—
(Y/N) - Your name
(E/C) - Eye colour
(A/S) - Animal species
(F/C) - Fur colour
—
The awkward silence lingered in the air as the officers debated whether or not they should cross over the line and see the crime scene themselves. Not waiting for a permission of his colleagues, one of them clenched the pistol in his hand slightly and shouted. "That's it! I'm going in!" Lifting the yellow tape above his head, he stepped in. The three other officers just released gasps and tried to stop their companion.
"Stop!" one reached out for the brave man, "It's too dangerous!"
"Don't be a hero!".
But nothing could have stopped the fearless officer. . .
. . .Except for the banana peels that he didn't notice while running.
Stepping on one, the man slipped and fell on his back, his gun shooting at nothing in particular. A few other officers tried hard to keep balance, but luck was not on their side as all of them slipped and sounds of shots filled the air from time to time.
On the other side of the crime scene a redheaded woman rolled over on the ground and stopped in front of the pawsteps. Lifting her body up on her limbs, she studied the animal footprint and smiled once she figured out who the footprints belonged to.
"Lion." she stated to herself, not really caring if she had been heard. Dropping down, she stuck her tongue out and started lapping up water from the tiny pool. Satisfaction crossed over her features after she was done.
"Twelve hours old." the officer then proceeded to get a better taste of it. "Two hundred and fifty kilograms." When her tongue came across something rather, in her opinion, unusual she stuck it out again. But this time there was small hair of the lion's mane.
Taking it in her hand, she examined it. "Glossy mane." Upon closer observations, she added. "Too much conditioner."
Her train of thoughts was broken when a shot had been released not far. Not phased with it, she scowled quietly. "Eh, stupid bozos." Placing the hair back in her mouth, she started sniffing around to try and catch the trail of scent.
When the trail led her to the railway, she came to an abrupt stop as the stronger scent had filled her nose trills. Taking a lungful breath through her nose, her eyes widened.
She found the trace. . .
An image formed in her head. An image of where (Y/N) with her friends were getting on the train. The officer was even able to tell whether or not there were other animals other than the ones she was hunting down.
"Hello, kitty!" she cheered in a quiet tone. A satisfied chuckle left her vocal cords as she had found out where she should go.
"So, you ran away with the circus?" she asked out loud. Getting her blood-red lipstick out of her pocket, she prepared to add it on her lips.
The ground started shaking slightly, the vibrations getting stronger and stronger as the time passed. The horn of an approaching train could be heard from behind the lady's back, though she didn't allow it to distract her. Instead, an unimpressed look appeared on her face as she taunted the ones, who were unaware of the danger that was closing in on them.
"What a cliché. . ."
"The Colosseum, Marty! The original theater-in-the-round!" Alex exclaimed, as him, Marty and (Y/N) walked around the ancient place, taking in the sight. (Y/N) had her paws neatly folded behind her back, as her mesmerising (E/C) eyes darted around the round construction.
"Y'know, my and (Y/N)'s ancestors used to perform here." he added, sounding somewhat proud of (Y/N)'s and his kind's past.
"No kidding!" Marty shouted back at his friends.
"Well, every show had a captive audience." (Y/N) answered, as she gestured at the one wonder of the world with her paw.
As the three of them were about to enter the tent, where the circus performers were getting ready for the show, Alex spoke up, deciding to acknowledge Marty with everything he knew. "Apparently, they killed."
"Sounds like a great gig!" the zeebra said.
Alex pulled the red and blue cloth aside to let Marty and (Y/N) go inside first, before entering himself. The group of friends were faced with the hustle and bustle, different kinds of animals running around and preparing to preform.
Different flashbacks filled (Y/N)'s head, warm memories of her past displaying themselves. Every emotion that she felt during her first performance, or when people would chant her name and literally roaring in delight whenever the beautiful (A/S) would enter the arena. (Y/N) was quick to push the memories aside, refusing to let her past spoil her positive mood. To grasp onto the present, she blinked her eyes a couple of times.
Stefano's voice with his Italian accent pulled her out of her trance, as the sea lion walked around, smile plastered to his face. "Trenta minuti, everybody! Trenta minuti!" Stefano informed his colleagues as he, as (Y/N) guessed, walked away to get ready with his own performance.
"This is so exciting!" Marty commented. (Y/N) caught a glimpse of the grumpy tiger exiting his train cart with a bowl in one paw. She glanced at Vitaly, her gaze lingered on his figure, eyes gleaming with an interest that she couldn't quite explain.
"Remember, we just lay low." Alex reminded his friends, placing one of his paws on Marty's back. Though, (Y/N) was positive the warning was directed towards the zebra more than to her. "Stay out of the way. Let them do their thing."
