MoonClan's ambitious story/(1): The First Four Leaders

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I am happy you want to read this! I am not associated with Warrior Cats in any way, but I love to read them (and write my own versions, too)! Also make sure to comment if you have any ideas or suggestions! (Note: This page is protected because you aren't supposed to "contribute" to this, being my story and all.)

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MoonClan
MoonClan was a Mountain Clan that was founded by Moonstar along with AdderClan and SnowClan as per the Mountain Clan Prophecy. FlowerClan also joined the mix sooner or later. MoonClan was known for being a peaceful Clan, whose only ambitions were to try to live properly and only fight when necessary. The leaders, deputies, warriors, and medicine cats all display these qualities, and the mentors train their apprentices to be educated about the world, more than the usual physical skills. (intro link)

This is the life story of MoonClan's fourth leader, Birchstar, originally named Birchcreek. He was born during the last days of Moonstar's life, but lived through Snowstar and Maplestar's reigns before becoming leader himself. He had been a legend for putting his life in danger for others, and never backed down when it was okay to fight. Other stories are focused on, too, such as Whitestripe (originally Zebrapaw) and Primrosestorm's stories about their struggles to try and be a good warrior, and Thymeclaw and Birdwing's own issues and their friendship. (intro link)

## Prologue: Beginning of the Mountain Clans

### Preface 1: Ancestry

The Mountain Clans' ancestry is mostly mountain lions. A few cats adventuring happened to meet these creatures and made friends with them. The group consisted of tom-cats Flame, Wisdom, Sand, Flight, Falcon & Claw, and she-cats Bright, Amber, Flutter, Light & Horizon. They lived on the mountains for a couple of seasons before Bright happened to fall in love with one of them, Rock Slide.

Rock Slide & Bright happened to have kits. The mountain lions started mixing with the cats pretty soon after that. All eleven cats never left the mountains before their death, and their descendants stayed as well. Soon, the pure-bred mountain lions were no more, also.

### Preface 2: Clan leaders

Several years later, three cats, Moon, Adder & Snow all came together because of a prophecy. It was leaf-bare at the time, and cats started dying. The tribe thought of migrating, but a lot of cats were too ill to go on a journey out of the mountains.

Moon was supposed to be the charmer of the prophecy. She was usually very calm and would lead the group well if it seems to start falling apart.

Adder was the fighter of the prophecy. He was pretty good at fighting & hunting, both verbally & physically, but he also liked to eat as well.

Snow was the thinker of the prophecy. She was pretty intelligent and knew where things go, and how to deal with problems very well.

Then all three of them eventually got dreams of them being in Clans and being organized after they got into Clans, and the group being saved from disaster.

They went through some trouble, both between themselves and with the group, but after a long time, they managed to sort part of the group into Moon's Clan. All three of them changed their names to the leader names, as they became the leaders, and named the Clans after them, and tried to bring their Clans to new-leaf in a good condition.

All three succeeded, and with the new, organized system, the Mountain Clans managed to be saved.

### Preface 3: Clan troubles

At some point, Adderstar got jealous at the size of MoonClan, and apparently, Snowstar was, too.

The two Clans partnered together to bring down MoonClan, and make it have a lower population, but Moonstar was the most faithful in StarClan, so StarClan urged the two leaders to stop.

Snowstar realized that, too, and said that they couldn't fight MoonClan. This made Adderstar angry and made his Clan start fighting with her Clan, too.

At one point, the fighting got so intense, some cats went over to MoonClan. Moonstar was welcome to them and accepted them. Once again, Snowstar tried to agree with Adderstar about fighting with MoonClan, until a dead AdderClan warrior told her not to once again, and tried to tell his leader, too.

Snowstar again said no, and Adderstar got even more angrier. Snowstar decided to make amends with Moonstar, and their Clans both joined together as a single force which nearly wiped out AdderClan. Almost all the AdderClan cats ran to either MoonClan or SnowClan.

Adderstar seemed to learn his lesson, but he made an enemy of both Clans. MoonClan & SnowClan became allies.

Later, Adderstar vowed to get revenge on both Clans. He had many mates and trained all his children & Clanmates about bloodshed.

Tons of battles waged out, but with SnowClan and MoonClan allying, they never won, but they murdered a lot of people.

### Preface 4: Aftermath

Many moons later, Snowstar died, and her great-niece (and former apprentice), Briarfoot, became leader. But in her leadership, SnowClan wasn't that close to MoonClan anymore.

Briarstar had no tolerance for enemies, hated any disloyal warriors, and punished any wrong-doing cats severely.

Many seasons had passed since the creation of the Clans, but MoonClan & SnowClan no longer were allies, as they grew too far apart. However, AdderClan hadn't forgotten their enemies, and regularly attacked them and sent spies and fighting patrols out.

## Part 1: Little Birchkit's Life

### Chapter 1: Nursery

Birchkit was in the nursery, watching kits play mossball. There were mostly older kits and kits *his* age, but right now he felt bored and didn't want to play with them right now, however, he didn't feel like sleeping, either. He was only two and a half moons old at the time, but neither his mother or his littermate and sister, Rainkit, were here, and he didn't know where they were. He decided to go to the elders' den and listen to some stories out of boredom, since the kits had stopped playing.

He saw his sister already there. An elder, Wisdomheart, who was also Moonstar's brother, saw him and signaled him to sit down.

"Hey! You're also the son of my niece, Petuniaheart, and her mate, Snowpool! Come sit down," he said nicely, but in an old, cracked voice. Birchkit sighed.

Being a grandchild of the *great* legend Moonstar, he had no choice but to acknowledge cats that were paying a lot of attention to him because of his heritage. His mother, Petuniaheart, being Moonstar and Orangehill's daughter, made cats pay even more attention to her. But Wisdomheart was Moonstar's brother, so he got the same kind of attention, in fact, probably more since he was an elder. Birchkit assumed they had already gotten used to it by now, but he was still disoriented by all of this attention ever since he was born.

Wisdomheart told Birchkit a story about a time before there were Clans. He used to be called Wisdom, his sister Moon, and her mate Orange, now known as Orangehill. Then Moon met up with two cats who were also her friends, Adder and Snow, and made the Mountain Clans based on a prophecy called the Mountain Clan Prophecy.

Then they created rivalries among themselves. They stayed away from each other.

Birchkit thought about it. Moonstar was still the leader, but she had her first litter, of which both kits died, at the age of forty moons. She had Petuniaheart and her brother, Blazesky, at fifty moons. His mother had Rainkit and him as her third litter at the age of thirty-six moons.

*Basically, Moonstar is really old,* concluded Birchkit's thoughts. *No wonder she was a legend.*

Wisdomheart went on about their ancestry and such. After a bit, he started talking about his deputyship. Birchkit never knew about him being a deputy before, and he wondered why he was in the elder's den if he was a deputy, until Wisdomheart said that he was retired. Birchkit never knew deputies could retire, but then again, he usually liked to stay in the nursery and sleep a lot instead of going to the elder's den. His mother was very comforting to him.

His great-uncle said, "You see, when the Clans were created, I was appointed as the first deputy by Moonstar, my sister, since she thought we were shared blood, and my brother, Calmpond, the medicine cat, since he was a healer already. But you see, I didn't know exactly *how* to be a deputy. I had never been in a leader-like position before, so I wanted to try and figure it out before I had apprentices." He started talking about how after about a dozen moons, he got two apprentices back-to-back. "I guess Moonstar knew what I wanted to do. Be a mentor before I have to retire, so she gave me an apprentice after my first one became a warrior! Well, I was getting pretty old so it makes sense. After a few dozen more moons, I started getting health issues, so I retired and now Falconblue is the deputy. In fact, just a few moons before you were born. But Moonstar is still going! She even mentored our cousin when the Clan was made, even though she was still trying to figure it out herself!"

Rainkit looked very excited about his story, but Birchkit started to wonder more about it. His curiousity grew about the entire history of the Mountain Clans, and then he wondered why he was sleeping so much and staying in the nursery.

But suddenly, he felt hungry. His mother had already weaned Rainkit and him, so that they could learn to eat solid food. Birchkit took out a mouse and wondered what to do next. Then he remembered that he had never met his grandmother before personally. He mostly met her when she was always talking to someone else which was usually about warrior matters he never understood, which usually had something to do with SnowClan and AdderClan, the Clans Wisdomheart mentioned. He wanted to meet her now.

So he went to Moonstar's den, which was obviously the leader's den. Moonstar was just sitting on her moss bed. Nothing about her changed when he entered the den.

"H-H-Hello?" he stammered.

Moonstar did a little smile. "Petuniaheart's son, Birchkit." She then said his other siblings' names, his sisters Sealpaw, Sandpaw and Hailpaw, his brother, Quailkit, and Rainkit.

Birchkit was really confused now and almost thought that Moonstar was losing her whiskers until she added, "I'm naming you. I'm losing memory."

Birchkit then realized she wanted to remember their names by saying them out loud. But he didn't understand how she could be losing memory if she was a leader. Or the other way around. He thought, *Maybe it's because she's* really *old like her brother.*

He just replied, "Okay, um, good-bye?" and left the den taking his mouse with him to a rock. He was still confused about that exchange, however. No one said that his grandmother was losing memory, not even Wisdomheart. He hoped nothing bad would happen all of a sudden.

He saw Quailkit there. He was much older than Rainkit and him, almost an apprentice. He was also smart and kind and usually taught Rainkit and Birchkit about certain things happening in MoonClan when the two couldn't leave the nursery. However, right now, Quailkit was barely touching his snow hare and seemed deep in thought.

*A Snowstar thing,* Birchkit thought. Quailkit didn't even seem to notice him. He just prodded the hare. Birchkit then decided to speak to his brother.

"Um, Quailkit, are you okay?" Birchkit asked him.

Quailkit replied, "Yep, I'm *all* right," in a rather sarcastic tone.

"Is something wrong? You don't seem-" Birchkit was saying, taking a bite out of his mouse, but Quailkit interrupted, "Nope, I'm *totally* fine!"

Birchkit knew there was something wrong with him since he didn't usually act like that, but he decided not to care about it. Why did he have to care, anyway? He was only a young kit. Quailkit probably had a good reason that he didn't know. *Is it about Moonstar?* he wondered for a moment but he shrugged since he didn't know the answer to that.

He finished his mouse and went to the training section. He saw Sealpaw training with her mentor, Blazesky, who was also their uncle and Petuniaheart's brother and littermate. He got the same kind of attention as his sister and uncle, too.

"Hey, Birchkit, you're not old enough to train yet," teased Sealpaw humorously.

"He can stay to watch," said Blazesky politely.

Birchkit went into a sitting position and started watching them fight. Sealpaw seemed to be concentrating on their uncle's moves. Blazesky looked at her head but aimed for the chest. Sealpaw toppled backwards, but immediately got up, and scratched his nose.

Birchkit thought the fighting was intense, so when they paused for a bit, he asked, "Don't you get hurt?"

Blazesky replied thoughtfully, "Not very hurt. Our claws are always sheathed during training so we don't hurt our apprentice or mentor. Safety is a big thing in Clans. But when Sealpaw falls down, she is expected to see this when she fights in real life. But honestly, falling down is a barrier to no cat, and shouldn't hurt you."

Birchkit thought about it. He looked at his paws, wondering if that made sense. He wondered about warriors who might get hurt from falling, but he couldn't think of any. *Will there be one in the future?* he continued to wonder. There were already a few expecting queens in the nursery, but he wasn't really sure if that was possible or not.

Then they had a snack break, which was three mice, and Birchkit also ate a mouse, too.

After their break, they continued. Sealpaw ran a few feet away from Blazesky and he chased her. But when Blazesky caught up, she immediately whipped around and scratched him on the forehead.

"Good method, because with claws unsheathed, that can make blood pour out and blind your attacker," he pointed out. Sealpaw looked proud of herself. But then he warned, "But be careful. He can immediately attack after you do, so always keep your reflexes and muscles active while fighting."

Sealpaw nodded, heeding the warning, and they continued.

Birchkit got a little bored of watching them since they seemed to be doing the same attacks over and over again and decided to go back to sleep as he usually did. But he started to wonder more and more about the world after listening to Wisdomheart's story.

### Chapter 2: Moonstar

A half-moon later, Birchkit felt especially light & joyous that day, as he was looking forward to new things. He and Rainkit were three moons old now. Wisdomheart had told him more stories by this time, especially about MoonClan's history, of which there was a lot because it was nearly sixty-nine moons since its founding. Rainkit was also fascinated by the stories. He saw a quintet of kits playing Clan, and Rainkit & Quailkit were two of them. He asked if he could join in, and Shadowkit, a tom-kit, who was playing as leader said yes.

Birchkit was supposed to be an apprentice and his mentor was Quailkit. The medicine cat was Rainkit, and she pretended to put some cobwebs on Shadowkit's invisible wound. Swankit, a she-kit, was pretending to watch over the borders, which was the entrance to the nursery. Icekit, another she-kit, who was playing as Clan deputy, said to Shadowkit, "I saw a fox! It was huge!"

"Oh no!" he exclaimed in mock shock. "Quailkit, Icekit, Swankit and Birchkit, you have to go fight it!"

Shadowkit & Icekit were littermates, and were as old as Quailkit. Swankit was their younger sister, about as old as him & Rainkit.

Their mothers, Petuniaheart & Goldenlily, were watching them, and they looked really happy. The other queens such as Rosepetal, who was one moon in, and Heronwing, who just joined, were also watching, too. And so was Orchidmoon, another queen who already gave birth, and his cousins' mother, Blazesky's mate, whom he didn't actually know who it was, since she was usually a sharp-tongued cat. *There are a lot of kits in the nursery,* Birchkit thought wondrously.

The four of them ran off in one direction somewhere else in the nursery, towards where the fox was supposed to be. "Who should be the fox?" asked Icekit curiously, since all kits already had roles. The other kits looked like they had the same question, too.

Birchkit spotted a kit in the corner, just watching them sadly. His mother, Flipsnow, was nudging him towards them, but he shrank back to his mother. The kit was smaller than him, probably younger than him. *Was he shy?* Birchkit wondered, but he decided to try and talk to him.

Birchkit walked up to the kit, and asked, "What's your name? I'm Birchkit!"

"Mountainkit," he replied rather weakly. Somehow to Birchkit, Mountainkit looked pretty scared of the other kits.

"Well, Mountainkit, do you want to play with us? We're playing Clan, and we need someone to play as a fox," Birchkit asked politely.

"Go on," urged Flipsnow softly. "You shouldn't be very shy, since you're eventually going to be a warrior." Mountainkit looked between his mother & Birchkit, then finally walked up to them, although grudgingly.

Then Birchkit went back and said, "I got someone to play as the fox," to the rest of the group. They were surprised, but in a good way.

"Well, he's not huge, but I guess he can do it," said Icekit quietly. Quailkit and Swankit nodded.

Mountainkit looked confused about what to do, but Birchkit said, "Okay, so you just need to act tough and strong and walk haughtily like this." He demonstrated. "And when we find you, say, 'You cats can't stop me!'" Shadowkit and Rainkit also nodded from the corner of the nursery.

Mountainkit just nodded, and obeyed. Birchkit thought he was starting to warm up to them, and it made him smile. He always wanted to be friendly to his Clanmates, no matter what.

"There's the fox!" Icekit pointed to Mountainkit with her big toe. He acted as Birchkit told him to do, tough and strong, and walking haughtily.

"We need to scare him off!" exclaimed Quailkit, going into a fighting stance.

Then the four of them started to surround Mountainkit, and he said silently, "You cats can't stop me..."

"No, louder, like you're tough," rectified Birchkit.

Mountainkit repeated, "You cats can't stop me!" He tried to look even more tough.

"Oh yeah?" Icekit mewed humorously. "Don't worry, we *will!"* She went into a pouncing stance.

Quailkit added in a strong tone, "Because we're strong warriors!" Swankit nodded fiercely. Then they started playfighting.

When they stopped, they were laughing very much. Birchkit was laughing, too. *At least Mountainkit is finally being friends with us!* he thought happily. He had noticed Mountainkit before, but he usually just stayed with his mother, Flipsnow, all the time. But he occasionally talked to Birchkit's cousin, Zebrakit.

"Can I be a regular cat now?" asked Mountainkit joyfully.

"Sure," Icekit replied, brimming with happiness. "You can be my apprentice. By the way, I'm the Clan deputy!"

"Cool," said Mountainkit softly. Shadowkit walked up to them and added, "And the Clan name is after me, ShadowClan! Because I'm the leader. Like Moonstar and MoonClan!" He chuckled.

"And I'm the medicine cat! A more of a peaceful role! " Rainkit exclaimed gleefully, following Shadowkit. Swankit nodded, too.

"I'm a normal warrior, but I have an apprentice which is Birchpaw. I mean Birchkit," Quailkit said calmly. "But Birchpaw will be his apprentice name." He smiled at Birchkit. Birchkit smiled back and nodded.

"But having a deputy mentor is cool," added Birchkit. "I heard your father was Wisdomheart's first apprentice, Mountainkit. And then he got Applefall's mother, who is also my father, Snowpool's cousin, as an apprentice directly after your father became a warrior!"

Mountainkit looked very interested all of a sudden. "Really?" he exclaimed excitedly. Birchkit smirked. *He must be like me when it comes to lifestyle,* he thought jokingly.

Icekit quickly nodded. "Yep! But I also have deputy duties, too. Anyway, let's continue playing!" The other kits nodded happily. The queens smiled at them exuberantly, too.

So they played for a while, until it was time for lunch. As usual, the kits, queens & elders ate first, since they couldn't hunt for themselves.

Icekit flicked her tail when she got to the fresh-kill pile. "I'd like a hare," she said while picking it out.

"I want some water," said Rainkit, walking over to the wet mossball area. She took a mossball and squeezed it. Some water dripped into her mouth.

Swankit didn't speak while going to the fresh-kill pile. In fact, Birchkit didn't recall her ever speaking. *I wonder why,* he thought curiously but perplexedly, too.

So he decided to talk to her. "Hey, Swankit." She responded with a smile, but didn't say anything.

"So um... did you like playing Clan with me and the others?" Birchkit asked meekly. Swankit simply nodded.

Birchkit picked out a hare & Swankit picked out a squirrel. She sat next to Quailkit on a small grassy patch. Birchkit also sat next to her.

He remembered something was bothering Quailkit for a long time, for at least a half-moon. His troubled brother just touched his mouse again. Swankit didn't seem to notice, so Birchkit asked Quailkit something.

"What's bothering you so much, anyway? And are you going to eat that mouse?" he asked.

"Nothing for you to know, and yes," said Quailkit rather irritably. Swankit stared at Birchkit peculiarly, as if he was weird for asking the question.

"Why don't I need to know?" asked Birchkit a little angrily.

Quailkit turned his head away from Birchkit to Swankit. Then she nodded, and Quailkit sighed.

"Well, I don't see how you don't know this, the warriors were gossiping all this around, but maybe you were sleeping so much, but... well..." started Quailkit half-heartedly. Swankit nodded again.

Birchkit remembered he usually slept and stayed in the nursery a lot, but surely he must have heard some snippets of that gossip since he went to the fresh-kill pile and the elders' den, too.

"Moonstar, you know... Our grandmother? She's dying," his brother finished.

Birchkit was incredibly shocked and appalled. "Really? But how?" He remembered the silent worry he had for the half-moon, but he didn't think about it too much before. It was the first time someone had actually told him that Moonstar was dying. It opened up a new sense of worry and he had no idea what to think for the future of the Clan. He would be a warrior in the future. Even though he barely knew her that well, she was still his maternal grandmother, the founder of MoonClan, was an important part in the history of MoonClan, of what Wisdomheart told him, and one of the three cats in the Mountain Clan Prophecy. All of which he thought had a lot of significance to him and the rest of MoonClan. And he was also her youngest grandchild.

Swankit pretended to look ill, and cough a lot. That answered Birchkit's question.

"See? Moonstar's awfully sick," said Quailkit, looking really distressed. Now Birchkit fully realized why Quailkit was so irritated. He was even more worried than Birchkit or seemingly other warriors of the Clan were about this. It made sense since Moonstar was *his* grandmother, too, of course. And Quailkit probably couldn't do anything because he was only a kit, not even a medicine cat.

"Okay," was all Birchkit said. He felt very uncomfortable listening to all this, so he quickly finished half his hare, and went to Wisdomheart, who was eating next to the medicine cat's den. Birchkit remembered that his daughter, Lilypool, was the medicine cat. He wondered how it would be like to be an apprentice of his uncle, like Sealpaw and Maplestripe, Wisdomheart's son, since Lilypool's mentor was definitely Calmpond, his other great-uncle.

Wisdomheart was eating a squirrel and sitting with his cousin, Pinetail. Pinetail also lived in the time of the Tribe, while he was apprentice age, twelve moons younger than his three cousins. Then Birchkit asked, "Is Moonstar really dying?"

They looked distressed for a moment, then they both sadly nodded. "She is. From a sickness, which I don't know what it is, exactly," said Wisdomheart gloomily. "Not greencough since it's green-leaf, and it isn't contagious either since no one else got it." Pinetail nodded in agreement.

Birchkit nodded, but he wondered if the sickness was very fatal. "I have more questions," he said before they could stop talking.

He asked why Swankit wasn't speaking. Pinetail told him that she was a mute, so she couldn't speak.

He also asked if Goldenlily was related to anyone. Pinetail said Goldenlily was his daughter.

He even asked about Mountainkit & Flipsnow. Wisdomheart said Flipsnow was his mate's brother's daughter. His mate's name was a kittypet named Queen who temporarily joined the Clan as Queenheart, and her brother's name was Earl.

Wisdomheart said that Flipsnow was originally named Felicia, but at six moons old, she and her sister ran to MoonClan, Wisdomheart's Clan and was renamed Flippaw by Moonstar.

He also mentioned her sister's name, which was Penelope, who was renamed Peonypaw by Moonstar, later Peonyclaw, after her sharp personality. And she fell in love with Blazesky as an apprentice and mated with him as a warrior. Right now, their first litter was almost as old as Sealpaw, Sandpaw and Hailpaw, and the second litter almost as old as Shadowkit, Icekit and Quailkit.

Birchkit thought this was really interesting, but it didn't matter to him very much right now, since he was only a kit.

Birchkit asked one more question: Who was going to be the new leader & deputy if Moonstar died?

He explained that Falconblue would be the new leader, but it is unknown who he would choose as deputy. Birchkit was a little confused, but he was okay with it.

After listening to everything, Birchkit went into the nursery, thinking about everything Wisdomheart, Pinetail, Quailkit & Swankit told him.

*Moonstar's dying? From a sickness? Swankit cannot speak at all? Goldenlily's related to Moonstar, and also me? Flipsnow's that cat Earl's daughter, and so is Peonyclaw? And Peonyclaw is the name of my uncle's mate?* He knew what she looked like, since she was his cousins' mother in the nursery, but he never knew her name.

And it turned out she was also the sister of Flipsnow. He thought about Mountainkit.

Zebrakit and Stonekit were both littermates, a couple of moons older than him & Rainkit, and were the younger kits of Blazesky & Peonyclaw. Violetpaw and Firepaw were also littermates, and eight moons older than Zebrakit and Stonekit, so nearly warriors. Their mentors were Maplestripe and Mountainkit's father, Littleclaw, respectively, which he wondered if it was coincidental or not. Blazesky was Petuniaheart's littermate & Moonstar & Orangehill's son. *They're all cousins, too,* he said silently, remembering Mountainkit only talking to Zebrakit.

He only asked his last question because he wondered if Falconblue was fit to be the leader of the Clan. He had never seen him before, oddly enough, even thought he was supposed to be deputy. The elders, especially the wise Wisdomheart, and queens, like Petuniaheart, had told him that Falconblue joined the Clan at ten moons old as Falconpaw, and later on became a warrior in a few moons since he already knew most of the skills. But no one told him where he came from, or if he could be trusted. It started hurting his brain when he tried to think more about it.

*I'm only a kit,* he reminded himself. *I don't need to know so much about this right now.*

He got so sleepy from thinking that he padded over to his moss bed, put some moss on his pelt (like he liked to do), and thought about chasing rabbits and following butterflies instead, which were two of his previous dreams. When he told Rainkit about them, she said she got the same dreams, and they were both surprised and fascinated at the same time. They figured it was just because they were littermates. Birchkit then fell into a deep sleep.

### Chapter 3: AdderClan

A quarter-moon later, Birchkit heard Moonstar announcing something in a raspy voice.

Cats started crowding around Highrock. Birchkit stayed at the mouth of the nursery. Moonstar looked around to see if everyone was paying attention to her. Then she started.

"To begin, I have some bad news. I only have one life left from my illness, and I am so close to losing this one, too. Since I am ready to join the ranks of StarClan, Lilypool, I request that you don't give me any more treatment. I am ready to die peacefully. I am glad to give leadership to Falconblue once I die, and I hope he will be a great leader."

The cats didn't really look surprised since they knew about it already, but Lilypool just nodded. Birchkit wasn't really surprised, either, but very confused instead. *Why does she want to die?* She stopped to take a break then continued. "We have some new apprentices, too."

Moonstar then gestured towards Quailkit. She said the ritual, and Quailkit's mentor was Blazesky. Birchkit got confused for a moment. He thought Blazesky already had an apprentice, his sister, Sealpaw.

She also made Shadowkit & Icekit apprentices, since they were the same age, of course. Shadowkit was apprenticed to Birchkit's father, Snowpool, and Icekit to Forestcreek, Snowpool's brother. He thought it was interesting because Shadowpaw and Icepaw were littermates, and so were Snowpool and Forestcreek.

Then Moonstar did her smile and said, "We also need to welcome five new warriors."

His three sisters, Sealpaw, Hailpaw and Sandpaw were included in this list. They became Sealbranch, Hailstream & Sandleap. Two brothers (who Birchkit had never met before), Nightpaw & Nutpaw became warriors. They were Nightnose & Nutclaw.

All eight cats were congratulated for becoming apprentices and warriors.

Birchkit then knew why Blazesky was given Quailpaw. Because Sealpaw became a warrior, now Sealbranch.

Birchkit wondered when he would become an apprentice. He was a teeny bit more than halfway there, three and a quarter moons old, but seeing his siblings being promoted made him want to grow up faster.

#### Later -----

A few days later, Birchkit was minding his own business while carrying his mouse to a small dirt patch, until he was pulled back into the nursery by his mother. So was his sister, Rainkit.

All the kits were pulled back in by their mothers. Birchkit had no idea what was going on at all. Then he got told by his mother firmly, "Stay here. I promise I will come back," and she went out.

Goldenlily & Flipsnow told Swankit & Mountainkit to stay in the nursery, too, and left them very puzzled.

Birchkit gestured towards them to come to him & Rainkit, and they relaxed a bit.

But Birchkit still felt awfully confused like the others until Swankit gestured Birchkit to come to the mouth of the nursery. Rainkit & Mountainkit also went to the opening. They saw tons of cats fighting. Swankit turned her head towards Birchkit, and she had a very scared expression.

*What?!* thought Birchkit quickly. *They're fighting? Against whom?* It was the first time he witnessed an actual fight happening. Otherwise he only heard of these fights happening. He didn't know that he would witness a fight so young, only a kit.

Then Sealbranch ran to the nursery, and seemed to look perplexed at four kits staring out the nursery watching their Clan fight unknown cats, two of them her younger siblings.

She said, "Hey, um, I thought I would check up on all of you kits..."

"Will you tell us what's going on, sister? it's scary!" said Rainkit. Swankit and Mountainkit nodded, although fearfully of the fight.

*If Swankit could speak, she'd probably* still *stay silent like Mountainkit,* thought Birchkit seriously.

Sealbranch filled them in. Apparently, Adderstar had died, but his great-nephew, Fangclaw, became the leader of *AdderClan,* and he had his great-uncle's bloody ways. He had sent a group of highly-trained warriors to try and murder MoonClan. The newly-made apprentices, Shadowpaw, Icepaw & Quailpaw, weren't going to fight, since they had almost no experience compared to the older apprentices, so they stayed in the apprentices' den with Blazesky and Maplestripe guarding them. The older apprentices had to help the warriors in battle though.

The queens in the nursery who weren't expecting or nursing any kits were going to fight, too. But they wouldn't fight on the front lines, Sealbranch had said, only help the regular warriors fight.

Sealbranch then had to run off to fight, too, and Birchkit felt lonely again. He knew MoonClan was the biggest Clan of all three Clans (as per the tales of the elders, anyway), but there weren't a lot of queens in the nursery left. There were only two, and both were still pregnant with kits.

The other three kits had fallen asleep, who were Birchkit and Mountainkit's shared cousins, Zebrakit and Stonekit, and a kit who usually only hung out with Mountainkit, Berrykit, due to either boredom, or sensitivity to their mothers not being there.

The four kits were still awake, but scared. They kept watching out the nursery to see what was going on. They saw a few warriors defending the nursery, including Sandleap, which made sense to Birchkit. He shuddered at the thought of fierce and dangerous AdderClan warriors entering the nursery. Birchkit or the other kits barely knew how to fight.

But then, to their horror, they saw Goldenlily pinned, and about to be bitten in the neck. Swankit looked like she gasped, even though she made no noise. But then, Snowpool leaped onto the AdderClan cat, and they rolled over in a tumble.

Swankit was very shocked, but then she relaxed when Goldenlily got saved by Birchkit's father.

Birchkit bit his lip hard when he saw his father fight ferociously and intensely against the AdderClan warrior.

Then Birchkit saw Falconblue fighting. But then his senses almost seemed to corrupt when he saw who he was fighting against. Petuniaheart. His mother. And Peonyclaw, too. His vision became blurry as he could not comprehend what was going on. *The deputy?! Fighting against Petuniaheart and Peonyclaw?!* his mind screamed. He remembered Wisdomheart's stories and his worries about Falconblue, if he was fit to be a leader of MoonClan. *Were those worries... right?* he wondered as he was still trying to make sense of it.

"What? What's going on?" asked Rainkit confusingly, looking at Falconblue fighting against Petuniaheart & Peonyclaw. She had seen it, too.

"One of them must be a traitor," suggested Mountainkit thoughtfully. Swankit nodded. Birchkit and Rainkit didn't respond, because they were still confused. Birchkit saw Falconblue, Petuniaheart and Peonyclaw disappear from sight and his heart started pounding even more, as it already was. *What is going on?! What happened to them?!*

They kept watching, but Birchkit still could not forget Falconblue fighting against *another* MoonClan Clanmate. Two of which were his mother and aunt. He couldn't find either of them on the battlefield and his mind worried the worst could have happened.

In an hour or so, the fighting ceased, but Sealbranch came back with sad news.

"Our deputy, Falconblue, has been siding with AdderClan all along. He murdered poor, frail Moonstar, hoping to become leader. We decided we wanted to send him off to AdderClan, but he refused, saying he'd stay and become leader for the Clan. But then, a ton of warriors got angry and killed him. He's gone now, but we're afraid he had told AdderClan about our secrets before that, and we're without a leader or deputy!"

Birchkit blinked. The news was shocking for him. *Moonstar's dead? Because of Falconblue?* His head started to spin, and Rainkit, Mountainkit & Swankit looked just as shocked, surprised & very confused as he did. Birchkit had no idea what to say, or think, except that... maybe... he was *indeed* right about his worries all along.

"I'm sorry if this is too much for you, since you're only kits, but... this is the truth," continued Sealbranch gloomily. She looked at the floor in sadness.

Snowpool, their father, came in and nodded. "Your grandmother died, and without a doubt, Falconblue killed her, and started attacking your mother & aunt."

*"Is Petuniaheart okay?"* Birchkit couldn't help asking.

Sealbranch looked nervously at Snowpool, and he drew in a sharp breath. The four kits felt really scared. *I swear to StarClan, if she isn't okay...* Birchkit thought anxiously, fear gripping his heart. *I might die!*

"Well... she's in the medicine cat den," Snowpool said carefully.

"She's hurt?!" yowled Rainkit in shock. Birchkit had the same expression.

Snowpool shook his head. "Not much. But Peonyclaw is fine."

Swankit pointed to herself and looked confused. It took a moment for Birchkit & Snowpool to understand.

"Oh... your mother? She's okay, too. Goldenlily & I fought off an AdderClan warrior that was about to kill her, but I saved her. She's fine, too," said Snowpool, and turning his attention to Mountainkit, he replied, "Flipsnow is okay, too. She has a scratch on her chest, but that's pretty much it."

All the kits were relieved. Their mothers weren't dead.

"Alright, do you want to come with me to the meeting? We need a new leader," he said slowly. Birchkit thought about it. He didn't know Moonstar very much, anyway, but since she was very important to MoonClan's history, he wondered how it was so easy for Falconblue to kill her, a legend of the Mountain Clans. After all, she brought the change to the Mountain Tribe. He wasn't at all sad about Falconblue dying, though. But he knew that since both deputy and leader were now dead, they needed a knew leader.

"Yes!" yowled Rainkit & Birchkit. Mountainkit & Swankit simply nodded.

"Okay, then," Snowpool said, leading them out. Birchkit noticed Shadowpaw, Icepaw and Quailpaw outside, too, and they said nothing, just looking confused instead.

The cats were negotiating a lot about the new leader and deputy. There were even some arguments going on.

"I think that Blazesky should be the leader," Peonyclaw commanded. "He *is* a pretty good candidate, not to mention being Moonstar's son."

"Well, it doesn't matter if he is the son or not," Maplestripe started, looking at Peonyclaw, "but I guess he is good enough?"

Blazesky shook his head. "I am pretty sure Moonstar would have chosen someone else other than me."

Flipsnow tried to defend her sister, and even stated that Peonyclaw could be leader, but then Orchidmoon spoke up and said, "She doesn't have MoonClan blood, though."

"Does that matter?" Peonyclaw hissed. Another argument ensued about cats wanting Blazesky or Peonyclaw to be leader.

Then Snowpool yowled, "*Be quiet! Moonstar was know for always staying calm even when things get tough! You can't argue all the time! It isn't MoonClan to do this nonsense!"*

Everybody stopped talking and stared at him. Then a lot of MoonClan exchanged looks and started talking about something different. Birchkit blinked when he realized what they were talking about, and Rainkit looked surprised. Then Petuniaheart went up to Snowpool and said, "My dear, you should be the new leader of MoonClan! It's clear you have the leadership to do it."

"What? But... I'm not very..." started Snowpool, but he trailed off.

Then other cats started approving of him being leader, and finally, Snowpool gave in. Birchkit noticed Shadowpaw looking shocked for a moment, but then he started smiling along with the other MoonClan warriors. Birchkit thought it was because he was Snowpool's apprentice, soon to be Snowstar.

Birchkit was confused. His father would be leader? He was again a leader's descendant? He thought he should be proud of his father, but he only felt pure confusion at *EVERYTHING* that happened that day.

He went to the nursery again, and fell asleep, feeling awfully tired all of a sudden, and too confused, ignoring the celebration. His head was hurting too much from the worries he had previously, and how it *all* came true.

### Chapter 4: Zebrapaw & Stonepaw

A moon had passed since Snowstar became leader. It hadn't occurred to the Clan his name would be the same as the founder of SnowClan, but nobody seemed to care.

Snowstar ran the Clan pretty well, and had chosen Sealbranch as deputy. Her sisters, Hailstream, Sandleap & Rainkit congratulated her, and so did her brothers & mother, Birchkit, Quailpaw & Petuniaheart.

Zebrakit felt tired. He had wondered when it would be time for his & Stonekit's ceremony. It was now six whole moons away from their birth. He looked at his cousin, Mountainkit, and he was talking eagerly with Birchkit, Rainkit & Swankit.

*If only I was that talkative to other kits,* Zebrakit thought longingly.

He thought about his namesakes. His grandmother through his mother, Peonyclaw, a kittypet named Wendy, had went to the savanna before with her Twoleg and told Peonyclaw about zebras, striped animals. Wendy said her Twoleg called them "zebras", otherwise she used to call them "striped horses."

Zebrakit felt a little embarrassed his name was just something his grandmother's Twoleg called them, which wasn't even a cat word.

He scratched the nursery floor, out of impatience, and finally decided to look for Stonekit. She wasn't necessarily nice to anyone but her littermate, himself. She wasn't even nice to their parents, Blazesky & Peonyclaw, or Violetpaw & Firepaw, their brother & sister in their parents' first litter.

So he was the one to look for her.

*You are the only one to tame the beast,* said a voice in Zebrakit's head. It was Peonyclaw's voice, but he wasn't sure *she* was the one who actually said that.

He shook that off and kept looking. He finally found her by the rock slicing up a bunch of prey.

"What are you doing?! You're not supposed to do that!" Zebrakit yowled. Stonekit was about to protest but seemingly remembered who she was talking to, and swallowed. Then she replied calmly, "I can do whatever I want since I'm a kit, right?"

"No, you have to *eat* it. Not play with it! Like this!" Zebrakit protested, and then took a chunk of prey and dropped it into his mouth. "See!" he said, swallowing. Stonekit yawned in boredom and said, "Whatever. When is our ceremony, anyway?"

"I dunno," Zebrakit replied, his anger fading away. "We're exactly six moons old."

Then he spotted Snowstar talking to his father, Blazesky, and Snowstar nodded. Then he leaped up to Highrock, and did the formal StarClan sayings. Zebrakit & Stonekit looked elated, and cats started gathering. Zebrakit remembered that it was also his siblings' warrior ceremony.

"Zebrakit & Stonekit, you both have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, under the moon, until you receive your warrior name, you will both be known as Zebrapaw & Stonepaw. Your mentors will be Sandleap & Nightnose. I hope they will pass down all they know on to you."

*"Zebrapaw! Stonepaw! Zebrapaw! Stonepaw!"* the Clan cheered.

Zebrapaw spotted Birchkit staring warily at him & Stonepaw. He simply ignored him and touched noses with Sandleap. It felt weird that his mentor was the leader's daughter, and his much older cousin.

Snowstar continued , "I, also call upon our warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices, Violetpaw and Firepaw. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn. By the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names." He continued the ceremony and they were Violetrain and Fireclaw.

*"Violetrain! Fireclaw!"* the Clan repeated.

Snowstar concluded the ceremony, and Zebrapaw wondered what he should do now. "Do we train?" he asked Sandleap.

"Sure, if you want to," she answered calmly. "We can do fighting training."

"Well, I do," he replied, thinking about what his warriorhood would be like.

Then they trained for about an hour in a quiet, secluded area, where no one would usually bother them. But then he noticed Birchkit eating a mouse and watching them. It made him feel uncomfortable, so he asked Sandleap if he could take a short break, and she agreed. She must also have felt uncomfortable with her brother watching them, seeing this was her very first time as a mentor.

"Birchkit, can you please play with your friends? We're training right now," Zebrapaw requested Birchkit.

*"Why?* When your father trained Sealbranch as an apprentice, he let me watch!" Birchkit said defiantly and walked away.

"Phew, I felt nervous with him watching! Let's continue," Sandleap said calmly.

After another hour or so, Sandleap said, "Wow, you have very interesting methods, indeed, Zebrapaw! Keep up the nice work!"

"Thanks, Sandleap," Zebrapaw replied quietly.

Then four kits went up to Zebrapaw later when he was eating a snowshoe hare. Three of them were his cousins, Birchkit, Rainkit & Mountainkit, but one was a kit he didn't know much. He tried to remember the name. Finally it came to him.

"Swankit? Birchkit, Rainkit & Mountainkit? What are you doing?" he asked nonchalantly.

"We're talking about how you made Birchkit sad!" blurted out Rainkit. Zebrapaw sighed.

*Kits are so emotional,* he thought. But then again, these kits were only two moons younger, Swankit and Mountainkit a quarter-moon younger than Birchkit and Rainkit.

"You were making me and Sandleap uncomfortable, Birchkit, and you didn't even ask her if you could watch," said Zebrapaw casually.

"So? How am I doing anything?" Birchkit yelled.

Zebrapaw sighed in exasperation. "Do you know what it is like to be watched when you are doing something that needs incredible focus? And if you make a mistake, everyone who is watching you will judge you based on that stupid mistake. But you aren't an apprentice yet so you won't understand until you *do* become one."

The four kits looked surprised but it didn't seem to calm them down. Instead Birchkit and Rainkit seemed to look angrier.

"That is a dumb explanation! *I won't judge you!*" Birchkit yowled. Rainkit fiercely nodded.

Zebrapaw shrugged in resignation. "Whatever! I am not going to waste any more precious time arguing with an immature kit! I will eat in *peace!*" Then he took his snowshoe hare and sat in his new den, the apprentice den. Then Stonepaw came up to him with a mouse.

"How was your training? I bet it was terrible," Stonepaw teased. Zebrapaw sighed. "Don't be so negative, please. Was *your* training terrible? Hopefully not otherwise you will take out all your frustration on me."

Stonepaw just raised her eyebrow and shrugged. "Fine, whatever. But Nightnose is just a tad bit weird so I got frustrated." She flicked her tail and sat down next to him with her mouse.

"But I did spot you with those really younger kits. What were you doing? Arguing with them? I doubt their mothers would be happy with you," Stonepaw continued, smirking. Zebrapaw sighed in exasperation again. "No, they were arguing with *me!* About how I didn't let Birchkit watch me while I was training with Sandleap. I thought it was ridiculous."

Stonepaw looked a little surprised but she just shrugged and replied, "Really? Well, then I agree with you. Kits like them are dumber than *newborns.* They shouldn't be so sensitive otherwise they will want to run away from the battlefield once they see AdderClan's fierce and killing glares."

Zebrapaw shrugged in reply, but in an appreciative way. His littermate was really annoying at times (and sometimes with extreme descriptions, too), but she was the only one who sided with him sometimes. He wanted to change the subject to something more meaningful, though, so he talked to her about their training, and Stonepaw complied.

