Chapter 8: …Strike!

Andratas

It was obviously quite stupid if we were to just go through the gates that were heavily guarded by a group of armoured guards that would no doubt recognise Emilia. So we didn't. Creeping around the edge of the fence, we made it to an isolated point of the fence. According to Emilia's vague memories of this place, there was a patched up part of the courtyard ground, apparently an escape tunnel from a while back that was discovered and stopped. Unfortunately for the escapees, they never saw the light of freedom again.

Our plan was to break through a wall that was sealing the old escape tunnel entrance and try to get as many out as possible. Some may die, some may falter, but we had to try to get the most out before they were executed.

With her sharp alloyed claws, Emilia struck down the fenced barrier, tearing a whole with a single swipe. Her eyes glinted with wariness, she was on edge, on alert for anybody who could see them, especially her. I respected her courage and bravery, it was a difficult decision to risk her life, her memories, her own actions, just for a cause that was not her own. For what she believed was right…

I stared at her, she wasn't looking at me, but I felt a wave of energy from her. Her beliefs…

Ever since I have known, I have only seen the Perfected as slaves of the Sirens, ready to do their dirty work, being the toys of their government. But seeing her, such a unique being, different from the rest, with own beliefs and core values. I felt my heart warm at that. I hope I meet her creator one day…

Melody bumped my shoulder, interrupting my thoughts. Her eyes glimmered with amusement and she winked mischievously, "Ooh. Spying on someone you like?" She whispered, humour basically glowing from her body as she gestured to Emilia.

I blushed furiously, looking away from her instantly, "No! I was just thinking about her creator, that was all!" I waved my paws in denial.

"Ssssuuuuurrrreee…" She dragged, smiling.

"I was!" Denying with every appendage I had on my body, "I was just wondering what her creator was like! Why they gave Emilia all these, gifts?" I furiously pieced together random words out of desperation.

"Uh huh," She continued to nudge me, undeterred and unconvinced, "Or maybe she's occupying more of your than you really want to admit."

I sighed, knowing I wouldn't win any argument with her, she was stubborn and insistent like that. Looking back ahead as she continued bumping me, childishly furious at being ignored, I realised Emilia had opened a hole wide enough for all of us to sneak through. Schion had already wiggled through and Emilia looked back to us, "Are you guys coming or what?"

Her eyes had squinted again, as if she was now annoyed at our behaviour, "Uh sure."

I basically shoved Melody towards the hole as she glared back at me, muttering to herself as she slid through the hole, her slenderness allowing her to basically phase through the wall. Emilia stared at me next, silently waiting for me to go through.

"Won't you go through?" I asked confused.

"Remember, I can't be seen, I'll stay out here, guarding the entrance," She reminded me. She suddenly passed me a small peanut-sized object, putting it at my paws.

"Here," She pointed a paw at the object that on further analysis was actually… An ear pod?

"It's a communications device, it only has a short range, so I'll lose you about halfway into the prison," She explained, "I only have one, so make sure you don't lose it."

"Why me?" I asked as Schion popped his head back through the hole.

"Hey! You guys coming?" He asked, impatiently stamping his paws.

"He'll be there in a second," Emilia answered shoving head back through the hole against his protests, "To use it just tilt your head a little, it'll sense the tilt and I'll detect it."

"As to why you," She smiled, nudging me towards the hole.

"Let's just say I heard what Melody said," Gesturing to her Perfected ears before pushing me through the tight hole.

My back connected to the courtyard ground as I groaned, struggling to stand up. Melody helped lifted me up rolling her eyes, before staring back at the hole towards a smiling Emilia.

"Aren't you coming?" She cocked her head.

"No, I'll probably be seen, you go I'll just guard the exit," Emilia answered with a shake of her head.

"Alright then…" Schion meowed as I stumbled over a patch of leaves, repeatedly falling over my own paws even with the assistance of Melody.

