A Darker Shade of Night: Dragondancer+BlisteredBlood

Laela was comfortably ensconced in her car, eyes closed and body relaxed. But as it was second nature for her to never let her guard down even in the most seemingly innocuous situations, she was easily aware of Heishiro’s approach before he had even knocked. Opening her eyes slowly and repositioning her seat upright, she motioned for Heishiro to get in the car. “So, where is this hotel of yours?” she asked him as she cranked the ignition. Rolling through the iron gate and into the street, she punched the gas aggressively, and the sleek, powerful car responded willingly to her urging.

Once situated in the Porsche, Heishiro settled himself into the seat nice and easily as the door was opened for him then shut it behind himself once he was inside. "Well," Heishiro answered with a sigh as he looked around inside the vehicle for a moment. "As for where the hotel is, it's out on Atwells Avenue, towards the rust belt area. It's a little on the ehh side, but it's enough for me." He added with a shrug of his shoulders before placing an elbow on the windowsill and then placed his cheek in his hand, seemingly lost in thought.

The powerful engine of the Porsche purred smoothly as Laela and Heishiro rode together in amicable silence, the random shuffle on the ipod queueing up 0x1311 just before they rounded the corner on Atwells Avenue. Soon enough they arrived at his hotel, the building and the area appearing as sketchy as Heishiro had alluded. Laela Parked in a spot near where he indicated his room was, and killed the engine. Leaning her head back on the headrest, she tilted her head to look over at Heishiro, “You good, or you need a hand?”

(I see you've been playing DJMainax, maybe even downloaded the soundtrack. Hooray for shameless plugs! XD)

When he heard the familiar tune come on through the iPod, Heishiro's eyes widened a bit before turning his head over to the portable device as the song played through the speakers. A bit of a smile was now on his face as he then turned his eyes over to Laela before chuckling a bit then shook his head a bit. "So I see you're also big into something that has a good beat to it." He said to her over the music.

After a little while, he saw the street sign that showed him that they were soon to be arriving at his hotel room which wasn't too far off from them as of now. After she had pulled into the parking lot, Heishiro got out of the Porsche first then stood up, glancing around the area for a moment. "Keep the engine running. This won't take long." He said to her as he then began to head over to the hotel complex.

Lela grinned at Heishiro’s mutual enjoyment of her playlist and nodded at him with a friendly smile as he headed out of the car to retrieve his clothes and personal effects. Settling comfortably once again into the driver’s seat, Laela watched him enter his hotel room, then closed her eyes and let herself enjoy the music, her body subtly moving in time to the beat. Keeping her senses well attuned to her seedy surroundings, Laela waited with as little impatience as she could muster for Heishiro’s return.

By the time Heishiro had come to the front steps of his hotel room, he sighed to himself as he let himself in the room. Well, it wasn't so much a room as it was basically a studio apartment of sorts, one that looked as though it was in dire need of repairs. Then again, it was probably a surprise that this very establishment wasn't torn down to make way for a shopping mall or something that would revitalize development in this part of town. Bullet holes outlined the walls in some places, possibly from a drug deal that went south or something of that equivalence. God knows what went on in this place.

A quick look around the place would reveal that - fortunately - no one else had been in here as far as Heishiro was concerned. However, there was a message on his answering machine when he saw the phone there blinking the only message that was there. It was possibly meant for someone else that lived in this vermin-infested shitpit of a place, but he figured he might as well see who it was anyway.

After pressing play, Heishiro walked over towards the only closet here in the room, grabbing a pair of stonewashed jeans, a simple black shirt, a pair of socks and his only pair of cheap shitkicker cowboy boots. Might as well look the part, since you're in Hicktown, USA. Heishiro thought as he listened to the message as he began to change into his new wardrobe.

