|Half An Hour Later|

"An' that was pretty much all of it, I think." Dagger concluded, placing his hands in his hips and smiling broadly. "Well, 'cept for the first aid tent, but I don't think ye two need to be in there, right?"

The thief shook her head, trying to ignore the pounding in her head. She needed to get some rest, soon. "I don't think that will be necessary. Look, I don't want to be rude, but –"

"Ah, come on!" Dagger interrupted, grabbing the siblings by the arm. "Beast's going to go on last. I can't miss that!" he pulled them towards the big tent. She and George trotted behind him helplessly. She had tried to tell him that she wasn't interested in joining, but he didn't listen. When they got inside, Dagger pulled her closer to the screen. She could swear the man had started to emit little flying hearts when he looked at the woman that was performing now.

"Ain't she beautiful?" he asked sighingly. When the thief looked, she had more the impression that this was a woman who wouldn't hesitate to skin a person that was in the wrong place.

As she swung her whip around to guide the tiger around, the young thief gulped. 'I really don't want to get on her wrong side…' she thought.

"Pretty as a picture." She said out loud, trying not to seem worried. She jumped up when someone laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Fidgety, aren't ye?" Joker asked, laughing when she looked back to see who it was. "Let me introduce ye to some o' the first string members." He said, already walking off, expecting her to follow.

"First string?" she asked, following the man, realizing resistance was useless. These people… how did they develop such an air where they could waltz over people, disregarding them completely? George followed, holding her hand and looking around with big eyes.

"This 'ere's Wendy and Peter." He said, pointing at the trapeze duo. She smiled and waved faintly at them. They eyed her in a suspicious way, making her feel dejected at even trying to blend in with this crowd.

"This 'ere's Snake, but he's a bit shy, so don't expect him to warm up to ye from the start." He said, stopping by the snake man.

The man looked at her, and so did the snake on his shoulder. "Nice to see you again… says Emily." He said.

She laughed nervously. "Nice to see you two again too, Snake and Emily." She replied.

Joker seemed surprised. "Ah, ye already met this girl 'ere, Snake. That's fast of ye." Snake said nothing, looking at the two of them.

Eventually the thief started to scratch the back of her head nervously. "We bumped into each other before the show started. So, that's how we met." She explained. Her vision was turning blurry. If only she could keep focusing…

Joker grabbed her by the arm, pulling her forward. George, who was holding her arm, was yanked along too. She bit her lip, trying not to snarl at the man who dared to be so…. So…. She couldn't find a word to describe this kind of behavior.
He stopped walking, tapping his cane to his lip softly. "That's weird… I was sure that Doll and Jumbo would be around 'ere somewhere…"

"Sheesh… you still didn't answer my question." The girl said, glaring at the man.

He looked at her and smiled, a broad smile that showed all of his teeth. "Ah, I didn't? Why didn't ye say so? …. What was yer question again?" he asked, getting a confused look on his face.

"I asked…" she said slowly, hoping that he would listen this time, "what are first string members?"

Joker nodded. "Ah, right. Well, those are the people who perform in every show we give, and they get a private tent, and don't 'ave to compete for food. Everybody 'ere works hard in the hope of bein' promoted to the first string. If ye get hired, ye'll start out as a second string member."

"Ah, about that…" she started, to no avail. Joker had spotted a very tall man, talking to a girl who was wearing a wig made of white flowers. One of her eyes was covered by the them. The other eye focused on Joker, who beckoned them closer.

"Ah, Doll, Jumbo! I've got someone ye need to meet." He said, pulling the thief closer to him with the arm he had used to drag her along. She struggled at once to get out of his grip. One of the things she disliked was being touched by strangers. She had been tolerant so far, but there had to be some decorum.

"Ah, who's this then?" Doll asked, looking on interested as the stranger struggled to get out of her big brother's grip. Joker smiled, releasing his grip. The girl took a few steps to the side, to make sure she was out of grabbing range.

"This might be our newest recruit!" Joker said smiling. "Once she passes the test, that is." He added. Doll nodded knowingly, still peering at the possible new recruit. The thief didn't look away, but kept staring back, not about to be intimidated. After a minute of awkward silence Doll stopped staring, and gave an approving nod.

"I like her!" she said. Then her look landed on George. "Oh, there's a kid here too! Are ye hiring him too?" she asked, bending down to look at George. The small boy looked up at his big sis first, before bowing for Doll, taking her hand and kissing it.

Joker glanced down at the boy. "Oh, so it's okay when ye're the one doing the kissin', eh? And I guess we can always use an extra hand around 'ere. Can't abandon 'im when we hire his sister, after all."

The thief took the opportunity to object again to her oncoming employment. "Now listen, I tried telling you, I –"

"Ah, seems like the show's over. I need to go and tell the audience bye. Doll, bring the girl and the boy in a few minutes, 'kay?"

The girl sweatdropped when Joker walked away. "He just ignored me… again…" she said, not believing this was happening. Somebody patted her shoulder. When she looked who it was, she looked into the one eye of Doll.

