No Sacrifices for Love

 NO SACRIFICES FOR LOVE

Episode Seven, Season Five, of Rise.

Enjoy <3

No Sacrifices for Love
Karina is a wreck for the next few hours. Even after we’ve settled back into the Coalition camp and explained our situation to the leaders, she won’t stop pacing and worrying. Terran has long given up on trying to keep her from stressing.

“Karina!” I snap. “Relax!”

The dark gray she-cat ignores me. I forcefully push her down and she glares at me with her golden eyes.

“We’re all worried, okay?” I grit my teeth, “But I can’t think with you pacing here. If you need to cool off, go hunt or something.”

Her eyes are full of fire and something else. “I’m more than worried,” she confesses, “I really care about Aleric. I know we didn’t like him when we first met him but he’s more than just a faceless assassin. He has a kind heart and he’s been more than reassuring to me. I don’t want him to get hurt.”

“He won’t,” I promise, even though I have no idea what he could be going through as a prisoner to the Blood Army. “Aleric knows how to take care of himself.”

“In prison?” Karina’s voice raises in distress again, “If Terran was the prisoner, you’d be worried sick as well.”

I glance at the white tom, who is taking a nap. “I know,” I sigh. “But please try to stay calm. We’ll get him back soon.”

I had suspected there was something going on between Aleric and Karina but I didn’t know what.

Karina makes a grand effort to calm down. “What do you have in mind for a rescue plan?”

I frown. I been trying to think about it all day but I can’t come up with anything. I don’t even know where Aleric is going to be held. He was the one cat who knew the most about the Twolegplace and now he’s gone.

My hesitation gets Karina nervous again. She thumps her tail impatiently on the ground and I rack my brain for a good idea. “We need to know how to navigate the Twolegplace,” I say slowly, trying to elongate the time I can think.

“And then?” Karina is getting very impatient. I’m losing her again.

“And then we…can find him,” I finish lamely.

When Karina glares at me, I throw up my tail in frustration. “Gosh, Karina! I can’t think of this on the spot and you’ve been pacing for the past few hours. This is going to take time but I swear I’m trying my best. I don’t want to leave Aleric there any longer than you do.”

The dark gray she-cat huffs. “Can’t we just storm the Twolegplace?”

“What good will that do?” I shake my head, “We’ll just alert them of our presence and they’ll hurt Aleric just to hurt us!”

Karina flinches and I regret saying that. There’s nothing worse than being reminded of your loved ones dying.

“I can’t just stand around,” Karina lashes her tail. “We have to think like Aleric in this situation. He knew the Twolegplace best, right? Surely he knew hideouts and areas we could try to utilize.”

“You forget the point that none of us know where they are,” I shake my head.

“You’ve lived there before!” Karina is obviously trying to throw out anything that can speed up the process.

I sigh. “Yes, but I never sought out secret passageways or Blood Army bases. I was just a cat trying to survive and live there.”

Karina buries her face in her paws, groaning. Terran blearily wakes up, alerted by our frustrated voices. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” I mutter. “Absolutely nothing.”

Terran pads over to us and curls his tail around me. “Any new ideas on how we’re going to get Aleric out?”

“Nope,” I growl, glancing briefly at Karina, who is scowling fiercely at the floor. “Hopefully Nightshadow and Feathershine will think of something.” They’re hunting with Applepaw and Emerald right now.

As I think it over, I realize maybe Karina is right. We don’t have any other option except to fight. “We’ll do as Karina said.” I decide, “We can try to just storm the Twolegplace and fight off anyone who crosses our path.”

“Do you want to bring a Coalition army with you?”

I ponder over this. They would be helpful, but I know that if the Blood Army uses Aleric to threaten us, we would be putting the Coalition in danger. That’s not something I want on my back. “No,” I shake my head, “they’ll be in the way if something goes wrong and we need smaller numbers. It’ll just be us.”

“Applepaw too?” Terran shifts.

