Caged - Unleash the Beast

Chapter 19 - Night Sky

"I was really hoping that someone would have said that." She breathed in relief.
"Let's go get Brandon." Dylan said enthusiastically.
Jackie lead the way out, only to be stopped by Angel, Devil and Casper.
"Can we help you?" Jackie asked them.
"Casper! Angel! Devil! What is the deal? We have a man and big cat save!" Jet exclaimed.
"Move pipsqueaks." Lachlan's big cat snarls at them.
"That is not how you talk to your leader." Devil snapped back.
"We have come to help." Casper said, flicking his ears irritated by Devil and Storm.
"Thank you, but we need someone here to watch the tribe." Jackie pointed out.
"I'll do it." Rider's father butted in.
"Very well." Jackie sighed.
They mounted before pelting out of the camp, having to jump onto the roofs to avoid the tribes folk below. Once out of the camp, Jet broke over her full stride. Up ahead they could just make out Brandon. Whom was about to disappear into the forest.
"Shit!" Jackie cursed herself.
Angel overtook her and Jet easy with Dylan not far behind, what fun it would be to be able to well peak over their strides and yet not running short of breathe. Rider was by her side with Chief Falcor, Jake and Lachlan right behind them. A light layer of snow covered the ground, flicking snow up behind them. Up ahead grey clouds waiting to burst and start winter. Jackie knew that tomorrow winter would officially arrive. She began to shiver slightly as a cool breeze came from the forest. By the time they had reached the forest edge Brandon was long gone. Or so they thought. Angel and Dylan skidded to a halt, neither one of them wanting to go into the forest. Jet didn't hesitate with Koa right behind them, the panther leaped up into the trees for cover. Jake followed Rider leaving Lachlan, Chief Falcor, Dylan, Casper and Angel.
"Come on you lot." Devil teased.
"Easy for the lot who live in the trees." Casper snapped back.
"I don't live in trees, I live on rocky cliffs." Devil said back.
Casper rolled his eyes before leaping up. At first his front claws didn't come out and so he fell straight to the ground. Annoyed Casper tried once more, this time his front claws latching onto the tree but yet his hind legs dangled. Devil let out a sigh before grabbing the big cat by the scruff and pulled Casper up.
"Thanks." Casper wheezed.
"Don't mention it." Devil huffed. "Literally, don't mention it."
Once Angel joined them, Lachlan followed and than Dylan, leaving Chief Falcor.
"Come on, you can do it." Casper urged him.
"Here goes nothing." He shrugged, before his big cat joined them.
"See, easy." Jackie shrugged jokingly.
"Right." Chief Falcor nodded.
"Spread out, stay in the trees and if you find Brandon roar." Jackie instructed.
"But than won't that bring the lionesses and lions?" Jake questioned.
"That's what Brandon wants, that is what he will get." Jackie pointed out.
The group split up, Angel came with Jet, Devil went with Rider, Casper with Chief Falcor and Jake with Dylan. Angel calmly leaped from branch to branch.
"Remember when you use to climb my closet and jumped onto the bed?" Jackie asked her.
"That was good fun." Angel chuckled.
"Not when you jumped on me, it wasn't." Jackie pointed out.
Angel paused, she pricked her ears and listened. Jet seemed to have done the same, this was when Jackie wished she could like they could. She waited until Angel relaxed slightly.
"What was it?" Jackie asked them.
"Come on." Angel flicked her ears, before leading them to were she had been listening from.
Jet seemed hesitant before following her daughter, both of the panthers seemed to move identical. Angel suddenly stopped causing her to lose her balance slightly.
"Careful." Jet warned.
"Sorry." Angel winced.
Jackie carefully dismounted Jet before jumping onto the branch in front of them. She moved the leaves away to reveal a camp. Voices from every which way ordered things and the sound of metal clanging rung throughout the camp.
"Come on, we have one day." A familiar voice stood out.
She looked down to find Tiren, she was instructing and pointing and yelling at a young boy. That was when Jackie saw the size of the army, the lot last night was only half of them. She swallowed hard, she watched as lionesses and lions were being armoured up. She saw a lot of the possessed big cats, Jet had joined her now. She could here a rumble in Jet's throat it was evident that the panther wanted to make their presence evident.
"Come on." She beckoned Jet away.
They were about to leave when they saw Ziambe and Maddi walking towards Tiren.
"Your plan better work." Maddi growled to Tiren.
"Trust me, knowing Brandon he will come for revenge and knowing his little puny friends they will come to save him. Trust me, I have lionesses hunting him down as we speak." Tiren sounded calm.
