Impregnable

Chapter 4

"You're so mean, Citrus!" wailed the little tom, glaring at his older sister with disgust as she triumphantly boasted to their guardians. She paid no attention and continued to block him out, smirking at him with those mocking, green eyes. He gritted his teeth and turned around just as Cloud said something, but he ignored it and went back to his den, storming by a sleepy Lark.

     After throwing himself into his nest, there was a soft tap on his shoulder. He whirled around, bared his teeth, raised a paw to strike the cat, and immediately stopped at the sight of his wide-eyed sister. Cherry, her eyes full of worry, love, and fear, backed away at the hostility, afraid of what he'd do next. His paw quivered in the air and he sighed, dropping his head and lowering his paw, retracting his claws.

     The cream she-cat crept closer, no longer afraid and loomed over him, despite the size difference. Sweetly, she encouraged, "It's okay, Apple. There will be a day when you'll beat her."

     "Stop telling me lies, Cherry!" he snapped, keeping his head tucked between his paws. "Stop saying lies to cheer me up - they don't work and all they do is make me even more annoyed."

     "I-I... I-I'm s-sorry," she apologized, sweet voice rising a bit too high and it hurt his ears. "I-I j-just want to h-help..."

     "Well, stop," he repeated, louder. Apple lifted his head and locked eyes with her fearful ones, taking no pity as her fur rose, curling into a small ball. He towered over her, glowering at her tiny, shivering figure. "Stop everything, already. You aren't helping me one bit. If you want to make yourself useful, then stay out of my way. You can't do anything to help me improve."

     "A-Apple..."

     Arrow snapped his eyes open, feeling his fur spike out as his claws sunk into the feathers and moss in his nest. His chest heaved back and forth as the faint image of his sister faded, to his dismay. Cardinal's image completely disappeared and left nothing more than loose memories, leaving a sense of love and wariness. To his own sister. He growled, withdrawing his claws and lowering his fur along his spine, looking around the den.

     The sun was about to set, and here he was, sleeping in his den to avoid Eagle. The Alpha had turned this home into an utter disaster and claimed it was still perfect. Seeing Maple break down and cry over kits he swore she wanted made him want to bang his head against a tree to erase the sounds. Blaze worked night and day to improve his skills so he could overthrow the tom and restore the Tribe of Shining Suns back to its glory.

     And he could finally rest peacefully.

     Arrow padded out of the den, figuring that falling back to sleep was going to do nothing except make him even more stressed. He slipped out of the den and avoided talking to any cat, even if it happened to be his mother, who gave him a curious look. No cat tried to stop him as he made his way down and exited the camp, staring at his paws as he descended the mountain, staring at the sky as the sun dragged the bright colors with it.

     In the far distance, a silver moon began to rise, bringing darker colors of black and blue with it. It gave him a sense of relief, but seeing it coming from the left side of the territory was a bad sign. Something was going to happen and if it had anything to do with those rotten Imperfects, Arrow swore to himself that he was going to march down and take on their fake tribe by himself. After all, as long as he was perfect, then there wasn't any need to worry about losing.

     But seeing Cardinal's tiny body spread out, cold as stone gave him a shock that made his bones shake. His perfect, little sister had fallen to imperfection, slain by a cat that Wildfl--- Hurricane was now allied with. She was out there, he knew. Someone as skilled as her wouldn't have fallen to something like a storm. Besides, he wanted to be the one who brought her down and make her pay the cost of imperfection. Joining an imperfect tribe and then taking on a disgraceful name and replacing her real family was more than enough to deem her a massive traitor.