What you recognize, I don't own. What you don't recognize, I do own, and while I have no problem letting people use said characters, I do like the whole idea of "Credit where credit is due." Anything else you need?
Amber was involved in one her few favorite pastimes. At nearly midnight, she was sitting at her bedroom window, lights turned down low, and staring at the sky. More specifically, she was staring at the stars, tracing nonsensical patterns amongst the glowing orbs twinkling brightly down on her.
Her eyes roamed the field of lights until they landed on what had to be the brightest star in the sky. A sad sigh followed as she wished silently for something better then this. Her life was miserable, lonely with parents who rarely noticed her presence, and peers that leered and jeered at her. Her only friends in life were her animals, particularly the cat, Charlie, who'd been the family pet up till last year.
Briefly, Amber wondered of Charlie was looking down on her and wishing to be with her like he used to. Or maybe he was having too much fun with the other cats up there with him. Amber was sure that Charlie missed her, just as much as she missed him. Maybe being a cat or a dog would've been a better existence for her then a human one.
Amber was perfectly unaware of Charlie, who was indeed watching over her, and that he had heard her silent wish. Charlie had found a place within Starclan, even though he had spent his life a "Kittypet", a cat who lived with humans. However, even kittypets went to Starclan when they died, and Charlie would've made a great clan cat. His duties, however, were to Amber, his human, and he never became a clan cat.
Charlie looked over as the ginger tom, named Hawkstar, padded over to sit beside him. Hawkstar was leader, of sorts, of Starclan. He shifted his head to look at Amber the human, sitting dejectedly at her window, staring sadly at the stars and them. He, too, could hear the teenager's wishes of something better then the miserable life she lived as a human.
"Something on your mind, Charlie?" he questioned.
"Amber's hurting, and I'm not there to make it better. I hate not being able to help her. She was my clan leader, and my clan as a whole. It's frustrating to be unable to even visit her in dreams, because she's human. She would've made a better animal, I know she would."
"I see. And what kind of animal do you think she'd be good at being?"
"Well, it's a bit of a toss up between a cat of any sort or a wolf. Although, she'd make a great bird too, of only because she likes to fly and would enjoy having wings."
"Well then. We have a bit of a problem to sort out don't we? After all, we can't make her a winged wolf-cat, I mean, really!!!"
Charlie turned to stare at Hawkstar in disbelief, and a bit of hope.
"Really? You can do that?"
"We are Starclan my dear fellow. And you do have a point. We've been watching her since she was born, and we noticed that she indeed hold several traits that are better appreciated by cats, wolves and birds rather then humans. We can make her a bit of an abnormal, giving her the wings she would so enjoy, but she'd be either full wolf or full cat. Which do you think she'd be better as?"
"I don't know. I never thought that anyone could help her, especially from up here."
"Would you feel better if we call a meeting of the Clan to discuss things a bit more? After all, they will need to know what's going on anyway, and maybe they can offer reasons for one way or the other." Hawkstar offered.
"I think that would be great, thanks Hawkstar."
"Very well, then come with me, and we shall get started. No time like the present after all."
And with that, the two cats walked off, leaving Amber to her sad musings, ready to discuss her new, hopefully better life with the rest of the clan.
Many cats had gathered at the Clan meeting that had been called. While many clan cats still maintained their loyalty to their life Clan, they all worked together when Starclan needed them to. Death does many things; including allowing one to really see past prejudices that they may not have been able to in life.
"What's going on Hawkstar?" asked one calico queen as she glanced at the "Leader" and the black and white kittypet sitting beside him. Although he was at least part warrior, because even though he had lived with humans, and had been fixed, he was still a great fighter, and depended on humans mainly for food and sometimes shelter. The biggest difference between a clan cat and the kitty-warrior next to Hawkstar was that he wouldn't had ever had come to a clan in life had he been offered—there was one special human girl that needed him, and he wouldn't have ever left her.
It took a minute for Hawkstar to call the gathering to order, and once he had, he answered the queen's question.
"We are gathered here tonight for the purpose of altering the life course of a human kit. Amber had been the only true thing that kept Charlie here from a true Warrior, and still now his loyalty to her never wavers. All of you know who Amber is, and why she is such a figurehead out of all the cats we watch over, and it's not just because she's the only human."
"If you look now, you will find Amber wishing for something more then the life she is presently living, invisible to all but herself and her fantasies. Charlie's loyalty never wavers, but he finds being here difficult at these times, which is often, because he cannot contact her and offer her any sort of support like he used to, even invisible. He and I have talked, and it has been decided that Amber was born the wrong species—she should have never been human."
