|In The Morning|

"Star, where are ye?" Joker's voice rang out from outside the tents. Star rubbed her eyes, jumping out of the bed and sticking her head out the tent flap.

"Joker, keep it down, will you? George and Freckles are still sleeping. I was too… just now…" she added, grumbling underneath her breath. They still had a good hour to go before they had to wake up, and she liked to get as much sleep as possible.

He patted her head with his prosthetic right hand, giving her his trademark wide smile. "Now now, no need to get so upset. We need to get our make – up before we leave, to advertise our best."

Star sweatdropped. "You're going to put make – up on my face? You?"

"Who else?" he asked, grabbing her by the shoulders and dragging her along.

She protested at once. "Hey, I'm still in my night clothes! Can you at least wait until after I put my clothes on?"

Joker glanced at her, before scratching the back of his head. "Ah, sorry 'bout that. Well, ye go on and get dressed, I'll be waiting in the backstage part of the tent. An' hurry up a little!"

Star hurried back to the relative warmth of the small tent she shared with Freckles and George. "Bleeding idiot…" she mumbled under her breath, putting on the costume in haste. "…Dragging me out of the tent this early in the morning… doesn't realize it's cold…"

"… Star?" Freckles asked, sounding sleepy.

"Freckles!" she whispered back. "Did I wake you up?" she asked, glad she had already covered up her more vital parts. Sharing a room with two boys was something more unnerving than she would have guessed.

Freckle's head shook in the darkness. "No, ye didn't. Where are ye going?"

"Joker is taking me to town, so I can buy George a birthday present. He's insisting we leave early. Can you do me a favor and look after my brother for the day?"

"It's George's birthday?" Freckles asked, suddenly storming out of the bed, towards his pants. Before Star could react, he returned and pushed a few pounds in her hand. "Can ye use this to buy his present too? If I'd know, I would've gotten him somethin' too…"

Star nodded, and closed her hand around the money. "I will. George likes you, Freckles. So in this case, I think I can make a small exception."

Freckles closed his arms around the half – dressed Star. "Thanks, big sis!" he said, before letting go of her and returning to his bed.

Star couldn't help but smile softly. "… see you later, Freckles."

|The Circus Tent|

Star entered just as Joker laid the final hand on his own make – up, drawing a final line on his eye. He looked up as she entered, blinking fiercely. "Ended up poking meself in my own eye."

"Is that supposed to give me confidence in your abilities?" she asked him playfully.

Joker chuckled, patting the crutch next to him. "I'll be more careful with ye, so have a seat."

Star sat down, putting her hat on the dresser as Joker looked thoughtfully at the small paint containers. "Let's see now… Pink would make yer costume look far too soft…" he mumbled, putting the pink bottle away. "But since yer costume has black in it too, using that will look mighty nice indeed."

He stared at her face intently, squinting his eyes slightly. Star rubbed a hand over her face. "What? Do I have something on my face?" she asked, wondering what it could be.

Joker shook his head, taking her chin in his skeletal hand. "Hold still now… I dun wanna slip."
The smooth material his hand was made of felt cool to the touch. He pressed the brush dipped in the cold, black liquid above her eyebrow. "Close yer eyes now." He told her, as he started to pull the brush downward. She closed her eyelids, feeling the smooth brush glide down to a point on her cheek.

"What are you drawing?" she asked him, trying to hold her head as still as possible.

"I'm just tryin' somethin' out. I'll decide later on if I like it or not." He replied, directing her head slightly to the left. It felt as if he was coloring something in.

"That tickles!" she commented.

"Nnnn…" he replied, moving his hand to her other cheek. He only placed a few short strokes there. "There we are, all done!" he said.

Star opened her eyes, and peered in the mirror. A large star covered her right eye, while he had placed a small stripe, much like his own, across her left eye. She cocked her head to the side, trying to get a better view. "It looks nice." She commented.

Joker frowned. "No need to sound so surprised." He said scowling.

She waved her hands around. "No, I mean, I'm really happy with it Joker!" Joker gave her a non – believing glance. "Really now?"

She put a hand to her heart. "May God strike me down if I lie."

They waited for a few seconds. When she wasn't hit by lightning, Joker started chuckling. "Stop bein' so serious all the time." He told her, getting up. "And let's go, we've already lost enough time."

|The Horse Pen|

"Ye want to take which horse?" Joker asked, not believing his ears.

Star blinked, and patted the horse next to her on the nose. "This one." She replied, scratching her hooved friend behind the ear. It was the horse she had encountered a few days ago. The pitch – black stallion had started to warm up to her, and allowed the girl to come close to him where he wouldn't allow others.

