The forest was silent. Eerily silent. Thunderclouds gathered in the sky, and rain was in the air.
In a hollow tree lined with soft material, three kittens cuddled close to their mother.
Their names were Sampira, Namila, and Rahis. The mother's name was Crala.
Crala was a light brown tabby, with a white patch on her front and leaf-green eyes. Rahis, the only tom, was a gray tabby, with faint silver markings on his back.
Namila's fur was warm tan tabby, with light gray dusting on her underside. Sampira had green eyes, like her mother, but her fur was gray, splotched with brown, and her muzzle was yellow.
The kittens cringed at a distant blast of thunder, and Crala drew them close to her.
"My children," she whispered. "Be calm. The world watches you, and you must not cower before it."
That was an old saying of cats. Cats have great dignity, and learn early in life not to be cowed easily. House cats, or cats that have lived with people, are shunned among them, and if a house cat is so foolish as to walk among them, he could be killed.
Rahis, the daredevil of the litter, skittered to the opening to look outside, but was sent running back to his mother's side when a crack of thunder nearly deafened him.
Crala blinked as the rain pattered down.
"Mama," said Sampira. "Tell us a story."
"Tell us about the prophecy!" mewed Namila.
Crala sighed, but began. "Once, when I was little more than a kitten, I was stalking a mouse through the forest when I heard a voice by the riverbank. It was an old, orange tom, with a ragged ear and twitching tail. He was muttering something, and I crept forward to hear better.
"Suddenly, he sat up and screamed, 'The dark one will come to the forest! All shall suffer! Some shall die! But an unexpected hero will rise, and the dark one's fall shall be marked by the sun blotting out!' And, quite suddenly, he leapt into the river and was lost in the swirling whiteness."
She stopped. The storm was beginning to die down.
"Are you sure it was a real prophecy, Mama?" Asked Namila.
Crala smiled and licked her ear. "Cats know these things, darling."