Chapter 1: I'm a cat?

Frowning, I stared down at the math problems before me. What the heck? My brow furrowed as I tried to figure out the square root of 56, which of course, was something easy to do. But having a headache and being a young teenager in school, of course I wanted to procrastinate on it.

"I'll do this later…" I said to no one in particular as I pushed away the math equations and turned on my chair. Looking around to make sure no one else was in my room, I headed over to my bookshelf and pulled out my favorite book of all time; Warriors: Sign of the Moon. "Come on Erin!" I shouted as I jumped on my bed, opening the book to a random chapter, "you've got to come out with the next book! I hate all these dang cliffhangers."

Enjoying the plotline of Sign of the Moon, I reread the book for the twelfth time, my eyes beginning to get sleepy. I shook my head, yawning. I still had math homework to do!

But before I knew it, my eyelids felt as if they were lead, and I was greeted by blackness.

I woke up to bright sunlight in my face and prickly grass itching me all over. I sat up, reaching over to scratch, when I realized I wasn't scratching skin. My eyes widened as I jumped up in shock as a mrrow escaped my lips. Well… cat-lips. I closed my eyes tightly, willing that the cat noise I had uttered wasn't actually me, but some cat nearby. And that the fur I scratched was the said cat nearby, and it was gone now. Taking in a deep breath, I glanced down, hoping to find my bare feet and my glittery toenails which I had painted earlier with-

Instead of my glittery nail polish and ugly human toes, I was greeted by a white fluffy cat paw and claws.

"What the hell…?" I muttered. I sat back down as I lifted my paw up to examine it more. It was white, but following up was dark brown tabby fur with lighter brown tabby markings. "No… no… no! I still have math homework to do!" I yowled, jumping up in dismay as I ran to a nearby river. I looked at my reflection.

I was a cat. A living, breathing feline.

I frowned and my reflection in the water frowned back at me in waving ripples. "I guess… this is… cool?" My tongue traced the sharp teeth in my mouth; cat teeth was definitely different from human teeth.

But the more worried, anxious side of me was saying otherwise. I felt a wave of apprehension wash over me as I began to pace, looking back at the water every now and then to make sure that I hadn't changed back into a human.

This can't be happening… This CAN'T be happening! I prayed, backing away from the river. The image of the dark brown tabby with glittering amber eyes was imbedded in my mind…

"What are you doing on ThunderClan territory?" the demands of an unfamiliar voice broke the image as I spun around to face a patrol of cats.

Wait… did he say… ThunderClan?

The patrol consisted of four cats; a long-furred white tom with blue eyes, a she-cat with gray tabby fur and blue eyes, a golden-tabby with amber eyes, and the one who had called out, a cream-furred tom.

My jaw opened, someone, in an angle allowing me to speak, but no words could come out. Although the cats weren't familiar, I recognized them; the detailed description of Erin Hunter was enough for me to know that these cats were Cloudtail, Berrynose, Cinderheart, and Lionblaze (er, Cinderpaw and Lionpaw at the moment, probably).

"I asked you a question, fleabag!" Berrynose hissed again. He glared, his teeth bared. I looked down at his paws, where he had unsheathed his claws. I gulped.

"I… I'm sorry. I didn't know I was on your territory," I apologized sincerely. I dipped my head to the older tom. When he didn't argue against me, I added, "May I ask where I am?"

Before the arrogant warrior could snap a stinging retort at me, Cloudtail stepped forward, shouldering the cream-colored tom away. "I'm Cloudtail," he meowed. He nodded his head to Berrynose who continued to glare at me. "That furball over there is Berrynose - don't mind him, he's practically harmless." Berrynose hissed angrily, but Cloudtail ignored him as he continued the introductions, "The gray tabby over there is Cinderpaw," - Cinderpaw nodded at me, her blue eyes kind - "and the golden tabby is Lionpaw."

I nodded. "Um… where am I, exactly?"

Berrynose snorted. "As if you don't know…"

Well, he has a point there. But if I make them believe I honestly don't know where I am, they won't suspect I'm from another Clan. And I don't want them asking too many questions. I can't even wrap my own head around the situation.

"You're in ThunderClan territory," Cloudtail meowed, ignoring Berrynose.

I nodded. "ThunderClan…?"

"The territory you're in right now," Lionpaw meowed. He nodded to the river behind me. "Past that river behind you is WindClan territory, while RiverClan is over to the left of WindClan. ShadowClan is more up, near the left of ThunderClan territory."

