Forevermore and Nevermore

Chapter 2

"Good day, you must be our new recruit," leaping agilely down from his perch, the silver tabby leader approached. Stepping lightly, he approached the unknown black cat. His one good golden-green eye shown with a strength that many cats lacked and an air of confidence flowed around him. "I am Burntstar, leader of StrongClan," the name was fitting. He was covered in burn scars. His left eye gone, an empty socket healing from a horrible fate, his neck now primarily scar tissue with hardly any fur to speak of and his right front leg was heavily damaged and he kept little weight on it.

"What happened for you to get all those scars?" the young recruit tilted his head, innocent eyes wide with curiosity. Well obviously there was a fire. Was it thanks to this fire that these outsiders had to settle into Boss' territory? Or maybe the fire was an isolated event. Was he the only one affected? No surely not. No group of cats would accept a weakened leader unless they themselves had been weakened as well. Well no matter, as long as he could still complete the mission he could care less.

"Silence kit!" without hesitation, the burly brown tabby lashed out. His paw loudly smacked against the side of the younger looking cat's head, sending him tumbling to the ground. "How dare you ask such a disrespectful question to our leader!"
"Sorry, it just kind of slipped out," he looked up guiltily into the muscle head's furious cyan gaze.

"Groundcrack enough, I find no offense to the question," the leader's calm gaze focused on the bristling warrior, instantly vanquishing the burning fire in Groundcrack's eyes and making him flatten his fur. "Our Clan recently survived a fire, many perished in the flames and even those who survived didn't get away unscathed. So it's still a very... delicate subject."

"I understand, I'll try to be more considerate next time," good, this'll make everything so much easier. They're desperate to take him in, and even the strongest warriors in this Clan must have been weakened. This task will be far easier than previously thought.

"Good," the leader nodded curtly, beginning to make his way to a large rock near one of the ridge's walls. "Follow me, it's about time we announce your arrival to the Clan."

Despite his injured leg, Burntstar nimbly climbed to the top of the rock and then gestured for the new recruit to join him. Slowly clambering up, the little black cat arrived to the top to stand beside the silver tabby. Cats began to slowly creep closer to the rock, their eyes focused purely on their leader.

What diversity. There were all sorts of cats. Small and huge; old and young. From dark brown fur to silvery-blue fur. Many carried burn scars much like their leader, and quite a few had a haunted gleam in their eyes. Not many could go through such an event unscathed, both mentally and physically. "Everyone, I have an announcement!" the silver tabby's voice echoed against the ridge walls, attracting the attention of the stragglers who now rushed over to hear their leader's words. "Earlier today, Sunleaf and Groundcrack discovered an intruder," all gazes quickly focused on Ebony, who stood nervously beside their leader.

Disdainful whispers arose amongst the followers; apparently many shared the same views as the brown tabby thug earlier. What fools. Now they laugh but soon, they'll realize just how wrong they were as their Clan falls into ruins.

"We don't want a pipsqueak like him in our Clan!" a ginger tabby sneered, and many sitting around her nodded in agreement. "He's just some pathetic stray hoping to find a group idiotic enough to take him in and shelter him. He won't be able to hold his weight at all!"

"Yeah, we want true warriors! Not some half-starved kit," another cat, a slightly sandier ginger tom, joined in. The two were most likely siblings, as they shared the same build and their eyes were both a deep green that gleamed with contempt.

"Are we in the position to be picky?" a simple question brought silence amongst the crowd. StrongClan had fallen into miserable times since the fire. Many of the best warriors perished in the flames, those that lived on were now struggling to adapt to the new land they were forced to flee to. "This young cat has lived in this place since birth; most likely he will bring us the aid we need in our time of need."

"Exactly," the golden she-cat from earlier stood up, her stare landing squarely on the two ginger cats from earlier. They squirmed under her intense eyes before looking away. "He can teach us everything we'll need to know. Where to hunt. When to hunt. Which animals to avoid. Without this valuable knowledge, how many more cats will parish as we struggle to learn how to survive?"

Silence followed their words and the many warriors bowed their heads in acceptance. "Good," Burntstar nodded his approval before looking towards Ebony. "Since no one else refuses, this young cat shall become a member of our Clan. His name from now on shall be Shadowpaw and he will spend the next six moons under the training of Groundcrack."