"Pack up! Pack up now, we are leaving!" Balder shouted, walking from tent to tent, kint to kint, tapping and shaking to wake the slumbering troupe. His voice sounded urgent, excited...maybe even a little on edge. Banging on doors and kicking out fires, he was already dressed in slacks, suspenders and a loose tunic. Rubbing his balding head, the short man made his way around the campsite and back to his tent, pulling out his audio cone.

"Wake up and start packing! We are leaving as soon as we are able." From the tent across from his, Winslow appeared, squinting and wirey grey hair a mess.

"What in Alioe's name..." He muttered, reaching out and snatching the cone from Balder. The ringleader waved his hands.

"Get dressed and pack up!" The short man said with urgency. Winslow frowned.

"Why? What's got your knickers in a knot?" Raising a finger, the human dissapeared, reappearing with a newspaper. Turning it, he held the headline out for Winslow to read.

"ANHAU? What the hell is that?" The clown said gruffly. Balder threw the paper aside and grabbed the man by the shoulders.

"Its a city, a wick city, lost through the ages by hatchers, mists and time. But its been found, found!" Blinking, the grey man looked at his friend for a moment.

"So?" Balder blinked back.

"So!? So think about it man! They've never seen us before, never heard of us. I bet they don't even know what a chrove is! Let alone a..er...whatever that Charlie dog is!" Shaking his shoulders again, as though it would make Winslow just as excited, he stamped a foot.

"Plus, don't you want to be the first humans to set foot in the new found lost city of the wicks?" Taegan had stopped short beside the men, rubbing his eyes and yawning loudly.

"Say again?"

All the tapping and shaking made Jaq's small tent collapse in on its occupant. Struggling out from beneath blankets, canvas and clothes, the girl rolled out of the opening with a pair of underwear stuck to her head. She whipped it off quickly and shoved it back into the giant entanglement behind her.

"Wot's this about packin' an' leavein', then? We ain't been here that long, why're we leavin' already?" Jaq yawned, stretched and scratched at her scalp.

Bump?

Hal jolted awake in his cart, his head ramming straight into the kint's center beam.

"CLOCK!" he shouted, grasping his stinging, throbbing forehead in agony, "When did that get there?!"

He rolled out of bed, fumbling on his shoes and coat as he tripped toward the door. Throwing it open, he finally made his way out.

"Whazzup? Where we goin?" He rubbed his forehead again, hoping it wasn't going to turn into a goose-egg, though he could almost feel it swelling already. He counted himself lucky he hadn't broken skin.

"Where are we headed now?"

(( Sowwy, I fergetted this was here ))

(( sorry guys i was waiting to see who else would post, I guess this is it for now! onwards! ))

Balder spun around as the two troupe members groggily came out of their abodes, holding up his hands and shaking them in a sort of overexcited dance.

"Anhau my boy! Anhau! Its the wick city, long lost to the mists of time and the vicious hatchers...but its back! And its open to the public!" He turned and began to pull up the stakes of his own tent, talking as he did so.

"I don't know about you lot, but when I started this whole circus I was out for fame, fortune and adventure..and I wanted to share something magic with Anaxas. Now its our chance to meet a city of lost people! I can't imagine more fame than that! Or adventure, and imagine..." He stopped, turning dramatically and moving his hand slowly across the air in front of him like some imaginary sign.

"Balder's Circus - All New and Improved, with ALL NEW Anhau acrobats!" The round man looked at them all with sparkling eyes. Winslow and Taegan stared back with stoney expressions. Balder blinked.

"Anhau jugglers?" The clown coughed once.

"Clowns?" The silence spoke for itself. After a moment Balder made a noise and shook his head.

"Bah! It doesn't matter. What matters is the oppertunity! We need to get whilst the gettin' is good!" Taegan yawned again and shrugged.

"Wha'ever..I'll go get my lot sorted out. Y'plan on feedin' us before we go?" He asked, squinting a little and rubbing his bedhead hair. Balder laughed and shook his head.

"No time for that lad! Grab a travelling cake or something." The look of sheer disgust on Taegans face was lost to Balder's back, before the boy stomped back to his animals, muttering under his breath.

