Imprisoned by Love

 IMPRISONED BY LOVE

Episode Two, Season Six, of Rise.

Enjoy <3

Imprisoned by Love
The brown tom is curled up in the back when I step in. The prison is dark and cold. I squint in the dim light, trying to spot him clearly. He doesn’t move an inch as I fully enter the prison and close the bramble screen behind me. My heart pounds.

Finally, after a long, insufferable moment, he lifts his head. “I thought you’d be Karina.” He says, sitting up very slowly. There aren’t any brambles on him; we didn’t bother.

“I don’t think she’s ready to see you after yesterday.”

“Good.”

I falter at Aleric’s harsh words. His yellow eyes are filled with deep sadness. “Why are you doing this to her, Aleric?”

The brown tom doesn’t look away. He stares straight back at me. “I killed them, Bryce. What else is there for me to do?”

In a way, he’s right. Aleric was paying back for his sins. “You crippled Karina.” I finally say, playing the love card, “She’s been broken by the Vipers, broken by the death of Ruby, and when you’ve finally lifted her up, you push her back down.”

Aleric’s sad look only deepens. “I’m an idiot, I realize that.”

“You’re more than an idiot!” I resist the urge to roll my eyes. “You’re madly in love and you won’t admit it!”

Aleric flattens his ears. “Love is a weapon to be used against you,” he spits out with enough anger to suggest that it’s happened to him before. “I’m not going to drag Karina down with me on this one.”

“You already did!”

The brown tom takes a few ragged breaths. “If all you’re going to do is yell at me, then it’s not worth your time. I don’t need my last moments being an argument with you.”

“What do you want your last moments to be then?” I counter, “A heartfelt discussion with Karina about how you’re ruining her life? Yes, you made mistakes, but did you have to do admit then at the worst time possible?”

“When did you want me to admit them?” Aleric’s eyes glow with sudden fury. “After we defeat the Vipers? After I tell Karina that I love her?”

Having him in the battle against the Vipers would be nice. Aleric reads my thoughts and snorts. “Typical,” he bares his teeth a little, “I should have known you wanted to use me one last time before letting them kill me.”

“You’re not going to die,” I’m surprised by the venom in my voice.

Aleric shoots me a glare. “Let me accept my punishment, Bryce, there’s no point in dwelling on it.”

“Why did you do it?” I blurt out. “Not this whole admitting thing but why did you kill them?”

He falls silent. “I don’t know,” he finally sighs, “from since my parents died, I’ve let myself up to the assassin I was. I didn’t care who lived and who died, not except for one she-cat. When I was given my orders, it was like the old times before I met any of you. Following orders was all I had left back then.”

The way he says that makes me wonder the question I’ve asked myself so many times now: Just how broken is this tom?

“Don’t pity me,” Aleric curls up, turning his face away from me. “It’ll make it harder for you in the end.”

I stare at him for a long time before backing out of the prison. The sight of him curled up in the back of the prison makes me wonder if he regrets any of this. If he’s scared of what’s to come.

I quietly exit the prison and head for Karina has been curled up in our den for the past day. Terran looks up when I enter and he silently rises to his feet. He brushes by me and I crouch in front of Karina, who’s eyes look red from crying.

“You should go talk to him before…” I don’t finish my statement.

Karina bites her lip. “I know.”

She looks like she wants to cry again so I let her sob into my shoulder, her body shaking. I hold her close, trying not to drown in her sorrow.

~

Aleric heard Bryce pad away. He slowed down his beating heart and tried to fall back asleep. The prisons were too quiet.

It was a long time before Aleric picked up the sound of pawsteps coming down the tunnels. Was Bryce coming back to cut off all ties once and for all? Was Terran going to drop by for once? Maybe it’d be Applepaw, ready to rip out his throat. Or even Nightshadow and Feathershine.

The brambles slid open and a she-cat stepped in. Aleric didn’t lift his head. So that knocked out Terran and Nightshadow.

Dark gray fur.

Feathershine was out and so was Applepaw.

Dark gray fur. Not Bryce.

Who was he skipping over?

“Aleric?”

Stars… Aleric finally lifted his head, willing himself to be wrong. He hadn’t wanted her to come. He didn’t want to see her, not like this. Not when he was going to be killed once and for all.

Her golden eyes were dim and sorrowful. Aleric stared into them, unable to find the right words to be his parting ones.

“I love you,” Karina said suddenly. The words hit Aleric straight through the heart. “I’m going to say it right now because there won’t be enough time. If I don’t say it now, I’ll never get to say them.”

Aleric almost wanted to say them back. The words stuck to his throat. If he told her now, she would have to carry that knowledge forever.

Karina looked on the edge of crying. “I’m sorry,” Aleric finally whispered, “I’m sorry for all I’ve done to you.”

Then she really did start crying. She stepped forward and collapsed into Aleric’s embrace. He held her close, his throat closing up. “Are you scared?” Karina asked softly. She rested her head against his flank.

He was downright terrified. He had never really faced death before, and it was always something he was frightened of. “Yeah,” he breathed out, “I’m scared.”

He breathed in her scent, suddenly desperate to cling to her now that their time together was scarce. Karina was still crying silently, and Aleric brushed them aside with his tail. “I’m sorry,” he murmured again.

Karina just kept crying. Aleric held her for a long time, licking his tongue along her pelt to groom her fur. They were quiet for the entire time. Aleric let himself fall into the moment, pretending that they weren’t in his prison, that he wasn’t about to lose her forever.

