Cleaning House [Vienna/Public]

Plink-

Another wooden figurine was tossed to the water and sank a few inches before floating to the surface and downstream. It joined the others, fizzling after it was immersed and the soul inside causing it to burst to flame on the water, contributing to some bizarre figurine funeral procession.

It was clean-out day for Franziska. She came to the river with a box of the souls she no longer wanted or needed. Which was quite a few. She got rid of the ones that weren't beautiful. The one's that belonged to corrupted people. It was like getting rid of her own demons. She wasn't sure if the souls returned to their owners... But what did that matter to her?

Another hit the water and rose to the surface with sizzles and smoke, and another weight lifted off of her heart. Perhaps it was the burden of hanging onto the wills of all those people that drug her down so, but she never really had tried to think about it. Maybe she didn't want to.

Which was why she enjoyed these days so much. She could pretend it was her problems being let go, and she did have too much. But in the back of her mind she knew they wouldn't go away so quickly.

So she would have to contend with setting other people free while she continued to be trapped by something she wasnt really aware of.

((I feel like I've waited long enough for someone else to reply. XD I'm tempted to crash with Itak, just for fun, but idk if that's okay with you? It doesn't have to be in a romantic way, or anything, since you probably have other plans for her. xD She just seems like she needs someone cheerful, atm, lol))

((Go for it XD I never get tired of your characters XD))

((Same with yours, pfft XD))

Well, it wasn't the ocean, but it was certainly the largest body of water he'd seen since beginning his life with the carnival. He used to live near the ocean, and the salty smell, the boundless expanse of blue, the waves that seemed to suck you in to live in their depths...those were what he missed most about his island home. This lake had none of those things, but that didn't stop him from jumping straight into it the first chance he'd gotten. Smarter people might have warned against this, seeing as he knew nothing about what lived in those particular waters--or any waters in this country, really. But he figured that if it wasn't as big as the monstrous humbe that he'd hunted, then there was nothing to be afraid of.

Some argued that bravery went hand-in-hand with stupidity. Itakshir would surely aid to that argument.

Perhaps he shouldn't have been so eager, though, because his clothes were weighing him down somewhat in the water. At least, he should have taken his shirt off. Deciding to do just that, he surfaced, looking around for the nearest bank (he'd swum out to the center and had no idea where he'd initially jumped in now). He probably would have noticed sooner that there was actually one quite close by, if the flaming wooden figure in front of his face hadn't been so distracting.

Yelping, he ducked under the water again and backpedaled away from...whatever that thing was. How could something be on fire while it was in the water? Was it magic? Black magic? Something about it gave him a very bad feeling.

Quickly reaching the shore, he stepped out of the water, sopping wet and coughing a bit from submerging too quickly to escape the burning figure. Looking back, he saw that there was actually a whole slew of them approaching the spot where he'd just been. A shudder went down his spine; would he be cursed for swimming in those waters?

Finally, while ringing the edge of his shirt out, he looked off to the side and saw the beautiful young woman. Were those her figures? He almost felt like running for it, but she'd surely see him. 

Cautiously, as though she was some kind of witch or demigoddess, he stepped forward, grinning nervously as he brushed the wet hair out of his face. "Oh hey, baby, sorry if I interrupted this...um..." He didn't even know what to say. But he really wanted to know what those things were--specifically, if he should be afraid of them.

She didn't even turn to look at him. The way he addressed her made her seem familiar to him-- probably just a fresh carnival grunt who had been washing his clothes or going for a swim.

On top of that, she just didn't have the energy to acknowledge someone else's existence at the moment. She feared losing the man she loved, she feared that she didn't love him at all, and the man she had really fallen for didn't come around anymore. On top of that she was losing control of the empire that was Mystique, technically all she had to her name.

"Alles klar," She waved off his apology. "Just disposing of trash." Well, it was the truth. She picked another figure out of the box to first inspect it before tossing it like a skipping rock into the water where it joined the rest in dots of flame across the water.

Her calmness about the whole thing just made him all the more nervous. Those things looked like little people... The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as she tossed another one in without a care. For once, he felt totally justified in suspecting some sort of dark magic taking place here. The other carnies (when they weren't laughing at him) often reminded him not to immediately jump to the conclusion that magic was the cause of things he couldn't explain...which was nearly everything. They said he was being superstitious.

As he watched the wooden doll burst into flames, he felt he would have dared anyone to suggest that something was not very wrong here.

