Pain.

That was all It knew. Every fiber of Its being screamed at It. It stumbled through the dark, on the wet street, feeling Its way through the night with blind, clumsy strokes of Its arm.

It wasn't sure how much time had passed since it emerged Above. It had managed to escape from Below only through random luck. When the Piteans with the Explosive Weapons had turned their backs on It for a moment, It had managed to wrench apart a small opening in the wall and escape. It had heard shouting shortly after that, but by then, It was already out of The Trap, and was climbing through the tunnels, making good progress with Its fast speed. It had grown up in the tunnels, and so It knew them well. The Piteans could search all they wanted, but It knew all the hiding spots, and could use them to Its advantage.

It thought of Its family back down Below, still being held prisoner in The Trap, and it mourned for them. It hoped that they weren't being punished for Its escape. The Piteans had no mercy, and seemed to delight in torturing them simply for the sake of hearing them scream when the Pain Sticks hit their bare flesh. It still bore the scars on its back from where Pitean Werner had hit It again and again with his Pain Stick, driving the electricity through Its body. It had screamed loudly, but that had not made the Pitean leader stop. It didn't remember what had made the Pitean torture It so much. Its memory had not been so good recently. It was so hard for It to think at times.

It coughed loudly as It felt small droplets of Wet hit It, covering Its Top Fur in a blanket of cool relief, after the hot and dry atmosphere of Below. It looked up, seeing that the Wet was coming from somewhere Far Above, though It couldn't tell exactly from where.

Far Above! This was the first time that It had ever seen it with Its own eyes. It felt the awe washing over It, as It looked first in one spot, and then another, Its eyes dashing all around. It couldn't believe the amount of space! It had never seen such a wide, open space, having lived in the tunnels of Below for Its whole life.

It paused for a second, as It saw strange points of light in Far Above. Strange balls of fire, that hovered in Far Above, and that were everywhere! Its eyes widened as It saw the sheer number of Sky Fires that hovered in Far Above, way out of Its reach. It didn't know what the Sky Fire was, but It was in awe of how much it existed!

It felt Wet come to Its eyes as It beheld Far Above and the Sky Fires. It whimpered to Itself as It beheld the sheer beauty of what lay above It, and that which had been denied to It for so long. It could never have dreamed, down in Below, that there could be such beauty in the world of the Piteans! It was such a contrast to It, from Its existence down Below, and in The Trap, only hours before!

Down Below, Its clawed hands had helped It to swipe quickly through any residual dirt and debris that had blocked Its escape through the dark tunnels, moving quickly. The tunnels had been dug through and hollowed out by Its people in years past, and were long, gloomy stretches of subterranean network, stretching for many miles through the Below. Only dim lights illuminated the path in front of it, darkness stretching out in all directions in the places where the light failed to reach. Luckily, It, like the rest of Its kind, had lived Its entire life Below, and so Its vision had adapted to see well in the gloom and twilight of the Below. It would normally have had little problem making Its way through the tunnels, except for the pain clouding Its mind and making everything foggy.

The Piteans had closed off many of the tunnels after forcing them into The Trap, and many of the passageways had thick steel doors that had taken all of Its strength to break through. It had been forced to throw Its entire body at each door, and tear at the steel with Its claws, and It had damaged Its arms and shoulders in the process. Plus, there had been a few Pitean guards posted on duty, and they had managed to hurt It with their Explosive Weapons before It had tore them to pieces in a blind rage.

None of that had stopped It though, or made It hesitate for even a second. It hadn't known where It would go once when It had escaped the Piteans, but It had simply wanted to escape, and get far away from The Trap, and the pain. It had simply kept running, Its vision becoming blurry, Its head pounding as It roared in anger and swiped a Pitean guard in the face, sending the crumpled and bloody body to hit the side of the tunnel with a dull thud.

It had kept moving, turning down side passages, trying to keep to the shadows, avoiding the Eyes that it knew were watching It from the ceiling. The Eyes had been posted after the Piteans had taken over, and were always watching, giving information back to the Pitean leaders in The Trap. It hated the Eyes with a red hot fury.

When It could, It had moved quietly and in the dark, not letting the Eyes see It and send Its image back to The Trap. It had been taught well by Its Birth Beings on how to use the conditions of Below to Its advantage, and so It could generally move through the narrow shafts without being detected.

When the Eyes were located in a way that this proved impossible, then It had no choice but to smash the Eyes to pieces with Its claws.