“Yes,” I know the apprentice will want to come, “She wants revenge on the Blood Army and she’s well-trained by Nightshadow.”

I’m also finally caught up with moves, after Aleric’s training session the other day. I hope I’ll be able to remember those moves when the battle comes up.

“I’ll go get them,” Terran wordlessly stands up. “The two of you should get some rest before we go. We’ve had a long few days.”

I give him a warm smile, touching my nose briefly to his before doing as he says.

~

“Aleric,” a voice prompted the brown tom to look up from where he was curled. The darkness was pressing, and his eyes had barely adjusted to the darkness. The cat at the entrance of his cell was blurry and Aleric failed to identify who he was. “Walk with me.”

Aleric stood up without much difficulty. He had a few delicate brambles to keep him from being able to do much, secured with tight sticky weed that also prevented him from taking off his shackles easily.

He followed the she-cat obediently, recognizing her as one of the High Committee members.

She led him far into Blood Army territory, where cats peered at them curiously. Aleric ignored them all. He focused solely on his guide—and guard he supposed. Finally, they stopped at a spot where Aleric had often overlooked the Twolegplace.

“Do you see all this?” She asked softly, her eyes turning to him. Unlike him, hers were sharp with emotion and intelligence. She didn’t seem angry. “Do you know why you are spared, even when actions of treason should have gotten you killed?”

Aleric tipped his head at her. He didn’t want to talk back, as anything he revealed would just be used against him later on. There will still secrets he wanted to hide.

“Because I have something you want,” Aleric finally said.

The other she-cat nodded, her eyes showed soft sympathy that Aleric knew wasn’t real. The High Committee members didn’t show compassion, not even to each other. “You’ll lose your reputation soon if you don’t step out of those chains,” she informed Aleric, “cats will continue to notice you as our prisoner. They will no longer fear you.”

That didn’t bother Aleric as much as he thought it would. He been the most feared cat in the entire Twolegplace for moons, but it wasn’t what he wanted anymore.

“Let them see,” he said quietly, “let them know what I am standing for.”

The she-cat shook her head and gave Aleric an almost sad smile. She was faking all of this for show. Aleric wasn’t easily fooled though.

“Just what are you standing for?” The she-cat drew closer so she could murmur the words in his ear. He stood still. “What made you give up all this, Aleric?” She gestured towards the Twolegplace. “You had the entire population here under your paw. The High Committee member respected you and you were the only recruit who could kill without batting an eyelash. What happened to all that?”

Aleric didn’t reply. He stared down at the Twolegplace. There were countless deaths down there, all committed by Aleric. But those deaths gave him power, something he had relished and believed was his for a long time. He stared down at his paws, wondering if they were stained red.

“Well?” The she-cat’s breath was on his ear. “Tell me, Aleric.”

He still didn’t speak.

The she-cat’s tone hardened. “I’ve been watching you, Aleric. You are indeed a hard cat to track, but nobody escapes the High Committee for long, especially since the Committee is trained on illusion tactics just as you are.”

“I know,” Aleric said levelly, “I wanted you to find me.”

The she-cat raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And why is that?”

He met her gaze evenly this time. “I wanted you to know why I gave all of this up. Why I didn’t just do as the Committee ordered and got rid of Bryce, even when she was at my paws.”

A sly smile passed over the she-cat’s lips. “Speaking of Bryce, what is her friend’s name?” Aleric stiffened, his lips tightening. He knew where this was going. “Ah yes, Karina.”

Aleric stayed very still. “I can ask you anything I want,” the she-cat said delicately, “because I’m the one who paid you any attention. The others gave up on you after you disappeared. They thought you would really follow our orders and come back. But I followed you, Aleric. You were a careless tom, and for what? For a she-cat?”

The brown tom narrowed his eyes. The she-cat’s smile widened. “What would happen if I laid my claws on her? I know exactly where she is. She’s so easy to spot. Nothing you do can hide her forever, Aleric. That’s why you turned yourself in, didn’t you? You knew Myrik would escape and kill whoever he wanted that last night. You let him take you away to protect her, didn’t you?”

