'There's nothing left
So save your breath.'

'Blow Me Away' - Breaking Benjamin

¢нαρтєя єιgнтєєη: dαяк αℓℓιєѕ

It was colder down in the tunnels few cats knew existed, colder than it was up in the higher levels; thick stone walls choking any sunlight long before it could grace the dark halls. The Dead Tunnels – a place where Crimson shoved those she wished to interrogate, torture, murder, or simply hide away from the eyes of the world.

Claws clicked against ice cold stone, sliding into the marks made my terrified cats trying desperately to crawl their way to freedom not knowing just how far away freedom was once they entered these haunted halls. Dried blood stained splashes of the floor an ugly reddish brown colour, stretching sickly tendrils across the ground. Hoarse cries of pain, fear, and loneliness echoed all around her as she walked.

The cries seemed to come from within the very walls themselves but Jinx knew exactly why it sounded like that – because they did. Crimson's mountain kingdom was indeed her mountain kingdom for it obeyed her every word. If she demanded the mountain grew taller then the mountain would grow. If she commanded it to open up levels deeper down into the earth then the mountain complied. And if she asked it to create caverns within the walls with entrances that could only be opened by her then the mountain did as she wished.

But, as Crimson's last remaining oath-taker, the mountain responded to some of her murmured commands. A secret cavern far from the sneaking eyes of any other members of Crimson's army had been born from the shadows at the end of the Dead Tunnels, a place where Jinx could meet up with Raz and discuss their growing plans without worrying about being caught.

It seemed as if the mountain could grow to trust those it saw worked alongside Crimson. If that was so then Jinx was confused as to why it decided to trust her. Surely the mountain knew all that went on within its belly, so surely it must know of her and Raz's whispered plans. Still it decided to trust her.

"Show me the tomb Crimson placed her newest torture victim."

A groaning emitted from a patch of stone wall towards the end of the tunnel. Immediately Jinx knew that whoever had been imprisoned within that tomb was of significant importance, for the tomb they had been placed in lurked so far back in the shadows it was near impossible to see.

No sounds of a living creature came from within.

The fur along Jinx's spine bristled as she drew closer, uncertain yet curious to know who – or what – dwelled within the darkest tomb. She stepped in front of the large tomb entrance and saw…nothing but darkness. Her brow furrowed and she sat down just outside, confused as to why the tomb was empty. She was certain Crimson had thrown some cat into here.

"My first visitor. How lovely."

A cold shiver trickled down Jinx's spine as the chilling voice whispered from the darkness. So full of hatred it was that Jinx found it hard not to cower away from it. Patchy and hoarse whoever was within the tomb seemed to have suffered hard under Crimson's torture. Jinx felt little pity.

Clearing her throat she straightened up into a more regal position and peered into the darkness in search of the owner of the voice. Still she saw nothing. "No one else has come to see you?" she queried.

"I hardly think those that have come to simply torture me count as visitors," the voice hissed viciously. "Tell me," claws scraped against stone, "have you come to inflict pain on me too?"

"No. Inflicting pain to feel joy isn't something I find particularly enjoyable," Jinx replied cautiously. She had not forgotten the fact that the only one standing between whoever was within the tomb and freedom was her.

Harsh laughter bubbled out from within. "Oh come now, Jinx, we both know that that is a lie. I feel hurt that you lied to me."

Jinx flattened her ears to her skull, eyes stretching wide. The cat in the cell knew her name. The cat in the cell knew who she really was, what she enjoyed doing. That was alarming. "Who are you?" she growled. "How do you know who I am?"

"Who doesn't know who Crimson's left-paw cat is? Though I am curious to know what happened to her other oath-taker. What was her name…Tornheart wasn't it? Haven't seen her since Crimson rescued her from RogueClan's camp," it mused.

"How..? No one knew about Tornheart's rescue from RogueClan's camp other than the soldiers accompanying Crimson, and all of them had been mind-washed! You tell me who you are right now before I come in there and make you!" Jinx ordered. There was no way she was about to walk away from this tomb without knowing who exactly occupied it. Whoever they were they knew far too much about previous incidents.

The same harsh laughter from before sounded, breaking off into a choking, gasping sound that sounded painful to Jinx's ears. "You know exactly who I am. You're just terrified to actually comprehend it because you fear for your life. She'll find out about the little plans you and Raz have been coming up with and when she does she'll do whatever she pleases to make you pay."

She growled, "you're not making any sense. Just tell me your name."

"Come closer and I'll show you who I am."

Jinx stepped into the tomb but only so far that her haunches still remained out in the tunnel. She took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of blood and sweat and slight fear. "Show me," she demanded once more.

The sound of fur brushing against stone came from one of the far corners of the tomb, the darkest corner. Pale light emanated from the roof of the tomb though there was nothing there to create the light. Perplexed by the phantom light Jinx failed to hear claws scraping against stone or acknowledge the presence of another being growing closer. The light dimmed. "You should pay more attention," it breathed in her ear.

