SilRain- thank you for your wonderful review. Trust me, the Clans will shocked, and as the prophecy stated, one of the apprentices will turn to the dark side.
Reunion
"So tell me again," mewed Zeus. "Do you have any recollection of what happened?"
"No," his sister replied. "But for once in my life, not including the time I was in our father Cronus' stomach, I feel helpless and powerless."
"As do I," agreed Zeus bleakly.
Suddenly, they came to a wide expanse of rock bordered by steel walls. On the hard expanse of rock, there were two yellow lines.
"What is this?" breathed Hera.
"It looks like something our son Hephaestus would make," Zeus replied, reaching out a paw to touch it. (AN: Hephaestus was the god of steel and fire, and he built almost everything on Mt. Olympus.) The ice on the rock stung him and he cried out. He turned to glance at Hera, only to see her frozen with fear and awe. When Zeus saw why, he felt cold shock grip him, for coming their way was a closed chariot with windows and steel. On the bottom of the chariot, there were two round rubber objects, and it made a horrible roaring sound. As the strange chariot passed them, Zeus and Hera's fur stood up on their backs. They let out awed gasps.
"Zeus, I've never seen a chariot like that before," Hera mewed.
"It didn't even need to be pulled by horses," Zeus hissed. "Do you know what this means? This means Hephaestus must be around here somewhere. Only he could build something like this."
"Look Zeus, let's go back into the woods. We'll separate and look for our other siblings. You look for Poseidon and Hades. I'll look for Hestia and Demeter."
"All right," Zeus meowed, as he plunged through the forest calling his brothers' names. He searched and searched, called and called, but there was no sign of the other two Olympians. He caught up with Hera in the clearing again, feeling tired and defeated.
"Listen Zeus," mewed Hera sensibly. "Maybe we are not meant to be gods anymore. Maybe we should just live lives as cats and be happy. We could find some nice human mortals to live with and…"
"NO!" cried Zeus, leaping to his paws. "I'll hear nothing of it. To be inferior to mortals, to eat when they tell you to, sleep where they want you to? No Hera, I will not become a pet!" The last part was spat out.
"We may be treated good," argued Hera.
"Forget it," was Zeus' stubborn reply. He soon grew curious when he saw his sister examining some dead ferns.
"Look brother," she urged. As Zeus watched, she breathed life into the ferns. They sprang to life, plush and green.
Zeus felt joyous. "So we still have our powers," he purred.
"Does this mean we're still immortal?" Hera questioned hopefully.
"I hope so," replied Zeus. "I've always said: you can take my thunderbolts, you can take my throne, and you can take my title. But to take my immortality; it's taking away a part of who I am."
"At least we still have each other," came a meow that was feminine, yet filled with strict authority. It was Athena!
The goddess of wisdom and Zeus' favorite daughter, Athena was a cat as well. Lean and muscular, yet graceful, she was a long-furred white she-cat with a thick, bushy tail and stormy gray eyes. She strode calmly up to her father.
"I've been looking for you," her mew was reproachful. "But I suppose it is hard to find me in the snow with a pelt as white as mine."
"Athena, do you remember anything?" Zeus asked his daughter urgently.
"No, not really," replied Athena. "I only remember falling out of the sky."
"Join the crowd," rasped Hera dryly.
"We've always been able to turn ourselves into animals and then turn ourselves back into gods, yet this time we're stuck," meowed Zeus. "I bet this is Demeter's doing. She's the one who is good at turning people and gods into animals."
"Actually you are quite incorrect," purred a pretty golden tabby she-cat with blue eyes. It was Demeter. With her was Zeus' other siblings and his son Hephaestus.
"Yes, why would she change us all into cats if it meant she was to become a cat as well? What would she gain from that?" mewed Poseidon, a majestic silver-gray tom with a white chest and turquoise eyes.
Demeter shot him a grateful look and turned to Zeus. "Hades is very clever. Maybe he can change us back."
"I am afraid that I cannot help you anymore than I can help myself," Hades growled. He was a muscular black tom with stormy gray eyes, and his face was grim. "Face it, we're doomed."
"No! There must be a way," cried the gentle Hestia, a cream-colored she-cat with turquoise eyes.
Zeus tried to share her optimism, and not feel the same gloom as his brother. Besides, everything was always gloom and doom with Hades.
"Well look on the bright side," Athena meowed. "We're all incredibly beautiful and majestic for cats, and even if we can't be gods and goddesses anymore, we could still be cat-gods and cat-goddesses."