"Hawkstar and I discussed what Amber should have really been, and I mentioned that she would've made an excellent wolf, or an excellent cat—of any sort, not just Warrior, but Leopard, Tiger and Lion—and that she would've enjoyed being a bird, if only because one of her biggest wishes is to have wings. However, when Hawkstar told me that we could make her into something else—even give her wings, despite that none others would have them—he asked me if we should make her a wolf or a cat."
"This meeting is to answer that question. Amber was one of the greatest humans to ever live, and even the Clans would've found little wrong with her save her being a Twoleg, and many of her traits are better appreciated by the wolves and the cats. I really am not sure which she should be, and Hawkstar offered this meeting so we could make a final decision."
That said, both cats stepped back to allow the Clan to process the information and discuss it with one another. Their hearing easily picked out the conversations being carried on, and thusly, they easily heard a rather odd question.
"What do twolegs call them? Something wolf. Unheard of in a cat, but it can still work. We're going to give her wings from the sound of it anyway, cat or wolf, so why not combine on this too? And this way, she can still be involved in the clans. Although, which clan should she be a part of?"
This came from a tom with spotted markings, musing to his best friend as to what they should do. Charlie and Hawkstar exchanged glances.
"What are you talking about Snaketail?" asked Hawkstar of the tom, bringing the whole clan's attention to them.
"Well, it sounds like you were going to make her an oddity of either wolf or cat community by giving her wings, so I was thinking. I have heard of twoleg stories that speak of their fellow twolegs somehow turning into a wolf, usually during full moon. I forget what they call them, but my thought was that if we're giving her wings why not combine, turn her into a winged cat that is also this wolf-creature?"
"Werewolf. You're speaking of the human myth of the werewolf. Amber always thought life could be better tolerated of she was a werewolf. I lost count of how many times she'd ask me if there were any werewolves in the neighborhood, and how cool would it be if they existed." Charlie supplied the missing vocabulary word, eyes widening.
"You seem to know about these…werewolves, Charlie, so why don't you fill us in?" asked Hawkstar, wondering if Snaketail's idea didn't have merit.
"From what I know of it, being a werewolf is a sort of bad thing to humans, because they become these bloodthirsty beasts willing to eat even their own flesh and blood. It's seen as a sort of sickness, and while how it's gained varies with legend, the result is always the same. The person turns into a wolf and goes on rampage, killing everything in sight. In the older legends, they were sometimes full wolf, sometimes this sort of wolf-man beast. Amber really liked the present day legends, where the sickness is transferred by bite and every full moon they turn into a full wolf. She always modified it a bit so that she would have control of her mind where the wolves of legend sometimes did not, thus preventing the rampages. While human, werewolves had heightened senses, like their alter ego's, instead of their normal dulled senses. They are also stronger and faster then normal humans."
"Amber thought that being a beautiful wolf once a month, being super strong and fast and having wolf hearing and smell would've been so wonderful. Her daydreams often involved her being a winged werewolf, with the added bonus she created of being able to become a wolf anytime she needed to, not just full moons. Sometimes her dreams deviated from this in the shape of her being, instead of a werewolf, and werecat of some sort."
"I see. And it is your idea, Snaketail, to make Amber a cat with this werewolf sickness, your argument being that since we're giving her wings anyway, we might as well go all the way and combine being a wolf and a cat into one big package?" asked Hawkstar, going over the implications of this idea in his head and liking what he saw. The spotted tom did have a point after all. They were already giving her wings no matter what form they gave her, why not combine wolf and cat too, especially if it came in such a neat little packet like this?
Snaketail nodded. "Yes, Hawkstar. I figure she'd make a good clan cat, and this way, if she was a cat, Charlie could visit her in her dreams. It would just be a matter of figuring out which clan she should belong to and warning their medicine cat. If the choice between making her a cat and a wolf is really such a difficult problem, then why not combine using the twoleg legend. Amber, as Charlie pointed out, is just as into that as she is cats and wolves, maybe even more so. If she thinks it'd be as cool as a kit thinks being apprenticed to the Clan leader is, then why not grant her wish?"
Hawkstar continued to think it over, before turning to Charlie. "What do you think?" he asked.
"It has some merit. But would any clan accept her if we went through with it? I can only assume they'll have issues with her wings; will her being a werewolf be something they can't get over, no matter how hard they try? For that matter, how are we going to go about this? Will she be reborn a cat, or changed into a cat, and how much, of any, memory, particularly about her human life, will she keep?"