After a while, they took a nap, and woke up the next day. Zebrapaw ate a mouse at the prey pile and looked around for Sandleap. She was talking to Sealbranch.

Then Swankit came and took a mouse, too, but she glared at Zebrapaw. Zebrapaw ignored her, of course. *I never thought these kits would have a grudge against me,* he thought angrily. It was annoying to him.

Then Sandleap went to Zebrapaw and asked him to train, and he was glad, so he did training with Sandleap again. Swankit was still glaring at him, though.

When he was finished, he decided to drink some water from a soaked moss ball. But then suddenly, he felt something pounce on him.

"Hey! Who in Silverpelt is that?!" Zebrapaw exclaimed and tried to throw it off. Then he turned around and saw it was Birchkit.

"Hmph, I learned some pouncing moves! See, I can also be an apprentice, too!" Birchkit yowled indignantly.

"That isn't what I said at all, I am pretty sure!" Zebrapaw groaned. "If you have nothing better to do, bother someone else like Quailpaw."

Then Birchkit's friends came. *Oh, great, what is their problem,* Zebrapaw thought, really bugged off by them now.

"Look, if you want to pick on someone, pick on Stonepaw," he told them. "She is probably more annoying than I would ever be to you."

Stonepaw was sitting at the prey pile somewhere within earshot and she glared at Zebrapaw, except in a nicer fashion, since she was only ever nice to him.

Then Rainkit told him something surprising. "Well, Stonepaw said that you were being weird, too."

Zebrapaw blinked. "Come again? What do you mean by being weird?"

Swankit pointed to a mouse at the prey pile and then pretended to snatch an invisible one harshly and eat it.

"Are you saying I stole a mouse?" Zebrapaw responded, somehow understanding what she said. "I am pretty sure the only mice I stole were from the prey pile itself, not from another cat because that would make no sense."

"Your sister, Stonepaw, stole a mouse from Birchkit yesterday and said that you told her to!" Rainkit fully explained, with a little anger in her voice. Mountainkit nodded.

Zebrapaw blinked a few times before understanding what she said. Then he looked at Stonepaw and back at Rainkit. "What are you even talking about? Why would I tell her that?" he exclaimed in disbelief. He didn't think kits were so gullible as to believe anyone, even if it was wrong. He never remembered him or Stonepaw being gullible like this. "Why would you believe her anyway?" he continued.

"Why not?" retorted Birchkit. Zebrapaw just sighed. *I will have to talk to Stonepaw about this,* he thought angrily, except his anger was redirected towards Stonepaw now.

But then Stonepaw came towards him first. "Hey, you said those kits were bothering you, right? So I gave them a taste of their own medicine," she explained casually.

Zebrapaw glared at her. "I didn't say you had to do anything. And why did you even throw me under the dirt? Did I ask you to?"

Stonepaw just shrugged. "Whatever, you did seem pretty annoyed about the kits."

Zebrapaw flicked his tail uncomfortably, since she didn't answer his second question. But he just decided to drink the water from the moss ball and left. The other five cats watched him leave. Zebrapaw went to the mouth of the apprentices' den and watched them to see what they would do. Then he heard a voice, which somehow seemed familiar.

"What were you doing?" asked Shadowpaw, coming up from behind him. Then he sat next to him. Shadowpaw's sister and littermate, Icepaw, also came up to him and sat next to Zebrapaw.

"I agree, what were you *doing?!* Were you *arguing* with them?!" Icepaw said to Zebrapaw loudly, which made him think that she was probably angry, too.

"They were arguing with me over something that Stonepaw did!" Zebrapaw answered her in a firm but respectful tone. "I thought it was ridiculous so I left the scene."

Shadowpaw perked his ears up. "Really?" he asked, a little bit confused but intrigued at the same time. "What was it about?"

Zebrapaw told him about how Stonepaw stole a mouse from Birchkit, and she did it because the kits were annoying him previously.

Icepaw looked astonished and exclaimed, "Really! She is a piece of dirt, then. But did you tell her to do it?"

Zebrapaw sighed. "No! Why does everyone think that? Do you think I would do that?"

Birchkit, Rainkit, Swankit and Mountainkit started running away from Stonepaw and she was chasing them. Shadowpaw and Icepaw noticed too and looked at Zebrapaw skeptically.

Zebrapaw groaned loudly and shouted, really pissed off by now, "You know what, let me end this once and for all!" Then he ran out of the den and asked, *"What are you doing?!"*

Birchkit yowled in reply, "She said that she would claw us up! And you are her brother and littermate, you know!"

Stonepaw growled, "They called me a piece of crowfood." Then she looked at Icepaw and hissed, "I also heard what Icepaw said about me being dirt!" Icepaw just shrugged dismissively.

Then Shadowpaw came to see what was going on. Other cats around them started to notice what was going on. "Stop yowling otherwise cats will hear you and be disturbed!" hissed Shadowpaw quietly.

Swankit looked between her older siblings and Zebrapaw and Stonepaw warily. Rainkit yelled at Zebrapaw, "Well, you still didn't apologize to Birchkit!"

*"For what?!"* Zebrapaw snapped. *"Shouldn't you be saying that to Stonepaw or something?!"*

Stonepaw just snorted and said firmly, "They could, but I will never oblige. And besides, you did start it."

Shadowpaw looked confused. "How did he start it?" he asked no one in particular.

Rainkit explained how he didn't let Birchkit watch him while he was training. Shadowpaw looked at Zebrapaw in a puzzled way again. "Well, that doesn't seem extreme."

Zebrapaw groaned very loudly that it could be heard across the camp. He yowled very loudly at everyone, *"You don't understand! I told him politely to play with his friends instead of watching me and Sandleap since we were getting nervous! What if we make a mistake while training?!"*

Shadowpaw raised an eyebrow, then rolled his eyes. "Really? As if *other* cats aren't looking at you while fighting." Most of the other cats that were there seemed to agree, including Stonepaw herself, which made Zebrapaw even more angrier.

He groaned even louder this time, getting the attention of everyone in the camp, and yowled, *"So?! I am not a seasoned fighter and Sandleap isn't a seasoned mentor! So that is why we were nervous because we didn't want to make mistakes! For full warriors it's fine but I just started out a day ago! We even went into a secluded place in the camp to train but Birchkit somehow found us!"*

Everyone looked startled then, including Sandleap, who was just talking with her sisters, Sealbranch and Hailstream. "Um, what are you talking about, Zebrapaw?" Sandleap asked with great puzzlement, since she recognized her name was said.

Zebrapaw didn't really have time to explain. *"I don't know why they were bothering me anyway!"* he yowled at everyone at the top of his lungs. *"WHILE I WAS JUST TRYING TO EAT, THEY SUDDENLY CAME AND STARTED ARGUING WITH ME ABOUT IT FOR NO REASON! THEN SOMETIME AFTER THAT STONEPAW STOLE A MOUSE FROM BIRCHKIT WHILE HE WAS TRYING TO EAT, AND THEN-AND THEN-AND THEN-"* He growled very explosively and lost control. *"THEY STARTED BOTHERING ME AGAIN AND BEING ANNOYING! THEN THEY TOLD ME EVERYTHING WHICH IS WHY I WAS SO ANNOYED!"*

Everyone was silent for a few seconds and looked stunned by his words. Swankit and Mountainkit looked fearful of him. Peonyclaw and Blazesky, his parents, looked shocked at this, especially. Then Peonyclaw asked, "Um, Zebrapaw, maybe you need to cool down a little, and try to get away from them."

Zebrapaw listened to her and shrugged. *"I suppose so! But they better not follow me again!"* Then he stomped out of the scene and over to the nursery which he thought was the safest place to be, leaving his tense words hanging in the air. He saw a queen which was about to give birth soon looked a little skeptical at him, but she just smiled. Zebrapaw didn't feel like returning it and mostly just ignored her and fell asleep quickly.

Sometime later, he woke up from his short nap and remembered what happened. *Hopefully it doesn't happen again,* he hoped.

He went out to get a mouse but then he noticed his mother talking to all of the apprentices and kits that had bothered him, including Stonepaw.

"Don't try to escalate simple conflicts about kit fights again, because MoonClan is a Clan of peace, as Moonstar intended it to be," Peonyclaw told them strictly, especially Stonepaw. "And don't try to fight other cats' battles without their permission unless they are in desperate need of help."

She padded away from the young cats and they were still a little confused. Then Stonepaw stalked away grumpily as her mother did.

Then the group of cats left noticed Zebrapaw watching them. Birchkit padded up to Zebrapaw with a mouse and put it down, and nudged it towards him.

"Peonyclaw told us to apologize to you for making a big deal out of it. I suppose I shouldn't have watched you without permission, but I thought that you would be like other cats who usually train out in the open," Birchkit explained apologetically. "I just wanted to be friends..." Rainkit nodded, and Swankit and Mountainkit followed.

"Well, I also thought that you were being rude to him which is why I was angry but you were actually being okay," Rainkit added in the same tone.

"Yeah, it was mostly Stonepaw's fault for escalating everything. You were just trying to mind your own peace but then your sister went behind your back and did that," Shadowpaw agreed with slight remorse in his voice. "We probably should have tried to understand your situation."

Zebrapaw was speechless as he hadn't thought about their quick apology. His mother, Peonyclaw, had a knack for making other cats' egos crack and making them submit to her, especially with kits and apprentices, but he hadn't thought about their reaction. He searched their faces for any signs of sarcasm or falsity but there was none, only friendliness. Then he forced himself to smile and he nodded.

"No, it's okay, I should have more polite with you, too, and tried to understand it from your perspective. You or Stonepaw aren't the only ones at fault," Zebrapaw replied understandingly and with humility. "I also should have let you watch so we could have become friends. I also shouldn't have yelled at the top of my lungs." He apologetically looked at Swankit and Mountainkit who he remembered looked fearful of him a few hours before.

"Well, we all have ego, right?" Shadowpaw joked. "We should all just learn how to lower it at the right time!" Birchkit, Rainkit and Zebrapaw chuckled, because they understood.

"What is ego?" Mountainkit asked Shadowpaw, and Swankit nodded. He simply replied that it was a thing which helps someone be self-appreciative and proud of themselves, and think of themself as a great cat. He also said that if ego was too high, then they would consider other cats as lower to them, and be too proud of themselves when they shouldn't be, and Zebrapaw thought that Mountainkit and Swankit understood Shadowpaw.

Zebrapaw thought that he could finally be friends with someone other than Stonepaw, as she definitely had different tastes than him. He was also very happy that he was accepted by them despite his loud outbursts and tough behavior with others, but he also had a good heart, which he figured was the reason why they connected.

He hadn't made friends with them before due to his thinking that they were too much younger than him, and neither with Shadowpaw, Icepaw or Quailpaw because he figured they were too much older (despite being only one moon older), and neither did Stonepaw. So he was only friends with his mother and littermate.

*Maybe I need to stretch my legs outside of the box,* Zebrapaw figured, and he asked the kits and Shadowpaw, "Do you want to play Moss Fetch?"

The kits and Shadowpaw eagerly agreed, and they swiftly went to playing the game. He thought his time as an apprentice was going to be much better than his kithood.

### Chapter 5: Primrosekit & Dandelionkit

It turned into leaf-fall.

Primrosekit was one moon old. She was born last moon to Rosepetal and Maplestripe when Zebrapaw and Stonepaw were made apprentices. Maplestripe was Queen and Wisdomheart's youngest child, so she felt quite proud of being related to someone cool, since Wisdomheart was Moonstar's brother and the first deputy. She was also related to Flipsnow and Peonyclaw through Queen.

She turned to her sister and littermate, Dandelionkit, and prodded her in the arm.

"Erm, what?" asked Dandelionkit, sleepy.

"Can we play?" she asked. "Mama... is sleeping."

"And I'm sleeping, too," meowed Dandelionkit.

Primrosekit groaned, but then saw Swankit, Rainkit, Birchkit, Mountainkit, Shadowpaw and Zebrapaw in the mouth of the nursery. Then all six of them exited the nursery.

*Lucky them,* she thought jealously of the four kits. *They get to leave the nursery by themselves since they're so much older. They're going to be apprentices themselves!*

Primrosekit wanted someone to play with, but there was pretty much nobody except for Dandelionkit, since she was shy with everyone else.

Then she looked at her mother and sister sleeping soundly. Primrosekit wasn't at all sleepy, so she sneaked out of the den to see what the other cats were doing.

Shadowpaw and Zebrapaw were throwing moss balls, and the kits were trying to catch them. She wanted to play, too, but her condition was that her reflexes couldn't be very fast, no matter how hard she tried to be quick.

When Primrosekit stepped closer, none of them even noticed her. She stomped back inside in gloom.

There were almost no kits in the nursery left, just two frail newborns who were born a couple of days ago, and their sleeping mother. A new queen, Redwater, had joined the nursery a half-moon ago, but of course, she had no kits and Primrosekit was too shy to talk to her, anyways. Plus, she was also sleeping as well.

"Well... do I bother," muttered Primrosekit silently, laying down in her moss bed next to Rosepetal. She still wasn't tired. Then she went back outside again, and they were still playing that game.

*Hmm, maybe if I explore, instead...* thought Primrosekit, feeling clever. She padded away from them, going into the trees. She saw buttercups and poppies. She smelled each of them, and it smelled good.

*I wonder if there are any primroses?* she thought, wanting to smell her namesakes.

She padded deeper into the trees for a few minutes, and saw some small, white flowers growing near the edge of something.

*Orchids? Roses? Lilies?* she thought as she tried to go closer to it.

Primrosekit went closer, and closer, and smelled it. Suddenly, something went out from under her, and she felt like she was falling a great height.

She started wailing until she fell right onto a branch. She felt like she was going to fall again, so instinctively she put her paws on the branch and tried to climb up on top of it. Since Primrosekit was small and light, the branch didn't seem to even be damaged from her weight.

Primrosekit tried to wail for help, but none came. She felt hopelessly tired all of a sudden, but had no idea what to do about it. She hung on tightly for her life, and kept screeching, *"Help! Help! Help me!"*

An hour had passed, but Primrosekit felt it had been seasons instead. It was almost getting dark, and Primrosekit was too tired to do anything. She tried her hardest not to fall asleep otherwise she would fall off and probably die. She couldn't fall into water, since she didn't know how to swim. It was probably a very tall tree that the branch that she fell on was part of, but she didn't know how to climb, either. She didn't even know if she could walk on the branch without losing balance and falling off.

She decided to scream again, until someone said, *"Primrosekit? Are you there?!"*

*"Yes!"* she squealed in relief. But she was still scared that she might fall down.

"I'm going on patrol with my mentor, I'll tell him you're down there!" the cat said.

"Okay," Primrosekit breathed. She felt hungry, too. She wanted to suckle some milk from her mother, but there was no way to do that.

*"Primrosekit?! Are you there?! The entire camp had been frantic about you!"* a much older male voice shouted a few seconds later.

*"Yes!"* screamed Primrosekit.

"Well, this is dangerous, but there's a creek down there. I know how to swim, so I'll catch you, Primrosekit," the older voice said much more calmly, but still loud enough for Primrosekit to hear. "Quailpaw, stay here while I get her. Got it?"

"Got it, Blazesky," said Quailpaw. Primrosekit was surprised. *Quailpaw and Blazesky?* They were both related to her, since they were descendants of Moonstar.

Primrosekit watched as Blazesky aimed for the water, and jumped. He fell down the mountain edge, and plunged into the deep waters.

"Now fall! I'll catch you!" rang Blazesky's voice from down there. Primrosekit had seen the height from where she was before, but she felt nervous dropping much more than a few tree-lengths down.

But she let go... and fell backwards. She saw Quailpaw's worried face get farther and farther away. She felt like she was falling... then floating. The air was blowing wildly about...

Primrosekit felt a sudden lurch, and she fell into the water, and got pulled up. She saw Blazesky's face, and she felt relieved.

But then Blazesky exclaimed, *"What in Silverpelt were you even thinking?! This is the mountain's edge!* A good thing there's a creek, otherwise we wouldn't have gotten you in time! For your sake, you shouldn't have exited the nursery by yourself, much, much less go into this strand of trees with no one with you!"

"I'm sorry. There was... no one to play with... and-" Primrosekit was saying but she got interrupted by Blazesky who replied calmly, "Well, then, at least go out of the nursery, but not *camp!"* He sighed. Then he looked up and yelled at the top of his voice, *"Quailpaw! Can you hear me?! Go back to camp and tell them this! Be safe!"*

Quailpaw's voice rang back, "Okay! I will!"

Blazesky turned his attention back to Primrosekit and said, "Okay, all right... we'll go back up there safely. We are descent from mountain lions, so we can climb easily. It could be easier to just use the Twoleg trail they made, but whatever. It'll be faster the traditional way."

Primrosekit had to climb onto his back as Blazesky climbed up all the way to the top. It was already moonhigh when they arrived, and when they did, almost everyone was awake, and looked worried until they saw Blazesky and Primrosekit. Quailpaw was right there.

"Well, Quailpaw told us what had happened," said Snowstar. Rosepetal, Maplestripe and Dandelionkit were the most frantic, until they saw her.

"Oh, oh, are you all right, my kit, my kit!" Rosepetal was saying, pushing cats to get to Primrosekit. Primrosekit got very embarrassed with all eyes on her. Maplestripe scolded her for leaving camp. Dandelionkit said nothing, however, but she was very worried.

Primrosekit felt very tired and wet, and yearned to sleep for a moon. She spotted those six cats she saw earlier watching her weirdly. She hung her head shamefully, not wanting to look at anyone. She wondered why everyone was awake.

"Dandelionkit?" Primrosekit asked quietly. "Why is everyone... awake?"

Dandelionkit muttered to her sister, "Because you were gone for so long, MoonClan didn't know what to do. They didn't want a kit to die."

*They thought I was dead?!* was one of Primrosekit's horrific thoughts. *I'm that important?* was one of Primrosekit's confusing thoughts.

Blazesky was talking to Snowstar about something, probably her fall off the cliff. After a little while, everyone was told to go back into their dens, which they did. Except for Quailpaw.

When Primrosekit went into the nursery, Quailpaw followed. Petuniaheart saw him and said, "You're supposed to sleep with the apprentices," but Quailpaw replied, "I want to comfort Primrosekit. She's been through more than she should."

Petuniaheart nodded, and went off into thoughts as if she was thinking of something terrifying. Then she shivered and went to sleep.

Quailpaw sat down next to Primrosekit and said, "Do you want to hear a story?"

"Sure," replied Primrosekit with a head-splitting yawn.

"This is about me when I was your age. I also fell off the mountain edge."

Primrosekit was shocked, but at the same time felt excitement flow into her and responded, "Really?"

"Yes, but not the same one. A different one that doesn't have that many trees, and mostly rocks and streams. I fell off a waterfall when I was your age," Quailpaw continued.

Primrosekit was even more shocked. *A waterfall? When he was just my age?* "That's way... before my birth," she remarked.

He nodded and continued, "I also wandered out of camp, but not because of boredom. Because of intrigue. The mountain edge and the waterfall was amazing for me. I wanted to touch it, but I fell in, and into the waterfall. Luckily, I was with Shadowpaw at the time, Shadowkit back then, and he immediately ran back to camp and told cats to rescue me. I was saved, but unconscious.

"You also notice the way my mother acted when she thought about your fall? It reminded her of mine."

"Interesting," murmured Primrosekit, almost drifting off to sleep.

Quailpaw did a huge yawn and mewed, "Well, I'll let you sleep, and I'll go into my own den. Good night, don't let mice bite."

"Good night," said Primrosekit and watched through half-closed eyes as Quailpaw left the den peacefully and silently. She felt her eyes close, and drifted into very deep sleep.

### Chapter 6: Swankit & Stonepaw

The next day, Birchkit couldn't help watching his mother frantically keep looking at Primrosekit sleeping and Quailpaw training outside the nursery. He felt terrible that this had to happen to a very young kit, Primrosekit, such an horrific experience. Nothing like that ever befallen *him* before, and he hoped nothing would.

Quailpaw had told Birchkit what had happened to him before Birchkit was born, so he knew what Petuniaheart was scared of.

He wanted to invite Primrosekit to his games, but she seemed too young and shy to do so, and it reminded him of Zebrapaw and Stonepaw when *they* were kits. At least Dandelionkit still talked to other kits, but Primrosekit seemed to be too bashful, probably because of her condition. But Swankit was *mute,* and she wasn't this hesitant. He wasn't sure what else to do since everyone else was occupied, so he decided to take a nap.

When he woke up, Primrosekit was gone.

Birchkit was baffled. Her mother and sister, Rosepetal and Dandelionkit, were still there but they were awake.

He searched everywhere for Primrosekit in the nursery, but she wasn't there.

*Oh no, did she wander off again?* Birchkit wondered frantically. He went outside of the nursery, but simply saw her playing along a small place in the clearing with...

"Quailpaw?!" Birchkit cried out. "What are you doing?"

"Playing tag with Primrosekit. She's not very fast because of something with her nerves, so I'm going slow," mewed Quailpaw.

"Don't you have to train?" asked Birchkit interrogatively.

Quailpaw answered, "Well, not all the time obviously. I'm taking some of my time to play!"

Birchkit looked at Primrosekit and wondered why she wasn't in the nursery. "Isn't she not supposed to exit the nursery by herself?" he inquired curiously.

Primrosekit stopped, and seemed to hang her head sadly. Quailpaw narrowed his eyes and replied, "But she isn't by herself. She's with me. I even told her mother, Rosepetal, and she said it was fine."

Birchkit blinked, but murmured, "Oh, ok..."

Then Quailpaw narrowed his eyes even further to look a little menacing, "And besides, staring at her yesterday wasn't helping her. Stop bothering us."

Birchkit was surprised, and got a little sad when Primrosekit looked away from him and continued playing with Quailpaw. He didn't want to be rude or anything. When the incident happened with Zebrapaw, he tried to be more considerate of others from then on. He didn't want to misunderstand anyone or to be misunderstood himself.

He looked around for Shadowpaw, who was sitting in a grass clearing with a mouse, and told him everything what happened with Quailpaw.

"What? Why would my best friend do that? That's *ridiculous!*" cried Shadowpaw in disbelief.

"I don't know. Maybe they found a similarity between each other. Quailpaw told his story to me & Primrosekit. You apparently saved him," replied Birchkit thoughtfully.

"Well, that part is true. I did alert the cats to help rescue him. I was part of the rescue team, too," agreed Shadowpaw.

Birchkit was puzzled. "How would they let a one-moon old kit help?"

Shadowpaw narrowed his eyes and replied firmly with a glint of humor, "Don't question it, because it's true."

Birchkit shrugged at his reply since he didn't really care. But then he remembered his kit friends, so he asked, "Well, where's Swankit & Mountainkit & Rainkit?"

Shadowpaw tilted his head as if he was thinking. "Rainkit is watching Lilypool heal injured & sick cats, well... Mountainkit is watching a training going on with Stonepaw & Nightnose, and Swankit... hmm..."

Birchkit was waiting for the answer, and became distraught when he replied, "I don't know where my sister is."

"Well, okay, I'll look for her myself. But thanks, Shadowpaw!" mewed Birchkit, walking off.

"You're welcome," Shadowpaw replied warmly.

He looked all over the camp for her, but to no avail. Birchkit sat down on the border of camp & sulked. *Where could she be?* Birchpaw wondered frantically, similar to what he thought when he found out Primrosekit was gone from the nursery. *She usually doesn't leave camp like Primrosekit does...*

Then unexpectedly, he heard scratching & blowing somewhere.

*That must be Swankit... in trouble!* thought Birchkit immediately. Since there was a lot of chatter going on in the clearing, he kept his ears sharp on the sound. Since Swankit was mute and had no voice, she'd have to do everything she could to make a ton of noise. It never occurred to Birchkit she could still make breathing sounds, however.

It seemed like it was coming from outside of camp. He remembered what happened to Quailpaw and Primrosekit, but he thought Swankit must be in dire trouble, so he left camp anyway. Birchkit heard the scratching & blowing very clearly in some huge hole. He peered down.

He saw Swankit scratching harshly on some wood and taking deep breaths to make big blows. She looked up and she looked relieved when she saw him.

The only emotion that Birchkit could feel at that time, however... was sheer horror.

"*Swankit?! What happened to you?!*" Birchkit yowled in terror. He knew she couldn't say anything about her story, but he wanted to know if she was okay.

Swankit pointed to herself, and did a thumbs-up and a nod. *That probably means she's fine,* thought Birchkit in great relief.

"Well, how did you get down there?" asked Birchkit calmly, knowing she was perfectly okay. But then, Swankit made a sad face, then demonstrated. She imitated pushing someone, and then she pretended to fall down backwards.

"Someone pushed you into there?" Birchkit screeched in sheer horror again. Swankit nodded sadly. "Can you get out?" he asked. She shook her head, then she demonstrated her trying to climb out, but it was too steep for her and she slipped and fell down again.

"Um... stay there, and don't panic. I'm going to get help," Birchkit replied anxiously. He waited half a second for her reply (which was a nod), and dashed back towards camp, and looked for his father.

Snowstar was simply just looking at his claws, and not doing much else. He was about to groom himself until Birchkit told him the news of Swankit.

"What... is-is this true?!" meowed Snowstar indignantly, getting up.

"Well, I just talked to her, and she was actually stuck in there, so..." said Birchkit quietly, trailing off, knowing his dad should know what to do.

"Well, I know what to do. This is Moonstar's cousin's granddaughter, and every kit is important. Show me the hole first, so I know what to do for it," replied Snowstar, rather valiantly.

Birchkit started to leave camp, and he saw Snowstar even more stupefied as he followed his son. Birchkit showed him the hole and Swankit, and Snowstar's eyes became even wider. The hole was probably way too steep for even an experienced adult mountain cat to climb, especially with a kit hanging on. "What the-" he exclaimed, but he was interrupted by a hawk noise.

"Oh no!" said Birchkit, but Snowstar was ready for something. The hawk pressed its talons into Swankit's pelt and flew with her out of the hole. Then Snowstar pounced on the hawk, and scratched it, making it let go of Swankit.

Swankit dropped onto Snowstar's back and seemed to hang on for her life. Then he put Swankit down and asked worriedly, "Are you okay, Swankit?" She just nodded.

"Birchkit told me someone pushed you down here," he continued. She nodded again, and looked sad.

They all promptly walked back to camp, but they heard Shadowpaw, Icepaw, Quailpaw, Mountainkit, Rainkit, Goldenlily, even Primrosekit calling out Swankit's name.

"Someone pushed Swankit into a hole! A hawk got her out!" blurted out Birchkit, thinking they should know. Everyone looked confused for a second, but then Goldenlily ran to her daughter, and so did Shadowpaw & Icepaw (they're all siblings, Birchkit remembered), and asked if she was okay. So did Mountainkit & Rainkit.

Snowstar told everyone what happened and that Birchkit was the one who saved her. Primrosekit stared at Swankit strangely. She must have been remembering what happened to *herself.*

Goldenlily thanked Birchkit graciously for finding her, but Birchkit just did nothing in reply, not sure how to react for finding her. Then she turned to Swankit and asked, "Who-who pushed you in? Point-point to whoever did, my kit!"

Birchkit spotted Stonepaw sulking, and glaring at Swankit. Then she looked hopelessly at Zebrapaw, who didn't even look at anyone. Birchkit narrowed his eyes at Stonepaw, and she did an almost silent hiss back.

Swankit took a big breath in, and looked around. Then she pointed at Stonepaw. Everybody looked at Stonepaw. Blazesky & Peonyclaw looked very surprised, seeing their own daughter had done it.

"Really? Stonepaw?" mewed Goldenlily. Swankit did an angry face and nodded.

Then Zebrapaw exploded all of a sudden at Stonepaw.

*"YOU CROWFOOD, STONEPAW! YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD THE TRUTH! DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO EVERYTHING FOR YOU?! DISGUSTING!"* he yowled at the top of his voice.

Birchkit was nonplussed by the apprentice's volume, and he remembered the last time Zebrapaw lost control. A moon ago.

"Wait, what? You knew about this?" asked Peonyclaw almost woefully.

*"Well, she told me about it just now! I didn't think she would do that to a mute kit who can't cry for help!"* Zebrapaw whined agonizingly.

"*Well, she's a dumb kit! She can't speak, so who cares?!"* countered Stonepaw.

*"THAT'S IT! SNOWSTAR, GIVE HER THE WORST PUNISHMENT BEFORE EXILE!"* screeched Peonyclaw wrathfully at the very top of her voice. She glared at Stonepaw in almost the worst fury.

Snowstar nodded and told Stonepaw very sharply, "Stonepaw, you cannot eat, drink, or do anything like training or playing for two whole days. You also can't talk with anyone but the elders. If you have to sleep, you shall sleep outside on bare floor. Instead of activities, you will only care for the elders. There's one elder in there which can stomp on you for doing things wrong, you know!"

An elder named Redear who looked very ragged glowered at Stonepaw.

Birchkit spotted Stonepaw's mentor, Nightnose, getting relieved and Birchkit wondered what *that* was about. Stonepaw looked like she was about to vomit.

"This is your fault, you know," mentioned Zebrapaw. "You do not have any liberty whatsoever to harm a poor kit who cannot talk at all."

Everybody glared at Stonepaw as she stomped off to the elders' den.

"Everybody resume your normal duties!" announced Snowstar.

Birchkit went up to Swankit and asked, "Um, do you want to play?" She nodded, and touched Birchkit and started running. "Ok, let's play chase!" mewed Birchkit running after her. He thought he heard Swankit kind of laughing, but it must have been breathing sounds.

They had tons of fun, but something about Birchkit couldn't make him forget about what happened to Primrosekit or Swankit.

### Chapter 7: The Fox

Zebrapaw groaned. It was a quarter-moon since Stonepaw pushed Swankit into the hole, but Stonepaw still hasn't recovered from her punishment. She still looked frail and about to wither away, it seemed, and Swankit seemed very scared of them both. Zebrapaw had no idea what he had to do with Swankit.

It was soon going to be time for Birchkit & Rainkit's ceremony in three quarter-moons. Then Swankit & Mountainkit's in a quarter-moon after theirs. He heard Flipsnow was expecting Littleclaw's kits again, her second litter.

He stretched his limbs, and got ready for training. Sandleap gestured him to come and asked, "Do you want to do some more hunting training?"

He replied, "Sure, as long as we're preparing for leaf-bare." She nodded and they went into an area into the forest.

"Ok, so you see that sparrow, right?" mewed Sandleap. Zebrapaw nodded. Sandleap continued, "You have to be silent to catch it. But first, climb a tree next to it—not the same one—and..."

She demonstrated while saying, and leaped onto the sparrow, and bit it severely. The sparrow stopped struggling and died.

"You can also swipe it, but personally, I think it's better to bite it," said Sandleap. "Ok, let me try," said Zebrapaw. He climbed onto a tree, and as soon as he saw a bird, he swiped at it and it fell out of the tree.

Sandleap watched with interested eyes. Then Zebrapaw climbed out of the tree slowly, and leaped onto it, as it was trying to fly up again, and bit it.

Sandleap took the sparrow she caught into her mouth, and climbed down the tree, and buried it. Zebrapaw buried his, too.

"Hmm, cool method," mewed Sandleap. "Though easier, it would take much longer to catch it, and there is a chance it can fly away when you get down. It can also alert the other prey around here to hide, so... not very effective."

Zebrapaw looked down at the bird he buried. "Is there somewhere else we can get prey?" he asked.

"Sure. Our territory is big, since we live on a big part of the mountain," Sandleap replied. "We can catch snowshoe hares in the flat, grassy areas. Since it's close to leaf-bare, they're going to start turning white, remember that."

"Got it," replied Zebrapaw. "What about our prey we caught?"

"We'll take it back first, then go. We don't want too much prey with us, or to forget where we buried it if we go far from it," said Sandleap.

They dug out their prey, went back to camp, and deposited it into the prey pile. Swankit was checking the prey pile, but when she saw Zebrapaw, she stared with a confused expression. That made Zebrapaw uncomfortable, so he walked faster. He looked back only once to see which prey she picked out. His sparrow.

They moved onto a flat, grassy area. "This place is called Rabbit Residence. By cats, anyway. There are tons of them here, there is no doubt about its name," informed Sandleap.

"There can also be Twolegs here going to their green-leaf twolegplace and whatever. But what they like to do is kidnap cats & throw their rubbish everywhere onto the mountains," she continued. "If you see a Twoleg, keep a close eye on it to make sure it doesn't do anything wrong to us. If it *does* do something wrong, well, scare it off. Their existence is fatal to us cats. If they have kittypets, talk with them to become Clan cats. If they are aggressive towards us, scare them off as well. We don't want soft cats with anger issues in the mountains unless they're here to do *us* some good."

Zebrapaw nodded, processing all this information. Then he told his mentor, "Well, I think I know how to catch a snow hare. Since they're fast, chasing them can be tiring. I can ambush them or chase them." Sandleap nodded and meowed, "Ok, now we have to be quiet if we're stepping onto the clearing. I'll go this way, you go that way. Don't go far."

Zebrapaw nodded again, and kept his eyes peeled. He soon saw an unnoticing rabbit with his back turned on him. Zebrapaw slowly padded towards it, but then it saw him a couple of paw-steps away and immediately started running. Zebrapaw started running, too, but soon, he was very close, and he leaped...

He felt the rabbit under him, and he bit into its neck, and did a paw swipe on it for it to die. He then stepped backwards to see the size of it. It was a plump rabbit, enough to feed three kits, or two apprentices.

Zebrapaw then dug a hole and buried it. He put some dirt on it and wiped off the excess dirt. Then he kept his eyes open for another one. He saw another one, a bit smaller, but effective to feed the Clan. He went slowly behind it, and sliced into its back. It tried to run away, but it was weak, and Zebrapaw caught up with it easily, and sliced it again. It died, too. He buried that one, too.

Then Sandleap came back with three rabbits. "Dig up your prey," she instructed, and he did.

"Whoa, that's *huge!* Pretty amazing for an apprentice like you! Let's bring them back," she remarked.

They both carried their prey back to camp. Then they put their prey in the pile. Sandleap concluded the training and went into the warriors den.

Shadowpaw came back from *his* hunting training with Snowstar and deposited his mice into the pile. He then stared at the size of the first rabbit Zebrapaw caught.

"Uh... you actually caught a rabbit the size of two and a half kits?!" Shadowpaw remarked.

"Well, we can both share it if you want," suggested Zebrapaw, looking down at the rabbit.

Shadowpaw agreed with the idea, and they both ate the rabbit. When Zebrapaw bit into the rabbit he tasted tons of juice & meat. The flesh seemed to taste just right, and the juice was savory. It lulled his senses greatly... and it made him want to eat more... and more...

"Um... mouse-brain? What are you doing?" mewed Shadowpaw with a glint of humor in his tone. Zebrapaw found himself biting nothing at all. He straightened up, looking a little embarrassed. This made him disappointed and meowed, "Aw, man, there's no more?"

"I mean, it's really big, enough to feed the two of us, but it's not as big as the mountains, you know," replied Shadowpaw, getting up. "But whoo, that was a really filling meal! I'm going to go make some dirt then take a nap."

"Um, ok, then, Shadowpaw. That rabbit was really tasty, indeed!" responded Zebrapaw, also getting up. "Good night, I guess?"

Shadowpaw looked back and smiled, then paid his attention back to the Dirtplace.

Then out of the blue, someone yowled, "*THERE'S A FOX!"*

It was Fireclaw, Zebrapaw's brother. He was running wildly about from something big and orange, and it had a weird snout. Its tail was bushy.

*"HELP ME, MOONCLAN!"* he shrieked.

*"Ahh! A fox!"* screamed Mountainkit. *"Zebrapaw, do something!"*

*"I DON'T KNOW WHAT A FOX IS!"* Zebrapaw screamed back.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Sandleap, coming out of her den. "It must have followed us, Zebrapaw!" Then she yawned and replied, "And I barely got to sleep a few winks."

A ton of warriors hissed at the fox, but the fox kept swiping and a few warriors jumped back. Sandleap joined them.

Zebrapaw remembered what Sandleap just said. He thought about how peaceful their walk was back to camp. That it must have followed them back without showing any trace. He looked at the fox, then at Mountainkit.

The fox, then at Mountainkit. Zebrapaw needed to do something.

Facing in the fox's direction, Zebrapaw braced himself for a sprint, took a deep breath, and started to run... and run... and finally...

*"FOR MOONCLAN!"* hollered Zebrapaw, as he leaped onto the fox's back gracefully. He dug his claws into the fox's back, and it growled. It tried kicking motions, trying to boot Zebrapaw off, but he held on tight, thinking if he died, it would be for MoonClan's safety.

*For MoonClan... For MoonClan...* thought Zebrapaw, closing his eyes. Suddenly he heard panting, and hissing sounds. It was a weird hiss, like only air was in the hiss. Suddenly, he realized which cat would do that.

"Swankit?" said Zebrapaw surprisingly. He saw the light yellow & slightly pinkish fur of Swankit, and she was also on the fox's back, scratching at the fox's neck. Her hind legs' claws were dug into the back of the fox.

The fox was running wildly among camp, scaring all the cats. The warriors were trying to chase it out of camp, and some got close enough to claw on it. But Swankit & Zebrapaw were trying to keep their balance on the fox's back.

He spotted Birchkit, Goldenlily, Shadowpaw, & Icepaw in the crowd calling out for Swankit.

"Swankit, what are you doing here?!" Zebrapaw exclaimed. Swankit looked up, her expression focused. She nodded down to her mother, Goldenlily. Zebrapaw had no idea what it meant.

*Is she doing this for her mother? Is she saying her mother is scared for her? Is she saying her mother will save her?* were Zebrapaw's thoughts.

"How did you get up here?!" Zebrapaw meowed almost indignantly. How could a kit help this situation?

Swankit put her two paws together and lifted them up and then down again, as if they were jumping on something.

"Swankit, *you-you JUMPED on here?!"* Zebrapaw yowled. He couldn't believe a kit could help this situation, even if it were a kit whose ceremony was in a moon.

Suddenly, while they were trying to communicate, the fox did one final kicking motion, and the two of them got hurled off of its back into the air.

*I'm falling,* thought Zebrapaw peacefully... as he became one with the ground.

#### Later ----

Zebrapaw woke up in Lilypool's den. He saw Swankit awake, too. Birchkit & Mountainkit were with Swankit. So were her siblings & family. Peonyclaw, Blazesky, Primrosekit & Quailpaw were with Zebrapaw.

"Zebrapaw, are you okay?" asked Peonyclaw frantically.

"I'm fine, what happened to me?" replied Zebrapaw calmly.

Lilypool arrived and mewed serenely, "No need to worry, they were just a little shaken up. But my, were they really brave to tackle a fox like that!"

Rainkit was with Lilypool. She looked proud of herself about something.

"Oh, right, I forgot to ask, what happened to the fox?" asked Zebrapaw. Swankit nodded, also wanting to know.

"It ran away," answered Birchkit nonchalantly.

Zebrapaw just nodded, and wondered if his actions meant that he was a good warrior.

Zebrapaw was mostly interested in sleeping in the apprentices' den, after meeting that experience.

### Chapter 8: Medicine Cat

It was a half-moon later. It was only a quarter-moon before Birchkit & Rainkit's apprentice ceremony.

*Why is this so dramatic?* Primrosekit asked herself.

She remembered when the horrific time happened a half-moon ago. Swankit & Zebrapaw... launched off like crazy. Them hitting the ground. Primrosekit had screamed. She thought they were dead.

So now, she was just playing catch the moss ball with the other kits. Quailpaw & Zebrapaw were throwing them and the kits were catching them.

Primrosekit dared to look at Swankit & Zebrapaw's bruises. There was only a scar, but it still looked horrifying.

Since Primrosekit couldn't move quickly, the game also went slowly. Suddenly, she realized that Rainkit wasn't even there. She was in the medicine cat's den.

*Why is she spending so much time there?* Primrosekit asked herself. She shrugged it off. The reason couldn't be very important.

Finally, the game stopped, because Quailpaw & Zebrapaw had to train.

"Time for breakfast, kits!" someone called. It was Petuniaheart, Birchkit, Rainkit & Quailpaw's mother. She was also Zebrapaw's aunt & Moonstar's famed daughter, also Maplestripe's cousin.

Then Rainkit finally arrived. Primrosekit picked out a rabbit, and Rainkit picked out a bird.

"Um... Rainkit?" Primrosekit tried to ask. She was also slow on talking.

"Yes, Primrosekit?" Rainkit mewed.

"Why... do you... spend so much time... there?" Primrosekit asked, slowly raising a hand pointing to the medicine cat's den.

Rainkit blinked a few times, then replied, "I like it there, what do you think?"

"I thought... it was because... you were interested... in medicine."

"Well, I like it, you might, too, when you get to Birchkit & my age."

"Oh.. that's cool... Rainkit. But maybe... not."

"Oh, ok. Maybe if you change your mind? And also, no offense, but what will you do if you're not very fast as a warrior?"

"I think I'll... manage as a... warrior. Just not... the extreme parts."

Then Rainkit nodded, and replied, "Ok. I'm glad we had this chat, Primrosekit. I'm going to go tell Birchkit something."

"Ok, then... Rainkit," Primrosekit mewed.

She saw Rainkit pick up her half-eaten bird and pad over to Birchkit. She also saw Snowstar & Lilypool come over. Rainkit said to Birchkit, with a sly smile, "I'm really, really sorry, Birchkit, but I can't be with you in your ceremony."

Their friends stopped talking about stuff and stared at Rainkit curiously. Primrosekit had some idea what was going on, based on what Rainkit told her, but she couldn't quite put her paw on it.