That was when a roar erupted, Jackie knew that it was Koa's roar. She mounted Jet and together they leaped over and began to race through the trees to them. Tiren and Maddi must have noticed them because now they had followed.
"Angel, go higher and than split." Jackie instructed, before turning Jet upwards.
The two panthers climbed higher into the thicker branches, once they couldn't see the pair below them, they continued towards were they heard Koa. Jackie heard a growl before turning a possessed big cat tried to knock them out of the trees. Before the clouded leopard could Jet roared, causing the clouded leopard to go back to normal.
"Thank you, Jet." The clouded leopard thanked them.
"Come, we need your help." Jet beckoned the clouded leopard.
The clouded leopard followed eagerly, they met Rider, Koa and Devil and below Brandon was stuck in a net.
"You've got to be kidding me." Jackie sighed.
"Nope." Rider sighed.
Jackie shook her head in disgust before loading her bow taking aim she fired, the arrow cut through the rope and got stuck in the tree. Brandon fell to the ground with a thud, his mountain lion landing on top of him. Brandon looked around, Jackie stopped Rider ass they creeped back out of sight once more. Not far behind them, there was loud and annoyed roar. They both turned to find the lionesses coming straight for Brandon. Brandon had heard them too, he pulled out a spear and stood his ground.
"What is he doing?" Rider questioned. "He is going to get himself killed!"
"Shh." Jackie hushed him.
On the other side Jake and Dylan looked at her, Chief Falcor on their right and Casper on the left. She indicated them to be quiet, before crouching down. The tree shook slightly as the lionesses came barrelling in. The clouded leopard beside them growled, Jet flicked her ears for silence. A lioness leaped straight at Brandon, Brandon positioned his spear up before being taken down. Jackie flinched but breathed a sigh of relief when Brandon rolled the lioness off him. Loading her bow she fired an arrow from where they hid, the arrow hit the lioness in the chest, Brandon quickly turned around and ended the lionesses life. Dylan threw a spear at a lioness that was stalking Brandon and had positioned itself behind him. Brandon turned around quickly to see the lioness die, this time he looked around. A lioness took this as a chance and tackled Brandon to the ground, Dylan's mountain lion leaped down from the trees and grabbed the spear before joining Dylan once more. Brandon's mountain lion pulled the lioness off before pinning it against the tree allowing Rider to have a clear shot. Rider's arrow hit the lioness' throat. The mountain lion dropped to the ground as the lioness fell.
"Shot." Jackie nodded to him.
There was one left, but this time Jackie told them to halt.
"This is Brandon's fight." She murmured to Rider.
Jet flicked her ears in reply, she had positioned herself so that she leaped down in case they needed help. Jackie rested a hand on the panther's shoulder, comfortingly. Brandon mountain lion lashed out causing the lioness to whip its head around, Brandon stabbed the spear into the lioness' shoulder. The lioness snarled as it hit the spear out of Brandon's hands. The lioness growled, stalking towards Brandon, now Brandon was pinned against a tree. Brandon's mountain lion jumped on the lioness and latched its claws into its shoulders. The lioness snarled and rose up to its hind legs, Brandon took the chance and fumbled with the spear. The lioness snarled as Brandon drove the spear through it. His mountain lion leaped off the lioness before snarling.
Jackie nodded to Jake, her brother climbed down the tree. As Brandon leaned against the tree to catch his breathe, Jake grabbed his shoulders and pulled him up the tree.
"Hey!" Brandon cried out.
Brandon's mountain lion snarled before leaping up the tree following.
"Easy, kitty." Jake soothed the mountain lion.
"What do you think your doing?!" Brandon argued.
"Saving your life." Jackie snapped back.
"What do you mean?" Brandon snarled.
"This was a trap. They had planned on you being here and us following you." Jackie gritted. "They were going to kill us all."
Brandon didn't know what to say, he just stared at them.
"We need to move." Jet snapped, as she flicked her ears to the ground.
Below Kaizan, Ziambe, Maddi and Tiren had arrived to find the lionesses dead. The group mounted their big cats and climbed from tree to tree. This had been a small victory, the war was tomorrow and surely enough they had to be ready. Every little victory had to count and with a plan set all they needed to do is put it into motion. They waited till they had left the forest behind before they spoke.
"What were you thinking?!" She questioned him. "You could have gotten yourself killed!"
"And then I would surely pay the price for being the one who had put James' life in danger." Brandon snapped back at her.
"And did you even have a plan?!" She continued, rage pulsing through her.
"Yeah, kill Tiren. That was the plan." Brandon continued, he too was raged.
"And you didn't think about the consequences? What would happen if it was you we were saying goodbye to next?!" Jackie fuelled.
This time, Brandon had no words.
