Amniote traveled about the fair grounds, her master straddled on her back, hands gripped tightly onto smoky wisps of mane. Chordata was well aware of the curious stares from on-lookers they were more than likely receiving, but it did not bother her at that point in time. There are stranger things in this circus than a purple ghostly horse that they could be gawking at, Chordata thought. It proved to be an attaining plan having Chordata ride the creature; this not only saved an immense amount of time, but also kept her from much embarrassment of having to trip about the tents in her current sightless state.

  "Ok, so apparently my eyes are… pink. So-says Miss Metal Chair. Let's ignore the obvious fact of how stupid that is and get to the point at hand." she spoke aloud to her mount, "Somehow this color has something to do with who I'm fighting. I don't exactly know what that is, which is the problem we're facing here. So I'm going to need your help."

The horse brought her out of the current tent and paused at the entrance of the smaller one that stood beside it. The wind outside was picking up, sending Chordata's hair whirling into her face. She brushed it out of the way but it merely blew right back. Amniote shook her neck, sending out a cascading wave of smoke and aura, which blew away with the breeze. "You're going to have to be my eyes." Chordata continued, "Find who my partner is. I'm sure you can figure it out."

The essence snorted, wisps of smoke exiting from her nostrils, confirming their mission. Within Chordata's mind, however, she was not positive that the horse would actually know what she was talking about - or how she would know if she did. Alas, she was left with no other alternative. If the plan proved to be unsuccessful, she would have to resort to other means. If all else fails, just wait to be blindsided by whoever is looking for me. She thought, both to herself and Amniote, But let's try not to let it come to that.

*   *   *

Ruckus was heard all over the fair grounds as the sun peaked at the highest point of its throne. Pairs of contestants were positioned all throughout the tents and the acres of property that they sat upon; the majority of which were clearly in the midst of their fighting. Whispers traveled already of member deaths and injuries. It was predicted at least half of the headcount would be deceased by the time night fell. However, those were mere rumors.

Bane Trapa sat alone in the farthest corner of the room, hiding his body  behind supply boxes and what-not. He not only wanted to avoid being accidentally harmed by the fights of others, but also wanted to prevent himself from any laughter he might would receive. At that point in time, his hair had changed completely to a variety of shades of pink; not a single strand of the previous colors remained. He continued to itch about the roots of his hair and he kept scratching furiously. He couldn't keep himself from stopping, not even when chunks of black fur fell onto the dirt around him. Just great. I got pink hair and hot spots. This is ridiculous. Where's a cortisone shot when you need one?

He rested his head on his injured paw. With his other, he formed a small flame between his pads. He stared into it, watching it flicker and crackle. He practiced making it bigger and hotter, watching the size and color change. He lost interest soon after and the flame disappeared, leaving smoke trailing off. Pressing his paw to the ground, he heard it sizzle into the dirt as if he were putting out a cigarette. He let out a sigh and closed his eyes.

  If that Peanut guy wasn't such a goody-two-shoes I could have my cell and call someone. Hmm. Who would I call? Maybe check in with good 'ol Fox and see how he's handling that psycho kitten. Nah, he's probably kicked her out of that place by now. Or maybe Raziel. Yeah… probably him… Hope he hasn't been trying to call. Meh, probably wouldn't have service in this dump anyway.

His thoughts slowly drifted as he began to fall asleep. He was, unfortunately, unable to maintain this as he was startled awake by a presence that stood before him. When his eyes opened, he was assaulted by a sudden illumination. Once the brightness vanished, he realized what stood before him was a large purple creature. A large, glowing, purple creature.  

  "Since when do they have radioactive My Little Ponies?"

  "Rainbow-boy?" the creature questioned. For a moment Bane was slightly taken-aback by the fact the horse could speak without moving its mouth but when Chordata's head poked out from behind the equine's mass of waving hair he quickly understood.

  "Oh it's you. Man, has my day been a load of--WHAT THE HECK?!" he shrieked as he met Chordata's newly designed eyes. "Oh crap, don't tell me they got the pink eye here!"

  "What? No you moron! That stupid pill! It caused this!" she pointed angrily at her eyes with a claw.

  "Oh pff, just look at me! Look what it did to my hair!"
Chordata squinted her eyes tightly in Bane's direction. He found it odd her pupils were not looking directly at him. "Yeah, I kinda can't… see. Sooo…"

His head tilted to the side, angel chains swaying, "So you're… blind?"

Chordata did not reply at first. She fidgeted for a moment before sliding down off of her horse's back, landing a bit awkwardly. "Yeah, almost. Makes me wonder what kinda crap is happening to everyone else." she attempted at looking in his direction again, "So… what's your problem then?"

  "Remember when my hair was turning pink? Well it's completely that way now! Isn't that just peachy?" He half expected her to either laugh or agree with him, but she did neither. The expression on her face was unreadable but he swore he saw a flash of anger in her aberrant eyes. "So…" she began, "I have been walking around this place not being able to see my hand in front of my face, apparently looking incredibly stupid, and resorting to horse-back riding about this madhouse while you have… pink hair."

  "And I'm… kinda itchy." he added, as if he assumed that would even the odds. Chordata did not find it one bit amusing, as told in the silence that followed.

Bane glanced up at the horse essence and noticed she was staring at him intently. She remained silent and still, the only movement being the wisps from her body. He could hear her breathing, the filling up of lungs - lungs that were not even there. It was chilling and Bane found he could not look at the creature for very long.

  "Ok, well, do whatever. I'm going to go win my round. See ya." Chordata sprung up onto Amniote's back. She ordered the essence, through her thoughts, to continue their search. The horse refused to move for a moment, but she could not defy her master's orders.

As they left, Bane realized he, too, needed to find his partner. Time was running short and he did not want to discover what would occur if all but him had finished. He thought back to what ringmaster Elly had told them hours earlier: "The challenge is to find the competitor who matches your color." He did not understand how he was to do this when he did not know his own color.

Then it hit him. Pink. Pink was his color. He had figured it earlier, but had simply brushed it off. Holy Poe, I'm dumb. He thought. It might not have been his eyes, but that didn't matter. At that time he also quickly became aware of who he was to fight.    

Amniote walked at a slow pace, much more-so compared to the speed they had been traveling the rest of the day. Chordata was unable to completely notice this, but she sensed something was out of tune with her essence. What's your problem? She thought to the equine. Amniote halted and tossed up her head irritably. She rotated her body around to face the direction they had presently left. Ahead of them Chordata made out the blurry black canine figure.

  "What do you want, Rainbow-boy?" she called to him impatiently, "Can't you see I'm doing something?"

  "I'm pretty sure you don't have to look much farther." Bane said, voice flat and empty, "I'm your opponent."