TW: blood, chains, fighting ring, death, dehumanization
Please let me know if I missed any
Tommy
I stood infront of a bigger person, I looked around.
We were in a ring, there was sand on the bottom, and big cement walls.
I stared up at the top, it was a big web of chains, and beyond that there was blue. There were also a lot of people, but I was focused on the blue beyond them.
I spread my wings, I would love to fly in that blue.
I would fly away, away, away. Into that blue with Lethe, where no one could find us.
But before I could spread my wings fully, there was a small sound, like a guitar string being plucked.
My wings could stretch no further, and I looked behind me to see a chain attaching my wings, effectively binding them.
I dropped my head to the ground, my eyes going down, down, down, and my wings following them.
I would never be able to touch the blue.
○●○●○
I never look up to the people, or the blue, I couldn't think of flying, or feeling the wind in my face, because I knew I would never be able to fly.
Instead I focus on the ground, I focus on playing the game, and making the crowd cheer.
I don't look up at them once I win, instead I stare at the bloodstained sand.
Sometimes I'll kick it around, and other times I'll just look at it.
Sometimes I spread my wings in victory, but I never let the chain grow taunt.
After the game and the cheering is over, the door opens and I go over to it. I don"t get praised for winning, instead I am shoved back into my cell.
But that's reward enough because I get to see my brother again.
Lethe has turquoise freckles and spots that give off a soft glow, he is really tall and intimidating for a 7 year old, and has played with people twice his age before.
It's a bloody game, but we have no choice but to play it.
Sometimes when we're bored in our cell, we will scoot closer to the bars and listen to the owners talk.
They like to walk around and look at all of their possessions.
○●○●○
I shuttered as I thought of what I had done.
"What's wrong?" Lethe asked.
"I- I can't believe I-."
"Shh," Lethe said, cupping my face in his hands, when we came here he was immediately thrown into the games, but I still had two years.
The owners talked about it not being profitable if I was thrown into the games at two.
But now I was four, and I had just competed in my first game.
It was blood churning to realize that I had to kill someone.
It hurt to watch myself pin another person to the ground.
I hesitated for a moment, and the other person snarled and reached for my throat.
It was my life, or his.
In the blink of an eye, his throat was slit, and I stood over the dead body of another person.
Someone I killed.
My eyes lifted to the blue.
He was a person.
What if he had his own brother to go back to?
It was your life or his.
What if he had his friends he won't ever get to see again.
The door opened and I walked out of the ring. Guilt coursing through my veins, I looked up to the blue one last time.
If only.
I felt something brush against my back, and looked to my left.
Ranboo was sitting next to me, his legs dangling off the side of the building too.
I carefully spread a wing around Ranboo.
Tubbo joined us, he spread his translucent wings over my other side and sat down.
We sat like that for a few minutes
Just three vigilantes enjoying the peace of a quiet starry night.
I closed my eyes and let the cool breeze lift my wings. I trilled sadly, knowing I will never actually fly.
Ranboo warbled back, and Tubbo gave me a hug.
Most the time, it's easy not to think about flying.
I have my wings retracted during the day, and I can't feel the breeze through my feathers.
I am too busy staying alive to think about flying.
But sometimes, in peaceful moments like this, I let my mind wander, and I really wish I could fly.
I wish I could fly and touch the sky, and never come down.
Because that would mean I am truly free.
After all, what's more free than flight?
_______________________________
I might actually one up myself with this book.
Also, clarification, a few days after ch. 40, not the prologue
What do you think?
Do you have any requests for something in this book?
Have a great day/night my friends!💙