I already knew this of course; but I didn't know how important Erin Hunter's descriptive maps would be. Or the allegiances, for that matter.

Heck, I even knew where the Clans were back in the old forest! I bet they'd get a kick out of that…

"What's your name?" Berrynose meowed, his gaze full of hostility.

Yeah… I kind of want to know that too. I blinked back at him, trying to think of a good name. I can't use a warrior cat name… that'd be dumb. And I definitely can't use my human - er - twoleg name… What name sounds like a loner or a kittypet name…? "Echo," I finally meowed. "My name is Echo."

Cinderpaw pushed past Berrynose, obviously friendlier than the rest of the patrol. "Hello, Echo! Nice to meet you!" she mewed.

"Nice to meet you too," I meowed back, flicking my ears. It was so weird being a cat.

"Well, hello Echo," Cloudtail meowed. I looked back at him. His blue gaze met mine - stern and alert. Although his tone was kind, I could tell by his eyes he was still suspicious as to why I was in ThunderClan territory. "What are you doing here? Don't you have a home somewhere?"

"Maybe she's a loner!" Lionpaw suggested. Cloudtail shot him a look telling him to be quiet. Lionpaw looked down at his paws.

I shuffled my own nervously. What do I say? "Well, no, actually I'm a twoleg you see, and I got turned into a cat after reading this book about you guys called Warriors! It's really interesting, you know. I know everything about you guys." Ugh, stupid! That's crazy. They'll think you're insane if you say that… or… mouse-brained, is it?

"Er… no," I finally meowed. "I… I don't have a home."

"So you are a loner!" Berrynose scoffed. "Well you can get out of here. And don't bother coming back," he sneered.

I sighed. I guess I was a loner.

Cloudtail rolled his eyes. "That's enough, Berrynose," he ordered. He glanced back at me. "He's right, though. If you are a loner, I suggest you get out of here. This is ThunderClan territory. We'll let you off with a warning, though," he added as he and the others began to turn away.

My ears twitched. "W-wait!" I called.

The patrol stopped. Cloudtail look over his shoulder. I ran up to them. "C-can I join your Clan?" I stammered.

Cloudtail let out a mrrow of amusement. "Usually we invite cats into our Clan. They usually don't ask to join…" he trailed off, meeting my gaze. I pleaded with him, blinking.

"Please? I… I don't have a home… and I don't know where to go," I added for the pity-affect.

Cloudtail exchanged a look with the rest of the patrol. "Well… I guess we could ask Firestar about it," he finally meowed. He nodded to the others. "Come on then, we'll take you back to our camp."

As we began to venture deeper into ThunderClan territory, I could barely contain my excitement. I was going to join the Clan I've been reading about for so long! I was going to become a warrior!

"So, how long have you been a loner for, Echo?" Cinderpaw asked. I jumped. I hadn't noticed that the gray tabby had been walking beside me.

I blinked. "Oh… um, not for long…"

"Oh… were you a kittypet before then?"

I stared back at her, not knowing what to say. Maybe if I played dumb, God would save me from this conversation?

"A kittypet is a housecat," Cinderpaw added, mistaking my stare for a confused look.

"Oh… I know," I meowed.

Cinderpaw looked back at Berrynose and Cloudtail leading the patrol. "Well, we're almost at ThunderClan camp," she meowed. "I'm really shocked that you actually wanted to join our Clan… most loners and rogues and kittypets stay away from us."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah… kittypets come up with these stories about us eating the bones of dead animals." Cinderpaw let out a mrrow of amusement. "Isn't that funny? Dead-bones? They're seriously mouse-brained."

Cloudtail looked over his shoulder, shooting a glare at Cinderpaw. Her ears flattened against her head at the silent scold she had received from Cloudtail. "Well… not Firestar and his family… Cloudtail is related to Firestar, y'know? His mother was Princess, who was Firestar's sister. That was back in the old forest though…"

I nodded. I remembered that story all too well. I even remembered how annoying and obnoxious Cloudtail was as an apprentice… almost like Berrynose, actually.

"Well, we're here!" Cinderpaw meowed as we entered ThunderClan camp.

"Wow…" I breathed, taking in the scenery around me. I closed my eyes, my happiness and excitement levels skyrocketing; this is where my adventure begins!