The Shifterverse is my own creation, no fandom.

Silver Swift stood, nodding at her commander. "I understand perfectly. For the black arrow."

The commander repeated the greeting. "For the black arrow."

Silver Swift walked over to the fire, contained within a metal barrel in the most sheltered alleyway. Fifteen or twenty members sat around and near it, talking quietly.

"Mission. Silver Jackal, Talus, Soot, you are with me." She led them into another alleyway, coming off the tiny square that was the Black Arrow command base.

"There is an artefact, currently held by the Gold affiliated group. Specifically, the third Gold of the Blue Skies. We have to retrieve it."

Silver Jackal frowned. "Who in their right mind would trust the Blue Skies with anything valuable? They are a smaller, weaker offshoot of the already pathetic Green Leaf group."

Silver Swift shook her head. "That is my instructions, straight from the first Black Arrow silver, our commander. And if you, the second silver, wish to challenge me, third silver, for my honor, then I will duel you. But for now, you will lead this mission where the commander has instructed."

The back alleys and underground passageways of the city of Sithresha were deserted. During the day, the paths would be busy with the shifters who lived there, in the capital city, going about their business. But at night, the allied clans came out.

The silver affiliation was made of more powerful shifters, but they were few. The gold affiliation was many, but the average member was weaker. And here, in surprise assaults and sneak raids the Silvers held the advantage. Especially with the second silver and third silver on the same mission, along with two powerful warriors.

Silver Swift paused the group several streets from the stronghold. "You know how this works?"
They nodded, and she quickly wove glamour around them, chanting quietly as she manipulated the element of spirit.
The five elements were affiliated with certain shifter types and personalities, with spirit (or soul) accessible to all, but only blue tigers, like Swift, could manipulate all five. Silver Swift had concealed her rare species well from all but the Commander, who knew about her ...unique... back story and the need for secrecy. There were so few surviving blue tigers, and only one female in more than a century.

Of course, Swift wasn't her name. But neither did any of the others use their own name. Names gave power. Power was dangerous.

"The invisibility will last for one hour only. You all know what you must do?"
An affirmative answered her.
"We will meet back here in exactly one hour. Good luck."

Swift had the most dangerous role of the group. This was her role on most missions: diversion. Take all the danger to protect your group. This was her adrenaline rush, and she thrived on it.

She slipped into the base. It was inevitable that the Blues would notice a mission had been executed on them. The imperative was that they didn't know what had been taken.

Silver Swift pushed over a large cabinet, calling something incomprehensible. She must make them believe that they entered only to cause havoc. She ran into the office, throwing personnel files everywhere.

Heathens. Operating out of a building. So lax. Not like us, who aren't called the Nomadic Gang for nothing.

Hopefully they would think she had stolen files on their agents. It would take months to sort the mess out.

She ran back to the street as the invisibility wore off, calling to the others, waiting for her, "Let's get the gods out of here before they come calling!"

The return to the base was uneventful. Jackal gave the item to the Commander.

He came over to me in my place by the brazier. "I, Jackal, challenge you, Swift, to a trial of honour. You frequently give commands that undermine my authority. Do you accept?"

Swift nodded and stood. "I accept. Stakes: If I win, I have the title and ranking of Second Silver."

Jackal nodded. "If I win, you swear personal loyalty to me and promise to obey my rightful authority."

Swift smiled, cutting the base of her palm. Jackal followed suit and they slapped hands, blood mingling.

A crowd of Black Arrows gathered around them; such a high stakes duel between two such talented warriors was a rare sight.

Swift shifted into a leopard, and Harper, her shift, came to the surface. About time, she growled. You are a Blue Tiger, you can be any kind of cat. You should have challenged the upstart fool months ago.

Swift didn't remind Harper she was undercover. She just watched Jackal shift into a wolf. This would be a long, hard battle.

Swift attacked first, and it would have taken a miracle worker to see how it was fought. It was sorely contested, but after almost five minutes of blurring fur and blood, Jackal was pinned down by the throat.

He shifted back, the sign of surrender. Swift followed suit.

"Silver Swift, Second Silver of the Black Arrows. Nice ring to it."

Jackal nodded and they shook hands. This was how it was to the shifters. No grudges. No feuds. One fight to solve one problem, and then forgotten easily.

It was a hard way to live, with few rewards, but Swift wouldn't have had tilt any other way.