Ragatha needed to regress. Badly. But, she had to hold off. Nobody had spotted Caine at all today, and the day's adventure hadn't even been announced... Something was up, and Ragatha had to power through until it was all sorted out. They searched everywhere, inside and outside the circus, but no Caine. He didn't come when they called, and Bubble wasn't to be seen either. It was strange. "Maybe Caine finally left us all to our own devices." Jax suggested in his usual sarcastic manner. Gangle visibly shrunk in on herself at the sound of his voice. Zooble shrugged. "I'd say that's a win. he really pissed me off." Jax pressed the back of his hand to his forehead in a dramatic pose. "Oh no, what are we to do without supervision? Will we go crazy?" He cried out, with drawn-out emphasis on 'crazy.' "Yeah, I'm not dealing with this today." And Zooble was off, hobbling back to his room. Ragatha thought about the idea of Caine being permanently gone. Surely, that wasn't the case, right? He wouldn't leave… Oh god, what if Ragatha did something? But what could she have done? Well, it's possible she did something and just forgot. But something of that caliber, wouldn't she remember that? Her mom always said— She felt a hand tug at her dress. "Hey, you okay?" Ragatha looked down through a bleary eye. Oh, it was just Pomni. She looked concerned. Or annoyed. Ragatha had a hard time telling. "Oh! I'm just fine, Pomni! I'm sorry for worrying you!" Pomni's eyes furrowed a bit at the apology. "I'm not saying you're lying, but I don't believe you." Ragatha waved off the jester's concern with one hand, trying to act like the change in expression didn't get to her. "Trust me, I'm doing just fine!" Pomni retracted her hand, taking a step back. "…If you say so." As Pomni walked away, Ragatha couldn't help but wish for her comfort. They didn't have the best track record, but she still longed for her- or anyone, really- all the same. She stared up, blinking the tears away. She was fine, she didn't need to bother Pomni over this. It's nothing, really! …She should probably help look for Caine. Maybe that'll help take her mind off things. Ragatha didn't know where to start looking, though. That, and the combined fuzziness in her head, made it difficult to focus. But she had to pull through! Ragatha started aimlessly wandering, hoping maybe she'd stumble upon somewhere she hadn't already looked. In one of the corners of the circus tent, she found a small pillow structure outlining a hole that led down into darkness. She had never seen this before. "How quaint…" She murmured. Maybe…? Ragatha got on her hands and knees and crawled inside, praying that this new mysterious location would hold answers, or at least a clue. Inside the hole was dark, as to be expected, and cave-like. Cool blues dyed the cavern, and stalactites dripping mineral water protruded from the ceiling. Ragatha got onto her feet and began exploring. The pools of water on the floor made her feet soggy, but she kept pushing through the discomfort, even if it caused her regression to spike. It felt like she was crawling out of her fabric via her throat. It was that encapsulating feeling of 'my skeleton is too big for my body,' even if Ragatha didn't have one. An impending doom lingered at the back of the ragdoll's mind. Ragatha stepped too close to a stalagmite, and cut the outside of her left leg on the hard rock. She hissed out of instinct, but no pain followed. The cut was small, but it slowly unraveled along the seam as she walked. Ragatha continued on, and the form in her leg started to give way, making it difficult to walk without limping. To remedy this, she untied her bow and wrapped the ribbon around her leg, but the wound was now too big to be fully covered by the ribbon. Even if it didn't hurt, seeing her own damp stuffing spilling out made Ragatha dizzy. She stood back up, and the darkness suddenly scared her. Feet wet and half-regressed, she trekked through the cave until she saw a faint golden light. Like a hypnotized moth, she sped up towards the light. Ragatha didn't expect to find Kinger sitting in the damp darkness, a glowing yellow butterfly perched on his finger. He looked up at Ragatha, and upon seeing her tightly-wound state, his eyes softened. "Looks like I was found. Good morning, Ragatha." She stepped closer to Kinger, hands held neatly in front of her. "I think it's… long past morning, now. Sorry." "You're fine! Time gets hard to keep track of down here." Another butterfly was summoned by Kinger, and it fluttered around Ragatha in a mindless dance. "Come, sit down. You look tired." She took a seat beside him. The spot Kinger was sitting in was oddly dry, and populated sparsely with brown mushrooms. "So what brings you down here? I thought nobody