The fire Eater {Open To All}

[Coby]

The sun was just setting on the inner harbor. Boats, yachts, and docks alike floated with the gentle waves as the sun cast an eerie glow like scar on the waters surface. The orange stripe crinkled and wirggled as the tide rushed in. In the distance, a sea plane landed, leaving thick white lines of mist in its wake. Spectators began to crowd the harbor as buskers from all over the country, and even from Seattle, came to try their luck with the crowds. A fire eater spit bright orange flames high up into the crowd, recieved by excited 'oohs' and 'ahs'. A man who pretend to be a statue had his pictures taken as the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz. There was a slew of First Nations carvers and artists, selling oak sculptures of ravens and wolves. A sketch artist sketched a young boy and his mother, while all along the walkway there were food stand reeking of salt and deep fryers. This was definitely a good place to be.

Ava looked about herself, eating a churro and sipping a thing of diet cola. She smirked as the people of Victoria gawked at the performers. If only they could see what she could do. But, then again, that was too dangerous. She watched, gnawing on her Spanish doughnut. She was just sitting there for some reason, relaxing. It was nice to be somewhere where people were just being normal. She remembered the days when she was younger and got to do all ther normal things. Go to the circus, visit amusement parks, see movies. Now she was the leader of a clan full of Shifters, Mentals and Vampires. Why? Because she was different. And she was okay with that. The woman finished off her churro and stood to stretch her legs and look at the artwork. That was her favorite. She picked up a necklace with the wolf on it, paying about five dollars for it, and went on to look into the waters. Across the way she could see the Under-Sea gardens, and made a note to go there one day.

After a few minutes, Ava found herself hungry again, and went back to get another churro. As she was eating it, watching the flame eater and laughing as a little girl cried and hid in her mothers skirt, she saw a group of drunken girls and guys. They were hanging off each-other, laughing and pointing and taking pointless photos that would soon go on the internet. They looked like fools, and suddenly, Avan wanted to be them. She looked at her churro, took a bite, and sipped on her soda as the group passed her by. She should have brought some one with her. Although, she didn't know many people. Perhaps she could make a friend. Finishing the treat, she got up and checked out the crowd. Walking up to some random person, she stood beside them, looking out at the ocean.
"Hey there." She said, gazing at the sinking sun, "Nice view, eh?"

[Raven]

[[Burning down bridges now]]
{{scatter the ashes}}

A shorter man sat, his dark skin lit up with the sinking sun. People padded behind him, as his soft brown eyes stared out across the harbor. The man ignored the annoying buzzing behind him until it faded to a soft buzz. Perhapse he wasn't a man, more of a kid, an eighteen year old. Niko blinked slowly. The waves brushed slowly across the docks, boats bobbing as the tide brushed in. Behind him the world became a still image, ignoring everything Niko brushed his hand across what little hair he hadn't shaved off his head.

Niko sat on a short chair, close to the ground. A thick plot of paper sat on his knees. A very detailed sketchstreached out across the white paper. A dog sat, ears cocked forward at an odd angel, its head tilted to the side. It was an amzing piece of art. Niko stared down at it, completly unhappy. it looked wierd to him. Overly perportioned, badly shaded. Niko glared down at the german shephered. Its tongue flopped down, brushing across its chin. The dark skinned boy flicked the eraser tip of his pencil against the paper.

The boy jumped slightly when a voice whispered in his ear. The boy looked sideways, blinking in suprise. Where had she come from? Maybe he would have seen her oming if he hadn't been completly ignoring the world. Niko smiled sheepishly. His teeth glinted slightly in the receading sunlight. "I apologize" he said. "I didn't hear what you said" he murmured, looking the rather tall girl over. She looked rather bored, maybe she wanted some company. He patted the paper with his pencil again.

His nose twitched. His grin got bigger. "These street preformers are a garage act to you, eh shifter?" he asked brightly. "I think there cool though. So much time they spent fighting to get here." he tilted his head to the side, watching a woman blow flames up into the sky. Niko glanced down at his own plot of paper, his lips curling up. "Im Niko" he murmured, holding out his hand. "Whats your name?" he aked, relizing how corny that sounded he chuckled. "That sounded so stupid" he laughed slapping his forhead.

[Coby]

Ava bundled her coat tighter around her as she stared out at the ocean scene. It wasn't a very heavy coat; a small black trench coat to ward off the breeze. The sun had sunk farther beneath the ocean line and stars began poking their shining heads from within the inky blackness that was the night sky. She smiled at the man sitting in the chair. She hadn't really given him a good look over before she approached him, but now she saw he was drawing. It was a german-shepherd, a good one and she stared at it for a good long while. "That's pretty good," she noted as she pointed down at the drawing, "I don't know why you're erasing it. People would probably pay like twenty bucks for that." Okay, so maybe twenty bucks wasn't so much. Not if he were American, anyway, the dollar there was worth a lot more than in Canada. She ran her fingers through her black hair and listened to the man speak.

