Dovewing

I stared down at my schedule, almost in disgust. Of course, I had to have all of my academics in the morning and training in the afternoon. Because why not? Why not have the students suffer heatstroke by sparring and climbing trees and shooting weapons in the dead of summer?

"Do they have any fashion courses?" I whined to Ivypool. My sister looked up at her schedule, her lip curled, shaking her head.

"I'm genuinely surprised you managed to survive this far," Ivy mused, wiggling her eyebrows. My mouth fell agape.

"How dare you? You're my twin!"

"And you're my competition," she retorted and stood up. I watched her stride out of the dorm in her combat boots and leather jacket, her silver ponytail swaying.

"What did you get?" I snorted to Honeyleaf, who sniffed.

"I'm not going to tell you if you act that way!" she cried and stormed off. I snarled at her back and shook my head. That girl will never survive the real World.

I glanced up after surveying my schedule once more and saw Lily - Lilyfrost about to leave the dorm. Her long brown hair was tied up in a messy bun atop her head, with major flyways in her eyes and tons of strands out of place. I felt the urge to get up and go fix it, but then I remembered. "I killed someone."

With a shudder, I stood and hurried over to Cindy, who was shouldering her bag.

"Cindy," I began cautiously, eyeing Lilyfrost. "What do you think of Lilyfrost?"

"Lilyfrost?" Cindy echoed, glancing over at her friend. "What about her?"

"I didn't ask you to give me a report, I just asked you to tell me what you think of her!" I hissed. Cindy's eyes grew wide.

"Why?"

"'Cause she's a killer! And killers must be dealt with," I finished slowly. A smile began creeping across my face. Cindy took a step back.

"Dove, stop that. Stop that right now. She's our friend."

"There are no friends, Cindy," I snapped. Cindy rolled her eyes.

"I just saw you arguing with Ivy about that, but you were the one who was saying you were sisters and friends and all that. Stop being such a hypocrite. And besides, we're friends, right?" My shoulders slumped.

"You could say," I muttered. Cindy nodded satisfactorily.

"Yes. Now, what do you mean she's a killer? I mean, we're all going to be killers one day…"

"But she killed one of our own!" I cried, throwing my hands up in exasperation. "And she has a secret. I can tell. Something bigger than what she's letting on. And I intend to find out."

"Okay. Sure. Alright, Dove. You do that. Now come on. It's our first day, and I really don't want to be killed before prom."

"Hmph!" I said and walked off to History.

Foxleap

I had my first class with none other than Lilyfrost - maybe Lilyheart, who knows. Apparently, we all had academics in the morning - I had History first, and so did she. After that fateful night when she had her confession… dun dun DUUUUNNNN.

She was not letting on as much as she could.

I mean, don't get me wrong - everyone has secrets. But to kill before being an Elite? That's some major stuff.

"Hey," I said breathlessly, matching my stride with her's. She glanced over at me, her blue eyes piercing my own.

"Hey," she replied, and a faint smile appeared on her lips, then disappeared quickly. "I'm sorry about last night." I waved my hand, pretending to bat the matter away.

"Don't worry about it. We all have secrets, right?" Some secrets are bigger than others. "What's your first class?" I asked after a few awkward moments. Of course, I knew what it was, but I wanted to make small talk. I'm nice, that way.

"History," Lilyfrost answered simply, without looking back at me. She was walking faster than me - which was strange, 'cause she was smaller. I'm one of the taller kids - not really tall, but tallish. Tallish and scrawny, with orange hair messily rising over my forehead in a short point. But I was taller than Lily, almost towering over her, and so naturally I felt uncomfortable when a little girl - and let me remind you, she was younger - was faster than me.

"Same!" I exclaimed with mock surprise. "OMS! We have so much in common!" I added, switching to my feminine girly voice, and I pretended to flip my hair. Lily looked back at me, eyes rolling, but I spotted the faintest of faintest of smiles. Good. Earn her trust.

