Impregnable

Chapter 15

"D-Don't hurt me... P-please," Cherry begged, looking up at the rogue as her entire body shook. "L-let m-me go, p-please...!" The rogue snorted and curled his paw around her, claws digging into her sides painfully as she cried out, desperate for help.

"Don't touch her!" barked Citrus, struggling against the paw holding her down. "I'm gonna hurt you really bad if you hurt her!"

"Yeah! Let go of us so we can escape already!" Lark fought, thrashing against her cage. The brown rogue held his two sisters down with a single paw, looking amused as the two struggled to break free. Citrus growled, sharing the same anger as her younger sister.

"A-Apple, help me!" shrieked Cherry, voice like shattered glass.

"Let my sisters go!" he snapped, jumping into the clearing, facing the two rogues with a brave face despite the shivering in his legs.

"Sisters?" One of the rogues repeated, the word stabbing him in the heart.

"What do you mean by 'sisters'?" The other challenged, looking curiously at Citrus and Lark. "You mean these Imperfects?"

"They aren't Imperfects, Imperfect!" he fired back. "They're my sisters and that's that!"

"Are we, Arrow?" Cherry's voice dropped to a tone he thought she didn't have. She turned around and dangled in the rogue's grip, amber eyes flashing coldly, a look that didn't suit her soft demeanor. "Am I really your sweetest, dearest, little sister?"

"O-Of course," he argued, fighting his fur. "You're my little sister..."

"And what about me?" Lark growled. "What about me, older brother? Am I really your sister or am I just a random Imperfect?"

"You're all my sisters! Why are you asking this?!" he demanded, fear starting to swallow him.

"Because you claim to hate Imperfects so much," Citrus hissed out, mist swirling around the clearing. "But here we are... But you are my little brother, aren't you? Surely we're related."

"Bad dreams, back away!" A loud voice shouted and Arrow snapped his eyes open just as a cream leg came flying at his face. He didn't avoid the kick soon enough and Spring's back leg smashed into his nose, making him stumble in his nest.

The healer held herself up with three legs as she crammed her paw in the spy's face. Arrow spat out the paw and shook his head, rubbing the side of his head with his own paws, waking up his way. He finished and glared at Spring, who stuck her tongue at him and darted away, standing at the opposite side of the den, crouched and ready to jump again.

Acting like a kit, she jumped into another position and lifted her right paw over her face, peering at him with one, emerald eye. Spring narrowed it at him, her eyebrow furrowing. "Are they gone yet or do you need another kick to the face?"

"Kick to the face?!" he sputtered, lashing out. "Don't do that to me!"

"I am a healer, my job is to heal cats no matter how hard it has to be," she responded heartfully, removing her paw from her face. "But seriously, you really need to stop going to sleep."

"Sleep is an essential part of my life," he remarked. Frowning, he said, "Why do you think I need to stop sleeping? Is my brother doing better than me with less sleep?"

"No, not at all," she answered. "I hardly talk to Blaze since all he cares about is the tribe's safety and his family's well-being. You're one of the worst sleepers I've ever come across, though. The nightmares didn't start coming until three days ago."