Save or Destroy



 S a ve o r D e s t r oy

Episode Four, Season Three, of Beauty.

Enjoy <3

Save or Destroy
Redstar looks us over and notes the scratches. “What happened?” she frowns, looking decently concerned for a minute.

I shift my paws nervously. “They ran into some rebels,” I mew, “we had to rescue them.”

It was the wrong thing to say. Redstar raises an eyebrow. “You had to save them? You do realize there was a raid yesterday where the rebel prisoners were all freed. All the Beauty soldiers were murdered.”

I feign surprise. I hope the others are smart enough to do the same. “Where was this?” I frown, “we were in rebel territory.”

Redstar doesn’t reply to my question and merely glares at me. Whiteflicker, who I didn’t notice before, steps out. “They wouldn’t have been there,” she murmurs, “but don’t we have a mission for them?”

The FireClan leader glares at my mother for a short time before nodding slowly. “We certainly do. Amberfrost, you will take your warriors and head for a rebel’s prison base. It’s time we strike back ourselves.”

She turns and gives Appleleaf directions before dismissing us. Unease flows through me as we pad outside. “Destroy a prison camp,” Lionclaw says meekly.

“Are you scared?” Snowflare asks darkly, her blue eyes flashing.

Lionclaw frowns are Snowflare but the white she-cat stalks away. The golden tom blinks at her retreating form but doesn’t move. “What’s with her?” Scarlet stares after the white she-cat. I give a sigh before giving chase.

It takes me awhile before I catch up to Snowflare. “Hey,” I pant, “What’s wrong?”

“You mean what’s wrong with me?” She gives a low laugh, “I’m glad it’s you, Amberfrost. I don’t really want to face Lionclaw right now.” She sighs and dries her eyes.

“I know how you feel,” I draw closer to the white she-cat.

She glances blearily at me. “Sometimes, I feel like we have no hope. Every day, Redstar throws a new challenge at us. How can we win?”

“Remember what you told me on the first day we met?” I remind her, “You told me ‘It’s a bunch of lies, ways to contain how we can live’. With that mindset, I know we’ll find a way to win. Plus, we can’t let the Beauty win. We have to keep fighting, no matter how grim the situation is.”

Snowflare gives me a sad smile. “I’ll always believe that, but what if I’m not strong enough to push through with this? We cause so much pain because we’re trying to be double agents.”

“You’re one of the strongest cats I know,” I curl my tail around her, “but if we give up now, we’ll never be able to free the cats from Redstar’s cruel grasp. More cats will suffer.”

Her watery blue eyes meet mine. “You’ll be a great leader,” she purrs.

I blush. “And you’d be my war general.”

She shakes her head. “That won’t be necessary. When you’re leader of FireClan, there won’t be any war for us to fight.”

“I hope you’re right,” I purr.

When the silence drags on, I nudge her. “You should go back to Lionclaw. He must miss you.” She laughs.

“He’s such a perfect tom. I love him for sure,” she gives me a coy smile, “What about you and Brownhare?”

I feel my ears burn. “I don’t know,” I admit, “I’m sure you’ve all seen how I love everything he does. But he’s so clueless about it and I don’t want to make things awkward.”

Snowflare stands. “It’s worth it,” she murmurs.

I stand too and shake my head. “I have to focus on my duty. I can’t get distracted, especially if Brownhare doesn’t feel the same.”

~

Appleleaf leads the way to the supposed prison camp. We found a rebel and pulled him aside to discuss what we could do.

The startled young tom is flustered by our sudden appearance. “Who are you?” He squeaks, his speckled blue eyes wide with terror.

I face him while Hawkpelt and Lionclaw hold him down. “We’re spies for the rebels. But we’re here on a mission and we were ordered to destroy this camp and free the prisoners.”

“I can’t let you do that,” the tom tries to scramble to his paws but Lionclaw keeps his down. “Those are notorious criminals you are about to release!”

I give him a grim look. “We have no choice,” I snap, “I want you to take us and allow us to talk with your camp leader.”

Lionclaw slowly lets the tom up. The fear still hasn’t faded from his eyes and he glances around wildly, as if wanting an escape route. Finchwing and Appleleaf close up the ring around him and he reluctantly leads us into the camp.

Immediately, we’re surrounded. I raise my tail in submission. “We’re not here to do harm, unless necessary. I want to discuss something with the camp leader. Perhaps the general?”

One sturdy looking she-cat steps forward. “Please, come to my den,” she says warily. We follow her into a vast looking den. She seats herself comfortably and faces us. “Who are you?”

“My name is Amberfrost,” I inform her. “My squad and I are spies for the rebels – approved by General Shadowfang.” The she-cat snorts but allows me to continue. “We’ve been ordered by Redstar herself to destroy this camp and free the prisoners.”

The general is on her paws in seconds. “Absolutely not!” She exclaims, “Do you have any idea who those prisoners are? If we let them go, the Beauty will win.”

I falter. “I must discuss this with my squad privately.” I tell her. She nods and I turn to my friends.

“Well?” Snowflare demands, “What can we do?”

“We could run,” Hawkpelt suggests, “give up being double agents.”

“No,” I frown, “our positions are too valuable. We get so much inside information that it’s worth it. We have to free these prisoners, regardless of what the rebels say.”

“It won’t be easy,” Appleleaf warns, “They will resist and there are too many of the rebels.”

“The prisoners,” Scarlet lifts her head, “remember how we freed Finchwing and the others the other day? We could use the same strategy--”

“They’ll kill the rebels,” Snowflare whispers, looking absolutely mortified. Lionclaw wraps his tail around her but she shrugs him off.

Brownhare has his eyes on me. “I have to,” I tell myself more than telling my friends, “I have to do this.”

I turn back to the general. “I’m sorry, but we must destroy this camp. You can flee now and we won’t have to harm you.”

The general shakes her head. “We’d all rather die than let you do this. You’re making a terrible mistake in siding with Redstar for this one. Shadowfang will have your pelts for this.”

“That’s a risk I’ll have to take,” I say tightly. Then I unsheathe my claws, “and no, you’re the one making a mistake.”

Without turning, I feel my friends tense. “Guys, you know what to do.” I’m surprised they don’t hesitate to file out of the den and I can hear the fighting begin. The general stares at me in shock.

“You – you didn’t.”

I tense. “I’m sorry, but I cannot disobey Redstar in this one.” The general walks stiffly towards me but doesn’t attack me. She stares down at her camp while my warriors fight hers.

“You’re outnumbered,” she says flatly, glancing back at me.

I risk a glance at the camp and the general knocks me over. “No,” I gasp out, “We’re not.” She glances down once more and lets out an audible gasps. Pushing me roughly aside, she lunges for the battlefield.

Standing, I go to the edge of the ledge and watch the fight. The prisoners are all being freed and their ruthlessness terrifies me.

I can’t force myself to join the fight. I can’t even turn away. I watch as one by one, the prisoners find the throats of their victims and tear them out. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot one lone rebel streaking out of camp. Either he’s a coward or someone has to report to Shadowfang who did this.

One by one, my friends join me on the ledge. Snowflare presses against me on one side while the others seem to be unable to look away.

Blood continues to splatter on the ground until finally, the prisoners have fully destroyed the camp. I’m speechless. Brownhare nudges me out of my stupor.

I leap off the edge and flick my tail at the prisoners. “Redstar welcomes you back.”

Their cheers are deafening and with a bit of reluctance, I lead the way back to the Beauty.

The End.