Chapter 1: Blood in the Water

Oceanus stared out across the field, the blowing wind ruffling his blue-gray fur. He lifted his head to the sky, his eyes slowly closing as he let the soothing sound of the crickets and wind take over him. He liked this place. It was the first peaceful setting he had found in a long time.

"Oceanus!" Someone called out his name and the peace was broken. Oceanus let out a sigh and turned around to see Breeze running over to him.

"Yes?" He asked in a tired voice. Leading the Elementals was like babysitting a ton of kits that never wanted to listen to you, but he did admit that he didn't know what he'd do without this unruly bunch.

"I found something you might want to know about…" Breeze reported.

That caught Oceanus's interest. "What is it?" He pressed.

"When I was out searching the territory," Breeze started.

"Go on," Oceanus responded, pricking his ears to show he was interested.

"I found this little cave thing." Breeze said. "There's a small pool in it that looks…strange."

"What's so strange about it?" Oceanus questioned and tilted his head a little.

"It looked like it was reflecting stars," Breeze answered. "But I don't know how that's possible, as it's day."

"Interesting…" Oceanus mused. "We shall leave at once. I want to see this pool of stars myself."

"Now?" Ice whined, padding up beside Breeze. "But it's so early! Can't we go later?"

Oceanus let out an exasperated sigh and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he gave Ice a hard glare. "Because if we wait too long, the pool may disappear or change in some way."

Ice let out a groan and Oceanus braced himself for an argument. Thankfully, the white tom just padded away. Oceanus looked around for Tenebris and Phoenix, suspecting that they were somewhere nearby chatting, as usual. He saw them next to a few bushes and headed over to them.

"Breeze found a pool that reflects stars," Oceanus informed them when he was close enough. "We're leaving. Now."

"But it's so early!" Phoenix exclaimed. "Do we really have to leave now?"

"Yes!" Oceanus barked, clearly getting annoyed by the group's stubbornness. He let out a huff of annoyance. "Everyone meet me by the rock!" He shouted, leaping up on top of the rock next to him. He waited patiently for the rest of the group to gather round.

"We are leaving. Now. If I hear any complaining or arguing, that cat, or cats, will have to hunt for the rest of us for the next three days. Am I clear?"

Oceanus heard a sigh from Tenebris's direction, but no arguing. "Good." He said. "Let's get going, shall we?"

"We shall!" Tenebris suddenly exclaimed. "And when we reach this pool you speak of, we shall all dance around it like the merry folk we are!"

Oceanus just rolled his eyes. "Let's go," he said and looked towards Breeze, giving her a look.

"That way," Breeze said and pointed North with her tail. Oceanus nodded and began to lead the group in the direction of the pool.

"So…" Ice started and Oceanus flicked his tail to let him know that he had heard him. "What do you think will be at this pool of stars?"

"I do not know," Oceanus responded.

"I think something...magical will be there," Oceanus's daughter, Terra, said enthusiastically. Oceanus smiled.

"It is most likely that there will be something magical," he said. "After all, it is a pool of stars."

"I didn't think you believed in magic," Phoenix said sarcastically from the back of the group.

"That's a warning, Phoenix." Oceanus said and shook his head.

"Whatever," Phoenix muttered. "Please remind me why I decided to join this group?"

"Because without me you'd be dead." Oceanus responded bluntly.

"You don't know that!" Phoenix exclaimed. "I could be off in some wonderful, heated, dry climate away from other cats where I wouldn't get upset all the time and explode into fire!"

Oceanus stopped and turned around, giving Phoenix a stern look. "Do you really want to argue with me?" He asked in a monotone.

Phoenix just rolled her eyes, keeping her mouth shut. Oceanus let out a small sigh of relief. Finally, she had stopped talking.

Thankfully, the pool wasn't that far away, so it didn't take that long to reach it. A few hours, at the most. Oceanus saw a little cave and glanced at Breeze. The white she-cat nodded.

"It's in there," she said. Oceanus took a wary step forward, then stopped, listening for any sounds. He heard nothing.

"Is it safe to go inside?" Terra asked curiously. Oceanus wrapped his tail protectively around his daughter.

"You wait out here," he ordered. "You have to help Phoenix keep a look-out."

Terra's eyes brightened and she puffed out her chest proudly. "I get to protect the group!" She exclaimed happily and bounded over to Phoenix, who looked rather annoyed. But everyone knew that Phoenix loved being around Terra.

"Let's go," Oceanus said and led Tenebris, Breeze, and Ice inside the cave. He almost gasped when he saw the pool. It was beautiful. The silvery, smooth water reflected shining stars. Oceanus looked up and furrowed his brow, realizing there was no hole in the roof of the cave. So how can stars be reflected into the water? He thought curiously, narrowing his eyes.

Suddenly, a thick mist started to fill the cave, surrounding each cat.

"Oceanus?!" Ice called out. "What's happening? What do we do?"

"Just stay calm," Oceanus said firmly. "And don't move." In front of Oceanus, was the star pool. Except the stars had disappeared, leaving the foggy silver water. He stepped forward and gazed into the pool. He crouched down and touched his nose to the water. An icy chill swept through his body, making it feel like his bones were turning to ice.

But nothing happened. Oceanus regained his upright position and sat down, staring at the water in wonder. What did it do? Was something supposed to happen?

The mist cleared away, and the other three cats padded over to Oceanus's side, staring at the water.

"What happened?" Tenebris asked.

"Nothing." Oceanus answered. Then a foul smell filled the cave, drowning out all other scents. It was the scent of blood, thick and fresh. Oceanus saw Breeze shudder and Ice's fur fluffed up. Oceanus looked back at the pool, and saw it turning red. He leaned down and sniffed it. The red was blood.

Suddenly, an ominous voice filled the cave. " Six shall rise of fire, darkness, water, earth, wind, and ice. one, with a frozen heart, shall turn. one, buried to the tree's roots, shall die. And the rest will bring light to drive out the shadows."

Then the blood, the scent, and the mist faded away, leaving the four cats quite shaken. Oceanus was scared too, but he didn't show it. He had to be a leader. The blue-gray tom turned around to face Tenebris, Breeze, and Ice. "Looks like we have a prophecy to fulfill." He said in a monotone and walked out of the cave.

Here we are again with another new story. I have been planning this for a VERY long time, and I just wanted to wait for a while to finally post this. I wrote this chapter...five months ago? I'm not entirely sure, but it's not as up-to-date in terms of the quality of my writing, but I honestly don't have the energy to rewrite it. Homework really sucks the life outta ya.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter, and I hope you stick around for the next one.

Adios,

-Phoenix