Red Headed Raven

In a medium sized room lined with lockers Felix and Una gathered. Other people were there opening lockers and putting on costumes. Stairs up to the fourth floor and down to the second intersected this locker room. This was the third floor, also called The Entrance to Imagination. 

Felix had a locker of his own there. He opened it up and took out a helmet that had caecusraptor costume head put on it. He slipped the helmet on. His ears stuck out the top. 

"Felix I am without a costume," Una said behind him. 

"Oh don't worry about that. You don't need a costume. I don't even have to act like a caecusraptor. It's not like anyone here's ever seen one," Felix said as he adjusted the strap, "When you're in there you just have to play along with whatever anybody else is doing. If you can use your character to help make it fun than you should, but if the character you choose to play isn't what's going to be most fun in the moment then just do whatever fits the moment instead."

"Felix I do not have a character," Una said. 

"That's the thing! Your character is going to be your old self Una. Since it's pretend, you can show me your emotions just like before. It won't be you showing me your emotions, it'll be you pretending to be your old self. Get it! I'm excited to see if this works," Felix said. He finished adjusting and put both his hands over his crutches. 

"I am unsure if this will work Felix," Una said. 

"It will! Trust me. You have to believe it'll work. I think that's part of it," Felix said. 

"Ok Felix," Una said. 

Una looked to the locker next to her. There, a kid with a cowboy hat too big for him was trying to reach a shelf in his locker that he could easily reach. He was tan like a lion, with small drooping ears and a fluffy tail like Felix's. He stopped jumping at the shelf that he somehow couldn't reach and turned and looked to Una. 

"Well? Are you just gonna stand 'ere or help me?" The cowboy asked.

"I assume you can accomplish this on your own," Una told him. 

"Well you assume wrong! I'm only eight inches tall. Can't you see that?" The cowboy said. 

Una said nothing and looked back to Felix.

"Felix this information is false," Una said. 

"You gotta use your imagination," Felix put his pointer finger to his head, "If he says that he's eight inches tall than you have to believe he really is." 

Una looked back to the eight inch cowboy. She went up to his locked and took a fake wooden pistol and holster out of the locker shelf and gave it to him  

"Thanks miss," the cowboy said. He put his holster on and pretended to shoot kids in the locker room, "Pckoww! Pckoww!" He said. 

The kids he shot pretended to collapse in overly dramatic deaths. One looked at the bullet hole and fell on his knees, while the other was pushed into the wall by the force and went limp. The cowboy put his gun up and blew the fake smoke out of the wooden barrel. 

"Felix I thought people only pretended inside the third floor," Una said.

"What? That's not true. Kids play everywhere. You've seen it before right?...I'm ready now if you are," Felix said he finished adjusting.

"Alright," Una said.

Felix walked but he pretended his crutches were legs too. While he walked he noticed a little black feather on the floor, but didn't think much of it.

Una followed him through a set of double doors. On the other side was the rest of the third floor with colorful rubber floors and fake trees here and there. It was all open. The whole floor was ready to be filled with whatever everyone had in mind.

The building blocks for this 'create your own world' floor was mostly made up of giant interlocking bricks. As Felix and Una walked across this landscape of rubber, they passed a few bricks on the ground. Some were faded old and cracked, while others were vibrant and strong. Every so often the walls would spill out more bricks and ball pit balls for the 'lakes'. Because of this kids were never afraid that they would run out of supplies for their largest projects.

As Una and Felix kept walking, they eventually discovered the end of a very long line.

"Hey…" whispered a boy at the end of the line. He was carrying a single brick, "Beware my friends. Terrible things are… they're in the direction we're going," He said. He was probably around eight years old.  

"What kind of things?" Una asked. 

"Slavery! We're enslaved," a girl in line said. She was also holding a single brick. They all were. 

Two boys with caved out foam bricks as helmets ran up to them. 

"What are you two doing out of line?! Get in line slaves! You are now under the ownership of Jessica and Rebecca! Bring us bricks!" One guard said. 

"Yeah! Whip crack!" The other said. He pretended to whip them with an invisible whip.

Felix and Una shuffled into line. 

"Grr! You can't keep me down for good! You hooligans! I'll find a way to make you pay for this," Felix growled at them. 

"That's what they all say, beast! Whip crack!" The first guard said.

