... Two years ago ...
Three large winged cats walk down the deserted alleyway. One of them - a Siamese kitten - sneezes, a flaming ember shoots out of his nose.
"Isaac, be careful when you sneeze, you don't want anyone to see that you're not a real pure-bred neeuq," a fully grown Siamese scolds him.
"Yes, Mom," says Isaac.
The other cat - an orange tabby - glances back and grabs hold of Isaac's mother's tail. She stops and looks at what the orange cat is staring at.
A group of immensely muscled, brown tabby cats appear out of the shadows. Their leader, a grinning creature with a flat face, says "well, well, well. Cats who have broken the law," he turns back to his clowder, "knock them out."
At once a screech fills the alley; cat blood soaks the dirt ground, turning it to mud; a shout seeps from a cat in pain, "RUN ISAAC!"; and scittering as a terrified kitten runs for his life.
