Chapter 1
At the twoleg place, a ginger tom with green eyes sat on the fence, staring into the forest. The tom scanned his surroundings; there were trees, bushes, a full moon, twinkling stars, and the night clouds hovering over the forest. It was unfamiliar, yet the strange scents drew the tom closer. The ginger tom jumped off the fence and went deep into the forest. As he did, his stomach growled, so he sniffed the air and smelled forests scents and a smell of mouse. A flash of grey ran past him, the ginger tom stopped and listened. The mouse hid in the leaves, two inches away from him. The ginger tom got into a hunting crouch and moved downwind. He could hear the tiny mouse's heartbeat from within his ear fur. The ginger tom sprang, but the mouse took cover; hiding in a hole on the ground, but the tom was already on top of it. He scooped the mouse by its tail and threw it into air. When it hit the ground, it was in a daze. The ginger tom threw the mouse again, but this time, it landed a few feet away from him. Before the tom could catch it, he heard a loud roar. The ginger tom stopped and looked around, but the mouse had recovered and ran among the dangled roots of a tree and into the darkness. The tom gave up and looked around for the source of the sound. After a while, the sound became familiar. The ginger tom woke up and realized that he was in the kitchen. It was nighttime and moonlight was beaming through the windows. The rattling was the cat food being poured into a dish. For as long as he could remember, the ginger tom had been a kittypet ever since he was kitten. Honestly, he hated it. His collar was uncomfortable, his food was dry and tasteless, and he longed to see what the forest was like. The ginger tom took two mouthfuls of his food, then went through the cat flap to the garden. He had hoped that the garden smells would help him remember the smells from his dream, unfortunately though, it didn't; the light but damp rain, the bushes, and the purple flowers didn't help. The ginger tom jumped on the top of the fence and stared into the forest. He wasn't bothered by the rain drops on his pelt or his owners calling him one last time, the scents of the strong forest had drawn him. The ginger tom thought he saw something had moved and was watching him, but before he could jump off the fence, he heard a kittypet collar bell jingle behind him.
"Where are you off to, Rusty?" a voice asked.
Rusty turned around and saw a black and white tom with yellow eyes jump on the fence and almost loose his balance. He sat next to Rusty.
"Hello Smudge." Rusty meowed.
"You're not going into the woods, are you?" Smudge asked scared.
"Just for a look." Rusty promised.
"You wouldn't get me in there, it's dangerous! Henry said he went into the woods once." Smudge meowed.
"That fat old tabby never went into the woods! He's hardly been beyond his own garden since his trip to the vet. All he wants to do is eat and sleep." Rusty scoffed.
"No, really. He caught a robin there!" Smudge insisted.
"Well if he did, then it was before the vet. Now he complains about birds because they disturb his dozing." Rusty meowed scornfully.
"Well anyway, Henry told me there are all sorts of dangerous animals out there. There are huge wildcats who eat live rabbits for breakfast and sharpen their claws on old bones." Smudge meowed.
"I'm only going for a look around, I won't stay long." Rusty promised.
"Well, don't say I didn't warn you." Smudge purred.
Rusty jumped off the fence and sat on the broad grass. He gave his shoulder a gentle lick and saw a mouse scuttle under some brambles. Rusty got into a hunting crouch; ears pricked, nose sniffing, and eyes wide. He got closer and saw the mouse sitting on the barbed branches eating a seed. Rusty got ready to pounce, but heard leaves and sticks snapping behind him. Rusty jumped, his collar jingled, and the mouse escaped to the thickest tangle of the bramble bush. Rusty looked around and sniffed the air. He could smell another animal and saw its red tail disappearing into a bush. As Rusty approached it, he heard another noise from behind. His ears pricked, but focused on the reddish tail, until the sound became louder and louder. Suddenly, some force pinned Rusty to the ground, clawed his back, and bit his neck. Rusty yowled in pain and struggled to break free. He thought about what to do; he knew the dangers of exposing his soft belly, but it would give him a chance to see his attacker and figure out a plan from here. Rusty turned on his back and saw another cat pinning him. Rusty unsheathed his claws and went for the shoulder, but suddenly, fire ignited on his paws and as he scratched the attacker's shoulder, it screeched in pain and got off immediately. The attacker blew off the fire on him while Rusty got up and try to contemplate on what just happened. He looked at his paws and saw fire on his paws. Rusty jumped and the fire blew away. Rusty was horrified; he never meant to hurt his attacker, nor did he mean for that to happen. Cats can't control fire, could they? Rusty looked at his attacker and saw that it was another kitten. Rusty could tell it was a tom; he had grey fur with a dark grey stripe and yellow eyes. The attacker stared at Rusty with bewilderment and amazement in his eyes. Rusty was confused; shouldn't the attacker be furious? The attacker sat down, licked his paw, and smiled at Rusty.
"Woah, that was so cool!" he exclaimed.
"GREYPAW!" A voice roared.
Greypaw and Rusty looked and saw two cats approaching them. One was a big, fluffy, and golden tom with a lion's mane and yellow eyes. The other was a literally blue she-cat with a bit of silver on her muzzle and blue eyes. The golden tom examined Greypaw while the blue she-cat examined Rusty.
"Lionheart, Bluestar, did you see that?" Greypaw asked.
"Of course I saw it." Bluestar meowed.
She examined Rusty; her eyes narrowing. Rusty thought that she was angry with him, because he had hurt Greypaw. He couldn't believe that there was an actual blue cat standing in front of him. Lionheart saw burns on Greypaw's shoulder.
"Greypaw, are you alright?" Lionheart asked.
"Yeah Yeah, I'm okay." He meowed.
Both toms looked and saw Rusty scared of Bluestar. Suddenly, Bluestar sat down and smiled.
"Oh sorry, where are my manners, my name is Greypaw. This is my mentor Lionheart and our leader Bluestar." He introduced.
"Thank you for the introduction, Greypaw." Lionheart meowed.
All three cats stared at Rusty, who was still quivering in fear.
"I-I'm sorry for h-h-hurting you. I don't know what happen, I just wanted him to get off." Rusty apologized.
"It's alright, it's not that bad." Greypaw accepted.
"What is your name, little one?" Bluestar asked.
"Rusty." He meowed.
"It's nice to meet you, Rusty. What brings you into the forest?" Bluestar asked.
"I…I came t-t-to hunt a mouse." He stammered.
"I see, and yet somehow you have powers." Bluestar meowed annoyed.
"Wait what?" Rusty meowed confused.
"Oh sorry, you don't know. Allow them to show you." Greypaw meowed.
Bluestar closed her eyes, then suddenly, her eyes opened to be all blue and she was on fire. Rusty was astonished and saw Lionheart roar just like a lion. His roar echoed throughout the forest, scaring away the birds. Rusty was surprised that the roar didn't wake up his housefolk or anyone for that matter. He looked at Greypaw and saw an embarrassed look.
"I would show you, but I don't want "him" to hurt you." He explained.
"Who's him?" Rusty asked.
"You should find that out for yourself, if you're willing to join Thunderclan." Bluestar meowed.