------------

It didn't take long, with Balders persistant urging, to get the troupe underway. Moving at a steady pace, kensers clopping along the dirt road leading out of Dorhaven, the kints creaked and ground as they bumped over rocks and sod. Taegan sat atop Clarabelle's kint, flicking the reigns of his kenser limply, looking none to impressed with his lack of hot food in his tummy.

Winslow and Balder rode together in the front kint.

"I hope this aint another one of your get-famous-quick schemes Balder." The clown said in a low raspy voice, bluish smoke twisting away from the glowing end of his cigarette. Beside him Balder shook his head.

"Not this time Winslow, not this time. It's not just the adventure. It's the...I mean...its the lost city of the wicks. Have you looked at our family old man? They're mostly wicks." The short man sighed a little, and spoke even more softly.

"They deserve to see their homeland."

Calli had enjoyed her break away from the circus. She loved them all dearly but she'd needed the time with her beloved Dorian and she'd needed to be away from Teagan, just while they were sorting themselves out. For once in her life, she had liked the privacy of having a kint to herself and her sweet hama. Without Teagan around to knock on the door at inopportune times and hear... things.

All good things came to an end. She was ready to be with the circus again. She had missed them all, in the end.

Calli was waiting on the road out of Dorhaven, Dorian inside the kint and her hingle on her shoulder, snoozing. Kenny was saddled and ready to go. She just needed to see the circus kints first.

(( Guys, I'm so sorry. School's been killing me lately, and I've been too stressed to post properly. This may continue. However, here's an excuse post. ))

Gi awoke to a lovely morning..as lovely as any day could be in Loshis. It wasn't particularly rainy, the slightly damp-addled birds were singing off-key...but where was the circus? She looked out her window. Oh, there they were. Ahead of her. ...Wait. Ahead of her?
Losing no time in actually getting dressed, she ran out and kicked Bill into gear as quickly as she could, urging the kenser to get a move on before they were lost altogether. A carrot (she cursed under her breath giving it to him as that was her lunch) appeased the animal and got him to move at a rather breakneck speed. With the kint lurching quickly along the correct path, she hopped out and sprinted forward; however, she incidentally forgot the presence of short blue nightgown rather than her usual multitude of skirts. She noticed some extra air around her legs while running, but it didn't register. When she found Clarabelle's (thankfully slow-moving) kint, with Taegan on top, it was most likely a very comical scene he saw: disheveled, nightgowned Giana, winded from sprinting to catch up and absolutely livid.

"Taegan. For the gods' sakes, why didn't you wake me up? You, you...vrunta, Tae! You were just going to let everyone leave without me?" She ran along with the cart for a short while, looking angry. Soon, though, her thoughts turned to simple curiosity. "So...where're we going?"

"An-ow, Ahn-oww," Hal said, feeling around the word, trying to remember if he'd heard it before as he buckled up the lighting kint and started it off, "Nope, never heard of it. Hidden wick city, hmm?"

He hadn't heard of it before. Growing up galdori, his history would have been covered at Brunnhold. However, circumstances being what they were, he would never get that liberal arts education that he had always anticipated.

"Where is it?"

Taegan looked down at Giana with suprize, before a slow grin cracked his features.

"I thought you heard us Gi, your usually up before I am." His slow grin had spread from ear to ear, blue eyes twinkling with mirth.

"Looks like we should have given you time to get dressed huh?" He said casually, shrugging a little.

"Not that I mind, of course..." Balder turned to look back at the troupe with a quick laugh, before nodding to Hal.

"It's down past the river son, outside of Muffey. Can't miss it. Apparently there's caravans parked all the way along the roadside on their way th-" He stopped as a hard nudge from Winslow turned him around.

"What is it Wi-oh! Well, isn't that a sight for sore eyes?" He looked ahead, smiling. Behind them, Taegan had turned from the amusement that was Giana, standing up in his seat and trying to see around the lead kint. Suddenly he let out a giant whoop, dropping the reigns and jumping off the still moving kint.

------

Dorian opened the door of the kint, jumping down and closing it behind him, biting into a ripe red apple. Moving to Calli, he squinted at the group approaching them from the road, chuckling as he noticed the lanky blonde tamer jogging towards them.

