"Stealing was not uncommon in the slums; it was actually extremely common. I just happened to steal from the wrong person."
"You stole from a Drali?!"
"Are all people above the slums this stupid? I would be dead if I had taken from Drali, and they don't bother to come down to the festival anyway."
"What about them giving out candles?"
"The Drali don't hand them out themselves; they pass them down the chain of hierarchy until it gets to us. So the Felk gave us ours, which is exactly who I stole from."
"How does stealing from a Felk lead to torture?"
"They are of higher status; it is common to be punished for such a crime."
Bird paused briefly to get the conversation's focus back to his legs and continued.
"I had seen the Felk selling pieces of bread with cooked meat in between another piece of bread, a spread of other colorful food in the middle covering the meat. It smelled heavenly."
"Thats a sandwich."
"Thank you, I planned to quietly take one of the sandwiches that was waiting for someone to come and pick it up, and just slip into the crowd. I should have known that sandwich crafter would be a Scribed with some weird ability to see everything much clearer than any normal vendor could."
Bird sighed and resumed.
"I was put into a holding cell where they told me I would be put on trial in three days. I knew when they said trial, I was just going to be punished. Three days wilted by with no food or water, the Felk who had captured me dragged me to a clear opening in the slums, a little park near an old blacksmith. The Felk began to read my crime out loud, adding a little more than what I had actually done to prolong the reading and draw in a crowd. After minutes of stalling, the Felk finally announced."
Bird's voice changed, imitating the stuck-up Felk, to make fun of him.
". . . Your punishment will be the iron boot. . ."
"The blacksmith came out carefully carrying a pair of iron boots, shining a deep red and yellow. He set them down, and then the Felk smiled and then faced me eye to eye, exerting a pressure I had never felt."
"Step in."
"That's all he said, without much of a choice, I stepped in. Instantly after touching the scorching iron, I flinched back and revolted. Eventually, they forced me into the iron boot. I didn't know such pain existed. It was like my lower legs were melting into the boot, becoming one, fusing. Almost instantly, my instincts told me to kick the boots off, which only worsened the pain with each step and kick. The audience watched me dance around, kicking and screaming like a show, most of the audience were pinsts, but the few Felk were loving the show."
Bird's eyes glistened a little as he remembered the humiliation and pain. starting to cry a little, Bird continued.
"They were heartless; The Pinst are not human to other classes. We are their waste. A breeding ground of bad genetics."
Leonis regretted asking the question and gave Bird his condolences.
"I'm sorry for asking, I didn't know such a thing existed between my people."
"You're Felk?"
Bird's atmosphere shifted.
"Yes, I was a Felk, but remember I am also Thrakeen."
Bird's head was spinning; the people he hated most had saved him from the hands of death.
"Why are you Thrakeen?"
Leonis shifted and looked at Bird with a sorrowful and distant look.
"They killed my mother."
"Who? The Felk?"
"No, the Drali, I am Thraakeen so that I can put the Drali to rest, end this cruel hierarchy that hinders humanity. Why are you not Thrakeen, if anyone, I would think you would want to get back at the hierarchy?"
"I just want to quietly erase the Felk that put the boots on me."
"Why not tear the entire thing down?"
"What can I do in the face of the hierarchy? I can barely run. What gives you so much confidence that you can put the Drali to rest?"
"Confidence? I never said I was confident, but if I can even slightly help to tear those bastards down, I would gladly give my life."
Bird couldn't understand such a selfless hatred. He hated the Felk, but what was the point of revenge if he died too? He wanted the Felk who put him in his shackles to suffer, and to know it was Bird who had made him suffer, but that meant he could not be killed before then, no matter what he had to be put through.
'What a mad kind of people. Sacrificing yourself just for the chance of ending the Drali.'
Interrupting Bird's thoughts, Leonis decided to end their conversation.
"We need sleep; there is little time before the sun rises again. We can't have a lack of sleep slowing us down while we travel tomorrow. We will take hour-long shifts each for four hours until the sun is slowly starting to rise; it will be better to leave before the sun comes out, so we are less likely to encounter creatures other than the living shadow. Thirty minutes, we need to make it out of the forest by then, or we will be in severe danger."
Bird didn't really trust Leonis, but he knew he had to sleep or he would hinder them during the upcoming journey. Leonis took the first shift and spent his time thinking about Bird's story, wondering if he had been like the Felk in the story, cruel and heartless.
The first shift had ended with nothing happening; it was now Bird's first shift. Bird spent the time trying to see the sky; it was hard looking through the thick leaves of the great tree, but every now and then, he would catch glimpses of the mist that shrouded the next layer and would imagine himself flying through the darkness. He would imagine himself free.
The next shifts were both smooth, and so the sun started to rise; it was time to leave the safety of the giant tree.
"Will you be able to climb down quietly?"
"I think I can manage it."
"After we are down, don't make a sound and stick close to me. Hopefully, we can get out of this forest as quickly and quietly as possible."
Bird nodded.
Leonis slowly started to descend, hanging from one branch and softening his fall to another; he gradually made his way to the bottom. Bird was much slower, having to find branches much closer to each other so that his boots did not make noise. Bird had made it to the bottom of the tree with minor slip-ups along the way. Now, all he had to do was watch Leonis as he found out where they were going.
sticking near the base of the giant tree, Leonis used the strange cube he had used earlier and then pointed east. Bird wondered about the strange cube for a moment before trailing behind Leonis.
Thirty minutes until sunrise. The countdown had started.