The training is finally finished for today. Well, the test fights against Mirage used to see our level of fighting, that is.

        After Branch's test fight, he and I decided to sneak to the side of the den we were training by. We stayed there for the rest of the time we were there and chatted about cats we met so far in Gardinia. I was going to ask Branch about his past life when he was in Earth, but then I remembered that his memory was taken away. That was a lovely reminder of who I was talking to.

        During the short time Branch's new self was in Gardinia, he befriended two cats: Night and Sky. Those were the two cats that came with us to this training place. Night and Sky are both newcomers who were taken here together just recently. Branch said they are in a relationship. He didn't talk much about them, but something tells me they are deep in love.

Oh, and Branch also informed me that Name told him to not talk to me much because I'm close to getting the punishment and "irrationally rebellious." I laughed out loud at that part, and I still chuckle at it as I think of it now as we walk back to the camp. Does he think I'm some strange animal or something? That's what it sounds like.

That tells me that Mirage was right about Name warning Branch about me. I don't know what to think about that. I want to be mad because she always seems right, but something else sparks in me for a moment. Maybe she didn't want me to get interested in Branch, only to get rejected by him because of Name. She somehow cared about my feelings.

But that optimistic, warm feeling gets popped out of my mind when the image of Mirage murdering the young cat creeps up on me. No, she can't care about me. She's a monster, that's what she is. She even admitted it herself.

        Ugh, why do I keep thinking about Mirage?

Anyway, Branch said he wanted to be friends with me because he thought I was cool. Oh well, even though it's someone with no sign of a past who finally accepted me for who I am, at least it's someone. It feels nice to have another cat to be with. Maybe I can abandon Stripe so I can stop embarrassing myself with her. Too bad she actually seems to like me.

        When we get to the camp, I notice that all of the other cats that didn't get taken by Mirage are already there. My gaze scans the crowd for Mirage. I eventually see her talking to Name near me. They're talking in low voices, so I can't eavesdrop on them. My ears slightly tilt towards my head in suspicion when I see Name look slightly troubled as he listens to Mirage growl something to him. His ears are flattened, and his tail is flopped down. That's unusual of him; he seems more of a type of cat who hides his emotions. Instead, he's showing them to everyone around him.

I watch Mirage and Name converse with each other for a couple of minutes before I get bored and look around for someone else to talk to. That's when Branch, Night, and Sky catch my eye. They're talking next to the entrance of the den all of us normally sleep. I think it would be good to know more about Branch's friends, and anyway, I have nothing else to do, so I stand up and walk towards them.

         On the way there, I slowly brush past Name and Mirage. That's when I manage to catch a quiet phrase from Mirage: "Although Forest doesn't have proper fighting skills, he's pretty clever, but.."

         I have no idea how I caught that sentence, and I almost stop walking, both from surprise of being mentioned by Mirage and curiosity of Name's response. At the same time, I have the logic that if I pause even for a second, they'll suspect that I'm listening to them, so I keep strolling near Branch and the others.

        Why are they even talking about me? Maybe they were discussing all of the cats I was with there, and I just happened to be walking past them while they were speaking about me. Whatever. All that matters is that I wasn't a complete failure in Mirage's eyes.

        But still, why were they talking about our fighting?

        I cut off my thoughts when I get to Branch, Night, and Sky. All three of them are chuckling about something just as I walk up to them. "Hey," I greet, acknowledging each of them with a twitch of my whiskers.

All three of them stop laughing abruptly and turn their heads to look at me. Night immediately flickers his gaze away from me and tilts his ears back shyly, while Sky nods her fluffy, white head to me in response to my greeting.

Branch jumps up as soon as his gaze meets mine. "Hey, Forest, I was wondering where you were!" he exclaims. He glances at Night and Sky and explains, "This is Forest. I've been talking to him while we were at training."

Sky's light blue gaze looks me over as she softly murmurs, "Oh. I'm Sky." She sits up and briefly looks away to lick her shoulder. After that, she glances at the shy cat besides her, who doesn't seem to be intent on speaking. "He's Night."

Night finally takes some courage to peek up at me with his head slightly bowed. "Hi," he whispers.

"Hey," I reply, starting to feel bad for him. I wonder if he was always like this, or if the terror of being transported to a new planet changed him.

