Panic blossoms in my heart as I see Name standing in front of Mirage and Rain. His head is turned towards them. Luckily, I had backed away far enough before that now, Name has to almost look behind him in order to see me.

        No, I can't give up that easily. My memories are too precious for that. I need to escape somehow.

         I faintly hear Mirage say, "I found an intruder, Ice."

        Time is running out, second by second. If he turns his head even sideways and sees me out of the corner of his eye, then I'm dead. If only the sky was completely black like on Earth, then maybe I can stand a chance by hiding in the shadows. Unfortunately, Gardinia's indigo sky at night doesn't have much shelter. I can't handle trying to stay out here, anyway. I need to hide.

        But wait. To my right, there are the rocks that form the dens from inside the camp. What if I..

No time to think. Name is distracted, so I have to move now. My legs move on their own; they dart towards the back of the dens on my right.

        In reality, it is a short distance from here to there, but in the midst of my ever-growing fear growing in my chest, it feels like an eternity. I hear my paws pitter-patter on the ground as I flee with my tail between my legs. My breath comes out in short and quick gasps as my heart repeatedly slams in my chest like there's a bird stuck in there that wants to escape. I can't think, I can't speak, I can't scream. I need to hide before Name catches me.

        Finally, I make it behind the camp. My body presses to the chilly stone wall of one of the dens as I attempt to settle my pounding heart.

        Except that there is no calm behind there.

        Shortly after I stop running, I hear Name's voice. "Who is there?" he calls.

        My whole body freezes. My eyes feel like moons as they widen. My head slowly turns toward the voice.

        "What?" I hear Mirage hiss to Name. "We're the only ones here. There is no one-"

        "Yes, I saw someone run," Name growls. "and I think I know who that cat is."

        No, no, no. Stupid me. What was I thinking? I should have stayed there instead of making this horrendous mistake! I want to scream and I want to run for my life and I want to die and I want to go home. But no. My paws stay put in the ground. I hear his paw-steps. He's coming. Shock runs up and down my body. What am I supposed to do?

        "No!" Mirage yells at him. "I'll check who it is. You can stay here."

        I hear his footsteps pause for a moment. I stay halted in place.

        "No," he growls back. "I must handle this myself. You are going to help me administer the blue-leaf to him anyway after I get him."

       The blue-leaf. Another mixture of pure fear, dread, and shock overcomes me. Finally, I can somewhat move, but my legs feel like boulders and my body is uncontrollably shivering for some strange reason.

        Even though I've been expecting it, I jump as I see his figure appear a few feet away from me. His blue eyes glow yellow in the darkness as he narrows them at me.

        "I knew it all along," he says. "It is you who keeps making trouble."

        My heart is turned to ice. Suddenly, I turn around and start to flee. I don't care where I go at this point- anywhere that keeps me away from this monster is a good place.

        But he's too fast for me. A few seconds later, my legs painfully splay out as a weight crushes my back.

It's over. I knew I would eventually fall victim to the blue-leaf.

"Mirage," Name commands in a monotone voice, "go find a patch of blue-leaves and get one."

There is silence. Strangely, I can't hear any paw-steps. I shut my eyes. Maybe I could burst out of his grip and attempt to escape, but a weariness overcomes me, a weariness that confirms that I have surrendered. Besides, where would I go even if I managed to get away from him? He would just capture me again.

"Mirage." There is a faint hint of surprise in Name's voice. "Why are you hesitating?"

Still silence. I hold my breath. He's right. Why is Mirage hesitating?

"Aww.." Rain's voice echoes throughout the field. "Come on, Mirage. Don't you want to get the blue-leaf, or do you just like that cat too much? I can see why you like him. He looks a lot like-"

Mirage interrupts her with a loud, "Fine." Shortly afterwards, the sound of swift paws start to lightly run away.

My muscles tighten as Name's grip suddenly tightens on me. He mutters, "He does look like him.."

"Look like who?" I blurt, followed by a sharp meow that slips out of my mouth as claws rake my back. My eyes open for a moment before closing again.

"Do you know what?" Rain meows. There is a moment of quiet. Then, my fur bristles as Name falls off of me. A slight wind drifts over me as Rain leaps over my body and goes between Name and me. "I think it would be best if this cat joined forces with me and my rebels. He would make a great member."

