CW: Prisoners being trafficked, manipulation, fire, bees, mild strangling, stereotypes, discrimination of a minority, self-depreciation

“Time to get up.”

My eyes shot open when I heard Dowrin’s voice and sighed. My hope the day before had been a dream shattered. I touched the cloth on my face, mentally grumbling when I couldn’t take it off. I sat up and narrowed glared at the Elf.

“You seem upset. Be glad they sold you to me. I get the best customers from the surrounding territories. Well, at least the ones willing to pay enough.” Dowrin motioned for me to leave my cell.

I sat up and stared at them with defiance burning in my gaze.

Dowrin shook their head with a sigh. “This will be easier for everyone if you play along, child. Get up and come with me.”

I crossed my arms and stared at them with greater intensity. Dowrin was crazy if they thought I was going to play along.

The shopkeeper rolled their eyes and stormed into the cell. “Stand up or I will make you stand up.” Swirling white lines twisted from their hands to their shoulders.

They are much stronger. You don’t stand a chance. Just give up.

I clenched my fists, my eyes lighting up like glow bees. A smoldering patch appeared at the center of the cloth on my face, flames burning away the fabric. “No.” I held my hand up, calling on the heat from my Spark.

Nothing happened. My Spark went cold and my face paled.

They laughed at my efforts. “How unfortunate for you. You should talk to someone about that faulty Spark.” Dowrin closed their hand, an invisible version wrapping around my neck. They lifted me from the cot and forced me out of the room while I kicked at the air between us. “You’re quite petulant, aren’t you? Is this how all your people’s children behave?”

I glared at them and bared my teeth. “I’m not...a child.” It was near impossible to speak with the invisible hand squeezing me so hard.

Dowrin shook their head. “That is of little importance. No one will believe you’re an adult. If it’s any consolation, kids get treated better. If you keep your mouth shut, perhaps you’ll have a new home before the end of the day.”

Dowrin brought me to an area with large communal cages with a dozen people in each. They all looked so defeated, resigned to their eventual fate. I’d never seen so many broken individuals at the same time.

Dowrin unlocked a cage with a few children within it and tossed me in with them, my back hitting the bars at the far side. The Elf laughed at my attempts to breathe as the white marks faded from their skin. “Welcome to your temporary home. I’ll give you the same deal as everyone else. Behave and you get to go sleep in your holding cell. Misbehave and get left out here all night.” They waved with their fingers before making their way to the front area of the shop again.

“You okay?” A Pantrus girl knelt down in front of me and stared at me with her unblinking yellow eyes.

I pushed myself up with a grimace. “I’ll be okay. This is nothing compared to some injuries I’ve had.” I leaned against the bars and stared at the roof of our enclosure.

She pawed my knee, her tiny razor claws poking me through my pants. “I’m Kira. What’s your name?”

“Leave the newbie alone, Kira. I told you not to get attached to anyone.” A young Ursan boy stood at the front bars and glared over his shoulder. Though he was trying to act tough, I heard the anxiety in his tone.

Kira put her paws in her lap and her whiskers drooped. “I just wanna be nice, Scyka. Nothing wrong with that.”

“It’s okay, Scyka.” I looked down at Kira with as friendly a smile as I could muster. “Nice to meet you, Kira. My name is Kindred. How long have you been here?”

Scyka turned around and crossed his arms. “We’ve been here for almost eight plethora-cycles.”

My eyes widened. “That’s half an ultra-cycle. Is that a normal amount of time to be on the market?” I found it uncomfortable to talk about people like goods waiting for purchase.

Kira shook her head with a small frown, her ears laying back. “No. We’re just a tough sell. Most Owners don’t purchase over one person at a time. It’s also rare that anyone wants both a Pantrus and an Ursan. Mx. Dowrin keeps threatening to sell us separately, but everytime he puts us in different cages, I cry and I guess nobody wishes to buy a crying cat girl.”

Scyka plopped down on the ground next to Kira. “Doesn’t help that I throw a fit until you’re brought back.” He wrapped an arm over her shoulders and she leaned on him. “We came here together, we’ll leave here together.”

Despite our rather dire predicament, I couldn’t help smiling at their affectionate exchange. “Gonna guess you two have been together for a long while?”

Scyka got an embarrassed look. “We’ve been owned by the same households if that’s what you’re asking.” He rubbed the back of his neck but managed a smile when Kira nuzzled his side.

I raised an eyebrow. “It was. What else would I be asking?”

Scyka shrugged with an aggravated grumble. “Nothing. Um, so, where are you from?” His abrupt change of topic was confusing, but I dropped my curious look, which made him relax.

I sighed, rather sick of explaining my situation. “The desert beyond the walls. I came here seeking someone to teach me how to use my Magic or how to get rid of it. I’m hoping for the latter.” Both of them stared at me like I’d grown another head. “What?”

Scyka was the first to recover from their apparent shock. “You want to get rid of your Magic? That’s insane. Why would you want that?”

I shrugged and stared at the ceiling again. “Because it is nothing but trouble for me. It’s made me an Outcast.”

