Prelude-Rocky Start

A group of cats scout for a new home.

Small (Pebble) Beneath Bush - a mackerel blue tabby with hazel eyes, missing half of their tail and has a twisted front right paw

(Creek) That Flows Down Hill -  a blue speckled she-cat with brown eyes

(Sparrow) Building Nest - a large tom with light brown coat and tan underbelly

(Morning) Dew On Spiderweb - a fawn she-cat with clear amber eyes

Creek and Sparrow move a heavy wet branch off of the sandy path. The soft ferns rustle as they both struggle underneath the weight of the branch. Creek watches as her mate, Pebble, limps past, their tail waving from side to side high in the air. Creek lets go of the branch to join her mate, purring affectionately and giving their ear a lick.

"Hey!," Sparrow exclaims as Morning rushes to pull him out from underneath the branch.

Creek gives a small, "Sorry," before turning back to her mate and starts chatting.

"So much for those two," murmurs Morning.

The two cats join their fellow clanmates. They chat about how much longer they need to travel for before they abruptly stop at a cliffs edge.

"How are we going to get down now?" Pebble says.

They gingerly look over the edge of the cliff at the rocky bottom below. A sudden wind threatens to push them off the cliff. Pebble's world spins before them, their legs shaking, falling to the ground as they hear Creek's muffled confusion.

Pebble finds themselves  laying before a grand willow tree, its tendrils of leaves sway quietly in the soundless wind. A meadow lays all around them, and a red spotted tabby and white tom materializes right in front of them. The tom's gold eyes are heavy with sorrow that only a clan leader could bear to hold. The tom soundlessly steps towards Pebble as they stand up, ears held back, claws ready to strike if need be.

"You need not be afraid, Small Pebble Beneath Bush."

"Usually my mate just calls me Pebble," they said rhetorically.

The tom nods his head in understanding before announcing his name. Blaze of Setting Sun briefs Pebble on why they are where they are.

"A pebble will be shaped by the flowing creek as a morning dew casts its light on a waking sparrow."

Silence. Pebble thinks hard about what this mysterious cat must mean.

"Do you understand what this is, Peb-."

"Yeah!," they say say, before padding away from him and starts searching for their mate.

Pebble sniffs at a burrow before turning back to Setting Sun and asks, "Hey, Blaze, where are exactly?"

A wave of annoyance washes over his face, his ears flatten to the back of his head and he flexes his claws on the soft ground before it hits him. Oh fox dung! You see, Blaze? This is why you should have listened to Tear of Lost Kit! Always forgetting to explain where a fellow cat is before reciting them a prophecy.

He shakes his head before saying, "Listen, forget it what it is that I said-"

Before he could finish, an ancient cat with stars in xem fur and patches of fur missing descends right in front of the two conversing cats. This new cat has a faded outline and light gray fur with vibrant clear blue eyes. Xe pads slowly between to two cats before announcing xemself as Tear of Lost Kit.

The meadow that once lay around them is replaced with a dank cave with a large pool of water before the three cats. Tear motions to Pebble and Blaze to follow xem. Blaze happily follows Tear, making sure that he is facing directly to the cat instead of just speaking forward as they both walk. Pebble, not wanting to keep their mate waiting forever, follow the two cats through overhanging stalactites and into a dark tunnel.

Author's Note

First little chapter of something that relates to the Warrior Cats book series. Yes, I know that one of the cats uses they/them pronouns, but this is fantasy; talking cats is just that, not a singular organism using they/them pronouns. This goes for the cat with xe/xem/xyr pronouns as well.