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Chakats are copywritten to Bernard Doove, and Skunk'taurs by Bob Reijns.

Gildedtongue's Story: Chapter 6

The chakat and hir attourney were lead away into a small square room after that small ordeal. A shiver ran up Gildy's spine as the room brought back memories of the interrogation shi went through when shi was first thrown into the police station. Shi sat down at the table in the middle of the room as the young man near fell into a chair on the other side. It didn't take a trained empath to see how nervous this man was. The watercooler in the corner bubbled air before anyone spoke.

"Well, that certainly was, not too expected," the man said finally. He opened up his attaché case, pulling out a data pad and what smelled like a peanut butter and banana sandwich. The attourney looked at the chakat, seeing hir salivate as he tore the sandwich in half, giving hir a large chunk, "I can't imagine food in prison to be that great." The leonine chakat took the offering thankfully, trying not to inhale the sandwich all at once. Shi never thought the combination was particularly appetizing, however he was right, this was certainly better than those slabs of protein shi's been eating lately. "I'm Peter Jacobs. I'm guessing we'll be seeing each other quite a bit while this goes on, Gildedtongue."

The chakat nodded after finishing the sandwich, finding hir voice a bit easier now that shi knew his name and that Peter was nervous simply because he was as lost as shi was. Shi allowed hirself to purr softly, "Please, Mr. Jacobs, call me Gildy."

"Then call me Pete, please."

The tension evaporated from the room as both people came to relax. Peter turned on the pad and typed a few phrases into it in silence, his left incisor and canine bit into his lower lip as he gave another small sigh, "Well, Gilded... Gildy. I've read over the official police report of the event, and received a long detailed report from the victim and two under aged witnesses, as well as a chakat Dreamweaver. Hir story seems to be rather short, just saying that you were enraged and tried to pull the victim out of the car and after gave him his wounds." Gildedtongue gave a small nod; it was the truth, not the whole truth, but a well-edited truth. The two sat in silence for a moment after that before Pete glanced up for a moment, turning on a record button on the data pad, "Would you like to give your side of that story, Gildedtongue?"

The chakat nodded and gave a small sigh before recounting the events of that night a week ago to the best of hir ability. Pete tapped on the datapad to mark out key points and places for questions but kept attentive. Gildy couldn't describe it, however the eyes reminded hir of hir friend Frank. Gildy's mind wandered in the middle of the story, wondering what the monsignor was doing at the moment, or Dreamweaver and hir parents for that matter. After shi was done shi sat back on hir haunches more flatly, exhaling slowly.

Peter continued to notate in silence for a moment, then raised his head slowly, "None of the other stories ever mentioned an attempted rape, Gildedtongue. Are you sure?"

"I can confirm that Mr. Miller is not orthodox Jewish." The two people in the room laughed out at that. Gildedtongue hinted a blush under hir fur. It had been ages since hir last laugh and despite hir dark humour, it certainly felt good. The chakat shrugged a bit, getting serious again, "I know what I saw, and I can confirm that Dreamweaver would agree to the notion that, yes, Jacob was indeed trying to take advantage of Dreamweaver."

Peter nodded as he jotted down that somber note. He sighed to himself, shrugging, "Well, unfortunately that is going to be hard to prove. I'm not going to lie, however you're more than willing to agree that whatever jury the judge and the prosecutor set up, they won't be too friendly to our cause." Pete looked over his notes again, "But the cards are certainly stacked against your favour. If somehow we could prove this singular trump card, then we go into a cry of self-defense. However..." Peter was interrupted by a guard who swung open the door with a metallic bang.

"Time's up. The prisoner must return to its cell now."

"However, without it, Nos futuero.*" Peter shrugged as he gathered his things, tipping his head to his client before leaving with one guard. The other brandished a stun stick at the chakat as shi got up slowly, keeping hir hands in plain slight, moving slowly as shi was lead away back to hir cell.

The chakat exhaled softly as shi looked around inside hir cell again. Gildy went back to lie down again. Hir body felt lighter than last week as shi looked over hirself, a little leaner and hir fur was dusty from the room, however the meeting with Peter certainly poked a small hole in the shroud surrounding. A small light is always brightest when everything else is at its darkest.