" I said," she continued, "That it was a nice view over here." And it was, truly. She knew why so many people came here, and it sure as hell wasn't for the seafood. Or, maybe it was, although Ava was never a seafood kind of girl. All you have to do is put the phrase '100% Canadian' on it and people are all over it like a fly on shit. It's a little sad, she thought as she listened to the man speak. Then he said something that made her stiffen and look about her nervously.
Shifter; ah, so he knew. Although seeing as no one heard, or cared, and disaster was averted she smiled again (Ava liked to smile, she thought it was less threatening to people if she seemed happy about...well, life) and said
"Well, no I don't much care for the performances. Smoke and mirrors really is all it is. Except for that guy," she jerked her thumb to the left of her where a man was 'eating fire' "He's pretty cool."

She stared at the man before her long and hard for a good few seconds, and concluded that he must be one of the 'gifted'; mental or shifters. The vampires referred to themselves as the 'cursed'. She guessed they weren't all too happy about being the way they were. But, they would have to get over it, unless they wanted some one to kill them. Some of the vampires were hundreds upon hundreds of years old, and they were some of the wisest... beings she'd met. And since shifter and mental blood was poisonous to them, she didn't have to worry about become lunch. Win-win.
"You're a shifter too, then, I presume?" she started again, after Niko had finished speaking. "And, no, it doesn't sounds stupid. My name is Ava, it's nice to meet you Niko."

[Raven]

burning down bridges now, scatter the ashes

Niko grinned.Though he didn't fully agree with Ava he was gratful. "Thanks" he said, retracing out the thin fur lines he had erased. his pencil flashed accoss the page with a soft scritch noise.Niko grimmiced down at the lines. Why did they still look misplaced? Sighing he gave up tryingto repare them. The dark skinned youth blinked at Ava's words. Niko smiled slightly, staring out into teh water. "It is nice" he agreed his voice as bubbly as ever, showing none of his annoyance.

He watched as Ava smiled off at the 'fire breather'. He watched all the preformers. "Maybe they are all fakes" he said his small smile grew larger. "But there all here doing what the love. And there making there fellows smile" he said nodding towards the laughing on lookers.And yay" he agreed. "That guys really cool." Niko turned his honey brown eyes on ava. "You know how they do that? Its all about controling your spit" he laughed.

Shiffter. Yay im a shiffter, but should i tell her? Niko snorted at his stupidity. She already knows numskull. "yup" Niko said brightly, setting his drawing pad next to his side. "im a proud dog" he laughed. Sure it doesn't sound stupid. no it justsounded retatred, corney. Niko rolled his eyes. "Nice to meet ya, Ava" he said. "What brings you out here? Obviously your a local."

godspeed to all you're after, is this a life left just to remember
tell them who you were, who you really were, kill yourself slowly over time, fashion statement suicide, she's still asleeps in the chelsea hotel
,bad turns to worse, and the worse turns into hell

[Coby]

Ava grinned, a slight little grin, more like a smirk. She personally thought the drawing looked fantastic, but hey, he was the artist, so who was she to argue?
Beside them the fire eater took a swig of clear liquid, braced himself, held the torch to his mouth and blew. This stream of fire was obviously one of the biggest; perhaps the finale. She didn't know. All she knew was that the little boys and girls from across the waters were smiling and giggling, totally thrilled. As if they'd never seen anyone breathe fire. Okay, so maybe it wasn't that common but then again, neither was she. The Tallyshir leader, new to her position, was at least trying to be social. It was better to be friends with people than to not be friends with them, right? She didn't know. She watched the fire as she thought, riveted not by the man but by the element. Fire. It was so powerful, so beautiful so...wild. Her eyes danced with the flames, her mind along with it.

Nodding without taking her eyes off of the fire, Ava listened to Niko's explanation on how the fire-breather did it. The fire man was just finishing up as Niko spoke, the crowd dispersing to find another act to gawk at. She turned her eyes back onto Niko, her expression something of serenity and searing calm. Yes, searing calm. She shook out of it easily enough, but she told herself that perhaps she needed to sleep more at night, if she were so easily distracted. Bad leader.
"Right, well, isn't controlling your spit how...everything, is done nowadays?" she cocked her head to the side with a mocking sense of mystique. She then returned back to her normal state, hoping that Niko got that she was joking so she wouldn't look like a complete nob.

