Forest's Fate

Chapter 31

"What?" I blurt.

Rain appears just as shocked as me that the Superior-Earth Army has captured the North Tunnel, but she ignores Ice. After asking Commander a question that I wasn't able to hear, she shouts instructions to the Army.

        "Listen very carefully because I will only say this once! Commander says that there are thirty of you; that will be enough to divide yourselves among the three remaining tunnels. We'll worry about the North Tunnel later. The twenty of you over here will come with me and Forest to the South Tunnel. Since the South and West Tunnels are connected, Forest will stay to fight at the South Tunnel with ten of you while I'll lead the other half through the South Tunnel to the West Tunnel. Everyone else, you will be staying to fight for the East Tunnel with Commander. Let's do this!"

        Luckily, the Army listens to Rain without needing her to repeat a single word. Twenty cats obediently stay next to Rain and me while Commander and the other ten cats charge at the Superiors invading the East Tunnel. Without another word, Rain leads us away from the battle towards another one.

As we walk at a fast pace, when we are at a fair distance away from the East Tunnel, Rain loudly meows, "Is everyone okay with running? We need to get there as fast as we can."

"Yes, ma'am!" the mud-covered cats cheer in unison as they speed up to a running pace.

I try not to look spooked by the way they answered at the same time and how they are running in straight rows and columns. These cats are behaved and disciplined; I wonder how strict Commander is toward them.

        Silence settles as Rain and I trot through the never-ending fields of grass in front of everyone else. Soon enough though, we faintly hear the sound of battle cries as we see fighting cats in the distance. As soon as we witness this, our relaxed run intensifies to a thundering bolt to the South Tunnel.

Once we get there, everything is a blur. The Army cats separate in half: ten stay with me, and the other ten follow Rain, racing through the battlefield. They have to push through the wall of rebels defending the South Tunnel, but they eventually gain entry into the hole in the ground.

"Wait," I hiss to the remaining Army cats. Before I release them out into the battlefield, I have to see what's going on. When I'm sure that no one is looking in our direction, I lower my body into the grass and gesture with my tail for the Army cats to do the same. Then, once we're hidden from the others, I observe the field. Just like in the East Tunnel, the Superior-Earth army outnumbers the rebels. However, I can easily tell that many of them came straight out of Earth cat camps by their uncoordinated fighting.

        There is already a visible problem with the rebels: they are defending themselves too much. All they're doing is attempting to keep the Superior-Earth army from getting to the tunnel with absolutely no drive to chase them out. In comparison to the rebels, the Superior forces look more determined and aggressive. If this continues, we are bound to lose. My claws unsheathe and grind themselves into the ground beneath me. It's time to fix this.

        In a low voice, I twist my head around to speak to the Army cats. "We need to somehow drive the enemies out so that they don't get to the South Tunnel. The rebels are already forming a wall around it with their bodies, but we need more than that. We need to attack more than defend."

        To my relief, nobody objects to my statement. Everyone around me murmurs in agreement.

        My gaze returns to the battle ahead of us. "The reason why we're hiding is because we need to scare them and make them less confident. So, here's what we need to do. On a count to three, we reveal ourselves and charge into the battlefield, making as much noise as possible. Fluff out your fur, too, so you'll look bigger than you actually are. Does everyone understand what we're going to do?"