⇨ EVERYTHING STAYS [CLOSED NOW]

[ringleaders]

Who: The Summer Maiden, the Ringmaster, and possibly you!
When: Day 146 - Day 152
Where: The Summer Maiden's garden, in the Summerlands.
What: Just some gals being pals. The perfect opportunity to both snoop and hassle some fae.
Warnings: Nothing specific.

THE SUMMER MAIDEN↴ The Ringmaster is reborn without much fanfare. One day her egg is resting in the egg tent, and the next she's out and around the carnival, back to normal - or mostly, at least. She takes the same humanoid shape as she did before Portland ever happened, but now instead of appearing totally human, she's retained a set of curved horns, and longer, sharper nails. She personally offers no explanation for it, without being asked. Otherwise, she does her very best to settling back into the old routine, acknowledging what they all just went through as little as possible. After the first few days of getting the carnival up and running again, she disappears off into the summer cities. People who were here for the last visit to the Summerlands probably have a pretty good idea of what she's doing. They are few restrictions as to where you can go, in the mountain top cities. One particularly majestic mountain supposedly contains the home of the Summer Maiden herself - a plant filled temple that would be considered unassuming by fae standards. There are no guards blocking the entrance, or locked gates keeping you out. Once you find it, you are free to explore. Free enough that you may stumble upon the sound of a familiar voice, and private discussions. Are you going to be polite, or are you going to listen in? [OOC: Tag in with your character entering the temple and heaving the Ringmaster talking to someone, or the sound of an unfamiliar voice singing. Each of my replies will be a bit different. I'll do my best to keep up with as many threads as possible, but priority will go on a first come first serve basis, in the event I get overloaded. Indicate whether you'd like to talk mostly to the Ringmaster or mostly to the Summer Maiden in your top level.]

Comments

Ringmaster

[hippocarnival]

[Yuya heard the Ringmaster had returned, but between giving her time to recover and his own restlessness they hardly crossed paths. He's not actually looking for her as he weaves down the path, so much as enjoying one least day at the Summerlands before they move on--when he hears the voices ahead.

He peers in quietly first, curious what it is that he's about to walk in on.]

[lordofthering]

"It isn't... fair!"

The first voice to speak loudly enough to be easily heard is clearly the Ringmaster, ostensibly in the middle of some kind of dispute. The sound is coming from an interior water feature in the next room, where a pair of figures seem to rest. They can't clearly be seen where Yuya is standing.

"What isn't fair?"

The second voice is so calm in comparison - the picture of serenity next to the Ringmaster's apparent stress. They are just prompting the Ringmaster to keep speaking, with no agenda or particular inflection.

"You couldn't possibly understand what it's like... living with them, all of the time! What it feels like! What they make me feel like!" The Ringmaster's reply is tense and accusatory, lashing out aimlessly due to stress that she has apparently been doing a good job of concealing otherwise.

"You're right," the other voice says, gently. "I cannot. Can you tell me?"

[hippocarnival]

The yelling makes his shoulders raise, and he doesn't swing around the corner yet. He can pick the Ringmaster's voice out easily, but the other... that one he's not sure about.

He wonders who she's yelling about, 'them'. Does she mean the carnival? Curiosity overrides his sensibility and he squishes himself closer to the wall to listen to what they're arguing about without revealing himself. He just wants to hear a little more...

[lordofthering]

"They's so... sad all the time!" the Ringmaster manages to clarify, after a few moments of sputtering with failed attempts at explaining. "They make me sad! It wasn't why I started this business in the first place."

The Ringmaster finally comes into view, sitting down on a rock. She is wearing a robe-like dress instead of anything resembling her carnival uniform, and she looks as distraught as she sounds. She sighs, heavily, folding her hands in his lap.

"I think... I'd forgotten what it was like, being normal," she says, after a few more moments. "Feeling normal things. Now it's all back and it's just... impossible."

mostly for ringmaster

[anti_nonsense]

It's only been in recent days that Rita's been willing to venture deeper in the cities of the Summerlands. She's suspicious of the fae, and while she's been given good reasons to relax and tolerate them, it's difficult to shake a first impression like the one she got in Portland.

