The next morning everyone was up before the sun, dressed in warm clothes and blankets on top of that. Dew was still wet on the ground, owls were still hooting and the majority of people standing in line outside the cabin could barely keep their eyes open.
Marcy rarely got up before seven and this was more like four...a.m.
"Alright everyone. Its time you all started learning those acts Cephalus told you about," Weland said.
There was a collective groan from almost everyone and for good reason. They knew it was not going to be easy and were hardly ecstatic about the the whole circus idea.
"Dagon, Diomedes, you're in juggling. Chandra you're going to be our high-wire-walker along with Angelica. Adrianna and Fennel will be doing a clown act and don't worry, you won't be wearing costumes. Marcy is our assistant for anything we'll be needing and Adrastea...Well you have two jobs. Knife throwing, which you already know of, and vaulting."
Adrastea shrugged her shoulders and did not say anything. Marcy guessed it was because she already knew how to do it.
"So um, how do we go about juggling?" Diomedes asked sleepily.
"Well you uh, you throw several objects in the air and...juggle!"
"Hah, that's a lot of help," Dagon mumbled.
"Look, Agnar was part of a circus so he'll be showing you how to do your acts and such what. Don't worry, we have it completely planned out. If we're lucky everything will go as smooth as polished wood."
"That's comforting," Marcy muttered, pulling her blanket closer around her shoulders.
"Sorry about the cold but as soon as you get moving those blankets and cloaks won't be needed anymore."
A few people gave a slight chuckle not quite believing the statement but most of them did not contradict. Yes with the cold it was a bit hard to believe that it would go away but after they thought it through everyone knew Weland was right.
"Agnar why don't you take over," Weland called to the burly man on the porch.
Agnar huffed a little before getting up from his chair and walking over to the group. He was by definition 'a mountain of a man'.
"Alright, who's going first?" he asked in his gruff voice.
No one was exactly willing to volunteer themselves for a most certain torture but none of them wanted to seem wimpy either. So eventually Dagon and Diomedes shrugged and stepped forward together saying, "We'll go."
"Right. The rest of you can go back in the cabin by the fire or stay out here in the cold...Whichever you prefer. It'll probably be a while before any of you will have a chance to learn your acts."
Everyone nodded and did not hesitate to run back into the cabin, leaving Dagon and Diomedes alone with the giant tree nymph.
Agnar gave a slight 'humph' before walking over to the porch and grabbing several club shaped pieces of polished wood, each of them painted with a different color stripe.
"Catch!" he called throwing all six of the the clubs at the twins.
Dagon and Diomedes clumsily caught all of them (barely) which earned them another 'humph' from Agnar. He did not seem impressed.
"Right. You'll each start out with three clubs and we'll go on from there. Do you get the general idea of juggling?"
"Sort of," Dagon mumbled.
"You toss each of them in the air, one after the other, and then catch one while throwing another in the air...sort of."
"I guess you could say it goes kind of like that. Let me see you try," Agnar told them.
Diomedes was first to try. He held all three of the clubs in his hands and, with a look of concentration, he tossed one in the air and then the next supposedly trying to catch the first one he had thrown while tossing the last one, but it did not work out so well in his favor. Before he could get the third one in the air the other two came falling down and Diomedes did not manage to catch them.
Dagon burst out in laughter and started rolling on the grass. Diomedes just glared at him and picked up the fallen clubs saying, "I'd like to see you try!"
Agnar managed to hold in a chuckle but even he could not hide the amusement in his eyes. Diomedes was pretty pathetic when it came to juggling.
"Alright Dagon. Your turn," Agnar said after a moment.
Dagon still chuckled a little while getting up but when he actually had all the clubs in his hands all fun and amusement left him. He was all concentration. Dagon tossed the first one in the air and then the following but he managed to throw the one club in his left hand into his right as he threw the last one in the air, immediately catching the first one and continuing the process one more time, not dropping a single club.
"Hah, would you look at that!" Dagon bragged, tossing one in the air playfully and catching it.
"Looks like I got all the talent in the family."
Diomedes did not say anything but simply folded his arms and continued to glare at his brother. Dagon was quite pleased with himself and was not actually sure how he managed to do it. But he had and that was all that mattered.
"Diomedes I suggest you continue to practice and Dagon you can add another club to that group. Keep practicing the both of you and when you can do five clubs with no mistakes call me. I have a few more people to coach," Agnar said, walking up the steps and into the cabin.
Inside the cabin everyone was gathered around the fireplace trying to keep themselves warm. All except Adrastea that is. She would rather tough the cold than be crowded in with a bunch of 'pansies'. At least that is what she called them. They were really anything but pansies.
"Alright who's next?" Agnar asked.
There was a long cold silence while everyone just stared at him and eventually he jutted his thumb at the open door and said, "Chandra, Angelica, out."
The two elves sighed and got up from their warm places by the fire. Once outside they were less then thrilled by the site in front of them. Dagon and Diomedes had abandoned the juggling clubs and were now sprawling on the grass wrestling each other.
"IT WASN'T A FAIR TURN!" Diomedes shouted while trying to get a grip on his brothers arm.
"IT WAS TOO! I WON AND YOU KNOW IT!"
"Well, they certainly have their act down pretty well," Angelica mumbled.
Chandra giggled at Angelica's comment and nodded her head enthusiastically.
"I think we should just skip the juggling act and have them fight like three-year-olds instead," she laughed.
Agnar did not say anything but simply walked down the steps and grabbed each of the twins by their shirt collar, lifting them off the ground and throwing them across the lawn.
"You two QUIT IT!" Agnar bellowed.
