Chapter Six

Ember and Ivy

(Gaia's POV)

I raked the dummy that stood in the center of my car with my metal claw.

That's my daily routine. Wake up, rake dummy with claws while screaming at it, go out, eat breakfast, train with magic, eat lunch, go outside and explore, train with magic, spy on the Jellicles, eat dinner, rake dummy some more, and sleep. That's it pretty much...everyday. Oh, and sometimes I do my very...secret business. Business...yes, let's call it that.

I think I'm the least social cat on the earth.

My titanium claws cut giant gashes in the dummy's canvas skin. It was basically a pile of stuffing by then, but I still went rageful beast on it.

I thought of the cat I had attacked last night. Had I done the right thing? Macavity was my father...the only one who cares about me…

Besides one other cat, that is. He loves me for who I am...and doesn't care that I'm a magic cat. Unlike others, he's not scared.

When I met him, I thought of how most people reacted when they saw me walking down the street. They walked away, veering off in the other direction. Everyone saw me as a flea-ridden stray cat they didn't want their kittens going near. But when he looked into my eyes, he said three words that changed my life.

oOoOoOo

I walked down the London sidewalk,creeping through the moonlit night. I growled, about to pounce on any creature that crossed my path. When one did, I was surprised.

It was a tom. He had black stripes on pure orange fur. His blue eyes met mine, and he jumped back.

"Sorry!" He cried. "I didn't mean to get in your way!" He then started to walk the other way. But then he stopped.

"Are you part of a tribe?" He asked. I shook my head. "Why?" He asked. Why did this tom have to ask so many questions.

"I left my Jellicle tribe." I answered. "I went after a group of Pekes that killed my parents, and was taken to the pound. As you can see, I think I lost the fight." I said, gesturing at my eye with my missing paw. He nodded.

"You must hate Pekes." He said. I nodded.

"Of course I do! They killed my only family!" I shouted.

He nodded. "I grew up in my tribe. I would feel so bad if my family was killed. Especially sis."

"Why'd you asked about my tribe?" I asked, suddenly curious.

He shrugged. "The Jellicle Ball is tonight...you can come back to my tribe." He glanced up at the sky. A full, bluish purple round moon hung up there, like it was a marionette confined to its strings, to play a puppet for children.

"I suppose that they would be singing about me by now, if I was back at my tribe." I said longingly.

"You get your own song?" He said. "Why do you get your own song? You're the creepy cat?" He asked jokingly.

"Haha." I said. "No. I'm a magic cat."

He looked surprised. "Really? I thought our tribe had the only one. Well, except for this really evil cat who likes terrorizing us." He shrugged. "He honestly doesn't count though."

He pawed at the ground. "Hey...this might be embarrassing...but can we see each other again?" He asked.

I giggled. "That is embarrassing. What's your name?" He looked around as if someone was watching.

"How about we make up names, so that nobody finds out it's us." I nodded. "In that case, my name is Ivy." I replied.

"Ember." He told me.

oOoOoOo

We've kind of been friends ever since.

'You're a little more than friends, Gaia.' I said to myself. I scratched the dummy, thinking about him.

I feel like Macavity might be the cat who terrorizes their tribe. He has always been a bit scary and evil. But I could never summon the courage to admit to Ember that Macavity was my father. I could also never tell him how I truly felt about him. That would be super weird and awkward.

I was going to meet Ember again today. Early. I had to get myself ready. I looked into the small mirror I kept in my room. It's supposed to be mirror you can keep in your makeup bag, but it's a wall mirror for me. I looked into it, and fluffed my fur a bit more. I grabbed a giant lipstick tube and picked up a fingerful, and dabbed it onto my lips.

I ran over to the door, ready to go meet my friend.

oOoOoOo

We went to our usual meeting place-someplace outside of one of those fancy mansions. I leapt on top of a stone fountain that spurted out crystal clear water. A person walked out of a giant white house, and avoided me on his way out the door. I snarled, and he ran quicker to my amusement.

Maybe I should wash myself off a bit, I thought. I leaned down to wash my face off a bit. Until I fell into the clean water. I climbed quickly out of the freezing cold liquid. It felt like a bunch of biting little termites or something gross like that.

"Wow." said Ember, who was standing right behind me. He was chuckling. "You looked so ridiculous right now. Your lipstick is all over your face."

"Why do we have to meet here all the time anyways?" I asked.

"Well, my owners live here, and I always go here to do...stuff, so yeah, it's just very convenient." He had a bag slung over his left shoulder.

"What's that?" I asked. He looked at it.

"Oh, just a little something I got for you." He reached into it and pulled out a beautiful sapphire bracelet. It was made of pure silver, with large blue gems. It also had rubies interwoven into the metal. It was the size of a necklace for me. I slipped it on, over my chain that I always wore around my neck.

"Oh, Ember, it's the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen." I looked into his big, dark, ocean blue eyes. "Except for you of course." He blushed. His red face brought out the orange and white stripes in his fur, like an orange creamsicle popsicle. I love those. He got part of one for us once. You just have to use the kitten eyes, and you get whatever you want.

Suddenly, we heard something from inside one of the houses. "Mummy! Mummy, I can't find my bracelet! Where is it?!" We heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Oh honey, I think it was that cat again!" said the young girl's mother. Me and Ember gazed at each other, and then we laughed.

"You stole it from her?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I'm good at stealing."

I sat down next to him on the side of the stone fountain. "Thank you." I said.

This is your chance Gaia. I thought. You can do this.

And I did.

I leaned over and hugged Ember. "I love you." I said.

Butterflies flew up into my stomach. I felt suddenly extremely giddy and excited.

But then he sprung the worst news ever.

"Ivy?" He asked, suddenly not his usual happy, excited self. He had a somber look on his face.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Did-did you attack someone last night? On top of a refrigerator?" He asked.

Dead silence.

"Because...my father went out looking for a friend last night. He-he was attacked by a magic cat with one paw and one eye." He turned to me. "That was a very specific description."

I swallowed a lump in my throat. "There could be other cats in London with magic powers with only one eye and only one arm." But he must have known.

He shook his head. "Ivy, I know it was you." I felt like sobbing.

"I-I didn't know, okay! If it was any other cat in London, it wouldn't make a difference! My-my father sent me to go out and attack him! He was an intruder on our home! I didn't have a choice, you don't even know what my father would do to me if I didn't do it!" I sobbed into my knees, tears running down my face. "I'm sorry Ember, I'm so sorry!"

Ember pulled me into a hug. "Should I go talk to my dad about this or something?" I shook my head.

"No! You might get in trouble for being friends with me! Remember, we agreed to keep this a secret!" He remembered his promise to me, and nodded.

"Okay. I have to go back home to check on him though." I nodded, agreeing with him.

"Ivy?" He asked as I started to walk away. He smiled. "I love you, too."

A/N

That was kind of a short one, but it was cute! And fun to write a romance! I love adding in fun little easter egg romances!

Bye! Need to work on chapter seven! That's the one where Misto will properly meet his rebel sister, Calypso! (But maybe rebelling is a good thing...DUN DUN DUN!) Critique as much as you like, just don't swear or say anything inappropriate. This fanfic is the opposite of gas station bathrooms-clean!

That's it for now, see you next time!

Sayonara (Goodbye)!

-Luna