"Oh thanks, that helped a lot," growled Zeus sarcastically.
"It really wouldn't be that bad," purred Hephaestus, a simple dark gray tom with green eyes.
"Oh yes it would," wailed an incredibly beautiful white she-cat with yellow flecks and blue eyes. Zeus groaned. It was Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty.
"My beauty, it's ruined," she continued to wail. "I'm now an ugly, hairy beast."
"You are not," Hephaestus reassured her gently. "You must be the most beautiful cat in the world right now."
"I'm still an ugly beast," she moaned, while Athena rolled her eyes.
"Aphrodite, where did you come from?" Hera questioned in surprise.
"Oh, you didn't know? Everybody else was following me. They should be here soon," Aphrodite mewed, snapping out of her lament.
Zeus' eyes widened as he saw just how many more cats were padding into the snowy clearing.
There was Persephone, Hades wife, in the form of an elegant gray she-cat with green eyes, there were the twins Artemis and Apollo, who were both ginger and white cats with green eyes, there was the bully god of war Ares, a handsome dark gray tabby tom with mean, piecing yellow eyes, there was Hermes, a small, but majestic ginger tom with white paws and green eyes, there was the sea-goddess sisters, Amphitrite and Thetis, both white she-cats with sea-green eyes, there was Hebe and Hercules, grooming each other side by side. Hebe was a youthful tortoiseshell and white she-cat with amber eyes, and Hercules was a ginger and white tom with yellow eyes, and there was Dionysus, a handsome white tom with blue-gray patched and deep blue eyes.
"Well," breathed Zeus. "I hope that's everyone."
"No father," Athena cried. "Look!"
For coming their way were ten, fluffy cute kittens herded by the twins Castor and Polydeuces, both black and white toms with blue eyes. There was Hector, a long-furred dark brown tabby tom with blue eyes and his brother Paris, who was the spitting image of him.
Scowling at them was Achilles, a long-furred, scrawny golden tabby tom with blue-gray eyes. Following him was Orion, Poseidon's son. He was a long-legged, light brown tom with yellow eyes.
Zeus and Hera shared amazed glances. The legendary mortal heroes of Greece were kittens, and they were cute!
A pitiful dilute tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes cried for Achilles. It was Briseis, and following her was Helen, Andromache, Cupid, and Aeneas. Helen was a stunningly beautiful, long-furred white she-cat with yellow flecks and blue eyes. Andromache, Hector's wife, was a beautiful silver tabby she-cat with green eyes. Wrestling each other, were Aphrodite's two sons, Cupid and Aeneas. Cupid was a white tom with yellow eyes, and his half-brother Aeneas was a golden tom with a white chest and blue eyes.
"Wait for me!" a tiny kitten cried. He was by far the smallest and cutest kitten. It was Patroclus, Achilles' cousin, and he was his spitting image.
"I'll get you Hector! Fear me! I'm a fierce warrior!" he sqeaked, his tiny voice reverberating around the forest.
Hera snorted with amusement, and Zeus let out deep rumbles of laughter. Athena bounded forward and picked Patroclus up in her teeth and set him down by the other kittens.
Zeus surveyed the cats. Almost all of them were his children. Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Hephaestus, Hermes, Hebe, Dionysus, Hercules, Polydeuces, and Castor were all his.
Hephaestus, Ares, and Hebe were his and Hera's. But that was all. The other children were all out of wedlock. Zeus and Hera had gotten into many violent fights over his infidelities.
"Where's Eris?" Hera asked him very quietly. Zeus wondered the same thing. Eris was Zeus and Hera's eldest daughter. She had been more of a devil than a goddess. She had tangled long black hair, pale, almost white skin, and ice-blue eyes. On top of that, she always wore black and had an evil, cackling laugh. Personally, Zeus and Hera did not care. They had loathed her deeply, even if she was their daughter. She was the goddess of discord, chaos, war, and pain, and she had caused a lot of pain and suffering to the war hero Achilles. But that was a different story. Right now, Zeus was happy to be reunited again with his family, and by the looks of it everyone else was two. Achilles licked Briseis, Aeneas, Paris, and Hector all started to play fight, Hebe and Athena touched noses, Hera and Aphrodite were comparing their new appearances, with Hera reassuring Aphrodite that she was still beautiful as a cat, and Helen and Andromache batted at snowflakes with wide eyes. Only Hades seemed gloomy. But then again, Hades was always gloomy. The happy reunion ended, however, when Achilles let out a screech and pinned down Hector.
