Fire Heart
Katherine Pilon
The first book in the Fire trilogy
[Pick the date]
Characters
Mouse- A light gray and white kitten
Gem- A light gray kitten
Tiger- A light gray tabby kitten
Saira- A young girl who can speak to cats
S’Phire- A large, light gray cat with pearly
white wings, Saira’s guardian
Prologue
A dark gray cat sat waiting on a dock.
Slowly, tentatively, three kittens padded
out from behind her. Catching the cats off
guard, a huge ship sailed into the port like a
fish.
“Now, when I say Jump, you jump onto
the ship,” meowed the gray cat. Her kittens
nodded. The cats stared at the ship as it
moved closer and closer.
“Jump!” yowled the cat. She leapt onto
the ship, barely grappling onto the ledge of
the lowest deck. The gray and white kitten
tried to jump onto the huge ship…
But he couldn’t make it. “Mouse!” called
the gray cat. But the kitten couldn’t reach it.
The kittens watched in dismay as the shipAnd their mother- sailed away.
Chapter One
A young girl of ten walked along the
beach. The girl stopped suddenly. What was
that noise? She heard it again- A pitiful
mewling sound. It was coming from
underneath the dock…
The girl ran over to the damp, wooden
dock. Suddenly, there was a flurry of pearly
white and gray. She looked up. Standing
above her was a big, gray winged cat.
“S’Phire, I keep hearing noises under
here,” murmured the girl. The strange cat
pricked her ears. Faint mews were sounding
under the dock.
“I’ll look… There has to be something
down there,” the cat meowed. The girl
nodded. Like a ghost, the cat-bird slipped
out of view underneath the dock.
“Oh!” it exclaimed, startled. It came up a
few seconds later with three wet kittens.
“Kittens,” whispered the girl, “That’s what
was making the noise.”
“Come on, Saira,” meowed S’Phire. Saira
hopped on her back with the kittens in her
arms. Silently, like a bird, S’Phire and Saira
flew away into the darkening sky.
“There has to be a reason for this,” said
Saira, confused. She and S’Phire were sitting
in their home, a dugout in the side of a hill.
S’Phire nodded.
“They could have been trying to catch a
ship,” she meowed. Saira pondered this,
eventually agreeing.
“Well, no time to think about this now,”
murmured Saira, “They’re waking up!”
Chapter Two
The gray and white kitten opened his
eyes. He backed away, catching sight of the
human standing over him. The kitten
nudged his sister.
“Gem, wake up,” he mewed. The light
gray kitten opened her eyes.
“What do you want, Mousss…” her voice
fell away as she stared up at Saira. The
tabby kitten, Tiger, opened his eyes.
“Wha? What’s going on here?” he
asked, groggily. The kitten narrowed his
eyes. His gaze slowly shifted toward Saira.
“A human!” he jumped back, startled.
He hissed threateningly.
“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you,”
meowed Saira. Gem bristled.
“You can speak Feline?” her voice
wavered in fear.
“S’Phire taught me,” said Saira. S’Phire
stepped out from behind her. The kittens
squealed in fright.
“Don’t be afraid,” whispered S’Phire
soothingly. Gem’s fur went down, but
Mouse and Tiger snarled at S’Phire. Gem
elbowed Tiger and hissed, “Stop snarling!
She’s good!”
Tiger glared at his sister, but he gave in.
Mouse laid his fur flat.
“Well, can we at least have some food?”
asked Tiger. S’Phire nodded and padded to
the back of the dugout.
“Oh… We should have introduced
ourselves,” meowed Gem. “I’m Gem, and
these are Tiger and Mouse,” she said,
pointing to her brothers. Saira nodded.
“Such nice names,” she murmured. Gem
purred. Suddenly S’Phire stepped out with
three mice in her mouth.
“I hope these are big enough for you,”
she meowed. Tiger licked his lips. Gem
nudged Mouse, and he stood up.
“We’re looking for our mother,”
meowed Mouse. “She jumped on a ship but
we couldn’t get up,” he explained. Saira
considered this.
“What was the name of the ship?” she
asked. Mouse shut his eyes, trying to
remember. In a few moments, he
answered, “The 泉水*.”
“That’s Chinese. She must be going to
China,” said Saira. S’Phire nodded.
“I could fly you there,” she meowed,
“But it would take a few days.” Gem
whispered something to Mouse.
“That’s okay,” meowed Mouse, “She
couldn’t be there by now.”
S’Phire smiled. “Well, finish your mice
and let’s go,” she meowed.
*Spring Water in Chinese.
Chapter Three
“Can we stop now…?” asked Mouse.
Saira laughed.
“No, silly, we’ve only been flying for
thirty minutes,” she giggled.
“But I’m dizzy,” Mouse mewled. The
wind pushed his fur back and chilled his
skin. Tiger rolled his eyes.
“Oh, you’re such a wimp,” he mewed.
Mouse growled at him.
“Hey! Stop fighting!” meowed Gem.
Mouse gave one last glare at Tiger, and
turned away.
“We’ll rest in half an hour,” said S’Phire.
“But in the meantime, you can sleep.”
Gem stretched and curled up by Mouse.
Mouse nuzzled his sister but stayed
standing. He sniffed and got a whiff of fish.
He looked down and stared.
A shark, distorted by water, was eating a
large fish. Mouse closed his eyes in disgust.