"Ahg!" Felix grimaced and recoiled. 

The two guards finished with Felix and ran down the line 'whipping' random 'slaves'. 

"Don't worry Una. We'll make it out. Then we'll be running this place," Felix said. His voice was more gruff now. 

"Ok…" Una said. 

"The queens are vicious!" A shambling slave in a ripped shirt covered in red paint said to them, "If you don't have a brick they'll send you to the dungeon!" 

"I guess we're going to have to get one. How do you feel about that Una?" Felix asked. 

"...Confused," Una said. Felix grinned, beamed. 

"What's so confusing?" He squeaked, breaking character. She was confused?!

"If we are enslaved why not run away. The guards are all the way down the line now. They might not see us," Una said. They took a step forward with the rest of the line.

"But what about everyone else? They don't have the same chance as us. Even if we ran away we wouldn't be able to help them. If we figure out where we're walking to, we might get enough info to help them when we get another chance," Felix said. 

"Alright. We'll see if we can help them," Una said, "This still might not be a good idea. If we figure out that there is no way out after now, we can help no one."

"With guards like this, we're going to find another way out. We just need to find a weakness," Felix said. They took a step forward. The line was beginning to speed up so they kept walking with the line.

"Ok," Una said.

"How do you feel?" Felix asked. 

"...Excited. I believe I might actually have fun with this. No one seems afraid of me," Una said.

"Hmm. I… OH! They probably think you're just pretending!" Felix squeaked, "Some people pretend all the time. This could fix everything! If everyone believes it's an act then maybe they'll start to treat you the way they used to!" 

"Perhaps," Una said.

"How do you feel about possibly getting your rep back? Is it exciting?" Felix said.

"I should be excited but I am not," Una said. 

"Oh no.. what's up?" Felix's ears drooped a little. 

"I was thinking about what Maxwell said. You are a very good friend Felix. I wonder if I can ever compare to your compassion. It makes me feel guilty. I do not like to admit it, but you were right before. I have been lucky in my life. I am an even more perfect athlete than I was before, but now nobody cares. They are all too afraid. Bad luck has spoken volumes to my success. I worked hard, but only because I believed I could actually do it. If I was born like this, an outcast, my determination to continue might have never come," Una said.

"Huh.. Una the other day you were helping me out with finding a weapon. That was nice of you. You took time out of your day to make sure I was safe," Felix cooed.

"I suppose," Una said, "I also kept getting distracted by fans instead of focusing on you. I am sorry I am not a better friend."

"You can enjoy being successful! I was just talking about how you treat people before. You can enjoy being famous and still be respectful," Felix said. He hobbled forward with the line.

"I can, but I was not respectful. The original honest plan to help you became about myself, and I even used my fame to break rules that are implemented for our safety. If I am not supposed to have something then my fame should not change that," Una said. Her face was barren of expression, but her voice explained so much more.

"I'm not supposed to be outside either, but just like the gun, we found a way. Sometimes rules should be broken," Felix said. 

"Understood. I would like to know that you understand me too. Maybe rules can be broken, but I do not deserve more than people unlucky compared to me. Do you understand?" Una asked. 

"I.. I do," Felix sighed. 

"Thank you," Una said. She looked away from him to the line. 

Now they were only a couple yards away from a massive two story castle made out of colorful interlocking bricks. 

"Bow! Slaves!" A seven year old girl shouted at the top. She was orange with black spots.

"Do it while walking!" another seven year old girl said. She was black with orange spots. 

All the slaves in the line bowed while continuing to walk. Felix giggled at the nonsense as they entered the fort. Inside was nothing special. It was mostly staircases going up higher. The line went up a staircase until they were at the top. In a sequence each slave with one brick would place the brick down making the wall taller, and then go back downstairs. Felix and Una didn't have bricks so they just went past the sequence to head for the stairs.

"Hold it!" The first twin queen said. The line stopped. They were still standing on the edge of the tower, but now they were on the same floor as their slaves. 

"You two don't have bricks! To the dungeon!" The second queen squawked. 

"Bozo queens you are!" Felix hissed, "Your lousy guards never gave us enough time to collect. If you throw us in the dungeon you'll only make your amount of slaves decrease!" 

"Yes," Una commented. 

"..." The second queen didn't know what to say. Her sister whispered in her ear, and she then spoke up, "Likely … likely story! I have all the slaves I could ever want. Two in the dungeon won't make a difference. Be gone with you!" the queen said. 

