Fledging

Chapter 5

Here's the next chapter! So sorry for the big delay but it's up now! Enjoy and please leave a comment telling me what you thought! Thank you!



Chapter 5



Once in town, we stopped into different shops. At least Kenneth did while I waited outside the stores for him since pavox weren't allowed in the stores; we might steal something or somehow screw something up according to the people and especially the store owners. When Kenneth first learned of this rule, he became upset and almost refused to go in but I reminded him that he needed to get a few things anyway and said not to worry about it. A few people had looked our way as I consoled him, frowning at the sight of us, but besides that we were left alone; I just wished he would stop making us a spectacle.



"I don't know how you can put up with all of this," Kenneth had told me as he exited the first shop and we began our way across the street to another, "it's so unfair with all the prejudice you have to put up with."



I just shrugged it off and continued throughout the town, hoping he would drop the subject.





We had been out in the town for hours, and Kenneth was starting to run out of things to do. I looked up at the sky, there was still about four hours until sunset. That meant I had about two more hours of stalling left. I couldn't take him back early else I be punished, and if I were late, my fate would be the same.



Off to our left there was a large crowd gathered around a small rise in the center of the town square, those gathered were shouting and jeering at something that they surrounded. I paid it little attention, not caring about what they were up to; that is until I heard the unmistakable sound of clinking chains and an unsteady beat of claws scraping across the stone street. I winced in sympathy for the newly captured pavox who were to be enslaved; I knew what it was like. I couldn't help the small flashback I had of my own experience in their chains.



I was only seven, the chains were loose enough to start chafing the light scales on my ankles as well as my wings. Five others had been taken along with me from my tribe, I was the youngest. We had all been chained together. However when we made it to the stage, I was separated from the others as they went on stage and I was put in the "sold" section where the man that had taken me, Vernon Pacali, would later pick me up. Evidently he had managed to claim me as his before the bidding had begun. Of course at the time I knew none of this, I had just heard his boastings to his friends many times during my years as his slave. As I watched on the side, the others were forced up onto a small stage in front of a similar crowd such as this. The crowd taunted the five on stage and threw half eaten fruit cores at them, some even having enough reach to slug one right at my face. I had cried out only to be roughly shoved by a guard to keep me quiet. Then came the bidding. People who were interested would go up to have a closer look at the merchandise before giving an amount, if someone else wanted the same one, the price would raise until there was only one bidder left.



When a pavox was sold they would be thrown into the small roped off area where I was and we would wait until our new masters came to take us to our new homes.



Coming back to the present, I looked at the line of pavox and realized that it seemed to be longer than usual. Every time I saw the procession I would normally try to scan it to see if anyone I knew had been captured. Today however I adverted my eyes, too sick by these humans around me to watch their evil in front of me.



"How often does this happen?" Kenneth asked me, he seemed to have no trouble watching the procession go by, but there was a look of surprise on his face that he wasn't bothering to hide.



"It varies from month to month; during the winter times it usually slows down," I replied not looking up at him as I stared down at the ground with a frown on my face. This line of new pavox slaves seemed to be much too large for this time of the year, where were all of them coming from? Had they taken an entire village this time?



"This is insane, is that what happened to you?" He asked aghast, managing to glance back at me to hear my answer.



"More or less, yes." I said shortly.



"This is just despicable, how could so many people condone this so easily?"



I watched Kenneth with confusion, careful to keep my scrutiny of him unnoticeable; this was the first I had seen a compassionate human, what was so different about this one that made him like this towards my kind? I almost wanted to believe that he truly meant what he was saying. However I still didn't trust him; something was up, he wanted me to get into trouble and this was just part of his elaborate plan.



Well try all you want, you can't fool me. I've been around humans for too long, I've seen what they're like. They're all deceitful monsters and you won't get the best of me.





And even if he wasn't up to a much trouble as I thought, he still seemed to exude pity towards our kind, something I couldn't stand. I hated pity with a passion.







Unable to take such feelings from him look any longer I spun around and walked away from the crowd muttereing under my breath for him to follow me so that I could confront him without the watchful crowds.



We ducked into a side alley and I stopped behind a pile of crates to decrease the chances of us being found.



