Hunted to Hunters

 HUNTED TO HUNTERS

Episode Nine, Season Five, of Rise.

Enjoy <3

Hunted to Hunters
I’m surprised when Applepaw is the one to lunge for the High Committee she-cat. The young apprentice actually manages to dig her claws in, tearing a good wound before the she-cat rolled away.

The she-cat draws herself up. Blood drips from the wound in her flank but she bares her teeth at Applepaw. “I see you want to die first,” she snarls. “I won’t hold back, even if you’re a scrawny little she-cat.”

Applepaw’s eyes are full of pulsing rage and confidence. I can see Nightshadow’s worry as he stares at his apprentice. I want to move forward to help her but someone gets there first.

Aleric moves at a blinding speed. He darts in front of the she-cat just as she moves for Applepaw. He blocks her move with one paw before flipping her over.

She pushes herself up and knock Aleric’s lunge aside. The brown tom goes skidding to a corner before ducking. The fight is so intense I can’t even keep up. No wonder we never stood a chance against Aleric. Except he’s on par with this she-cat.

Aleric wastes no time standing and raising his paws to block the next blow. Each move happens so fast and I can’t believe either cat has the reflexes to keep moving like this. There’s no time to rest in this battle.

The rest of us are all stunned into standing there. My paws are rooted to the ground and I’m unable to tear my eyes away.

Aleric pushes against the she-cat, finally turning the battle and unbalancing her. He darts forward, swiping at her flank, barely catching her as she spins away.

They dance back and forth like lions and Aleric gets a few glancing blows. He’s already bleeding in several places, and I realize this is the first time I’ve seen him properly injured.

The other she-cat hasn’t gotten away uninjured either. There is a deep wound in her left shoulder, and blood seeps from it. But neither seem to notice their injuries.

The she-cat almost catches Aleric several times but the tom slips away at the last few moments. Karina trembles next to me, her golden eyes fearful. I hear her whimper a few times but I don’t spare her any glances. My eyes are glued to the scene.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of a frenzied battle, Aleric stands over the she-cat, pinning her down. He keeps a firmly grip, not letting her up.

But he doesn’t kill her just yet. There’s hesitation in his gaze, in his gesture. When the she-cat tenses to surge upwards, Aleric’s eyes hardened and he plunges his claws into her neck.

I exhale a long breath. The knot in my chest releases and I feel a strange lightness. Aleric is breathing hard, staring at the blood on his paws. There’s an empty look in his eyes, one I’m sure he wears after killing someone.

Karina bounds over to him. She whispers something in his ear and he tells her something in return.

“That was…” Nightshadow tries to find the right words.

“Insane.” Feathershine shakes her head. “I couldn’t keep up at all. If Aleric wasn’t here, we’d be dead in seconds.”

Applepaw looks awed. “I’m going to ask Aleric to teach me when we get back,” she declares, “then the Vipers won’t stop us from winning!”

I glance at the brown tom, who is closing his eyes and breathing slowly. “I don’t think he’ll want to teach you any killer moves any time soon.” Especially with so many High Committee members we still need to kill.

Applepaw shrugs, completely unfazed.

~

Aleric tried to calm down his heart. He didn’t realize how terrified he had been through out the entire battle. He knew he could beat the she-cat, but he was scared she would attack one of his friends, or even worse, Karina.

He also hadn’t had an intense battle like that before. This was the first cat in a long time to be his match. Aleric hadn’t ever had to keep moving in a battle to save his own life.

Not to mention the injuries. Aleric felt pain everywhere. He hoped nothing was fatal (he wouldn’t know the difference; everything hurt).

“Aleric?” Karina’s voice washed over him.

He was still staring at the blood on his paws. They looked stained. “Aleric?” Karina nudged him gently. “Are you all right?”

Aleric was barely breathing now. “They’re stained,” he whispered.

Karina glanced down at his paws and caressed his paw. “We can wash them,” she reasoned, “they aren’t stained, Aleric.”

