FΛЦᄂƬ
"Oh, I do love an execution," Jinx purred, positively buzzing at the idea. She loved watching Crimson slice through skin with precise claws, loved the blood that spilled in gushing rivulets down heaving chests, but most importantly she loved the looks of utter horror and despair on the faces of those forced to watch. To her their expressions were a work of art, she wanted to see them all, wanted to see every kind of despair painted across every face.
"Aren't you bored of them by now?" Tornheart asked. There was no soul behind the question. It was just words arranged to form a question, no emotion or tone behind it.
Jinx huffed, "I wasn't talking to you. You don't even like them."
"I enjoy them enough."
"Sure you do."
"Stop arguing," Crimson snapped, "I couldn't care less if you liked or disliked my executions. They would happen regardless, and they are not just for your amusement." The corners of her muzzle lifted up into a wide smile, "they're for my amusement."
Robinfrost could barely repress the shiver that worked its way up his spine. They were talking about his death like it was some whimsical thing that wouldn't affect anyone, not that they'd really care if it did. All they wanted was chaos and destruction. He bit back a threatening hiss; he wouldn't let them destroy his Clan, he'd stop them even if it killed them. The promise of being chosen to kill them by those strange creatures might have been a trap, but that didn't mean he still couldn't do it.
"No one will come to the gathering," Ashfeather spat. "They'll be too busy fending off your soldiers. You know about the stupid little game they play every moon? Where they try and kill as many of us in one night?"
"Of course I do," Crimson waved her tail dismissively.
Ashfeather bristled. "Then why don't you stop it!"
"If my soldiers don't have a little time to vent their frustrations then they'll turn on each other, and I can't have that. I need my army in top shape at all times. Besides, I wouldn't worry about your fellow Clan-mates not showing up. My soldiers won't be killing tonight. They're just in charge of shepherding everyone to the Isle." Crimson's grin was toothy and a little unhinged.
Was it concerning that she seemed to always be one step ahead of everything? Yes. It almost seemed like she knew prior that there would be a group attempting to escape the valley. The thought is frightening, and unsettling, to say the least. Could she read minds? Were those creatures working for her? Everything about Crimson was a mystery. Her origin and reason for the molten hatred she happened to possess for the Clans were unknown.
Robinfrost looked at the back of Crimson's head. What went on behind the cover of bone? What thoughts tumbled around her head? Was her mind always on the destruction of the Clans, or were there other things she pondered over in times of silence? She didn't have a family, not that the Clans knew of, and Jinx and Tornheart certainly didn't count as one. That strange tom she had with her at times appeared important, but was Crimson even capable of love?
He smothered a twisted smile. Oh what he would give to find Crimson's weakness and exploit it, make her cave, ruin her, destroy her. He would have her screaming, and begging, for death before he elected to give it to her, and even then he might hold off just to see if she could be broken anymore. The greatest tyrant the Clans had ever seen, reduced to a cowardly, whimpering mess at his paws. He'd be called a hero. He'd be loved.
His eyes travelled lower, admiring her physique. It's no surprise that she had yet to be beaten by a Clan warrior in any form of confrontation. The words she spun with that tricky tongue were merciless, and lashing. The way she moved in battle was like liquid, drowning her foes. She looked...soft up close. Muscles didn't bulge when she walked, didn't ripple when she moved. Her fur was beyond perfection, flawless ebony strands that could mirror a pitch black sky. There wasn't a scar on her body, none that he could see rather. What he wouldn't give to be the first to carve red deep into her skin.
Like she could feel his roaming gaze, Crimson twisted her neck. Blood met ice. Robinfrost wasn't quite sure whether he liked what he saw in her impossibly deep eyes. Was he drowning? Had she lured him in just to smother him? A tiny flicker of movement, a twitch of a smile, then whatever it was snapped and Robinfrost sucked in a lungful of sharp air. He thought he heard Crimson make an affirming noise, like a hum, but he wasn't certain.
"Are you okay?" Palingsky glanced at him.
He swallowed thickly and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." The smile he offered her he knew was weak, but she made no mention of it, either having not noticed or chosen to ignore it. "We'll get out of here."
"I know." She sounded so self-assured that it gave Robinfrost hope that they actually could get out of Crimson's clutches before their execution. "Do you think...do you think it was a trick? What those creatures told us?"
Robinfrost shrugged. He highly believed that it was, but there was still that slim chance that it had all been just a big mistake. "It might have been, I'd like to think it wasn't though. We have enough enemies as it is we really don't need anymore. Especially if they can float."
She laughed, and Robinfrost held his breath. It was a beautiful sound. "Floating cats that we can't really see would be hard to fight," Palingsky agreed with a soft smile.
"Are you two done yet?" Hawkflight growled, "do we have a plan yet?"
They'd passed out of PhoenixClan's territory, sandy slopes giving way to tangled forest. The thick smell of the swamp grew stronger with each step, but they had yet to actually come across the swamp, skirting along the very edge of RogueClan's border. The river flowed steadily beside them. Up ahead Robinfrost could see where it split into two. A black smudge in the middle was the Isle.
