Legacy: Infinity (Book 3)

Chapter 4: Facade

Chapter 4: Facade

"Are you absolutely sure this is the only solution to our problem?" Jay groaned as Amelia asked the troublesome question again.

Bone-tired and weary from training, Jay was trudging back to the camp with a trail of equally weary cats behind her. Only Amelia had the strength to continue pestering her. "Amelia, can we talk about this later?" she sighed, hoping without hope that Amelia would wait until she had a good nights sleep to continue the haggling.

"No," Amelia growled, and all mocking playfulness had left her voice, leaving it so startling cold that Jay had to look at her. Amelia's amber eyes were narrowed to slits and she looked infuriatingly calm.

Jay sighed again but knew there was no escaping this now. She stepped off the trail and waved Leaf on with her tail, letting the she-cat lead the rest back to camp. With any luck, Night, Spark, and Dark had managed to catch enough food for everyone while they were out training all day long.

Getting up before dawn, Jay had started the day by waking all the cats and giving strict orders for them to eat and drink before they headed out. She then asked the three rouges- who already knew how to fight- to spend their day hunting for the rest of them. Surprisingly, they had agreed without complaint and Jay led the rest on a march through the forest.

They left the forest and entered the fields that Jay and Amelia had spent so much time crossing and for the remainder of the day, under the beaming sun, they'd worked and trained. Although the cats had been able to take breaks while Jay and Amelia worked with the others, the gray she-cat hadn't had a moment to catch her breath. And right now, she didn't even know how she had the strength to stay upright, her whole body felt heavier than a rock and her vision had long since become blurry, double images messing with her line of perception.

"Jay, is it possible for us to get through the pass without these cats?" Amelia growled, sitting down on a patch of soft grass. Jay sat down next to her, wishing the ground to still be warm, but the sun had set and the last breath of light still allowed the forest to glow gray.

The dark she-cat sighed. The thought had crossed her mind more than once during that one exhausting day. The cats had been complaining and none of them had a talent for the art of fighting. Well, maybe Silver had the potential, but Leaf and Cherry were sorry cases. They were both older and didn't have any of the strength, speed, or grace necessary in a battle.

"Do have another idea?" Jay asked with a resigned sigh.

Amelia looked away, her eyes watching the bats flit over the trees, their tiny shadows outlined against the purple-gray sky. "We could try to sneak past these cats, I don't imagine a pass you can see from the hills would be so narrow."

Jay shook her head, "I already thought of that, but it's too risky. There are enough cats that they could have a lookout stationed in enough places that they can see everything, and if we do sneak past the front, then we still have to get past the middle and the end. If we knew the territory well, then it'd be another situation entirely, but we don't know what mountain terrain is like in general, and not a clue on this pass in particular. We can't risk it."

Amelia growled, lashing her tail, "I think we could pull it off, but if you're not willing..."

"I'm not," Jay reaffirmed.

"Then how about forgetting the pass and climbing up a different way? I know the pass is the easiest way, but there must be more than one way in and out of these mountains. We're wasting time and effort with these cats, they don't have any potential and we still have to test the other rogues fighting power. I'm not even optimistic about their abilities," Amelia scowled.