[Canon] Meet the Ringleader [Raven, Umi, Silence]

This is a closed RP for sake of clarity; if you feel your character would add to the story, please PM me to join.
Location: Just outside of Didienne.
Season: Late Summer
Characters involved: Fumida "Umi" Speculum, Revena "Silence" Firenza and Salazar "Raven" Zarrox


This wasn't her first cross-Cove trip, and most certainly wouldn't be her last. The sun's heat upon her back was only just barely lifted by the strong breeze that gusted over the plains leading to Didienne, but Umi was glad to be back within sight of the looming mountains and, consequently, the great glacier-fed rivers. It certainly was cooler here than Yarrowitz, from whence they came.

About a week prior, the Water demon had met a silver-tongued young man in the belly of an inn with charming barmaids and a stern keeper. The ale flowed freely, and after another sub-par haul from that evening's performance, Umi couldn't help but partake. The alcohol relaxed the atmosphere, which blissfully allowed for Fumida's strange appearance to somehow go unnoticed in the crowd. It had been weeks since she had earned decent coin, for the festivals were over in the capital's sister-city, and there were simply too many performers for a simple bard to earn a decent living. She knew this would likely be the last night she was able to afford accommodations as decent as this, but she had little care for the coin flowing from her purse now, with her strange vision hazy from the numerous pints of ale before the one in her hand.

Raven had appeared to her quite early in the evening, though it may very well have been late as well; the drink soured her memory of the encounter. Vaguely, Umi remembered agreeing that traveling from Yarrowitz was her best option, regardless of the intended destination. Even in her drunken state, she recognized that perhaps having so much competition in a city suffering from such abnormal inflation wasn't the best thing for a Bard such as herself when even the majority merchant class was struggling due to the attacks from their Kaionar rivals. No one had a spare coin to toss toward a Songstress, let alone hire her for the parties they weren't having. Somewhere in her drunken haze, she must have agreed to travel with the man, if nothing else but for the protection he could offer on the journey. She had no doubt that should he himself prove to be trouble, she could disappear as easily as smoke on the wind, but the trip would be much easier to make with his company.

She didn't know what he got up to for the rest of the night (and didn't particularly care to find out), but they departed the next morning for Didienne, despite the intense hangover that plagued her.

Blissfully, they ended up having enough coin for a pair of horses to ease the burden of walking, and light provisions they could supplement with game along the way. While it left Umi's purse sorely lacking, the cost didn't seem to phase her companion. It was around that time that she began to wonder about his profession, but she thought it better to not ask, as she very well might not enjoy the answer. They exchanged little more than small talk, but she was comfortable with the silence; she was a woman of few words, after all, and he seemed to want little more from her than to keep pace and not become a burden. While she wouldn't call the trip anything remotely resembling a bonding experience (not only did the days simply fly by, but the trip was rather uneventful), Umi did find an easy companionship with the man.

With their journey coming to a close, she found that her heels itched to spur the tired bay mare onward, to finally put the last few leagues behind her. Traveling always contained its delights, but there was a reason her destinations always came back to densely populated places like the capital, and it wasn't entirely because of her trade. Ever since that first taste of freedom was offered to her in the busy bay of Jilluria, Umi was drawn to the multitude of people, places where even her strangeness could be temporarily overlooked considering her surroundings. Grand cities like the capital offered just the right amount of invisibility for a girl like her, or, if the opportunity arose, she could rise to fame because of it.

Raven spoke of a Circus here, and she'd asked a bit about it along the way, but she didn't know how she felt about the prospects of joining such an organization. Certainly, she was a bit of a freak, but she didn't especially want to be known for it. If only her musical talent could speak for itself. An ornate dulcimer hung from over her shoulder in a sturdy wooden case, the current tool for her trade, though a set of small hand drums were stored in the same holdings for less formal occasions, instruments that she hoped could sustain her here.

She looked over to the tall man, seated upon a mount of his own with his emerald eyes cast forward. Maybe now would be a good idea to be asking a few more questions?

"Upon arrival, where will we go to meet this... Ringleader?" She asked, trying to make sure she'd got her facts straight. The directions he'd give would be a lot easier to place now that she could actually see the Capital in the distance. She'd been here perhaps once or twice before, but it still was a sprawling place. There was no way that she could have memorized all the twisting maze of streets, let alone put names to them.

