9-25-07

Second chapter up! Thank you's go to the kind people who reviewed: Streamheart, cloudfire, Wildshadow of Nightclan, Rabbitstorm, Snowfur, and soraluver: D

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Chapter Two – Silver Sky

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The haunting fact that my only friend in the world had escaped through my open window and disappeared into the dense forest outside ran through my mind for hours. I wished I hadn't been so stupid as to leave the window wide open with a house cat inside, but the hallucination I had had sitting in front of the mirror had distracted me a bit. I had stuck my head outside the door several times, calling Rusty's name, but no little orange kitten came trotting up to me. I felt like a hole had been drilled in my stomach from losing him. Maybe he'd come back, but…the lightning outside was enough to scare any cat away for good.

My stupid uncle barked at me to wash the dishes the next morning. I stood there at the sink, my forearms deep in the water, a plate in one hand and a sponge in the other. I stared deep into the water, my thoughts drifting toward Rusty. He would come back tomorrow, of course he would. I raised my hands to put the newly washed dish into the dishwasher…and abruptly dropped it in shock.

Long, curved claws were protruding out of the ends of four of my fingers. I backed away in horror, holding my hands a foot away from me, when a loud voice made me jump again.

"YOU!"

I whipped around and saw my uncle, still not completely sober, glaring at me because of the broken plate, but then I blinked, bewildered, as he stepped away from me, a look of sheer terror upon his face. I looked down at my hands and saw that they no longer had claws…but my uncle was staring at the top of my head.

He pointed stupidly and cried, "E-Ears!"

Instinctively my hands flew to the top of my head and saw triangle-shaped, fuzzy ears poking out of my black hair. I suddenly felt light-headed and more than shocked. What was happening to me? I must be going insane!

FLASH!

I sat on a cold, stone rock next to a large, gray female cat. Her voice rang out through the small clearing.

"From this day forward, until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as – "

FLASH!

I was standing in the kitchen again, in front of my panic-stricken uncle and standing in shards of a broken plate. Panic gripped my heart. Another hallucination…

Running past my uncle, I ran to my room…my only place of privacy. I leaned over the vanity table, my breathing ragged and loud, and saw that the ears on the top of my head were still there. I poked at them and realized that they were indeed real, fuzzy, and definitely not human. I scratched my head suddenly as I ran an agitated hand through my hair, which made me realize I had those claws again. I stared at my eyes. In the middle of the pale blue was a vertical black slit-like pupil.

I buried my face in my hands. Oh, God, what was happening to me?! I'm dreaming, I have to be dreaming, this isn't real, it can't be! Without warning, I felt a very strange sensation in my lower back. I turned around slowly, and, to my horror, saw a long, fluffy silver tail swishing behind me. I had a tail! A tail!

I was losing my mind. I belonged in a padded room with a straitjacket. I couldn't have pointed ears on the top of my head, claws on my fingers, or a tail…all together, I looked a bit like…like a cat.

The realization hit me. Had Rusty's leaving me made me go absolutely insane? It was reasonable, of course it was. Right, I was turning into a cat. Since I could see the changes, I guess I couldn't fight my own insanity.

I could hear my own heart pounding. I was sweating and still breathing hard. I turned to look back at the mirror to see if I had grown fur yet…but I suddenly realized I couldn't reach it. In fact, I was standing up straight and I could hardly see the top of it over the drawers.

I was shrinking!

Without warning, I felt my bones crunch. I let out a strangled yell as they shifted inside me, my back legs changing direction and my skull changing shape. Soft, fluffy gray fur was quickly covering my skin. I tried to grab my hair with my hands, but not only did I no longer have hair, my arms wouldn't bend that way to reach my head. There was nothing I could do to stop the horrifying changes.

With a final, sickening crunch, my last bone was rearranged and quite suddenly, I fell into darkness.

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When I opened my eyes, the first thing I noticed was a spider crawling across the floor only inches away from my face. I could count the hairs on all of its eight legs, and I could clearly see its eight eyes. Instinctively I reached out to grab it…the arm that pinned it to the floor was covered with fluffy gray fur, and it ended in a paw with unsheathed claws.

In sheer horror, I leapt to my feet, trying to scream, but my legs wouldn't support me. I fell over backwards, with my fluffy tummy in the air. I rolled over to the right and saw my bed…but it was much bigger than I remembered it being. I tried once again to get up, but it seemed I was no longer able to stand on two legs.

A few feet away I spotted the full-length mirror sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall. My reflection showed a small, fluffy silver kitten, with wide, scared pale blue eyes, lying on the floor because I couldn't figure out how to stand up.

My little kitten heart raced and my ears began to pound. I've become a kitten. A freaking furry, whiskery, with claws, kitten. Watching myself in the mirror, I rolled over onto my stomach, put my legs out, and then stood on all four of my new paws. I walked clumsily over to the mirror and examined my reflection. Little white hairs were poking out of my ears, and I had a few long cat whiskers on each side of my face. In between them was a little eraser-colored nose. I saw that the only thing that had remained of my original appearance were my sky-blue eyes.

