Enemies and Friends



 Ene mi es an d F ri en ds

Episode Two, Season One, of Beauty.

Enjoy <3

Enemies and Friends
"Come on, let's go!" The instructor, Blossomflecks snaps, "The faster you get out of your nests, the faster we can end the day." Her amber gaze is cold.

"Coming," a pretty-aren't they all?-she-cat mews peppery, "We'll be there in a few mouse-tails!"

Flarepaw is the aforementioned cat, who loves to please the instructors. My first night here and she has already proven to be annoying. As Redstar's daughter, nothing she does (if she does anything wrong bad) is wrong. She's easily a gorgeous she-cat, but Snowpaw says I look prettier.

The she-cat starts waking up the rest of us, "Come on! We have to beat the toms, don't be lazy!" She pushes me in front, "Lead the way, er, she-cat!" She smiles at me sheepishly, which only makes me grit my teeth even more.

"My name's Amberpaw," I snap back, "And I don't know where we're going."

"Didn't pay attention to the tour yesterday?" Flarepaw's sharp green gaze snaps back to me, "Well, you're never going to pass your initiation like that!"

I hate her already.

Even with a pleasant smile always plastered on her face, Flarepaw is a stuck-up brat who only cares about herself and her group of snotty she-cats.

I wish Brownpaw is here.

Finally, after some arguments and some shouting, all the she-cats are gathered down at the "Hollow". Blossomflecks glares at Flarepaw, "What happened to 'be there in a few mouse-tails'?" she smirks, "The toms beat you."

Flarepaw smiles sweetly to Blossomflecks, "We would have been on time if a few apprentices were so slow." She flashes me a glare, "The new flow of apprentices is useless." Her gaze returns to Blossomflecks, simple and sweet.

The instructor returns the smile, though it is fake. She then addresses the cats, "Today, for most of you is your first day. Do not be afraid to ask questions, and don't be afraid to talk back," Blossomflecks purrs without mirth, "You'll need to practice talking back to the poor."

She talks on about how the toms and she-cats are training separately, and will not have to compete against each other when initiations were over. Any initiates who fails would drop out and join the poor.

The cats that do make it through are safe and will continue their training until they become warriors. The rest depends on whether or not you follow Beauty rules.

"She-cats, your training area is in the Sandy Hollow today, and the toms in the Stone Hollow." The tom named Blackstripe mews sternly, "Head out."

I follow Snowpaw out, a she-cat named Rainpaw at my side. Snowpaw knows the young gray she-cat, and both despise Flarepaw. Guess we all have something in common. I hope Brownpaw is getting some friends in the toms' group. I don't want him to be all alone over there.

The Sandy Hollow is huge. The floor is covered in layers of soft sand (hence the name), and barely any obstacles are blocking the way.

"In the Sandy Hollow, you are taught to fight and spar in an open battle field. This is where you learn all your basic moves on how to learn how to spar." Flowerbeam, another instructor explains, "Older apprentices, pair up and head to the back and start practicing. Newer apprentices, pair up and show me what you got."

Flarepaw brushes by me and whispers, "Enjoy your lessons, punks." Her overwhelming sweet scent washes over me and I gag. Rainpaw snorts while Snowpaw rolls her eyes.

Snowpaw decides to be my pair while Rainpaw pairs with a light brown she-cat described to be Finchpaw. Snowpaw attacks first, moving faster than I had anticipated. I manage to roll aside and flip forward, kicking Snowpaw back. She narrows her eyes and begins to circle me, obviously more cautious.

"Impressive," Flowerbeam praises as Blossomflecks guides the older apprentices through their drills.

Snowpaw lunges again, this time catching me off guard. I tumble back to take the blow, and Snowpaw rolls with me. I manage to pin her down, and Flowerbeam nods to me, "That's good, find another partner who has beaten theirs."

It turns out Rainpaw managed to win against the light brown she-cat, so I face off with her. She's easily an agile cat, and her slim form proves to be a lot stronger than I had earlier assumed.

Her sharp blue eyes glimmers with intelligence and she seems to be calculating my every move. She feints to the left and I fall for it, dodging to the right, where I feel her claws rake against my pelt. "Use your claws!" I hear Flowerbeam holler, and Rainpaw unsheathes her claws in time to rake my flank.

I let out a short hiss of pain. I’m not used to feeling pain often. One time, I had tripped and scraped my pelt while playing with Brownpaw, and it stung like fire. I had cried and Brownpaw had treated me. Brownpaw... that tom works miracles.

Another wave of pain jolts me out of my memories.

I grit my teeth and lunge for Rainpaw, determined to rise to the top. Rainpaw sees it coming, but doesn't react fast enough. She tumbles backwards, and then groans in pain.

After a couple more minutes of sparring, Flowerbeam yowls, "Alright, that's enough!" She seemes proud of all of us, "Go get something to eat."

Snowpaw purrs in delight as we pad out, "Finally, I'm hungry!" She darts ahead, and I purr, chasing her. Rainpaw follows in a more dignified way, though she looks just as excited to be taking a break.

We reach the she-cat camp quickly, and just as I reach for a thrush, someone pushes me aside. "You never choose prey first," the sweet voice of Flarepaw purrs, "We do." She and her gang huddles around the prey-pile and Flarepaw smirks as she picked up the thrush I was going to eat.

One of Flarepaw's she-cats whispers in my ear, "You better watch where you trod, Amberpaw." I glare back at her, who happened to be Larkpaw.

When they finally finished scouring the prey-pile, I plod forward. Snowpaw shoots them a dirty look, and Rainpaw mumbles, "They must have caught all this before we came."

I shrugs, "Doesn't excuse their attitude."