"Is this...magic?" He fidgeted, then, in a panicked tone, he burst out, "I'm not going to die, am I??" It was like a little kid who'd swallowed a seed and feared a watermelon would grow in their stomach. He sorely wished he hadn't gone for a swim, now.

His panic finally caught her eye and she looked over. Nothing could prepare her for the sight. A pale man covered in tattoos with white hair and earrings? He certainly didn't work at Mystique.

She blinked shockedly for a few moments, waiting to see at which blink he would disappear. He didnt.

Slightly wary still, and trying to play it off, she said, "Magic doesn't exist," I was just something psychic, for sure. "Nothing's going to happen to you." And she wasn't ready to admit to such a superstitious man that she collected souls. Especially if she could get his from him. He seemed so innocent. Worthmore than all of them she was disposing of.

Trying for a smile, she added, "It's just parlor tricks. Chemicals and the like."

He picked up on her surprise, but didn't quite realize what had caused it. Was it because he was soaked? Maybe she hadn't seen him emerging from the water, that would make sense.

It was probably good that she didn't outright say 'psychic', or else she'd have to explain what it meant. And then he would have informed her that it sounded like the same thing to someone like him. And that magic certainly existed.
But he was so relieved to hear that he wouldn't meet an early end that he broke into a wide grin. "Oh, cool, okay then. Man, I was so freaked out." If only he could read her thoughts, then he'd have a reason to be.

And her explanation just got a confused expression and a laugh in response, "I have no idea what you're talking about, hahaha--" Forget chemicals, what was a parlor?

She still caught herself staring at his appearance. "It's just a trick, you know, like a game." He would certainly fit well into her collection. Quite a few ignoramuses had fallen to her charms and later the music box. He would be no different, she hoped.

She tossed another poor soul to the current. "Who are you?" She smiled. He didn't seem like someone from the town. He must have been from the other carnival. Even better. "People don't just dive into the water like that every day."

"Ohhh, okay," he nodded along, but was really more preoccupied with trying to decide whether or not to put the moves on her. On the one hand, she was gorgeous, which was as good enough a reason as any for him. On the other hand, she looked and gave off the impression of being upper-class. Upper-class families tended to be more traditional. Which meant racist. Oh sure, it was technically outlawed, but everyone knew discrimination still existed.* He wasn't so sure he was ready to toe the line dividing castes yet. ...Yet.

"Who am I?" He laughed and skirted around the question, "Just a guy who misses the beach." He pulled his headband off and wrung it out, yanking it carelessly back over his slick hair, consequently making it even messier. "And who are you?" He had to restrain himself from tacking 'beautiful' onto the end of that.

((*Minorities basically = dalits of India. :\ It was only recently outlawed for traditional families to check family records of potential inlaws to see if they were ever part of the outcaste.))

She gave him a strange look. She was no fan of people who were so intent on being deceptive. Little did she know he had no real bad intentions, and that everyone she was around at Mystique deceived her with relative ease. She was slowly catching on, though she would almost prefer to abandon her investigation. "What, don't you have a name?"

Franze was still trying to decipher his looks. She couldn't pin him to any nationality. His name was all the information she might ever get. And to steal the soul off someone, she had to know them and have something to grab on to, like information. But of course, she didn't know she was dealing with someone who knew the power of a name.

And if he wasn't telling, neither would she. "Someone who misses rivers." She'd never really been to the ocean, not that she knew of, even though she vaguely remembered some memory of being at a place near the ocean as a child. She tossed another figurine in as she kept her eyes on him, waiting for him to respond.

"Of course I do," he grinned, "It's not who I am, though." A name held unspeakable (literally) meaning in his culture...but not when it was fake. Everyone called him by it, but his regular nickname didn't register to him as being much of a part of his identity. Just a means of keeping wenpekur at bay. He had no idea that for once, it was about to serve exactly that purpose.

"Itakshir. ...Or you can call me Itak, if it's easier." Some of the carnies were of the opinion that his nickname didn't roll off the tongue very well.

He deliberately kept his eyes off of the figures in the water--they still creeped him out a bit--and since there was nothing else to look at, he kept his gaze trained on her, in turn. "There's probably a river that feeds this lake," he laughed, "Unless you're just saying that to be cheeky? Don't get me wrong, but you don't look much like an outdoorsy person, babe."

She just chalked up his statements to mean that he didn't think his name fit his personality, or that proverbial, 'a name doesn't make a person'. She thought it was a load of trash, to be honest. But she wasn't there to preach to him.

