I was dragged before the crowd, hands still chained, and tied to a post. I hoped that post wasn't really a stake used for burning people, because that would be a shame. It would also be very weird. The people of Jaoved crowded into the seats, and I saw my mother enter, slathered in makeup and wearing her best hot pink dress, with Silas walking behind, still in his black shirt, breeches, and riding boots. He looked around worriedly, and then caught sight of me chained tightly to the post (stake, whatever). He ran his fingers through his sandy hair twice and followed my mother to the front of the crowd. Then the judge took his position and the trial began. The judge was fat, just like my mother, and his monocle barely fit on his eye; it was held in place by the fat squishing over the sides. He had numerous rolls of fat layering his body, and about four chins.
"Ah, how I love trials. Now we may begin," he chuckled in a booming voice and sat back in his chair, while a slender man with wild white hair and queer crimson eyes walked to the front.
"You are a hybrid, are you not?" he spat at me. I growled and nodded, but managed to control my temper for the moment. The man sneered and continued.
"You have certain...features...do you not?" he asked, looking at me through narrowed eyes. I nodded slowly, remembering that I probably didn't look right with my pale white skin and yellow eyes. I wondered briefly why no one had bothered to ask about my eyes before, but then I realized that we do see a lot of unnatural things in Jaoved.
"Well, let's see them!" he commanded. I unpinned my ears from my head, and unsheathed my claws, but my tail was stuck in between the chains. I also bared my fangs for a brief moment, but I didn't want to tempt fate and get mad with my fangs bared.
"No tail? Tsk, tsk." He started writing something on his notepad.
"No, I have one," I said, feeling weird. "I just...the fur...it's stuck," I mumbled, looking at my feet. The man nodded, smirking.
"Full hybrid, then," he muttered. "So it's true that you are a mongrel, just like all the others, and that your animal instinct is dangerous this very moment." My face was getting hotter and a growl that had formed was getting louder. "And furthermore, you've been living undercover with your shameful features and your instincts hidden from the people?" he challenged, getting louder. My growl matched his volume as my fangs extended. "And you've been sneaking around like the thief you are, stealing from the -" He never finished. The roar burst out of me, and I snapped several of my chains with a strength I didn't know I had. I continued roaring and snapping at him, my bright yellow eyes flashing, forgetting that I was supposed to look harmless. My tail was freed and it lashed around like an angry wave. My ears were flattened to my skull in anger. I shook against the chains while the people in the stands closest to me screamed and edged away. I finally calmed down, but it was hard with the sneering man looking at me like I was dirt for him to walk on.
"So, you just proved everything I said," the man remarked, scribbling something on his notepad once again. My chest vibrated with a growl, but I sheathed my claws and sighed.
"Do you deny that you are a threat to the community?" he asked me. I almost nodded, but I caught myself. I was a threat to the community, to anyone I was around, in fact. So I hung my head and kept silent.
"Enough." I heard Silas's voice and looked up. He was walking toward the man with an air of confidence. He was way taller than him, even though the man had to be at least thirty.
"I don't deny that he's a threat, but I do deny that the features and instincts are his fault. It's not his fault he's a hybrid. He was born one, he will die one, end of story. Instincts are called that for a reason. They're feelings you can't help having, things that come automatically. He sometimes can't control himself, and it isn't his fault. He's still a young hybrid, and not yet responsible for his actions." Silas finished, leaving the tall man speechless but composed. The man cleared his throat and addressed the crowd.