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The next day at the court felt just as overwhelming as the previous one. The prosecutor, a middle aged woman, honed to a sharp edge by the whetstone of her career, introduced her witnesses, as a bruised and injured Jacob Miller spoke, then the two students Gildedtongue came across just moments before. The whole of the proceedings felt totally alien to the chakat, however shi could feel the hostility brewing in the room. Gildedtongue turned hir head to see if shi could see any of hir friends. Several holorecorders were in the room, taking down every movement and word to be uploaded to the Kingdom's databases. The audience of the spectacle spilt out into the hallway as the benches were full and people stood at the walls and peeked through the doors. Gildy could swear that they decided to have mass here rather than at the churches.

Gildy's attention was snapped back forward as shi heard hir name called out by the prosecutor. Peter elbowed hir rib gently, giving a glance up to the empty witness booth. The chakat slowly rose and made hir way to the small podium. The bailiff shoved a Bible into the chakat's chest, barking out in Latin for Gildy's affidavit that shi shall speak no falsehoods and follow the Eighth Commandment as declared by the profit Moses. Gildedtongue returned with the knee-jerk affirmation, but wondered if anyone had ever disagreed and what would happen if they did.

The prosecutor approached the felitaur with eyes that burned with hate and rage. Gildy's ears pressed against hir skull like a cub that was found next to a broken lamp. Her words offered no respite from the venomous gaze.

"What were you thinking when you maimed that poor boy?" she dripped her alto voice into the air. Gildedtongue's mind scrambled as shi tried to even remember what shi was thinking. Shi wasn't thinking then, it was complete autopilot. Shi opened hir mouth to speak but was interrupted by hir attourney's shout from behind his table.

"Objection, your honour, the prosecution is leading the witness!" Peter yelped almost prepubescently. The judge gave a nod and turned towards the interrogator and interrogated.

"Sustained. Please rephrase your question, Sister Ontario," the judge commanded, leaning back into his seat.

The prosecutor gave a soft sigh as she returned her gaze back to the chakat, crossing her arms over her chest and gave a small smile. "Did you, or did you not attack the victim, Jacob Miller, on the twenty sixth day of November on the twenty first hour of the day?"

Gildedtongue mentally growled, of course the simpler questions could lead to the most amount of trouble for hir case. Shi exhaled again and started to speak, "The circumstances of the..."

"Just answer the question, morph," the woman interrupted, staring colder at the chakat. Gildedtongue turned hir face to the judge.

"Your honour, I..."

"Answer her question, or I shall hold you in contempt, Gildedtongue!" the judge snapped back, a large sneer on his face. It seemed his earlier sustaining of the objection was to look good for the galactic viewership. Gildedtongue sighed again before closing hir eyes, finally speaking.

"Yes."

The rest of the questioning went downhill from that abysmal starting point. The whole day in court the chakat felt like shi was skinned of hir sanity, mind and soul and it made hir weary. The chakat joined hir attourney after the trial was adjourned for the evening back into their advisory room.

Peter placed his attaché case on the table like last time, but took out two sandwiches, offering the second one to the chakat. The dark haired human gave a small chuckle as he broke the silence, "Well, you'll be pleased to know that the hard rock song, 'Chakat Attack' just made number one in sales last night. And after today's performance it should go platinum by teatime tomorrow."

Gildedtongue chuckled at that and settled in, looking at Peter a bit more, "Today sucked, didn't it?"

Peter let out a sigh and nodded, "It's going to be interesting escaping the mouth of this whale, Jonah," he muttered and sat down finally, looking over his notes on his datapad. "Unfortunately, Gildedtongue, I wasn't able to come into contact with either Dreamweaver nor hir parents yesterday. Shi seemed completely tied up at school, and hir parents, well, somehow my communicator can't connect. I wonder why?" he mused idly with a chuckle. He gave another sigh, "I'll try again tonight, but I'm afraid that it might be more of the same."

