(Faulty Task) The Beginning

The Beginning

Read it on sta.sh: http://sta.sh/0lepneb8jqn
This is a continuation of: http://sta.sh/01zo7jjweq2j (You don't have to read that, but it'll give you an idea of what lead up to these events

When the Highness Judas of the Forgottens decided he was a threat to her city and he would be kept here until who knows when, Jade Windsor found himself imagining being tossed like luggage into a cold cell, far beneath the earth and everything he's ever known. He expected to be left there to rot or starve or freeze (whichever came first) and to never see the light of day again.

This was not the case. The first day Jade woke up in a bowl of heated sand, it was the most comfortable he'd been in ages. Gradually, in bits and pieces, his memory had begun to reawaken behind the ache in the back of his skull. In a fit of surprise, he'd awoken and leaped into a battle stance, throwing up sand like waves around his paws, until he realized he was alone in a dome-shaped room similar to Judas' chambers, where he'd entered the day before. The walls were laden with swirling paw-shaped patterns and the roof of the cupola was open to the sky- rather, the glass ceiling of the Forgotten's underground city. Jade shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. He hadn't even known the Forgotten's had any sort of complex tunnel system before yesterday, and even then he wasn't aware of how vast it was, how deep it ventured into the canyon.
He was startled when he realized he wasn't alone. Judas was perched on a pavilion near the roof, and now that Jade was looking he saw a staircase encircling the circular room leading up to this platform. He'd cringed away from her, fur prickling.
"I understand you must be confused. And..."
"Upset? Suspicious? Wanting to get out of this underground prison? Yeah, you could say that." Jade interrupted, scoffing. Judas' whiskers twitched.
"I never ordered my guard to attack," she said, eyes narrowed on something in the distance. "I apologize on his behalf. Everyone down here has been... tense. Since for as long as I can remember, at least."
Jade narrowed his eyes. "So this isn't some kind of trick? You aren't planning on using me for information to overthrow the Kingdom and takeover Katana Lake?"
"I can't say I haven't considered it," Judas said. Then she laughed. "Not really."
Frankly, Jade wasn't sure what to make of this cat. "So why am I here?"
"No Kingdom cat has entered Forgotten's domain in so long... not in my lifetime. Probably not ever, to be honest, since there was never any need". She lowered herself to make eye contact with Jade. "Nobody knows our city resides underground. As far as the Kingdom knows, we're still a ragtag, insignificant group of sun-drenched cats."
"Sun-drenched?"
"Cats that live aboveground. It's what we call the aboveground portion of the city, too." She was looking out the skylight now, face turned towards the light. Judging from what Jade could see through the glass, it was just barely dawn.
"Why don't you want the secret to get out? That the Forgotten's live in the tunnels?" Jade asked. There was a pause before Judas responded, not looking at him.
"Come on, let me show you around. And don't try to escape," she added more sternly, with a mischievous gleam in her eye. "We can't have you killed on your first day here." Jade suddenly felt sick to his stomach.
Jade had been shown around a small portion of the city- the Highborn wing, it was called. It was the most luxurious wing, although very small compared to the Military and Homing wings. It was brightly lit and colorful with the Highness' own gardens.