Scyka narrowed his small eyes and studied me before they went wide again. “You’re a Scorpid...with Magic?” He got a suspicious look and held Kira tighter against him.

She looked up at her friend and then at me. “What’s a Scorpid? Why do you feel upset, Scyka?”

I rolled my eyes, pulling my knees to my chest and crossing my arms. “We’re the communities who live on the outskirts of society. Most don’t have a Spark at all. I’m one of the cursed freaks among us.” I pointed to the markings on my face. “All of my people have marks like this, though everyone has a unique pattern determined by what we do in our lives.”

Scyka bared his fangs at me. “You mean the marks that show your Corruption?”

I lowered my glowing green eyes to meet his. “Do not say that again. These are not lines of Corruption and I will fight you if you utter those words once more. Understood?”

The anger in his glare became fear. “U-understood.”

My eyes faded as I got a handle on my rage again. “Thank you. I’m sorry I scared you, but that lie is one reason we are forbidden to live among the rest of society. We aren’t monsters, just people trying to survive against the odds.”

Kira frowned up at him. “Why are you scared? Kindred doesn’t seem that different from us. Just less furry.”

He ran a hand through the fur on his head. “There are a lot of scary stories about Scorpids and why they shouldn't have Sparks. They did a great deal of bad things generations ago.”

She scrunched up her face, and I watched the gears turn in her head. “But…that was the past. People change, Scyka. How could an entire heritage be evil?”

I smiled at the girl and my hope for a better future without discrimination grew a fraction. Scyka’s lack of an answer bolstered that feeling further. Was society at last letting go of the blind hate? I didn’t let my optimism grow further, unwilling to have that spark of joy snuffed out.

Everyone’s attention turned to the door as Dowrin walked in with a bowl full of small packages. “Food time. Remember, if you make trouble for my customers, I won’t give your enclosures the correct amount to feed all of you tonight.” They tossed a package for each prisoner in a cell to have one. They stopped when they reached my cage and smiled at us. “That goes double for you kids. If any of you cause trouble, you will only have enough for half of you to eat.” They stared at me while they spoke and gave me a vindictive grin before tossing our kits on the floor.

Kira was the first to her feet and picked up each of the parcels, handing them out to the other kids before returning with our three bags of rations. “We get little, but it isn’t just hard bread like other merchants hand out.”

I took the satchel of food and untied it to investigate what it held. An orange, a container filled with a clear liquid, dried meat, and a piece of hard bread. I lifted the bread out and scrunched my face. “I thought you said we didn’t get hard bread.”

She shook her head, slicing her orange open with her claws. “I said we don’t just get hard bread. No one wants to waste fresh baked goods on us.”

I shook my head and munched on the bread, taking the bottle out. “What’s in this?” They both gave me puzzled looks.

“Water?” Scyka said the word with hesitation. “Have you never had water?”

I opened the bottle and splashed some liquid in my palm. “If this is water, no, I have never had it before.” I sniffed it to check for toxins and found none, sipping the water from my hand. “It’s quite bland.”

Kira tilted her head with a fascinated expression. “What do you drink, then? Everything needs to drink.”

I turned to reach into my bag before remembering Dowrin had taken it from me. “Kabettle milk. My people hunt kabettles for their resources, though some are raising their own herds.” They both stared at me in horror. “What’s wrong now?”

Scyka looked like he might be ill. “You drink the stuff that comes out of those things? That doesn’t sound good at all.”

I took a sip from my bottle and shrugged. “It’s more flavorful than your water and holds most of the kabettle’s nutrients. Eating the meat is okay, but you have to catch a big one if you’re trying to have a meal of it, much less feeding an entire camp.”

Kira stuck her tongue out and made a disgusted face. “I don’t think I want to try kabettle meat or milk. No offense, Kindred, but it sounds weird.”

I laughed and took my orange out. “I guess it could be if it wasn’t what you’re raised having. If you get the chance, think about trying it. Who knows? Maybe you’ll like it.” I scratched at the top of the thick-skinned fruit, but my gloves made it difficult to pierce the surface.

She held up her paw. “Do you need any help with your orange skin?”

“Why not just take the gloves off?” Scyka studied me with suspicion in his black eyes, and my nervous shifting didn’t make it better.

I handed my orange to Kira. “My hands are sensitive and taking the gloves off could cause me to get injured.”

She made quick work of my orange and handed me the slices. “Why are they so sensitive?”

I was silent while I thought up an excuse. “It’s a, um, birth defect. I haven’t met a Healer that can help me, so I just wear the gloves.” Kira accepted my answer and returned to her food.

“Must be hard to live in the desert with such a defect. If you let me see them, I might tell you what kind of Healer will help best.” Scyka wasn’t so easily fooled and our eyes locked.

We broke the stare off when Dowrin entered with a few customers, chatting the people up while showing them the available stock. Scyka shot me a last glare before moving in front of Kira, who made herself as small as possible, hiding her face with her paws.

I stood up as the group got closer to our cage, leaning on the bars. I don’t know what I thought I was going to do, but these kids weren’t being sold on my watch.