else knew about this spot." "I found it by accident. I was looking for Caine. We all are. Nobody's seen him since yesterday." "Most curious…" Kinger muttered to himself. Ragatha continued on, the waterworks threatening to be set off. "Do you think he left? Do you think he hates us? Does he hate me?" It was then that the dam broke. Ragtha choked out a sob, and fat tears that quickly got absorbed by the thick cotton fabric rolled down her face. Like an old, dusty instinct was activated in his mind, Kinger immediately leaned in and held Ragatha in his disembodied hands, pulling her closer to his side. "Hey, hey, shhh. Caine doesn't hate us, dolly. He quite likes us, in fact. I bet he has his own reasons for being MIA." "What if it's because of me? What if I did something?" "Hey, now. I might not have the sharpest memory, but I do know that you're the sweetest girl around. I can't think of one reason as to why you would be at fault." Ragatha sniffled and sobbed for a while, helplessly grabbing at Kinger's robe. "But- But…!" "But what?" "I don't know… Sorry." Ragatha mumbled, her voice quivering. "There's no need to apologize, sweetheart. Just let it all out." Kinger pat Ragatha's back gently with one hand, and the other traveled up to her unruly hair. He combed his fingers through the yarn, and only then did he realize that her bow was missing. "Ragatha, where's your bow?" he asked in a low, curious tone. "My leg…" Ragatha sniffled. She was calming down, for the most part. She straightened out her left leg, pointing at the impromptu bandage she made for it. His hands left their positions and trailed down the ragdoll's leg. "Goodness, when did this happen?" "I cut my leg on the rocks." "Oh, now this won't do." Kinger patted his lap. "Set your leg right here." Ragatha wordlessly did as she was told, resting her calf across Kinger. He summoned a thread and needle. Ragatha watched like it was a magic trick, wonder teaming in her plastic eye. As the chess piece stitched her up, Ragatha asked, "How can you do that?" "Well, I've learned that in the circus, if you can think it, you can do it. Your imagination is the limit!" "Woah.. Do you think I can do it, too?" "If you put your mind to it." Motivated by Kinger's words, Ragatha squeezed her eye shut and thought really hard about an object she wanted. After a while of nothing happening, she opened it and sighed in frustration. "It's not working…" "Try to imagine holding it. Think about the texture and weight of the object, temperature, or a smell, if it has one." Ragatha nodded, and tired again, this time with less straining. She imagined it in her hands. Slightly warm, and sweet-smelling. She could practically taste it, already. Sweet and tart and oh so yummy. She felt Kinger stop sewing, and she opened her eyes to see if anything happened. Lo and behold, a blueberry lemon scone was settled in her hands, frosted carefully in a smooth zig-zag motion. She looked to Kinger, almost vibrating in excitement. Kinger's eyes smiled. "You did it! Great job!" Ragatha made a happy humming noise, and took a bite of the scone. "If you don't mind me asking, why a scone?" "I had them all the time when I was a kid. I always want them whenever I feel little." Through the golden haze of nostalgia, the memory of baking scones with her siblings came burned bright in her mind. Being on the younger end of the family, Ragatha usually got stuck with just frosting them, but even so, it was one of the better memories of her childhood she had. Gathered in the kitchen, huddled around the oven as the timer ticked down, her older sister telling them sternly to disperse or else the scones would never cook… How she missed it. How she missed her siblings. They were too good to her, or at least that's what she remembered. She hoped her memories were true. Kinger nodded sagely. "That sounds lovely." Ragatha cuddled close to him as she munched on the scone. Kinger resumed sewing. "When you finish, do you wanna head back out?" "I don't know…" Ragatha quietly replied whilst chewing. "Alright, we can stay a little longer. Until I finish patching you up." ---- The two emerged out of the cave and walked back to the center meeting area of the tent. Everyone was gathered around in a semi-circle, and floating high in the sky was Caine, watching from a distance. Nobody looked pleased. "Oh look, you found the other kooky one. Congrats, Rags." Jax grinned sardonically as he spoke. Ragatha knew he didn't mean it. She took a deep breath and said nothing. Ragatha leaned a little closer to Gangle, who was at her right. "So, where was he?" "He said he was 'tending to affairs concerning the audience.' Nobody knows what he means, a-and he won't tell us." "Oh." Ragatha nodded, expression blank. "So, what's the adventure?"