The Phantom Eye

Prologue
I was a normal wolf pup. I lived with my mother, father, and my siblings, Taurus and Virgo. My name is-- was, Gemini.

I grew up in Jamaa, I had a fairly wealthy family. I had fine clothes, and a fine den to live in. I played with my siblings every day in a place we called the Haunted Stones. They were the ruins we found near the Temple of Zios. Today, you would call it the Adventure Base Camp.

Our favorite game was what we called "Alphas". We would pretend to be the Alphas and we would fight off the phantoms. It was a fun fantasy, until that fantasy became reality. Phantoms started to invade the Haunted Stones.

This was the most important moment in my life, as it was the beginning of a journey filled with life, death, truth, lies, and most importantly, a phantom eye.

Chapter 1 - Taken
Gemini opened her eyes, morning light blazing into them. She slowly pulled herself up, her silver and white fur ruffled. She stepped towards her brother, Taurus, and jabbed him in the shoulder. He woke up and let out a tiny snarl, "Let me sleep.." Gemini jabbed him again and barked at him, "Get up! Virgo is already playing with Dad at the Haunted Stones!". That must of made something click in Taurus' mind, and he sprang up, dark gray pelt tangled with leaves.

Gemini put on her black sweater and leg armor, then waited outside with her Mother. Taurus tumbled out, wearing a red sweater and black leg armor. His fur was still a bit ruffled. "Alright, let's go!" barked Taurus as he lead the way.

Virgo and Father were jumping from stone to stone, until Virgo spotted Taurus and Gemini. Mother and Father retreated to the shade of an alder tree, while the three siblings began to play Alphas. As usual, Taurus was Greely, Virgo was Peck, and Gemini was Liza. They played for hours, fighting imaginary phantoms and saving the lives of imaginary jammers. It was all fun and games, until they heard a mysterious noise in the bushes. They disregarded it, thinking it was just another jammer. But, a horde of phantoms began to surround them. The family set into panic, Father and Mother trying to fend the phantoms off.

The flurry of action must of alerted the alphas in some way, because a blinding light filled the sky, announcing the entrance of the alphas. But, it was too late. Taurus and Gemini were being carried away by Phantoms, Virgo was saved by Graham, although he tried to save them too.

Gemini's POV

It's cold in here.. very cold. And I have no siblings to cuddle up with. Taurus is in the cell across and diagonal from mine. We are surrounded by other jammers, most of which are sleeping or crying. My neighbor seems silent. I can't see what they are, but they told me that they're working on setting us free. We get fed twice every day, mushed up meat or vegetables, with some water. It's gross, but it's edible. The phantoms speak a language of squelches and squawks, only a few capable of basic-- yet broken-- English. But, these translators were used sparingly, telling jammers their punishments if they broke a rule, telling jammers what to do, and so on.

Speaking of rules, here are the dumb rules:

-No talking past curfew

-No escape attempts

-No resistance to orders

-If you are chosen to work, you work as hard as possible, or you face punishment.

-You MUST sleep past curfew.

-Follow orders. If you are ordered to kill a friend, you kill them.

Yes, we were worked as slaves. Young started with small jobs. They carried rocks and twigs from the Prison to the small phantom camps nearby, or they were commanded to fight their littermates... some Young have been murdered by their siblings. The round trip took 2 days. Adolescents were separated by skill - fighting, carrying supplies, scouting, and the ones with no needed talent were just used by the phantoms as slaves, or used as prisoners in adventures. Adults performed the jobs they were taught to do as adolescents. They were Soldiers, Carriers, Scouts, or Prisoners. My first task was to carry a few rocks to a phantom camp. We were given messenger bags stuffed with rocks or sticks.

On day one, we set off. We were lead by a few phantoms that spoke English. A few other phantoms made sure we followed rules. A rabbit pup tried to flee, but was zapped to death.. The rest of the walk was still very scary, even though no others were killed. We stopped once to eat and drink.

The trip was long and very sweaty. The Badlands were scorching hot. But, when we finally got to the village, we rested in cool stone cells. Each Young was put in a cell with an Adult (To save space). I was put with a panda named Kulakuli. She was very kind.

We were fed by scouts, but, these scout jammers were very.. peculiar. They had ebony, gray, and purple fur, purple eyes, and their fur looked as if it was made out of smoke. Kulakuli's eyes were wide as they came by.

"They have been corrupted by the phantoms." She informed me. "All scouts and soldiers get corrupted." I trembled in my sleep that night, hoping I would become a carrier.

The next day, all young were gathered in what looked like an arena. We were split into three teams - Red, blue, and yellow. I was on the yellow team, while my brother was on the red team. The translators told us what we were to do: "You will fight other team, until champion team is left. Kill if you need to."

I was not ready for this... I may have to kill Taurus.

Chapter 2 - Not Over Yet
The bell rung. The battle began. I tried to linger in the corner, but a tiger cub decided to attack me. He lunged, and pinned me. I kicked at his belly, but to no avail. I then realized.. he had a yellow collar. He was on MY team.

This tiger cub beat me up, clawing at my body until for some reason, he stopped. I opened my eyes, and saw Taurus standing there. The tiger cub was dead, and Taurus was holding the yellow collar in his mouth. He had choked the cub to death. That wasn't like Taurus.

"Taurus, you killed him."

"I know."

"You aren't like this."

'I had to."

I was going to nuzzle him, but he was pinned down by a blue team member. Not many animals were left, so we were being targeted. Before I could help, Taurus was a bloody mess. I don't know what happened to me, but rage took over. Everything was a red and black blur. Yelps, screams, wincing. Silence.

I slowly regained control of my own mind, the blur forming to shapes.

Limp, lifeless, bloodied shapes. My paws soaked with blood, my shoulders shredded.

I had two teammates left, both young snow leopards. I scanned the arena, until I noticed a familiar pelt color. Dark gray, yet stained with blood.

"Taurus!" I cried, charging towards the limp pup. He was barely breathing, but still alive.

"Gemini..?" he wheezed, looking at me. "It's me, Taurus.. I'm here. You're safe now." I whispered, lapping at his bloodied pelt. Suddenly, I heard yowling from behind. I was knocked to the side, surrounded in a cloud of dust. A heavy body slammed into me, then I blacked out.