The night was a little cold, but there wasn't much wind.
The sun had gone down about an hour ago, and I've been sitting alone since it had sunk behind the mountains that loomed over Lumen.
I sat alone on the rooftop… or at least, I was alone to a degree. I knew Vim was nearby, but had no idea where he was. Only that he was close enough that he could protect me if I needed such a thing.
Glancing at the nearest door, I knew that Reatti and Merit were behind it. Maybe not directly behind the door, so they wouldn't be smelled by whoever came, but close enough to run out to help me if I needed it.
Across from me, far enough to keep me safe but close enough that we could have our eventual conversation… was another chair. It was empty of course, but I hoped soon it'd be where one of the other non-humans would be sitting. I was growing rather anxious, waiting here for them.
This was as exciting as it was worrisome.
All of the Society had voted rather quickly to indulge in this meeting on the rooftop… but to my surprise they had also quickly voted to ensure my safety right after.
They wanted Vim nearby, just in case. They had been willing to even endanger the prospect of this meeting if needed, too.
I was a little surprised at how… protective… some of our members actually were. Although it made me smile, and happy, to know everyone cared about me that much… I knew it wasn't entirely just because it was me as an individual.
They would have been as protective over any of our members. Not just me myself.
Merit was a kind person. She seemed prickly, yet was one of my fiercest defenders it seemed.
A small breeze rolled along the rooftop, and I heard the nearby garden thanks to it. The bushes and trees bristled and shifted in the wind.
Would they show up soon or much later? I didn't mind waiting, even if it got cold that was fine… but I really wanted to meet them and talk to them in depth.
What kind of conversation would we have? What would the results be? Will they become my friends or my enemies? Would this moment be something I'd remember for the rest of my life? Would this night be something I'd always be able to be proud of, or something I would always regret?
My smile grew a little, and I hoped Vim didn't find me too weird. Sitting here alone, smiling oddly…
But I couldn't help myself. This was not just amazing, it was…
Well…
"Exactly something I wanted to do," I whispered.
After all it was. I wanted to be like Vim. And this was something he did often.
During our voting several members, Lawrence especially, had made it clear that this was something Vim was used to. They had called it a moment of first contact.
First contact. With another member. Another Non-Human.
People who weren't part of the Society.
Like me, back in the beginning.
Yet…
I tried to think of Vim's expressions of the last week. Especially so of back when they had first shown up, and attacked Vim.
Even though they had been stalking me, and endangering the Society… and even though they had literally attacked him too… He had still stopped his pursuit of them. He had stopped attacking them, and had only defended himself… because he had immediately considered them members of the Society. Once he realized who and what they were.
Vim had done that with me too, back when we first met. In the Sleepy Artist.
He had studied me for only a few moments, and then smiled and nodded.
He had accepted me at that moment, without question. From that moment forward, he had chosen to protect me. From anything and everything.
I wonder how he did that. How had he decided so quickly, and devoted himself so purely to that decision?
I wanted to be that way too.
A shadow moved, and I left my thoughts as I stared hard at the approaching figure.
Going still on the seat, I watched as a familiar shape approached. She was short, and covered in layers of worn down jackets and clothes.
The girl slowly walked up towards me, and stopped right next to the empty chair. She stared at it, for a long moment, and I wondered if she would sit or not.
While she studied the chair, I studied her feet.
She had not wrapped her feet this time. Or well… maybe not feet.
The girl had talons. Her feet were like a birds. She had four large talons, and each had a pointy black nail. Her feet reminded me of a hawk's.
After a moment of staring at the chair she looked around and lifted her head. She sniffed the air in an odd fashion, and I realized she was trying to tell if I was alone or not.
"I asked you to come alone," she then said.
"I'm alone on the roof. There are others nearby, yes… but not here. We're alone here," I told her calmly. It was the truth, and also fulfilled her request.
"So you are…" she mumbled, and then glanced behind her. As she did I worried that she was debating running away again, but instead she sighed and shook her head. "They're not far behind me either. Even though I told them I'd come alone," she said.
The way the girl spoke told me that whoever she spoke of… she saw them as people she loved. Friends. Comrades.
"Would you sit with me?" I asked her, gesturing to the chair.
She glanced at me, then back at the chair.
"Who was that man?" she asked while staring at the chair.
"Which one…?"
"The one who killed Pulti," she said.
Her tone told me that her death had not only been recent… but painful. And not just painful for her.
Our kind could endure a lot of damage. But we still died. And thanks to how resilient we were… dying was sometimes gruesome.
Vim had probably hurt this Pulti in such a way that she had suffered. A slow death. Cruel to her… and those who had likely watched it.
"I'm sorry she died," I told her.
The girl gulped at me. She nodded. "It's fine… It would have happened soon anyway. It was why she had volunteered to meet you first," she said.
Anyway? Volunteered?
She sighed and stepped forward, as to sit onto the chair. As she sat carefully, ruffling around under her layers of clothing, I tried to understand what she meant.