"I hate you!" the little golden kit screeched. Hector retaliated by biting Achilles' throat and flipping him over. In reality, it was not scary, for two kittens fighting was quite precious. The older cats purred and cooed, but Paris was not amused.
"Let go of my brother!" he squeaked angrily. He dived forward and bit Achilles' heel. Achilles let go of Hector and squealed with pain and outrage. He lunged at Paris and began to chew him around the head, while Briseis tried to calm her friend down.
Meanwhile, Ares had called Athena a filthy name. He then strutted over to tiny Patroclus and began to tease and slap the kit on his head.
"Leave me alone!" the little kit wailed.
"No," Ares laughed. "Why don't you make me?"
"I will!" squeaked Patroclus. He jumped up and bit Ares' gray paw.
Ares let oat a gut-wrenching yowl while Briseis, Helen, and Andromache gave squeals of glee and jumped on Ares. Ares shook them off and groaned, but at that moment, Athena slammed into her brother and beat him up. Ares pulled himself free, and ran to Hera.
"Oh my poor kitten," she cooed. "What did they do to you?"
"They ganged up on me and beat me up," Ares wailed, holding up his sore paw with a whimper.
"Last time I looked Ares, you started it," Zeus stated.
"Oh you just stay out of it," snapped Hera. "Ares is a good little cat."
"What do you mean, "a good little cat"? Zeus hissed.
"That daughter of your needs to be trained to be a proper goddess. Beating my poor baby up; she's a beast, and she causes trouble."
"Nonsense, Athena is very wise," argued Zeus.
"Oh here they go again," Poseidon and Hades sighed, lying down to watch.
"If you ask me, I should be the king of the gods because I'm the oldest," Hades meowed.
"What are you saying?" Poseidon yowled. "Are you saying that just because I'm younger, I don't deserve as much? I'll show you!"
The two brothers, usually on good terms, were now fighting fiercely. They clawed at each other and bit each other's tails.
"STOP IT!" Athena yowled. Poseidon and Hades froze, and Hector and Achilles broke apart.
"Why are we all fighting in a time like this?" Athena mewed. "We were catapulted from Mt. Olympus, morphed into cats, the war heroes are kittens, we're in an unknown place, and yet we fight each other? We are powerless, and we might be mortal now. We face many dangers. We have to stick together."
"All right," Hector mewed. He turned to Achilles. "I'm sorry. I guess we can be friends."
"Well…. okay," Achilles sighed. "I'm sorry too."
"Well look at that," Zeus purred. "If kittens can be mature and make amends, then so can we. I'm sorry Hera."
"As am I," Hera replied.
Poseidon and Hades sulkily apologized, and Athena and Ares touched noses.
"You're still mean," Patroclus squeaked at Hector, but Achilles shooed him away.
As the sun began to fade into the horizon and the stars showed themselves in a blue-black sky, Zeus knew he needed to find his friends a place to stay the night, especially the ten kittens. He raised his tail.
"Come," he commanded, the melancholy from the day before forgotten. The cats followed silently, lithe shapes turned white in the moonlight. They stopped as soon as they came to a huge horse barn shrouded in horse scent.
"Horses!" Hector purred excitedly, for as a human he had been known as the "tamer of horses." He started to bound forward, but Apollo snapped him up in his jaws.
"Stay put," he growled. Zeus, however, was not paying any attention to the horseplace. Instead, he gazed beyond the horseplace at a huge blue-black lake. The lake's waves lapped gracefully, and it was bathed in starlight. For some reason, Zeus felt as if some greater force were calling him to this strange territory. He beckoned with his tail for his companions to follow him. Plunging through gorse and bracken, he ignored all the strange cat scents that seemed to surround this territory. He plunged up a steep hill with the wind in his fur. A feeling of pure excitement consumed him, and he let out a yowl of joy. His companions, likewise, were exhilarated. Finally the thrill of chase ended and Zeus found himself atop a slope in thick woodland. He let out a contented sigh, and gazed down at the star-filled lake. The view was wonderful, and as Zeus stole a glance to his left, he caught sight of a small pool surrounded by rock and stone and fed by a trickling waterfall. Reflected on the pool was bright starlight. Zeus bent down to lap at the water and found it even tasted of cold starlight. He turned to his companions.
"We shall sleep here tonight," he decided. "Something about the starlight on the pool makes everything seem safe." Nobody argued because they were too tired. When the moon was high in the sky, the divine cats fell asleep.