Gildedtongue nodded quietly as shi ate, giving thanks to Peter before speaking on more important manners. "So, well, without hir it is Jacob's and his friends' words against mine. Somehow I think that is going to be somewhat lopsided against me." Shi sighed softly, thinking to hirself, "Well, what else have we got?"

Peter shrugged, "Well, considering you have just admitted to the assault, without that piece of evidence proving motive, we're looking at a very short trial right about now. Or long and drawn out if the prosecution decides to bring in plenty of people to speak against you and your species just for public and protected record."

Gildedtongue nodded glumly, crossing hir arms on the table as shi looked dejected. "Almost sounds like I should have just walked away from it all," shi muttered under hir breath. Peter shook his head as he rested his hand on hir mane.

"Look, we're just a mortal trial. You've got another trial ahead of you and in that case, you did the right thing. Maybe a bit overzealously, but you did the right thing," he smiled and scratched over hir headfur. Gildedtongue purred contently for a moment as shi closed hir eyes.

"So, what's next on your bag of tricks, Peter?"

"Keep trying to get in contact with Dreamweaver, I guess. Then convince the jury that hir testimony is the important one," Peter shrugged as he pulled his hand away, making some more notes on his datapad, "Outside of that, we're completely fucked."

Gildedtongue nodded slightly in hir arms before lifting hir head slowly, giving a half a smile, "Well, heh, if we are, then I'm glad I went through this with you, Peter," shi gave a coy smirk, "You might not be the most experienced lawman out there, but you certainly treated me like a person, which is something I have really needed for some time."

Peter laughed at that and shrugged, "Well, I figured if I have to defend someone, I had better learn to like him, her, or hir." The door opened as the guard motioned for Peter to leave. He packed up his things and gave Gildy a firm handshake before exiting.

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Gildedtongue lay in the middle of hir cell, looking around the small room that had become hir private universe these two weeks. The chakat sighed as shi padded around slowly, and then shrugged to hirself. Shi couldn't really do anything at this point. Everything seemed to be on Peter's shoulders. How he manages to keep a smile in an obviously hopeless case is beyond hir, but it certainly had helped hir keep sane again. The chakat looked out of hir window at the shining moon, giving a small whimper as only hir eyes could drink in the freedom.

"Look, I know I haven't been a particularly good or obedient person in this universe," shi muttered, to God or no-one shi didn't care at the moment, "But I have tried. I've tried as much as my abilities allow me to. Isn't that all anyone really can ask for?" shi sighed and dug hir claw into a small hole that pocked the metal and stone, scratching up the inside of it. "I just need a little help right now. I'm not sure what I did was good or bad, or if there is a good or bad. All I know is that I did what I did, and it was what I thought was right at the time."

Gildy walked away from the window, clutching hir shoulders in the cold. "Peter's right, though. The consequences of my actions might not be truly reflected in this case, but either by Judgement or by Dreamweaver's and Mr. Miller's life, my actions, I hope, will do some sort of good." Shi shrugged and sighed, "But I certainly don't want to witness it post-humourous," shi said before falling asleep.

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Gildedtongue was led back into the courtroom, seeing a smiling Peter. Shi sighed in relief as shi padded closer to him, sitting down on hir haunches at the table. Shi leaned closer to whisper into his ear, "So, you got into contact with Dreamweaver?"

Peter shook his head, "Nope, couldn't get a hold of hir nor hir parents," he says as he leaned against the table he was seated at.

"Then, erm, what, you got plastered the night before?"

"Even better, I got a comm last night." Peter responded smugly as he leaned back into his seat. Gildy waited for him to finish his thought, but blinked as nothing else came.

"And?"

"You'll see," the human said smugly as he opened his case again, pulling out his datapad full of notes. The court all rose when the judge entered the room. The other heraldry of the beginning of the court session went on. Gildy wasn't paying much attention as hir brain was trying to figure out what Pete had done. Everyone sat down except for the camera crews, and Peter.

"Your Honour. I would like to move for a recess to investigate the testimonies of the witnesses and defendant." Peter said with unusual confidence. Gildedtongue looked to hir side, seeing the human's knuckles become a bright white in a fist.

