Birds of a Feather

Chapter One: The Story Begins

I woke with a start, blinking my eyes open quickly. Man, it was bright out. I wasn't expecting that; normally my bedroom was pretty dimly-lit, no matter how late in the day it was. Wait a minute, this was not my bedroom. Not even close. I was... I was in a forest?

Feeling pretty groggy, I sat up and looked around. Yep. Definitely a forest. Huge oak trees towered above me for what seemed like miles, and there was dense undergrowth scattered in patches along the forest floor. The grass was tall and wild, obviously indicating that this place hadn't been touched by people in a while; if ever at all. How did I even get here? Last I remembered, I was in my bedroom getting ready to go to sleep for the night.

I moved to rub my eyes with my hands, but then stopped. Oh... Oh my god! I had paws now! Quickly, I jumped to my feet and frantically looked myself over. Holy crap, I was a cat! Complete with paws, tail, and everything. My fur was a tan color, with tabby stripes and white paws.

Okay, okay, gotta calm down. I'm in a forest. I'm a cat. I have no clue where I am or how I got here. I'm a cat. Oh man, I'm really a cat now. This is insane. This is... incredible! Feeling a burst of excitement, I started running around the little clearing I had woken up in, jumping high into the air and testing my legs. I had never felt so fast in my life! I don't even know how long I just kept running before I finally had to catch my breath.

After that, I sat down in the shade of one of the nearby trees. As I sat there, I sheathed and unsheathed my claws repeatedly, digging them into the soft earth below my fee- paws. My paws. Maybe I should've been a little more concerned about this. I mean, people don't just turn into cats for no reason. Heck, people don't just turn into cats period!

Just then, a new smell caught my attention. Something, maybe instinct, told me that it was the smell of another cat. Scratch that, several of them. Shoot, that couldn't be good... Most cats, feral or not, were never happy to have intruders on their territory. I wasn't sure that I would be able to hold my own even in a one-on-one fight, forget it if I was outnumbered.

In a bit of a panic, I darted up the tree I'd been sitting next to. I stopped on the highest branch I could get to, hoping it would support my weight. I was a sitting duck if they found me up here, but at least I might have the upper hand if I had the high-ground.

Not long after I got myself situated, five cats came bursting through the undergrowth. There was a gray one, a pure white one, a solid black one, a brown tabby, and a gray tabby. Three of them looked like they were fully grown, while the other two were about my size.

"Cloudtail, are you positive that you scented an intruder?" The gray tom cat asked; he had a darker gray stripe running down his back.

"You know I'm one of the best trackers in the clan, Graystripe. I know what I'm doing. Besides, the scent is still fresh; they must be close by." The fluffy, pure white cat replied, sounding a bit irritated.

Wait a minute, what?! Cloudtail? Graystripe? Those were... No, it couldn't be! There was no way... There was no way I was in ThunderClan right now. There was no way I had turned into a cat and woken up in ThunderClan's territory. I was just a boring, run-of-the-mill, fifteen year-old girl; how could I be a cat in a fictional world? I had to be dreaming, had to be, but... this all just felt too real; the sunlight shining down on me, the gentle breeze, the tree branch creaking beneath my paws.

Wait, oh shi-!

The branch I was sitting on finally gave out under my weight, and in an instant I was falling. I honestly don't know what happened next, but somehow I was able to catch myself on one of the larger branches below me. I wonder how likely it was that they hadn't heard that branch break...

"Hey, you! What are you doing up there?" One of the cats called up at me. Not very likely, then.

"I, uh, well, I smelled you coming, and I was afraid you might be mad at me for being on your territory." I explained, stuttering a bit awkwardly.

"So you knew you were trespassing?" The white tom, Cloudtail obviously, accused.

"Not... Not exactly..." I stammered. How was I supposed to tell them I just sort of woke up here? As if they would even believe that.

"Look, just come down will you? We aren't going to hurt you." Graystripe cut in. He sounded pretty... gentle. Well, about as gentle as he could.

"Um, well, you see, about that..." I stuttered, feeling even more awkward.

"Don't tell me you can't climb down." Cloudtail sighed, no doubt getting frustrated with me.

"No, no, I can do it! ... I think." I insisted, carefully getting to my paws and trying to make my way down the tree. Maybe I shouldn't have climbed up so high. I did a pretty okay job climbing down though, despite the fact that I moved at a snail's pace. When there was only about three feet left between me and the ground, I leaped the rest of the way down, stumbling a bit with my clumsy landing. "S-Sorry about that." I apologized.

"You're fine." A brown tabby stated calmly. I couldn't really tell who he was for sure. There were plenty of amber-eyed brown tabbies in ThunderClan, after all. "Now tell us, what were you doing in our territory?"

"I-I... I heard there were wild cats out here... Living in groups... and I thought... I thought I might want to join one of them." I lied. Well, it wasn't really a lie, per say, but it wasn't exactly the truth either, now was it?

"You want to join our clan?" One of the younger cats asked, sounding surprised. She was solid black with forest-green eyes. She must've been Hollyleaf! Or... was she Hollypaw still? The other young cat, the gray tabby with blue eyes, must've been Cinderheart, or Cinderpaw. Okay, if Cloudtail was here with her, then she was probably still an apprentice right? That meant that the brown tabby was probably Brackenfur. That sounded right.

"If... If you'll have me." I mewed. The three elder toms exchanged looks between each other.

"We'll take you to our leader, Firestar. You'll have to ask him if you really want to join us." Graystripe told me.

"A-Alright." I agreed, trying as hard as I could to hold back my excitement. And after that, the five of them led the way through the forest, being sure to keep a close eye on me. I mean, they probably weren't too worried about me, considering I was about the size of an apprentice. Assuming that Hollypaw and Cinderpaw were still apprentices, that is.

"Hey, what's your name, by the way? I'm Cinderpaw, and this is my friend Hollypaw." Cinderpaw introduced herself. Okay, so they were still apprentices. Good to know. But, wait a minute, could I really give them my real name? They'd probably think I was a kittypet if I told them.

"I... My name is... Eagle."


Author's Note:

And here you have it folks, the first chapter of the new and improved "I'm a Clan Cat!" It's already more than twice the length of the original Chapter One! x'D

My goal is to try and upload a new chapter at least once a week, but any sudden changes in my schedule might put a delay in that. Although, considering I've already got a rough draft to work with and improve on, and I already know pretty much what I'm writing, the hardest thing for me to do will be actually sitting down and writing it.