LaSalle's "Tail"

LaSalle wandered about the dreary streets in Vramaa, her mother's lullaby resonating in her head.

 The birch in the meadow, tika tika...

Imagine the leaves curling, tika tika...

Oooohhh, tika tika tika...

Tipa tika tika tika...

 Tears stung her eyes as she looked at the armored robots pointing the elf spears at her throat, leading her through the toxic streets to the Dark Fortress, where Aios himself would attend her trial. Lara-Su had told her to never wander towards Alward, where the worst were jailed by the warden Tipi, the worst phantom in existence. Her mother had been executed there at the Skull Plains for being a Jamaasian...

"What will you do to me!" she snarled at the guards. The robots had been poor Vramaasians like her, who had been roboticized to serve Zira and Aios blindly. Acid rained down from the overcast sky, drenching LaSalle with deadly liquid. She used her odd superpowers to protect herself, as Remington, her boyfriend, had been killed by the toxic rain. Days were dangerous in Vramaa, and Zira starved her petty Vrammers.

"We will do what the lord orders, sass," a robot tiger growled. He once had been a friend of LaSalle's, named Kragok. He had disappeared years ago, then had captured her a week ago.

"You all were my friends! Listen, free me at once!" LaSalle snapped. A few were swayed, such as her only lion friends Kaytee and Dimitri, but the others didn't react.

"You are no friend. We serve Aios alone, and no memory of such a sass is in our reach." all of her ex-friends said. Tears streaked down her cheeks. If she could use her powers...

No.

LaSalle shook her head. Her powers were unstable, and besides, these were her friends. If the grey heron in her dreams could arrive now, then there was a chance they could be deroboticized, but the longer they were robots the more unlikely they could be returned to flesh and blood. Besides, Aios's Memory Burn-Thru technology was too advanced, so their memories would be hard to retrieve.

"We are arriving. Try not to slip into the lava, or we will be exiled." Kragok said. The bunny Locke nodded.

LaSalle slipped a glance at the moat.

Lava bubbled as if it grasped the world and wouldn't let go, which meant the bubbles were huge. Obsidian bridges barely held up LaSalle's weight, much less several dozen robots. As she watched, the bridge slowly eroded before her eyes. The bridge, however, was still strong enough to hold out.

The iron gate of the Dark Fortress lifted, and LaSalle was horrified.

 LaSalle was greatly outnumbered.

Even if she could, it would be impossible to escape. All of the robot Vramaa population was gathered to throw jeers at the "Silver Traitor", as she was spawn of a spy and a magical force. Any magic, especially technomagic, which LaSalle had, was illegal in Vramaa. Aios, the rusty mask, and Zira, the scarred eagle, sat on thrones of actual fire opposing LaSalle, which didn't help her horror. She gulped, and used her powers to drive the crowd away. The technomagic worked.

"Silver Traitor, choose your death. Gallows or exile?" Aios asked her in a cracked voice.

BOOM.

All the strange animals burst into the building, the very animals LaSalle dreamed of every night. However, Aios had another trick up his sleeve.

He aimed a small cannon at LaSalle using his own technomagic, and fired the roboticizator at LaSalle. She retained her free will and memory, but her body was forever robotic.

"Alphas, attack!"the panda cried. Zira and Aios growled, and vanished. The fortress started to collapse.

"Run, LaSalle!" the panda shouted. LaSalle had no time to wonder how she knew her name, as the bricks closed her off.

 LaSalle awoke as a spirit in a cotton bed decorated like the grassy fields she always longed to see.

The fox that talked to her in LaSalle's sleep stared deep into her eyes, smiling.

"LaSalle, you are the raccoon alpha of Jamaa, a protector. Come with me, you have much to learn." LaSalle still felt robotic, and clunked her way to the training grounds.