"Ye want to take Devil with us?" Joker asked, still not believing what he was hearing.

Star looked up at the tall animal, cooing to it. "Of course I do. He's finally started to like me, and a ride to town is just what we need to consolidate our friendship. Isn't that right, Devil?"
The horse neighed it's head towards the girl, keeping an eye on the stranger that had accompanied her. Joker pushed his hat a bit better on his head, looking worried.

"Even if ye say that, this horse's notorious for buckin' people off, not to mention he could well try to kill ye." Joker said, not too fond of the thought that she would have to get on that horse.

"Oh, don't be such a baby." Star told him, already swinging a leg to get on Devil. The horse allowed it patiently. She clicked her tongue, moving the horse next to Joker. "Well, choose a horse so we can get moving. I'll be fine." She added, seeing the worried look in his eyes.

Joker got on a gray mare, looking at Star in a mixture of both awe and annoyance. "Ye're a stubborn woman, ye know that?" he asked her.

Star chuckled in response to that. "I've been told that before, yes." She replied.

|In Town|

"Do all these people have to keep staring at us?" she asked Joker from the corner of her mouth. She had expected to stand out a little bit, but this was just getting awkward.

Joker smiled at people, waving and telling them to come and see them. When he stopped doing that, he turned to her. "Well, we did come here partly for advertisin' purposes. So, smile at the people, an' tell them to come over."

Star instead frowned at him, wishing she was still sitting on Devil. They had left the horses at a stable, paying a small sum for the animal's lodgings. Some young women waved at him, beckoning him closer. He obeyed with a smile, dragging Star along by the arm. "Hello ladies! Ye fancy comin' to our circus for a day of fun?"

The girls giggled, looking at each other instead of at the ringleader. Finally the one that seemed to be the boldest asked him : "Will you be there to?" Joker grinned at them, beaming that he would be. One of the girls spotted Star.

"Oh, is she your friend?" the woman asked.

Joker pulled Star closer, even though she tried to resist as inconspicuously as possible. "Yep. This 'ere's Star, our newest member. She'll be performing for the first time ever tomorrow, and ye ladies bein' there would sure help 'er out, isn't that right, Star?"

Star forced a smile on her face. "Yeah… that's right…" she mumbled, wishing to be somewhere else. The young ladies squealed at the sight of Star's attire.

"That has to be the cutest outfit I ever saw!" one of them exclaimed. The others chimed in. Star started to panic. She didn't like being surrounded by so many people, and the women were starting to get closer and closer.

"Please excuse me!" she said, holding out her arms to keep the women at bay. "I need to… go over there and check something out!" she said, running of before the women or Joker could say something.

Turning around the corner, she wiped the sweat from her brow. "That was close…" she mumbled to herself. When she peeked around the corner, she could see Joker reassuring the women that Star was okay, just being a little shy. "Shy, my ass…" she mumbled. Looking in front of her, she noticed a toy store. 'Well, what a coincidence…' she thought, making her way to it, trying to ignore the looks people were giving her.
Inside the store, there were a lot of small wooden trains, plush animals and other assortments of things a child would find endearing. To be truthful, she herself found that these toys were cute and adorable. As she picked up a plush rabbit, somebody tugged at her short skirt.

"Miss, are you from the circus?" a young girl, perhaps eight years old, asked her. She had the long, golden curls that was the trademark sign of a noble child destined to break hearts.

Star smiled shyly at the child. "Oh my, am I that easy to see through?" she asked the child.

The girl nodded, smiling back. "A bit!" she exclaimed. "I've never seen a performer before." The girl said in a grave tone of voice, as if was a vital piece of information.

Star lowered herself to the girl's height. "Well, my name is Star, and tomorrow is the first time I'll be going on stage. Would you like to come and cheer me on while we're in town?" she asked the girl.

At once the girl started beaming. "Could I? I would love to do so. But mommy and daddy don't want to give money to things they consider to be so common…" the girl added.

Star pulled out two tickets from a concealed pocket in her dress. "Well, my boss gave me these two tickets. You have a nanny, don't you?" she asked the girl.

When she nodded, Star continued. "Well, ask her to take you. You can have these tickets, so your parents don't have to spend money on them. How does that sound?"

"Wow, thank you, Miss!" the girl yelled, pressing the tickets to her small chest. "I'm going to tell Nan right away, if that's okay?" Star waved the girl away, before turning to the display of stuffed animals again. Behind her, she could hear the young girl jabbering away to her nanny, pleading with her to go to the circus the coming day.
Star's eyes fell on a stuffed bear from the Funtom company. She pulled it from the shelf, squeezing it gently. It was stuffed firmly, and looked at the world with gentle eyes. George used to have a bear like this, back when they were still nobles. He had lost it on the day they had escaped, to the flames engulfing the ancestral home of her father.

