King of the Forest: Chapter 1

Kodi sit, staring out into the forest, his green eyes wide with longing. He always wanted to go there, but never could. Ever since Otis lost his eye there, it had been off-limits, since Otic basically owned the neighborhood, even though Old Meow was older than he was. Old Meow was much too elderly to lead a whole neighborhood, however. There were eight other cats, besides Kodi, in the neighborhood and he knew them all.
First was Otis. He was the first to come to the neighborhood. He was a grumpy, sour brown tabby cat. His tail was crooked and he only had one amber eye, for the other one was torn out by a huge forest cat, when Otis was dared to venture into the forest as a kitten. After that, Otis had become leader and had declared the forest a forbidden place.
Then, there was Old Meow. He was a skinny, white tom. All of the neighborhood kittens, even Kodi himself, loved to listen to his stories. He had such a kind heart, he was everyone's pal...well, except for grumpy old Otis, who thought his stories were silly, but Otis was nothing but a pompous killjoy.
Then, came Fuzz. Fuzz was a typical pet: a fluffy cream persain with blue eyes, who thought about nothing but food. When he wasn't eating, he was dozing in his owner's garden. Fuzz was the fattest, laziest cat that Kodi ever knew.
After him, came the two cats who lived together, from the moment they came into the world: Skip and Flip. They were both gray cats with blue eyes, the only difference was that Skip was a male and Flip was a female. They were always bickering and arguing, or chasing butterflies together. They were the youngest cats and still kittens, so they were always on the go.
Then, there was Fritz, a young silver tabby cat, about Kodi's age. He lived next door to Kodi and was Kodi's best friend. Ever since Fritz moved in, Kodi found himself doing everything with him. Fritz was like his long-lost brother.
Then, there was Cherry, the intergetic little brindle cat, who lived next door. She was kind, of course, but a bit of a rebel. She thought rules were stupid and not afraid to fight for what's right, besides her soft-sounding name.
Last, but not least, there was Sparky, a dark gray cat. He was a cat of little words. He was known to have come from the forest. Something there had traumatized him, terribly. If he said anything at all, it was a mere, scared mumble, of words that didn't make sense. Everyone knew the cat had gone insane a long time ago. He scratched every piece of furniture, inside of his owner's home. Kodi had seen him, but Sparky stayed outside in the garden. The gray tom never came with Kodi, Fritz, Cherry, Skip and Flip to play. He kept to himself.
"Hey, Kodi!" a voice sounded from behind the orange tom.
He turned his head and saw a familiar gray tabby, looking back at him, friendliness clear in his emerald eyes.
"Fritz!" Kodi exclaimed, waving his tail in the air. "What's up?"
"Old Meow's telling a story!" cheered his friend.
"Really?" asked Kodi. "Let's go, then!" Kodi, like the others, was always willing to hear what story the old white tom had to spill.
"Skip, Flip and Cherry are already there!" Fritz urged, sounding annoyed with his companions. "I came to get you! What were you doing, anyways?"
"Staring at the forest," Kodi whispered.
"You do that too much, Kod," his friend replied, shaking his head. "You heard old Otis. The forest is full of all kinds of dangers. The old tabby might be a grump, but he knows what he's saying."
"I don't believe him," Kodi growled.
"You're turning out to be more like Old Meow day after day, Kodi," Fritz chuckled. "Now, come on, before he starts the story without us!"
Kodi padded next door to Fritz's house. Fritz lived in the same house as Old Meow and the two had become really close, like father and son. Fritz, like most cats, never really knew his father, he was shipped to the pet store too soon. The same thing happened with Kodi, Skip and Flip. Nobody really knew where Cherry came from. The white elder served as a father to every kitten in the neighborhood, but mainly Fritz.
When the two reached there, Kodi felt a fuzzy bundle run into him and slam his body backward.
"You'll never get me!" a squeaky, high-pitched male voice sang.
"Yes I will!" a squeakier, little girl voice peeped up.
Skip and Flip. Of course.
Kodi cracked open his eyes and of course, saw the two kittens, battling it out.
"You'll never catch me, not in one million years!" Skip squeaked.
"Ha!" his sister hissed as she tackled him. "A million years must have passed already, then!"
Kodi shook his head. Those two were so adorable...but they were quite a handful.
Kodi glanced around. His eyes fixed on a bueatiful shape: Cherry. His heart melted as he looked at the magestic she-cat. He didn't understand how a cat could be so wonderful.
Just then, he saw another cat, sitting besdies her, a soot-colored tom, eyes darting from left to right in a nervous frenzy. Sparky? It couldn't be! But, it was. The old crazy cat had finally come out of his house, to hear one of Old Meow's stories.
"Scilence, you two!" a voice grumbled. Everyone, including Sparky, looked up on the porch, to notice a skinny, elderly snow-colored tomcat, tail twitching, shaky eyes fixed on the two battling syblings.
"Is all you two do fight?" he questioned them. "Can't you two just get along? You should be friends! You're lucky you still know eachother! I no longer know where my brother, Spike is. You need to be greatful od eachother, instead of delibertly trying to murder eachother! Understand?"
The two gray kittens lowered their heads in guilt. "We're sorry, Old Meow, sir," they apoligized in unison.
Old Meow smiled. "Now you young kitties listen up," he purred. "I have a very special story to tell you guys!"
"What's it about?" asked Cherry, her voice excited.
"It's about the old king of the forest," Old Meow meowed, his voice growing mysterious. "King Benji!"