*Is she going to be a medicine cat?* she asked herself. She didn't know. Birchkit's mouth gaped open.

*"What? What went wrong?!"* exclaimed Birchkit in agony. "This can't be true!"

"What went wrong," mewed Rainkit *very* serenely, "is that kits can only become medicine cat apprentices by the next half-moon meetings."

*Now I know,* thought Primrosekit.

"What?" asked Birchkit, shocked. "What does that mean?"

"It means..." started Primrosekit, making sure everyone was watching her, "that she wants to... become a medi...cine cat."

"Exactly," finished Rainkit. Then Lilypool spoke up. "Ah, yes. She told your father, the leader, that she doesn't want to be a warrior apprentice. She wanted to give her efforts by helping cats heal and such. She was also interested in StarClan, too."

Then Snowstar spoke. "Yup, Birchkit. She's going to be an apprentice two sunrises after you. A different kind, obviously."

Everybody seemed to stare at them, but then Lilypool mewed, "I'm getting old, and it was about time that someone became my apprentice. Rainkit seemed ready for the job, apparently. My mentor, Calmpond, was the very first medicine cat of this Clan. He used to be one of our tribe's healers before the tribe split into three Clans. Of course, I wasn't born at this time, but he told me stories. I learned a lot from him, and I'll teach *you* those things, too."

"Will you tell me those stories?" pleaded Rainkit.

"Sure, there's tons of them to tell," replied Lilypool.

Rainkit then turned to Birchkit and graciously mewed, "Well, Birchkit. This is the perfect role for me. I'm not in any way interested in toms or having kits or warrior moves, but I am interested in StarClan & treating cats. This is the path I want to take. Ok, Birchkit? Fine with that?"

Birchkit looked at everyone, and finally said, "Ok, then. Fine." He left his mouse and went into the nursery.

"Well, why... is he upset?" Primrosekit asked Snowstar. He answered, "Oh, he just wanted to have his ceremony with his littermate, that's it. By the time this quarter-moon is up, he will already have processed his emotions correctly."

"Yup, he will be a-okay with me being a medicine cat," Rainkit added.

"Oh, I really... hope so. I... don't want him to be... sad about all this... medicine cat... stuff," Primrosekit replied.

"Me either," meowed Rainkit.

Primrosekit saw Mountainkit finish up the half-eaten mouse that Birchkit left behind. She then thought about what Rainkit said about Primrosekit being a medicine cat.

*Do I want to be one?* she asked herself. She wasn't very fast, because of her lethargic nerves, so she could never be a very good warrior, especially when speed is essential for hunting or fighting, but being a medicine cat would mean she would never be really happy, either.

Unlike Rainkit, she wanted to take a mate and have kits, see her descendants and all that. She also wasn't very confident with StarClan duties. She didn't think being a medicine cat would be much fun for her.

*Maybe I can just help out the medicine cat,* Primrosekit told herself. *And I can still be a warrior. But I will be not be chosen ever as the main warrior to lead something ever.*

Primrosekit also thought about the way she speaks, compared to the way everyone else speaks. Everyone else got their meanings through quickly, while she had to pause every now and then & speak sluggish because if she didn't, she couldn't really move anything at all.

Primrosekit sighed sadly. She looked at Swankit, who also had a condition, to not speak at all.

*At least she can normally move like a regular cat,* Primrosekit told herself.

She wasn't sure what role to be, because of her slow-moving condition. She thought about her sister, Dandelionkit. She was perfectly healthy, with no conditions, sicknesses, disabilities, or whatever.

*Is speed everything?* she told herself while walking back to the nursery. *Of course not. But how do I be a warrior, and how do I tolerate being a medicine cat?*

Primrosekit still had four moons to decide, which was a long time, being two moons old, but to her... four moons seemed way too short.

### Chapter 9: Apprentice Ceremony

It was now the day of Birchkit's ceremony.

Birchkit thought about Rainkit being a medicine cat. He looked back at his mother sleeping.

*This will be her last night here as a queen,* he thought solemnly.

He was sitting at the mouth of the nursery (which was facing the right direction of the sun), watching the sun rise into the sky. It was still dark, but almost light, so it was dawn. Birchkit had slept mostly while it was light the day before, so he had no worries about getting tired now.

*Is Snowstar going to do my ceremony now?* he wondered curiously.

Since Birchkit got hungry, he went to the fresh-kill pile, picked out a small hare and took it back to the nursery.

When he started eating, Mountainkit woke up. It was now sunrise. There was some light in the sky.

"Hey, Birchkit, what are ya doing?" mewed Mountainkit. Birchkit remembered his mother, Flipsnow, who was expecting Littleclaw's kits. Littleclaw was Mountainkit's father.

"I'm just eating," replied Birchkit, taking another bite of the rabbit.

"Okay. You're going to be an apprentice now, right?" Mountainkit asked enthusiastically.

"Yup, it's great."

"I wish I didn't have to wait a quarter-moon." Birchkit remembered that Mountainkit, Swankit and Berrykit were born a quarter-moon after him Rainkit and him. *I guess Snowstar is following the exact birth order,* he thought contemplatively.

"Well, every time you wait, you get closer to anything. So wait," he tried to cheer up.

"Alright, I guess," Mountainkit replied, seeming to understand.

"By the way, when I leave, you'll still have Swankit & Primrosekit. And I'll be just as active with you when we were kits until you become apprentices, too. Then we can *all* do apprentice things!"

"Yeah, great. Oh, wait, I just remembered Primrosekit & Rainkit. What about them?"

*"What* about them?"

"Rainkit's going to be a medicine cat apprentice in two days, and Primrosekit is much younger, and has a disability. You can literally feel her struggle having a disability as she *speaks.* But it's on her whole body."

"Rainkit, I know is going to be fine. When it comes to Primrosekit... well, I don't know. Having a nerve problem is causing her to be slower. At least she's fine in every other way possible, let's appreciate that. Maybe Quailpaw can take care of her, because she's much younger than *us,* since he seems to like her so much, because of their similarity."

"Falling off a cliff? That's a similarity that I'd feel very, very, *very* ashamed of. But I guess that's fine for them if they're okay with it. I wouldn't."

"Of course not"—Birchkit did a chuckle—"you'd rather clean ticks off of elders' backs."

Mountainkit laughed, too. "Oh, yeah. But Rainkit is happy with her role, isn't she?"

"Yup," replied Birchkit. "That really *is* the proper role for her. She's so into it, she doesn't even have time for playing!"

"Yeah, I guess so. I heard medicine cat apprentices have a million different things to learn, like about StarClan, herbs, bundles, helping queens, and all that stuff. That's why the training takes much longer than eight moons, and they still never have spare time. I could never be a medicine cat, even if that is what I was meant to be, if I couldn't be a warrior, which I can, really."

"Well, I guess *I* could be one, but that's not what I want to be in life, really. Rainkit chose it, so I hope she is happy with it, having to learn so much," responded Birchkit, finishing the last of his hare.

Mountainkit sat down next to Birchkit and looked at the sunrise. He had to squint to see it though, because the sun was going to blaze directly in his eyes.

"Wow, it's really bright out now. Warriors and other cats should start to awaken," he mewed in amazement.

"Ah, yes, I've been watching this ever since dark," Birchkit mewed back.

"Whoa, cool! Ever since midnight?"

"No, just a few hours after that. Probably quarter an hour before I saw the first of the sun."

"Uh huh. Pretty great experience, huh?"

"Yup. Amazing."

They stared at the sun (while still squinting) for a while longer, until Mountainkit got up and said, "I'm going to get a snow mouse now. See you at your ceremony!"

"Ok, see ya, I guess."

Birchkit also left a few moments after Mountainkit, to check up on Snowstar. There were tons of cats awake now, and most of them were grabbing some prey. The prey pile looked plentiful, but a third of it got consumed.

He saw his father pad out of the leader's den and jump up on Highrock. He spotted Birchkit and winked at him. He waited a moment longer until he called out, "All cats awake come under Highrock & the moon!"

The cats started gathering, and they looked content. They anticipated Birchkit's ceremony.

Snowstar looked around, then continued, "Birchkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, under the moon, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Birchpaw. Your mentor will be Peonyclaw. I hope she will pass down all she knows on to you."

*"BIRCHPAW! BIRCHPAW! BIRCHPAW!"* the Clan cheered. He noticed Swankit making the movements of his name, as if she was chanting, too. Mountainkit was chanting his name at the top of his voice. So were his five siblings and mother. Even Primrosekit was doing so, too.

Birchpaw felt very, very proud of himself. Then he went down to greet his new mentor when the chanting died down, who was also his mother's brother's mate, Peonyclaw.

"Hey, Peonyclaw," Birchpaw said ecstatically; he was now an apprentice.

He looked at his four kit friends, Rainkit, Mountainkit, Swankit & Primrosekit. They were still kits, but very, very soon, three of them were going to become apprentices.

Now he was the same rank as his apprentice friends, Shadowpaw, Icepaw, Quailpaw and Zebrapaw, and he could train together with them.

The other cats congratulated him for being an apprentice, and he saw Flipsnow and Blazesky congratulating Peonyclaw for becoming a mentor.

"Birchpaw, do you want to train now?" asked Peonyclaw eagerly.

"Yes!" he meowed delightfully. Like every other apprentice, he wanted to train immediately.

"Alright, hunting first, since the Clan needs fresh-kill!" said Peonyclaw happily. It was the first time she had mentored, so it was understandable that she was eager about her first apprentice.

They went into the forest. Birchpaw knew he was going to love his apprenticeship.

## Part 2: Birchpaw's Training

### Chapter 10: SnowClan?

Birchpaw went into the small forest with Peonyclaw, and waited to hear what she had to say.

"Alright, now, listen to me, Birchpaw. First, you have to learn pouncing," meowed Peonyclaw. "Sure, you might already know as a kit, but this time, you need to learn how to do it in hunting duties."

She braced herself for a pounce, and leaped a rabbit-hop into the air. "Of course, you just need to go high & far enough to pounce on the prey. You also need to aim correctly. Jump too far, the prey will see you. Jump too short, the prey might have heard you. Either way, the prey would have a good chance of getting away. Practice this first."

Birchpaw nodded, and did the same thing she did. He pounced on a rock, then on a leaf. He kept his aim straight, and managed to land perfectly. He did this a few times, until Peonyclaw mewed, "Okay, you can stop now. Let's move onto real prey.

"So, if you want to find some prey, you have to try to walk silently. Luckily, us cats have pads, but it's best if our footsteps are deadly silent. Like this." She demonstrated, walking stealthily.

"You also need to keep your eyes & ears open to spot any prey," Peonyclaw said. "Try it."

Birchpaw nodded, and did what she did. He was focused, and heard something chewing. Peonyclaw seemed to hear it, too, and swiftly pounced on whatever was making that noise. Then she killed it with a single blow.

It was a mouse. "That's how you hunt. Now, this scrawny mouse along with another one is probably able to feed one grown kit. That isn't enough for the Clan. So we need to bring back much more.

"Now we have to bury the prey well enough so no predators can get to it. Remember where you buried it," instructed Peonyclaw. "Now, listen & look again for more prey."

Birchpaw nodded, and they kept moving. They spotted something else moving. It was a bigger mouse.

Birchpaw crouched, aimed, and leaped. He almost landed on it, but then it squeaked. Birchpaw aimed a blow, but it just turned the mouse over, not exactly killed it. The mouse tried to get back up on its feet, but Birchpaw took it into his mouth & bit hard. Peonyclaw was watching him curiously, and replied, "Good work. But maybe pick up the speed just a tiny bit? It's going to alert the other prey to hide, so we can't exactly find much more prey here."

*Pick up the speed,* thought Birchpaw uneasily. He remembered Primrosekit. *Oh no, Primrosekit wouldn't be able to do this.*

"Okay, Peonyclaw. I'm going to be faster. What about our prey?" he asked.

"Bring it back to camp, and I'll accompany you-" Peonyclaw replied, but then a rustling interrupted her. Then a white cat popped out.

"*Whitelight!*" Peonyclaw exclaimed furiously. "*You're in MoonClan territory! If another cat saw you you'd be total crowfood!*" Birchpaw was confused. Who was this Whitelight? And how did Peonyclaw know this cat?

Then Whitelight said, "I'm just here to tell you Briarstar is handling the Clan in... a not very good way. She's causing a mess of *everything!* Please tell your leader. The deputy, Honeywhisker, had sent me, Peonyclaw." Whitelight sounded like a she-cat.

"Ugh, fine, just get back to your territory, quick. I have an apprentice who just begun today, and I have to train him," Peonyclaw snapped. "And don't let another cat catch you in MoonClan, especially if you're from SnowClan."

Whitelight just nodded, took a slight glance at Birchpaw and slinked back into the bushes.

Then Peonyclaw turned to Birchpaw and growled, "Don't tell anybody about this. You only know about this because you just happened to be *here.* Got it?"

Birchpaw sheepishly nodded. He had so many questions, but he felt like Peonyclaw would claw him up if he asked even one word of them.

They went home with their prey in silence, and Peonyclaw told Snowstar what Whitelight told her, excluding anything about Birchpaw.

Then all of a sudden, his three kit friends ran up to him eagerly. Primrosekit just walked all the way here.

"Oh, hi... Birchpaw! You're back! How... was your... training with Peony...claw?" asked Primrosekit excitedly.

"Yeah, yeah, I want to be an apprentice, but I can't yet, so how was it?!" yowled Mountainkit delightfully. Swankit nodded, too. Birchpaw saw the excitement on their faces but remembered what Peonyclaw had told him, and what had happened.

So he just replied, "Peonyclaw taught me how to catch a mouse."

"Okay," mewed Mountainkit a little less excitedly. Primrosekit & Swankit's smiles dwindled a bit, but they nodded in reply.

Birchpaw felt so exhausted all of a sudden, as he usually was when he was a kit. He left them where they were, moved his bedding to the apprentices' den, and slept.

#### Two days later

Birchpaw was looking around for Rainkit, must be now Rainpaw. Then he saw Lilypool & Rainpaw.

"*Birchpaw! Birchpaw! I'm an apprentice now! I'm Rainpaw, Lilypool's apprentice now!"* screamed Rainpaw in delight.

"Congratulations," Birchpaw mewed calmly. "I think you'll be a fantastic medicine cat someday."

*"Thank you, thank you! You're the best brother I can ever have!"* she meowed again with excitement.

Quailpaw seemed to overhear, and he came up and simply said, "Congrats."

"Where's our friends?" Rainpaw asked Birchpaw & Quailpaw.

"Mountainkit & Swankit are sleeping right now. Primrosekit is with Quailpaw," answered Birchpaw.

"I was simply training her to try to overcome her slowness," meowed Quailpaw.

"What about Shadowpaw, Icepaw & Zebrapaw?" Rainpaw asked.

"Shadowpaw's hunting for the elders, Icepaw is with Zebrapaw. They're doing double training with their mentors," answered Quailpaw. Birchpaw remembered that Sandleap was Forestcreek's niece. They were related because of Snowstar, and so were Quailpaw, Rainpaw & Birchpaw himself.

Primrosekit walked up to Rainpaw and mewed, "Rain...paw, you are... now a med..icine cat? Congratu...lations."

"Yeah, thanks, everyone. Now I'm go to go get trained by Lilypool. Bye!" responded Rainpaw to everyone. Quailpaw and Primrosepaw nodded and continued playing, or training.

Birchpaw thought about his training so far. He had two hunting trainings, and one fighting training, all so far. It was going to be fighting training soon. His last one was pretty much about basic fighting rules. Then they did hunting.

Then he remembered Whitelight and how he shouldn't tell anybody about her.

When it was time for fighting training, Peonyclaw seemed to forget about the whole Whitelight thing.

Birchpaw attempted to pounce on Peonyclaw, but he spent too much time bracing himself, and Peonyclaw easily dodged.

"Be quicker," instructed Peonyclaw. *Quicker... quicker... quicker,* the words echoed in Birchpaw's head. It reminded him of Primrosekit's disability, where her reflexes were slow. It was an awful reminder of her. It made him feel very uncomfortable.

Birchpaw attempted to pounce quicker, but because of going too fast to properly brace himself, he stumbled while trying to pounce, and fell over. Peonyclaw stared curiously, tilting her head to one side.

"Also, don't go so fast you lose your balance," mewed Peonyclaw. "Remember your hunting training when you learned how to pounce. Except you are fighting with a cat, so you will need to do it much more quickly & much more hard. I'll demonstrate. Brace yourself for *my* pounce."

"Okay," Birchpaw said, breathing a little heavily. He was mid-way to holding his breath, but in half a second, Peonyclaw toppled him over.

"Get up," Peonyclaw nicely commanded. It took a second for him to get up.

"Now," she continued, unsheathing her claws. "You should know about these from your kithood and our last training. Remember to keep these sheathed during training, but you should have them unsheathed during a real battle to hurt your opponent much more and have a better chance of winning." She sheathed her claws and stated, "And now, you're learning to scratch enemy cats. Let's do a fight, and I'll see how good your abilites are. I'll go easy on you."'

Birchpaw made sure his claws were sheathed, so he didn't hurt his aunt.

Peonyclaw & Birchpaw began fighting, and Birchpaw tried to scratch Peonyclaw, but she immediately dodged, and leaped out of the way. From there, she immediately pounced on Birchpaw before he even had time to see where she went, and he got pinned by Peonyclaw.

Then she got off of him and responded, "A good start. Your flaws must have been your accuracy & thinking. You need to be swift to your opponent's actions, and also use that thinking try to aim where your opponent might go."

Birchpaw thought about what she said. *Swift.* Another painful reminder of Primrosekit probably not being a warrior at all. *Well, at least I'm not in her situation,* Birchpaw tried to reassure himself, trying to focus on his training.

They trained for a while until Peonyclaw concluded the training.

"Now, was there anything you wanted to ask me? You seemed painfully distracted," mewed Peonyclaw concernedly.

*Oh right,* Birchpaw thought. *Whitelight.* He was also thinking about Primrosekit, but he was way more interested about who Whitelight was.

"What about... um, that cat, Whitelight? That cat you were talking to a couple of days ago?" Birchpaw asked. He expected Peonyclaw to have gotten angry and scream at him and stuff, but she just smiled and replied, "I've been meaning to tell you about that. Whitelight... is my sister."

"Your sister?!" Birchpaw exclaimed. Some of his friends training stared at him, and Peonyclaw narrowed her eyes at Birchpaw for silence. Then she whispered, "Yes. Like I used to be Penelope & Flipsnow used to be Felicia, her name used to be Wendy the second. Don't ask me why she was named after our mother, Wendy, our Twolegs named us all, including our parents.

"Why did she end up in SnowClan? Well, like the three founders of the Clans, we used to be a trio, too. I was the calm and sensible one. Flipsnow was the intelligent & creative one. Whitelight was the rebellious & strong one. When we were kittypets, Flipsnow, Whitelight & I wanted to run off to Clans. Flipsnow & I wanted to be in our uncle, Wisdomheart's Clan, and also be with our cousin, Maplestripe, son of Wisdomheart & Queen, father of Primrosekit & Dandelionkit.

"But Whitelight... she wanted to be in her mate, Blackwater's Clan. Flipsnow & I didn't even *know* what in Silverpelt he looked like, so we tried to talk her out of the idea, and join us, but she left sooner or later without even telling us... I mean, we're still friendly with each other, but I don't like her very much like I like Flipsnow. At least *she* stayed with *me.* And we did fall in love with two best friends, Blazesky & Littleclaw. When we all were apprentices, we had crushes on each other. Now we're adults, and I mother your cousins, Zebrapaw & Stonepaw. Whitelight, obviously has kits as old as warriors. Their names are Juniperpetal & Paleeye, the former's a she-cat, the latter a tom.

"Only Flipsnow & I know about Whitelight's relation to us, not our mates, children, or Wisdomheart or Maplestripe or Rosepetal. Even Moonstar didn't know. No Clanmate of ours know about this... except for you now. Please keep this a secret and don't tell anyone, especially your father, the leader," finished Peonyclaw.

Birchpaw tried to process all this information, and his mind was boggling with all this information about Whitelight, Flipsnow & Peonyclaw. *Why did Whitelight want to join her mate instead of her sisters? Why was Peonyclaw still angry at Whitelight after so long?* But the most important question to him was, *Why did Peonyclaw want to tell me this secret info?*

Then Mountainkit came. "What was Peonyclaw talking about her sister?"

Birchpaw easily came up with an excuse. "Oh, we were talking about your mother, Flipsnow, you know," he said. "About her history."

"Cool, can you tell me?" Mountainkit asked eagerly.

"Sure, she used to be a kittypet named Felicia, and your aunt was named Penelope, too. And so, they ran off to the Mountain Clans together..."

He told Mountainkit the whole story that Peonyclaw told him, excluding anything about Whitelight.

Birchpaw thought about his training, again. About Rainpaw. Primrosekit. Swankit. Peonyclaw. Whitelight. Even Maplestripe & Wisdomheart. Quailpaw & Sandleap. Everyone he knew, almost.

*Are they actually okay? Are they harboring secrets like Peonyclaw's?* Birchpaw wondered worriedly.

He ate a hare for dinner, and thought about hares after that.

### Chapter 11: Swanpaw, Mountainpaw & Berrypaw... Icepaw & Zebrapaw

Now it was time for their ceremony. Six moons old.

Swankit ate a small hare for breakfast, and pretty soon, she might be catching her own. She looked back at the much younger Primrosekit, slowly walking to the prey pile and picking out a mouse.

She looked at Snowstar. She wondered how her voice would sound if she could speak. Melodic? Sweet? Even brash? But she really couldn't speak because of her mute condition. Primrosekit could, but she was much slower than everyone else.

Swankit was relieved at least she could still move her body normally, unlike Primrosekit. But Swankit couldn't really get her meaning out by being mute, while Primrosekit still could.

Swankit admired Birchpaw in a friendly way, ever since they had met. Her admiration had greatly increased when he rescued her from the hole. But her dislike for Stonepaw greatly increased at the same time, too. She wondered if it was possible to hate someone more & like someone more from the same incident. She guessed it was.

Mountainkit picked out a vole and sat next to her. "Swankit, aren't you excited? It's our ceremony!"

Swankit eagerly nodded. Primrosekit sat next to them with a mouse and sighed, saying, "Well, congrats... your ceremony... is today. While... mine is four... moons away! What a... lot of time."

Swankit thought about Primrosekit's condition. It would be better for her to be a medicine cat, but she'd be really unhappy, since her desire is to take a mate & have kits & descendants. She'd rather be a warrior instead, but to be a warrior, you have to be quick in all your duties. Otherwise, the prey could effortlessly get away, the warrior could easily pin her, kill her. Swankit shuddered, and took another bite of her hare.

Swankit waved her hands to communicate, and Primrosekit & Mountainkit both looked at her. Swankit then imitated a medicine putting cobwebs on a wound, then she imitated a warrior fighting & hunting, then shrugged, since it was a question.

They both looked confused for a minute, before Mountainkit figured it out and asked, "Wait, are you asking Primrosekit what she wants to be?" Swankit calmly nodded.

"Oh, well... I don't know. Is... it good to have... four moons of... time to de...cide?" answered Primrosekit. Primrosekit looked at Swankit for an answer, and she simply nodded. Then she touched Primrosekit's nose as a sign of empathy.

"Oh, um... thanks, Swan...kit," replied Primrosekit. Swankit did a thumbs-up. Then she pointed to her mouth and pretended to be sad.

"Oh, we know... you can't speak," mewed Primrosekit. "We both have medi...cal conditions, which... I guess makes... us sisters?" Swankit nodded serenely, and they both hugged. Suddenly they heard biting. They forgot Mountainkit was still there.

"Oh, go on. Your friendship display was very soothing," mewed Mountainkit, still swallowing.

Suddenly, Swankit spotted Icepaw & Zebrapaw touching noses.

*Are they in love?* thought Swankit. She walked up to them (with Primrosekit & Mountainkit following), and started laughing at them. Obviously, she made no noise, otherwise it would have been heard very loudly across the camp.

Icepaw & Zebrapaw abdruptly stopped when they saw Swankit, and Icepaw snapped, "What are *you* doing here? We're having something private!"

Swankit blew her tongue at them, and imitating kissing in a weird fashion.

"Oh, please," said Primrosekit humorously behind her. "If that's... really going to be... private, do it... in some bush... or den."

Mountainkit meowed in good fashion, "Yup. It is Swankit & my apprentice ceremony today. If you think you're *so* much older and get to boss us, think again. Besides, keep loving each other. Nobody's stopping you."

Zebrapaw & Icepaw turned bright red in embarrassment, and walked away from each other.

Then all three kits collapsed in laughter (including Swankit), which attracted Shadowpaw & Rainpaw's attention.

"Hey, guys, what's up? Fox got your tongues?" mewed Rainpaw, feeling joyful.

"Ah, you guys are just excited for the feel of being an apprentice, Swankit & Mountainkit?" Shadowpaw laughed, intending for a joke. "Well, your muscles will sear up from simply your first training. With medicine cats,"—he gestured towards Rainpaw—"their brains will hurt from *their* first training. It's not play, you know."

He turned to Primrosekit and mewed, "Be grateful you have four moons to decide your role, you know, I'm glad I had time to decide what *I* wanted to be. A warrior was the perfect role for me."

The kits were joyful, too.

And he did want to be a warrior. It seemed like the perfect dream. He wasn't *so* interested in having kits, but he did like love. Almost every tom liked that. Most of them also liked fighting & hunting, just regular action.

Shadowpaw also thought about a kit the same age as his sister. Her name was Berrykit, and she wanted to be a warrior. He had noticed Berrykit was quite shy. Mountainkit also knew who she was, since she was his father, Littleclaw's friend's daughter. His friend's name was Orchidmoon, and she was the daughter of Pinetail's brother, Stormlight, who was currently dead right now.

*Berrykit's nice,* Shadowpaw thought. Then he realized it was her ceremony, too.

Swankit & Shadowpaw noticed Snowstar climb onto Highrock.

Snowstar said, "All cats come under Highrock and the moon!"

The cats crowded around him. He contnued, "Swankit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, under the moon, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Swanpaw. Your mentor will be Nutclaw. I hope Nutclaw will pass down all he knows on to you.

"Mountainkit, you also have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, under the moon, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Mountainpaw. Your mentor will be Petuniaheart. I hope Petuniaheart will pass down all she knows on to you.

"Berrykit, you too have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, under the moon, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Berrypaw. Your mentor will be Maplestripe. I hope he will pass down all he knows on to you."

Then he addressed the mentors. "Nutclaw, Petuniaheart & Maplestripe, you are all ready to take on an apprentice. You will be the mentors of Swanpaw, Mountainpaw & Berrypaw. I expect you all to pass down all you know onto them, under the moon."

*"Swanpaw! Mountainpaw! Berrypaw!"*the Clan cheered.

Swanpaw felt a happy rush of excitement go through her as she met her mentor, Nutclaw. Mountainpaw & Berrypaw also met their mentors, Petuniaheart & Maplestripe.

Then a old golden-pelted cat went up to Mountainpaw and touched his nose.

"Honeyflight, grandma, I'm Petuniaheart's apprentice, now!" said Mountainpaw happily to her.

"Grandma?" asked Berrypaw. "How?"

"My dad's mom, Honeyflight," he explained.

Honeyflight nodded and congratulated all of them. Shadowpaw also felt happy for them. Now they can *all*be apprentices together.

*Except for Primrosekit,*he thought.

Nutclaw looked stern all the time, but he was really just joyful most of the time. He asked Swanpaw, "Do you want to hunt?"

Swanpaw nodded, and she imitated rabbits hopping, and shrugged, as she was trying to ask, "Can we catch rabbits?"

Nutclaw seemed to misunderstand her and say, "Yes, we have to pounce on mice first."

Swanpaw nodded sadly. She wanted to catch rabbits, surely they couldn't be hard to catch.

Their hunting training went swiftly, but Swanpaw only caught one mouse, and it was tiny. She was grateful for her compassion when Primrosekit ate it and said it was juicy to Swanpaw.

Shadowpaw asked his mentor, Snowstar if they could hunt, too, but he simply replied, "I have to talk to Peonyclaw about something. You should go and hunt for the medicine cats."

*Hunting for Rainpaw & Lilypool?* Shadowpaw thought. He had hunted for Lilypool before, but never for Rainpaw, too.

He decided to catch a snow hare. It was going into leaf-bare, but they'd still be around. But harder to find & catch. They were also turning white, so he had to look for white hares instead of the usual brown.

Shadowpaw ventured out into the Rabbit Residence area, and looked at his grey fur. He thought it'd be obvious against the snow (there was only little), but he hid behind a little snow mound. A hare trotted into the open.

Without thinking, he leaped onto it, but it suddenly darted out of his reach, and was nowhere.

Shadowpaw was downtrodden, but he hid somewhere else again. Another rabbit came out into the open, and Shadowpaw waited. It went closer to him. Then a much smaller rabbit was following the first one.

Shadowpaw immediately leaped on the first one, and he bit into its neck so it couldn't get away. The rabbit struggled, but then stopped. It was dead. The smaller one was already gone.

Pleased with his catch, he hid it in the snow and decided to catch one more. The much smaller rabbit came again, and Shadowpaw immediately sliced its back. That rabbit died, too.

Shadowpaw brought back both the rabbits and put it in front of the medicine cats' den. Rainpaw took the much smaller rabbit and ate it in three bites.

"This one's awfully small, but I guess its fine," said Rainpaw. She took a bite of the bigger one but then Lilypool came and finished the bigger one.

"Oh, thank you Shadowpaw, we've been working for a while now," she said.

Shadowpaw felt proud of himself & met with Zebrapaw & Quailpaw. They were currently eating. Shadowpaw started eating a mouse. Swanpaw was eating a small hare.

"So, how much did you like your ceremony?" Shadowpaw asked Swanpaw.

Swanpaw put a paw very high into the air, indicating, "Very much."

Shadowpaw seemed to understand.

Swanpaw then tried to ask Shadowpaw, "Do you like Primrosekit?" by pointing to her and shrugging.

Shadowpaw answered, "Primrosekit? Oh, I guess she's fine."

She nodded and went to the apprentices' den after that.

So did Shadowpaw.

### Chapter 12: Love & Kits

Two moons had passed, and Zebrapaw was ten moons old, Icepaw, Shadowpaw & Quailpaw eleven moons old. Birchpaw, Mountainpaw, Rainpaw, Berrypaw & Swanpaw were eight moons old. Primrosekit was four moons old. Flipsnow was two and a half moons in with the kits. But they also happened to discover Goldenlily was expecting, too. His mentor & his sister's mentor, Sandleap & Nightnose, were acting very much in love.

Berrypaw wasn't necessarily friends with anyone of them, but she usually liked to hang out with Mountainpaw and a kit named Thymekit who was born little more than a moon ago to Redwater. Berrypaw and Mountainpaw somehow found a liking to Thymekit ever since he was born, and the three stuck together ever since. Unlike Berrypaw and like Mountainpaw, however, Thymekit talked to other cats cheerfully and enthusiastically.

Stonepaw & Zebrapaw's mouths gaped open at their mentors as they were doing lovey-dovey tricks.

"What are you *doing?!"* screamed Stonepaw at Nightnose. "Are we going to *train?!"*

Sandleap & Nightnose stared at the two siblings. Then Nightnose replied, "Later. Right now I'm taking a break from warrior duties since I have already hunted a few mice for the Clan."

Stonepaw growled but said nothing more. Then Zebrapaw asked, "Can *we* train, Sandleap, instead of you touching Nightnose in weird places? I don't remember doing any training yesterday or today, or the day before yesterday."

Sandleap groaned and replied, "Think like you're taking a break, Zebrapaw."

Then Stonepaw rolled her eyes at Zebrapaw, saying with what Zebrapaw thought was humor, "I didn't think you'd respond to their snogging, seeing what happened with Icepaw."

Zebrapaw blushed and thought about Icepaw. It was only one-way love; Icepaw simply loved him. Zebrapaw, however, was much more interested in becoming a good warrior. He thought it was kind of dumb for everyone else being total weirdos. Even budding lovers, like maybe Quailpaw and Primrosekit?

That time, Icepaw asked him if he wanted to hang out with her, and he agreed. He had no idea that she was going to attempt some moves. When they were touching noses, he thought it meant a friendly gesture. Not what Primrosekit, Swanpaw & Mountainpaw apparently perceived it to be.

"I wasn't in love with Icepaw," replied Zebrapaw calmly.

"Oh, right, like nobody couldn't see how much interest you had in her," said Stonepaw sarcastically. "Honestly, I'm never going to have kits or a mate or anything like that, it wouldn't suit me. I just *love* to fight & hunt."

*Like Adderstar?* thought Zebrapaw, recalling the stories that the elders told him. The elders were alive in Adderstar's time and before the Mountain Clans, so obviously they had the clearest perceptions of him. Although Adderstar *did* have mates and kits, the elders said that he had nearly no interest in them but to train them.

"Okay, but I'm still not in love with Icepaw," replied Zebrapaw. Stonepaw shrugged in response, and scampered off into the forest.

Zebrapaw then noticed Violetrain & Nutclaw talking to each other. *Why is there so much love in this Clan?* he asked himself.

He went up to his sister & Swanpaw's mentor and asked, "What are you doing, you two?"

Violetrain replied almost giddily, "I'm asking Nutclaw & Swanpaw if I could help be her mentor!"

"Did they say yes?" asked Zebrapaw, tilting his head ponderingly. He saw Swanpaw taking a mouse in her mouth and nodding.

"Why is Violetrain teaching you, too?" Zebrapaw asked Swanpaw. Swanpaw just shrugged and took a bite from her mouse.

Nutclaw mewed, "Well, duh, she wants to be a mentor, too!"

Zebrapaw responded, "What is the reason for that?"

"Violetrain likes young cats. She wants some apprentice to help train until she has an apprentice of her own."

Swanpaw pointed towards Thymekit and shrugged. Nutclaw, even though being her mentor still didn't seem to understand her sign language. Zebrapaw translated, "How about Thymekit?"

"Thymekit? Well, that is a good one, seeing he might be the next kit after Primrosekit to become an apprentice," replied Nutclaw. Zebrapaw knew that there were two more kits, Robinkit and Soarkit, born one moon after Primrosekit and Dandelionkit and two moons before Thymekit to Heronwing and Blackfur (who died a few days before Primrosekit and Dandelionkit were born), but they were too painfully shy for even a bubbly and kind cat like Violetrain, and they usually got intimidated by every single cat who didn't reside in the nursery, which included Violetrain. They sort of reminded him of himself and Stonepaw and Berrypaw, as well as Mountainpaw and Primrosekit before they became friendly with them.

Then Violetrain mewed, "Oh, can we please start our training?"

But then Forestcreek came along with Icepaw, asking if they can have double training. Zebrapaw asked if he could come, too, since Sandleap was too busy. They all agreed. It seemed like Icepaw was interested in Zebrapaw, but he did nothing to show any interest back.

Swanpaw stared at Zebrapaw confusingly, but Icepaw stared at him seductively.

Forestcreek and Nutclaw said Violetrain could train her brother for now, but Zebrapaw thought it was quite weird being taught by his sibling, even if she was eight moons older than him.

Then sometime during the training, Zebrapaw asked Forestcreek, "Do you think my sister, Violetrain, can mentor Thymekit?"

"My grandson?" mewed Forestcreek. "Maybe. I could ask my brother, Snowstar."

"Your grandson? How?" asked Zebrapaw confusingly.

"Why, his mother, Redwater, is my daughter," replied Forestcreek. "I still don't know who fathered the kit, though."

Zebrapaw still looked confused. The three apprentices still had trouble with training together, since Swanpaw kept missing the rabbits, and the other five had to try to catch them. Zebrapaw remembered Swanpaw & Icepaw were sisters, but they acted awfully like... awkward friends. Icepaw kept laughing at Swanpaw when she missed a rabbit while Zebrapaw hissed at Icepaw for silence.

But when Icepaw stumbled over a rock while chasing a rabbit, it was Swanpaw's turn to laugh. Then Violetrain & Nutclaw had disappeared, only to find them snogging each other in a bush.

Icepaw tried to approach Zebrapaw and do a flirt, but Zebrapaw snapped, "Ugh, Icepaw, you and my sister & Swanpaw's mentor are disgusting! We're on patrol here!" Swanpaw nodded in agreement and glared at her sister.

Icepaw turned her back on Zebrapaw & Swanpaw and yowled, "Oof, I thought you liked me!"

"If you want to cuddle & kiss, do it at the right time!" Zebrapaw yowled back. Forestcreek agreed with him and added, "Yup, because you can do it in your spare time." Then he turned on Violetrain & Nutclaw and snapped, "Unlike you two! Get back to mentoring!" Forestcreek was, after all, a senior warrior lecturing two young, immature warriors.

The six MoonClan cats went home in silence. Icepaw didn't even attempt anything with Zebrapaw, instead, she just went to sleep, and so did Violetrain & Nutclaw.

"Ugh, sometimes cats get blinded by love, I don't want to be like that," Zebrapaw told Swanpaw. She nodded understandingly in reply, then she pointed to herself and shook her head. Zebrapaw replied, "I know you wouldn't try to be like that either."

Forestcreek was already telling Snowstar about Violetrain and how she should mentor Thymekit.

Out of the blue, Flipsnow from the nursery started screaming her head off.

*"I'M KITTING!"* she yowled in pain.

Zebrapaw & Swanpaw immediately rushed to the nursery, and they saw most of Mountainpaw & Flipsnow's friends come in too. Lilypool & Rainpaw hurried in, too. Littleclaw was there to comfort Flipsnow. His mother, Honeyflight, was there to soothe Flipsnow, and to anticipate new grandchildren, maybe.

Zebrapaw spotted Thymekit shrinking back against his young mother, Redwater, since it was probably his first time seeing a queen give birth and scream so loudly. It was kind of weird to him that she was the cousin of Sandleap, Hailstream, Sealbranch, Quailpaw, Rainpaw & Birchpaw, being the daughter of Forestcreek, who was the brother of Snowstar. But then when he thought about it, she was almost evenly the same age as the three sisters, so it kind of made sense. Robinkit and Soarkit were also hiding behind their mother, since it was also probably scary for them, even though they saw Redwater give birth before.

It took some time, but with Rainpaw assisting Lilypool with the kitting, Flipsnow managed to give birth to a she-cat and a tom. Littleclaw named the she-kit after *his* grandmother, Lilac, and Flipsnow named the tom-kit Jumpkit because he was jumping around the place.

"Our nursery has been blessed by StarClan once again," replied Honeyflight thoughtfully.

Zebrapaw ate a hare after watching Flipsnow kit. He thought that Lilackit & Jumpkit were good names, but he wondered if his own name, a Twoleg saying of a striped horse, was good enough.

### Chapter 13: Sandleap, Flameeye & Tina

Redwater shivered. It was a moon ever since Flipsnow's kitting. Her son, Thymekit, was old enough to leave the nursery by himself now. She wondered if Fangstar would think twice about battling MoonClan.

Flameeye was out hunting. Being Redwater's brother and littermate, she trusted him with her kit. He took his nephew into the forest carefully. He wondered if it was time for a mate, since his sister already had a two-moon-old kit. He would have chosen Sealbranch as a mate if she weren't his cousin, since she was the strongest, hard-working and headstrong she-cat he knew in the Clan.

"What is that?" asked Thymekit, pointing to a mouse.

"It's a mouse," replied Flameeye, and pounced on it.

"Can you teach me to do that?" mewed Thymekit excitedly.

"When you're an apprentice," replied Flameeye calmly.

He hunted some more and told Thymekit interesting facts about the forest until he saw a small, black & white spotted cat.

It also had a Twoleg with it. The Twoleg only seemed to see the small cat it owned, which made Flameeye relieved, since he didn't want to deal with any Twolegs.

*Kittypet & a Twoleg,* thought Flameeye bitterly. Thymekit saw no problem with either of them whatsoever, but he looked like as if he thought the Twoleg was odd-looking. His uncle hadn't gotten to the part yet about these two groups.

The kittypet turned to Flameeye and did something he wasn't expecting at all from any kittypet. The cat bowed down to him, and purred, "Greetings, Clan-goers. I am Tina, a female cat. I'm owned by humans."

Flameeye knew "female" meant she-cat & "human" meant Twoleg, but he always wondered why kittypets have slightly different terms than Clan cats.

"I'm Flameeye," he started, "and this is my nephew, Thymekit. We come from MoonClan."

Tina nodded, but suddenly got startled by her Twoleg's call. Tina let out a "mrrow" for "I'm coming!"

"Oh, well. I was hoping you'd invite me into MoonClan, but can't do that now. Nice to meet you, Flameeye," meowed Tina, running off.

"Bye?" replied Flameeye bewildered. He was shocked by the first part of her sentence. She only knew his name, and now she wanted to enter MoonClan. He knew some kittypets had joined the Clans, like Flipsnow & Peonyclaw, but almost all of them he had heard of had some kind of friend, relative, some relationships with a Clan cat, making them want to join. Surely Tina didn't assume they didn't have a relationship at *all* together?

"Who was she, and what was that tall, two-legged thing?" asked Thymekit, probably grimacing at the Twoleg's appearance. Finally, Flameeye explained about kittypets & Twolegs. Thymekit seemed to understand, but Flameeye still wasn't sure about Tina.

*I'll get over it,* Flameeye told himself.

He went back to camp with only a mouse, but he managed to bring Thymekit back home safe, as he had promised Redwater.

Redwater thought something might be wrong with her brother, but she shrugged it off.

