Only murmurs were heard. The show was over. Silica had disappeared alongside Rose, Charge and Stranger. It all happened so fast it began to look like a blur. The audience was impatiently waiting for one of the leaders to come out from behind the flaps of the tent. However, only a disciple appeared. Charge Knight emerged from the shadows, his cape fluttering behind him. His boots clanged against the ground and his pace seemed hasty. He heaved in a heavy amount of breath before speaking.

"Viewers… Spectators of all kind…"

Every head turned to the armored puff in the middle of the ring, a spotlight flashed over him, echoing in the utter silence that quickly dispersed.

"The performers are taking a break to cool down, and our mistresses are preparing for the next half of the performance," he said, his eyes trailing through the immense amount of crowd members. There were so many of so many different races and colors and sizes and beliefs. It was a wonder how they all got here…

The silence was still reigning, and Charge found it difficult to pry his eyes off of the audience.

"Err… that is all."

"I really don't know what to say, Stranger…" Athelas began placing two fingers on her temple, sensing a headache begin to form.

Stranger opened his mouth to begin a statement when Athelas cut him off.

"I already forgave everything you did. I don't want to hear more about it!" she mumbled, glaring at him from under her hood. Stranger shrank and sighed, directing his gaze towards the floor.

"I'm confused," he said quietly.

"I know," she answered calmly, crossing her arms.

"Then explain."

"Explain what?"

"How did Alison become Rose?"

Athelas heaved in a heavy breath, trying her best to keep her calm. She always knew the time would come when Stranger would ask her that question. She was seething; she didn't want any more of this.

"You care so much about her? Go ask her YOURSELF!" She yelled, turning swiftly around and stomping away. Stranger didn't move behind her this time. Instead, he took a step back before turning to a different direction and leaving to find Rose.

He walked past the circus tent and saw a glimpse of Charge Knight as he ordered the Dees around. He shook his head and kept walking. He looked at his feet, observing how they imprinted on they graveled floor. The stones would crackle under his feet. He passed an arc that read the circus' name in fancy cursive.

He kept walking.

The carnival music was fading away, the spotlights dimmed down from this point forwards. The Dees were away. He passed through what he recalled was Athelas' trailer. He stopped for a minute to look at it. He noticed the dim light of a flame through a window. Then he heard steps. Not sticking around to encounter Athelas once more, he stepped forwards and began walking again. He then passed though Rose's boudoir and never mauled himself to enter. He simply walked by it, despite his instinct telling him Rose's presence was inside. He walked past Marx's decomposing trailer with a scowl plastered onto his face, later passing Silica's flamboyant trailer. He sighed, feeling his anger start to boil. He stomped past Blade's trailer, avoiding the flaming posts set at both sides of her door and kept walking on, leaving behind Sword's trailer, decorated with Torch's painted paw prints.

Stranger stopped for a moment, hesitated, and headed near Sword's trailer, through a narrow entrance between Sword's trailer and Bun's that led to Torch's cage. The ferocious beast was asleep. Its chest was rhythmically pumping up and down with every breath and his head lay upon his front paws. At Stranger's presence, Torch flicked his ear and opened an eye. Seeing that the Wanderer just reclined against the steel bars, the beast nuzzled into his paws and closed his eye, lowering its ears.

Stranger's eyes narrowed and he sighed, watching how his breath became a cloud of fog before him. Memories of his past ran across his mind, and he simply blinked them away, shifting on his feet and observing Torch as he slept. One arm was reclined against the cage, supporting his frame and comforting his head, while his other arm grasped one of the cage's bars.

The only sound heard was the crackling of flames upon two posts at the cages sides and the beast's snores. Stranger stood completely still, letting his thoughts sink.

For a while, he stood silent, until he heard a pair of footsteps approach.

"Stranger, boy," Meta Knight's purring voice called.