Still, now that she knows they aren't hostile, the next step to understanding more about them is going out and meeting them and seeing their homeland, which leads to her wandering into places like this temple, taking in the unfamiliar views and looking to see what it is that people do around here.

She pauses when she hears a familiar voice. The Ringmaster? Rita stops moving, standing still in the shade of a flowering arch. She isn't going out of her way to hide herself, but she doesn't move to announce herself, either.

[lordofthering]

While Rita is standing there, she'll hear the edge of a few whispered words back and forth between two people, and then the sound of plants stirring as one of the figures seems to stand up. A loud yawn is soon to follow, as the Ringmaster strides right out onto view, wearing nothing but a silky looking blanket hanging over her shoulders, which only barely manages to cover her lower portions and one of her breasts.

As she finishes yawning and stretching, she stops and stares for a moment, seeing Rita there. The Ringmaster blinks, looking puzzled. Her hair is ruffled, tangled around her new horns.

"Oh," she says. "Hello Rita."

[anti_nonsense]

When it looks like someone's approaching, Rita stays where she is. Maybe she'll get to talk to the Ringmaster, maybe get some straight answers about a few things...

But when the woman in question steps into view, one sloppily-draped blanket away from being naked, Rita completely forgets what she was about to say. Dumbstruck, she stares for a moment, then hastily turns her head to the side, red-faced and flustered. "Wh-what the hell were you... wait, don't answer that. I don't want to know."

This is the first thing she does after reviving?

Summer Maiden

[destiny_key]

It's only in the last few days of their visit to the Summerlands that Sora begins really exploring the land. The familiar presence of the carnival, while comforting at first, was starting to get just a little stifling.

So, it's off up the mountains he goes, walking and exploring as far as he can manage before a voice catches his ears. Reason and past experience says that following it might be a terrible idea, but... what could really happen? He can handle it, probably. And perhaps he'll find something exciting in the process.

Moving through the temple, it seems somehow even more grand than the rest of the Summerlands. It feels like he needs a few more eyes to be able to take it all in as he approaches the center and the source of the singing.

[npcarnival]

As he grows closer, the words will start to take form. He'll hear the voice grow strong as steady, and the sound of running water. There is no accompanying music, but the notes of her voice inspire one to imagine them, all the same.

"Let's go in the garden,
You'll find something waiting,
Right there where you left it,
Lying upside down..."

As Sora moves closer, he will see the form of two fae lying together - specifically, he will see the Ringmaster lying with her head in the lap of someone else: a fae that showers the world with golden brightness, her amber hair aloft and as light as moonbeams.

"When you finally find it,
You'll see how it's faded,
The under side is lighter when you turn it around.

Everything stays,
Right where you left it,
Everything stays,
But it still changes..."

The Summer Maiden strokes the hair of the Ringmaster as she sleeps, carefully massaging the areas around those newfound horns. For now, she doesn't notice Sora's approach.

[destiny_key]

It takes Sora a moment to notice the lovely woman in the middle of the garden, with the Ringmaster's head in her lap. Suddenly, it makes sense why the Ringmaster would want to come here after everything that happened in the last month.

He moves a little closer, standing to the side behind a tree. He's not hiding, per-say, but he's not announcing his presence either. He doesn't want to interrupt their moment.

Ringmaster!

[fortuneglass]

[She is...as polite as she can be. When Crow appeared here it was obvious that the Ringmaster had returned-how else could someone new have made a contract after all. By the time that had been realized however it was evening, and there was more drama to deal with, and then she was too tired to really do anything except curl up on the couch with Jack like a pair of over sized cats (Or at least try until the other bolted off, also like an oversized cat) and-

...Well, she seeks her out, but is at the least polite enough to announce some sort of presence before just barging into whatever tent the Ringmaster is inside of.]

...Ringmaster? [she asks, the whites of her eyes still pearly and clear as she holds Aslla Piscu more restrained than typical.] ...Are you busy right now..?

