You're My Love

 YOU'RE MY LOVE

Episode Five, Season Five, of Rise.

Enjoy <3

You're My Love
Aleric and I set out the next day. Terran is still reluctant to let me go, but I promise him I’ll be back soon. Plus, our friends are just going to follow along anyway; Aleric’s just my bodyguard.

We’re drawn farther ahead than the rest of our group, intending to reach the Twolegplace before the others even leave camp. Aleric has a strange look on his face, and I recall he had been talking to Karina before we left.

“What’s going on between you and Karina?”

The brown tom almost scowls. “Nothing…”

I want to press, but Aleric speaks up again.

What’s going on between you and Terran?” He counters.

I flush red. Aleric raises an eyebrow at that. It never fails to amaze me how easily he can interpret my feelings when I can’t even see into his heart.

“I…” I struggle to find words that describe my relationship with Terran. I go for the easiest words. “Everyone knows I’m in love with Terran,” I sigh, “it’s so obvious. I just don’t know how to tell him.”

Aleric leans forward; his green eyes spark with something I can’t define. “The easiest way is to just say it to him.”

My tail swishes hesitantly. “I don’t want to tell him at a time like this. We’re fighting a war.”

“And we will be for quite some time,” Aleric reasons, turning around.

“Where are you going?” I panic. Without Aleric, I can’t complete this part of the mission. This is the most essential part.

“Going back to camp,” Aleric says nonchalantly.

I scamper after him. “Why?”

The brown tom smiles mischievously and for once, I see amusement light up in his eyes. There is genuine affection there too. “That’s where Terran is, right? How else are you going to tell him?”

I brake immediately. “Whoa, stop for a moment. We’re not going back to camp so I can tell Terran I love him.”

Aleric sits down patiently. “They’ll come along this way eventually,” he agrees, “we could always wait.”

“Oh come on!” I groan, “Are you really going to stop our mission for this?”

Aleric’s eyes turn serious. “Yes.”

I blink at his transformation. There is still little emotion in the tom’s eyes, but there is still something there. That in itself should be a symbol of importance.

“Love is too important to ignore,” Aleric says softly, “take this chance while you have it. Like you said, we are at war. Who knows what will happen?”

His words chill me to the bone. I give him a tiny nod and keep walking back towards camp. Aleric follows me quietly.

By the time we reach camp, it’s sunhigh. Terran is just emerging from the camp and he bumps into us. “Bryce! What are you doing here?”

All my other friends also emerge from the camp. Karina eyes Aleric nervously and the tom averts his gaze from her. I frown slightly at that but focus my attention on Terran. “I have something to admit.”

Terran’s look is full of worry but I lead him slightly farther away from the others for more privacy.

I glance back at Aleric, who stares back at me with unfathomable eyes. He gives me a nod.

“Terran…I’ve been thinking about this for a long time now. It’s about us.” When Terran cocks his head at me, his blue eyes bright and clear, I rush to finish my thought. “I love you.”

A look of pure wonder passes over Terran’s face. Then joy follows. He touches his nose to mine. “I’ve been waiting moons for you to say that.”

I give a light giggle, the butterflies still there in my stomach. “Aleric insisted I did that before we went on our mission.”

“For once, I’m glad that tom is around,” Terran curls his tail around me.

Behind us, Feathershine cheers. “Awesome! Bryce and Terran are dating now!”

Nightshadow clears his throat. There’s a warm look in his eyes and he nudges Feathershine. “Speaking of love, how would you like to be my mate, Feathershine?”

Disbelief crosses Feathershine’s face and she purrs. “Do you really mean that?”

“I mean it with all my heart.” Nightshadow replies.

“Then yes.” Feathershine embraces Nightshadow and I find myself grinning.

~

Karina sat next to Aleric, watching the two couples celebrate. She admired the way Bryce and Terran looked at each other, their love so obvious and pure. The two of them had been inseparable ever since Bryce had been a prisoner of the Vipers. Karina knew a long time ago that Terran had been in love with the black she-cat, but she was happy they were together now.

Feathershine and Nightshadow were cute too. They had been dating for quite awhile to try the whole relationship out and it was obvious to Karina that they should have been mates a long time ago.

She self-consciously glanced at Aleric. The brown tom was watching in amusement, some sort of happiness etched on his face.