"The clans should be able to get over it. If nothing else, we'll make sure they look past it, because Starclan wouldn't be too happy to find that they can't or won't accept a new member because she turns into a wolf every full moon." Had Hawkstar been human, he would've smirked at that. "As for her change and her memory, we'd de age her to a kitten old enough to be apprenticed, and her memory as a human would be altered only a tiny bit, mainly so that most of them would only be the ones you are a part of. We'll allow her a memory or two of her real parents and birth heritage, and the rest will be removed, so she can make new, hopefully happier memories within her new clan."
"Which clan should she become part of?" asked Charlie.
"Thunderclan has a wise and caring leader in Bluestar. She alone of the four leaders will be able to look past history to the true spirit within. Plus, Tigerclaw is a treacherous cat, and she may be able to save the clan where no other can from his dark heart. Already he is plotting the death of Redtail, and while Rusty the kittypet will be invaluable to the clan, he alone can not stop Tigerclaw. He'll need help, and that is where Amber may come in. If you have no objections, we shall place her in Thunderclan, and will thusly need to warn Spottedleaf as to her coming."
Silence reigned. No cat had any objection to placing Amber in Thunderclan, as one of the cats needed to take out Tigerclaw. They had already warned them about the kittypet Rusty, and they could sense that he'd be discovered by the clan within the next couple of days. Amber could be discovered with him, living rouge near the Twoleg place.
"Very well. Then it shall be done. Who wishes to warn the Thunderclan medicine cat of her coming?"
A former Thunderclan medicine cat stepped forward, offering her services. Hawkstar nodded his approval. "Very good. Take to them the message 'Fire alone can not save the clans. Needed to help is the gem of LeopardClan, the winged dog of twoleg myth.'"
Another nod, and the queen took off, headed to deliver the message. Meanwhile, Hawkstar flicked his tail at Charlie, summoning him, and they headed back to where Charlie had been watching Amber. They looked down at the girl, now sound asleep in bed, and Hawkstar turned to the black and white cat next to him.
"I already have in mind the new pelt of the cat Amber will become. Do you wish for any input on her wolf self or eye color?"
"Amber had an ingrained image of her wolf alter ego. From her muzzle down, she was the brightest of whites, seemingly able to glow in the moonlight ten times more then the moon itself. Halfway down, the color became a black so deep as to suck up all light surrounding it. Sliver markings the gleamed completed the picture—stripes on the black half, spots on the white—like those black and white spotted dogs—and her paws dipped up to the joint in sliver and a sliver tail tip, like the white tip to a fox tail. As for her eyes, Amber was always interested in violet eyes."
Hawkstar nodded his consent. "Thank you. This is acceptable. Amber will become a violet eyed cat of my own pelt design, and her wolf form will match that which you have described to me. Any thought on the wings?"
"Amber liked bird wings, preferring soft downy feathers to the smooth scales of bat-wings and the like. Amber liked her gem tones, the wings being gold in color with emerald tips. And large. She liked the thought of large wings."
"This is also acceptable. Will you help me make Amber into the Warrior she should become?"
"Tell me what I need to do, and I'm on it." was his response.
"Then let's get started. After all, the night won't last much longer."
And without another word, the two cats worked magic on the sleeping girl they watched, hoping the change would bring about a happier life to one who so desperately needed it.
There. My first ever Warrior fic, although why I'm posting this, I have no idea. I must be nuts. Yes, werewolf cats are a new thing, but I couldn't decide how to go about this—have her a kittypet, or adopt a plotline I saw once in the Warriors section and have the Clan adopt Amber the wolf pup. So, I combined, making Amber a werewolf cat. Charlie was my own cat, and he was always my closest and bestest friend before some stupid speed demon tore though the neighborhood and hit him. And the fact that he would've made a good warrior was no joke—he was top cat in our neighborhood, and we were always getting complaints from our neighbors about his hunting the local mice and birds.
I'm taking several liberties here, making Amber a winged werewolf cat, but I hope you like this, and in case you are wondering, I have read the first three books, and will eventually work my way through them all—although it might take awhile, as my next book will probably come from the bookstore in town, and I'll have to walk, which I ain't doing in this freezing winter weather my area is currently experiencing. They'll be adapted into this little story as I read them and get to them in this plotline.
Until next time, review please. Cheers!!!
Werewolf of Suburbia