I banged my head against the mirror. Damn it, wake up, this dream is too bizarre…I had to be dreaming, I just had to. People don't usually turn into cats as far as I know.

My little kitten body gave a start when I heard footsteps coming down the hall. It took them about twenty more seconds to get to my room. My hearing was more acute – I could hear things farther away.

The door burst open suddenly and my uncle, nearly twelve times as large as I was now, looked around for me with those piggy eyes I hated so much. From where I was, standing down on the floor, I easily see those double chins. Ick.

He stared around the room, frustrated that I wasn't there, but to my horror his gaze dropped for just a moment…a moment enough to see an innocent gray kitten.

"ARGH!"

He let out a bull-like scream and grabbed the broom leaning against the wall. My tail fluffed out with fear. He raised the broom over his head and brought it down.

With ease I leapt out of the way of the broom with remarkable agility for a cat my age. I jumped backward, and frantically tried to find a way out. My gigantic uncle was blocking the door and he'd stomp on me if I went through it. There was only one other option.

My uncle swung the broom again as I ran toward the open window – it clipped my tail, but didn't slow me at all. I gave a quick leap toward the window and dug my tiny claws into the pane. My front legs ached as I pulled myself up – I could hear my uncle thundering toward me – I gave an enormous tug and pulled myself onto the window pane, then jumped out of the house onto the dry grass below. I landed and continued running. In a blind, confused panic, I ran wildly into the forest, up the river, as fast as I possibly could go.

Feeling suddenly exhausted, I came to a halt, panting, listening to the rushing river beside me. What would I do now? I had turned into a freaking cat – I had no home, I was in the forest and probably lost already…

A foreign scent entered my nostrils suddenly. I lifted my head, wondering what it was. It was musty and smelled a bit like fish, gross. Looking around vaguely, I jumped when the ferns and grass rustled.

Without warning, three cats crept out of the trees. These cats were much different than the house cats I was used to seeing – they were very lean, and I could see muscles beneath their silky fur. They had broad heads and were quite skinny.

And that was about when my day got even weirder. A purely black, larger cat opened his mouth…and spoke to me, in plain old English.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed.

I stared at him in shock and horror. Cats don't speak either, I thought frantically. I started shaking and trembling.

"Leave her alone, Blackclaw – she doesn't seem to be any threat to us," a silver cat replied. How did he know I was female? All cats looked the same to me. Nasty thoughts wandered vaguely into my panic-stricken mind.

The black cat ignored him. "Say something!" he snarled, stepping forward angrily. Blackclaw, was that his name? What a strange name for a cat.

Could I speak too? Was I like these cats? Nervously, I parted my jaws and attempted speech. I made a high-pitched squealing sound on my first try, and the cats looked at each other much like people would. This was too bizarre. I worked my tongue and even though my lips would move like a person's would, I discovered I could indeed talk.

"S-s-sorry," I stammered nervously, the feeling starting to come back into my legs. "I-I-I was chased here, I didn't mean –"

"Get off our territory!" snarled the black cat named Blackclaw, and without warning his claws were out, his teeth were bared, and there was challenge in his yellow eyes. I stood on my toes, turned around, and ran.

Stones carved flat by the river were close to the bank and led all the way across. I leapt across them with ease I never could have been able to accomplish as I human. I landed easily on the grass on the other side, and looked behind me to see if Blackclaw was still chasing me. But he had stopped at the edge as though an invisible barrier was stopping him. The other cats were watching calmly.

Blackclaw hissed at me and snarled, "And don't come back!" With that, he turned around and walked away with his tail high in the air. The two other cats followed him into the trees, disappearing as though they had never been there at all.

I stood on the bank, my little kitten heart pounding madly. Panic was replacing fear. What was I going to do, where was I going to go? I was a cat – what lives did cats lead? Was I going to wait around for some person to adopt me? That would be an awful life – a house cat. The thought made me shudder. But wild cats would have to eat rats and things like that, and I wasn't sure if I could stomach that, cat or not.

Lost in my thoughts, I wandered into the dense forest. It was slowly becoming lighter, I could sense that the sun was coming out. I would have to find a place to camp out for the night. My stomach gave a huge rumble – my motabalism must have become faster, that was why I got hungry quickly…

I froze suddenly as my nose picked up yet another unfamiliar scent. Maybe those cats had tailed me after all. My heart pounding, I looked wildly around for them, prepared to run. Where were they? If I wasn't careful I would run right into them, and that would be a disaster.

I nearly jumped when the answer to the scent I had picked up came out of the bushes right behind me. My fur fluffed out and my eyes were probably huge. An enormous white cat with pale yellow eyes crept out of the ferns, his eyes focused on me with intense curiousity. At his side was a small, pale orange cat who reminded me vaguely of Rusty. This cat looked about my age and surveyed me with disdainful green eyes. The third cat was a large tabby, who was glaring at me. I began to shake again.