She walked towards the counter. "I'll take this, please." She said to the shopkeeper. The stern man tallied the money she gave him with a hawk's eye, to make sure he didn't come out short. Walking out of the store, she waved goodbye to the little girl she had met, pressing the bear against her chest.
'I'd better go and find Joker…' she thought to herself. When she got to the street where he had been, she didn't see him anywhere. 'Where did he run of to now?' she wondered, vaguely annoyed. A young man waved at her. She looked around, but when nobody reacted to his waving, she shrugged and went over there. "Yes?" she asked him, not trusting somebody so easily.

"Yer looking for yer friend, aren't ye miss?" the man asked.

Star nodded slowly. "I am. What's it to you?" she said, taking a step backwards. She had seen people getting lured in by muggers this way, and she wasn't about to be so stupid as to let it happen to her. However, as she took that step, she bumped into someone. A tall man looked down on her. He was missing his two front teeth.

He grabbed her by the arms, pushing her forwards. She banged her foot on his, but he didn't even flinch. His companion neared, holding out his hands to take her from the other man. She clenched her teeth, grabbing the teddy in her arms harder. Her foot lashed out, hitting the other man in between the legs. He groaned, falling down in the mud. "You little bitch!" he spat out.

More men came from the back of the alley. She was already being pushed in several meters by Mr. Toothless. When she looked up to him, he grinned. She jumped up, the top of her head colliding with his chin. She could hear the shattering of teeth, as the man let go of her. Blood dribbled from his mouth, as he looked at her in pain.
Star pushed the side of her arm, expecting her trusty blade to pop out so she could defend herself. Instead, she hit her bare wrist. She bit her lip when she realized she hadn't put on her blade because the dress wouldn't allow it.

The men came closer to her. She stepped backwards, over the two men she had disabled. If she turned and ran, the three men that were left would be on her like hounds on a rabbit. Safety lay in the busy street, right behind her.

Somebody picked her up from behind, lifting her legs from beneath her body. In a flash she saw ginger hair and felt a bony – like arm in the small of her back. Her feet dangled in the air.

Joker sent a glare to the men who had been nearing in on her. "Ye guys had better not been plannin' on hurting her. Else I would see meself forced to do something… unpleasant."
The menacing look he sent to the would – be attackers sent them back a few paces. When Joker lifted the corner of his mouth, revealing a canine, they ran away. Star was surprised at how menacing the man could seem.

"That's… impressive of you…" she said softly. Joker looked at her, the usual smile on his face.

The scary look he had given the men had left no trace behind. As he turned, carrying Star bridal style, he said :"I hope I didn't scare ye."

Star shook her head. "I'm fine. Thanks though." Joker nodded, seemingly pleased at hearing a 'thank you' from her.

"Ye're welcome." He answered.

As they left the alley, the three noble girls Joker had been talking to were waiting for them. When they saw what Joker was doing, they started squealing again. "Oh my, is this the secret circus love affair?" they asked, looking at Star.

"The what?" she asked.

The tallest one of the girls answered. "The love affair between you and the circus manager, which can't happen because of his obligations! It's a tragic love, which can't end in anything but misery! Is it, Mr. Joker?"'

Joker smiled, looking at the girls. "Who knows?" he asked in a mysterious way. '"If ye ladies want to find out, ye'll have to come to see us at the circus." Star sighed. He was far too good at luring customers.

"We will! We will support Star's love for you from the sidelines!" the smallest one yelled.

Star sweatdropped. "Joker… put me down. Seriously."

Joker put her on her feet, putting a hand on her head instead. "If ye want to avoid embarrasin' moments like these, ye'd better not run off anymore. 'Kay?"

She pouted, looking away. "'Kay."

He pushed some money in her hand. When she looked down at it, she made a questioning face. Joker scratched the back of his head. "I like yer brother. So, I wanted to chip in too, if ye'll let me."

Star nodded, looking at the green – eyed man. "I'll let you. Because you're a good guy. So, how about we go home now? I understand there's a big show tomorrow. There's a rising Star having her tribute then."

"Is there now?" Joker asked, throwing her a wink. "Well, I'm lookin' forward to see that Star perform. I hope she'll give it her best shot."

Star walked next to him, towards the place they had left the horses that morning. "She will, you can count on that."

Joker looked at her, seemingly enjoying the moment. "Ye know… I'm not doubting that one bit."