Fleck had been captain of the guards for several weeks. It was great; but not much had changed from when she had been a guard. Sure, she had a new title and was officially in charge, but she supposed that she had pretty much been captain of the guards before.
When she thought about it, she was the one who had chosen Tiger, Sparrow, Cinder and Ash as new recruits earlier on. She had always been the one to come up with battle plans to the very end of the war. In fact, Jade awaited her orders on whether or not to kill Slate. After that, Fleck had acted like the one in charge--telling Ginger and Jade which prisoners were to disloyal to risk keeping and picking out who would be a Commoner and who would be a guard. Even just a little while ago, after she had decided that she wouldn’t be queen anymore, she was the one who had decided on who would be queen, with the help of Ginger, Jade and Sparrow.
Although, it was nice for it to be official. Plus, Azalea had basically made Fleck her personal adviser. Even though it wasn’t her official position, she was treated as though it was. She had always dreamed of being in a spot like this and had thought that if she was ever fortunate enough to get in one, she would cling to it for dear life. But she felt relaxed and comfortable in her new position. She had plenty of control, but allowed Azalea to do a few things that Fleck herself wouldn’t have done. Some of which, Fleck had to admit, were better off for the queendom then a decision that Fleck would have made.
So, all in all, Fleck was enjoying her life as a captain of the guards/adviser. The fact that the war was over and she didn’t have her double life or all of the stupid missions that the late king Ember had tirelessly given her.
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“Any news with your apprentices, guys?” Fleck asked her friends Ginger, Jade and Sparrow at their whispered meeting in the cave. It was very dark due to the thickly clouded night sky and the muffled snores of the other guards, who were all in a deep and content slumber.
“Nothing much,” Ginger replied with a shrug. “Cherry’s as distant as ever. Although, I’m pretty sure that Lark smiled at Jade during today’s training session. So that’s progress, right?” Ginger looked a little uncertain. Fleck got the feeling that the ginger she-cat didn’t understand just how aggressive Lark could be to the other guards. This wasn’t just progression; this was more like a miracle.
“Yeah she did,” Jade said, a slight smile playing on her lips. “we even talked a little while hunting. Nice, huh?”
Fleck nodded in enthusiastic agreement. “Anything new with you two?” she asked again, turning to Jade and Sparrow.
“Well, not really,” Sparrow shrugged. “Coal has been learning a lot, but you know about that.”
“Well, what kind of news are you looking for?” Jade inquired.
“I don’t really know,” Fleck muttered defeatedly. “I just wanted to know if your apprentices were progressing socially, like with Lark.” Fleck shot an apologetic glance at Ginger, who just shrugged the remark off.
“Well, Blizzard hasn’t changed one bit,” Jade sighed, shaking her head. Despite her slightly defeated-looking appearance, Fleck could see a fiery rage blazing fiercely behind her friend’s bright green eyes. “I just wish that he would make my job a little easier, you know?”
Fleck nodded understandingly, and she could see Ginger giving Jade an empathetic glance. She had dealt with GoldenSunn and knew what it was like to have an impossible apprentice. “What about FireClaw?” Fleck asked her friend in a gentle and understanding tone, not wanting to upset the gray tabby she-cat.
“Well, he is just plain weird,” Jade answered bluntly after a moment’s hesitation. “I mean, he’s polite and all, but the way he goes around it is just freaky. It’s like he’s putting on some freakish kind of charade. I wouldn’t trust him with a rotten week-old mouse. You guys?”
“Me neither,” Fleck said. “I noticed that about him when I was judging the cats, but I figured that it was just me.”
“I never saw that about him,” Ginger admitted, looking a little startled. “Do you think that he’s too suspicious to continue being a guard?”
Fleck shrugged. “Maybe we should keep him. He seems to do pretty good job with hunting and fighting... What harm could he make? Plus, he does a better job then Blizzard with loyalties.”
“Coal’s doing good, too,” Sparrow piped up, evidently feeling left out of the conversation.
Fleck laughed. “Sorry, Sparrow,” she apologized, feeling a bit a genuine guilt. “I know that you’re doing good with training Coal, and I’m proud of you for that.”
Sparrow almost glowed with happiness and pride, puffing out his modeled brown chest. “Thank you so much, Fleck!” Sparrow squeaked shrilly, almost falling over himself with joy.
Ginger laughed heartily. “I think that it’s time for bed, guys. Sparrow’s gonna faint soon, anyway.” Jade and Fleck joined in the laughter, trying their best not to wake the other guards.
