Bloodstained Love

 BLOODSTAINED LOVE

Episode Ten, Season Three, of Rise.

Enjoy <3

Shoutout to Rainy for being an amazing fan for Rise! :) My heart goes out to you for this one c:

Bloodstained Love
I go hunting early in the morning instead of my usual border patrol sweep. Today I go alone.

I stay within the borders and don’t draw close to either border. I don’t want to encounter Aleric again, and I’m not sure what I would do if I actually found Terran or Vicky on the border.

The morning air is crisp and cool, the breeze stinging my fur in a good way. I relish the way the cold makes me want to run even more, instead of being cooped up in my den. I catch a few mice before I stop by a stream to take a quick drink.

It’s then that I realize I hear sounds coming from a few tail-lengths behind me, behind all the bushes. I freeze and wait, pricking my ears.

“Stupid Firepaw, thinking he knows everything. Ugh! I wish he would stop sticking his nose into my business.” I hear an irritated voice and then I hear claws scratching against bark.

Applepaw. I recognize her voice.

She obviously seems to want time alone so I continue to drink from the stream until I hear crashing noises behind me and Applepaw goes oof before slamming me into the stream.

I let out a yelp and feel the freezing water rush around me. I surface and groan, climbing out of the stream and shaking out my pelt. “Applepaw!” I exclaim, “Did you have to push me into the stream?”

“Sorry,” she mumbles, not looking sorry at all. “I didn’t see you.”

I sigh. “I’m not that tiny.”

Applepaw looks sheepish at that. “Not like that!” She flushes, “I was having a bad day. I wasn’t paying attention.”

“A bad day?” I echo, “It’s barely past dawn, Applepaw.”

“Okay I’ve been having a bad day for two days now,” she shrugs, “what’s the difference?”

“One is twice as long as the other?” I suggest.

Applepaw shoots me a cranky look and I give a soft laugh. “Hey, we all have bad days. Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” Applepaw scowls.

I shrug and begin to groom myself, licking the water off my pelt. I lick my fur the wrong way to dry myself off. Stars, it’s freezing.

“You look like a porcupine.” Applepaw wrinkles her nose, “That look does not suit you.”

“Thanks.” I say dryly. “I’ll keep it in mind the next time I’m drying my fur off from falling in the stream.”

“Sorry,” Applepaw sighs. “I didn’t mean to get so worked up. It’s just my brother and I have been fighting for the past few days—which is normal, but this time it feels like he’s actually angry.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” I ask softly.

“No,” Applepaw’s face closes off.

I study her carefully but Applepaw hides her face to mask her expression. I continue to dry my fur, not wanting to intrude on her business. If Applepaw doesn’t want to share, I don’t want to pry.

“He’s just so infuriating,” Applepaw bursts out suddenly, “he keeps butting into my business, telling me I should calm down and relax about this whole war thing. But his mentor isn’t trying to save the world!”

I can see tears in her eyes and Applepaw hastily wipes them away. I don’t ask again if she wants to talk about it but this time Applepaw keeps talking. “I don’t want to be a burden to Nightshadow but I feel like he’s getting more and more demanding. He’s always off saving the world instead of helping me.”

She glances at me, “I shouldn’t be complaining to you. He’s helping you, after all.”

“No, it’s fine,” I shake my head, “I want to understand all of you. I need to know your situation and how I can help. I don’t want to be standing here and just dictating you guys. That’s not my goal.”

“It’s not your fault,” Applepaw insists, “I just feel like Nightshadow forgets that I exist. Between helping you and being with Feathershine, I just get squeezed out.”

“You should talk to him,” I touch my tail to hers, “I’m sure if Nightshadow understood he would understand. Firepaw and Sunpaw tell me you’ve been picking fights with all the apprentices. You shouldn’t do that.”

Applepaw looks sullen. “I know, but I just want to get Nightshadow’s attention and nothing is working.”

“The best thing to do is talk to him,” I inform her, “and definitely don’t push him into a stream.” I twitch my whiskers.

“That’s a good idea!” Applepaw beams and I know immediately she means the second part.

I roll my eyes but she’s already scampering away, obviously off to “talk” to Nightshadow (he’ll probably end up in the stream). “Thanks, Bryce!”

“No problem,” I murmur, picking up my mice and heading after her.

~

I spend the rest of the day with my sisters. They’ve already gone to visit the nursery kits but decided they wanted to stay in my den today.

“Terran’s going to come back,” Jewel says, lifting her head when I walk in.

“Hm?” I pause and glance at my sister.

Her blue eyes glitter in the dimness of the den. “He’s going to come back,” she repeats, “very soon.”

At first I dismiss her. Jewel is just saying this to be encouraging. But Jewel has always been attentive, and I feel sometimes she communicates with something that others don’t. “Is he?”

“Yeah,” she bobs her head, “but he won’t be returning here.”

“Not here?” I frown, “What do you mean then?”

“You’ll see him,” Jewel seems to struggle with a proper explanation, “But he won’t be coming home today.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know,” Jewel furrows her brow, “nobody told me.”

