The Non-Human Society

Chapter 162: Chapter One Hundred and Sixty Two – Vim – Invitations, Again.

With crossed arms, I sat patiently. Waiting. Pondering.

Renn sat a few feet away, in her own chair. She was fidgeting, and kept glancing around. Although seemingly worried, she still had a small smile on her face. She was enjoying this.

"You don't think she won't come right?" Renn asked.

The empty chair across from us, the one that Fly would eventually be sitting on, looked out of place on this roof. It shouldn't... there were a few tables and patio sets up here... but for some reason it did.

"Because I'm here you mean?" I asked her.

I heard Renn's ears and clothes bristled as she nodded quickly.

"Possibly. But by now she knows I'm always around you, even if she can't sense me. Plus she needs to learn that I am trustworthy and not a threat... at least, not one if she abides by the rules," I said.

"But what if it's too early still? She's so timid..." Renn worried.

"I've done this before, Renn. Fly is not the first timid creature I've dealt with," I said.

"Hm..." She seemed to understand that, yet still didn't wish to voice her agreement.

Glancing at her, I wondered if maybe she was right. Women did have a certain intuition for this kind of stuff...

Renn smiled gently at me, yet said nothing.

"I'm the protector, Renn. What kind of protector hides away in shadows?" I asked her.

"A gentle one," she said.

Sighing at her, I shook my head and looked away from that weird smile on her face.

"This usually happens only in a few ways," I said.

"Hm?"

"Either it takes years, slowly building trust... Or it happens quickly. Out of necessity. Or because of results. Those here won't let this take years... not when it might cost Fly and the rest of her peoples their lives. Who knows how often their supposed master demands sacrifices," I said.

"Ah... that's true... How often do they normally eat one another?" Renn asked.

"The act of eating another of our kind isn't for sustenance, Renn. It's to enforce dominance. They'll do it as often as they need to, as to keep hold of their crown," I said.

Renn didn't seem to like that answer, but honestly neither did I.

"So we need to do this as quickly as possible... to save as many as we can," Renn whispered.

"Obviously."

"If she accepts, will you go and kill their master Vim?" Renn asked.

"Only if they threaten our people, Renn. If Fly accepts she does became our member, and thus is entitled to my protection... but that doesn't mean the rest of them are. They all, individually, must agree to join the Society. Just like your Eastern Girls," I said.

"True... Lamp does want the rest of them to join her," Renn said.

"In time."

A light wind blew, and I noticed the change in the air.

The ocean breeze, mixed with burning wood and charcoal from the chimneys all around us, had a new scent.

"She's here," I said quietly.

Staring past the empty chair, I watched as a small hooded figure climbed up over the ledge of the roof's banisters. Renn shifted in her chair, and I heard her tail brush against her chair's legs as she grew excited.

We both watched quietly as Fly slowly fell from the banister, to the roof. She seemed to stumble almost, but steadily got to her feet and began walking towards us.

Renn's happily swaying tail came to a stop as she realized it too.

"Vim..." Renn groaned as we watched the young girl limp towards us.

Frowning at the sight... Fly was favoring her right leg; I noticed the faint smell of blood. She was hurt.

Renn stood from her chair, but I remained seated as Fly walked up to the empty chair. From beneath her heavy hood of dozens of jackets and cloaks, I could see the glistening of her eyes. She was studying me. Yet the fear in her eyes was mixed with concern and hope.

A good sign, even if diluted by tears.

"Fly..." Renn whispered a greeting as Fly went to take a seat.

She sat with a small huff of a sigh, and then pulled back her hood. As she revealed her head, and the many feathers that covered it, I chose to study Renn instead of the young bird's very bruised face.

Renn stepped forward, with an expression contorted in pain and anger.

"You're hurt...!" Renn groaned.

Fly nodded. "I'm fine... I was just punished," she said.

