Felistrix go forth.

The Prologue.

The owl and his beloved pussycat had travelled the seas for over a year, they were taunted and hunted down everywhere they tried to settle. Dejected, they hit shore once again. A beautiful island, they needed supplies, so had to take the chance once more to forage, and take the risk of rejection. "take care my love" the cat said as Owl left the boat. He brushed his wing over her silky fur, "you know I always do" he smiled, as he flew into the nearby trees.

The trees were unusual, very wide bases, tapering to a canopy of fern like leaves. As he landed on the top of one he could see an opening that led into the hollow centre of the tree. "how unusual" he thought to himself "just big enough inside for a resting place, hidden from view".

He was suddenly startled by a loud noise that echoed through the tree. Then he could hear giggling coming from below. A young piglet was smiling up at him, it held a stick in its mouth. Which it dropped as Owl flew down to it. "hi, these are Bong trees, you hit them and they 'Bong'. You aren't from around here are you?", "no" said Owl, "we come from far away. We need provisions so we can move on again, and not cause any problems"

"Why should you cause problems?" asked the piglet. "Well, my love is on our boat, and she is a cat. People don't understand, and drive us away. Now we just keep on moving".

"that's so sad" said the piglet "You need a home, please come and see my parents, and explain to them".

The owl felt there was nothing to loose, and followed the piglet to what appeared like a village run by pigs of various sizes and types. Their homes were made in the dense bushes, hollows pushed into them. The piglet took Owl to one of the larger bushes, and introduced Owl to his father. Who, it turned out to be the elder of the village.

He welcomed Owl, and invited him to sit and tell his tale. After a long discussion the elder pig looked squarely at Owl. "We have owls on this island, and we have cats, and i'll be honest, I've never heard of such a mix" Owls heart fell, "here we go again" the thought to himself. "However" continued the Elder Pig "Why not? Why shouldn't you be allowed to have a home on this island", "the islanders respect me, and I'm sure after I explain, you'll be allowed to settle here in peace".

Owls heart felt like it had sprouted wings, it was fluttering with joy inside him. "I thought the inside of the Bong trees would make good nests, would we be bothering anyone to make a nest in one of them?" he asked. "Oh no," said the Elder PIg, we can't get up and into them. And other creatures haven't used them either, take your pick".

Owl flew to his beloved, and told her the wonderful news. They chose a bong tree that Cat could easily climb into to make their home, and often enjoyed the company of the Pigs, and other creatures on the island. They all made them welcome, and it was suggested by the other creatures that they should marry, and make their union official.

The wedding was a big affair, the piglets all decorated each other with leaves, nuts and berries, using squashed berries to paint each other. The elder pig gave them a ring, that he wore on his nose, it fit around Cats paw, like a bracelet. The Owl insisted that he took a silver coin in return, although it had no value, the pig liked shiny things around his home, and was happy with the exchange. A grand looking turkey married them, and they had a feast afterwards, and followed the island tradition of both eating from a runciple spoon, which they kept as a souvenir. The wonderful day ended with them dancing on the beach as the moon shone on the ocean.

They lived happily on the island for the rest of their days. They had 12 kitlings, some more owl than cat, some more cat than owl, and over generations, where their children, and childrens children mixed and married with the islands cats and owls, there became a stable form. The creatures became locally known as Felistrix, and had the full bodies of cats, and the head and wings of owls.

Felistrix continue to nest in the Bong trees, they lay eggs, and suckle their young.

The tale of their foreparents had been passed down the generations, the ring worn by the elder of the Felistrix tribe. They had sworn never to leave the island, for fear of torment and rejection.

But times were changing......

CHAPTER 1

There was unease in the colony, the younger Felistrix, led by Ty, a charismatic young male, felt it was time to go out into the world. They wanted to see what was out there, they felt they were missing out on the world. The elders, who normally had the last word on all matters, and led by Jeor, a female of advanced years, were struggling to keep control.

The elders held a meeting, there was a loud mumbling and murmuring among those gathered in the meeting cave. And as Jeor entered wearing the gold ring on her paw, and carrying the Runciple spoon in her mouth, a silence fell on the crowd. The symbols of office were known to all, and their presence meant that serious business was in hand.