"Looks like someone missed us." He said softly, wrapping an arm around her waist and planting a morning kiss on her cheek. He had loved their time away from the troupe, loved just being with the young witch. It made things...better.

(( Let's play a game! Whose character has heard the wildest story about Anhau?! Heh. (Yes, I'm making it all up as I go along.) ))

"I've heard a few stories 'bout it," Jaq quipped, retying her shoe for the tenth time. I hope they have better footwear in Anhau, she thought, shaking her head in frustration at her stubborn laces. "It used to be all clouded up, and you couldn't get through 'cause that's where the hatchers lived. Somethin' about it bein' the startin' place o' all the wicks an' stuff. I knew an ol' woman who said they don' even speak! Just talkin' through hand motions an' clickin' noises an' stuff!" She moved her hands wildly, attempting to sign a phrase she thought might possibly resemble 'I need a new pair of shoes, do you have any?'

Jaq's eyes followed the boy as he ran until they landed on his target. "Hey, looka there! It's Calli an' Dor! Hey Calli!" she shouted, standing quickly to her toes and waving her arms wildly with a laugh.

"Oes, seems he did." Calli replied, glad that he seemed happy to see them.

She'd sort of wondered if he'd change his mind about being happy for them, which would have been the worst thing in the world. It seemed her fears were unfounded. She just wanted this to work.

Chances were someone was going to get hurt if it didn't and she was planning to make sure she wasn't the only one. She hadn't expected to feel this way but Dorian was quickly becoming her life. She couldn't see a future without him. Loving was such a beautiful high, even if it hurt sometimes.

It was going to be fine.

Calli laughed, remembering that she wasn't one for dark thoughts, even if she was a possessive one. She waved at the circus, waiting for them to catch up, so she and Dorian could join their procession. She looked about for Hal, hoping he was there looking for her.

"Sounds like a funny kind'r place," Hal observed, noting internally that he should probably just chill in the tent or the lighting kint until they left.

When Jaq called out to Calli and Dorian, his head popped up. He looked and spotted the pair coming closer to the train of kints.

"'Ello, Calli, Dorian," he waved and nodded at the two of them, sitting pretty together on the cart's driving bench. He noticed it didn't bother him to see them together, and he felt a little proud of himself. He could, after all, let go of a grudge. And she looked so happy after her time off up in Brunnhold with him, he couldn't hold anything against anyone.

"How was the University town, eh?"

Dorian bit into another part of the apple and shrugged.

"Eh, it was...uneventful." He said, a small smile pulling at the corner of his mouth as he winked at Calli. Jumping down as the blonde jogged over, he braced himself for impact. Taegan threw an arm around his shoulders, rubbing his knuckles into the human's brown hair.

"Man, I missed you guys! I feel like I haven't seen you in a week!" He laughed and stole the apple off Dorian, who slipped out of the armhold with a friendly punch to the tamers shoulder.

"It has been a week you idiot." Laughing, he looked over at Winslow and Balder as they slowed near the kint. The three nodded, a silent greeting passing between them. The children were home.

From the back of the caravan, a sudden cry sounded, a deep grating roar, followed by the abrupt stop of Clarabelle's black kint. Frowning, Taegan turned and sprinted back to the kint. The sterdy kenser pulling the wooden contraption stood on only three legs, holding one off the ground. As Taegan investigated, Clarabelle paced in her hold, grumpy at the sudden jolting stop. The others turned in their spots to watch and wait.

"Aww shit." They heard the blonde say faintly.

Calli had to suppress the urge to tell everyone about Brunnhold and it's many eccentricities. She bit down her grin and nodded along with Dorian. She jumped down off the kint as Taegan and Dorian completed their usual bonding issue. Calli was pleased to find that she wasn't feeling so possessive about her time with her fiance anymore. Once she might have worried that Taegan was more important, as self-centred as that was. She didn't feel that way anymore. Most of the time. For all that her upbringing had taught her to share her time, her possessions and her love, part of her was attached to the idea that Dorian was hers alone. The only thing that got in the way was the fact that he had a life too, bless him.