What in the world? We just met, and now this cat wants to save me? As a second thought, though, being a rebel sounds nice. It's better than what I'm facing here.

Name hisses, "No. He is getting his memory erased, and he is coming with me."

My eyes flutter open again as I stiffly rise to my paws. I flinch at the flaming pain from the deep wound that Name gave me. However, some fire comes back to my heart and brings me back to life. "No," I croak to Name. "I'm not getting my memory erased, and I'm not coming with you."

"Yes, you are." Name narrows his eyes at me as he stalks near me, ready to pounce. "And you will be next, Rain."

Rain looks relaxed as her tail gently waves in the air. She sits down in front of me, looking unruffled at Name's threats. "I'd like you to try," she snorts.

I see Mirage walk back toward us from afar with a wrapped green plant in her mouth. My fate is inside that green plant. But wait, no, that's not going to be my fate. My chest puffs out at Name and Mirage as I think about that.

        Mirage glares at Rain as she approaches us. "What do you think you are doing?" she snarls.

       "I want this cat," Rain meows. She glances at me, and as she does, I see a twinkle of cleverness in her eyes. Questions flicker across my mind. What is she exactly planning, and why does she want me?

         After glancing at me, Rain looks back at Mirage and Name and continues, "You know, Ice, maybe you should have a talk with Mirage over here about why she shouldn't be putting young males like him in danger by meeting with them outside of the camp in the night. Surely you must have known that was happening!"

        "What?" The outrage and denial in Mirage's eyes is clear. Her ears press down flat on her head. "I have nothing to do with this. It's Forest's fault that he has been following me outside of the camp, and therefore, he must be punished. Case over!" She glares at Rain with a huge amount of intensity. "Besides, you can't say anything, Rainfall, because you're not even supposed to be here."

Rain narrows her eyes at Mirage. "But you're still lying, because I saw you willingly be with him. I have the right to-"

"That is enough." All three of us look at Name as he gives a cold, icy stare at both Mirage and Rain, one at a time. "Forest is still responsible for being out here. I have suspected him of being too rebellious before this happened, anyway. First, we punish him. Then, we should talk about this."

        "I don't want to be punished," I protest, backing away from everyone. My tail is furiously lashing back and forth. What am I supposed to do?

        "In Gardinia, we do not care about what you want," Name growls, stalking toward me. He gestures to Mirage, and she comes forward with the covered leaf, this time without hesitation. "You listen to the Superior cats. They are destined to be the true leaders, unlike the puny and weak normal cats. Do you not know that already, Forest? Are you that shallow?"

        Mirage is coming closer to me. She is less than three tail-lengths away from me. Her eye shows no emotion. I keep backing up. For some reason, raw betrayal tears through my heart. Aren't we supposed to be companions? Why does this difference between us cut so deeply that we can't be together?

       "I'm sorry, but I don't believe in that. Nobody is superior to anyone else," I say. My voice is shaky, quiet, unsteady.

         Nobody answers me. Rain is not following me. Now, she is still seated and observing me with her head tilted.

         "And.." I stop walking backwards. "The truth is that I like you, Mirage. I really do. I want to know you more, and I wish this whole war wasn't happening so that I could."

        Mirage, still carrying the leaf, halts right in front of me. Her eye widens for a split second, overcome by an emotion. Shock? Fear? Whatever it is, she blinks her eye, and it disappears. She whispers a single word. "No."

         And then she tackles me to the ground while unwrapping the green leaf with her mouth. The blue-leaf falls out.

        After that, all that I can say is that chaos happens. My head repeatedly gets slammed into the ground by multiple cats. I can't get up- everyone keeps holding me down. Claws scratch and sting me, and at one point, someone attempts to shove the blue-leaf in my mouth. I resist. I screech to the indigo night sky, hoping for someone, anyone, to save me from this situation. But no one answers.

        I get so confused that I don't even know if I actually end up swallowing the blue-leaf or not. Either way, maybe the effect of the drug took over me, or maybe my head gets slammed down into the ground too hard, but the darkness eventually overcomes me.