"Why did you bring me down here?" Kenneth asked looking around, he didn't look frightened or suspicious as any one else would. Instead, he just looked confused.



"Listen, I don't know what you want from me, or why you're being so... kind, but you need to stop."



"I don't understand, you want me to be like the others towards you?"



"It would be more natural and it wouldn't draw any attention towards us, you've already made enough trouble for me than I ever wanted."



Kenneth almost looked hurt by my words. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize that being nice was a bad thing. Fine, if you'd rather me be as horrible as all these other people then I will." Kenneth turned around, facing the alley way entrance with crossed arms.



I opened my mouth to try and explain myself but then I stopped, what was the point, he was doing what I had asked, so why complicate it further? Instead of what I was going to say originally, I just muttered a feeble "Thanks," and looked back down at the ground. I saw Kenneth's feet turn towards me and hesitate as well as if there were something he wanted to say as well.



"This will be the last thing I say as a friend, your outlook on life is just sad if you can't accept a new friend just based on what they are. If you ever want to make it through this life of yours, you're going to have to learn to take any help you can get; if you continue to push others away, you'll continue to be stuck in the hell that you've found yourself in for the past couple years. Don't expect people to keep coming back and trying to help after you've pushed them away." His feet began to turn again as if to leave but yet again Kenneth stopped himself and looked back at me. I could feel his gaze for a long time. I could tell that he wanted me to meet his gaze, but I wouldn't, no that wasn't it. I couldn't.



"You know what Kyra? You're weaker than I thought you were; you'll never get out of here if you think that you deserve this kind of treatment. You need to grow a backbone."



"You don't understand what my life is like Kenneth," I managed to say, my voice wavering with anger, something that I hadn't turly felt in a long time; at least not that I could act out on verbaly or physically. Somehow I felt that I was able to lose my temper here with him. I snapped my head up and finally looked him in the eyes, daring him to interupt me.



"You don't understand why I am what I am. The pain I've gone through. If you did you'd understand why I don't want to draw any more attention to myself, I already stick out enough at the manor and I don't need any more special treatment. And another thing Kenneth, I never asked for your pity, you just walk into my life and begin deciding what I should do and judging my actions without knowing the cause, I never asked for any of this."



Something flashed across Kenneth's face at my words, but it was there and gone so fast that I couldn't decifer what it was. He seemed to consider my words as we locked eyes, neither one of us breaking eye contact.



"You know what? You're right, I don't know what it's like. And I suppose you don't need my charity either. Alright, I'll give. And I might have been wrong as well, you might not be as weak as I first thought at all."



I stared at him with narrowed eyes, had I won that easily? Or even more important, had I really just said that to someone who could technically have me lashed for such words? Gritting my teeth I resolved that I would not take my words back, I had meant every one and I wouldn't apologize for them.



"Let's go then," Kenneth said gruffly, the light in his eyes dimmed as he reached out and shoved me forward to keep me moving. The action hurt more than I thought it would have, physically there was hardly anything. Mentally however...



How could you have gotten so attached to someone so quickly? I berated myself as I continued walking in front of him out of the alley, you knew he wasn't really your friend and besides; this is what you asked for wasn't it? Still, I couldn't swallow all of my feelings about Kenneth's sudden change in how he acted around me.







Back out in the town, we continued our trip; going from place to place for a few things that he needed. Despite meaning what I had said to him, I couldn't help the feeling of loneliness I had when walking around with him, I felt further away from him than I had felt with anyone... like I was on my own separate island where no one could or even wanted to see or hear me. I was alone.







Another hour had passed without another word between us. Kenneth looked like he was about to start heading back, and I still had at least another hour before we could be on our way.



I started to form another plan to distract him for an hour when all of the sudden my world froze. Surrounding sounds seemed to be muffled, everything except for a chillingly familiar sound. It was a pavox, speaking my language and not being very nice about using it either. It was a voice from my childhood. Horrified I turned towards the wooden rise in the center of the crowd and stared with growing horror as I saw my old friend Alida screaming insults at a man that had come up to inspect her. A guard behind her was yanking back on her chains shouting at her to be quiet. He struck her a few times to get his point across but the little pavox didn't stop, she seemed like she was going to rip the poor man's head off if he got any closer.