I don’t ask how she knew that Terran would even show up today but I don’t question her. Emerald is fast asleep and I nuzzle Jewel to join her. “Get some rest, Jewel,” I tell her, “you can play with the kits when you wake up.”

“I’m not tired,” she mumbles, speaking through a yawn.

Before I can tuck her in, I hear Feathershine call my name.

“Bryce!” I turn to see Feathershine racing towards me, “Karina is missing!”

“What?” I whirl on her, my eyes searching her frantic eyes for an answer. “What do you mean she’s missing?”

“She’s missing!” Feathershine sounds out of breath, almost hysterical, “She’s been acting so weird lately and Flameshadow says she just tried to knock him out before racing out of camp.”

I blink rapidly. Karina has been acting strangely lately but with my mind preoccupied, I hadn’t thought much about it. Now I wish I had.

“I’ll go look for her,” I tell Feathershine. “Can you watch my sisters for me and make sure they don’t ask where I am?”

Feathershine nods and I’m out of camp as fast as I can. I point my paws towards the Viper border, hoping she’s there. I’m running as fast as I can, because I don’t know what to expect. I don’t know what’s been going on with Karina lately and I’m scared that she’s in harm’s way.

I’m so concentrated on my thoughts that I run smack into something. At first I think I’ve run into a tree, only to realize a cat deliberately put himself in my path to stop me.

“Bryce,” Terran’s voice is soft but calm.

“I’m not here for you,” I say bluntly, even though I had spent so many days scouring the border for him.

“I know,” Terran’s sky blue eyes meet mine, “but I need to explain anyway. I wasn’t meeting Vicky because I wanted to get back together with her, Bryce, I’m not that shallow.”

“You’re selfish,” I correct, using Vicky’s term even though I disagree with it.

Terran laughs sharply. “Did Vicky tell you that?”

I don’t reply and Terran continues, “Look, I was getting information, I swear. Karina and I have been researching the wolves for quite some time so I tried to ask Vicky about it. I thought she would at least care enough to tell me, but she just used me to hurt you instead. I’m sorry.”

Closing my eyes, I give a little sigh. I want to believe Terran so badly. I miss him; I really do.

“Did you find out anything?”

“A little,” I open my eyes to see Terran shrug, “Vicky’s been behind some of the mixtures for the wolves since my father got captured by the Blood Army. I suspect that’s why she wanted Shadeflower.”

“You know about that?” I’m surprised.

“Yeah, she told me,” Terran rolls his eyes, “she didn’t get much from it but I think she’s the one who force fed Shadeflower this specific mixture, which causes her to be…well…strange I guess. I’m not too sure how to explain it.”

I almost ask him to try, when I realize he’s purposely blocking my path to the border. I’m so close.

“You’re blocking me.” I narrow my eyes.

“I’m not,” Terran frowns, “I’m trying to apologize.”

“Apology accepted, move.”

“You know you don’t mean that,” Terran doesn’t budge, “I want to be sincere, Bryce. Let me apologize to you. I care a lot about you, do you know that?”

My heart winces at the longing tone in his voice. “I care a lot about you too, Terran, but right now I need to find Karina. I know she’s there, or else you wouldn’t be blocking my view.”

“Bryce…” Terran starts.

I shove him aside. I start forward again only to stop short. Terran brushes against me but I don’t feel it. I stare at the hunched form of Karina. She looks up, her golden eyes wild with fear.

“I didn’t mean to…” Karina whispers, her voice laced with agony, “I--”

She caught Terran’s eye and she stands abruptly. “I’m so sorry,” I hear her murmur before she’s gone. She races across the Viper border and disappears.

Terran is saying my name but I move forward as if in a trance. I stare at the small, tiny body on the floor, wondering if this is all a bad dream. “Bryce,” Terran suddenly appears in front of me, “I don’t want to leave you alone right now, but I have to go after Karina. You understand, right?”

''No, I don’t. Don’t leave me when I need you the most.''

But I nod mutely because I do understand in a way. “I’m so sorry Bryce,” he touches his nose briefly to mine, “I’ll be back as soon as I can, I swear.” He races after Karina, leaving me alone.

The small, broken body looks so fragile and frail, nothing like the strong-spirited she-cat she had been before this whole mess. Suddenly I wish I never left the Twolegplace, never let the Vipers and the Blood Army find me.

Ruby lays in front of me, a large, gaping wound in her stomach. She already bled dry, and I can tell she’s been dead for awhile.

Karina had stood over her, bloody and guilty.

I bend over and cry over my sister’s tiny body. It shouldn’t have been her. Not headstrong Ruby who Applepaw reminds me of. Not her.

Not any of my sisters.

It shouldn’t have been any of them laying here. It shouldn’t be me who is suffering from Karina’s mistake.

But it is.

I feel numb inside and instead of trying to carry her back to the camp to inform my other sisters and friends, I sit by Ruby’s body and cry. I weep for her future that will never happen. I weep for the fact that I hadn’t tried harder to find her, to protect her like I’m supposed to.

I weep for the fact that she will never understand how much I loved her, even when I didn’t show it.

But it’s too late for all that.

Because she’s gone.

The End.