Calli heard the kenser squeal, then realised that it was Clara's cage. She was up and moving.

"Oh, tick, what happened? Has he got a rock in his shoe or is he lame or what?" Calli asked, not wanting to interfere when Taegan knew more about animals than she did.

She'd had Kenny for many years of her life and she had some experience in dealing with lameness or other injury. Problem was they were in the middle of nowhere and had places to be. They didn't have time for the kenser to heal on it's own, if it was hurt, as far as she knew.

Gi heard the noise and went to stay Bill. "Tae! Taegan, what's wrong? ...Vrunta, is it lame? Stone?" She knelt down next to Taegan, trying to see what was going on. "Tae, if we need to stay, I'll stay with you. Why don't we let everybody else go on and we'll catch up later?"

(( aaaaaaaahhh SFSR ))

Taegan let go of the kenser's foot gently, still kneeling and resting his bronzed arms on his knees. His face was set into a thoughtful scowl.

"I should have paid more attention to him, but y'know...lately we've just been camping a lot so I sort of didn't notice anything..." Sighing heavily, he looked between Calli and Gi, then swept his eyes over the others as they looked back at him.

"He's cracked his hoof. It's been slowly cracking, and he just must have split it on a rock or something. See?" He pointed the painful crack out to the girls. The right toe of the kensers front foot had a nasty split from the tip all the way upto the hairline. At the top, blood visibly seeped through the deep groove. Dorian had made his way over to the trio, standing beside Calli with his face almost a mirror of the tamers.

"Can you fix it Tae?" He asked softly, knowing that for all his swagger and charm, Taegan would be devestated if he had to cull the creature. Even if it was the right thing to do. The blonde stood, patting the kenser's thickly muscled neck, avoiding the sword swallowers eyes.

"Sure I can...just need a few days. Like Gi said, she'll stay with me. We'll catch up with you in a while." His voice was tight, slightly too quick to answer. From atop the kint, the ever growing spinewolf pup lept down, walking over with red tounge hanging out. Wagging his tail, Charlie licked the hands of the group, forcing his way between them. The ruddy creatures head now comfortably sat at just above knee height. He was still a puppy though - all fur and feet - and with a little bark, he jumped up on Calli, licking her hands furiously. Taegan ignored the wolf, keeping his back on the others. Dorian glanced at Calli and Gianna, pushing the big puppy off his fiance.

"I'll let Balder know, come Charlie!" He said, clicking his fingers and encouraging the pup to follow him.

"Oh no!" Calli squealed, hitting a high, unhappy pitch and raising her hands to her face.

She was not unused to injuries, being a performer and a wick but it still pained her to see something else hurting. Calli was visibly and audibly relieved when Taegan assuaged her fear that they would have to put the kenser down. Her hands dropped and she sighed, leaning towards Dorian for a moment.

Then Charlie jumped on her, which was quite a nice experience all around, even if he was enormous now. She patted his ears vigorously before he had a chance to follow Taegan.

"So, we're going on without you?" She asked Taegan, looking to Dorian for confirmation.

Taegan leaned against the kenser, not replying to the blonde. There was an air of awkward silence as Dorian dissapeared. Within minutes, the circus group had begun moving forward, and the brown haired youth returned, with Charlie in tow. He nodded at Calli.

"Come on Cal, we gotta get moving." Reaching out, he squeezed Taegan's shoulder.

"See you soon, brother." He said quietly. The tamer nodded dully, swallowing hard, signalling for the pup to stay. He knew what he had to do...and a few days wouldn't make a difference. But at least, at least he didn't have to do it in front of the others. At least Gi would be there. Putting his arm around Calli's shoulders, Dorian moved, leading her back to their kint.

"So...Calli...you interested in Anhau at all?" The sword swallower asked in a casual sort of way, feeling somewhat shocked at the news from Balder. A wick city, an ancient wick city, just appearing out of the mist? That was the stuff of tales told at surwood - not reality. But the ringleader had said thats where they were headed. The boy felt a small thrill of excitement and fear in his belly.

(( Gianna, you can start a seperate thread for Taegan and Gi and the hingleness. ))