Into the Wild

A magnificent dark ginger tabby tom crawled to his feet and slowly took in his surroundings. He was in a snowy forest full of wildlife and bare, lifeless trees. The quiet wood was blanketed with snow, and it was extremely cold. A snowflake landed lightly on the cat's nose. He lapped it up, and felt it bite at his tongue like fire, yet it had no distinct taste.

"I must have been knocked out," he said. "Or maybe I'm losing my sanity!" With that thought, the cat started to let out a bellow, but all that came out was a caterwaul.

The tomcat was no ordinary tabby. He was Zeus, ruler of the sky, lord over all the gods and goddesses, god of thunder and lightning, and yet here he was, not in Mt. Olympus but in a cold, bleak wood. Zeus suddenly feared he had been overthrown. As he looked up toward Olympus, he could not see it. All he saw was a wide expanse of blue sky. Zeus was frightened. What had happened? He broke into a terrified run. The naked earth thrust his loneliness more forcibly upon him. He plunged through the forest in despair. Oh, what he wouldn't give to see his five other siblings, or the Greeks fighting the Trojans, or his 100 other children. All day he ran. Being a god, he could have run forever but eventually stopped. It wasn't that he was tired; he was just tired of running.

He came to a wide clearing in the in the woods. To his right, a small stream, despite the cold, was flowing steadily. Zeus took a look at his reflection, and when he did, he let out a heartbroken caterwaul. For he was a cat! A very handsome cat at that. Just like he had as a god, Zeus looked powerful, majestic, and regal as a cat. He was a fiery-red ginger tabby tom and around his neck, he bore a thick mane. His eyes were a deep, leafy green color, and the expression in them was of despair. How had this happened? What about the rest of his divine family? Where were they? Where was he? Was he in a part of his brother, Hades' domain.

Suddenly, a soft mew interrupted his thoughts. Standing by the river, a beautiful she-cat with glowing pale ginger fur and pale green eyes, a lighter copy of Zeus really, was studying her reflection in dismay. She threw back her head and let out a wail. Zeus recognized her at once. It was his wife, also his sister, Hera.

"Oh Hera!" he cried in jubilation. "I am so happy to see you!" He rushed toward her, took her off balance, and if at all possible, tried to hug her.

"Get off of me brother!" she hissed. "This is very touching and all, but I want to know, where are we? What are we? Why and how did this happen?"

"I don't know," Zeus replied. "It's as if we were thrown from the sky."

Were we?" whispered Hera fearfully.

"No, I do not recall any such thing," mewed Zeus. "All I know is that we're cats now, and we must deal with it."

"Are we still gods though?" questioned Hera. "Do we still have our powers? Are we still immortal?"

"I wish I knew the answers," meowed Zeus in reply. "I hope so, but look at us. We are small, we are weak, and for the first time in our lives, we are not the all-powerful rulers over everything."

"Where is everyone else though?" hissed Hera. "Did we all turn into cats?"

"I don't know," growled Zeus. "So quit nagging."

Hera huffed indignantly but kept quiet.

That night was a long and painful one. Zeus and Hera were no longer quarreling spouses but siblings that loked out for each other.

"Wait. So you're saying that a Clan of ancient timed will be coming to the forest?" A handsome ginger tom with green eyes questioned Leafpool and Jayfeather. He was Firestar, the leader of ThunderClan, and he was pacing in his den as Leafpool brought back StarClan's message.

"Yes," Leafpool mewed back to her father. "We were all brought together in the Dream Fields to receive from the StarClan Council. They told us that this Clan would bring a new dawn and change to the Clans."

"But not bad change," Jayfeather hastily put in. He searched Firestar's mind for any sign of fear or apprehension, but all he could sense in Firestar was genuine curiosity.

"Any prophecies?" he prompted the medicine cats, and Jayfeather could feel his excitement.

Leafpool nodded and calmly recited Wojtuso's prophecy:

When an ancient family of old

Are thrust into the lives of cats

They will bring with them a new dawn

However, Tiger will try to control the golden apprentice and slashing claws will bring grief and darkness

Jay, Lion, and Holly must help the golden apprentice choose his path

And only when embers die will there be peace.

When Leafpool finished speaking, Firestar's eyes darkened momentarily but then cleared. He glanced at Jayfeather and Leafpool and his next words were calm and cool.

"Very well. I will address the Clan later." He bounded out of his den into the cold leaf-bare air, and Jayfeather heard him say to himself, "Perhaps this prophecy is linked to the "kin of your kin" prophecy.

Hearing this, Jayfeather dashed from his mentor's side, and out into the cold air. He ran to the apprentices' den, almost forgetting to be careful and use his other senses to guide him.

Just wait until he told Lionpaw and Hollypaw about this!