Forest's Fate

Chapter 25

I peel my eyes open to get a last look at Stripe. Her ocean blue eyes are shining with triumph as her orange, striped paw rises to the air with her claws unsheathed, pointed directly at my throat. She's on top of me. I can't even breathe, let alone move.

Panic overtakes my body. "I can't d-" I start, my voice at a shaky, weak whisper. Then, right before her claws slash my throat and right before I finish my sentence, something strange happens.

It's so strange that I don't even know what is happening. Whatever it is, Stripe immediately knows that something is wrong and leaps off of me with her tail between her legs. My head explodes in fiery pain, and I convulse, my body feeling extended at all kinds of weird angles. But then suddenly, it stops. Right away, before anyone thinks of attacking me while I'm still down, I stand up. However, all of the pain that I just went through is replaced by puzzlement. Why do I only have two legs? Why am I much taller than all of the other-

        ..Oh no. I have switched to my human form.

        My heart quickly slams in my chest. How did I do this? I'm sure that I didn't command it to come.

        It feels like the first time I've encountered my human self except that I'm in a slightly different setting. North and the other cat who is still fighting have barely even noticed anything yet since they have shifted to a different, more faraway spot on the battlefield. However, Stripe is staring up with me with her ears flattened to her head and fear in her wide eyes. All of the pride she had before has evaporated from her.

         While Stripe is frozen with fear, I realize that we're still supposed to be fighting against each other. After all, we're in a battlefield. Since my power just decided to come and save me out of nowhere, why not use it to my advantage? A grin sneaks up my face as I charge at Stripe.

         I only manage to stomp on her tail with my boot before she trips, recovers, and bolts into the crowd of fighting cats. Unfortunately, a new fact quickly reveals itself: Stripe is faster than me. Way faster than me. I'm still jumping around and trying not to trample everyone, and she is already on the other side of the battlefield.

        However, after a few seconds, she halts and swivels around to face me. As I get closer to her, knocking out a water-spitting Superior cat in the process, she stays put instead of continuing to flee. I can't exactly figure out why, but there are multiple cats seeming to be Superiors who momentarily pause from their battles to hiss at her. Before I get to think more about it, Stripe zips straight at me and leaps, attaching herself to my pants. I release a cry of pain as her claws dig into my right leg. What am I supposed to do?

        Oh, right. I glance down at my hands, remembering that I now have body parts that can be useful tools. Before I lose my balance, with as much strength and power as I can, I pry the striped ginger ball of fur from my body with both of my hands and viciously fling her into a crowd of cats. My forearms are slightly coated with frantic scratches, but I barely notice them because of my sudden satisfaction and amusement of seeing many of the cats panic from flying Stripe.

        I realize that I might have just thrown a random cat on top of a rebel. Hoping that I threw Stripe on someone from the Earth-Superior army, I turn around and walk away. I'm getting bored with Stripe. It's time to check out what I can do with other cats.

However, it's not long until something grabs my shoulder from behind. Trying not to fall backwards, I whip my head around to face a human who is much taller than me. In fact, he's so tall that I have to crane my head to peer at his dirty-blond bangs and cold, emerald-green eyes that are staring straight at me. His tight grip on my shoulder is harsh and uninviting.