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CHAPTER TWO

Having your molecules pulled apart and rearranged into a different body isn't actually all that painful.

I felt a tingling sensation all over my body, and my vision blurred. When my eyesight cleared, I was standing in exactly the same place I had been sitting—except I was a cat.

Thankfully, my brand new fur was dry. In fact, all the other cats around me—for apparently my classmates had also turned into cats—were not soaked as they had been a moment ago. But frankly, none of us really cared whether we were wet or dry or anything else: we were too busy freaking out.

"Aaargh!" a familiar voice from behind me: Sam. Her reaction was very similar to my own, and that of the other cats surrounding me. For a few moments, I stood with my fur on end and my eyes wide, absolutely panicked.

Slowly, my panic began to fade and I started to think.

I am a cat.

I am a cat. I am no longer human.

I took a deep breath and got myself under control. Hey, come on! This is great! I've always wanted my life to be interesting, and now it is. That's awesome. And since I'm a cat... I broke into a smile. I'm a cat. I've always secretly dreamed about this. This is awesome!

Then I looked around. My classmates were still screaming and running around. I saw some of them staring at the ground or another cat in shock, not saying anything. I took a deep breath. Someone needed to get this under control, and no one else was gonna do it. I had to do this myself.

I glanced around, searching for something to stand on. At last I spotted a wide, flat rock I could use as a vantage point. I shoved my way through the panicked crowd of newly-turned human-cats and stepped onto the rock.

"Hey! Guys!" I exclaimed. A few cats heard me and stared up at me with wide eyes. Most ignored me. I cleared my throat and tried again, shouting louder. "Guys! Calm down! It's me, Annie!"

At last, the noise and movement died down, and the cats stared up at me, fur bristling.

"Okay," I said, more quiet this time. "So. Here are the facts: we're cats."

Angry mutters and hisses spread throughout the crowd. I quickly counted them off. Twenty-five, just like my class. Yep, it was definitely us. "We don't know how we got like this," I continued, "and we don't know how to get back."

A female voice let out a sob. I scowled in the direction of the noise.

"What are we going to do?" a familiar voice demanded: Zach. I quickly found his new form, a thin gray tomcat with pale green eyes, and glared at it.

"Well," I said uncertainly, not quite sure how to answer, "we could...make the best of it, I suppose."

"Make the best of being cats?" Dan's voice demanded. I assumed he was the reddish brown tom who was glaring at me with amber eyes.

"Yeah, why not?" another voice piped up. I sighed in relief as I recognized Callie's voice. She stood tall even with her short stature, her thick gray fur fluffed up and her amber eyes glaring at Dan with hostility. "We can eat rodents! I've always sort of wanted to try mouse..."

Most cats made faces at the thought of eating rodents. "All right," I said, "before we do anything we need to figure out who's who."

"Number order?" a voice that belonged to Hannah suggested. I agreed and we all began to mill around, looking for the right place in line. "Number order" was the order of the class by last name, alphabetically.

While everyone else did that, I took this chance to go glance at my reflection in the pool water. I was a thin-furred ginger tabby she-cat. I had a long tail and small ears. My eyes were a bright blue. I looked to be about eight or nine moons old, apprentice age. I grinned at my reflection, then turned back to the line.

They had figured out where everybody belonged by now, and friends hollered up and down the line, trying to hold conversations. Callie and Hannah were happily talking, lucky to be right next to each other. Gennie tried to listen from a few spots down, while Sam kicked up dust at the back of the line, bored.

I began at the front of the line. "You're Max, right?" I asked a dark brown tom. He nodded, his murky green eyes sullen.

"And that makes you Ally?" I inquired, turning to the next cat in line, a cream and brown she-cat.

"Yes," she said. I worked my way through the line, figuring out who was who for future reference. Most of the cats weren't really paying attention, but I noticed that the twins—complete opposites, Mia being white-pelted and Mya black-furred—were watching me carefully.

At last I made it to Sam and Kyle at the back of the line. When I reached the end, the other cats saw it as a cue to break off into little groups. I met with Sam, a dark gray she-cat with thick fur and yellow eyes, Gennie, a slim black cat with blue eyes, Hannah, a dark blue-gray she-cat with green eyes, and Callie, described earlier.

"Okay," Hannah said nervously, "well...we're cats. And there's no way to get back."

"That we know of," Sam corrected.

"So as long as we're here, we ought to figure out where we are, see if anyone else is in the area," Hannah continued.

"That's a good idea," I agreed.

We walked up to a rock that overlooked a valley in front of us. Rolling green hills were closest to us, and a little further off I saw a deciduous forest, bordered by a coniferous one. To the other side of the hills was a murky looking marsh. In the middle of it all was a lake, flat and glassy, with a small island close to the shore of the marsh.

I frowned. This looked oddly familiar. I glanced at my friends. "Does this seem...familiar to you at all?"

"No," Sam said, giving me an odd look. "Just like a moor and some forests to me."

"And a lake," Callie added. "Yeah, it's not much special."

"I dunno," Gennie said thoughtfully. "There is something familiar..."

