Flash of Suspicion



 F l a s h o f S u s p i c i o n

Episode Nine, Season Three, of Beauty.

Enjoy <3

Flash of Suspicion
I can’t tell if Redstar looks furious that we “succeeded” in our mission. She seems distressed in general, not just by our arrival at her den. It must have to do with the soldiers roaming around the streets, keeping the other cats cooped up in their dens.

She dismissed us quickly and told us we had the moon off.

“Strange,” Brownhare muses, “Redstar has never paid so little attention to us before.”

“True,” I frown at this while we push our way through the throng of cats to get to our den, “I wonder what’s up with her?”

Brownhare doesn’t answer right away. He’s staring at the soldiers, as if trying to figure something out. I decide to let him dwell on his thoughts while we walk towards our den. “Maybe Redstar is testing something.”

I almost don’t hear him. “What?”

“Maybe she’s testing something,” Brownhare repeats, “this isn’t protocol, this is…”

“Get in your dens!” Someone shouts, and I spot a pair of baleful amber eyes glaring at us. I’m tempted to glower back but Brownhare nudges me into our den and I push myself in. The others are already huddled inside, and thankfully there is a stack of prey next to them.

“How long are we staying in here?” I ask, crouching down next to Snowflare, who is still ignoring Lionclaw.

Nobody answers.

I roll my eyes at this and Brownhare settles himself next to me. I notice he lets me drape my tail over his back and I relax against him. “Any idea?” I ask him softly, “It’s strange how Redstar wants to keep her own soldiers cooped up.”

“The other soldiers weren’t quarantined,” Brownhare replies darkly, “They were all scouring the streets, pushing over Beauty cats into their dens. We’re the only squad forced into our barracks.”

I’m not sure how to respond to that.

Brownhare notices. “Redstar is onto something,” he supplies, “and we’re at the core of it. There’s no doubt we’re either at the end of our string, or she’s testing the rebels themselves.”

“We’ll have to assume the worst,” I mutter, standing. “We must prepare to try to make an escape.”

Scarlet jerks her head up, her blue eyes glowing. “With so many soldiers outside we can’t hope to escape. If we leave now, Redstar will take this opportunity to imprison us and accuse of being traitors.”

“If we wait,” Appleleaf continues, “we’ll probably be accused anyways.”

“We’re sitting ducks,” Finchwing mutters, “Redstar has finally caught us.”

“Now, now,” I caution, “nobody knows if Redstar is doing this to catch us. We’re on a break according to Redstar. Perhaps she forgot we were still available. Plus, she has no evidence against us that we’re helping the rebels.”

Hawkpelt snorts, “Amberfrost, as much as we don’t want to admit it, perhaps this is the time to cut off all ties with the Beauty and join the rebels completely.”

I bite my lip. I don’t want to do that, solely because there’s so much we can accomplish here. If we’re in the rebel system, what use are we except pawns and soldiers for Shadowfang to discard?

“No,” I shake my head, “with a paw in two worlds, we can find more information this way. This must be some faulty alarm and we’re not part of this at all. When this blows over we’ll be able to continue being spies.”

Scarlet’s eyes are dark. “It won’t blow over, Amberfrost.”

I suppress a shiver at her words.

The others don’t look very convinced either. Snowflare flicks her tail, in a seemingly distressed way, and Lionclaw is edging towards her, as if he wanted to comfort her.

Appleleaf and Finchwing are already in deep conversation and Hawkpelt flops down on his nest and closes his eyes.

I sigh and move to mine, not really in the mood to chat with Brownhare about how much of a failure of a leader I must be to lead my own squad into a mess I probably created.

Maybe it is time for us to just get the heck out of the Beauty.

~

Snowflare knew Lionclaw was behind her, watching her. But she didn’t want to be the first to acknowledge the tom.

The silence stretched on forever and Snowflare was starting to wonder if the golden tom was ever going to speak up.

“We can’t ignore each other forever.”

Snowflare turned slowly, surprised to find tears in her eyes. “That’s all you can say after all these arguments?”

“You’re the only pushing me away,” Lionclaw exclaimed, “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do or say anymore. I just want to know if you’re fine--”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you really?” Lionclaw asked softly, drawing closer. Snowflare didn’t draw away. She was shaking. Lionclaw wrapped his tail slowly around her and Snowflare crumbled against him.

“I’m so sick and tired of this war,” she whispered, tears streaming down her face, “It breaks everyone. Can’t we just stop fighting and just rebuild a society peacefully? We should just run. Run away and find a place where we can build a home that is perfect.”

“There is no such thing as perfect,” Lionclaw murmured.

“I know,” Snowflare hiccupped, “but there should be.”

She took a shuddering breath and Lionclaw used his tail to wipe away her tears. “We’re here, Snowflare. I know you feel like you should be able to hold yourself up by yourself, but sometimes we need each other. Look how Hawkpelt and Rainstorm do it, or even Brownhare and Amberfrost.”