Somehow her eyes began wandering through the crowd and suddenly they stopped as did her torrent of words and struggling. We locked eyes, both staring at the other as if we had both been struck dumb. Alida's mouth opened slightly and without any sound called out to me, almost questioningly, her lips forming the word "Ari?"



"Kyra!" Kenneth's voice finally broke through the barrier surrounding my hearing. Slowly I shifted my gaze to him. He looked like he had called my name more than the one time that I heard it. I stared at him, unsure of what my face showed, emotions swirled around me as I fought to keep my sanity.



"Kyra what is it?" He asked gruffly but I could see the concern behind his façade.



Instead of answering, I shifted my gaze back to Alida who was still staring at me in surprise as she was shoved roughly back in line as the man continued to look her over critically. I saw him nod and then start back down off the high rise as the bidding began.



"Do you know her?" Kenneth's voice sounded from somewhere right next to my face. I flinched involuntarily and nodded.



"She was my childhood friend back at the village," I muttered more to myself than to him.



"Stay here," Kenneth ordered before marching over to the crowd assembled.







The next few minutes were some of the longest I had ever been through. As the line of newly caught pavox deminished to the side pen of those already "sold", my heart rate accelerated even faster. I wasn't sure where Kenneth had went or why he had taken off like that, my mind was still reeling from seeing Alida again... and like this.



Finally, it was Alida's turn. The man that ran the bidding was of monsterous size, he was covered in scars from years of dealing with unhappy pavox slaves. The most formadable scar he had was one that ran across his right eye, making him nearly blind on that side.



The man raised his hand over Alida's head and started the bidding at four silvers. Despite the agression she had shown earlier, Alida now only stood still and stared at me as the shouting began. I could see fear and hatred on her face, but there was also a more or less content expression on her face as she looked at me, after all we hadn't seen eachother in over a decade.



"Five silver and twenty copper!" two hands fell but five more were left up. The pirice kept rising and every so often one hand would not rise any more, I looked throught the crowd, wondering where Kenneth had gone to. My eyes raked across the sea of people and finally they rested on Kenneth's familar form. There in the middle of the crowd stood Kenneth, his arm raised up high as the slave dealer rattled out numbers. I stared at him in shock, was he actually planning on buying her? I brought my wings around as best I could and began to nervously groom the already perfectly combed feathers.



After a few more devestatingly long seconds it was only Kenneth and one other bidder.



" Seven silver and fifty copper?" The other man narrowed his eyes at Kenneth but kept his hand raised.



"Eight silvers?" Neither bidder budged.



"Eight silvers fifty copper?" The stranger flinched but held his ground.



"Nine silvers?" The man called out, happy how things were going. The other man gritted his teeth and reluctantly dropped his hand.



"Nine silvers going once.... going twice..." The brutish man gave the crowd one last hopeful scan before leveling a finger at Kenneth and bellowing "SOLD! To the man with the red hair for nine silvers!"



Kenneth smiled and noded at the man before working his way over to the stage where Alida was being forced down to the ground level.



I edged closer to the crowd, anxious to get to my old friend. A slave seller handed Kenneth a chain that acted as a leash for Alida's neck and arm cuffs.



"You got the money boy?" I heard the man ask grufly.



Without replying Kenneth reached into the pouch at his waste and counted out nine silvers under the greedy eyes of the man.



"Thank ye kindly sir," he said pocketing the silver. He was about to walk away when he paused and looked at Kenneth, "you'll be alright with this one? It can get a bit wild at times."



"I'll be fine," Kenneth said without emotion.



The slave seller grunted in affermation and hobbled off to the other sold slaves to keep guard.



Kenneth looked down at Alida who glared back up at him. It seemed like she was just about to make a break for it when her face suddenly fell slack with shock. She stared at Kenneth in complete surprise before suspicion crossed over her features. I could only guess what Kenneth had said to her, but it was probably something in our language; a language that humans don't ever take the time to learn. He bent his head down and seemed to whisper something else before guiding her back to where I was waiting eagerly for them.