Chapter One
"Shortly after the mainland Clans- the Clans of Thunder, River, Wind and Shadow- began, a tom who's name is now long forgotten spoke with a group of cat's that came from each Clan, in the shadows, behind the backs of the leaders. He warned them that with large groups of cat's that are taught to fight as if it were as necessary as hunting came war, and with that came the likely death of their friends and family. These groups completely agreed with his train of thought, and allowed him to lead them away from the Clans, out to find a land where they could live in groups of families, untouched by two-legs and the threats that come with them.
"And then their long, fifty-moon trip began. Many were lost or decided to stay at one of the places they rested at, but they finally made it to the sun-drown-place- the sea, or ocean, as the forgotten one told us. Monsters were riding across the sea as if it were the natural thing to do. The forgotten one decided to stow away on one, and so they did. At the first stop they got off of the Sea-monster, as dubbed by one of the forgotten one's comrades, and so they discovered the island. They split up into familial groups, the forgotten one disappearing into the depths of said island. It was almost a silent agreement to call the island The Forgotten Island, after so many generations because nobody remembered the tom's name. That's how we found this place."
Shallow looked up at her grandmother, who, with old, dark blue eyes, looked out of their den as if it would lead her to paradise, and she followed the gaze, listening to the tale passed on over for many generations.
"Grandmother," the kit inquired and the gaze to the invisible paradise was broken, first by the one spoken to then by the one speaking. "If the forgotten one was so important, why did we forget his name?"
The old, sandy-colored she-cat blinked tiredly at the kit with a small, ghost of a smile. "Some things, no matter how important, are forgotten over time. We can't stop it."
"Isn't that unfair? He brought us to this place, shouldn't we at least give him the credit he deserves?" Shallow squeaked, pawing at her grandmother's old, achy tail as a way of showing her irritation over the matter. She always was one for fairness, which caused trivial arguments with her father- and sometimes these disagreements made her grandmother snap at them both.
In the end, the arguments and debates were a kind of fun that the two only had when tensions were high, and they wouldn't realize how animated they got when snapping at the other until later, when they'd laugh it out after Shallow's grandmother went to sleep.
"We can't do anything about it, Shallow. It's already a forgotten name, we can't bring it back from the depths of our mind because most of us don't even know it. We all simply call him 'the forgotten one.'"
The small, tawny she-cat shuffled her pale feet against the den's sandy floor with a small frown. "Like how I can't remember mother, because I didn't know her to begin with?" she asked innocently, her voice quiet and smooth, quite a contrast to the raspy voice that came afterwards.
"Yes." the short response was enough to make Shallow stop asking questions, as her grandmother was one for long speeches and talking far too much, so when she spoke one word as an answer it was a sign to stop.
And, unfortunately for her, Shallow got these one-word responses to her questions about her mother, her grandmother's daughter. The only thing that Shallow is aware of is that her mother passed shortly after she was born, and from then on it's only been her father, her grandmother and her.
"When is father going to come back?" Shallow questioned instead, tail twitching back and forth with curiosity and impatiens.
"At sundown, Shallow. He always hunts for longer than needed. Once you get old enough you better go and help him out, otherwise I'll have your rump for it." Shallow's grandmother chuckled lightly, slight snappiness dripping from her voice.
The kit nodded, determination creasing her features, and nodded affirmatively to her elder. "Father says I can learn to hunt when I am six moons- I'm five moons, just one more moon to go."
Shallow's grandmother nodded along with her, "You are indeed. When you do learn to hunt, make sure to bring me back a large-" the old she-cat coughed loudly, the tremor shaking her frail body. "Fish. A large fish."
"Of course, grandmother!" the younger nodded once again, a grin splitting her face. "And one day I'll hunt for father as well so he doesn't have to work so hard. It's only fair that I do that for him, after all he's done for me."
"You do that, Shallow. It'll make your mother proud."
Pearly blue eyes turned to the sandy-furred she-cat, blinking a few times. "Really?" and with a nod from the elder she bounced on her paws, excited for the day to come when she hunts for her only parent.