Raven didn't remember much about the week before, seeming for it to all fly by in a day , drink flows like rain when you have the coin for it after all, he remembered lots of faces... And bodies for that matter, but now he was stuck with the one woman he didn't try for. The last night was after all hazy and this woman she was with enticed him, only now he was sobered up somewhat could he see how different she looked, blue skin? Eyes of goats? This girl may be interesting, and looking past a lot of the things most would turn up their noses at, Raven found them alluring.

He shook his head and all thoughts from it of another sexual encounter. Why was Raven in Yarrowitz anyways? What did he have to do there, he opened his coat briefly and looked inside, in an inside pocket he had a bundle of raven feathers, and he counted six. Six is one less than before, so he'd come on business then, shame, he really looked forwards to knowing more about this unique woman but wasn't sure that she would want to know about his job. The other thing was his orders that today he had to reach Didienne to join Silence as a guard, temporarily of course, it always was. For a girl named Silence she talked a guddun, after all, there was worse company to keep, and thinking about it now the pair on the road had been plodding along in drunken silence too.

Raven turned around on his horse, to face her and recoiled with her first words in a while being their next course of action he smiled "Silence ... That's the name the ringleader likes to use where are we off in the next city, why we need to reach the place first miss, or was it an 'are we there yet' statement I wonder?" he smiled at her after this and said with a small laugh "Sorry miss I was joking, well most likely we'll be looking for the giant tent in or near the city. What, wanting to be rid of me so soon?" he started laughing once more, although the inside of him, past the persona of the guy you'd punch for being so happy.

Raven waited for a while before asking her something back, he didn't want there to be an awkward game of passing questions back and forth, far too boring an exercise for him, so he listened for three clips of horseshoes on dirt then asked the woman "So, Umi was it? Well firstly I'll tell you that you can take my hand and I'll guide you through the streets, but now I guess its time to know a bit more about you. Forgive me, the drink I had could kill a small dragon so you may need to go over a few details like did we ... Umm, that?"

Perhaps it was her pure expression of confusion that made him rephrase his reply, or maybe the slight frown that tugged at the corners of her lips. She hadn't meant to be rude at all, though she supposed it could be taken that way. She had a habit of making statements that seemed one way to her, and the complete opposite of the listener. Even though she was going on her thirtieth year of life, there was a great deal Fumida had yet to learn in regards to interacting with the humans and humanoids of Dragon's Cove she was so very drawn to. His laugh, however, was enough for her to relax her grip on the reins that she wasn't entirely conscious of gathering in the first place, though the mare beneath her seemed far too tired to care, and did little more than flick an ear back to swat away a large fly.

"No, it's not that I want to get rid of you...," She began, but didn't entirely know how to proceed. Perhaps his loud, yet roguish charm from the drink he'd consumed nearly every time they'd stopped was getting a tad overbearing, but he hadn't tried to direct his masculine energy her way thus far, so she had no reason to abandon him, of course. Then again, there was something about traveling with someone you didn't really know the slightest thing about that could make one uneasy. In sharing his space for the previous week, she'd gotten a good look at the plethora of weapons and curiosities he carried, and she had no reason to confirm her fears; for all either of them could really want, they'd be separated soon enough. She cleared her throat to dismiss the topic, but it wasn't long before he introduced something new.

A guide would certainly be useful in the city, but she knew she had no way to repay him for such service. She would barely have enough to eat tonight, and even then it would be a meal pitifully sparse. Any hope of more help vanished from her mind, but that wasn't something so terribly uncommon. She'd make it through like she always did, with a touch of magic and a hint of luck.

"I'm sorry...?" What? What did he mean? Wracking her brains for any possibly embarrassing things they might have done together while under the influence of the drink, she settled on the possibility of sexual intercourse. Goodness, had it ever been ages since she'd had such an encounter.

"Oh, no. We didn't have sex."

Just thinking about it left her core arching and a twinge of regret in her heart. Maybe she should have simply stayed there, with him. He promised so much, even in possessing so little. Wasn't it every girl's dream to find love and marry happily? While they could have never had a family of their own, Umi knew first hand that there were plenty of children in need of homes that would be grateful for a roof over their heads and a full belly, even if the promise of mock-freedom upon the streets was too tempting to stay in one place for long.