"Mister Jacobs, you had ample time to review the official testimonies prior to the trial. I doubt anything that would be said would be different," the judge said, holding back a yawn of boredom.

Peter relaxed his fist as he took a short breath, "Then I'm not going to ask them for what they said, but rather what they saw." Peter turned around to see two people in Starfleet uniforms march up the middle of the sea of people and onlookers. Gildedtongue saw the forerunner, an elderly human, with platinum blonde/gray hair. He walked with a slight limp but moved with utmost dignity. Next to him was another officer's uniform, this time wrapped around the top of a skunk. A swatch of cloth was missing over the right breast as Gildy blinked to hirself, a skunk'taur telepath.

Peter smiled at his own theatrics as the whole courtroom rose in murmurs. The judge pounded his gavel to little avail before the bailiff shouted a bark for order. The older gentleman sighed to himself, "Mister Jacobs, what is the meaning of this?"

"Your Honour, I request that master Miller, the two witnesses, Dreamweaver and my client undergo a mind read."

"On what grounds?" the judge asked, a bit upset that he seemed to be losing control of his court.

"I have reason to believe that Miller and the witnesses have all committed perjury which would hurt my client." Peter stated, looking over his notes on his datapad.

"Mister Jacobs, you are aware that in this Kingdom no one can be forced to such," the judge thought for a word, "unholy means of information gathering."

"I am aware, your Honour, however I can assure you that my logic is fair."

The judge bit the inside of his cheek in consideration. Gildedtongue felt beads of sweat well up under hir hairline. It was a bold move by Peter, and one that could be easily swatted away by the man in the black robe. The judge's gavel cracked on the table twice more, "Very well, Mister Jacobs. The court will reconvene at fifteen hundred hours. Until then you may conduct your investigation. Bailiff, please escourt the victim, the witnesses, and the defendant to separate rooms. Also put a word in to the school to bring Dreamweaver here."

Peter collapsed in his chair exhaling a breath that was held since he first stood up. Gildedtongue couldn't help but lean and hug hir attourney, making him giggle a little, "Mmmmph, hey. We're not done yet!"

"No, but we're getting closer." Gildedtongue smiled softly. Shi didn't care that the cameras were focused on hir and Peter. Shi was close to winning.

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Gildedtongue sat in hir cell alone. Hir tail bushed up as it flicked around like mad. Shi couldn't remember any other time shi was this excited to meet anyone and shi didn't know hys name. After a few minutes, the door opened up and the Skunk'taur walked in quietly, looking around with a critical eye.

"Not exactly the Ritz hotel." Hy said to himself before looking at Gildedtongue. The chakat started to pad toward the chakat-kin, opening hir arms to the officer. Shi stopped when shi saw the skunk'taur lift hir hands in front of hir, "Please, Gildedtongue. I would rather keep this as impersonal as possible. I don't want anything to possibly bias my findings."

Gildedtongue nodded as shi sat down again. Shi watched the skunk'taur set up a camera, turning it on towards the middle of the room before sitting infront of Gildedtongue.

"I am going to go into your memories, Gildedtongue. I will see what you saw, hear what you heard, smell what you smelt, taste what you tasted, feel what you felt, but most importantly, I will know what you thought. For the purposes of this reading, Gildedtongue, I shall say aloud your thoughts and anything else of note. Do you understand?"

Gildedtongue could only nod, but remembering the recorder shi spoke up, "Yes, I understand."

The skunk'taur nodded to hymself, "Good. Do you agree to the memory read?" The chakat nodded and affirmed again. The skunk'taur exhaled slowly before placing hys fingers along the temple and cheeks of the feli'taur. The skunk'taur whispered gently, "Then take me to that time."

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The recording flickered on the viewscreen as it projected the image of Gildedtongue and the skunk'taur. The recorded skunk'taur was reiterating Gildedtongue's thoughts before asking, "My daughter?" then slumped a little as the feeling of the abrupt stunning ended the memory. The jury sat in some boredom, as only a few who have researched into chakats knew the weight of that thought. Peter smiled softly as he rose again, "I have two more pieces of evidence to offer to the court. First I would like to give young master Miller's mental recollection. Then I would finally like to offer Dreamweaver's."