“How do you know?” Aleric squeezed his eyes shut to block out the view. “I’ve killed so many cats I can’t even keep count. I know that sounds terrible but every cat who has betrayed the Blood Army I’ve killed.”

Karina wrapped her tail around him, embracing him. Aleric opened his eyes and stared at her. The she-cat seemed to be racking her brain for something reassuring to say. He sighed. “You don’t have to say anything. I’m a mess. I may not show it but I’m broken. Something hasn’t been right since my parents died and it’s never going to be right.”

“You’re not--”

“Yes I am!” Aleric raised his voice slightly before lowering again. “Who kills without a thought? I once questioned how empty I was when I met someone who could have changed my mind, but…” He shook his head.

“What happened to her?” Karina dared to ask.

Aleric’s eyes flashed. “She died.” He snapped. “I killed her.”

Karina flinched. Aleric softened when he saw the sudden fear that flashed on the dark gray she-cat’s face. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled, “I didn’t mean to snap at you. I realize you’re trying to help.”

Karina glanced at him. “You don’t have to be broken if you don’t want to,” she said, standing up, “I’ve seen you hold yourself high, Aleric.”

Aleric stood up shakily. “Thank you.” He added.

Karina’s golden eyes offered him a semblance of comfort, and Aleric drew strength from that and lifted his chin.

~

I don’t know what Karina told him but Aleric stands and seems to shake off whatever trauma he just experienced. He licks his paws delicately, washing away the blood. Then, he walks over to the rest of us, his green eyes remaining emotionless.

His eyes are two empty pits again. During the time Aleric joined us, he had lit up with happiness for Karina, and his eyes had filled with a wonderful array of emotions. But now, with kills to make, Aleric has locked his inner self away.

“I know where we can find the rest of them,” he says, his voice sounds so cold, “I’ll lead the charge. Though, I don’t think the rest of you are necessary.”

“Nonsense,” I say briskly, “what if you need backup?”

Aleric shrugs and walks out of our prison cell. The guards aren’t all gone, but Aleric walks through them as if he is their ruler.

They start and attack Aleric after a moment of hesitation. The brown tom doesn’t flinch; he ducks and lets the guards hit each other before he wordlessly slices his claws through both their throats.

Karina stifles a gasp. Aleric stares down at the two guards’ bodies before turning away. There is no remorse in his gaze, unlike the last kill he made. Terran draws closer to me, as if suddenly afraid of the tom. I am too.

Aleric doesn’t stop for us. He keeps walking and he repeats the process with any of the Twolegplace cats that attack us. Soon, the Blood Army cats flee. Aleric strolls through what seems to be a Blood Army compound. We trail after him. Only Karina is brave enough to draw near him, only to be sent back when a Blood Army tom leaped at her and she had almost been skewered by Aleric’s claws.

Sooner or later, he’s unceremoniously killed four of the High Committee members. There is only one left. It’s the tom we had captured before; the tom Aleric says is called Myrick.

“Aleric,” I say cautiously. The brown tom spares a glance at me. “You need to rest for a bit. We’ve been traveling for almost a day now.”

“There’s only one more,” Aleric reasons, “it won’t be too long before we can go back to the Coalition and rest there.”

You should rest your heart. I think about saying.

The brown tom stares at me with those eyes. “I’m going to kill him,” he says quietly, “and if I don’t do it now, I’ll lose hope that I can.”

His breathing has already started to quicken. I stay silent, trying to understand. “I wanted to stop killing when I joined you, Bryce, but it has become evident to me that my work is not done. If I stop now, I won’t be able to go through with another murder. Not without…”

I know instantly what he means. The way he had almost broken down after the death of the first High Committee she-cat he killed.

I hold his gaze for a moment longer before finally giving him a small nod. “I just don’t want you to tire out,” I murmur, “each battle is taking longer than it had before, and these cats are on par with you.”

“They’re weaker,” Aleric says sharply, “I’ve always been their best recruit.”

I don’t argue against that. “Promise me you’ll look out for yourself?” I realize that Terran is drawing closer to me, listening. Aleric ignores the white tom. “Don’t lose hope in your own soul.”

