Ensnared

 ENSNARED

Episode Eight, Season Five, of Rise.

Enjoy <3

Ensnared
We’re all put in the same prison, which might have been a mistake on their part. We pair off naturally, with Applepaw huddled in between Feathershine and Nightshadow, with Karian being with Aleric, and naturally with me and Terran together.

“Hey,” Terran nudges me and gives me a bright-eyed smile. I’m thrown back to the time where he had looked at me with those strong, bright blue eyes. “We’ll be all right.” He says.

“I know.”

Silence engulfs us for a few heartbeats before I glance at Aleric, who looks very tired. Karina is fussing over him, but I can’t hear what they’re saying. Terran follows my gaze.

“I’m glad they haven’t hurt him.” He comments.

“Me too,” I eye the brown tom for a moment, “though he seems a little shaken up. Being held prisoner by the same vicious cats you once worked for couldn’t have been easy for him.”

Terran gives a soft sigh that almost sounds like a huff. “If anyone has high pain tolerance, it’s that tom.”

I give a soft laugh. I press against Terran, guiding his focus onto me. “We’ll be all right,” I repeat his earlier words.

He gives me a ghost of a smile this time. “Yeah.”

I lean against him. The darkness of our prison cell has stopped bothering me, though the fact that we’re being held in a shack similar to the one I had once lived in is like a stab to my heart. I don’t need the ghosts of my parents and Ruby haunting me now.

Terran seems to sense my discomfort and he rests his muzzle on my head. I’m reminded of my tiny size in comparison to the others.

“Knowing us, this will just somehow fall into our plan,” Terran mumbles, “you’ll come up with something, Bryce, you always do. And even if you don’t, we’ll figure it out anyway.”

“That’s true,” I try to produce another giggle but I fail. My nerves are getting the better of me. “Do you really think we’ll be okay?”

Terran searches my eyes for something deeper. I desperately want to know his opinion. When Terran doesn’t find what he’s looking for, I press on. “Do you think we’ll make it out alive?”

“Of course we will--” Terran begins.

“No,” I feel a surge of weird frustration. I’m so scared right now. “Do you think we’ll all make it out alive? And even if we do, what about the rest of our minds? What about Applepaw?” I swallow my next question. What about her innocence?

“Bryce, look at me.” Terran says firmly, holding me steady with those blue eyes. They’re sharp and focused, giving me something to hold onto. “You’re the leader of us all. You have to keep focused. Don’t get despaired now; that’s not like you. Applepaw will be fine. This won’t be the first time she tastes the bitterness of the real world.” The pain in his tone reminds me of Firepaw.

“And the others will help,” Terran insists, “we’re in this together. You’re not shouldering all the weight, Bryce.”

“Okay,” I whisper.

Terran leans down and touches his nose to mine. “You’re strong,” he murmurs against me. “I love you.”

I breathe in his familiar scent. The words make me burrow closer to him. “I love you too,” I swallow my tears and most of all, my fear. He’s right; I have to be stronger for all of us.

Terran pulls away briefly to stare into my eyes. I let him. “Okay now?” He asks gently.

“I’m okay,” I smile fleetingly. “Thanks to you.”

“I know what you’re capable of.” Terran pulls me into him. “We’re going to fight this together. You’re not alone.”

“Okay,” I murmur. “I believe you.”

Terran is so close. I’ve never been this close to him before. I silently thank Aleric for allowing me a chance to admit my love for Terran. We’ve exchanged affectionate looks before and I’ve been close, but never this close. It’s a safe feeling, knowing we’ll protect each other.

“We’ll protect each other,” Terran voices my thoughts. “I won’t let you get hurt.”

“And I won’t let you get hurt,” I insist. “You can’t be the hero every single time.”

“You’re always the hero,” Terran licks the top of my head and I giggle at his affectionate gesture. “I’m the knight trying to save the hero from evil.”

“You’re my hero.” I tell him.

~

Karina felt her heart thud against her chest. She still hadn’t calmed down from when she thought Aleric was going to die. The brown tom, who was surprisingly put in the same prison as the rest of them, wouldn’t look at her. He had his eyes firmly shut and he was curled up so tightly that Karina saw herself staring down at a very young-looking tom.

“You don’t look like you’re only twenty-one moons old.” Karina commented.

Aleric didn’t look up. “Maybe I’m not.”

“Then how old are you?”

There was a beat of silence before Aleric mumbled. “I am twenty-one moons old.”

Karina gave an exasperated sigh. “Stop moping and look at me.”

Aleric wouldn’t budge. He stayed silent this time. “Aleric…” Karina hesitated. She wanted to voice all of her worries to the tom. She wanted to confess to him how much worry and pain she went through when he was gone. But she didn’t know how to put it into words. She decided to go for the raw, unpolished ones. “I really like you.”

That made him look up. He jerked his head up and stared at her. “What?”

“I really like you,” Karina repeated.

His green eyes were suddenly so full of sorrow. Karina wanted to flinch away from the sudden flood of emotion in his normally vacant eyes. “You can’t,” Aleric shook his head, “You shouldn’t.”

“But I do.”

Aleric was starting to look very panicked. “I’m not worth it,” he whispered, “you shouldn’t have come back to save me. You should have let me die.”

“Never,” Karina said adamantly. “You wouldn’t have let me die.”

“That’s not the same,” Aleric furrowed his brow. “I’ve done nothing but hurt the group of you. Why would you even think about saving me?”

“Because you’ve been helping us,” Karina stared at him. “You’ve changed, Aleric, and that’s what I like about you. You’ve been through so much yet you’re still able to stand strong.”

“You should have attacked,” Aleric shook his head. “If you all get killed because you wanted to spare my life, I’ll never forgive myself.”