Despite Its entire existence having been spent in the Below, It didn't remember where every tunnel led to, and several times, It had to retrace Its steps when it reached a dead end, or went down a tunnel that would lead back in the direction of The Trap. It had known that It didn't have much time, and so It had kept moving, despite Its chest pounding and Its breath coming out in short, painful bursts. It couldn't risk stopping for even a minute, for that would sacrifice valuable time that It desperately needed.

It had been running for a long time when It had heard shouting behind It again. Loud Pitean voices, that seemed to be coming closer. They were looking for It. Fear had gripped It as It heard the yelling, recognizing one of the voices as that of Pitean Werner. It feared him the most of all. It knew that if the Piteans found It, then they would kill It without hesitation. There was no question about that. That was what they had done to all the Others.

It would have to escape, or die trying.

Luckily, It could move much faster than the Piteans, with Its greater size and longer legs, and so It had managed to stay one step ahead of Its captors, continually moving forward. It had swiped through anything in Its way, and had quickly dispatched the handful of Pitean guards that It came across, before they could use the Talkers in their hands to call for help. It had known then that It was getting close to Above, as It had been running for a long time, and could recognize the details of some of the tunnels now. It had seen that they were part of the series of passages that led to the Above. It had felt hope fill Its heart, for the first time in years, as realization had come that It was so close to escaping from The Trap, and would taste freedom again, even if it was to be found in the world of the Piteans in the Above.

Finally, It had come to the final stretch of tunnels, and It had come to the Entrance. It was the large steel gate that blocked off the world of Below from that of Above. It was a large barrier, that stretched almost the length of two of Its kind, and was at the front of a moderately sized metal room, that reminded It of one of the Solitary Rooms in The Trap. It was heavily fortified, with Eyes and Piteans everywhere. The Pitean guards were all holding Explosive Weapons, and It had known that to charge straight at them would only result in Its immediate death.

It had crept backwards a bit, going down another side tunnel, one that run parallel to the room with the gate, trying to find a weak point, somewhere where It could break through to Above. It had crept along in the dark for a bit, avoiding Eyes, until finally It had come to another side passage, a short tunnel that led off aways . It had crept forward through the tunnel, trying to remain silent, and had seen a small room, containing a door, with two Pitean guards standing in front of it, talking to each other.

It had stood there for a moment, in the shadows, listening to the two Piteans talk in their shared language. It could understand and speak the Pitean language with only slight trouble, having grown up in The Trap and being taught the language of Its captors, so It had rejoiced when It had heard one of them say that he was going to go outside and "take a quick smoke break" (whatever that meant).

It had waited patiently until the two Piteans had their back turned, and the first one had opened the door to step out, and then It had made its move. It had moved quickly, Its strong legs carrying It over to the first Pitean before he had even realized that It was behind him, and then It had struck.

Its sharp claws had sliced the Pitean's throat before he could make a sound, the blood spurting out like a geyser as the man's body crumpled to the floor. The second Pitean had turned upon hearing the sound, and had yelled as It had come at him, Its hands soaked in a crimson tide. The Pitean had managed to get off a single shot, the explosive weapon making a hole in Its shoulder, the pain shooting like bright lights in Its brain as It had grunted loudly in agony.

Then a violent rage had taken of It then, and It had grabbed the Pitean's head in one of Its hands, pulling with all of Its strength, ripping the man's head clear off his shoulders.

The floor of the room was covered in blood now, and It had paused for a second, feeling the agony radiating from the wound in Its shoulder, the blood pouring down its body, soaking Its fur in its own Life Essence. Its mind had begun to grow foggier from the pain It felt, and It had dropped the head, stumbling through the open door, seeking escape and freedom.

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It had stumbled blindly for a while, moving ever forward, until finally It had smashed through a final gate, and then it had been Above. It had escaped to the world of the Piteans. It was away from The Trap at long last.

The pain It felt clouded Its mind. Its vision was red and blurry, Its thoughts disoriented. It stumbled through the night, not knowing where it was going. It knew that It had lost a lot of Its Life Essence. It had not devised a plan once It had managed to reach Above. Where would It go, in a world controlled entirely by Piteans? What were the other Piteans like? It had not considered the response that It might receive, up here in Above. Would the other Piteans be cruel and torment It without mercy, like those Below?

It thought back to what Its Birth Beings had told It about the Piteans of old, back when They had still lived Above. The Birth Beings had told It that They had fought against the Piteans, after the arrival of the Piteans in Above, and after the Piteans had invaded Land and attacked Them. Those Piteans, It remembered learning, had been different from the other Piteans. The original Piteans had fought with Flying Sticks and Piercing Stones, and had been more at peace with Land, living more in harmony with it than the newer Piteans. They had been living in Above for many years before the conflict with the Piteans, and the fighting had lasted for many years, with many losses on both sides. It remembered seeing Memories of the older Piteans, carved into the walls of Below by Them, and had marveled that, despite their much smaller size, the older Piteans had managed to inflict so many losses on the larger and stronger Others of Its species.

