It was late one night as the animal transport van zoomed towards London. A while back, some fool in a small southern town had tried to keep two ocelots as pets. Two very feral ocelots of the opposite gender. Long story short, the male eventually attacked his owner and the two escaped. The neighbors soon found out about the exotic renegade pets when some of their own pets started to turn up dead or hurt. One was eventually spotted (no pun intended) and one resident called animal control.

The former owner of the two wild cats was taken into questioning after the male was found with a collar, that had a tag including the owner's address, around his neck. The officers were shocked to find out from him that there was another one of the tiny jungle cats running around. They began searching again, looking in alleys, run-off water drains, and dumpsters in search of the small wild cat to get it into proper care.

They eventually found the female, half starved and sickly, behind an old, long since unused rubbish bin. When they did find her, however, they found another surprise as well: three tiny kittens. There was no question in when they would transport the mother and kittens to the nearest zoo like the they had with the male.

The mother was sick and and two weak to survive without immediate medical attention, and without their mother, the kittens wouldn't last much longer. An animal transport vehicle had been summoned to get the cats to the nearest zoo. The kittens had been placed in a separate cage than the mother, for fear they would catch whatever she was suffering from. In the animal control officer's rush, the back doors of the vehicle had been shut, but not locked.

As the vehicle drove through the woods that night, a deer suddenly jumped out on the road as it reached a bend. The vehicle swerved, sending one of the doors flying open, and the cage with the kittens tumbling out into the woods! as the vehicle corrected itself, the door shut again, leaving no evidence of the kittens' accidental abandonment as the car drove off. The cage flipped several times in the air as it fell before being caught in the uncomfortable, but life-saving tendrils of a shrub. The three kittens were left mewling in the night, their protective cage busted open, in the middle of an unknown forest.

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Meanwhile...in Thunder Clan

Jayfeather tossed and turned in his sleep. After the Great Battle, he had very few dreams beyond the usual ones of hunting or running along the lake. This one however, was different. It was dark, so very dark. Trees towered high above him, so high that their branches go unseen. Was he in the Dark Forest? No, the Dark Forest wasn't like this. A chorus noise from strange unseen animals surrounded him. The sound of rushing water made him turn his head to see a large, wide river.

"Jayfeather." a voice said. he jumped and turned to see Yellowfang.

"Yellowfang?" he said in surprise,"What are you doing here? What is this place?"

"We are in a place where even the cats of the Dark Forest would not dare trod." Yellowfang said, "It is a place where you must fight to survive every day, where not even the highest branches of the trees are truly safe."

Jayfeather gulped at the thought. "Why bring me here then?" Jayfeather asked.

"Because Jayfeather, a creature from this place will come, and it will destroy Thunder Clan, unless you stop it." Yellowfang said.

Jayfeather's eyes widened in fear, " How in the name of Star Clan do you expect me to stop it?! Thunder Clan is still recovering from the Great Battle! We're practically sitting ducks! The only reason the other clans haven't thought about attacking yet is because they're still recovering too!"

"I'm sorry Jayfeather, but how you will stop it is for you to decide, not me. There is nothing more I can do." Yellowfang said before disappearing.

" HEY! YELLOWFANG COME BACK!" Jayfeather shouted, "I WASN'T FINISHED YET! GET BACK HERE!" His vision started to fade.

"Jayfeather? Jayfeather!" a voice said.

Jayfeather opened his eyes to darkness. He was no longer in the strange forest. He was in the Medicine Cat's den. He could hear crickets, so he could tell it was still dark out. He felt something probing him. "Jayfeather! Are you alright?! You looked like you were having a nightmare!" the voice said.

Jayfether recognized the voice as Briarlight's. He growled and flicked his tail at her. "Why did you wake me up! I was having an important dream!" he hissed.

Briarlight shrunk back. "I-I'm sorry Jayfether...I didn't know! I thought the Dark Forest cats came back to hurt you in your sleep!" she said looking down at her forepaws.

Jayfeather's eyes softened and he sighed. "It's ok. It was pretty much over anyways." he said. He shouldn't be so hard on Briarlight. She was just trying to protect her friend, and she'd been terrified of the Dark Forest cats coming back.

"So what was you dream about?" She asked.

Jayfeather pointed his head in her direction. "You can't tell, anyone Briarlight. Not now at least." he said and she nodded. "I'm not sure, but….I think something's coming. Something strange that we've never dealt with before. Something that could destroy our Clan, but the scary thing is...I have no idea what it is, or how to stop it. he said.

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to be continued…