The Peace of the Wanderer

Chapter Twelve: Midnights Always Pass

Over the next four days, Midnight helped Shadow alter her fighting technique after the tree incident. He had gone with the fight or flight method with Shadow not really wanting to play the weak card.

Shadow had caught on quickly, as she was a fast learner, but she still wasn't the best. Of course, it made sense. It would take her years to fully recover from the tree, and Esther said the leg probably would never get back to normal.

Her disability didn't stop her though, no matter if it hurt. It was her and Midnight against a wolf pack. She had to use every second that she had to train for battle, even if Midnight strongly disagreed.

On the dawn of the last and final day of their journey, Shadow woke up to Midnight eating two squirrels with two rabbits laid out beside him.

She yawned and stretched before sluggishly dragging herself over to Midnight. She looked at the two rabbits and back at him.

"Someone's hungry this morning," observed Shadow playfully.

Midnight paused in his munching to glance up at her. "Oh, those?" He asked, his voice muffled from the prey in his mouth. He pointed his muzzle at the bunnies. "Those are for you. We have to have as much energy as we can for the wolf/cat fight."

Shadow's emotions immediately went into overdrive. How could she have forgotten why she was going on this trip in the first place?

Most of all, cold, hard fear was the thing that set in her body.

Shadow's breathing become labored as she just shook her head, trembling from head to tail tip.

"I-I can't do this! We won't be able to hold them off! We're only two cats, Midnight!"

"Remember your plan when we first went off on this crazy adventure?" The tom asked softly, gazing at her intently through his multicolored eyes. "You said we'd only have to defeat the alpha. And if we leave quickly, we can have the element of surprise."

Shadow shook her head miserably. "We can't have the element of surprise. Since we're close to the territory, a wolf has to have seen us by now, right?"

"Yes, but like you said, we're two measly cats. Nothing for them to worry about. And also, remember, the some other cats are planning to help out."

"Yeah..."

"Look, Shadow," Midnight meowed, his tail twitching slightly, "Like I said when I agreed to take you here, I've never been much of a warrior. I only knew a few moves, and I taught them to you. I'm still not that good at fighting, though to you, I'm obviously the best at it. But-"

Shadow snorted, interrupting him. "I think I'm okay now," she said, smiling and crouching down to eat her breakfast. "Just a case of the morning jitters. It's passed."

Midnight nodded, giving her a forced smile. Why was it forced? Shadow didn't know.

She hungrily stuffed her face with the tender meat, this time not really caring about the flavor due to the adrenaline that was currently coursing through her body.

After the two had finished eating, they began traveling the last stretch towards the battlefield.

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It had taken them hours to finally reach the valley. The wolves' definitely had the higher ground, with Shadow and Midnight having to look up to see the top of their cliff. In the middle of the valley stood a great oak tree, seeming to be waiting for bloodshed.

The Earth itself seemed to know death was on the rise, as the sky was gray and a cold wind blew through the forest. Not even the birds were singing.

To be honest, that's what creeped Shadow out the most. It reminded her of how they acted when her father was killed. It made her uneasy.