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EBC - so that i can feel the rain

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Running and hiding in the pouring rain carrying four felines on your back was not as easy as it sounded. And it didn’t sound very easy to begin with.

But somehow, Scaeden had managed to get Thalia and her cubs a pretty far distance away from the captured felines without being spotted. It helped, of course, that Scaeden knew the city streets as if they were part of him. Massilia, at this point in his life, just felt like an extension from his being. It held no secrets.

Although, tonight, the city seemed a bit more mysterious to him. Every shadow that moved was an Assassin waiting to strike. Every clatter was a confused Bounty Hunter accusing him of betraying the Republic. And even when it only turned out to be a human organizing the trash in an alley or a stray dog looking for a place to get out of the relentless downpour, Scaeden still felt betrayed by his home. His home shouldn’t scare him the way it was scaring him now.

“Wait, kids, hold up,” he whispered to the two cubs who were briskly walking in front of him. He had to explain to them when they left the captured building that, no, the water pouring from the sky wouldn’t hurt them, and, yes, it was safe to drink if they wanted. The lighter of the two, the young girl, had her brother’s tail in her mouth. He didn’t seem to mind. “I need a break for a minute,” he told them. “Get into this alley.”


They obeyed. They had quit being wary of him after they realized that if they lost him, they would be in a lot of trouble. He was their lifeline.


“Can I get out of here yet?” a voice whispered from the back of his head. The small white cub had been wiggling around, clearly uncomfortable in his hood, which was soaking wet by this time.


“No, we aren’t out of the city yet,” Scaeden answered. Once they were in the alley, he crouched down and let Thalia slide off his back, along with the two cubs tucked into her armor. He stretched and groaned. “Why now do I have to realize how badly Valon hurt my back years ago?” he muttered to himself.


“Valon,” the dark-furred cub said quietly. “The serble we met--”


“Serble?”


“The weird snow leopard,” the cub in his hood piped. “With skinny legs and big ears.”

“Serval.”

The first cub paused. “That’s what I said.”

Scaeden blinked. “Okay.”

“But, she said, she knew a Valon--”

“Avita,” Scaeden interrupted. He had been on the patrol that had captured her. Interesting that they should know her. The cub seemed surprised that Scaeden would know her name, but didn’t say anything else on the matter.

Suddenly, there was a sound from the street. A human yelling. The two not-confined cubs jumped in surprise, automatically backing up to stand near their armored mother. There was another yell, and a crash, as if something was being thrown. Then-- a roar, and the yell was cut off.

“Someone’s coming,” Scaeden said, rushing to pull his hood over his head, the white cub still tangled inside. “Hide here. Do not move.” He dropped the scared cub down by her siblings, then grabbed Thalia and dragged her up against the wall, hiding amongst a bunch of human things. She growled in response, but Scaeden didn’t have time to be annoyed. The lynx leaped back out into the street and started timidly walking towards the noise, as if he was just patrolling.

A figure emerged from around the corner, then froze when it saw him. Scaeden stopped short, ears pricking up. It wasn’t a Hunter. Great. Probably an Empire cat he was going to have to distract and lose before he could come back for Thalia. Scaeden couldn’t see any details; the rain made the figure look dark, and it was still quite a long distance away.

“You,” the figure said, and Scaeden’s heart stopped.

“Laertes?” Scaeden said quietly, not even loud enough for the leopard to hear. It had undoubtedly been the Shadow feline’s voice, though it was gruffer than before, and slightly muffled by the raid. Laertes had grown. He had been a large leopard when Scaeden had last seen him, but now he was just...huge. His legs were clearly thicker and his shoulders had filled out. Even, somehow, his tail seemed stronger. And he was soaked in blood. It was dripping down his face and leaving dark splotches in the mud where his paws walked and splattered across his armor. And there, around his neck, was the bandana Scaeden had ripped in half to remind them both of the pact they had made. And...he was moving towards him, his face curled into a snarl.

Scaeden knew what was happening. Laertes had become an Assassin, put on some muscle, and got it in his head that the old lynx was the root of his problems. He could see it in his cold blue eyes. He wanted to kill something. He wanted to kill Scaeden.

Instinctively, Scaeden widened his stance, took a half step forward, and prepared himself to fight. His lips curled up into a snarl. For a split second, right before Laertes lunged at him, Scaeden saw a flash of the leopard laughing at some joke Scaeden had cracked, the sun shining on his youthful golden pelt. Then, one more, a memory of Laertes breaking down in the middle of the woods, curled into himself, muttering, “I would do anything to save her.

“THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!” Laertes roared, his already-bloody claws reaching out to tear up Scaeden’s face.

Scaeden snarled, and met Taze’s claws with his own.

