HOPE ON THE HORIZON
Episode Six, Season Four, of Rise.
Enjoy <3
Hope on the Horizon[]
Terran, for the second time in a few days, ducked from Karina’s lunge. She sailed over his head and he jabbed a paw upwards, trying to shake her out of the situation. He glanced over his shoulder but Vicky was out of sight already. He had no idea which way she had gone and if he would be able to go after her.
Her claws found his pelt and he winced, pushing her away. “Karina,” he ground his teeth, trying to figure out how to make it stop.
Last time it hadn’t lasted that long. Terran held onto the conviction that Karina would snap out of it on her own.
But for minutes, they sparred. Terran tried his best not to harm his sister, but sometimes he had to unsheathe his claws to protect himself. Karina was vicious on her own, but with a killer instinct in her blood, she was ferociously ruthless.
Terran managed not to get so many wounds but at the same time he was injuring his sister as well. He suspected that Vicky was loitering nearby, watching the exchange with glee.
Brothers and sisters fighting one another…Terran felt sickened.
Karina’s eyes were terribly black and it scared Terran. He wanted to look away from his sister, but he had to defend himself until she regained her senses.
“Karina!” He finally shouted, “Get it together! Fight it off!”
For a moment, it didn’t work and Terran’s heart sank. He raised his claws, prepared to fight off Karina again before he saw the light come back in her eyes. Her golden eyes, once as bright as the sun, were back.
Terran dropped back down to all fours, feeling relieved. “Thank the stars,” he muttered under his breath as Karina tried to regain her senses.
“Did it happen again?” She looked around her. “Where’s Vicky?”
“She’s gone,” Terran said bluntly, cleaning the fresh wounds, “Come on.”
“Where are we going?” Karina already figured the answer to her first question. “We’re going to try to chase after Vicky again, right?”
“Chances are she’s already nearby,” Terran shrugged, “but no, we’re not going to chase her down.”
“We’re not?” Karina ran around Terran so she could stop in front of him and stare at him. Terran didn’t stop, however, and kept walking, forcing Karina to scurry after him. “Shouldn’t we figure out the cure?”
“Of course,” Terran agreed, “but you need to stay somewhere safe. I can’t risk this anymore.”
Karina looked crestfallen but Terran had to stay strong. As much as he loved his sister, he knew where he had to take her.
“Where are we going then?” Karina finally asked again.
“Home,” Terran let out a sigh, “The Coalition.”
Karina didn’t stop walking, but she tightened her lips. “You’re going to have to stay there while I go look for Vicky. Bryce—she’ll take care of you.”
Karina flinched at Bryce’s name but she stayed silent. “It’s for the better, okay?”
“Okay,” she replied meekly, “I believe you.”
Terran didn’t like how quiet Karina was. He thought she would be stewing with anger for being forced back to the Coalition. She had fled with fear, knowing how much Ruby meant to Bryce.
Terran’s memories drift back a few moons, when he had met Bryce in her prison den. The way her eyes had lit up with fire when she asked about her sisters, how had been scrawny, little things when Terran had placed them in their own prison den and told them everything would be all right.
He also remembered the way Bryce asked about all three of them, as if they were one being. She cared so much about each and every one of them.
Terran had avoided eye contact with Bryce that day and told her he would try to keep her sisters safe. He didn’t tell her Korin had eyed Ruby, who had been fierce and hard to subdue, and then snatched her the first moment he got. Terran never knew where Ruby ended up after that until he found Karina over Ruby’s body.
Terran quickly shook Ruby from his mind, focusing on Karina. The dark gray she-cat was subdued and quiet, her eyes downcast.
She was never sad, and even if she was, she almost never let it show. Terran always remembered Karina trying to cheer him up constantly, especially when Bree had died and he had sunk into his own depressing mind.
Now, with their positions reversed, Terran felt trapped and confused. He hoped Karina would hold onto the hope that Bryce would forgive her, and that they could find a cure to whatever Vicky gave Karina.
“Terran?” Karina mumbled.
“Yeah?”
“Do you think they’ll accept me?”
“Who?”
“StarClan.”
Terran blinked in surprise. He remembered their talks of StarClan once, when they were smaller, but Karina didn’t seem to really believe in StarClan (and he thought she was asking if the Coalition would accept her again).
“Yeah,” Terran didn’t want to hesitate, in case Karina took it the wrong way, “they have no reason to not accept you.”
Karina’s scathing look made Terran smile a little, but it was gone as quickly as it came. She wilted a little more. “But I’ve done so much wrong; why would they forgive me for any of this?”
“Because they have souls more passionate than others and they understand us perhaps better than we do,” Terran said, “because in the end, every good cat is worth saving.”
Karina’s golden eyes were still dubious. “Don’t worry about it so much, okay?” Terran tried his best to reassure his sister, “Right now, we have more important matters on paw. Plus, if the Coalition is willing to forgive you, then so will StarClan.”