Beside him, Tiger was sprawled out on
S’Phire’s back.
“We can rest now,” said S’Phire,
alighting on a large branch. Saira picked up
the kittens and carefully stepped off of
S’Phire.
Gem woke with a start. She shivered,
flicking tiny flakes of snow off of her pelt.
“Why’s there snow?” she asked Saira.
Saira thought for a moment.
“We are getting closer to China. Asia is a
barren continent, very cold,” she said.
S’Phire had an idea.
“I could make a home in the trunk,” she
suggested. “It won’t be the best, but it will
be warmer.”
Gem nodded. “That sounds great.”
Mouse nudged his sister.
“Oh. Right. When are we going to get to
China?” asked Gem. S’Phire closed her eyes,
thinking.
“About an hour,” she answered. Mouse
considered this.
“Will our mother be there by then?” he
asked. S’Phire looked toward the east,
toward China.
“Possibly,” she murmured, “I’m a fast
flier, and it depends on how fast the ship
is.”
“Okay… Well, let’s rest,” said Mouse.
Chapter Four
“Come, kits, we are to see Esmerelda,”
meowed his mother. Mouse purred in
delight. He pounced on Gem. She squealed.
“Calm down, it’s just Esmerelda,” said
Mouse’s mother, nervously. Mouse cocked
his head. Why was his mother nervous?
Mouse backed away, scared.
“What’s wrong, Mouse?” asked Tiger,
his brother. Mouse smiled shakily, still a bit
scared. Tiger poked him with his paw,
happily. Mouse went over to Gem.
“Mother’s acting kind of weird,” he said.
Gem shrugged and bounded over to sneak
up on Tiger.
Chapter Five
Mouse woke with a start. Snow fell
outside, covering the tree with frost. Was
that a dream? Or a memory? He shut his
eyes, trying to fall asleep again. He couldn’t.
Beside him, Gem yawned. The light gray
kitten opened her blue eyes.
“What’s wrong, Mouse?” she asked.
Mouse sighed.
“Gem, did we ever go see Esmerelda?”
he questioned. Gem cocked her head and
thought.
“Yes, a long time ago,” she replied, “and
you were acting all weird.” Mouse bit his
lip.
“I had a dream-well, more of a
memory,” said Mouse.
“She was acting all nervous, like she had
a secret or something. I was wondering,
since you didn’t think about it back then,
you could think about it now,” he said.
“A secret?” asked Gem, doubtfully.
Mouse hesitated, musing.
“I guess…Unless you have another idea,”
he said. Gem sighed.
“I guess not,” she muttered, “But it
seems so…Unrealistic.”
Mouse understood. He sighed.
“…Wha?” said Tiger, blinking awake.
Mouse and Gem jumped. Tiger cocked his
head.
“What were you talking about?’ asked
the tabby cat. Gem sighed and shook her
head.
“Nothing,” she answered. Tiger
shrugged and nestled back in his nest.
Chapter Six
“Come on,” said Saira. She picked
Mouse, Gem, and Tiger up and put them on
S’Phire’s back. Tiger yawned, showing his
shiny, white teeth.
“Let’s go,” said S’Phire, as she opened
her wings. Saira put the kittens in her lap,
securing them from falling. S’Phire jumped
off of the branch. There was a cracking
sound, and the branch fell onto the barren
ground.
“If I know anything, I know that that was
not a flimsy branch,” said Mouse. Gem
giggled.
“I have powerful hind legs,” explained
S’Phire. Tiger thought for a moment.
“Why do you have wings?” he asked,
inquisitively. S’Phire shot a glance at Saira.
Saira looked down for a moment, and then
nodded. S’Phire sighed, and began to speak.
“I was… an experiment. At the Espor Lab
of Scientific Advancement. There were nine
others… But they were destroyed.
They cloned regular cats, but changed
their genetic codes. I don’t know how, but
they did.
My best friend… her name was Felira.
She was a great cat. She helped me escape
the Disaster.”
Tiger cocked his head.
“What’s the Disaster?” he asked,
curiously.
S’Phire shuddered.
“The Disaster,” she began, “Was long
ago, when I was as young as you. During the
time of the Ursulian War.”
Mouse opened his mouth to speak, but
S’Phire shushed him.
“The Ursulian War was a war between
the Esporians and the Afravians. A
gruesome war, with an arms race and
everything.
Well, one day, in 8005, the Afravians…
They bombed Wintercrystal, the capital of
Espor. The Lab was in Wintercrystal. There
was so much smoke…I breathed it, and
passed out. Felira carried me to safety.
But then Animal Control came. Felira
woke me and warned me, saving me, but
making her run out of time. They caught her
and the others, but I got away. All thanks to
Felira.”
Gem sniffled, sadly. Mouse sighed and
nuzzled S’Phire.
“One of the scientists, Hélène Meyet,
took me in,” she sighed.
“She was a wonderful woman. She gave
me everything I needed, and she loved me.
And I loved her.”
Gem cocked her head. “W-What
happened to Helene?” she asked.
S’Phire sniffed. “I don’t know. I came
home from being outside one day, and she
was gone.”
Gem sighed. “Oh.” She curled up beside
Mouse. “Are we in China yet?”she asked.
Saira looked out in the distance. There
was the faint glow of a large city.
“Moscow,” she said. So not yet. Pretty
soon. Moscow is in central Russia, so about
2 days until we get to China.”