Chapter Text
Inspired by ch64
It had been days since Kalsim had been captured by the humans. It had been a long vehicle ride with a gun barrel shoved in his ribs the entire time. The conversations around him by the humans were a wide variety of ways to kill him and make it hurt.
A few just wanted to just shoot him and leave him on the side of the road like the animal he was.
Another wanted to put him in chains and force him to work rebuilding the cities he destroyed till he died of exhaustion.
Someone said that would be a waste and they should see if he tastes like chicken. Another wanted to use him as a pinata. Whatever that was.
And yet another said he wanted to pluck him like a turkey and tar and feather him with his own feathers.
Kalsim wondered if it would be all the above with how mad the humans were. Instead he had been dragged out the car by the scruff of his neck, across the dirt and into a building. His claws clicked as they scraped along the cement floor. The air continued to chill as the floor slanted and he was dragged underground.
There is the jingle of keys and the sound of steel sliding against steel. The vice-like grip on his neck releases and he hits the floor. His beak bouncing when it hits. Something is clamped on his leg. It's heavy and chinks when he moves. There is the sound of scraping metal again before footsteps fade off into the distance.
It’s a long time before he moves, unsure if he’s truly alone. Eventually he gets to his feet, pulling the sack off his head. There is a small cot in the corner, a table with a chair, a sink and a toilet. High walls tower over him at least 15 feet high with a single bare light bulb flickering above him. There is no light switch that he can see in the room to turn it off or on, so that must be outside the cell somewhere. In the far corner of the room is a tiny black sphere with a blinking red light that he can only assume is a camera. Behind him are the bars to his cell. Thick and rusty and unmoving. He can’t see how far the hallway goes in either direction or if it turns. Only the faint red glow from what he thinks might be an exit sign down the hall to the left.
The chain on his leg leads to a small hole in the wall, but has enough lengths to reach everything.
Unsure of what to do, he walks over to the cot and sits down. Chain dragging behind him.
……….
He doesn’t know how long he’s been in the cell. There is no natural light and the single light bulb doesn’t help. He thought it would remain on, but when he wakes up from sleep, its pitch black, he can’t even see the wing in front of his face. There are the soft footfalls of someone outside his cell moving towards him. His breath hitches as he pulls himself into a ball on the cot as the steps get closer. This would be it. The torture would start now. He hoped it would be quick.
The figure steps in front of the cell. He can barely make out the silhouette against the faint red light. He blinks and it's gone and he wonders for a moment if his mind is playing tricks on him. Then there is the sound of something being set on the floor in front of the cell. Silence for a moment then the footsteps vanishing into the distance again. Kalsim waits, not daring to breathe. He doesn’t know how long it is when the light over his head flickers to life. After his eyes adjust he spots it. On the floor outside his cell. A small tray with something on it. Careful and slowly he approaches. The chain on his leg dragging behind him.
Two long orange stick things that look like roots, a handful of green leaves, a few nuts of some kind and a glass of water. It's what's next to the glass that makes him uncomfortable. There sits a little pink pill, as if he’s expected to take it, no questions asked. A good part of him is surprised that the bars aren’t buzzing with electricity as he taps them carefully before reaching for the food on the tray. He would probably be surprised at the flavor of the vegetable if he didn’t feel so dead inside. When he is done he stares at the little pill for a long while. Part of him hoping it will kill him, he tosses it down his beak with the rest of the water.
Setting the glass down, the light in the cell flickers back out again sending him into darkness. He moves back to the cot, feeling his way there.
Footsteps echo through the hall again as a figure approaches. Without a word, the tray is picked up and they leave again.
Kalsim doesn't know how long this goes on. Days, weeks, months? There is no time in this cell. Just darkness and silence. Nightmares haunt his dreams as his mind fights the nothingness. The silence. The madness. He had expected torture, he had expected pain and suffering. He had expected the humans to break his bones or experiment on him, but not this. The terror of not knowing when, or how.
“If you're going to kill me just do it!” he roars at the little black orb in the corner. There is no response, there never is. In a rage he grabs the chair and hurls it at the camera. It does nothing, clattering to the floor at his feet. He screams, and screams again grabbing it and throwing it against the wall. He kicks the table, flipping it onto its side. He attacks the cot, ripping the flat pillow and mattress to shreds with his claws. He shrieks as fluff fills the room. Finally he stops, painting like he’s just fist fought an arxur. He feels hot tears stream down his face as he starts to cry, apologizing over and over again to whoever will listen. Eventually he falls asleep on the floor surrounded by the mess he made.