The trio of us waved a short farewell to Emilia as she hid behind the fence again, fading into the unknowing. The three of us hid behind wilted trees and damp, fallen leaves. We saw many guards, however, by the corner, there were few if any looking in our direction making it quite easy to sneak past groups at a time. We were to traverse to the complex and move along the walls hopefully sneaking past the main battalion of guards by the front of the prison and make it through a smaller, less known and guarded, side door. Schion would then subdue the, hopefully, two guards with a simple leap from the shadows. It was going all well, we had made it to the walls of the building and had sneaked past the main battalion. It was easier than we had thought, the Sirens had ordered the complex to be built with no windows, at least at the bottom few floors, to curb the ability to escape through the fragile glass. But this made it easier for us, allowing us to sneak past the front walls with nobody seeing us. And it would have all gone well if not for the sudden wind change, blowing our scent towards the front guards, and despite some of their incompetence, they were sudden to catch onto our scent.

"Intruders?!" One of them piped up, nose in the air sniffing the wind. His compatriots had also been alerted by the sense, some turning around to spot any discrepancy. Luckily for Schion's quick thinking, he pulled us down instantly into a patch of rotting leaves at the last second. My eyes poked out from the pile, realising just how close we were to being spotted. Basically all the eyes were glaring at where we once stood, our scent still lingering there. Despite that, laziness or just incompetency was on our side, as the guards were swift to swivel their heads back around, not even bothered to investigate, only murmuring with each other.

Melody sighed a breath of relief and stared out the other side of the leaf pile while Schion glared at us from behind, annoyed that he had no space to look out of the pile himself. My eyes followed where she was looking, the side door we had intended to sneak through. It was better than we thought! No guards were even present, perhaps gone to attend different needs, was it may be due to the Sirens visit?

The only problem left, the main entrance. To get to the side entrance, we would have to pass the main one. That posed a difficult challenge. Unlike the side, the main entrance was littered with guards, five to be precise. There was no way we would be able to sneak past that.

Melody shared my thoughts, grimacing.

"What is it?" Schion demanded.

"There are too many guards to sneak past and no cover at all," Melody shuffled her paws, anxiety clear on her face, worried about how to continue the plan.

"Let me see."

I moved out of the way as Schion pushed through the crowded leaf pile, staring out. A sudden smirk appeared on his face, "I may have a way to deal with that…" Pulling me towards the point he was staring at, I realised his plan swiftly. A guard moving closer towards us, joining the main cohort of guards, possibly just relieved from patrol duty. It would be a dumb plan, with a small chance of success. But if it did…

"What is it?" Melody asked, confusion littered in her eyes.

Before I could answer her, Schion roughly pulled in the heavy and massive body. Luckily, with the soft underbelly of leaf litter, there wasn't much sound as Schion's element of surprise quickly overtook the guard as he subdued him with a quick slash of his claws.

Melody's eyes opened and she looked about to scream, but I quickly put a paw over her snout, "Look Melody! His not dead, his eyes are glazed and confused, his just unconscious and delirious!" I explained.

She sighed, calming down, "Please tell me what you're going to do before you do it!" She whispered furiously.

Schion flashed a sassy smile, "Aww, but I thought you said not to make as much noise as possible."

She glared at him, but remained silent, giving him the cold shoulder.

"Well then," I broke the air of hostility between them, "Who's going to wear the heavy armour?"

"Of course it had to be me," I grumbled under my voice. Clad in heavy guard's armour, we had left an armour-less guard sound asleep in a pile of leaves, or a 'better blanket than I ever had' according to Schion, while I took the two others past the guards.

"Halt!" One of them called out to me, eyes glaring straight through me making me fear that he had some super, Perfected eyesight of analysis or something, "What are you doing with those two?"

Careful to make sure my voice didn't break, I responded with as loud and prideful voice as I could muster, which was quite difficult when you came from an imperfect community, "I found these two snooping around the fence of the complex and I'm taking them in on account of loitering, perhaps even planning a break-in."

The two glared at me and I realised my mistake, mentally slapping myself. Of course, I had to mention break-in…

The guard looked thoughtful, he looked more experienced than the rest like he was more competent, a leader of sorts yet he still felt hostile and aggressive, ready to break out into a fight if ever there was the chance. I feel like I've met him before…

"Very well, you may take them in, but to apprehend them, rookie, we must assign another guard to them," He stated, he stared back at the guards back at the entrance, slumping over with laziness or boredom, "And I can't trust these fellows, so I guess you'll be following me."

