I'll Be There

Prologue
A small, orange apprentice-aged cat sat with her tail curled around her paws. She was in the middle of a clearing, standing in maybe one of three spots in the entire forest she lived in that wasn't covered in snow. She shivered, gazing longingly at the sky, where she saw several birds flying. They were leaving for the warmer places down in the south, and would not be back until Newleaf. Her belly cried out in hunger, but she could not reach the birds above.

With a sigh, she stood and leaped into the snow. Her orange tabby fur didn't fight back cold very well, and she wished was back with her clan. In her camp there would be food, but not much. Her belly rumbled again as she padded through the snow. She stopped to gaze longingly into the sky once more, wishing she could hunt them and save her clanmates from starvation.

Her nose twitched as she scented fresh-kill. She followed the scent through the snow and eventually came to the dead bodies of a mouse and a vole that she had buried in the snow earlier. Both were scrawny and couldn't feed a kit, but it was the best she could do. She picked up her prey and turned to pad towards her clan's camp.

Her ear twitched. She thought she heard the crack of a branch behind her. She turned around, ready to run for her life in case it was an enemy. However, she saw a cat in the clearing behind her. She crouched, dropping her fresh-kill in some snow to smother its scent so the stranger could not find her. She hid herself behind a chunk of snow and carefully peeked around it.

The cat was obviously a tom. He was dark gray with black tabby stripes around his paws and ear-tips. He had large, yellow eyes, a white underbelly, and long whiskers. He was looking down at a snapped twig below his paws, as if surprised that he had stepped on it. He then raised his head and scanned the clearing around him. Then, to the she-cat's surprise, he spoke. "Come out, young one. I know you're there. I wish not to harm you."

The orange apprentice creeped out from behind her hiding place, as if his voice had hypnotized her. She crept closer, ready for some sort of ambused. However, none came. She stopped about two tail-lengths away from the tom and asked, "Who are you? You're not from my clan."

"No, I'm not." the tom agreed, nodding. "But I wish to help your clan. I can grant you one wish, and one wish only. Choose wisely, young one."

The apprentice's eyes widened. Was this tom telling the truth, or was he just playing her for a fool? As she thought about it, she turned her head back and gazed at the sky again. More birds were flying by in flocks, out of her reach...

"I want wings." she finally spoke after a long silence. "I want wings so I may fly, and feed my clan. We need prey, and the only way we can get enough is if someone flies up to catch them. If you can grant a wish, please grant this one."

The tom nodded. "Very well."