Forest's Fate

Chapter 15

"So, Forest," Branch says after today's fighting test, "how did you do?"

Interestingly enough, I am standing in the same place where I met with Mirage last night. Branch and I are sitting with our backs to the gray rocks of one of the dens.

I stare at up at the plain light gray sky as I reply, "Horribly. Like usual." I turn my face towards him. "What about you?"

"Oh, nothing special," Branch meows with a flick of his tail.

I am automatically shocked by his response. Almost jumping to my paws, I respond, "What? Nothing special? You bird-head, I saw you almost beat Snowflake. And you're not even a Superior!" I snort at him.

"Well, that's because she's not allowed to use her power, whatever it might be! That would be unfair, don't you think?" Branch's whiskers spread out in amusement. "Besides, I wasn't that good."

"Yes, you were!" I interject. My voice lowers as I add, "You know, maybe you should be a little more careful if you don't want to get put in the Army."

A unsettled feeling rises in my chest as I see Branch's ears flatten to his head. "What?" he meows loudly. "Why wouldn't I want to get put in the Army? That would be cool."

Oh, great. The unsettled feeling changes to a frantic panic. I forgot that he's like the others- brainwashed into thinking that the Superiors are the best. To save myself, I stammer, "Uh, well, I meant, don't get yourself put into the Army yet until I get better at fighting. Haha, yeah, don't leave me behind, bird-head!"

Branch still looks a little offended with his twitching tail and ears slightly flattened, but whether he agrees with me or not, he plays along. "Oh, yeah, right! I get that. Wouldn't want to do that to you, poor thing," he teases.

After a few seconds of silence, Branch changes the subject. "By the way," he says with a twinkle in his eyes, "I'm noticing that you're using the word bird-head much more often. Why do you think that is?"

"Why are you so interested about that?" I flick my tail as I hear Mirage's voice in the distance calling for everyone to get back into the camp because the tests are over.

Branch and I stand up at the same time as he sneakily responds, "Just curious, but I'm pretty sure I know the answer." He wiggles his whiskers as he points his tail in Mirage's direction before he turns and runs towards the camp entrance.

"Get back here!" I shout and bolt after him, understanding what he means right away. "Honestly, Branch, why are you so weird?"

Branch is hysterically purring with laughter as we halt when we reach the middle of the camp. "Come on, you know it's true. I see you with her all the time. You even started to use her vocabulary!"

"You're wrong," I pant, "I'm never with her!"

Branch purrs, "Sure, keep telling yourself that. You two would make a cute couple." Just then, I see a devilish glint in his eyes before he walks away.

Ugh, first Stripe, now him. Why am I always the target for this particular type of drama? Sure, Mirage is pretty interesting, but I'm just not her type of cat. Besides, I really just want to get back to Earth and live my normal life again, not stay in Gardinia to maintain a romance that will probably not last.

I pause to make sure Branch is not heading to Mirage to do a love confession for me. Luckily, he's going the opposite direction, towards Night and Sky. Maybe it's to spread the rumor about my crush on Mirage, judging on his tail, which is shooting straight up in the air. I should stop it. I don't even have a crush on her.