"Heishiro, it's me, Rev. Carbuncle." Said a familiar voice, interrupting him from his changing of clothes. "I wanted to inform you of what's been going on ever since you went AWOL from the Knights. You angered a great deal of people here, and this is including some of the higher ups. They're calling for you to turn yourself into their custody as soon as you can, my friend. If you can, give me a call back as soon as you can and I'll give you more details. Be careful out there, brother." He added before hanging up, thusly ending the playback on the machine.

Heishiro simply sighed indifferently before he shook his head at the machine before going back to getting dressed. Besides, he knew for certain that he couldn't hang around for very long enough as it is, what with the fact that Vardon could still be out there just waiting for any of them to pop their heads up. Now if this wasn't enough already, the Knights are demanding that he turn himself in to someone around town who happened to be one of them. Besides, they had a tendency to hide one of their agents out there amongst the sea of humanity and without warning, they could just spring a trap on you without even being aware of it. That meant he had to be on guard tonight. But the likeness of him running into anyone from there now was pretty slim.

Once he was done getting his change of clothes on, Heishiro walked out of the apartment after smoothing his shirt over his chest. There was nothing else of importance here for him to deal with.

The parking lot was mostly full, the cheap nightly - and sometimes hourly - rate an attractive choice to those who couldn’t afford or didn’t want any better. The hotel was also a convenient place to go incognito for those wishing to disappear...and Laela had a strong feeling that Heishiro fell into that latter category. Which, from what little he had told her and Vardon’s interest in him, was a pretty smart plan. She frowned, as she thought about how heading out tonight to the festival was not a smart plan. But, she was not one to stay in hiding and await her enemy’s next move. No, she much preferred to take the fight to them. She hoped tonight would turn out to be only be an enjoyable evening of entertainment, but should it prove otherwise, she would be ready. As always.

When she saw Heishiro exit his room wearing jeans and cowboy boots, she didn’t stop her grin from forming on her lips. He was definitely a good looking guy, but she got a kick out of seeing him in his more casual, down-home attire. After he got in the car, she took in his somewhat reserved expression, wondering but not probing about what might be disturbing him, not wanting to pry and hoping he would confide in her if it was something important. Instead she simply asked, “Do you have everything you need...we good to go?”

After leaving the hotel room in his new duds - well, not really new, if you want to put it that way - and came back into the parking lot, Heishiro could see Laela in the Porsche grinning up at him in an amused manner, possibly with having something to do with his current attire. But to be honest, he wasn't really in a joking mood for the time being, especially with what he had heard just now over the answering machine. On top of all that, the nature of how this area looked was probably synonymous of someone that was hiding out in someplace where they wouldn't be readily seen. For most of Heishiro's life, it had been that way ever since - where he had to go to place to place; here, there and everywhere in between just so he would be able to remain one step ahead of everyone else.

How would it look to Laela at that point if he told her that while his departure from the Knights of the Dragon's Skull was indeed true, but according to them, he left the group without prior notice, no reason as to what his intentions were or anything of the sort. They had taken quite a lot of things seriously over things of this sort, and it would probably be no surprise that his punishment would be dire if he was found and even worse if it was found that he was working with them. Maybe it would be in his best interest if he skipped out on the festival, but as far as he knew, they hadn't begun to move just yet.

His train of thought was soon interrupted when he heard Laela speak, snapping Heishiro back to reality with a blink of his eyes before looking over to her with a briefly confused look before nodding his head. "Yeah, I'm set." He said in a steady voice.

As she cranked the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot, Laela tried to be respectful of Heishiro’s privacy, but her natural ability prevailed and she was able to easily sense his concern and ambivalence, which she hadn’t sensed before he went into his hotel room. Something definitely happened up there... Heishiro’s apprehension combined with her own unease had her reaching for the volume control on the stereo to turn the music down low so they could talk. Keeping her eyes on the road hoping it would make him feel less defensive, Laela kept her voice neutral as she spoke to him.