"Itakshir," She repeated, the name sounding quite odd from a dialect where vowels were drawn out and double consonants sounded hollow.

An embarrassed blush rose to her cheeks when she realized he was completely right. "...I knew that." She replied automatically, tossing another soul to the depths to distract herself. "It was.... a joke."

She wasn't an outdoorsy person. The rest of her family was, though, which was most likely why she never felt close to them. The lake was just the only way to get rid of the small carved burdens. He definitely looked outdoorsy... though he may have been even more pale than she was.

"Are you from the other carnival, then, Itakshir?"

He laughed again, good-naturedly; whether it was a joke or not, he found it funny. It was very rare that he ever got to correct someone on anything.

"Oh, so you're from Mistique, then? I thought maybe you lived in this town." He shrugged, "Yeah, I'm with the ragtags." It didn't bother him much, this whole dispute between carnivals. The freaks were something he didn't think was very cool, but other than that...he saw no reason to dislike the Mistique carnies themselves.

Remembering the reason why he'd found out about the freaks in the first place, he snickered. "My friends and I were just talking about this the other day...maybe you could settle it for me? I heard that the women at Mistique are drop-dead gorgeous," one of the corners of his mouth tugged upwards, "So...is it true, or is it just you who causes all the rumors?"

She snorted slightly. As if she'd ever live in this Podunk town. She would rather die. Fränze always thought she was meant for bigger and better things. But nothing had really come along.

With the Ragtags? He must have known about the missing woman, then.

And his next statement would have proved it... If he hadn't caught her off guard. Her face became red, then it became slightly sad. "Well, I'd like to think so," She lent him a smile, but it only stayed for a while before it disappeared. "But I don't think it's true." The Transylvanian. She knew something was up... But did she really want to know?

Dismissing the thoughts, she remembered her revelation from before. "I guess that means you heard about the missing blind girl?" She tried to feign worry, hoping to get information out of him. She was good revenue, and you don't just take from Franziska's (she thought) property without paying for it. "Terrible isn't it? To think a blind girl just disappeared like that... I hope nothing happened to her." She remembered what Eleri told her, then. He must have been one of the men that took her.

"You have competition? I'd have to see it to believe it. And even then..." He shrugged one shoulder, grinning reassuringly, as if to say 'I've seen all types, and few can compare'. And the more he looked at her, the truer that was seeming. Again, though, he reminded himself of the class issue.

Thankfully, he didn't have to mull over it much, with her next question.

Despite her prior belief, he didn't know the first thing about deceit. He'd already spilled the beans to the Egyptian girl and had no problem doing it again. Arash and Cosim would have died. "Sonya? Oh yeah, my buddy took her; I guess he felt sorry for her. She's much happier now, I think." He smiled, blissfully unaware of how naïve he looked and sounded.

Red rose to her cheeks again, and she had to remind herself to stay on task. "...Thank you." But it was nice to hear encouragement from a man-- anyone, again. That simple act of kindness, though it may have had other intentions, made her realize that being cared about shouldn't come with verbal abuse "to make her a better person". Maybe she had just gotten used to it because she felt like she had heard the same things from the Frenchman before.

"Well... Wasn't she happy... With us?" She inquired, acting saddened and innocently aware of the treatment of the lesser creatures at the carnival. She then added, "If you see her... Tell her we miss her a great deal. And that she belongs with us." It was said as innocuously as the first statement, but when it finally did reach the blind woman's ears it would be a terrifying message.

"But... For the time being..." She batted her eyelashes at him. "Can I learn more about you?" The music box felt like it would burn a hole in her bag if it wasn't used soon.

He just smiled at her gratitude, unaware that his words had any sort of significant effect. Itakshir always said nice things to women--to everyone, really. Of all people, he knew exactly how it felt to try to be the best person you could, only to get looked down upon. He'd learned there was no reason to not say kind things.

"Nope. She was totally miserable," he answered honestly without missing a beat, "They treat those people worse than animals." Maybe this young lady didn't know exactly how bad it was for the freaks--well, she might as well hear the truth. It would be great if someone did something about the suffering of those poor folks. "I'll tell her," he agreed, but after a pause, added with a somewhat more sober smile, "But...people belong where they feel happiest. Just saying."

The soberness evaporated quickly, though, as he burst into laughter. "Me? I'm just a simple guy, beautiful. Besides, I don't even know your name," he wiggled an eyebrow, "Unless I can keep calling you whatever I want?"

Well, there went that plan. She almost let exasperation slip through her features as he answered so honestly to her fake sadness. She wasn't sure how to react to it, so she just went with whatever was next on the agenda.