"Why?" Renn was about to step forward again, but I was glad she didn't. Fly didn't seem too worried about Renn approaching, but the last thing I needed was for Renn to startle the young girl.

"Because I came out during the day?" Fly answered Renn in such a way that told the truth rather clearly.

Renn's anger died down as her quick mind comprehended not just Fly's words... but her placid expression hidden behind the bruises and black eyes.

"Sit down Renn," I said.

Renn jolted with a startle, and glanced back at me. As she did her anger returned thrice fold, now directed at me... as if I had been the one to beat the poor girl. "Vim..."

"Sit. She was punished for breaking a rule. She endured and paid. It's said and done," I said.

Fly nodded, and did so in a way that told me she was glad to hear that I understood.

Of course I did. Most of our Society was still just as basic as that.

Rules were enforced with fists and claws... nothing else. Only someone as humane as Renn found such a thing odd.

"Guh..." Renn grumbled but upon seeing Fly's nod, she decided to let it be. She returned to her seat, but not without glaring at me a little more.

"Did your master punish you?" I asked Fly.

Fly startled at my question, her feathers rising up as they became stiff. "The older ones. They have to do it... or else the others will think it's safe too," Fly said.

"No, Fly, they don't..." Renn whispered.

Fly glanced at her but didn't say anything.

While the two studied each other, sharing concern and emotion for one another, I studied the young bird.

She had been beaten... rather harshly. Odds were her right leg was broken. The left side of her face was swollen, and dried blood still stained her bottom lip.

A beating... because she had gone out during the day.

She had risked her community. Endangered them.

Yet was it just because she had gone out during the day, or because she had come to see us?

Maybe the rest of them hadn't agreed to entertain meeting us anymore. Maybe her master had decided to declare us enemies.

"Where are your parents Fly?" Renn broke the silence with a gentle question.

"I don't know," she answered, with nearly as much gentleness in her voice.

"When did you last see them?" Renn asked further.

Fly shrugged. "I didn't. Pulti and the rest raised me," Fly said.

Her answer made Renn hesitate, for more reasons than one. Renn glanced at me out of the side of her gaze, and I ignored that horrified expression of pain on her face.

We killed her mother.

I killed her.

"How many of you are there, Fly?" I asked her.

Fly shifted on her seat, and I noticed the way her feathers lowered and hugged her body closer. "How many of you are there?" Fly asked back.

Smiling at her rebuttal, I nodded. "Quite a few of us," I said.

She frowned, and then glanced at Renn... as if to confirm I hadn't been lying.

Renn of course nodded. "There are," she said.

"There's... I don't know. I think there's a lot more underneath than I know. I know there's at least twenty six, at least... not including the master... And Pulti..." Fly spoke quietly as she became thoughtful.

Twenty six... And possibly more? All this time? Beneath our very feet.

"How could you not know about those underground with you, Fly?" Renn asked.

"I don't go that deep. I can't handle the smell."

Smell...?

Surely she didn't just mean the scent of the sewers. The first few floors should be the worst...

Renn and I stayed silent as Fly seemed to get lost in thought. She scratched the side of her head, and I heard the sound of her feathers ruffling as she did so.

"I stay on the first floor... right below the one beneath the city. I can go down a floor or two, if I have to, but I hate it. And I don't go any farther. Master and the older ones live near the bottom, I guess," Fly then explained.

The bottom.

Renn glanced at me, and I wondered if maybe they had hidden in the old capital. The one from era's past.

"You mean the city beneath, don't you?" I asked her.

She nodded. "Pulti said it's bigger than this one up here."

It was. But I hadn't known that it wasn't flooded. How had the sea not absorbed it?

"Was Pulti like you, Fly? Did she live on your floor with you?" I asked her.

She quickly shook her head. "I live alone on the first floor. Most live a few floors below me; those are the ones I know about mostly..." Fly said.

Interesting.

"Does your master come up here, Fly?" Renn asked.