“So...I don’t need a dissertation from you or anything, but something obviously happened while you were in your room. And, full disclosure here...it’s probably a bad fucking idea for all of us to head out together to the festival tonight. But I refuse to hide out and play it safe - it just doesn’t sit right with me. And I have a feeling you may be cut of similar cloth...but truth is, this city is dangerous for both of us right now, and we have to be prepared for whatever gets dished up.” Turning her head to look at him, she continued pointedly, “So the more I know about what could be around the corner, the better we’ll be able to not get killed. So spill it, Heishiro. What’s going on that I should know about?”

At first, Heishiro remained relatively silent as the two drove away from the hotel parking lot, his elbow up on the windowsill and his eyes aiming out of the window with a listless look in them. Now if the fact that a possible run in with Vardon wasn't enough, now he had to contend with some of the Knights' best men that were out and about looking for him. A sigh was all Heishiro uttered before shaking his head slowly a few times before hearing Laela speaking to him.

"You're right about that," Heishiro began, looking over to her. "But the thing of it is this. The Knights know for a fact that my departure was without cause. As a result, they may have sent someone out to find me and return me to the order for questioning. Probably not without a bit of punishment first, I know that for certain." He added as he shook his head contemplatively. "But for now, the festival's on. In the morning though, I should probably be on my way. Last thing I need to do is get caught with you." He concluded as he looked to the window once more.

Laela slid her glance over to Heishiro as he spoke, concern glinting in her amber eyes. Questioning. A euphemism she was unfortunately intimately familiar with. Her thoughts flitted through various scenarios and possible options, considering ways to reduce if not entirely eliminate their vulnerability and risks. But eventually, only a deep sigh passed her lips.

As they neared downtown, the streets and parking became congested with cars and festival-goers, the going slow and tedious. Snaking a decent spot to park in, Laela smoothly tucked the Porsche to rest against the curb. Shutting off the engine, she turned her body to a casually comfortable position facing Heishiro, her right knee tucked up on her seat.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Heishiro,” she spoke sincerely. “Both that you are being pursued by the Knights...and that you feel the need to leave.” Leaning forward slightly toward him, she continued in a soft tone of voice, “We have our differences...” a humorless laugh interrupted her words, then she continued, “but I think both of us have come to acknowledge we have strong commonalities as well.”

Turning again to sit forward in her seat, she impatiently ran a hand through her hair, frustration apparent in the taut lines of her face and the set of her lips.

Leaning her elbow against the window, she rested her head in her hand against the glass, several minutes passing between them in silence as people milled exuberantly past them on their way to the heart of the action. Suddenly sitting up straight in her seat and tilting her head to look Heishiro in the eyes, she reached her hand to his knee and gave it a squeeze. “Well, if this is it, partner - I say let’s make the most of our last night together and enjoy the hell out of ourselves. Of course it goes without saying, we’ll all be keeping alert and ready should trouble find us. But until it does find us - and I have no doubt it will - I think we deserve to have some fun!

A bit of a scoff was all Heishiro answered with and shook his head in a slightly doubtful - an all too familiar emotion to him - yet high thoughtful look was on his face before he turned his eyes over to her with a slight frown adorning his face. "Yeah, you're right about one thing. If it's not who that's chasing us, it's what. And to be honest, I'd much not hang around and let you and your buddies get caught up in my affairs unless if I'm looking to give them a reason to find me a traitor to the human species." He added, shaking his head in a slightly downcast way before raising a hand up and then placing it down on the top of her hand in return.

"But, you also got a point. If this is the last night we're all going to be spending under one roof, then I say let's make the best of it. Besides, who knows where this will take us? Besides, if the shit hits the fan, you'll have no doubt that you'll have me to cover your backs while you make a run for it. I might be only human, but trust me. I know what's right." Heishiro added with a smile and a pat of her hand before gesturing his head outside. "Now then. Let's head out and go have some fun. Besides, I think Rosalie would appreciate it." He concluded.

