Unknown Secrets

@ Aikofox
Vella
Vella tried to stand there and look commanding, but it was more like she was confused. Which was true. When Richard told her to crack the whip she did, the sound exploding around them as the fog and smoke rolled in. She felt blinded for a small amount of time... and then wished she'd stayed that way. When everything cleared out she found herself in the middle of a circle of wild animals, all of whom were sitting on their little stools and roaring, growling, and all-in-all terrifying her.

Logan
Logan snarled at the flash of pain from the collar, his bear roaring out once he shifted. Luckily the stools were appropriately sized for the animals sitting on them, but it was still awkward for him to balance. A thunk happened beside him as he looked down to watch his honey rolling away. She whined, lower lip jutting out, because there was nothing he could do about it now.

@ Jaguar's Heart

Leah and Oberon and Richard
Richard coached Vella through the act, showing her what to do and say. The shifters played their parts perfectly, jumping and leaping and roaring when ordered. A few times they had to repeat parts, but Richard always blamed the animals. Finally it came to the direct interaction with the shifters. He told her to snap her whip at Oberon, who obediently let out his mightiest roar, becoming a vicious and terrifying monster before stretching his mouth wide, waiting.

@ Aikofox
Vella
Vella stood there and stared at Richard as if he was insane, "Oh no. Hell no." She shook her head, 'I'm not going anywhere near that animal, or any of the others." She glared at him, "Think of something else, bucko, 'cause it isn't happening. Hey, I have an idea. Why don't you do it? It's safe, yes? Then you do it."

Logan
Logan yawned, tired from the day of hard labor. And now the little human wasn't going to continue the act? Hell, he was ready for bed, yet he couldn't go now because Richard would kill him. His bear turned and looked at Oberon, his head gesturing to the human. He was trying to silently tell Oberon to figure out what to do, since this wasn't getting anywhere.

@ Jaguar's Heart

Leah and Oberon and Richard
Oberon huffed out a breath, staying as still as he could. He twitched his tail at Logan, but closed his mouth, ignoring the snapped command of Richard. He shook himself out, grimacing at the shock from his collar as he hopped off the stool. The eyes of everyone were on him, and he heard Leah chirp in anxiety as he deliberately approached Vella. He knew he’d catch hell for this later, but he needed to get this practice over. They’d shifted several times and they’d all had a long day of work, they were tired and hungry. He stopped in front of Vella, staring at her seriously as he lifted his face to hers. Mentally bracing himself, his tongue swiped out, licking her like a dog. People liked dogs, right? The wolves had no trouble getting people to like them. He dropped to the ground, rolling onto his back. Come on, don’t be afraid, he thought. Pet the pretty tiger.
Richard scowled at Oberon, but said nothing. Stupid cat, he’d handle him later. “You need to do this trick, it’s our big crowd pleaser. Either you do it or I send you away and call in your grandfather.”

@ Aikofox
Vella
Vella was frozen as the tiger licked her. Was he just trying to taste her before taking a big bite? But then why would he roll onto his back? And why just lay there... if she didn't know better she'd have thought he was trying to be a dog, but that didn't make any sense. When Richard spoke she sent him a glare. Was he going to hold that over her the whole time? She sighed, "Fine. I'll do it." But then balked again as she looked at the tiger, "Nice kitty-cat... you won't hurt me, yes? You're a good kitty-cat, huh? Just like the domesticated kitties in shelters and other people's homes..." She crouched and very softly touched his tummy, flinching a little, before growing a little more bolder and running her fingers through his fur, "You're a soft kitty-cat, aren't you..." She whispered.

Logan
Logan grimaced as Oberon broke formation... but what else could he have done? Logan turned to Leah and gave a crumble, trying to calm her down, but knowing that it wouldn't work. Poor girl was tied up tighter than the tight rope above them.

@ Jaguar's Heart

Leah and Oberon and Richard
Oberon tried not to growl at the indignity of the situation, especially knowing he was debasing himself like this to a human in front of the entire troupe. He wasn’t able to stop his tail from lashing back and forth in agitation, though hopefully she’d think he was wagging it like a dog. Once he judged her comfortable enough with him, he rolled back over and sat up, turning to lick the dust from his shoulder as if he had just willingly humiliated himself.
Leah glanced over at Logan, ducking her head as she panted in anxiety. What was Oberon doing? He never acted like this, so why was he submitting? Oberon never submitted, not even to Richard! Something was wrong, Richard was going to be furious, and they’d all be punished. They were in so much trouble! She chirped back at the big bear, tail fluffed to twice it’s normal size.
Richard scowled at the stupid tiger. “You see?” He said, patience wearing thin. “Absolutely harmless. Now, open up, you.” The cat hissed at him but complied, obediently assuming his former pose, eyes trained on Vella.