……
Groggy and his back hurting he forces his eyes open. The single lightbulb hangs silently overhead. He blinks realizing he’s back on his mattress. The chair and table back in their corner and his flat pillow in one piece. He would say he imagined what he did, but the cast is off his wing. He flexes it, feeling the weak muscles ache after not being used for so long.
Well, that gave him some kind of timeline for how long he’s been here. They must have drugged him somehow. He had interacted with someone but was unable to communicate at any time. Never in his dream would he feel the desire to interact with predators. But he felt it. Just the chance to hear another’s voice other the his own and the ones in his head. He would give anything to talk to anyone.
The silence.
The loneliness.
It was torture.
And he finally realized.
This is how the humans plan to torture him.
Isolation.
The unending loneliness and silence for all of time. This was worse than physical pain. Pain you could expect, pain you could blame on the ones hurting you, but this? This left you alone with something far worse, the demons of your own mind. The kind that knows you to your very bones. The voice in the back of your mind you can’t drown out by talking to others.
Rolling over to face the wall he cries. Because there is nothing else to do.
………
He’s laying on the floor on his back, trying to keep one of his feathers in the air as long as he can by blowing it when the light goes out again. It long since lost its surprise factor as the damn thing was never on any kind of schedule. Sometimes it would be out for minutes, sometimes days. He just lays there feeling the plucked plumage land on his face. He had started pulling out his feathers a week or so ago. Maybe longer, maybe not, he isn’t sure anymore just for something to do, just to feel SOMETHING!
A soft click made its way to his ears, a new sound he hadn’t heard before. His eyes open and he realizes the faint red light from down the hall is out.
Had the power gone out? Was there a storm or something? Was the federation here to finish the job he started?
Footsteps start to approach his cell, but he’s just eaten and these ones are different. He had come to recognize the foot falls of those who brought him food in the dark. There was the one with the heavy boots, and a sure step like he’s on a mission. Kalsim imagines this as a male, perhaps with the male facial hair. The other one is nearly silent, steps so quiet many times he doesn’t even know they're there till the sound of the tray hits the floor making him jump. Silent like a predator hunting pray. The third scuffs their feet as they walk and Kalsim imagines they walk with a limp. An injury from war, or maybe the leopard.
But this is different and it takes him a moment to understand why. Claws scratch along the cement floor as the scuff of a tail makes him realize it isn’t a human, and for some reason that is even more frightening. The humans try not to make their presence known, but this one has no care for hiding in the dark. He backs up to the wall and the figure stops on the other side of the bars. The entire space is filled with the presence of this creature. For a moment all he can hear is heavy breathing.
‘Click’
The emergency light down the hall comes back on, illuminating the hulking form of the biggest arxur Kalsim has ever seen. Its head nearly as high as the hallway ceiling, its yellow eyes seem to glow in the dim light.
‘By natalia! He’s here to eat me!’
“Don’t look so scared bird, I’m not here to eat you.” it growls. Kalsim shivers. The gravelly voice is somehow more horrifying than his memories.
“Then why are you here?” he chokes out not used to using his voice.
“To say thank you.” it replies.
“What?” Kalsim squeaks. The figure shifted its weight from one side to the other, its thick tree-like tail stirring up dust as it skims over the floor behind him.
“I pulled some strings to come see you. I am chief hunter Isif and I wanted to thank you in person for your assistance. I am in your debt, truly,” Isif explains.
“What are you babbling about, monster!” Kalsim shrieks in rage lunging at the cell door just out of reach. The chain on his leg held tight as he tried to lash out with talons. When had his chain been shortened?! He had just been able to reach and eat at the cell door!
“If you had not attacked earth. Ney, had you simply remained neutral, the humans would have had us on our tails by now. They are not as strong as us, but they make up for it in tenacity and persistence. But you.. Oh you!” Isif chuckles.
“The humans would have never needed our assistance, and we would have never had the chance to even talk to them without you.”
“And on top of that you sacrificed your world as well as others for this failure. It's a pretty stupid idea to cut off your beak to spite your face, but here you are! With the humans on your side you had already won the war! Victory over my kin was literally gift wrapped for you and your selfish pride decided to bomb it!” Isif explains, teeth catching the faint light in the dark.
“So yes, as I was saying. Thank you for your service to the Arxur Dominion and the union between the human forces and us. I look forward to seeing what fruit this alliance will bare next.” Isif says with a respectful bow, before turning and walking down the dark hall. His laughter echoing off the walls and ringing in Kalsim’s ears.
Kalsim falls to the floor clutching his head as he starts to scream.
…..
“That is how you torture someone without physically harming them.” a human mutters closing the door behind Isif.