To Walk Through a Dream Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven With Wavering Footsteps Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Stone Song Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three A Tale of Winter Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Destiny Inescapable Prologue Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Epilogue The Cycle's Continuing Beginnings Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Two Spirits Akin

[A/N: The Never-Ending Disclaimer ;-) (although I noticed in the last one I wrote [*After* Shiri put it up] that I forgot to actually disclaim anything (Oops...): Take no notice of my demonic grin. Really. (although I'm sure you'll see why I'm grinning like this by the end of the story. I'm sooo Evil...) PLEASE do not read this story, as well as the next, unless you have read all the stories in this line previously written by me. I'm not trying to advertise, honestly, and I hate to dump all that fanfic in your lap at once, but both this story and the one immediately following it will make no sense otherwise. My other tales are listed in order in Shiri's archives on The Storyteller's Corner. I claim no alliegance whatsoever to Michael Eisner. This particular portrayal of Clopin belongs by rights to Shiri (aka Autumn Loweck), and it is with her permission that he, Melisande, and Jehan are written of here. She has my eternal gratitude, for the inspiration and use of her characters, for dragging me, bewildered and mildly protesting into the world of HoND fanfic by posting my stories on her page and getting me to join IRC, and most especially, for being my sister in soul :)] [Maintainer's Note- ::smilesbroadly::] Beginnings By ~Reya Cil~ Chapter One Clopin leapt down from the stage while the Court of Miracles erupted into a flurry of activity. Laughter, music, and joyous voices rang out through the enormous cavern, each sound indistinguishable from the rest, woven together to make the tapestry of happy noise that heralded the coming of the Feast of Fools. As Clopin made his way through his kingdom, he passed dancers, singers, and musicians hard at practice, herbalists and jewellers gathering together their wares, and men, women, and children alike rushing about with lengths of cloth, ribbons, and bells for decorating as much of Paris as they were allowed. Passing below a shadow, he looked up and found Jehan above him, balancing precariously on a rope strung across the Court. He shook his head and chuckled slightly at the foolhardy boy and went on his way. There were large groups gathered at many of the Court entrances where gypsies just coming into Paris were being welcomed by their friends and families. Clopin had assigned more guards than usual to the catacombs, as in this kind of bustle it would have been easier for anyone to slip in unnoticed. He strode up the steps to Lira's wagon and waited for a response from within before entering. He found the gypsy healer sorting through her various herbs and setting aside some to sell, along with some charms of minor power. She noticed Clopin's watching her carefully and paused in her humming to frown slightly. "I'll be helping Moelleux run his booth this year," she told him before he could ask any questions. Clopin ventured a steadier smile then, reassured. He was aware she knew he feared for her health, especially since this past winter. There was a faint knock at the wagon door, more a sort of soft irregular thumping, and Rubis stumbled in carrying several boxes filled with jars and bottles of mysterious content. Her hands had been too full with these to knock properly, and now the top box began to slide off the stack. Clopin managed to catch the box before it hit the floor, but not before one of the bottles toppled out. "I brought these from Moell--" Rubis began, but broke off as the bottle shattered on the floor, sending up a rather distasteful odour. Clopin relieved her of the boxes and set them carefully on the floor, then quickly fled the wagon as the smell began to spread. Rubis retreated out as far as the steps, still talking to the healer inside. "Um..He was wondering if he could store these here until the festival..." She made a face at the smell from the bottle. After a lifetime working with herbs of all sorts, Lira was not bothered by the smell, and calmly gathered the bits of glass with a cloth while responding to Rubis. Clopin left the two women in conversation, escaping the horrible smell. He surveyed the activities of the Court, and deciding his supervision was no longer necessary headed for one of the entrances to watch the new gypsies entering his kingdom. There was not a group of newcomers that wasn't greeted by some gypsy or another, in most cases it was a large group, one family to another. Many of the returning faces were familiar and they hailed Clopin when they noticed him. As he watched however, one figure came to his attention almost as soon as it had entered. There was one family of gypsies, like so many others, and this figure entered in their midst. The others were greeted by old friends and they embraced each other while the lone figure stood apart. It was someone very tall, and they kept to the shadows, holding their cloak around themselves as if hiding some dark secret. The hood of the cloak was deep, and the face was shrouded in shadow. Then the hood turned slowly in Clopin's direction. Whoever it was, they seemed to have noticed him watching, and now stared directly at him. Then one of the gypsies from the group the figure had entered with pulled the person forward and began introductions. Clopin shook his head muzzily as the figure's head turned away, and he found he'd lost interest in this newcomer, whoever they were. Humming spritely he wandered away to tend to other business. With the Festival coming up there was a great deal to do.... ~ Rubis nodded a farewell to the older women and dashed back to her own tent, breathing in lungfulls of fresh air once she had gotten far enough away from the wagon to escape the stench from the broken bottle. As she approached her tent she found Marya and Oiseau sitting nearby. Oiseau was teaching Marya some new songs to perform, and Rubis stopped a moment to listen. The young girl's voice was very pretty, if a shade timid, and she was flushed with the excitement of learning and Oiseau's words of praise. Rubis smiled to herself, glad to see Marya finally settling in, although she had noticed the girl still kept at a distance from most of them, but her tension and defensiveness seemed to have vanished like a dream. She seemed to view the world with a calm patience now, at least most of the time. Today she was hopping around like a sparrow. As she finished her singing Rubis applauded and Marya turned to curtsy politely, grinning widely. Oiseau smiled as well, proud of his new student. Rubis nodded to the both of them and entered her tent, humming along as the singing began again. She already had most of her things ready for setting up her booth, where she could both practice the arts of fortune-telling as well as sell fresh baked breads and pies in case any soldiers or priests came along to accuse her of witchcraft. She looked over the breadpans, wondering if she had enough. With the festival still two days off though, she had plenty of time to visit Moelleux and ask to borrow some of his in exchange for the errands she'd run for him... Marya focussed her mind on the song with difficulty, consciously forcing herself to pay no heed to distractions. With her newfound abilities this was hard to do, as she could sense the current of anticipation running through every gypsy in the Court, as well as most of the townspeople. For once she was glad to not be mind-linked with the great stone that lay beneath the city, knowing that contact made her even more sensitive. She concentrated on Oiseau's words as he corrected her gently. And there was still another song he had said he would teach her when she had learned this one well enough... ~ Jehan swung down from the rope to drop onto a barrel near the wall where Melisande stood gazing up at him in admiration. He did an acrobatic leap off the barrel, landed on his feet before her, and sketched a flourishing and somewhat comical bow, grinning all the while. Melisande applauded delightedly, exuberant with the joyous tension that ran throughout the Court. There was one faint dark thought at the back of Melisande's mind, but she pushed it away and took Jehan's arm, pulling him away from his beloved tightrope and back towards their tent. "Come and eat something, silly. You've been balancing back and forth across the Court all day." She watched him from over the small cookfire outside their tent while he ate hungrily, oblivious to her attentions. The smile still lingered on her face, but her thoughts turned to worry again. He would be up on the tightrope for most of the day during the festival, but where would she go? What would she do? She didn't want to stray too far from Jehan's protection, yet she did want to see the Festival. She could borrow Jehan's hooded cloak and keep out of the guard's notice that way, but the thought of wandering alone in the crowds still unnerved her. I just know there will be trouble of some sort... Chapter Two