She did not flinch instead choosing to swallow her fright. Turning her head to glance over her shoulder she found she could see the faint outline of a shape lurking in the shadows. A muzzle emerged from the darkness, skin flayed and scarred so much that there was hardly any fur left behind. A face followed the muzzle and Jinx sucked in a deep breath.

"You."

"Me," it chuckled hoarsely. "Are you surprised? Don't be. I'm not who I was. In fact you might as well say the old me did die."

Jinx couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Why haven't you attempted to escape yet? I would've expected you to be fleeing at every chance."

It grunted and retreated back into the shadows, limping heavily. "Like I said, I'm not who I was. More than my body is broken. The only thing that is strong enough to sustain itself is my hatred."

"You sound like an old cat," Jinx spat. "What happened to your spirit?"

"I feel like an old cat. My spirit died along with anything else I ever held dear. Enough talk about me, I am far from interesting in my current state. Tell me news of Crimson."

She sat down just inside the tomb, relaxing a little with the knowledge of who dwelled within the tomb. "After Tornheart's death she gave birth to two kits; named then Shade and Dark and proclaimed them to be the most important thing in the world. Her bone soldiers are in charge of their protection."

"And the war?"

"Ongoing. The city is nowhere near close to falling. Those city cats have been underestimated and are putting up quite a fight. Crimson is most displeased by it. The Clans have more-or-less surrendered entirely now. After the fire destroyed most of their land they are struggling enough to find food and shelter for the rest of winter. However Crimson has started taking warriors from the Clans and inducting them into her army whether they like it or not," Jinx explained.

It made an annoyed noise. "What of the Chosen?"

Jinx stiffened slightly, "they have not been seen since Crimson's confrontation with them after Tornheart's death. That was seven days ago. Crimson has her elite soldiers out combing the grasslands for them. She suspects they will be travelling directly to the mountain in the hopes of killing her. But we do not know for sure if any of them are alive."

"Why would they be dead? I assume they survived their confrontation with Crimson otherwise she would not still be looking for them."

"According to what Frozengaze told us of the confrontation all of the Chosen were injured. The weaker one…Littleflame I think her name is, she was unconscious for the entirety of the fight. Crimson had to be saved by Frozengaze, or at least that's what the elite soldiers say. Icepetal was about to kill her, struck her in the stomach. Must've induced her labour."

"She won't be stupid enough to leave herself open to attack like that again," it decided after a moment of silence. "You watch, she'll start ordering all sorts of protection. What plans for her downfall have you and Raz come up with?"

Jinx shook her head. "Her heirs are the key to her downfall. Without them she won't have anyone to carry on her kingdom after her death. Not to mention she's oddly protective about them. She acts differently whenever she's around her heirs, even goes as far to call them her kits from time to time. It's almost as if she thinks she's a normal mother." She rolled her eyes, "as if a demonic she-cat attempting to take over the world could ever be a normal mother."

"Kill the kits then. Take away the one thing that Crimson truly has. Watch her destroy her kingdom as she desperately tries to avenge the brutal murders of her only kits," it snarled cruelly.

"That's impossible. Like I said, they're under the protection of her bone soldiers and they only respond to her orders. Not to mention that Frozengaze tends to hover around them as well. They make the strangest pair," Jinx wrinkled her nose. "Killing the kits cannot be done."

It shrugged its shoulders from the shadows and made a noncommittal noise. "Wait till the right moment comes. At some point one of the kits will wander off and you might just happen to stumble upon them. Perfect chance to kill one of them. Make sure you make it bloody though. We want her to suffer like she's made countless others suffer."

"You seem to be drawn to the idea of cruelly destroying her fragile family," she pointed out. "What did she ever do to yours to make you so morbid?"

"Ordered me to murder them in order to save myself."

Jinx nearly fell over her own paws. "And you did that!? Murdered your own family just to save your own skin?!"

"You were there," it muttered. "You know exactly what I did."

"I can't quite recall that day; it was many moons ago."

It fell deathly silent, not uttering another word until it practically shoved Jinx out of the tomb and back out into the Dead Tunnels. "Get out of here before you're caught. Someone's coming."

"You want to be in on the plans Raz and I have made, don't you?" Jinx asked quietly as she slowly inched away from the open tomb.

Stone began to slide down from the top of the opening, and the cat Jinx thought was dead grinned darkly. "Of course I do." The entrance slid shut with a quiet grating sound and she found herself alone in the stretching tunnel.

Curiously she strained her ears to make out any sound. Sure enough she heard the familiar sound of paws against stone getting closer to where she stood. "What are you doing down here, Jinx? Don't you have inductees to train?"

"Just came down to make sure all the tombs were still shut, Crimson."

Crimson emerged from the darkness. She looked much slimmer and fitter now that her kits had been born – she looked like she did during the first few sieges on the Clans. Her red eyes were narrowed coldly, lips curled back to bare pointed teeth. "Get out of here and start training those inductees. I want them ready to fight by next moon."

