Chapter 1: Walking on Paws

The sun broke through the canopy of trees, reflecting radiantly on the nearby lake. Lelouch suddenly woke up from being transported to this new world, shaking himself back into consciousness. As he stood up, he felt as if everything in this new world was bigger. In addition, his process of getting up was strange, having to go on all four legs that just his usual two, which he realized after failing to do so.

Where in the world did C.C transport me to? Lelouch thought as he walked in circles on his four legs, trying to get used to walking that way. Once he got the hang of it, he decided to go through the forest to check his surroundings even further. I've never seen trees this tall before…and all these scents? Something tells me I'm not exactly human anymore, either. His walk took him deeper into the unknown territory as he pondered about what was going on. His thoughts were suddenly wiped away when out of the bushes, a golden furred cat leaped out and attacked him.

"What are you doing on ThunderClan territory you flea-pelt? You know you don't belong here!" The golden tom yelled.

"What are you talking about? Get off of me!" Lelouch spat back.

"Why? So you can go back and get your other friends?"

"Lionblaze calm down! Look at him. I've never seen a cat look so confused about something before, and he has no specific Clan scent." A gray tom informed him.

"Graystripe's right Lionblaze. He's as innocent as a kit." A she-cat added.

"He could be deceiving us, Dovewing." Lionblaze retorted, his voice a bit calmer than before. Lelouch tried to wiggle out of Lionblaze's grasp, but even when not paying attention, Lionblaze still kept enough pressure on his shoulders.

A cat? What were they talking about? Wait…they can talk…all three of them? Lelouch thought as he finally had time to process the quick series of events that just occurred. He looked at the cat on top of him, and then towards the two other gray cats who were trying to vouch for him.

"Okay I'll let him go and he can explain everything, but if he escapes, it's both your fault." Lionblaze told them.

"Agreed" The two other gray cats nodded. Lionblaze got off of Lelouch and they watched as he struggled to get to his paws. He shook the dirt off of his body and let out a breath of relief.

"So, what are you doing here? You don't seem to have a collar, so you must be a loner." Graystripe concluded.

"Y-You three can talk…"

"Um…yeah? Were you not expecting that?" Dovewing asked him, letting out a small giggle.

"Should I have?" C.C., just where the hell did you send me?!

"I think you might have knocked this cat over a bit too hard, Lionblaze." The she-cat gave the tom a shove.

"Wait…cat? What are you talking about?"

"Why don't you look at yourself over there?" Dovewing said with a small laugh, pointing at the nearby puddle. Lelouch walked up to it and looked at himself. He was a black cat with his normal violet eyes and his hairstyle was there, but made out of fur.

"This can't be real…" Lelouch thought out loud, looking at one of his paws and also touching his face with one as well. He watched as his black tail began to move behind him. This explains why I can talk to them…but why this world out of all places?

"It's real, and sorry if Lionblaze hurt you before. He's a very loyal warrior." Graystripe stated, apologizing for his friend's actions. Lelouch looked over at him after he calmed down and shook his head.

"It's okay, I understand. Loyalty's a very strong characteristic to have."

"By the way, what's your name?" Dovewing asked, bringing up the question that probably should've been asked right when Lionblaze allowed Lelouch up. "You pretty odd, no offense."

"My name's Lelouch. I'm not from this world…wherever we are." He looked around at the trees. "This isn't Japan, right?" They shook their heads.

"Wait…you're not from this world?" The golden tom asked, disbelief in his meow. "We should take you over to our Clan. I'm pretty sure Firestar will let you stay as long as your intentions are good." Lionblaze told him.

"I can assure you that they are." Graystripe took the lead, and as they were walking, Lionblaze told Lelouch about how there were four Clans, the three of them belonging to ThunderClan. He also went on about how they were different in many ways, such as the food they ate and the way they battled. Lelouch then returned the favor by telling them more about himself, like how he was a royal prince, but he wasn't really sure they understood what he meant, being cats and all. They seem to already trust me. That's a big relief.

"So you were basically re-incarnated into a cat after dying to bring justice to your original world, right?" Graystripe restated, the black tom replying with a nod. "Your past life sounds like there was a lot going on in it"

As they continued on towards ThunderClan, Lelouch started thinking about what he would now do in his new life and how he would choose to accept the fact that this may have been fate's decision. Lelouch got more help by Lionblaze and Dovewing on how to walk as they watched him stumble a bit, but he knew that there was so much more to learn about if he was to live in this world.

