Everyone had taken their seats now, and Aurata's eyes were fixated on the boy in the middle of the ring. She'd met him before, a few times he had come in the past. But after not showing for two years, it was unlikely he recognized her, both of them much older now.
Bedri shifted on her shoulder, brushing against her straightened dark hair. He was excited. Thrilled, actually. He really did love the circus, just as much as she did.
Adayu waited for the applause to stop, before making a move. He bowed slightly to the public, as the voice in the speakers announced his name.
"The Beast Tamer"
Music began blaring through the speakers as two large lions walked in the ring, followed by four grey wolves, each receiving another storm of applause as they ran around the ring before taking their destined place around the boy. Five black horses also walked in, lightly galloping around the edges of the ring, the feathers and decorations of the harness and saddled shimmering in the colorful light.
Finally, with a mighty roar, the awaited white tiger walked in, facing Adayu.
Aurata had never lost the child-like sense of wonder the circus brought her, and the beast show was one of the acts that brought it to the surface the most. Something buried so deep within her that the rest of the world never saw it, but now, it was on full display. She looked like a child. Happy, small, carefree and excited.
And then the tiger came out, facing the beast tamer boy, and she was downright giddy. No matter how many years she saw this act, how many times she watched it change and it's stars grow, she loved it. The tiger was magnificent, huge and definitely not something one saw in the city that often.
The boy and the beast seemed to stare each other down for a few moments before the large animal began its sprint towards the human, as if wanted to attack. Adayu did not move an inch as the tiger approached him, before ducking at the last moment, allowing the animal to jump over his head, and run towards its platform, on which it climbed under the rain of applause.
What followed was what could only be described as a unique and wonderful show; Adayu managed to get the animals to do things one would find incredible - the coordination of the animals was impressive, listening to the beast tamer with great attention, jumping and listening to his words, as if they could understand him. The boy did not use a whip nor any other object to direct the creatures with, he only used his hands to gesture - if any of the creatures on stage would decide to attack him, he'd be defenseless.
As the end of his act, he gathered his beasts and made them salute the public, before doing a bow himself.
When the act wrapped up, Aurata was on her feet clapping with the rest of the crowd, admittedly before anyone else stood up as well. Once back in her seat, she watched the rest of the show, first to leave her seat when all of the shows were officially over. She needed to find the beast tamer.
After getting directions from a very helpful man with a sword halfway down his throat, she was slipping into the tangle of wagons and trailers that were parked a little ways from the mess of tents. "He said the big wagons, near the ones with the big cages." She murmured to Bedri, pushing her hair back from her face as she scanned the surrounding wagons. "Putting the animals away and feeding them."
After his act, Adayu had retreated next to the animal cages, but he did not put the creatures inside; instead, he had left them sit wherever they wanted while we went to fetch the food. Once he returned to his small circle of beasts holding a few buckets filled with meat and other things, the wolves greeted him happily, pacing around him like a pack of dogs happy to see their master.
He put down the buckets, and began offering them bits of meat while he complimented them, giving them headpats and scratching the fur on the sides of their heads; after the wolves, he moved on to the lions, throwing them a few large hunks of meats, while he roughly pat them on the head - he left the lions to their own devices as the animals were a little tired after the day.
Lastly, he sat down next to his white tiger, offering her the last bucket with meat, while he took out a brush in order to groom the animal.
"You did amazing" he hummed towards her, while he brushed his fingers through the tiger's soft fur.
"Did I go the wrong-oh." No, Aurata was in the right place. The sight of the wolves happily feasting on meat was the first thing she saw, followed very quickly by every other animal that had been involved in the act. All of which were currently roaming free. Bedri shifted nervously in his spot on her shoulder, and she steeled her own nervousness, knowing he picked up on that.
He seems to have good enough control over them. You'll be fine.
She stepped into the small clearing of caravans, back straight as she drew upon her dancer's training. It usually helped nerves. Her hands were tucked into the pockets of her denim jacket, her converse allowing her normally quiet steps to be, eerily, completely silent. She didn't look threatening, that was for sure. Quite the opposite, in fact. Though there was something, more a vibe than anything, that sort of gave most people the feeling that if she needed to or wanted to, she could do some damage. "Excuse me?"
The white tiger was in the middle of licking the boy's face when it spotted her, letting out a prusten, a low frequency sound that didnt sound too threatening, while it bumped its huge head against the beast tamer's chest, placing a heavy paw on his thigh.
All the wolves turned their heads towards the newcomer, some of them getting up as if preparing for a possible attack and one of the lions even raised its head to see what the commotion was.
Adayu stood up when all the animals suddenly stopped what they were doing, and he himself turned to the girl. The smiling expression he had just a few moments ago had vanished into thin air, replaced by a blank yet serious mask.
"Can i help you?" he asked. His voice was smooth, young, with very faint traces of asian accent in his otherwise perfect english.
"I'm sorry to bug you-" She flickered a look around at the animals who's eyes were on her, respectfully not meeting them, but still showing acknowledgement. "-all of you, but I had a question." Bedri had returned to her hood, hiding both from human and animal eyes. He was a shy creature, despite most people being scared of him.