She shook her head to clear it, ridding herself of the dreamy haze of what might have been. Still, she wasn't entirely sure whether he had been dreading the idea or if he'd suppressed some sort of desire for her the entire way. Either was supposedly possible, though the former option seemed much more likely.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of bright fabric, shivering slightly in the distance as if the wind threatened to tear away the canvas from the poles that stretched it into shape. Umi needed to strain her eyes to be sure, but it did seem quite tent-like, and even from here, it dominated a great bit of the horizon upon the banks of the great river that skirted the Capital (even dwarfed as it was by said sprawling mass of Didienne).

"Is that it, there?" She asked, returning her gaze to him while she extended an arm to point. "The giant tent?"

In all honesty, she would much direct the conversation away from herself, but her reluctance to confirm how deadly she believed her travelling companion was made her shy away from asking about him at all. What use would it be if she suddenly started to shy from him once she learned what all those deadly bits truly were for? How many he'd killed with those cruel edges? No, much better to return focus to their destination.

Raven smiled at her as she reassured him but then watched her eyes sink as she answered him and he smiled "I don't think I ever mentioned what I was doing see I use the circus myself to travel in a caravan, it's a very usual occurance for me, but if it saddens you so that much, I'd be happy to help in taking that sadness away?". He said these words in a tone that was both seductive and honest, although he wanted to, perhaps more than once.

Raven smiled at her after as if the question wasn't important and looked where she pointed at the tent with an "Ah, indeed that's the tent in question, funny thing is, I'm hoping you choose to travel with us, as I rather enjoy the company, and the Ringmaster is the one I am guarding until we reach Kaionar". He had his back to her when she eyed his weapons and he felt it, his face broke it's charming exterior temporarily shattered to his murderous madness as he said, managing not to alter his speech "Do you like my tools? I couldn't help but notice your eyes on my weapons?".

He turned to her and restored his friendly exterior with relative ease as he said "During the time I spend in the circus, I'm a knife thrower and acrobat, you have nothing to fear from me my dear, unless of course you accept my offer from earlier, in which case I'm not gentle" with a wink he turned around and galloped off in the direction of the tents, with an almighty wave of the arm to usher her to follow.

He arrived outside the tents and yelled almost confident Silence would recognise his voice "Oh honey I'm hooome! Now get out here, I've got a friend whose interested in talking to you!". With a handstand on his horse and a flip dismount he stood once more and sat on a crate, brightly painted as always, then waited for the ringmaster and his masters cousin, the not so silent Silence.

Thankfully, Raven's arrival was not going to be such a big surprise given that her cousin was drastically protective of her. It wasn't really something she expected from the woman, but that was how she was. Her cynical train of though was broken by Raven's loud and cheery voice. At this the fire breather wandered out of the big-top and waved. "It's about time you got here! In my cousin's letter she didn't mention that you had a friend coming with you, but I suppose that's alright. Now that I see this friend of yours I'm glad you didn't come by yourself!" The girl was beyond mesmerizing, and her face was positively adorable; the gypsy woman wanted to run up and hug her! That, of course, would have to wait until she'd hugged her newest acrobat. "Welcome home, Raven! I'm sure this will be a grand experience for us all. Now who is this charming girl with you and what can she do?"

To anyone who didn't know much about the ringmaster, she always wore something outlandish and brightly colored with a long flowing skirt and a scarf tied in her hair. Her shirts, if they could be called such, left her arms and shoulders totally bare. On occasion she'd pull one on and part of her midsection would show as well, but in recent times that was relatively rare compared to when she was slightly younger and still growing into some of her clothes. Two new performers in one day, even if only for a short time, was an amazing start to the events doomed, or destined, to transpire in the coming weeks.

For a man that didn't show much of his face and took delight in having his murderous tools so obviously on display, he certainly seemed quite cocky that he could have any woman he desired so long as he told a joke or two and kept up with an easy laugh. She declined to indulge him in his antics this time, however, dismissing it as something a younger, more naïve (and quite frankly stupid) girl might be enticed by. Wasn't the dark and mysterious type all the rage or something? Honestly, she couldn't care less about a dark and handsome underdog, especially one who indulged in some rather murderous delights, and prided himself in being rough with women (presumably in the bedroom). She couldn't even be bothered to correct him as he took her wistful longing as something directed toward him.

As he spurred his mount to a gallop, she followed at a more moderate pace, so as to not exhaust the poor mare. She had certainly been serviceable enough despite the small amount of gold she had been hired for, and Umi found herself rather fond of the creature, if not only for her gentle temperament and smooth strides. When she was younger, she must have been a sight indeed.

