WARRIORS // Uprooted

Chapter 11

"The time is drawing near," Buzzard said. The full moon hung high above them, and snow was settling down on Leechstone's coat. Winter had begun softly, and only a little frost stuck to the edges of the grass. The flowers had somehow remained mostly intact despite the cold.

"Soon, me and my close colleagues will approach Rushstar and demand our freedom and equality. We will speak for all of you. If there is anything you'd like to be brought up at our meeting, please, tell us now."

"When will you be going?" Coot asked.

"Possibly at the next full moon," Buzzard said. "Which will give us a full moon's turn to prepare our speech, what we want to do, and what we want to bring up. And our escape plan if it doesn't pan out."

Leechstone trembled slightly.

"What if this puts everyone in danger?" Owl asked worriedly. "Even those that stay will be punished if this goes wrong, and when you leave they'll possibly be tortured and killed."

"We know," Buzzard said. "But if we don't fight for our freedom, who else will? The birds? The coyotes? The snakes? No. We must take action."

Hums and growls of agreement swelled in the crowd.

Leechstone sighed. "I'm not a fan of the RootClan cats' way of treating us," she said to Leopardstone, "But I still think this isn't the way to go about things. We're doing just fine where we are now. We don't know how to live life without orders from RootClan. You were right that we weren't present when Flowermoon and Lightningstar combined their peoples, but.. that's just the issue. What if they really were just as brutish and evil as they said they were? What if we get our freedom and then lose our minds?"

"When you're out in the territory by yourself, do you go wild and kill a Soldier?" Leopardstone asked dryly. "If you're so desperate to serve RootClan's sniveling Warriors, go and do that. Stop attending the meetings if all you're going to do is argue."

Leechstone looked at her. "That'd be a good idea," she said quietly, nodding. "Good luck." 

Leopardstone let out a breath. "Thanks."

Leechstone turned and padded off. Some of the Stones had been assigned to clean out the Night Patrol's burrows while they were out, and she decided to join them. She walked out of the Cluster Burrows and around the Lifepool, flicking her sheared ear. The memory of the Stone Ceremony still chilled her bones.

"Hi, Leechstone," a molly's rump said as it backed out of a den. 

"Hi, Thriftstone," Leechstone said, bumping noses with her. "Mind if I join you?"

"Please do," the ginger molly said. "The Warriors are nasty."

"Oh, boy," Leechstone laughed. "Can't wait."

She moved around Gullstone  - wasn't she part of the Freedom Movement? Maybe I wasn't the only one who doubted them. She cleaned out a few dens, being sure to stay out of the two mollies' way so they got more done without her bumbling around them.

She got to one particular den and grunted. This was Snailpaw's den that he shared with his family. Wrinkling her nose, she reminded herself that this was the duty she was defending so staunchly at the meetings. So she dipped down and headed in.

Luckily Snailpaw's family seemed quite clean. The moss bedding was only a little stiff, and she couldn't exactly call that dirty. She rolled the moss into a little ball, and some bits fell out. She moved to collect them, but something felt - off?

She blinked. They felt like dead ticks. If there were ticks in the den she'd have to tell Acornflower as soon as possible. She picked up the objects and moved out of the den to properly examine them.

And she nearly vomited on the spot.

"Hey, what'd you find?" Gullstone asked as she walked up. "What're th- oh. Oh, no."

"Ears," Leechstone moaned. "They- they're the babies' ears."

And they were. The flaps of the three kittens' ears lay there in the glittering silver moonlight, now dried. 

"He kept them?" Gullstone asked in a soft voice. "That's.. awful."

"I'm going to take them out with the old bedding," Leechstone said, and Gullstone nodded, turning and dragging the bedding out for her. Carefully they rolled the ears into the moss, so there were no thin spots the little appendages could fall out of. 

"I'm sorry," Gullstone mewed into the bedding. "The rest of you will be okay."

Leechstone felt her throat tie up in a knot. She picked up the bedding in her teeth, careful not to let it unfurl as she padded around the den entrances.

One of the Soldiers, Smallstep, glared at her. "You alright there?"

Leechstone looked up. "Mm?"

"You don't look good. Your nose is pale. If you're getting sick you shouldn't be cleaning out dens."

"Mmpf."

"Huh?"

She set down the moss and put a white paw on it. "I'm not sick," she said with a fake smile. "I got startled and my nose gets pale when I'm scared."

"I see." Smallstep nodded. "Yeah, mine does too. Go on then, proceed."

Leechstone nodded and picked up her bundle, trotting into the forest. She dug a hole in the ground near the camp's edge and stuck the moss into it. Usually they'd lay it out on the rocks to let it regrow into fresh new moss to use, but she just couldn't do that this time.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled softly. "StarClan, I have no idea if you listen to Clustercats. But if you do, please, keep these babies safe. Please."

The stars glittered coldly above her head, and she padded back to camp, still a little woozy.

As she walked back in she was met with the patrol returning. She glanced out of the corner of her eye and noticed that Snailpaw was among them. He caught her gaze and smiled at her. She didn't smile back.