Dagon and Diomedes immediately stopped their fighting and did not say anything, only nodding their heads to confirm that they understood Agnar.
"Alright, you two," Agnar called, jabbing two fingers at Chandra and Angelica.
"Follow me."
After his previous display Chandra and Angelica did not hesitate to obey him. They walked around to the other side of the cabin to see a long thin beam about two feet off the ground by wooden platforms.
"I don't think either of you will be able to do the tight wire yet so this beam will do for now. We picked you two because you're elves and tend to have better balance. If we were right is still yet to be determined," Agnar commented.
"Right, who's first?"
"I'll go first," Angelica said, taking her blanket off.
"Alright, pick up that pole over there at the marked spot and get up on that beam. The pole will give you better balance."
Angelica nodded and did as told, hopping up onto the platform and taking her shoes off. Then she grabbed the pole and slowly placed her right foot on the beam, maybe about an inch wide, and slowly placed her left in front of her right. The pole in her hands was helping Angelica keep her balance but even then concentration was deeply needed.
"BOO!" Fennel shouted suddenly.
Angelica snapped her head towards the noise and squeaked a little before loosing her balance and falling off the beam. Chandra and Fennel began to laugh hysterically while Angelica tried to see through the mop of strawberry waves that were now in chaos in front of her face. She slowly stood up and threw the pole aside, brushing her hair out of her face and glaring at Fennel. Being sisters Angelica and Fennel were expected to mess each other up but for Angelica her sister had crossed the line. Taking a few steps back for a runway Angelica shot forward head first into Fennel's stomach knocking her strait over. The two rolled on the grass grabbing at each other like a couple of angry bobcats while shouting creative insults at each other that most people would not actually find that insulting. Angelica managed to slap Fennel but then Fennel punched Angelica in the stomach while getting on top of her.
"Ouch! They play street rules don't they!" Marcy's voice came from the wrap around porch.
She had heard the noise from inside and came running just to see what was going on. Not seconds later Dagon and Diomedes also came still carrying their juggling clubs.
"What's going on?" Diomedes asked.
"Look for yourself," Agnar told him.
"Alright you two stop it," Dagon said, tearing Angelica away from Fennel.
Suddenly Angelica punched him in the jaw and Dagon staggered back a bit stunned. Diomedes immediately started laughing and Dagon leaped on him, tackling Diomedes to the ground while Fennel and Angelica resumed their fight. Angelica jumped on Fennel's back viciously yelling random words and Dagon and Diomedes rolled on the ground each of them wrestling to stay on top. Everyone else just kept watching constantly switching their gaze from the brothers to the sisters. Angelica grabbed the pole and threw it at Fennel but she dodged it and pulled Angelica's hair. Dagon held Diomedes in a headlock on the ground and Diomedes kept rolling over trying to get Dagon off his back...literally. Just when it seemed that Fennel was going to win the fight Angelica dropped to the ground and kicked Fennel's legs out from under her. Diomedes elbowed Dagon in the stomach three times before he let go and even then it was hard for Diomedes to detach himself.
"Do you suppose we ought to do something?" Marcy asked Chandra uncertainly.
She was not exactly sure if it were a bad thing or not. Sibling rivalry was something she had seen and heard of but this was a bit more aggressive than anything Marcy had seen before.
"Well they are wasting valuable minutes which could be used to practice our acts but then again, better they get the tension out now then when we're on the road."
Marcy looked at Chandra with a puzzled expression.
"What do mean 'getting the tension out'?"
"Well they'll bite and kick each other when they're annoyed but honestly those sisters get along better than anyone in this group. Same goes for Dagon and Diomeds. Fighting is just a way to release the tension," Chandra explained.
Marcy tilted her head to one side and sifted through this information with curiosity. She was not actually sure what tension Chandra was talking about. To Marcy it just seemed like a little expedition to find something that was more or less simple to find, since they had someone who knew where it was. Practically a harmless trip through the woods and up the mountains.
"What tension?"
Chandra furrowed her eyebrows.
"Do you have any idea what you've gotten yourself into?" she asked Marcy quietly.
"Well I didn't exactly get myself into anything. All I did was follow Weland into a closet and I found myself here. Now he's blackmailing me. He says he won't take me back home until this little trip is over with."
"Little trip? Marcy...You really don't know what the Rinopenya stone is do you?"
Marcy's face twisted into an expression of 'should I know?' 'how would I know?' and 'no I don't know'.
"Not really," she answered bluntly.
"Its only the one thing this whole planet is built on. If we find it we will-"
"Chandra!" Cephalus's voice cut through their conversation.
"What are you doing?"
Chandra quickly turned to Cephalus who had obviously heard her last comment and smiled.
"Just trying to figure out how to stop the fight," she answered.
Marcy had almost completely forgotten about the brawl around them but when Cephlaus shouted for them to stop reality came back. Agnar helped with getting the siblings apart from each other but after that they were no more fit to walk on wires and juggle then to peel potatoes. A bit of damage had been done to each of them and they were quickly marched off to the cabin. Everyone else slowly split up to go to their own devices but Marcy ran after Chandra to find out more about this strange 'stone'.
"Chandra, what was it you were going to tell me?" she asked as she caught up.
Chandra opened her mouth to answer but quickly shut it again.
"Its nothing. Forget it."
"But you just-"
"Forget it!" Chandra yelled running into the cabin past Cephalus who was leaning against the rail.
Marcy stared after her with an open mouth and frozen mind. It did not make sense. Nothing made sense! Why did nothing ever make sense?
- So what did ya'll think of this chapter? It was fun to write so I guess that's one upside right? What did you think of the fight? As always thanks for reading :D - Anna
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