"Hallo, there!" the cab driver said cheerfully. "Walcome to Sawxvistan. Ah hope yer enjoy yer stay hare."
"Thank you," Starre said, trying not to smile at the man's version of english.
Nina gave the driver the address to the hotel, while Starre watched out the window. It seemed unusually crowded in the streets, and people had an eager look on their faces.
But something was strange to Starre. She knew something wasn't right about the scene around her, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She mentally shrugged, and turned back to Nina and the driver.
"Yah here fer the big avent?" the man asked as he pulled out of the parking lot. "Ah heard they 'ave a much bettah team than last yeah. Mostly males, Ah've heard."
Starre could feel Nina stiffen beside her, and she wondered why. Nina was touchy about the wierdist things. For instance, she felt that football was a very bad, unethical activity, but, in Starre's opinion, she couldn't have been more wrong.
"Yes," Nina said primly. "I'm sure the event will be wonderful."
After several minutes of uncomfortable silence, Starre and Nina reached their hotel. Nina quickly paid the driver, and she and Starre scurried into the hotel, through a slight rain that had come up during their ride.
Relieved to be out of the wet and cold, Starre moved to take off her sweatshirt. Nina stopped her with a quick hand, and led her to the information desk.
"The Matthews," Nina said, smiling. "You might have this young lady under Copper."
The secretary's fingers flickered over the keyboard before her, and she paused to read some unknown thing on her screen. She nodded, and handed Nina and Starre two keys, one for each of them. Nina said a quick thank you, and the two headed up to their room on the fifth floor.
When they finally made it, Starre flopped down on the bed. She pulled off her sweater, and stretched her leathery wings in relief. Nina immediately closed the window, and pulled the curtains over it.
"Leave that open!" Starre cried indignantly. "That breeze felt nice!"
"It...it was cold," Nina mumbled, wringing her hands.
"Not really," Starre said dryly. "What is everybody hiding from me? Something is very weird here!"
Nina sank down onto her bed, running her fingers through her thick, blonde hair. "We need to talk, Starre," she said sadly.
Starre groaned, and flopped down on her bed. "What?"
"Listen," Nina sighed. "Kin...aren't treated well here. You need to understand that people here hold a lot of prejudice toward Kin. They think that they must imprison them and keep them out of daily life. That's why you need to hide. I hate to do this to you, but I know how much you wanted to see your old country again. So...can you just have fun, and keep your Kinship a secret?"
Starre nodded, and smiled. "You bet. I'll try. It's just kind of sick, people thinking they can treat others like that."
**--**--**
The wind ruffled Starre's hair. She and Nina were taking a walk along the main roadways of central Saxvistan. Starre was elated, taking in every sight and smell of the land. The roads, however, were strangely deserted. The people must be at the 'event,' Starre thought. For what had to be the millionth time, Starre wondered what the man had been talking about.
Suddenly, Starre heard a wild, roaring cheer. She jumped, listening the mass of people screaming and whooping in delight. That had to be the attendance at the 'event.'
"What in the world...?" Starre gasped, whirling toward the noise's location. It was down a long, winding pavement road, and Starre began to run along it. Nina gasped, and ran after her.
"Starre!" she called, running as fast as she could. "You don't want to see this, trust me! Come back!"
If Nina had thought this would help her case, she was sadly wrong. Starre became even more curious. Perhaps there was a football game going on! That was the only thing she knew of that would draw such a huge crowd, as well as such a strong reaction from Nina. That, or the Olympics.
Finally, Starre (who had long outrun Nina) reached a massive stadium. She was sure it could hold hundreds of millions of people. On the outside, in gold on blue, there were two letters: DF.
Starre saw a ladder around back of the stadium, and rushed to climb it. She would be able to see over the wall there. Just a quick peek to see what all the fuss was about.
After what had to be hundreds of stairs, Starre reached the top of the flight. Miraculously, there was no one there. Starre gazed over the wall, and saw a man standing in the middle.
"Welcome, fans!" the man was shouting into a microphone. "You now find yourselves at the 11th annual DF Tournament Bowl!" Starre was whisked into the excitement of whatever the DF was, clapping with everyone else.
"Remember," the man said quickly, "the two teams competing here are Saxvistan and Sonchon. One player from each team will enter the arena at a time. Whichever one outlasts the other will earn a point for its team. ARE? YOU? READY?!?"
The fans went wild, but Starre had begun to feel uneasy. Just like the people on the streets when Starre had first arrived, there was something weird about the people attending the arena. She still couldn't figure out what.
The man had rushed off the playing field now, and was giving an energetic commentary from the sidelines.
"Now," he cried, "entering from the left, Saxvistan's first representative!"
Starre watched eagerly with the rest of the audience, expecting to see some kind of wrestler or boxer. But what she did see mortified her.
It took her several moments to recognize the beaten, mangled, wounded creature as Kin. But his dark, humanoid eyes flickered up, and removed all of Starre's doubts. His wings were slashed and bloody, as were his thin, weak legs. He wore a bright orange armband, with a matching one around his neck.
The Kin stumbled and fell, causing Starre to cringe almost as much as he did. It took him almost a minute just to get up. The fruits and insults flying simultaneously from the crowd didn't help.
"From the right," the announcer continued cheerfully, "Sonchon's first representative!"
A lady Kin stumbled out onto the field, in a similar condition to the man. Her wings and legs were slashed and mangled, making it nearly impossible for her to move. Her lime green bands looked tight and painful. Starre wanted desperately to look away, to leave this horrible place, but something held her back. It was as though she was meant to be seeing this.
"And..." the announcer yelled. "Let the first round...BEGIN!"
Starre's remaining wonderings about the game were put to rest when a massive tawny lion was released from a dark cage in the back of the arena. It was so thin, you could see its ribs through its flesh. It was starving, and Starre realized in an instant what its prey would be.
Terrified beyond comprehension, the two Kin tried to fly. Their slashed, broken wings wouldn't carry their light bodies, no matter how hard they tried to take off. Then, they tried to run, but their cut tendons wouldn't operate. They collapsed to their hands and knees, and desperately began to crawl.
The lion seemed to be trying to decide which one to attack first. He finally chose the male, and lunged. The Kin let out one last terrified shout, and Starre turned away. She could no longer hold back the tears. She dimly heard the crowd cheer, and the female Kin's sobs could be detected.
As Starre finally chanced a look back, the male Kin's bloody remains were being taken off the field. The female was dragged back to the rest of the Sonchon team, and thrown into a dark pit. Who knew what was down there?
"And," the announcer called, "there's a point for Sonchon! Remember, a team must have 15 points to win the game!"
Starre was furious. 15? That was 15 or more innocent lives that would be wasted during this sick event.
And then, Starre knew what had been weird about the streets of Saxvistan. She knew what was weird about the crows at the DF Bowl. No matter where you looked throughout the happy, cheering faces of the crowd, there wasn't a Kin in sight.