Chapter 1- a mother's frantic escape to save her four kits

The land of Narnia was heavily coated with pure white, and the trees resembled icy skeletal sculptures with icicles hanging off of their branches. The rivers and lakes were nothing more than meandering snakes and patches of frozen water and the sky above the Narnian land was often saturated with snowclouds that dumped the flaky white stuff like confetti onto the already thick blanket of the same white stuff on the land. The temperatures were almost sub-zero, sometimes as cold as the Antarctic on Earth (our world), even during the daytime. Though the sun in the Narnian sky still bathed the landscape with its golden sheets of light, the thick blanket of snow and ice remained covering the lands as far as the eye could see, almost resistant to the heat of the sun. At night, however, it was different scenery. Narnia resembled a dark, haunted, snowy wasteland, often smothered by blizzards and any unfortunate creature that was caught and lost out in these conditions were surely likely to face death by freezing temperatures, or any of the minions working for someone. Conditions truly were unforgiving in the Narnian land, and even worse, it had been like this for around 25 Narnian years now. However, the magical land had been entirely different before all this.

Before Narnia became a permanent landscape fridge saturated with snow, ice and frost, it had had joyful and more pleasant weather and regular seasons that were annual and normal as one would expect. The landscape was a grassy green canvas with a wide variety of trees and flowers scattered across the greenery like colourful sprinkles on a cake, and the trees had been smothered with a bush of green leaves, especially during the spring and summer. During autumn these leaves would change to a colourful mottle of reds, browns, yellows and golds, and in winter, they were pretty, leafless fingers of branches decorated by sparkly icicles and flurries of snow, and during winter, the festival of Christmas was always celebrated by the Narnian creatures. Furthermore, the rivers and streams had been glistening, silver or blue ribbons and patches respectively, especially during spring and summer. During these times, various creatures such as Fauns and Beavers would come by the banks to fish and play in the shimmering waters, especially during scorching hot days. Thus, the joys of the yearly spring, summer and autumn, and also winter and the things in them had been enjoyed by the Narnians, even taken for granted by some, but 25 years ago, something went terribly wrong. Shortly after the Age of Conquest (Narnian Years 1 to 900), the landscape of Narnia had been plunged into the never-ending wintery wasteland it currently was. Spring, summer, autumn and their beautiful greenery and colours and other joys and blessings associated with them, such as the joy of colour and playing in the streams and rivers, and harvest, and also Christmas, a festival celebrated every winter, had seemingly passed away, and all it had been since then till now was snow, ice, snow, ice, snow ice, winter, winter, winter… all year round. Not to mention misery and the boredom of seeing nothing but white all the time. And because the rivers and lakes had turned into nothing more than frozen bodies of pure ice, fishers had been unable to go out and fish and other creatures had been unable to play in those waters. The freezing conditions, deep snow, frozen lakes and rivers, and blizzards had caused an awful lot of problems for the creatures of Narnia. Crops and fruit could not be grown and had to be imported from outside the Narnian lands; humans that had lived in the land had disappeared; and the creatures had been forced to use a LOT of wood as fuel for heating just to keep warm. Things certainly were difficult for everyone in Narnia, but the cold and the snow weren't the only factors causing the great oppression…

Somewhere in the frigid Narnian forest

It was night-time and as usual, a blizzard was blasting through the dark, snowy Narnian forest. Thick billows of snow raced across the white blankets covering the forest floor and through the frozen, snow-covered skeletons of the trees. The blizzard was so thick that visibility had been reduced to no more than a few feet. The Narnian air shuddered as the sound of howling winds which carried the clouds of snow through the forest rattled it, and some of the skeletal trees wavered with these winds. However, another set of sounds was also tearing at the Narnian air. Under a large mountain of snow appeared to be some sort of hut, but from that hut emanated the sounds of screams of anger, anguish, fright and agony, accompanied by vicious barks and growls, all of them exploding through the windows. The sounds of solid, fragile things such as glasses smashing, wooden things getting overturned and other sounds of furniture getting broken, scattered or crushed were also heard within the hut, and a wooden construct with legs, a stool, was sent flying through one of the windows from within the snow covered building, but inside, a massive skirmish was going on.

"QUICK, GET THOSE KITS OUTA HERE, FAST… AAAARRRGGHH!"

"WOOF! WOOF! SNARL! GROWL!"

SMASH! CRASH! BANG!

