Funny how the shortest chapters can be the most important.
A panic overtook many in the camp. A thousand trolls fled swiftly back to their city, later to be dubbed the Unfaithful Thousand by those who stayed to witness the great event that would come next. The trolls who remained clamored towards Kankri, four thousand voices shrieking as one to ask where they should go and what they should do. Yet in spite of this, he remained calm. Onlookers noticed that his back was straight, his head was held high, his fiery eyes were calm.
Kankri looked out at the panicked crowd, then looked to the three people he loved most. "Do you trust me?"
"Duh," Meulin said at once.
"Of course we do, Kankri," Porrim said.
"Sure," Mituna answered with a shrug.
"Good," he said, "because I'm about to do something crazy." He attempted to calm the crowd, but to no avail. Finally Mituna stepped forward and shouted, "SHUT THE FUCK UP" as loudly as he could. A hush fell over them, and Mituna took a step back behind Kankri.
Kankri looked at them, then turned and began to head north. "Follow me."
Meulin hurried to his side and clasped his hand, while Porrim and Mituna fell into step behind them. They left behind the camp entirely, heading north towards a small mount. When Kankri glanced back he saw that the four thousand remaining trolls had begun to quietly follow. After half an hour of walking, Kankri climbed atop a rock so that he could be more easily seen. Meulin, Porrim, and Mituna seated themselves at his feet. They were just as confused as the rest of the crowd, but they were hopeful that Kankri knew what he was doing.
"My friends," Kankri said, speaking as loudly as he was able, "my brothers and sisters...I'm sure you all know by now what has happened. Threshecutioners have ordered us to disband, or pay with our lives."
A cry went up somewhere in the multitude, and they were joined by a chorus of panicked yells. Kankri held up his hands, and they went silent. That surprised him. He knew they looked to him as a leader, but he had never thought to test the extent of his authority. "Do you know why they want us to disband? They claim it is because, as we are living in an unregistered area, we are technically living as ferals. Now that, my friends, is highly illegal. Living as a feral is an offense punishable by death. And here are several thousand of us, sitting pretty and waiting for them. But they sent a mere twelve threshers. Twelve threshers versus thousands of ferals. Where is the logic in that?"
A murmur went up among the crowd as people discussed this. Kankri swallowed. His throat was already getting dry, and he had so much more to say.
"There isn't any," he continued. "But they believed twelve highbloods would be enough. After all, lowbloods outnumber highbloods a million to one. Yet we still submit to them. We still fear them. We are greater in number and in strength than they could ever dream to be, yet they rule us. They rule us because we fear them. They knew that twelve bluebloods would be enough to strike terror into the hearts of thousands, and they knew that it would be enough to make us scatter. They don't want us to disband because we're 'ferals'...no, they want us to disband because we're becoming a community. We're showing each other how to hunt and forage. We're treating each other's ailments. We're making friends, sharing fires, laughing together. And they're afraid of that."
God was his mouth dry.
"They're afraid of lowbloods banding together. Because then we might realize that we outnumber them," Kankri said, continued. His mouth felt like the desert. "While we starve in the streets, they have feasts. While we die of disease and infection, they get secret treatment from doctors. While we get culled for anything and everything, they rarely have to face the drones. Why? Because they're highbloods, and we aren't. But it doesn't have to be this way. They would have you think this is the way it should be. The way it always has been, the way it always will be. But they're wrong. Trolls of all colors and hues can live together as equals. I've seen it with my own eyes."
"Yeah right!" someone shouted. "Where?!"
"In the wild," he answered swiftly. "I was raised in a group of ferals, amongst highbloods, midbloods, and lowbloods. We lived quietly, and we lived peacefully. Everyone had their place, and it was never above someone else."
"LIAR!" someone else shouted.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Mituna shouted back, getting to his feet. "This asshole knows what the fuck he's talking about. He saved my sorry ass and dragged me back into the wild. I'm from the city, and I thought he was fucking crazy. Going on about equality and wildlings and visions and shit. But he wasn't crazy- ok strike that obvioulsy he is or we wouldn't fucking be here. But he's not a fucking liar."
With that Mituna sat down. The others stared at him in silent awe. Kankri smiled at him. He had found a loyal friend that night in the city, and never before had it been more clear.
"...visions?" someone in the crowd repeated. "He said you have visions!"
"I..." Shit. He'd told Mituna a bit about the visions that plagued him, just in case one should sneak up upon him while they traveled together. (So far, he had been vision free since remembering everything. Perhaps now that he knew the truth, the universe didn't feel the need to shove it in his face once every night.) He hadn't planned on telling a crowd of strangers about this, but then again he hadn't really planned any of this. It just simply happened. "As a wriggler, I was plagued by fainting spells. Each night without fail, I would freeze and collapse where I stood. And when I collapsed, I saw something amazing. I saw trolls of all blood colors working together. I saw a peaceful world, where trolls didn't have to fear drones or threshecutioners or subugglators. I saw what we could become."
Thousands of eyes stared back at him, captivated. They seemed even more interested than before. His confidence renewed, he continued.
"I see what we could be each time I look around the camp. I see friendship, I see laughter, I see happiness, I see hope, I see love. I see a world where our descendants will not be bound in chains forged by an archaic caste system. I see a world where they will be treated as people and not a color. I see a world where our descendants can live without fear. I see a world where WE can live without fear. But nothing will change if we do not take action. We have to rise up and defend ourselves. We have to show the highbloods that we are not afraid. No longer will we go with bowed heads when they came to enslave us! No longer will we turn our faces away as our brothers and sisters are slaughtered! No longer will we go quietly to our deaths! Tonight we break our chains! Tonight, we are FREE!"
A deafening roar arose from the crowd. Kankri took a step back, thinking he had enraged them. Then, moments later, they began to chant. Thousands of voice rose as one, screaming: "SIGNLESS! SIGNLESS! SIGNLESS! SIGNLESS!"
They stamped their feet, they beat the air with their fists. They were an army, and his name was their battle cry.