Cedar Stories

"Come on, brother! I want to visit the elders' den next! Wildstrike told me our grandfather Rowantalon lives there!"

"Yep. Here I come, bro."

"Orchidkit, you are literally not moving at all, you're lying on the ground."

"Huh. Well, that explains why I couldn't rise up to the occasion."

Poppykit emitted a frustrated groan, rolling his eyes. He and his littermate were already two moons old now, four moons away from apprenticeship, and it felt like with each day they came closer to ranking up, the lazier his brother became. He grunted and stalked up to Orchidkit, then grasped his blue-gray scruff between his teeth and began struggling to pull him along towards the elders' den. He growled between a mouthful of fur, "Great StarClan, brother, how many mice did you eat this morning?"

"Enough to make you ask how many mice I've eaten this morning," Orchidkit retorted with a lazy grin, content in being dragged along.

It seemed to take the fluffy ginger-and-white tom ages before he finally reached the elders' den, spitting out his brother's scruff from his mouth. Ignoring the soft saddened groan that the ride was over from the kit next to him, Poppykit approached the mouth of the den, trying to locate the scent of the grandfather he had never met before. Instead, he caught a whiff of a scent he definitely recognized: the scent of a she-cat. Funny, he didn't know grandfather cats were she-cats. Seemed a bit misleading.

From her clean moss bed, one blue eye opened at the hearing of young voices. The elder watched them quietly for a few seconds, noticing that they smelled like her mate's brother. They were likely his kits. She purred and finally lifted her head, inclining it to one side with a funny smile. "Hey, you two. What are two adventurers like you doing here? Looking for someone?" The two brothers reminded her of her days as a kit with Curlyfeather. The elders never let them enter their den but used to play outside and pretend to be great warriors. These two seemed to have a different dynamic but it was always good to have a littermate by your side.

She curled her tail and the beautiful she-cat winced at them. "Why don't you come here? I doubt your father will be happy when he finds out you leave the den without anyone to watch over you. But, to be honest, you're already big enough to leave as you please and meet your clanmates. It will be nice to have a little company here."

"Oh! Hello!" Poppykit chirped happily, pleased to meet a potential new friend. She gave off such a strong motherly vibe, and he liked her already. "Scorchfang and Minnowcall say we can explore the camp so long as we don't get under any cats' paws or wander into the medicine den. Wildstrike told me we could find Rowantalon here. You're... not Rowantalon, are you?"

"Nah, that's not Rowantalon," Orchidkit responded in the elder's place, padding over to his brother's side. "That's Cedarstorm. She's our aunt because she's Crowfur's mate."

"Wowie! You're our Aunt Cedarstorm? It's so great to meet you! I'm Poppykit, and this is my brother Orchidkit. Wait, how did you know her name if you've never seen her before?" The ginger-and-white kit turned back to the blue-gray one.

Orchidkit shrugged. "ShadowClan has three elders. Rowantalon is obviously a tom, and the other one is Curlyfeather, who is deaf and wouldn't have been able to hear us approaching. Process of elimination."