Jeor jumped onto a small mound, to raise herself so all could see and hear her. She lay the spoon at her feet, and cast her eyes over those present. "My friends and family" she started "thank you for attending. We need to address the issue of the young ones. Ty is very influential, he is stirring up strong feelings. For generations this island has been our safe home, we haven't needed to go out into the world, but we have to acknowledge that feelings are changing, and we need to decide where we go from here"

A nearby voice called out, "Punish them", and the mumbling arose again in the cave. "No, no, no" called Jeor over the noise, "we have to take this seriously, we can't punish all the young. We can't suppress the feelings that are mounting. My thoughts are that we need a vote first, see how strong and widespread the feelings are, and it's not just a loud minority. We need to raise awareness to the cons of going out into the world, and then we can make best judgement over our future"

Heads were nodding to each other throughout the cave. "all those in favour, call "hooo"" Jeor asked. And the cave echoed with the sounds of many Felistrix calling.

Just outside the entrance of the cave, 2 young kitlings had been watching and listening. They crept away a short distance, then flew off towards a quiet corner of the beach, where Ty and his friends were waiting. They'd been biding their time fishing, and were busily eating their catches as the kitlings arrived.

"Well?" he asked them, "what did you find out?"

The kitlings told all, and at the mention of a vote Ty laughed. "If they intend to spread tales of the cons of going out into the world, then we'll have to think of many pro's. Maybe even provide "pro's" for people voting our way". He gave the kitlings a fish each, and shooed them away.

Ty had wanted to see the world since he'd spotted a ship on the horizon when he was no bigger than the kitlings he'd just sent away. He just had to go out there and see what he was missing. But their wings weren't built for flying so far. There wasn't land visible for as far as could be seen. They'd need a boat, like the one their foreparents arrived in. He'd spent much of his childhood so obsessed by the idea, he'd collected driftwood, and made plans, and experimented with shapes. Making toy sized boats, and he was sure they could be made to full size, and he had the materials.

He'd have just gone ahead on his own and escaped, but he knew he'd only be found out, stopped and everything burnt. The only way to leave would be to persuade others to his way of thinking. He'd started with his closest friends, and gradually the word had got around the younger generation, and they were as fired up as he was about it.

The elders meeting had ended. After the formal address, they had chatted over an intoxicating brew made from wild berries, and discussed the issue among themselves, and had come up with various plans of action. Some more extreme as the intoxication removed inhibitions. It was becoming dark as they left the cave, there'd be no hunting tonight for them, they'd need to resort to their stores to fill their bellies this night.

The sun rose on an uneasy atmosphere in the colony. Ty had risen early and had gone around the trees of his friends, dropping a large white Loirberry into the openings of their Bong Tree nests. It was their secret sign, it meant that they were expected to meet up in their corner of the beach when the sun was at it's highest. He now sat preening himself for the day ahead, removing the sticky juices of the berries that had burst. He was sitting next to the tree of his parents, although young Felistrix left their parents tree as soon as they were big enough to sleep alone, families remained within family groups, in trees close to each other. Each family had it's own small clearing, where they gathered, chatted, ate and groomed each other.

Ty's parents, Nyer and Polpera, were, what some might label as "compliants" they wanted no trouble, they followed the rules to the letter, and kept their heads down during times of tension and trouble. This frustrated Ty to no end, he had a fire in his belly, if there was a rule, he wanted to find a way around it. Not exactly break it, he was aware of the consequences of that, he winced at the memory of his past punishments. Anyway, finding a way around rules was far more fun than breaking them.

His mother came out of her tree nest, "Ty, go and awake the young ones would you? Your father's been hunting and has breakfast ready."

He did as he was asked, no point in upsetting his parents. He looked into the tree where his 2 sisters and young brother slept curled up in a tight bundle of fur and feathers. Their family had brown fur, and their feathers were a mixture of brown and creamy white. So in the resulting bundle in front of him it was impossible to tell which sibling was which. He squawked at them, and 3 sleepy heads raised and looked at him. One sister, Crillia, was just a little younger than him, she looked angrily at him, then climbed up the inside of the tree, and sat beside him on the rim.

(http://i47.tinypic.com/kccvo1.jpg)

"Why do you do that?" she asked, "you think you're so grown up now you have your own tree, I can't wait till I'm allowed to marry Narly, and I can move into his tree with him."

He grinned at her, Narly wasn't one of his gang, he was a wimp, trust his sister to fall for a pretty boy, and not a Pilumi with some bottle. Still, it did mean that she wouldn't find out easily about his plans, if she did, she'd be sure to tell his parents.

