Book 10 - Chapter 9

Whiteberry walked stiffly out of the elder's den. He turned to the clan and began his story. "I am not a true member of this clan. I came when I was an older warrior. I served the clan for a month or two before some old wounds began to make it hard for me to serve the clan, so the clan let me retire to the elder's den. They didn't know if they should serve me as if I were a true elder to the clan considering that I hadn't been born in the clan and hadn't served them for a while. I wasn't a true member of this cal, so I made by with what I could. I tried to continue to feed the clan even though I was an elder. Not every elder continued to train and hunt for the clan but I did because I felt that I needed to repay them for giving me shelter and food even though I wasn't clan born. I wasn't clan born or forest born but the clan gave me shelter and I was somewhat considered the elder of the clan. I was respected like any other elder, although some apprentices were unsure if they wanted to hunt for me when I hadn't hunted long enough for the clan. I hadn't hunted long enough or contributed long enough to the clan for some of the true clan apprentices to believe that I should be cared for among some of the true clan elders, but they cared for me just the same because the leader insisted that all elders would be cared for, and I was a part of the true clan elders even though I wasn't born in a clan. I still sometimes hunt for the clan just because I feel like I owe something to the clan that treated me as if I was clan born. The leader, deputy, and other senior warriors treated me as if I was a true clan born cat and they treated me with the same respect that they treated any clan born elder with." Te clan looked curious at Whiteberry but they didn't question him they just looked forward to Blacktail's story who would be sharing the next time.