The next day, Sandleap said she felt dizzy. Lilypool & Rainpaw checked her out, and they said she was expecting, too. Redwater thought it weird for Petuniaheart & Snowstar to get elated all of a sudden because they were going to be grandparents, since she thought either one of the trio of sisters to be expecting kits sooner, so she was happy to have her cousin in the nursery.

Flameeye again went out hunting but by himself this time. He wondered if he would encounter Tina again, and apparently, he did.

"Flameeye! So good to see you again!" she exclaimed, running to him. "None of my humans are here to try to bother you, because I ran off!"

Flameeye did a double take. "Ran *off?!*" He was surprised with this cat's perseverance to join the Clan. He wasn't sure how to trust her at all. "Um... well, Thymekit isn't here either," he said, changing the subject a little. "But why are you here? I didn't invite you..."

Tina blinked a few times before understanding Flameeye's confusion. "Oh, let me tell you the reason why, my humans are staying in a summer house, which is in the Mountains, which is where we are! It is also my birthplace because they stole me from here from my mother six moons ago. After being here again I want to join a Clan!"

Flameeye took some time to process this information. Most of it made sense except for Tina's mother. "Why not be with your mother?" he asked. "I doubt she is in my Clan."

Tina blinked again, but slowly. "Oh, right. Basically she is in hiding so she doesn't want me to join her Clan otherwise cats would get suspicious. For some reason Clan cats hate other Clan cats mating with outsiders!" Her eyes became wide.

Flameeye nodded and understood what she was saying. "I think she is abiding by the warrior code." Tina became surprised and puzzled, so he continued with his explanation. "Basically, the warrior code is designed to help the Clan as a whole go through hardships much easier without any issues that would be caused by breaking the code. One of the rules is not to mate with outsiders, including cats from other Clans, because it can cause issues with loyalty, priority and other things. Also, it could potentially ruin the kits' reputation because they might be prejudiced that they want to help their other parent's Clan. And other reasons, too." For a moment he thought about his sister, Redwater, because he had no idea who her kit's father was and neither did their father, Forestcreek. *I don't think it is that bad,* he thought reassuringly. He doubted his sister would have a relationship outside of the Clan. At the very most, she probably mated with a loner or kittypet.

Tina looked at him, confused. "Really? I didn't know it was like that. Is the warrior code strict?"

Flameeye shrugged and said reassuringly, "I suppose it depends on the cat. But it is supposed to be for the betterment of the Clan. Rogues might think it is strict, which is why they *are* rogues. And maybe loners or kittypets, too. In general, Clan cats don't really like kittypets because they are thought to not have skills to survive in the wild." He planned his next words carefully. "You are classified as a kittypet, because you know... you have Twolegs. Twolegs are what we call humans."

Tina was very shocked now. "Oh... I didn't know that. Does this mean I can't join?"

Flameeye shook his head quickly. "No, no, no, you still can. You just have to learn hunting and fighting skills and then you can join and be a good warrior. I can even offer to be your mentor," he said even in an quicker way than he had nodded. Then he paused for a bit. Would he like having a kittypet as an apprentice? It would be his first apprentice because he and Redwater recently became a warrior, a moon before his three cousin sisters. He was the first one to meet her and understand her, so he thought it was the best idea.

Tina looked very excited now. "Really? That is very good! Finally! I am so excited!" She beamed from ear to ear. Then Flameeye nodded. He thought it was perfectly fine, after all, MoonClan had a surplus of supplies and they could use another warrior. What was one more warrior to the Clan? *Only better things,* figured Flameeye, so he gestured towards Tina to follow him. She followed him with a bouncy type of walk. Flameeye wondered if he should tell her about AdderClan and SnowClan yet but he figured she already knew about them. He *was* worried, however, if she knew about hardships that kittypets would never face.

Then they went back to the MoonClan camp. The deputy and his cousin, Sealbranch, was the first one to see them and she was definitely surprised. But Flameeye quickly explained about Tina and how she would be a good asset to the Clan. Tina also said that she was seven moons old.

Sealbranch nodded but she wondered if Tina was a spy from somewhere, even if not a Clan. Even if Flameeye first saw her with a Twoleg. She was worried that Tina may do harm. But Tina showed no signs of distrust, so she told her father, Snowstar, about this. Snowstar thought of a good warrior name for her and noticed she had black and white spots.

Other cats in the Clan saw them, too, and they looked at Flameeye and Sealbranch questioningly.

Redwater looked at Tina carefully and wondered what Flameeye was doing. She remembered Falconblue and Fangstar and she knew that they were malefactors to MoonClan. She didn't want Tina to be one from inside the Clan, too, like Falconblue. Thymekit recognized Tina and told his mother, "I remember that cat! Flameeye told me about her and he said she was a kittypet and that they can join Clans."

Redwater became really surprised. *So Flameeye met Tina while he was bringing Thymekit with him?* she thought, surprised. She thought about it for a moment and wondered what Thymekit had to say about her. But Thymekit just told good things about her.

Flameeye thought that he could trust Tina though, because she showed no signs of distrust. She acted very differently from Falconblue, and much more innocently. He still remembered that fatal battle, and he was only one moon a warrior, which made him shiver. Moonstar had died from that battle, which made his uncle, Snowstar, the leader. But he awaited the ceremony as Snowstar climbed onto Highrock and said the usual words.

### Chapter 14: Swiftclaw

Birchpaw got back from training. He was now ten moons old, a moon ever since Spottedpaw (originally Tina) joined the Clan. Spottedpaw was only seven moons old at the time, now eight, so he thought it weird to have been older than her since she seemed so much more mature. Her mentor, Flameeye, seemed to be teaching her well, but her time of being a warrior was scheduled on her fifteenth moon since she started at seven moons.

Birchpaw met with his friends who were also ten moons old, Mountainpaw, Swanpaw and his sister, Rainpaw. Rainpaw had chosen a separate path than the other three by becoming a medicine cat. But they were friends nonetheless.

Shadowpaw, Icepaw, and Quailpaw were thirteen moons old, about to be warriors. Zebrapaw and Stonepaw were twelve moons old. Primrosekit was six moons old, but her apprentice ceremony was going to be the next day and her mentor was going to be Hailstream. Thymekit was three moons old, and Snowstar planned his mentor to be, yes, Violetrain.

While Birchpaw was walking towards the nursery, a tom-cat named Watereye came to the nursery and started talking to Goldenlily, who was two moons in with her kits. Birchkit thought Goldenlily's mate might be Watereye since there was no one else who could have been her mate.

Birchpaw decided to ask the expecting Goldenlily about it. Watereye left after their brief talk.

"Um, Goldenlily... who is Shadowpaw, Icepaw, Swanpaw and the kits' father?" Birchpaw asked sheepishly.

Goldenlily stared at him for a long time, but then laughed intensely. Then she answered, still chuckling, "Oh, well, Watereye, of course! He's also the father of Nutclaw and Nightnose, and I'm their mother, too!"

Birchpaw was confused. Everyone said she was nineteen moons old when giving birth to Shadowpaw and Icepaw. Nightnose and Nutclaw were eight moons older than them two, so she would have been still an apprentice when giving birth to them if that was true.

"Are you actually the mother of Nightnose and Nutclaw? You would have been too young to have kits!" Birchpaw pointed out. Goldenlily faltered, then glared at Birchpaw strangely.

"Oh fine," she spat finally. "Anna, a kittypet, mothered them both. She was so in love with Watereye, and he was so in love with Anna." She let out an exasperated sigh. "And I never knew anything about Watereye that was so handsome," she continued, still weary. Birchpaw understood, but he wasn't sure who Goldenlily's mate was.

Suddenly she smiled slyly. "It was Swiftclaw who fathered all of my kits."

Birchpaw looked puzzled again. *Who's Swiftclaw?* He didn't know that name anywhere in MoonClan... unless she...

"Since you're so smart, Swiftclaw's from another Clan. SnowClan," answered Goldenlily, looking vast and far off. "I mated with him three times. I don't know why."

Birchpaw's eyes were wide. *Swiftclaw's from another Clan?!*

"And it is against the warrior code, yes. During some time in patrol two moons ago, I saw Swiftclaw, and dearly missed him. He missed me, too. So we did it again. But he doesn't know what happened now. That I'm expecting his kits again.

"Nobody knows this but me and him... and now you," ended Goldenlily, saying the last part with a hard stare. "Keep this a secret and don't tell anyone without my consent."

Birchpaw nodded, but this secret-keeping awfully reminded him about Peonyclaw, Flipsnow and Whitelight's trio of sisters secret, where nobody knew about it except for him. Suddenly, he felt as if the burden was dragging him further down.

Then she said, "I'd like to die once this ends, you know, join StarClan."

Birchpaw was surprised. He wondered why she would say that, since Goldenlily wasn't the type to say weird things. Or so he thought. He didn't think she would be sad about life or anything. *Is she worried what might happen if she gets caught?* he wondered. He had no idea, because Goldenlily just told him this now. He decided to not talk about this dark subject anymore.

"I wonder why Quailpaw, Swanpaw and Mountainpaw were born single?" he asked, not sure what else to talk about with her.

Goldenlily also seemed to be grateful, because her joyful mood came back again and replied, "Oh, Quailpaw and Swanpaw weren't born as singles, but Mountainpaw was. Flipsnow was very protective of him, being her first-born and only kit at the time."

Birchpaw nodded. Mountainpaw was in Flipsnow's first litter, while Quailpaw and Swanpaw were in their mothers' second. He still didn't understand how Quailpaw and Swanpaw weren't born singles.

Goldenlily explained to him, "You see, they both had a sibling. Your mother, Petuniaheart, had two kits on her second litter. Snowpool at the time and she had named Quailpaw already because he had gotten up first of the two. But Lilypool realized the other one was stillborn before they could choose a name for them."

"Oh," commented Birchpaw.

"And for Swanpaw's sibling, they were also already dead. I was anticipating both kits to wake up, but only Swanpaw did. The gender of the kit was also unknown, but I wanted to name them Vinekit after Moonstar's father, my great-uncle, *your* great-grandfather."

"Oh," said Birchpaw, thinking about it. He thought about how it would be like to be born with a dead sibling.

"The death of our second kits made us overly protective of them," Goldenlily added, "That's why Petuniaheart got hysterical from Quailpaw nearly falling down the waterfall as a kit. If it weren't for my son..."

Birchpaw knew the story of Quailpaw, and it was a little similar to Primrosekit's story. Almost everybody knew about it, where Quailkit accidentally slipped into river and Shadowkit was with him, so he alerted the Clan, and they rescued Quailkit when he was dangerously near the waterfall at the end.

"And I also almost cried when I figured out Swankit couldn't speak, thinking she couldn't be a warrior, but Moonstar, yes, she was the leader at the time, she comforted me saying it was possible for her to be a warrior since nothing was wrong with her tongue or mouth or... reflexes"—Goldenlily seemed to be thinking of Primrosekit—"but she simply couldn't negotiate with other cats or get herself understood easily. But that also meant she couldn't be leader or deputy, or a proper mentor." She took a deep breath and continued. "But I started teaching Swankit different signs to communicate and told other Clanmates what each one means.

"So she can be understood," Goldenlily finished.

Birchpaw nodded and decided to ask her something else. "Is anyone else born single or with a dead sibling?"

"Hmm, yes. Lilypool and Maplestripe. Lilypool had a sibling named Fallkit who died of greencough, and Maplestripe was born alone. They're all Wisdomheart and Queen's children," she answered.

"There's also Rosepetal alone, Watereye alone, Littleclaw alone, Zebrapaw and Stonepaw with a dead sibling, and Honeyflight, Littleclaw's mother alone with dead siblings..." she continued.

Birchpaw then remembered Primrosekit, since she was going to become a warrior apprentice. He asked, "What about Primrosekit? Do you think she is making the right decision?"

Goldenlily laughed. "I'm not so sure, because of her nerves, but your brother has been acting like a thoughtful mentor to her; pity he's too young to mentor her right now. But she should be fine with it, I guess. Her sister, Dandelionkit, has no problems, right?"

Birchpaw nodded, contemplating all this. "Who'd be good to be Dandelionkit's mentor?" he asked.

Goldenlily shrugged. "Could be Littleclaw, he has mentored Rosepetal and Fireclaw before, or Watereye himself, or even... wait, not Peonyclaw, that's *your* mentor... there's also Applefall... Fireclaw... Sealbranch... yeah, I guess that's it."

Birchpaw nodded in agreement. For a moment he partly wished he could mentor Dandelionkit if Primrosekit was taken already.

He decided to go train with Peonyclaw, still trying to understand everything Goldenlily said. For a moment he remembered his mentor's secret, too.

### Chapter 15: Another Ceremony

Primrosekit shifted uncomfortably while thinking about everything in the past three moons. She remembered what Quailpaw had taught her about speed & swiftness & agility since they all meant how fast she could go. She thought she was able to move as quickly as everyone else, but at some point, while running, she suddenly froze uncontrollably and had to wait for half a second to be free again. It was almost like what happened to her while talking. Talk too much too fast, and she freezes very painfully.

That freezing feeling was as painful as her talking too much, and it would hinder her to perfectly catch prey & fight enemies. But Quailpaw said she was doing fine.

He also taught Primrosekit how to pounce. But one time, her muscles froze up in the air and she landed badly. She didn't get hurt, but she had to rest.

Her sister, Dandelionkit, on the other hand, didn't have to do stuff like these, so she got time to play, like all other completely normal kits.

After three moons of training as a kit, Primrosekit thought she would have the agility covered. She did become faster than usual but wondered if the freezing feeling would go away someday. Primrosekit didn't want it to happen while she was about to catch a mouse, and she suddenly freezes. Or when she is fighting a strong enemy and is about to dodge a death blow until she suddenly freezes and gets killed.

Sometimes, Primrosekit thought she was wiser than the others around her age because of her condition; she usually spent a lot of time thinking rather than playing.

And Primrosekit never forgot about her falling off a mountain that day where she was so bored and her condition & shyness wouldn't allow her to have fun with anyone, and she wandered off and fell off the edge. Luckily, Quailpaw & his mentor, Blazesky were there, otherwise, she wouldn't have had any way to get back up.

She had liked Quailpaw as a role model ever since, and also when he told his own story about falling off.

The day of her ceremony had come. Primrosekit was scared of it instead of excited, since she had adamantly stuck to the path of a warrior and refused to leave it, so she didn't know what her Clan was going to think of her decision. MoonClan was still nice (with perhaps the exception of Stonepaw), but she still thought she might get weird looks like when she came back to camp after being rescued from that fall off the cliff. She especially didn't like to have many eyes on her as it made her self-conscious.

*Maybe in another time of this Clan, another cat born with slow reflexes can be a medicine cat,* she thought. *But I'm going to be a warrior, I'm going to show the Mountains my skills!*

She spotted Snowstar jumping onto Highrock and announcing, "All cats come under Highrock and the moon!"

The cats crowded around him. "Primrosekit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, under the moon, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Primrosepaw. Your mentor will be Hailstream. I hope Hailstream will pass down all she knows on to you.

"Dandelionkit, you have also reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, under the moon, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Dandelionpaw. Your mentor will be Sealbranch. I hope Sealbranch will pass down all she knows on to you."

*"Dandelionpaw! Primrosepaw! Dandelionpaw! Primrosepaw!"* the Clan chanted.

Primrosepaw thought she heard more enthusiasm in the chants of Dandelionpaw's name than her name. She wasn't very happy to be an apprentice, but she was a little comforted that it was Quailpaw's sister. So she went up to Hailstream very slowly and touched her nose, which took her a few seconds after Dandelionpaw touched noses with *her* mentor. She felt the entire Clan's eyes on her and she didn't really like the feeling. She wondered how leaders or deputies could have everyone's eyes on them without even feeling hot.

Rosepetal and Maplestripe, her parents were very proud of them, of course. And Sandleap looked very happy at her sisters and Primrosepaw and *her* sister. Primrosepaw looked around for Quailpaw and saw he was next to Shadowpaw and Zebrapaw in the far corner of the crowd. They were standing next to Birchpaw, Swanpaw, Rainpaw and Mountainpaw. They all looked happy for her, too, especially Quailpaw. Spottedpaw was there, too. She gave a small smile back and nodded.

Dandelionpaw announced, "I will be the best warrior! And so will my sister!" Which made everyone's spirits better and a few people laugh. Primrosepaw was glad that she had a bubbly and bright sister.

Hailstream said excitedly, "I am proud to be your mentor, Primrosepaw. Like my father said, I will pass onto you everything I know. Especially my skills." Then she whispered so that no one can hear, "And oh, by the way, you don't need to go fast for everything. Such as sneaking up on something or someone, or pouncing. So I think you will still be a perfect warrior."

For the first time since Quailpaw telling her the same thing, Primrosepaw felt better with her mentor's words.

Most of the cats dispersed, but Primrosepaw's friends and family came up to her and congratulated her and Dandelionpaw, especially Quailpaw. Wisdomheart also congratulated his granddaughters, and he was smiling at them, too. All the apprentices that were there were all encouraging her, too, including Dandelionpaw.

"You will be a better warrior than all of us," said Quailpaw generously. "Yeah, you will be the best!" Dandelionpaw exclaimed excitedly. "Hopefully, you can beat those enemy warriors up!" Mountainpaw added generously as well. "And I will help you, too, being a medicine cat and you can protect me! We will be a great team together!" Rainpaw cheered, also enthusastically. Swanpaw, Shadowpaw, Spottedpaw and Zebrapaw all nodded eagerly, too.

"Thank you... all," Primrosepaw said gratefully. Then she looked over to Birchpaw because he didn't respond yet. Finally he said very thoughtfully, "May StarClan light your path and bless you with a good life." All of the cats there agreed with him, including Primrosepaw. She thought Birchpaw was also very wise like her, too. *That makes two of us,* she thought, which was good.

She looked over at Stonepaw and Icepaw and saw they were both just with their mentors training. They apparently didn't have that much interest in Primrosepaw. She remembered Stonepaw pushed Swanpaw into a steep hole when Swanpaw was only a kit, and Primrosepaw never liked Stonepaw since. Icepaw was worried for Swankit at the time, but definitely not Stonepaw. Icepaw did notice Primrosepaw training but she focused on her own mentor. *That is fine, since you can't be distracted,* Primrosepaw reasoned.

Hailstream and Sealbranch were still there and they were smiling. "Do you want to train?" exclaimed Hailstream eagerly. Sealbranch nodded, since it was their first time being mentors. Primrosepaw nodded slowly while Dandelionpaw nodded very quickly, even bouncing up and down. "Can we do double training?" Dandelionpaw exclaimed. Primrosepaw nodded again. Their mentors said yes.

They did some pouncing training first, and they both had to pounce on a rock at the same time. Primrosepaw was very wary of this part because she remembered her few bad landings due to her freezing. But she made sure to rest every muscle before pouncing. The Clan was watching them, including Snowstar, especially at Primrosepaw, since they wanted to see how she would do. Quailpaw looked hopeful for her, since he trained her unofficially for three moons. Primrosepaw still felt a little uncomfortable being the center of attention, even if it was good attention, but she focused on herself and the rock a few feet in front of her.

Primrosepaw and Dandelionpaw finally leaped at Sealbranch's flick of her tail, and they leaped onto the rock. To her surprise, Primrosepaw landed perfectly. While Dandelionpaw had slightly off aim. Primrosepaw realized that her training with Quailpaw made her way ahead of other kits, including her own sister. Dandelionpaw seemed to realize this too and said, "Wow, good job, Primrosepaw! Looks like your training with Quailpaw paid off!"

Everyone looked between the three of them and looked very proud of Primrosepaw and thankful to Quailpaw. They were happy along with Dandelionpaw. Primrosepaw was eternally grateful to Quailpaw and showed appreciation to him by smiling. *He could be a really good mentor someday, when he becomes a warrior,* Primrosepaw thought positively.

Hailstream echoed Dandelionpaw's compliment in her own words and told them to try and pounce on one another. Dandelionpaw was first to pounce, then Primrosepaw would do it next almost immediately.

"So Primrosepaw, try to dodge," Hailstream told her. Primrosepaw nodded and watched for Dandelionpaw's moves intently. It was something she remembered from Quailpaw's excellent training. Then Dandelionpaw leaped on her. Primrosepaw saw it coming, of course, and dodged. There was no freezing feeling, to Primrosepaw's gratification.

Then Primrosepaw tried to wait for a half-second to rest, then pounced on Dandelionpaw, who also dodged, but still within Primrosepaw's reach. Then Dandelionpaw whispered to her sister amusingly, "Don't go too hard, though! *I* wasn't trained by Quailpaw." Primrosepaw just nodded, since she knew this fact already.

*Maybe my condition is a blessing in some cases?* Primrosepaw figured, which made her feel better. *I am way advanced other kits due to my special training.* She also wondered if StarClan was testing her with this condition, in a good way, to see if she would be a selfless good warrior only willing to do good for the Clan even at the price of herself. She hoped it was true.

Then Dandelionpaw jumped out of Primrosepaw's reach and turned around. Then she braced herself for a pounce, which took her a moment to do, so Primrosepaw was able to brace herself for a dodge and rest her muscles. Then Dandelionpaw jumped and Primrosepaw managed to dodge. Then she jumped out of the way again so that she wouldn't be attacked by Dandelionpaw.

*In real battles, the enemy cat or... cats... wouldn't take this long. Especially since they would be fully trained warriors, and not an apprentice on their first day like my sister,* Primrosepaw thought a little discouragingly, but she shook that thought off. Once she became a warrior, she would probably have it covered. Especially since she would have three moons more training than other apprentices did.

She focused on Dandelionpaw's whereabouts and saw Dandelionpaw about to pounce on her again but Primrosepaw dodged again. Then Primrosepaw braced herself and rested her muscles for about half a second before pouncing on Dandelionpaw. Dandelionpaw had also braced herself, however, and also pounced towards her.

The two sisters crashed into each other in the air and fell down, which made most of the cats worry about Primrosepaw, especially her parents, but neither got hurt. Instead Dandelionpaw remarked, "I wonder if two cats can crash into each other in the air in real battle?" Primrosepaw nodded in agreement, since she was glad to have an ever optimistic sister. And she didn't get hurt because there was nothing wrong with her bones or pelt. And her nerves weren't really that sensitive to shock, either.

Sealbranch and Hailstream exchanged looks for about a second before they both laughed in relief. Quailpaw and Rainpaw also looked relieved, too, and most of the other cats did, too.

"Oh, yep, but it is probably not going to be as harmless as this," Sealbranch mewed in amused reply. "They might scratch each other in the air, topple over one another and have a huge claw fest after falling down! Of course, that won't happen here."

Hailstream nodded. "Although if that happens, you need to try to have enough speed to counter your opponent in the air so you can be on top of them and have a better advantage," she added confidently. "Otherwise, it will be vice versa! And that could be bad."

Then she flicked her tail as a sign for the two sisters to continue. Primrosepaw and Dandelionpaw were training very well indeed and the entire Clan cheered them on. And they were fast learners, too, even if Dandelionpaw didn't get the special training like Primrosepaw did.

*Maybe... being a warrior isn't going to be bad at all,* Primrosepaw reassured herself. *Maybe... I can be the first cat with my condition to become a full-blown warrior. And I will be a special proud warrior to the Clans, too, as StarClan intended me to be!*

### Chapter 16: Peaceful talk... Stonepaw & Icepaw's competition

A half moon later, Zebrapaw and Swanpaw had woken up and did training together, since they were both being assisted by Violetrain. Sandleap, being a queen, still taught Zebrapaw about some things such as how to intimidate a warrior (he already knew about the warrior code), while his sister, Violetrain, took care of his physical training, including hunting.

Swanpaw's mentor, Nutclaw, still didn't seem to understand her, completely, anyway. There were some complicated things she couldn't relay to Nutclaw, such as "What do you think about my warrior skills?" This was even hard to relay to other cats, though, even her mother, Goldenlily. But she still thought he was a great mentor since he taught her very well, along with Violetrain.

Spottedpaw also got up and trained with her mentor, Flameeye. She thought he was very interesting, and a great Clan cat who looked beyond other cats' covers. After joining the Clan she knew why her mother was so skeptical of her joining SnowClan, and she understood the warrior code, too. She also understood why the Clan cats had skeptism towards her when she joined as well, but she was determined to prove to the Clan she was as good of a warrior as the average Clan-born cat. After all, she was only one moon late for apprenticeship.

Then when they were finished training, they were all at the prey pile.

"Spottedpaw, how is your training?" Zebrapaw asked her thoughtfully.

Spottedpaw's eyes lit up. "It is wonderful! I understand why you want to live in Clans now! The thrill of the wild and fighting, something you never get to do in the boring life of a kittypet." She blinked. "Unless you run away, of course, which is what *I* did! And Peonyclaw and Flipsnow, too."

Swanpaw did a thumbs-up, which meant that she was happy for the younger apprentice. Spottedpaw understood and gave her an acknowledging nod.

Flameeye looked at the apprentices talking. Zebrapaw was now almost thirteen moons old, Swanpaw ten, almost eleven, Spottedpaw eight, almost nine. He was happy to be a mentor since he was one of the newer warriors. He looked at Violetrain, Zebrapaw's sister and his cousins' cousin. Word had gone around the Clan that she wanted to be a mentor very soon. The next kit (after Robinkit and Soarkit who were too shy to even talk to Violetrain) to become an apprentice was Thymekit, his nephew. He knew Violetrain was a good mentor though, as she was already practicing with Zebrapaw and Swanpaw, so he felt happy that Thymekit would be her apprentice. Snowstar even secured this arrangement for them, so it wouldn't be a surprise for any cat. Thymekit even said that Violetrain was a kind and friendly cat.

Violetrain was sitting next to Nutclaw, the official mentor of Swanpaw. Zebrapaw and Swanpaw both thought that she only became Swanpaw's mentor to be with Nutclaw but it was okay with them. After all, she was an excellent mentor.

Then Shadowpaw and Rainpaw came over to the prey pile. "Whew, my brain hurts," exclaimed Rainpaw in a humorous way. "My entire body hurts," Shadowpaw added in the same tone. "I would go for a nice brown hare right now."

Spottedpaw mewed amusingly, "There are a ton of brown hares, so I would go for a dozen brown hares." A few cats at the pile laughed.

Violetrain's eyes glinted with a confident and proud light. "They're our apprentices' very finest! Especially for you, Rainpaw," she exclaimed proudly.

Nutclaw nodded. "All of the apprentices did a great job. Even Primrosepaw caught a couple of hares."

Rainpaw's eyes lit up, too. "Really? Which one, I would like to taste one!" Swanpaw gestured, "I also got to taste one, too, and said it was juicy." She figured it was a good thing to do since Primrosepaw did the same for her when she just became an apprentice. She pointed to a small hare, but it was still a good catch for someone of Primrosepaw's skill level. *And condition,* she remembered. So it was an extra good thing in her case.

Zebrapaw exclaimed very thoughtfully, "Our Clan is doing really well. All of our apprentices are training hard and getting enough prey to feed our Clan. And our medicine cat apprentice is training the best she can, too! And all our mentors are doing the best job they can to pass on their great skills to their apprentices, which are us. So this is good!" All the cats that were within earshot agreed with him.

Thymekit and his mother, Redwater, were watching the cats at the prey pile. Thymekit had already eaten breakfast since the kits and elders eat first, of course, and then the warriors and apprentices, but he still wanted a snack. Redwater decided to watch him from the nursery since she was extra protective of her kit. Thymekit told all the older cats that were there, "I can't wait to be an apprentice! Will Zebrapaw, Shadowpaw, Icepaw, Quailpaw and Stonepaw be warriors by that time?" He was only three and a half moons, so he figured that they were already going to be warriors when he was six moons old.

Shadowpaw nodded. "It is still okay, though! We can still help mentor you." He looked at Violetrain. "In fact Icepaw, Quailpaw and I are already thirteen and a half moons old, so we only have to pass a specific warrior exam in order to be full warriors. Which will definitely be soon!" He was glad Snowstar was a good mentor, like every other warrior in the Clan. He had only become apprenticed to him a few days before he became a leader, so he was the first of Snowstar's apprentices as a leader. He was lucky that he may have not been able to be a leader's apprentice otherwise. He did have apprentices before as Snowpool, though. So Shadowpaw felt truly lucky to have been a leader's apprentice. He remembered that Primrosepaw and Dandelionpaw's father, Maplestripe, also used to be Moonstar's apprentice. *Maybe Maplestripe and I will get lucky somehow?* Shadowpaw thought. He always liked thinking that he was privileged above others but he inherently knew every cat was equal.

He looked over at Rainpaw and thought about something. He had a crush on Rainpaw when they were kits, but since she became a medicine cat apprentice, there was no option now. *The ship sunk before it sailed,* Shadowpaw thought but he wasn't really sad. After all, there were a ton of great she-cats in the Clan already, so Rainpaw being untouchable wasn't a bad thing to him. It was a good thing actually. After all, he thought it would be awkward being with the sister of Quailpaw and Birchpaw. *She is also the youngest daughter of my mentor, too,* he remembered.

Violetrain looked very excited. "I can't wait! I want to bond with you well enough so we can be on a good start as mentor and apprentice. Maybe I can also train you earlier like with Quailpaw and Primrosepaw." She winked.

Thymekit beamed. "I do want to train earlier!" Then he paused for a moment and asked, "Will you go easy, though? I am only a kit!" Violetrain nodded eagerly.

Spottedpaw also beamed. "Maybe we can do training all together? That would be very fun! And Shadowpaw, Icepaw and Quailpaw can do their exam all at the same time, too!"

Most of the apprentices and mentors agreed, because they thought it would promote teamwork and relationships within the Clan. Swanpaw, Zebrapaw and Shadowpaw were still wary about Stonepaw, however, since she did a bad act with Swanpaw. They were also wondering about Icepaw since she was too much enamored with Zebrapaw.

"Oh, by the way, I have been meaning to ask, where is Birchpaw, Mountainpaw, Primrosepaw and Dandelionpaw?" Zebrapaw asked no one in particular, since he just wanted an answer from someone who knew it.

Thymekit added, "And Berrypaw?" Zebrapaw nodded. He had almost forgotten about her, since she mostly only hung out with Mountainpaw and Thymekit. But she was still an apprentice the same age as Mountainpaw and Swanpaw.

"They are all sleeping, Shadowpaw and I just checked," Rainpaw mewed softly. "They already did training, though, so they are taking a nap in the apprentices' den." Then she blinked and added, "I think Stonepaw and Icepaw were also still sleeping, but they didn't do training yet."

At the mention of his weird and annoying sister and crazy she-cat who had a crush on him, Zebrapaw looked around for them. So did Flameeye and Shadowpaw and they saw that they were already starting to train with their mentors. However, they were doing double training, and the looks on their faces weren't positive towards each other.

Zebrapaw looked at Nightnose strangely. By this point, the entire Clan knew who the father of Sandleap's kits were, considering the way they were acting with each other, although he wished that they could have waited to have kits when he became a warrior. He had only two and a half moons to go when his mentor became a queen, but still. Zebrapaw knew Nightnose was the brother of Nutclaw, who was also in a relationship with his sister, Violetrain, which he thought made it even more weird because Sandleap and Violetrain were cousins, Violetrain was he and Swanpaw's assistant mentor, and Nightnose and Nutclaw were Stonepaw and Swanpaw's mentors. And Sandleap was *his* mentor. *Family relationships just get weirder as you get older,* he figured, and decided not to think much of it. Icepaw was still annoying to him, though.

Swanpaw also looked at Stonepaw and Icepaw. She knew Icepaw was much better than Stonepaw, because she wouldn't do such a dastardly thing to another kit, especially one who was mute. But at least Stonepaw didn't do any weird things like Icepaw did and embarrass herself. But Swanpaw would prefer her sister greatly over Stonepaw any day.

Stonepaw and her mentor, Nightnose, and Icepaw and *her* mentor, Forestcreek, were all in a crumpled grassy patch which was usually used for fighting training. And surprisingly, but somehow unsurprisingly at the same time to Zebrapaw, Stonepaw and Icepaw were glowering at each other.

Nightnose and Forestcreek said that they needed to have double training much to Stonepaw and Icepaw's disdain.

"What? Why? Am I not better than her?" Icepaw complained to her mentor. "I am going to be a warrior soon, while Stonepaw is still going to be an apprentice. I doubt she even deserves to be a warrior by fourteen moons, so therefore I am better than she will ever be!"

Stonepaw glared even more menacingly at Icepaw. "*You* are better? I bet you missed a million hares, and will die a million times from death blows. From being *so* distracted on *something.*"

Their argument caught the attention of the cats at the prey pile.

"As if you are any better!" Icepaw yelled. "You are the cat that pushed my sister into that ditch, you know."

Much to Zebrapaw, Shadowpaw and Swanpaw's fright, Stonepaw exclaimed with boredom, "Whatever, that incident happened many moons ago, so I don't care." She abruptly turned to her mentor. "But Nightnose, I am going to be a warrior soon! Why do I need to duel with her? Her skills are under average!" Nightnose just blinked and froze in his spot, as he had absolutely no experience with arguing apprentices. Forestcreek just sighed and was about to speak for him until Icepaw spoke first.

"You're saying that as if you're older than me, which you are not, fox-dung," Icepaw growled in fury, flicking her tail. "You are one moon more than me to becoming a warrior, so you'd better respect me."

"I don't care, either, dirt-eater," Stonepaw growled back. "I don't think you *act* older, since you are trying to snog Z-"

Much to everyone's fright, especially at the prey pile, Icepaw held up an unsheathed paw and threatened, *"I will gouge out your eyes with my claws! You are a disgrace to the Clan!"*

*"Enough, Stonepaw and Icepaw!"* Forestcreek reprimanded. *"The reason why you two are training* together *is because you were dormouses and didn't wake up yet while the other apprentices already finished their morning training, so you two are the only apprentices who didn't train yet! So Icepaw, sheathe your claws!"* Nightnose nervously nodded.

Stonepaw and Icepaw looked shocked at Forestcreek, then after a few seconds they looked defeated. Then they exchanged angry looks at each other again, but Icepaw listened to Forestcreek and sheathed her claws.

Then Icepaw growled something that only Stonepaw could hear properly, so Zebrapaw tried to perk up his ears to listen, and so did Swanpaw. Swanpaw thought her mute condition made her better at hearing, but she didn't know if it was an illusion or not.

Then Stonepaw's contorted into a menacing face again. *"What are you talking about! I am his sister, you crazy she-dung! What do you mean by stealing him away?!"* She flicked her tail violently at Icepaw.

Icepaw glowered at her in the best intimidating face she could. "I doubt your brother even likes you a tiny bit, but I will still threaten you piece of fox-dung anyway!" Nightnose looked at Zebrapaw anxiously, and so did some other cats at the pile, including Swanpaw, Spottedpaw, Shadowpaw, Nutclaw and Violetrain.

Stonepaw's tail became straight up in the air and she retorted, *"Oh yeah?! I bet after he rejects you outright, you will kill yourself out of dep-"*

*"Ahem!"* Forestcreek commanded the two arguing she-cats very loudly. "Stop arguing. Begin sparring." He looked over at Snowstar resignedly who was watching from the mouth of the leader's den next to Petuniaheart. Zebrapaw remembered that his aunt was the mentor of Mountainpaw and Snowstar was the mentor of Shadowpaw.

Then Stonepaw and Icepaw noticed that Zebrapaw was watching them from the prey pile, and they immediately stopped arguing out of embarrassment. Zebrapaw also felt embarrassed that he had some sort of relation with these two. They always usually never bothered each other... unless it had something to do with *him*. But he knew that he had nothing to do with starting the argument because he was talking to the cats at the prey pile. *Maybe they really hate each other,* Zebrapaw figured, annoyed with both of them already.

The cats at the prey pile were still shocked with Stonepaw and Icepaw's behavior, and so was Redwater, Snowstar and Petuniaheart, who were watching from the nursery and leader's den, respectively. Redwater looked at her former mentor, Petuniaheart, and Petuniaheart looked at her back. They exchanged worried looks. Then Redwater looked at Goldenlily, Icepaw's mother, and saw she was still sleeping. She then looked around for Peonyclaw, Stonepaw and Zebrapaw's mother, but she didn't see her anywhere from the nursery.

"What are they doing? Are they trying to eliminate the other?" Shadowpaw whispered to Zebrapaw, very much annoyed at both she-cats. Even if Icepaw was his sister, and he liked her as one, she could act very weird when it came to these issues. *Clearly, she hasn't seen the fine line between the Clan and personal matters,* Shadowpaw figured scornfully. It was surprising to him because she and Stonepaw weren't young apprentices to be ignorant about that rule of the warrior code. They were almost warriors in a moon or so. Shadowpaw hated Stonepaw, of course, because of what she did to Swanpaw many moons ago (and she still shrugged it off, probably even forgetting her punishment), but he had better hopes for his sister. *Maybe it is just a crush,* Shadowpaw figured, but the crush didn't seem to subside for many moons. He was wondering if it was actual love that she had for Zebrapaw.

He flicked his tail uncomfortably. *Hopefully she is still going to be a good warrior and not be distracted with Zebrapaw.* He had faith in Icepaw, his littermate.

Zebrapaw whispered back in a slightly worried tone, "That would be bad for the Clan's reputation if they did, and I doubt they are that crazy to do that. Although you never know with obsessed or maniacal she-cats." He wasn't fully sure what to expect next, or in the future.

Forestcreek told Nightnose to judge both apprentices and he obliged, though still anxious about the whole thing. Then Forestcreek flicked his tail for them to begin the spar.

Icepaw and Stonepaw were still glaring at each other, although it seemed to Zebrapaw that they were both biting their lips to prevent speaking crowfood about each other, and getting reprimanded by Forestcreek again. The entire Clan seemed to be watching at this point in anxiety and unease because of the commotion they made, however the next thing that happened wasn't pretty.

Stonepaw pounced on Icepaw, with her claws sheathed, so Zebrapaw, Swanpaw and Shadowpaw thought that was fine. Icepaw tried to leap out of the way. But then, at the last moment, Stonepaw unsheathed her claws, and scratched Icepaw's flank. Icepaw seemed to feel the cut and scratched Stonepaw's forehead almost immediately, with her claws unsheathed as well. Blood spilled out onto Stonepaw's eyes, which seemed to bring shock into her. Then she hissed very sinisterly at Icepaw and she pounced on the white she-cat again. They both went over in a tumble and started fighting each other as if they were from enemy Clans, and they hissed obscenities at each other, too.

The entire Clan was alarmed now, and Forestcreek, being the closest to them, hissed admonishingly at them, *"STOP! DID I NOT TELL YOU SOMETHING!"*

Upon hearing Forestcreek's voice booming around the Clan, Stonepaw, Icepaw and even Nightnose flinched. The former two stopped fighting, and the latter started stepping backwards slowly, as if he had no idea why he was even there in the first place.

The white and gray she-cats both had shallow cuts on their bodies, and Stonepaw had a slightly deeper cut in her forehead. They both looked startled by Forestcreek's words.

Rainpaw instinctively got up and went to the medicine cat's den to get cobwebs. Then she came back holding some in her mouth.

"I told you to keep your claws *sheathed!* Yet you didn't listen! It is part of the warrior code, you know!" Forestcreek yelled at them. Then he sighed.

Snowstar, having seen everything, decided that he should do something. He padded up to them and said in an authoritative voice, "You should listen to your mentor, you know. What he is saying is right." He half-expected them to comply until Stonepaw shot up again, "It is not *my* fault she decided to unsheathe her claws first!"

Icepaw growled, "Oh yeah? Well, you are the first one who actually attacked! *I did not!"*

Snowstar sighed. He hadn't expected Blazesky and Peonyclaw's daughter to be like this. When he gave her the punishment for pushing Swanpaw into the ditch when the latter was only a kit, he thought her behavior would change not to hurt Clanmates. Peonyclaw *did* give him permission to do so. But now Stonepaw had hurt Swanpaw's older sister physically. Although Icepaw wasn't off the hook, since she started the conflict in the first place. He wondered if he should punish them since there were some cats who *would* agree with the punishment. Although he was skeptical of punishing the apprentices, especially since Icepaw was normally a good cat and he worried Stonepaw wouldn't change.

Then Peonyclaw came out of the warriors' den crankily. *"What in the Dark Forest was that noise?! Can't a warrior get to have a peaceful nap?"* Then she saw Stonepaw and Icepaw and their cuts. "I didn't think there would be problems from inside the Clan," she said specifically to Icepaw and her daughter. "Especially with *you two!*" Her eyes narrowed. "What in the Dark Forest were you two yowling about?!"

Her son, Zebrapaw, filled her in on the basic details about how they didn't want to train with each other and got into a huge fight. This made Peonyclaw even more incensed.

*"What!? That is it?! I don't know about Goldenlily, but I think Stonepaw should be punished for even being a nuisance to the Clan in the first place!"* Peonyclaw yowled at the top of her lungs.

Stonepaw flinched, getting very hurt by her mother's words. *Nuisance to the Clan? Does she really think that?* Snowstar also was surprised, since Peonyclaw didn't seem like the type to say that to her kit.

"What are you talking about?! Are you saying I am unwanted?!" Stonepaw yowled back at her mother. Her mother blinked a few times before replying. But the reply was surprising for a lot of cats in the Clan.

"If you don't respect others and always talk negatively, then maybe," Peonyclaw muttered indifferently.

Zebrapaw and Violetrain were two of the cats to get shocked. Zebrapaw knew that she could act really annoying and rude, but he also knew that his sister was very conflicted with herself. He thought that Peonyclaw's words would hurt her more. He wanted to speak up but didn't have the heart for it. Violetrain knew Stonepaw was really disrespectful of her elders, but she figured it was just a simple phase. She didn't want her sister to become too disrespectful of their mother, otherwise... she didn't have the heart to think about it.