“Because you’d be dead too,” Karina tried to joke.

Aleric didn’t look amused and Karina softened. “Hey, I’m just really glad you’re alive.”

Aleric met her gaze with green eyes. There was a certain amount of care in them as he stared at her. “I’m glad you’re alive too,” he replied back, “I’d like to keep it that way.”

Karina curled up next to him, wanting his warmth, wanting to savor what she had before it was too late.

Aleric curled his tail around her. “You really didn’t have to save me,” he whispered in her ear.

Karina nestled against him and turned so she could face him. “You would have saved me if we were in different places.”

The brown tom nodded. “I would have in a heartbeat.” He said automatically.

“Why?”

Aleric looked at a loss of words. He bit his lip. “I don’t know,” he murmured, looking away. Karina tried not to feel disappointed by his lack of response.

She didn’t know how to prompt him to continue, but Aleric changed the subject. “I didn’t think I’d be alive, you know?” He gave a rough sigh, “I honestly thought they would have killed me by now. I’ve done so much wrong against the Blood Army, and I should know myself how they deal with traitors.”

Karina tried not to feel a spark of fear for him. “I kill those traitors,” Aleric suddenly subjected her to his eyes again. There was coldness in them that made Karina shudder slightly. Aleric tightened his tail around her. “They spared me for a reason.”

Karina wanted to erase that dark look in Aleric’s eyes. “Do you have something they want?” She asked dubiously. She couldn’t imagine Aleric offering anything but his skills and loyalty.

“Yes,” Aleric breathed out.

The dark gray she-cat didn’t want to ask what. For a moment, she thought Aleric wouldn’t continue, but he took a shaky breath before muttering. “One High Committee member told me she wanted me to watch her kill the rest of you. A punishment for betraying the Blood Army.”

Karina felt her blood turn into ice. Aleric held her even closer. His breath was warm against her cheek and she could feel him lean over her almost as if he was protecting her.

“I won’t let them touch you,” he whispered fiercely. “I’ll protect you.”

“I don’t need protecting,” Karina found herself saying.

Aleric curled up with her, keeping her nice and close. Karina found herself enjoying the way he was trying to wrap himself around her. “I’ll still protect you,” the brown tom murmured.

~

Applepaw was slightly distraught. Her brother had died from the Blood Army’s poison and now they were rendered useless in a prison! She lashed her tail.

Nightshadow and Feathershine were talking to her. Feathershine crouched in front. “Hey, we’re going to pull this off, okay? Don’t worry.”

“I’m not worrying,” Applepaw clenched her teeth. “I just want to hurry up the process. I can’t stand not doing anything. I need to avenge Firepaw’s death!”

Feathershine looked taken aback by her outburst and Nightshadow nudged his apprentice. “We’re going to do that,” he told her, “they don’t know if but they’re bringing us closer to our goal. I bet you any moment now, a High Committee member will walk in and we’ll be able to attack.”

Applepaw flexed her claws. “True. I’ll shred anyone who comes in.”

There were no restraints on any of them, not even Aleric, though the tom did have a few marks on his paws as if he had brambles around them before.

Applepaw eyed the entrance, where she knew there were guards standing outside. She itched to be on the move, to be fighting. Soon, she promised Firepaw, I’ll avenge you.

“Don’t get distracted by your goal,” Nightshadow warned, seeing the look in his apprentice’s eyes. “Remember to be careful. Bryce won’t want you to die out here because of your carelessness.”

“Your job is to protect me,” Applepaw dismissed.

Nightshadow flattened his ears and growled. Applepaw glanced fleetingly at her mentor, surprised. “I can’t protect you if you’re constantly making stupid, amateur mistakes. I let Bryce take you along on this mission because I know how much Firepaw meant to you. We didn’t let Sunpaw come too because she’s not ready. You have to be ready, Applepaw. I can’t protect you at all times.”

The orange she-cat could see fear in her mentor’s eyes. Fear for her, fear for his mate, fear for his friends. Applepaw felt a similar thrill in her own body.

“Promise me you’ll be careful,” Nightshadow maintained eye contact with her.

She briefly remembered those times when she had never taken Nightshadow’s words seriously. She remembered being the naughty apprentice who tried to make Nightshadow’s life harder by messing around.

Now she stared levelly back into his serious eyes. “I promise.” She meant it.

Nightshadow searched her gaze briefly before nodding.

“Good.”

~

I almost fall asleep against Terran’s flank when a cat steps into our prison den. I jerk away from Terran immediately, my body on high alert. I see Aleric raise his head and step protectively over Karina.

It’s a she-cat this time. She lets her gaze roam over us before suddenly she stops on Aleric. A subtle smile plays on her lips. Aleric shifts slightly and narrows his eyes.

“What do you want?” His voice is low and tense.

“Who do I want you mean?” She sounds like she’s teasing him. Aleric’s eyes are dark with rage.

Aleric tenses visibly, as if he wants to lunge at her. “Fine, who do you want?”

She looks terribly amused. “Well, seeing as you’re practically standing on top of that she-cat, I won’t pick her first. You obviously care about her the most. Won’t it be terrible when she dies last?”

Aleric’s breathing quickens. I’ve never seen him so vulnerable before. I’m so used to the lack of emotion from the brown tom that the anguish in his eyes is practically unbearable. “Don’t touch them,” he rasps, taking a rapid few steps forward. “Take me instead.”

“Aleric--!” Karina cries out.

“No,” the High Committee member says flatly. “I honestly should have restrained you,” she tips her head, “I shouldn’t have taken those bramble chains off.”

She smiles at the rest of us. “But, it doesn’t matter who I pick first, dear Aleric, because you’ll all die sooner or later.”

The End.