Stranger's head turned to the lower knight and nodded. Stranger pushed himself off the cage and lowered to his knees to chat with Meta Knight, while Fumu took to opening Torch's cage in the background. Stranger noticed her enter before she closed the door with a snap of the locks. This jerked the Wolfwrath right awake and the wolf's eyes shifted to where Fumu stood. Fumu in turn, smiled and brought a hand out. The canine pushed his head under Fumu's hand and scooted closer so the girl could pet him.

"Quite a sight, isn't it?" Meta Knight began, observing how Torch's tail wagged slowly.

Stranger hummed his reply and sat down, crossing his legs and placing an arm on them to rest his head upon.

"This beast… ferocious as they claim it is, he's a puppy at heart," Meta Knight mentioned, his deep rumbling chuckles echoing throughout the place.

"She's so quiet," Stranger noted, narrowing his hidden gaze at Fumu.

Meta Knight nodded at his side and whispered, "She's been through a lot, we can both tell. But she'd rather be quiet about it all. And besides… Despite her young age, she's beautiful…"

Stranger raised a brow at the knight beside him, of course the latter didn't see it, but he felt it nonetheless.

"Hey, if you can enamor both ringleaders, let me enamor my apprentice," Meta Knight muttered as a reply.

"What?"

"Mm-hmm."

Oh, Stranger could just hear the smirk in the masked knight's voice.

"I don't 'enamor'," he emphasized with air quotes, "the ringleaders."

"Oh? I think you do," the knight replied, reclining on the arm that rested against the ground.

"You're senile, it's the old age," Stranger answered with a smirk himself, chuckling as the knight gave him a glare.

"I may be old, but I'm not senile."

"Then?"

"You changed the topic. We were talking about the ringleaders."

Stranger sighed and looked away. He didn't want to talk about this now. But talking with Meta Knight was one of the things that would take him away from all the doubt.

"Do you, by any chance, remember Alison?"

The question seemed kind of sudden for the knight, seeing as he flinched.

"Pardon?" the knight replied hoarsely.

"Alison."

Meta Knight's eyes danced around before landing in Stranger's own. The puff sighed and shifted before speaking, "Yes… you see…"

Such a fool, that Wanderer. He thinks he can just touch her like that?

Never!

Not even he, her own disciple, had the privilege of laying his hands on her fair skin. And that… that brute thinks he can just bring her close.

Well, no.

He's wrong!

He loaded his gun and angrily stuffed it into its cover in his belt. He took a step forward, stumbling as the trailer jerked every which way. In panicked frenzy, Charge Knight got a hold of the thing nearest to him— a nightstand— and slid under the furniture. Soon enough, he heard Rose's resounding heels as she stomped into her boudoir, wiping away the black-tainted tears as her mascara dripped down her cheeks. She sat on her bed and wiped her tears fiercely with the back of her gloves. Charge rushed from under the nightstand and brought her a tissue. She snatched it from him and dug her face into her hands, let out a few chest-rattling sobs. Charge Knight placed his mitten over her back and stroked it, trying to comfort her, but she pushed him away.

"Mon cher, what has happened? Has that Stranger hurt you?" Charge Knight inquired hastily, struggling to reach his mistress.

"Nothing Charge, leave me alone."

"But-!"

"I said leave me alone!" She threw a nearby pillow at him and he dodged, but she threw another and it hit him square in the face, making him fall on his back.

"LEAVE!"

Scrambling to his feet, Charge Knight dashed to the door and as he reached out to grab it, it opened and showed Stranger with a worried expression painted on his face.

"This is all your fault…" Charge muttered, jumping down the small set of stairs and leaving the scene.

Stranger followed the knight with his gaze before carefully stepping into the trailer. There he saw Rose, standing up from her bed and glaring at him with olive eyes.

"What is it you want, Wanderer?" she spat with despise, taking a step back as Stranger approached her. He got closer, and closer… his heavy footsteps sounded against the boudoir's wooden floor. She gulped and took another step back, fumbling to reach anything that would help her defend herself against Stranger. He kept creeping forwards, his face was deadpan, his breath echoed throughout the silence. Rose's eyes widened, she took another step back and bumped into the bed, falling on it.