“What if they don’t take me?”
“The Coalition?” Terran snorted, “As if they could let you go. Cheer up; you’ve never looked so gloomy before.”
“I’ve never felt so gloomy,” she muttered.
Terran pretended he didn’t hear. They continued to trek towards the Coalition, the unfamiliar territory falling away into familiar landscape.
Karina was growing tenser and tenser by the second but Terran laid his tail across her back, trying to get her to calm down. “Hey, we’ll explain everything to Bryce and she’ll understand. Once she understands, she can convince anyone.”
There was almost a wild look in Karina’s eyes. “Keep talking,” she whispered, “it helps me fight it off.”
For a moment Terran didn’t get it. Then he met his sister’s eyes and began rambling. “Remember that time you woke me up in the middle of the night and insisted on going on an ‘adventure’? I vowed not to forgive you that day but when we saw the breathtaking view, I forgave you immediately.”
Karina gave a little purr, her eyes regaining some of its usual light. “Of course you forgave me, you dummy, I’m your sister.”
“I’m glad you are,” Terran said softly, “And then remember that one time I finally got you out of your nest to go see the sunrise with Bree? You were reluctant but it was an incredible sight.”
“Yeah,” Karina admitted, “I miss Bree.”
“Me too. Do you want Bree said? ‘Survivors are the ones who make the right choice.’ The right choice lies in your heart, Karina, and I know you’ll find it.”
Karina gives herself a thorough shake and she looked a lot like her old self. She gave Terran a light shove, “Thanks for being such a great brother.”
“Thanks for being here to let me be a brother.”
~
“My brother’s gone,” Applepaw’s whimper is something I won’t forget.
The initial shock fades quickly and in settles the depressing reality. Firepaw was gone. Applepaw and Sunpaw huddle together at the edge of camp, their eyes red from crying.
The Coalition mourns the loss of his young apprentice. I bow my head like everyone else and close my eyes.
Firepaw, are up there? I’m sorry for what you had to go through and that I couldn’t stop your demise. But if you can, can you take care of my little sister for me? Her name is Ruby.
Feeling incredibly selfish, I open up my eyes and watch as the elders carry Firepaw’s body out of camp. Applepaw looks like she wants to chase after her brother’s body and watch his burial but I see her glance at Sunpaw, her eyes filled with worry and fear. Fear of losing another littermate.
I go over them. “I’m really sorry about Firepaw,” I tell the sisters.
Sunpaw has tears in her eyes but Applepaw remains the stoic one. “I’m going to find out who did it,” she informs me solemnly, “whoever did this to Firepaw, I’m going to find them.”
“I know you will.” I lick the top of her head. “Look, I know words mean nothing right now, but I know what it feels like to lose someone you love. It’s going to hurt, but you’re going to be okay.”
That was a lie. It’s not like I’ve been completely okay since Ruby died. “Are you talking about Terran?” Applepaw teases, trying to act normal.
I fight the blush. “No!” I give her a light smack and I’m rewarded with a tiny smile. “I meant Ruby.”
“I know,” Applepaw’s eyes soften, “Thanks, Bryce.”
I touch my nose to hers and smile at Sunpaw. “You two make a great pair, you know? It won’t easy to get rid of this pain, but two people can do it better than one. Just know that you have each other everything else, okay?”
I go outside, passing Nightshadow and Feathershine, who go over to Applepaw and Sunpaw next. I exit camp and wander around the territory, trying to clear my mind.
Somehow, I end up at Ruby’s grave at the edge of Coalition territory, near the top of the Dip.
Firepaw’s funeral had felt like a second funeral for Ruby. I didn’t know the carefree tom so much, but I remember how he and Applepaw would tease each other. They were always smiling, and it showed how much he meant to his sisters.
Ruby was always someone I felt I never really understood. She was quiet most of the time, but not in the way Emerald was. She bullied Emerald and ignored Jewel, pushing her littermates around to get her way.
Caught in the middle of Jewel’s intelligence and Emerald’s size, Ruby had been forgotten.
“I’m sorry,” I murmur to Ruby’s grave, “I’m sorry for never realizing how much you wanted me to turn to you. Three kits are hard to manage, and I ended up not balancing my attention well.
“You deserved a lot more.”
Maybe it’s by chance or by luck that I look up. There, on the horizon are two shapes. They’re across from me, at the top of the Dip.
There they were, hope on the horizon.
Even though they’re tiny specks, I can still recognize them anywhere. I flash back to the first time I saw them there, two shapes sitting in the forest, watching me.
Now they’re two shapes moving towards me.
It’s only been a few days since they’ve been gone, but it’s felt like an eternity. I watch them, one light one dark.
“Terran!” I find myself calling out, “Karina!”
The two shapes look up, and that’s when the eternity passes.
The End.