I guess this is still on the carnival grounds then?

[lordofthering]

[The Ringmaster looks like she's been caught in the middle of something - mostly because she's been avoiding staying still in an effort to avoid any semblance of serious conversation. She crosses her arms and spins in Carly's direction, exhaling rigidly.]

I suppose I can spare a moment. What do you need, Carly?

YEAH I couldn't...see Carly realistically leaving the grounds around that time,,,

[fortuneglass]

[The mood in the air is not difficult for Carly to miss. While she does not flinch, she does find it difficult to turn away, biting the inside of her lip as the whites of her eyes shine amid her glowing fae marks. It is not a look she has sported for a long time, though it is very likely not one she's ever explained to the Ringmaster either.

As it is, her shadow is curiously motionless when she speaks.] ....It's about Aslla Piscu, [she admits, doing her best to look to the Ringmaster.] ...before now, I had thought that no matter what, all of us here could make sure he wouldn't take advantage of anything. ...I thought we could hold him back.

...While I can still do that easily now, though, [she continues, swallowing heavily,] ...what happened over the last month made it clear that he won't stop waiting for a moment to take advantage. ...And what happened last month... ...told me that the chances of that happening are greater than I ever thought.

[It is nothing she blames the Ringmaster for, certainly. But it is important, and she exhales what feels like a long, held breath, the air shuddering with her words.] ....I don't know how to get rid of him properly. ...The power I used through him, and from him, it's the same power I've used to fight for everyone here, and protect them..! ...And on top of that, [She adds, half choking on her words,] If I just broke ties with him now, I would die, right?

[She isn't completely certain. At the very least, she doubts the Ringmaster would allow it, but...her feathers droop, and she speaks as clearly as she can.]

I know I'm already on a contract, [she continues, now trembling just slightly,] ...but I need help.

Ringmaster

[bananaspeedrider]

"Oiiii...!!" Is the very unsubtle shout ringing through the air, none other than Yugo's as he's looking around the place for-

"Ringmaster?"

Securely strapped to his hip and wrapped loosely so it doesn't draw too much attention is a certain rapier that definitely doesn't belong to him. Which is entirely the trouble. Doesn't excuse the idiot's rudeness though.

[lordofthering]

"Oh," the Ringmaster's voice says in a groan, like she's exasperated at having just remembered something. "I knew I forgot something."

She appears from behind a tree blossoming with ornately designed flowers, brushing her hair back as if it's recently been mussed. She comes forward to try to snatch the Hand of God right off his hip.

"You've still got this thing!"

[bananaspeedrider]

He startles when she pops out from seemingly nowhere, because one can never get used to that sort of thing really and the sword is plucked from his person as if it wasn't hooked there at all.

"I didn't mean it!" And there goes his knee-jerk reaction for any sort of accusations he thinks she might be thinking of, with thievery still being in his carnival resume and all. Not that the Ringmaster is the one he should be apologizing profusely to though, oops.

"But yeah that's exactly why I was looking for you. Would you be able to send it back with like... a note or something?"

Either?

[espigeon]

Julien is here to take a bath. Yes, back on carnival grounds there is a lake, and hot springs, and he has a walk-in shower in his big bird-adapted trailer, but, look, he's pretty sure there are waterfalls here, and that's just really tempting? He's never had a waterfall shower as a bird before. Splashing is just way more fun with feathers, too.

He wanders in listening for crashing water and, despite a fantastic sense of direction literally being one of the primary things his big feathery head was designed for, gets turned around. Julien knows exactly which way is north and where to go to get back to the carnival, but he hears water in several directions and hasn't found anything more substantial than a trickle, regardless of which way he goes. There are also voices. Maybe if he goes over there?

[npcarnival]

"Are you one of the Ringmaster's?"

The question is simple enough, but as it is heard, the area will grow subtly brighter. It turns out to be because a literally radiant fae has entered. She approaches slowly, eying the bird curiously. Her hair flows behind her, like the tails of a star.

