her life was lost when his was given, leaving him without parents. A friend of the family took him in and raised him as his own child, but when gambling debts caught up to the man, all his money and house were lost. Lolon left then, no longer wishing to stay with such a man that couldn't even take care of himself. He moved from village to villager before finally meeting those of the troupe. He was the last of them to join and the youngest at that. But he still remained happy and kind towards the world, despite all it had taken from him.

The knights muttered between themselves as they watched Rosala dislocate her shoulders and bend her arms in strange positions. She bent her back in angles no one else could possibly. Lolon stopped his juggling and walked back towards the wagon, clearing as path as he did so. Tomes returned to the wagon and watched as Rosala did her finale. She bent herself backwards till her hands touched her shins. Everyone clapped as she stood straight again. Turning, she started flipping down the path between the people. She only stopped by the wagons side and smiled, gesturing for Anika to step forward and leave the crowd with an astounding ending.

Grabbing a few things, including a small burning torch made of a stick and a wad of cloth dipped in animal fat, she made her way to the clearing. She had left her weapons in one of the wagons, not wanting them to get the way of her actions. The knights hushed and she glanced at them, eyes flashing with sharpness.

With a small smirk Anika stopped and quickly lifted a small canteen to her lips. Taking a mouthful of bitter liquid she moved the torch to her lips and blew a large cloud of flame towards the sky. The crowd cooed and awed in wonder before she took another mouthful and blew it in two bursts that lit up the whole courtyard. The people clapped and she smiled, slipping the canteen back into her pocket.

Giving a short, sharp whistle, Lolon slipped through the crowd and appeared by her side. Anika slipped each of her gauntlets off and handed them to him. He took them, smirking lightly, for this was one of his most favorite parts of her show. She ruffled his hair with one hand then looked in the direction of the knights. She wanted to make sure they were watching closely at this next part. Holding her left arm out she lowered the torch beneath it and touched the flames to her skin. The crowd sucked in a breath, but when nothing happened, whispering spread like wild fire.

Anika smirked a little as she moved the torch back and forth, sliding the flame up and down her arm. But still, nothing happened. How was it possible for her to do such a thing without being burned? Switching hands, she touched the flame to her right arm. Still nothing. Tilted her head back and touched the flame to her neck and jaw. Still nothing.

Shrugging lightly, Anika acted as if though she wasn't sure why nothing happened either. A smirk tugged at her lips as she looked back to the knights. They were watching her intensely. Opening her mouth wide, tongue outstretched, Anika set the torch directly on it before closing her lips around the flame. She paused for a second before pulling it out again, the flame out. She smirked tauntingly and blew smoke out her nose while people around her clapped again.

Meeting the tall, scarred knight's gaze one last time, she turned and disappeared into the crowd as people returned to bustling about with their daily lives.


A/N: lil more tension, and they finally performed. attempt at describing their performances = FAIL. sigh. oh well. decided to make it TristanXOC too. Rosala will most likely hook up with him. what should i make happen next chapter? hmm... will give anyone a lifetime of free ale and Saxon-ass-kicking if they R&R or shoot me some ideas of what should happen next! thnx!