"You better stay away!" the magician said, summoning her staff as it appeared in a cloud of scarlet smoke. But before she could grasp it, Stranger rushed to it and held it away from her. Panicking, Rose stretched her hand out to slap Stranger's face. But in a series of blurs and blinding motions, he dropped the staff and held her wrist nearly inches away from his face before she could hurt him. Cringing, she struggled to try and get away from his grasp.

But she couldn't.

Stranger was nearly a head taller than her. He towered over her and she feared he'd hurt her. Not intent on giving up, Rose kept squirming under the Wanderer's grasp until he made her stop by yanking her close.

"I swear, Wanderer, you dare get your hands on me, I will—"

"—Alison, please."

At that, Rose stopped fidgeting and looked at Stranger in the eyes. She narrowed hers and pulled her hand away, as his grip had softened.

"It led you that far…?" she murmured, a sad expression painted on her face.

Stranger only nodded as an answer as he crossed his arms over his broad chest.

"We… L- let's talk outside," Rose said. And with that, she shakily turned and walked out the trailer's door, soon followed by Stranger. He rushed to keep up her pace and looked down to speak with her. She was fumbling over which words to pick before opening her mouth. But as she did, she closed it and shook her head, smacking her forehead with her hand.

"I just don't know where to start…" she whispered.

"Start by the very beginning… when you were still employed as Meta Knight's apprentice," the Wanderer helped, heaving a slow breath.

"Right. Well… see…"

They began walking. Rose's suave voice began cracking as time kept passing. The girl, once holding her head high and glaring with eyes cold as steel, reduced herself to an uncertain mess, with wavering hands reaching to brush her bangs away as she explained the man her whole situation. He listened, in an unexpressive state nonetheless.

"It all began when I had already gotten accustomed to the military-like style of Meta Knight's. I would wake up at dawn, patrol the castle, turn back to the Halberd to eat breakfast with the crew, and then patrol thoroughly once more. By then, it was noon and Meta Knight would let me be around the castle as Alison instead of Meta Girl. I remember one time, that DeDeDe and Escargon followed me around and caught me sneaking in and out, switching positions and personas…"

She cleared her throat as her voice cracked, her eyes becoming glossy.

"They had taken action quickly. They… ordered a demon beast that would hunt Meta Knight and me instead of Kirby. I remember that Sword and Blade burst through the doors of the library, where I had been with Fumu and the others, and told me about the problem. I was shocked. I couldn't believe them. There was no way DeDeDe was capable of such action…

"… I was wrong….

"DeDeDe received not one… but two WolfWraths. These were new and improved and were specifically designed for hunting. I ran out of the castle. The beasts followed. I fought them… but they won."

She stopped telling her tale for a moment to see how Stranger would react. He was stiff, trying to process the information, and in fact, had stopped walking when she was in the middle of her tale. Her blinked and shook his head in disbelief.

"What do you mean… they won…?" he asked.

She answered with the rest of her story.

"The wolf was more powerful than I was, Stranger. It overthrew me. It hurt me more than anything in my life… physically and mentally. WolfWraths talk telepathically, and this particular WolfWrath kept talking about how it would kill everyone I knew…. I- I just didn't know what to do. I was fatigued, I was hurt—scrapped, battered, whatever it be—but I was hurt. I felt like I couldn't go on anymore. The thing was, they sent the stronger of the two to Meta Knight, who was in the castle. Meta Knight's WolfWrath trailed after Meta Knight throughout the whole castle, the building was in ruins, all the while keeping Meta Knight away from me so I'd fend for myself. It was just luck when in a random set of movements I managed to hit the thing—"

"I was never even told of this, Alison!" Stranger interrupted, panic reaching his voice as he struggled to fit all the pieces together. He, a Wanderer—whose job is to know everything about anything—was completely unaware of the entire situation, and one as grave as that!