“Why don’t you do something like that?” Karina asked lightly.

Aleric didn’t smile at her. “I would have to love someone first to say such a thing, right?”

Karina felt a pain dig deep into her chest and her throat tightened. “Of course.”

She wondered what all those moments had meant, when Aleric would come so close, she could see her reflection in his clear, green eyes. She remembered the fire that had lit up inside of her when he had touched his nose to hers.

What did that all mean?

When Aleric did glance at her, his eyes softened. Karina’s breath quickened.

“Don’t be sad,” he brushed his tail against her flank before pulling it away. “There’s no point in jumping into a relationship if it will one day mean nothing.” There was a darker, hidden meaning in his words, a memory of his past he had not shared with Karina.

The dark gray she-cat looked away. “You’re right.”

“Have you ever been in love?” Aleric asked her the question she had asked him only a day before.

“No,” Karina said honestly, “the only tom I had ever truly cared for is Terran. But he’s my brother. I’ve never experienced this sort of love before.”

She wanted to swallow her words the moment she said them. This sort of love? She was setting herself up for rejection.

“Are you in love now?” Aleric’s voice dropped to a quiet whisper.

His green eyes had always been hard, but now they took on some sort of edge, as if Aleric was preparing himself for an answer.

Karina didn’t have an answer to his question. She searched her heart for something that would be described as love.

She glanced at the way Terran and Bryce held onto one another and remembered how many times Terran would let Bryce cry into his shoulder while he tried to be strong for her. She remembered the way Terran desperately defied orders to try to save the she-cat he loved.

Was it there in her?

“Yes,” she whispered back.

For a brief second, Karina thought she say joy flit across Aleric’s eyes before they returned to their anguished state. Karina didn’t understand why the brown tom looked so sad.

He drew away from her a little bit and she let out a little sigh of disappointment. The air was charged with an emotion Karina didn’t understand.

“You should be happy for your brother,” Aleric changed the subject. “This must be something he’s been waiting for a long time.”

Karina tried to take her mind off the brown tom. “I am happy for him,” she insisted, “Terran has been in love with Bryce since he met her.”

There was another pause before Karina spoke up again. “You told Bryce to come back, didn’t you? Why?”

“Because love is only temporary,” Aleric said this softly, his eyes indescribably sad. “Love doesn’t last forever.”

Karina flinched. “It won’t happen to them,” she said flatly, “Terran and Bryce will live forever.”

“Only in our minds,” Aleric shook his head, “We’re fighting a war, Karina. Cats die all the time.”

“Thank you for lightening up the mood,” Karina scowled at him. “Bryce and Terran know how to take care of themselves. Plus, aren’t you here to protect them anyway?”

Aleric stared at her. “I’m just telling you the truth,” he shrugged, “I’ve seen it happen too many times.”

Because you killed them or because it actually happened to you? Karina couldn’t help but wonder.

~

“Let’s keep going,” Aleric finally advises. Terran and I break apart sheepishly. I notice Feathershine and Nightshadow are still whispering happily while Karina scowls. She’s glaring at Aleric, who blissfully ignores her.

Terran stands too. “I’ll go with Bryce this time,” he says firmly.

Aleric watches him for a moment, and then shrugs. “Be my guest.”

I’m relieved and torn at the same time. I want Terran to be by my side, but I don’t want him to get hurt. But I quell my thoughts because I know Terran is coming with me to prevent me from getting hurt.

But Aleric and the others will be behind us, so there isn’t really anything to worry about.

I loop my tail through Terran’s and we continue onwards to the Twolegplace. My heart is light and I am smiling giddily.

Terran looks happy too, and for a moment, I forget we’re on a mission to destroy the Blood Army.

We reach the Twolegplace in no time and before we can step in, a tom barrels out and stops us in our tracks.

I can sense our friends behind us but they don’t show themselves. Only Terran and I are exposed. Terran tenses next to me.

The tom who came out is peering at me with distaste in his eyes. He seems to know exactly who I am.

His beady eyes are filled with sudden hatred. He bares his teeth at me yet he doesn’t attack. I’m starting to feel nervous.

“So your parents’ deaths weren’t enough to keep you out of the Twolegplace, huh?” He finally speaks.

I gape at him in shock.

What does this tom know about my parents’ deaths?

The End.