"Of course, mistress," Jinx bowed low to the ground to hide her twisted expression.

"I am your Queen and I expect to me addressed as such," she snarled, cuffing Jinx roughly against the side of the head. She felt the familiar sting of claws and knew blood had been drawn.

With anger bubbling in her belly Jinx inclined her head and slunk back towards the winding tunnel that would lead her back to the top levels of the mountain.

As she began to ascend she could hear screeching howls of pain and she flinched knowing full well what was occurring in the tomb she had just abandoned in favour of slinking away with her tail between her legs. Her claws dug into the stone beneath her. Oh how she despised having to let Crimson win all the time.

"Jinx?" a hushed voice whispered.

She looked up, smirking slightly at the sight of Raz peering round the bend at her with concerned green eyes. "I wondered where you were. What took you so long?" she purred.

"I have other things to do apart from spend all my time with you," the tom remarked. "Why are you coming back up here? Aren't we planning more today?"

"Crimson's down there torturing another one of her victims and I'd rather not be forced to listen to their screams of pain. Besides, I've been ordered to train the newest inductees so they can be ready for another assault on the city."

Raz chuckled to himself, shuffling to the side to allow room for Jinx to walk up the twisting tunnel alongside him. "Those Clan warriors look like they don't need much training, even if they don't want to be here in the first place. When push comes to shove and they're facing down an enraged city cat on the battlefield they'll know exactly what to do."

"Still can't believe she's doing this. It's not as if we didn't have a steady stream of rogues and loners coming to join our army. There was no need to demand Clan warriors join. She killed some of their families to make them join. How does she expect to rule this world when everyone despises her?"

"There are those who would rather rule through fear and hate than through love. Crimson never had the chance to learn what love was so how can she be expected to rule through it? Hatred, fear, and brutality they're all she knows," Raz pointed out. "I'm not justifying her actions!" he added.

She shook her head, smiling slightly. "I can see where you're coming from. Perhaps some part of me just wishes she would change her way of ruling so that maybe we could leave her alive."

"Why would you want to let her live? I thought you hated her just as much as the rest of the world?"

"You forget," Jinx murmured. "She saved my life. It's hard to completely hate the one you owe your life to. But taking that oath was not the thing I should have done to thank her."

Raz nudged her shoulder with his nose and offered a soft smile, "not completely hating her doesn't make you a bad cat. It just means you're normal. No one can truly hate another. There will always be other feelings mixed in with the hatred. The fact that you can see the terrible things she does and still not hate her entirely makes you stronger than you think."

"It feels wrong. She's destroyed so many lives! She murdered Tornheart without giving her a chance to beg for forgiveness," Jinx cried, squeezing her eyes shut to stop the memories of a bloody body from swimming into view.

"You don't know do you?"

She glared at the dark gray tom, "know what?"

"The other elites have told me what happened whilst we were in the city. Crimson gave Tornheart the chance to retake her place as an oath-taker, her betrayal forgotten and forgiven but she refused, escaping from Crimson when her guard was down," Raz replied.

"Huh. No wonder Crimson was so cold."

"Say," Raz meowed, "have you found out who's in that tomb at the end of the Dead Tunnels?"

Jinx's step faltered. She knew she could trust Raz to keep the identity of the cat in the tomb a secret but did she really want the tom to know about her new ally? He'd be unpleased at the least to have not been spoken to about it. But there was no doubting how strong their new ally would be, even if they were particularly frail at the moment. They'd made a valid point about killing Crimson's heirs to stop her kingdom from living on after her.

"…yes. I found out who's in the tomb."

"Oh! Who is it!?"

She twitched an ear, "I can't tell you their name. But I can tell you that they are on our side."

Raz stepped in front of Jinx with an unreadable expression painted across is wide face. "What do you mean you can't tell me? I thought we were partners? Partners tell each other everything. How am I supposed to trust whoever was in that tomb without knowing who they are?"

"We are partners and you'll just have to trust that I've made the right decision," Jinx hissed icily. "I don't tell anyone everything ever. We both have our secrets and we have never pushed each other to spill them so don't start now."

Still the stubborn tom refused to move, glaring directly into Jinx's eyes. "So I assume you and your newest ally have been discussing plans all morning?"

"Hardly. They've been in that tomb for a while so they wanted to catch up on the news of the world before anything else. Besides, we already have our plan. Why change it now?"

"You're still sticking to the original plan?" he furrowed his brow.

Jinx nodded with a smirk. "Of course. Kill the heirs. Kill Frozengaze. Kill her bone soldiers. Watch her destroy her kingdom from the inside in an attempt to grieve for the ones she lost."

"How delightfully evil."

"If we're going to take down a kingdom we simply must do it properly!"

The tom chuckled heartily. Maybe…just maybe the plan would work.

AN: Raz and Jinx are delightfully evil.

-нυηтєя