@ Aikofox
Vella
Vella stared at the mouth, almost to the point of terror. She sent one last glare to Richard before sighing, "Please, don't bit me, Kitty- cat." She slowly brought her head closer to the tiger's mouth, eventually having it inside. She froze, kneeling on the ground, eyes shut tight. What was she to do now?

Logan gave one last look to Leah before returning his gaze to Oberon and Vella. Poor guy was going to get it good from both Richard and the other shifters. Logan sighed, knowing that he'd be tending to whatever wounds the tiger got later on. Guess there was no sleep for Logan tonight... or the next, if the shifters decided to wait.

@ Jaguar's Heart

Leah and Oberon and Richard
Richard smiled as Vella finally performed the trick. “Perfect!” He announced, ignoring the unrest of the other animals. “Now, let’s continue on with the show!” He sent a little kick in Oberon’s direction. “Back to your stool, go on!” At his gesture, the hoops scattered around the arena suddenly caught fire. “Now, you’re going to send them all out to jump the hoops, then you’ll hold some hops over your head for them. All of the cats are good jumpers. Meanwhile, the bear is going to…”
Oberon trotted back to his place as Richard gave his explanation, ignoring the looks of bloodthirst the pack animals were sending his way. He wouldn’t have to worry about the leopard or the other loner animals, but the hyenas and the lions were definitely going to give him trouble. The wolves would just sling insults then back down at the first roar. The others, though…Sebastian had always hated him, feeling top spot belonged to him, and his bitches would be happy to give it to him. And Veronica…she’d play it smart, wait until he was worn out taking down the lions then move in for the kill. This was going to suck.

@ Aikofox
Vella ad Logan
Vella was a bit on edge for the rest of the practice. She didn't like the way this practice was run... and even though these were wild animals Richard was being a right dick to them. Still, she did the rest of the practice as instructed, holding up the hoops, cracking the whips, and giving the bear a wide birth as the rolled around on some giant ball. As he did that he was also balancing some sort of stick in his mouth that had two eggs on the end of them. The goal was to not drop the eggs, obviously, and she was surprised to see that the bear was actually able to balance them.

Logan hated his act. He felt it was degrading - the whole dam show - and he really wanted to eat the eggs. He was starving and grumpy and his honey had rolled away to some unknown corner. He'd have to hunt it down - which wouldn't be hard - before he left.

@ Jaguar's Heart

Leah and Oberon
They ran through the act several times, including shifts, and by the end of it all Oberon was tired and hungry and extremely cranky. Vella might be able to take on a pack of hyenas with a switchblade, but she wasn’t exactly a natural actor. His jaws were sore from holding them open so long, and all he wanted to do was eat. As they all filed out of the tent he had to swat at several shifters as they sniggered at him, calling him a ‘harmless kitty-cat’ or other such derogative marks. Fine, see if he’d do anything for them! He trudged back to the trailer to grab the defrosting meat from the fridge and headed out to Sebastian’s RV where the grill was set up. Food now. Fighting later.

Leah cowered next to Logan the whole way back, recognizing her usual place with Oberon was the least secure place to be for once. She felt bad, he was going to have it rough for the next few days until he reestablished himself at the top of the pack. Sebastian wasn’t going to let this go, he’d never forgiven him for dethroning him when he’d arrived a decade ago. Leah had been a teenager at the time and remembered the roaring and snarling that had gone on for weeks. Oberon had even killed a few shifters that wouldn’t let it go, permanently cementing himself at the top of Richard’s shit list.

@ Aikofox
Vella
Vella was glad to see that the practice was done. She ran her hand over the back of her neck and, as she did, she noticed all the other workers walking off and gathering at one particular RV. She frowned, and made her way over there, spotting a familiar face walking out of one RV and heading to another. She quickly caught up, still in the outfit, "Hey, wait!" She stopped Oberon with a hand on his arm, "I have a few questions for you. Well... anyone, really."

Logan
Before he left Logan hunted down his honey, grinning when he found it. He squeezed more into his mouth before smiling at Leah, "Alright. We're good to go now." He held the honey out to her, "Want some?" He continued to walk with her from the large tent, making his way to the big group.

