WARRIORS // Uprooted

Chapter 18

The heat of the summer was only making this more unbearable. The moon that had passed had shown her that she was in fact pregnant. Her belly had swollen impressively and her teats had gotten bigger in the last few days, and damn did they hurt.

Luckily Thrift was there when she thought she'd never get done grooming. "You need help?" the molly asked, smiling.

"Please," Leech begged. "There's this tangle on my hip and I can't turn myself around enough to get at it with this dumb bubble belly."

Thistle giggled. "It's cute, I think. No shame in a big tummy," she said. "Do, uh- do you know who the father is?"

"No," Leech said, with Snailfall in her head. "I've got too many friends in high places to name just one."

Thrift rolled her eyes and smiled, chewing at the knot until it came out in a big clump. "Whew. That thing must've been there for a while."

"Longer than you know," Leech said in annoyance.

"Hey," Thrift said, lowering her voice, "Do you know about the new plan?"

".. the new what?" Leech asked, glancing around for nosy ears. 

"Leopard has started up a new movement. It's not a Freedom Movement, though - it's an Escapist movement," Thistle said, her voice soft with thrill.

"What's that?" Leech questioned carefully.

"She wants to abandon the whole 'ask for our freedom' plan and go straight to the 'get the fuck out' plan, is what she said to me," Thrift said.

"Where are they gonna go?" Leech asked, patting her tail on the ground, watching her cousins play out of the corner of her eye. They were eight moons old now, and looked like little adults. Tigerstone was still the smallest but he had year-long legs and a long floppy tail and ears that could hold up the moon - certainly the most awkward of the three. Morningstone was coming along nicely, with round features like Dipper and high-set ears like Dunlin. Neritestone was comfortably in the middle, with sharp cheeks like Dunlin but the low-set ears Dipper had and her dad's big paws.

"They're gonna go to the North Badlands," Thrift said.

"What?" Leech chirped in surprise. "But that place is dead."

"Well, Leopard said that's our safest bet," she mewed. "Since they'll automatically assume everyone went back to our place of origin, like Buzzard wanted..." Thrift lowered her ears in mourning.

"How do we get across?"

"She found a sandbar hidden under the water," Thrift said. "It crosses the river."

"Huh. Where is the Meeting being held at?"

"The same place Buzzard organized. Under the two pines. It's under the New Moon this time though, so nobody can see us. Any guards will be closer to the front of camp and likely won't be paying attention."

"Hm." Leech hummed. She thought of her kits, and how they would fare being a Thrall. "I think I'll attend."

"Can I join you?" Thrift asked.

"Of course," Leech said with a smile. "I think it'll be interesting. And if it works, it'll be the best thing we ever could've done."