Not Losing You



 N o t L o s i n g Y o u

Episode Nine, Season Two, of Beauty.

Enjoy <3

Not Losing You
“Mother,” I say, exasperated, “I don’t have time for all this.”

“Of course you do!” She doesn’t hesitate to exclaim, “Redstar already told me that you don’t have any missions right now. What could make you so busy that you don’t want to eat with your mother?”

I sense the danger of the situation. I stand to leave. “My squad and I want to go scouting. There has been too many commotions lately.”

“Like Pinesong’s escape,” my mother supplies, “Rebels did that.” Her eyes watch me carefully and I shrug.

“Exactly. We have to go see what caused them to do so.” I tell her, clearing away the remains of my meal.

“The only visitors Pinesong had in a whole moon were Appleleaf and Finchwing. What exactly was the point of them visiting Pinesong?”

I try not to tense up. I stare nonchalantly back at Whiteflicker. “I wanted to know if she could be forced to give us some information on the enemies.” Of course I don’t mean the rebels.

Whiteflicker doesn’t move but her eyes narrow. “A few days later she was broken out of prison.”

This time I frown, pretending to be pondering over exactly why this had happened. “There must be rebel spies and they must have informed the rebels of my warriors’ interrogation and wanted her save her.”

My mother holds my gaze for a moment longer before saying. “Yes, I suppose so.”

Unease prickles in my belly. “I must go, mother, I need to investigate-”

“Redstar and Flareheart will be there.”

I pause at the entrance and turn slowly. “Excuse me?” I blink, “What?”

“They are coming to the dinner. It would reflect badly on your reputation if you do not show up, Amberfrost. Redstar would have every reason to mark you as a suspect of aiding the rebels.”

Swallowing, I sigh. “I’ll be there, mother.”

She gives me a smile that chills me to the bone.

~

“WHAT?” Snowflare steams, “You can’t make it, again?”

“She forced my paw,” I groan, “I have no choice. It seems my stunt with Flareheart has persisted Redstar to further place us together.”

Snowflare glares at Appleleaf, who shrugs. “The plan worked,” she mutters.

This time, we’re in the poor with Rainstorm in Brownhare’s old den. I immediately regret coming here, as it just reminds us that we lost Brownhare’s parents.

“What were you planning anyways?” Rainstorm asks, her tail intertwined with Hawkpelt’s.

“We wanted to go back in and rescue Brownhare’s parents.” I explain, “The guards wouldn’t expect another sudden prison break. It’s the perfect chance, before Redstar executes them.”

“But now, you can’t go,” Snowflare groans and buries her head dramatically in her paws. Lionclaw wordlessly drapes his tail over her. Brownhare has a grim expression plastered on his face. I know how difficult this has to be for him, to know that I – his best friend – might have possibly ruined the one plan that could save his parents’ lives.

“I’m sorry,” I mew, mostly to Brownhare than to anyone else, “but my mother will surely turn us in to Redstar if I don’t show up.” I groan again and resist the urge to smack myself with my paw.

Brownhare shakes his head. “Don’t worry, “he murmurs, “Our safety is more important. We’ll pull it off without you there,” he adds, “we did it last time with Pinesong.”

Rainstorm nods enthusiastically, “It’s not problem, Amberfrost,” she pipes up, “Don’t fret about us and worry about your meeting with Redstar and Flareheart.”

“Not to mention your crazy mother,” Appleleaf smirks, “seems to me you have more to handle than we do.”

Taking a deep breath, I nod. “Let’s get this plan going before I have to go prepare for my mother’s dinner. We don’t have much time.”

~

I slip off towards the Beauty side just as the sun starts to set. My mother will be expecting me soon. I just hope that the others will be able to execute the plan.

When I draw near my den, I recognize guards standing in front of the entrance. I tense and the guards clear their throats. “Name and rank?” One of them mutters.

“Amberfrost, squad leader.”

They wave my through and I step inside. I hear the chatter before I see the cats seated in front of me. Whiteflicker glances up and beams at me. “Amberfrost!” She purrs, “We were just wondering when you were going to get here.” Redstar turns and fixes me with a cold stare. I feel uneasy and duck my head.

“There was some sort of a border skirmish,” I mumble, “Cats were crowding my path. I had to take another route.”

Redstar narrows her eyes but Whiteflicker waves her tail. “No matter,” she says lightly, “it’s fine now that you’re here. I’m sure you had good reasons to be late.” I can hear the double meaning in her words.

I seat myself next to Flareheart, who shoots me a strange glance. There’s caution in the beautiful she-cat’s gaze but she doesn’t look as hostile as she used to be. Perhaps Flareheart isn’t always a pompous she-cat.

“Help yourself!” Whiteflicker motions to the pile of prey, “We have lots of spare.”

Like last time, I feel a twinge of guilt when I grab a mouse from the heaping pile of prey. Anger spills in me and I try to contain it as I think about how this prey could feed so many poor families.

Redstar and Whiteflicker murmur to each other about specific things I don’t know about. The silence between Flareheart and I stretch out, and Redstar shoots her daughter a glare. Flareheart clears her throat and turns to me. “How have you been, Amberfrost?”

I choke in surprise and blink. “I’m fine,” I cough out, “How have you been?”

Flareheart’s eyes are shadowed but she feigns happiness. “I’m well,” she replies in a rehearsed tone that I know all too well.