As the sounds of the skirmish continued to explode from within the hut, a form suddenly appeared in the window. This form was wearing a thick coat and from its sleeves, emerged two paws that grasped something: a basket containing some bundles. Emerging from under the coat were furry hind legs, shaped like a cat's. More catlike features were obvious on the creature's face as they stared fearfully into the dark blizzard and trees. They were amber in colour, the pupils vertical slits, as one would expect on a cat. Below the eyes was a nose from which strands of fine filaments emanated, and the mouth was also catlike. This creature was obviously a cat but its similarities to a cat ended there. Snaking from the lower, back rim of the coat was the creature's tail but unlike regular cats which had one, this cat-like creature had two tails, bifurcating from near where the tail joined the body. And based on its facial features, this two-tailed cat was a female.

The two-tailed cat flashed an extremely terrified glance back into the hut at the carnage that continued to occur and flinched when she heard a loud bark from whatever was attacking whoever inside, slid down from the window and began to make a break for it into the snowy, dark forest. The basket in her paws shuddered as she ran for her life through the trees. Dangling from the basket was a glowing yellow glass container: a lamp, and another thing, a tag of some sort. The tag flashed and glinted in the light emanating from the lamp, gleaming gold and yellow and on closer inspection; the tag seemed to be in the shape of a lion. The lamp and tag swung from the basket as the two-tailed cat continued to charge through the forest, the freezing blizzard blasting into her face and hood and the snow impeding her attempts to flee as it mounted up in front her hind paws with every step. Behind the cat, snarls and growls erupted and suddenly, the cat realised that she was being chased. Terrified, she flashed a glance behind her and resumed her attention in front of her.

The cat's chasers were quadrupedal or four-footed. Many of them resembled dogs with ears pointing straight up but a few others of the creatures resembled a more menacing combination of creatures. Some of the creatures' faces resembled a fanged monkey or ape, their mouths armed with two knife-like teeth, like that of a sabre-toothed cat, and emanating from their faces was a mane of hair. Their bodies were like that of the cat's but were larger, bulkier, the legs thicker and the paws larger but what was most frightening about these creatures was their tails. Their tails resembled a string of beads fused together which curled back towards the creatures' heads like a chain and on the end of that chain of 'balls' was a spike, sharp and deadly, like a spear. This spiked tail lashed and sliced at blizzard air as their owners continued to pursue the two-tailed cat, and the creatures also possessed membranous wings supported by stiff fronds like an umbrella emanating from their backs. One or two of the other creatures resembled giant rats, their hands and feet also like those rodents, as were their tails but those tails ended in a lethal spike, like the stingers of the bat-winged cat creatures with ape faces. The dog-like creatures and their chimera-like allies continued to chase after the cat as she clutched the basket containing her precious cargo as she continued to struggle through the thick snow. The cat then snapped her terrified amber gaze to a nearby tree and with a flash of quick-thinking, turned abruptly from her trajectory and charged towards it. The hideous creatures also turned sharply and gave chase. Then as soon as the cat was near the tree trunk, she jumped onto it and, with a powerful heave of her hind legs; she launched herself sharply in the direction of another tree, much to her chasers' shock.

"Come on!" cried the leader, one of the doglike creatures and with that, it and its comrades gave chase as the cat landed on the second tree and jumped off of it, sending herself flying in the direction of another tree trunk of choice. Soon, the two-tailed cat was leaping from tree-to-tree with astonishing agility despite the reduced visibility caused by the blizzard and the winds as she tried to evade her chasers. Her lamp sliced through the dark, snowy air like a comet as she continued leaping. However, the cat's chasers continued their relentless pursuit of her despite not being able to perform her ability. Then the sabretooth monkey-faced creatures, of which there were three in this pack, ran ahead and as they did so, their bat-like wings flared open from their manes. Then with a massive flap of these wings, the three hideous creatures launched themselves into the air after the cat as she continued jumping between tree trunks.

"You can't escape us, Nekomata," growled one of the flying maned monkey-faced creatures as it approached the two-tailed cat, "You're under arrest on orders of the Queen of Narnia and are to be put to DEATH!"

The two-tailed cat, called a Nekomata, in response, flashed a glance at her flying pursuers as she perched on a branch and leaped off of it and continued to leap between trees, her chasers pursuing her both on the land and in the air. When she saw that her pursuers, especially the flying ones, were beginning to gain on her despite all that she could do, and that she was feeling exhaustion creep over her, the Nekomata landed on a branch and flashed a concerned look at her cargo in her basket. Suddenly, a paw armed with sharp claws appeared and swiped at her shoulder, making her release a scream of fright and launch into another leap; one of the flying pursuers had attempted to knock her out of the tree with a paw-swipe. A growl of frustration flying from its sharp-knife-armed mouth, the creature continued its areal pursuit with its two comrades while the doglike creatures continued their on-foot chase, ready to catch the Nekomata as soon as she was knocked out of the trees.