Peter typed out a few keys on his datapad before the image of Jacob Miller's memory scanning came up. The two witnesses had refused to be scanned, but they weren't completely necessary. The young human was seated in front of the skunk'taur, with two guards on the far corners of the room. The skunk'taur asked him the same question hy asked Gildedtongue earlier. Then Jacob became quiet as the skunk'taur started to speak for him.

"Just a bit longer, then I'll ask it if it wants to go out for a ride. Fuckin' God, will it ever shut up." The skunk'taur said in the recording. The courtroom grumbled in dissent as some murmurs of lies and trickery bubbled amoung the visitors.

The skunk'taur went on for a few minutes until they reached the car. "Johnny said the seats should be able to hold a half a thousand kilograms, should hold a squirmy morph. Let's see if it works. 'Hey, sorry babe, you'll be okay there.' Fuckin' tail getting in the way. 'Shut up, will you? Keep that up and I'll give you something to bitch about.'" The skunk'taur continued, making the room get louder in their anger. The judge's gavel slammed a few times for quiet, which the visitors offered begrudgedly.

"Fuck its tight, but shallow, can't get in deep enough for fucking," the skunk'taur muttered with Jacob's mental voice. "What, who's there? You! I'll fucking gut you you piece of shi- Argh! Yagh!" the skunk'taur yelped before going limp again, just like the last recording. The visitor section was in an uproar, screaming for the blood of the officers. Peter remained calm as he sat. He had a final piece of evidence to show, his final trump. He looked over at the jury. Some were angered much like others in the room, though some were in shock, just where he wanted them. Peter rose slowly, exhaling evenly.

"I'd like to finally display Dreamweaver's memory scan. I believe it should put the final questions anyone might have about the events to rest." Peter stated. The small population there wasn't too happy about all the theatrics, but glad to see this near the end. Peter's hand trembled as he moved to tap on his datapad. He gulped quietly to himself as he closed his eyes; this one was definitely the worst of the crop.

The beginning of the recording was the same as the last one with general questioning of agreement to the scan. Dreamweaver sat on hir haunches like Gildedtongue did earlier. It was the first time Gildedtongue saw even an image of Dreamy since the events. Shi looked just as ragged and exhausted as the longtail that had been put on trial. The events of the dance played out with a teenage jubilation of young love. A sense of confusion and urgency came up as Miller asked Dreamweaver to the car. Dream wondered if hir date was feeling ill and followed him closely. Miller was a gentleman as he opened up the door for hir, but as shi climbed in, shi felt hir right foreleg and hindleg slip under the seats.

"My legs are being crushed!" the officer plead to no one, "I have to back out to adjust myself. Wait, what the hell is going on? Oh shit, is he trying? Oh God. 'No, Jake, I don't want to! No, stop!' I can't seem to get the leverage to break off the seats or slip my legs out." The skunk'taur let out a yelp of psychic pain; "he's dragging a knife on my flanks. Maybe if I just give him what he wants he won't hurt me." The skunk'taur whimpered openly, letting tears flow as hy felt the chakat's memory. Dream was quaking in the grip the skunk'taur had on hir. Shi whimpered softly.

The officer continued slowly, "I can't relax enough to even give him what he wants. Oh shit, this can't be how I die. What, why is he stopping? Is that Gildy? Oh thank God." The skunk'taur and the chakat both flinched as the moment of the shattered hand passed through the memory. "Oh, oh Gildy, you can stop now. Oh God, thank you. 'Aiee!'" the skunk'taur let out another yelp, most likely the moment the knife went through the roof of the PTV. " 'Stop, Stop it, Gildy! You've finished him!' shi can't hear me. What's going o..." the skunk'taur slumped again as the memory once again ended with the feeling of the stunner.

The image flickered off of the viewscreen. Everyone in the room was eerily silent. No shouts of dissent, no demand of genetically engineered blood. Just deafening silence. Peter slowly rose, himself still shaken from seeing the events a second time. He coughed into his fist to garner some courage. "The Defense rests, your Honour." Peter slumped back into his chair, emotion and adrenaline causing his hands to shake and spasm randomly.