Glaring at Schion, who couldn't resist but return it, he took Schion by the shoulder and shoved him forward towards the entrance, earning him a low growl from Schion.

"Shut up you mutt!" The guard growled back, "Lowly imperfect!"

I feared that Schion would rip out his throat then and there, and the whole plan would be exposed. But he surprised me, keeping his cool, calm and collected. That didn't mean he didn't do anything. He spat on the guard unbeknownst to him. The guard beckoned me to follow him as he padded past the four other guards growling at them.

We went through the entrance as my heart pounded rapidly, afraid we would be caught at any moment be punished, executed. Fortunately, that did not happen. We passed through rows and columns of stone walls with very little lighting, according to both Emilia and Melody, the first and second floor had no prisoners and there were no windows until the tenth floor, supposedly to keep escapers from trying. Yet before these were implements, the prisoners were kept on every floor due to overcrowding, and thus, we have our escape tunnel. This was before they executed prisoners every so often, Emilia stated. I had been quite surprised by this fact, perhaps the Sirens weren't as bad before?

I shook my head, clearing all my thoughts. We were now by the stairwell leading up towards the countless floors above. The guard had already made it halfway up the first floor when he looked back down at Melody and I, "Well? Move it!" He growled.

I gulped, quickly guiding Melody upwards reaching the other guard by the second floor. Melody seemed calm, just like Schion. She wasn't racked in nervousness like me but she wasn't as aggressive as Schion. She was trying to stay as low key as possible…

We passed by the third floor, a dank and odorous smell, lay in a suffocating cloud along the ground. It seemed sanitation wasn't quite a big deal in here. Screams and cries could be heard from within the cells lining rows and rows down the floor. Weeps of agony, pain and starvation struck within me. Filling me up with depressing thoughts and tears. Melody's eyes widened in horror, yet she remained silent, more determined than before to set these poor souls free.

We went past a few more floors of the same scene, cats weeping, racked in pain, crying out the injustice and atrocity they were in. I silently growled. How could they keep them like this…

I had lost count of just how many of these I had gone past, but they stuck in my memory, etched in with burning flames. Finally, we reached our destination. My muscles ached, my paws were in pain yet the other guard seemed alright. Schion and Melody were no worse for wear. Schion, disgust spread across his face, obviously not pleased by the repeated scenes of oppressive imprisonment.

"Here," The guard across me gruffly stated, throwing Schion into a crowded cell filled with five other terrified prisoners. They looked at me, their eyes quickly darting away and I felt pain radiate in my heart. They are afraid of me…

I shoved Melody in there, careful to not harm her but rough enough to not arouse the suspicion of the other guard. The two of them in there looked like an odd bunch compared to the others. Schion was glaring at the guard while Melody just sat down, staring at me than staring at the other prisoners, pity and care welling in her eyes.

The guard looked around, his paw on his helmet, in deep thought, "Damn it, where did that rookie go! I swear I'll flay him!"

His yowls were familiar as well, his taunts too much. However, I couldn't quite put a paw on it…

"Hey rookie!" He called out to me, distracting me from my thoughts.

My eyes widened and I raised my chest up high, keen to keep the illusion of my allegiance to him, "Yes sir!"

"Keep guard of these prisoners can you? I'm going to find that little rascal and teach him a lesson…" He dangerously cut himself off.

My heart thumped, this was my chance… It was the best possible outcome. It would guarantee us a successful breakout!

"Yes-s-s Sir!" My voice breaking a bit. His brow whiskers raised in slight suspicion but he didn't seem so concerned as he shrugged as threw me the keys with his teeth.

"If any try to escape, lock 'em back up!" That was his last growl before he marched off, yelling out the supposed cat on duty.

