Part 2 - Chapter 8: Shadow Boot Camp

Shadow was sleeping inside Jolt in his fox form. Despite all he had done he decided to distance himself from the others, especially Jaden, until they fully trusted him – no, until they trusted him enough. "People fully trusting me" He thought "Ha! That'll happen the day the Jews convert". Lockdown had wandered off to do some unfinished business. But, of course, he didn't say what it was.

Then he heard a faint scratching on the door. "What? Who's that?" Jolt asked. "It's me, Windfire. Is Shadow here?" "Here you go" Jolt replied, tossing Shadow out of the seat. "Please don't do that again, Jolt" Shadow then looked up to Windfire. "Still lovely as ever" he thought. "What'd you wake me up for?" "My parents have discussed you and the others with Ranger, and we decided that, to build better trust, you could teach us how to hunt" Shadow looked puzzled "Wouldn't your parents have taught you that already?" "My parents haven't yet." Windfire lowered her head. "Of course, father doesn't trust me anymore" "I trust you. You stuck your neck out to save me. You think that's nothing?" "Do you?" "I'll think about this." Shadow wandered off. "Don't get yourself down, girl." Jolt assured Windfire "He's got a good ember. He just has difficulty expressing it."

Windfire made it back to the warren where Jaden and Serena were waiting for her. "What did he say?" "He said that he would think about it" "It's a start, I guess." Jaden then paced over "Windfire, I apologise for the way I've treated you over these years" Windfire looked up "Did mother ask you to say that?" "No, it's of my own accord. I've been too absorbed in keeping you safe, that I almost lost you" Windfire's face lit up. "I forgive you, father" Serena and Windfire stayed outside for a while. "You stayed a bit longer than I thought with Shadow" Serena said smiling. Windfire looked uneasy "What do you mean?" "What I mean is; you like him" "N-No! That's not true! I mean, I do like him. Just not-" Serena snickered "You can't hide it from me. You're blushing" It was true. But Windfire could not explain or make up a good excuse in front of her own sister. She was left to ponder her thoughts that night.

The next morning…

Dreamer woke up and paced out to find Shadow outside the warren. With him were Husky, Pace, Rusty and Plucky. "Are the girls awake yet?" He asked. "Does this mean you've accepted our offer?" "We wouldn't be here otherwise, would we?" Shadow replied turning to the others. They agreed. "Windfire, Serena. Shadow has taken our offer. Time to get up" Serena groaned and roused her sister up. "Five more minutes?" "Prey doesn't wait five minutes, Serena".

Everyone was lined up in front of Jolt and Shadow. "Alright, people. As you might have guessed, my name is Shadow, and I'm here to teach you the things your parents haven't taught you or don't want to teach you." He paced down the line "Our first lesson will be in the nearby town, practicing stealth and theft. It doesn't sound good, I know, but that's life." "Really nice guy" Rusty thought "And that giant doesn't make me feel any better"

"In order to ensure that this is successful, remember this one important rule: think before you act"

Jolt dropped the group off outside the town so they could sneak in. "Alright, first we'll work in pairs. Husky, Rusty, you take the east side of town. Windfire, Pace, you go west. Plucky, Serena, you go south. I'll go solo in the north. Now move out" The pairs headed out in their directions.

Windfire guided Pace through the alleyways. She was a bit down that Shadow hadn't picked her. "Windfire, are you okay?" "Yes, yes I am" "Then let's move. That look you've got is more likely to lull a creature to sleep than scare it" Windfire was ticked "Just because you inherited your father's emotional range doesn't mean the rest of us have" They managed to find a bunch of unoccupied rubbish bins, but barely found enough to fill a cardboard box.

Rusty and Husky were currently discussing their fathers. "You've got it easy, Rusty. My father hates cowards and has tried to hammer it into me." "You think it's easy being expected to succeed a great fox as leader of this family? I'm not sure I can handle the responsibility" "You'll have to sometime" "I'm more worried about those giants" "Jolt? He's not bad, in fact, I really like him" "Not him, the other one. Lockdown" "And? He's dark and mysterious, a creature of few words." "What do you think he's hiding inside that darkness?" Husky didn't have an answer.

Serena was a bit uneasy having Plucky as her partner, remembering how he had almost gotten her sister killed once. He had promised not to make the same mistake. Serena stopped, sniffed, and spotted a promising human food that was left unoccupied. She was about to dart for it when Plucky held her back. "Remember what Shadow said, 'Think before you act'" "I am thinking, I think that no human will mind that I take this." Serena then darted her head back without any more prompting. "What now?" They noticed Doug, Lewis and Noah strolling down the street. "Those three humans were with the two humans who Shadow saved me from"

Lewis then noticed movement in the alley. "What now, Lewis?" Doug asked, tilting his glasses. "I – I just thought I saw something, but no matter" He didn't notice Plucky sneaking past him and stealing the sandwich on the table they were heading for. The three moved on, and when they got there they noticed their meal was gone "What?" "Where's the food" Noah analysed the scene of the crime "It looks like it happened a few seconds ago" Doug glared daggers at Lewis "Uh, guys, I think we should just reorder and move on with our lives" "Oh, no you don't! You stalled us long enough for our lunch to be stolen; we're going to hunt down the thieves that did it! Draw your gun!"

"Not bad" Serena said, munching her sandwich half "I'm not used to eating vegetation, but the humans make it taste good" Neither of them noticed the trio heading their way. They appeared in the alleyway and were about to shoot when they recognised Serena. Remembering their last encounter Noah screamed and dropped to the floor. "Idiot" Doug muttered "What do you want with us?" Serena asked. Doug and Lewis stared in disbelief "It talks?" they said simultaneously. Noah looked up then fainted. "Yes, I talk. But I seem to have more common sense then you"

Doug and Lewis turned to see Shadow behind them. "I thought Lockdown got rid of you dolts" The duo dropped their guns "Please, don't hurt us!" Lewis begged on his knees. "Why? You were interested in the bounty on my head, weren't you?" "We were tricked!" Doug rebuffed "Those two said it was an opportunity to make easy money. I didn't realise it meant murder!" "So why are you facing down these two?" "Oh, it's just the fact that they STOLE OUR FOOD!" Shadow recoiled. "Okay, okay, relax. Here, I'll pay you back" Shadow gave them some money. "Y'know, this guy isn't so bad" Doug said "Wanna be friends?" "Maybe, now get out of here"

Doug and Lewis dragged Noah back to their table while Shadow morphed back. Serena immediately spoke up "My fault" "I made a few mistakes when I started out too, but we all learn quickly" "What now?" Plucky asked "Let's call it a day" Shadow sighed. He needed to give them a taste of real hunting.