The Forgotten Zodiac

"I-I was just asking! I was wondering if they had trained dogs or anything...that would be terrifying and...bad." Avis swallowed hard, not enjoying the thought of being mauled by dogs for trying to escape. It was the only thing she could think of, though; despite her new 'friend's' words, she didn't believe she'd ever be exciting or attractive enough to win over a crowd enough to get warm steak on her own...

"Right. I think we'll be moving tonight, so...I'll talk to you then, Karsenir." Avis sighed, looking towards the crowds that were starting to leak back away from the food stands and town to come see the attractions.

Karsenir shook his head and sighed. "Don't ask. There are too many people around constantly." Karsenir had to speak quickly to get it out before anyone got close enough to hear him speaking. 
The performing went on and finally, after the circus closed and everyone from the town who had come out to see the shows had gone home, Avis was finally given some food of her own. Avis was right, and soon after everything closed, tents began to come down and get packed up for being on the road. Every spare pair of hands, that didn't belong to one of the creatures was working, and they were a good distances away. After several minutes Karsenir spoke. "Avis? I think we're safe to talk for a little while now."

"Right," Avis sighed, watching those off in the distance working to put away things like tents and start preparing the horses. She picked at her meager meal of bread and two slices of meat; it was food, which meant she was doing better. Not that she wanted to. "So...what happens when one of the creatures here escapes? Has it even ever happened before?" She spoke quietly, shifting close to the edge of her carriage so Karsenir could hear her with ease, and without risk of someone overhearing them. They definitely had to be careful.

Karsenir sighed. "Well, it depends a lot on your timing. If you manage to get out while stopped in a down, your chances are zero. You'll be found by someone living in town and they're always happy to return "lost merchandise" as there is often a reward involved. If you do get out of town, you'll be found by some of the workers taking down tents right now. If you are caught, the torture I was put through is nothing. I've seen some of those taken back. They become star attrations to this freak show, looking as terrible as they do when they come back." Karsenir said quietly. "The only time I've seen anyone get away was when we were on the road. By the time they noticed someone missing, we had already arrived in town." Karsenir said. "So...Did I leave anything out?"

"I think I have a pretty good idea of what to do," Avis nodded a bit. "We wait. Don't worry; I'll make sure to get you out, too. You've been a load of help to me, and something tells me you'll know the landscape better than I would. I would tell you how I plan to break the lock, but I think I'll tell you once we're out of here. Okay?" She smiled a little, offering a hand to the other carriage. "I was taught that humans generally shake hands to make a promise or a deal, so..."

Karsenir sighed again and was quiet as Avis spoke. "Alright..." Karsenir said, somewhat hesitantly. "You're sure you can get us out fast enough to not be noticed?" He muttered quietly, not sure of Avis' ability. When she held out her hand where he would beable to shake it, a gesture he was well familiar with, he frowned and let her hand hang there for several long moments before sighing. "Can you move any closer?..." He asked in a smaller voice. "I can hardly reach a few inches beyond these bars..." Once Avis stretched her arm out a bit more Karsenir gingerly reaching out and taking Avis' hand into his, strange, hand.
Karsenir's hand was rough and cracked, his skin dry with large patches of dark, almost black purple. Probably the most uncomfortable factors of Karsenir's hand to Avis were size, extra finger, and the extra knuckle on each finger. Karsenir was very uncomfortable with showing one of the acts in this cirus part of himself, but knowing it would have to happen anyway since they would be traveling together figured he'd go on and show her. He gave her hand a light shake, then quickly retreated, pulling his shackled arm back.

Avis sighed heavily, leaning back into her carriage. "I can move quickly. I would have broken out before now, but...I was always monitored, or I didn't want to leave. This is the place that I want to get away from, and I know I can. Especially if they don't pay very much attention to their 'featured exhibits' during a move to a new location. If we're lucky, we'll pass through a forest...I like forests." She slid her legs through the bars again, touching her toes to the tall grass. "Trust me. Can you do that? We might as well stick together, if we're breaking out. Misery loves company, after all...isn't that the old saying?"

Karsenir simply grunted in response to Avis' monologue. "Sure, sure." He stayed where he was in the corner of his carriage and ran and back through his hair. "I don't have any problem with that." He muttered. He sat uncomfortably now, unsure of anything to do but wait until they got on the road. "Avis, I know it's still kind of early, but you may wanna start trying to rest up some. Say we're caught...We're going to want to be able to run the heck out of there."

"Right," Avis sighed heavily, nodding once. "Try to wake me up when you think it's a good time, okay?" She said quietly, curling up on the hay in her carriage. She was asleep within a few minutes, despite her discomfort and the chill that was sneaking into her carriage as night fell.

They did indeed move out eventually, just as the sun was setting. They traveled on a dirt road through some farmland and through a field, before they crossed into some plains. They were heading into a small forest, fortunately for Avis.

Karsenir just nodded at first, then spoke, remembering that she couldn't see him. "Yeah. I'll do that."  He muttered, sitting back and waiting.

Karsenir had trouble seeing what was coming up from his carriage, but the moment they were in trees thick enough that it seemed they forest would go on for a while, he shofted. "Avis!" He called softly, hoping she was a light sleeper. "Hey, now is a good time to go, Avis!"

