Chapter 74 - As cold as Ice

The next two weeks Kaiser remained absent from school. After he had found Aeolus's carcass he had buried the body behind the house and used a two weeks pause he gained by pretending to be sick to wander through the small forest behind the houses or through the large and extensive orchards by accompanying his mother and sister. Although he hid it quite well the experience of his familiars death had shaken him quite a bit. Not only did he miss his great usefulness through scouting or espionage but also his wonderful songs, flying maneuvers or the talks between them. Even his mere existence had had a soothing effect on him. Perhaps it had been the small part of Kaiser's soul inside the bird? Regardless of the cause the time they had spent together had been quite pleasant.

After the two weeks of sick leave Kaiser returned to school. Although he tried to hide it the other children noticed that he had changed. The usual carefree and dreamy atmosphere which surrounded him from time to time whenever he and Aeolus sat inside the class or in the breaks had completely vanished and only his sharp, direct, calculative and egocentric nature remained. Although the class was also quite sad that the cheerful bird which always provided them with beautiful melodies had died they were surprised by the impact his death had had on Kaiser.

They had seen him punch or kick people without even a trace of empathy, had heard rumors of him killing animals without batting an eyelid and watched him drag a dead boar down several streets without any change in expression. The very same person that had completely changed after a small bird had died.

The next day a few older students approached Kaiser and presented a few large cages to him which were covered with cloth. One of the boys stepped in front of Kaiser before saying: "We were concerned about you and though we could offer you these to make you cheer up. You could see it as a token of friendship if you wish". With that all of them raised the cages and pulled of the cloths off the cages. The chattering of bird filled the area as they awoke.

Kaiser looked at them before tilting his head. He listened to the stories the birds told him. From what he could discern they had captured them with great care and hadn't hurt them much. A few feathers had been lost and the boys had received scr.a.p.es instead but nothing too serious. Kaiser stepped towards the cages before opening every last one of them to free the residents. After a quick whistle from Kaiser they disappeared through an open window next to him. After he saw that all of the birds had left the building Kaiser turned towards their captors. "They deserve to be free," he said. "No one should chain them down". He walked even further towards them before pushing the cages they still held aside and punching them before mumbling. "They deserve to be free." Although he had punched them everyone could see that he wasn't really mad by the fact that the punches were light, on their chest and only enough to make them fall to the ground.

While Kaiser turned away they could still hear him faintly saying: "Although I don't approve of you capturing wild animals I still thank you for trying to make me cheer up"

A few days later Kaiser was summoned to the headmasters office. Inside besides next to the headmaster he managed to see the mayor as well as a robed individual who seemed to come from the capitol together with a man in peacekeeper uniform.

[Observation] With a single thought Kaiser knew with whom he was dealing with.

Head peacekeeper of District 11

Origin: Capitol

Likes: Order, Quietness, mineral water

Mayor of District 11

Origin: Capitol, Great-cousin of Sir White Ice

Likes: Daughter Aster, water fountains, Candies, wine

Chairman of the Gently Weeping Ice Company

Origin: Capitol, Great-cousin of Sour Cream

Likes: Ice skating, traveling, iced tea

[Why do they all have such weird names? How do they cope with their names?] was all Kaiser could think of.

Masking his chuckle as a soft cough he turned towards the headmaster. "Good morning headmaster. Is there anything I can do for you?" Kaiser knew him quite well by now as they had spoken quite often about Kaisers problems in dealing with others and Kaiser had quite often been only a tiny bit away from being expelled for all the trouble he caused.

The headmaster only sighed and motioned towards the others that stood next to him. "The only thing I know is that our mayor has requested your presence. Now that you have arrived I'll take my leave." With that he stood up and left the room to allow them to talk in secret.

Seeing that now all other seats were occupied sat down in the headmasters chair. It was even more comfortable than he had imagined. [Of course it would need to be as comfortable as possible when you have to deal with problems all day.]

Smiling Kaiser looked at the other people present, supporting his head on his left hand which was propped up on the armrest of his chair. "I'm assuming you know my name? For those who don't my name is Kaiser, nice to meet you. What might be you names?"