Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Circus of Nightmares (1x1)

The ringleader chuckled. Maliki had indeed put on a nice little show for him. "Hm. Well I suppose I could have you in the pit for the show...Yes. That seems like a good idea." he smirked and turned as he motioned for the men to leave, the other muscle man, picking up the injured one and leaving. The ringmaster turned and closed the cage. "Maybe I'll find out what other secrets you have when you fight." he chuckled and left. The muscle man holding Holly had soon let go of her once the ringmaster began leaving. She fell to the floor of her cage, going between consciousness and unconsciousness.

Maliki growled in distress and frustration. He had been so close. But now he was surrounded by metal again. A sharp throb stung his chest as he limped over to the side of the cage, with pressure added to his wounded foot. He dropped in front of Holly and leaned against the bars, biting back tears. He felt broken. Even when he knew he wasn't. But it was Holly he was worried about, not himself.
Holly! Holly, are you alright? What did he do to you?

Holly had groaned and coughed as she sat up. "Sleeper hold..." she wheezed as she rolled over onto her back. "...I think I'll be OK." Holly sighed as she glanced over at Maliki. "You OK? It looks like he hurt your ankle."

Maliki glanced to his ankle and flinched.
It's nothing.
In all honesty, a broken ankle was nothing compared to what could have happened. He was thankful for living through that. Maliki relaxed and folded his wings.
Where did you Ringmaster say he was taking me..?

"...The Pit. He'll probably start by having you fight." Holly rubbed her neck. "I did the pit for a while. It's not as bad unless you get a really hard opponent. They pit you against other pit fighters, chosen by the ringmaster." Holly had slowly sat up and leaned onto the car bars, looking over at Maliki, seeming hesitant. "...What are you?" she asked quietly.

Maliki sighed softly and lowered his ears. I'm a hybrid.
He roughly explained to her what he was. At least, what he thought he was. Maliki had been created in a test tube; never having real parents, no more than DNA donated to his cause. He was a disaster of species all combined. There were traces of human and animal, demon and vampire. There were other things, chemicals and the combinations of madmen, there as well. In the end, it resulted in some kind of creature that Maliki was now.
He frowned and looked down, embarrassed to speak.
And now I have a lot of problems as a result. There are many things I can't eat or get into my own blood, or..terrible things happen.

Holly blinked and looked Maliki over for a couple moments before looking back to the straw covered floor. She didn't really know what to say to that.

After an unsettling silence Maliki scratched his neck and chuckled quietly. Yeah, i know. Pretty odd, huh.
He winced as he lay his leg out infront of him, dabbing at the black ooze that dripped from vivid purple bruises ringing his ankle bone. That man had quite the grip.
The pit, hm.
He tore off a strip of his blue jacket and tied it tightly over the ankle, slowly, painfully setting it as best as he could. triple-knotting it, Maliki let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
I might survive for a moment. And if i win enough, it will give me time to see the circus. Map it out. Plan an escape.
His gaze flickered over to her.
For both of us. All of us.

"...I'd advise you to be careful. If the ringmaster catches on, he doesn't show any mercy..." Holly frowned, seeming to having a slight flashback of others who had tried. "That doesn't mean, you won't find allies however." her voice had dropped to a whisper.

Maliki nodded.Will you be one of them? He didn't want to force her to do anything. Even without any allies he would still do everything he could. Maliki couldn't let all of these people and animals rot away in this hell, pretending to be a place of happiness. They all deserved freedom as much as he did.

Holly looked up. "I don't know how much of a help, I'd be... But I can try." she gave him a small smile despite the little faith she had left in being able to escape. Holly looked down at Maliki's ankle that had started bleeding previously. She had suddenly crawled over to her 'bed' and dug into the straw. She took out a canteen. "Water doesn't hurt you does it?" she asked.

Maliki looked at her, then the canteen. He smiled and chuckled again, a different sound from his voice since it was audible. The light sound gently filled the quiet for a moment. He shook his head. Only if it's holy.

Holly smiled slightly feeling sort of silly but inched her way over to the bars and stuck the canteen and her hand through to hand him the water. "Keep your wound clean..." she said quietly.

Maliki smiled and took the canteen, brushing her fingers as he did so. Her hands were warm, a contrast to his.
Thank you.
He unwrapped the cloth from his ankle and carefully used a small amount of the water to clean his wound. It wasn't too big, mostly just a bruise. He put the cloth back on and wrapped it tightly as before. He closed the canteen and hid it in the straw, just as carefully.

Holly smiled back slightly and sighed. Leaning back against the bars she stared at the ceiling of the tent. "Well... I guess we will see what happens tomorrow... I hope he doesn't let you go in with that ankle though. I don't think that's fair." Holly looked back over to Maliki eyes rather tired looking.

Maliki scoffed and flicked an ear in irritation. I bet he will, as a taste of my own medicine, in his eyes. I think it will bring him the smallest bit of pleasure.
He hated knowing that the Ringmaster would make him fight with an injury, but he would survive. The only thing Maliki was afraid of was his muscles locking up again like the did earlier. He couldn't afford a mistake like that. His opponent would be out for blood.

Holly stared at Maliki tiredly. "...He's a monster." she frowned. After a couple moments of silence she motioned to her bed with a blanket. "You should get some rest. Want a blanket?"

he nodded slightly and reached through the bars again. If i may, please. He knew it would get very cold here, just from the trip over. And he figured he get some rest, if he could. Tomorrow would be a big, bloody day.

Holly passed Maliki a blanket before flopping into the pile of straw she had made into her bed, curling up in the middle of it like a nest. She pulled the over blanket she had out and wrapped it around herself, the only part of her really showing being her face popping out from the blanket. Poking her head out, she yawned. "Night." she said with droopy eyes.

Maliki made himself as comfortable as he could with the blanket and straw, flicking his ears and relaxing as much as he dared. His luminescent pupils looked out to Holly and he smiled. "Goodnight." Then Maliki closed his eyes and tried to sleep.