When the four arrived at the ThunderClan camp, Lelouch was immediately locked onto by all the glaring eyes from the cats he passed by; even the kits looked at him. Then, all the gossip started. He could overhear the many voices of warriors wondering who he was and that his scent was very unfamiliar. As the many talks around the Clan subsided, Firestar jumped off of the rocks that led to his den with much grace.

"Lionblaze, Graystripe, Dovewing, I believe that you have found a strange intruder on our territory, but there seems to be a problem if you brought him in the heart of our Clan." Firestar stated.

"Actually, he means no harm. He is from another world and hasn't even heard of the Clans." Lionblaze answered.

"Yeah and he didn't even know how to walk, and he was injure free when we found him, until Lionblaze let out his loyalty and attacked him." Dovewing added with a small laugh, causing the golden tom to become flustered.

"Didn't even know how to walk? Can you believe that?" One cat said.

"It could just be a made up story. The last thing we need is another cat causing trouble."

Firestar raised his tail to silence his Clanmates. He stared at Lelouch for a while, violet and green eyes meeting. Could he be the one StarClan told me about? A faraway land…being another world? "Tell me, what is your name?" Firestar asked.

"My name is Lelouch. I know that my story seems odd, but it's the truth. If you find it hard to believe, I will leave, no questions asked." Then it's back to figuring out what to do. I have to hope what Lionblaze told me was true. Living as a cat in this world by myself would definitely be a challenge.

"That won't be necessary. I sense something has brought you here to us. Besides, you would have a much harder time trying to stay with any of the other Clans." His green gaze turned towards the rest of the Clan. "Starting today, Lelouch is our guest. Please try to make him feel like one of our own."

"Thank you, Firestar. I hope to be no problem to your Clan."

"As do I." Firestar made his way back to the Highledge, some of the cats resuming their usual duties, while most still stared at Lelouch curiously. He approached Graystripe, who greeted him with a smile.

"Alright Lelouch, you're now a guest to ThunderClan. Maybe you'll even stay here long enough to become a warrior and get a warrior name." Graystripe informed Lelouch.

"Warrior…name?" Lelouch tilted his head in confusion.

"Ah I forgot! You have no idea what that is! Well, a warrior name is a name given to apprentices when they complete their apprenticeship. You probably can choose to get a warrior name if you want." Graystripe stated.

"Maybe I'll stick with Lelouch." As they were talking, Lionblaze approached the two.

"Graystripe, why don't we introduce Lelouch to other Clanmates and give him a tour around the camp?"

"Sure! That'll give him a great opportunity to meet everybody. Maybe you'll even end up telling your stories to the kits and apprentices once the Clan warms up about you. Ha, you'll feel like an elder on your first day." Graystripe joked.

Once they were ready, the three began their walk around camp, Lionblaze stopping at what seemed to be a stone cave. "This is the warriors' den. You'll be sleeping here with us, and…well, all the other warriors. It'll be best if you get to know every cat in here so that they won't be worried about you being some bad cat or stuff like that." Lionblaze suggested.

They entered the warriors' den and Lionblaze went on explaining how this introduction process would work. The warriors' den was very stable, not a single cat being shocked as Lelouch walked inside. Suddenly, Lelouch just heard a big list of names being called, but he wanted to take it a step back and be introduced to them one by one. Dovewing got up and joined the toms.

"Hey, you should meet with my sister first." Dovewing suggested. Lelouch walked around the den following Dovewing and they stopped in front of a silver and white tabby with blue eyes. Lelouch greeted her with a small friendly smile when she looked at him.

"You must be Lelouch. I see that you've got walking like a cat down." She let out a small laugh. "My name's Ivypool."

"It's nice to meet you." He dipped his head, but was startled when Lionblaze gave him a small shove.

"You should meet my sister, Hollyleaf. She's over here!" The golden told him.

"I guess I'll see you later." The silver-and-white she-cat meowed, letting out a smile seeing how the tom reacted. They walked over to a black furred cat with green eyes. "Hollyleaf, this is Lelouch." He then looked over to Lelouch. "We thought we lost Hollyleaf a while ago, but here she is now."

"I'm sure everyone here is glad to see that you're back, Hollyleaf." Lelouch told her.

"I hope so. I really missed this Clan, and my brothers very much." She stated. "Is it really true? You're not from this world?" The violet-eyed tom nodded.

