Chapter four: Riot
I don't know why, but I fed her. Told her things. I made sure her broken wing and tail healed straight. I brought her new clothes and taught her mercy. Every day she seemed to slip into depression and self-loathing. I was afraid that I hadn't been gentle enough and had destroyed her psyche. I was afraid that she would soon hurt herself, but I couldn't take her out of hiding because the Lindblums hated and feared Alexis and her kind. What to do with her, I could not begin to guess.
:30~
My tail twitched at the sounds from outside the inn. People were shouting about something. I didn't care. Just a week ago, the only thing remotely resembling a home that I'd ever had had been burned to the ground by a single creature. So long as there was no more damage or death, I didn't care what happened. I was still numb.
"KILLER!" someone shouted with vindictive acid. "MURDERER! I had two children before you came around, do you CARE?!"
WHAT? Did he just say..?
I was on my feet and running as fast as my long legs would carry me past the makeshift hospital and into the streets. They were beating her with anything they could find, rawhide ropes, metal, would, broomhandles, glass bottles. She had ropes tied around her neck, arms, and legs. Her wings were tied to her back. She didn't respond. Her slender, elfin face kept entirely neutral except for her watering glass-green eyes.
I felt rage and hate well up inside me so deeply that it scared me. I wanted to kill her, join in with the rioters rampaging the streets and breaking things just to have something else to throw at her. Before I knew what precisely to do, Vivi was standing at my side and holding Dagger's hand.
"My, g-gosh. ALEXIS!" he whispered with frightening intensity. Alexis? Who was Alexis?
The rioters dragged the beast into the inn and passed us. The ironsmith was leading them, and he was carrying a cage big strong enough to hold the mega-mystery-beast that was supposed to be the highlight of this year's Festival. The rioters shoved past me and ran to the basement. By the time a reached them, I was numb all over and SHE was in the cage.
Dagger flew into a rage, "THAT'S ENOUGH!! ALL OF YOU GET OUT!!"
The bravest man muttered quietly, "But--!"
"OUT!"
The entire crowd left with the silence of a mouse walking on Pluto.
I turned to Dagger and Vivi, "Okay, would the two of you like to explain something?"
I don't know why, but I fed her. Told her things. I made sure her broken wing and tail healed straight. I brought her new clothes and taught her mercy. Every day she seemed to slip into depression and self-loathing. I was afraid that I hadn't been gentle enough and had destroyed her psyche. I was afraid that she would soon hurt herself, but I couldn't take her out of hiding because the Lindblums hated and feared Alexis and her kind. What to do with her, I could not begin to guess.
:30~
My tail twitched at the sounds from outside the inn. People were shouting about something. I didn't care. Just a week ago, the only thing remotely resembling a home that I'd ever had had been burned to the ground by a single creature. So long as there was no more damage or death, I didn't care what happened. I was still numb.
"KILLER!" someone shouted with vindictive acid. "MURDERER! I had two children before you came around, do you CARE?!"
WHAT? Did he just say..?
I was on my feet and running as fast as my long legs would carry me past the makeshift hospital and into the streets. They were beating her with anything they could find, rawhide ropes, metal, would, broomhandles, glass bottles. She had ropes tied around her neck, arms, and legs. Her wings were tied to her back. She didn't respond. Her slender, elfin face kept entirely neutral except for her watering glass-green eyes.
I felt rage and hate well up inside me so deeply that it scared me. I wanted to kill her, join in with the rioters rampaging the streets and breaking things just to have something else to throw at her. Before I knew what precisely to do, Vivi was standing at my side and holding Dagger's hand.
"My, g-gosh. ALEXIS!" he whispered with frightening intensity. Alexis? Who was Alexis?
The rioters dragged the beast into the inn and passed us. The ironsmith was leading them, and he was carrying a cage big strong enough to hold the mega-mystery-beast that was supposed to be the highlight of this year's Festival. The rioters shoved past me and ran to the basement. By the time a reached them, I was numb all over and SHE was in the cage.
Dagger flew into a rage, "THAT'S ENOUGH!! ALL OF YOU GET OUT!!"
The bravest man muttered quietly, "But--!"
"OUT!"
The entire crowd left with the silence of a mouse walking on Pluto.
I turned to Dagger and Vivi, "Okay, would the two of you like to explain something?"