I wake up in the middle of the night. I glance around, still in my sleeping position. It's unusual for me to have my sleep interrupted in the night, so I'm kind of surprised. A couple of days has passed since the attack of those rebels, and I've been thinking about them lately. They desire change, for the Superiors to stop forcing their rule over them. I understand what they're fighting for. This camp is like a mini-version of the way Gardinia works: the regular cats are overshadowed by the Superior Cats, who have powers and therefore think they're better than us. If only I can find a way out of this place. What if I can bribe Name?

I suddenly hear footsteps outside of our den. I usually sleep next to the entrance, so I can easily hear the sudden quiet voice that appears. "Mirage," the deep voice growls. I automatically register the voice as Name's.

        "Yes?" the other voice meows. It's obviously Mirage, although I didn't recognize it for a second because her voice is rather deep for a female. Why is she standing outside our den?

        Name whispers, "I already asked Snowflake to replace you, and she accepted." Replace her? I think Snowflake is that white cat who calmed down Mirage a few days ago.

"I told you," Mirage hisses, her voice getting a tone higher, "that my ability to fight will be no worse than before!" I hear a thud against the rock wall, and I wonder what's going on out there.

"Be quiet. Do you want anyone to eavesdrop on us?" Name growls again in a sinister, low voice. I can't resist a prideful, quiet purr that slips out of my throat. Little Name knows that someone is already doing that.

        "I don't care, Ice. I really don't care anymore. I just want my job back. I promise I'm no worse than before." Mirage's voice is getting louder, but I barely notice that right now. Ha, I finally know Name's actual name! The name Ice rings in my head for a second. I knew an Ice before, but where and when?

        My mind is so focused on why Ice sounds familiar that I miss what Name says in reply. Disappointment washes over me as I realize that it was an important one. Whatever he said seems to have silenced Mirage. I can barely hear her last words. "You are a true monster, Ice. I will never forgive you. Never." She accents the final word, and shortly after that, I hear her quick paw-steps as she runs away. I wonder where she has gone.

As I hear Name's footsteps gradually getting more distant until I can't hear them anymore, I think about Mirage. She recovered from the fight against the rebels. Well, she would be fully recovered if she had never lost her left eye in the battle. As for me, I have healed the best I could, which is just a scar on my side which I'm pretty sure is permanent. Yipee, thanks for that injury, Rebel Cat!

        My mind shifts over to who saved me from getting killed. Rebel Cat was definitely intent on killing me until someone came along to defend me. Letting out a sigh, I turn over to my other side and close my eyes. It was probably a stranger. Name would have just left me there to die, and I already knew from the start that Mirage hates me for some random reason. It might be possible that Stripe saved me, but to be honest, she doesn't really seem like the type of cat to fight and be aggressive with someone. Before I could think anymore, I fell into a restless sleep.

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        "Join the hunting patrol today, Forest."

       I glance at Name, slightly bowing to him. It still makes me want to puke to bow at him. Stupid rules. "Sure," I mutter under my breath, but realizing the rules again, I quickly corrected myself. "I mean, yes, sir." Name nodded and walks away without a word.

Well, actually, am I supposed to call him Name or Ice now that I have his real name? Maybe I should just call him Ice. Ugh, this cat is so complicated! Overcome with frustration, I flick my tail and stalk after the hunting patrol. We usually just take turns catching food twice a day, and since we have a lot of cats, each individual only gets to go occasionally. This is my first time in the hunting patrol because of that. I already can tell, though, that prey seems to be more abundant here in Gardinia. That's pretty much the only positive thing I can find about this stupid place.

Our group walks out into the moor. As we trek away from the camp, I take note of who is with me. There are ten cats total, including me, and I don't recognize anyone except Mirage. I didn't notice her before, but now from the back of the group, I can see her marching in the front. Even from behind her, I could tell that her stance looks proud and leader-like. If I never actually knew her, I would never know that she is half-blind until she turns around. For a moment, I feel a surge of pity for the cat. I can't imagine injuring someone that bad. Which of the rebel cats had been so cruel?

Our group suddenly stops. "Let's hunt around here," a gray tom meows to the group. I look around. This place isn't that special; it looks the same as everywhere else here. It's plain and dreary, but it's a fair distance from the camp- the prey feels safe enough this far from where we predators live- and anyway, we're not going to find anything better. The only tree I can see is really far away. There are no actual hills here, either. Just flat, flat ground.

No one objects, not even Mirage. Another cat, a white one with black, orange, and gray spots nods and says, "I volunteer to be the watcher." She has a high, squeaky voice.

"What's the watcher?" I mutter.

"Oh, right, you're new." The gray tom walks closer to me. "I'm Lightning," he quickly informs before explaining. "The watcher is the cat who stays here and makes sure no one gets lost. Also, when you catch a piece of prey, you take it over here so the watcher guards it. He or she counts the prey when everyone gets back to make sure we have all of the prey we need." I look into his amber eyes and nod. Lightning starts to turn away, but then, he looks at me again. "What's your name?"

        "Oh, I'm Forest."

       "Okay." Lightning walks a few steps away from me and shouts to the group, "Let's make it easy for Forest today! Would anyone object to one piece of prey per cat?"

        "Yes, I object!" Mirage finally speaks up, standing as she growls, "I'm sure Forest knows how to catch prey. Make it two per cat." She glares at me and sits back down.

        "Do you know how to catch prey?" a tiny white cat squeaks to me.

        "Yep. I guess I'll go with Little Miss Badass on that one," I say, and I clearly realize my mistake as I hear cats laugh.

        Whoops. I've been calling her that in my mind again lately, but I meant to say Mirage, not Little Miss Badass! I lick my chest fur, suddenly feeling hot, and stammer, "Um, no, I meant Mirage.." but everyone else is laughing so hard now that I can barely hear my voice.

       "Shut up, everyone!" Mirage's voice cuts through the group, and although it took a while for the silence, the cats eventually quieted down. But all of their tails were high in the air, and I know that they are fighting not to chuckle or call her Little Miss Badass. She stalks over to me and gets so close to my face that I can smell her breath and see the details of her scar. Wait, but are those swirls in the iris of her eye? "What did you just call me?" she snarls in a menacing, deep voice.

        "I'm sorry, but I don't know your name yet," I lie, trying to keep as cool as possible. "I just called you that in my mind because I... like the way you handled the cats when you trained us to fight. I miss you as our trainer and I didn't mean to have that slip out of my mouth." Please believe me. Please believe me. Please believe me.

        Mirage narrows her eye at me before hissing, "Fine, but never call me that again. My name is Mirage, not whatever that was. If you call me that ever again, I will tear you to shreds. Do you understand?" It's so silent that I can hear birds chirp from miles away. I gulp and nod. She backs away from me and spins to the hunting patrol. I quietly sigh in relief and loosen my muscles, aware that every single one of them was stiff the entire time.

       "We're doing two pieces of prey per cat. Debate finished. Start hunting." With that, Mirage pads away as if nothing happened.

As I walk away to begin my hunt, I realize something about her. When she got close to me, I noticed the swirls in her eye that were a deeper shade than her actual eye color. Name has the same thing in his eyes, and I'm completely sure that Earth cats don't have that. That must mean that Mirage always lived in Gardinia.

I wonder if she's a Superior cat, and I have the sudden urge to go ask her, but I know that she will probably yell at me if I do that.

        Getting along with Mirage is going to be harder than I thought.
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