Prologue
"What are we going to do Bluestar?" A young tortoiseshell she cat questioned. "Are the clans to be destroyed from the doom that looms ahead?"
"Spottedleaf let me think!" A blue-gray she cat yowled, worry darkening her eyes.
"I am sorry Bluestar but we need to think of something fast or the clans will be destroyed! We have tried everything, we even sent the six questing cats! Now I am worried they will not be back in time before the destruction of the forest."
"You don't think I am trying! Bluestar hissed. I am trying as hard as every cat here in Starclan! but we need to understand what is happening and what the twolegs are doing!" The two arguing cats sat in silence for a while.
Spottedleaf broke the silence. "Bluestar? Remember when Pinestar left the forest?"
"Yes, Spottedleaf of course I do!" Bluestar responded.
"Well before he left he mentioned a cat called Jake remember?"
Bluestar responded with confusion in her eyes. "Vaguely yes."
Spottedleaf breathed deeply knowing this could be a mouse-brained idea, but it was their only hope. "You know he is Firestar's father right?"
"Yes, Spottedleaf I know just get to the point!" Bluestar yowled agitated.
"Well maybe we should recrute Jakes twoleg." Bluestar tried to interrupt but spottedleaf swept on. "The male twoleg has always helped the warrior cats, remember Tallstar?" For Starclans sake he was Firestar's fathers twoleg-
"Enough!" Bluestar interrupted. "This is a mouse-brained idea and you know it!"
"Hold on Bluestar!" Spottedleaf and Bluestar whirled around in surprise to see four cats stalking towards them through the long grass. The cat that spoke, a night black she cat with green eyes approached them along with a brown tabby she cat with yellow eyes, a broad shouldered bright ginger tom, and a silver tom with green eyes.
"Who are you?" Bluestar asked.
"We are the first leaders of the clans." The silver tom responded. The brown tabby she cat stepped forward. "I am Windstar, the first leader of Windclan." The other three cats stepped forward and named themselves Thunderstar, Shadowstar and Riverstar.
Shadowstar spoke again. "We are in desperate times, as you know Bluestar desperate times call for desperate measures. Bluestar we may need to think on this idea before we fully reject it."
Riverstar stepped up and spoke. "When we became leaders we came across a lot of mouse-brain ideas, but in the end those ideas paved the way for new rules and the life of the clans as you know it now."
Bluestar looked like a badger had bitnine her tongue.
Spottedleaf spoke again. "Lets at least try Bluestar, the twoleg is about to die. This could be our last chance to save the forest."
Chapter 1
Monroe was stuck in thought. This was it, he was about to die. Yes he was sad, but he had lived a good 68 years and learned all the things he needed to know. He thought back to his days as a cat caretaker. He didn't know why but the thought of cats had just sprung up in his mind, like someone had opened his brain and put the thought in there. All of a sudden memories of the cats he cared for came to his mind. Luna, Milo, Oliver, the black and white cat with a long tail he had nursed back to life. Jake, He missed the bright orange cat. Jake was the last cat he owned and his death had brought such sadness and despair he did not get another cat.
I wonder where I will go when I die, Monroe mumbled aloud. He had never been a religious person, but now he could not help but hope the "heaven" some people talked about was real. He also hoped his grandkids and his kids would be able to be happy after he died. He was roused from thought by Doctor Andrew whispering to one of his sons.
"He is not doing well right now, get your family in here so they can say goodbye." His son nodded and exited the room.
For a moment panic sparked in his brain. I don't want to die! But he knew no matter what he could not stop it. He already felt his senses fading away into the black tide that was coming to engulf him.
Just then his family walked in and surrounded the Hospital bed. Monroe knew they were talking to him but he could not hear them, he could barely see them anymore. He tried to whisper goodbye but he couldn't manage it. The black tide that had been coming towards him for almost 24 hours now hungry and waiting for a meal engulfed him in its blackness once and for all.
Chapter 2
Monroe felt himself falling. He opened his eyes to an echoing darkness, panic spiraled through his belly to the point where he felt like he was going to throw up. He clamped his eyes closed and as he did he felt soft grass on his feet. He looked around and saw a vast landscape with trees in the distance and rolling hills where he stood. But that was not the only thing he saw. I am shorter! He looked down to see two round shaped paws covered with fur. He looked behind him and saw a tail about one and a half feet long.
Monroe's brain was whirling. "Where am I, and why do I look like a cat!" The sound he heard behind him made the fur on his back rise and he swung around in surprise to see a group of nine cats treading towards him through the undergrowth of the moorland.
Monroe started to back away. In the human world cats were no big deal, but now he was so scared he could not think straight.