Fly frowned and shook her head. "No?"

"Why not?" I asked.

"Why would it?" Fly asked me.

It.

A master that she called a thing, not by name or sex.

Odds were it wasn't human at all. Inhuman. An older ancestor.

"Why are you alone tonight Fly? Usually you're followed by others," I asked her.

"Ah... they're scared. Of you. Of master finding out. Plus..." Fly hesitated, and looked away. To her hands. She was twirling her thumbs together, making her look all the more younger.

"Plus?" Renn leaned forward, as if she was struggling to her Fly's whispers. But I knew she could hear her as well as I could. The city was quiet, there was little wind, and we were alone.

"Plus I don't like what they're saying. They want you to fight the master... I thought that would be good too, but now..." Fly spoke calmly, unaware how serious her statement was.

"They want her to fight your master, but not me?" I asked her.

Fly's eyes shot upward, to me... and the realization of how strange her words were dawned upon her.

"Huh... Wait... Right...?" Fly frowned as she tried to understand it.

"Does your master know about us yet?" I asked Fly, while she was still trying to wrap her head around her thoughts.

"Huh? Why would it?" Fly's frown deepened at me.

So it was more beast than not. She said it couldn't talk. Probably can't reason either.

A mere beast.

That was good and bad. It meant it wouldn't outright attack the Society, but that also meant it couldn't be reasoned with.

It would only understand what it knows. And that was the brutality of strength.

"Fly... do you want to see our home?" Renn then asked.

"Huh! Your home...?" Fly looked at Renn, but then glanced back at me. Odds are she was probably still wondering why I wasn't the one they wanted to fight their master. She knew I was strong, thanks to what had happened... and now was worried about me, for more reasons than the ones before.

Renn nodded and smiled at her gently. "I'd like to show you what we mean by Society, Fly," Renn said.

The young girl didn't seem too excited over the idea... but she didn't outright deny it as she had done before. She pondered it for a moment, and then glanced to her right. To the door nearby.

I had fixed it... and had not repaired it with the same door I had broken. Yet she still looked at it as if it had just hit her friend, Pulti.

"In there...?" she whispered.

"Only if you would like to see it, Fly. I promise it doesn't stink that badly," Renn said.

The weary girl smiled a little, finding Renn's statement humorous.

"I give you my word no one will harm you, Fly. I'll protect you. Even from them, if I must," I promised her.

She turned to look at me, and her eyes went wide.

"Why...?" she whispered.

"We want you to see what our Society looks like, Fly... so you can understand who and what we are," Renn explained.

"Will... will you eat me?" Fly asked worriedly.

"No, Fly. No one will eat you. You're safe here. No one here are your enemies," Renn said gently.

"And I can prove it," I said.

"How?" Fly asked.

I stood, and walked over to her.

Fly shot to her feet, but did so while still on the chair. It wobbled radically as she stood up onto it, and grabbed the back of the chair's backrest. She looked at me with utter fear as I approached.

Smiling gently at her, I slowed in my approach... and came to a stop right in front of her.

Fly shivered, her feathers were ruffled, and I could hear her tiny heart in her chest. It was thumping so wildly you'd think she had two hearts. Maybe she did.

Holding my hand out to her, I nodded gently at the young girl.

"It's alright. I once had a friend like you, young bird. She had pretty feathers too," I said to the scared girl.

Fly's face scrunched up, and her feathers slowly lowered... becoming softer. Her thick clothes shuffled as the feathers beneath them settled down.

I held her gaze. I waited. I ignored Renn's absolute silence as she held her breath in apprehension.

Then...

Slowly taking my hand, with a very human hand, I gently nodded to the young girl as her small hand grabbed my own.

Turning a little, I gestured for Fly to follow me to the door. The one that Renn was hurrying to, as to open it for us.

Without a word Fly hopped off the chair... and followed Renn and I into the Society.

Hand in hand.

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