She stood at the back of the hall watching with a giant smile on her face as the acrobats danced on the tightrope.
"The crowd is as noisy as usual he really knows how to win a crowd, even the band plays them like an instrument."
She said with a grin and clapped as an acrobat jumped from the tightrope.
"Even when I know this routine and have seen it countless time, it makes my heart always skip a beat every time."
She closed her eyes when the acrobat jumped from the tightrope waiting to hear the crowd roar when the other acrobat caught them feeling relieved.
"They are amazing, I need to learn from them. I wonder if they'll help me make my show even better?"
She clapped and cheered for them as they bowed and walked off another tightrope into another tunnel below her.
"It's my turn to shine, this time I'll beat her."
A light of determination shone from her eyes as she looked down at the crowd quieting down. Her eyes shined when she saw the large man dressed in red walk into the center stage.
She looked at him and smiled as she felt her heart sing with happiness and joy. She walked to her position on the tightrope and prepared for her signal watching how he plays the crowd like an instrument.
"Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to the world famous Eternia circus and thank you for coming and braving the rains of Eternia, the city where the rain never stops."
She felt her heartbeat starting to rise, "I always get nervous before I start, I need to learn how to control my nerves."
"You have had the chance to see our amazing acrobats, clowns, and our amazing team of daredevils that take their life and push it to the limits! Ladies and Gentlemen, you have not come all this way to Eternia, not just for the food, the scenery, or the company of the beautiful men and women of Eternia, but you have all come to see two very beautiful women."
She smiled. "He always knows how to take my breath away." She took her bow off her back shoulder and tested the string.
"Almost time," as the chants of "Agnia, Agnia, Star, Star," caused her face to heat up and lower her head.
She looked as he quieted the crowd with his hands.
"Yes, that is right, you are all here to see our beautiful and talented archers Agnia and Star!"
"Here she comes, she will make the crowd scream without saying a word."
She watched as a woman dressed in silver hunting attire smiling as the crowd called out her name.
"Agnia I love you!"
"Agnia marry me!"
"Sister is as beautiful as always." She smiled as the roar of the crowd called out to Agnia.
She watched as Agnia turned to him, the one who made her heart flutter and filled her stomach with butterflies.
"Let's do a warm up shall we?"
She smiled as the circus attendants stepped out of the shadows and placed small targets all over the arena, while he selected a person from the audience bringing them onto the stage and handing them a very small target that was smaller than the volunteer's fist.
"Now I just need to wait for my signal."
She pulled an arrow from her quiver and got ready as she watched the group of them talking.
"Hello sir, what is your name?"
"Horuse," he replied nervously.
"Easy target," she said to herself as she bounced on the tightrope getting the feel of the tension.
"Welcome Horuse, what brings you to the circus in Eternia?"
She stretched her neck listening to the conversation echo off the stone walls of the circus.
"To see Agnia in person, as on the banners and light batteries she is very beautiful, so I wanted to know if it was true." She heard laughter from him and the crowd while sighing to herself loudly.
"I'll scare him a little bit I think." She pulled the arrow but not to tight and waited in silence.
"I think a little bit through the target will be enough." A slight smile crossed her thin lips.
"She is right there, is she as you imagined?"
"She is even more beautiful in person." She heard Horuse reply and shook her head.
"He is going to get him to kiss her, just like last time." She murmured to herself checking her target and the other targets around the arena.
"What would you like to say to her, this is your chance."
"Agnia may I get a kiss on the cheek?" She frowned and sighed as she heard the crowd roar. "How does he do that?"
"I have so much more to learn from him, how to get the right person and make them do what he wants, and how he wants it to happen." She wondered as she pulled tighter on the drawstring.
"Almost."
She watched as Agnia handed her silver bow to him, and then gently kissed Horuse on his cheek. She sighed as the crowd yelled out some cheering for him, others wanting a turn.
She smiled. "My turn." She controlled her breathing, letting her racing heart relax as she started to focus on the target.
"Now you have felt the kiss of the angel you're going to have to pay the fee, please hold your target over your head, as there is a star high in the sky who is very protective of our angel Agnia here."
She heard the crowd roar as the light batterys around her revealed her position.
"Star! Star! Star!"
Star released the arrow with a tight-lipped smile. She looked at the band which had started to play suspense filled music causing the arena to fill with silence.
She smiled and sat on the tight rope. "A perfect shot."
Silence filled the arena as an brown arrow flew through the air.
"Thud!"
She laughed as she watched Horuse fall to the ground in relief.
"He deserved that." She said as she prepared her next set of trick arrows. She heard her heroes voice call out to the crowd.
"Thank you Horuse, you can go back to your seat, it seems that Star has sent you only a warning and not a death sentence."
"Hahahaha."
"Time to move from here." Star wrapped her legs around the tightrope and hung from her legs with her bow ready.
"It is time for our beautiful Agnia, and amazing Star to show off their skills. Star come on down, we need you down here!"
"Here we go." Star controlled her breathing as the lights lit her path. She shot the first trick arrow into the arena wall.
"Thud!"
She smiled and let go of the tightrope with her legs.
"They better be able to keep up with me this time, since we practiced this enough" as she fell towards the arena wall. She pulled the wire connected to the arrow in the wall and swung towards the wall.
"So far so good, this part is always fun." She smiled as she started swinging back up the arena, where she released the wire and shot two more arrows, which landed in the wall with a thud and she landed on the new tightrope she had made with the arrows.
"They were able to keep up, this time." She smiled and jumped off the new tightrope and rolled onto the main arena floor standing next to Agnia.
She smiled and bowed as the crowd cheered for her flying arrow technique.