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As silent as a shadow, the sildlahotte of a cat rose from the ground like an undead spirit. The cat looked around, eyes gleaming almost blindingly in the thick darkness that had descended over the cats at nightfall. The flashing eyes surveyed the cats around it, all of which were blissfully unaware of the events to come due to their slumber.
A sly smile crept across the cat’s lips. Finally, those bothersome cats were asleep. The cat had spent what had seemed like eternities waiting for the fools to finish their late night chat, all four of which unaware that every word that they spoke was being heard by an unwanted eavesdropper. Oh, but their drawling, dragged-out chitchat was of no importance.
The cat paused, replaying its plan within its head, as the cat had done so countless times that night. It would kill every cat in the tree hollow while they slept, ensuring that they would never wake up. Then the cat would slip into the queen’s night chamber and murder her. After that she would rally the Commoners and kill everyone who would cooperate. Then it would be the new ruler of the empires and rule over all of the cats of the two kingdoms.
Again, as the cat had countless times since it had come to this dreaded place, it felt a boiling hatred at pit of its stomach. Ever since the evil Jade had viciously murdered King Ember, the cat had been bidding its time for revenge. The cat had tried to hide its rage as best it could, but wasn’t sure if the other guards believed it. It didn’t matter. Soon it would all be over. Soon, they would all be dead, no longer able to spread their blood-thirst and evil. They would be snuffed out in one swift move. In one blood-spattered night.
The cat noiselessly removed a long dagger from the loose earth, shaking most of the soil off of the deadly weapon. It had buried the weapon there earlier that day, hiding it from the other guards to enable the cat to make its move. The cat lightly brushed the remaining bits of dirt off of it. Then, the cat lightly ran the razor-sharp blade along the tender skin of its pad. This made blood flow, falling soundlessly to the earth in scarlet droplets. The cat smiled once again.
Without making a sound, the cat crept over to one of the nearest guards, who was deep in slumber. The sleeping cat was a modeled brown tom. This one was the one called Sparrow. The cat felt a slight pang of regret. Sparrow had always been kind to it, in his timid way. But the assassin shrugged off this unexpected pity. His death would be a quick and painless one. He would just continue sleeping for all eternity. Besides, he would have to die along with the other guards, anyway.
The assassin’s eyes shifted about the room once more, ensuring that no one was awake. Then, it looked back down at Sparrow. Taking the super-sharp blade in both front paws, the cat closed its eyes tightly shut and plunged the weapon downward, towards Sparrow’s exposed throat.
And although the assassin had been sure that none of the guards was wake, one had stirred from her slumber.
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Fleck awoke, vision slightly blurred from sleep. She saw a shadow poised above Sparrow, about to strike to kill. Fleck ignored her exhaustion and launched herself foreword at the cat.
But it was to late. The assassin’s weapon, a recently sharpened dagger that was already smeared with blood, plunged deep into Sparrow’s exposed neck. Fleck froze in her tracks, mortified. Crimson blood soaked the dead tom’s fur and pooled around him, seeping into the earth.
Fleck just stared, motionless, for a few breathless moments. Then the killer, Cherry, pulled the dagger out of Sparrow’s neck, causing more blood to flow. Fleck felt a boiling, blazing hatred for the once-trusted cat and flung herself at her. Cherry hadn’t entirely expected this, despite Fleck’s earlier shout, and was easy for the enraged she-cat to pin down.
Fleck used her paws to hold the murderer down and her jaws to grip the dagger, which was poised above the she-cat’s throat. Drops of blood ran dow the tip of it and fell upon the soft fur of Cherry’s neck. Tears of rage and grief burned in Fleck’s eyes as she glared down at the startled she-cat. She then thrusted the bloodstained dagger into Cherry’s throat, sending blood everywhere.
Quickly, she dashed to her apprentice’s side, muttering all the while, “Please don’t be dead, oh please don’t be dead.”
But he had been killed instantly, as had Cherry. The noise and the thick stench of blood had awakened the other guards. The were all muttering sleepily, none of them knowing what tragedy had struck. It was all white noise to the grievous she-cat, who was still huddled beside Sparrow’s lifeless form. Blood soaked her paws and the stench of it was heavy in her air. But Fleck ignored it, finding herself overwhelmed by her loving apprentice’s sudden and disturbing death. A lump grew in her throat and she got a sour taste in her mouth. She found herself vainly biting back tears, which poured down her cheeks nonetheless.
“What happened?” Fleck heard Ginger mutter loudly, stifling a yawn.
Fleck turned, ignoring her tears, to her fellow guards. Her eyes were shut tight and she could barely choke out the words that she so dreaded to speak. “Cherry turned traitor,” she managed. “And Sparrow is dead.”
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-KittyLover8
© 2013
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