Swanpaw and Shadowpaw could care nothing about Stonepaw but they were a little worried about what their sister's punishment would be. After all, she didn't normally act like this.

Flameeye and Redwater were just baffled at why Moonstar's granddaughter through Blazesky was acting like this. They didn't think she had any negative paragons to learn from, except from AdderClan, but she was definitely nowhere near AdderClan. When the last battle happened, she was only a kit. As for their father's apprentice, they had no idea why she would complain about training with Stonepaw in the first place, and in such a selfish fashion, too.

Rainpaw just decided that they were stressed from something that no one else knew of and just wanted to use her medicine cat skills on them.

Nightnose and Nutclaw both exchanged fearful looks. They had never seen any cat act so off, except for AdderClan cats that they saw from their first battle, when they were very recently warriors, but the two apprentices weren't AdderClan cats.

Petuniaheart wondered why her niece was acting very violent with Icepaw, but she didn't think much of it. After all, she knew they were fighting over Zebrapaw. Icepaw had a crush on Zebrapaw, and Stonepaw was trying to defend her brother from her indirectly, ever since Zebrapaw had told his sister about his lack of interest in Icepaw. Though she did think that they shouldn't go over the extremes.

Spottedpaw was just puzzled as she didn't think that this was how normal MoonClan cats acted. To her, it seemed more like the characteristics of an AdderClan cat.

Snowstar wondered what he should do. With Stonepaw's first punishment, he didn't hesitate because Swanpaw, Swankit at the time, hadn't done anything wrong. And if Swankit hadn't been found by his youngest child, Birchpaw, Birchkit at the time, then the same thing could have happened to her that Stonepaw's punishment entailed. But this time, Icepaw had started the conflict and riled up Stonepaw. So he decided to give them a lighter punishment.

"Since you both acted like cats from enemy Clans, you will have to now work together like normal Clanmates and take care of the elders. You can leave the den only for essential stuff. And you will sleep in the elders den. This punishment will last two days," he told them strictly.

Of course, Stonepaw and Icepaw were even more shocked at his words. Their skin had probably turned pale with anxiety. Then they started to complain.

"What?! What if she kills me in my sleep?!" Icepaw shouted in reply to Snowstar, to everyone's surprise, including Stonepaw.

"Oh, that is your opinion of me?!" Stonepaw yowled, fury bubbling up again. *"I will bet StarClan that you will stoop down SO low as to sneak out of the elders' den to go meet a certain black and white stripe-"*

*"SHUT UP!"* Zebrapaw growled at both of them. *"Shut up, okay! If one of you even references me again, I will claw your throats out!"* Everyone looked at Zebrapaw then. Peonyclaw looked relieved that her son was doing something useful. Stonepaw and Icepaw both looked startled, since they didn't think Zebrapaw would yell at them like this.

Swanpaw and Shadowpaw looked between the three cats with anticipation for *something* unexpected to happen, whether it be anything.

"Now *go to the elders' den!"* Zebrapaw yelled at them dismissively. "You are ruining the peace of MoonClan! We are just trying to eat here, you know!" Snowstar just nodded in agreement at them, and so did Swanpaw.

Then Rainpaw looked at everyone, wondering if she should put the cobwebs on.

Stonepaw and Icepaw looked at everyone, too, especially at Zebrapaw, still shocked. Then they glared at each other but did nothing else other than walking over to the elders' den in stark silence. But then Birchpaw came out of the apprentices' den, grumpiness on his face like Peonyclaw's.

"What happened? I could barely nap a wink with cats screeching," Birchpaw yawned, feeling a little irritated, but he was more calm about the situation. He looked at Stonepaw and Icepaw and saw they had cuts, Stonepaw having a deeper cut in the forehead.

Zebrapaw told him about how they were arguing with each other during double training and they got so angry that they fought each other with their claws unsheathed. Surprisingly, Birchpaw didn't look that surprised, almost as if he may have anticipated this explanation from his observation. Then he nodded and turned to Stonepaw and Icepaw and narrowed his eyes, saying calmly, "If you want to kill each other, don't do it in MoonClan camp. And wait until you're warriors." Then he blinked. "But you can only do that if you are willing to break the warrior code."

Then he went back inside the apprentices' den leaving his words hanging in the atmosphere. Stonepaw and Icepaw said nothing, but they were instead surprised about Birchpaw's response. So were most of the cats, especially Rainpaw, Petuniaheart, Snowstar, Zebrapaw, Swanpaw, Shadowpaw and Peonyclaw.

Then the two grounded apprentices went inside the elders' den, sulking. Then Rainpaw went after them and offered to put the cobwebs on them. Icepaw was okay with it while Stonepaw didn't want to look at anyone, including Rainpaw.

The rest of the day went by in mostly silence, with hushed whispers about the white and gray apprentices' behavior.

### Chapter 17: Finality

The next day after hunting training, Birchpaw thought about Stonepaw and Icepaw while sitting in a relaxation area close to the medicine cats' den. There was a tree there that gave cats shade from hot sunlight, especially when it was green-leaf, and right now, it was almost the end of new-leaf, and after training, he felt hot. It was peaceful there alright, since medicine was usually a peaceful practice. Although they would still have to act quick when treating cats, but that didn't matter to him that much right now, since no cats were very hurt, except for Stonepaw, maybe, since she was too grumpy about everything, but she would most likely heal on her own.

Birchpaw thought that the two older apprentices were acting pretty strange, alright. But he knew it had something to do with his mentor's son, also his maternal cousin, Zebrapaw. *Why do they act like this?* he thought all of a sudden. He wanted to find out the answer to this, so that he could be a good, understanding Clanmate, but he wasn't sure he had an idea, except that they were fighting about Zebrapaw, but that wasn't really enough information for him to come to a good conclusion.

Then he spotted Mountainpaw coming with a mouse. "Hey, Birchpaw, I wanted to talk to you about something. Or some *things."* He winked. His light gray fur brushed the tree and he sat on the very green grass next to the tree.

Birchpaw replied calmly, "Okay, what do you want to talk about? Is it important?" The cats who were sleeping while the awful incident between Stonepaw and Icepaw was happening were told about it, the quarreling apprentices, and Mountainpaw was one of them. Birchpaw wondered if he wanted to question about it.

Mountainpaw shrugged. "Well, I guess it may be? For starters—I want to start the topic light—have you noticed something lately?"

Birchpaw just smiled and said humorously, "I have noticed a ton of things lately, so yep."

Mountainpaw smirked back. "Well, let me be specific," he said and went a little closer to Birchpaw and whispered, "Zebrapaw and Swanpaw have been spending some time together lately!"

Birchpaw blinked in surprise, but then he chuckled. "That was it? I thought it would be more interesting," he replied casually. Mountainpaw shrugged. "Maybe it isn't that juicy to you, but it is to me! Especially since you know what happened yesterday..." He winked again.

Birchpaw blinked again. He remembered Stonepaw and Icepaw's squabble, which quickly evolved into a real fight between two cats.

Mountainpaw shrugged again. "It was really weird, though, since Icepaw is in you-know-what with Zebrapaw. And since he and Swanpaw are spending time together now, more time than it is normal"—he winked again—"what do you think will happen? And why do you think they are spending so much time together?"

Birchpaw shrugged back to him, then replied informally, "If I had to guess, it would be the same reason as Primrosepaw and Quailpaw. They both fell off the fox, remember?"

He noticed Zebrapaw and Swanpaw were within earshot of them and they stopped what they were doing to look at them.

Mountainpaw blinked a few times before saying a little enthusiastically, *"Ohhh!* So that is why! That is still pretty weird though! I had never imagined that two cats could fall in love with each other after being in an accident together! So it is still a very fresh idea for me! *Imagine that!* Like how Primrosepaw and Quailpaw both fell off as kits, don't you think it is weird? It must be destiny or something!"

Zebrapaw and Swanpaw probably blushed now. Birchpaw chuckled again. "If StarClan wills I suppose both pairs can get together. Maybe they planned that to happen, so that they can feel empathy for each other since only they were in that situation. But that probably isn't the weirdest way two cats fell in love. Wisdomheart once told me a story about how a young tom-cat, in the Mountain Tribe days, anyway, protected a family's den from a fox that attacked the Tribe. One of those cats in the den was young apprentice age at the time, and she noticed what happened and saw the tom rescued them. Sometime after, the Mountain Tribes got sorted into Clans, but they were both sorted into the same Clan, MoonClan. The she-cat apprentice was delighted to be in the tom's Clan, and with Moonstar, too, and she fell in love with him. Later on she became a warrior and the tom noticed her and fell in love with her, too. Then they mated and had a kit."

Mountainpaw was very intrigued and overflowing with curiousity. *"Really?!* Who were they?"

Birchpaw smirked and paused in anticipation for the big surprise. "They were your grandparents, Honeyflight and Barktail!" he said enthusiastically. "They were still young in the time of MoonClan's creation, you know."

Mountainpaw, Zebrapaw and Swanpaw were pleasantly surprised by this piece of information.

Mountainpaw exclaimed, "Really?! That is a great twist! And it is interesting, too, since she only fell in love with him because he protected her den from the fox! It is truly intriguing!"

"Young love is amazing," Birchpaw agreed. He did wonder about Zebrapaw and Swanpaw, though. They didn't seem like the type to be in love with each other—as senior apprentices, anyway, maybe older—but they did seem like great friends now. He still remembered that huge drama that happened when they were kits and Zebrapaw was a young apprentice. They definitely weren't on good terms with each other, but to Birchpaw, it seemed like they were way past that now. Especially since they were both related to Stonepaw and Icepaw in some way.

"Well, speaking of which, I did visit the nursery to see Flipsnow and my younger siblings!" Mountainpaw said proudly. "I also saw Icepaw there."

Upon hearing Icepaw's name, Zebrapaw stiffened and Swanpaw raised an eyebrow.

Birchpaw didn't think much of it. "Really? What did you do together?"

"She was visiting her mother, Goldenlily, of course. It seems like she will give birth soon," Mountainpaw explained in a softer tone that he had previously. "So Icepaw wanted to see her. She also met Lilackit and Jumpkit, who are two and a half moons old, and Thymekit, who is three moons old. We all played together. We even invited two kits who would almost become apprentices in a half-moon, Robinkit and Soarkit, to play. Their mother, Heronwing, my mother and Goldenlily were happy. Sandleap and Redwater were also entertained by it."

Birchpaw blinked. He knew that there were a lot of kits and apprentices in the Clan, but he wondered how many would keep coming. He was happy that Icepaw seemed to be back to normal, though, since she played with the kits normally. But then he realized something. "Wait, doesn't Icepaw's punishment still last for one more day?" he asked questioningly, anticipating an answer.

Mountainpaw blinked twice before shrugging. "She said she asked Snowstar if she could see her mother in the nursery since she would give birth soon, and he said that was fine, since he didn't want to separate them both. Goldenlily did say she was worried about Icepaw after all. Snowstar did want her to return to her punishment soon, though."

Zebrapaw and Swanpaw didn't anticipate that answer but they were fine with it, since she was distracted on the kits instead of Zebrapaw or Stonepaw.

"We also saw Applefall in the nursery. She recently moved in after Lilypool and Rainpaw checked her out and she was expecting!" Mountainpaw continued happily. "Her mother, Daisyfoot was happy, and so was Snowstar, since he wanted to welcome more kits into the Clan since there is a surplus of supplies. Rainpaw was also happy that there were more kits, too. And Flipsnow, Goldenlily, Heronwing, Sandleap and Redwater were happy to have another queen in the nursery, too!"

Birchpaw nodded and asked, "Were the kits happy, too?"

"Yup, because more queens equals eventually more kits, and for them, it means more friends! It applied to us, too. There were a ton of kits in the nursery when we were kits, so I suppose the same pattern will still be there for a few more moons with them!" Mountainpaw answered delightfully. "Although Robinkit and Soarkit will become apprentices soon but they can still play!"

Birchpaw nodded again. He remembered the good old days when he could just play all day as Birchkit. There were so many kit friends that he could have, especially his kit siblings, Quailkit and Rainkit. His earliest memories were when he was around one or two moons old, but he remembered them vividly in a positive light. Especially since there were no hardships during that time. The worst thing that happened was the AdderClan battle, but at least there weren't a ton of casualties. Moonstar was soon going to die anyway, and everyone was prepared for it. Now, though, he knew there would eventually be more hardships to come, soon going into the stage of a warrior, and more deaths to come.

He was still wondering about one thing, though. "What about Applefall's mate? Who is he? No she-cat can become a queen on their own," he asked humorously.

Mountainpaw smirked. "Well, to me, it is like a secret, but Applefall said that it wasn't a secret because everyone should know. But I like to think it is a secret."

"Don't beat around the bush and actually beat it," Birchpaw coined in amusement.

Mountainpaw shrugged and wagged his tail in great anticipation for the big moment. "It is Violetrain's littermate, Fireclaw!"

Birchpaw, Zebrapaw and Swanpaw were all surprised. But in a good way.

"Really? When did that happen?" Birchpaw inquired, his excitement reaching the roof. He wasn't normally interested in gossip but he did want to know what was happening in the Clan so that he could be prepared for everything.

"Well, unlike Icepaw and Violetrain and some *other* cats," Mountainpaw joked, winking. "They actually went to a secluded area where no one would look at what they are doing, when they had already done all their responsibilites."

"That's good," Birchpaw said, nodding. "I suppose it won't interrupt anyone else, then."

Mountainpaw thought about Goldenlily, however. Goldenlily's kits were about to be born, which was good. But he agreed with Icepaw about something. *Do you notice something is off about her, Mountainpaw?* Icepaw had whispered into his ears. *Well, now that I think about it, there might be,* he had replied.

Goldenlily mostly seemed longing for something that she just couldn't get for some reason. And she seemed to be in pain for some reason, too. She did enjoy that her daughter was playing with the other kits, but she seemed to be thinking about something else that he just couldn't put his paw on. It somehow reminded him of StarClan.

*Hopefully, nothing bad happens...* hoped Mountainpaw, since things were tense with Stonepaw and Icepaw's fight yesterday.

"I have a question," started Birchpaw, breaking Mountainpaw out of his thoughts. "Did anyone ask about Icepaw's fight with Stonepaw in the nursery?"

Mountainpaw thought about it. "Well, Lilackit did. She said that her playing session with the other kits got interrupted when she heard the commotion. Icepaw just said that Stonepaw had cursed her so she tried to protect herself. I didn't say anything though."

Birchpaw nodded, which led Mountainpaw to think about Icepaw and Stonepaw's fight. He was sleeping like Birchpaw was when the entire thing happened, so he only got information from the cats that *did* witness it, like his mentor, Petuniaheart and his other friends and acquaintances like Thymekit, Rainpaw, Swanpaw, Zebrapaw, Shadowpaw and Redwater. He knew that Icepaw was in love with Zebrapaw, that was for sure. She was a moon older than him and Stonepaw, and a half-moon away from warriorhood like Shadowpaw and Quailpaw. Mountainpaw wondered if Swanpaw would try to be with Zebrapaw. He didn't think they would be like Icepaw, Violetrain, Sandleap or the latter two's partners. *At the very most, they would probably be like Applefall and Fireclaw,* he figured hopefully.

But he didn't think it was like that. They seemed mostly just like good friends. He also remembered when Zebrapaw had yelled at everyone, especially Birchkit, Swankit and him. They were all wary of him until he tried to act nicer to them, as he realized that they were only kits. Mountainpaw knew that, and now Swanpaw and Zebrapaw were spending time together. He wondered how Icepaw would fit into this equation and how she would react once she found out about this, especially since Swanpaw was her younger sister, but he did not even give a hint of this to Icepaw, of course, to protect the pair since he didn't want any more drama than usual. Or anyone for that matter, except for Birchpaw since he knew he wasn't at all a gossip lover or tattletale. The fox incident did happen some time ago, so he figured it was some other similarity like with Primrosepaw and Quailpaw.

*Although it is funny to think that they are in love,* he thought with amusement.

Birchpaw then asked him something that Mountainpaw never thought of, and it was scary, too. "Do you think Icepaw will try to take Zebrapaw by force?" Birchpaw looked over at Zebrapaw and Swanpaw who looked shocked. Mountainpaw followed his gaze and spotted them. He hadn't realized that they were there so he was taken aback. He also wondered why Birchpaw didn't say anything.

The three latter apprentices looked at each other trying to figure out the question, and Mountainpaw was additionally wondering about what they would think about what he said. Then he started worrying if Icepaw heard something. *That would be unstoppable chaos,* he thought.

However, no one got to speak when they heard irregular screeching from the nursery. All four apprentices immediately stopped what they were doing and rushed there. Mountainpaw took his uneaten mouse with him, too. Other cats had already rushed there, too, including Icepaw who ran out of the elders' den, ignoring the punishment rules. Birchpaw and Mountainpaw didn't see Stonepaw anywhere and figured she was still inside the elders' den.

Shadowpaw and Snowstar were about to go on patrol until they realized what was happening and also went to the nursery. All the kits and queens inside of the nursery became alert and Birchpaw and Mountainpaw spotted Rainpaw and Lilypool rushing in. The entirety of Birchpaw's family and all the kits' fathers which were Littleclaw, Fireclaw, Watereye (pretend, Birchpaw knew)) and Nightnose (Mountainpaw thought it was interesting for Watereye and Nightnose to become fathers at around the same time when they were father and son) immediately dropped everything and rushed to the nursery. Even Honeyflight came to the nursery from the elders' den.

*"She's kitting!"* exclaimed Lilypool. *"Goldenlily is kitting! Clanmates, get me supplies! Rainpaw, get a stick!"*

At the mention of Goldenlily's name, Swanpaw, Shadowpaw, Icepaw and Watereye all looked shocked. But they did anticipate the kits to come in a positive light. Then Pinetail also rushed out with Honeyflight when he heard his daughter's name.

All the kits were also shocked, but they were eager to see the kits come. Although Birchpaw and Mountainpaw were both a little worried. *What if something bad happens?* After all, the screeching didn't sound like a normal birthing queen's cry, like Flipsnow's or Redwater's. It seemed like she was in exceedingly more pain that she should be in. A few apprentices and warriors came from their dens, too.

Then every cat in the camp heard the screech of Goldenlily again, as it pierced the air. It definitely didn't sound normal. Lilypool looked shocked and yowled, *"Oh no! She is bleeding!"*

*Which made everyone freeze in fear.*

*"She's bleeding from the kitting area!" Lilypool continued, and Rainpaw seemed to be very anxious all of a sudden. She immediately picked up the cobwebs and tried to cover up the kitting area, but to no avail. Blood leaked out onto the nursery floor, but so did two bloody kits.*

*The kits started wailing because they had never seen something so horrifying before. Watereye, Petuniaheart, Snowstar, Pinetail, Honeyflight, Littleclaw and Zebrapaw all looked shocked. Icepaw's breath caught in her throat and she seemed to be gasping for air. Her chest felt very heavy all of a sudden as she feared the worst to happen.*

*Lilypool looked at Goldenlily's kitting area and saw that there was a huge tear that couldn't be fixed in time, not even with cobwebs. When she made this unimaginable observation, she administered some thyme to the bleeding golden queen, to let her go in less pain. Then she checked the two kits for heartbeats and hoped there were. To her relief, there were. Then Goldenlily choked in pain, "M-M-Mousekit... Petal...kit..." The three older kits of Goldenlily had anguished faces.*

*To every cat, Goldenlily looked very close to StarClan now. Then she laid down on the floor and her eyes darted upwards. She murmured something that almost no cat could hear except for Lilypool and Rainpaw. "Greenheart..." It was her mother's name, who was in StarClan at this moment.*

### Chapter 18: The Sadness of MoonClan

He remembered it all.

*The anguished faces of Mountainpaw, Shadowpaw, Icepaw and Swanpaw etched into his brain. Rainpaw, Icepaw, Dandelionpaw, Spottedpaw and Berrypaw were all wailing in disbelief. Followed by Honeyflight. Then Nightnose. Then the kits, Thymekit, Robinkit, Soarkit, Lilackit, Jumpkit, and the newborns, Mousekit and Petalkit. Pinetail was very shocked and it looked like he was about to stop breathing any moment from it. Watereye, Littleclaw and Zebrapaw were still very shocked as they couldn't even believe what was happening. Petuniaheart and Snowstar looked at each other as if they completely forgot everything else existed. The queens were very confused and scared for their kits and themselves. Violetrain and Fireclaw were looking very sad for their Clanmates, too, and the littermates looked at each other in pure helplessness. Sealbranch and Hailstream had immediately rushed to their littermate, Sandleap's, side to make sure nothing happened to her, too, as well as Nightnose. Quailpaw immediately rushed to Shadowpaw, Icepaw and Swanpaw to comfort them but he seemed terribly pained as well. Lilypool was just shaking her head in sadness. She couldn't bear to say what had just happened. But she didn't have to, since everyone already figured out what the fate of Goldenlily was.*

And the best Primrosepaw and Birchpaw could do was just simply blink. Blink as if nothing else existed but Goldenlily. Goldenlily's dead body.

Birchpaw remembered what Goldenlily had told him half a moon ago. *I'd like to die once this ends, you know, join StarClan.*

*Is this what she meant?* Birchpaw wondered. *To leave her kits behind? Especially the ones who were just born?* He thought that was a terrible thing to happen, since her kits were just born. And to leave them alone... for what? He remembered that she told him about Swiftclaw, a SnowClan cat, a cat from another Clan. One who wasn't supposed to father her kits according to the warrior code. *Was she trying to atone for her sins?* he imagined. He thought that may be the reason but he couldn't figure out why that would be a good reason, especially since Mousekit and Petalkit were too young to be by themselves.

*Was it StarClan?* he thought. They were the good cats living in the afterlife, the ones who followed the warrior code and helped their Clan. *Did Goldenlily want to join them? And her mother, Greenheart?* He did think that Goldenlily had started kitting at the right time.

Icepaw's punishment was waived, and additionally she, Shadowpaw and Swanpaw got a break from their warrior duties. Pinetail just looked too sad and his cousin, Wisdomheart was trying to comfort him. Pinetail had said, "She was my only kit. My mate and I had a ton of problems with having kits, and she was a miracle!" Birchpaw didn't have kits yet, but he tried to understand what that was like. *It would be a very good feeling to finally have a kit after tons of tries,* Birchpaw figured. *But it would be terrible to lose them...* He remembered that Goldenlily was Petuniaheart's second cousin.

Most of the Clan were mourning, and some warrior duties have been slowed down, and even paused for a few cats. Zebrapaw, Quailpaw and Violetrain were three of those cats whose duties were paused, so that they can comfort the three siblings. It was terrible for them, especially the older two since their exams would come in half a moon. And Nightnose's duties were also waived so that he could be with Sandleap. He didn't want to lose her, too. The kits seemed to not be bouncing around anymore. Instead, they just stared at Mousekit and Petalkit uncertainly, which was a stark contrast to what they were expecting just a day before, before Goldenlily's kitting. The queens seemed a lot more idle, too, as Goldenlily's death had shaken them greatly. They weren't doing their normal chatter anymore.

Goldenlily's body was buried next to the nursery, where she had died. Birchpaw was sitting next to her burial place the day after she had died and was just wondering if it was really necessary for her to die. He wondered if Icepaw getting punished had something to do with it. *Maybe it had added stress,* he thought uncertainly.

He had talked to his mother, Petuniaheart, and asked how she felt when she lost *her* mother, Moonstar. Petuniaheart had said that she and her brother, Blazesky, were shocked and sad for her, especially since she had been murdered by the MoonClan deputy at the time, but she said it wasn't that bad since she was already a middle-aged warrior with warrior kits, and that she, Blazesky and the rest of the Clan had been anticipating and preparing for this, anyway, but from a sickness instead. So Petuniaheart had come to terms with this in only a quarter-moon or so. But she said it was still a contrast to Goldenlily's situation, and her five kits. Petuniaheart said that Goldenlily was still too young to die, and that her kits weren't even warriors yet. And it had come unexpectedly, too. No one had anticipated that she would bleed to death at all. And she said it was terrible timing, too, since Shadowpaw and Icepaw still had to do their warrior exams in a half-moon.

Birchpaw had also asked his mother why everyone was mourning for her harder than Moonstar, or any other cat that had died. Petuniaheart explained that the last queen to die from kitting was when there was still a Tribe. She wasn't so sure about AdderClan or SnowClan, but this was the first time it had ever happened in MoonClan, which is why it was so shocking to the entirety of MoonClan. Birchpaw had asked who the queen that died was, and Petuniaheart said it was Lilackit's namesake, Lilac, the mother of Honeyflight. She had died giving birth to three kits, but only one had survived due to the other two having complications, and it was Honeyflight, of course. So most of the cats in MoonClan that were alive weren't even born when it happened, or old enough to understand, except maybe for Wisdomheart (Pinetail was a few moons younger than Wisdomheart), but even he was apprentice age when it happened. And she said that the Tribe was mostly just split into families so the Tribe wasn't that sad for Lilac's death since they weren't really close-knit anyway. The only one who mourned was Honeyflight herself, when she got to know about it, and she had to be nursed from another queen. She told Birchpaw that they were called nursing at the time.

Birchpaw had understood this, and figured out why Honeyflight was so shaken with her death, and he was even more sad for his friends, Shadowpaw, Icepaw and Swanpaw. He was also sad for the new kits, Mousekit and Petalkit, because there were no nursing queens. Redwater and Flipsnow's kits were already weaned, so they had no more milk. At least the older three were already apprentices, soon to be warriors, and didn't need a mother to nurse them anymore.

He also thought about what Stonepaw said to Icepaw. *Oh yeah?! I bet after he rejects you outright, you will kill yourself out of dep-* Birchpaw had thought that was just an empty threat, but he wondered if it could somehow be true. Not with Zebrapaw, but with Goldenlily, her mother. He then thought about Stonepaw herself. She seemed like the only cat in MoonClan who had no interest in the event that happened yesterday. Even Birchpaw and Primrosepaw were sad, even if they didn't cry or look surprised about it, but Stonepaw didn't even care. She had even mocked Nightnose for not taking her out to training and instead just lazing in the nursery even though he had no business there except for his mate, but Sandleap snapped at her back that he was currently in a state of mourning. After all, it was his father's mate who died. Nutclaw had sometimes went to the nursery to comfort his brother and littermate, too, and to the apprentices' den to comfort his apprentice, Swanpaw, since he was also terribly sad about Goldenlily. But he was still managing to hunt for a little while with his mate, Violetrain, and her temporary apprentice, Zebrapaw, unlike the two of them.

Birchpaw remembered the fake story Goldenlily had tried to tell. *Oh, well, Watereye, of course! He's also the father of Nutclaw & Nightnose, and I'm their mother, too!* He had always wondered who the father of the three siblings were, since no one else seemed to know. Or *care.* And no one seemed to care who Nightnose and Nutclaw's mother was, either. He wondered if everyone already knew who their mother and father were (pretend father), but it seemed like no one usually talked about it, not even the kits. He wondered why Goldenlily told the story like that, but maybe she didn't think too much about it. He also wondered what Watereye would say. *Would he say the same story, except with Anna as Nightnose and Nutclaw's mother instead?* Maybe he knew that he wasn't actually their father, but he would still would know who Anna was, of course. *Does he know that he isn't their father?* Birchpaw wondered all of a sudden. He had no idea how their relationship was, since he was born three moons after Shadowpaw and Icepaw, of course.

But he was wondering one more thing that he thought was very strange, and maybe a few other cats did, too. How did Goldenlily manage to give birth to two healthy kits in her first litter, which were Shadowpaw and Icepaw, and had a second litter with two more kits, which were Swanpaw and the other sibling, without dying or getting injured at all? He wondered if something went wrong with her second pregnancy, which is what made Swanpaw mute and the other kit stillborn. After all, he had never heard of a mute cat before. No cat in the time of the Tribe even seemed to hear of it, so Swanpaw was the first one. And Primrosepaw was probably the first cat that every cat alive had seen to have lethargic nerves, too. He had witnessed Primrosepaw's birth and it seemed normal. Sealbranch, then Sealpaw, had also told him how Swanpaw's and her two older siblings' births were like and they were also normal. *Did something go wrong with her kitting area the third time?* Birchpaw wondered uneasily. *Was it something else, like a battle or patrol, maybe? Leftover wounds?* He was very curious and always asked questions about everything, but he wasn't sure if the answer could be found out, since she was dead. Also, it made him really uncomfortable, especially when she had recently died. He didn't want to ask anyone about this part at this moment.

Then Watereye came up to him, and sat by the grave, probably to mourn his late mate. He had acknowledged Birchpaw was there but didn't say anything. Birchpaw didn't say anything for a while either, until he heard Watereye sigh in sadness. To try and console him, Birchpaw said, "She was a good cat, so she's in StarClan right now."

Watereye just nodded and replied, "I know. She was a cat who always abided by the warrior code, never even trying to break it."

Birchpaw had mixed feelings about that fact, but he knew that she had definitely regretted the mating with Swiftclaw, whoever he was. He asked warily, "Did... were you close?" He was about to ask if they were *actually* mates, but he knew that would probably be inappropriate.

Watereye looked at him now. "Of course, since we were mates. Nightnose and Nutclaw's mother, Anna, had been a good mate but she wasn't one to last forever since she was a kittypet, and she wasn't willing to leave her Twolegs. She *did* leave her kits with me, though, as she didn't want her Twolegs to take them, as she also thought those were also my kits."

Birchpaw nodded. Watereye was telling the story now, and it did seem different from Goldenlily's. "Was she okay with it?"

Watereye shrugged. "Well, she said that she was also taken away from her mother when she was weaned, so it was pretty much normal to have her kits being taken away in kittypet culture. I don't think any Clan cat would want to never see their kits again, though. I don't really know what happened to her now, which is why I decided to get a new mate, which was Goldenlily."

Birchpaw nodded again. He was always wondering if mating with kittypets was okay, since if the kittypet didn't join the Clan, then the kits may never see their kittypet parent again, especially if it was the mother. "Do Clan cats usually mate with kittypets?"

Watereye just blinked and replied, "Well, they usually do that if they can't find a mate inside the Clan. We are only around three generations into the Clans, so we aren't terribly big, especially since there was a terrible leaf-bare and a huge massacre of cats right before the Clans' creation, leaving only a third of cats, of which a third of *that* were cats who had already mated in their lives and didn't want to have any more kits. Not to mention AdderClan's fights with us and SnowClan. We are the biggest and most welcoming of the three Clans, but we mostly consist of family members, so it is hard to find a mate which isn't your sibling or cousin. And they have to be compatible with you. So it is always good to invite new cats into the Clan, like Flipsnow, Peonyclaw and Spottedpaw. So yep, it is generally okay to mate with a kittypet. At least it's not a cat from another Clan that it would cause serious loyalty issues."

Birchpaw understood the entire explanation, but he felt a little bit uncomfortable about the last part. He didn't know if Watereye actually didn't know or if he was just trying to cover it up since he didn't know that Birchpaw knew (and to not let the secret out). He wondered why Goldenlily mated outside of the Clan. *Did she have any personal issues?* And he wondered about Swiftclaw as well, since he was also partaking in this. Birchpaw also knew that if he was still alive, that would be bad, since if the secret was found out, his five kit friends would be in grave danger.

"Was Goldenlily a good mate?" asked Birchpaw, ignoring that last part, since technically, Goldenlily would have cheated on him.

Watereye stared at him for a moment which made Birchpaw question in his mind if he secretly knew, too, but Watereye just nodded. "Of course. We stayed together for many moons, through thick and thin along with MoonClan, until she died, but we might still be able to be together in StarClan. And I also fathered her kits."

Birchpaw just nodded, pretending to agree, but he very awkwardly thought about that last sentence. He knew about the truth, but he also thought about what a unknowing cat would think. It didn't seem that Watereye looked anything similar to them. Nightnose and Nutclaw, their alleged older half-siblings, had almost no resemblance to them, either. But Birchpaw knew no cat really paid attention to a cat's features, so it wasn't that easy for other cats to figure out. After all, facial and bodily differences didn't necessarily mean that a cat wasn't a child of another cat. Violetrain and Fireclaw looked a lot like Blazesky, their father, while Zebrapaw and Stonepaw looked more like Peonyclaw, their mother. He also wondered if the behavior was similar, but he wasn't that good at deciphering things, or paying attention to minute details. He was willing to learn, though, so that he could be a good warrior and Clanmate.

He also thought that Watereye didn't spend too much time together with his alleged kits. He didn't know about Nutclaw or Nightnose because they were already senior apprentices when he first started remembering things, but when Shadowpaw, Icepaw and Swanpaw were kits, he didn't really see him anywhere around the nursery. He first figured out he existed when he got to wander around the camp by himself. Then he figured out his name when he became an apprentice. Either way, he thought that was suspicious, especially since the three siblings or Goldenlily never talked about him, and neither did Nutclaw or Nightnose. Even Snowstar, Maplestripe, Littleclaw and Blazesky saw their mates and kits in the nursery every once in a while and played and talked with them. He thought Nightnose and Fireclaw would do the same, since they were doing so already.

Then suddenly, he remembered one kit in the nursery, who was supposed to be Violetrain's apprentice. *Thymekit!* Birchpaw recalled all of a sudden and realized he was fatherless, too. He had no idea either who Redwater would have mated with. He thought it could just be a kittypet, but he dared to think about the father being a cat from another Clan. Birchpaw wasn't sure if he wanted to figure out the answer since he didn't have any clues, and like with Shadowpaw, Icepaw, Swanpaw, Mousekit and Petalkit's father, no one cared about Thymekit's father either. But he was very curious to who it could be. The idea of being fatherless always irked him, since his own father, Snowstar, and *his* brother, Forestcreek, were also fatherless, because their mother, and Birchpaw's paternal grandmother, Lilyear, had just said he was a kittypet. Birchpaw couldn't really ask her now since she was in StarClan before he was born, unless he went there himself, but that would be hard to do for a normal cat like him unless he died, too. But he wondered how it was possible not to know who he was. He also wondered how many Clan cats had kittypet parents in total. It was greatly intriguing and curiousity-invoking to him, but he was too clueless about any of those details.

Birchpaw then remembered that Watereye was also Peonyclaw's mentor. Peonyclaw told him that when she and Flipsnow joined the Clan, Moonstar asked who wanted to be their mentors, as they were kittypets and she wasn't sure if the average Clan cat could do it. Watereye and Diamondfly, Flipsnow's mentor and Rosepetal's mother, volunteered to be their mentors since they eagerly wanted to be mentors (as they had no apprentices before) and thought they could do a good job of mentoring former kittypets. Peonyclaw, Peonypaw at the time, turned out to be quite a great apprentice, which Watereye liked and tried to defend her from all hate and judgements of other skeptical cats. When Diamondfly got pregnant with Rosepetal a half-moon after taking up the offer, Watereye started training Flipsnow, Flippaw at the time, too, until Diamondfly gave birth. Watereye, Flippaw and Peonypaw still visited her in the nursery, and that was why they were very close to Rosepetal. Birchpaw figured that might have been a reason for Rosepetal mentoring Watereye's son, Nightnose, as Peonyclaw did say she advocated for a lot of cats she was close with to be mentors to apprentices that she was also close with. But Birchpaw wondered if Watereye had any idea about Whitelight's relationship to his apprentice, since Flipsnow, Peonyclaw and Whitelight probably met each other as apprentices, while they were with their mentors on border patrol, similarly to how Peonyclaw and Whitelight were behaving now. *If so, that means he knows* two *secrets,* Birchpaw thought uneasily. Even though he didn't know much about Watereye and wasn't very close to him, it turned out he had close connections to the two cats who had told Birchpaw SnowClan secrets, Peonyclaw and Goldenlily.

Watereye sighed. "Well... I would like to be alone now... since you know."

Birchpaw nodded and got up from the grave. He decided to go to the secluded area that Mountainpaw and him were talking in again and saw Stonepaw just sulking at the wall of the medicine cat den. *Her punishment is over,* Birchpaw remembered.

Stonepaw noticed him but just growled in response. Birchpaw wasn't sure if he should talk to her since she was a really unpredictable cat, but he decided to, anyway.

"Um... what are you thinking about?" he asked cautiously. Stonepaw just snorted and said, "About how everyone is doing nothing."

He just blinked and said, "Well, you know what happened, right?"

Stonepaw rolled her eyes frustratedly. "The news' effect has been going on in the Clan for a day now. Hopefully it doesn't last a moon! Otherwise the amount of Clan supplies will dwindle quicker than the number of leaves on a tree in leaf-fall! At least it's not leaf-fall or leaf-bare!"

Birchpaw just blinked again. He knew Stonepaw wasn't necessarily sad about Goldenlily's death, but she was acting inconsiderate to other Clan cats, too. "Well, they are mourning, that's why," Birchpaw tried to explain but Stonepaw snapped back, "They shouldn't mourn for too long! Icepaw's punishment got waived due to it but mine didn't! My mentor is ridiculously sitting next to his mate in the nursery as if he is a queen, too! Apparently he thinks that Sandleap will die, too! *They aren't even related that much, anyway!"*

Birchpaw just sighed and replied, "Well, you need to give at least two or three days to mourn for the entire Clan, and a quarter-moon for the immediate family. Remember Moonstar, our grandmother?"

Stonepaw just shrugged. "Right, and nothing else will get done? Trust me, no one wants to sit in a negative environment! I rather join StarClan! And haven't all the cats seen death before? Even Nightnose, Nutclaw, Swanpaw, Shadowpaw and Icepaw have seen Moonstar die!"

Birchpaw sighed again, since he thought she was being sort of stubborn. He further explained, "Well, the two deaths were very different, though. Moonstar got killed inside of her den by Falconblue, the deputy at the time, so no one witnessed it. Everyone was also preparing for her death since she was sick anyway, especially your father and my mother, who are already grown-up and could handle the grief. And my father got to be the leader since there were no bigger conflicts anymore. As for Goldenlily, she abruptly died with no warning of her death, and she was in pain, too, and everyone witnessed it. Not to mention there was blood coming out of the kitting area. The five of them are also only apprentices or young warriors who haven't seen a lot of death before, and she was only thirty-four moons old, which is still technically too young to die as a warrior. And now there is even more problems. Petalkit and Mousekit have no mother to nurse from, unlike their older siblings, and we don't have any nursing queens, since Flipsnow and Redwater's kits were already weaned and Heronwing's kits are almost apprentices! The closest one to giving birth is my sister, Sandleap, but she still has one and a half more moons to go, and newborn kits can't survive that long without milk! They actually can't survive a day without milk, and the only milk they got to drink was right before Goldenlily died. So there are also severe aftereffects because my father, the leader, is also very worried about what to do, since we will run out of time soon."

Stonepaw surprisingly listened to his long monologue without interrupting or saying anything, but she still wasn't very convinced. "Fine, I understand, but what do you expect *me* to do? Pretend to feel sad, too? I just pity our future because of this!" she retorted.

Birchpaw shook his head. "No, that is not what you should do. Even if you don't feel bad, instead of mocking Nightnose you should feel at least some sympathy for him and Icepaw and her siblings."

Stonepaw just blinked. "Well, it's not like I am mocking Icepaw, though, or making her feel even more bad! I don't even want to look at her if we are having an emergency, so definitely not when she is mourning, since I have no good relation to her, anyway! But Nightnose is *my* mentor! I will be a warrior soon so I need to wrap up all my training soon! Any precious time wasted is a total disgrace!"

"Well, you can say something to comfort them," Birchpaw suggested. "It's not only about what you do but also what you don't do." But Stonepaw snorted and replied in disinterest, "Have you ever heard of the saying, don't say anything if you have nothing nice to say? Right, but I don't have anything nice to say."

Birchpaw just blinked at her response and narrowed his eyes and replied strictly, "Well, then instead of complaining about other Clanmates' actions, you can try doing Clan duties by yourself, since you aren't a new apprentice, but a senior apprentice instead, so you can defend yourself and hunt by yourself. Your actions will be very appreciated by the rest of the Clan since you are still working hard to feed the Clan when others are still mourning!"

Stonepaw blinked a few times before understanding what he said. Then she looked at him in a more friendly light than before. "Well, that actually makes sense. Since you are also the only other senior apprentice that isn't mourning like that, we can go on a hunting patrol together."

Birchpaw stared at her for a moment and thought about she did in the past. Swanpaw had told him (using sign language, of course) that Stonepaw had led her to a ditch somewhere just outside of camp and pushed her in. He didn't know if it was safe to go with her, alone, anyway, so he decided to get one more apprentice. Which was Primrosepaw, since she wasn't too broken down, either.

Primrosepaw had agreed since her mentor, Hailstream, was also mourning for Goldenlily and didn't want to train right now, but she wanted to. But she and Stonepaw had looked warily at each other, which Birchpaw thought was probably because Stonepaw had pushed Swanpaw in and Primrosepaw was slow. *Well, at least she doesn't tell Swanpaw or Primrosepaw that they're dumb or slow anymore, especially Swanpaw,* thought Birchpaw hopefully. He did wonder how Primrosepaw was strong enough to handle Goldenlily's death at such a tender age but he thought it had something to do with her fall. Even if she didn't remember it much, her fall must have been much scarier than Goldenlily's death. He thought about Quailpaw who was in a similar situation and figured he wasn't too broken down either, but he still wanted to be there for his friends, which was fine by Birchpaw.

Birchpaw wasn't too sad about it either, because of what Goldenlily had told him a half moon ago. He also thought that he became stronger with Moonstar's death, as to him, he had met Moonstar only once, and he didn't know the full scope of her sickness. But he was still deeply troubled by Goldenlily's words and finality and didn't know what to do with the information. But he shook it away.