"Aren't all Beauty cats snobby?" Snowpaw snorts.

Rainpaw glances nervously over her shoulder, and Snowpaw rolls her eyes, "Relax," she sighs, "Nobody would care."

I pick up one of the leftover fish-StarClan I hated the slippery things-and try to gag it down. Rainpaw wrinkles her nose at a skinny mouse and picks up a trout. Snowpaw sighs and picks up another piece and we join some older apprentices away from Flarepaw.

"Newbies?" A ginger she-cat glares at us.

"Whatever you want to call us." I snap back, settling myself down.

The she-cat snorted, "Fiesty," she smirks, "I'm Gingerpaw, and this group behind me pretty much hates Flarepaw and her five goons."

"Nice to know we're not alone in the world," Snowpaw remarks.

I start on my fish, and Snowpaw glares down at her prey, "Who eats fish?" She sighs and takes a small bite out of the fish.

Gingerpaw smiles slightly, "The poor do," she rolls her eyes as I stiffen, "Relax, newbie, I don't hate the poor, but Flarepaw does, and she hunts fish so the unlucky ones have to eat them."

Rainpaw doesn't make a comment and looks quite content with her fish. I sigh and dig into the fish, wrinkling my nose as I do. It’s a wonder how Brownpaw manages to eat this stuff.

"You know," Snowpaw murmurs as she finishes her fish and begins to groom her fur, "I'd say no matter what happens here, cats are still going to hate the poor, despite everything they say about equality."

Silently, I agree with her. There is no way the Beauty cats will stop ignoring the poor. It’s a fact, and there is only one way to change that.

One of Gingerpaw's friends, Cherrypaw mews, "The division among the Beauty and the poor is too deep. There's no real solution to the problem anymore."

I think back to how Brownpaw had been scorned at the Beauty ceremony, and then to the instructors' words about every cat being equal now.

That explains what Redstar was doing at the poor section. I think, remembering how she had spotted Brownpaw and I. ''She must have been recruiting poor cats. But there must be some kind of reason why she recruits the poor.''

Gingerpaw yawns, "Well, I'm going to take a nap. It's our free time, so you can go visit the toms if you want."

I stand up and glance over at Snowpaw, "I'm going to see if Brownpaw's around. You coming?" I turn to Rainpaw and add, "You can meet Brownpaw too."

They both agree to come and we bid Gingerpaw and her group-our group now I guess-goodbye and head towards the toms' camp. Before we even get out of the she-cats' camp, a group of toms comse in.

"Brownpaw!" I exclaim.

The brown tom in the front looks up and purrs, "Amberpaw!"

Always thinking about his friends first. Brownpaw must have heard that he could visit the she-cats and rushed here first.

"How are you?" I ask.

Brownpaw looks completely relaxed, "Fine," he smiles, "Meet Hawkpaw and Lionpaw."

I exchange friendly nods with the two toms and so do Snowpaw and Rainpaw. "Snowpaw wanted to say hi," I flicks my tail at the white she-cat, "And-"

"I'm Rainpaw." The gray she-cat cuts in. She is staring at Hawkpaw, who is glancing back at her.

Brownpaw mews his greetings then leans forward and whispers, "Do you want to have a private talk?"

Snowpaw hears and scoots towards Lionpaw and starts an awkward but friendly conversation. Brownpaw lays his tail on my flank and leads me out of camp.

When we are a good distance away from the she-cats' camp, Brownpaw stops and turns to me. "Something's bothering you," he stares at me with those luminous yellow eyes, "What's wrong?" Genuine concern shows in his eyes.

I breathe in sharply, "It's the Beauty System." I admit.

"The System?" Brownpaw echoes in surprise, "What about it? Isn't it everything as you learned?" There is a deep emotion attached to his words. Jealousy? Sarcasm? Envy?

"It's not what I've learned!" I exclaim, "They say the divisions between the Beauty and the poor don't exist anymore, but they do!" I take a deep breath, "There's something suspicious about why Redstar was in the poor that day, Brownpaw. I want to figure out what it is."

The brown tom frowns and closes his eyes, "I've been thinking about that too."

"Have you figured it out?"

Brownpaw opens his eyes and begins to walk down the path, "What have you been up to today, Amberpaw?"

I blink, "Nothing much," I admit, "Though I've noticed that Flarepaw's bent on ruining my life." I shoot a glare over my shoulder.

Brownpaw stops and turns slightly. "Flarepaw?" he arches an eyebrow, "Redstar's daughter?" I nod and Brownpaw strides over to me and mews, "You be careful, Amberpaw."

The way he leans over to me makes my heart leap with joy. "I will," I breathe out. I could feel his breath on my cheek now, and I close my eyes, craving for his scent. When he doesn't come closer, I let out a sigh of disappointment.

As he pulls away, I frown, "You didn't answer the question."

Brownpaw blinks. "What question?"

I hold his gaze. He’s purposely avoiding the question. "You have, haven't you?" He doesn't react, so I push on, "And you don't want me to know." The last part comes out blunt.

The brown tom looks away, "I don't want to talk about that, Amberpaw."

I bite my lip, "Why not? We used to tell each other everything. What makes you hesitate now?" My heart pounds harder. Had Brownpaw found something that would affect me so badly?

"Some things have to stay a secret, Amberpaw." Brownpaw sighs, "Do you really want to know?"

I nod without hesitating.

Brownpaw bites his lip then looks me straight in the eye, "Redstar was at the poor because she was looking for hard workers. Cats she could turn against the poor with. She wants to ruin the poor from the inside out. She's also sending Beauty cats to the poor to murder them. She's a monster, Amberpaw, and this whole system is just trying to get rid of the cats Redstar doesn't like: the poor."

The End.