ych done for @rooted-clangen !! hypothetical au note under cut
this au would start on moon 12! rootkit is found by longfalcon, who had gone searching for rarer herbs past clan territory. longfalcon is a bit taken aback by the fact that this is ONE KIT. e may have found massifmallow and her litter before, but they were just that; a mother AND kits. she's brought back, a little after mousekit is, and they get along INSTANTLY being kits of the same age. mouse is the "SHE ASKED FOR NO PICKLES" to root being the she in question. i can see root celebrating when pipit and longf become mates because waow. sister! mouse is still kind of stupid and does not clock that pipit had basically adopted her though.
root still goes on to become a healer, asking her adoptive dad about the role. she sees the spirits of her old family, and still talks to them, but she's very thrown by how strict her old clan was compared to the looseness and casualness of fenceclan. much less horrors except working with spikepaw because wow shes actually kinda messed up. root does not graduate early, and is named by her dad this time. unfortunately longfalcon sucks at naming and she ends up called something like rootback. root would much more actively claim apprentices than longf's "see if they come to me about it" mindset, leading to more healers long term. there's also a starclan-connected cat or two a few years in that root bonds with over that connection.