That had been a little over two months ago. Now Jade knew his way around and all about the city; the fastest tunnels to get to the other wings, the best places to buy fish (the secluded little shop in the aboveground town with the tired-looking glasscat, can't miss it). He'd even come to enjoy Judas' company, believe it or not. Though he would never admit it out loud.
It was a cold day. There was a thick layer of snow on the skylight overhead, and some cats were busily shoveling it aside to let the weak dawn light through. Judas was busy in her chambers, unsurprisingly, working on another big project. Since that patrol of cats had been sent into the woods, she'd suddenly become a hundred times more stressed and secluded as she tried to work out what might happen, the chances of them all coming back safe.
Jade was walking through the Social wing, bumping shoulders with cats he'd met over the last while; he'd become quite the attraction- the first Kingdom cat in Forgottens territory! It wasn't all good attention, he had his fair share of cats who would gladly rip him apart, but it was attention nonetheless.
"Jade!" A thick-furred electricity-elemental came bustling through the crowd towards him, paws skidding on the gravel street.
"Alexander!" Jade called, pulling off to a less busy area near a coffee shop. Alexander was a small cat, probably mostly made of fleecy black and white fur. His eyes were wild but he looked mischievous, like a cat who knew more than everyone else. "What is it?" Jade asked as he approached.
"You won't believe what I heard. You know the Kingdom?" Alexander was catching his breath; Jade found himself wondering what could possibly be so important.
"Yes, I'm aware," he replied slowly. "What about it?"
"I only caught tidbits and rumors but I heard the patrol returned there- the one that went into the woods? And they brought back a cat from the woods. But that's not all!" Alexander added quickly when Jade's eyes widened. The patrol was back? Surely Judas would know already, and if she didn't the news would spread quickly. Alexander continued, "I heard that the cat they brought back- he's not a normal elemental. They say he turned into a SHADOWCRAWLER, but with wings, and ripped off Queen Naomi's head in front of the entire Kingdom! Nobody knows what's happening over there but someone mentioned they're going to try and evacuate into the Halfway point, but then someone else said- hey!" Jade didn't get to hear the cries that followed; he had already whirled around and was speeding off as fast as his legs would carry him.
His thoughts flashed at a hundred miles an hour- who was this mystery cat? Was Naomi really dead? What would happen now? He kept bumping into cats, but was too in a daze to apologize. His thoughts finally slowed enough for him to hear them over the pounding in his ears; I have to get to Judas, I have to tell her. Unless she knows already...
His legs were numb and his breathing was ragged and heavy when he reached the Forgotten Highness' stronghold. He cleared the stairs in as few bounds as possible, pushing into Judas' chamber and study. The dark grey smoke elemental who had escorted Jade into the city two months ago-Rauch, if he remembered correctly- was already there, alongside Tetra and a blizzard-elemental with feathery white fur adorned in pale swirling markings. He didn't know her name.
Judas made eye contact with him from the other side of the room, and the three guards turned to face him as well.
"This is royal business," Rauch said in his signature rasp of a voice. It had been getting creakier as the weeks went by; Jade assumed it was one of the cons of being a smoke elemental. Judas waved him off, stepping forward.
"Tell him." She nodded to the small blizzardcat, who looked solemn. Jade was suddenly struck with realization; this was Blitzy, the Forgotten's messenger and spy. He'd never spoken to her but they'd made eye contact once at a dinner Judas had hosted. Her eyes had been cold and harsh then, but they were soft now, filled with something like empathy or pity. Although, Jade had never seen anyone pity the Forgotten's Highness.
"Recent reports from the Kingdom." Her voice was cold as ice. "A black energy was seen entering the Kingdom. This caused some discomfort; some cats became concerned. The energy became a cat; a shapeshifter, we assume. He introduced himself as King Isaac Tyrenia. Cats were... unimpressed. Queen Naomi emerged from her palace-"at the mention of the queen, Jade found himself tensing, ears pricked "- and Isaac taunted her. A fight ensued but it was not long; this cat... he possesses a dark magic unlike any of ours. It was like smoke but blacker and more menacing, it gave off an unsettling feel to be around."
"What happened to Naomi?" Jade gasped.
"We aren't sure," Blitzy answered, eyes narrowed. "It was as if this dark energy swallowed her whole, sucked her into the earth. There were no more reports afterwards. I'm sorry," she added, not very convincingly.
Judas' expression was jaded; she was staring hard at the floor as if there was something remarkably interesting there that only she could see. "You are excused, Blitzy. Raunch, Tetra, Jade," she nodded to the cats as she addressed them, "now we decide what happens next."