My answer to that most likely comes when I hear Sky mutter to Night, "Are you okay? You don't have to be that shy. Forest is an earth cat too, just like us."

Night swallows and nods, suddenly interested in licking his chest fur. His long whiskers are positioned unusually close to his face at this moment, which seems to be another sign of his nervousness.

I open my mouth to ask him a question, something to make him more comfortable near me, when an annoyingly familiar voice yells, "Shut up, all of you bird-heads! Your leader has something to say!"

Immediately, the whole camp goes silent, so quiet that I can hear a distant breeze swoosh by. I'm starting to find it creepy how everyone automatically listens whenever Mirage tells them to be quiet. Maybe they all figured out themselves already that Mirage is a cold-blooded monster. After all, one can tell even from a distance that something about her is dangerous.

         I peer past Branch, who swivels around to look with flattened ears, and see Mirage and Name standing together. Their surroundings are dull; long, green grass and low humps of gray rock under a darkening, starless sky. However, Name stands with a puffed chest and glowing ice-blue eyes that attract all eyes toward his quiet pride, and Mirage looks like she's about to attack someone with her crouched posture, unsheathed claws, and alert gaze.

        "I wonder what both of them have in mind now," I mutter to Branch, Sky, and Night.

        As I continue to stare at the two cats everyone's attention is turned to, I hear a quiet but menacing command from Name: "Come closer."

        Cats bow their heads to him and murmur soft yes sirs as they frantically close the distance between them and him. I bow my head and say, "Yes, sir," along with the others, but I make my movement and voice as subtle as possible. Then, I take my time to slowly stroll up, letting the cats who want to kiss his furry butt scamper ahead of me.

        At first, Branch, Sky, and Night were keen to follow the others, but when they see what I'm doing, they hesitantly hold back.

       "What are you doing?" Branch sharply whispers as he comes to a halt. He glances at Sky's impatient gaze and motions for her to go on without him with his tail. She understands his silent message right away and drags Night with her.

        I'm actually not sure what I'm exactly doing, but it brings some satisfaction to the rebellious fire in my heart. After a few more steps of my painfully slow walking, I declare, "I've decided that cat can tell me what to do.."-I pause before finishing with a flick of my whiskers-"but I'll do what he says on my own time."

        Branch tilts his head, his eyes hinting at being a little surprised by what I just said. But then he blinks and raises his tail as he matches my pace. "Nice."

        Both of us are the last to arrive to the close-knit crowd of cats. Everyone had to wait a couple of seconds for us to get to them. Mirage and Name are both looking at me as I lock my gaze with both of their eyes, first Name's and then Mirage's.

        "Sorry, sir. Sorry, ma'am," I apologize to them. My tone is cheerful, maybe even a little too bright. I know my body language tells a different story though. I feel my ears being positioned towards my head and my stiff posture as I stand among the sitting cats. Even Branch is sitting now, but I find myself preferring to stay on my paws as I stare at them.

        "Sit down, Forest." Name's voice is cold and uninviting, ice gritting into my ears. I know right away he's smart enough to know what I'm doing. Another part of my plan is teaming up with Branch against him. Ever since Branch talked to me back at the battles with Mirage, I know I have him under my control now, more than Name.

        I'm very glad about that as I match his voice's chilling tone as best as I can. "Yes, sir," I state, slightly bowing my head to him as I settle down on the grass. My eyes never leave his, though.

        And his sinister eyes never stray from mine as he announces to everyone, "The following cats must come with Mirage to join the Earth-Superior army against the Enemies. Stand if you hear your name."

Name finally stops glaring at me as he announces some names I don't recognize. With every word he calls, a frightened cat pops out of his or her sitting position. My gaze wanders up to the blank, indigo sky as name after name is called. Of course I won't be called. My fighting skills are horrible.

But after about ten names are called, I am startled out of my mind when a simple, familiar word comes out of the leader's mouth.

"Forest."

~~~~~

Hello, thank you for reading Forest's Fate so far! Why do you think Name called Forest to fight against the rebels? The answer to that question will come within the next chapter or so.

If you enjoyed this chapter, be sure to vote, comment, and share. Thanks! 😀

~Midnight