It almost made him want to go back to yesterday and take back his words. He almost wished he had told Karina he loved her.

But this was for the better, he reminded himself, he had to repay his sins.

“Will you wait for me up there?” Karina suddenly blurted out, “Will you wait for me in the stars?”

Aleric’s heart lurched. “Do you really think I’ll make it up there?”

Karina looked at him with that tear-stained face, so beautiful, despite the gloominess of the situation. “You’ll make it,” she vowed, “You may have made some past mistakes, but you’ve done good in your life as well.”

The brown tom was silent for a moment before he touched his nose to Karina’s. “I’ll wait for you,” he promised, “I would always wait for you anywhere.”

Karina looked like she wanted to cry again, but she blinked away tears. His heart weakened at the sight of his she-cat trying to be strong. The words I love you stuck to his throat again. He swallowed them, despite Bryce’s words just hours before.

“They’ll be making their decision on your sentence soon,” Karina sighed, “I just hope whatever they choose, it will be swift.”

“Me too.”

Silence fell over them again before Karina leaned against him heavily. He gladly supported her weight. “Why do you love me?” Aleric asked the question this time, “What have I ever done to receive your love?”

Karina’s eyes were sincere. “You helped me back up after the tragedy of Ruby’s death. You were the kindest tom I had ever met, with charisma and intelligence to balance that off. I was skeptical about you at first, because of your cocky attitude, but now I know it was all an act.”

Aleric missed his cocky attitude. When he was trying to be nonchalant and uncaring, he tended to be able to turn down his emotions. After he met Karina, things had changed for him, and his swaggering personality had disappeared.

“Sometimes I wish you would be like the tom I first met, so I can see if I would still love you the same, but then I realize this is who you really are. You really are the sweet tom who would sacrifice himself for others in the long run. And that’s why I love you.”

“I didn’t sacrifice myself,” Aleric said quietly, “If I wanted to do that, nobody would have died.”

Karina didn’t drop his gaze. “You turned yourself in to save us at the Twolegplace.”

Aleric bit his lip. He had never told the others how he had freed Myrick in an attempt to save Karina’s life. He doubted Myrick would have actually tried to kill her but he was afraid.

Karina read the words through his eyes. She still didn’t look away. “You would have sacrificed yourself for us then,” she insisted.

Aleric just gave her a nod.

He didn’t want her to go, but Karina stood up. “I’ll try to come as often as I can,” she looked on the verge of crying again.

“Don’t,” Aleric shook his head, “if it’ll make this harder for you in the end, then save yourself from the misery. I don’t want to be a burden for you.”

“I love you,” Karina said before backing out of the prison.

I love you.

~

I look up as Karina strides back in. Her eyes are red from crying but she looks a bit less distressed. She pins me with a stare and I tip my head at her. “You have to convince the leaders not to kill him.”

“I can’t do that,” I frown, “the leaders have the final say in this matter because Aleric killed Firepaw.”

“Yeah and? He’s your friend too!” Karina lashes her tail, obviously agitated by my refusal, “He’s done so much for us and you’re going to just let him go?”

“I don’t want to, but Aleric desperately wants this to happen. He wouldn’t have told you otherwise.”

“I love him.” Karina’s voice drops to a whisper. “I will do anything to save him, even if it means breaking him out of prison and running away with him forever.”

My heart breaks for the two of them. I don’t want to point out that Aleric wouldn’t run away with Karina anyway. If he wanted to run, he would have left by now.

“Just try,” Karina pleads when she notices my hesitance, “promise me you’ll go talk to them. Maybe just make the sentence lighter! Terran and I were enemies to the Coalition once, and the leaders forgave us.”

“I’ll try,” I give in. Truth be told, I don’t want Aleric to die either; Karina is right, he is my friend and I owe him my life and more.

To keep my word, I stand and make my way towards the leaders’ den with Karina watching me.

Amberstar looks up as I enter. “Hello, Bryce,” she smiles at me, “is there something we can do for you?” Whitestar sits up as well.

“Yes,” I stand my ground and prepare myself, “I’m requesting that you don’t decide to execute Aleric.”

Whitestar’s eyes darken at the brown tom’s name. Amberstar gives a long sigh. “I’m afraid I don’t want to agree to that,” she says, “Aleric has done many crimes against the Coalition and we were lenient with him before.”

“He saved my life,” I protest, “he’s saved all our lives so many times.”

“Except Firepaw’s.” Whitestar cuts in.

I wince at Applepaw’s brother’s name. “We would have lost against the Blood Army without him.”

Amberstar’s eyes are sympathetic. “I’m sorry but we can’t agree to this. Didn’t you turn him in yourself?”

I flush at the memory. I had brought him in due to the distress Karina had been in when he confessed to her. “He confessed his crimes to turn himself in,” I tell them, “for Karina’s sake, will you consider this?”

“We’ll consider it,” Whitestar frowns, “but we cannot guarantee it. I, myself, am not particularly fond of the tom.”

Amberstar shakes her head. “This is too big to overlook, Bryce, even you know that.”

I purse my lips but I dip my head. “I hope you’ll reconsider your decision.” I say finally before backing out of their den.

As I walk away, I can’t help but feeling immense sadness at the fact that I can’t even save the tom who had saved the rest of us.

The End.