Chapter 1: Timestream Part 2
As the class flew back from the Timestream chamber, Shiva grimaced in pain. She could still feel the pain from the 'stitches' that the humans had sewn into her stomach. Her muscles ached from the weight of the disc which she had flown to the drop point. And worst of all she could smell the stench of burning fur and cloying fat, from the first building. She had screamed in terror and rage, seeing the other bats from Arcadia's makeshift colony battering themselves against the stone enclosure. Chinook's parents had died in the fiery conflagration, and even now she felt their loss fresh in her heart.
Shade's last words stuck in her mind. "The humans shall never be forgiven for their unconscionable behavior. In our eyes they are now worse than the Vampyrum, for we trusted them, and they exploited us to their own ends. They are cursed creatures." The rest of the day passed in a blur, Shiva's mind focused solely on her experiences in the chamber. After hunting in the forest that bordered the city she hung from a branch thinking. After the residual emotions caused by Shade's story had faded from her mind, she thought for a bit on what had been said.
From what she had understood, the humans represented in the story were only part of a group. Shiva didn't understand why their actions had to extend to all humans in general. She hated people who made blanket statements, and although she had to agree that what Shade and his friends had suffered was wrong, she felt that perhaps he was being a little bit judgmental. She looked up to see Aries flying up to meet her. He landed on her branch and said to her, "That was quite an experience in the chamber, no? Sago continues to amaze me. I still can't believe how realistic that was, I could smell the smoke, taste the water and bugs. It was like I was living a snapshot of Shade's life."
"Talk about an engaging history lesson, I can still see the marks where I had the stitches." She gestured toward a series of small red welts on her chest. Suddenly Aries face registered shock and concern. "What happened to your face?" He pointed to a long scratchmark along her cheek. "Perhaps some of the memories were rather more vivid than one might expect…" she chucked weakly. Aries reached out with one wing and brushed her face, wincing as he saw her grimace. "Clawmarks more like. Who did this?" "One of the classmates got angry…said I'd given him wrong notes.. got rough…things progressed." Ariel looked into her eyes intently. Finally he said, "If there's one thing you're not good at it's lying. What was his excuse this time?" The individual she was referring too was her father.
He had taken the 'It's Academic' phrase to heart a little too seriously. Shiva wasn't sure what had set him off, but it seemed that he was applying the pressure harder and harder each year. He'd taken to using his teeth to "persuade" her to succeed recently. Aries swore and growled angrily. "That abusive bastard. If he does that to you one more time, I swear…" He bared his large fangs angrily but stopped when he saw the tears coming to her eyes. He resisted the urge to touch her try to console her. She probably didn't like him…in that manner. He let her cry for a moment, hating himself for doing so. The tears fell like jewels from her eyes. If only she could talk to someone…tell them how she felt… Then Shiva suddenly thought of something. "Maybe the reason what happened to Shade happened because they couldn't communicate. You know what?" She turned to face him. "I want to open the lines of communication. Maybe we can fix this mess."
Aries looked deep into her eyes and realized that she was serious. He took a deep breath and said. "I'm with you on this one." "But think of how large a task we are undertaking. How can we even begin?" She looked at him, her eyes glittering. "I've heard that often when one needs help, salvation will walk right by and look them in the face…."
This is the end of the chapter but not the story. This is the most that I have ever written in one period. I'll keep it up if you review my entry.