The beach behind Forest Tribe territory gleams with midnight mist as I walk through it. The waves from the sea wash softly against the silvery sand, bright with moonlight.

It was just after the Gathering had ended, one that had sent the Tribes scrambling for an explanation. The Spirit Tribe hadn't shown up. Every cat in every Tribe knew that the Spirit Tribe, most of all, took turning up to the Gathering seriously. Even if it meant that they had to take their half-day walk to get there in time. The only explanation for their absence was that something was terribly wrong with the Elementium Crystal. And that, perhaps more than anything else, scared us.

The Elementium Crystal was the one thing that stopped us from starting a world-ending war. It was a source of peace, the very core of our balance. Within it was all the magic- or Skills, as we call them- that had ripped our world to shreds before. Deep within the Elementium Crystal lay the Spirits, ancient beings that had long since lost their form, and now hid inside the Core.

And this sunhigh, we'd all felt it. A ripple through the world, setting our instincts on fire. Everything had flashed bright silver for an instant. The feared Skills had come back. That meant only one thing. That the Elementium Crystal- the Core- had been shattered. And the things that had lurked inside the Elementium Crystal had escaped.

There had been a few cats in the other Tribes whose eyes had turned green like mine. My beautiful hazel eyes had morphed into brilliant green orbs, yet none of the others had eyes as green as mine had turned. It had happened during that ripple.

There was only one thing that scared me; the return of our Skills. I was descended from one of the most Skilled cats there ever had been. Something told me that my new green gaze was so brilliant because of my heritage. I'd never touched my Skill, but now? Now it was freed. I had no idea just how powerful it was yet.

Ottersnow- a brown and golden spotted tabby tom- was another who agreed with me. He was from the Water Tribe, and another whose eyes had turned. Flashstorm- an Air Tribe shecat- had been on border patrol when the ripple had happened. She said that she had heard wails and screeches before the hidden Spirit Tribe valley base had flashed silver, and then Flashstorm's eyes had turned, and she'd passed out, only to be rescued by one of her Clanmates. Again, she was one who was descended from a Skilled cat.

What did our new green eyes mean- and why were mine so bright?

{0.0}

{0.0}

Anast panted. He'd been running for days now. Running from his home, his life, everything he'd ever known. The cats that had been chasing him had fallen behind him ages ago, but he hadn't stopped, or let himself rest. He'd trekked through forests of trees he'd never laid eyes on before, swam through rivers, climbed valleys and even summer mountains. It was twilight now, as he slowed to a walk on a beach, far, far away from his home.

He gazed to his left- the surprisingly gentle ocean that lapped against the warm sand. Then he looked to his right. A thick green forest with the largest trees he'd ever seen spread out over large hills, eventually fading into monoliths of mountains that were covered in snow at their peaks. He could see specks dancing in the air around those jagged ridges. Birds, I guess.

Anast continued to walk, his thoughts spiralling back to his home.

The city had begun toppling weeks ago. There had been a strange ripple and a flash of silver just after the sun had reached its highest point. My eyes had burned in the brightness, and I had turned to see my new eyes in the reflection of a puddle. My left eye had turned a golden, and the other green. The previous amber eyes had gone, whether for good or not, I didn't know.

Mine were the only eyes to change. For it, the other cats ridiculed me, chasing me, calling me names, or avoiding me altogether. I was used to it. They'd always ignored me because of who my mother had been. She'd been a cat from the Tribes. She'd always say that. It was something she told me to be proud of. She said that she had been a Fire Tribe cat, yet my soul belonged to the Air Tribe, though I had never grown wings, like the cats that had apparently existed in that Tribe.

My black fur helped me to blend into the night, even as the gold specks glowed, letting me find prey unharmed. The other cats had never noticed when I stole their prey, or hunted in their territory. Until that flash. Then, a few days later, strange things started to happen.

It first started with the fleeing of all other animals. Dogs had attempted to escape from their homes, mice and rats and rabbits and raced out of the city, and within that day, there were only the cats left. Then, a fire started. It had raged throughout the whole area, even when the humans had tried to stop it. The towers that had once shone now stood burned out and broken, blackened with soot. That night, a lightning storm arrived. One particularly large bolt had struck the Obelisk- the tallest tower in the city- and it had flamed and crashed to the ground, crushing half of the population.

Then, if that hadn't been enough, the storm wouldn't go away, flooding everything. After the storm had cleared, greenery swept everything over. It had happened at a crazily fast rate, trees sprouting out of pavement in front of you, or grass growing until it was double a cat's size. Cats began to whisper to each other of night stalkers, creatures slinking through the dark, stealing kits away. Buildings began to vanish- the massive ones- and bats swarmed the area.

The other cats began to realise that I was the only one who had changed. They began to come after me, fighting, stealing my meager resources and doing small things to hurt me. But then one day, they all came after me. They chased me out of the city, and into the forest to the north, where my mother had said the Tribes lay. I kept to the eastern shore, racing my way through land until the remaining cats dropped away and I escaped.

He kicked at the beach sand, and let out a shout when his black paw connected with a massive seashell. A strange feeling overcome Anast, and he leant down to listen to its song. His golden furred left ear had flopped over it, and words began to flow out.

Yep. The first part of The Sea-Shell's Letters. It took ages to write, as well. But I'm really glad at how it turned out. By the way, you can now vote for your favourite preview (the first four chapters before this one) in a poll on my profile.

The Unnamed Guest: Well, the previous four chapters were previews for other ideas of books, while this chapter is the first part of the actual story. So yeah, they aren't related. But every chapter after this one will. They'll be revolving around Anast and Saplingsong. :)