"I know it's hard to believe, but it's the truth. A world filled with talking cats is the last place I expected to be sent to."

"Hopefully our world isn't too strange to you." The green-eyed she-cat meowed. "Oh, I shouldn't keep you here talking with me. You have so many other warriors to meet."

"Right. It was nice meeting you, Hollyleaf."

After introducing himself to the rest of the cats, Lelouch was introduced to the other warriors in the den. It was going to be a pain for him to remember all the names, but he hoped for the best. Dovewing now joined the three toms hey exited the warriors' den and made their way towards the medicine cat's den.

"My brother Jayfeather is the medicine cat here. He may be blind, but don't let that fool you." Lionblaze meowed. Lelouch then started to remember about his own sister, Nunnally, and how she was blind as well. Jayfeather must miss so much things in his life because of his blindness. I know Nunnally did. When they walked into the medicine cat's den, the gray cat's ears perked up.

"Lionblaze, oh, and the new cat that will be staying with us." Jayfeather stated. He may be blind, but his other senses must have been enhanced greatly. Lelouch thought with a bit of awe as his blind blue gaze turned to him. "Hello, I'm Jayfeather. I can't say that I'm too sure about you, but try not to get hurt. It just means more work for me." Jayfeather told him.

"I'll try my best not to." Lelouch replied. He then came across another cat inside the medicine cat's den. She was a she-cat, but something was wrong with her.

"Hi, I'm Briarlight. You must be that new cat, what was your name again? I'll feel too embarrassed if I get it wrong."

"It's Lelouch. Um…do you mind me asking why you're here? It's not because you're sick, is it?" She turned away from his gaze, the sudden spark she had now disappeared.

"I don't think that you should make her bring that back up, especially with Graystripe in here." Jayfeather interrupted. Lelouch looked over at Graystripe and noticed the pain in his eyes.

"I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to bring back any memories."

"Don't worry Lelouch, you didn't know. Besides, we still have the rest of the Clan to show you." Graystripe told him, trying to lighten up the sudden sorrow he was feeling. As they were walking, Graystripe began to speak. "Briarlight…she's my daughter." He told him. "One day, a tree fell into the clearing of the camp and she ran after Longtail, one of the elders who was alive at the time. We found him dead…and Lionblaze and some of the others found Briarlight trapped under a tree." He let out a breath. "Jayfeather found out that her backbone was broken and she'd never be able to walk again, so he does his best to take care of her."

"Graystripe…I'm so sorry to hear that. My sister, Nunnally actually faces a similar problem your daughter does, so I know where you're coming from. You worry about her almost every day and she's constantly on your mind."

"Yeah…but I'm just happy that she's alive and in good paws." He said, a bit of joy in his voice. "We should take you over to the elder's den now."

When they entered the elder's den, Lelouch was greeted by some cats that didn't seem to act the way elders probably would in his world. As one of the elders, Purdy, was about to tell a story, the three ThunderClan cats knew that it was going to be a while before he finished, so they rushed Lelouch out of the den, and Graystripe then led him to the queens' den.

"Wait, so this is where Firestar's mate sleeps, right? It's so big for one cat." Lelouch stated.

"Is that what queens are where you come from? In our world, queens are she-cats that are either expecting kits or nursing them." Graystripe clarified. As they walked into the den, he was greeted by two small cats.

"Cherrypaw, Molepaw, come over here!" One of the queens meowed. "Sorry about my little apprentices. You know how the young ones are, always wanting to hear new stories."

"Lelouch, that's Poppyfrost and those other two are Ferncloud and Daisy." Dovewing said, introducing the tom to the she-cats.

"It's nice to meet you. We get a new visitor, and a cute one at that." Ferncloud teased, causing Lelouch to blush. The other queens noticed his embarrassment and Lelouch could hear them giggle at it. After Lelouch finished playing with some of the kits and talking with the queens, the three walked out of their den.

"Looks like your tour of the Clan is done for today, and just in time too. You'll be sleeping with us and the other warriors. Oh this is going to be so much fun! We can tell stories and everything!" Dovewing said with a bit of excitement, almost acting like one of the kits in the queen's den. As they were talking, Firestar approached the group.

"Lelouch, I hope you're liking your stay so far."

"I am. Everything's so different than in my world…in a good way. Again, thank you for letting me stay here." He let out a yawn, Firestar letting out a small chuckle.

"You four have had a long day. Go get some rest."