he had been crystal clear with jester on his intentions of snooping. those hadn't been empty words. unfortunately for this intrepid interloper, he couldn't have foreseen the events that now unfolded:
consciousness ebbed as his current surroundings bled away like paint in water - smearing in a kaleidoscope of overstimulation that left eris not knowing up from down. but just as quickly as that chilling rush came, like ice cold water dumped over his head, it faded away and a new backdrop slid into place. at a glance, it seemed no different from the tent he had been in before - but there were glaring differences that became more apparent the longer he took it all in. for the new couple of minutes, all he could do was kneel there and take it in; his head trying to right itself from the sudden dizzy spell that had been cast upon it.
a cursory search confirmed that he was no longer in the same tent he had been in before - though it was very similar. a peek beyond the flaps showed another similar, yet different scene; a cautious foray beyond showed him a troupe that looked decidedly human, and guests dressed in old timey attire. ... a hallucination? or a memory. . ? he'd only ever experienced peering into a memory once before, and it had been... awful, frankly. in that occurrence, he had seen through the eyes of another - but on glancing at his hands and the clothes he wore, it was clear he was still himself in this "memory".
even more disconcerting was the fact that somebody had bumped into him. their shoulder bumped his and while he would've assumed that in itself was odd, the person even turned to point an aggrieved expression his way. it seemed to soften when they saw him dressed in costume, and they questioned if he was a new hire. it caught him so off guard, that he could do nothing but stare. this didn't seem to deter the painted fellow, who simply gave him some friendly pointers, veteran to newbie coworker... something about keeping himself out of trouble and not wandering into the wrong tent.
"those beasts would gobble a pretty thing like you up lickity split." it was said with a laugh, and a thinly veiled leer; as if the idea was appealing to him as well. eris pressed his lips into a fine line, before bodily shoving past the guy and stalking off. his mind clouded over with all the information it now had to contend with: this "memory" was too realistic, he was himself in it, others could interact with him, and there were beasts on the premises. where one may have assumed this may have meant something like lions and tigers (oh my) eris had the dreadful inkling that that was not what the man meant.
at the very least, the black swan like costume he'd been fitted with in the present-day circus of freaks seemed to be a hidden blessing when sneaking through the fairgrounds of this "memory". the other actors and staff seemed to pay him very little mind. it was thus easy for him to quietly explore this antiquated circus; and to eventually come upon a gloomy tent that seemed to stand alone from the rest. he felt an anticipation low in his gut, his feline instincts warning him that whatever was inside was bad news...
even so, he steeled his resolve and nimbly slipped between a slim slit in the heavy tarp.
beasts; caged monsters of varying sizes and structure. feathered, scaled, furred... there, like everything else about this "memory", eris found something both familiar and foreign. he thought back to the harlequin's puppet show. the jester's stage play. the pink mirror's pleas.
he probably should have left. there was too much uncertainty about this "memory" - like whether or not he would come to harm if something were to happen to him here. eris wasn't so selfless that he would risk his own death over the preservation of others... but in that same breath, he also wasn't the kind of person that could idly turn a blind eye, to walk away, when he saw something so clearly unjust. without making a peep, eris stepped closer to the lone light in that room of cages. thinking it better to present himself as something a little less human, he allowed his restraint upon his cat ears and tail to slip; for the pointed tips to spring forth from his dark hair, right behind the crown of feathers his costume adorned him with. his sleek black tail unfurled behind him, and he thanked his foresight in making sure there was an appropriate hole in his leotard for it.
he didn't know what to say, so he said nothing as he revealed himself to the room of monsters. he couldn't help the way his ears pressed against his head and the fur of his tail bristled. as he looked around, even without knowing their true forms before this, eris could see the troupe members he'd met in the present in the visages of these beasts before him - if even just a little bit, through their grime, gore, and snarled or pained expressions. finally, his jumbled mind deigned to form words.
"i can pick the locks of your cages, but you're going to have to be quiet while i do so."
