"Who is there?! State your purpose!" The elder grew increasingly agitated as he could not sense where the voice came from.
A figure appeared within his sight, Shadow no longer concealed herself when hiding by the entrance to the cave.
The deer spoke respectfully towards the elder. "Shadow Ever-Reach is very pleased to meet you elder."
The elder gazed upon the intruder with shock, he coughed a few times before calming down. "Why have you intruded upon my clans territory?"
Shadow smiled as she spoke softly towards the elder. "I have come to make a deal with elder here today, I wonder if elder is interested in listening?"
"Speak." The elders voice became soft as he realised the beast was not here to harm him.
"Very well, I am aware of your situation and what you face. I am in the process of building up my own forces and happened to hear about what happened so i wish to use this to test those who have followed me." Shadow stood before the elder as she explained. "Lets make a deal, if you have any surviving clan members after the battle then they will join my clan and work for me in the future."
"You sure are honest young one." The elder spoke in a tone of displeasure.
"Of course, if I used words of trickery how could I gain your trust? I have stated the terms of helping your clan survive this crisis. Not only will those who survive be treated well, they will become a lot stronger after undergoing training." Shadow seemed unfazed by the elders displeasure and continued to speak of the benefits. "Not only do you gain an ally and save many lives but those that live will gain opportunities to grow stronger to protect themselves."
"Humph, it wasn't even that long ago that some panthers showed up and tried to speak a bunch of promises towards me and my clan, what makes you think I would accept your proposal?" The elder showed disdain towards Shadow as he spoke.
"I see, then how about we make a bet? If I can help annihilate the white wolf clan then your tiger clan must swear complete loyalty to me alone. If I fail to do so then that may be the end of the tiger clan and I would probably suffer some setbacks. Regardless of win or loss I will be putting the lives of my clan on the line too, this is me showing my sincerity." Shadow smirked as she gazed upon the elder with a profound look. 'It looks like the Panther clan has already begun making preparations for the competition and pulling in outside clans to take advantage of the event to wipe out several of the younger generation.'
"Why would you help us?" The elder was quite puzzled.
"I had run into some of their clan members a few days ago and it quickly turned to a fight so naturally I have some enmity with them. Most importantly I wish to build up a clan of my own that is different from what the spirit beast clans are used to. Most beasts live with their own race and keep out or kill other beasts which creates disunity within the forest, if they worked together under one clan wouldn't their potential be brought out? Try imagining it, beasts working together instead of clashing with eachother constantly." Shadow sighed as she spoke. "So do you want to bet?"
The elder gazed upon the young deer and was lost in thought. "Fine, you sure have some ambition kid. I will be expecting you to keep the kids safe if things don't work out."
"Of course I will." Shadow smiled gently as she turned her body towards the cave entrance.
Her body was again covered in a layer of dark spirit energy helping to conceal herself better and left the cave silently.
The elderly tiger lay on the spot and let out a groan as he thought to himself. 'Such big plans for a young one, she may look young but has such a difficult goal. Unfortunately she will face a lot of troubling situations on the road to such a dream, it is a shame I will not be able to see if she succeeds or not.'
He raised his voice so that those outside his cave could hear him. "Give out my order! All clan members prepare for war and be on the alert for intruders, any wolves caught in our territory kill without hesitation! If there are any beasts that are not a threat leave them to do as they please, our focus is our enemy the white wolf clan!"
"Yes elder, as you wish!" A voice yelled back towards the elder, shortly after followed a loud and fierce roar which could be heard by all of the beasts in the territory.
Those clan members that heard it began to move towards the location the roar came from while other beasts paled in fright as they quickly left the territory.
The elderly tiger closed his eyes and began to sleep as he did his best to conserve his remaining energy and life force.
A fierce looking male tiger accompanied by a graceful looking female tiger stood before the clan members.
They were the twins parents who ruled over the tiger clan in the elders absence, as they gazed upon their family members they grew more determined, the father roared. "Today we will go to war with the White wolf clan, since they wish to force us into such a situation we will show no mercy! If there are any white wolves in our territory kill them without hesitation!"
As he spoke the clan members began to show a fierce look on their faces, it had been so long since their last serious battle of this scale and this time they could lose their entire clan to this war.