Lilyfrost

I didn't know what Foxleap was playing at but I couldn't concentrate on him, so I left the kid babbling on about skittles as we entered the Classroom. It looked ordinary - desks, pairs at a time, in four straight rows. The teacher's hardwood desk was in the front complete with a computer, some pencil holders, some pens, some paper, and a stack of textbooks. Actually, all of the desks had a stack of four textbooks, their binds ripping and worn, resting on their surfaces. A young, golden-haired man was writing on the chalkboard - an old relic I hadn't seen in ages. I didn't even know they still made those.

"Welcome, students," the man said, and turned around. I bit back a gasp as I realized who it was - the Soldier killed that boy the other day. Was he a professor and a Soldier? I knew they had those, but... "Stand in the back of the room and I will call out whose seat is whose."

"A seating chart?" a ginger-haired girl mumbled. "We're not Elementaries anymore." My head jerked to the side to look at her - she was a Wind. Were the Wings now having classes together?

"Heathertail and Breezepelt," the teacher droned on. "Dovewing and Berrynose. Mousewhisker and Cherryfall." I bit my lip, his voice lulling me to sleep until he called my name. "Lilyfrost and Foxleap."

Next to me, Foxleap drew in a sharp intake of breath and I scurried to my seat, cheeks burning. Of course, I was sitting next to Foxleap, across from Dovewing. Foxleap nudged me, grinning, and slid out of his seat onto the floor, where he proceeded to crawl on his hands and knees to the teacher's desk. There, wiggling his eyebrows at the watching teenagers across the room, he carefully placed four pins facing up onto the seat. I scowled and stood, creeping up behind him.

"If you're going to prank him, do it right," I growled, then carefully opened one of his drawers. There. A can of disinfectant, and a spray bottle full of water. "Every old person has one," I whispered to Foxleap. He nodded, his grin wider than ever. I sprayed the ground under the wheely chair and tied a string on the bottom pipe that held the seat and tied the other end to a loose drawer. Then I grabbed the teacher's books from his desk and placed them in the drawer, with a sticky that read you're welcome.

We hurried to our seats again, with students staring at us, their cheeks bulging with hidden laughter, and waited stone-faced for the teacher to finish. He cleared his throat and made his way back to the front.

"My name is Thornclaw, and you will call me Professor Thornclaw. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Professor Thornclaw," we said in reply. He nodded.

"Perfect. Now, turn to page 105 in textbook - wait," he hesitated, glancing his desk for the books that weren't there. "Where did they go?"

There was an incoherent snicker from someone in the back of the room, and I glanced at Foxleap, who was staring in shock and anger at the empty desk.

"They were on your desk five minutes ago," he offered. His brow was creased - he looked so serious.

"Hmm…" Thornclaw murmured, and headed to the back of the desk where he proceeded to sit. And preceded to jump up. "Ow!" he cried, shooting back to his feet. The wheely chair swiveled and swerved backward, sliding on the wet floor, and the drawer popped open. Thornclaw scowled, twisting around beside him to see what had pricked him before someone yelled out:

"Check the drawer!"

"Check the drawer," Thornclaw muttered to himself and opened it fully. His scowl deepened as he pulled out his stack of books, with the little yellow sticky note attached to the top one.

"I love you," Foxleap breathed out, so quiet only I could hear. I rolled my eyes.

"Shh," I scolded. Then the fear set in.

Thornclaw was going to find out who did this.

He knew our past.

He was smart - he was a professor.

He would find out who pranked him.

"Who did this?" he roared, hurrying from out from behind the desk. "Who did this?"

"Don't move don't speak don't move don't speak don't move don't speak don't

even think Lilyfrost," Foxleap murmured. Thornclaw swiveled around to face us - me and Foxleap.

