The Storm Empire (Completed)

Chapter 14

The sun showered its light upon the Stormclan camp, as warriors filed out of their dens, ready to begin their first day of training. Gray jogged out of her den wearing a cargo jacket as well as a pair of khakis, an outfit she reserved specifically for battle practice. On her waist was a metallic belt that held a variety of weapons, including a spear, bow, and sword.

She nodded her greetings to a couple of warriors as she walked by. Her eyes glanced from place to place as she observed training among the many different age groups at camp; the kits practiced simple battle techniques to defend themselves, as well as how to hide and camouflage. The elders and queens joined them, while the apprentices worked on some higher levels of technique. Most warriors abided by the training hollow, each paired up and practice fighting. Sitting by the corner was Red, who had tools and sticks in his hand.

"Morning," Gray greeted to the old deputy as she approached carefully, "What are those tools for?"

Red peered up at the Gray leader and nodded his head wistfully. His hair had grown long, haven not taken care of himself, and he had a bit of stubble on his normally smooth cheek.

"Hello Graystar. I'm planning on building more weapons for the clan. Now that we're up against a pack of wolves, we'll need better ways to protect ourselves," He exclaimed thoroughly with a hint of exasperation in his voice.

"You're not still mad about that war, are you?"

Red took a deep sigh, "It's not the fighting I'm worried about. I just don't feel comfortable battling against my old clanmates."

His pupils seemed to be dilated in fear, and his stress had been made evident by his horrible posture. Gray looked down and witnessed his trembling paws. Before Gray could say any further, she was interrupted by Crystal's approaching voice.

"WHEW! Who fed these apprentices extra sugar? They've been working for three hours straight without any breaks! From the looks of it, I really think we can win this war!"

The apprentices piled into the training hollow one by one, each with sweat draining down their forehead in shiny beads. Crystal and Fawn followed them in while trying not to collapse of exhaustion. Fawn carried herbs in his mouth which he used to teach emergency first aid to the warriors during their break time.

"Oh! Good morning, sis. I see you're awake," Crystal approached the two cats with a bright smile plastered on her face. She had her hair tied up with a new hairdo at the sides of her head. It started with a small bun and then transferred to a long ponytail. " I wanted to talk to you about something. Cats are smart, and planning is where their strength is at war. We should come up with a plan or a strategy."

Red frowned, "I'm not sure we have time. We have so much to do in 2 days. We have to prove that we aren't the weaklings that they think we are."

"Red, now isn't the time to take risks. We aren't proving anything. Raw strength is what the other clans use. Their abilities help them with physical strength and propel them. However, we also need our abilities as nekos. We are strong, but we have more than just strength. And the only thing we need to prove is that being intelligent is not a waste," answered Gray, her eyes gleaming with affirmation.

"I have an idea," Crystal remarked, "The other clans underestimate us. What if we could use that to our advantage."

"How?"

"I'm no genius, but what if we acted weak in the beginning? We could not use our fists very much, avoid the attacks to have minimum damage, and then use our eyes to observe their weaknesses.

"The phantoms have unusual characteristic that we cannot study, but if we study past wolves in the meantime, we can learn about the okami's habits. I know that the phantoms have spider like limbs on their backs that are retractable. They are definitely a metal, but I didn't bother to try to identify it. Crystal can visit Lark to study the phantoms, using her abilities to identify the metal. This can help us during the battle," Gray went on, adding to what they could do. Physical abilities were important, but they were not everything. They couldn't prevent the inevitable.