Suddenly, the Nekomata landed on the branch of another tree and pierced her pack of pursuers a glare, especially at the trio of flying pursuers. Slipping a paw into a pocket of her coat while holding the basket with the lamp and tag with the other; the forked-tailed cat reached into the pocket and produced a small glass bottle. This bottle contained some dark blue, almost black, liquid, and as soon as she had the bottle out in the open and as her pursuers were seconds away from her, evil cackles exploding from their mouths, the Nekomata threw down the bottle and leaped away. A second later, a POOF jabbed at the snow-saturated air as the bottle exploded right in front of the doglike and rat-like pursuers and before they knew it, they were smothered in a very thick, dark blue smoke cloud as it erupted from the spot where the bottle exploded.

"Ugh… I can't…SEEE!" barked one as it flinched and began to wave at the smoke cloud to disperse it with a paw. In the air, the trio of winged hodgepodge monsters descended to help their doglike and rat-like creature comrades to disperse the smoke as they also began to cough and splutter as the blue smoke entered their mouths and noses. While her pursuers were distracted and temporarily blinded by the blue smoke from the bottle she had flung down, the Nekomata continued to ascend up the tree branches to a certain spot she knew. On the way up, she flashed a worried glance at her stalled pursuers and shuddered. She knew she didn't have much time and had to save her cargo in her basket before the blue smoke cleared and the three winged beasts pursued her again. Fearing the safety for her cargo in the basket, the Nekomata resumed her ascent up the tree, the blizzard's gusts blasting through her coat and fur and threatening to freeze her or blow her off the branches, which she did not want for her cargo.

As soon as she was near the pinnacle of the tree with her basket containing her cargo, which were four bundles, the Nekomata tapped the branch and shouted into the blizzard air. Within moments, movement in the snowy air ascended from the surrounding trees and approached her, before taking the form of a completely transparent woman, the snow blowing around her as she hovered before the Nekomata on the branch. She was made completely of air, and was a female Narnian air spirit called a Sylph, a being of the air. Narnia had nature spirits, also called sprites living within it. The earth spirits were called Dryads who lived in the trees, while the water sprites were called Naiads and Nereids, who lived in the seas and freshwater of Narnia though he freshwater bodies such as the rivers and lakes were completely frozen; the fire sprites were called Pyros, who were rare and came in two forms: the Lightning Pyro, a being made of electricity and a Fire Pyro, a being of fire. A fifth type of sprite, called an Aurora Sprite, lived in the celestial dome of the Narnian world with the Stars and other Celestial Beings. They lived in the beautiful light veils sometimes appearing in the Narnian sky.

As the Sylph hovered before the Nekomata, the Nekomata offered her basket to her. These two were close, long-time friends and had known each other since the female Nekomata had been a kit. Now in these difficult times, the female Nekomata was begging the Air Woman to take the basket to safety.

"Please, take my four precious babies outa here and find a suitable foster family for them, safe and away from these hideous minions of the so-called 'Queen'," begged the two-tailed cat as she held the basket, her tears beginning to ooze tears as heartbreak swamped her. In the basket, the four bundles squirmed, indicating that the Nekomata's precious cargo she was trying to escape with were four Nekomata kits. Suddenly, the Sylph and the Nerkomata were jolted by the sounds of a snarl. The pair shot a terrified gaze through the dark, blizzardy branches below and saw a shadowy form rocket in their direction, its eyes flashing menacingly in the dark as they pierced the two. Without hesitation and understanding the dire situation, the Sylph took the basket from the Nekomata's paws and nodded in understanding, before flying off into the trees, carrying the basket with her, the basket appearing to float away by itself due to the Air Sprite's invisibility. The Nekomata mother gazed after her Sylph friend as she glided away with the basket containing her four kits, tears streaming down her cheeks from her eyes like rivers.

"Please, Aslan," she prayed tearfully, "Watch over my four kits and help my Sylph friend find them a suitable foster home, where they will be raised safely away from that false 'Queen's' minions…"

The moment this sentence left her mouth, the creature, one of the winged sabretooth-monkey faced beasts, let loose a snarl and then raised a paw the moment it was near the heartbroken two-tailed cat. As the sound of agonised screams erupted from that tree, the Sylph continued to hastily carry the basket of four kits, now orphaned, into the dark, blizzardy trees, the sounds of hearing her friend's screams of agony piercing her heart and making her flinch.