“Don’t hurt her,” Aleric’s voice was thin. “Don’t you dare.”

“Who will stop me?” The she-cat whispered. “I can just see your face when I tear my claws through her.”

Aleric lunged for her. If it hadn’t been for the brambles, he would have been able to easily pin her down. He was faster than her for sure, and she wouldn’t have escaped his next move. But the brambles slowed him down and she easily dodged his lunge and knocked him down. She sneered at him.

“What do you want from me?” Aleric hissed at her.

The she-cat smirked. “I want you to understand the meaning of betrayal. You think you can cross the Blood Army and get away with it?”

“I expected an execution,” Aleric admitted, “I’m surprised you’ve kept me around for so long.”

“Because you will be useful. You will be the bargaining chip. I will gain access to all your friends’ hearts, and then I will tear them out.”

Aleric felt a beat of fear for Bryce and the others. More specifically, for Karina. “I won’t let you lay a claw on them.”

“You can’t stop me,” the she-cat hopped off him and let Aleric pick himself up. “There’s nothing in the world that can make you stop me.”

Anger rushed through Aleric. “There are other ways you can get Bryce to come to the Twolegplace,” he snarled, “why do you have to use me?”

“Because there’s something else I want you to do. I want you to see me destroy them all.” The she-cat purred without mirth. “Now come, Aleric, it’s time we went back.”

~

We storm the Twolegplace late in the afternoon. I thought many cats would put up a fight with us, but most just ignore us and let us be.

“Weird,” Nightshadow mutters, “it’s as if they don’t actually care that we’re here.”

“Must be just the Blood Army members who want to stop us.” Applepaw pipes up. “I mean, these cats are mostly just residents, right?”

“Anyone could be part of the Blood Army.” I reason, “I just don’t know why nobody’s attacking us.”

I can suspect why. The name Aleric lies on the tip of my tongue, and I know Karina knows this too. The Blood Army is letting us through because they have Aleric and we can’t do anything about that. Still, I push stubbornly onward.

We get far into their territory before we’re finally intercepted by the Blood Army.

“Halt!” Someone emerges from behind the wall—the same tom we captured last time we were here—and drags a familiar looking tom out with him. “If you come any closer, I’ll kill him.”

Karina lets out a strangled gasp. I recognize Aleric being pinned by the other tom. The brown tom’s green eyes are dark and hard. He shakes his head slightly, as if he’s telling me to keep the attack going.

The dark gray she-cat turns on me. “I can’t let him die, Bryce.”

“Surrender and he lives!” The tom calls out.

“Karina,” I say calmly, “we can take him by surprise. Aleric can fight back. There are no guarantees that once we surrender Aleric will be spared. In fact, they’ll just kill all of us instead.”

“It’s too much of a risk!” Karina insists. “There must be hidden members around us. We have to save Aleric.”

I hesitate. I don’t want to tom to die either, but I can’t sacrifice this mission. “Please,” Karina begs, “if Terran was in Aleric’s place, you wouldn’t think twice about surrendering. Isn’t it time I made some choices too?”

I know she’s right. I’m being selfish. Just because the tom I loved was with me doesn’t mean I can sacrifice Karina’s love for Aleric.

“Okay,” I give in, “but you better have a plan to break us all out.”

I turn back to the tom to call out our surrender but Blood Army cats flood out and surround us. He must have called them because he noticed our hesitation.

Aleric’s eyes are filled with sudden anguish. “Bryce--!” He tries to say something but the tom tosses him aside and Aleric disappears from view.

The cats move in closer and they chain us with brambles and drag us along. Karina is still staring at the spot where Aleric had been and Terran stands close to me.

“We’ll figure something out,” he murmured, “once we’re close enough to Aleric, we can figure something out.”

I cling onto his words, hoping I hadn’t sentenced us all to certain death.

There really are no sacrifices for love.

The End.