Love Your Siblings

 LOVE YOUR SIBLINGS

Episode Four, Season Four, of Rise.

Enjoy <3

Love Your Siblings
Terran ducked, letting Karina sail over his head. He was reminded of when Shadeflower had attacked him during the last battle. Her eyes had been blank, just like Karina’s and she had gone after Terran mindlessly.

Before he could spin around, Terran felt Karina’s claws dig into his pelt and he winced. He threw her off none too gently and rolled to the side. Karina was always fast, and this time was no different.

He grunted as he slammed into her, his paws up. He didn’t dare use his claws. He didn’t want to harm his sister.

But she was ruthlessly tearing through his skin and Terran struggled to shake her out of her crazy stupor. Finally, Karina fell limp in his paws, her eyes blinking blearily.

“What happened?” She asked groggily, pushing herself off Terran. Before he could reply, she gasped.

“Oh my goodness, you’re bleeding!”

“I know,” Terran grunted.

Realization dawned his sister. She buried her face into her paws. “Did I hurt you?”

“Just minor scratches,” Terran reassured her, “I’ll be fine. We both know the simple herbs for scratches.”

“I can’t believe I attacked you,” Karina mumbled through her paws, “First Ruby…now you.”

Ruby. Terran had forgotten all about Bryce’s little sister. He remembered stumbling upon Karina, her eyes wild and forsaken before she had come to. Terran hadn’t asked her what had happened; instead, he had tried to block Bryce’s path to protect both of them.

“Tell me what you remember.” He said urgently, crouching in front of his sister.

“I don’t remember anything about this plant taking over,” Karina looked up, her golden eyes full of confusion and self-hate. “When I wake up and return to myself, all I remember is the last event that happened before it takes over.”

Terran frowned. “Okay…but do you know what the plant looks like?”

“No,” Karina shook her head, “Bryce gave it to Flameshadow and he fed all of it to me. I don’t have a recollection of what it looked like.”

Bryce would know. Terran stood up. “Please stay here, Karina. I can’t risk Vicky using you against me.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to find Vicky,” Terran said grimly, “but I don’t know how the plant works so you need to stay here. I’ll come back and find you, okay? Promise me you won’t follow me.”

Karina hesitated and Terran could see her emotions and thoughts warring against one another. “Promise me, Karina.”

“I promise,” she whispered.

Terran paused for a moment before dashing away. The faster he solved this, the faster he could heal Karina’s mental wounds.

It took him awhile but Terran managed to finally catch on to Vicky’s scent and track her down. She was waiting for him. “You’ve been following me,” she greeted him.

“Yes.”

“Why?” Her amber eyes are malevolent and cynical. “What do you want from me now?”

“What do you want from me?” Terran narrowed his eyes, “You’ve been bent on trying to ruin my life as well as the lives of my friends. You broke it off with me, Vicky, I didn’t break if off with you.”

“Yes, and you’re a selfish jerk.”

“I realize,” Terran eyed her, “but what did you give my sister?”

“Just something I thought would improve her personality,” Vicky smirked, “Maybe she and I will finally become friends.”

The white tom bristled. “What do the leaves do? Is there a cure?”

He soon realized there was no point in asking Vicky any of these questions. She wouldn’t give him a proper answer. So he switched tactics.

“What are you planning for the Coalition?”

The brown she-cat laughed. “Ah, this is about your precious Bryce. I should have guessed, considering you’re absolutely obsessed with that little she-cat. I only gave her information because I wanted to find a way to you and Karina.”

“And then?”

“And then I’d kill you both,” Vicky said matter-of-factly.

“But you must be scheming with Korin if you plan on doing anything against the Coalition. Why the sudden interest, other than me and Karina?” Terran wasn’t sure if Vicky would give him a straight answer.

“I’m not interested in the Coalition,” Vicky explained, “I’m only after one thing.”

Terran narrowed his eyes but Vicky was the first to lunge. She barreled towards Terran at top speed, knocking him to the ground within seconds.

“You were never the best fighter,” Vicky sneered in his face as she pushed him into the dirt.

The white tom grunted and exploded upwards, pushing Vicky off of him. She went flying a few tail-lengths but was barely winded. Vicky got up almost immediately, barely giving Terran enough time to catch his breath. He ducked, letting her sail over him and plunged her claws towards her belly.

Vicky twisted out of the way and Terran lost his balance. The brown she-cat was right; Terran had never been good at fighting.

She slammed him down to the ground, making Terran’s head spin. He could feel her claws pricking his neck and he felt the need to close his eyes to shut out the pain and to avoid looking as she made her killing move.

~

Firepaw looks no better from the last time I saw him. Applepaw is crouched next to her brother, and her sister, Sunpaw, is next to her. Both of them look worried sick for their brother, who lies still in his nest, his face drawn out and pale from the poison.

“Applepaw,” Nightshadow finally speaks up from where he’s standing next to me, “let’s go for some battle training.”

She stands almost mechanically and murmurs something to Sunpaw, who only shakes her head sadly.