Birchpaw, Primrosepaw and Stonepaw told Snowstar that they were going on patrol, so that he could be alerted in case they didn't come back. Snowstar still looked a little wary about Stonepaw being with Birchpaw and Primrosepaw, but he allowed it and said that they were committed enough to the Clan even when it was still going through a brief period of sadness, which made them feel better. The two she-cat apprentices looked happy that they would finally get to be on a hunting patrol without a warrior, but something still troubled Birchpaw. *Will things be normal again? Or will there be more catastrophes and dire secret discoveries to come?*

### Chapter 19: Mousekit and Begoniaclaw

Mountainpaw was in the apprentices' den comforting Icepaw and Swanpaw. Zebrapaw and Quailpaw were comforting Shadowpaw.

He wondered how it could have happened. *Wasn't she perfectly healthy before?* he thought.

Mountainpaw remembered what Icepaw told him. *Do you notice something is off about her, Mountainpaw?* Icepaw had whispered into his ears. *Well, now that I think about it, there might be,* he had replied.

Goldenlily was in pain before she gave birth to Mousekit and Petalkit, Mountainpaw knew. *But what could have happened?* He usually visited his mother and kit siblings in the nursery whenever he had spare time, and that meant meeting Goldenlily, too. Goldenlily seemed normal, but always longing for something she could just never realistically reach.

"There is no more life," Shadowpaw was muttering. "There is no more life!" Mountainpaw didn't know what it meant but he thought it was creepy. He wondered if it had something to do with StarClan.

As time passed closer to Goldenlily's death, she started becoming more and more in pain for something. And she just saw something that no one else could see. *StarClan?* Mountainpaw wondered.

He thought it was too much to think about and decided to leave, since Icepaw and Swanpaw were sleeping. The other three older tom apprentices noticed him leaving but didn't say anything. They were just blank.

Mountainpaw decided to go the the medicine cat's den. He noticed the area where Birchpaw and him were talking in, right before Goldenlily's kitting. *It is unbelievable that things were so peaceful just a minute or two before the tragedy...* Mountainpaw observed woefully.

Then he saw Lilypool and Rainpaw. Rainpaw was sleeping, albeit in a disturbed way, so Mountainpaw didn't really pay much attention to her. But Lilypool was just sorting herbs in a deliberate manner. She also looked very disappointed about something.

Mountainpaw decided to ask Lilypool about Goldenlily and what was wrong with her when she started kitting. Lilypool just sighed in a downcast way.

"Well..." Lilypool began. "We did check-ups on her, and..." Mountainpaw noticed she was pausing every once in a while, kind of like her niece through Maplestripe, Primrosepaw. *What a weird situation the Clan is in,* Mountainpaw noticed miserably. But he was ever-patient for Lilypool's words.

"We noticed that her belly was slightly smaller than expecting queens' bellies..." Lilypool said very softly and unconfidently, as if she didn't really want to say this, or anyone else to hear this. "Rainpaw knew, too, since she saw pregnant queens before. She also said that she was feeling very nauseous from time to time. She vomited more than normal queens did. Her appetite also didn't seem to change. I didn't find this behavior in her first or second litters, so I knew that something might be wrong, so I gave her some herbs to try and regulate it..."

Mountainpaw blinked, very shocked by this. He was worried about what Lilypool would say, but he didn't know it was this bad. Of course, medicine cats didn't tell Clanmates about sensitive things like this, but he wondered what other Clanmates could have done to help her. He also wondered if it made a difference now, but he just had to know the reason why, in order to console his Clan.

"...and then I noticed that she was complaining of fatigue around her thighs, and she also seemed to be straining to get up. Rainpaw also noticed this but she didn't know what to make of it. But I did. I knew that the pregnancy was exhausting her, but how?" Lilypool continued. She seemed very perturbed.

Then Mountainpaw tried to think of what happened. Lilypool and Rainpaw had checked Goldenlily out when she said that she had been feeling nauseous, and she was expecting. Goldenlily seemed pretty normal in the beginning, but she was always feeling nauseous. "Were there any problems with the kits?"

Lilypool looked really depressed now. She sighed in exasperation and melancholy and said, "Well... Petalkit... she is fine; she is just a little small."

Mountainpaw just blinked a few times, then nodded. That was a good answer. But then he worried about Mousekit greatly.

"But Mousekit... we- I did an intense check on her, too... I found out she had a major complication which would hinder her life."

Mountainpaw grew hot all of a sudden. He was so shocked that he mouthed the words, *Major complication...?!* Lilypool nodded very slowly in a sense of defeat and turned her gaze towards Rainpaw's sleeping figure. She said, "Rainpaw... I couldn't bear to tell her this... since she was already depressed from Goldenlily's death. Being a medicine cat, especially... she felt failure in not being able to save her... but there was nothing that could have been done. Goldenlily already had a huge tear... in her kitting area. Which is why she was bleeding so much. There-there was nothing that could have been done in time."

Mountainpaw was very disturbed by now. He knew that there was something wrong with Goldenlily but he had no idea it was so severe. He thought that learning the answers would give him solace, but hearing about Mousekit's condition was really, really distressing.

"What... what is wrong with Mousekit?" Mountainpaw just barely breathed. His heart felt tight and he was not at all sure that the answer would be even okay.

Lilypool sighed and said nothing for a few seconds. "She... has a problem... with her lungs. Her lungs... have mucus in them, and she is coughing out a lot. In fact... she is here right now... so that I can monitor her."

Mountainpaw blinked in sheer distress. *Lungs?!* he screamed internally. *Mucus?!* Even Swanpaw and Primrosepaw didn't have a condition that was even on the scope of being that bad. He looked around for Mousekit and saw her tiny figure was sleeping in the corner on a small moss bed.

Lilypool just nodded. "I am giving her herbs in the form of a paste and trickling a little bit of it into her mouth, such as blessed thistle. I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want the Clan to worry for Mousekit so much. I only told Snowstar, and even he was very distressed. A kit dying after birth is a terrible thing for the Clan to handle. Much more if the mother died to give birth to them..." She sighed again.

"I also thought about the second litter of Goldenlily. Her belly was normal size for holding two kits. And it didn't seem like there were any stillborn kits. But when Swanpaw and her sibling were born, the birth was normal but the kit was dead, and Swankit was mute. I don't know if the pregnancy had a serious problem, but the kit may have been deprived of nutrients somehow. Sometime before giving birth, she had whitecough, but it subsided right before giving birth. But maybe that did something..."

Mountainpaw was just downright shocked. He wasn't sure who he could tell at all, or if this information could even be processed by anyone. He wasn't even sure if he could tell Birchpaw.

So he just nodded and said he needed to go. Lilypool understood and went back to her sorting.

*Where do I go now?* Mountainpaw wondered. The camp's energy was too sad for him to handle, and he wondered if he should leave for a patrol. His mentor, Petuniaheart, was still with Snowstar and Sealbranch and talking about what they should do with Mousekit and Petalkit. *Do Petuniaheart and Sealbranch know?* he thought. *Probably not...*

He looked around for his friend, Birchpaw, but didn't see him anywhere. He decided to ask Birchpaw's father, Snowstar. He told him that Birchpaw went on a patrol with Primrosepaw and Stonepaw. He was a little surprised about Primrosepaw and Stonepaw going with Birchpaw, since Primrosepaw had a condition and was only six and a half moons old, and Stonepaw was pretty unpredictable and her punishment just ended today, but he was mostly fine with it.

Mountainpaw understood and told Snowstar that he also wanted to go. Snowstar said that they just left so Mountainpaw could find them if he wanted to, but he had to be careful along with the other three. Mountainpaw just nodded and bounded off into the forest.

He didn't have to look for them when he noticed Stonepaw pouncing on a mouse and Birchpaw and Primrosepaw were just behind them. All three noticed him and looked a little surprised.

"Mountainpaw! What are you doing here?" Birchpaw exclaimed in pleasure. Mountainpaw figured that he was happy because his friend of the same age and gender was here. After all, Stonepaw and Primrosepaw were both she-cats and a few moons older or younger. He was always grateful to Birchpaw for including him in his games and being friendly to him. He was a very likable and headstrong cat, and he didn't think he would have any enemies or rivals. From the same Clan, anyway. He was also good at his duties, which is why Mountainpaw thought he was patrolling with them in the first place.

"Wow... did you find us?" Primrosepaw added. Mountainpaw nodded. He liked Primrosepaw because she was also a kind soul, but very emotionally strong, too, and never willing to give up by sticking to the path of a warrior. She was sad for Goldenlily's death but didn't feel too burdened by it either and processed her emotions correctly. Even if it was only her Clanmate, but she still knew Goldenlily from the nursery. Primrosepaw tried to comfort all of the apprentices, too, especially her sister who she was the closest to. Mountainpaw thought she could be a good warrior, deputy and even leader... if it weren't for her condition, but still. She already had exceptional skills for someone of her age and condition.

Stonepaw just shrugged. "Why did you follow us?" she asked in disinterest. Mountainpaw flicked his tail uneasily. Stonepaw was a good hunter and fighter, but not necessarily a good Clanmate. Like what probably most cats in the Clan did, he too lost respect for Stonepaw when she pushed Swanpaw, a cat with a special condition, into the ditch. Her violent public fight with Icepaw the day before Goldenlily's death was also very shocking for most cats, and he doubted Peonyclaw, Zebrapaw, Swanpaw and Icepaw looked at her the same way again. Or in even a better way. So he didn't know how to trust her. But he just forced himself to be neutral to her since she was going with his two other Clanmates.

"Well, I also wanted to patrol with you, too, of course!" Mountainpaw exclaimed in delight to answer all three of their questions simultaneously. "Snowstar told me where you went." He looked around the vast forest and hoped nothing more would be wrong. "Will we be safe?"

Birchpaw sighed and said, "Hopefully, but let's be optimistic! That is good that you want to patrol with us since now we will have four apprentices. Four apprentices is better than one warrior."

Primrosepaw beamed since she had also learned some fighting and hunting training. She couldn't fight by herself completely, but with other cats assisting her, she could be a good fighter and be safe at the same time. Stonepaw had stared at her as if she didn't think Primrosepaw completely counted as one of those apprentices.

Mountainpaw nodded. "Hopefully! Primrosepaw has been training hard, right? So have I and Birchpaw!" he exclaimed, beaming as well. Then he looked at Stonepaw. "Hopefully Stonepaw did, too," he added in an unsettled way.

Stonepaw just groaned. "Of course I did otherwise I wouldn't be here. And keep it down mouse-brains! Especially you Mountainpaw, otherwise the prey will get away."

Mountainpaw narrowed his eyes at her. "Well, fine. Good catch anyway."

Stonepaw just rolled her eyes at him. "Well, thanks, if you actually *mean* that, but that is just a mere morsel, and easy for me to catch." She also narrowed her eyes at him.

Birchpaw and Primrosepaw briefly exchanged worried looks as they didn't want Stonepaw to pick a fight with Mountainpaw now. Birchpaw and Primrosepaw were usually calm and collected and usually, so was Mountainpaw, but he could also be ticked off with enough effort.

"Whatever, but we need to actually hunt instead of talking," replied Mountainpaw. To Birchpaw and Primrosepaw's fright, Stonepaw retorted, "Right, with your incessant chatter, we will now be able to catch nothing!"

*"Um!"* Primrosepaw said very loudly to get everyone's attention. Since she couldn't speak quickly, she adopted another technique to get cats' attention, which was high volume. Swanpaw couldn't do this, of course, but she had told Primrosepaw it was a good technique. All three cats looked at her. "We can... always go to another... place," she suggested thoughtfully. "We shouldn't... be too far but... we have a big... territory. So we can... catch prey from a lot... of areas in our terri...tory, since it is the... end of new-leaf."

Birchpaw and Mountainpaw instantly agreed with her, but Stonepaw just stared at her in an unenthusiastic way. Then she just shrugged and buried her mouse.

They went to Rabbit Residence, an area which the four apprentices had memorized the route to. Birchpaw and Mountainpaw had secretly hoped no fox followed them back to the camp, or even showed up right now, which would still be worse than the former. Zebrapaw and Sandleap had told the rest of the Clan about the fox and how it followed them back.

"Well... we need to stick... together... at least *I* should with... one of you," Primrosepaw alerted the patrol. "Because... you know..." She pointed to her legs.

Birchpaw nodded in empathy. "We know you have this condition, but you are still an equal! So yes, we should stick together."

Mountainpaw nodded eagerly as well and reminded them in a quiet tone, "We also need to walk quietly so the prey won't hear us. Especially since there are four cats all together, albeit smaller, but still together."

Birchpaw and Primrosepaw nodded, recalling this piece of information, while Stonepaw just rolled her eyes as if that was already obvious to her. They went behind a huge bush that was there, probably the largest in the plains area, and waited for a brown hare. Then one came into sight and started going near the bush. Stonepaw was the first to pounce and she caught the hare.

"I did it," said Stonepaw to no one in particular. "Pretty easy, though. You should probably spread out just a little bit to get a chance, too," she recommended. Birchpaw thought that although Stonepaw had some serious flaws, she didn't come without strengths. She was a really good hunter and had good tips, too.

The three other cats nodded and spread out just a little bit. Primrosepaw found a small bush that would only conceal her as she was the smallest of the four, and Mountainpaw and Birchpaw found a medium-sized bush. A few hares came by the bushes and they managed to catch them. They caught five in total.

"Well, this is a good haul," remarked Birchpaw in a positive light. "This will be good to feed the Clan."

Stonepaw quickly nodded and replied, "We can still catch more. Us cats can carry two pieces of prey at a time, and if possible, three." They all nodded and went back to their respective bushes, after burying the hares, of course.

They all looked at the border between MoonClan and AdderClan. The two Clans didn't have custody over the entire Rabbit Residence, instead it was shared, but MoonClan had more of the territory, marked by a line connecting a tree and a rock. The border was usually the place AdderClan used to invade, and because of this they were being careful. Any cat that crossed the border was considered to have overrun the border and allowed to be fought off.

They noticed a cat running on the other side of the border. It was running towards the border. Then it became closer and closer to the border. Then they saw another cat chasing that first cat. The cat that was being chased looked wild and frightened of everything that was happening. Then it crossed the border which made the four MoonClan apprentices shocked and frightened (except for Stonepaw) as well.

Stonepaw looked a little surprised but then she hissed at the trespassing cat in a threatening tone. Then the cat looked confused and looked around. Stonepaw jumped out of the bushes in the pretense of an ambush onto the cat. The cat looked shocked but then dodged and said quickly, "No, no, you don't understand!" It sounded like a she-cat.

Birchpaw and Mountainpaw paid attention to the cat that was chasing her. It growled fiercely at her, saying, "That is what you get for mating with an enemy cat from an enemy Clan! Sorrelkit and Brownkit are definitely half-SnowClan!" It sounded like a tom.

The four apprentices were confused, so the other three that were hiding came out. The she-cat looked much more intimidated that she was before and tried to step backwards but she noticed her chaser again and stopped. Her chaser noticed the four apprentices and looked startled as, as Birchpaw had said, four apprentices is much better than one warrior. Stonepaw looked almost as big as a young warrior and no one outside of the Clan knew Primrosepaw's condition so he was also intimidated by Stonepaw as he must have thought she was a warrior and Primrosepaw, too.

Primrosepaw asked the she-cat in a very firm tone, "What are you doing? You... crossed the tree and the rock line... which marks the border between... our Clan's hunting territories." The other three apprentices had never seen Primrosepaw talk so fast and loudly.

Stonepaw nodded and hissed, "You'd better explain what is happening with you quick! Before we claw you out for trespassing!"

Birchpaw and Mountainpaw just nodded as they were confused about the tom's words, too. The tom figured that they wouldn't cross the border, so he looked less intimidated but he was still keeping an eye on them. Birchpaw also kept an eye on him.

"No, no, you don't understand," the she-cat repeated in a pleading tone. "I'm being chased out of the Clan! AdderClan! Because they were accusing me of breaking the warrior code! You saw it yourself while hiding in the bushes, right?"

They did agree with that. But Mountainpaw decided to ask, "Were they accusing you of mating with a SnowClan cat?" The she-cat nodded.

"Precisely," she replied.

Stonepaw narrowed her eyes. *"Did* you do it?" she asked in the same intimidating tone.

The she-cat narrowed her eyes back. "No," she replied calmly.

The tom snorted, "As if, you will obviously deny it. But the kits not having a father should be evidence enough! Or did you mate with a medicine cat instead?"

The she-cat gasped in surprise. "What, no! Not Reedthorn or Bristlefeather!"

Birchpaw looked her up and down. She was a copper cat with green eyes, and nothing about her really seemed evil. But he was still wondering about one thing. "How do we trust you?" He wasn't sure if AdderClan could have set this up or anything, so that this she-cat can enter the Clan and spy on them. It did seem authentic, though.

Before she could answer, another AdderClan cat came and asked the tom, "Windwing, did you make sure that traitor Begoniaclaw never comes back?"

Windwing, the tom, nodded and replied, "She's gone forever now, Hareclaw! Hopefully she never comes back otherwise we will kill her! And her kits will nurse from Lizardfang or Yellowstripe instead."

Hareclaw just said, "Why don't we leave now and see what we should do with her kits?" Windwing just nodded and left along with his Clanmate.

Begoniaclaw, the she-cat, watched them leave before looking back at the MoonClan apprentices in fright. "Did you hear what they said?! I am never welcome back!" she shrieked.

Birchpaw, Mountainpaw and Primrosepaw were processing this information in quite a lot of surprise but Stonepaw just shrugged and said, "So what do you expect *us* to do? You're still not a MoonClan cat!"

"Wait," Birchpaw said, thinking about something the AdderClan warrior, Windwing, said. "Windwing said something about her kits nursing from another queen... so-"—he turned to her abruptly—"Are your kits under two moons old?" Begoniaclaw looked quite surprised, but she nodded quickly.

Mountainpaw and Primrosepaw seemed to realize this, too, and exchanged looks with Birchpaw. Primrosepaw's body nerves may have been slow, but her brain nerves weren't. In fact they seemed to be quite fast as she was also intelligent. Stonepaw blinked as she realized it as well.

"Does that mean you are nursing?" asked Mountainpaw in realization. Begoniaclaw blinked a few times in confusion why they would ask that, but she just simply nodded.

Birchpaw then explained about Goldenlily and how she died giving to her kits, Mousekit and Petalkit, and how they could really use a nursing queen.

Primrosepaw nodded and said in much delight and relief, "It... would be very good! A good deed... too. Like... a miracle from StarClan." Mountainpaw and Stonepaw nodded, Stonepaw less eagerly, but still agreeing. Birchpaw just added positively, "Yes, and we will also invite you into MoonClan." He blinked, remembering Clan loyalties and continued more firmly, "As long as you can be trusted, of course."

Begoniaclaw's eyes lit up in so much delight and relief, too, and accepted the offer in the same way since she was homeless anyway. "I can only nurse for one more moon, though, because my kits are one moon old," she told them in advance. The MoonClan apprentices just nodded, with Birchpaw telling her about his sister, Sandleap who would be giving birth and dug up their hares, with Begoniaclaw carrying one, and went back to camp with the good news.

#### Afterwards

Snowstar was about to take a mouse from the prey pile along with his mate, Petuniaheart, and their daughter and deputy, Sealbranch, until he noticed the four hunting apprentices come back from the forest with a good mood and positive vibes. Snowstar wondered what the good thing that happened was until he spotted another cat come with them. He recognized the cat from the last AdderClan battle, and it was an AdderClan warrior named Begoniaclaw, which made him alarmed. She wasn't a formidable enemy, though, as she was usually overpowered by a MoonClan warrior in battle, including Sealbranch who just became a warrior, so he thought that four apprentices, even one with slower nerves, could easily subdue her. But he noticed the hare in her mouth, which he thought was very odd.

Sealbranch and Petuniaheart also noticed them and Begoniaclaw, and shared the same feelings as Snowstar. Sealbranch flicked her tail, remembering her old opponent in that AdderClan battle. Snowstar had only chosen her as the deputy since she was born to be an excellent fighter and hunter, despite being only fourteen moons old and never had an apprentice, but she still thought Begoniaclaw was a weakling compared to the rest of AdderClan. But she was confused at why Begoniaclaw was carrying a hare. Petuniaheart just figured that Begoniaclaw was being a good cat to them instead of an enemy cat which is why they were happy.

But they noticed that neither of them had scratches, except for Begoniaclaw, but they didn't seem that new. Then the five cats noticed them at the prey pile immediately, and Birchpaw and Mountainpaw immediately started running towards them. They told them everything that happened, with Begoniaclaw inserting a few things.

Snowstar, Petuniaheart and Sealbranch were very shocked but grateful to StarClan for this miracle, since she could nurse the two kits. Snowstar had asked her if she did mate outside of the Clan, and Begoniaclaw's reply to that question was simply no, since she was a good warrior. Other cats had already noticed what was going on and watched, including Shadowpaw, Swanpaw, Icepaw and Zebrapaw, who were all very surprised at what happened, the four of them especially at Stonepaw being with them.

Stonepaw had already put the hares in the prey pile and started eating one, disinterested in the conversation, and mostly just listening to her own thoughts. Begoniaclaw seemed like a good cat, although she seemed to be too good, which Stonepaw thought was why she was exiled from AdderClan, a Clan of emotionally dead cats.

The other three apprentices had already told everything to the leader and deputy of MoonClan, and Begoniaclaw felt great anticipation for good things to come. But she still wondered about her kits, Sorrelkit and Brownkit, who would be prejudiced now and be nursed from another queen for another moon. She shivered at the thought of anything bad happening to them just because of some stupid cats with no proof of anything. *Hopefully AdderClan takes pity on* kits *at least...* she hoped. She never really liked Fangstar since he had the same ideas as the original leader, Adderstar, who was also his great-uncle, but she never thought that he would exile her just because of mating with a SnowClan cat. He didn't seem like the type to follow the warrior code to the dot, especially when he also crossed into MoonClan territory... for reasons Begoniaclaw thought were against it, similar to hers.

Swanpaw and Shadowpaw went up to Begoniaclaw and thanked her in great appreciation for nursing their siblings. Begoniaclaw just nodded in reply, and was glad that MoonClan was such a hospitable Clan. She could never think of attacking it again after their kindness to her. But the only awful thing that was on her mind was what her kits would have to go through.

The entire Clan had heard what happened, including Lilypool and Rainpaw, and most welcomed her with open arms. Some were skeptical of what she could do and if she would spy on them, or if she was lying, including Birchpaw, but they just welcomed her, too. But most cats thought it was a blessing from StarClan, and hoped it would be, with more happy things to come.

### Chapter 20: Shadowpaw's Exams

It was almost a half-moon ever since Begoniaclaw joined the Clan, and it was now green-leaf.

Shadowpaw groaned loudly, sitting at the prey pile poking his mouse. Other people at the pile looked at him, since they had obviously heard it, especially Zebrapaw and Quailpaw. Shadowpaw didn't care though. The day had finally come, and he hated that it was almost at the wrong timing. *After Goldenlily died,* he thought miserably.

And he noticed Mousekit was acting very sick, too, and Begoniaclaw also noticed, too, when nursing them. Petalkit was like a perfectly normal kit, but Mousekit was very sluggish and coughing every once in a while. Even Primrosepaw and Mountainpaw noticed this and Primrosepaw had worried if Mousekit had *her* condition.

This made Shadowpaw feel even worse, because now he was fourteen moons old. And it was the day that he had to take his final exam to become a warrior. But instead, he just felt like postponing it for another moon. *I wouldn't care even I became a warrior eight more moons later,* thought Shadowpaw in sorrow. Then he looked at Quailpaw, who was the same age as him and taking the exam with him and Icepaw.

He had always wondered if Icepaw getting punished caused Goldenlily to get too stressed out and go into labor, even though it was around the right time, two and a half moons. But he wasn't sure if her being too stressed would have caused her to bleed to death from kitting. And Mousekit's coughing, whatever the cause may be, made him even more depressed and sorrow. *At least Petalkit is okay... I think,* he tried to think a little positively. But he was scared for Mousekit, when he was supposed to be looking forward to becoming a warrior.

Quailpaw shared his concerns, even though he wasn't directly related to Goldenlily. He was less sad about it, of course, but he still empathized with Shadowpaw such as when Moonstar died, since he was closer to her than other kits or young apprentices at the time.

Shadowpaw told Quailpaw, "Well... I don't feel like it... can I postpone it for a moon?"

Quailpaw knew what he was talking about. The exams. "Well, I guess you could, but you'd still be Snowstar's apprentice. I mean, I guess you will do fine, especially with what Snowstar taught you. And since he is also the leader, he will feel much more confident about you unlike apprentices with normal mentors, especially since he is watching you yourself."

Shadowpaw just nodded, but then Robinkit came to Quailpaw excitedly. "Have you heard? I will be an apprentice very soon! Just a few more days, Snowstar said!" he exclaimed in great enthusiasm.

Quailpaw looked happy for the soon-to-be-apprentice. "I know, right? And so will your littermate, Soarkit! And then Heronwing will be able to be a normal warrior again!" Robinkit had gotten close to Quailpaw after meeting Icepaw, Mountainpaw, Sandleap and Redwater, whom the former two were Quailpaw's friends, sort of, and the latter two were his sister and cousin.

Shadowpaw glanced at them for a moment before putting the mouse back in the pile and walking away. Quailpaw gave him a look saying, *But I wasn't finished talking to you!* but Shadowpaw still left.

Shadowpaw went to the nursery and noticed Stonepaw talking to Begoniaclaw about Sorrelkit and Brownkit. He had never thought about Stonepaw ever being interested in kits, much less kits from AdderClan, even if they were Begoniaclaw's, but he thought it was nothing serious. *Maybe it is for the better,* he told himself, although he couldn't believe that she had learned her lesson completely. But it seemed like she was ignoring Petalkit and Mousekit completely.

He went to Petalkit and Mousekit, sliding past Stonepaw but completely ignoring her and sat down next to his younger sisters. He now had four younger sisters, of which Icepaw counted as one because she was born after him, making him the oldest kit, but he also knew he had to help them and protect them.

Stonepaw noticed him and stopped talking about what she was talking about, which was about how AdderClan functioned. Shadowpaw realized that they can squeeze secrets about AdderClan from Begoniaclaw, since the Mountain Clans never really talked to each other that much except during battle. The most they talked was at a Mountain Meeting which was required every two years by the Miracle ancestors at the time, but now StarClan. But he was also a little worried that she might spill secrets about MoonClan to AdderClan if she got the chance, especially about Swanpaw or Primrosepaw's conditions.

Shadowpaw did think Stonepaw was a little smart for asking Begoniaclaw about info, though, but he still despised her.

"What are you doing?" Stonepaw asked coldly. "We're speaking about some private info."

"I am not listening to you," he replied in the same tone. "I am seeing the kits of my mother."

Stonepaw just nodded slowly, as if she didn't believe it that much, but she just nodded to Begoniaclaw in a positive way and left the nursery, probably to leave Shadowpaw alone, which was fine with him. After all, Stonepaw and Shadowpaw didn't really like each other and had nothing good to talk about.

Shadowpaw paid attention to Mousekit more, as she was sleeping next to Petalkit. Then he looked at Begoniaclaw, who said nothing, but think about something he couldn't tell what it was. *This cat should have been my mother,* he thought sadly. He didn't need his mother physically anymore, but he still needed her emotionally. He wondered if she would visit from StarClan, but not yet has it happened. That was beknown to him, anyway.

Finally Begoniaclaw said something, but he hadn't expected the reply from someone who used to be an AdderClan cat, all their life, probably. "You still miss your mother, right? I know that terrible feeling. It's like you want to go back to meet her but you can't, and you are trapped in a world where they don't exist physically anymore, and it is so horrible. But at least we have StarClan to look forward to, and if you are lucky you can visit them from StarClan. You see, my mother... she died when I was a young kit, when I still needed to be nursed. Adderstar, the leader at the time, who was also the founder, wasn't really fond of me because I was mourning her throughout my entire kithood. And..." She sighed.

Shadowpaw just blinked in surprise. "Really?" he said, not knowing she had such a history.

She nodded sadly. "And my sibling, Smoothkit, died, too." She sighed and continued, "I worry about my kits, though. Would AdderClan have told them that I had died? Fangstar can do anything, I am pretty sure, and he thinks that being the great-nephew of Adderstar made him superior above everyone, even before becoming leader." Her ears drooped sadly.

Shadowpaw just said, "I think that they will be safe, though. But it would be terrible to be separated from your kits." Begoniaclaw had said that she was exiled due to being accused of mating with a SnowClan cat, and she refuted the claim, but Shadowpaw wasn't so sure. Birchpaw also asked Shadowpaw if he trusted her and what she said, and he had replied, "Not completely."

Begoniaclaw just nodded. "I hope I can do something." Then she seemed to realize something seemingly positive. "Oh right, I remembered that your exams are going to start soon. Snowstar told me himself. And it is lucky that he is your mentor because he can watch you personally!"

Shadowpaw just nodded, but he wasn't sure that he shared her excitement. The exams, even in normal times, could be pretty stressful because one mistake could make your mentors change their mind. But MoonClan was pretty lax about this, since they weren't aiming to build the best army of every affiliation in the Mountains like AdderClan, but he still knew he had to be good enough to defend themselves from enemies and hunt for the Clan effortlessly even in leaf-bare. He remembered that fox which booted Zebrapaw and Swanpaw off for a brief second, but he knew he wasn't ready for the fox at the time. *Now, maybe I am,* he thought in a confident way.

Shadowpaw tried to build confidence by training with his mentor the leader, but he still couldn't remove that doubt. He tried to convince himself that he will be all right and that he will pass with flying colors since he was a good fighter and hunter. But he had noticed Icepaw and it was a lot worse. For the first quarter-moon after Goldenlily's death, she did nothing but wail for her in the apprentices' den, skipping all training sessions. Even him and Swanpaw, who were also mourning equally for her, had to comfort her. So did Quailpaw, Mountainpaw, Zebrapaw, Primrosepaw, Rainpaw and Dandelionpaw.

Now, she was handling the sadness much better but he didn't even know if she wanted to take it in the first place.

But he didn't know if he himself wanted to take it either.

#### Later

It was a few hours later.

Shadowpaw had to do the exams now. Along with his littermate, Icepaw, and friend, Quailpaw. It decided if they were going to be warriors within this moon or not.

Icepaw was very reluctant to do this but Shadowpaw and Quailpaw told her that Goldenlily was watching from StarClan and would be extra proud of her if she passed. Which boosted her spirits a little because she always wanted to impress someone, and that cat was usually Goldenlily.

Shadowpaw was also feeling like Icepaw, but he tried to hide the reluctance with the same reason Icepaw had. *To impress Goldenlily,* he thought in a positive light.

Snowstar, Forestcreek and Blazesky, all senior warriors and their mentors (and Quailpaw's father and uncles on both sides), gave them some good words for courage and self-assurance, and told them to try and catch a very difficult prey which needed a lot of expertise, an eagle.

That was really hard and Shadowpaw and Icepaw didn't know if they could do it. But they promised themselves that they would try.

They were allowed to stick together, but they should catch their prey separately from one another. Their mentors padded behind them a slightly short distance behind.

Shadowpaw sighed to himself in an already exhausted way but forced himself to focus. Goldenlily was in his mind all the time, and he didn't know if she being there was going to help or hurt. He glanced at his littermate and saw she seemed to struggling to be focusing, too, however. Quailpaw gave them reassuring looks and mouthed, *It will be okay, we will do it.* Shadowpaw and Icepaw just smiled appreciatively and gave him a small nod.

They looked up at the trees since that is where eagles usually perched. Shadowpaw remembered his lesson about catching birds from Snowstar. His mentor told him to climb a tree very silently that was next to the tree the bird was perched on, and then pounce and try to silence it quickly. Snowstar once demonstrated by catching an eagle and he did it pretty smoothly. Shadowpaw also remembered when Snowstar effortlessly scratched the hawk that was trying to carry Swanpaw, then Swankit, away from the ditch that she was in, and made it let go.

Shadowpaw had never tried catching or scratching an eagle or a hawk before, however, so this was his first time and he was really nervous.

The three apprentices distanced from one another by a few tail-lengths, and so Shadowpaw tried to look for one, and listen for one, too. He recognized the eagle's cry from that bird hunting lesson, of course.

They searched for a few minutes until they heard wings flapping. All three heard it and stopped padding. Then they tried to see where it was. It was a large bird with brown plumage, and it seemed to be resting. *A golden eagle,* Shadowpaw realized. It was like the one Snowstar caught except slightly smaller, but still counted.

Then they looked at each other, wondering who should make the catch, until Icepaw and Quailpaw nodded over at him. Shadowpaw didn't know why, but probably because he was the oldest of the three, Icepaw by a minute, Quailpaw by a few days. In fact, he was the oldest of all the apprentices, and his friend group, too. So he just nodded back to them and started looking for a different tree. He felt all eyes on him as he padded over to one and started climbing.

Icepaw and Quailpaw still kept looking for more eagles, of course, with their mentors following them, but Snowstar stayed with him to assess him.

Shadowpaw climbed to the altitude where the eagle was, which wasn't that high and hid behind the branches. The eagle didn't notice him yet.

Shadowpaw focused carefully with great precision at the eagle. Then he saw it was grooming itself with its beak and Shadowpaw thought it was the perfect opportunity.

Then he pounced on it and the eagle noticed him and spread its wings out to fly, but then Shadowpaw's claws got hold of its body and his weight went onto the eagle which stopped it from flying. Then Shadowpaw tried to bite its neck but the golden eagle while trying to struggle out of his grasp tried to poke through his skin and used its talons to try and scratch him. Shadowpaw was wary of the beak but kept scratching him. A talon got hold of his leg and Shadowpaw tried to break free by scratching the eagle's leg. Then he bit its chest hard so that it would stop struggling, then scratched its wings.

During this slight skirmish, though, Shadowpaw had nearly lost his balance. The eagle was struggling less but it was trying to flap its wings. Then suddenly, Shadowpaw felt like he fell out of the tree.

He fell into a bush so his fall was cushioned but it felt like to him that it nearly gave him a heart attack. Snowstar ran to him asking if he was able to get up. Shadowpaw didn't reply for a few seconds because he was still shocked but finally he nodded and got up. He wasn't very hurt since it wasn't a long fall, only a few fox-lengths, but he felt like he had some pain on his right flank, the side he fell on.

Then Shadowpaw looked around for the eagle, and saw it had fallen down as well but was trying to fly, but it was too gravely injured to fly well without shaking mid-flight and falling to the mountainous forest floor again. Then Shadowpaw, pretty much okay other than the bruise, leaped onto it and bit its neck.

Icepaw, Quailpaw, Forestcreek and Blazesky had also been watching and congratulated Shadowpaw. Snowstar gave an approving nod to him and Shadowpaw inherently knew that he passed, his worries washing away like a river emptying into a lake.

*Why was I so worried?* Shadowpaw wondered for a moment, but then he realized it was because he never caught an eagle before. But now he did. Rightful pride filling his heart, he beamed up at his mentor who taught him so much and was the best mentor he could have ever imagined. He was one of the many great mentors in MoonClan, but even more so with his experience and expertise at hunting and fighting, which made Shadowpaw feel like the luckiest warrior in every Clan ever made.

He fell down from the tree, but that didn't matter to him as that could always happen during hunting. And he fell into a bush, too. But what was the most important is that he took down a creature that could kitnap small cats and kits, and could feed the Clan, too. It was a larger catch than a hare or a regular bird, too.

Icepaw and Quailpaw nodded in great praise for him and set off to find their own eagle. Snowstar nodded again and told him to follow the other two apprentices, and Shadowpaw nodded, with a ton of praise for him again, and himself. He knew that Goldenlily was watching from StarClan, very proud of him. He knew he made her proud.

*Someone is definitely going to be a warrior tonight,* Shadowpaw thought with self-assurance and optimism. *And I will be a proud warrior to the Clans, and let my descendants and ancestors and other Clanmates honor me!*

### Chapter 21: Shadowclaw, Icemoon, Quailclaw, Robinpaw & Soarpaw

Quailpaw and Icepaw caught their golden eagles, too, which the former found within a few minutes of Shadowpaw, and the latter a few minutes after *him.*

Shadowpaw watched Quailpaw and he caught the eagle with less effort than Shadowpaw needed, but he knew that he should congratulate his friend for doing so. They were both good, after all, and jealousy wouldn't be tolerated. Quailpaw sneaked up on the eagle from behind and bit its neck, which made the eagle die shortly after.

As for Icepaw, she was a bit jittery and almost lost it when she pounced on it and only got its flank, but she managed to swipe its wings using her both claws, making it more difficult for the eagle to fly. Then when the eagle was hovering above a branch, she pounced on it and bit its neck, earning the kill.

The three mentors greatly approved of this and deemed them excellent hunters, which the three apprentices took pride in. They went back to the camp for rest, bringing back the three golden eagles.

Most of the apprentices, kits and queens awaited their return, especially Swanpaw, Primrosepaw and Birchpaw. Petuniaheart's eyes were also gleaming as she watched her son come back with Shadowpaw and Icepaw and asked her mate how they did. Snowstar explained the accuracy and skill they had, saying they would be invaluable to the Clan. Shadowpaw and Quailpaw accepted Snowstar's praise as he was their mentor or father. Icepaw looked a little nervous but bouncing with joy at the same time, with anticipation of what her warrior ceremony would feel like. She wondered what her warrior name would be.

Everyone praised them greatly, since finally, the first three of the apprentices after Violetrain and Fireclaw being seven moons older than them would finally become warriors, after a very long line of apprentices, and previously, a very long line of kits and queens, of which there still were, of course.

Swanpaw and Birchpaw shared Shadowpaw's eagle, saying that it was extraordinary to Shadowpaw, which boosted his confidence and pride and happiness through the sky. Shadowpaw, Zebrapaw and Rainpaw tasted Icepaw's eagle out of kindness. Icepaw interpreted Zebrapaw willing to eat it as something positive. And Petuniaheart and Snowstar tasted their son, Quailpaw's eagle and said it was juicy.

Shadowpaw went to sleep happy, hoping the next day being the fighting exams would be as successful as the hunting exams.

The next day, Shadowpaw felt bliss. He was the first apprentice out of the den (and soon, permanently, too) and bounced over to the prey pile and ate a small mouse. Snowstar was also there and asked Shadowpaw if he was feeling confident about his assignment. Shadowpaw said yes in a very audacious way.

Snowstar just nodded and said that his fighting assessment would be a pretty difficult one, but he would have to do it with Icepaw and Quailpaw as he needed to see good teamwork. Shadowpaw just nodded but he wondered what it would be that it would be so difficult on his own.

Then when Icepaw, Quailpaw and their mentors woke up, they all set out into the mountainous forest. Then Snowstar whispered something to his brother and his mate's brother, and they both nodded. Then Snowstar straightened up and told the three apprentices, "There is a secret fox den somewhere in the mountains within our territory. The den is in the ground, but of course, we won't go too close. But we will go a distance from it to see if we can find a fox."

The three apprentices were a little bit startled. They remembered the fox that came into camp many moons ago. Shadowpaw remembered that he was too frightened to stop it at the time, even with a ton of warriors around, but Zebrapaw and Swankit took the lead and jumped on it bravely. He wasn't sure how he could stop one with only the three of them, even if they were almost warriors.

Snowstar, Blazesky and Forestcreek noticed their anxiousness and Blazesky reassured them, "Don't worry, we will help you in case of dire emergencies. My sister and Snowstar, Snowpool at the time, also did this test with Forestcreek's children, Redwater and Flameeye respectively. And I, Flipsnow and..."—Blazesky paused for a moment—"Goldenlily... also did this test with Sealbranch, Sandleap and Hailstream respectively. And they did pass, of course."

Shadowpaw remembered that Hailstream was the former apprentice of Goldenlily. When she was finished giving birth to Swanpaw, Swankit at the time, she finished training Hailstream, Hailpaw at the time. Flipsnow also finished training Sandleap, Sandpaw at the time, after giving birth to Mountainpaw, Mountainkit at the time. Otherwise their unoffical mentor for physical training was Blazesky, which made sense since their sister and littermate, Sealpaw, was his official apprentice. Shadowpaw also knew that Redwater and Flameeye's mentors were Petuniaheart and Snowpool, and they became warriors one moon before the three sisters did. Petuniaheart was still a queen when she became a mentor, but she got pregnant with Quailpaw and his littermate soon after, and Redwater also had to train with her brother. After Petuniaheart gave birth, though, she got pregnant again with Birchpaw and Rainpaw, and only after she finished nursing them could she fully train Redwater.

Hailstream had witnessed Goldenlily's death personally, but she was too shocked about it and ran to Sandleap's side along with Sealbranch and Nightnose instead. Later on Shadowpaw saw that she told Sandleap and Primrosepaw that Goldenlily's death made her very sad since she was her old mentor. They both understood.

"Oh yeah, and Violetrain and Fireclaw also did this with their mentors, Maplestripe and Littleclaw," Blazesky continued. "They all passed, and we are confident that you can, too. You should be confident, too."

All three apprentices understood. Shadowpaw wondered about Nightnose and Nutclaw, but he figured they didn't do the test with the three sisters. Snowstar did tell him that he wanted to test them to see if the skills were good enough to become warriors and too many cats would make it hard to assess especially in fighting exams (and make it much easier to do), so the max was three apprentices. Nightnose and Nutclaw's mentors were Rosepetal and Daisyfoot. Shadowpaw thought it was a little weird that the latter was Snowstar and Forestcreek's cousin, especially with her daughter Applefall and Zebrapaw's brother Fireclaw being together, but he shrugged it off.

Then Snowstar said after Blazesky was finished, "We have to go to the fox den now. We will help you in case of a dire emergency, as Blazesky said. And if there is another fox, we will chase them off. Six warriors can fight off two foxes." Then he flicked his tail. "It's not too far either, but it is somewhere near our border."