Later

The blizzardy night continued, the massive flurry of snow blasting across the Narnian landscape with the wind whistling wildly through the trees. In one part of the dark, freezing landscape, something continued to move through the air. The Sylph continued to fly through the trees with the basket of four kits she had been entrusted with by her Nekomata friend. Making sure that the four vulnerable kits were protected from the cold and joined by two other Sylphs, whom she explained about the kits in the basket and that they were in need of a foster home, and quickly, she and her two friends continued to glide through the trees, trying to stay out of the blizzard and protect the kits from the blustering snow. Soon, the three Air Women found light streaming out from under another snow mound: another snowed under living spot; a den. After reaching an agreement that this will be the four kits' foster home, the three Sylphs descended towards the front door of the den and hovered just outside, carrying the basket out of the blizzard in the process. One of them placed the basket of kits gently onto the floor while another knocked to attract the attention of one of the residents.

Moments later, the door opened and in the doorway, two creatures, both of who were catlike appeared. However, these two cats did not walk on two legs like how Nekomata and their single-tailed cousin, the Bakeneko, did. Instead, they were four-footed. They both had a golden pelt smattered with black spots and its eyes had a black stripe running down from below each of them, rather like a river of black ink. Their chests were large but as their bodies reached the waist, the width shrank. Their legs and tail were long and the two cats were streamlined. These two cats were obviously built for running at high speeds, and their spotted coats served as camouflage against any dappled backgrounds, allowing them to be skilled in ambush. This pair of cats was a male and a female, with the male being larger. As the two gazed curiously out into the dark, night, blizzardy air, wondering who had knocked on the door of their den, their gazes moved down to a basket and its contents: four bundles of blankets. As the male moved in to inspect the contents closer, one of the blanket bundles twitched and from one end, a small cat's face emerged. The cat's facial fur was a grey colour and its eyes were large and amber-coloured. Then out of the other three bundles of cloth, three more cat faces, also light grey in colour, emerged. Small kitten-like whimpers emitted from their mouths as the little kits squirmed cutely in their cradle. As the male spotted cat continued to examine the kits, the female spotted a sliver of white peering out from behind one of the kits. She approached the basket, reached in with a long paw and took hold of it. After taking out the white sliver, she realised it was a piece of paper. The female cat then unfolded it and began to read the writing on it. As she did so, the male spotted cat, her mate, said, "These four must be Talking Cat kittens, dear. Looks like they have been abandoned."

"No, they're not Talking Cat kittens and they're not abandoned, Dashiell," replied the female spotted cat as she read the sheet of paper, "These are Nekomata kits and it looks like they have been orphaned."

The male cat, named Dashiell, returned his gaze to the four squirming kits, scepticism taking him over.

"Nekomata kits, when young, bear a strong resemblance to Talking Cat kittens, as do Bakeneko kits," explained the female spotted cat, "They're also usually light grey, amber or brown with a single tail but as Nekomata kits grow, their tail splits from the tip down and their drab fur colour is shed for a more colourful, adult colouration. Bakeneko kits also change their fur colour as they grow from kits to adults but their tail does not split," she then came over to the basket and gazed at the four kits, "It's obvious that these four are Nekomata kits, and that they are orphaned. I believe we have been entrusted to raise this litter as they now have no-one else to raise them…"

"But we already have three cubs, Honeycomb," replied Dashiell, "And these are Nekomata kits. How are we supposed to raise four kits of a completely different cat species?"

The female spotted cat, Honeycomb, placed her paws on the basket and lifted it up, before gazing at her mate. "Well, for one thing, it's freezing and blizzardy out there which will not be good for else kits and two, who else is gonna raise them?"

As she spoke, one of the kits burst into a loud cry, making both the two spotted cats jump. Dashiell flashed a gaze at the screaming and crying kit and sighed in defeat.

"I guess we're gonna have to take them in," he said, before his gaze turned to outside, "It's a bit late to take those four kits to somewhere else, anyway."

Honeycomb managed a small smile and with that, she took the basket into the den. She knew that the Nekomata kits needed attention and wanted feeding. Dashiell then turned to follow his mate but not before stealing one last gaze out into the blizzardy night. A sombre look came upon his face as he gazed into the snowy darkness and his ears drooped. Sighing, the male spotted cat entered his den and shut the door.