The Coming Storm

by How-I-Became-The-Sea

A young, nameless kit, alone in Twolegplace, is drawn by a prophecy to the mysterious forest. He meets an equally mysterious she-cat, a native of this 'forest,' who agrees to guide him. But his trials are only beginning... Rated T for safety. AU.

4. Chapter 4

Naturally, the she-cat took me in, not only as payment of her debt to me, but also because of my fierce determination to journey to the place that would kill me. She saw in me, I later learned, a reflection of her own rash persistence, and though she felt pride, she also feared for me. No matter how much she hated it, how much it went against her ways, she feared for me.

And as we left the damp alley and met the warm embrace of the sun, as we padded lazily down the hard, white paths, as we were stroked by the passing Twolegs I had so recently run from like we were welcome there, the she-cat told me of life. Not her own, of course; it was a subject she always avoided. No, she told me of the lush wilderness of her home, of the scurrying prey, of the thrill of the hunt, of sinking her teeth into her own kill for the first time. And when I finally noticed the beating sunlight, and my pale-faced enemies reaching down to brush my fur, she told me of these things, too. Of the passing of seasons, the leaves that were to fall and disappear, the crystals that would blanket the ground as we slept; of the Twolegs, their ugly, fearsome monsters, their strangely shaped nests in which the held many animals captive. She had once seen a bird in one of the nests; she thought perhaps it was being kept for a snack.

When we left the TwolegPlace that had been my entire world, and exchanged it for a new one full of scents and sounds, colors and light, I barely noticed until the she-cat began to bat at the leaves that, true to her word, were already falling. I stared upward, at the golden light filtering through the leaves, making my newly cleaned pelt shine like the fire in my heart, and joined in the game! Never had I, nor have I ever since, experienced such joy! The world was so new, so wonderful; it filled me to the brim. This cat had given me life, as far as I was concerned; my days, or weeks, spent in TwolegPlace had been nothing, nothing at all.

But the hardships had been nothing. Not compared to what we would face. Only StarClan knew that our destinies would be far greater than batting at leaves. And as I have learned since, they were discussing it at that very moment.