Forevermore and Nevermore

Chapter 3

"Why do I have to mentor that thing?" upon the meeting's end, Groundcrack stormed over to his leader and snarled. He sent a disdainful glare towards the younger looking cat, making it blatantly obvious that he was not pleased. "Make someone else do it! I have better usage of my time than mentoring a useless outsider!"

"Groundcrack I've put my faith in your capability of training up this young cat," while the leader spoke lightly, his eyes suddenly turned dark and commanding. He was not about to stand idly by while his subordinate questioned his decisions. "But if you want to take that faith and blatantly through it away, than fine. We have plenty of other warriors capable of training Shadowpaw."

He too would have preferred someone else to be his teacher. Having someone who actually believed in his capabilities would make it far easier to trick the Clan into trusting him. But now he was stuck with this loud brute... It would be extremely difficult to gain his trust while also keeping his current persona going.

"Shadowpaw! Shadowpaw! Hey Shadowpaw!" the little black cat recoiled, eyes widening as he turned his focus on his new mentor. He would have to get used to being called by this new name.

"Say, why did you change my name when I joined?" the other groups he had infiltrated never bothered doing such a thing. So why did this group known as a 'Clan' deem it necessary to give him such a strange name?

"This is why I didn't want to train an outsider. They don't even know something a kit does," scowling down at his new charge, Groundcrack for a moment wished he hadn't bowed to his leader's wishes. If he had continued to fight, than someone else would be stuck with this pitiful excuse of a cat. "Since long ago, this has been one of many strong Clan's traditions. A warrior's name reflects not only their appearance but also their personality. Let's use your name for an example. If you had been born into the Clan your parents would have given you the name Shadowkit due to the fact that you have black fur and that you are younger than six moons, so thus you are a kit. Upon turning six moons you would then be called Shadowpaw, like you are now. This shows that you are following in the paw steps of the warriors, your teachers. Upon proving that you have learned all that your mentor can teach you, you are then given your warrior name. You would still have the prefix of Shadow, but your suffix will depend on many things. Such as your personality. Your strengths. Your weaknesses. Or just your looks."

"I see..." what a strange custom. Would it not be easier for them to just stick with the same old name instead of changing it every so often. "What about Burntstar? Did his parents give him the name Burntkit? Isn't that a bit of a strange name?"

"No he changed his name," ignoring the inquisitive gleam in his apprentices eyes, Groundcrack turned away. Obviously he didn't feel like explaining the reason. Well it is pretty obvious. Most likely after the fire, his name changed. But why would he point out his weakness like that? Would it not have been better to have just kept his name the same? "Now come on, enough talking. Today I'm going to give you a tour of the territory."

The little black cat casually smiled, a gleam of excitement in his dark blue eyes. How amusing, he lived here far longer than these intruders. Obviously he would know everything about this land yet the brown tabby still tries to act more knowledgeable.

"Hurry up, I want to finish showing you around before sunset," hurrying ahead, the brown tabby turned to snap at his apprentice.

"Coming," picking up his pace, the small cat struggled to keep up with the hurried strides of his much bigger mentor. They walked in silence for a long distance, until finally they came to a halt before a giant red colored rock. It's texture was rough and it towered high into the sky, emitting a nice patch of shade that many warriors currently slept in.

"This is Shade Rock," the brown tabby explained, his eyes longingly staring at the cool shadows. With his thick, dark fur he found the blistering heat to be extremely uncomfortable. Stealing a glance at his relaxed apprentice, he couldn't help but wonder how that pathetic ball of fur could stand this heat. "During our free time, warriors will often come to relax in the shadows and escape the midday heat."

"I see, that'll be really helpful to know," Shadowpaw cheerfully smiled, while frowning on the inside. Near the base of the rock, hidden among the tall grass, there is an entrance to a network of tunnels that would make traveling along the territory easier and safer. Guess they do not know about that. Should he tell them? Glancing towards the arrogant mentor, Ebony lightly shook his head. No, it would be best to keep the secrets of the Savannah hidden from those who stole this land from its rightful owner.

"Too bad you'll be too busy with apprentice duties to ever get to relax," glaring down at the apprentice, Groundcrack made it blatantly obvious that he was going to make Clan life as miserable as possible for this puny rogue. "Now come on, there's still plenty to show you."

Continuing the tour, they spent a good half of the day walking between land marks that were given pointless names. Why did they bother naming such things? Does it really matter if an inanimate object has a name? "Shadowpaw, stop!" his mentor suddenly let out a low growl, crouching low to the ground to try to blend with the tall grass in order to get out of sight. Doing the same, the small apprentice slowly crept up alongside his mentor to get a better look of what startled the usually confident tom cat.

There was a hunting patrol consisting of five cats, he recognized the ginger she-cat from before and Sunleaf was amongst the group as well. The small patrol had currently scattered, the main reason being a large gray snake slithering through the grass. Its beady black eyes focused solely on Sunleaf. "What is that thing?" Groundcrack growled, his claws unsheathed and digging deep into the ground. "I've never seen a snake like that one."

"It's a black mamba. It probably tried to ambush the patrol from that tree over there," they must have good reflexes, to avoid the first strike of this deadly snake. Too bad it looks determined to catch one of them. "It's bite is extremely venomous and will kill in a matter of minutes."

Groundcrack's eyes widened at the explanation, his gaze staring worriedly at Sunleaf. It clearly wanted her as its next meal. "Stay put Shadowpaw, I'm going to help Sunleaf."

"Okay," he nodded and watched his mentor slip away, he would rather observe than interfere. He wanted to see how quickly these strangers could adapt to changes. His knowledge of these strange cats is far too lacking. It would take far more than the usual method to take them down.

By now the large snake had cornered Sunleaf, it's eyes never leaving her for a moment. But the she-cat, strangely enough, didn't fight. There was a look in her eyes, something hidden in the fear. Some emotion that Ebony had never seen before. It unsettled him. For moons he had killed, but not once had he seen anything other than desperate fear in the eyes of his victims. So why, when facing death itself in the form of this venomous snake, did her eyes seem to almost welcome death?

It lunged for her, fangs outstretched and ready to sink into her soft skin. But Groundcrack was faster. He leapt out of the grass, latching on the snake and mercilessly ripping it open. Grabbing Sunleaf by the scruff, he dragged her away as the snake writhed on the ground. It wanted to survive, it fought to survive. So why did she so willingly accept her fate?

Staring thoughtfully at the golden she-cat, a slight frown formed on Ebony's face. Did something happen to her in the past? Was it because of that strange emotion that had appeared in her eyes earlier? Were emotions that strong? "Shadowpaw, we're returning to camp. We can continue the tour later," the muscular tabby sent out nervous look towards Sunleaf, clearly concerned that she could break down at any moment. He must have seen that emotion as well. And he knew what it meant.