The sky was black with no trace of any light. I heard the noise of the night creatures busily rustling around in the grass around me with the satisfying crunching of leaves under my paws.
I was almost at the Crystal Pool, I could see it in the near distance.
The Crystal Pool is a pool we (The Clans) found when we arrived here. It’s outside of all our territories, closest to The Pact’s. We use it for meetings sometimes, mostly the leaders do that when they need to, but I’ve been there a couple of times.
As I slipped into the fern tunnel that made as a wall to the pool, I heard the mingling voices of multiple Vees. It sounded like a decent amount of them had come to the meeting, which was mildly surprising.
“Do they all really think Shadow could be dangerous?” I thought. “They must, that’s why they’re here.”
My next thought blazed through me unexpectedly. “That’s why I’m here.”
Once I actually entered the small enclosed space, scents hit my nose. It smelled like everyone here was from The Pact or The Order. There was no scent of The Kin here.
As I padded more into camp, I looked around to see who all was there. From The Pact, besides me were Valence, Starfinder and Riptide.
“Okay, so not too bad.” I thought, relieved. “It seems like most of us think he’s okay.”
From The Order, I saw Coral, Pearl, Sylvan, Frost, and Moonlight.
“Wow. Their second- in- command’s here, too. And I guess there’s a bit more of them.” Then I added, “But that makes sense, they’re the ones he wants to crush, anyway.”
It suddenly grew eerily quiet. I sat down, flattening my ears as the dreaded whispering began.
“Wait…isn’t that Shadow’s right hand man? Why’s he here?”
“Wow…if he’s here things must be bad.”
“I bet he’s spying for Shadow,”
“Seriously, guys; are we really going to let him here?”
“I’m here for the same reason you all are,” I muttered through gritted teeth.
After a few more moments, I was startled by a surprisingly loud voice. “Attention!”
I widened my eyes and looked up to the pool, it was a bit higher than us.
I drew in a deep breath of shock and awe as I saw someone I hadn’t seen in years and never thought I ever would again addressing our small group with the authority of a leader.
“Winter?” I breathed out of shock.
He must have heard me because he looked down at me and blinked in surprise. He obviously hadn’t been expecting to see me here, either.
“Hello, Lance,” he said flatly and nodded, but I could make out a hint of longing in his voice, he obviously wanted to see me. “You’re still with Shadow?” He choked out Shadow’s name like a piece of rotten flesh.
I nodded. “Yes,”
“I didn’t think you were in the Clans,” he added.
“I didn’t think you were, either.” I responded.
He gave his chest fur a few quick licks. “I joined a few moons ago,” he stated. “At least I’m happy now.”
I nodded. “That’s good,” I murmured.
“You didn’t hear, Winter?” Frost suddenly called, startling me. “Lance isn’t just in Shadow’s Clan, he’s his right hand man!”
Winter stared down at me for a moment, I could feel my pelt grow hot. Then he quickly looked away with a flick of an ear.
“Anyway,” Winter raised his voice once more. “We shall now start our discussion: our issues with Shadow’s leadership over The Pact.”
I could hear murmurs of interest rise up around me and I nodded slowly, looking up at Winter.
“Yeah! Tell us more!” Sylvan yelled behind me, making me jump a bit.
Winter began pacing up and down the ridge of the pool. “We all know about my history with Shadow, correct?”
To me, the noises that followed told me that not everyone knew.
“What is this?”
“You were once with Shadow?!”
Winter nodded solemnly, still pacing. “Shadow and I used to be best friends, maybe even more than that.” He choked out that last sentence uncomfortably. “We met when we were still very young; adolescents. Shadow was a bit older than me. We met in secret and then a few years later we both left our kingdoms; our homes and families, everything we’ve ever known, to be together. We stole eggs from various kingdoms to raise together. You know these eggs today as the majority of The Kin.”
Murmurs of surprise and interest rose up once more. I pricked my ears, intrigued at Winter’s words.
