My heart picks up its pace even more than before as I run to Ash's motionless body.

Rain appears beside me. "Is he still alive?" she asks. Her ears are flattened to her head, and her eyes are as wide as two moons.

I look at Ash for signs of life. Luckily, to my relief, his chest is faintly rising and falling.

"Yeah," I reply, "he's alive. Are we staying here tonight, or will we have to drag him somewhere?"

Rain sits down and bows her head, staring at Ash's face. Then, she shakes her head and stands back up. When she finally speaks, her voice is dry and grave. "This is important. We need a meeting right here and now."

I perk up my ears. "Right now? Shouldn't we wait until Ash recovers so he can be part of it, too? He'll probably be at least somewhat better by morning."

Rain stays silent as her tail furiously sways around. She doesn't look convinced.

"Besides," I offer, "everyone will be more rested in the morning than if we just held the meeting in the middle of the night. They'll handle the news of the experiment better."

The gray tabby blinks and glances backwards. I follow her gaze to the three young cats behind us. Their glowing eyes, appearing ominous with the dark indigo sky behind them, unblinkingly stare back.

"You're right," Rain meows in a quiet tone.

She turns her head back and calls out louder, "Hey, can you three do a favor for me? Tell the rebels in the North, South, and West Tunnels to come for a meeting at dawn."

The cats nod, and after a quick moment of murmuring among themselves, they take off in three separate directions.

I start, "I can tell the cats in the East Tunnel-"

"No," Rain meows as she pads to the entrance of the tunnel, "it's okay. I'll do it."

        With one swift movement, she slips into the hole, and I'm left staring at the dark sky, trying not to look at Ash's crumpled body. Now that the drama is mostly over, I notice that my legs are aching. After I check to make sure Ash is still breathing, I lie down next to him. I intend to stay awake. However, right after my eyes flutter shut, I fall into a deep sleep.

When I wake up, there are many cats moving around me and talking. The sky is a dark blue, which I guess means that it's dawn here in Gardinia. I pull myself to my paws and glance at Ash, who is still knocked out cold behind me. There's no indication that he woke up during the night, since he's still in the exact same position as before I fell asleep.

        "Hey, quiet, everyone!" a voice yowls. My eyes flit over to Rain, who is standing in the middle of the crowd of cats.

        Everybody stops chattering and backs up to make space for her. As silence hangs in the air, the small, gray cat slowly paces in a circle at first instead of speaking. Her tail brushes the ground as it swishes side to side, and her ears tilt back in deep thought. Finally, she stops walking and begins to make eye contact with every cat watching her.

"I may have told some of you," Rain starts, "that Ash and I were planning on experimenting giving powers to rebels."

        "And it failed, didn't it?" someone remarks. The speaker, who happens to be North, steps forward and faces Rain. As I go stand next to Ash instead of behind him, North glances at him with a look of disapproval, which makes several more cats notice Ash.

        Rain inhales deeply, and her tail-swishing speeds up. "Well, all three of the cats we tested on received their special abilities, which is a success. However, as you can see here, Ash didn't make it through well, so I guess that means it was actually a failure. So we probably won't be able to go on any further with that."

        By this point, the chattering of the rebels is getting noisy and rambunctious, almost louder than Rain's voice. Many of their eyes are wide and startled from the news. I overhear some of the comments from the rebels: "Is she crazy?" "I barely even knew that Ash had the ability to do that." "Why are we trying to turn normal cats into Superiors?"

        A weak voice speaks from my left side. "It was not a failure."

        Some cats stop talking when he speaks. I turn my head and look down to see Ash. He is still lying down, but his eyes are open, and his breathing is stronger.

        Once the crowd is quieter, Ash speaks again, this time slightly louder than before. "It was a success. I just pushed myself too hard. If I only did one or two cats, I would have been alright."

        He tries to pull himself to his paws but only manages to get halfway up. His front legs shake with fierce intensity, while his back legs are completely limp and refuse to move at all.

        "Don't get up," I say, pressing on his back with my paw. "Stay down."

        Ash gives one last attempt to stand, but when he fails again, he silently lets his front legs and head fall back to the ground. I remove my paw from him.

        Rain shakes her head at him. "Ash, you can barely move. You're lucky that you even survived that. We can defeat the Superiors without what you did last night."

"Yeah!" a voice calls out. "I thought we were earning justice for the normal cats, not trying to turn all of them into Superiors."

"Normal cats are just as great as Superiors!" another cat meows. Many yowl in agreement to those two statements, and the crowd gets chaotic again with everyone trying to talk at once.