"what would Rosie say? Why would you leave your sister, again? This time, permanently." She had calmed down now, but yet she still felt like she regretted what she had just said.
"Don't you dare bring Rosie into it!" Brandon snapped as he heard his sister's name.
"Well think about, Rosie! Think about the disappointment, the sadness and the hurt she would feel if we brought you home on a stretcher!" She argued.
"I knew what I was doing." Brandon mumbled under his breathe.
"Did you? Because it sure as hell didn't look like it!" Jackie continued, now she waited for a reaction.
Brandon had clenched his jaw and had dismounted his mountain lion. Jackie did the same she knew what was coming and she was ready for it. Brandon ran at her and slammed her against the ground. Jake was about to step in when Rider stopped him. Brandon had his spear against her throat, with her breathe slowly shortening she flipped him off her and grabbed his spear. She placed the spear's end at him.
"If you ever disobey me again, I am sure a cell could use some company." Jackie threatened him.
Brandon's mountain lion growled at her, Jet stepped in and snapped at the big cat.
"Is that clear?" She asked him.
Brandon simply nodded back in reply.
"I said, is that clear?!" She raised her voice.
"Yes." Brandon snapped back at her. "Yes." He lowered his head in shame.
"It better be." She threatened once more before chucking the spear down at Brandon.
She remounted Jet and instructed Jake and Casper to accompany Brandon whilst they went on ahead. Once they were well away, she let out a sigh of relief.
"You okay?" Rider asked her.
"I wish that I didn't have to do that." She sighed, looking down.
"You did what you had too." Rider tried to comfort her.
"Yes, but was it the right thing to do?" She questioned herself.
"I am sure any Chief would have done what you just did." Rider soothed her.
Jackie looked him in the eye before continuing to make her way to the camp. Outside the camp, the trainees were in training. Jackie pulled Jet to a halt as she watched Beau and X work together. The pair were in perfect sync up until they had to mount quickly. X raced past Beau the first time and than Beau seemed to not get a hold of X quick enough. Jackie rode Jet up to the pair and signalled Scott to stop. She walked up to Beau and rested a hand on the young boy's shoulder.
"Trust X. Have faith in one another. Now see the handle on the saddle?" Jackie said quietly.
"Yeah." Beau nodded enthusiastically.
"Concentrate on the handle, at the same time feel the bond between you and X. Trust in one another." She murmured to him before walking away.
She remounted Jet before nodding to Scott to continue. Scott nodded to X, who charged up towards Beau. Jackie could see the focus in Beau's eyes as well as the connection between them. As X charged past Beau, the boy grabbed the handle and swung himself onto the saddle. Locking himself in Beau threw both arms into the air and let out a celebration cry. Scott seemed to be excited too, for he mounted his big cat and raced up to Beau. The pair skidded to a halt in front of Jackie, both of them seemed to have adrenaline pulsing through their veins.
"Very nice." Jackie nodded to Beau.
"Thanks for the help." Beau thanked her.
"Anytime." Jackie nodded.
"Did you catch Brandon?" Scott asked.
Before Jackie could answer, Jake and Casper came with Brandon. Brandon now looked ashamed, Jake must have given him a mouthful after they had left.
"Never mind, that question has been answered." Scott murmured.
Jackie watched as Jake and Casper marched Brandon into the camp, it was going to be their job to make sure Brandon doesn't do anything like that again.
"Beau, do you think you could get all of the trainees and their mentors to meet me in the training dome?" Jackie murmured to him.
"X and I can beat you any day. As long as you and Jet give us a head start. And no climbing on roofs." Beau challenged her.
"Fine, 1 minute head start." She nodded.
"Go." Scott told Beau.
Beau and X raced off into the camp, already he had told 2 trainees. About a minute later, Jackie and Jet raced off with Scott right beside them. They leaped into the camp and weaved through the first group of people. Jackie and Jet quickly turned into an empty alleyway, by not Beau had collected all of the trainees and mentors and was now ahead of them. Jackie urged Jet to go faster, the panther growled challengingly. They had caught up to Beau and X within no time, at first Beau hadn't realised that they were right beside them. Jet bumped X as the squeezed through a tight alleyway. That was when beau turned to find them, a shocked expression on Beau's face. Jet leaped off the wall and cut X off. The tiger growled as they had to slow their stride slightly.
Jet skidded to a halt into the training dome, there the trainees and mentors waited.
"Man, we were so close." Beau moaned in disappointment.
"Good race." Jackie nodded to him.
"Next time, we will beat you." Beau said enthusiastically.
"Maybe next time." Jackie chuckled.
"Can I ask, why did you ask us here?" Christian asked.
"To see how well you have trained these trainees." Jackie replied. "Trainees, line up."