Those Piteans were different than the Piteans that now imprisoned them in The Trap. It knew that the newer Piteans had no harmony with Land, bore no reverence for it. They fought not with Flying Sticks and Piercing Stones, but with Explosive Weapons and Pain Sticks. They were not interested in peaceful coexistence with Them, but simply in controlling Them, and inflicting pain on Them.

Piteans. It felt hatred swell inside of Its heart as It thought of the word. The Piteans had inflicted so much pain on It. Its Life Essence continued to trickle out of Its body as It stumbled into a dark alley, knocking over some metal objects and spilling Pitean items on the ground. Land felt cool under Its feet as It kept to the alleys, instinctively avoiding the Pitean lights, hearing noises coming from somewhere. Loud, aggressive sounds, similar to those of the Metal Things used by the Piteans to transport themselves quickly through The Trap.

Nearby, a four-legged creature hissed at It and ran away, moving under a fence and into some green part of Land where it could hide. It didn't know what the creature was, other than that it also walked on four legs like the animals that It had sometimes seen the Piteans use in The Trap.

It stared at where the creature had disappeared to, Hunger gnawing at Its stomach. It hadn't eaten in days, and It had used up most of Its energy in the escape from Below. It had been denied food by the Piteans as additional punishment, and now It felt Hunger come rushing back at It in full force, almost causing It to collapse onto the ground as a wave of weakness washed over It. It felt like It had been hit by a Spiritspawn, Hunger and the continuing loss of Its Life Essence almost causing It to curl up on the ground.

It felt dark humor take over Its cloudy mind as It considered the situation. It had managed to escape from Below, against all odds, and now it looked as if It might just end up dying in Above after all! If It had known, It could have just stayed below and saved the Piteans the trouble of pursuing It! Piteans. It snarled to Itself as It thought of them again. It was all their fault. They had done this to It! So hard for It to think now. Its fur was a bright red, and It held Its claws to Its wounds, trying to keep Its Life Essence from spilling out any further.

It needed to eat. Hunger was making It delirious. It would eat first, and then It would think of a plan. It would come up with some way to survive here in Above. It had to! It had to survive, so It could return to Below and rescue the Birth Beings from The Trap. It couldn't leave Them down there to suffer at the hands of Pitean Werner. It could never forgive Itself if It failed to rescue Them and bring Them up to Above with It.

It stumbled forward, turning right, and then left, walking behind Pitean dwellings, exploring the dark alleys that It now temporarily called Home. It didn't see any other Life here in this part of Above. No Piteans, or even other small four-legged creatures like the one It had seen before. Occasionally, It saw even smaller four legged animals, that ate the Piteans items in the metal things, and squeaked when they saw It coming towards them, and ran into holes at the bottom of the Pitean dwellings. It tried to catch them and stop the Hunger, but the animals moved too quickly for It to catch them in Its weakened state.

It continued moving forward, keeping Its eyes and ears open for any signs of Life. Yet, besides those creatures, It hadn't seen any other Life at all.

Then Its ears perked up as It heard voices in front of It. They sounded like Pitean voices. They were speaking loudly, and It could tell that there were several of them in front of It. It sounded like they were having a conversation with each other. It could hear laughter, and the occasional angry comment, and the clinking of something hitting the ground and rolling away from the voices. It paused for a second, waiting to see what happened next, thinking of a plan.

Hunger. Its stomach clenched with the pain of it. It was so hungry. It had not eaten Meat (a Pitean word) very much Below, as it had not been very plentiful, and It had never developed a taste for it. Some of the Others had talked about the delicious taste of Meat, and before the Piteans came, had occasionally Sacrificed a Spiritspawn in order to consume its Meat and enjoy its Life Essence during Feast Time.

Yet, It had always found such things to be distasteful, despite what the Others had said. It had always preferred Its traditional meals of Voona and Chargar, satisfying Hunger by Itself in Home. At least, before the Piteans had come, and changed everything that It knew.

Now, however, Hunger was too strong, and It lusted after the idea of consuming Meat. It simply needed to fill Its stomach, and if It was given the chance to take Its revenge on some Piteans, then even better! The alleyway around it was blood red now in Its vision, and It could swear that the metal things next to it had doubled since It last saw them. It could see two of them now, where before It could only see one of each.

