Trembling feverishly, the white queen shakily sat up, her thick fur no protection against the chill that permeated her to the bone. An unnatural chill that didn't fit in with the bright, spring-time surroundings.
"What happened?" She asked between her chattering teeth, weakly crawling towards the nearest figure: The man she had known as Andrew McFadgen, but was now a massive hulk of a brown and ginger-grey tomcat.
Clutching his throbbing temples, the big tom groaned softly, his hackles raised, his tail thrashing nervously back and forth. "It feels like the mother of all hangovers." He growled under his breath, his eyes half-closed.
Looking around, the Persian spotted the young Siamese queen, little Bill Bailey and Grumbuskin all curled, shivering, on their own, staring around fearfully at their new surroundings. The male Siamese and the black queen – however – were kneeling, facing one another, examining their new forms with curious eyes and paws.
Making her way across to the kitten-like pair, she could see hints of Ariadne and Dylan in their faces, but their sleek fur seemed insanely right on their slim bodies.
"Are you two okay?" she asked softly, touching them gently on the shoulders, noticing that they huddled closer together at her touch.
"Well," Dylan replied bitterly, his voce harsh and rasping. "I'm a cat, if that's okay in your book."
"Why us?" Ariadne whispered tearfully, staring at the beautiful face of the woman she had the urge to call Griddlebone. "I don't want to be here…my parents will be mad…I wanna go home. I want my mum and dad."
"Its all right." Sara gently drew the little queen to her, gently smoothing the creamy fur between her chocolate-brown ears. "We're going to be just fine, Little Dragon."
"Little Dragon?" Dylan and Ariadne both stared at her, an expression of baffled confusion crossing Ariadne's face.
"Why did you call me that? How did you know it was my name?"
Sara frowned. "I don't know. It seemed right…"
The little queen examined her smooth brown paws curiously, shaking her head slowly. "I still don't believe it. I always wanted to be in CATS…I never wanted to be a cat…well…I don't think I did…much…"
"I think we all feel the same." Griddlebone replied softly, absently licking the back of her paw and smoothing her fluffy fur down. "In a weird way, it feels right…like I was always meant to be like this…"
Bill Bailey nodded. "I feel the same. At first I was angry, but I feel kinda…natural in this place."
"What about them?" Little Dragon pointed at the other cats crouched around them, fear and confusion the primary emotions. "They still look really scared."
Beckoning the others, Griddlebone smiled reassuringly around at them. It seemed like she was the eldest character of them – a veritable mother figure – despite being the third smallest. "Now, since none of know what the hell happened back there and since it doesn't look like it's a dream or anything, I'm guessing we're stuck here."
The others nodded in agreement, staring around at the scenery in admiration. It was a wild place, but somehow, it felt right. More right than anything else. It felt like they had all finally returned home after a long journey.
"It also looks like we've become our characters." She continued steadily, her long tail flicking between her paws. "I'm Griddlebone, but some of you are not in your usual character. Can you tell me your names?"
"I'm Genghis apparently." The Siamese tom that had been Tony raised a brown paw.
Chewing on a stalk of grass, the little tom who was once been Dylan lazily murmured. "I'm Bill Bailey I suppose. Dunno why. I'm more of a Munkustrap." Flexing his muscles, he chuckled. "I'm jolly well gorgeous enough!"
"Leave that to the big toms." The former-Growltiger grumbled. "You kids always try and take our jobs. Little runts, all of ye."
Pulling himself to his full height, little Bill Bailey hopped from on paw to the other, punching the air. "C'mon," He yelped, dancing around the sitting giant. "Face me like a man! C'mon! I dare ya! I dare ya!"
Biting back laughter, the rest of the group watched in amusement as the six foot plus giant of a tom stood up and looked down at the five foot, little tom kitten, a quizzical expression on his face.
"Whatcha think you are? Some kinda superhero?" Bill Bailey kept dancing and weaving around the larger, grinning tom. "I can beat ya! I can! I can!"
Lazily stretching out an arm, he put his paw on the little tom's forehead, holding him easily at arm's length, Bill Bailey's arms and legs flailing frantically, trying to strike him.
"You would dare to challenge the mighty McDuff?" He enquired gruffly.
"McDuff?" Bill Bailey burst into frantic giggles, dropping back from the large tom. "What kind of name do you call that?"
"A good Scots name." McDuff growled, in mock-annoyance. "And I wouldn't want to hurt ya, kitten, in front of the lasses."
Sulkily, Bill Bailey raced over and skidded to a halt behind Griddlebone, peeking over her shoulder nervously at the giant of a tom.
"If anyone's interested…" The slim black queen with a blaze of red fur on her chest spoke up softly. "I'm Blaze."
"And I be Grumbuskin." Shivering, Grumbuskin rubbed his arms. "Why is it so cold? The sun's shining and I'm freezing!"
All of them nodded in agreement. "It was the travelling." Blaze said quietly, gazing down at her paws. "What else could it be? We came from that place…I mean home…and ended up here." She raised her slanted eyes to them, a look of understanding in her violet iris. "And there always is the change." She added firmly. "That could have affected us."
"So basically, it could be everything." Genghis shielded his eyes against the sun with one smooth brown paw. "The sooner we get used to this place, the sooner we'll feel better? Is that your thinking on the subject?"
"That's exactly it." Blaze nodded seriously, disentangling some crusts of dirt from her silky black fur.
Little Dragon shakily got to her paws and moved up the lip of the little valley they were in to look around.
"Come and see this!" She called back from the top of the ledge. "Its so beautiful! And so big! I can see the sea! And a river leading to it!"
Pointing with her paw as they joined her, she pointed to a gleaming expanse of water, many miles away, linked to them by the winding silvery snake of the river, twisting through the dark and mysterious land that was now theirs.
To what they believed was north lay the sea. To the East and West, massive rolling hills stained with the patterns of wide meadows and dark forests spread as far as the eye could see. And, behind them, to the south, wide plains darkened in the direction of rugged mountains.
"So," Looking around at the group, Genghis, raised an eyebrow. Which way do we go?"
Raising a paw, Bill Bailey, shyly asked. "Could I say something?" The other cats turned to him enquiringly. "Can we get something to eat?"
"Sounds good to me." Little Dragon grinned cheekily at Bill Bailey.
Griddlebone nodded at the kittens. "It would be good, but what can we possibly eat? We know nothing about this land. We don't know how to get food here. What we find may be poisonous or dangerous."
"So we starve to death while trying to figure it out." McDuff put in helpfully, putting an arm around the white queen.
Shrugging his arm off, Griddlebone got to her feet and started pacing impatiently, her face knit with worry. Already, she looked upon this group as her responsibility and she didn't want them to starve because of her.
Her eyes suddenly focused on something further down the hills, her nostrils twitching. Something small was moving about down there and if it moved, it was probably something edible. Most living things seemed to exist by that one rule. If it lives, eat it.
"We have returned to a wild state of life." She muttered, half to herself, licking her lips hungrily. "It looks like were going to have to do things the old-fashioned way."
"You mean," Little Dragon – An animal lover and vegan – stared at her in horror. "We'll have to hunt and kill innocent little animals for food?"
Snapping out her deceptively delicate claws, Griddlebone gave a bloodthirsty grin. "That's exactly it, kitt. Eat or be eaten. That's our new lifestyle. Whether we like it or not." The feral light in her eyes convinced them she wasn't joking. "All in favour, say aye."
Fighting her every animal loving instinct, Little Dragon was the last of the group to enthusiastically unsheath her claws and yell. "Aye."
"My friends," Rubbing her paws together, she smiled coolly. "Let the games begin!"