Immediately, Scaeden knew this wasn’t going to be as easy of a fight as it had been the last time Laertes had leaped at him. Andromeda had been training these cats well, obviously. This time, Taze aimed his claws for Scaeden's neck, where he wasn't wearing any armor, where he would be vulnerable. Even though Scaeden was smaller and less muscled, their collision did nothing but send them both flying back right away. But they each landed on their paws, already braced for the next attack.

“We had a deal,” the leopard hissed.


“I didn’t break it,” Scaeden replied.


But Taze didn’t care what Scaeden had to say. He was already going for his face, and Scaeden once again realized how much blood Taze was covered in, even in the rain.

What have they done to you? Scaeden thought to himself, narrowly avoiding one of Taze’s claws to his eye.

“Laertes, stop--”


“No!” he snapped. “No, I won’t! I’ve been told to ‘stop’, ‘slow down’, ‘relax’, ‘pull myself together’ for months. And none of this would have happened if it wasn’t for you. You’re a liar and a cheat and I hate you.”


Insults were nothing new in Scaeden’s life. They weren’t even annoying at this point anymore. But Laertes wouldn’t listen, and he didn’t know that his family was hiding in the alley right behind him, and that was frustrating. 

“Taze, you need to listen to me,” Scaeden said, trying to calm him down.

“I don’t.” Taze lashed out, and this time, his claws caught Scaeden’s muzzle. Stinging pain hit him on the right side of his face, and he tasted blood. The lynx jumped back.

“Laertes, I didn’t break our promise!” Scaeden insisted.

“You were supposed to keep her safe!” The leopard cried out, lunging for him again.

“I did!” Scaeden snapped, but the larger cat was already barreling into him in a flurry of claws and teeth. Scaeden felt claws pierce his skin on his stomach, ripping through the fabric and leather of his armor, tearing underneath his scarf, hitting the old scar he'd had there for years. But his own claws were doing the same to Taze. When their rolling ball of fur and teeth hit a wall, they broke apart. This time, Scaeden didn’t pause to try to explain himself to the leopard again. He jumped up, the new gashes on his body aching, and pinned Laertes down on his stomach, pushing against the back of his skull as hard as he could. Laertes struggled.

“Let me go,” he protested.


“Absolutely not,” Scaeden hissed, his voice feeling hoarse.


“She’s been gone for months, Scaeden!” Laertes snarled. “And you did nothing!”


“I didn’t know she was here until a few weeks ago!” the lynx said angrily. “I didn’t even know!”


“Bullshit.”

“Oh my Gods,” Scaeden groaned. He wasn’t going to be able to tell Laertes ‘hey go walk down that dark alley and look for your family’ without Laertes completely calling bullshit on him again, so he came up with a better idea. He jumped off the leopard, running straight for the alley, Laertes quickly on his heels. For some reason, Scaeden’s limbs felt weak and shaky, but he shook it off.

Right when he got in front of the alley’s entrance, he spun around and smacked his paw across Taze’s face, forcing him to look directly where his cubs were hiding.

At first, the leopard didn’t notice them, and was about to turn back and start fighting Scaeden again. But then he noticed a small golden body creeping her way out and did a double take. One of the cubs tucked in Thalia’s armor. The golden female. Laertes froze, his gaze locking with the cub’s.

Scaeden watched as a father saw his children for the first time. One by one, the cubs emerged, poking their heads out of the human trash or walking out completely. They didn’t say anything. No one did. The only sound was the pouring rain, and Scaeden’s pulse pounding in his own ears.

The first cub looked over at the lynx and said quietly, “He’s the bad guy, isn’t he?”

But her voice was muffled. And Scaeden felt very tired. He got out the words, “That’s not very nice, considering I just saved--” before coughing. Blood splattered on the street under him. Had that come out of him? Or...had that been there before…? Scaeden blinked a few times, coughed again, and finally realized there was something horribly wrong.

Just as the lynx slouched down, noticing the gash on his neck that had been held shut temporarily by his scarf was much deeper than he had first thought, he heard another voice from behind him.

“Scaeden!”


But the lynx could only look up to see Laertes shoving the cubs back into the alley and dropping back down into an attack stance, his face pulling back in an angry snarl. Why would he be attacking him again? Scaeden was already weak and done fighting. All he wanted to do was lay down--

A shadow passed over him, and he realized that Laertes wasn’t preparing to fight him; he was preparing to fight whoever was right behind him. Caelina barreled into Laertes with an angry force Scaeden knew all too well. If he wasn’t so tired, he would have smiled at her hilarious passion for fighting.

But he was too tired to do anything.



The jaguaress slammed into him with the force of an entire Hunter fleet.