The trio of friends halted, when Marty awed at the cute looking puppies in different dresses. He lowered his head to the ground so that he would be able to coo at them.
"Would you look at this?" Marty spoke, causing the little dogs to turn their attention to the zebra. "You gotta go back in your momma's belly, 'cause you're too cute to be out here in the real world."
When the zebra finished his speech, (Y/N) took notice of how the dogs' expressions changed to angry ones.
"Oi! Naff off, you muppet!" the one in blue dress angrily said. All of the pups took out their weapons and made sure the zebra saw them.
"Woah! What the. . .?" Marty shouted out in fear, as he stood up and hid behind (Y/N).
"Marty, they're professionals. Come on." Alex reassured his friend, as the group started walking again.
A trio of white horses past by them, giggling and laughing. It didn't catch Alex's and (YN)'s attention as much as it did Marty's. "Whoo! You look gorgeous!" Marty commented as he ran after the triplets without neither Alex nor (Y/N) noticing.
But before they could get away too far, Alex was quick to pull (Y/N) slightly closer, his voice lowering down to a whisper. "Try to stay by my side as much as you can. While you know at least something about the circus, I know close to nothing 'bout it. Okay?"
"Calm down. Everything will be fine." she reassured him, placing her significantly smaller paw on his shoulder and giving him a soft smile. Though, it quickly turned into smirk. "We can do anything. It's us! We're us!" she fired his own words back at him. Alex just sent her a playful glare and smirked back, before continuing forward. (Y/N) took notice of Marty's absence. Not bothering to question Alex about it, knowing that Marty is a capable zebra and can take care of himself, (Y/N) just continued walking around with the lion by her side.
"Alright, animals!" Alex shouted, catching the attention of some performers. He turned his body around, not seeing Gia pass by. But (Y/N) did.
She sent a small smile the jaguar's way. The golden feline was looking at Alex with confused and slightly pitiful look. But upon resting her amber hues on the lion's companion she smiled back and continued on her way to wherever she was headed to.
"We may be your new owners, but we don't want to reinvent the circus wheel here." Alex and (Y/N) took a stop in front of two elephants. The female was holding a red ball in her trunk, while the male was inflating the striped ball.
"So just go out, do what you do!" The couple exchanged a confused look before going back to what they were doing. As the two big cats were about to go away, (Y/N) caught a glimpse of the same triplet horses with Marty running after them. She stifled a giggle at the sight.
"Just think of this as a fun warm-up for that promoter in London. Right, Marty?" Noticing his best friend gone, Alex furrowed his brows as his smile dropped and his walking came to a stop.
Alex heard as someone cleared their throat from beside him and turned around. He was faced with a smug-looking (A/S), who tilted her head and gestured with her eyes to the side.
Moving his gaze to the place (Y/N) gestured at, he found the missing zebra in front of the mirror wtih the white horses by his side. "Marty?" he called out again, slightly dumbfounded.
Without paying much attention to Alex's calls, Marty posed in front of the mirror, while holding a crown-like accessory, that was similar to the ones the horses were wearing, to his head with one hoof. "I want to be a circus horse!" he exclaimed as the pretty horses gasped at this.
"We could paint you white!" one said.
"And then paint you pink!" the other added.
"Awesome!" Marty shouted in delight, causing the three to laugh.
Alex just placed his paws on his waist and eyed Marty a bit reprovingly. "Not laying very low, are we, Marty?" he commented. The triplets talked and giggled among themselves, until they took notice of the (F/C) furred feline. At the sight of (Y/N) their giggles became more mischievous as they carefully pushed her away from her male friends. (Y/N) raised a brow at the three horses, but did nothing about it as a tiny smile appeared on her face.
The triplets pulled (Y/N) in front of the same mirror as the three of them examined both the (A/S) and her reflection.
"You have such a natural beauty." the one of the horses complimented the (A/S). (Y/N) felt as her face warmed up.
"It is immediately noticeable." another stated her opinion. (Y/N) couldn't help, but chuckle at their behaviour, not that she minded it.
"Especially, your eyes. They accentuate your appearance even more." the third one added.
At this point, (Y/N)'s was completely red. No one had ever talked about her like that, at least in her presence. The fact that these three were so calm and not bothered by giving her such compliments raised (Y/N)'s self-esteem. But all good things have to come to an end.
"Señoritas, I don't know what to say other than gracias." she told them, smile still present on her face. The three just giggled and walked away. (Y/N) took this as a chance to catch up with her lion friend. Approaching Alex from behind, she didn't predict his sudden stop, which caused the two of them to bump into the other.
