Title: More Than An Eye Lost
Word count: 448
Fandom: Warriors
Summary: White-eye lost more than just an eye when she became an elder.
Notes: Came up with this while rereading The Darkest Hour. It always struck me as bizarre that Bluestar would change her name to One-eye, so here's my reasoning behind that decision. Bonus points to the person who guesses who the warrior who wants her to change her name is!
The she-cat was rather old when her name was changed. Perhaps it was the day she moved to the elder's den that the ceremony was performed, perhaps it was a while after; she couldn't remember exactly, though the latter seemed more likely.
It was a complaint that brought the matter to Bluestar's attention. A young warrior, a tom, recently promoted from being a 'paw, had hard feelings toward the 'crotchety old elders' who 'couldn't take care of their own ticks'. He protested that Halftail had changed his name when he was injured—though that was as a mark of pride than anything; a reminder of a battle scar—so why should the she-cat who had just lost her eye keep her old name?
The young warrior's friends and former mentor supported him, and the suggestion was brought to Bluestar. The wise leader promptly turned down the notion, reprimanded the warrior for his rudeness, and thought little more of the matter.
By then, White-eye had heard the rumors. Exasperated, she did little to stop the disgruntled tom, and the matter once more worked its way up to the ThunderClan leader's attention.
This time, Bluestar consulted her. White-eye replied that she wouldn't mind too much, just so long as she was fed, and reluctantly, the ceremony was carried out.
"Spirits of StarClan, you know every cat by name. I ask you now to take away the name from the cat you see before you, for it no longer stands for what she is."
One-eye rasped the words out to the young, handsome new leader. Firestar sat attentively, drinking in her words. He would be a good leader for ThunderClan.
One-eye wasn't sure exactly how she remembered the words when she recalled so little else about the rest of the ceremony, though she suspected StarClan might have something to do with that. As she spoke, however, it all came rushing back to her...
She stood, trying not to yawn or scratch herself, at the foot of the Highrock. She was nameless now. Somehow she felt an odd sense of loss: her name, White-eye, had been stripped of her. Why? For what purpose? Because of a selfish tom.
She could have stopped him, she supposed, but did it really matter? No, not in the grand scheme of things. The ceremony continued.
"...and there you say why," the ancient elder finished. "Bluestar told me it was because of my 'half-sight', though I 'remained strong in spirit' or something like that."
"Thank you, One-eye," Firestar said respectfully. After some good-byes, he left.
"What a nice young tom," she mumbled before drifting off to sleep.
She did wish someone would call her White-eye again, though...