Elements

First Performance

        They had been traveling for a week now, everyday setting up and taking down camp again. She'd help set up the main tent and then she, Morn, and the elves would go immediately into practice for their upcoming performance. Sorsa's two hand maidens had to leave and check in with the library. They would be back as soon as they could, but it would be a few days. Airn refused to go anywhere without Sorsa there by his side, for anything. 

        He had run into her head when she had come out of her first "trapeze practice." Sorsa!!!! he had practically screamed out of pure joy. He had gone from the spectacular sight of a ginormous white dragon to a  small, white cockatoo that whose white feathers shimmered sliver in the light, silver eyes, and a barely light yellow mohawk of long feathers that went from the front of the neck to just above the nose.  It was a little bit of a shock. She went from sitting on him, to him sitting on her.

        Normally birds like these were never found anywhere near Almor. But it was perfectly normal in a circus. They had elephants, lions, and tigers, which were never found in Almor either. Not to mention a cockatoo was one of the normal animals there. The circus also had a bird show with many foreign birds in it as well, so it was perfectly normal. 

        Sorsa had gotten the  camp backwards and forwards. It was a tight relationship of a close community. She knew everyone by name, and they knew exactly who she was. They were camped just out  side of the city of Ship Anchor. They were doing their first performance of the season. They would go on a "tour" of the country, avoiding the capitol in the process, and then head straight for the Beast's Arena. Then they would go to base, and Sorsa would be able to be trained in peace by someone who knew how to properly use air magic. This was the plan.

        At the present moment, it was about an hour before dusk. That day they had paraded through Ship Anchor getting the peoples attention. The children had been so full of excitement. The adults looked on in question: as if thinking whether or not to come. From what the ringmaster said most, if not all, of the city would be there.

        Sorsa was nervous. The show began at dusk and the place was buzzing. Airn had to leave Sorsa for the first time in a week to go get ready with the other birds for his act. Being the air dragon: he wold talk to the birds, and was their leader. Sorsa went to the small tent that connected to the main one. This was where make-up and costumes were done. 

        For hours people were patting and wiping make-up on her face. Her face was suffocating from the cake of make-up on it. There was nothing she could do about it either. If she wiped it off, the backstage crew would walk by and put it back on again! She tried, and failed. She only made that mistake once. Half of her face was covered in a silver mask that went from her eyebrows to the top of her top lip. It was designed intricately, with many swirls. The rest of her face was covered in a bright white powder, causing her new pale complexion to be almost completely white. Her eyes, out lined in black, looked like cat eyes. Her lips had bright red put on them, causing them to look like blood. Her hair had been pulled and twisted to the point of her cutting it off. It was now long, black, curly locks falling in waves down her back.

        They had taken her very comfortable clothes and switched them out for a sparkling leotard. It was black with dark purple and maroon running through it in swirls in it. It was also covered in silver glitter. It had long pant legs and sleeves to match. Because they would fly off during her act, Sorsa was wearing nothing on her feet. The harsh, dirty ground poked her feet and hurt her as she walked. It was official, the ground was not her forte. 

        The nerves had seriously gotten to her. She was sitting in a chair near the back of the make-up tent, in the same position she had been in 2 hours ago. Her knuckles were white , clutching the back of the chair. Her face was passive, her eyes unblinking. Her legs were wrapped around the legs of the chair. She had was alone, unmoving, unchanging like a statue. She stared at the floor listening to the ringmaster announce the acts coming up and the roar of the crowd as the performance began.  She wasn't looking at anything in particular, she was focusing all her energy on listening so as not to dwell on her nervousness.