Three kits bounded over the grass, dragging an old painting with them. “Blade!” one of them, a dark ginger tom, squealed. “Blade, look what we found!”

Blade, an old, light gray tom, turned around and replied, “What are you young ones up to?”

A little, light gray she-kit mewled, “Look at this picture! This one here looks just like me!”

“Why, you are correct!” Blade rumbled. “Both you and I are descendants of her. Her name was Jade. She was the strongest, most feared, warrior of all time.”

All four of them looked at the three crowls shown on the parchment. The painted crowls all looked like cats, but with swooping, delicate wings and swords strapped to their sides - nothing inaccurate with that. But the one Blade had called Jade was a silver tabby with an arrowhead pattern on her forehead. Her green eyes had been depicted looking into the distance with anger and determination. There was an odd shape to her head, and her ears were tall and narrow. Then they all looked to the gray she-kit – she was gray with the same arrowhead pattern, but it was a single stripe, all the way down her back. Her whole tail was dark gray, as well, and she had the same strange shape.

“Why she does look a lot like you, Blossom,” the old tom added, “The closest blood I have to her is through one of her brothers… but you look like you were her son’s kit, if he had lived long enough.”

The last kitten spoke up and cried, “I think you have a story for us!”

Blade nodded and said, “It’s a very long story – one that shaped our history. Queen Gaika was in power then… I don’t know where to start this story. I suppose that I should start when her life stopped being just like yours. She was born just before the Great War started. Her parents, Kari and Sark, had a big litter with six kits. They were Lance, Fuquay, Feather, Silver, Hope, and Jade. She grew up like you did, at first… little arguments with her siblings, getting up to trouble, and so on.

“But long before her birth, a prophecy had been issued from a great prophet. I‘m sure you have heard of her, too – Sarubia Shiraha.”
All of the kits gasped and sat up straighter. “Sarubia Shiraha?” Blossom demanded. “That wasn’t so long ago!”
“Hush,” Blade chided her. “Sarubia Shiraha received a message from the gods – she had a vision of a silver crowl fighting off enemies with great power. She told only her three children, but they told others, and soon, everyone knew about her. A spy for the Lake Kingdom saw Jade in her hollow and told the tyrant king, Olyster. He knew that his kingdom, the Lake Kingdom, needed something to win the war that would soon happen. So he sent the same spy to take Jade from her home. And that is where our story begins.”