Applepaw moves over to us, her normally bright eyes dim and subdued. My heart goes out to her, because you should love your siblings and care for them, especially when it’s almost too late.

This makes me think of Ruby but I’m not strong enough to think about my deceased sister right now.

We go to the training clearing and Applepaw faces off with me to give me some practice too. “Okay, let’s just have a sparring battle. Bryce has learned a lot over the last few training sessions.”

Applepaw throws herself at me but I easily duck out of the way and knock her unbalanced with one bump. Applepaw hits the ground and gets back up, but I can tell her heart isn’t set on doing well in this training session.

Nightshadow calls out for a few more rounds but it’s clear that Applepaw doesn’t have the heart to train right now. Nightshadow calls off the training session and says Applepaw should go do some hunting and then she should go back and rest.

“Wait,” I catch up to Applepaw, “let’s go to the Dip, okay?”

Applepaw doesn’t protest and we head towards the Dip, leaving Nightshadow behind us. I go to my favorite view, where it overlooks the entire valley and you can see the trees that line the Viper territory on the other side of the Dip.

I sit myself down and Applepaw sits next to me, leaning on me slightly.

“You know, this view always reminds me that there’s always some sort of beauty in the world. It’s also where I first saw Terran and Karina, two who would become two of our best friends.”

Applepaw closes her eyes and I keep going. “My sisters and I are very close too, you know. I know how it feels now, to lose your sibling, though I guess I’ve always known, since Ruby has been gone for two moons now.”

The apprentice is shaking slightly, but I keep talking to keep her distracted. “Ruby used to be a lot of fun. She would be the ringleader of the three of them, always the tough one. I should have paid more attention to her, because she was always overlooked. She was too normal. Jewel was just like me, so she was my natural favorite. Emerald was the runt, so I had to take care of her more often. That left Ruby, healthy and normal, to fend for herself.

“But even though she used Emerald to prove her strength all the time, she cared for Emerald a lot too. They were the closest.

“And even though Ruby is gone, I still remember the best about her. She’s not some empty void in my heart I can’t replace anymore. She’s a special part of me that I’ll always cherish and remember, and it’s a reminder I can’t just take my loved ones for granted.

“I think what I’m getting at is that you have to hold to the pieces of yourself and be ready to let them go if you have to. Don’t keep them so close to you that you can’t breathe.”

Applepaw looks up at me, tears filling her eyes. “Firepaw is like my best friend. We’re so alike, and we do everything together. Sunpaw is the one always trying to stop us, but Firepaw and I never listen to her. It’s as if our mission was to be the worst of the worst.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong, I argued with him all the time. If I didn’t like how he did something, I’d tell him and vice versa.

“But I love him! I love him a lot because he’s my brother. And Sunpaw! She’s always nagging me and reminding me to actually watch out for myself and she acts like my mother but I love her too. I don’t want to lose either of them.”

Applepaw is frantic now. I can see her pleading with her eyes. “You won’t,” I promise, even though I know I can’t guarantee it. “Flameshadow is going to find a cure for Firepaw.”

The apprentice walks into me, her tears staining my chest. I hold her close.

“I love them both,” Applepaw sobs, “I can’t lose them.”

“I want to apologize,” Applepaw adds, “I want to tell Firepaw I’m sorry. I’m sorry for all those times I yelled at him or I blamed him for something he didn’t do. He was just trying to be the best brother he could be.”

“It’s going to be okay,” I tell her, “trust me.”

Applepaw cries her heart out but I know we can’t cry our worries away. “We have to believe in these words, Applepaw, or else they won’t come true.”

“I know,” she wipes away her tears, “It’ll be okay.”

She smiles a watery smile and I touch my nose to the top of her head. Together, we overlook the Dip one last time before I lead her back towards camp, ignoring Nightshadow’s last order for us to hunt.

~

Firepaw’s condition stays the same for several days. Applepaw watches over her brother but at times when Nightshadow calls, she gets up and follows her mentor out. I know they’re just going for a walk, because Applepaw can’t just waste away in the medicine cat den waiting for Firepaw to recover.

Sunpaw is visiting less and less, but she’s there whenever Applepaw is there. When Applepaw leaves, Sunpaw leaves. It’s as if the she can’t stand the thought of watching over her brother herself.

He almost looks peaceful, his eyes closed, his face slightly pale. Firepaw is stretched out as if he’s sleeping, as if nothing is wrong.

I keep imagining he’ll wake up and look around, asking me where his sisters are. Then the two of them will bundle in and Firepaw will joyously tease them about how they worry about him.

But he doesn’t wake up. He remains there, motionless, with Flameshadow fruitlessly trying to find a cure.

And then I wish Terran and Karina will come back. I wasn’t lying when I said Ruby wasn’t an empty void in my heart, but knowing Karina was out there somewhere, fleeing from the fear of her actions pangs me. I want my friends back, even if there are some things that need to be settled and cleared between us.

Most of all, I want Terran back. The tom has been my anchor, and I need to make sure he’s okay.

That we’re okay.

Maybe that’s the punch line, the one that’s going to save us all.

We’re going to be okay.

The End.