Xanadu flipped the sword into the air, turned a front handspring, and caught the hilt in her mouth as she came up, clamping her teeth hard around it. She pulled it out and grasped it with both hands, holding it high as she fell to one knee.

That was it.

The choreography was complete. It was about time too. Her entire body ached, especially her teeth. If she kept catching swords like that, she doubted she would have any left by the time she was forty.

She had no idea how long she'd been practicing but from the position of the sun in the sky, she knew it had been several hours. She had accomplished more than she had planned, though. She had hoped to have two dances choreographed before she met Sarinah and Eriyenna tomorrow morning. She'd finished three ... one for each of the costumes she intended to make from the fabric she had bought earlier.

She laid the sword on the sand beside her shoes and stretched to the sky. Then she bent backwards very slowly and did a back walkover. Upright once again, she turned toward the river. The sun was just beginning to set, throwing its brilliant colors over the water.

Smiling, she walked to the river's edge until the gentle waves were lapping at her bare feet. She splashed around for a bit, trying to keep her skirt dry. It got a little damp anyway.

Xanadu loved this time of day. She remembered other sunsets here ... with her parents when she was small, with friends when she was older, with Glorie, and occasionally with the men she had briefly dated during the festival. Very briefly, as she had usually chased them away after a night or two.

This was the first sunset she could remember watching alone. With a little sigh, she left the water and sat down on the sand beside her sword. Knees bent and arms wrapped loosely around them, she observed the colors as they changed, idly wishing she had someone to share this sunset with ... just a friend, nothing more ... just a person who enjoyed sunsets as much as she did.

Hal was watching his feet as he wandered the shore. He was leaning more toward sticking it out with the circus these days, but he was still rather serious about the whole matter, intent on making the right decision. He glanced up as a flash of light went off ahead of him. He raised his head to see the sinking sun glint from swords being thrown and caught in an intricate dance by a dark woman. She was very graceful, and reminded him of a rather more tame, disciplined Calli.

He ducked behind a nearby cluster of trees and watched as she finished, bent back, righted herself, and settled down near the water's edge. Her flexibility was nothing new-- after watching Calli bend and twist, he was quite used to the sight. But he had never observed such actions in an isolated place. He glanced around, curious...

Deciding he wanted to give it a try, and satisfied that no one would be able to see him, he leaned back with his arms over his head, reaching for the ground... before panicking and trying to swing his arms up again, only succeeding in launching the back of his head, neck, and upper back directly into the dirt, roots and twigs at the base of the tree.

The resulting *CRUNCH* was overshadowed with a painfully resounding, "Augh, shit!"

((He totally ruined the moment... Nice, Hal... Nice...))

Xanadu abruptly turned at the sound, her nearly meditative contemplation of the sunset ruined. Her mild annoyance fled when she saw the boy sprawled rather awkwardly at the base of a tree. He looked only a few years older than Glorie would have been had she lived. And he looked like he was in quite a bit of pain.

Jumping from the sand in one graceful leap, she ran over and knelt down beside him. Children were quite resilient. What would incapacitate an adult sometimes did not bother them at all. She wanted to make certain he was not hurt badly, though. She didn't know any healers offhand, but she was certain she could find one if the need arose. “Are you all right?” she asked, her voice full of concern.

Hal's eyes widened when the swordy woman approached. Crap, this is embarrassing... He opened his mouth, hoping to get out a vaguely intelligent reply, but only managed a strained, "Ach, oowww."

He lifted himself up onto his elbows and reached back to his neck, rubbing away the bits of tree that stuck to him, as if trying to brush off the embarrassment. He stopped with a hiss- he'd scraped his neck and upper back pretty badly, and it stung at his salty touch. "I-- I'm okay. Jus' benny," he grunted.

He tried to sit up, then changed his mind- his back hurt. He didn't think anything was broken, but it was pretty sore, he tried to be nonchalant, "Erm, I'm, uh, relaxin' is all."

Xanadu didn't miss the sharp intake of breath when he touched the back of his neck, and she knew for a fact he was not just relaxing. If she could see the extent of his injuries, she could figure out whether he needed a healer or if she could take care of it herself. If he didn't trust her enough for that, she could take him back to his tribe so they could tend to him. She did know that she didn't want to leave him alone by the river in the rapidly increasing darkness.

“Riiiight,” she said, letting him know by her tone that she didn't buy his explanation. She tended to talk to kids as if they were adults, just the way her parents had always talked to her.

“Look, let me help you sit up, so I can look at your back, ok? I don't bite ... well, not often anyway.” She wasn't really good at making jokes, but she hoped lightening the mood a bit would get him to trust her. She held out her hand and moved her other arm so that she could support him if he raised his head. She didn't want to forcibly pull him up; she could hurt him further. “What happened? Did you trip?”

Hal pursed his lips and looked away. He looked foolish by lying, but he knew he looked foolish lying there in the dirt, anyway. He made an inaudible laugh at himself and shook his head.



He gave her a look that told her he knew she was trying too hard. When she offered his hand, he got mildly defensive. Taking the "manly" path, he waved her hand away, and heaved himself up to a sitting position with a grunt. "S'justa flesh wound."



"Yeah, you could say that," he gave his shoulders an experimental flex and his back popped, "Jus' tryin' somethin' new."

So he hadn't liked her attempt at humor. Nobody did. It was a good thing she had never wanted to be a comedian. She would have failed quite miserably.

He sat up with no problem, so she guessed his injuries were as minor as he made them out to be. Kids were tough, and even when they weren't, they liked to pretend they were. Especially boys. She remembered when one of her friends had fallen out of a tree and broken his leg. He had made jokes about it and said he thought it was cool how the bone was sticking out where he could see it. But his face was very pale and there was both fear and pain in his eyes. Even at ten, she hadn't been fooled by his bravado.

