Chapter 4: The Reason

Refresher of where we left off:

Featherflight's blue eyes gazed directly into Mothdapple's amber-yellow ones. "Remember, Mothdapple. Have you thought something or said something that you don't know how you know? What is school? What is the phrase 'friend or foe'?"

Mothdapple swallowed hard. "Y-yes..."

"Do you want to know how you know these things?"

Mothdapple blinked rapidly several times. "Yes..." She trailed off and nodded.

"You are not a cat, Mothdapple. You are a human."

.

"H-human!" Mothdapple staggered to her paws. "Human!" She stumbled away a few paces, then whipped around to glare at Featherflight. "You're nuts! Absolutely insane! What are you talking about? What am I talking about?"

"You know it's true, Mothdapple." The she-cat was calm. "You are not a cat. You are a human."

"I appear to be a cat at the moment!" she snarled fiercely. "I have ears, a tail, and fur, among other things!"

"Mothdapple, you are a human. Whether you like it or not, that's the way it is."

"Well, why does it have to be that way?"

The she-cat tipped her head to one side. "I'm just delivering a message."

Mothdapple snorted. "Oh, really? From who?"

"From myself."

Mothdapple gritted her teeth. "You're not making any sense!" she growled.

"Well, I'm forming sentences using verbs and the like!"

The dappled golden cat snorted. "Grammar! Well, 'from myself' isn't a sentence, it's a fragment!"

"I'm just trying to tell you something! Something very important!"

Mothdapple thrust her face into Featherflight's. "I don't think it's true!" she snarled.

"Well, it is!"

"Says who?"

Featherflight gave a small, sharp nod and puffed out a short breath through her nose. She roughly shoved Mothdapple away and rose to her paws.

"Mothdapple," she meowed with fierce authority, "you are a human. You can't deny it. You know words and expressions that no cat would know. To any Clan cat, 'grammar' would be a nonsense word. Even 'human' is an unused term. The evidence is against you. What can you say?"

Mothdapple stalked a few paces away and stood there with her back to the she-cat. She breathed through her teeth for a few moments, fuming. Featherflight watched her through narrowed eyes.

Finally Mothdapple's shoulders sagged in resignation and she faced the other cat. "Fine," she sighed. "I am a human, aren't I?"

Featherflight nodded. "Yes. You are a human."

Mothdapple sat down on her haunches, putting her frustration into that one gesture. "But how is that possible?"

Featherflight sat next to her. "It's quite simple. You were a human. Now you are a cat."

Mothdapple suppressed a snort. "You make it sound so simple."

"Oh, but it is. The only thing you should be thinking hard about is why that happened."

Mothdapple shook her head. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. If I was a human, what kind of human was I?"

Featherflight flicked an ear. "That's an easy question. I'm just going to say one thing. I'm sure you remember, right, Julie?"

The shock of that one word hit Mothdapple like being plunged into cold water. It all came rushing back to her. Her FanFiction account. Her house, her cats, the new puppy that her family had received on her recent birthday. Typing at the computer. Her favorite song, Witch Doctor. Goldenstar13, her best friend on FanFiction. Her family. The church. It was all there. How could she have forgotten? And the memory that burned in her mind was that visit at midnight by Featherflight herself.

Mothdapple's mind was reeling. She was glad that she was sitting down; she felt like she might collapse. "Julie..." she whispered to herself. "I am Julie." She heaved a deep sigh and blinked slowly.

Featherflight gave a nod with her head to one side. "Now we remember!"

Mothdapple flicked her tail. "Who's we, Featherflight?" She smiled and shook her head. "I know, it's just a figure of speech. What were you talking about again?"

Featherflight exhaled through her nose. "You can be aggravating, you know that?"

"Hey, stop talking like me!"

Featherflight's eyes stared upward. "Oh, boy."

Mothdapple sighed, but she was beaming. "I'll try to act like my awesome mature self. As you were saying?"

Featherflight gave a massive sigh, but resumed speaking.

"Now that we've established your human self, you want to know why you are here."

Mothdapple cut in. "I do?"

Featherflight gave her a look. "Yes, you do. Now stop interrupting me."

"I only did it once!" Mothdapple protested.

"That was twice. As I was saying, the question is, 'why are you here?' The answer is that this is a test."

"A test?"

"Will you stop that, please? Yes, this is a test."

Mothdapple opened her mouth to comment but thought otherwise and closed it slowly as Featherflight continued.

"I want you to stay sharp. As a human, you didn't have much life-risking opportunities to use the skills you have."

Mothdapple raised her eyebrows, but she didn't have any. "This is life-risking?"

"Of course, you mouse-brain!" Featherflight snapped. "You're defending your Clan! Now, can I explain without you interrupting me? Please?"

"Okay," Mothdapple mewed cheerily.

"Great StarClan!" Featherflight muttered.

"I'm just really excited, because I'm a human in a cat's body, and it's really awesome! And you're trying to tell me something, and I just don't feel like listening, 'cause I'm too excited. But I'll try to."

"Thank you." Featherflight sighed in relief and began to speak again.

"You were once a human. Now you are a cat. Why? You are taking a test to keep your skills sharp. The test is this. You were turned into a cat. Your mother, father, sister, and brother have also been transformed. Your mission is to find them and go with them to the Moonpool. Once there, you will all become human again and be returned to your home."

Mothdapple was actually quiet for a few moments. "Wow," she breathed. "I can't believe it. Actually, I can, since I'm a cat now. Are my cats in the Clans, too?"

"Sandy and Misty? No. As a matter of fact, they…oh, never mind."

"What?"

"Never mind. Your family is scattered throughout the different Clans. Your mission is to find them. Do you understand?"

"Yup."

A relieved smile appeared on Featherflight's face. "That's good to hear."

Hehe. Please review! I ask you that all the time...I'm glad you do! It interested me that you guys/girls were so intrigued by Nightpaw's revelation!