The figure forced their energy back. They felt exhausted, and the scratches on their shoulders ached. Over a quarter-moon had passed since they had returned, and they could tell by the look on the shadow's face that they were appalled. "What are you waiting for?" she yowled.
The figure forced themself up and unsheathed his claws. They pounced towards the shadow, desperate not to be distracted by the glowing green that her eyes let off. Just like they had been taught, they dived beneath the cat's underbelly and cut upwards. But they slammed their eyes shut when they realised they hadn't drawn enough blood.
"If you're going to prove yourself disloyal," the shadow spat, her voice rising into a crispy flame. "At least come out of here having learned something!"
The figure looked at their paws. They knew this was no time for guilt. Instead of replying, they dove again, but this time as they hit the muddy ground, they felt the feline's staticky white paws pin them down, before they felt her claws pin. They yowled out in anguish.
The spotted she-cat, whom they could barely see, narrowed her eyes into ferocious slits.
"Something's distracting you."
The figure shuffled for a minute, before shaking their head and attempting to heave themself up. But they felt the cat's paws throw them back down.
"Don't ignore me," she spat. "I said something's distracting you."
The figure clenched their teeth, turning away in anger. They spat something out along the lines of saying there was nothing that the shadow could do, although their head was rushing so much they weren't even sure.
But they saw the mottled feline rise up with a content yet plain look on her face. "Tell me more," she muttered. "Maybe I can advise you."
They stumbled back. "Advise me? But we barely know each other!"
She narrowed her eyes. "I've trained you well enough to know you have an instinct within you, a strong instinct that no cat can control."
The figure's jaws dropped. "No, you don't!" They retorted. But they stumbled on their words, and looking up, they could tell that she shadow was much more knowing than they had thought.
"Yes, I do," she spat.
She paused and approached the figure carefully, lowering her head and showing her teeth tothem. "Because I've been there before. We see what you never would have expected us to."
"I don't understand," they spat, feeling an intense shiver down their pelt before they managed to look the shadow in the eye. "You can read my thoughts?"
The feline let out a snigger. "Close enough," she grumbled. "Now let me tell you what I have envisioned."
With every word the mottled she-cat spoke, however calmly she worded, the figure's heart raced more and more. There was a sense of security in the she-cats voice, something so certain that he had never heard anything such.
But she didn't stop there.
As much as the figure expected her to be tedious and persuading, she simply opinionated herself right in the middle, not on one side or the other.
They didn't think this was exactly advice, but for sure a way for them to see the situation much clearer than they had before.
For the first time ever, the figure felt the blazing green eyes of the figure to be almost comforting.
They dipped their head, taking in every word the cat said to them. They were so intent on listening that they could barely feel the swift lash of her tail as the fur gently danced against them as she circled.
But after the feline had perched herself down, they knew what they had to do. The shadow hadn't forced him to do anything.
They thought these cats were scary at first, even manipulative from just the way they walked and the tones of their voices. But the words of this feline had only lit a spark in them that they had failed to see before.
They looked up again at her. They didn't feel fear as the green eyes pierced through him gently, like a thorn on a petal.
In fact, they almost couldn't believe they hadn't seen their intention before. She had made their feelings so obvious and so clear. They knew no cat on land could have ever guided them the way she had.
"The only way that you can do good is to follow your own instinct. There is no good and evil, only perspective."
The she-cat blinked and looked down at them. "There is never going to be an opportunity where every cat believes you are in the right. But if you're intent on the feeling, the only thing you can do is to follow your head."
The figure took a few deep breaths, and silence filled the clearing.
"I can't thank you enough for your wisdom, Feathermask."