The guards each took Felix's and Una's shoulders and dragged them down the stairs. The rest of the line continued, walking around them.

Outside the tower was a long brick wall in the yard. The guards pretend to toss them into it. 

"Ahh!" Felix fell in pretend pain.

"Pain" Una said, walking into the wall and then stopping. The guard slammed the invisible door.

"Clang!" She said. 

"You scum make me sick," The other guard pretended to spit.

"Gross," Una said, to the wall. 

"I could say the same about…" Felix's gaze went past the guards and even the slave line. Others were looking out there too. 

Was it a giant bug, a bird? Far off in the third floor was a creature being chased by some kids. It flapped its black wings but couldn't get very high before plummeting. The children chasing it kept grabbing at it, but Felix couldn't see the details. 

"Oh gosh! Una are you seeing this!?"

Una turned away from the wall to the action. She immediately took notice. 

"Interest," Una said. Her eyes followed it like laser sights. 

Felix got up with his crutches and held the imaginary cell bars on the imaginary dungeon cell.

"Guards! You have to let us out. I need to get to it. It might be in danger," Felix said. 

"Oh.. okay," The female guard said. It seemed all the air had been taken out of her. She just kept looking at the creature. 

Felix pretended to open the cell door. He swung on his crutches out of his cell. Una followed as they headed out toward it. 

"You are not as fast as you could be. Would you like me to help?" Una asked. 

"Uh sure, what did you-" Felix was cut off by Una tripping his ankles from behind. While he fell backward she caught his shoulders with one arm and his legs with the other. Now carrying him, she ran to the creature as fast as she could. 

"!!! Woah!" Felix gasped at how impressed he was. He looked at Una's face to see if she thought it was cool too, but she didn't make an expression. She only breathed in and out as she ran, focused. Felix's smile faded. 

They were close to the creature and its pursuers now.

"Hey!!" Felix shouted. Some kids briefly looked at him but continued to chase it anyway, "Watch your ears Una," Felix pulled his revolver out of his holster and shot up in the air, once, twice. That got the attention of all the kids. They stopped and stared. Una put Felix down standing, and let him lean on her with an arm, "Stop! Don't touch it!"

It seemed he also got the attention of the creature itself. 

This was not any creature found in the Wilderness Chambers. Well, maybe now it was.

It was only about two feet tall. Its feet were dark grey and scaly like a bird's, but not nearly as thin or in the shape of a bird's foot. It reminded Felix more of his own feet if they had scales. Unlike other creatures and even Error, this creature wore clothes. Little shorts and a red, grey, and black patterned shirt. Its arms were also grey and scaled, and had three fingers and a thumb all ending in little talons. Its face was oddly scale free. It was soft, tan and covered in tiny darker spots the size of a pin prick.

If the gwenens had known better they would have called these darker spots freckles, because the creature they were looking at had a human face. 

Its hair was down its shoulders, and curled toward its head. It's hair was red, or as normal people see it, orange. On closer inspection the hair was really feathers. The hairline came down to the creature's eyes making an orange mask of small developing feathers. Its ears were hidden in the mess. On top of its head were two long thin feather antennas.

On its back was a pair of black wings folded up tightly. Tail feathers of the same color stuck out of its shorts. 

"Woa.." it crowed. It was shivering, and holding itself low to the ground.

"Felix, do you know what species that is?" Una asked, pointing to it. 

"No....it's incredible.." Felix couldn't keep himself from being in awe.

"What should we do?" A kid watching asked. 

"You're going to stand back!" Felix said, "and let me do what I do best." 

Everyone took three steps back. 

Felix sat on the ground.

"Pspspspsps," he beckoned.

He got the creature's attention, but it wasn't like the creature wasn't looking at him before. This thing looked intelligent. It wore clothes, although it didn't speak yet if it could, "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you, see," Felix put his gun back in its holster and buttoned it up, "If I can, I'd like to help. I'll keep them away from you ok. We can figure out what you need, but nothing's gonna change if you don't trust me first." 

The creature shifted its gaze to the kids around it. They didn't make such promises, even if Felix was just like them. 

The creature limped on its fours, still keeping low to the ground. It sat next to Felix, but didn't touch him. 

"Hi," Felix squeaked at it. 