He was about to turn and run away when a dark gray tom with golden eyes came forward from the group of cats and started talking. Hello Monroe, we thank you for coming to our land, my name is Graywing.
Monroe felt like he was going to pass out, but he managed to mumble "W-w-what is happening to me? Where am I and why am I a cat? I should not be here, I am human!" The cats looked at him confused. A silver tom with green eyes walked up to him. "Humans, What is that?"
Now it was Monroe's turn to be confused. "You know humans, the creatures that walk on two legs and live in houses made of stone and wood?"
"Do you mean twolegs?" A blue-gray she-cat asked. When Monroe looked confused she explained. "Twolegs are what we call your humans." What a weird name.
"How did I get here and where am I? Most importantly, why am I a cat?" Monroe's voice started to get higher pitched and fear spread anew through his body.
The dark gray tom Graywing spoke again. "That is a difficult question to explain but simply we need your help. These are very unusual circumstances. No cat has ever communicated with a twoleg before but there is a first time for everything."
"The cats of the clans need your help." A broad shouldered tom with bright ginger fur speaking, Thunderstar. The name randomly popped into his head, this cat hadn't explained his name.
"What is there I can give them? I don't know how cats think or live, especially ones that live in the wild. They do live in the wild I suppose?" The cats nodded their heads and Thunderstar spoke again.
"These are difficult times for all, but we have observed you and we know you have a fondness towards cats not any other twolegs have. You remember the black and white cat with a long tail you nursed to life. Well he is the leader of Windclan now, you know Jake? He is the father of the great leader of Thunderclan. You have twoleg knowledge the cats need now to survive."
A young tortoiseshell she cat stepped forward, "Please the clans will be destroyed without your help." The desperation in her eyes made him feel pity for these cats. Whoever they were, he would try to help them as much as he could.
"I will help." Relief spread across the faces of all the cats but Monroe wasn't finished. "But before I help I need to know a bit more about these clans you talk about.
Chapter 3
"So that means the rumors were true." Monroe said with astonishment.
"The rumors? You knew we were here?" That was Thunderstar speaking.
"You know humans, I mean twolegs are not as dumb as you think," he responed to the big tom cat. "Of course we saw you, the twolegs around here started to study you more than 30 years ago!"
"Years?" The blue gray cat, Bluestar spoke now. "What is this you speak of?"
Of course they dont know about years stupid. They surely wont know about months either. What would cats think a month is? Oh yes, Full moons! "Well," he explained to the cats. "A year is basically 12 full moons. You can also explain it as 4 seasons. So us twolegs have been doing research about you cats for 120 seasons." The cats mouths were open around him, gaping in shock.
"Really?" The silver tom spoke this time. "They have been watching us for so long?
I-I guess so, Monroe stuttered."
"Stop talking like a bunch of elders! A gray cat with a flat face and clumped fur now stood in front of the cats. Yellowfang. How was he just thinking these names! He had no idea who these cats were! "We need to get on with the lives ceremony."
"What-" Monroe tried to speak but before he could get more words out he was transported to a hollow with four huge oak trees at each corner and a boulder in the middle. Druids hollow! He had only been here once as a kid. Exploring with his friends. That was in 1966 and he was 12 then. It was only then that he saw the nine cats that he had seen before standing by the boulder in the middle of the hollow. He tried to speak but couldn't and the wiry brown she cat Windstar came forward.
"With this life, I give you the power of language. Use it to understand your foes and allies." A deep sensation crept into Monroe as he sat there. He was not sure what it was. What felt like seasons later the Silver tom Riverstar came forward.
"With this life I give you dream control. Use this to help others through the sleeping world." All of a sudden Monroe felt very sleepy but before he could drift into sleep his attention snapped back to Thunderstar standing in front of him.
"With this life I give you Fighting and Hunting skills. Use these to protect the clan cats and to feed them." Seasons of routine knowledge flooded Monroes brain and he felt it was going to explode. Next a Night-black she cat Shadowstar came up to him.
"With this life, I give you foresight, so you can predict what will happen to the cats down there." Thousands of futures flooded into Monroes mind and he felt overwhelmed by all the things that could happen to him. Next the tortoiseshell she-cat Spottedleaf stepped forward.
"With this life I give you the power of understanding minds." This new life really made his brain go into overload, he tried to reach into the minds of the nine cats around him but he only felt a mist around their minds. Next Bluestar came forward.
"With this life I give you the power of stealth. Use it to protect yourself until it is time to show yourself." He looked down at his paws and saw them flicker in and out of seeability. Yellowfang came forward next.