“Tragic stories,” Snowflare closed her eyes, “we’re all just tragic stories, you know.”

“Maybe,” Lionclaw breathed out, “but even tragic stories can have happy scenes and endings.”

Snowflare closed her eyes and leaned against Lionclaw. He was so warm, so steady. She wasn’t sure why she had pushed him away.

He was everything.

“I love you,” Snowflare exhaled, feeling like some weight had been lifted off her chest, “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Snowflare.” Lionclaw’s breath tickled her cheek, “We’ll stop the war, and when we do, everything will be okay.”

~

I wake up to the sound of screaming outside. The air is tainted with the scent of blood and the others jerk away in an instant. Snowflare pushes herself off Lionclaw, who blearily glances around the den.

Brownhare is at my side in an instant. “What’s going on?”

I shake my head and slowly poke my head outside. Brownhare tries to tug me back, but nothing happens. There’s no one around us, but further down the street, I see squads pulling cats out of their dens and beating them down.

Pulling myself back in, I breath out, “They’re purging cats to make a show; they must be. We have to leave.”

“Where will we go?” Hawkpelt scrambles up.

“The poor,” I harden my gaze, “It’s time we break ties with the Beauty.” The others exchange glances and I flick my tail, “We’ll pose as Beauty soldiers. Nobody will notice the difference.”

Brownhare runs alongside me as we race through the streets. I can only hope the others are right behind me as I zigzag past screaming cats, trying to keep a fierce expression on my face instead of a panicked one.

“We should help those cats,” Finchwing says through gritted teeth, “They didn’t do anything wrong.”

“They’re Beauty cats,” Snowflare mutters disdainfully, “they deserve it.”

Finchwing gives the white she-cat a sharp look, but I skid to a halt. “A barricade,” I groan, “What in the name of StarClan is going on?”

Nobody offers me a reply and I don’t expect one. We turn around and I direct them towards the hunting grounds. “Surely there’s way out of here,” I grunt as we weave our way back through the streets of Beauty. Blood lines the ground of the once beautiful land and I see cats being dragged off everywhere.

“Whatever Redstar is doing,” Brownhare gasps out, “it’s going to draw the rebels’ attention.”

“She’s trying to provoke an attack,” Finchwing shakes her head, “they aren’t taking all the cats.”

“Just the ones that probably don’t show enough support,” Appleleaf says, her green eyes flashing, “this will seem like chaos in the Beauty and the rebels will take their chance and try to attack. But Redstar will be ready for sure.”

“Something needs to happen to divert the rebels’ attention,” Lionclaw adds, “we need to do something that will stop Shadowfang from launching an attack.”

“Like what?” Snowflare shouts over the chaos, “We’re barely managing to save our own sorry pelts!”

“Saving our own pelts…” I mutter.

Brownhare glances at me but I shake my head. “Head for the hunting areas, we need to get out of here and warn the rebels instead!”

I glance around me and notice Scarlet is missing. Something’s up, I think, and I hurry after my squad.

With Scarlet or not, we had to get across the fortifications Redstar had set up to keep every Beauty cat inside its boundaries.

But the hunting grounds are blocked up. Hunters were being rounded up too. I take in a few deep breaths, trying to clear my mind. “Redstar must have moved all these troops while we were camped out thinking Shadowfang was going to attack,” I groan.

“Well?” Snowflare demands, “What are we going to do?”

I’m not sure what to do. I’ve run out of ideas and we’re obviously sitting ducks for Redstar to round up and send to prison.

“I’m out,” I shake my head ruefully, “We’re not going to get past anything.”

Nobody seems surprised by my response.

“I’m surprised to find you out of your den,” a snide voice purrs, “this makes me job much easier.”

I whirl around and find myself staring at Flareheart. The pompous heir of the Beauty throne holds her head up high. My eyes flit to the she-cat next to her and my eyes narrow. “Surprised?” Flareheart laughs.

“Not at all,” Finchwing says darkly, “Something was always off about her.”

I’m not stunned, not after the past events, but she had seem so familiar. “Scarlet,” I say coolly, “I don’t suppose you planned this?”

She doesn’t reply. Flareheart sneers, “I’m taking you all to Redstar as rebels. You will pay for your crimes!”

“By StarClan we will,” Snowflare hisses, crouching as she wanted to lunge for the red she-cat.

Lionclaw puts his tail on her shoulder to relax her. “There’s nothing we can do,” he tells her bluntly, “they have more troops than we do.”

Appleleaf is eyeing Scarlet still. “Oh StarClan,” she nudges me, “that’s who Scarlet is.”

“Who?” I turn to the red and white she-cat, my brain scattered.

Appleleaf shakes her head. “Think, Amberfrost, why is she so familiar to us? Why haven’t we even bothered doubting any of her motives?”

I let my mind travel back several moons before I stop short when we had been innocent apprentices, thinking we could take on the world with no consequences.

A little apprentice, so broken and empty.

“Cherrypaw,” I whisper.

Scarlet lifts her head, fear and guilt plain on her face.

The End.