The creature waved with a hand but its expression didn't change. On closer inspection Felix realized it had scars. Terrible burns fresh and oozing all down the left of its chest, arm and leg. On its right wrist was a watch looking artifact, but it seemed violently choking at his wrist, his skin trying to grow over it, "Una look. It's hurt."

"I see. What do you suggest we do?" Una asked. 

"I say we take it to Error," Felix said. 

"How will be sure that Error will enjoy this creature's visit? Error warns you about monsters. His opinion of them might be negative." 

The kids finally began to disperse, still, some waited around from a distance.

"We can't send them to grownbot doctors. There aren't any animal doctors, they'd kill it. Error's the only one who knows how to do fix this," Felix said. He got up and threw his arms out for balance. Una caught him, "Thank you." 

"I will now retrieve your crutches," Una said. She turned around and began walking across the green plastic to the 'dungeon'.

Felix looked down to the creature.

"I guess it's just you and me for the next minute or so," Felix said. 

The creature leaned back and then leapt up on top of Felix's shoulders. Felix stiffened up as it climbed around his chest until it finally stood on Felix's shoulders, holding onto Felix's head with its front paws. 

"Oh. Ok? Don't bite me ok..?" Felix said sheepishly. The creature looked down at him. 

"Wa!" The creature crowed like a corvid.

"Wa.." Felix mimicked. 

The creature smiled. It shook its head and suddenly its head looked exactly like Felix's. 

Felix retracted in shock. 

The creature stuck its tongue out in a playful manner. It then put its hand over its mouth as it began to chuckle. 

"Oh.. ha heh. Funny..?" Felix said. 

The creature nodded. It then shook its head again and was back to its original head.

Una walked up to them with Felix's crutches. 

"I have returned," Una said, "Here." She handed Felix his crutches. 

"Thanks again, for everything just now," Felix said.

"What kind of friend would I be if I did not help Felix? You are always welcome," Una said. 

The creature shook its head and now shared Una's visage.

"Row!" It barked at Una with her own face to shock her, but she didn't flinch. The creature made a frustrated scowl. It shook its head again turning it into a devil wolf head.

"Woof woof!" It said, it then panted like a dog.

"Are you seeing this?" Felix pointed to the creature.

"Shocked," Una said.

The creature looked at Felix, confused, still panting.

"Oh! She can't emote. If you're trying to get a reaction it won't really work," Felix explained. 

The creature put a talon on its chin. It then shook its head one last time to reveal a monster head Felix hadn't seen before.

It was an orange haired beast with little bear ears, bulging circular eyes with sharp pupils, a short and wide hairless pink snout with little nostrils, and a huge gaping mouth filled with tiny sharp teeth. 

"BRRAAAA!" The creature roared with this head. Una still didn't react.

"Unfortunately, I am more afraid of your ability to make those faces than the faces themselves," Una said. The creature shook its head again back to its original face and crowed in disappointment. 

Felix began to pivot back to the exit, but stopped.

"Uh, little guy, er girl?.." Felix asked. The creature put their pointer finger up, "One? Oh! The first one. You're a boy," the creature nodded, "I'm in crutches, and it's difficult to get around. Could you go over to Una until we go outside?" 

The creature looked to Una blankly and then back to Felix. It pushed off Felix into a leap and landed on top of Una's shoulders.

"Ouch. That was painful," Una said. The creature climbed around Una's shoulders and head until he got comfortable. He then relaxed, his feathered hair flattened a little. Felix began to swing to the doorway. Una followed.

"Maybe you think we could go outside together now?" Felix asked her. 

"Would that make me a better friend to you Felix?" Una asked. She kept her eyes on the creature. 

"No, it's up to you. I don't want you to do anything you're not comfortable with," Felix said. 

"Understood," Una said. She kept staring at the creature on her shoulder, afraid. 

She stopped just before the exit doorway. Felix turned back to her when he realized she stopped.

"Una? Is there something up?" Felix asked. Una looked to Felix rather than the creature.

"Are you sure going back out there is a safe choice? You almost died going outside last time Felix. There are not simply just animals with predictable behaviors anymore. There are forces against you. There are intelligent minds plotting to harvest you. You seem not to realize the effect these recent changes have on our world. Aliens from outer space are truly here and are not peaceful. I suggest you stay here and find another way to help our friend, if he is to be trusted," Una said. 