"Sonya! Where's the bear?" Stefano frantically asked, looking for the bear named 'Sonya'. He also was carrying an instrument with different hornes above his head. While running around he almost ran into Alex and (Y/N), but stopped right before they collided. Before anyone could answer him, he hurriedly walked away. "Sonya! We're about to start!"
(Y/N) kept her worried gaze on the sea lion as he ran in the other direction, looking for Sonya, before turning her attention back to Alex as the two continued their walk.
Before they could get far, both cats saw Vitaly leaning against a train cart, spoon in one hand and the bowl of some kind of soup in other. 'He seems calm enough to approach' (Y/N) thought, nervousness pricking her fur. It seemed Alex had the same idea.
As the two decreased the distance between them and the Russian tiger, (Y/N) stayed by Alex's right side, feeling somewhat protected by his larger built.
"Hey, Vitaly!" the said tiger paid no mind to Alex. "Got your game face on." Alex smiled at Vitaly, trying to somewhat befriend him.
(Y/N) didn't expect Vitaly to loose his cool so fast.
The intimidating cat got right into the lion's face and roared at him menacingly. The claws on one of his paws were unsheathed to show a bigger threat. Forest green gaze back to its usual glare.
Alex leaned back, his face expressing the shock and fear. (Y/N) flinched at the loud sound, but didn't show much fright, unlike her friend.
Alex laughed nervously. "Good game face." he commented as he hurriedly walked away, feeling Vitaly's piercing glare at the back of his head.
(Y/N)'s confused look moved from Alex to glance at Vitaly, as he slumped back against the cart wall. His snarl disappeared and instead turned into a scowl.
His glare then moved from Alex to (Y/N), as her eyes just widened slightly. At the sound of Vitaly's growl she just put her paws up in front of her chest, to show she had no desire to communicate with him any longer, and awkwardly followed behind Alex. The tiger's glare still rested on the (A/S)'s disappearing figure, which caused her fur to spike up, before it was laid flat against her skin.
"What is that cat's problem?" Alex muttered, his voice edging with confusion. His eyes darted towards (Y/N) in seek of answer, but she just shrugged her shoulders with an uncertain expression. The reasons behind Vitaly's actions and hostility were something she wanted to discover for herself. Let alone, tell Alex about it, if Vitaly would even let her.
Alex looked back ahead, snorting underneath his breath, before his brows furrowed and he made a grumpy expression. Lowering his voice so that it would be a bit deeper he spoke up.
"I'm a mean Russian cat, who isn't nice to anybody." Alex mocked Vitaly. Such actions caused (Y/N) to slap his arm with her own paw, her face expressing her disapproval of Alex's behaviour.
Sure, the tiger was against letting (Y/N) and her friends aboard, but in the end, if it hadn't been for him, they would have been caught. He was the one to let Gia and Stefano help them in, giving up on being stubborn and backing down, allowing them to get inside. Even if Vitaly is acting aggressively towards the 'stowaways', as he calls them, Alex still should show his gratitude or, in this situation, respect and not make fun of him.
"Hey, honey, look! Look, I'm doing it!"
The two cats' attention was caught by Melman. The giraffe had many clown collars, that were very similar to the one Stefano was wearing, and was trying to juggle with 3 clubs. Gloria had a pink tutu on and was preforming some dancing in front of one of many mirrors, squealing in delight.
Melman lost his focus, which caused clubs to fall out of his hooves. One of the clubs went flying towards Alex and (Y/N), but they got out of the way just before they could get hit.
"Guys, stop fooling around." Alex complained, resulting in Melman's and Gloria's smiles to fall. The two turned towards the lion with uncomprehending faces.
"We're just having a little fun." Melman argued.
"Let's let these animals do their show." Alex fired back.
"Don't be so hard on them, Alex. We can at least enjoy ourselves, while we're here."(Y/N) scolded the younger cat, making sure her voice was calm and would have a soothing effect.
He rolled his eyes and was about to walk away with (Y/N) when a loud 'Ta-da!' halted them both.
The two friends turned towards the sound only to find Marty dotted in different colours with a rainbow wig and taking a pose.
Seeing as all the attention was on him, Marty started dancing.
"Da-da da-da-da-da-da-da, circus! Da-da da-da-da-da-da-da, Afro! Circus Afro Circus Afro! Polka dot, polka dot, polka dot, Afro!" the colourful zebra sang.
Alex just stared at his best friend with a blank expression, probably silently wondering why they were friends in the first place. (Y/N), by putting a paw on her mouth, just released a silent laugh, eyeing Marty with amusement in her sparkling eyes.