I can sense her discomfort of doing this in front of her mother. “Do you want to go outside for a walk?” I ask her. She straightens and nods.

I glance at Whiteflicker, who frowns. “Perhaps you shouldn’t-” she begins.

“Let them,” Redstar flicks her tail, “Let them have their fun.”

Flareheart stands and makes a beeline for the entrance. I follow hastily. When we’re a good distance away from my den, she sighs in relief. “Good thinking,” she smirks, “I couldn’t stand being in there.”

“I didn’t do it for you,” I find myself saying.

Flareheart laughs, which surprises me. “We’re not friends,” she reasons, “so it’s understandable.” She turns and beings to stalk away. “I have things to do. I’ll find you later.”

“Bye,” I murmur as the heir of FireClan disappears. Then I whirl around and race for the prisons that Appleleaf had pointed out to me.

~

Rainstorm wasn’t sure if she liked her part in the plan. According to Appleleaf, she was supposed to be their “prisoner”, though disguised so the Beauty cats wouldn’t catch her pelt color or scent.

Hawkpelt had his tail wrapped around her. “I don’t like the plan,” he muttered, “too many flaws. Too many things that can go wrong.”

“That’s what a flawed plan means,” Rainstorm attempted to joke. The brown tom shot her a dark look and the gray she-cat nestled into him. “Hey, we volunteered for this. This is the best way for us to get to the prisons. Plus, if they say I’m a rebel, they’ll want to put me where Brownhare’s parents are for sure.”

“You don’t know that,” Hawkpelt lashed his tail anxiously, “Anything could go wrong.”

Rainstorm looked up at Hawkpelt’s dark blue eyes. They stared back at her with warmth and compassion nobody else could match. “We all know the risks,” the gray she-cat reminded her mate, “We know from the moment we agreed to be apart of this. It isn’t fair for us to favor one another when Lionclaw and Snowflare face the same dilemma, and so do Amberfrost and Brownhare.”

Hawkpelt snorted slightly at the last one but grunted. “Let’s be honest, Amberfrost worries about all of us. Brownhare thinks she’s just his best friend. Plus, Snowflare and Lionclaw compete on who can kill each other first.”

The gray she-cat purred and pressed her pelt against the brown tom. “Exactly. Let’s go join the others, shall we?”

Hawkpelt touched noses with Rainstorm before nodding, “Yeah, let’s go.”

~

Lionclaw was starting to worry that Snowflare’s pride would explode her own head. “I swear that’s the way,” she pat out, “I know I’m right!”

Appleleaf, the certified genius, snorted, “You don’t even know where they’re held.”

The white she-cat scowled and Lionclaw nudged her to the side. “Cooperate, will you?” He scowled, “We need to listen to Appleleaf-”

“No we don’t,” Snowflare bared her teeth, “I’m sick of being treated as the hare-brained she-cat. Even you, Lionclaw!” With that, she spun around and darted off without another world, leaving the golden tom stunned.

He stood there for a few seconds before Brownhare padded over. “What’s- Where’s Snowflare?” He blinked, “Appleleaf wants to set out and she’s going to go without you and Snowflare if you don’t hurry up.”

“Go,” Lionclaw pushed past his friend, “Tell her Snowflare and I aren’t coming.”

“What?” Brownhare looked stricken but Lionclaw was already streaking away. He had to find Snowflare before the she-cat he loved did something extremely stupid.

~

“What do you mean they aren’t coming?” Appleleaf exploded, “We needed them to come!”

Brownhare shrugged. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the situation. Lionclaw had looked torn but he had stomped off without an explanation. “We should carry on anyways,” he suggested.

“Without them?” Hawkpelt narrowed his eyes, “It’ll be too dangerous.” His eyes betrayed his real meaning by flitting to Rainstorm beside him. Brownhare noticed her discomfort and focused on Rainstorm’s necklace.

“That,” he pointed it out, “will help us stay alive. Rainstorm isn’t supposed to be part of the fighting anyways.” Appleleaf regarded it with wonder.

Hawkpelt stepped in front of the gray she-cat immediately. “Absolutely not,” he hissed, “We don’t know the limit of her powers. What if she overdoes it?”

We won’t know until she tries, Brownhare thought darkly. He was sure the gray she-cat would do anything to save the rest of us, even at the cost of her own life.

Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that.

“I’ll do it,” Rainstorm offered, “I need to be close though. I have to be touching the cat for it to work.”

The brown tabby scowled at her words but she ignored him. “Sounds settled,” Finchwing dismissed. She and Appleleaf exchanged brief looks of relief.

Hawkpelt looked like he wanted to object but Rainstorm silenced him. “Let me make my choices,” she ordered.

As the tom relented and the five of them set off, Brownhare couldn’t help but feel like this was all wrong.

They arrive at the prisons in no time and naturally, everything went wrong.

This probably won’t be the last time one of my ideas goes wrong. Brownhare thought grimly as hell broke loose around them.

~

“Great StarClan I’m lost,” I curse, shooting frantic looks around me, “Lucky me, I forgot to get concrete directions to the prisons.”

“Need help?” My blood freezes but when I turn slowly, I see Scarlet smirking. I almost ask her what she’s doing here but then I remember that she spies for the rebels too.

We stare eye to eye and I realize that I don’t trust her entirely.

StarClan, what do I do?

The End.