It decided on a course of action. Creeping forward, It got closer to the Piteans, keeping closer to the shadows. It saw them now. There were three male Piteans, sitting in a circle, drinking some kind of substance out of what Its mind told It was a "bottle" (another Pitean word it had been taught).

It saw that these Piteans were not dressed in the uniforms that the ones in The Trap wore. No, these Piteans were dressed in clothes that seemed torn and dirty, and It could see that the Piteans also had faces that were covered with dirt, and that their hair was long and unkempt. These were the first Piteans that It had seen in such a condition, and for a second, It studied them, trying to make sense of it all. It hadn't known that there were Piteans like this Above, and that they lived in conditions as poor as the ones that They suffered in Below.

For a moment more, It hesitated, almost second guessing Its intended course of action, not sure what It should do.

Then Hunger almost caused It to bend over again, and doubt was washed from Its mind without any further hesitation.

It had to move quickly before any other Piteans could be alerted. If It was caught in Above, then It was surely doomed. Bitter experience had taught It that the Piteans would show It, and the Others like It, no mercy.

It moved swiftly and quietly, not making a sound as it approached the three Piteans. They were still talking and laughing, not paying any attention to their surroundings. It smiled to Itself. Perhaps It was worrying too much. This might be easier than It had anticipated! In an instant, It was right next to the Piteans, still unseen by them as they laughed and slapped each other on the back.

It saw that there were a few "bottles", scattered all around the male Piteans. It detected a strong Smell, something that It had only smelled once before, back in The Trap. It knew that the smell was connected to the "bottles" somehow, but It couldn't be sure why exactly.

It heard one of them mention a word, "Queens" (What did that mean?), and then some other Pitean words that It had trouble deciphering. Despite Its relative fluency in the Pitean language, It couldn't understand some of the references that the Piteans used. Plus, they seemed to be in some sort of Confusion, and it only seemed to worsen as they drank more from whatever was in the bottles they held.

Oh, Hunger! It was so bad!

Finally, It could wait no longer. As one of the Piteans handed another a "bottle", urging him to "drink up, Sam!", that is when It came out of the shadows with a snarl, and struck!

The two other Piteans screamed as It used Its claws to slice the throat of the first man, spilling his Life Essence before he could even utter a sound. It grabbed the dying man by the head and threw him backwards, sending his body crashing in the metal things as It snarled again, turning towards the two other Piteans. They were only starting to understand what was happening, and had risen, their movements telling It that the Piteans were preparing to run in the next moment.

It couldn't allow that to happen! It leaped at them, slashing at one with Its claws and opening his face as a gurgle died in his throat, and he slumped to the ground. The other Pitean finally turned to run, and as It saw this, It reared Its claws back, and struck again.

Its claws dove right through the body of the Pitean, plunging out of his chest, clutching at the air as Life Essence flew in every direction.

The Pitean started flailing around now, gasping and choking as he looked down at his chest, seeing Its claws emerging from it, covered in crimson Life Essence.

Then the Pitean's head sagged forward, and he stopped moving at last.

It smiled to Itself as It saw this. At last, Hunger would be satisfied!

It withdrew Its arm, and prepared to Feast. Moving quickly, It gathered the bodies of the three Piteans together in a pile, one on top of the other. It crouched down, then, and began to Feast, the juice running down Its fur to puddle on the ground. Its eyes half closed as It felt the satisfaction of the kill, and of tasting Meat.

It knew, then, that It would have more Meat. It knew this with absolute certainty. It would satisfy Its Hunger, and It would rid Above of more Piteans in the process.

Then, when It had Its fill of Meat, It would return Below, and kill the hated Pitean Werner for the cruelty that he had shown to It.

It felt a dark joy in Its heart as It thought of this, and determination swelled in Its heart. It looked at Far Above again, still enraptured by the beauty of the Sky Fires, and smiled to Itself as It thought of eating the Meat of Pitean Werner.

It threw Its head back at the thought and howled into the night sky, the deep sound echoing through the empty alleyways and reverberating among the dark buildings surrounding It. It took another bite of Meat from one of the Pitean's bodies, and then It bellowed again, howling Its fury at the Piteans, loud enough that even the Sky Fires seemed to shake in their seats in Far Above. Even the Sky Fires feared It, and were trying to escape Its vengeance!

Beneath the gloomy midnight sky of New York City, It howled Its rage at the Piteans and their Trap.

It howled Its despair.

It howled in endless Hunger.

It howled for unending revenge.