"With this life I give you power over your shape." Monroe waited to see what would happen next but he felt and saw nothing, he was only starting to get really tired. Graywing stepped forward, his tail held up and said.
"With this life I give you power over the plants and trees in the forest. Use it to help the clans with defense. He felt like his paws were growing roots and growing down into the ground, at the same time a sapling started to come out of the ground a couple of feet away.
The next cat he saw did not come from the groups of cats but from the sky. He saw a gray and black tom with a white underbelly come down from the sky. Stargazer! The other nine cats around him seemed to come to the same conclusion as him and they started to bow their heads. Stargazer touched down on the ground and stared around the cats, wordless, expressionless. He came up to Monroe and said,
"Do you know who I am?'' he asked.
"I-I don't," Monroe said.
"Well I am the creator of Starclan. I was alive generations before you were even born." All the cats around Monroe were giving Stargazer astonished looks. Stargazer touched noses with Monroe.
"With this life, I give you power over movement. Use it to get places quickly." Monroe felt energy course through him and he felt like he could go anywhere. Stargazer stepped backward and an oddly familiar flame colored pelt appeared in front of him. JAKE!
"Jake," he said weakly. "I have missed you so much!" He tried to move but his paws were rooted to the ground.
"I know you have," Jake said. "We will have more time to talk later, for now I am glad you are helping the clans, and my son." Monroe was bursting with happiness.
"I will take care of your son Jake. You have brought me such happiness so I will do this thing for you." Jake looked at him warmly and whispered,
"Thank you." Jake then touched noses with Monroe and said. "With this life I give you power over the world. Use it to protect the twolegs and get the cats out of their home." Monroe felt his claws start to have a small tingle in them, he felt powerful. A voice broke into his mind and he realized that the cats were speaking in unison now.
"Thank you for your help, now that you have your ten lives you shall be known as Twoleg." Monroe had mixed feelings on this name but it fit the others names. All of a sudden it felt like a hundred wounds broke open on Twolegs body. Blood started to spread across the ground and he saw the shocked expressions on the Starclan cats. He fell to the ground and he felt himself falling.
Chapter 4
Twoleg felt his body thump on dirt and opened his eyes to see druids hollow again. Only it was night and the moon was full. Spilling moonlight across the hollow. He felt immense pain and confusion. Was that a dream? He looked down and saw cat paws. No it wasn't, this was real. He saw a rock a couple of feet away and went to it. He picked it up. He felt so sore! He said aloud,
"I wish this rock was warm so I could rub it on my sores." The rock all of a sudden lit with warmth and Twoleg dropped it. Did he imagine it? He picked up the rock again and he felt a comfortable warmth spread through his paw. He spent a minute or two rubbing his sores and then he threw it in a patch of ferns at the other end of the hollow. He had magic! His mind was whirling and he saw the bushes quivering at the other end of the hollow. He could also smell other cats, they smelled like fish and he all of a sudden wished for a cooked fish at his paws. He started to panic as the bushes started to shake violently. He would not be able to run away before the cars got here. He then remembered from his live ceremony, the gift of stealth. He pictured himself in fourtrees and then pictured that he disappeared. He opened his eyes to see… Nothing, he couldn't see himself anymore. Just seconds after he disappeared a golden she-cat with black spots stalked out of the bushes with about 15 other cats.
They sat down and started to talk among themself. After a couple minutes of that more cats came from Windover moor in the distance and a familiar black and white tom with a long tail appeared. Twoleg gaped with astonishment, he had nursed this cat back to life a couple of years before he had died! Although this cat looked half starved and the cats with him looked like that as well. The black and white tom walked over to the cat with the golden spotted pelt.
"Hello Leopardstar," he said.
The golden spotted she cat responded curtly, "Tallstar."
"Have you seen any trace of Crowpaw on your territory?" Tallstar asked Leopardstar.
"No we have not, have you seen Stormfur or Feathertail?"
"No, we have not Leopardstar. I am sorry." Both the cats eyes clouded with worry and they padded over to the boulder in the middle of the hollow. The cats turned their heads in the direction of the pine forest to see a big white tom cat with jet black paws stride into the clearing with more cats behind him. The cats looked almost as starved as the cats that had come from Windover moor.
"Leopardstar, Tallstar" he greeted as he jumped on the boulder. "Where is Thunderclan, late again?" He sneered. Twoleg new they would come according to his Foresight. Unless that one excavator had blocked their way… But at that moment he saw the cats flood into the hollow, a Flame colored cat at the lead. Jake? Did he come back to see him? Just then he saw that it was not Jake but a different cat. He knew this had to be Jake's son. From looking into the future he could see that one his name was Firestar, and two that he and Firestar would become good friends. Firestar jumped onto the boulder. He could see that he was distracted and his mind kept going in circles about a Squirrelpaw and a Brambleclaw.
