Forest's Fate

Chapter 3

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to Forest's Fate, and thank you for reading this book. 😀😊 Please feel free to comment feedback.
~Midnight

~~~~~

     Thankfully, I'm pretty sure that the second narrow tunnel is much shorter, since soon I feel the ground below me go into an upward slope. When I look up, I see melancholy gray light shining. But of course, I don't care if the light is melancholy; I can finally actually see! I spot the dim shape of Name as he crawls out of the hole we were in, and I eagerly make my sore legs go faster to go into the daylight even though I wince when they start to hurt even more, begging for me to at least slow down with my crawl. Ignoring my legs, I try to go faster, and I literally run with joy out into the open when I finally get out of that stupid darn hell-hole.

Looking back at the hole and the empty field around it, I catch up with Name. "I don't believe you that that hole is the easier way to get here over the field," I growl, shaking the loose dirt out of my long fur. "Come on, what's the real reason?"

Name turns his head in my direction to stare at me. His eyes were narrowed. "The real reason is a matter you have no right to know," he replies in his usual deep rumble. I innocently cock my head to the side in confusion, but Name looks away.

       That wave of annoyance hits me again. Why does he need to be so aggravating and confusing? "Well, fine then," I snap. "Be that way. 'Guess I'll just have to find out myself along with everything else, like where I even am!" I'm about to say something else, but I happen to look up and see that we've finally arrived somewhere.

There are many dens made out of smooth gray rock forming a big circle, leaving just a small opening a few feet in front of us. I can see countless cats walking around and talking to each other. How is there a whole clan of cats out here in the middle of nowhere? Back at home, I've never been in a place that even remotely has this amount of cats.

        I stand there, feeling my eyes widen in shock, when Name nudges me forward from behind. "You can gape at the camp later," he mutters as he walks past. "Come with me." Shaking my head, I follow him through the crowd.

       "Excuse me," I mumble as I weave through the crowd with Name. The cats that were ahead scamper out of the way, bowing their heads to Name, though I could tell that most of them are curiously peeking at me from their humble stance, obviously realizing that they never saw me before. I turn my head to all of them as I walk and nod. It looks like I might be here for a while, so until I find my way out of this dump, I better make a good impression on these strangers.

After we walk through the crowd, Name leads me to one of the smaller dens in the camp. I walk in with the darkness of the cave closing in on me and the cold rock chilling my paws. Name warily glances outside the entrance and backs to one of the corners, gesturing me to come closer. My fur prickles against my spine. Why is he acting like he's going to tell me some huge secret? I hesitantly take a couple of steps deeper into the cave.

"Welcome to Camp Six," Name starts, his eerie, ice-blue gaze burning into my eyes. "I am pleased to be your leader in fighting to sustain our power of Gardinia."

I flatten my ears, feeling unsure if he was even speaking my language. "Camp 6? Fighting? Gardinia? You, my leader? What kind of fantasy and nonsense are you talking about?"

Name narrows his eyes and simply says, "You will know everything later. For now, I would like to address the rules that you must follow." I open my mouth to retort something, but he quickly continues before I can say a word. "Rule one: Always listen and respect your leader. Bow down when I am coming through or addressing you." My tail twitches as I remember the crowd of cats bowing down to him earlier.

How am I supposed to bow down to a low-life like him, though? "Um, excuse me? I barely know you!" I interrupt, feeling my blood boil with irritation.

Name ignores me and carries on with his speech. "Rule two: Do not fight with other cats that are on your side." That rule seems simple, so I decide to not comment and let him continue.

"Rule three: Don't leave the camp without permission."

        I roll my eyes. "So now I'm a prisoner?"

        "Rule four: Always listen to your training instructor."

        "Training instructor? Why do I need a stupid training instructor?"

        "Those are the rules. You get three strikes. If you reach the third, then we erase your memory."

        I freeze, taking in a breath, and look straight into Name's eyes. He must be lying about this, but he looks completely serious. This cat can erase my memory? "How?" I whisper.

        Name must sense my change in behavior because he purrs in satisfaction. "You'll find out at the third strike. Well, you'll find out, and then you'll forget it, of course, along with everything else." Name stands up. "You're dismissed to meet the others. By the way, if you don't know already, you're on strike one." He waves his tail at me with that sinister gaze that formed in his eyes.

      My instinct to fight turns on for a second. "But that's not-" I glance at Name, who tilts his head and perks up his ears.

         "What was that?"

        I quickly shake my head, feeling so stupid. "Never mind. I am sorry, sir." To add a little bit of an effect, I force myself to bow my head.

        Name's whiskers brush against my body as he walks past me. "Apology accepted." He halts by the entrance for a second, though, and as I turn to look at him, he stares at me in the eye. "But I am watching you." A shiver creeps along my spine as he leaves the den.

        Well, this is it. My ears press against my head in horror when I think of bowing to this stranger. I will have to, though, if I don't want my memory erased. As I stalk out, I realize that I need to figure out a plan to escape, anyway, so these rules will only apply to me for a while.

        Name must be wrong about having no chance of an escape. There must be a way out of this dump.