The Cat Who Cried a Prophecy

It was storming hard, lightning cracked across the sky. Three kittens and a cat trudged through the charcoal black mud, the freezing rain soaked through to their skin
“Mama, when are we gonna get there?” said one of the kittens, a male kitten with a gray pelt and cream patches looked up at the adult.
“Very soon little one, I promise.” She murmured reassuringly. After what seemed like forever sucking their paws out of mud holes they reached a large brick wall with a hole, two cats guarding the entrance. The mother cat padded up to them.
“We’ve been told by a cat named Harley that we could join you for protection.” She mewed, legs shaking. The two cats looked at each other and then the kittens, one of them grimaced, looking up at her with sympathy
“You can join us, but only two can come in.” he shouted over the thundering storm. The mother folded her ears back
“Why can’t all three come in?” her kittens pressed to her side, shaking.
“We’ve reached our capacity for cats that aren’t old enough to hunt for themselves; there are only two open spots left! We can only take care of so many.” The other cat mewed, shaking its head solemnly.
What is your name?” the first cat mewed
“Jasmine,” she motioned to her three kittens as she introduced them “This is Flash,” she pointed with her paw to the gray and cream male “Fawn,” she touched her nose to a pale brown female kitten with a black paw “and then…’ she looked at the last one, a dark gray female with purple markings under her eyes, paws, and tail-tip. One back paw being white and a purple moon crescent on her chest “this last one doesn’t have a name.” the kitten looked up at Jasmine, her cyan eyes gleaming in the half-darkness. Jasmine looked back up at the two guards, who were whispering about something before they looked up at her
“Okay, and again I’m sorry, but only two can come in. There’s no way to change the rules.” The second one mewed. Jasmine hung her head
“I understand…” she looked at her three kittens, which were looking up at her expectantly, as if expecting her to pick them up and carry them to safety, little did they understand that only two of them would go with her. She looked back to the cats
“Cant they go without me? Just them?” she pleaded. The cats shook their heads
“I’m sorry Jasmine, but no, it’s the same reason. And they probably wouldn’t last long without their mother. We truly are sorry but one of them will have to stay here.” Jasmine let her head drop again and after pondering for what seemed like ages and ages, she finally decided on what she had to do.

She hugged her kits tightly, she licked each of them in turn, ignoring the cold rain that soaked to her skin and made her shiver
“I’m so sorry my beloved children…but one of you has to go…” she choked on her words, hardly able to speak as she curled around them. They looked at each other in disbelief
“You’re kidding, right Mama? We don’t have to leave each other, right?” Fawn squeaked
Jasmine felt tears roll down her already wet face
“I’m sorry…but yes…one of you have to go…” suddenly the one with no name stood up
“I’ll go, Mama.” She could see the kitten’s eyes filled with fear, her legs were shaking, but she was standing strong for the fate of her family. Jasmine looked at her
“Are you sure, little one?” she wanted to be sure her baby was okay with being left behind
“Yes Mama, I want to do this, I want you to be safe with Fawn and Flash.” Her voice almost drowned out by the pounding of thunder above their heads. Fawn and Flash hugged her tightly, followed by Jasmine, who curled protectively around them
“May your father be with you…and watch over you…from wherever he may be.” Jasmine felt her heart crack as she turned away from her, padding to the wall and walking through the entrance, Fawn and Flash close behind her. Jasmine turned one last time to look at her precious kitten, risking her life for the sake of her family.

After watching her mother and the others walk away she turned, struggling through the mud as she headed away from the city, away from protection, all she could do was hope to find shelter. ‘Should I find a human and become one of their pets?’ She thought, and then shook her head. ‘I could never do that, humans wouldn’t suit me.’ She found a holly bush and hid under it, thankful that the ground was semi-dry. Curling up, hoping to wait out the storm she sat staring out as the rain poured down, the ground becoming a river. Hearing a loud crack above her head and she looked up to see a large tree limb falling down, eyes widening in terror she darted out from under the bush just as the branch landed, crushing the holly and causing water to spray from a large pool as the branch smacked down. Running away in alarm she clung to the trunk of a large oak tree, lightning flashed revealing a puddle in front of her; she looked down into it, seeing her reflection 'Who is this cat? Is this...me?'

She lifted a paw and slammed it down into the puddle, shattering her reflection and she ran, crashing through bushes and barely missing trees. Her legs muscles burned with the effort, her vision started to darken but she pushed on, suddenly solid ground disappeared under her paws as she sank into a mud hole up to her neck. Gasping for air she spat out mud that filled her mouth, hardly able to breath she struggled to move her paws. All of a sudden she felt something grab her scruff and yank her upwards roughly, and then everything went black.

She started to fidget in her sleep when she felt chilling air blow through her fur. Slowly blinking open her eyes she found herself in a black void ‘Am I dead?’ She thought, cautiously putting one paw in front of the other before she saw a faint light and she ran towards it, starting to see a cat form from the small glimmer, which was starting to get bigger as she ran. The light revealed to be a cat, shimmering against the black darkness
“Greetings, young one.” The cat had a sweet voice, soothing and calm like a mother would talk.
“Why am I here? What is this place? Where’s the forest?” she mewed, folding her ears back.
“Don’t worry, you are safe here. But I have brought you a warning.” The strange cat suddenly got serious, its bright eyes searing into hers
“What is it?”
“You will be safe with the amber cat of the barn, but outside the walls, orange will turn black and a blue stone will be given, after it is taken, the black will fade, but the orange will follow. Your name is the moon when it covers the sun, but when that day comes, death will be upon.” The cat disappeared in a flash of white light
“Wait! What is my name? What does that mean?” she yowled, but she was too late. The cat was gone.

She snapped open her eyes and jumped up
“Ouch! Watch it!” a surprised mew sounded from behind her and she whipped around to see a ginger cat with bright amber eyes staring down at her, rubbing its muzzle
“You kicked my nose!” she folded her ears back
“Sorry.” She muttered, looking around. ‘It’s a barn…could this be the one that cat was talking about?’ She thought, looking back over at the ginger cat, as a kit she was twice as small, feeling helpless she pressed herself to the ground, realizing how big the cat was
“Don’t worry; I’m not going to hurt you. What is your name?” Their mew sounded strange to her, almost like her father had talked to her before he had died. She shook her head
“I don’t have a name, this strange cat told me that my name was the moon when it covers the sun…I don’t know what that means though…” she looked down, the tom thought for a moment
“Eclipse?” she looked up, flicking her tail
“I like that, maybe that’s it!” she pricked her ears and her eyes twinkled. Eclipse. She let her new name ring in her ears; delighted to finally have a name to be called she jumped up
“What’s your name?” she squeaked
“Bailey. What’s a kitten like you doing out here all alone? When I saved you from that mud hole you had passed out.” Eclipse sighed
“It’s a long story.”
“I have time.” Bailey sat back as Eclipse told the story about her kittenhood, how her father died, how they found the shelter, how she left her family, everything. By the time she was done it was close to sunset. Eclipse yawned and curled up; Bailey purred and curled up next to her, both of them falling asleep as the sun dipped under the horizon.