"And I am a proud wolf," said the woman, poking her chest proudly, "And it's damned useful too, if I might say so myself." A cool land breeze snuck up from behind and tussled her loose hair. She thought nothing of it, brushed it back with her dainty hand and pushed it back behind her ear. Of course, she was definitely a local. Born and raised... well, in Ontario but that was not the point. She lived here now, and so that made her a local, by her standards. She new the buses, knew the bad parts of town, knew all the creepy ghost stories, she even knew when the queen came to visit (although it never really is a quiet affair). And so Avan tended to call herself a proud citizen of Victoria... or, rather of Oak Bay. But, still, "Well, yes indeed, I am a local. And you? The fact you're asking me if I am suggests you are not... unless I am mistaken...?"

[Raven]

burning down bridges now, scatter the ashes

Neko stared at the woman for a long moment. did she really just say... that. "hahahahaha" Niko fell backwards, laughing. "I-hehe- im sorry" Sitting up Niko covered his face with one hand. "that, was the funniest thing i've ever heard" He snickered, looking up at Ava. "Maybe I sound like an idiot, but I havn't laughed in a wile" he chuckled, sitting up the rest of the way. Niko hopped to his feet, leaning against teh railing, his arms crossed ontop of the bars. So she was canine too. Nice. "wolf, huh?" he smiled. "prestegiouse huh?"

It was useful. Very useful. "though im thinking its a bit harder to phase into the crowd" he murmrued, staring out across the bay. The sun shot embers across the water, the two converging forces blazing together. Water and fire, the oppisotes atracted, meeting otgether every day and every night to form the magicl colors burning in the air. Nik's golden brown eyes glowed witht eh balancing colors. The sun would disapear soon, if the gathering stars were of any importance. Niko leaned forward, setting his chin on his arms.

"naw, Im not a local, I just moved ehre, and may i say its a big diffrence from virginia" he snorted, his nose crumpling. This was a subject Niko didn't like talking about. It lead to people asking why he moved here, and that was somthing he didn't want anyone to ask about.Niko's good humor flowed away and suddenly the bright teenager that had been staning there was replaced by a solem man. Niko stared out, straight into the sinking sun. " I lost someone important, needed a new place to live. To many memories, ya know?" niko glanced over at Ava. A small smile threatened at the edge of his lips. "But the pasts the past right?" he chuckled. He blinked suddenly, looking back at Ava with narrowed calculating eyes. Dropping bck down onto the ground, Niko picked up his dawing pad. Flipping to an empty paeg he started to sketch, his hand flying as a thin tappering muzzle slowly appeared threw the mist of insaine refrence lines.

godspeed to all you're after, is this a life left just to remember
tell them who you were, who you really were, kill yourself slowly over time, fashion statement suicide, she's still asleeps in the chelsea hotel, bad turns to worse, and the worse turns into hell

ooc:// niko takls alot xD

[Coby]

Ava grinned widely. She never blushed; it was a thing that just never happened to her. She looked stunning in the night light; the moon had now poked her head up above the horizon, a little shimmer of orange across the bottom of the horizon was the only reminder of twilight. The sounds of steady traffic from above them and the bustling people, the lights and the sea breeze were a big attraction. The parliament building had become a lit skeleton of golden light to her left, while the bells in the bell-tower in front of the IMax Museum tolled a sweet, lamenting melody of the suns death and the rise of the majestic moon. Or, so Ava thought. She had heard once, from a friend of hers, that the bells were once rang by the hand of a blind woman who climbed the stairs and played the bells by ear every day. Now, however, the bells were played electronically, and the stairs were crossed off and seldomnly used.

Her mind tends to wander and as she thought of this, she was a little late in response. Good lord, she thought, I sound thick!
"Oh yes, well, wolves are quite uncommon around here..." she leaned in and whispered with a sly wink, "I would never shift in in the prying eye, I'd be caught, see. Wouldn't want that, these people are on the verge of pitchforks and torches, y'know." She chuckled warmly, sighed and looked out over the ocean. Her eyes distant in thought.

She slowly phased back into reality however, as if her mind was being gently tugged by an invisible thread. She looked back at Niko, her interest peaked. She sensed pain; something her best friend had taught her a lot about how to sense, as Mentals were more sensitive to emotions...especially pain. She turned around so her whole body was facing him, and leaned back dangerously on the heavyset chain that acted as a banister to keep people from falling into the ocean. It was low...but the poles were just high enough for her to lean on. She gazed at him, he having her undivided attention. It was as if there was no one else in the world but him, and everything else faded into a dull haze. Her eyes softened; she sighed softly in sympathy as he plunked himself back onto the ground and began drawing again. Apparently she had hit a sensitive topic.
"Oh, Niko, I'm sorry to hear that..."