"What are you doing here, young one?" murmured the big white cat. His tone was gentle and I felt myself relax a bit.

"Are you a kittypet?" inquired the ginger cat boldly. "She doesn't smell like she's from another Clan."

"She smells strongly of Twolegs," remarked the tabby. "But her fear-scent is overwhelming."

How bizarre, they could smell my fear. Interesting. New words flooded my mind. Kittypet? Clan? Twolegs? I forced myself to look into those yellow eyes of the white cat.

"I was chased here," I stuttered. "I came from across the river over there, I'm lost."

The orange female cat spoke up again. "We can take you back to your Twolegs," she meowed.

"Twolegs?" I asked, bewildered.

This time the tabby replied. "Tall, no fur, separated paws. They stand on only their back feet and have no tail at all."

I stared at him, my panicked brain registering what he said, then nodded in understanding. Twolegs was what cats called people! I couldn't help but chuckle. "I don't live with them," I told the cats.

I could tell they were stunned. "You don't live with Twolegs but you smell like one? Are you a loner then, have you been stealing their food?" The white cat sounded astonished.

I could come up with no better story. "Er…yes, that's it," I replied. "I'm a loner."

"You're so young," mused the tabby. "Where are your kin?"

Kin. I had learned that word from a Christmas song in second grade. "My mother abandoned me when I was a little younger. I don't know where she is now, but I was left to live life as a loner," I invented.

Silence fell between the three cats. I wondered if they were feeling sorry for me. After a moment the tabby leaned over to talk to the white cat. "Whitestorm, we should bring her to Bluestar, maybe…" The larger cat gave a quick nod.

"We'll bring you to our leader," he meowed. My ears pricked. Maybe there was hope for me after all! Whatever a leader was, whatever he led.

I nodded politely. "Okay, thank you," I replied.

Whitestorm and the tabby turned and walked into the ferns. The small ginger cat and I hurried to catch up. I couldn't believe my luck. This group of cats seemed so much friendlier than the cats on the other side of the river! Maybe I could have a life here after all.

The ginger cat fell into step with me. "I'm Sandpaw," she told me. "What's your name?"

I hesitated, thinking. I was hardly Cathan anymore. She was human, and she didn't exist. "I don't really have one," I replied awkwardly. Sandpaw tilted her head, not understanding. I changed the subject, panting slightly as the two of us ran after the two older cats. "What does your leader do? I mean, what does he lead?'

"She," Sandpaw corrected. "Her name's Bluestar, I can't believe you haven't heard of it. She's the leader of our Clan."

"Clan?"

"Yes, we're ThunderClan. The cats across the river are RiverClan, up by the moorland are WindClan, and in the swamps are ShadowClan." Sandpaw stated all of this as though it was obvious. ThunderClan…maybe I would be allowed to join this ThunderClan. It sounded interesting, and it was my best chance for life as a cat.

I followed the three cats to a thick wall of ferns and other plants. As we crept closer, I noticed a small tunnel leading inside. Whitestorm slipped inside followed quickly by the tabby. I ducked low under the thorns and pushed myself into the small clearing on the other side. It was located in a ravine. New scents flooded my nose as I realized that the clearing was full of cats. They were as muscular and lean as the other cats I had met so far, and they turned to stare at me as I was brought into the camp.

I counted four dens along the wall of foliage which had several cats resting in them. Another den, I noticed, was near the bottom of the ravine and was made out of rock. It looked as though it had been carved out by water. Next to it was another large rock but had no den inside.

A pale tabby trotted up to me. His ears were drawn back and his eyes looked fierce. My heart began to pound again.

"What are you doing here?" he snarled. "Don't tell me we're recruiting more useless cats?"

I felt stung at the world useless. Hadn't I managed to escape my uncle who had had a broom?

"Leave her alone, Longtail," snapped Whitestorm. "We've brought her to Bluestar. She's a loner with no place to go."

The tabby named Longtail snorted. "A loner and a kittypet in our Clan? What is ThunderClan coming to?" With a flick of his tail he trotted away and came up to a lean black and silver tabby, whispering something in his ear. The tabby whispered something back and gave me a cold stare.

These cats seemed to be uneasy at taking in cats outside the Clan. I wondered if they would let me join. My heart leapt when I saw an older gray cat come up to us.

The cat flicked her tail at me and asked, "Who is this?"

"We found her wandering the forest," replied Whitestorm. "She's a loner, and we think she was chased out of RiverClan territory. She seems strong, but a little jumpy."

The gray cat narrowed her eyes. "What are you suggesting?"

Whitestorm took a breath. "I think we should allow her to join the Clan," he told the older cat.

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Snicker snort, I left you with a cliffy. In chapter three, expect the answers to these questions: Will Bluestar let Cathan into the Clan? And if she does, who will her mentor be? And what will Cathan do when she realizes her cat Rusty is a Clan cat now? All of these questions will be answered in chapter three of The Twoleg Warrior…now please review. XD