The apprentices understood, but they were still a little nervous.

They started walking for a little bit of time into fox territory, and they noticed they saw no foxes so far, until they saw a fox burrow.

Snowstar padded in front of the other cats and peered inside very cautiously to see if there were any foxes. Shadowpaw walked next to him and looked inside, too. He saw a medium-sized nest with a sleeping baby fox inside. Shadowpaw knew he shouldn't hurt baby foxes or sleeping ones as they could get aggravated and attack, or the mothers of the baby foxes can also come and attack.

But then, they heard a fox growl behind them.

All six cats heard and their instincts were ready to fight. Snowstar, Forestcreek and Blazesky nodded to the apprentices to do it and they stepped back from the fox. Quailpaw and Icepaw immediately started cornering the fox from its flanks, and Shadowpaw cornered it from the front. Naturally, the fox leaped on Shadowpaw, but he leaped out of the way. Icepaw jumped onto the fox and repeatedly slashed its left flank. Quailpaw tried to crawl under and scratched its belly.

Shadowpaw decided to do the amazing feat that Zebrapaw and Swankit did. Except he would try to jump on its head.

He tried to slash the forehead but the blow hit its nose instead as it was trying to bite Shadowpaw. Then it turned towards Icepaw and tried to pounce on her. Quailpaw slashed its right flank. Shadowpaw slashed its cheek and its upper jaw, and it growled ferociously at Shadowpaw. Icepaw shrieked and slashed its nose. Shadowpaw saw an opening and leaped onto the fox's head.

The fox hadn't seen it coming and started shaking its head ferociously while trying to back away from Quailpaw but pursue Icepaw. Shadowpaw had dug his claws deep into the fox's fur so that he would be firmly lodged onto the fox and not be shaken off. He wondered how to scare the fox away and finish the test, but then Quailpaw scratched its tail, and crawled under its belly and toppled it over.

Shadowpaw also fell down but not as hard. He lightly scratched its neck and it got up and ran back into the burrow after hissing threateningly at them. It attempted to swipe the mentors, but they backed off and so did the fox.

When all was calm, the mentors congratulated them, saying that they passed with flying colors and were ready to be received as full warriors by all of the Clans, especially MoonClan and StarClan. The three apprentices were very proud of themselves and were soaring over the moon.

They went back to camp with a ton of excitement and anticipation for new and better things.

#### Hours later

Shadowpaw, Icepaw and Quailpaw were all really excited to become warriors. Icepaw was still wondering what her warrior name would be and she hoped it would be something memorable. She had noticed a lot of warriors' suffixes were "-claw", but she wanted to be named differently. She even told Snowstar this and he understood. He said he had something in mind and he winked, making Icepaw relieved. But she was still curious.

Shadowpaw and Quailpaw were both fine with "-claw". After all, the suffix "-claw" meant that they would be strong warriors with sharp claws. Littleclaw, Peonyclaw, Fireclaw, Nutclaw and Begoniaclaw also had this suffix.

While sitting next to the leader's den, Shadowpaw noticed his mentor come out and ruffle his fur. Snowstar noticed him and gave him a smile. Shadowpaw smiled back respectfully but then he remembered he had a question in mind. He had realized that Robinkit and Soarkit would also become apprentices because they were six moons old, too. "Um, Snowstar, I have a question," he said. Snowstar stopped walking and waited for him to continue.

Shadowpaw was a little nervous to ask this, but he asked it anyway, "Um, is there a way I can mentor Robinkit or Soarkit in the same ceremony?"

Snowstar smiled again. "Well, I know it is certainly not against the rules. But I have never seen it happening in my lifetime. Something similar happened with Sealbranch and Quailpaw, where Moonstar gave Blazesky Quailpaw as an apprentice when his former apprentice became a warrior in the same ceremony, though."

Shadowpaw just nodded. "Well, I thought so. But I was just curious though."

"Don't worry, though, I was already planning for a long time to give you Jumpkit," Snowstar replied warmly. "I had already chosen the mentors for Robinkit and Soarkit."

Shadowpaw understood, but he still had another question which had to do with Thymekit and Violetrain. "What about Violetrain? How come she wanted to mentor Thymekit when Robinkit and Soarkit were becoming apprentices first?"

"I figured that Violetrain would do much better, and she did, too, with Redwater's son, Thymekit," Snowstar explained. "After all, she and Redwater were close as kits and apprentices, best friends, I guess you can say, like you and Quailpaw and Zebrapaw. She and Thymekit hit it off as well, so why not? As for Robinkit and Soarkit, I wasn't really sure that they would do well with Violetrain as one of their mentors. Also, they're very shy and mostly never left the nursery despite being old enough so they may not know Violetrain well. So I decided two queens for them, who are not expecting or nursing, Flipsnow and Redwater, whom they have known for three to four moons already. This would be Redwater's first apprentice, and Flipsnow's second, of which her first was Sandleap, of course." He flicked his tail. "Of course Heronwing wouldn't be their mentors since it is uncommon, unless there are a lack of cats."

Shadowpaw nodded and understood what he said. He wondered what it would be like to be a warrior. Snowstar padded away over to the prey pile but Shadowpaw stayed where he was, thinking about Robinkit and Soarkit.

The morning passed and all the cats had woken up and eaten. It was now time for the ceremony.

Shadowpaw, Icepaw and Quailpaw were really excited and so were all of the apprentices, kits and warriors and queens, especially the ones who were related to them. So was Snowstar. It would be the first time he was doing a warrior ceremony as leader, after Violetrain and Fireclaw, of course. He thought Icepaw would love her new warrior name.

Snowstar leaped onto Highrock and announced, "All cats awake come under Highrock & the moon!"

Everyone was already there. They looked up at Snowstar already knowing whose ceremonies they were. Shadowpaw and Quailpaw looked up at their mentor or father with proud eyes and Icepaw was bouncing in her place with excitement and joy.

Snowstar began, "I, Snowstar, second leader of the ambitious Mountain Clan known as MoonClan, call upon our warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn." He flicked his tail and nodded towards the fourteen-moon old apprentices.

He continued, starting with Shadowpaw, "By the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name, Shadowpaw. From this moment on, under the moon, you will be known as Shadowclaw. StarClan honors your spirit, quick thought and humility, and we welcome you as a full warrior of MoonClan."

*"SHADOWCLAW! SHADOWCLAW!"* the entire Clan cheered. Shadowpaw, now known as Shadowclaw, felt very happy and proud of himself now. He thought about his three virtues, which would be based on actions and personality. He had really good spirit in everything and probably the least hostile to Stonepaw... after Birchpaw and Primrosepaw, of course. He also remembered when Quailpaw fell into the river when they were kits and almost the waterfall. He had not waited a moment to run back to camp immediately and tell everyone, and so got all the warriors in time to save Quailkit. And he was very humble, too. He never bragged about anything, especially about being a leader's apprentice.

And now he had the opportunity to jump onto Highrock and touch noses with his mentor, as a way to symbolize the feeling of becoming an apprentice while becoming a warrior. He watched other cats do so with their mentors except they didn't jump onto Highrock. He only heard of Maplestripe who touched noses with Moonstar on Highrock. Shadowclaw only knew that Maplestripe was chosen because his father and Moonstar's brother was the deputy at the time, before he retired and gave responsibility to the traitor, Falconblue. But Shadowclaw's case was different. Moonstar had died making Snowstar the leader. Shadowclaw was obviously sad for her but he figured he would have some benefits being a leader's apprentice. He wouldn't have been one otherwise.

Shadowclaw felt very special now, too. He never expressed it in words, but his expression was always happy, never sad. Except when Goldenlily died, of course. But he knew that his mother was always watching from StarClan and very proud of him and Icepaw, too.

Snowstar nodded at him to come up and so he leaped onto Highrock and touched noses with Snowstar, with everyone still chanting his name. Snowstar nodded again for him to come down and stand next to Icepaw. Shadowclaw nodded back and jumped off. He looked at the cats still chanting his name and noticed Stonepaw looked the least enthusiastic. *I don't care about her, though,* Shadowclaw thought positively. Icepaw and Quailpaw were chanting his name the loudest, probably. But Dandelionpaw and Rainpaw were very enthusiastically chanting his name, too. Even Swanpaw made the movements of his name with great energy.

Then when the chanting died down, Snowstar nodded towards Icepaw. "Icepaw, by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. From this moment on, under the moon, and in honor of our former leader,"—a lot of cats were surprised especially Shadowclaw but in a good way—"you will be known as..." He paused for a little moment to make it a surprise. "Icemoon. StarClan honors your spirit, enthusiasm and skill, and we welcome you as a full warrior of MoonClan."

All the cats started chanting Icemoon's new name in a very vivacious light.

Shadowclaw was very surprised but he remembered Moonstar in a good light. She knew that he had the best relationship with Snowstar, Snowpool at the time, as a kit, she thought it was the best that they were mentor and apprentice. And she was also the one who gave him that big, juicy mouse as a reward for alerting the warriors in time despite some other cats' objections, including Goldenlily herself. But she still scolded him and Quailkit for leaving camp, for a good reason, obviously.

Petuniaheart and Blazesky also looked very happy that their mother's prefix was used as Icemoon's suffix. And so did Wisdomheart, Pinetail and Maplestripe.

Begoniaclaw looked at Icemoon in a way that reminded her of someone for some reason, but Shadowclaw didn't know what it could be.

Icemoon looked very, very proud of herself and it almost looked like she could bounce to the moon with joy. *Almost.* Shadowclaw knew she was enthusiastic and had good spirit, too (to cats she liked, anyway). Not to mention her skill was top-notch, especially when fighting with Stonepaw.

Then it was Quailpaw's turn. Snowstar continued, "And finally, Quailpaw. By the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. From this moment on, under the moon, you will be known as Quailclaw. StarClan honors your quick thought, kindness and skill, and we welcome you as a full warrior of MoonClan."

The entire Clan cheered Quailclaw's new name in vivacity, too.

Shadowclaw knew that Quailpaw was also quick in thinking as he knew exactly what to do in a moment, kind of like Snowstar of SnowClan. He was kind to everyone, especially ones with disabilities like Primrosepaw, and ones going through tough times like Shadowclaw and his sisters. The only time when he wasn't kind if there was something really terrible happening to him, but even then he didn't necessarily try to be rude. And Quailclaw was also good in fighting and hunting.

Birchpaw and Rainpaw were cheering the loudest of all, but so were Primrosepaw and Shadowclaw.

Snowstar nodded towards Robinkit and Soarkit to come forward afterwards. "Robinkit and Soarkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, under the moon, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Robinpaw and Soarpaw. Your mentors will be Flipsnow and Redwater respectively. I hope they will pass down all they know onto you."

Everyone cheered for Robinpaw and Soarpaw, especially Heronwing and their paternal grandfather, Redear. Heronwing looked happy that she was no longer a queen and could do normal warrior duties. Thymekit, Lilackit and Jumpkit were a little confused that their mothers were chosen but they cheered anyway. Flipsnow and Redwater touched their apprentices' noses.

Then Snowstar concluded the ceremony and all of Shadowclaw, Icemoon and Quailclaw's friends and family promptly congratulated them.

"Looks like you joined *our* ranks now," joked Violetrain. "Interestingly you're closer in age to Zebrapaw."

"Aw man, now I want to be a warrior, too," quipped Zebrapaw. "It seems cool."

"I do, too, but Birchpaw once told me that every time you wait, you get closer to something, so you just have to wait," Mountainpaw quipped back.

"I guess so," agreed Zebrapaw, flashing a humorous look towards Birchpaw.

"Actually, when you wait, you get closer to *everything* in the *future,* and farther away from everything in the *past,* too!" Shadowclaw jested with everyone. "So waiting is also great!"

Everyone laughed. Dandelionpaw joked, "I think I can wait, but not *that* much longer."

"Don't worry, you can wait without having to do anything. Although as an apprentice you have to do a lot of things," Quailclaw replied jovially.

Birchpaw and Primrosepaw agreed. Icemoon quipped, "Well, yeah, luckily no more tick-picking for me! I was getting pretty bored, even with so many apprentices already."

Shadowclaw agreed. "Yup, I don't think the elders would miss us having their ticks cleaned because there are so many apprentices left, with some becoming one, too." He looked over at Robinpaw and Soarpaw who were bragging to their mother and mentors about being apprentices now. A few other cats also looked at them, too.

Hailstream said, "I remember that, but I am way past that now." She looked at her apprentice, Primrosepaw, and continued, "Although my apprentice still has to do that from time to time."

Rainpaw added, "I don't have to do that, though, because I am a medicine cat, haha. Well, apprentice of one, anyway. But congrats, Shadowpaw—I mean claw, it will be hard to get used to, hehe—I look forward to seeing you patrol by yourself without a warrior or their permission. Must be fun having a ton of freedom."

"Now I feel a tad bit jealous, too," Spottedpaw bantered with Shadowclaw, looking at Zebrapaw and Mountainpaw.

Shadowclaw nodded eagerly. "Yes, it is fun"—he turned to Spottedpaw—"and no need to be jealous! The kits must be jealous of the apprentices, so you are better off than them! Wait, I hope they didn't get jealous of me from my joke. Or of my excellent joking skills!" Everyone laughed positively at his excellent joke.

The sky never seemed so high for Shadowclaw, and the moon never so bright before, so he thought this was going to be the best day of his life, hanging out with all of his best friends and Clanmates, with no negativity even leaking into his mind. He looked forward to new things, especially things like what Rainpaw said, and wished to see his fellow apprentice friends become the same rank as him soon, too, one by one, all of them together. He thought that he could do anything, and he remembered Goldenlily at that moment.

*Don't worry, Shadowclaw, I am very proud of you. I am one of those many StarClan cats that watched your ceremony, and I was surely the proudest cat in the Clans of all at that moment,* he thought he heard Goldenlily speak to him, and he felt a longing for his mother. But at the same time he felt pride and love for her, too.

Shadowclaw looked up at the evening stars and thought with great love, *I know, Goldenlily. I am your only son, and oldest kit. I was destined to make you proud the first, and the most at this very moment. And I feel great pride and love for you, too, for giving birth to me and raising me all these moons with selflessness and great care. I think about you a lot, but now I feel like my life is full, and I found peace with your departure, too. I love you the most, Goldenlily.*

He thought he saw the stars twinkle at him brightly and playfully, and he smiled with great positivity back at them. The stars twinkled back in the same way they did before, representing the sign of spiritual peace, pride, wisdom, hope and kindness.

### Chapter 22: Zebrapaw's Warrior Name

A quarter-moon later, Zebrapaw was just thinking about his mentor and cousin, Sandleap. Something dire was bothering him and he needed to tell her immediately.

His sister, Violetrain, came up to him with a mouse. "What are you thinking about?" she asked him jovially. "I was just thinking about Thymekit."

The tabby tom sighed. "I was just thinking about Sandleap and how she is expecting at the end of my apprenticehood. She was a great mentor like any other in the beginning but now she doesn't do much except teach me how to intimidate warriors."

Violetrain didn't look as jovial as before he told her the answer. Then she replied in a mentor-like way, "Well, cats don't usually choose when to expect kits. They just mate and wait." She smirked at her rhyme.

Zebrapaw stared at her for a moment before replying, "Okay, yeah, I know cats mate. But can't female mentors hold it off until their apprentices are warriors? I doubt it is *so* dire to do so." He blinked and continued, "How do you prevent it anyway?"

His sister just shrugged. "Well, to not mate at all, as you would have thought. Nutclaw and I are deciding to have kits after Thymekit becomes a warrior, otherwise he would get a different one for the time being I am expecting and nursing. So to not be expecting I will not mate with him, but we are still mates technically."

Zebrapaw nodded slowly. "Okay, I understood. But how come Sandleap and Nightnose didn't refrain from mating?"

Violetrain shrugged again. "Well, I wouldn't know since I'm not either one of them, and I don't really need to ask them. But most likely they wanted kits."

Zebrapaw groaned in exasperation, at his mentor and his sister's mentor. "At the wrong time, I am pretty sure. Most of my training for these past two moons was done with you."

His sister blinked. Then she replied, "Well, yep, it was. I wouldn't know what to do, though."

"I wonder why they don't change mentors if a cat is expecting," he said out loud. "I guess this is why Stonepaw is annoyed at Nightnose."

"Well, Nightnose is also annoyed with Stonepaw," Violetrain mewed with a glint in her voice, intending for a joke. "I once heard them arguing about Snowstar."

Zebrapaw's ears perked up. "Really? How?"

"Apparently Nightnose wanted Stonepaw to learn to respect elders, like him, and Stonepaw said she would only listen to Snowstar as he was the leader, but even then not completely. And then Nightnose went into an ugly argument with his apprentice about how disrespectful and rude she was, and Stonepaw said that Nightnose was worse than Fangstar." Violetrain answered with a curious expression, probably thinking about it.

"I wonder why Snowstar chose both of them together," Zebrapaw mewed with humor. "Their relationship is like a coyote and a wolf. And that's speaking something." He really did wonder about it as their chemistry wasn't good, even on their first day when Stonepaw complained about Nightnose being a tad bit weird. But then again, he knew it was Snowstar's first time doing an apprentice ceremony, so he wouldn't have good experience choosing mentors.

Violetrain chuckled. "I know. But just so you know, don't be too mad at Sandleap. She's still your mentor ever since six moons old, you know!" Then she straightened up and said, "Well, I'll go to the nursery now to see Thymekit."

Zebrapaw just nodded and she bounded into the nursery. Zebrapaw knew that since Sandleap was a queen, she'd be in the nursery. He tried to think of what he would say to her. He thought of it for some time until he decided to go to the nursery.

So he went to the nursery to see it very full, somehow. Zebrapaw was alarmed because he didn't think the nursery was ever this crowded.

Shadowclaw, Icemoon, Swanpaw, Mountainpaw, and Primrosepaw were all talking to the five queens, Flipsnow, Begoniaclaw, Applefall, Sandleap, and Redwater. Flipsnow and Redwater's apprentices were both there, and they were bragging to Mountainpaw about how good their mentors were. Zebrapaw remembered that Snowstar chose the queens who weren't nursing or expecting for Robinpaw and Soarpaw, but he doubted that the apprentices would still be in the nursery. *Maybe they are finished training so they went back to the nursery with their mentors,* he thought. He didn't expect the older apprentices to be here, though.

He noticed his sister (of which he expected her to be there) and Thymekit playing One Versus One Battle, and as usual, Nightnose was sitting next to Sandleap and joking with the apprentices. And Lilackit and Jumpkit were jumping around the nursery as usual, and playing with their mother and brother, Flipsnow and Mountainpaw. Mousekit was sleeping, but Petalkit was awake, but lying down.

Zebrapaw didn't like the volume in the nursery as he wanted the conversation to be private. Of course, everyone in the nursery saw him and greeted him. Icemoon looked excitedly at him. *Not her again,* Zebrapaw groaned internally as he didn't like her trying to woo him. Her siblings, Shadowclaw and Swanpaw were much better. Zebrapaw also realized Stonepaw wasn't here, as she usually liked to talk to Begoniaclaw. *It must also be because of the amount of cats in here,* he figured.

"Hey, Zebrapaw, do you want to play?" asked Lilackit bouncily.

"Yeah, we can play Two Versus One!" Thymekit said. "You can be on my team to make it equal against Violetrain!"

Violetrain chuckled and replied, "Well, that is true, since I am a warrior after all, and soon will be Zebrapaw!"

"You can also... talk with us," suggested Primrosepaw.

"We're talking about what the kits will be like!" Icemoon added joyfully.

"I hope they will be like me! Or Sandleap and Nightnose or Applefall and Fireclaw," Shadowclaw joked. Swanpaw and Mountainpaw both nodded eagerly.

*MoonClan cats really love the nursery,* he thought. *With the exception of me and Stonepaw,* he continued, since they weren't really interested in hanging out in the nursery a lot. He was only here because he needed to talk to his mentor, who would probably never mentor him again since he would most likely become a warrior before she gave birth and finished nursing her kits.

"Um, well, actually, I need to talk to Sandleap, my official mentor," Zebrapaw replied awkwardly. The cats in the nursery were just a little confused but they nodded. Nightnose was puzzled, but he nodded, too.

Sandleap stared at him in a way he couldn't tell what it was. "What do you need to talk about?"

Zebrapaw shifted his weight to one side. He wasn't too keen in talking in public as he thought it would offend other cats and cause them to jump into the conversation (like Icemoon, especially), so he whispered in reply, "Can we talk about this in private?"

Sandleap and Nightnose gave him a confused look. Sandleap replied, "Well, I am talking to the other cats right now, and it isn't desirable for me to leave the nursery as I am expecting, and soon going to give birth." Nightnose nodded.

"I understand, but I don't feel like talking with so many cats here," Zebrapaw whispered, feeling a little disappointed at her reply.

The cats who were talking to Sandleap were staring at him as they were wondering when he would finish talking to her.

Sandleap shrugged. "Maybe you can come back when the nursery is less full," she suggested politely.

Zebrapaw sighed a little. "Well, I don't think I can wait that long, so I will tell you right now." He paused for her reply, but she just shrugged back.

So Zebrapaw decided to ask the question that was bothering him for a while now, but he didn't want to ask it during chaos, such as Goldenlily's death. "Okay, how come you mated with Nightnose while I was still an apprentice? I think I will become a warrior before you are finished nursing."

He had said this in a quiet whisper so only Sandleap and Nightnose could hear it, but it seemed like the other cats had heard a gist of the words he uttered, as they stared at him with a really perplexed expression, as if they didn't understand why he would ask that.

Nightnose looked a little embarrassed, while Sandleap narrowed her eyes at him. The latter replied quietly, "It's not your business to know."

Zebrapaw sighed silently. "Okay, but I'm your apprentice, so I'd think that it's important info for me to know."

Violetrain looked at him as if she knew what he was talking about with Sandleap and she was wide-eyed, despite being at the other end of the nursery, although Zebrapaw knew that he had talked to her about it.

Sandleap sighed back a little louder than he did. "Yeah, but that is because cats mate," she replied politely. "I didn't really choose to be expecting, you know, but I had been feeling dizzy and Lilypool and Rainpaw told me that I was expecting."

Zebrapaw had no interest in waging a personal war with his mentor and cousin like his sister was doing with Nightnose, who was also his mentor's mate (which he thought was *very* weird. He knew Flameeye and Redwater's mentors were also mates *(and Sandleap's parents)*, but he was sure Petuniaheart and Snowstar didn't act as weird as their daughter and Nightnose did), so he just shrugged and said in a normal voice, "Fine, whatever, I'm probably not going to understand you because I'm not interested in mating."

He instinctively looked over at Icemoon and she gave him the reaction he expected from her: overwhelmingly shocked. But Shadowclaw and Mountainpaw also looked surprised, which he thought was weird, especially for the latter since he was very distantly related to Icemoon.

Nightnose and Applefall also looked surprised, but then they probably remembered Zebrapaw's nature as they became normal again, but still probably intimidated by him.

Sandleap shrugged. "Okay, well, then, anything else you want to say?"

Zebrapaw thought about it. Then he replied, "I had been wondering, do leaders change mentors if the mentor is expecting?"

Now everyone in the nursery looked surprised, as he said it in a normal tone. *Ugh, that is why I wanted to speak in private,* he thought with some frustration.

"I don't think MoonClan ever did, but maybe other Clans do," Sandleap replied in a mentor-like tone. "The reason why MoonClan doesn't change mentors is probably because they still want the apprentice to have a good relationship with the mentor and touch noses with them by warriorhood." Then she blinked with an epiphany of something. "See, I am still useful as a mentor, after all."

Zebrapaw flicked his tail with realization as well. "I see. Well, I just needed to clear up my doubts," he responded appreciatively. "Now I guess I'll leave."

The cats were still watching him leave as he thought about what to do next. He heard them talking about him to Sandleap as he was leaving, but he didn't care as he decided that he would have to go hunting by himself.

He told Snowstar and Sealbranch that he was leaving camp, and they nodded and told him to be safe and stay within a few tree-lengths of camp, which Zebrapaw agreed to do so, since he wasn't so rebellious like Stonepaw who told her elder Clanmate and mentor, Nightnose, that she would only listen to Snowstar but not completely.

So he decided to be a warrior and go into the forest by himself and tried to pad quietly to not scare off prey. He decided to go to Rabbit Residence because it was a good place to get plump rabbits, but he still remembered that fox that followed them back. He shuddered, hoping that wouldn't happen again.

So Zebrapaw went there carefully and cautiously, and remembered the queen Begoniaclaw who got chased out along this border. He hoped no other cat would run through the border, as he didn't know how to react to that.

He hid behind a bush since he was close to the border and didn't want to be seen by AdderClan cats, and waited for a rabbit. He saw one hopping into his view and coming closer to him. But then, he saw another cat on the other side of the border emerge into view. He had no idea who it was because he didn't have too much exposure with AdderClan unlike the much older cats like his mentor, but he just tried to ignore that cat.

The rabbit came closer to Zebrapaw, and he thought he could wait for it to be a little closer before he pounced, but then he noticed the AdderClan cat come closer to the border and to the rabbit. Zebrapaw feared what he was going to do, as he knew from his lessons with Sandleap that AdderClan didn't exactly follow the warrior code that much, as they usually liked to battle instead. And to battle, they usually crossed borders without spite. But Zebrapaw saw no other cats so he wondered if the cat was just going on border patrol by himself, as odd as it was to Zebrapaw.

Then he saw the cat lock eyes on the rabbit. The rabbit didn't seem to notice anything as its back was turned on the AdderClan cat and he was just padding quietly. The warrior looked like he was anticipating something. But then, to Zebrapaw's horror, the cat pounced onto the rabbit.

The rabbit had finally noticed and jumped out of the way and sprinted away at high speed. But so did the warrior after that rabbit.

*What in the Dark Forest!* Zebrapaw's thoughts exclaimed. He became hot as he had just witnessed this strange AdderClan cross the border. He had no idea what to do except stay inside the bush and watch. He wondered if he should tell Snowstar in case the AdderClan warrior was trying to harm MoonClan or something, but then the warrior stopped chasing after the rabbit as it had gotten away, and he looked frustrated.

"Ugh, and only if we had better prey in AdderClan as MoonClan does. I wish Fangstar would do another raid soon, we hadn't done so for moons," said the warrior out loud to himself. Zebrapaw blinked in shock. *So this warrior wants AdderClan to conquer Rabbit Residence or our forest?* he thought anxiously but at the same time indignantly. He never liked AdderClan and wondered why they were still standing tall. *Maybe it has to do with the awful leadership so far, like Adderstar and Fangstar's,* he figured, but he wished that the next leaders would be better. But he found that unlikely as the AdderClan cats also took after the leaders, so he figured these battles would go on and on. He heard stories of many Mountain Tribe cats who later became Clan cats who died in the battles before they could mate, which was why the Clans weren't that big as they would have been if they hadn't died and got to mate instead. *Until when,* he wondered, and wondered if there was a way that he could change it somehow.

The warrior started to go back over his own side of the border until he stopped for a reason Zebrapaw could not comprehend, and then he started sniffing the air.

"MoonClan cats?" the warrior said out loud in a perplexed and curious tone. Zebrapaw was about to gasp at the warrior's near-discovery of him until he remembered he would be caught immediately, so he thought quickly what he should do. The warrior was about to turn around to inspect the bush but then Zebrapaw pounced onto his back.

Zebrapaw realized the warrior was bigger than he was, but then he remembered that fox. *Maybe I can do with him what I did with the fox,* he figured and started clawing the back of the AdderClan warrior with claws unsheathed. The AdderClan warrior had obviously realized the existence of Zebrapaw by now, so he growled ferociously and tried to throw him off. But Zebrapaw still held firmly on and growled, "What are *you* doing on *MoonClan* territory! Just for a rabbit, you crossed? Are you that dumb or a *mouse-brain?!"*

The AdderClan warrior looked even more angrier with rage, and shook so hard that he threw Zebrapaw off. He was about to slash Zebrapaw's face until Zebrapaw quickly recovered and hopped right back up and away from his slash.

*"It's none of* your *business!"* the warrior growled in such a loud, angry tone that Zebrapaw thought the echo of his voice went to MoonClan, AdderClan and maybe even SnowClan's camps. He tried to pounce on the MoonClan apprentice again, but Zebrapaw's smaller, lighter and nimble body could easily dodge and he ran away quickly towards a boulder and leaped on it, trying to get a height advantage.

The warrior followed him and growled again, *"Do you even know WHO I AM?! DO YOU KNOW?!"* Zebrapaw and his sister, Stonepaw, weren't easily scared by these type of voices, even Peonyclaw's booming angry voice of discipline as they were used to it themselves, and even spoke that way sometimes. So Zebrapaw just hissed, "No, and I don't care if you're the deputy or the leader or a violent medicine cat! What matters the most is the warrior code!"

The AdderClan warrior snorted. "Don't tell me you're going to have Briarstar's attitude! You're not even from SnowClan!"

Zebrapaw heard stories about Briarstar and how strict she was with the warrior code and that she punished or even exiled the cats who made even the smallest mistakes, which was why she was mostly unfavorable throughout the Clan, even with her deputy, Honeywhisker, and medicine cats, Sparrowstem and Cloverheart. but her brother, Swiftclaw, her children, Crystalwing, Thundermoon and Gravelpaw (while he was still alive before he got killed by a fox) and another SnowClan cat, Blackwater, were consistently defending her actions, which made some other SnowClan cats do so, too, so she wasn't necessarily overthrown yet. He always wondered what was wrong with Briarstar, as her predecessor and founder of SnowClan, Snowstar, did no such thing like this, and wasn't even close to *her* behavior. She was strict, but strict as a normal leader would be. Zebrapaw thought Briarstar and Fangstar's behavior were similar as they both exiled cats for breaking the warrior code, and wondered if they were connected with each other as Snowstar and Adderstar were.

"Who cares about *her?* Do you even know *why* the warrior code *exists?!"* Zebrapaw snarled at the trespasser.

"So MoonClan cats like you will follow it and perish to it like mice," the warrior growled back. Zebrapaw was quite surprised, since Fangstar had exiled Begoniaclaw for mating outside of the Clan. He knew that was a major offense, but if AdderClan rejected parts of the warrior code and reinforced others, then how is mating outside of the Clan worse than raiding other Clans? He decided to ask, just to see what this AdderClan warrior had to say about it.

"Oh really? And why exile Begoniaclaw?" Zebrapaw snapped. The trespasser looked quite surprised at his question, but he quickly regained composure.

"And keep a traitor in the Clan? We'd rather give up our dignity than keep such a deceited warrior in our Clan!" he retaliated. *"Now, DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO I AM?!"* He went back to the booming, furious, loud voice soon enough.

Zebrapaw shrugged in feigning disinterest. "Like I said, *I don't care.* If you are AdderClan, you are automatically my enemy."

The warrior growled at the top of his lungs, *"I AM WINDWING OF ADDERCLAN!"* Now this caught Zebrapaw's attention. The cat who chased Begoniaclaw out. The warrior that his sister and his other three friends encountered. The one who exposed her crime to everyone, and told her to never return.

"Oh, so *you* are the one?" Zebrapaw said, shocked. "I am even more surprised that you did so. Because-" He was about to spill that Begoniaclaw joined MoonClan, but that would have probably not sat well with Fangstar, since he heard from this trespassing warrior that he wanted Fangstar to do another raid. *This information could commence another raid almost instantly,* Zebrapaw figured, since Begoniaclaw would already have split every last secret of AdderClan, and she would be the highest priority for hunting down. The one of the most important lessons that apprentices were taught, other than intimidating warriors and the warrior code and being willing to help another Clanmate even at their own expense, was to know exactly what to say to rival Clans, so that no dire secrets, especially weakness, could be taken advantage of by enemies, especially AdderClan.

Windwing looked at him curiously, wondering what he was going to say. "I don't think you understand AdderClan rules, kit. Might as well just kill you already and bury you."

"Oh *yeah?"* Zebrapaw challenged, still standing on top of the boulder. He narrowed his eyes, broadened his shoulders and stood in a pouncing position to look very menacing, which is what he learned from Sandleap. *"I am Zebrapaw, a cat you will never mess with and get away unscathed."*

The trespassing warrior blinked for a few moments before he started cackling like a true AdderClan warrior. *"ZebraPAW? I seriously overestimated you! A MERE APPRENTICE? FIGHTING WITH A FORMIDABLE FORCE LIKE ME?"*

Zebrapaw stopped for a moment, wondering if he spilt any important info about himself. Then he remembered that he looked much like a warrior, albeit a young warrior, but still one. So he decided to remedy this by hissing, "Oh, if you underestimate my skills, then you will see. *I am so close to being a warrior, and your skills can't match mine!"*

He pounced onto the back of the AdderClan warrior again, but this time he dodged and nearly slashed Zebrapaw's face until he dodged, too. Windwing growled and was about to jump on him, but Zebrapaw started running away quickly. He had speed on his side, being small and nimble, and without much age. He jumped onto another boulder, and did a mocking glance at Windwing.

The enemy warrior hissed in his usual loud voice, looking very frustrated that he couldn't reach Zebrapaw that easily. But then he stopped for a moment, seeming to have an idea. "Oh, might I say, even with your 'amazing' skills"—he said so in a mocking manner—"you will never be able to make a difference with your *stupid name!"* Then he proceeded to laugh maniacally as if to mock Zebrapaw even more with salt already in the wound.

It felt like as if a tree toppled over on Zebrapaw. He was absolutely stunned. *I shouldn't care what he says,* he tried to reassure himself, but it seemed as if Windwing had brought up a issue that Zebrapaw repressed for so long. As if the AdderClan warrior knew all along. *That I hate my name.*

It was a name that was given to him by Peonyclaw, after a word his grandmother's Twoleg had called striped horses. None of the cats, other than a few exceptional kittypets like Wendy, knew what his name means. At least not from the same Clan. Judging by Fangstar and Briarstar's rules, they probably weren't too keen about inviting kittypets in, anyway, so no one knew. His name would be used as a point of weakness by other Clans. His name wasn't a part of nature. His name, as ambiguous as it was, was not a cat word. His mysterious name was too silly for other cats outside of the Clan. He will never be taken seriously, either as a warrior or a deputy or a leader. Even before he became an apprentice, he always thought his name was weird and didn't make much sense. And right now, Windwing was trying to take advantage of it. Trying to bring him down. Trying to get him to lose his grip of reality. The enemy warrior was attempting to do this to him. The enemy warrior was almost succeeding.

Until he noticed the warrior scaling the rock, and about to get to him. Zebrapaw slashed his forehead deeply, making blood pour out. Windwing didn't fall down but he didn't continue either and was stunned for a moment. Zebrapaw didn't waste this very miniscule chance to teach him a good lesson. He pounced on his back again and tried to scratch the back of his neck. Fur and bare skin protected the neck, but Zebrapaw tried to sink his claws in. *If I am getting my claws dirty with blood, then it'd better be to show these waste of warrior cats what they actually* are! he thought furiously.

Windwing noticed, of course, and tried to boot him off again like he did last time. But Zebrapaw remembered the fox. *I don't repeat the same mistakes twice.* He slashed Windwing's ear and tried to swipe the back of his head. He didn't care if the AdderClan warrior died. But he remembered the warrior code. *You don't need to kill in order to win.*

So Zebrapaw did the best what he could do. He leaped off and tried to topple the enemy warrior down, to try and gain a better advantage in the fight. Windwing fell down, much to Zebrapaw's relief, and he raked his claws against Windwing's belly. Blood oozed out, and Zebrapaw hoped that he would finally give up. *"Now GET OFF MOONCLAN TERRITORY. NOW!"* Zebrapaw yowled in the most commanding and disciplining voice he could ever formulate, even more than his mother and sister usually did. He slashed his opponent's nose one more time before running a few fox-lengths away from him.

Windwing looked like he was going to do a rematch, but then he noticed another cat on AdderClan territory who was glaring at him, probably to come back. Zebrapaw's defeated opponent growled quietly, "I won't forget you, with your ridiculous name, especially. Don't think you will be free from AdderClan's wrath," and followed his Clanmate back.

Zebrapaw was really relieved, finally, that the stupid AdderClan cat left. But he simply couldn't forget what Windwing said about his stupid name. He could not think properly outside of camp, though, but he wondered why Peonyclaw gave him a name that was supposed to be only for Twolegs. It was like being called Kittypaw or Twolegpaw. Or even worse, Housepaw (he only knew what is was since Peonyclaw and his aunt, Flipsnow, told him that, too), since cats might know the former two, at least.

He wondered if he could change it to a better warrior name. Even if only Windwing had mocked his name, there were a lot of cats like Windwing who would try to do the same thing to him, especially when he was alone. He was obviously named Zebrapaw due to his black and white stripes, but he thought he could change it to something else that suited him. Like Whitestripe, since he was mainly white with black stripes.

He wondered what his Clanmates would say about his name-changing idea, however, especially his mother, the one who chose it for him, in honor of her mother's kittypet culture. He hadn't really discussed this with anyone before, not even Stonepaw or his parents, as he thought that it was the most private thing that it could be. His name, his identity.

He had no idea what to do, but he thought he should probably tell Violetrain or Sandleap about it first, as they usually understood him, and then Snowstar and Birchpaw and Primrosepaw, as they weren't so judgy, either. *Will they accept my decision, though?* he worried anxiously.

Zebrapaw managed to catch one rabbit before coming back to the camp, since he didn't want to come back empty-handed, of course. But he was still too awfully distracted to catch more, and he needed to sort out this issue once and for all.

#### After

Zebrapaw came back and saw Snowstar on Highrock, lost in thought as usual. The apprentice wondered what he was usually doing, but he figured since Shadowclaw became a warrior, he didn't have as much to do as if he had been a mentor. But also being a leader, Zebrapaw expected that he would be doing something more than just sitting on Highrock.

Snowstar nodded to him, and Zebrapaw nodded back. He put the hare in the prey pile, and remembered he needed to tell Snowstar about his encounter with Windwing.

"Uh, Snowstar, I need to tell you something urgently," he started. Snowstar's ears perked up, and wondered what the troubled apprentice had to say.

Zebrapaw proceeded to tell everything about the incident to the MoonClan leader, and Snowstar was nothing but shocked and appalled.

Stonepaw, Birchpaw, Mountainpaw, Primrosepaw, Shadowclaw, Petuniaheart and Peonyclaw all happened to be listening, too. Their expressions were the same as Snowstar's especially the most former four, who had encountered Windwing themselves while on their serendipitous patrol when they found Begoniaclaw. Zebrapaw had no idea what Stonepaw was doing with them, but it seemed like she just came out of the nursery to talk to Begoniaclaw. *Squeezing out more secrets, probably,* the apprentice figured.

All eight cats who heard Zebrapaw's story immediately started asking him questions about it, as they had done with the former four.

"Did you kill him?" Stonepaw asked, as was expected of Zebrapaw. *She's violent enough for AdderClan. But hopefully she is peaceful enough for MoonClan in normal times,* he thought.

"I think AdderClan might be planning a raid, too," Birchpaw said seriously, agreeing with what Zebrapaw had said about Windwing wanting Fangstar to raid MoonClan. Zebrapaw admired Birchpaw's seriousness about really serious situations, and his joking manner in light-hearted situations.

"Oh no! Did you get injured?" Mountainpaw gasped, since Windwing was probably a strong warrior after all. He was like Birchpaw's sidekick to Zebrapaw, always on his side. And Mountainpaw was really protective of his Clanmates, too. Not to mention they were cousins through their mothers, so they shared kittypet blood.

"Hopefully not. But... that is really bad!" Primrosepaw exclaimed with serious worry. She was born when Zebrapaw and his littermate became an apprentice, so she was much younger than him, but somehow he felt a close relationship with her, and pride for her becoming a warrior.

"Zebrapaw is strong, so I suppose he is perfectly fine, *and* he injured that stupid AdderClan warrior easily," Shadowclaw said, answering Stonepaw, Mountainpaw and Primrosepaw's questions all in a humorous manner. Zebrapaw wasn't sure if Shadowclaw joking in a serious situation was good, but right now, it made Zebrapaw's lips twitch into a smile, since Shadowclaw was indeed right. He was the best friend Zebrapaw always wanted, other than Birchpaw.

Petuniaheart didn't say anything, but she just nodded. Zebrapaw wondered what it was like to be the daughter and mate of two leaders, and a mother of a deputy, *and* the mother of his mentor, of which Petuniaheart had many titles to her name. He thought she might gain even more titles in the future, if more hardships came, that was. He figured her important family relationships was the reason why she was normally nonchalant about everything and wasn't easily brought down by hardships, either.

Finally, Peonyclaw looked furious at what her son told them. "If that's the case, then why are we still standing here? We need to do something *immediately!"* Her tone sounded commanding, as if she was the leader and not Snowstar. Zebrapaw knew her as a very strong mother, very strong mentor to Birchpaw, *and* a very strong and skilled warrior and good Clanmate in general, but she could be overwhelming sometimes, especially with Stonepaw and all that drama.

Snowstar just sighed. "Let's take this into consideration before we do anything. But I will tell everyone be on *even more* alert for AdderClan. If they're starting to cross borders now, we need to take drastic defensive measures."

Everyone agreed with Snowstar, since that was probably the best idea right now. Going and attacking AdderClan wasn't wise, especially in their current situation. He did an announcement for this piece of news, of which everyone who wasn't already there when Zebrapaw was telling the story was surprised at. The deputy, Sealbranch, was looking tense at this news and looked apologetically at him. Zebrapaw remembered that she was his father's apprentice and also his mentor's older littermate, but somehow, he could only see her as a deputy, of which he didn't know why. He figured it might have something to do with her age and maturity, and he didn't have that many interactions with her.