Avis mumbled, then slowly sat up. "Mmft...what?" She grumbled, blinking groggily in the darkness. "Ugh...right..." She murmured, reaching up to feel the lock on her door. She pulled herself into an upright position, pulling out something from inside her mouth. "Yech," She muttered, wiping the saliva off of the small tool, reaching around and sticking it into the lock. There was a moment of her fiddling with it, and then a small click. She opened the door a crack, sliding out of the carriage and having to follow at a quick jog so she could slowly close the door again. She picked up a little speed, catching onto Karsenir's carriage and pulling herself up, working the lock. She didn't look at Karsenir, not even hoping to see anything at the moment. She undid the lock and hopped off again, pulling open the door for her new friend.

"Come on," She hissed as loudly as she dared, grateful that the horses followed the lead ones in front of it and didn't require individual drivers.

It was strange to hear Avis' voice comng from someplace other than the carriage now that she wasn't inside the crappy accomidations so thoughtfully provided to her. Karsenir watched her in silence, grateful for the current situations darkness.
"I'd love to," Karsenir let out an irritated growl as he jerked a leg forward, making a noisy rattle with the heavy chains holding him back. He knew there wouldn't be anyone around to say anything about the noise, and to the others nearby, he moved around often enough for it to sound normal. "but I can't." He said, watching Avis run beside his carriage again.

Avis groaned and hopped up into the carriage, scrabbling for a hold on the wooden flooring. When she was in, she quickly felt the shackles for a lock; she quickly realized that she couldn't pick the specialized lock that was on the chains themselves. The padlock holding it all to a hook on the wall, though...Avis quickly worked through that, then the second one. "I can't get the chains, try and be as quiet as possible," She whispered to him. Karsenir's chains linked his hands together, and his ankles together. It was enough to run with, but it would be difficult to get away without making much noise.

Avis hopped out first, trotting beside the carriage again as she waited for her friend.

Karsenir scowled, as running in the stupid chains would be difficult and noisy. If they were spotted he'd have next to zero chance of getting away. "Riiiiiight. Because normally people trying to escape slavery try to make lots of noise." He said in a hushed but sarcastic tone, rolling his eyes as Avis hopped back out of the carriage. Quickly followed her example and ran after her, following her lead at this point.

Avis led the way away from the carriages, back in the direction they came from. She suddenly turned, cutting an easy path through the underbrush; she would normally have ran through tougher areas, but her feet were bare. One false step could cut her sensitive feet wide open, and then she would be limping. That would make the journey that much more difficult.

She ran for a good mile or so, before finally stoping under a large willow tree. "Okay," She said, quick to catch her breath. "We should be okay for now. I can't see a thing; I nearly ran into a tree twice just from that..."

Karsenir had very little difficulty keeping up with Avis, though he did make some noise. Luckily for them and to Karsenir's surprise, no one seemed to notice their disappearance. When they finally came to a stop Karsenir stopped several feet from Avis, glad the trees were so thick. Not only would there be great difficulty locating them if they were discovered missing, any moonlight was rejected by the leafy branches above their heads. Avis would still see none of him for a while yet. The majority of his skin was such a dark color even at night with a bright full moon there would be some difficulty locating him. "How long are you intending to rest?" He asked Avis, looking around. "I think it would be best to move again soon, as we don't know when we'll be discovered missing."

"Just for a little while. I wasn't going to sleep yet, if that's what you're asking." Avis sighed heavily and stretched. "I only meant that we should start moving a little slower and work out a plan. We can't stay in this forest forever. It would be different if we had a few supplies, like ropes or something, but...we don't. And I'm barefoot. Not to mention human; I can't see a thing in the dark. So," She concluded. "We'll be moving a bit more slowly. You're right, though, we shouldn't let the circus catch up to us."

Karsenir nodded, resisting the urge to roll his eyes as Avis mentioned sleep. "RIght, then..." He sighed. "I'm ready to follow you when you're ready to move on." He stated, leaning against a tree. If he weren't chained up still, he might offer to carry Avis, as she wasn't very big, couldn't see anything, and was barefoot, as she stated. He could see just fine, he wasn't barefoot, and he wouldn't have trouble moving on for a good distance without needing a break. "How do you suppose these chains are going to come loose?" He asked, watching Avis closely. "I could help us get on a great deal faster were they out of the picture."

Avis looked at his chains and shackles. "I honestly have no idea. I would say wait until I can see them, but..." She scratched the back of her neck, moving forward a bit. She felt the shackles, paying no mind to his rough and oddly shaped skin. "Right, it's a thin lock. I would say I can pick it, but it might take some time thanks to my inability to see." She sighed heavily, pulling her tool from her mouth again. It wasn't much; just a small, thin nail that was oddly bent. She wiped it off again and twisted one side of it, revealing an even smaller point, one that would fit into the lock on the shackles.

"I think we have some time. It would be a good use of what time we have since I'll be able to help us make up for it once these restraints are gone." He muttered, watching Avis feel around his wrists and ankles. He was a little tense as Avis worked to free him of the chains, but he took care not to let Avis note any of his discomfort. Since he had excellent night vision, Karsenir took some interest watching Avis fiddle with her little tool inside in one of the locks that kept him from stretching his arms too far apart from eachother. "Where'd you get that thing? And learn to use it?" He asked.