@ Jaguar's Heart

Leah and Oberon
Oberon stopped and blinked at her, arms full of meat and hamburger buns. “Questions?” He asked. “What kind of questions? Because I’m pretty hungry and unless it’s life or death, it can wait until morning.” He let out a loud yawn with just a hint of a tiger roar, not really caring if he pissed her off or not. She might have been hot and smelled right now, but right now he couldn’t afford to think about pleasure.
One of the wolves grinned as she passed. “Look, guys, puppy’s talking to master! Hey, Oberon, you sure you don’t want to join us?”
Oberon bared his teeth at the bitch, but refrained from a comeback. He’d beat the shit out of her later.

Leah giggled and took another finger of the sweet stuff. “You really love your honey, don’t you?” She asked, unable to stop her smile. She was still worried about Oberon, but right now she was ready to have a good time. Then she caught sight of Vella and Oberon. She glanced up at the big bear. “Hey, should we stop them?”

@ Aikofox
Vella
Vella glared at him, "Look, mist "I'm-the-human-animal." She said, poking his chest with her finger, "I didn't really see you at the practice at all except when you were sitting in that stupid chair. So I don't know how you can be tired, or what you were doing, but you will answer my questions!"
When a woman past with a snide remark Vella turned on her, pocket knife out and pointed at the woman, "What did you say? I've had a very trying day and my patience is very limited. I will bloody this knife if I have to."

Logan
Logan was about to say that they should leave it be until Vella brought out some sort of knife and started wielding it around, "Uh... we should probably stop them..." He ambled his way over, arms crossing his chest, "What's going on here?"

@ Jaguar's Heart

Leah and Oberon
Oeron scowled. “You yell at me all you want, but threaten one of my people and cute or not, I will break you.” He snatched the knife from her hand, motioning Rita on with a jerk of his head. He glanced over at Logan. “No problem here, the lady doesn’t understand how I can be so tired when all I’ve been doing is build the tent and set up all day. It’s nothing compared to standing around and cracking a fake whip and causing problems left and right, is it?” He was working himself up into a fine temper over this. All he wanted was a warm bath, something to eat, and sleep. And he could only have one of those three things because as soon as everyone had stuffed their bellies the challenges would start and he’d be up all night kicking lion ass.

Leah peeked out at the two of them from behind Logan, worry written on her face. “Please, guys, can we not fight? Everyone’s hungry and cranky, it’s been a long day and practice sucked, let’s…let’s just go eat and try to relax, okay? Vella, you should go introduce yourselves to the other performers, they generally meet up over there,” she said, pointing at the human side of camp. “I’ll see you later back at the RV, okay?”

@ Aikofox
Vella and Logan
Vella ignored Leah, still glaring at Oberon, "Are you kidding me? You have no idea what I've been through!" She shoved him back with her hands on his chest, "You think you're so special? At least you can fucking leave whenever you want!" she shoved him again, adding a little frustrated scream before walking away, "And you know what? I've got more weapons than just that knife, so if I were you I'd watch my back," She growled over her shoulder before continuing to walk off. No one here understood. Sure, they didn't know her background or history, didn't know why she couldn't leave... and she hadn't realized that he'd set up all day, but today had been hard enough for her, too. Ignoring everyone else Vella went into her new RV. She slammed the door shut, then laid out on the empty bed.

Logan watched the entire thing, eating his honey every once in a while. It was amusing, to see how worked up this little human was... but when she mentioned leaving? Even Logan flinched at that. If only she knew the truth... but Richard would never allow them to tell anyone. At least not anyone new that he couldn't control in some way or form. He watched the human walk off before turning to Oberon, "You okay?" He asked, holding his honey out to the tiger, in case he wanted some to feel better.

@ Jaguar's Heart

Oberon, Leah, and Richard
Oberon flinched, face stony as she yelled at him, though he didn’t so much as rock at the shove. “Yeah,” he said, voice subdued as he closed the pocket knife. His outfit had no pockets so he held onto it. “Let’s just go eat. I’m starved.” To be polite he took a finger of honey despite the fact he wasn’t a fan of the stuff. He led the little procession to Sebastian’s RV, ignoring the way Leah kept Logan between them.
When they arrived, a big man with a glorious head of blond hair stepped in front of him, arms crossed over his chest. Oberon narrowed his eyes. Goody, things were starting early.
“What do you want, Sebastian?” He growled, handing everything to Logan and Leah.
“No pets here, kitty-cat,” Sebastian said, nose wrinkling in distaste. “You and your little cheetah cub can turn right around and go back to master.”
Oberon’s fist snapped out and smashed into the other man’s nose, blood spurting everywhere. Oberon snarled and looked around at the watching jackals. “Anyone else?” He called, opening his arms in invitation. “Why don’t you all come at once? Or do you remember the last time that happened?”
“Oberon!”
All heads turned to stare at the new voice, the voice that had no place here, in shifter business.
Oberon narrowed his eyes and snarled at Richard. “The fuck do you want?” He asked, all manners out the window.
“Follow me. Now! The rest of you, stay away from Oberon until further notice!” Richard met him, glare for glare, then turned and walked away.
Oberon grit his teeth, shooting the other shifters a quelling look before following. As he passed Logan, he whispered to the bigger man, “Take care of Leah, I don’t trust them in this mood.” He nodded to the little woman then stalked off, taking his own sweet time. Eventually Richard led him to a secluded spot away from everyone. There was a heavy chain connected to the trailer and a large pool of water nearby.
“Strip and shift,” Richard bit out, picking up the end of the chain and clasping it to his collar.
Oberon stared at him a moment before the zap from the collar forced him to comply. With so many shifts already today, this one was long and painful, but eventually he lay there as tiger, panting and trembling.
Richard stared down at him, face hard. “You’re not going anywhere until I come and release you.” He snapped. “Don’t ever disobey me again!”