Pulti would have died anyway? Was that what she meant? Why would she say that? Had she been old? Sickly?
"That man… his name is Vim. He's the protector," I said gently.
As the girl got situated on the chair, I noticed the way her legs curled a little. Her talon-like feet curled beneath the chair, hanging just a bit above the floor. They curled inward a little oddly. She seemed to have an extra joint on her legs, to let her do so. A second knee, it seemed.
A bird indeed.
"The protector?" she asked me.
I nodded. "He protects all of us."
"All…? Wait… how many of you are there?" she asked as she tilted her head. As she did, her hood fell backward. Revealing not just her face but all of her feathers. They weren't as puffed up as I remembered them being, but of course back then she had been rather… distressed.
Although not as distressed… I could see fear in her eyes. Little black eyes, without any white within, somehow gleamed in the dark. And not just in a way that animal eyes did. It was as if her black eyes were a different type of black entirely. They looked like little orbs, and they were shivering.
She looked scared. Afraid. Unsure. Worried.
Yet she still sat with me. Still spoke to me. Still dared to try.
How wonderful.
"You don't know?" I asked. So it was true that she, and the rest of them, didn't know there was more here than just me and Vim.
"There are more than two of you?" she asked.
Two. Interesting. Had she not mentioned that I wasn't alone? That meant she had smelled someone else than me. Yet… she shouldn't really know about more of us than Vim. She obviously didn't seem to realize that there were several of us here.
Did she think that Merit, or Reatti's scent, were Vim's? It was a likely possibility. Merit had been on the roof with me, both times they had come. It'd be interesting to know if she thought Vim smelled like Merit. Merit's smell was like a sun baked rock. It somehow fit Vim, but at the same time it didn't. For her to be able to smell either of them, with them behind a heavily sealed door and likely down several steps of stairs from here was a testament to her nose's ability.
"Yes. There are. But until I know more about you, and those you're with, I can't tell you how many of us there are," I told her.
As the girl stared at me, the wind picked up at little. As it the breeze blew by, the girl's feathers perked up… becoming puffier.
"We came to you for help," she said.
"Help?" I tilted my head, and I noticed her eyes dance upward. To my ears.
"We had hoped to lure you to the master… but no matter how many times Pulti showed herself in front of you, you never chased her… But I suppose that's our fault. You can talk after all," she said.
My tail twitched as I did my best to understand what she was saying. I suddenly had a lot of questions… but was afraid to ask certain ones, even though I knew I needed to ask them.
"My name is Renn," I told her, deciding to start there.
She blinked at me. "Fly."
"Fly… It's a pleasure to meet you," I greeted her.
A long moment passed as she studied me, and then finally she nodded.
"If you wanted my help why didn't you just ask for it?" I asked her.
"Right… We should have. But we thought you were just like the master, so…" she shrugged a little sadly, as if just as disappointed as I was that they had not done so.
This master again. And they wanted to lure me to them? Why? For what purpose?
I was about to ask, but the girl suddenly shot upward, off her chair. I was about to stand and ask what had happened and what was wrong… but the source of her discomfort became apparent as Vim stepped up next to me.
Fly nearly knocked her chair over as she grabbed the back of the chair for support, and tried to hide herself behind it. Her feathers were now as puffed up and enlarged as I remembered them to be last time.
"Vim!" I started to complain. She looked like she was about to fly away!
"You!" she shouted, and I noticed the scared voice. She was terrified of him.
For good reason. Couldn't blame her… but…
"What would luring Renn to your master accomplish, young bird?" Vim asked her.
"We…" she looked around, as if expecting more people to show up. But no one had. The door to the Society building remained closed.
Where had Vim even popped up from? Behind me was the large open space where we usually sparred. Fly had only jumped and startled upon seeing him, as he stepped up next to my chair…
Fly stared at Vim as she stepped even farther behind the chair… as to glare at Vim and I from between the bars connecting the chair and its backrest together.
"We had hoped you two would fight each other," she barely whispered.
Fight?
Frowning at her, I wondered if maybe I had misheard her. But… I hadn't. She had whispered, but there had not been any wind or any other sounds. Plus I wasn't wearing a hat.
They wanted me to fight their master? Why? That made no sense at all…
"I see. Did your master order you to bring her to them?" Vim asked calmly, seemingly unbothered by her words.
She shook her head quickly.
That made even less sense.
"Vim…?" I whispered his name, as to let him know I couldn't understand what was happening. He only glanced at me, then back at her.
"Before you run away, Fly… know this," Vim raised his voice a little, which made her startle and step back away from the chair.
Wait, no!
"You are able to join our Society. A place and people that will accept you as you are. The Society offers acceptation, safety, protection, and most importantly a place to belong. A purpose. Go back and tell the others that you and they are officially invited to join our Society," Vim spoke calmly, and with a very gentle smile. He spoke, and looked, so strangely comfortable as he spoke that I knew even she could tell he meant his words… and had said them often. It nearly sounded rehearsed, yet it obviously wasn't.