"What can we do? I really doubt we could take down an entire squadron of soldiers, as well as Crimson alongside her oath-takers. Sorry, I'm not quite that strong," Darkclaw sniffed.
Hawkflight glared pointedly at him. "We won't if we don't try."
"Okay, what's better, living for a little longer or dying right now?" Darkclaw rebuked.
"Darkclaw has a point," Ashfeather pointed out. "If we wait someone might find us, or we could get the chance to run."
"I think it's funny that you believe we'll let you go so easily." His pelt was slate gray and thin, streaked with mud and dried blood. He watched them with an arched brow, amused evergreen eyes, and a handsome smile. "Crimson doesn't just pick any random soldiers to accompany her. We're her elite soldiers"
Palingsky's eyes were practically bugging out of her skull. "You can talk?"
"Of course I can?" the tom gave her a bemused look, "why wouldn't I be able to talk?"
"You're all supposed to be brain dead," Hawkflight hissed.
Darkclaw nodded, "no talking, just killing. Must be a lovely existence."
The slate-gray soldier laughed. "We aren't all brain dead, we didn't all have to be mind washed to join her army. Some of us came willingly, and more turn up every day. Crimson's name is beginning to travel far outside your valley. More will surely come with each day that passes. I'm Raz, the leader of the elites."
"Talking about yourself again, Raz?" Jinx slowed her pace to walk beside the soldier. They were far too close, far too comfortable with each other, Robinfrost noticed. Their fur brushed and they didn't even notice it. Raz looked at Jinx like she was the world. Jinx looked at Raz like he was all she had. His eyes narrowed. We can use that.
"Don't I always?" he puffed out his chest. "I was just letting the Clanners know that their attempts at escape would be wasted. We'd get 'em before they got even a tail length away."
"Smug bastard," Hawkflight muttered under his breath. Darkclaw snorted.
Jinx curled her lip at the two. "I think they know it would be a stupid thing to do. Dying here is just the same as dying there."
"Our families aren't watching here," Ashfeather stared at the ground.
"Nervous about what they'll think? You should be. They might have needed you tonight and you all left them behind in an attempt to escape. I really doubt they'll be too pleased about that!" Jinx crowed gleefully.
"You've run out of time to flee," Raz announced. "Go on, over the stones you go."
The river gurgled around the stones, a quiet constant in a frequently changing world. Cold water splashed up onto their paws as they each made the wobbly journey to the Isle. One wrong step would plunge them into its depths. Crimson and her lackeys certainly didn't help. They shoved and snapped, teeth clacking shut by their heels.
On the breeze came a chaotic mess of mixed Clan smells. They'd already gathered, crowded together in the centre of the Isle. Robinfrost wondered if his family were wondering where he was. Maybe they'd thought he'd been killed by soldiers. It still happened, random killings.
Through the trees they were marched, keeping a wide berth of the centre as to avoid spoiling Crimson's 'surprise'. She kept looking back at her quarry with a sickeningly excited grin. Robinfrost couldn't help but assume that these such executions were a highlight of her leadership. She was insane enough to enjoy murdering the innocent in front of crowds. He caught sight of the thrones through the trees and his stomach dropped like a stone. His death was waiting.
Crimson ordered Tornheart and Jinx to follow her while the soldiers waited behind, keeping them trapped with no more chances at escape.
"This is it," Ashfeather sighed, glaring at the soldiers. "All my moons of training wasted because I listened to a floating spirit. Mother warned me about eating prey after dark."
"We shouldn't have listened to them," Darkclaw seethed.
Hawkflight grunted, "they tricked us."
"It could have just been a coincidence. Why would they trick us? They sounded so certain," Palingsky looked miserable.
The others shrugged, and Robinfrost said, "it's not worth worrying about. It happened and now we're facing the consequences. Like Jinx said, dying here is the same as dying there."
"My apprentice is going to miss me," Darkclaw scratched at the ground, ears flattened against his skull. "I promised her we'd start battle training tomorrow."
Robinfrost thought of Stonepaw, of his apprentice's goofy smile and ridiculous antics. His sickly apprentice, his dying apprentice. At least he wouldn't be in the crowd to see his mentor put to death because of a stupid decision. He'd never get to say goodbye. He hoped the Clan would just let Stonepaw believe he'd died fighting off soldiers to protect his Clan.
"So's mine," Palingsky whispered.
"I have a present for you, Clan cats!" Crimson's arrival was met with stony silence, "though it certainly isn't a good present. It hurts me when you try to leave the safety of this glorious valley." Robinfrost can see her toothy grin and crazed eyes. "You have so much in here. You are so safe in here. The outside world can't touch you, and you do not want the outside world to make it in here. None of you would last a day. So, when you try to sneak away it hurts me. Bring them out, Raz!"
"Allow me to introduce to you the five that tried to escape this evening. Allow me to remind you what happens to those that try to escape. Allow me to reinstate exactly why I am the leader," she yowled.
