Legal Notice: This story and all character are © 2001-2002 by Benjamin Zmoda unless otherwise specified. This story cannot be distributed, sold, or used for commercial profit without written permission from the author, nor may this story be mirrored on any other site without consent.
Of Earth, Sky, and Everyone in Between
Chapter 1
"Typical," Leo thought, as he pulled his head back into the trailer, "Just typical. We're not even in the city yet, and already the traffic is horrible."
Leo preferred small towns. His family had lived for generations in a small house, far away from anyone else. To his knowledge, he was the first of his family to leave their home state in over a hundred years. He still hadn't adjusted to the non-stop traveling of the circus troop he was part of, but he was amazed at the diversity of places diversity of places they had visited.
When he thought back, he couldn't truly remember why he had taken the job, other than to get away from his parents. Be that as it may, he had grown to love his job. He loved hearing the laughter of the children, he loved the friendliness his co-workers provided, and he savored every reaction he was able to draw to draw out of the crowds.
What he didn't care for, however, were all of the people who always considered him a freak. Leo grimaced slightly as his mind wandered around that fact. "It's true," the thought to himself, "But they should at least be discrete enough to insult me while I'm not around." He sighed. There wasn't anything he could do about it, so he had always ignored the comments, and worked with what he had.
He shook his head, decided to curb his mind, and try to get to sleep again.
"Come on man, snap out of it," he scolded himself. "We've got to get everything set up tomorrow, and it won't be any easier in you stay up all night."
He sighed inwardly, but he felt encouraged. It was a brand-new place, after all. There would be new sights to see, more shows to perform, and new memories to make. In fact, this would be the first time he was ever in a city. He barely ever performed anywhere with a population of more than 2000, so he was relatively new to large cities.
He wandered across the room, and flopped down on his bed, dimly aware that the caravan had started up again. In a few more minutes, he wasn't aware of anything at all, as he drifted off into a light sleep.
# # #
Leo awoke to the sound of an elephant trumpeting directly outside his trailer... that is to say, very quickly.
His natural instincts kicked in, and he leap out of bed, looking for the source of the noise. When his mind was able to regain control, he silently cursed his boss for be able to get a license to own the cursed beasts. He didn't care that they were easy to train, or if they were good workers, he hated being woken up like that.
He glanced over to the window, and saw a faint light filtering through. He estimated that it was the time he normally woke up, so he stretched his muscles, and walked over to his small bathroom area. The bathroom was small enough already, but he had a particular difficulty getting into it. He turned to the sink, and fiddled with the taps for a while before realizing that there wasn't any water pressure in the pipes.
"They haven't refilled the water tanks yet," he realized. "Hell with it, I'll just run a comb through my hair."
He looked up at the mirror, and pondered where he should begin his grooming. He stared at his reflection for a moment. At first glance, he looked normal enough, a 24-year-old, 5 ft. 11 inch lion/lemur hybrid. His father's genes had given him the normal appearance for that of a lion. His mother's genes had made him much smaller and more slender than was par for his species. Any trace of normality ended there, though, for his great-grandfather's genes had given him wings.
He sighed slightly, as he continued to stare into the mirror, drowning in memories, until the gurgle of water brought him back to reality. He blinked, and splashed some water on his face, to wake himself fully. He then smoothed back his hair, and exited the bathroom, allowing his wings to unfold as he left the tiny room.
There was little wonder how he had gotten his job with the circus so easily, but he was still surprised at how well the others had accepted him, treated him life he was completely normal. In a short time, he had become one of the star attractions of the circus, and was treated much better than he ever had been before.
Another nearby animal began making noises, and Leo snapped out of his trance. He threw on pants, and carefully put on a button down shirt. When he had newly joined, he had quickly learned that he couldn't conceal his wings, no matter what he tried. These days, he wore shirts with slits in the back to allow his wings to stick out without damaging any of his feathers. It made him stand out in public, but he had learned not to care. Leo checked in a mirror to see if he was presentable, then opened the door to his trailer, and stepped into the world... and right into his boss, who was waiting right outside his door.
His boss was a large otter, who currently had a large grin plastered across his face.
"Good morning Byrd-man! You finally ready help us get started?"
Leo rolled his eyes. He hated being called Byrd-man (He had always seen his last name, Byrd, as some kind of a twisted joke), but he was able to tolerate it when it came out of Arthur, barely.
"I always am, Art, I just wanted to make sure I was ready before I got out here."
"Yea right, you lazy moocher," Arthur said with a laugh, "Get going, your tasks won't do themselves, and we've got a lot to do before we open tomorrow."
"Wait a minute, we open tomorrow?" Leo asked, becoming slightly confused, "I thought we were going to open Saturday, it's only Thursday."
"Change of plans, kid. We got help from local vendors, so we'll be able to open a day early. Don't worry Leo," he said, seeing the skeptical expression on Leo's face, "Everything will be fine. We'll get everything done by the time we open on Friday afternoon. Trust me."
"Sure..." Leo replied. "You said we got help, what'd they do?"
"Basically, they marked up the entire area according to plans we sent ahead. All we really have to do is set up tents, stages, and stands. You know the drill, Leo. Go get your work assignment, and go do your job."
"Yes, sir!" Leo shouted, pulling off a mock salute, as he turned on his heel and sprinted off, before Arthur could tell his to do anything else.