The judge nodded and banged his gavel on his bench again, "Very well, we shall listen to the closing arguments. Sister Ontario, you have five minutes." The nun rose slowly, clearing her throat softly. She knew that the jury's decision has been skewed far beyond her ability to sway at this point. She, however, continued to hammer the fact that Jacob Miller's career has been completely ruined because of this bout of vigilante justice. Had Gildedtongue reported the activity rather than take the law into hir own hands, shi might have not been in this mess. She rest her case and stormed back to her seat. Peter took a sip of water from a nearby glass before standing up to the jury.

"Members of the jury. What you have seen was not an act of malice, but rather an act of mercy. While action is what our laws are based on, we must temper all these actions with motives. Immanuel Kant, an 18th century philosopher claimed that motive and drive was above all action. In this case, I would say he is correct. Gildedtongue's motives were pure and good, the motive of defending those who cannot defend themselves. Many of you might feel that is true, but shi went too far." Peter shrugged, "But you must look upon your own virtues, and accept that Zeal is something to be praised. Shi made sure that the defenseless was to be defended in the future.

It is in this logic that we must uphold justice and law to its fullest extent and find my client, Gildedtongue, innocent, for only then will justice truly be served. I thank you, and praise be." Peter calmly returned to the table with Gildedtongue. The judge rapped his gavel again, dismissing the jury.

"At ten hundred hours tomorrow, you shall return with your verdict. Until then the defendant will remain in its-hir cell. Court is adjourned."

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Gildedtongue was nigh dancing on the ceiling as shi was led back to hir cold cell. Shi couldn't believe that things were going so well. Shi never felt the door close behind hir as shi looked around the empty room shi had called home for two weeks. Shi lay on hir backs, looking up at the ceiling, resting up for the morrow. Things couldn't get worse after this, could they? Shi had it made, right? The nagging uncertainty certainly felt heavier as it dragged hir back to earth. Sure, the evidence pointed toward hir innocence, but sometimes bigotry and hatred outweighed fact. Shi sighed softly to hirself as shi curled up around hirself, fighting to accept sleep.

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Gildedtongue awoke to the pounding of a fist on hir door. It opened up as three guards seized hir roughly. The chakat yelped in pain, wiggling around in their grip, trying to find footing and leverage to pull away. The police seemed particularly aggressive and never used to physically touch hir before. The half awake chakat felt hir clothing pulled off of hir before being pushed into a running tap of cold water. The feline bathed quickly, using hir pads to scrub off any dirt. It wasn't a particularly good job, however it had been since the incident since hir last cleansing.

The water shut off as quickly as it had came. Another quick set of raps on the door before the guards came to grab hir again, tossing hir garments into hir hands as they resumed their march, making the chakat keep up and dress at the same time. The series of corridors to the courtroom felt more labyrinthine than before, maybe because shi just wanted to hear the verdict and leave. They paused in front of a familiar set of wooden doors and the guards put hir hands into binders behind the chakat's back.

The courtroom felt painfully bright compared to the last sessions. The murmurs of the attendees made a sea of noise. Calm, but a stone could easily ripple and drive it violent. The chakat was lead next to hir attourney. Peter smiled and nodded to his client, giving hir a thumbs up. Gildedtongue could only respond with a Sign of the Cross and clasped hands in dramatic prayer, hoping this will go well.

The jury certainly took their time arriving. Gildedtongue's mouth was dry and hir tail wrapped tightly around the table leg in front of hir. Shi took a look around the room while they waited. Again, most of the attendees were angry citizens baying for blood and vengeance; the rest was the media looking for a good story, which usually entailed blood as well.

The members of Gildedtongue's jury finally filed into their box. A death of silence filled the room as the twelve, heads down and lips unquivering took their seats. Gildedtongue couldn't breathe, the air too thick with suspense to fit into hir mouth. As soon as they sat, the room burst into a frantic muttering, making last minute speculation of the oncoming verdict. The banging of the judge's gavel brought the attendees to a complete silence. His old, tired eyes surveyed all before him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this court has resumed session. Members of the jury, have you reached a verdict?" the judge asked, turning over to the box.