"This is a much more extreme change than I'm accustomed to seeing."

[espigeon]

"Ah... hello, there!"

Julien's met a lot of Summer Fae. This one seems subtly different, not something he can put a finger on. Luckily he defaults to friendly and respectful with new people in general. Eyes open on his long feathered neck, like precious stones.

"I suppose I am, at that. But this change was from before." He pauses a moment. "You can tell I'm not a bird?"

ringmaster

[atouts]

There's only so much time Childermass can let the Ringmaster be after her return and only so long he can assume his note was never received or, perhaps, forgotten, possibly ignored. Considering speaking with him would no doubt only bring more serious conversation (he's boring like that, unfortunately), he couldn't even blame her if the latter two were the case.

But, inevitably, he flies out in search of her. It's as a crow that he wings his way into the garden, landing first in a tree, head cocked as he listens. This isn't the first place he's checked, but apparently, it'll be his last. That's her voice, he's sure of it, and that means he's leaving his tree branch perch to land on the garden ground instead and change himself back into his human — if still somewhat feathery — form.

He isn't exactly here to eavesdrop, but he will pause where he stands, still listening. If it's a bad time, if it's a good time, or if he would be interrupting something important-sounding to simply go barging on ahead...

[lordofthering]

As it turns out, she has the jump on him - specifically, she has the kind of jump that involves enthusiastic squealing and bum-rushing him shortly after he's transformed. At least she's happy to see him, apparently?

"Oh, Childermass!" she says, and it seems like she would probably hug him if he wasn't fucking awkward and distant. "You can turn into a bird still! That's lovely! How does it feel?"

She pauses for a moment, and then:

"Also, what are you doing here?"

[atouts]

Well, she's not wrong there. When she rushes up to him, he holds very still, as if expecting to end up hugged regardless and planning on simply not reacting to it. It doesn't come to pass, however, and so he takes that as being free to move again, even if it is only to tilt his head curiously at the Ringmaster.

"You're in a surprisingly good mood for someone who died," he comments, an idle and useless start to what he's really here about, but he won't digress much further than that. "I am here because of the note I left for you, though..." It's the other question that makes him pause to first frown at her, then try and give that serious thought.

How does it feel to turn into a bird? Is it meant to feel special somehow?

"It's... odd. How it feels, I mean, not the note." He probably does need to specify. "Knowing that I can fly away whenever I feel like it. I'm not really sure what to make of it yet."

you know what this is, rm > summer maiden eventually

[whattaprick]

Lambert's gotten what he came for -- a spell to learn and an entirely unsatisfying brush-off of his concerns (well, more Strange and Childermass's concerns than his own). The Summer Maiden's enclosure is something part of him wants to snoop around more, see if there's any plants that might be useful for alchemy, but he doesn't feel like breaking off and leaving the Ringmaster alone quite yet.

Besides, he's stuck his feet in one of the ponds in the garden, and getting up seems like a lot of effort right now. So he smirks at the Ringmaster, reaching a hand up to indicate his own horns and nodding at her.

"So did you decide to keep those, or did they just stick around? You didn't have them before Portland." Though perhaps, technically, she'd had them before the Carnival? Who knows.

[lordofthering]

"Hmm?" she asks, obviously confused for a moment, before reaching up to feel her own horns, like she's just remembered they are there. She flushes ever so slightly, but otherwise is quite frank about it.

"I kept them intentionally! I can change my form at any time... the humanoid one I keep is just a gag, really... and one that's possibly outstayed its welcome."

She frowns and crosses her arms over her chest.

"I mean - I'm not going full Beast all the time now, or anything. I've just decided that dressing up like a sidhe is unbefitting."

[whattaprick]

"Just a gag?" Lambert parrots back, the amusement clear in his tone. "You make it sound like a costume for a mummer's play."

Considering who she is, and what she is, that's probably not far from the truth. If she could change her shape to whatever she desired, it must feel the same way. Getting sick of one set of clothes and deciding to trade it out for something new...

"Why put it on in the first place, then?"