"Don't worry about it. Joker's probably sensin' that ye don't want to join us, so 'e's probably going to wait until after the try –out. He doesn't want to miss out on talent, after all."
The thief sighed, looking at George who was now holding Doll's hand. The boy seemed to be happy to be able to get out again, even though he had been sick for a long while now.

"It's just that…" the girl started, stopping halfway her sentence. She couldn't say what it was that made her so unwilling to join the circus. Perhaps a last shred of remaining pride? Still, if she did join, she wouldn't have to worry about getting enough money without arousing suspicion. Doll looked at her in anticipation. When the thief shrugged, she did the same. The tall man, Jumbo, just looked at everyone without really saying anything.

|10 Minutes Later|

"Okay, up on the tight rope ye go." Joker said, pointing up at the tightrope. When the thief looked up, she gulped. Just how high was that thing? Doll was already climbing up, more than halfway there. Just when she was about to protest about how she didn't want to join, Dagger pushed her towards the ladder. She started to walk on her own accord, not liking to be touched.

"Good luck, big sis." George said. He looked up at her in a manner that almost melted her heart. She nodded, climbing up on the small ladder.

When she reached the top, she was panting. Looking at the delicate Doll, she couldn't believe she did this every time. When she told her so, Doll shrugged, pulling out a rope. The thief eyed it suspiciously. "What's that for? Not some creepy kind of bondage, I hope."

Doll chuckled. "Of course not. If ye fall off, this is the thing that'll keep ye from dying. Lemme adjust this for ye. Oh, and take of yer shoes."

Doll adeptly tied the rope around the thief, pulling it tight to make sure it wouldn't get looser in a few seconds. Doll gave her the thumbs up, and gestured towards the rope. The young thief gulped again. 'I don't even want to be here!' her thought went. Still, it would probably be easier to just walk, fall of after a while and get rejected by Joker then going down and trying to explain.

Probably.

She placed her first foot on the rope. It was pretty thick, but still awfully thin for someone to walk upon at such heights. Adding her other foot, she realized it wasn't that bad. She let out a relieved sigh. This was nothing compared to walking on slippery rooftops on the middle of winter.
She took another three steps. It wasn't that bad at all.
Still, after a few meters, the rope started swinging back and forth alarmingly. She understood now why… the further she was from the platforms, the less support the rope had. Soon she'd be swaying even more.

To make matters worse, she was starting to feel very hot. She didn't dare bring a hand to her cheeks, but she felt like she was burning up. 'Nothing like getting feverish when you're only a few meters away from a death drop.' She thought, taking another step. The rough rope felt unpleasant against her feet. More annoyingly, she started to see double. When she lifted her foot for another step, she couldn't decided where to put her foot.
That moment of indecisiveness was enough. She lost her balance, and fell.

|On The Ground, Five Minutes Ago|

Joker looked up together with Dagger and Snake. He nodded. "I told ye she'd be good." He said to Dagger.

Dagger rolled his eyes when he heard that. "Oh please. I was the one to tell ye about 'er." The men kept on boasting to one another until Beast walked up.

"What's all the commotion 'bout?" she asked Joker.

The ringleader pointed up, towards where the young thief was walking the rope. "There's a girl there tryin' out. She's doing pretty good so far." Joker said, looking back up and crossing his arms over one another.

Beast looked up too, a small pang of jealousy crossing her heart when Joker called another girl good. Every day, she wished for his eyes to be only on her…
She couldn't help but smirk when the girl started falling. That made her feel guilty though. To take joy in something like that… "Seems like the girl isn't that good…" she couldn't help but remark when the girl grabbed the tightrope with one hand.

Joker seemed disappointed too. "Ah… and 'ere I was thinkin' that I found us a good one. Guess she ain't special after all."

George looked up to all the grown – ups talking about his sister like that. He frowned, and kicked Joker's shins again. "Don't talk about big sis like that! She's the best big sister in the whole world!"

Joker cursed, grabbing his assaulted shin again. "Why ye little… what's that for?"

George looked up at the man, looking pained at having to defend his sister, even though it should be obvious that she was an amazing person. "Somebody like you couldn't understand how special my big sis is… Because she… she gave up everything, for me!"

George turned around, putting his hands around his mouth and yelling up, hoping his big sister would hear him. "Big sis! Don't let go of that rope! Show them that you're the best! I like it here, and I want to stay, so show them who's the best big sister in the whole world."

|On The Tightrope|

Her hand hurt when she caught the rope. She didn't even know why she had done so, only that her reflexes had enabled her to do so. There was a blush on her cheeks as she held on. She couldn't think straight, so she kept hanging there. Doll tugged on the rope, drawing her attention when the knot around her waist was moving.

She directed her look towards the tightrope walker. "Let go of the rope, and I'll pull ye up here, 'kay?" the doll – like girl said. When the thief didn't answer, the girl squinted. "Ye don't look to good. Better let go of the rope."

"Big sis! Don't let go of that rope! Show them that you're the best! I like it here, and I want to stay, so show them who's the best big sister in the whole world."