"We have, your honour," an older, frail man spoke. He slowly stood up, opening a small fold of paper, looking over it a few times before continuing. "In the case of Jacob Miller v. Gildedtongue, in the event of malicious and unlawful acts of assault..."

Time seemed to completely stop for Gildedtongue. Shi could count the nanomoments between the beats of hir hearts. Hir eyelids tried to close in a blink to moisten hir eyes, but it wasn't moving fast enough. Gildedtongue could smell Peter's fingernails digging into the palms of his hands, making a small blood vessel burst, loosing his life essence. The slow feeling of the shower's moisture evaporating from hir fur. Everything seemed to wait for the next words from this man's lips.

"Not guilty in all charges."

The mob that had gathered in the seats made their disgust well known, screaming obscenities and booing the jury. Neither the judge, nor the guards could ever hope to quiet the people there. Gildy didn't particularly care as shi wrapped hir arms around Peter's body, hugging him tightly, giving his cheek a kiss. Calls of rage claiming that the Federation had meddled with the trial peppered the room as the judge pointed to the chakat, asking the bailiff to escourt hir out into the Judge's chambers. Gildedtongue was lead away as the room continued to fall into chaos.

The judge's chambers were the opposite Gildedtongue would have thought. Rather than anything remotely elaborate or ornamental, it was almost a monk's cell. A desk with a name plaque stating "High Inquisitor Saul Robinson" was in front of a data pad and an open book. Gildedtongue hid a blush, realizing that shi never knew the judge's name prior to the trial, and it was already over.

Saul sighed as he removed his heavy robe, showing a lithe, small man dressed in a simple white tunic and white pants. He hung his robe on the wall before sitting down, interlocking his fingers, staring at the chakat. "Lord knows how you've done it, but you managed to avoid the wrath of the law. Obviously there is something to be said about luck." Gildedtongue swallowed dryly, keeping at the far wall of the room, staring at the only other occupant.

"But, it is in the ways of men to destroy things that should not be," Saul muttered, turning his gaze icily to the Gildedtongue. "You are simply a thing created by man in a war that needed more soldiers than were pushed out of the womb to fight it. Oh, sure, you yourself weren't, nor was your," Saul tasted the air in thought, "type. But you are all from the same mud. A mud of people who thought they could be greater than God.

"Through some sort of sick turn of events that will only try the faiths of those blind to the truth, you managed to break free. But like any farmer that owns a dog who has tasted the blood of man, there are many people more than willing to put you down. How much farther do you think your luck will hold, construct? How fast do you think you can precede the devil? Don't think that your wars will always be taken to the civility of this building. The longer you remain here, the more you are tempting the fates God placed here!"

Gildedtongue felt hir claws pricking over hir palm. Hir eyes looking over the angry defeated inquisitor as shi shook hir head. "Your words are dead, old man. Your words and the words that you claim to follow and uphold. This whole country is a mockery of the truths that it claims to be based upon," the chakat growled offensively. "I thank God every day that I'm not cut in the same cloth as you." Hir hand outstretched and a finger damning the man before hir, "Not all humans, but you and your kind, Inquisitor, a complete disgrace to your species and your religion. If I am sent to the last level of Hell simply for not being like you, then I shall call it Paradise, for no where with the likes of you could be called Heaven."

Gildedtongue felt hir whole body trembling in a thousand emotions. Fear, anger, pain, disgust, and sorrow filled hir chest. Hir hand slowly lowered as shi closed hir eyes lightly, exhaling the rest of hir breath before resuming to speak, "Know this, Inquisitor. Know that I shall not be remaining in this tainted pit of hellfire for much longer. I have wasted half of my life hoping for some sense of human decency, but came across only barbarism. This "Place of Peace" is merely a cesspool of hate and insanity. Good day, sir."

Gildedtongue stood up and walked out of the room, letting the doors slam behind hir. Shi returned to hir cell where shi picked up hir effects from that evening weeks ago. A torn dress, a purse with a bus pass, a credstick, some cigarettes and a comb. This is all shi had.

No, shi had freedom and hope.

*We're screwed.