Laela’s frown deepened into a scowl when Heishiro mentioned that his association with her could be considered a betrayal of his species, particularly if he was ever put in a position where he felt compelled to side with her against those of his own kind. His words of bravado about how he’d cover their backs while they ran for it could have offended her, but instead she found she was deeply touched by the meaning behind his declaration. Heishiro’s fondness toward Rosalie earning him even more brownie points, Laela found herself smiling back at him. Leaning her body out of her seat to move closer to him, she gently touched her lips to his, pressing a soft kiss onto his mouth. “Thanks, Heishiro,” she smiled, as she moved back into her seat, then opened the car door and got out, all in one fluid movement. Leaning over the open door, she grinned in at Heishiro, “Let’s hit it!” and then slammed the door shut.

At first, Heishiro had figured wholeheartedly that his answer to Laela would've hit a nerve on her personally which would've earned him a swat in the head - all of which he would perfectly understand - but in an interesting turn of events, Heishiro got something from her that he honestly didn't expect to receive from the vampire. A kiss? He thought as he put a hand up to his lips for a moment before looking back to her as she got out of the Porsche and leaned back in the doorway. Nodding in reply, Heishiro would then get out of the seat with a bit more of a pleasant smile on his face as he would then follow suit as he opened the passenger side door and slid out of the seat, pulling himself out of the seat and then out onto his feet before shutting the door behind him in seemingly one singular move.

"Yeah, let's have some fun." He said as he put his hands into his pockets before beginning to head towards the carnival.

Smiling to herself, Laela chuckled at the bemused look on Heishiro’s face after she kissed him. Truth be told, she was more than a little confounded herself at how human she’d been behaving lately. It’s just being around a human nonstop for these past nights - I’m only trying to make him more comfortable in my presence, she rationalized to herself, explaining away her behavior without admitting her growing affection for Heishiro.

The festival sprawled along several downtown blocks and was in high gear, the throngs of people a colorful confetti of jubilance. A large supercenter parking lot had been temporarily transformed into a conglomeration of enticements for children; balloon-tying clowns, inflatable bouncers, face painters, games, chicken nuggets and corn dogs - a convenient one-stop for families and also a way to segregate the children into an area away from the adult party-goers.

The adults had an array of enticements all their own; the remaining downtown blocks overtaken by the festival had restaurants, bars and retail shops with their doors flung open wide, robust music and alluring aromas spilling out onto the street to tempt passers-by, and at the end of the last block various adult-only venues were welcoming those who sought more provocative entertainment.

Moving over to walk beside Heishiro as they strolled toward the heart of the event, Laela cast her eyes and senses over the crowd, searching for her family and alert for any sign of either her or Heishiro’s enemies. It was exhausting and dispiriting to never be able to truly let her guard down, but it had been a way of life for Laela for so long, she barely remembered it being any other way. Running her fingers distractedly through her hair, she let the negative thoughts flow out and away from her, and instead brought her focus back to the present moment. She had promised everyone a fun night, and with this being their last night with Heishiro, she planned on doing everything she could to keep that promise.

As the two arrived on the scene after a little bit of walking, Heishiro's arms were reaching skyward for a moment before lowering his forearms down to link the fingers of both hands together on the back of his head as he walked, turning his head from side to side every couple of moments or so, seeing the amount of comraderie here in the bevy of sideshow attractions, carny games, food being sold in stalls, the sounds of children laughing in some of those attractions and seemingly everyone that was here looking for fun of various sorts. It put a smile on his face, even if it was a small one.

For Heishiro though, knowing full well that this had to be his last night that here with her and her family, he couldn't help but feel as though he as partly responsible for possibly having involved Laela and her family in his own affairs, ones that he felt as though he could handle by himself. But, if he knew the Knights like he thought he did, his first guess was that they were possibly going to send a seasoned member out to find him, given the nature of Heishiro's own skill set.

After a moment, Heishiro shook his head from side to side, trying to dispel these thoughts from his mind as he continued to walk beside the vampire in an attempt to look as though nothing was on his mind at the moment. However, he couldn't help but glance over to her as she looked around the place, seeing that something was on her mind as well. It was clearly obvious that something was troubling her, even as he saw her comb her fingers through her hair in a distracted manner of sorts. In some odd way, he could honestly relate to her with the fact that neither of them were fully able of just letting their hair down and just have some fun like school children always did. But then again, he could understand the situation as well since it was also certain that Vardon could still be out there somewhere, waiting in the wings to swoop down and be a malice to them once again.

