Written by ShinySilverOwl001 for my forum collab, The Amazons.
The warm, musty air of the underground tunnels gently awoke the brindled she-cat. She realized the tom who slept with her the previous night had left her den without stirring her awake. She stood and stretched out, smiling at herself. She stepped out of the tunnels, the hazy morning light that filtered through the roots of trees and thin bushes cast a luminescent glow over the waking Clan. The she-cat inhaled, now smelling the crisp moisture in the air, cooling the tunnels down. She observed her drowsy Clan shuffle about with early morning business and tried to make out which cats were awake with her still-blurred vision.
Swifteye was already busy on the morning patrols, sending small groups of cats into the tunnels to check the various entrances scattered about the surface territory. A hunting patrol was already underway, as the morning held early-rising prey and the fresh-kill pile held two scrawny mice and a young robin. One of her warriors walked into a darker tunnel with a visiting tom, their tails entwined and both talking in flirtatious tones. She smiled, all was well and all was peaceful.
"Brindlestar!" Swifteye called from the lower level of the camp. Brindlestar peeked over the balcony to see her deputy standing at attention. "How was your night?"
Brindlestar nodded. "It was lovely, thank you." She looked over at the toms' den. "Where did Neptune go?"
"That flea-bitten rat? He slunk off with another she-cat this morning."
The brindled she-cat lowered her ears and tail with disappointment. "Okay... I'm just going to be over at the... um... other thing..."
Swifteye lifted her gaze to Brindlestar. "One more thing, Brindlestar."
"Yes?"
"Pounceskip and Larksky have told me Wishpaw and Shinepaw are ready to become warriors any day now. As soon as their mentors approve of them in their hunting assessments, they'll be anticipating their warrior ceremony."
"All right."
"And think of some names! We need the Clan's morale to stay high!" She called after her leader.
Brindlestar decided to wander the surface, looking for some inspiration for the apprentices' new names. She passed a hunting patrol with one of the soon-to-be-warriors in their ranks, carrying a crow in her mouth. The apprentice didn't make eye contact, but the leader of the patrol nodded in greeting to the leader and continued on with her patrol.
The brindled she-cat observed her surroundings. Let's see... What would be good names for the apprentices?
She eyed the leaves of the trees towering overhead. Shineleaf? Wishleaf? Hmm... No...
Ripe, fresh berries hung in bushes for Snowleaf to harvest. Shineberry and Wishberry? No...
Her mind switched off for a moment, thinking about naming Shinepaw "Shinefur" and Wishpaw "Wishtail". They were the best names to fall back on whenever she was feeling uninspired.
Instead of thinking of names, her mind drifted to Neptune and the wonderful nights they had together over the past few moons. The fact that he was spending time with other she-cats disturbed her. As she thought of what she did to deserve his actions, a thought stroked her mind. She hated it, disregarded it, shoved it aside and buried it deep in her mind.
But it would work... It would make him never cheat on her again. But it would destroy her relationship with him...
But that's all just typical for her.
She nodded, then trotted back to the camp where she confronted Neptune sitting with a white she-cat.
"Neptune, I hereby banish you from my territory. From now on, the dominant tom is Asphalt."