My heart stopped pounding as I heard his voice slowly soften and die out. I blew a sigh of relief before turning and looking at the jail cell in front of me. Both Melody and Schion just lazily stared at me, impatiently waiting to be released. The others in the cell were confused, but sunk to the back of the cell as I moved closer to the cell. However, their widened eyes of fear were soon relieved from the stress as I put the keys into the lock, "Don't worry, I'll get you out!" I promised, long gone smiles finally returning to their faces, but it was soon gone…

As I struggle to turn the key in the lock, a laugh sounded behind me, loud pawsteps echoed throughout the floor as I slowly turned around, the prisoners, Schion and Melody's face in shock and fear, screams warning me of the danger. But it was too late…

I was slammed against the jail cell, my head throbbing in pain, claws digging into my skull, through the soft helmet, "Oh you really think I didn't know." An evil purr sounded in my ear as I tried my hardest to twist my neck around to see the enemy.

"From your familiar voice to your actions and attitude. I mean, not many would listen to my commands, your acting needs a lot of working on, unfortunately!" The voice drilled through my head, reverberating through my skull as I forcefully turned around to his face, his teeth ripping off my helmet.

I finally recognised it, all those signals in my head, the familiarity in his voice, his aggression. It was him…

The guard from the market… The one who stole everything from their… Shelly…

I growled and spat at him, but he had me tightly locked against the cell bars. Schion tried to reach him, swiping his paws, claws unsheathed at him, however, he was too far away for any significant damage and his paws clanked in a rather comedic fashion against his reinforced armour. The others were screaming, yelling or shrunk back into the corner, terrified by what was going on.

The guard snarled at my futile attempts of struggling out of his grip and he slammed my head against the bars harder. My sight started to blur as the world around me swivelled around, dizzying. He snorted, "Weak!"

His malicious smile just ago plastered on his face, now gone, replaced by an angered curl of his lip.

"It's time to finish my deed, what I couldn't do at the market!" His voice reverberated off every wall of this floor, stirring all the prisoners into a ruckus, howling out to him, "I never got to end your life before you frisked away by the wind so to speak!"

He looked down upon me, broken and shattered, moving his claws onto me, pressing them against my throat, slowly digging in deeper and deeper into my fur, connecting against my skin.

I turned around, blood pathing its way down my cheek, dripping onto the grimy floor below, looking into the cell. I saw Melody, her paws on her eyes, too scared to watch. Schion, his paws swinging wildly, desperately trying to connect onto the guard. And the prisoners, eyes wide in fear, knowing their impending demise. I tilted my head, exhaustion causing my eyelids to droop, silently apologising to them, all of the prisoners in this hell hole. I couldn't save you, I couldn't protect you guys…

Shelly…

The guard looked at me, eyes filled with bloodlust, mercilessly. Yet he seemed to be having fun, a smile flashing in my eyes, filled with excitement and enthusiasm, ready to relish my death, my blood against his teeth. I was just ecstasy to him, an entertainment so to speak. I prayed to the Stars, that they wouldn't execute them, that I would be enough, though I knew that would never happen.

"Any last words?" He snarled, eyes glinting ready to strike. He was giving me a chance to express my remorse, that I couldn't do it. That I wasn't strong enough. That I couldn't even protect the things that value to me the most. He was willing to give it to me, to see me suffer, to have more entertainment before he slid back into reclusive boredom. He took me in only for that, he knew from the beginning, that's why he acted so differently from the others.

"Ditto…" A voice called out to him from behind him, before I could even utter a syllable. The figure slowly padded out from the mask of shadows they were wrapped. It was a rather stiff, yet feminine call and the guard slowly turned his head, confused and annoyed by this interruption. That was his fatal mistake…

A/N: Phew! This was going to be one long chapter spanning five to six thousand words. However, that would of take a whole two days to write! So I split them up to keep up a daily upload. Unfortunately, holidays, where I am at, are ending soon and don't know if I'll be able to keep dailies up. On the bright side, I've already fully planned chapters nine and ten! Just need to write it down! Also that ending, cliff-hanger? Not really if you're attentive to detail, even if you're not, you probably already have realised. Welp, that's it for now! Submit you OCs and peace!