Unveil

 UNVEIL

Episode Two, Season Four, of Rise.

Enjoy <3

Unveil
Terran sniffed the air. Someone was close by, and it was someone he knew in his time in the Vipers. Karina knew this tom too, as she stiffened slightly. “Are we going to confront him?” She whispered.

“Now of never,” he muttered back.

Karina sighed but followed her brother anyway. She knew why they were here and she didn’t like it one bit. There must be a different way to solve her problem, right?

But Terran was already striding forward and in one fluid motion, he leaped on top of the other tom and dragged him behind the bushes where Karina was waiting.

“What’s going on?” The tom’s eyes were wide, “I’m doing just as I was asked! I was hunting, I swear!”

Terran snorted. “We’re not part of the Vipers,” he rolled his eyes, “even you should know that.”

Slowly, recognition filtered into the tom’s eyes. “Terran,” he hissed before glancing at the dark gray she-cat, “and Karina.”

“Bingo,” Karina growled, “now you’ll just answer Terran’s questions truthfully and we’ll let you go.”

The tom obviously looked like he wanted to argue but Terran dug his claws into his skin, making the other tom wince. Karina was unpleasantly reminded of the time when Aleric had threatened to harm Terran.

“What do you know about us?” Terran started out.

“Nothing!” The tom cried out, “All I know is that the two of you betrayed the Vipers and that if we see you we’re supposed to kill you or take you to Korin as our prisoner!”

Karina resisted the urge to snort. “What is Korin planning?” Terran asked instead.

The tom’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not a traitor to the Vipers!” He declared, “He is planning nothing in regards to the two of you.”

“Do you even know any of Korin’s plans?” Karina glared down at the tom, “You’re not very high up in the social system.”

The tom looked miffed but embarrassed at the same time. “I swear I don’t have any information you want,” he finally said, “and if you let me go now, I won’t even tell anyone I saw you.”

Terran seized the tom and gave him a little shake. “You won’t tell them because you’re too afraid of Korin’s punishment for not successfully capturing the two of us. So I think I’ll keep you around a little longer.”

“Well there’s this she-cat…”

It was almost too soft for Karina to catch but she blinked rapidly and almost asked the tom to repeat what he said. Terran got there first however. “Say that again,” he hissed at the tom.

“Say what?” The tom stared up at Karina’s brother with blank, innocent eyes, “I’m just pleading my own case. Can’t you just let me go? It’s not like I really know anything. You know Korin doesn’t tell me a thing.”

“But someone else does,” Karina stepped forward, “Someone is after Terran and I and you know who.”

“Korin is.” The tom pointed out, “So of course I know.”

Terran began to dug his claws deeper but Karina stopped him. “Leave him be. I think we’ve got what we wanted. He won’t tell anyone of this though because he’s smart enough to know it’ll cost his life.”

The tom looked baleful but Terran let him up and sent him scrambling away from them. Terran and Karina stepped back out of Viper territory until they were several paces away. Karina could see Terran relax, as he obviously didn’t like playing devil.

“You were pretty good back there,” Karina shrugged, “I’ve never seen you so calm and evil.”

Terran laughed a little. “Everyone changes a little, Karina.”

Karina smiled sadly at her brother. She was always trying to protect him, she realized, but all this time he had always been protecting her instead. He was a good brother, finding ways to keep her safe when she always thought she was keeping Terran safe.

“I don’t think it was Korin,” Terran said suddenly.

“Hm?” Karina was pulled out of her thoughts.

“I don’t think it was Korin.” Terran repeated.

“What wasn’t Korin?” Karina asked, feeling confused and a little lost. She didn’t quite follow Terran’s train of thoughts.

“Whatever happened with you,” Terran glanced over at her with those bright, sky-blue eyes. From this angle, she could see the white flecks in his eyes. “It couldn’t have been Korin.”

“Why not?” Karina frowned.

“Korin may hate us for being traitors, but he shouldn’t be all too concerned. There must be more important enemies he wants to catch and destroy.”

“Like Bryce?”

Terran winced and Karina felt the urge to apologize. But the white tom shook it off. “Yes, I suppose like Bryce. But I meant before all of us started interfering. Korin may have been interested in Bryce before, but that doesn’t mean he’s so focused on us that he’s going to purposely target you and me.”

“Korin works in bulk,” Karina realized, “we were at the Twolegplace when we caught Bryce for multiple reasons, not just for her. We were only actually chasing after her because we had seen her go towards the Coalition, right?”

“I don’t know,” Terran shrugged, “but all I know is that Korin doesn’t have his mind on us. It’s someone else.”

“You didn’t hear it but the tom mentioned something about a she-cat who’s coming after us.”

“A she-cat?” Terran’s eyes sparked with curiosity. “That makes it obvious now doesn’t it?”

Karina grimaced. She had already guessed it but wanted other possibilities. “It’s Vicky, isn’t it?”

“Who else?” Terran sighed, shaking his head.

~

“Come on!” Applepaw chirps, her eyes glimmering with excitement, “If you don’t hurry up, we’ll never get past the practice moves! I want to learn new moves today!”

“Coming,” I roll my eyes.