"I suppose thats true but... Still, please tell her that."

She thought about his request. Giving him information would give him leverage. But... He seemed truly sincere, and she wanted someone to care, for once. Sitting on a large rock by the lake (after making sure it wouldn't get dirt on her dress), she replied hesitantly, "My name is Franziska. People call me Fränze. I like dancing. I don't like the outdoors." She raised an eyebrow in turn. "And I guess it depends on what you intend on calling me, doesn't it? Frankly, I'm surprised you want to know my name. Most who call me 'beautiful' or 'baby' don't really bother with names."

He sat straight down in the grass, cross-legged, sparing no thoughts to the wellfare of his clothing. In his own way, he was cleanly, but nature wasn't something he considered dirty. He spent practically half of his life outside.

Chuckling, he said, "Where I come from, it's normal to call people by nicknames--although, they aren't really supposed to be flattering, since it attracts bad luck," he tapped his chin with one finger, "I'm not sorry for calling you 'beautiful', though." Most people didn't have the same superstitions as him, anyways.

...Although, he supposed maybe he should stop, just in case. It would be pretty ungracious to inadvertantly cast misfortune on this lovely girl that he'd only just met. 

"Okay, Fränze," he tested out the foreign name--it felt strange on his tongue, but wasn't altogether too difficult. "I come from an island, far to the north. I love people and the ocean. ...And I have a pet bear." He wasn't sure if 'pet' was the right word, but it was the most fitting one he knew.

Was the man trying to amuse her on purpose? She propped her elbow on her knee and sat her chin in her palm to look down at him with a small smile. "I don't think it matters, i have too much bad luck already." She added with a blush, "You can call me whatever you want."

He was definitely joking. She knew it right when he had said he had a pet bear. That was just plain impossible. Covering her mouth with her hand when her real laugh burst out, instead of her practiced laugh that sounded delicate like windchimes, she contained herself. "You don't have to sound so impressive. It's hardly believable anyway."

She began to have second thoughts about taking this one's soul. She'd finally found someone she wouldn't mind talking to recurrently. Well, he was good at jokes, at least.

"Well, I wouldn't want to add to that," he reassured her congenially, "I'll call you by your name...unless I come up with something else." He doubted he would, though; since his coming to this country, he'd fallen out of habit of nicknaming people.

Her laughter was so bizarre and hilariously unexpected that it prompted him into a fit of mirth, as well, even though he had no idea what was so funny. Impressive? Unbelievable? He waved a hand, as if to brush off her disbelief. "It's true, don't worry. Watch--" He put two fingers in his mouth and let out a shrieking whistle that rang out across the lake.

For a moment, he just sat there expectantly, holding up a hand to indicate to wait. Then, a bellowing roar erupted from across the lake in response, causing some birds to take flight in alarm. Itakshir just smiled, as if this was nothing abnormal, "He says hello."

"How thoughtful." She grinned.

Her laughter wound down to just a few giggles, and she was forced to try and make herself be quiet to try and hear something in the silence. The woman's face paled, however, when she heard the roar rattle the trees.

No. There was no way anyone could control a bear. Impossible. He had just whistled and hoped to get something in response from some animal. She glanced back at him, horrified. "You can't do that!! What if it comes here?!"

She wasn't about to end by being mauled by a bear. This person was obviously an idiot.

He shook his head, totally at ease and completely unconcerned that he'd just alerted a massive beast of their location. "He won't, I told him not to move before I left him. He's probably going back to sleep right now."

It wasn't like he didn't notice her panic, though, and he couldn't help being a bit tickled by it. "Don't worry, I raised him since he was a cub; he's well-trained." Lying back in the grass, hands behind his head, he added, "And even if it was wild, I'd fight it off for you. That's what I do for a living."

Now that he'd mentioned it, he wondered what her role in the carnival was. She didn 't seem like she did stunts or acrobatics. Maybe she performed magic--or chemicals, or whatever it was she'd called it?

"You... Raise... Bears." She repeated incredulously. He talked about it too much for it to be fake. Why would anyone lie about raising and fighting bears, anyways? "And... Fight them? I'd like to see that." If he could go up against a bear, she doubted he was weak enough for his soul to be stolen. And she wasn't sure she even wanted to anymore.

It seemed monumentous a carreer compared to what she did. "All I do is tell fortunes... But I don't fight anything. I also run the carnival." Then, hesitantly, she added, "Well, sort of."