Her grandmother then rolled over, onto her side with a deep huff, blowing some of the dusty sand by her muzzle away. "Dear Stars, I'm beat. The sun's beating down on us too hard, it's draining the energy out of this old cat. I'm going to sleep, Shallow."
Shallow nodded; it was a normal affair for her. After telling a few long stories without stopping much, her grandmother would tire herself out and fall asleep for a while, normally until her father came back. Then Shallow would wake her with a gentle tap and the word 'Supper.'
"I'll wake you when father gets home, alright?" the kit didn't get an answer, but she knew that would happen, considering her grandmothers soft and steady breaths that fill the near-silent den with a familiar noise- it's almost as calming as the sound of waves at hightide. Almost.
Her plumy tail swished side-to-side as she blinked at the barely-dimming sunlight, as sundown wasn't for a long while. She pawed the ground out of boredom, before rolling in the sandy earth with a hearty purr.
She may have to spend her days in the den, entertaining herself now, but in a moon she would be able to go hunt and train with her father. The thought alone was enough to excite her. Even more so when she thought of meeting other cat's that live on the same shore she and her family does.
She had imagined it so many times that the silver tabby that she thought of kept her company in times where she couldn't talk to her grandmother while her father was gone. He rolled besides her, his breathy voice echoing in the air loudly- sometimes she forgot nobody else could hear him and scolded him for being so loud.
"Shallow! Isn't the sand so beautiful today!" the silver tabby cheered, grin splitting his over-optimistic face, as it always had. He was a personification of all Shallow's positive feelings and she was glad that he was so nice.
"Yes, yes it is, Swifty." she purred, her own voice coming out in a whisper, as to not wake her grandmother too early. Swifty, the silver tom, blinked his almost see-through eyes at her, letting out a small chattering of his teeth- his way of showing affection. His tail whooshed next to her and she made an effort to notice that the sand didn't move under it- another way to remember that he's an illusion to keep her company, not an actual cat.
"So, what story did she tell you today?" the tom began the idle chatter that normally occupied the silence that was created by her grandmothers untimely sleeping pattern and it was comforting to hear.
"She told me the story of the forgotten one, and how he found this island with the group of Clan cats." Shallow mewed, turning so she was facing his blue-ish eyes with her own pearly blue orbs.
"Don't you think it's unfair that he wasn't even remembered?" Swifty asked, his voice tinted with annoyance.
"That's what I said!" she let out a quick, yell of a whisper that only a kit can seem to summon correctly. He chuckled, nodding for her to continue. "I mean, his name should have been passed down! It would show him more respect."
He nodded, agreeing completely with her, just as he always did. "Definitely, it's just not fair. And I know you don't like anything unfair."
Shallow let out a quick huff. "You know how father is always saying 'life isn't fair?'" she questioned quietly, rolling back onto her stomach. He nodded once again. "I understand that completely, but what about the aspects of life that you can control, like helping someone out with hunting?"
Swifty completely agreed, as always, and their conversation grew a bit off topic, to what they believed the world outside the den was like and then to what her mother was like and then to what other cat's they would meet once they were given the permission to roam freely.
Shallow didn't realize how much time had passed until her father came strutting through the door, his golden-colored tabby pelt shimmered at the ends where the salt had collected after a long day of fishing. In his jaws were two average-sized fish, enough to feed him and her grandmother. On his back, where it had most likely fell off on multiple occasions, was a small minnow.
Not wasting any time, she went over to her sleeping grandmother, tapping her lightly. "Supper!" she called out, and Swifty faded off, back into the depths of her mind.
Dark blue eyes opened tiredly, but once the smell of freshly-caught fish filled the air she seemed to spring back into the land of the awake. "Thank the great Stars above! Ray, do you know how famished I am?"
Her father, the golden tabby, chuckled, setting down the fish in front of their respective soon-to-be hunters.
"Dig in!" and they ate, as one relatively small, but happy, family.