Fly's feathers seemed to become denser, lowering a little, as she studied Vim. Her clothes, although still thick, became thinner thanks to it. She probably had feathers all over her body.
"So we're to feed another? What's the point in that?" she asked.
My blood went cold, as if a freezing chill had just blew past.
"The Society demands no sacrifice," Vim said.
Fly squinted her eyes at him, and it was clear she didn't believe him. She was doubting all of this.
Before I or Vim could say more she shook her head, and then turned away. Her talons made scraping sounds as she ran away, heading for the other side of the roof.
I stood quickly, to chase after her, but Vim grabbed me by the arm.
"Vim!" I shouted at him and was about to try and tug my arm free, but there was no point anymore. She was already near the ledge of the roof.
"I understand what's happening now Renn… or at least, a good idea of it. Let her go," he said gently. He looked a little hurt.
His hand slowly released me and I stepped forward, to hurry and shout at Fly… but once I looked back at her, I found her in the air. She had jumped off the roof. A blink of an eye later she fell to the street, out of sight.
"What do you mean?" I asked him as I stepped away from him.
"They're owned. By another," he said plainly.
"Owned…" I understood what he meant, to a point. They called that individual their master. Yet…
He nodded. "Their master likely demands payment. Sacrifice. They demand to be fed, likely," Vim explained.
Fed…
I shook my head, as my stomach knotted in understanding.
Vim nodded again, even softer. "A sad reality Renn. Although they are a fragment, a lost type of our people… they're actually the standard. It's just been so long since we've met any like them that it had become a surprise. Most of the older ancestors had demanded such things from those they ruled. A tax in not coin or fealty, but blood," Vim said.
Groaning at the very obvious reality before us, I felt sick. Sick and weak.
Sacrifice. To sacrifice oneself, and others, to the one who ruled them.
"They wanted me to fight their master? The one who demands to be fed?" I asked.
He sighed and nodded. "They can't hope to fight whoever it is themselves, so came to you. One who likely smells like a strong predator to their noses. It's interesting… She had smelled another on the roof. I wonder who she had smelled?" Vim crossed his arms as he thought about it.
Right. She had. I had thought that was interesting too.
"Never mind that, Vim… tell me, what do we do? She said Pulti would have been dead anyway, even if you hadn't killed her so…" I stepped towards him, to point at the chair across from us. Where that little bird girl had sat.
She had been so scared. So afraid. Yet had sat with me. With us.
And that meant… that meant that this Pulti had done the same. She had likely been the same.
She had tried to incur my wrath, as to lure me to their master. To let us fight one another. To free them.
I closed my eyes at the horrible situation, and wondered if I should sit back down. It felt like the world was spinning.
"We explain what happened to the rest, Renn. I'm the protector… but until they actually pose a threat I cannot do anything without permission. You know that," Vim said.
Nodding, I did. I knew that well. I was trying to accept it still, and I was trying to also accept abiding by the same rules. So that I could be like him.
"If you killed Pulti… Then…"
"Another must be sacrificed. Yes. Killing one has killed another. I now have two unwarranted deaths on my hands," Vim said smoothly.
This time I hadn't thought about sitting, I did so. I leaned forward as I sat down, and felt the bile rising in my stomach and throat. I didn't puke, nor did I think I would… but I was definitely…
"Deep breaths Renn. Although this is bad… it's not the worst path fate could have led us. If what she says is true, then our real enemy is their master. That means we might be able to spare the rest of them," Vim said.
I nodded, though for some reason didn't feel that much better.
A heavy hand placed itself on my back, and I shifted as Vim patted me gently. "It's not your fault Renn."
"Yes it is. They came to me. I should have been better," I said.
"They never gave you a chance Renn… The only time they might have possibly done so, was ruined by me."
He might be right, since he had hurt… Killed Pulti.
But… I still felt responsible.
"My grandparents had been the same. They had demanded to be fed too," I whispered.
Vim's hand on my back twitched just enough that I was able to notice.
I kept my head low, and my eyes filled with tears as I imagined Fly's face. The young girl's expression hadn't been one of desperation… just fear. Yet also not.
She's been born into such a world. Where her life meant nothing, and she believed she'd be an eventual meal for another.
I had been the same, back in my youth.
I hadn't known it was wrong. I hadn't realized there was possibly more to life. I couldn't have known, because no one else around me knew either.
It wasn't until I ran into that witch before I had learned the truth and…
"Don't break, Renn. If you wish to help them, as I'm sure the rest of the Society will desire as well, then you must be strong. You must stand tall," Vim spoke gently, with a slightly hushed voice… as if he was worried Merit or someone could hear him through the door.
I gulped and nodded. Yes. He was right.
We needed to save them.
"Alright…" I stood, and stared up at Vim as he nodded back at me.
"We protect our people, Renn. Even from our own," he said.
Shivering a little, I nodded. Yes. That had been in that little white book too. I hadn't thought much about it then, but…
"We protect," I agreed.