Aleric just nods, though I swear I hear him say “too late for that”. I want to ask him what he means but he just walks away again. Aleric glances over his shoulder. “You should remember Calypso and Presidia.” He says suddenly.

My heart aches for the two she-cats who I had once called my friends. “What about them?”

“Their deaths had only been the start of something,” was all Aleric said.

I want to ask him what he means, but Aleric is already ten steps away from me. Calling the question out would be a mistake.

I trail after him, Terran padding next to me. “What did he say?” Terran murmurs into my ear. I’m surprised he didn’t hear himself. “You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”

“It’s nothing,” I shake away Terran’s concerns. “I was just talking to him to make sure he was still feeling all right. A day’s worth of tracking and killed highly trained High Committee members couldn’t have been easy.”

“Not all of them match Aleric’s skills,” Terran reminds me, “Presidia certainly didn’t when she tried to attack you that one time.”

The reminder of that day pains my heart. I try not to wince at the mention of the cream colored she-cat. I haven’t let myself dwell on their deaths for long, and I refuse to think about them now, when my friends need me.

“Then we have nothing to worry about with Myrick.” I keep moving forward, desperate to stop Terran’s careful questioning.

The white tom seems to understand. He falls silent as he pads along side me. I’m grateful for his silent support.

Aleric searches the entire night, even extending the search to the next day when we can’t find him. Karina makes futile attempts to get them to stop and rest, but Aleric refuses. His eyes are becoming unfocused, and I worry for his mental state.

“Aleric,” Karina pleads, “you need your rest for this last hunt. All of us are exhausted.”

“I don’t need your help,” he replies stiffly, “I’ve almost caught him. In a few hours, he’ll be dead.”

I try not to feel cold and fearful at his words. Karina presses onwards. “You need to sleep.”

“I can sleep when Myrick is dead.”

“And what if that takes another day?” Karina challenges.

Aleric’s eyes flash, though of annoyance. It’s the first emotion I’ve seen since he began the quest to kill every single Blood Army member we stumbled upon. “It will not take me another day,” he snarls, his eyes holding a dangerous light. Terran growls next to me but Karina doesn’t back down. She stares back into Aleric’s eyes.

Just at that moment, movement occurs near our left. Aleric whips around and lunges, catching the cat before he could flee. It’s a small tom, barely younger than Applepaw. He only looks to be eight moons old.

But he reeks of the Blood Army, and we’re still in their main territory, where almost all the families here have relations or work directly with the Blood Army.

Aleric is rigid. He bares his teeth only slightly and stares wordlessly down at the tiny tom. I can see his claws, through they haven’t pierced through any skin yet.

Karina is frozen where she is, as is the rest of us. I don’t move a muscle, for fear Aleric will see that as a defensive move on the tom’s part and will kill the small tom. For a long moment, Aleric just stares at the captive.

The tom under his claws is trembling. His wide eyes are full of fear. “Aleric,” I finally say, breaking the silence.

He turns his head to gaze at me with those empty, haunted eyes. “Don’t do it,” I say softly, “he’s just a small kit.”

Aleric is shaking, I realize. I move forward slowly. The brown tom doesn’t move at all, though I fear his paw will slip and his claws will pierce the little tom’s soft skin. “Aleric…he means no harm to the rest of us. He’s not who you’re looking for. Let him go.”

Aleric finally steps off the tom. The little kit rockets off, disappearing as fast as he had appeared. Aleric’s eyes clear slightly.

He lets out a ragged breath and hunches away from me, closing his eyes. I can see him replay the scene in his head.

Karina moves closer to the tom, but Aleric stands abruptly. “We’ve wasted enough time,” his cold voice has returned. Gone is a trace of the tom who had been afraid to kill a small kit. “Let us keep searching.”

I want to know if Aleric is okay, if he’s well enough to keep this up, but I wordlessly follow him, knowing the sooner we ended this, the sooner he would get his sanity back.

The End.