Starre got out on the eighth floor, and saw several DF workers pacing back and forth. There were cells lining the path she now walked, but they were all empty. She bit her lip, and followed behind the boys.
"Oh, here we go," one of the boys up front called, walking up to a cell that Starre could not see into. She peered over a boy's shoulder, and gasped.
A kin, chained to the wall, was being brutally beaten. The woman's wings wrapped protectively around her body, but her back was left open, and that was where the club usually struck. The men beating the woman were laughing, and taking turns striking her.
"I'm telling you," the woman wailed, "I don't know where my son went! Please, stop hurting me! I can't tell you, I don't know!"
"'Course you do," one of the men sneered. He struck her on the head, and she went limp.
A few of the boys Starre was with whistled as the woman's wings dropped and revealed her tattered garment. Starre narrowed her eyes, but said nothing. She couldn't; besides, if her plan worked, this woman would soon be free.
"Nice going," one of the men grunted, bumping drunkenly into the other, who had knocked the kin out. "Now we'll have to wait."
"Show's over," one of the boys said to Starre, and she nodded noiselessly.
Hang in there, Starre, Rai sent, and Starre nodded again, this time to her beloved friend.
I'll bet it gets worse, Starre sulked as she followed the boys again. This time, she began to hear screams, and she clenched her fists.
We'll get out of here soon, Rai promised. Then, you can send the tape to all the local news stations, and they'll play it, and soon it'll be everywhere. People'll see it, and then they'll know that the DF is really bad. I promise.
Starre nodded. I didn't think once of leaving now, she said. I just don't want to be too late for anyone.
Rai laid her head on Starre's hip, comforting the kin girl. Me either, the shrape said firmly, which is why we keep going.
**--**--**
"See ya!" Starre called to the boys, relatively pale, the tape full of horrible footage of the evils of the DF. Rai smiled softly to herself. Starre had done what she needed to.
Are you okay? Rai asked as the pair exited the building.
Yes, Starre replied, fully utilizing the new method of communication she had discovered. It's just a great feeling to have that over with. And, plus, I know that I'll be stopping all those things, I hope. How can someone see that and not stop attending the DF?
I don't think it's possible, Rai agreed. You were brave, Starre.
Thanks, Starre replied, smiling. Now, what was bothering you back there, Raistlin?
Rai's eyes opened a bit wider, as though she had been expecting Starre to forget the incident in the HQ. Oh, er...nothing, really.
It's not nothing unless I say it's nothing, Starre said flatly. What's wrong?
Rai blushed slightly, making her red skin even redder. Well, she began, I...I really want to meet some other bishel. I'm perfectly happy here, she added hurriedly, but I'd just like to go to the Bishen Realm once, and see what all the others are like.
Starre smiled, reading between the lines of Rai's statement. Your Shantel is coming up, she noted, so you could stay for a while and socialize. I wouldn't have a problem with that.
Rai beamed, and continued the walk home at a happy gait. Starre, however, turned her thoughts to the tape in her hat. If her plan worked, the world would know what the DF truly was.