"You!" Thornclaw snarled, shaking a gnarly finger at me. At Foxleap. He marched towards Foxleap and grabbed him by his collar, hauling him over his desk and lifting him up so that only the tips of his shoes touched the ground. "You did this," he spat. "Don't you know that pranking is strictly forbidden? Oh, last time was your last warning, kid. You will be -"

"Stop!" I cried out. Foxleap's head jerked over to look at me. I nodded ever so slightly at him. He shook his head, mouthing stops it, Lily. Stop. Dovewing sniffed beside me. I stood. "It was me," I began. My voice shook. "I… pranked you." Thornclaw's grip tightened on Foxleap.

"Lilyfrost," he mused. "Interesting." He grabbed hold of Foxleap's neck and he gasped, his eyes bulging.

"No!" I shouted and jumped over my desk. I kicked Thornclaw in the shin and punched him in the cheek and he snarled, dropping Foxleap and spinning around to face me. A trickle of blood ran down his lip. And I knew I was dead meat. Assaulting a professor - a Soldier. Bye bye, Lilyfrost. Bye bye, Lilyheart.

"Lily," Foxleap panted. "No."

In the two days, I knew Foxleap, I've never seen him so… not him. Frightened. Scared.

I took a step back as Thornclaw advanced, clicking his tongue. An image of the dead boy flashed through my mind.

"Come here dear," he cooed. "Come along. Come here, Lily." He lunged and grabbed my shoulders, pulling me towards him so that I was mere centimeters away from him. I had to bend my head backward to look up at him - to look up at his sneering face. Thornclaw leaned in and whispered in my ear: "Do they know you, Miss Lilyfrost? Do they?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I growled. "My name is Lilyfrost."

"Mmmm…" he tilted his head. "Maybe. But they don't really know you, huh?" He leaned in even closer. "They don't know what you've done." He chuckled, running one finger down my cheek. I closed my eyes and smiled.

"No, they don't."

I broke away from him and ducked down as he reached for me again, kicking his stomach. I spun around to his backside and punched his cheek. He roared, turning around and grabbing my wrist. I twisted it and broke free, then propelled myself off his desk and flipped backward, grabbing his shoulders and twisted around so that I had him in a headlock.

"History Class was always boring, wasn't it?" he laughed, then bucked his head so forcefully and I flipped off his shoulders and landed on my back, smashing my head on the side of a desk as I fell. I could feel my peer's eyes on me, helpless to do anything as Thornclaw grabbed me by my shoulders again and pulled me close. "Thank you for making things interesting," he murmured, breathing into my face. I squirmed as he threw back his head and laughed. "Oh, I just love students like you!" He clicked his tongue.

"Little girls who think they can help their friends. You know, Lilyheart - can I call you that?" I kicked my feet, hitting one of his ankles, but he didn't even flinch. "Well, Lilyheart, you could've been excused for the prank. It was hilarious, wasn't it? Every student partakes in a prank at least once in their life. And this was your first, wasn't it? Yes, I could've excused you. I would've. I wouldn't of for you friend, though. Noo… no, he would've died for it. Yes. Tragic, isn't it? Anyways," he continued, pushing me a little further away from him. "Assaulting a Soldier. A poor old professor, too. Shame. Shame, shame, shame." Then he yanked me close so that I was almost pressing against him, and he smiled and leaned down. His golden eyes met mine and they twinkled with glee. "I do love this part," he whispered, and cupped my chin in his hands. "I love it so."

He threw me to the ground and shook his head as I tried to scramble away, my heart thudding in my chest.

"Don't even try," Thornclaw chuckled. "Really, don't. Hundreds have tried before you. But you know, you are different. Stronger. That's why they moved you up, right? You are a Soldier. You're my Soldier. Mine to command. You are a Soldier, little Lilyheart. You've killed before, right? Hurt others. But you've never really known what it's like. The pain. I'm your professor," he murmured. "Let me teach you."

Suddenly a knife appeared in his hand and grabbed my chin again, pressing the point against my skin and slowly dragging it down. He laughed and I screamed in pain as he drove the knife deeper, then tore it out and threw it across the floor. I panted, blood dripping onto my shirt, as he grabbed me once more and slammed my head onto the edge of his desk. I bit back a scream and crumpled to the ground, the pain consuming me, until

everything

faded

away.