The pair arrived at a more modest canter, gradually slowing to a halt as this 'Silence' greeted Raven. The deep shadows under Fumida's eyes seemed to darken as she ducked her head, unconsciously attempting to make her eyes less noticeable. A thin sheen of sweat had broken out over her grey-tinged brow from the relentless sun, but the breeze was enough to keep her pleasantly cool despite her perspiration. The shade of the grand tent was blissfully cool, and she could tell from the great heaving sigh of the mare as she relaxed that the horse appreciated it too.

Fumida's dismount was nowhere near as flashy as the acrobat's, but it did contain a flowing sort of grace. Supposedly, the loose, plain linen dress she wore added to the waterfall effect, but she wasn't entirely conscious of that fact. Finally, she turned and raised her strange eyes to the Ringleader, their hazel depths containing a sort of nervous curiosity. Normally, she would allow her companion to introduce her, seeing as it was him to whom the question was addressed, but given his recent and rather, er, forthcoming behavior, she was concerned he might attempt to make their relationship seem like more than it was.

"Fumida Speculum... Bard born of Jiluria. A pleasure to meet you." She sunk into a very slight bow, the sort of respect a commoner might give a high-class merchant, but not much more. She assumed it was a safe bet, considering she but an entertainer, while the gypsy woman was most clearly in charge of the establishment.

"Raven agreed to accompany me here back in Yarrowitz when I expressed my interest in meeting you. I hope I am not intruding."

Silence's delight to see her genuinely took her aback; in fact, the two seemed delighted by her mottled and grey complexion, and presumably shoulder and back tattoos considering the skin there was left bare. She was thankful she had used illusionary magics and heavy powder to conceal the marks upon her neck, however; she wasn't entirely sure the pair of demonic eyes would go over well with the (presumably?) humans. Idly, she rubbed the ink stars upon her jawline as she turned her gaze back downward, attempting to shrink back into her small frame. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to come to the circus, considering the majority of the people she was bound to meet would be as excitable as these two.

Just what had Fumida gotten herself into?

After recieving the hug he smiles and took in the scent of Deos' cousin on her hair and he sighed, but not for long before he stood once again as he said "So! What do you want to get done first, I mean I have the ability to move some stuff around if it needs doing but honestly we've been travelling a while, and would appreciate the rest. But you're our employer so we do what you like."

He smiled at the grey skinned individual he rode in with and smiled gleefully at her with a small quip "I told you you'd like it here" he then took off on a walk as he looks back to them both and then said "Silence, you have a nice ass in that get-up, if you weren't my master's cousin i'd have put the charm on you, despite the burns i might recieve because of it, damn forbidden fruit".

He sat and took an apple from his pack smelled it and grimaced, put it back and took out two more, eating one and offering the other to Fumida smiling, then feeling she might be distrusting of it he took a nibble to show it wasnt poisoned and offered it back to her just to prove otherwise.

Of course the line he delivered was reminiscent of Russell's antics, which he borderline got away with on most occasions. "I have one charming assassin at my side, I have no need for another. Besides given what I know of you, and your reputation far precedes you trust me, you aren't really my type." After addressing the, ahem, promiscuous mercenary, she turned her attention to Fumida and smiled widely. "You're more than welcome here, more-so now than when you first arrived since you said you're a bard. We don't have many musicians that decide to stick around for long, so if you decided to make this your home you'd certainly be appreciated." Raven and his Russell-esque comments succeeded in getting a laugh out of her, but only for the fact that he sounded like her riddle loving canary. "For a death-dealing raven you certainly talk a lot like my precious canary. He's always trying to get in my skirt."

"I'll show you where you can put your things and rest for the evening, there isn't much of anything to be done at the moment. Set-up and tear-down are our big bouts of activity besides our shows. The rest of the time we pretty much just entertain our guests in the ways we do best: be it with fire, sleight of hand, knife throwing or anything else us circus freaks can do." There was a large amount of vacant space in the general sleeping quarters, despite having quite a few people actually traveling with the circus long-term. "You have your choice of sleeping space, feel free to roam the grounds if you like and familiarize yourself with your fellow performers. If you have any questions or you just want some talking company, my tent is just over yonder with the mismatched patch in the roof."