"Oh Dios mío." (Y/N) whispered.
"Really?" Alex asked. No words could describe how he must have felt.
Before anything else could have been said, Stefano's voice reached their ears.
"Sonya! Where is Sonya the bear?!" he asked, frantic. His eyes were focused on two big cats and showed just how much he was in distress. Upon deciding on what to do, (Y/N) was quick to offer him her assistance in looking for 'Sonya'.
"Hey, Stefano. How about I lend you a pata?" She asked, placing her paw on his shoulder and offering a comforting smile.
A bright smile appeared on the Italian's face. "Sí, please!" Putting an instrument he'd been holding aside, Stefano hugged her waist, not trying to hide his appreciation for her actions. "I would piace your help very much!"
His flipper found her paw as he eagerly grabbed it and quite literally dragged her away, the object he'd been running around with, long forgotten.
"(Y/N)?" She heard Alex question her decision from behind.
"I'll be back soon. Enjoy your time alone while you can." She casually said, turning her head around to take a look at confused Alex. Not stopping to bid each other farewell — even if it would have been for a short while — (Y/N) just followed behind Stefano.
"So! The two of you seem to be really-a close!" Stefano said.
At first, (Y/N) didn't understand what the sea lion said. It took a good few seconds for his statement to be thought over, before his point got across.
"Oh!" She exclaimed, slightly embarrassed, "¡No, no, no! Me and Alex are just amigos cercanos." She clarified.
Stefano just released a thoughtful 'hmm'. Though, it didn't take long for him to let go of the topic. "Bene!" Being his optimistic self, Stefano just walked along with the (A/P), asking questions here and there, curious about her story.
Alex's gaze was still resting on (Y/N)'s graceful figure as the said (A/S) was dragged away from his side by a cheerful sea lion.
Though, his disappointment in being left alone disappeared, as if it wasn't even there, when his mind wandered back to Gia. He held himself back from smiling, not wanting to be questioned about it.
As he walked a bit more, silently looking for a spotted cat, he came across a secluded place. From where he was standing, he could clearly see the jaguar's silhouette.
Quietly approaching the partition she was rehearsing behind, he took a cautious look around to make sure nobody was around to catch him.
"Ladies and gentlemen, presenting Gia! The trapeze-flying jaguar!"
Gia's sweet voice caused the same smile to reappear on the lion's face as he walked up to the partition casually. With a final look around, to which he was satisfied, due to not finding anyone who might discover him, he carefully leaned in closer to the fabric, his ear pressing on the material as he listened in.
Not being attentive enough, the Italian did not notice her audience of one, continuing on her 'performance'. "And there she go." Gia used her paws to make different gestures to imitate, as if she was really performing in front of the crowd. "The triple-flip roll."
Alex subconsciously leaned in even closer, her voice like a sweet melody, music to his ears. It brought delight to him as his ears perked up to hear her voice better.
"With a double leap," Gia, still oblivious to Alex's presence right behind her back, continued with her speech. "And. . ." She stopped as she dragged the word out, mind racing to come up with some acrobatic trick she knew, while the sentence was left unfinished.
The eagerness gnawed at both big cats. One, who was trying to think of her performance. And the other, who was anticipating the female's final choice.
But just as Gia was about to let the word slide off of her tongue, Alex leaned forward way too much to keep his balance, which resulted into him ripping the material apart and creating a large hole in the partition. The abrupt sound also brought a gasp, that then turned into alarmed shout, out of the jaguar.
Clasping her paws over her rapidly beating heart, she turned around and took a couple of steps back, eyes wide and ears lowered. To her own surprise, Gia found Alex laying on the ground, who seemed to be in a shock as well. "What are you doing?!" She shouted out, her voice laced with worry instead of the anger.
"That's just paper." Alex pointed out from below, staring at the embarrassed jaguar. He quickly stood and took a look around. Once he found his blue orbs resting on the petite female, he chuckled nervously and dusted himself off, smile yet again on his face.
"Were you spying on me?" Gia asked. Her ears lowering to the sides of her head in discomfiture, eyes darting to the side only to gaze at the lion again.
"No, no, no!" Alex reassured her. Putting one paw on another side of partition, forgetting that the material is easily broken, "I just came by to say that I don't want you to think—"
Another hole appeared and the floor hit his back again. He cried out in pain, causing Gia to wince. But just as she was about to offer her help, he was quick to get up himself, having her taking few steps back.
He gave another try to flirt with the beautiful cat in front of him. "I don't want you to think of me as some sort of authority figure." Gia just looked warily at him as he leaned against a hoop holder, unintentionally knocking it over and falling down again. Gia could only wince.
