Silent Paws

Circus day

A day later at dawn, loud voices reached Cita's ears, There were people laughing and shouting, objects rattling loudly and most of all- there was this stench of sweat and thick perfume.
The cheetah growled and backed away into her cage, her eyes fixed on the entrance of the tent.

"Please not today," she heard Rosaly whisper. The elephant had her head buried underneath her front legs. "Not today not today not today-"

"What is today?" Cita interrupted her.

A brown eye peeked up at the cheetah. "Circus day." The eye disappeared again.

"My name is not stupid," Scorpius' voice rang through the tent. The Silverwing was glaring at the golden unicorn, stomping his hooves. "It was the name of my grandfather, son of the great Light Titan, you blithering buffoon."

"I know, cousin," snorted the unicorn and tossed her golden mane back. "At least I don't sound like a stupid star constellation."

"And you think sounding like a blotch of colors at the North Pole is any better?"

"Scorpius, Aurora, will you stop bickering?" said the old unicorn annoyed. She laid her ears back against her head. "Circus day is today, and I'm not in the mood to hear this."

"Yes, Erly," huffed Scorpius. The golden unicorn shot him another glare, then turned around so her behind was facing him.

Cita crouched down when the dark shadow of a human fell onto the ground by the entrance. The sun was rising behind him, leaving his face in the shadows.

Her nose twitched. He smelled like smoke.

"Which one of you will I choose?" said a cold, raspy voice. The human began to walk past the cages, throwing glances inside.

"That's Skender," Rosaly whimpered and slid further back against the bars.

Cita's eyes followed this Skender man. He had a confident presence about him, as if he knew he was the king around here. A low rumble rose in her throat. He would pay for imprisoning her.

Skender banged a cane against Leonor's cage. "You'll be food for our new addition soon, dragon," he said arrogantly.

The Chinese Fireball hissed in a low tone, his pale eyes blazing furiously.

The human passed him and threw a haughty look at Rosaly. "Pathetic."

The elephant baby whimpered.

Then his eyes fell onto Cita. Her entire body was tense and she stared at him unwaveringly, crouching down so low her shoulder blades were touching. Skender's stick banged against her cell wall, but she did not flinch.

"Hm. You might do," said Skender and peered down at her. Cita did not like how small he made her feel and rose up, pulling her upper lip back to expose her fangs.

Skender's eyes were a sharp grey, matching his edged face. He smiled coldly. "I shall have a great time breaking you."

Cita leapt forward and stopped right before the bars. She roared deafeningly, her teeth gleaming in the weak sunlight. The human slowly turned around and called out, "Bergus! Rytko! Go get that cheetah ready for the arena!"

The other animals gasped in shock. Cita laid her ears back, growling until Skender had left the tent.

"Good luck," whispered Rosaly.

"What for?" said Cita, her body still tense.

"There are three different things that animals are chosen for on Circus day," spoke the old unicorn named Erly. "Some are trained to perform tricks in front of an audience and others are sold during an auction. We usually perform."