Arthur just stared after him, then smiled to himself. "That kid's got real potential," he thought to himself. "If he would only be more disciplined..."
# # #
Leo's face fell as he spotted the work assignments. He was glad to notice that his name was listed under animal care, but his spirits fell slightly when he saw he was assigned to clean the cages. After that, he was to help feed, exercise, and wash them.
He sighed. He loved the animals. Looking at them was like looking into the past, a glimpse at what he was like before evolving to his current level.
"Why couldn't they just be a bit neater?" He thought, "Why can't they ever seem to keep their cages clean?" Leo frowned, and headed back to his trailer to put on some clothes he didn't mind ruining.
# # #
He arrived at the animal cages about 15 minutes later. When he saw whom he was working with, he smiled. Upon looking in on of the cages, he saw Jessie Hunter, one of the youngest workers with the circus.
Jessie had been young when her family had joined up with their group. Her parents were both actors, and she had been raised at their side, learning everything there was to know about the business. Unlike most of the people with the circus, though, she was not a hybrid of some kind. She was a short tiger. She had turned 19 and few months ago, currently stood at about 5ft. 5in., but would never take any guff from anyone.
Despite her rather tomboyish tendencies, Leo loved being around her. During his time with the circus, they had grown as close as brother and sister, and they both cared for each other, but only as friends.
"Hey! Jess! Want help?"
Jessie quickly looked up and waved to Leo. "It's about time you got here. I've almost finished cleaning out the cages by myself," she shouted over to him, "But I guess that was your plan, huh?"
Leo smiled guiltily, "You know me too well," he called back. "Tell you what, after we get done here, lunch is on me."
"You got it," she said, tossing him a pitchfork, "Help me finish mucking out the cages, then we can give them a scrub down."
"What? Just business?" Leo said, sounding shocked. "No friendly banter, no casual chit-chat?"
Jessie sighed, raking her long hair out of her eyes. "Look Leo, I hate this just as much as you do. Let's just get this done as quickly as possible, okay?"
"Nope," he called out, "You hate it much more than I do." He quickly ducked, as Jessie heaved a large chunk of dung at him with her shovel. He raised his arms and called grinning, "Alright, I surrender. Jeeze, you sure got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." He picked up his pitchfork and started in on his work.
# # #
"That takes way too long," Leo moaned as he sat in the grass a short distance away from the animal cages. He and Jessie had just finished their duties, and it was already one o'clock in the afternoon.
He struggled to massage his back as he turned to look over at Jessie. "You ready for lunch?" he called to her.
Jessie was leaning against a tree with her eyes closed, but she awoke upon hearing his voice. She checked her watch, and quickly replied, "Uh... yeah, but it's still a bit early." She thought for a moment then continued, "But I guess that's fine, seeing that it always takes a while to find a car that doesn't look like it's been to hell and back..."
She looked down at her clothes and scowled. "I need to change my outfit, and it looks like you could do with a change as well."
Leo took a casual glance at himself and mentally accessed the time it would take to freshen up. "Ok..." he started, running some thoughts through his mind, "It'll take less time for me to get ready, so meet me down by the car lot when you're ready. In the meantime, I'll go borrow keys from Art."
Jess smiled and gave a small nod. "Sounds like a plan. Besides, after the last time I drove, Arthur probably won't ever give me keys again," she said with a small grimace on her face. "I'll see you soon then," she called over her shoulder as she head over to the trailer she shared with her family.
Leo smiled as well. The entire troop remembered the last time Jess had gone on a joy ride. It had caused quite a stir with the local law enforcement. Fortunately, Art had managed to smooth everything over rather quickly, and Jessie had gotten off easily. Art may be an old slave driver, Leo thought, but he does have his uses. He watched Jessie run out of sight, then turned and walked over towards his own trailer.
# # #
Borrowing a car was much easier that Leo had anticipated. Even he was surprised at how easily he had managed to get keys to one of the circus owned trucks for Arthur. He hadn't been able to escape, though, without being loading him down with pamphlets to put up around the city, and a few free tickets to hand out at the restaurant. Leo had expected Arthur to do so, and he expected that that was why he was able to get leave so easily.
As he jogged over to the lot, where staff cars were kept, he spotted Jessie leaning against a car, looking over in his direction. She waved to him, but gave the stack of papers and tickets he was carrying a sour look, as he got closer.
"Ugh, do we have to get rid of all of those?" she asked as Leo handed her part of the stack.
"Nah," replied Leo, "I figure we'll give out a few tickets and leave a small stack of pamphlets at the restaurant, then either hide the rest or throw them away." He shrugged with both his shoulders and wings. "I guess it all depends if people run stay near me long enough for us to hand things out..."
Jessie gave him a pitying look as they walked over to their truck. "Give yourself more credit, Leo. People just don't know what to think when they first see you. Besides, you can't control the jerks who try to give you a hard time," she said, trying to reassure him.
"Yeah... I guess you're right..." he trailed off, as he unlocked the truck. He opened the door for Jessie, and helped her up, then moved around to the driver's side, and climbed in. "Sorry about the truck," Leo said as he started up the car, "You wanted one that didn't look like it's been through hell, but the others were already reserved by other people."
Jessie gave him a mocking look. "Well if you had shown up earlier to help me with the animals, then we might have gotten a decent vehicle," she said, jokingly. Leo gave a short laugh, as he pulled out of the lot and started down the road towards civilization.