Laertes sprawled back, rolling across the muddy road, trying to get air back into his lungs. Laertes knew he was in trouble the second he saw the two new Hunters emerge on the other end of the road. Though he had never met them, he knew exactly who they were; Caelina and Thanatos. Scaeden’s mate and best friend. And of course, the Hunter leader and an Elite.

Past Caelina, for a split second, Laertes caught a glimpse of Scaeden, slowly lowering himself down to the ground, blood washing out of his body from the rain like he was a never-ending supplier of scarlet to the earth.

But then a massive black tiger blocked his view and Taze was launched back into battle.

The first thing he felt was Caelina’s claws raking down his face, right between his eyes, cutting into his nose. He let out a scream of pain, instinctively pulling his head back and turning his face away from her. But her claws raked down his side, only stopped by his armor buckle. Then her teeth closed around his tail and ripped.

The pain of having your bones ripped off your body is nothing like Laertes had ever experienced. He jumped forward, screaming, his eyes squeezed shut, trying to keep the blood on his face out of his vision, but the water both washed it away and made it far worse. The pain traveled up his spine, searing through his skull, making his entire body ache somehow. But the Hunters were relentless, and they were not finished with him.

Laertes had opened up his eyes enough to see Thanatos’s teeth going for his head, his claws raking across Taze’s neck, then his face. Laertes’ legs flaired around uselessly, only mildly smacking the Hunter leader’s armor with frantic and terrified claws. Taze couldn’t think of anything but please don’t kill me please don’t kill me please help me someone HELP ME--


With another sickening ripping noise, Taze lost his ear. Jaws closed over his paw, ripped off his leg bracer, tearing across his skin and leaving nothing but a trail of flowing blood. Both of the Hunters were on him, ripping, tearing, snarling, growling, and they were both bigger and larger than him and Laertes could do nothing but swing his limbs around in some last frantic attempt to just simply survive.


Then a paw smacked against his skull, leaving a large gash, and Taze’s head snapped against the cobblestone, and everything was black.



Falling.

That was all Scaeden could feel. Like...floating and flying and falling all at once. And he was laying on his back. Weird. He never did that, because his back hurt a lot. But it didn’t hurt right now. Nothing hurt. Actually, it was as if his body didn’t exist, and he was just a pair of eyes. But he knew that he was laying on his “back” because he could feel the pressure pushing down on his “body”, even though he couldn’t feel any limbs or move anything. And what was he looking at? He seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at once. He could see scenes, forests, skies, cities, streets, but it was as if they were all in the back of his eyes, and all he was really looking at was a white blank wall. He could hear voices, too, and he knew that he knew them, but he couldn’t put faces to them, or names, or anything. He didn’t know much of anything at that point. there wasn’t a lot that made sense.

How long was he falling? It seemed like he had never truly started. It was almost like he’d been doing this his whole life, just floating through a confusing mess of voices and images. He could remember a time before he was falling, though. He could remember everything about his life, plain as day. Clearer than he’d ever been able to. He could even remember bits and pieces of other cats' lives; his family, friends, enemies, they were all there, inside his head, at the back of his eyes. He remembered playing with Mother. Meeting Soren for the first time. Sparrow and Breeze dying-- no, they weren’t dead. Somehow, Scaeden wasn’t surprised, but he just knew. He could remember them surviving as if it was his own memory. Sparrow and Breeze had survived the tigers. Their unconscious bodies had been pulled from the cage, sent to a human doctor, healed, renamed Volucris and Aura, and sent to Rome to train with Father and Draedis. Scaeden felt a warmth spread over him. He hadn’t killed them. They were thriving. They had children of their own. And Bolt. Bolt, now known as Aiolos, she was okay, too.

Alynnia, she was...why did he care? He’d been telling himself he didn’t care for years. But, really...he’d been curious. She’d been angry. She was still angry. She was an Assassin. And her children...Scaeden’s children...Myles, Aurora, Lyra...they were sad. He couldn’t know exactly why, but he could feel it inside him like it was part of him suddenly. He couldn’t say he felt sad with them, because he couldn’t really feel any of his own emotions right now, but he could feel the powerful melancholy washing over him like a heavy blanket.

And--Soren. Soren was dead--no, no he wasn’t. But Scaeden had killed him with his own claws. But Scaeden could feel him alive, like Soren’s heartbeat was inside him, proving life still flowed through his veins. He saw him...in Rome. In Ferox. Leading. Between Fire and Ferox, though, was something else. Something dark. Krowe. Scaeden was sure he’d feel shock and surprise, if he was actually feeling any of his own emotions. But again, he could feel nothing.