She looked at at the man standing next to Agnia and smiled as he smiled back at her.
"Ladies and gentlemen now it's time for our famous showdown, as you can see there are targets placed all around the stage and walls."
She looked around at the targets nodding and then started to count her arrows in her quiver.
"I feel lucky today, I'm finally going to win this one." She whispered while smiling at Agnia and the crowd.
"If they just shot their bows at all these targets that would be too easy, how about we make it harder for them?"
She watched him pull out small pieces of cloth from his pockets handed it to the both of them with the crowd cheering them on. She smiled as Red winked at her when he gave her cloth. "Thank you Red." Star wrapped the cloth around her face blocking her view. She let out a deep breath as the crowd cheered.
She heard Red call for silence. "Now these two beautiful angels need quiet as they need to use their skills to hear the targets, especially the targets that are in the crowd one slightest mistake and someone will have an arrow in their arm or worse... death..."
She held her sigh in as she heard Red laugh. "He really needs to show me how he does it."
"Don't worry... No one has died at watching our circus... yet."
Star could hear nervous laughter in the crowd, as she took her position. She could also hear Agnia also moving into position. She felt her heart racing with determination. "I'm going to win it this time," as she ignored the screaming crowd around her and just waited for the signal from Red. She pulled several arrows and placed them between each finger and rose her bow ready to fire.
Red called out to the crowd "on the count of three fire." She heard the crowd starting to count loudly with him. "One, two, three!"
The first two arrows flew and hit their targets on the walls to the applause of the crowd, they drew again waiting.
She cocked her head slightly and frowned. "Sister is a little slow today, seems I can win."
"This time we count to three, and they will keep going until all the targets are hit."
She heard the crowd count and pulled her bow taut waiting for the signal to fire.
"One, two, three!"
She took a breath and started to release the arrows in her hand as fast as she could. "The targets haven't moved, and I know where they are, so I can do this!"
She twisted and turned her body to face the targets and kept releasing the arrows until she stood still panting and the quiver empty of arrows.
"All the targets are hit, I did it," she said to herself smiling.
She couldn't hear the crowd and her heart skipped a beat for a moment, so she took her blindfold off and looked around at the crowd and arena.
She bowed and watched as the crowd checked to see if anyone was hit, and then they stood cheering the both of them. She felt her face becoming red and lowered her face letting a single tear fall to the ground. She wiped it away and looked up at Red who was talking with the crowd and Agnia who was smiling at her, she returned the smile bowing her head slightly.
"Ladies and gentlemen what do you think of our amazing archer duo!"
Together they bowed towards the crowd, Star watched as Agnia smiled and blew a kiss to the crowd then they turned and walked towards the tunnels of the circus leaving Red alone on the stage.
Once they entered the tunnel entrance they stopped and stood watching Red close the show with loud applause.
Agnia turned to Star and smiled sweetly at her. "Sister, tonight you did excellent, I think the apprentice has now become the master."
Star looked at Agnia and smiled brightly.
"Thank you, Agnia your words and advice mean the world to me."
Agnia smiled and turned to look at Red and gently waved her hand in Star's direction. As the crowds started to disperse, he approached the both with one of his giant smiles. Agnia ran up to him, put her arms around his neck and kissed him gently on the cheek.
"Red,"Agnia pouted slightly as she used her delicate head to point in Star's direction. "Red... Our Star is all grown up, and does not need our training anymore, she's now a master archer."
Red smiled and looked at Star with twinkles in his eyes, as she walked up to Red, he put his large hand on her shoulder.
"Star, it seems that Agnia is a little sad that you are now a master archer, but to be honest she is actually very proud of you."
Star smiled at them both.
"Thank you Red, without the both of you I would still be out on the street with nowhere to go."
Red smiled and patted her head.
"You look exhausted, go get some food to eat and then get some rest, then come to my office as there is something waiting for you there that Agnia bought just for you."
She gave Red a smile and hugged his large waist "thank you," then she took a step back placing her wooden bow on her back and started to walk into the tunnel. She called back to Red and Star.
"Agnia is a great teacher Red, she is almost as talented as you."
"I did it I finally beat her, and now it seems I am now a master archer." She said with a smile on her exhausted face as she turned away from Red and Agnia.
She smiled as she walked the familiar tunnels, watching the people around her.
"Family."
She felt her stomach grumble and her face turned red in shyness as she looked around making sure the others didn't hear it as well.
"First, I need to go to the mess hall and get something to eat, or they will think I want to eat them instead."
"Rrrrrrooarrrrrrrr!"
She looked back down the tunnel that she had walked from and started to run back towards the main stage where the sound of the roar had come from with fear and worry in her eyes.
"Agnia... Red." She said with panic and a racing heartbeat as she returned to where she saw them last.
"That's a relief they are not here, but what are they doing?"
She walked over to where a crowd of circus were gathering around a part of the tunnel roar listening to them talking to each other.
"We don't have any cats here, especially large enough to leave marks that large."
"What marks?" She asked herself in confusion and stood staring at large claw marks etched in the side of the tunnel wall.
"Whatever it was, it was angry and loud, probably everyone heard it cry out."
She stepped out of the crowd in thought as more people arrived to stare at the marks.
"No cats here in this circus, so why are there claw marks now on the tunnel wall?" She said to herself aloud as her stomach grumbled loudly.
She turned back down the tunnel heading once again to the mess hall for something to eat still in thought.
"Maybe Red has something planned for the next season, but he has never been much of an animal user, let alone cat user."
She let the thought of the claw marks go to the back of her mind, as she neared the mess hall, this time hearing laughter and music as she entered the mess hall of the circus.