Broken Souls

 BROKEN SOULS

Episode Eight, Season Three, of Rise.

Enjoy <3

Broken Souls
I mope around camp for the next few days. It was different when I thought Terran was in trouble and that I needed to worry about saving his sorry tail, but now whenever I think about the white tom, I see him and Vicky pressed up next to one another.

Feathershine and Nightshadow take it upon themselves to solve my problem. I already told them about what I saw and the plants that I gave Karina.

Nightshadow is the first to approach me today. “Bryce,” he greets, “how are you?”

“Fine,” I say curtly, “you?”

“I’m good,” he glances at Feathershine, “we’re both good.”

“Wonderful,” I mutter, turning away from them.

“Bryce…” Feathershine stops me, “We know you think that Terran has betrayed you by being with Vicky that night but he must have had his reasons. Terran cares deeply for you.”

“How do you know?” I say sulkily, “You guys weren’t super close with Terran.”

“Then you tell us,” Nightshadow says, exasperated, “you were close with Terran after all. Didn’t he care for you like he cared for no one else?”

I reflect on my memories of Terran. The white tom had been kind and sensitive to my thoughts, but I felt as though I only knew a part of Terran. The other half was with the Vipers, with Vicky, with…Karina.

I had bothered the dark gray she-cat enough since her awakening day. I decide to put off talking to her about her brother for a bit.

“Guess so,” I sigh and try to relax, “I’m just wondering why he didn’t follow me. Why he didn’t come back to camp with me. Why stay with her?”

“Maybe he was after something,” Feathershine suggests.

When I shoot her a dirty look, Feathershine shakes her head vigorously. “Not like that!” She yelps, “I meant maybe he had unfinished business that he needed to figure out before he could come home.”

Home. It is a nice thought, knowing that all of us are part of the Coalition. We belong here.

“He did say he was trying to find out where Ruby was,” I muse.

“See,” Nightshadow smiles, “he’s trying to find your sister. Obviously he can’t do that from here.”

I wince. I realize that I haven’t done much to help my sister here. Nightshadow hurriedly tries to cover up his mistake but I flick my tail. “I know I’m being irrational about Terran but I can’t help it. I don’t know anything about him and it bothers me.”

“When he comes back, you can badger him all you want,” Feathershine purrs, nudging me.

I notice her use of the word “when” instead of “if”. I’m grateful for their support and I bump my shoulder against theirs to show my gratitude.

“I will,” I twitch my whiskers, “mark my words.”

They purr along with me and I bound off to go find my sisters. It’s been forever since I’ve had a proper conversation with them. I find them near the nursery, playing with the other kits like always.

“Bryce!” They squeal when they notice me coming over.

“Hey Jewel, hey Emerald,” I touch my nose to both of theirs, “What have the two of you been up to?”

“We’ve been playing with the Coalition kits,” Jewel says quietly, “do you want to come meet them?”

Emerald stares up at me pleadingly and Jewel watches me carefully, as if judging whether or not I would be willing. “Sure,” I smile at them, “I’d love to.”

Emerarld takes off and Jewel grins slightly. “Let’s go,” she pads after Emerald, who has already rocketed off to the kits’ sides.

They look about the same age as Emerald and Jewel, though some are younger. “This is Pearlkit,” Emerald points at a cream colored cat.

“That’s Stonekit,” Jewel indicates to a gray tom. “and his brother Riverkit.” Riverkit is a darker shade than Stonekit.

They introduce me to a few more but I notice that Emerald seems to chat with Pearlkit and sometimes Stonekit while Jewel stuck with Riverkit the most. It only seemed logically to me. Emerald was used to Ruby’s boisterous attitude and playfulness, which was shown in Pearlkit and Stonekit. Jewel was quieter, a thinker rather than a doer. Riverkit represented that.

“Nice to meet you all,” I greet all of them, “I’m Bryce, Emerald and Jewel’s older sister.”

The kits are sweet and I’m glad my sisters are interacting with them. It’s a relief to know that they’re getting along well.

I realize that I should probably talk to more of the Clan warriors myself instead of letting myself only rely on my friends for support.

As I excuse myself from my sisters, I head for the next hunting patrol. “Hey, Darkfrost, Moonshadow, mind if I join you and your apprentices for a hunting patrol?”

I’ve spoken to the two warriors before, but not often. They happen to be Sunpaw and Firepaw’s mentors and I usually see them when I’m talking with Applepaw and her littermates.

“We don’t mind,” Moonshadow replies, smiling. Beside her Firepaw fidgets as if desperate to set off.

We exit together and I fall in place next to the two warriors. “How are you and your sisters settling in?” Darkfrost grunts, glancing over at me with blue eyes.

“The Coalition is very hospitable,” I reply, “We’re settling in well, thank you.”

“Do you plan on staying even after we defeat the Vipers and the Blood Army?” He continues, “I know there are plans of the Coalition breaking up after that as there is no need for a united army.”