@ Aikofox
Vella
Later that night Vella finally left the RV. Her new roommate had never returned, which was probably a good thing. Vella wasn't in the best mood tonight, but she couldn't sit in the RV any longer. She had to get out, stretch her legs... and by doing that she ran across the tiger. At first she was terrified that he was loose... but then she realized that he was tied and she found she was more upset over that. His water source was too far away and he had no food. That just wasn't fair. And before she thought about it she was stepping forward, "Hey, Kitty-Cat... why are you out here?"

Logan
Logan spent the rest of the night with Leah practically pressed against him. He'd never truly thought of her - she was always with Oberon - but now? He was starting to realize just how everyone treated her. And it wasn't fair. Before long though he was tired, He felt bad for Oberon and wanted to bring him some food, but he couldn't even do that.
And when Leah followed him? He didn't say anything. Just stripped to his boxer shorts once he was in his tiny room and climbed onto his tiny bed.

@ Jaguar's Heart

Oberon
Oberon looked up, nostrils flaring. He glanced at her, then sighed heavily, resting his head on his paw as he stared longingly at the water. Even the nights were sweltering here. At least his fur kept most of the mosquitos away, but the scent of the water so close, and enough for him to soak in…Richard knew exactly how to punish him. He moaned low in his throat in misery, not even having the energy to twitch his tail. He was so hungry, surely she could hear his stomach rumbling all the way from over there?

---

Leah
Leah followed Logan back to his RV, not wanting to face Vella right now after what had happened to Oberon. She didn’t often spend a lot of time with Logan, but he was the only protector she had. Like the tiger shifter, no one really messed with the bear. She chewed her lip and watched him as he climbed into bed. “Could I…sleep with you?” She asked hesitantly. She didn’t want to take Oberon’s bed without his permission. She’d sleep on the floor if she had to, but she wanted someone to cuddle tonight.

@ Aikofox
Vella
Vella continued to slowly make her way closer to thetiger, noticing his longing look at the water. She glanced at the pool, then the clip on his leash. She bit her lip, then sighed, "Look... if I unclip you then you can't eat me... got it?" she shook her head and rolled her eyes, "Look at me," she muttered to herself, "Talking to a tiger. Like that'll keep me out of the nut house." Still, ,she walked up to him and stared at the clip, "Why'd they put you out here, anyway? I bet you bit someone... and here I am, unlocking you.' She undid the clip, then sat back on the ground, "God. Today was horrible."

Logan
Logan blinked at Leah for a few seconds, then shrugged, "Sure. Bed's kind of small... but sure." he scooted over as much as he could, trying to give her a little bit of privacy by turning his back to her, "Is that enough?"

@ Jaguar's Heart

Oberon
Oberon watched her, ears perking as she moved over. He held still as she unclipped him, then surged to his feet, rubbing the length of his body against her before turning to the delicious tub of water. He waded in, head dropping as he slaked his thirst. Once he’d drunk his fill he lowered himself into the water, then rolled onto his back, legs waving in the air as he closed his eyes in bliss. Richard would be furious in the morning and he’d catch hell for it, but right now he didn’t care. He rolled to lie on his side and let out a huge sigh of pleasure. Much better. Now if only he could have some food…

---

Leah
Leah nodded and climbed in. “I don’t take up much space,” she said softly. She was still in her unitard, but right now she didn’t care. She didn’t want to risk going back to her RV to change. She had noticed the hyenas following them back and was pretty sure they were still lurking, waiting for their chance to take out their earlier humiliation on her. Sometimes being at the bottom of the pecking order sucked. It wasn’t long before she fell asleep, rolling to wrap her arms around Logan as she clung to him like a bur.