A golden cat with black markings was perched on a small rock, the reeds around her swaying in the gentle newleaf breeze. She sighed wearily and watched the waves of the lake disturb the reflection of the half-moon.
"Leopardstar?" came a soft mew. Leopardstar turned to see a dark-gray she-cat push her way through the tall reeds.
"Mistyfoot," she addressed her deputy calmly. "Up late, aren't you?"
"I could say the same for you," Mistyfoot replied, but she seemed troubled. "Leopardstar, Willowpaw returned not long ago from the moonpool."
"A sign from StarClan?" Leopardstar asked anxiously, calling to mind the little gray medicine cat apprentice.
Mistyfoot nodded. "She said there would be strangers coming soon… but they won't be a threat. They'll help us somehow."
Leopardstar looked thoughtfully up at the moon. "We'll have to be ready then," she sighed.
I had seen the gray cat slinking around outside my house a week before, and right when I saw it's robin-egg blue eyes I began wondering if this cat wasn't a cat at all – he was like me. A neko. Or at least, that's what they'd call us in Japan. But we're in America. So I call myself a cat-person.
Darien was really tall, with black hair that seemed to be faded slightly to the dark gray of the cat's pelt. When I became a cat, my fur was the same redish chestnut color as my hair in human form. That was always constant. Every cat-person I knew – which was two people – kept their eye and hair color. Darien was quiet, and he tended to stay in the shadows. He was easily distracted, and he followed people with his gaze often. Many people were afraid of him, but I kept a close eye on him after I saw the cat. I noticed that Darien's grin was crooked, like he only pulled one side of his mouth up in a smile.
When I first saw the cat, I thought nothing of it. It was just a cat, with no relation to the quiet Darien at school. But I saw its eyes and I knew. I just had to find out for myself. So with my cat-knowledge I devised a plan to capture the Darien-kitty: putting out a dish of milk and waiting.
Having completely ignored my stupid history homework, I sat perched in a tree, watching the bowl below me. I was originally going to try staying in cat form, then decided against it. Sure enough, after the amount of time it would take Darien to get home and Change, the dark gray cat had approached the milk. Human he may have been, but a cat's instinct can sometimes become stronger than willpower.
I jumped out of the tree, not so far off the ground but still far enough to hurt a little. Darien-kitty leapt back with mewled fear, then looked at me. My suspicions were correct when the cat grinned at me. Cats don't grin. But this one did – and just by that awkward little crooked smile I knew who it was.
"Hello, Darien," I said, picking up the small gray cat. His soft blue eyes widened in shock, and he tried to break free from my grasp.
"Let me go!" he yowled out in cat-tongue.
"You can get out yourself," I whispered, trying to goad him to Change back. Darien locked his wide blue eyes on me, glaring slightly. He muttered some dark and vehement curses before I felt the Change occurring inside him. I released him and set him on the ground, and soon the fur on his back melted away into clothes. He grew up and back onto his two human legs. His ears and tail were the last to go.
"Pain in the-" he grumbled, then he looked at me as though he'd forgotten I was still there. "Cat," he addressed me. "How did you know?" he asked, looking very much so like a little kid who'd been caught in some criminal act.
"Animal instinct," I said seriously, tapping my head. "That- and you look the same as a cat as you do a human."
"Is there some hidden insult to that?" he asked humorously. I laughed softly. He wasn't such a bad guy. I'd really never talked to him… ever. And I don't think anyone else ever did either. That must've been why he was acting so self-conscious and reluctant to speak. "Are you one too?" he asked on a serious note.
I nodded. "Need proof or not?" I asked.
He smiled his crooked smile. "Sure," he said. I shrugged casually as the Change began, this time in me. It's a strange feeling I can't really describe… sort of like your whole body goes numb, but you don't really feel like you're in it at all. And then wham, you're a cat. And so their I stood in all my fluffy glory, ginger tail swishing happily.
"Behold," I announced in cat-tongue before Changing back. He was staring at me wide-eyed.
"I've never known anyone like me," he muttered.
"I can bring you to meet two others if you'd like," I offered, putting a hand on his shoulder – which was difficult, because his shoulder was near the top of my head.
Darien looked discomforted by the friendly gesture, but nodded anyway. "Um… sure, I'll meet them. Do they go to our school?"
"Jessie and Mikayla."
"No way. Really?" He laughed. "I wondered why you always hung out with those clowns."
Ignoring his interest in who I hang out with I decided to ask a more vague question. "Why were you at my house?" I asked, referring to his visit now and his other one a week back.
He looked away. "I thought you were like me," he admitted.
"If you were wrong I would be very offended. Didn't you suspect Jessie and Mikayla?"
He shook his head. "I guess they're better at hiding it-" He broke off. "Um, I'm sorry, I wasn't saying-"
"It's alright," I assured him, patting him on the back. "We'll talk about this all tomorrow. Meet me and the others by the flagpole at school tomorrow."