By now all his siblings were preening themselves on the tree, and once their feathers were all tidy, and their fur smooth, they flew into their family clearing where their mother had laid out the results of their fathers hunting trip. Their parents had eaten theirs, as was their tradition, and Ty and his siblings shared the rest.

Tummies full, the younger ones, Ellie and Tak, started teasing each other, and chased each other into the tree tops. Crillia went to see if Narly was awake yet. Ty flew up, circling into the sky, as high as he should go, and looked out towards the horizon. There was nothing there, but he had to check. He headed to the beach to see what the tide had brought in today.

He landed on the rocks near the beach, landing on the sand was always a little unpredictable. And started walking along the tideline. All the usual stuff was there, dried seaweed, shells of various sizes and shapes, twigs and odds and ends that were useless. Looking along the beach ahead, he saw a larger than usual clump of seaweed, so he headed towards it. As he got nearer he could make out it was an old wooden box. The wood looked in good condition and might be handy for his boat building. He tried to move it but it was too heavy, he needed help, so he gathered all the seaweed he could find, and covered it as best he could, then set off to see who was about this morning.

He didn't have to look far, two of his closest friends were exploring not far away. Kibb, and Joff were never far from each other. They were cousins, only days apart in age, they had been raised almost like twins, yet they were quite different in appearance. Kibb was white with brown points and brown flecked flight feathers, and Joff had a warm brown coloured coat, with spots. (http://i48.tinypic.com/2ptsd2s.jpg)

"Boys!" Ty exclaimed, as he landed by them, "I'm glad I found you, I need your help. There's a heavy box we need to check out, I can't do it by myself.". Without questioning him, they followed him to the box. They all tried to push it, but it wouldn't move. "we need to open it, and take out whatever is inside" suggested Kibb. So. they all looked around it to see if they could find any way to open it. Ty spotted a corner where the wood was warping, and starting to curl, making a small gap. he looked around for something to fit in the gap and prise it open.

Frustratingly he couldn't see anything that would be strong enough. He thanked his friends for their help, covered the box as good as he could, and went along to the cliffs, where he entered his secret cave. He'd found the entrance to it as a kiting, covered by a prickly shrub, he could still squeeze in, if he folded his wings tight against his body. Inside there was a large cavity where he stored the items he found washed up on the shore line. Daylight lit it enough for his nocturnal eyes to see by. There was a crack in the cliff face higher up the wall, where the sun cast a lightening shape light on the opposite wall. He could only see in here in the mornings while the sun was in the right part of the sky, as the sun moved overt the far side of the island, it became too dark even for his eyes.

He looked around at his treasure. The stack of wool against one wall, of various shapes and sizes, some natural logs, broken from trees he'd never seen growing before. Others planks, and broken planks. But, wood wouldn't work for what he needed, however, he remembered one of the planks had a large bent nail in it. He soon found it, he grasped it in his beak, and was able to pull it free.

He carried it back to the beach. pulled the seaweed from the box, and pushed the point of the bent nail into the warped corner of the box. With a twist and a pull, he finally heard the wood splitting, he dropped the nail, and was able to tear away the side of the box with his claws and beak. As the wood gave and splintered the contents started to spill onto the sand. There were metallic discs with spikes around the sides, chains, that could fit onto those spikes, and various metal rods. Ty was disappointed, he'd hoped for something more exciting, but, these things might come in handy. He needed help to move the numerous items to his hideaway, or, at least nearer to it. So, once again he covered the box with seaweed, and flew off to see who was around.

Kibb and Joff were long gone, there was no sign of them anywhere. Ty didn't want the strange items lost on the next high tide, so started carrying them one by one in his beak towards some nearby shrubs. It was going to be a long job. After a while the box was only partly full and finally light enough for him to puck his flank against and push higher up the beach, and away from danger.

He looked at the position of the sun, it was near noon, and his stomach was starting to grumble. Time to head home, to see if anything was going. If not, he'd have to hone his hunting skills, and find something for himself. When he arrived back at the family Bong tree circle, his mother was just clearing away after his younger siblings. She looked up at him, and smiled, "I didn't think you were coming back for lunch. I'll make sure there's something for you this evening". "It's ok" Ty replied, "I'll find something to eat" He spent a moment to torment his younger brother, hugged his mother, and headed off towards the wooded part of the island. He'd had his fill of fish.