“Where is Nightshadow?” Applepaw spins in a circle, looking for her mentor.

“He went to the clearing already.”

“What?” Applepaw makes a beeline for the exit of the camp, sprinting past startled warriors. I give a soft chuckle, though not quite a full laugh. I head after the apprentice slowly, despite the beating she’ll give me if I arrive too late.

When I do get there, Nightshadow is lecturing Applepaw on how she should be more cautious and careful, and how she shouldn’t be rushing into things. Applepaw is sulking, her pelt ruffled and dirty as if she had rolled in the dirt of the clearing.

“What happened?” I ask, bemused.

“Nightshadow ambushed me,” Applepaw replies glumly.

No wonder the black tom had been in such a rush to get to the clearing first. I remember him shaking me violently awake, telling me to get ready for the training session and how he would be down at the clearing waiting for us.

Nightshadow looks on edge. “You can’t always be so impatient!” He begins to pace around his apprentice. “You always dive headfirst into a situation without even considering what could go wrong. If I was an enemy, you’d be dead right now, Applepaw.”

There is distress in his voice that I know reflects from me. I’ve been downcast since Ruby’s death and Feathershine and Nightshadow are also deeply affected by Karina and Terran’s leave.

We’ve all been stressed before but never has the cause been our own friends. Applepaw stares at her mentor for a long moment.

“Sorry,” she finally mutters, lowering her gaze, “you know I’m not actually this excited when we’re in a serious situation.”

Nightshadow sighs. “I know, but you need to ready yourself in case something turns into a serious situation.”

I watch the exchange with quiet eyes. We proceed to train a little bit but not much gets done. Nightshadow lets both me and Applepaw go after a few rounds of sparring.

“Are you okay?” I stop next to Nightshadow after Applepaw scurries off. “You look a little tense.”

“I’m fine,” Nightshadow lets out a gusty sigh, “Do you think I was too rough on her? She came to me a few days ago telling me that she felt I should pay more attention to her and her training. Not to mention she pushed me into the stream while she was at it.”

“Applepaw can handle it,” I glance at the spot where the apprentice had disappeared, “but don’t put off her training for me or any of my hare-brained plans, okay?”

“Your plans aren’t hare-brained, Bryce, Terran and Karina mean a lot to all of us.”

I flinch at the mention of their names but I not stiffly. “Just…don’t forget you have an apprentice.”

I exit out of the clearing and spot Feathershine and Emerald coming out of camp. I wave my tail at them and my sister grins at me. Of course, the sadness of losing Ruby lingers, but my sister seems happy enough.

“Hi Bryce,” Feathershine smiles, “we’re just about to go on a tour of the territory. Want to join us?”

“Sure,” I pad alongside them, “Is Jewel coming along as well?”

“No, Flameshadow wants to show her all the herbs first. Jewel doesn’t mind staying in camp,” Emerald informs me. She sounds so grown-up now. Seven moons old…how did she grow up that fast?

Emerald tells me all the plans Feathershine has for her and how she’s going to start her training soon. “Then I’m going to face up against the Vipers and beat them all back!” She tells me, her eyes turning serious instead of excited, much different than how Applepaw looks when she’s talking about beating someone up.

I falter at that. Emerald looks up at me with those bright green eyes, so full of hatred and desperation that I can’t help but nod and touch my nose to her head. “I know you will,” I murmur, “you’re going to be the best warrior I can imagine.”

The territory tour goes well, as Feathershine shows Emerald the different places where the borders are and where the best places to hunt are.

As they head back to camp, I hear a tiny hiss. I freeze up and Feathershine notices. “Bryce?” She glances at me, worry flitting across her expression.

“Nothing’s wrong,” I lie, “you two go on ahead I think I’m going to hunt for awhile.”

“Be careful,” Feathershine warns, “you’re close to the Blood Army border.”

“I know,” I nod once to Feathershine, “thanks for the warning.”

I watch the gray she-cat pad away with my little sister before I turn around. Calypso emerges from the bushes, her eyes cautious.

“What are you doing here?” I ask evenly, though I make no move to attack her, “This is Coalition territory.”

“I have information on the Blood Army,” she admits. I’m reminded on how Calypso had come to me before I left the Twolegplace to tell me what I needed to know about the Blood Army. “I’m here without Presidia’s orders,” she adds, “so if you see her don’t tell.”

“I don’t think I’d see her,” I reply truthfully, “what are the chances of her coming here?”

Calypso shrugs. “Look I don’t have much time today. I just wanted to tell you how the Blood Army works. We’re—they’re—not really an organized group, but there is a High Committee that orders cats around. Nobody knows who is in the High Committee, unless you are one of the six yourself.”

“So you don’t know any of them?”

Calypso ducks her head. “No, sorry.”

“That’s fine,” I shake my head, “it’s good to know how the organization is run though. It gives us an idea who to try to find and target.”

The Twolegplace she-cat nods. “I have to go,” she whispers, “will you meet me here tomorrow?”

“Sure,” I give her a nod, “thank you again, Calypso.”

The she-cat smiles fleetingly at me before she disappears. I watch the spot for a few moments before padding back to camp, lost in my own thoughts.

The End.