While most of the viewers of the circus's shows settled with the knowledge, or the idea of the knowledge, that every act was a series of elaborate tricks designed to make something fake and impossible look real, that didn't sit right with Aurata. Especially not with the Beast Tamer's act. His act looked entirely just a bit too familiar to someone who had a particular connection to other creatures. Maybe it would have been best to just let it be, to congratulate him and compliment him before slipping off and returning to the life she was escaping for a day, Aurata wasn't one to let things go. Curiosity might have been a bit of a fatal flaw for her, and this was her very own Pandora's box, whether she realized it or not.
"You can communicate with them, right? The way you and I are doing now? It's not just a trick?"
Adayu narrowed his eyes slightly, sizing her up with his gaze in a slightly distrustful way, and somehow the tiger next to him seemed to do the same.
"What makes you think that?"
Silence had installed in the circle of creatures, all the eyes pointed at the girl. One of the lions was slowly moving behind her as if trying to cut off her way of retreat, while two wolves approached her to sniff her legs. They weren't aggressive, but there was still this tension in the air.
The boy had gotten used to passing his ability as a regular human - beast interaction that had been achieved through extensive training. Having this random girl suddenly come up to him and ask him about his gift made him suspicious and a little nervous. So what if he could talk to animals?
He clicked his tongue at one of the wolves that had gotten too close to Aurata with its mouth open, as if trying to have a nibble at the girl's tender flesh while no one was looking. The animal backed away, looking down after Adayu frowned at it, signaling it to back off through a short head motion.
Aurata didn't respond at first, watching him carefully as she kept her attention on her surroundings. Never once did she show any signs of nervousness, standing her ground with a calm air about her. Anxiety was something she was good at hiding.
"That, right there. I've seen exactly one person who could just…get a creature that normally never listens to anyone, to listen." She said, strangely dark eyes never leaving his. After another beat, she plopped down onto the ground, crossing her legs fluidly with the motion. Half an invite for any of his animals to investigate her, should they wish, and half an obvious show of her not intending any harm. "I just have questions. That's all. Things I want to know. Like, when you figured it out, and how you learned to use it so well."
Seeing that she had absolutely no intention to leave whatsoever, nor was she intimidated by the wild animals around her, Adayu sighed, putting down the brush.
"Okay fine, you got me. I can indeed talk to animals." he finally admitted, walking to gather the buckets he'd used to feed his beasts, washing them and putting them away. He moved on to the lions, brushing their manes carefully.
"I don't know exactly when it first happened. It was there as far as i can remember, i just… understood them. There is no big secret as to how i do it. It's just something i can do."
He switched to the wolves after he was done grooming the lions, scratching them behind their ears as the wagged their tails happily around him.
"Like how you can hear me and i can talk to you, so i can hear them and talk to them. They answer my commands so well in the show because i've trained them and treated them well. Being kind is also a key to having a good relationship with them."
In all, what he was describing sounded familiar to Aurata. Watching him interact with the wolves and other creatures, she was struck with just a tiny bit of jealousy. His abilities encompassed so many different creatures, and he made a living by working alongside them. She couldn't.
"I…huh." She said, looking down at her hands where they were folded in her lap. Reaching up, she pulled her mother's wedding ring from underneath her shirt, fiddling with it as she looked back up. A moment later she was letting it drop to reach over her shoulder, carefully drawing Bedri from his hiding spot in her hood.
"You ever met anyone else who could do the same?" Aurata asked, holding her arms up and watching as the tarantula crawled up and down each one, happy for the stimulation after being cooped up. The other animals still made him a bit nervous, but he was much more comfortable, thanks to her own efforts at appearing calm and collected. He could always tell when she was nervous, but he knew she only showed nervousness when it was bad enough for him to worry.
"Anyone else?" he asked, turning to look at her. His eyes landed on the large spider, inspecting it carefully. The tiger stretched out her large head, sniffing in the direction of the girl.
Adayu pushed away the wolf he was petting, walking closer to Aurata, kneeling next to her to take a closer look at the arachnid.
"You can talk to him?" he looked back at the girl, before raising an arm towards the tarantula. "May i?"
"I can." She nodded, shrugging a shoulder as she held out her arm to place it alongside his. "You can try. He's usually not too big a fan of other people, but if anyone can, it's you. He's kind of…shy, so careful." Leaning in to whisper to the arachnid, her voice developed an incredibly soothing tone, very different from the sort of cooly detached way she had been speaking. "C'mon Bedri, he won't hurt you. The other animals trust him."
Sort of hesitantly, the spider turned away from Aurata, who's eyes had seemingly flashed blue in the dying afternoon light, and crawled slowly onto Adayu's arm, pausing to look at him. "There you go, hon. Let me know if you want to come back." Leaning back as she finished speaking to the spider, she glanced up at Adayu, eyes lingering on blue for just a split second before returning to black. "He's a cobalt blue tarantula. They're non-venomous, at east to humans. Hurts like hell to be bitten though."