"Don't worry," she giggled, offering him a sympathetic smile, "I don't."
"You don't? Oh." Alex wondered.
"Not at all." Gia confessed.
"Well, the other circus animals might find me a bit intimidating." He reasoned.
"No." She bluntly pointed out, "Nobody is intimidated at all by you."
"Oh," Alex said, not as confidentially as before, "Good stuff. Good. Good news."
Gia continued contemplating out loud, "In fact, I do not think they have given you a second thought since you showed up."
"That's good to hear." Alex answered, carefully placing the hoops back where they belong. The way Gia was speaking had it's toll on the lion's mood. His brows furrowed as a smile disappeared. He felt tad bit embarrassed, upset even.
"If anything, they're starting to feel sorry for you" Gia added with her paws crossed over her chest, awaiting his reaction.
At the jaguar's last words, Alex's brows furrowed even more as a feeling of slight irritation filled him. "Okay, I get it." He turned to look at her with one hoop still in his paw, offering her a nervous smile. "Okay?"
In his agitated state he accidentally dropped the hoop he'd been holding. Both of them in order to pick it up bent down at the same time, unintentionally bumping the other with their foreheads. They shouted out in pain and held their paws to the spots they'd hit each other with.
"Is there more?" Gia asked, with barely noticeable annoyance in her voice.
"Um, I just wanted to thank you," he said, as she picked the hoop up and held it in her paws, "For letting us get on the train back there." He elaborated. His confession brought a smile on Gia's face. Though, what Alex said next caused it to vanish.
"I know the big cat with the accent. . ." he mocked Vitaly, which in turn made the jaguar's welcoming gaze turn into a cold glare. Not noticing the changes in Gia's expression, Alex continued, "Wasn't so excited about us getting on."
Having enough, Gia flung the hoop over the lion's head so that she would be able to have him in one place. Alex just groaned in discomfort but silenced himself at the sight of Gia's serious gaze.
"Look, lion guy. This circus means everything to us." She warned him, "And if you do anything that threatens this circus, you will have to answer to me."
Pulling the hoop slightly, she brought Alex even closer, causing him to lean back while shaking his head slightly. His expression changed from nervous smile to unease.
"Capisce?" she asked, raising an expressive brow.
"I capisce, cool." Seeing as Alex got her point, she let go of the bicoloured hoop, allowing him to take few steps back. "Trust me, we're cool." Alex reassured her, not wanting to be threatened by her too. He already had one animal to do it.
Not looking where he placed his paw, Alex accidentally placed it on the mechanism, that held a rope of the circus tent. Pressing the button caused the device to release the said rope that by accident wrapped around Alex's foot. He was flung upwards, looking at Gia for help. The rope then got untied, releasing it's hold on the lion and allowing the gravity to play a part.
As alex fell towards the floor, Gia was quick to catch him, wrapping her paws around his waist, faces inches apart.
The mechanism that Alex activated stopped supporting ropes that held the cloth that kept them hidden, allowing the colourful clothes to fall.
It immediately got everyone's attention. Everyone — the elephant couple, Vitaly, (Y/N), Marty, Melman and Gloria — froze at the sound of crashing and stared at the two felines, that apparently caused it.
The female elephant dropped the ball she'd been holding, expression similar to everyone's. Vitaly just scowled with a disapproving look. (Y/N) just stared with wide eyes, brain unable to process what's going on.
Gia released her grip on Alex, allowing him to have his back make an impact with the ground, their eyes still locked on those, staring at them.
"You call this laying low?" Marty joked.
Published on 06.03.2021
Vocabulary.
Spanish.
•Gracias — Thank you.
•Oh Dios mío — Oh my God.
•Lend a pata — Lend a paw.
•Amigos cercanos — Close friends.
Italian.
•Trenta minuti — Thirty minutes.
•Sí — Yes.
•I would piace your help very much — I would like your help very much.
•Bene! — Okay!
•Capisce? — Do you understand?
DuBois would have been one of my favorite characters, if it hadn't been for her desire to hurt animals. Just because of that I'm not really fond of her, but still, the crazy woman needs some show time in this book.
Okay, so. Another chapter done, yay. We're almost halfway through the movie! Time flies, omg...
I just would like to let you guys know that after I published this chapter, I took notice that updates on this book happen in a period of 1 or 2 weeks. So, p l e a s e, be patient with me. My lazy butt has t o n s of homework to do, haha. But still here I am, writing a book none of my friends and relatives know about.
All in all, enjoy your day/night and take a good care of yourself! There's corona in the air.