"Stranger, when I left your place, you never bothered showing up again…" Rose replied as she closed her eyes, trying to keep the tears away. Stranger's look softened and he hesitated before he brought her close into a hug. She let a few silent tears fall.

"Stranger, the Galaxy Soldier Army banned me from Dreamland…"she whispered, "They took away everything I had. Earth had called me missing, but after all the time I spent away, they stopped searching for me. Becoming someone else was the only left to do…"

Stranger brought a hand to her back and rubbed it softly, as her crying increased she simply let herself sink into Stranger. She felt his strong hand caress the back of her coat and let out a sigh, breaking the sobs to a stop. Tears still fell freely from her eyes, but she was silent.

"I… never knew you went through all that, Alison," Stranger whispered in her ear. She shifted under his and looked at him in the eye.

"That's because I didn't want you to," she whispered back.

It was then when Stranger noticed that he unintentionally got too close to Rose. She seemed to mind, he knew, for she tried to pry herself off him. But he didn't want to let her go. Not after hearing what happened… and not being there for her when she needed it the most.

She sighed, and gently pushed him away, quickly wiping any remains of the tears that once fell. Stranger let out a sigh himself and merely stood there, waiting.

"Now that you know… I want you to stay as far away as possible from me. I don't want to see your face, I don't want to hear you, I don't want to know you're near…" Rose replied in her usual brass manner, walking past Stranger and bumping his shoulder with hers.

"What?" he turned to her with a look of incredulity washing over his face, "after all this, you still remain the same…?"

"Things changed, Stranger. Alison's gone, Rose is here to take her place," the ringleader replied, looking over her shoulder as she kept walking away. Stranger raced next to her and stepped ahead, blocking her path. She looked up at the tall figure before her, a scowl forming on her cherry lips as she crossed her arms behind her back.

"I know things changed. I know things were difficult, but does this really mean you have to avoid me?" he muttered in a low tone, his voice faintly above a whisper. Rose's expression softened and she shifted her arms, even behind her back. She looked downwards, unsure of what to do, and then looked up back at him again.

There was silence.

She offered him a sad smile, which he responded with a scowl. But then, she reacted and gave him one last hug, wrapping her arms around his neck. He returned the embrace and gently rested his head next to hers.

Suddenly, he heard a metallic thump, as he quickly let go of Rose to turn to his side. There was Charge Knight, who had let his pistol fall to the ground. The creature, full to the brim and nearly exploding with jealousy, heatedly snatched his gun from the floor and left, trudging away to Rose's boudoir.

"He's just… confused, is all," Rose mumbled reassuringly, giving the Wanderer's cowl a tug so he'd face her.

When he did, she spoke, "Like I said… . I don't want to see your face, I don't want to hear you, I don't want to know you're near. It'll give me problems with Charge, and he's all I got right now."

Stranger nodded, and left. He didn't turn around, not even once, and headed directly towards Athelas' trailer. Once he reached his quarters, he opened the door to show a tired Athelas. She had been reading a book, her eyes flickering through the words, and when she noticed Stranger's presence; she slammed the book shut and shifted her gaze at him. He took a seat next to her on the dining room table, his eyes catching a sight of freshly-brewed tea inside two cups. He took one as Athelas reached for the other.

"I hope you got your answers," she said.

Out of the shadows, there appeared the unmistakable silhouette of one of the circus' ringleaders. Her cape dragged along the floor as she took quiet steps to the center of the ring, directing all attention.

The female Wanderer cleared her throat before beginning, "Soon coming out… Kirby and DeDeDe!"

And not even minding the wild sounds of applause she disappeared into the shadows, appearing next Rose They nodded simultaneously and left behind the flaps of the tent.

This chapter? Meh…

What was Rose talking about? Go check out my story Meta Girl to know what's going on! Oh and don't forget to go pass by Sweey's 'Hawk-eyed and Cross-eyed' fic, featuring Alison and Stranger!

Review~