Despite this was also on his mind, Heishiro simply shook his head again before looking straight ahead, looking further down the street as he continued to walk with her.

As they reached the children’s area, Laela felt Rosalie and Beniamin before she saw them. She ran her eyes over the crowd in the direction she sensed them, settling her gaze on Beniamin’s tall form. He felt her stare and looked directly at her, composing his face into a silly expression for her benefit as he walked toward her. She raised her eyebrows at him, then smiled broadly as Rosalie came running out of the crowd toward them, nimbly dodging the bodies around her. When she reached Laela, Rosalie flung her arms around her, her beaming face painted with purple and blue butterfly wings and smiling in overflowing enthusiasm. “Oh man, this is sooooo cool!” she blurted excitedly.

Looking over at Heishiro, Rosalie grinned widely and grabbed his hand, tugging him in the direction she had just come from. “Heishy, you’ve gotta see this, you’re gonna loooove it!” she bubbled, giggling at her new nickname for him and pulling him firmly in tow as she skipped back toward the melee. A man on high stilts and costumed as a giraffe tottered loftily by, and a vendor selling colorful swirls of cotton candy called out his wares, the crowd filling in behind Heishiro and Rosalie as they disappeared from Laela’s view.

When they arrived in the more child-friendly area of the carnival, Heishiro wasn't really paying all that much to anything at the given moment, for he was far too entrenched in his thoughts to even have noticed that Laela had stopped and looked over to a crowd of people that had gathered there. When he did finally stop, Heishiro glanced back at Laela when she had found one of her comrades that was now walking over to her with a rather goofy looking grin on his face. Then, from out of the crowd came Rosalie, moving through the throng of people here and there before having finally reached Laela, hugging her tightly in a way that would've made him forget the fact that he was with a group of vampires.

With that, Heishiro's hands now came back down to his sides just in time for Rosalie to come over to him and then grab one of his before being directed back towards the crowd of people where there was a man dressed as a giraffe hawking his wares from up on a set of stilts. It made Heishiro arch a brow at this, but he was nevertheless amused by Rosalie's beaming face, smiling at her before bending down onto a knee and looking over to Rosalie.

"You know, I got me a little idea. How about I set you up on my shoulders so you can get a better view of everything?" Heishiro asked.

Squealing with delight, Rosalie reached her arms up to Heishiro so he could lift her up to his shoulders. Settling herself comfortably on the man’s athletic build, she tousled his hair playfully, running her fingers through it and smoothing it away from in front of his eyes. Turning backward slightly, she waved gleefully at Laela, her face the epitome of childhood abandonment to joyfulness. Turning back around to face forward, she leaned her chest over Heishiro’s head, covering her small hands over his eyes and bursting out in a fit of girlish laughter.

Beniamin widened his eyes as they both watched Rosalie and Heishiro head back into the crowd together, the two blending in without notice. When they saw Rosalie’s small form surface from the rippling heads of the crowd, obviously sitting on Heishiro’s shoulders, Beniamin’s eyes got even wider, accompanied by an incredulous, “What the...? Well, our Rosalie could certainly come in handy as a secret weapon, taming wild beasts ‘n such!” Shaking his head in disbelief, he looked at Laela to gauge her reaction. Her eyes soft and a gentle smile playing along her lips, Laela saw Rosalie turn and wave, and lifted her arm to wave enthusiastically in return, a wide smile appearing on her face. Looking toward Beniamin, she teased, “What, worried about being replaced as favorite Uncle?”