This boy didn't look very worried, though. In fact, he looked like he was quite accustomed to taking care of himself. Xanadu would give him the benefit of the doubt, unless he showed signs of something more serious.



“Tripping's not fun,” she said. “Early today I tripped over a tree root and landed flat on my arse. Quite embarrassing.” It wasn't; Xanadu was never embarrassed, but she thought maybe it would help this boy to know he wasn't the only one to do such a thing. “But, you know, I made two new friends as a result of my clumsiness. So I guess it wasn't all bad.

She stood up and stretched. “Can you stand?” she asked. She still wasn't comfortable leaving him alone. Hopefully he would let her accompany him back to his tribe's camp, so she could be sure he was well enough to make it home.

“And what new thing were you trying that caused you to land flat on your back?”

Hal simply nodded. He wondered briefly why hearing of others problems made you feel better about your own, though he didn't voice it.



"Yeah," he was feeling less hurt simply by sitting up, so he was confident that he could stand. So he did. With a lot of old-man creaking and groaning. He felt the situation warranted some degree of complaint- the scrape stung enough, at least.



"Ehrm," he could feel the heat rising from his collarbone as he began to blush. He was about to be really embarrassed, but since she asked directly, he couldn't bring himself to lie just to save face. He couldn't meet her eye as he spoke, "I saw you doin' that bendy-walky-thing. I have a friend who does that kind'a thing, an' I've never tried it, but since there wasn't anybody to see, I thought I'd give it a try. Never done it before. Should'a known better."

She hadn't known she was being watched, but she didn't really care. She idly wondered if she should start putting up a sign when she practiced or danced that said "Don't Try This At Home."

“It's called a walkover, and it isn't difficult to learn. You can't do it in a day, though. It takes a lot of time and practice. It's also best to practice with a partner. “

She wouldn't mind teaching him herself. Teaching acrobatics to the younger children of her tribe when she was a teenager had been one of her favorite activities. She had been so proud of them when they got something right. However, he would probably be a lot more comfortable learning from his friend. “Perhaps you could ask that friend of yours to teach you how, but only after you've healed, because you will fall again.

"So ... what's your name? I'm Xanadu."

Hal didn't fancy the idea of falling again, but maybe it was time that he and Calli started spending a little more time together again. It was nearing a week since he had found out that she liked Dorian that way, and not him... He decided he had probably had enough "me time," and that it was about time that he make a decision and deal with it.

He held out a hand to her, "Oh, I'm Hal. Nice to meet you."

"I, uh, didn't mean to spy on you 'r nothin' earlier," he reddened slightly again, "I was walkin' an' you were doin' your thing there, an' I didn't want to disturb you... You an' Calli like the same kind'a thing, mixin' dancin' and acrobatics."

Xanadu shook his hand firmly. “No need to apologize, Hal. I dance for a living. I'm used to being watched. In fact, I like it. If I wanted to be sure I wasn't seen, I wouldn't have picked a public area to practice in. I have met a lot of interesting people while practicing. They are often curious about what I do.”

She cocked her head. “Calli ... I've heard that name before.” Eriyenna had mentioned it earlier when they had been talking about acrobatics. Eidetic memories definitely had their uses. “Are you by any chance from Balder's Circus? And do you know a woman called Eriyenna?”

Hal now felt slightly more awkward that he had been watching from behind a tree-- if she was fine with people watching, then there was no need for him to hide. He just hadn't wanted to disturb her.

Some of the awkward went away when she moved to familiar territory: the Circus.

"Yeah, I work the lights," Hal nodded, "I don't know her that good, but yeah, I know 'er. She plays violin an' stuff in the shows. She's really good. I guess you know 'er, huh?"

“I met her this morning, after I tripped. I asked her to compose some music for my new dances. That's what I was doing here ... choreographing the moves. Anyway, we were talking about acrobatics and she invited me to the Circus. She said that she and Calli were always looking for ways to spruce up their acrobatic routines. So I suppose this Calli is an acrobat. She'd probably be a great person to teach you.”

She liked this boy. And she had to admit she envied him a bit for being able to grow up in a circus. That sounded like a lot of fun to her. She wondered if they had any big cats. She loved cats of all kinds.

She shrugged. “I think maybe I'll show up tomorrow afternoon sometime. When I get there, would you mind showing me around?”

"Probably," he agreed. When she was being active, she had more focus and purpose. He wondered how well she could keep on task when she wasn't being active, but showing someone how.

"Oh, uh, sure. It's not too far from the, uh, Red Crow? Yeah. We have a couple'a performers an' stuff from there," Hal wrapped his arms around himself. It was getting dark, and with the darkness came cold. "I think I'd better be getting back, now, actually. But I'll see ya tomorrow, yeah?"

“Tomorrow it is.” She noticed that Hal looked a bit cold. As she was still cooling down from all that dancing, she did not feel the same way. And it was rapidly getting darker.

She thought about offering to walk him home, but decided against it. He looked like a kid who could definitely take care of himself, although he did seem a bit lost to her, as if he was trying to find out where he belonged in the world.

“See you then, Hal,” she said and walked back across the sand to pick up her swords and shoes where she had left them close to the water.

"Yeah, bye," he gave a little wave, turning away as she did. It was getting chilly more quickly tonight, and the light was fading.

As he walked away, he considered asking Calli to teach him some acrobatics. Living in the circus, and all, made it seem like a good idea.That, and e needed to get over their discrepancy and learn to be a proper friend to her.