"What is it?" Hannah wondered aloud. "The lake, the forests, the moor, the marsh...the island..."

Suddenly it all fell into place. I opened mouth in a silent "o". "I get it now," I whispered, my eyes wide. "Crystal Pool...the reason this looks familiar...the maps, the maps!"

"What maps?" Callie asked, puzzled.

"The maps in the Warriors books!" I exclaimed, turning to grin at Hannah and Gennie. "You two have read them, but Callie and Sam haven't!"

Hannah's eyes lit up. "You're right!"

"That makes this place...the Moonpool!" Gennie deduced. "Oh StarClan—we're in the Warriors series!"

Immediately, I ran down to explain where we were to our class. I could tell most of them didn't buy it, but I talked smoothly enough to calm their fears.

"What are we going to do now?" Kylie Utz demanded.

I took a deep breath and said quickly, "I think the only solution would be to join the Clans."

"What?" Dan exclaimed. "Why would we do that when we could figure out a way to get back to our human bodies?" He turned around snapped at the assembled human-cats, "Are you really going to listen to her?"

"I'd rather listen to her than you," Josh said cuttingly. I smiled at him gratefully. The other cats laughed and gave a murmur of agreement.

"Come on," I said. "Think of it as an adventure! I'm sure we'll probably get back somehow. I mean, we did get here in the first place. There's got to be some way back."

I said it confidently, but I didn't really know. Everyone else seemed to be comforted, though, so I left it at that.

"Are we all just going to join the same Clan?" Gennie asked.

"I think that would be a bad idea," Hannah answered. "We're a big enough class to almost count as an entirely new Clan."

"That's a good point," I said thoughtfully. The other cats looked up at us, waiting for someone to tell us what to do.

I thought for a minute, then said, "All right. We'll split up into groups."

Cats quickly began clamoring to join groups with their friends. I frowned, looking at them. That would probably be the nicest thing to do. I really wanted to join a group with my immediate friend group, but my sudden and new sense of responsibility told me not to. Amidst the commotion, I beckoned my friends close to me.

"Normally," I began, "I would love to join a Clan with you guys. But...they're kind of looking to me as a leader now."

Sam scowled and rolled her eyes. "Only 'cuz you jumped at the chance."

I shoved her playfully. "Well, yeah, but that's a good a reason to be a leader as any."

"So what are you proposing?" Callie asked.

"I think, since you guys are the ones I trust the most, that you all should go and kind of be a leader among the others," I said.

Sam's scowl turned to a smile. "Okay, I'm cool with that." She paused. "Which was the cool Clan? The one that was obsessed with the night or something?"

"ShadowClan?" Gennie offered.

"Yeah, that one," Sam agreed. "Can I lead a group there?"

"Yeah, sure," I said. I glanced at Gennie. "What about you?"

"There are five of us, and only four Clans around the Lake," she said thoughtfully. "I think I should take someone with me."

"I'll go," Hannah suggested. "How does RiverClan sound?"

"Yeah, that's good," Gennie agreed.

I looked at Callie. "Do you care?"

She shrugged. "Not really."

"Alright, you'll go to WindClan then," I said. "That leaves ThunderClan for me."

Gennie smirked. "I thought you didn't like them."

"Hey, they're the protagonists," I said a little defensively. "And maybe I can beat them back into shape, huh?"

"Who else is coming with us?" Sam asked. "Like, which to which Clan?"

"Hm," I mused, looking down to the cats. I quickly sorted them into groups in my mind. "Alright, I've got an idea. Sam, do you think you can handle some troublemakers?"

She smirked. "Of course."

"Okay, you take Spencer, David, Dan, and Ken," I instructed. "And...Kylie."

She nodded. "Okay. Should I go gather them up?"

"Yes, do that," I confirmed, pleased she was listening to me for once. She walked down and began to shout at her new Clanmates.

I turned to Callie. "Okay. You take Kendra, Ally, and Vanessa."

"Anyone else?" she asked, looking at me intently with her new yellow eyes.

"Yes, Josh and...Colton," I finished.

"Okay, cool," she said agreeably.

"I'll take Mia and Mya," I began. There was no trying to split those two up. "Plus Mouse-man and Moth-boy."

"Alex and Kyle?" Hannah said in surprise. "Really?"

I shrugged. "Someone needs to keep them out of trouble. Between me and the twins, they'll keep in line."

"So what about us?" Gennie asked.

"You've got the most people," I said. "But only because there are two of you. Basically you get everyone else."

Hannah squinted, going through the list in her mind. "So. Max, Lily, Zach, Malia...who am I missing?"

"Lucas," Gennie added.

"And John," I finished.

Hannah nodded. "Okay." She paused, then smiled at me. "Well, good luck, I guess."

"Yeah, you to," I told her.

They left, taking their cats with them. There was much complaining, but after a few raised voices, our classmates bent to our will. At last, only the four other cats I was to take to ThunderClan remained.

"Well," I said after a deep breath, "let's go, then."

We left the Crystal Pool, ready for an adventure amongst ThunderClan.