BELLOWtheMOON (Shendeth)

[Cassie Gray]

(Shendeth)BELLOWtheMOON(Cassie)

Deep into the forest, far far in the back that way
There is a circus
The chairman with the big eyes
and ten meters tall
All of the cast is jolly
Their forms are rather strange
but its so fun!

"Stop whining! I told you we'll go shopping after I talk to a couple people here, okay?" Mara rolled her eyes.

"I'm not whining. And I'm not complaining. You're the one who promised a night on the town when I finished my book," Cassie replied, staring out the window of Mara's car.

"It's night, we're on the town--sorta," Mara replied, chucking, "Besides, we're here."

Cassie turned her gaze foreword, eyes resting on a group of tents illuminated in the soft glow of the headlights. Checking her appearance in the review mirror once more, Mara stepped out of the car.

"Wait here. I wont be too long. Promise!" with a smile, she walked off, leaving Cassie alone in the car. The girl sighed, slouching down in the seat. Knowing Mara, 'too long' is usually way too long. Stay here in boredom, or take a look and get some ideas? Grinning, Cassie pulled her brown hair into a ponytail and practically leaped out of the car in excitement.

It was a chilly night, making her glad she wore her black blazer over her tee-shirt. The moon was high in the sky, lighting her way to the camp like a red carpet. Taking a breath to help calm her racing heart, Cassie made her way toward the tents and into the camp. She didn't know what exactly she expected to find, but whatever it was, it wasn't what greeted her. It seemed so, normal. In a way, she was a tad disappointed. Everything seemed so normal. But really, what was I expecting. With a smile, she turned, bumping into someone.

"Oh! Sorry!" she apologized.

Outfit

[Shendeth Evans]

Bright silver moonlight bleached the walls of the Cirque's tents, making it seem almost like day to those with good eyes except for the cold, both physical and unseen. Most of the performers had already or were now settling down for bed. The camp was quiet. Too quiet. Shendeth sat outside his tent, restlessly digging his sharp fingernails into the grass as he stared up at the serene moon. For the moment he couldn't sleep even though he wanted to. At least he wasn't facing the nightmares that often came with said sleep.

Not that reality was much better. He didn't want to sit here and choke on the stillness, he had to get up and do something. They weren't too far from a town. Shendeth planned on following the usual procedure; walk to town, find a bar, drown his sorrows with liquor and either spend a few days in town or worry about finding the Cirque again when he woke up tomorrow afternoon. It was a bad habit he made no attempt to control.

He got up and slipped quietly toward the camp entrance without paying attention to the actual route; it came as a surprise when he collided with someone going in the opposite direction. Shen took an instinctive step back, getting a look at the female as she apologized. She was a complete stranger. A split-second later, it struck him that she was a vampire. He narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"

[Cassie Gray]

Cobalt blue eyes settled on the man before her. Black, straight hair framed his handsome face. Dark green eyes stared back, dark in more than color. He was pale, the moonlight and his dark clothes making him seem even more so. Her first thought was: he's quite handsome... Her second:

Vampaneze.

"Cassie Gray. And you?" she replied, her accent taking the steel from her voice. While Cassie normally didn't have anything against vampaneze (okay, most vampaneze), she wasn't stupid. Alex taught her always to be ready, no matter what. So Cassie took a small step backwards (giving them both their personal space back) she shifted a little. Body more alert, poised and ready to spring at a moments notice.

She took a second to study him farther. He was dressed in completely in black. Had it not been for her vampiric eyesight and the full moon, she would have never seen him. He was a tad taller than her. Truthfully, he looked more like he belonged in a rock band than the Cirque. Surprisingly enough, her weird know-when-there's-danger thing wasn't happening. The only alarm bells going off were the ones she set off herself. There was really no reason to believe he was dangerous. Right?

[Shendeth Evans]

Despite the time of day, the moonlight made it easy to survey the girl. She looked young, but was no doubt older than him. Long brown hair, blue eyes, and modern clothes- nothing about her appearance was unusual, though she was pretty. Shendeth didn't really look like a vampaneze, and this vampire didn't look like a member of her race either. Cassie Gray; the name meant nothing to him.

After a second he noticed the accent that had been strong in her voice. So, she was a fellow Brit. Shendeth himself had quickly picked up speech habits and vocabulary from the people around him; trained the accent that wasn't too strong to begin with out of his voice, so that most people couldn't tell where he was from. It only came out when he was upset, which made people who found such an accent to be amusing all the more infuriating.

However, hearing Cassie speak only served to further push up his guard. He had left "home" for a reason. The fact that she seemed so ordinary was not necessarily a good sign. She had given him no answers. "Shendeth Fang. What are you doing here?" He lived here at the Cirque, so he had the right to question her. Whether he was a danger to her or not depended on the situation.

[Cassie Gray]

As she looked at him, she couldn't help but feel that something was....off. Something was missing. Two seconds later, it hit her and with a such an obvious revelation that she could've kicked herself. She was s consumed with the the...aura? vibe?...whatever it was, she ha been too busy going "Omg! Vampaneze!" that she had missed the most obvious thing.

He wasn't purple!

Every vampaneze she'd met had been purple, so it didn't even occur to her that she'd meet one who wasn't. She knew of course that it wasn't an instantaneous process, it happened the more and more they killed and drained their prey. But, here was one completely un-purple, not even a hint of it in his skin tone as far as Cassie could tell. As far as she figured, that left only two possibilities.

1.) He was a vampaneze who didn't drain his prey.

2.) He was still young (witch a mentor most likely near by).

Looking into those dark eyes, Cassie was almost 100% sure it was the second option. Watching him now, she could easily envision him killing...maybe even for savage pleasure. Just the thought of it made a shiver sneak up her spine adding a slight chill to the warm night.

Shendeth Fang? The name brought no recollection to the vampire girl, though she made a mental note to ask Mara about him later.

"A friend of mine is visiting an acquaintance of her's. I got dragged along and decided to explore rather than stay in the car," she answered with a bit of a smile. His tone was hostile, even though it was a valid question. Thinking about it, he most likely lived here with the Cirque and his tone possible had nothing to do with the whole vampire/vampaneze thing going on. It could be that after years with Alex, she was turning as paranoid as he was! Now that was a scary thought!