The thief looked down when she heard George's voice. Thought the boy was only a small speck, she couldn't help but chuckle. "So, it's like that, huh?" she said. She lifted her other hand towards the tightrope, grabbing it.
'I've been working so hard these past four years… I guess one last effort can't hurt.' She thought. She started to swing her legs, moving back and forth, until she had enough momentum to swing up on the rope. She landed, wobbly on her legs.

Determined not to fall again, she started to move forward again. She held out her arms as far to the sides as she could. 'I won't fall again. I won't fall.' She kept mumbling it as a mantra, not looking down, but only straight ahead.
She reached the other platform. Instead of dropping to her knees, she grabbed the ladder and glided down on it, fast and reckless.

The troupe members down on the ground rushed to her when she landed firmly on the ground. She looked at Joker defiantly, pointing a finger at him. "Got any more tasks, pretty boy?" she asked him, feeling weary but at the same time energetic.

Joker sweatdropped. "Pr..Pretty boy?" he asked, pointing at himself. When he looked at Dagger, the man shrugged. "Are ye sure ye're alright? That doesn't seem like something ye'd say." He commented, even though he only knew the girl for an hour or three.

Doll turned up behind him, pulling him by the arm towards the thief. "Of course she's not okay. Feel this." She said, slapping Joker's left hand on the girl's forehead.

She sighed, grabbing Joker's hand. "Ah, that's nice and cool…" she pressed his hand firmer against her scorching forehead.

"Ah, she's havin' a fever." Joker said, suddenly understanding. The girl's knees buckled from underneath her, barely giving Joker the time to catch her. Her little brother stood next to her, shaking her arm.

"Hey, sis? Sis?"

The girl removed Joker's hands from her body, before turning to her brother. She smiled, a red hue on her cheeks. "I'm fine George… Let's go home now, I'm feeling tired."

Dagger grabbed her by the shoulders, putting a hand to her forehead as well. "Ye're burning up! We should get ye to Doc!"

"I… don't want… to…" she said, pulling away from him.

Dagger didn't listen, grabbing her by one arm. "Joker! Snake!" he said.

The other two men nodded. Snake grabbed her by the legs, and Joker grabbed her other arm. "Hey… what the hell do you think you're doing?" she yelled, trying to kick. It was no use though. Her body had grown weak with the fever. She stopped struggling, allowing the men to carry her.

|First Aid Tent|

"That was pretty dangerous of you, to go walking on a tightrope while you're sick." The doctor said, handing her a glass of water and a pill. The young thief looked at the older man, accepting the offered items. Without talking, she put the pill in her mouth, and took a gulp of water. George, Joker, Dagger and Beast were standing next to her as she sat in the chair.

"Thanks." She said, not happy with the way things had turned out. "But I wasn't sick this morning. It only started when I got here."

George pulled her sleeve."Sis…" he said. When she looked at him, he frowned at her. "A lady doesn't go around calling men 'pretty boy'" the boy said.

Her eyes widened. "Eh… what? When did I say that?" she asked in a panic.

The woman called Beast stepped up, glaring at her while pointing at Joker. "Ye said it to 'im. I'm wondering… why?"

The thief sweatdropped. 'Scary…' she thought. Looking at the ringleader, she shook her head furiously. "I swear, I didn't do it!"

Joker smiled at her. "I'm glad for the compliment." He said, looking in her eyes.

The girl blushed. "Don't you start getting any wrong ideas! I was just being feverish, and so I didn't know what I was saying!"

Dagger clapped her on the back, nearly making her choke in the rest of her water. What was wrong with these people? "So that's the reason ye almost fell of the rope. An' we was thinkin' that ye just screwed up. Even made a great comeback at that."

Beast was still glaring at her. The girl felt like screaming and running away from that utterly nasty look. "Look, thanks for the medicine, but we really should be going." She said, getting up. Before she got far, Dagger pulled her back in the chair, forcing her to sit.

"Not so fast now, little lady." He said. "Joker's still gotta say wether ye passed or not."

Joker nodded, looking at the thief that was sitting in the doctor's chair. "Yes, I still need to tell 'er how she did. Well, ye passed alright. Now for yer stage name –"

"My what?"

"Yer stage name, the name I'll announce ye with if ye ever perform. Don't interrupt me." She glared at him when he said that. All the times that he had interrupted her that day, and now she couldn't do the same to him?
"As I was sayin', yer stage name. I was thinking of callin' ye Stubborn, since that's a name that perfect for ye. Still, it doesn't have a great ring to it…"

"Aren't I glad you decided against that."

She muttered. He ignored her, and continued, pointing a finger at her. "From now on, yer name will be Star."

"Star?" she asked, feeling somehow relieved the name was slightly normal.

"Star?" Dagger said, grinning broadly. "That's actually a pretty good name"

Joker frowned. "'Course it is. All the names I give are good."

Beast grimaced. "Welcome… Star."

The doctor said nothing, watching the scene unfold as George nodded his approval of the name.

"Oh, an' Star." Joker said, waiting for her to look at him. "Since ye didn't exactly finished the try – out, I'm considerin' this a probation. So ye'd better live up to yer name."

The newly – dubbed Star looked at the ringleader doubtingly. "Just watch it, I'm going to outshine even you!"