Blackstar stepped forward and yowled "let the gathering begin!"
The cats in the hollow snapped to attention and Blackstar spoke again. "Shadowclan has been suffering because of the twolegs, but we are still strong despite this. Our warrior Tawnypelt is still missing. We have been looking for her but we are almost certain she went with the rest of your lost cats." He indicated to the other leaders with his tail and back up.
Leopardstar stepped forward next. "The twolegs have not been in our territory and the fish are still swimming." He could tell she was lying a bit because her mind said that their river was starting to shrink and she was not sure how long it would last. "Our cats Stormfur and Feathertail are still missing."
She backed up and flicked her tail for Tallstar to speak. "Crowpaw is still missing as well," he said. And backed up to let Firestar speak.
Here he saw his visions of the future condense into two paths. He saw that Firestar wanted to say something, but when he said it there would be fighting. To the point where Twoleg would have to step in to stop it. He wasn't ready to do that yet. He held his breath, hoping Firestar would not say what he wanted to, But Firestar had made up his mind and he said.
"We need to leave the forest, it is for the safety of everyone. These twolegs can't have the chance to get into our camps and kill more cats."
"NO!" He screamed. "Stop it you will make them fight!" When he said these words all the cats in the hollow snapped their heads toward him and they started to bristle. He looked at his paws in confusion, he was supposed to be invisible. But he saw his own paws on the ground in front of him. He saw multiple futures in front of him. Ones where he ran away, though those ones lead to a more awkward meeting when these cats needed help. He also saw some where he stayed and told him who he was and why he was here. Thoses futures had the best outcomes. I enchant these trees to make a staircase up to a platform above the boulder with branches and after I go back to the ground the branches will fuse back to the trees. Branches started to appear in front of Twoleg, flying off the trees to make a cat sized staircase for him to go up. He walked up them as the branches kept flying off the trees until he made it to the platform and looked down at the cats around him. His mind was racing! Do they need food? What do cats eat? Surly Tallstar and his cats ate some rabbits, they came from the moor. Blackstar and Firestar would probably like mice. Leopardstar? He remembered the fishy sent he had detected when the cats had come in. Fish yes. I enchant the closest 10 mice, 5 rabbits, and 10 fish to come to Druids hollow and line up against the bottom of the hollow when I say who's hungry. He hoped this worked.
He looked down at the cats and said "Who's hungry?" prey poured down the edges of the hollow. The fish were flapping down slowly, it looked kinda funny. The cats around him looked like they would never speak again, their mouths were open and they were staring at him in shocked astonishment. The futures ahead of him now were mixed. But he knew he had made a good impression on the cats.
"How can we trust you!" A cat called from the crowd of cats.
"Well, I guess you have reason not to do you?" Twoleg answered. "But I have seen your ancestors Dustpelt." He knew from his visions this cat was from Thunderclan. Firestar's clan. "You have three hungry kits at your camp. Is there anything that I can help you with?" Dustpelt looked even more dumbfounded and just looked at his paws.
"Your warrior ancestors have brought me here at this time to help you deal with the twolegs that have been destroying your forests." Now all the cats in the hollow broke out speculating with each other and some tossing him suspicious looks.
"How did you know Dustpelt's name?" A young cat from the Thunderclan throng asked him.
"Well, good question to say the least I know everyone's names here Shrewpaw." The arguing became louder this time and it was only broken by Firestar's angry yowl.
"SILENCE!" The cats fell silent as Firestar spoke again. He looked up at Twoleg. "H-How W-What is going on here." Firestar was in deep guilt right now he could feel it as if it was his own. He made a mental image of him in front of the boulder and he teleported there instantly. Watching as the branches flew back to the trees and reached themselves to the oaks.
"Firestar, don't feel guilt for losing Squirrelpaw and Brambleclaw. They are safe. In fact they are in those mountains right now." He pointed his tail west and he felt Firestar relax a bit.
"What is your name?" Firestar asked him.
"Oh me?" Twoleg answered. "Well my name is Twoleg."
The cats started to give him suspicious glances but Firestar started speaking again.
"How do you have power over our forest and prey?" He looked utterly confused.
"Well he said I guess your Starclan up there wanted me to help you out, you are having trouble with humans right? They have come in with their construction equipment and have started tearing up your forests correct?"
"Humans?" A cat called from behind him. "What is that?"
"Oh my!" Twoleg said surprised that he had not mentioned it earlier. "Have I not told you? I used to be a Twoleg."