After a moment when he heard Rosalie give out a girlish squeal of delight, Heishiro would then hoist the girl up onto his shoulders when he saw her hold out his arms towards him to pick her up. With that done, Heishiro would then slowly stand up onto his feet, looking up at the feeling of Rosalie tousling with his hair, smiling up at her playfully as he noticed her turning back towards somewhere then looked in that direction, seeing that it was Laela and Beniamin that she was waving at then decided to wave at them also.

After a moment, he would then felt Rosalie's hands clapping over his eyes, blackening his vision before grumbling playfully at the little vampire girl on his shoulders. "You wait missy. I'm gonna tell Laela that you're being mean to me, you little brat." He said to her teasingly then laughed a little bit as he continued to stand there.

“I am not a brat!” Rosalie countered with a smile, still keeping her hands over Heishiro’s eyes. “You’re trained in marshall arts, right Heishy? Not to rely too much on any one sense? I’ll guide you and be your eyes, and you can be my legs! My very tall legs!” she added with a little giggle. Leaning around his head to speak directly in his ear, as the noise of the surrounding crowd was loud and she didn’t want to yell, she began, “Okay, walk forward...,” and then unconsciously tugging his head slightly to the right, she continued, “Turn a little to the right....good, now straight....oops! Stop!” she announced, as a couple of older boys shoved their way in front of them, not paying attention to anyone around them. “Oooh! We’re almost there!” She exclaimed excitedly, not realizing she was kicking her feet a little on Heishiro’s chest in her excitement. “Go straight again....straight....a little to the left....straight....okay! Stop! Here! Are you ready?” She asked Heishiro in a breathless voice, squeezing her hands a little too tightly over his eyes in her enthusiasm.


Beniamin scowled a Laela’s verbal jab; maybe he was a little miffed at how quickly he’d been dumped in favor of the mysterious new guy, but he sure wasn’t going to admit it. “Naw, I’m not worried about my Rosalie...Heishiro’s just got the thrill of the new for her - and anyway, from what I’m gathering, he’s taking off after tonight anyway. I just hope Rosalie doesn’t get hurt, you know how attached she gets so quickly.” Laela nodded her head, nibbling at her lower lip. “Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing. He’s been really cool with her - a nice surprise. She’ll miss him, but she’ll be okay. And anyway, I have a feeling we’ll be seeing him again sooner rather than later...”

"Then what's the deal with you covering my eyes all of a sudden?" He asked, arching a curious eyebrow while pointing up at Rosalie's hands before smiling a bit and shaking his head. "Alright, alright. I'll play ball. But after that, you'd better tell me what this is all about, y'hear?" He asked with another chuckle as he then began to walk in the direction that she first told him to go which was forward and slightly towards the right, continued to walk forward a few more steps before suddenly coming to a stop when told before walking forward again, turned to the left a bit, continued to walk forward a little more then stopped when told once more. However, he wasn't exactly all too thrilled with her pressing at his closed eyes, making Heishiro grimace a bit. "Ow, ow, ow." He muttered out. "Alright, you can quit pressing on my eyes now." He said.

Squirming on his shoulders, Rosalie’s excitement was clear in her restlessness and tone of voice as she peeled her fingers from over Heishiro’s eyes, one digit at a time, but keeping her palms in front of his line of sight so his vision was still blocked. “Okay, ready?” she chirped, singing out a loud and extended “Ta Da!!!!” as she yanked her hands from in front of his face, giving him full view to what she had so looked forward to showing him. Nimbly climbing down his body, she stood in front of him facing the spectacle, tilting her head back all the way to look up at him upside down with as big of a grin as she could give him. Snapping her head back to face forward, she watched the entertainer raptly, her eyes wide and her smile still on her face.

The crowd was warily circled around a tall, muscularly cut man, his taut dark skin gleaming beyond the covering of his cropped white pants, his chest and feet bare. His disturbing dark eyes roved over the crowd and more than a few younger children clung to their mother’s legs, hiding behind them for protection. He had a dangerous look about him, and not solely because of what he was doing. In each of his hands was a long silver sword, one hilt intricately carved from jade, the other of smooth onyx stone. Artfully slashing the steel around his body in graceful movements, he danced to a rhythm only he heard, the deadly blades whirling with blurring speed. After executing a particularly astonishing tossing and twirling sequence, the crowd burst into thrilled applause.

