WARRIORS // Uprooted

Chapter 7

"How come only cats six moons and older are allowed?" a RootClan kit moaned as Leechstone passed. "I wanna go to the Ceremony too!"

"I know," their dam said, licking their heads. "But it's only when you're older because it's very hard to understand for young kittens. It'll make more sense to you if we wait til you're bigger."

Leechstone followed Dunlin, turning her head as Leopardstone came up behind her. "Are you excited?"

"I guess," Leechstone said. She saw, from the corner of her eye, Foxstone and Juniper walking together. Foxstone was still withdrawn, and her eyes were dim, but they had started regaining their light in the last few days. Maybe whatever had hurt her so bad had finally begun to lift off her shoulders.

The two sisters decided to sit down together, and their mentors sat on their other sides. "Dunlin, can I go get Foxstone?" Leechstone asked after tapping him.

"Sure," Dunlin said with a nod.

Leechstone stood up and flitted her tail, padding over to where Foxstone was sitting. "Hey sis," she greeted, "Wanna sit with me and Leopardstone?"

Foxstone looked at her, eyes dull and lightless. But she smiled after a moment. "Sure," she said, looking at Juniper. "Is that okay?"

"Course," Juniper said, "Lead the way, Leechstone."

Leechstone grinned and trotted back to Leopardstone and their mentors. Juniper sat beside Buzzard, and they chatted idly as Dunlin spoke to Dipper. Dipper's belly had grown chubby over the past moon, and Brindle had explained that they would be getting new cousins soon. Leechstone couldn't help but wonder where from.

As her eyes floated across the two crowds - the RootClan cats were sitting apart from them again - she noticed Snailpaw sitting next to a proud tortie queen with her chest puffed out and a stoic expression. That must be Shrewwater, Snailpaw's new mentor, she thought. She smiled as Snailpaw met her eyes, and he smiled back. However, she noticed Shrewwater's nasty glower.

She flinched and turned back away as Rushstar came up to the Tallrock, smiling. Just below her was a pile of large sticks and branches. "Sloecloud," the queen called out, "Since it is a burner's son and daughter that are experiencing the first Ceremony of History today, why don't you come and start our fire?"

A bulky red tom came from the crowd with a torch in his mouth, nodding to Rushstar. He spun around and chucked the brand of flame into the pile, immediately lighting the dry tinder ablaze. "Thank you for the honor, Rushstar," he said before backing up, sitting beside the fluffy red queen that was Snailpaw's mother.

Rushstar beamed. "As we all know," she said, as the fire crackled and blazed, "Today is our Ceremony of History - the first full moon after the leaves fall from the trees. Our beloved Singers, Echoleap and Snailnose, will be teaching us how RootClan came to be. Come along, you two - you may have the Tallrock."

A cream queen leapt up onto the Tallrock first, followed by a ginger molly that looked a bit like Snailpaw's family. A brown molly came up behind them, but seemed not to be a speaker today, settling at the back of the Tallrock without a word.

The cream molly came forward and took center stage. She took a deep breath, licked her nose, and spoke. "Many, many generations ago, we were known as OakClan..."

***

When OakClan was born, it lived in a beautiful valley. Between two mountains, a river flowed steady. It never dried, never froze, and never flooded. It fed the land. Green grass wavered everywhere you looked. No snow ever touched this valley, and no storms came to knock the boughs off the trees. All was perfect.