Adayu carefully held the spider, turning his hand around to get a good look at the tarantula. While he had plenty of experience with other animals, he'd never tried talking to spiders before. Mostly because the ones he'd encountered were so small he never noticed them.
He raised a finger, approaching it slowly to the tarantula, giving it time to see it and inspect it, as to show he meant it no harm. He gently touched one of its fluffy legs, to get a feel of it.
"I've never tried talking to spiders before." he admitted, while still inspecting the creature. "He's quite fascinating."
Behind him, the tiger grunted slightly, it's tail spazzing out.
"Most people don't notice them." Aurata said with another shrug, pushing her hair back out of her face once more. "He is, isn't he? They're not native here, cobalts. And they're pretty rare on their own. Collectors like them because of their color." She murmured, eyes on Bedri as he inspected the finger Adayu had near him. He shifted slightly at being touched, but didn't seem too opposed as he settled again to let Adayu feel his fluff. "Do you think you can talk to them?" Maybe his abilities really did encompass that many creatures. Or maybe she was the only one with that connection to arachnids. How ironic that would be.
"I could try"
He turned his attention back to the spider in his hand, trying to find something to talk about. The tarantula raised its front legs at him, moving them slowly, while Adayu listened to it.
He could hear something. Not sure what exactly but he could hear smth - a spider's voice differed from that of larger animals and while it wasn't impossible for him to understand, his communication was not the best. The lack of training might as well be a reason why the boy needed a few minutes to understand the spider.
"I can hear him, though he's smaller than what i've worked with so far" he finally concluded, carefully returning the spider to the girl.
(bump)
“Smaller, huh? Interesting.” She murmured, taking Bedri back and whispering to him. Her voice was so soft it was practically inaudible, in fact, like she was speaking at a volume level that shouldn’t have been possible.
After a moment, she looked up, glancing around the small clearing at the caravans around them. Thinking. About what, it was impossible to tell exactly. “How long have you been with the circus? I know it’s been a while, you’ve been here since I can remember, even before you had an act…”
Adayu had returned next to his tiger, gently patting her head.
"Hm?" he raised his head, looking at the girl with his slightly bored gaze. "The headmaster told me that they picked me up when i was very young, probably five or less, i don't remember much about my outside life to be honest."
He leaned against the white animal next to him, his hand still on the feline's head.
"When she was first brought to the circus as the cub, they gave her to me for i was already getting along with the existing animals. The moment i could make her do the things i asked, i was given an act."
Behind Aurata, the wolves had sat down, either chilling or chewing watever bone was left from their meal.
"Why do you wish to know?"
Aurata ducked her head as he questioned her, that confidence wavering as she second guessed the half-baked plot in her mind. But…she couldn't afford to question it, could she? She couldn't stay here. Not anymore. Not after the things she knew and had seen, not with the way her father was slowly descending into the madness he raged so hard against. She had to leave.
"I want to join." She blurted out, before she could convince herself to just keep quiet and go home as she always did. Her head lifted with the sudden words, something like panic momentarily flickering in her features before she calmed it, using Bedri's comforting presence as a way to ground herself. "The-the circus, I mean. I want to join. I've visited this circus nearly every year since I was born, and it has always felt more like home than anywhere else. I need….something different. Control. And this is the only place I'm going to get that."
"Join…?"
The boy's face was calm, though his eyes inspected the girl next to him carefully, as unknown thoughts rushed through his mind. After several minutes of silence, his gaze turned back towards the tiger, his hand slowly patting its fur.
"I don't know what to say, honestly. This decision does not belong to me, but to the Headmaster - if he doesn't approve, my response is useless. You're free to join, in my opinion, but you should probably ask the Headmaster first, just to be sure. I can't promise he'll give you an act right away though, we've never had a spider tamer before."
He really didn't have any opinions on her joining, she was free to do whatever she wished as far as he was concerned. Knowing the Headmaster, she was most likely going to receive a post as a helper in her first days, until everyone got used to her. From that point on it was possible for her to climb the hierarchy ladder, until who knows, maybe she could become one of the performers, though they had to find something that fit her.
"How do I find him, then." Aurata asked, twisting the blue scrunchie at her wrist as Bedri skittered up onto her shoulder, making himself comfortable to watch the events unfold. "I want to leave with the circus, today. I…that's why I waited until your last day." She explained, looking around at the animals sitting around.
"I'll do everything I can to convince him, even if I just offer to clean up after the animals, for God's sake. All I need is the chance." She was almost more talking to herself now, a tangle of emotions clouding her face for a moment before it was back to it's usual carefully neutral expression.
Adayu listened calmly, whilst still petting the large tiger. He could tell her wish wasn't the "oh, i'd like to that, that'd be fun!" kind of wish, more like a "if i dont do this i dont have a future" kind.
Even though he wasn't a people kind of person, he still felt a little sorry for her, so he decided to help out. If she made it in, then good for her and if not, well, better luck next time i suppose.
"The Headmaster's trailer is straight ahead, past the animal cages and to the left. You should be able to recognize it from the new green door, he had it replaced last week, he should be there. And if you can't find him ask around." he spoke, gesturing with his hand in the direction of the trailer.