Getting down on bended knee, the performer tilted his head back and opened his mouth wide, and proceeded to slide the onyx hilted blade deep into his throat. Shocked and amazed, the crowd reacted with excited sounds, Oooohhhhh!! Aaaaaahhhhhh!! Pulling the silver from within his body, the sword swallower reached down for a wooden club laying in front of him. His roving eyes landing on Rosalie and then Heishiro, a malevolent smile twisted his lips briefly. A quick flick of his fingers and a flame appeared, which he transferred to the head of the club, a bright fire blazing on the wrapped tip of the wood. Standing up in one smooth motion, his body now facing them, the man began to juggle the two swords and flaming club, his fathomless dark eyes seeming to stare straight at them.

At the first spark of fire, Rosalie whimpered and moved to shield her small form behind Heishiro’s legs, peeking her worried face around him to view the more threatening scene from a safer perspective. Looking up at Heishiro, she sought reassurance from him that all was well.

After a little while, Heishiro's eyes adjusted a bit once he felt Rosalie's hands were removed from his eyes, allowing him to see once again. But this time, they were now deeper into the throng of people than he thought at first, making him wonder if Laela and the others were still able to find the two of them out here where they were before feeling Rosalie begin to climb down from his shoulders to the stand in front of him.

The crowd he was now a part of was encircled around a man dressed only in what he could guess was just a tapered set of pants, similar to those that were a part of a traveling circus of some sort or another. Nevertheless, it made Heishiro ponder as to what the guy was doing at first before seeing those two wicked looking blade he had in both hands, spinning around and even swinging the blades around him like some sort of graceful looking tornado all to a tribal sounding rhythm of some kind.

He wasn't exactly as impressed with it, but he was nevertheless entertained by the sight, offering the man some applause of his own before watching him now swallow one of those two deadly looking weapons and then extract them with the greatest of ease. Alright, so maybe this guy was getting better at what he was doing, Heishiro thought as he stood there with Rosalie by his side and quirked an eyebrow at him and placed a hand on his hip.

Then, when it came to him picking up a wooden club and then ignited the wrapped end of the thing with no oils or any kind of accelerant of any kind, Heishiro was a little suspicious about it at first before feeling Rosalie hide behind him like so many of the other scared children that was here. Then again, something about that man's eyes made him ponder just what he had stumbled upon here. That man looked as though there was something that was filled with malice within him. Slowly and cautiously, Heishiro would then turn his head and looked down to Rosalie as she locked eyes with him, seeing that she was looking for some kind of reassurance from him. The reply he would give her was a couple of pats on her head before nodding at her slowly before turning his eyes back onto the rather suspiciously threatening scene before them.

Without giving off any signals that would have alerted the two of them to her presence, Laela was suddenly standing directly behind Heishiro, as smoothly and stealthily as if she had simply materialized there. Knowing she would be surprising him, Laela’s eyes sparkled with a bit of mischievousness as she leaned her head over his shoulder and spoke softly into his ear, “Everything okay, Heishiro?” As Rosalie spotted her, Laela met her eyes with a confident smile, waving her fingers in a casual “hello” as if nothing were the least bit amiss.

Raising her glance to the entertainer dancing with steel and fire, her frown returned. But just then the sword performer abruptly ceased his movements, and lowering the club downward he doused the flame on the ground. Curling his lips upward into a somehow sinister facade of a smile, the man gave an exaggerated bow toward them with swords and club still in his hands, muscled arms crossed over his chest. Meeting his stare Laela felt the veiled malevolence exuding from his gaze and clenched her fists with her eyes narrowing. But the man turned and moved through the applauding crowd, walking away from them. So, placing a hand on each of their shoulders, she moved to guide Rosalie and Heishiro toward a different section of the kids area, still keeping her mind alert to the possibility of a threat.