His other litter, his Hunter cubs, and Orcus, they were going to be fine. He could feel that they were going to be great Hunters, save for a couple, though. Maybe not all great Hunters. But they’d all be great. Great felines, good friends. He shouldn’t have to worry about them--

Suddenly, viciously, Thanatos and Caelina were thrust into his head, their voices rising above the rest. They were the only ones distinguishable from the others. But his memories of them were violent and panicked, crashing into each other like waves on the sea during a storm. And the floating and flying sensations were gone, and he was just falling, and he hit water with a splash, his nonexistent body becoming enveloped in it, along with the scent of blood and rain--

Scaeden!

“Wake up please wake up just open your eyes--” 

Scaeden opened his mouth and inhaled, but with the air came water and blood, as well as a surprising numbness over his entire body. He cracked his eyes open, and the only reason why the rain didn’t bother him was because Thanatos’s head was blocking the water. “Guys,” he tried to say, but it came out a mere puff of air and choke on water and blood.

“He’s awake,” Caelina said. 

“Thank Diana. You're gunna be alright. Can you stand up?” Thanatos said, but his voice was already drifting away, and the white wall was coming back again.

“No no no--” 

“Hey, no, not allowed,” Thanatos said, bumping his paw against Scaeden’s cheek. “No dying today.” 

“Dying,” Scaeden muttered.

Not dying,” Caelina insisted. “Why didn’t you just stay in your room, you moron.” 

Room? Scaeden couldn’t even remember what they were talking about, but he was sure it had happened recently. Everything seemed so long ago. Even the present moment, right now, seemed like it had happened months ago because of how fuzzy the memory seemed.

The white wall was floating away from him again, though, so he thought that was good, maybe. He couldn’t breathe, though, he realized, which was bad, and left him praying to return to the white wall where he couldn't feel anything. Something was in his neck. Or, rather, something was missing from his neck. His throat was gone. Panic washed over him for a second, and his breaths became ragged and desperate. His paws reached up, reaching for anything. One hit Thanatos and the other hit Caelina. Thier faces were concerned and scared, but they didn’t know what to say to make him feel better. There was nothing they could say as he heaved for air, choking on whatever was filling his throat, panic and fear flooding through him. They waited until Scaeden’s breathing was a little more under control, and he wasn’t frantically panicking.

“You’re…” Thanatos started.

“You’ll be okay,” Caelina said. The rain poured down over their heads, washing the blood off their faces. Not their blood. They were scratch-free.

Good. They need to be okay.

“Dying,” Scaeden choked out again.

Neither replied. A calm was washing over him again. He couldn’t think about anything except what was happening to him. He didn’t think it would go down like this. With--with Taze--

Scaeden’s gaze flicked over to where Taze’s body lay in a bloody, torn heap in the middle of the road, pools of blood mixing with the rainwater and mud. Scaeden didn’t know what to feel about him. Betrayal? Hurt? Regret? Anger? He didn’t...really care, actually. It didn’t matter. Not now that they were both dead. 

“We killed him,” Caelina deadpanned quietly.

He looked back up at her, meeting her gaze, her one good eye. He reached up, putting the back of his paw on her scarred eye. “Sor...ry,” he said.

She frowned, closing her eyes and looking away from him, but she didn’t say anything else.

His gaze shifted over to Thanatos. Through his pain and calm and panic, he gave him a small smile and said, “Good?”

Thanatos paused, looking him directly in the eye, then gave the smallest smile possible and said quietly, “I’ll be good. I’ll be fine.” 

“You...you’ll be...okay,” Scaeden told them both.

The wall was coming back. Someone said something. Scaeden couldn’t hear it. He looked past Thanatos, past Caelina, up into the rainy sky, and remembered his first night as a Hunter in Air Empire, when he had flown in in some heroic act to save the day. But in reality, all he'd done was set in course his fate to die in this street, bleed out in the rain. It had been raining then, too. That was the night he’d befriended Caelina and Thanatos. That was where his journey had began.

It had been raining.

He let out a laugh, but it was more of a choking noise. His eyes drifted shut, but the back of his eyelids were bright, not black. He let out a long breath, emptying his lungs of air. Two words floated out of his body with that single breath:

Raise hell.

And he was falling again.

It was raining.




Some kind of trouble is coming
Don't know when, don't know what
I will stand by you, brother
'Til the daylight comes or I'm dead and gone

I've shared my life with you, brother
Since I recall, you've been my friend
You say we're not like the others
Still we must die, all things must end
 




Continuation from Captured Felines. Scaeden's previous post. Thalia's previous post

This was hard for me. I'll post more about this later.

Bye.

Thalia (c) :iconasante-sana: 
Caelina (c) :iconbaliwik: 
Thanatos (c) :icontie-falcon: 
Cubs (c) :iconfirewolf-anime: :iconrattarie: :iconpancakeshiners: :iconasante-sana: :iconstaniqs: 
Scaeden, Laertes, Art (c) :iconstaniqs: 

:iconempiresbeforeclans:

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