Misfit Trials

Chapter 27

The crowd in the glen is perfectly silent. There isn't even the usual crowd noise of creatures shifting in their seats, murmuring to one another, or clearing their throats. No, they are all absolutely still.

The thing that has changed in the glen, becoming increasingly more potent throughout Rumpelstilzchen's story, is a feeling of animosity, hostility. Though this is not uncommon during the trials, its target is. For the hatred of the crowd is not directed outwards towards the ones that have wronged the petitioner. No, the petitioner himself seems to be the beneficiary of the crowd's ire.

The Cat seems to focus all of his attention on the petitioner in an unsettling manner, though Rumpelstilzchen seems oblivious to what is happening around him. His gaze is inward, lost in whatever memories plague him.

"What happened to the babes that you realized weren't your son?" The question is thrown out in a deep, harsh bleating voice. The crowd turns to see Krampus, Saint Nicholas's twin brother, standing and glaring at Rumpelstilzchen . Krampus' monstrous visage has caused him to be greatly misunderstood throughout his life. He is a large, muscled goat, humanoid creature, similar to a satyr in that his lower body looks like a goat's and his upper body looks like a man's. Though that is where the similarity stops. Krampus stands head and shoulders above any other in the clearing and that doesn't include the large, curled horns that extend from his temples. He has a broad shouldered, muscled chest and his strong goat's legs are covered with black fur. He has slit pupiled, black eyes, long claws on his hands, and sharp teeth made for rending.

But for as evil as he looks on the outside, he is as just and good on the inside. The stories of Krampus aren't true. That he steals naughty children from their homes and eats them. It's true, he carries children away from their homes in the birch basket that he placed them in. But the children needed to be taken away from their parents. They were neglected, abused, trafficked, and sold. Their situations were horrible and Krampus took them from those home lives and placed them in happier circumstances. The birch in his basket was spelled, giving them a new life, new memories. The reason those children were never seen again is that they were safe and far away from thehomes that Krampus had lifted them out of.

So, when he asked Rumpelstilzchen about what happened to the babes that Rumpelstilzchen swindled from their mothers, he asked out of genuine concern for their wellbeing.

As I have said before, this crowd does not take kindly to the harming of children. Many were vilified because of their attempts to save and care for children. Many of the so-called heroes were the actual perpetrators of the evil deeds. One of the number one things that this court of misfits sought to do was to care for and protect children from the horrible things that the world would do to them. It was why the anger towards Rumpelstilzchen was reaching a fever pitch.

How he answered this question would tip the scale on the outcome of this case. And he did not seem to understand that. It was as if the entire assembly collectively held its breath, waiting to see what Rumpelstilzchen would say.

The stiffness and slowness with which Rumpelstilzchen moved took on a new meaning in light of the news about his torture. With great effort and not a little bit of time, Rumpelstilzchen turned to look at Krampus. But his facial expression held confusion, as if he did not understand the importance of the question. "Why, I left them after I examined them and discovered that they weren't my son."

"Where?" growled out Shere Khan, the tiger that tried to keep Mowgli away from the Indian village that only used children as slaves, human sacrifices, or for their own deviant needs. He had tried to convince Baloo and Bagheera to allow the boy to be raised and to live in the jungle, but they would hear nothing of it, saying that they knew nothing about caring for a man-child. They let their good intentions get in the way of the well-being of the child and, when Mowgli was later given as sacrifice to the fertility goddess of the village later that year, he hunted down and killed both of the well-intentioned beasts. "Where did you leave the babes?"

Rumpelstilzchen was only now starting to understand what was going on around him, but he still wasn't shrew enough to lie. "Usually in the woods. Sometimes beside a riverbed. They weren't wanted by their mothers and I had no more use for them. So, I just left them where they were."

A great roar echoed through the glen and Rumpelstilzchen's eyes grew in fear. No wonder he had never found his son. The imp was as dumb as they came. It likely just cost him his life in the trials.

The Cat bangs his gavel on the podium in front of him, though it made little difference in getting the gathered group to quiet down. It isn't until the Hatter, mad as a Bedlam inmate, moves of the front of the group, snarling and showing his teeth, that they quiet. Though many of those in the seats still grumble and glare at Rumpelstilzchen.

"That will be all Hatter. Thank you," The Cat says. The Hatter moves one last glare to all those around him and then moves back to his spot beside The Cat.

The Cat adjusts the knot in his tie, then turns to the jurors. "What say you, Ms. Tinkerbell?" His eternal smile continues on his face, though the anger in his eyes is clear.

"We will not help him!" she cries out, her wings fluttering behind her in a red haze, their bell like sound clanging and banging a discordant melody in the hair. "He should be punished!"

"What?!" cries Rumpelstilzchen, still not understanding what he has done.

"Agreed!" Maleficent cries, not even having to be asked. Her face is as passive as ever, though the gem on the end of her flickers a fast and eerie green light.

"Agreed!" Fairy Godmother shouts through clenched teeth, the wand in her fist sending red hot, sizzling sparks into the air around her.

The Cat bangs his gavel. "So says our jury and so it shall be done.

Rumpelstilzchen cries out, "What is the meaning of this?! This isn't why I came here. I came here for justice!"

"And that is what you have gotten, imp!" The Cat screams at him, his anger finally making itself fully shown. "Call the Wild Hunt!"

Within the clearing, a shout of approval, rage, and bloodlust goes up as Odin, the father of the Norse pantheon and the leader of the Wild Hunt, appears behind The Cat in the clearing. From behind him, hidden in the trees, the sounds of growling, squeals, howls, and hoof beats overwhelm the sound of the crowd. Glimpses of the hunt can be seen in the light of the torches. Large black wolves, the size of a standing, adult male prowl in the darkness. Huge, pitch black, humanoid creatures ride black horses and he-goats. Monstrous hounds, their shaggy fur doing nothing to hide their muscular bodies, drool acid, which hisses when it hits the ground. Their large maws are wide open, showing their sharp teeth and their fiery red eyes are pinned to Rumpelstilzchen.

"For the crime of child endangerment and murder, you, Rumpelstilzchen, have been sentenced to death. However, we are quite merciful in our judgement. We will give you a fighting chance, no matter how slim it may be. A chance you didn't give the babes that you killed. You will have a minute head start. And then the Hunt will ride you down. Escape them for 24 hours, and you are free, never to darken these proceedings ever again. If not...well, you had your chance," The Cat says.

"Wait! I don't understand! I was just doing what I had to do. I was just looking for my son!" Rumpelstilzchen screams.

"Your time starts now, Rumpelstilzchen. I would run if I were you," The Cat remarks, pulling out his pocket watch and clicking down the time.

In a speed that could only have come out of this imp from adrenaline and fear, he steps down from the dias and runs from the clearing.

The Cat holds his watch up, counting the seconds as they tick by. But he speaks to Odin. "I want him to suffer. Make sure that you don't kill him too quickly."

Odin's smile is sinister as he replies. "We never do." Odin raises a horn to his lips and the hunt surges through the woods, after their prey.