The Raven & The Spider (CURRENTLY UNDERGOING HEAVY EDITING)

Chapter 7 - The Noah's Ark Circus

Your POV:

After the man untied me, I pulled the gag from my mouth that the traffickers had put on, and looked at my rescuers.

The one who'd introduced himself as "Joker" had long orange hair and gentle, purple eyes. He had a light blue tear-drop painted underneath his left eye and gold hoop earrings. He also wore a purple coat draped over his shoulders, along with a lavender checkered vest, a yellow bow around his neck, and puffy black pants.

The other person who stood next to Joker was a young girl with light brown hair covering her left eye. She had bright blue eyes and freckles dotted across her nose and cheeks. Compared to the man, she was quite plain looking. She wore simple clothes of a lightweight jacket, two undershirts, and brown trousers. However, despite how colorless her clothes were, she was obviously very kind and greeted me with a big smile.

"Hello there!" She said with a big grin. "You can call me Doll!"

Doll... and Joker? I thought. Those are strange names.

The man called Joker saw my obvious confusion and laughed. "Those aren't our real names, lass." He informed me. "We work with the circus, so we normally just go by our stage names."

He reached out his hand for me to take, but I hesitated. How did I know who to trust anymore?

I looked up at his face and his smile only grew kinder the longer I looked at him. "Don't worry." He assured me. "You're safe now."

I took his hand and he helped me from the wagon. When my feet touched the ground, I looked around and saw that all the human traffickers who'd tried to take me... they were all dead.

So much death in just one week... The man with shaggy black hair was lying on the ground, his neck twisted all weird. The man with the raspy voice was face first in a puddle of his own blood. I started backing away from Joker and Doll in fear, but Joker didn't let my hand go.

I started tugging, but he just picked me up and set me on his shoulders. "Hey, where you goin' lassie?" He chuckled. Then he noticed my obvious fear at the dead men and the one's who'd killed them. He set me back down but didn't let me run off.

He looked me in the eyes and said, "I promise. I won't hurt you. You're safe now."

I nodded cautiously and was about to look back at the dead men, but he put his hand over my eyes. "Don't look." He commanded. "A sweet little girl like you shouldn't have to see so much bloodshed."

He and Doll started to lead me away from the village, but I yanked him back again.

"Jim..." I whispered. "I have to find... Jim..."

"Jim?" Asked Doll. "Who's that?"

I didn't say anything. I just kept pulling on the sleeves of Joker's shirt. But me being a little seven year old, wasn't strong enough to pull him along, and he wouldn't let go of my hand. I started crying again, but Joker turned me around to look at him.

"I'm sorry, lassie." He said quietly. "You're the only one left. The rest of the villagers burned down from the fire."

I stopped fighting, but didn't stop crying. Tears continued to fall from my (E/C) eyes. Was Jim... was my best friend truly dead? How had he and Luka died so suddenly?

I didn't know the answer to that, and I thought I never would.

I felt Joker pick me up again and set me on his shoulders, and with that, he and I, along with Doll began traveling to who knows where... I didn't have anywhere to go, so I agreed to leave with them to their circus.

After maybe ten minutes of walking, Joker took his hands off my eyes, and said that we were far enough from the village that I couldn't see the dead men.

"So what's your name, lassie?" Joker asked warmly.

I hesitated. I guess it didn't matter if I told him my name. "(Y/N)." I answered quietly.

"Any last name?" Asked Doll.

I shook my head as my (H/C) locks whipped around. "I don't have one." I said.

"Hmm... Why not?" Questioned Doll curiously.

I shrugged. I really didn't know. I guess maybe because I was an orphan and I'd never met my parents... "I don't have any parents." I told them.

"No family?" Asked Doll with shock.

I shook my head again.

"Well, then we'll be your family." Laughed Joker as he bounced me on his shoulders.

I looked at him with hopeful eyes. Was he serious? Would I have a family once again?

I laughed happily. We kept walking along the dirt road until a sudden thought came to me... they had said they were from a circus right... but... what was a circus?

"Um... Joker?" I asked timidly.

"Yes, lassie?" He asked.

"What's a... circus?"

Joker suddenly stopped and turned to look at me. "You don't know what a circus is?"

I shook my head. "No, sorry..." I whimpered. I hope I didn't anger him by asking. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, don't worry about it!" Assured Joker kindly. "I'm just surprised... that's all. Let's see... a circus is a traveling group of performers who put on shows all around the country. We make people laugh, and we surprise them, and even sometimes scare them. But it's all good fun for everyone."

"A circus..." I thought. "Could I be part of a circus?" I asked.

Joker laughed. "I'm sure we could find something for ya."

I looked down at Doll. "You're in the circus too, right?" I asked.

"Yeah!" She answered. "I'm the tightrope walker! That means I walk on a long rope that's really high in the air!"

"That sounds scary." I pointed out.

"No. It really isn't." Doll said with a smile. "Maybe at first, but it just takes practice."

After maybe an hour of walking along the road, I saw big colorful tents pitched up all around. That must be the circus! I was so excited!

We approached closer, and I was in awe! There were people all around dressed in colorful clothes, and doing the most amazing things you'd ever see! I saw one woman completely covered in sparkles and she was walking on her hands! Then I saw another colorful dressed man who swallowed a sword without even cutting himself!

I looked around wildly, taking in all the sights from Joker's shoulders. I wanted to see more, but Joker led me into one of the tents instead. I was expecting to see something amazing inside, but it was just a simple looking room.

Joker set me down. I began to walk around the room, but suddenly I collapsed. My leg started throbbing, and I remembered that I couldn't walk on my leg right now because of my injury. I gasped in pain, and Joker came over.

"What's wrong, (Y/N)?" He asked with concern.

"Um, my leg. I think I hurt it when I got trapped under a burned house." I told him.

"Hmm... It's a good thing I had carried you then, huh? You should've told me sooner." He said. "Come on. I'll take you to the doctor."

He carried me to another tent where I met Doctor, a man with long wavy, black hair and glasses. He sat in this weird chair with wheels on it, but I was in too much pain to ask about it. He checked my leg and informed me that it was most likely broken. He put a long stick next to my leg and wrapped bandages around both my leg and the stick so I couldn't move it. He told me to avoid walking around for a while. He also bandaged up the gash on my head and gave me a sweet for being so patient.

After that, Joker took me back to the simple room and told me to get some rest. Despite my excitement for being in a new place, and the deaths of everyone I had ever known still on my mind, I fell asleep quite quickly, not realized how much my life had already begun to change.