“My children! Tonight is the night we make history!” the cloaked figure cried, spreading her arms out the crowd. She was draped in all black, appearing as a silhouette in the darkness. Howls and shouts cheered back in reply, people nearly trampling each other in their frenzy. It was a group of around fifty cats, all adorning pointed ears and tails. The figure continued.

“They may have lost their memory, but we have not! We are powerful together!” More screams flooded the alleyway, echoing on buildings and lingering in the air before being snuffed out by the silencing of the cloaked leader. The black robes tied around her disguised her face, hiding every part of her body aside from the striped tail poking out from underneath of mass of cloth, swaying from side to side. Streetlamps left little to be seen, casting shadows on everyones’ faces.

“Dogs claim to know it all,” the voice continued, pacing on the makeshift stage of piled wood and assorted scraps. “They blame us for things committed thousands of years ago. Things our ancestors did, not us. And it’s been too long!” Each step earned a creak and moan from the heap of garbage. She clasped her fists, raising them up while a passing cloud dimmed the moonlight. “The four ancient houses were mighty united. But the Foxes and Wolves feared us Lions and Tigers. They tried to punish us, put us to war then paint us as bad. And the evidence is here!”

Suddenly, a member from the crowd was pulled to the stage by the cloaked leader, pulled into the dim spotlight from a half broken lamp placed in the scraps. It was a young girl, wearing a blue dress. Her blonde hair and blue eyes shimmered, the bottom half of her face covered by a white mask. The crowd was silenced, staring with wide eyes and hushed whispers. The leader pulled back her mask, revealing piercing green eyes and fiery red hair. She was strikingly beautiful.

She pointed her hands towards the girl.

“We are descendants of the mighty Tiger and Lion houses!”

She smiled sheepishly, flinching under the sudden onslaught of calls and questions.

“A lion?”

“She’s a tiger!?”

“I thought they were dead!”

“I’ve only seen them on T.V.”

“Aren’t they super rare?”

The crowd talked among themselves in a loud rumble. The tiger woman smiled, her fangs poking out. She crossed her arms over her chest, her tail twitching back and forth to an unheard tempo.

“We possess the blood of our ancient ancestors, and that’s not all!” she cried out, stepping back from the lion girl. She blushed as she was left alone in the spotlight.

Crickets chirped. A rat scurried through the plethora of feet, unnoticed to the masses as they waited for something to happen. The shuffling of bodies echoed.

The lion girl breathed in, closing her eyes. She stretched out her arm, dragging her nails across it. Crimson blood dripped out, sparking and fizzling. Then, in a split second, she erupted into a sea of green flames. Screams and gasps filled the crowded space, drowning out anything else. The green light illuminated the alleyway, shadows dancing on the walls and dozens of eyes reflecting green. In a few seconds, the flames were gone, and a tall lioness stood in her place.

“Pure blood cats like her and I possess the original forms and fire magic,” the tiger lady continued, stroking the lion’s head with long black nails. The lion rubbed its head against her. “Even Foxes and Wolves who possess their original forms and ice magic cannot compare. We are powerful!”

“Amazing!”

“They really do exist!”

“I can’t believe they’ve existed with us this whole time…”

“I thought that was just a myth.”

“Let’s record-”

“No recording,” the woman quickly yelled to the few people pulling out their phones. “Us pure bloods are required by law to keep these forms secret, and if it comes out we exposed them, truly terrible things could happen.” She stared into the eyes of someone still holding their phone, stroking the fur of the lion. “And those who don’t listen will face dire consequences.”

The lioness yawned, flashing her white fangs, starlight sparkling in their reflection.

“Our time will come to be in the spotlight. Tonight is history because we are breaking the hundreds of years of silence, and we will reveal our true power to the world. We will be victorious!”