Robinfrost kept his head down. He didn't dare look up in case he found the disgusted looks of his Clan mates staring him down from the crowd. That didn't stop him from hearing them though.
"Is that...Robinfrost?"
"No way. He wouldn't."
"Hawkflight? What are you doing?! Your mate just had kits!"
"Look at that, Ashfeather tried to wriggle her way out of the Clan. What a surprise."
"Darkclaw…Darkclaw, why?"
"How could you break your promise, Palingsky!?"
Crimson laughed, high and cackling. "Have you had a good look at your abandoners, Clan cats? Have you seen what your close friend, your mate, your brother, your daughter, tried to do? They were going to leave you behind and escape into the outside world! They were going to leave you to starve."
"No!" Ashfeather threw back her head frantically, "we weren't abandoning you! We were trying to save everyone!"
"No one's going to believe you now," Jinx giggled. "You screwed up. Look what happened to Tornheart, she's all alone now. She's even lost her own mind."
"But Ashfeather's right, we were trying to help!" Hawkflight growled.
From the crowd a voice sneered, "protecting a she-cat from another Clan, Hawkflight? So much for loyalty. If only your mate could see you now."
"Enough!" Crimson thundered. "I wasn't finished. I'm sure you're all expecting an execution, and I'm sure that's what you want. To see their heads roll, watch their blood soak the ground. You're all just as evil as me. But, this is the second time within three moons that I've caught Clan cats trying to escape. How long do you expect me to just sit back and watch it happen over and over? I've punished those that broke my rules yet none of you are learning anything. Just how thickheaded are you all? Do I need to do something more? Do I need to break you more?"
She dragged Palingsky down to the ground and stood over her, claws poised over her throat, pinching the skin, drawing drops of red. Palingsky went rigid, and Robinfrost couldn't understand why she didn't use the terrifying battle skills all RisingClan warriors had to just kill Crimson right then.
"If I killed Palingsky here, there'd be another attempted escape in a moon. If I don't kill Palingsky here she'll try to escape again. Do you see the predicament I am in here?" Crimson sighed and let go of Palingsky. She swallowed, staring up at the dark-furred leader still standing over her. "So I've come up with an even better idea."
"I am going to pick twelve of you."
Robinfrost couldn't breathe.
"Two from each Clan, including these five up here."
This wasn't happening.
"And then I am going to send those twelve down into a network of tunnels running underneath the valley."
There was no way Crimson was reusing old tactics to torment her Clans.
"They will fight to the death until only one is left. That is your punishment. A final Game of Blood."
Of all the reactions Robinfrost expected the Clans to have, complete and utter dead silence was the last one he thought of. A strong wave of fear washed over him. He'd been prepared to die before them all that night. Now he was being thrown in some tunnels to fight for his life. He had been old enough to understand the horror of the Game when the last one had been played. Never had there been a moment in his life where he'd expected to play in it himself.
"RogueClan had no part in this! We are innocent!" a she-cat caterwauled. She clutched a trembling apprentice close to her side. "None of our cats attempted to escape."
"No Clan is innocent," Crimson sneered. "From RogueClan, Blair and Rex."
Another cat cried out in terror, a timid looking fawn tortoiseshell she-cat. Beside her, rising to his paws with a firm look, was a silver tom. He regarded Crimson with complete and utter hatred.
"From CedarClan, Hawkflight and Snowdash."
Hawkflight stiffened, eyes sweeping across the Clans till they came to rest on a sleek white tom whose fur stuck out at all angles. "I'm sorry," he murmured. Snowdash looked away.
"From PhoenixClan, Darkclaw and Runningpaw."
"How dare you!" Darkclaw launched himself at Crimson, howling at the top of his lungs. His body hit the ground whiskers from Crimson. Tornheart stood between them, lip curled and teeth bared. "I refuse to play this game with my apprentice! I refuse to let her take part in this. Let her go!"
Crimson let her head fall to one side, grinning. "I have to punish you all, Darkclaw. Try to protect her, just try to. I want to see you break when she dies, when she's torn apart by someone you might call a friend because they're too selfish to let a little she-cat go. Or maybe," her voice dropped to a whisper that only he could hear, "maybe you just might kill her yourself."
"From WaveClan, Ashfeather and Rainfur."
A long-legged, blue-gray tabby tom nodded once. He exchanged a sad look with a golden she-cat sitting beside him, but there was no malice in his gaze when he looked up at Ashfeather.
"From RisingClan, Palingsky and Dashingfox."
"I'm going to die," Palingsky stared at the menacing red she-cat that shoved her way to the front, white splashes marring the red. "She's going to kill me."
"And finally from SnowClan, Robinfrost and Firestorm."
Robinfrost couldn't look at the small ginger tabby whose death he'd be responsible for. Fate had played him a cruel hand. The world was cruel, yet Crimson was crueller. There wasn't a single power in the world strong enough to make him kill Firestorm, he'd die long before that could ever happen.
'All that I've known
Buildings of stone
Fall to the ground
Without a sound.'
'Smoke and Mirrors' - Imagine Dragons