"Really?" He looked positively thrilled. "Oh, okay!" And he scampered off. Could that dude get any weirder?
"Catherine!" I heard Miki call cheerfully. I strode over to where she and the brown-haired boy Jessie where standing. Miki's blonde hair was put up in two ponytails as usual, and as childish as it was it looked good on her.
"History homework?" I asked hopefully. Jessie sighed and pulled out a wrinkled piece of paper from his backpack. "Chicken scratch," I scolded him jokingly, then set to work copying some info on dead people.
"Hey, look who's coming." Miki's warning reminded me that I had forgotten to call either one and tell them about Darien. And sure enough the tall boy was awkwardly making his way toward us, gathered around the silver flagpole by the front office of the school. Kids were giving him plenty of distance, and it made me kinda mad. They were so rude to him when they didn't even know him.
"I met him yesterday," I whispered back, "and found out he's one of us." The emphasis was enough for the meaning to get across to her and Jessie.
"Um…" Darien stood a little bit away from us, as though unsure if he should come closer. "Cat said…"
"Get over here," I said hastily. He looked around and took a few steps closer. Miki shot me an exasperated look. "You know Miki and Jessie, right?" He shook his head.
"Nice to meet you," Miki said politely, and hesitantly shook Darien's hand. Jessie just nodded with a quick "hi".
"So… you're all like me?" he asked, looking a little bit more relaxed.
"No, we're pretty short," Jessie joked.
"Yes," Miki assured him, giving Jessie a good-natured shove. Darien smiled slightly.
"Jessie, what the heck did you write for number seven?" I asked after a long and awkward pause.
"George Washington," Jessie snapped. "It isn't that hard to read!"
"It looks more like Porridge Wallashshshssomething," Darien remarked, leaning over my shoulder. Miki and I laughed loudly and Miki slapped Darien a high-five. Darien looked embarrassed, but laughed along.
"So do you live around here?" I asked, ignoring the death-glare that Jessie was giving us.
"Sorta," Darien replied hesitantly. "My… house is walking-distance from the school."
"Do you have any siblings?" Miki began to ask, but was cut off by the warning bell. Darien nodded to us and rushed off towards building five to our right.
"He's weird," Jessie said, but Miki and I suspected he was still mad about his handwriting.
"Can I steal this?" I asked, flapping his history homework. "I can finish it during lunch."
"I have history before that!" he complained.
"You can copy mine," Miki promised me.
"Yes, you've got better handwriting, but all your answers will be wrong!" Jessie laughed.
"At least they're neat," Miki sniffed, and I left the two to their usual quarreling.
At lunch I sat out in the courtyard with Miki and Jessie, and slightly to my surprise Darien was there too. "He's gunna let you copy his homework," Miki explained. Darien shrugged and handed me a piece of lined paper with neatly written sentences on them.
"Man, you're handwriting is better than Miki's!" I exclaimed. "Are they right, though?"
"Yah, I've got straight A's," Darien mumbled as though it had no meaning.
"Good enough," I replied, and set to work copying the words neatly written in cursive onto my own paper.
"So, have you known for very long?" Miki asked Darien, trying to get him to understand what she was talking about without really asking it.
"As long as I can remember," he sighed. "I never told anyone though. It feels good to know there are others like me."
"Do you stay in cat-form for long?" Jessie asked innocently, but I thought I heard some rudeness in his tone.
"Most of the time," he muttered, then clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Wouldn't you're parents miss you?" I asked, shocked. I know my mom wouldn't mind too much if I disappeared. She was always so busy, and I pretty much relied on my myself.
"I…" Darien shifted uncomfortably, then blurted, "I live by myself."
"Where are your parents?" Miki asked gently, her brown eyes shining in sympathy.
Darien shrugged slowly. "I remember living with them until I was around seven, then they just… disappeared."
"That's horrible!" I whispered, and he blushed slightly.
"I'm okay with it, though," he said hastily. "I live in the old abandoned farmhouse down by the lake."
"I heard there was some pack of wild animals that spooked their horses so much, the owners had to leave," Jessie said.
I looked up from my homework. "Was it a bear or something? Or foxes? There are lots of them around here."
"Smaller," Darien answered. "They think it was some little badgers."
"We have to check it out!" Miki squealed excitedly, taking a bite of her sandwich. It reminded me that Darien didn't have any lunch with him. Did he just not eat? There was no way he could've grown that tall without eating a lot.
Darien shifted unhappily, but shrugged. "If you guys want, I can bring you there after school sometime."
"I'm not doing anything after school," I put in, handing over Darien's homework once I was done copying it.
"Me neither," Jessie and Miki chorused. If I didn't know better, I'd have sworn those two were twins. They even looked like siblings when they were cats, but then again cats aren't as easy to tell apart as people.
"Than it's decided!" I exclaimed.
Darien's shoulders drooped. "Alright," he sighed finally.
AN: Well, whaddaya think? Sorry this is a bit rushed. This will be, and For The Love of StarClan is, on hiatus.