In the Beginning

In the beginning of time there was only a great mountain range, rising alone from the ether. On it perched the First Cat: Puma. The lesser beings of the ether were jealous of Puma’s great strength and nobility and conspired to steal His land and stature. They sent great disasters to the mountains: ocean waves to erode away the sharp slopes, great gusts to bare the mighty peaks, and cruel spears of lightning to crack the cliffs in two. Little by little, the jealous creatures eroded away the mountain until the dust and rubble spread throughout the ether and created the earth for them to stand on. Yet noble Puma still stood the highest; as the heart of the mountains was an impenetrable stone that no force of the jealous ether or the weak earth could touch. And Puma’s children and His children’s children stood proud on that stone, and they were StoneClan, and they would never shatter.

StoneClan drove out the jealous LynxClan, the weak DoeClan, the fat SteerClan. Lazy SteerClan claimed the golden fields ringing StoneClan territory, content to grow slow on endless mice and easy shelter. Soft DoeClan gave up the warrior life and turned themselves over to the mercy of Twolegs. And to the far reaches of the earth fled LynxClan, always coveting the territory at the heart of the world. For His mighty clan, Puma reached down from the mountain and scooped out a great valley with one paw. With the other paw, he pressed life into the red clay, and all the mice and herbs and streams sprung out of it. StoneClan would never want for prey nor shelter, and their borders were strong, and it was good.

Another Side of the Story

Some cats say that Puma was one of the Wanderers who stopped to rest on his annual pilgrimage down from the mountain. These cats believe that Puma, tired from his journey, came to rest in a valley and discovered a group of cats there. Prey was scarce and they were hungry, but they still invited Puma to take his share. Touched, Puma resolved to pause his trek and teach these cats of the valley how to hunt and protect themselves, even throughout scarce Leafbare. Puma stayed with these cats for two seasons, but when it came time to resume Hhs journey up the mountain, the cats implored him to stay. When he explained that journeying was his way and that he would pass through again next Leaf-Fall, the cats became insistent, then angry. If Puma would not stay with the boundaries they had constructed, they said, then he would not be allowed to cross them again. Puma, saddened by his friends' greed, left to journey over the other side of the mountain until the end of time.