"I.. I know. I get what you're saying. It is kinda crazy out there.. I'll be more careful. I will," Felix said.

"Felix, I do not believe you are fully grasping the possible consequences. Something very bad could happen to you outside. I suggest you stay here, where you are safe." Una said. 

Felix sighed, looked away and touched his face.

".. Mmn.." He mumbled.

"I assume you want to tell me something. Do not be afraid to speak your mind," Una said.

".. Uhg.. I, think, I need to be out there Una. I don't belong here. I just feel like this place only has so much for me," Felix said. 

"Have you possibly considered the idea that your need to explore might sprout from personal problems, and that you do not need to actually risk your life in order to get what going outside brings you emotionally?" Una asked. 

"Una that sounds really condescending even in that tone," Felix folded his arms, "Saying that is like saying I'd feel better if I just stopped ignoring my problems. I'm fine, going outside is satisfying and I'm fine with that. I got out of that monster prison ok, well I got a broken leg but I'm still here. I want you to trust me that I can take care of myself." 

"I apologize, but I do not know if I can trust you. You survived once, but I need you to come back… for my objective," Una said. She shook, quaked… just a little bit, and then stopped. 

Felix understood. He inhaled in a silent gasp.

"You're worried, I get it.. I'd be upset if something happened to you too. I am upset, but telling me I can't go outside is like me telling you not to compete in sports because you might snap your neck. If I'm not visiting the outside world, I'm already dead. But I'm not dead. I want to feel alive," Felix said, "Come with me to the outside world. You'll see."

"I respectfully decline Felix. I am afraid of the outside world," Una said.

".. I know.." Felix said, having asked before, "I gotta keep going, so…" he turned around and continued through the exit. Una followed.

She could see kid's eyes on them. They were stunned and agape, confused and low. Una couldn't tell if it was because of her or the creature. She still looked into the eyes of everyone she could and thought only about what they thought of her. They were playing before, but this new creature may have reminded them how they felt about strange people.

She couldn't ever be the same could she? She hated pretending not to hear their screams and rumors. It just wasn't 'proper' to get angry apparently. She could still feel it just below the surface. The rage muffled under a huge invisible block. Again and again she imagined her claws digging into her cybernetics at the side of her face. She would rip it out and scream. It would fall out leaving the pink meat of her head and brain exposed. She would bleed all over the floor but at least she'd scream. 

Did she deserve someone like Felix? She wasn't a complete jerk before. She might have been wrong about her selfishness but she wasn't going out of her way to belittle people back then. Still she knew that justifying her previous thoughts wasn't right, no matter how hard she tried to. 

Would she do for Felix what Felix would for her? Probably, but the doubt haunted her. She wasn't as good at being focused on other people before, especially when more than one person was around, but now it was easy to stay focused. There was no hesitation or fear of failure. Unlike how her mind was built before, this mind wanted only success. Now there was no doubt that she could give back the favor. 

Every inch of her being wanted to express how scared she had been before now. She was so much better because of what he was able to accomplish. How did he do that? How did he somehow shoot a cannon through the dam her curse had built, and leak it. It was so set in stone when she first woke up. 

She didn't even recognize her own mind. Her thoughts sounded different like there was another among her in her head. She wasn't the same Una, inside and out. There was someone else in there, the part that thought emoting wasn't proper, the part that thought tasks were so important. These didn't sound like her thoughts, but they were. 

It felt natural to say those things, logical to be organized and reasonable, but then she'd think back and panic. Was that really what she was saying? Is this what she wanted to be? Was this who she was? 

She thought her older colder, quieter voice was gone, but Felix brought it back aflame. Her old voice was becoming logical, organized and reasonable to her new one, but at the same time, they were the same voice.

At the apartment rooms on balconies Felix finally hobbled to his door. 

"I'll take him from now," Felix said. 

"Ok," Una said. She picked the creature up from his armpits and handed him to Felix. The creature climbed up Felix's shoulder and sat there, "I'll be ok, ok?"

"You say that, but I still am not convinced. I do not understand why you think this is your only option, but I can not stop you," Una said. 

"Just... trust me ok?" Felix said.

"... Okay," Una said. Felix patted her head. He then opened his door and went in. The door closed. 

Una sat on the floor in front of the door, waiting.