Tree's Roots/Chapter 7

==Chapter description==
:Earth runs into a tangle of bracken, and from the safety of the bracken watches the pale-furred, small sized stranger dodging the dog's teeth and rake their claws over the dog's shoulder. The dogs run away, with the stranger still balanced on top of one of them. Earth wonders if he should go after him, but the tom comes back into sight, and asks if he is all right. Earth notes that the other cat has yellow fur like his. Feeling shy, he replies that he is all right, and expresses his awe. The stranger tells him that he's a little young to be on his own, and they introduce themselves. 
:Root tells him to take care, and starts to walk away, but Earth follows him, with the thought that he didn't want to be alone. After a couple steps, Root stops, and asks if he is lost. Earth tells him that he didn't know this place, so he wasn't sure where was safe. After a pause, Root decides to lead him to a safe spot he knew, and that tomorrow he would show Earth where to make his own camp. At last, Root stops by an tall oak, and they climb up. Earth hestitates, but it's comfortable, and he falls asleep quickly.
:When he wakes, Root is gone, but hoping that the tom would come back, he stays at the tree. He tries to focus on Stream, to see if he can talk to him. He talks that he wished he'd never been born, if he was going to be a tom, and that the Sisters' traditions were unfair. He hears a small sound, and he thinks it first is Stream, but it happens to be Root.
:Root hesitantly asks if he knew the Sisters, and when Earth is amazed of Root's knowledge, the older tom replies angrily that he spent time with them for a short while. He was mated to one of them, and she'd been pregnant but they had gone without him because he was a tom. Earth wonders if it is Moonlight. They both have yellow fur, a six-toed paw, and their size was similar. Thinking Root may be his father, he tells the tom that his mother was Moonlight, but they'd left him as well. Root stared at him, realizing that Earth must be his son. Root then snarls, angry at the Sisters for leaving him at such a young age. 
:Earth is excited at the thought of them, living together, but when he shares his idea with his father, Root disagrees, saying he is a loner, but counteroffers that he will teach Earth how to live alone for a moon or two until he is ready. Earth ultimately agrees, and asks what his first lesson is. Root teasingly says that he should change his name, pointing out that he is not one of the Sisters anymore. Earth says that Root is right, and tells his father to call him Tree from now on.
==Characters==
===Major===
===Mentioned===
==Notes and references==
Category:Chapter subpages
Category:Novellas
Category:Tree's Roots