“I mean, I already knew all this, but maybe Shadow didn’t exactly tell the truth…”
“Anyway,” Winter continued. “It was a big mistake on my behalf almost as soon as it started, to be honest probably sooner than that, but that’s when I noticed. Shadow got…odd. At least to me at the time. We were suddenly in fights all the time, both physically and verbally. And at some point, I’m not getting into the details, things went too far and I left. I couldn’t do it anymore. He’ll destroy us as a leader, trust me.”
And with that, Winter stopped pacing and jumped down from his spot. He landed swiftly and gracefully with a very small thump and with a flick of his tail, went and sat next to Pearl and Sylvan.
It was silent for a minute, I assumed that everyone was reflecting over Winter’s words, I know that’s what I was doing.
“Are things really going to be that bad?” I gulped. “I mean, wouldn’t Winter know better than anyone else?”
A voice rose up in the silence, shaking me from my thoughts.
“Are we just finished now, you guys? I thought there would be more besides a short speech from Winter.” It was Coral speaking.
“How about we ask Shadow’s bestie about him? Or does he have nothing to say?” My fur bristled at Frost’s icy cold voice rumbling behind me.
I whipped my head around to look at her and at first, she glared at me. The intensity of her glare making me wince a bit. But soon after, she shrugged and said, “Go on, let’s see what you have to say,” She maneuvered with her head for me to go up on the ridge of the lake where Winter had been a few minutes prior.
I rose to my paws and shook my pelt. Then, I looked back at Frost and gave her a weak smile.
I quickly sprinted over to the ridge of the pool, the feel of the soft grass on my paws calming me down a bit.
With a powerful leap, I landed on the ridge, gazing down at the Vees below me.
“I bet this is what it’s like for Shadow when he’s addressing the Clan!”
With a deep breath, sliding my claws out to nervously scrape the stone below me; I spoke.
“Shadow’s not all bad you know,” I started, feeling as if I should at least try to defend my leader and best friend. “He does have a mean streak and he kinda likes to fight… but I don’t think he’s going to be any worse than any of the other leaders.”
Silence met my words, until Sylan hissed, “So that’s all, is it? You’re just going to come here and tell us how he’s right and we’re wrong and that everything’s fine? I thought it was weird that you were here in the first place.”
“No,” I hissed back, flattening my ears and bearing my teeth at him. “I’m here for the same reason as all of you. I just thought I might as well defend my leader first before going into the darker details. I’m here because I express the same fears and doubts as all of you.” I finished that off by glaring at Sylvan, who opened his mouth to retort, but I heard Pearl whisper next to him, “No, Sylvan. Just let it go. I believe Lance, he wouldn’t lie like that.”
I watched with satisfaction as Sylvan turned away with a grunt.
“Thank you, Pearl.”
“Anyway,” I awkwardly continued. “I am personally worried about Shadow’s leadership as well. He very well might attack the other Clans. I don’t know for sure, but I’d keep your ears pricked and your senses sharp, because Shadow’s the sneaky type and will attack suddenly as a surprise if he does at all.”
With that, I lept off the pool’s ridge, landing awkwardly on my paws. Ignoring the embarrassment that flushed through my pelt, I went and sat back down.
“Anyone else want to talk?” Winter asked, looking around.
Vees were either silent or shaking their heads.
Winter shrugged. “Alright then.” He then raised his tail. “This meeting is at an end. Everyone, go home.”
At that, one by one everyone slowly left the gathering area until it was just me and Winter.
I was about to leave but Winter stopped me. “Hey Lance, could I have a word?”
I nodded, a bit nervous. “Sure,”
“Hey,” he padded up to me. “Thanks for coming to the meeting. I’m glad you feel the same way we do. I was a bit worried you were one of those following types, but no, you’re better than that. Thank you for that, Lance.”
Before I could say anything, Winter quickly slipped out of the meeting area via the fern tunnel.
I waited for a moment before leaving as well. I slipped out quickly and silently and sprinted back home in silence, as quiet as I could. The moon lightening my path.
“I’ll creep into the den while Shadow’s sleeping.” I decided. “Then he’ll think I was always there. If he asks anything, I’ll just say I was going night hunting.”
But a small pang still tugged at my heart. “Am I doing the right thing?”