I can’t imagine the Coalition being anything else. I remember Nightshadow telling me that he was DuskClan and how Feathershine was DawnClan. (So is Applepaw, which means he got his apprentice after the Coalition was formed.)

“I want to stay,” I say honestly, “but if the Coalition breaks up, I’m not sure whether or not I can stay.”

“Either Clan will let you join,” Moonshadow pipes up, “Amberstar and Whitestar are both hospitable leaders. But many of us have formed friendships within the Coalition…I fear breaking up will cause many problems.”

I can’t help but share her worries. Cats like Nightshadow and Feathershine can’t just choose between their respective Clans because then they’ll mean that can’t be mates.

I shake my head to clear it. That’s a thought for another day.

We hunt and I chat with Sunpaw and Firepaw for a bit about their sister. Even though they bicker a lot, I know the three of them care a lot for each other.

“Applepaw has been really quiet lately,” Sunpaw admits, “I welcome the silence but I feel she’s not her normal self.”

“Really?” Firepaw frowns, “I feel like she’s even more on edge. She’s picking a fight with every apprentice—and it’s not just a verbal fight, she wants to spar with every single one of them.”

“That’s just Applepaw’s way of adjusting to the war,” Sunpaw shrugs, “I mean she wants to get stronger.”

“She could just ask Nightshadow for more training!” Firepaw points out, “No need to make enemies with all the Clan apprentices.”

“She complains that Nightshadow spends too much with Feathershine or investigating,” Sunpaw glances at me apologetically and I realize why.

I sigh. “Perhaps I should talk to Nightshadow about giving Applepaw more training?”

“She gets enough,” Firepaw mutters, “We all do. She’s just stressed about the war and she thinks that if she isn’t strong enough, she’ll fail her Clan. That she’ll fail you.” He watches me as he says this.

“Me?” I echo in surprise, “Why me?”

Sunpaw ducks her head, “Everyone is rooting for you, Bryce. You were hope that we can defeat the Vipers. Yes, perhaps you brought the Blood Army into this but the warriors aren’t put down by it.”

I never knew I had the support of the entire Coalition. We were fighting the same battle of course, but I always thought we had different goals in the end.

“Let’s get to hunting!” Moonshadow calls.

“Coming!” We all chorus back to her.

~

Despite all the hunting that we’ve done, I still can’t shake Terran and Vicky out of my mind. I originally planned to either talk to Applepaw (who Sunpaw and Firepaw warned would be snappish today), or Nightshadow and Feathershine (I couldn’t find them in camp anyway), but I changed my mind when I got back to camp.

Instead, I point my paws towards the medicine cat den and head for Karina. Sure enough, the dark gray she-cat is up and grooming her fur.

“Hey,” I greet her.

“Hi Bryce,” she tilts her head, “do you have news for me on Terran?”

“No,” I admit, “but I wanted to talk to you about him.”

Her amber eyes seem to spark with interest, and I notice that she’s digging her claws into the dirt. I frown at that but dismiss it.

“Well this is also about Vicky,” I add.

“Forget her,” Karina snaps, “let’s talk about Terran. Where is he?” There’s a glint in her eyes that wasn’t there before.

“I don’t know,” I shift on my paws, “I was hoping you could explain something to me.”

“Like what?” The glint disappears and Karina relaxes.

“Like if Terran actually cares about me and whether or not he’s still on Viper territory for Vicky or not.”

The dark gray she-cat purrs in amusement. “Bryce, don’t worry about him, really. If he’s still over on Viper territory, that means he has some unfinished business he wants to complete before coming back. And no, it’s not Vicky,” she adds when she sees my expression.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Like I said, Vicky finds Terran obnoxious and selfish. She was using him that day to lure you in and hurt you. Possibly to hurt Terran as well.”

“Hurt me?” I bite my lip, “She was helping me before. Why would she want to hurt me?”

“She’s jealous,” Karina explains, “Vicky only knows you as one cat: the one Terran ditched her for. I don’t know why she helped you the way she did, but all I know is she’s up to no good, Bryce. Don’t trust her.”

I instinctively nod, even though I’m thinking about the leaves I gave Karina. If I shouldn’t trust Vicky, should I be wary of why she knew how to cure Karina’s problem?

“Chances are Vicky knocked me out during the battle and went after Terran,” Karina continues, “but I don’t know if we’ll ever find out why she took Terran and left me here.”

“I think we will,” I mutter, standing.

“One last thing,” Karina calls after me.

I turn, watching her expectantly. “Terran only means well for you, Bryce. He’s close-minded and makes his own decisions without consulting others, but he really does care for you. Everything he does is with you in mind. Whatever he’s doing on Viper territory, including talking and being with Vicky, he’s doing for you.”

Deep inside, I know that, but all I want the white tom to do is come home. I want him to be here, instead of out there.

But I don’t tell Karina any of this. Instead, I smile gratefully.

“Thanks,” I tell her, meaning it.

Karina gives me a stiff nod and I walk back outside. I can’t help but think we’re all like broken souls, lost in the midst, trying to piece everything back together.

Terran is the first piece to mine.

The End.