The trainees fell into a line, some with big cats others without.
"Trainees with big cats, step forward." She instructed them.
Beau was the first one to step forward, the older trainees rolled their eyes and the young boy.
"Pair up." She instructed them.
Beau partnered up with his older brother, Khan. Claire and Samantha partnered up, whilst everyone else didn't seem as keen as the four did.
"Are you really going to disobey your Chief?" Scott questioned them.
At that exact moment everyone else partnered up. Jackie looked at Beau and Khan and compared the two. Beau was slightly shorter thank Khan, Beau tended to be more smaller built but yet muscular at the same time, Khan was more broad shouldered and could easily overpower Beau. Khan also had more experience than Beau did, and this was what worried her.
"They'll be fine." Rider joined her.
"I hope so." She murmured to herself, hesitant to start.
"Who's going first?" Scott asked her.
"Each pair pick a number between 1 and 10." She said.
"7." Claire called out.
"3." Khan raised his hand eagerly.
"5." Kevin shouted over top.
"10." Danielle cried.
"8." Jean was the last one to answer.
Jackie was hesitant to say who was going first, she scanned the group,each pair eager as the next. She let out a sigh of defeat, "Khan and Beau are up first."
Rider beckoned the pair over to the ring, he explained the rules as quickly as he could before joining Jackie. Scott rung the bell and the fight had begun within moments. Khan relied on his shear strength and height to overpower Beau, but Beau choose his speed and swiftness to avoid Khan's grip. Khan had gotten frustrated and signalled for his lynx to come. Beau waited and watched as Khan mounted his big cat, X was waiting at the side line ready for Beau to beckon him in. As Khan reached halfway, that was when Beau signalled X over. The tiger sprinted off and at full past already the tiger had covered 30 metres. Just as Khan was about to grab Beau, X raced past and Beau grabbed on. Together the pair avoided the attack and skidded around, to face them. Khan gritted his teeth and clenched his fists in frustration. They both charged head on to one another. Jackie was waiting for either one to chicken out and swerve out of the way but neither of them did. Khan and his lynx were the first to leap, X bunched up and leaped a few seconds later. X pounded Khan's big cat to the ground, the lynx snarled as X held him down.
"Winner!" Scott announced, raising Beau's arm into the air.
After all the trainees had finished, Jackie instructed them to continue training until sunset. She turned to where Rider and Scott stood.
"They are coming on nicely. But tonight they need to prepare for tomorrow. Scott you are in charge of doing that. I want you to tell them which group they are in and tell them to meet the group down at the post." Jackie instructed him.
"Very well. See you two later." Scott nodded to Jackie before winking to Rider.
Jackie walked out of the training dome and looked up at the night sky that approached. She let out a sigh, she had longed to see her parents, to see Cameron, to see James and to see Ace again.
"Come on, we better go and get changed and to our post." Rider beckoned her.
"Do you ever wonder what it is like up there?" She murmured.
"What do you mean?" Rider asked her.
"Do you ever wonder what life is like up there?" She asked again.
"I don't even think about it, because I know that it will be a while before I leave here." Rider said, sounding certain.
Jackie and Jet followed Rider and Koa back to the house, Jake was already waiting there for them.
"Took you two long enough." Jake joked.
"Jake now is the time for jokes." Jackie snapped at him.
Jackie went up stairs and closed her door behind her. She let out a sigh before taking out her's and Jet's armour. The pair armoured up before going back downstairs and leading Jake and Rider back out.
"You ready?" She asked them.
They both nodded in reply. She lead the way to the edge of the camp before saying goodbye and good luck to Jake who lead his group to their post. Jackie and Rider soon came to their post, no one else was there yet. They rested against one of the trees, Jackie still stared at the sky.
Now the sky was black and stars littered the sky, "I wish you could come and help." She murmured.
Rider noticed her disappointment, "Come on." He beckoned her.
"Where are we going?" She asked him, taking his hand.
"You'll soon see." Rider said secretively.
Rider lead her to an oak tree not far away from where they were. All the other trees had disappeared leaving this one tree. Now Jackie could see the whole sky, she sighed in amazement. Rider held her hand and stood beside her, together the pair watched the stars.
"Rider, this is amazing." Jackie murmured, as she watched the sky.
"I know." Rider shrugged, he turned to her, watching as she took in every object around them.
Rider sighed, he lowered his head.
"What's wrong?" Jackie asked him, sounding concerned.
"Nothing." He replied before turning to her.
Rider got the ground, a knelt on one knee. He looked Jackie in the eye and pulled out a small ring from his pocket. Rider smiled sweetly, "Jackie, will you marry me?"...