        "Quiet!" Rain shouts.

        Once most of the cats have stopped talking, Ash lifts his head to gaze directly at the crowd. "I understand your point that our motive in the war is to make Superiors and normal cats equal," Ash rasps. Many cats lean forward to attempt to hear him better.

        "However," he continues, "it may be our last resort. Our numbers have dwindled greatly from the last battle, and we are expecting another invasion that is likely to come soon. If our rebel group will be stronger by adding more Superior-like cats to it, then I will be happy to continue doing it."

        His voice gets drowned out by the individuals who were against using his ability, which seems to make up around half of the rebels. The other half is meowing among themselves, seeming satisfied by Ash's speech. Ash puts his head back on the ground.

        Rain flicks her tail at all of them and walks over to me. She meows, "I give up trying to quiet them. I'll let them calm down on their own. What's your opinion on this, Forest? I mean, I feel kind of bad because you're the one who got in the middle of this."

        My eyes wander, glancing between the dark blue sky and the endless flat ground and green grass around me. It's hard to decide; I understand both sides' perspectives. I feel as if I'm slightly stronger with my power, even though I'm still getting used to it.

        I peer into Rain's eyes and say, "I agree with Ash. Making more cats Superiors can strengthen us. We should only do it to them if they want it, though. Forcing cats to possess things they don't want to have won't help us."

Rain nods. "Of course. No one's forcing anyone to do anything."

Ash says, "I am not my brother. I only use my power on cats who want it, and I will continue to do so."

"I know," I respond, blinking at him.

A light breeze ruffles my fur as Rain returns to where she originally was. Many of the rebels are still chattering among themselves.

"Shut up!" North yells to the cats who are still talking.

Rain speaks over them. "I will make the final decision on this once Ash recovers. Alright, guys, now I have something else to talk about. It's about a different plan that will make us stronger."

Ash closes his eyes, seeming either oblivious or careless that cats are staring at him. Based on his calm, controlled personality, I'm guessing the latter is true.

"I am considering inviting other rebel groups to join forces with us," Rain continues, pacing as she speaks. "A problem that I've realized we have is that the rebels are very divided. We all have one purpose in this war; yet, we split ourselves into groups because we quarrel over the smallest ways about how to fight the Superiors. On the other hand, the Superiors are united and fight as one whole group. That shouldn't be happening. We need to unite all of the rebels."

"How are we going to do that?" a cat I don't recognize asks. "Are we going to try to join forces with the Peacemakers?"

Many cats snort at the very mention of their name.

Rain lashes her tail. "Yes, even the Peacemakers."

"The Peacemakers?" I mutter in confusion. Who are those?

"The Peacemakers are a rebel group that is attempting to gain equality by peaceful protests," Ash says. "As you can see, they are rather unpopular because of their resistance to fighting."

I jump at his sudden voice and glance at the black tom. His eyes are still closed, but his ears are perked up toward Rain, as if he's anticipating what she's going to say next.

Rain explains, "So, here's the plan: we offer a proposal to the other rebel groups. If they accept to join us, they will all be considered full members of our team, and they will be able to provide input on strategies and help us successfully fight the Superiors. If they decline to join us, we will recognize them as enemies and treat them like the Superiors. Simple, yeah?"

"In that case," North comments, "we're going to have a lot of enemies."

Rain shakes her head. "North, don't be so pessimistic. It might be risky, but it's the only way we can determine who's really with us and who's not."

My brain is being invaded by so many questions, mainly because I'm still confused about the rebel groups. Maybe Ash can answer them.

As the meeting continues, I quietly meow, "Ash, are you still awake?"

I get an answer right away: "Yes."

"How many rebel groups are there?"

        "There are five major groups and many more minor ones."

        "So all of them have a different way to fight the Superiors?"

        "Yes, no one has agreed on one set strategy to defeat them, and that is what Rain is trying to achieve. We need to eliminate our major weakness in order to have a chance against the Superiors."

        "Oh."

        Our conversation is interrupted by Rain's yowl. "The meeting is over; I'll start executing the plan tomorrow!"

        Rain shouts more directions at the rebels, but I have one more question for Ash before I go.

        "Do you think you're going to fully heal?" I ask.

        Ash opens his eyes and looks at me. This makes me expect a more detailed answer, but Ash only says, "I will be okay."

        Then, he closes his eyes again.

~~~~~~~~

Thank you for reading Forest's Fate up to this point! I am looking forward to finishing this story soon.

If you are enjoying Forest's Fate, please consider giving a vote on this chapter. Thanks again for reading!

~Midnight