After this happened, Zebrapaw walked over to a grassy patch with a mouse. He saw Birchpaw, Mountainpaw, Primrosepaw, Shadowclaw, Peonyclaw and Snowstar were still here. Then he remembered what he was so worried about while hunting, other than the AdderClan warrior crossing the border. He wondered if Peonyclaw would like him saying this, but he didn't know what else to do. *Well, here goes nothing...*

"Um... Snowstar? I have a question..." he started sheepishly.

Snowstar looked confused. "Is it about Windwing?" he asked politely.

"Uh, not really, well, actually, sort of?" Zebrapaw stammered, struggling to form a clear sentence in his mind. Windwing had insulted him over his name after all.

The other cats there were also looking confused. Spottedpaw suddenly saw them and joined them.

"You see..." he started to continue, but he was still struggling. *Windwing insulted my name. Ugh, too embarrassing to say,* he thought shamefully.

Then he remembered Spottedpaw used to be Tina before joining the Clan. *She changed her name, too,* he remembered, and thought she might understand. "I want to change my name when I'm a warrior."

The black and white striped apprentice waited for any reaction, but he expected shock. And there was shock, especially from the one who gave him the name. Peonyclaw.

Stonepaw had also been eavesdropping while in the apprentice's den and was as shocked as their mother when she heard what he said. Everyone was surprised. Zebrapaw knew why, because cats needed a good reason to change their name. And Zebrapaw wasn't sure he had a good enough reason.

The first one to speak after several moments was Snowstar. "Why?" he asked in the same polite tone he had before.

*"What?!"* Stonepaw yowled. She had already joined the group by then. "What is your issue with 'Zebrapaw'?"

For the first time since seemingly forever, Peonyclaw agreed with her troublesome daughter. But it was over something that Zebrapaw wasn't sure it was good. "Yeah? I named you for your appearance, which was a word that my mother taught me. You can just be called 'Zebrafur' or something."

Shadowclaw just nodded. "I like the name 'Zebra' because it's unique, you know."

"But what if no one knows what that means like AdderClan? What if they think that it's a stupid name? And if I tell them that it means "striped horse" in Twoleg language, they'll laugh at me!" Zebrapaw wailed.

"Oh, are you afraid someone will mock you? I guess I can agree with that," started Spottedpaw understandingly. "If I were called Tinapaw, AdderClan will go to no end to try to use that against me."

Birchpaw just nodded in agreement with her, but didn't say anything. But Zebrapaw was still glad that two of them agreed with him.

Primrosepaw and Mountainpaw didn't speak yet, but they were still as surprised as the others. Snowstar looked like he were still thinking about what to say. Finally a little bit after Spottedpaw was finished speaking, he asked, "'Zebrapaw' is still okay, but I can understand, too. What name would you think fits you the most?"

Zebrapaw started thinking. He looked at Peonyclaw who still looked a bit hurt. He didn't want to hurt his parents, especially his mother, so he felt a twinge of guilt. "I can still be named after my appearance," he told Peonyclaw apologetically. "I can be named Whitestripe. Because I am mainly white with black stripes."

Birchpaw and Peonyclaw looked as if that name reminded them of something, oddly enough.

Primrosepaw's eyes lit up all of a sudden. "Oh! That suffix... is my father's... suffix!" she exclaimed in joy, and she smiled at Zebrapaw.

Zebrapaw smiled back. He hadn't thought about Maplestripe while thinking about his name, but Maplestripe also had stripes on his fur. It made him happy that Primrosepaw approved of the name, since it was after her father. Birchpaw nodded again. Zebrapaw noticed he didn't talk a lot in important moments, but only at the most important things, too.

Peonyclaw still looked like she was disappointed and hurt. "But that is only the suffix. What about the prefix?"

Zebrapaw and Primrosepaw's smiles faded. The former didn't know how to remedy that. "But I am still white like a zebra. It doesn't really matter, since my name is who I am, part of my warriorhood. I want it to be a name that everyone will remember." He looked around the Clan. "Besides, I don't think anyone else has 'White' as a prefix. So it will still be unique." He looked at Shadowclaw who still looked surprised.

Snowstar just nodded. "Okay, I will take it into consideration." He shot a slightly worried look towards Peonyclaw, but nodded at Zebrapaw again.

Stonepaw just glared at Zebrapaw as if he was stupid for even thinking about changing his name. Zebrapaw didn't want to hurt his sister, either, and he didn't like her being genuinely angry at him for anything, so he looked away from his sister and mother guiltily. But he looked at Birchpaw, Spottedpaw and Primrosepaw appreciatively. They were quick to accept his decision, but he figured the others would need time, especially Peonyclaw, Shadowclaw and Stonepaw.

He walked into the apprentice's den onto his moss bed, departing from the conversation. He had no heart to talk to them anymore, and so he fell into a deep sleep, trying to forget everything that had happened.

### Chapter 23: Important Decisions

Birchpaw came back from hunting with Peonyclaw. It was a quarter-moon later, and as usual, he didn't know what he should expect to happen next. A lot of things had happened over the course of a few moons, some good, some bad, so he could only expect more unexpected events to happen, which were probably unfortunate. He briefly remembered Shadowclaw and couldn't help but think that his name was similar to his father's name, Swiftclaw, even though the suffix "-claw" was common. And Zebrapaw's warrior name suggestion awfully reminded him of Whitelight, his mentor's sister, who was also Zebrapaw's aunt coincidentally.

Primrosepaw was finished with her advanced fighting training with Hailstream, and she wondered what she could do next that wasn't too physically challenging since she had done so already. After all, there wasn't too much to do being a reflexively-disabled cat, if that was what it could be called. Ironically, she was born one moon after Moonstar's death, so she wasn't sure if that was good, since there was new life after death, or bad, since she had this disability, like an omen. She wondered if Sandleap's kitting would be soon, but it would be a quarter-moon too early. *But a quarter-moon less never hurt any kit, right?* she hoped. She remembered Goldenlily, however, who was also her mentor's mentor, and grimaced at the thought. She never expected that to happen. She never wanted anything like that to happen. Even her friend, Rainpaw, was too sad about it, which was a common reaction for medicine cats when a cat died to sickness or injury, Lilypool had said. Her mentor was mourning Goldenlily a lot, considering that was her mentor. And Hailstream was Goldenlily's only apprentice, considering she would be too young to mentor any more since she was also having kits. But she worried about Mousekit very much. *Does she have* my *condition?* she thought anxiously. However, Mousekit was acting way worse than Primrosepaw had after birth, so she wasn't sure. Primrosepaw also thought about her parents, Rosepetal and Maplestripe. They were very good warriors, indeed, and good parents like Dandelionpaw, too, as they usually cheered her on.

Birchpaw went to the nursery, and surprisingly, it wasn't crowded at all, and there was no Stonepaw or Nightnose or Mountainpaw since they usually liked to talk to Begoniaclaw, Sandleap, and Flipsnow respectively. Shadowclaw, Icemoon, and Swanpaw also weren't here to meet their younger sisters. *Maybe they're on patrol,* he thought.

Mousekit and Petalkit were awake, but the former was pretty sluggish. Birchpaw didn't know what to think, but by now, everyone suspected Mousekit had *some* sort of abnormality which was similar to Primrosepaw's. Begoniaclaw, Primrosepaw, Mountainpaw, and Shadowclaw had caught this really quickly, however. Birchpaw usually didn't hang around the nursery, but he was really worried about what would happen if Mousekit... died. *Nothing less than utter chaos,* he thought. His sister, Rainpaw, and her mentor, Lilypool, were doing the best they could to try and figure out how to solve it, but nothing seemed to work. He remembered Swiftclaw again, and wondered if Mousekit was somehow being punished for her parents' actions. He still had no idea who Swiftclaw exactly was, but he was a SnowClan cat for sure. *Hopefully he isn't bad,* Birchpaw worried.

Birchpaw also saw Begoniaclaw. She had been doing mostly nothing but chatting with other queens, kits and Clanmates in the camp, trying to learn more about them. And she was spilling a lot of secrets about AdderClan, which MoonClan could easily use to their advantage any time something bad happened. It would mostly apply for defense since MoonClan rarely went on the offense. Besides, AdderClan was probably much stronger as a whole, but that could also apply to SnowClan, too. He wondered what AdderClan was thinking when exiling Begoniaclaw.

*Maybe they figured that MoonClan wouldn't accept a former AdderClan cat,* Birchpaw thought. And they most likely wouldn't have, if it weren't for the unique situation that had happened, so she was a miracle from StarClan. Also, Begoniaclaw didn't seem like one of the bloodthirsty cats of AdderClan.

Sandleap noticed him and gave him a big smile, along with Applefall, Thymekit, Lilackit and Jumpkit. They looked very happy to see him, since there was probably no one else.

"Hey, Birchpaw! Guess what! Since Flipsnow and Redwater are training Robinpaw and Soarpaw, we need something to do!" Lilackit exclaimed.

Birchpaw smiled. "Of course." The sun wasn't fully up in the sky yet, so he knew most of the other cats still needed to do their duties, which he and Peonyclaw had done already since they woke up early.

Begoniaclaw and Petalkit also noticed him. Petalkit just shook her ear in acknowledgment, but that was it. There was no response from Mousekit. But Begoniaclaw was as heartwarming as the other inhabitants of the nursery were.

"I can offer to tell another story from AdderClan," Begoniaclaw offered, and the three kits eyes gleamed with curiousity. Birchpaw wondered how many stories from AdderClan she told them. *Hopefully nothing too bad,* he hoped, but at the same time, he didn't want them to underestimate AdderClan from Begoniaclaw's probably tame stories.

Applefall nodded in approval. "I can use some more entertainment in here." Birchpaw knew Applefall was pretty much the oldest cat in their group, that wasn't a parent yet, anyway, so she was probably more mature than them. But she was still as friendly as the rest of MoonClan. And she and Fireclaw were perfect for each other, and also subtle in their moves. He wondered how his mentor and his uncle thought about being near-grandparents, but Peonyclaw had just told him that she was happy about it, just like Birchpaw's parents were. The littermates Petuniaheart and Blazesky were becoming grandparents almost together, which Birchpaw thought was interesting.

The other kits nodded eagerly and Sandleap chuckled. "My, we have some intrigued kits in here," she joked mirthfully.

Begoniaclaw laughed and said, "Okay, I will begin." She turned her gaze to Birchpaw. "Birchpaw, do you want to listen to my wonderful story?"

"I guess, because this should be more interesting than StarClan, as always," Birchpaw joked back. He sat down in the middle of the nursery.

Meanwhile, Primrosepaw looked at Rainpaw through the mouth of the medicine cat's den, who was busily sorting herbs. But at the same time Rainpaw looked worried. Lilypool wasn't there since she was gathering herbs with Sealbranch, Dandelionpaw, Flipsnow and Robinpaw. *Being a medicine cat must be hard,* Primrosepaw thought sorrowfully, and she remembered why she didn't become a medicine cat. *It wouldn't be much fun. And I want to have a mate and kits.*

But at the same time, she wondered if two medicine cats were enough. She wondered how Lilypool managed by herself before Rainpaw came around. And with the dire situation of Mousekit, she had started to ask herself the same question which she asked before she became an apprentice.

*Should I become a warrior... or a medicine cat?*

It was daunting for Primrosepaw to see her Clan in this state after Goldenlily bled to death due to unknown causes and Mousekit is now sick. Not to mention, she was still worried about Stonepaw and Nightnose's relationship, and Stonepaw herself. Since MoonClan was a peaceful Clan, it bothered Primrosepaw to see them arguing. However, the thing she was the most worried about was Sandleap. Sandleap and her kits.

After Goldenlily's death, the entire Clan was now fearful about Sandleap and her kits. Primrosepaw liked kits very much. She hated one dying, and she didn't know what to do if that happened. She shuddered, not wanting to think about it anymore. But she decided to talk to Rainpaw. Even though she couldn't just switch to a medicine cat apprentice in the middle of her apprenticeship (at least she didn't know if she could, since no one has done so before), she wondered if she could... somehow learn.

Primrosepaw was confused now. Could she be an unofficial medicine cat? No one told her it was possible, but since she was already apprenticed to Hailstream, could Rainpaw and Lilypool be her unofficial mentors? *I could learn some very useful things, like assisting births and treating small wounds,* she hoped. Warriors learned very basic medicine, of course, like licking wounds to try and disinfect them and reduce pain, and what position to set an injured cat in so they wouldn't feel much pain, but it didn't have much to do with herbs. It seemed pretty enigmatic to her, but she didn't know how the Clan would respond. Primrosepaw remembered being a full-time medicine cat wouldn't be fun, and she knew what she was thinking when she was a kit made sense, but she could still help her Clan in the small ways she could, so she could sort of become a jack of all trades. *Kind of like the SnowClan Snowstar,* she thought humorously. But she probably couldn't excel that much in the fighting aspect.

Primrosepaw walked inside and tried to look at what Rainpaw was doing. "Hey, Rainpaw," she greeted subtly, not wanting to disrupt Rainpaw's intense focus.

Rainpaw looked up from her work and saw Primrosepaw's smiling face. She grinned back and sighed a heavy sigh of relief. "Oh, thank StarClan and the moon you came! I was seriously about to yell insults at the herbs from all this stress, hehe!" She sighed again, but in a melancholy way, and her face fell. "You know, I am really worried about Mousekit."

Primrosepaw also stopped smiling, and tried to look empathetic of Rainpaw's situation, since she was going through it herself. She wanted to be a compassionate member of her Clan, as StarClan must have intended her to be, especially with her slow condition. "Oh... I am, too. I really... don't know what... to do."

Rainpaw sighed for the third time, but in a way Primrosepaw couldn't tell what it was. "Well, it's not *your* fault, though. You don't know much about medicine." She sighed yet again.

Primrosepaw remembered her epic but daunting decision. "Uh... if you like... I can also... learn medicine."

Rainpaw made the most surprised-looking face at her. Primrosepaw knew that it would be shocking to the Clan if she wanted to do this. Especially to her sister and parents and aunt the medicine cat, Lilypool.

Finally, after a couple of seconds, Rainpaw spoke, "Oh... wait, really?" Her voice became excited all of a sudden. "I always wanted to mentor! It's my favorite job. Well, actually, I can't say that yet because I never tried it before. But *now* I can!" She started bouncing up and down slightly with joy. This time, she sighed with relief. "This is actually good, because you can help me and Lilypool with our treeload of work!" Then she looked confused for a moment. "Are you just going to learn or..."

Primrosepaw answered her question enthusiastically, "Well, I can still... be a warrior... but also learn... so if there's... any emergen...cy then I can... actually help much... more than before!"

Rainpaw looked like the happiest cat in the world. *"Great! Let's begin!"* she cheered, starting to show her the herbs she was sorting.

Primrosepaw agreed. She needed to start now, if not later, or ever. Rainpaw was going to be her mentor in medicine, and she hoped she would benefit greatly from this.

In the nursery, Begoniaclaw started telling the story. "You see, when I was a kit, my mother and sibling, Smoothkit, died, so this really nice medicine cat, who is also the oldest and still alive, whose name is Amberleaf, comforted me when that happened." She didn't mention that her mother died from giving birth, as Goldenlily had, not to scare the kits, but Birchpaw already knew this fact from Shadowclaw.

Birchpaw thought that was surprising, considering AdderClan's nature. Applefall and Sandleap looked like they thought the same, but the kits did not find anything wrong.

The nursing queen continued, "You see, Amberleaf is the first medicine cat of AdderClan, and she remembers a time before there were Clans, when there was still a Tribe, like Wisdomheart and Pinetail do. I think she's twelve moons younger than Wisdomheart, so she's probably eighty-five moons old right now. So pretty old already. She was one of the nicer cats of AdderClan, which is probably understandable since medicine cats are usually better than the warriors. She tried to get Adderstar and Fangstar to make better decisions and defended me when I was accused of mating with a SnowClan cat! And when Fangstar *did* exile me, she was absolutely shocked!"

Applefall and Sandleap nodded slowly, as if they thought that last part was probably false, but they were still okay with it. Applefall spoke seriously, "I remember Amberleaf from my lessons with Honeyflight, before she retired when I became a warrior. I learned most of Amberleaf's history from my mentor, and she *was* one of the few AdderClan cats who were against battle, just like *our* first medicine cat, Calmpond, and SnowClan's first medicine cat, Icestem, who were also healers when there was a Tribe. But Amberleaf was still a healer-in-training, and when the Clans were created, she became Amberpaw, when she was previously Amber."

Birchpaw wondered how much history there was regarding the Mountain Tribe. It seemed so long ago, and so far removed from the present, as it was nearly seventy-seven moons ago and almost six and a half years. But at the same time, he knew that all the history that happened long ago was still relevant now, as all that chaos had created the Mountain Clans that they were born in years afterward.

Begoniaclaw nodded in agreement with Applefall. She told the rest of her story. Amber was one of the cats who needed to be a medicine cat for a Clan, and she was worried that Sand, her healer mentor and Moonstar's aunt, wouldn't be with her. However, sometime after the three cats' revelation of the Mountain Clan Prophecy, a hawk attacked Sand and injured her greatly. Adder, one of the three cats in the prophecy and also known as Adderstar, managed to kill the hawk before it could kill Sand, but Sand later died from her injuries. Before she died, she told everyone she knew that she wanted to die with the name Sandpounce and told the other three healers that she could continue to teach them from StarClan.

Birchpaw was still surprised at all of this info, because he wasn't sure if Peonyclaw told him this before. She didn't really tell him a lot of history, especially if it were history of other Clans. She was mostly into teaching him the best fighting and hunting techniques. As Zebrapaw told him a few times, Peonyclaw was a pretty fierce mother. And Birchpaw had said that she's a pretty fierce mentor, which made them both laugh. But Birchpaw wasn't too sure if that was good in general, since he still needed to learn what was up with other Clans, and what went down in the vast past, *especially* with other Clans.

"I think Amberleaf would be relieved to learn that I was accepted by your Clan," continued Begoniaclaw cheerfully. She sighed sorrowfully, however. "Hopefully she's taking care of my kits, if no one else is."

"I will make sure to kill that stupid Windwing when I become a warrior, don't worry, Begoniaclaw," cheered up Thymekit, his face twisting in anger at that strong AdderClan warrior. Lilackit and Jumpkit nodded eagerly.

Begoniaclaw smiled in appreciation. "Thank you for wanting to do so."

"I want to be like Peonyclaw and Zebrapaw, too," said Lilackit in the same tone as Thymekit. "I will intimidate those warriors until they die!"

Jumpkit bounced up and down exuberantly, adding, "I will make sure to do the pouncing death blow on them, too!"

Sandleap chuckled. "I also know how to do that *very* well. I am called Sand*leap* after all, so maybe I can teach you?"

Thymekit, Lilackit, and Jumpkit all looked pumped up to do anything, and they nodded. Birchpaw still wondered about Amberleaf, however, and if she was truly better than the rest of AdderClan.

### Chapter 24: Sandleap's Kits

After an hour, Rainpaw had managed to teach Primrosepaw a few things about herbs. Primrosepaw got a gist of it; cobwebs were for closing open wounds, marigolds for inflammation and healing wounds, thyme for cough, especially whitecough and greencough, and so on, but she wasn't sure if she could remember that much. *Well, it's only my first day trying to learn,* Primrosepaw motivated herself. *I can learn much more in the following days, and even moons!*

Lilypool and Dandelionpaw entered the medicine cat's den, and they both looked surprised to see Primrosepaw with Rainpaw in there. But Primrosepaw didn't have to explain as Rainpaw was already on the horse doing so.

"She wants to learn some medicine to help in emergencies in case we can't do everything!" Rainpaw explained excitedly.

Lilypool raised her eyebrows in surprise, but in positive surprise. Dandelionpaw grinned when she heard this.

"So basically, Primrosepaw wants to be a better Clan member!" the medicine cat apprentice concluded her short but uplifting speech.

Dandelionpaw abruptly turned to her sister. *"Oh really! That is so great to do! What a good Clanmate you are!"* she exclaimed in the same tone as Rainpaw.

Primrosepaw beamed. She always wanted to be special. Special in *some* way, somehow. Other than having slow reflexes, that is. And this was a way she could do that. Thinking about it made her nearly fly over the moon. She thought she could see StarClan for a moment when she looked up through the mouth of the den, but of course, it was sunup. She snorted at her stupidity for thinking that she could see the stars, then she very heartwarmingly and appreciatively thanked Dandelionpaw and Rainpaw.

Lilypool also beamed. "Well, looks like I have *another* apprentice under my pelt now!" she bantered. "Of course, you will still need to do warrior duties, but it's good if you also help us!"

Primrosepaw nodded. She felt like she could become a completely normal cat like her other Clanmates. Or even a super cat, that could bound over the trees of the mountainous forest and the steep rocks of the rocky mountain, and maybe over the moon if she tried. This praise reminded her of her first day of training with Dandelionpaw and their mentors, where everyone was cheering them on. This was more private, but just as meaningful.

They chatted for a while about Primrosepaw's superb abilities of medicine. Primrosepaw decided to ask her sister, "Why did you... come in here, any...way, Dandeli...onpaw?" She usually couldn't say Dandelionpaw or Begoniaclaw's names fully without stopping since they were longer than other cats' names, but that was fine for her.

"Oh, I wanted to give my aunt and my best friend two hares that I caught," answered Dandelionpaw, bouncing up and down cheerfully similarly to Jumpkit. "But it turns out *you're* in here, too! What a great surprise!"

Primrosepaw grinned. Her sister was *just* like Rainpaw and Shadowclaw. And perhaps Spottedpaw, too. Very friendly, humorous, outgoing and light-hearted.

Then Rainpaw looked at the nursery and noticed her brother, Birchpaw, in there. "Speaking of which, should we go to the nursery? I love it there because kits can be born!" For a moment she grimaced, but then her expression turned back to normal. Primrosepaw knew why, of course.

*Hopefully nothing happens to Sandleap,* she worried and hoped at the same time. *Two of the same horrible event can't happen in a row, right?*

Lilypool and Dandelionpaw noticed the tension, too, but they ignored it and agreed with her.

They all entered the nursery and Birchpaw was surprised to see them enter. *Well, cats normally enter, so it's not a big deal,* he thought.

Rainpaw saw her littermate and exclaimed, "Guess what?!" She explained everything, which made the entire nursery shocked.

"Wait, really?!" Thymekit exclaimed in joy.

"That is *so cool!"* Lilackit added. "I want to learn medicine and warrior skills, too!"

Birchpaw thought he should be surprised, but he wasn't, for some reason. He always had some thoughts going on in the back of his mind about Primrosepaw working with herbs. Obviously, he had no reason to think that could be true after she became a warrior apprentice... until now. But he smiled at his sister and the younger apprentice, since his sister could be a young mentor now, technically.

Begoniaclaw smiled. "I was *just* telling a story about Amberleaf, the first AdderClan *medicine cat,* too."

Sandleap added mirthfully, "What a StarClan coincidence it is."

Primrosepaw just nodded. She sat down next to Birchpaw and asked, "Maybe you can... tell us the story... too?" Dandelionpaw and Rainpaw nodded eagerly.

"I have heard of the story from my mentor, Calmpond, too," said Lilypool, chuckling. "Of course, he knows Amberleaf very well since the Tribe, when he was just Calm. In fact, Amberleaf, before Amber, was *adopted* by Calm's aunt, Sand, known as Sandpounce *now!* After her mother, Dawn, died, that is." Lilypool grimaced for a moment but she became normal again.

Birchpaw blinked. *Really?* he thought, his mind swirling in random places. He had never known this before, either. He began to wonder exactly how many things Peonyclaw didn't tell him, and he suddenly felt a huge hole of curiousity, which was opposite to the sky raining. It felt like the sky sucking up rain, sucking up all information he needed to know about everything. He remembered when he was Birchkit again, wanting to learn everything from the elders and the queens, and he was very curious and wanting to make friends with everyone, which is why he started the drama with Zebrapaw on that day the latter became an apprentice. But he mostly learned from the elders as they had lived a lot longer, and had probably been queens already. But now, even queens had something seemingly better than the elders to say, like Begoniaclaw, and the medicine cat, Lilypool. Begoniaclaw *was* from an enemy Clan, after all, so her secrets would be juicy, but also important for MoonClan.

Rainpaw nodded exuberantly. "Lilypool told me that story, too!" She then frowned and whispered to Birchpaw and Primrosepaw, "Dawn died sometime after giving birth to her, though." Begoniaclaw and Lilypool had heard her and nodded sadly.

Primrosepaw and Birchpaw copied Rainpaw's expression. Birchpaw wondered how many queens had died so far giving birth to their kits. Amberleaf was probably slightly older than Honeyflight (as he remembered from Peonyclaw's story) since Honeyflight was only a very young apprentice (or at least the right age at the time). Primrosepaw wondered how it was possible to die from kitting, anyway, since she wasn't good at medicine. *Well, that's another reason I am doing this,* she thought.

Thymekit, Lilackit and Jumpkit looked like they were wondering what they were talking about, and Petalkit started paying more attention to them. She was only a moon old, but it seemed like to both apprentices, she was somehow acting similar to Primrosepaw as a kit.

All of a sudden, Sandleap's expression changed from heartwarming to shocked. She gasped and looked at everyone's faces wildly, and it looked like she was feeling uncomfortable. Birchpaw and Primrosepaw were confused, but Lilypool and Rainpaw looked like they recognized her expression.

"Oh no!" the experienced medicine cat exclaimed. *"Sandleap's kitting!"*

Everyone looked shocked at this revelation, including Sandleap herself, but except Rainpaw, who nodded seriously and ran to get a stick and other herbs that might be needed, including cobwebs and other stuff. After what happened to Goldenlily, the two medicine cats felt that the extra precautions were obligatory.

Upon hearing that Sandleap was kitting (Lilypool yelled really loudly), the soon-to-be grandparents, Petuniaheart, Snowstar and Watereye, the father, Nightnose, all aunts and uncles (which were Sealbranch, Hailstream, Nutclaw, and Quailclaw) and Zebrapaw, Swanpaw, Shadowclaw, Icemoon, Spottedpaw and Mountainpaw rushed in nearly all at once. Even Blazesky, Peonyclaw, Fireclaw, Violetrain, Flipsnow, Redwater, Soarpaw, Robinpaw, Berrypaw, Maplestripe, Honeyflight, Littleclaw, Daisyfoot and Flameeye came in a little bit afterwards. A lot of cats were in the nursery now, and some were standing outside. Of course, Stonepaw wasn't here, as Birchpaw and Primrosepaw knew she had no interest in kits, only Begoniaclaw apparently. Birchpaw worried that Stonepaw might be up to something while talking to Begoniaclaw, but he shook that away since his sister was kitting.

Petalkit gasped when she saw the amount of cats in the nursery, and shrank back against Begoniaclaw, which reminded Birchpaw of when Mountainpaw and him were kits, and he was very shy, just like Zebrapaw and Stonepaw were. Primrosepaw knew that Petalkit was as young as *she* was when she nearly fell into the creek off of that terrifying cliff, so she knew how Petalkit would be vulnerable at that age. She remembered her earliest memory, which was her fall off the cliff. She had barely remembered anything else from that time period, as she was probably too young for those memories. But she still remembered scary traces of that memory, like how Quailclaw probably only remembered his fall from the time period of one moon old. She shuddered slightly, not wanting to remember that, of what she had barely remembered. Most of the things that she was told were from other cats that were there, especially Quailclaw, Quailpaw at the time.

Since this was the first birth after Goldenlily's, everyone was immensely worried about Sandleap, including Begoniaclaw, despite having not witnessed it, or spent a lot of time with them, only one moon.

As usual, Sandleap was given a stick to bite on if she felt any pain, but it didn't look like she needed to use it, unlike Goldenlily, who was screeching in immense pain, so other cats were still relieved, sort of. Primrosepaw wondered what she could do since she had barely learned anything. She decided to soothe Sandleap even though she didn't seem like she needed it. Nightnose, her sisters (including Rainpaw), Petuniaheart, Honeyflight, Redwater, and some other past queens were already doing so.

After just half a minute of labor, Sandleap gasped, and a light-grayish blue kit came out, and there was no blood or anything else worrying. But it still looked like there were more. Everyone still looked skeptical, however, including Birchpaw and Primrosepaw, since it could still be possible something terrible would happen. It almost seemed to the two apprentices that everyone was holding their breath.

Lilypool and Rainpaw quickly checked the kit, and the former smiled in joy. "A she-kit." After this, Forestcreek had also arrived in the nick of time. But Stonepaw was still nowhere to be seen.

Everyone was still holding their breath as two more kits came out, another light-grayish blue kit and and a very bright yellow kit, close to pink, kind of like Primrosepaw and Swanpaw.

"The second kit is a tom, and the last one is a she-kit, too!" Lilypool said happily. Rainpaw grinned from ear to ear, and so did most of the other MoonClan cats, especially the father and grandparents. Birchpaw and Primrosepaw just smiled, and they looked over at their friends. Nutclaw, Violetrain, Shadowclaw, Icemoon, Mountainpaw and Dandelionpaw looked like they wanted to play with the kits immediately, and so did the older kits, who looked exhilarated at arrival of the new kits. A few cats were cheering like the kits, and most just thanking StarClan that Sandleap's kitting was swift and smooth, with no dangers, including Begoniaclaw, Applefall, Flipsnow, Quailclaw, Zebrapaw and Swanpaw (Swanpaw was holding one paw up to the sky). Birchpaw and Primrosepaw did, too.

Sandleap finally relaxed after the labor and closed her eyes for a moment. Then she opened them again to look at her new kits. She smiled subtly at them, and with a lot of love, as the two apprentices knew mothers usually did.

The light-gray tom-kit was the first one to open his eyes and get up. "Who should name them?" Nightnose asked his mate cheerfully.

"Maybe we can each choose a name for one kit and for the third one, we can both choose?" Sandleap suggested. Nightnose agreed immediately. The beige she-kit opened her eyes and got up next. They both looked around at her surroundings.

"What would you want to name your kits?" Petuniaheart asked her new-mother daughter warmly. Snowstar and Watereye nodded in agreement. After all, Sandleap and Nightnose made them grandparents for the first time.

"I will name the first kit... Birdkit," Sandleap replied with a soft smile. "After..." She looked around. "Swanpaw and Robinpaw." A lot of cats chuckled. Swanpaw and Robinpaw smiled even though it was probably just a joke, since Swanpaw and Robinpaw seemed random. Birchpaw thought that Birdkit's prefix sounded like his, which made him smile, too.

"And Heronwing and Quailclaw, too?" Robinpaw asked hopefully.

Sandleap nodded eagerly. "Them, too."

"She doesn't really have to be named after anyone, though, but it is nice," Sealbranch said, but in a polite voice so no one got offended. Then she looked at Nightnose, and so did Sandleap and the other cats.

"Okay, I will name him Waterkit, after my father," Nightnose said. Watereye smiled, and so did Nutclaw, Peonyclaw and Petuniaheart. Birchpaw remembered that Watereye mentored Peonyclaw, so she was also friendly with her mentor.

"And the last one... Flowerkit, maybe? After a lot of cats named after flowers," the new mother said humorously. Nightnose nodded in agreement. Primrosepaw smiled. Lilyear, Petalfrost (Lilyear's sister), Rosepetal, Dandelionpaw, Lilypool, Peonyclaw, Petuniaheart, Violetrain, Daisyfoot, Petalkit and Begoniaclaw all had flower prefixes. But Goldenlily had a flower suffix, while Rosepetal had both. She wondered if Sealbranch or Amberleaf's suffix counted as one, too.

Primrosepaw suddenly frowned, and looked at Birchpaw, who realized the same. They exchanged looks that had the slightest bit of worry (as to not worry anyone else), but it could still be detected.

They looked at the light gray she-kit, Birdkit, but she wasn't opening her eyes or getting up yet, despite being born first out of her three littermates.

Rainpaw, Lilypool, Sandleap and Nightnose realized this, too. They all copied Primrosepaw's expression. Their worry spread to all the other MoonClan cats, as they all looked at Birdkit, including Waterkit and Flowerkit, who looked confused why their sister wasn't getting up.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Lilypool anxiously. "Is Birdkit okay?" She checked to see if she was alive, and she sighed in relief. It was now a few minutes from their birth, including Birdkit's, but she still seemed to not be doing anything.

Primrosepaw froze. She wondered if the worst could happen. Or something below the worst, since Birdkit wasn't dead, but she wasn't sure if that was better than being dead. Being reflexively disabled.

The yellow she-apprentice tried to remember what other cats said had happened when she was born, especially her parents and Birchpaw, Rainpaw, Swanpaw, Mountainpaw, Zebrapaw, Lilypool and Wisdomheart, since the five apprentices obviously would remember her birth. Dandelionpaw, then Dandelionkit, had woken up first. Primrosepaw, then Primrosekit's brain was still sharp, but she seemed to have trouble getting up due to her slow reflexives. So Lilypool stimulated her reflexives by licking her pelt.

Birchpaw also thought that Birdkit's situation reminded him of Primrosepaw when *she* was born. He had been watching Rosepetal's kitting at the age of four moons old, so he had remembered it clearly. Primrosekit had been acting sluggish, and now, so was his niece, Birdkit. He looked at Primrosepaw worriedly, and wondered if she would do something. Some of the other cats also looked at the young apprentice, including Maplestripe, Flipsnow, Rainpaw, Dandelionpaw and Mountainpaw, as they probably also thought of what might have happened with her when she was born.

"Uh, is she going to get up?" Nightnose asked very uneasily. Finally Stonepaw arrived looking bored. But then her expression shocked when she saw what happened, and seemed confused at everyone's anxiety.

Primrosepaw decided to do what Lilypool did before. She wasn't sure why her aunt wasn't doing it now, but maybe she was trying to monitor Birdkit first. The newborn she-kit barely seemed to be responding at all.

The young apprentice licked the kit's pelt slowly and gently, and everyone's confused gaze was on Primrosepaw now, especially the new parents and the littermates. Rainpaw smiled at Primrosepaw appreciatively and did the same. However, Primrosepaw was still exceptionally worried about one thing. *Condition... does she have my condition?* Birchpaw was thinking the same thing, too. If that were the case, she'd be the fourth cat to have a medical condition, the first three in order being Swanpaw, Primrosepaw and Mousekit, which he didn't know how to react to.

After about half a minute, Birdkit finally opened her eyes to nearly everyone's delight, especially Sandleap and Nightnose, and Primrosepaw and Rainpaw stopped licking. All of Primrosepaw's friends and elders (which was almost the entirety of MoonClan) were smiling at her and Rainpaw gratefully, and they both smiled back.

Waterkit and Flowerkit were also happy, too. "Yay!" they both squealed cutely. They had no idea who Primrosepaw or all of the other cats including their parents were, but they were just ever so happy that their sister, Birdkit, finally woke up. Stonepaw seemed to look bored again, but she smiled, too.

Birdkit stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before focusing on her mother. Sandleap licked her once and said, "Birdkit? Are you awake?" Birdkit didn't respond. Instead she just stared at her. Now it was Swanpaw's turn to frown. Birchpaw and Primrosepaw saw her expression, and were a little confused until they figured out why.

Swanpaw didn't want Birdkit to be mute. And Primrosepaw didn't want her to be reflexively disabled. If Birdkit had both, she could definitely not be a warrior or a proper Clanmate, since Swanpaw communicated by moving her limbs around, and with some of the signs, she had to move quickly as she needed to get the message across, such as "Look at me" or "Here I am!". Not to mention she was extremely good at listening and with her warrior skills since she couldn't do much else than that. And Primrosepaw mostly excelled in public speaking as she was pretty intelligent for someone of her age and condition, not actual warrior moves, although she was getting there. Swanpaw and Primrosepaw's strengths were the other's weaknesses. And Birdkit would be off to a bad start in life if she had both. Swanpaw and Primrosepaw's grimace was evident on their faces.

Waterkit and Flowerkit tried to poke Birdkit slightly so she can get up like they did, but frowned when she didn't even notice them.

After a few seconds, Birdkit saw her siblings and Nightnose, but she still didn't respond. Birchpaw bit his lip. *Hopefully she can still be a warrior or medicine cat,* he worried with great unease. He remembered what he had been thinking. To prepare for anything unfortunate that could happen. But he hadn't predicted another kit like Swanpaw, Primrosepaw or Mousekit to be born, that too in his older sister's litter. He thought it would be many more moons before another kit was born like either of them, but all four of them were born within a single year, Swanpaw being eleven moons old. He grimaced as the two she-apprentices were doing right now. *Has the Dark Ages of MoonClan hit already? Will there be more mishaps to come?* Birchpaw never recalled this happening in his kithood. Well, the Battle of Moonstar's Death happened, Primrosepaw fell off the cliff, Stonepaw pushed Swanpaw into a ditch, and that fox came and bruised Zebrapaw and Swanpaw, but it was mostly still okay, for *him* anyways. Until Goldenlily's death. *Is her death... a bad omen?* He hoped not. He didn't know what to do if something else terrible happened. *Not one more mishap. At least for a moon!* He tried to hide it, but inside he was churning with a ton of fear and anxiety of what could happen in the coming future, especially the near future. He leaned against the nursery wall for support, behind his littermate, Rainpaw.

"Uh, Birdkit? And Waterkit and Flowerkit?" Nightnose said, trying to sound happy, but the fear was also evident in his tone. "I'm Nightnose, your father." He smiled. "This is Sandleap, your mother. Rainpaw and Lilypool are the medicine cats!"

Waterkit looked excited. "That's cool!" Flowerkit nodded excitedly. "I agree!" Birdkit said nothing, but stared at her father.

Lilackit smiled at them. "Hey, I'm Lilackit! I'm also a kit! But an older one." Thymekit nodded. "Me too! Do you want to play?"

"Yes!" the two newborn littermates squealed. The situation reminded Primrosepaw of Lilackit and Jumpkit, and Birchpaw and Rainpaw, when the latter two were kits. The pairs consisted of a tom-kit and a she-kit, of which the she-kit was older, which was the opposite in this case. And they were all outgoing. However, Birdkit was also part of their litter. But she wasn't joining in. This worried Primrosepaw greatly.

Finally, after what seemed like forever (though only about ten minutes since their birth), Birdkit spoke. "Yes?" she uttered loudly. Then she finally got up on her feet. The relief felt by the cats filled the atmosphere, and everyone relaxed, some cheering, others thanking StarClan yet again, especially Swanpaw. She wasn't mute! But Primrosepaw still wondered if she was reflexively disabled. She hadn't opened her eyes or gotten up for many minutes. *Even I didn't take that long to do each of those things,* Primrosepaw thought disdainfully. She opened her eyes at the same time as Dandelionpaw, but getting up took her just a few minutes, with stimulation from Lilypool.

"Hey, can you understand me?" Primrosepaw whispered in Birdkit's ear. Birdkit ignored her for a few seconds, still looking at Waterkit and Flowerkit, which made Primrosepaw wonder about an even worse thing, deafness, until she turned her head towards her. Then she said, "Yes?"

It seemed as if everyone was still very skeptical of Birdkit and how she was acting, including her newborn littermates, since she was acting too slow. It seemed like her brain was acting too slow, in fact.

Lilackit asked slowly, "Do you want to play, too, Birdkit?" Birdkit didn't respond for a few seconds, instead looking at everyone's faces. Then she nodded. "Yes!" Waterkit and Flowerkit smiled, not noticing anything wrong with their littermate, since they were too young and immature to understand, but everyone else could definitely tell something was off about her.

"Alright, but first, you should nurse," said Sandleap, chuckling. But she looked worriedly at her strangely-behaving daughter. Her two other kits nodded, but Birdkit didn't listen for a few seconds, until she also nodded.

Most cats usually left the nursery after the kitting process was fully over and the kits were ready to nurse, and some family members, friends and other kit-lovers stayed behind to watch the kits and play with them. However, it seemed like nobody was leaving, not even Stonepaw who probably wouldn't be interested anymore. Instead, they seemed to be in a disquieted silence when it came to Birdkit, including the parents and grandparents. The MoonClan cats looked at each other as if they were wondering if someone was going to leave, but no one actually did. They watched the kits nurse with varying expressions on their faces, some worrying, some confused, some grimacing, and others blank. But they were all negative.

Finally, after a few more seconds of unbearable tension, Snowstar announced, "Okay, everyone, back to your duties!" Then he waited for most of the cats to leave, especially the ones who weren't related to Sandleap or Nightnose that closely through blood or friendships (excluding Stonepaw, of course), before walking up next to his youngest child, Birchpaw.

All of Sandleap and Nightnose's immediate family and Lilypool, Shadowclaw, Icemoon, Zebrapaw, Swanpaw, Mountainpaw, Dandelionpaw, Primrosepaw and the other kits and queens were also still here, of course, but they all had a slight frown on their faces, looking uneasy.

Primrosepaw wondered what condition Birdkit had exactly, since she was also *reacting* slowly to everything. Primrosepaw didn't do that, in fact, she was quite quick to understanding, so her brain wasn't affected by her condition. Somehow only the nerves in her *limbs* were slow. The young apprentice had great fear that Birdkit's brain was also slow, like her limbs. Primrosepaw wanted to help Birdkit out, but she didn't know how, exactly. She was only a young apprentice herself, seven moons old, and she still needed to do her duties. Picking ticks out of elders' pelts was a common duty for her since it was one of the duties that didn't require constant agility, but she could still miss the ticks. She sighed, wishing she could be a warrior already, but she thought that Hailstream was doing a good job already.

Snowstar looked like he was going to ask Birchpaw something but the latter was the one to speak first.

"Snowstar..." he started very uneasily in the volume of a whisper, his voice shaking. "Do you... do you think... this is an ill omen?"

### Chapter 25: Lack of Care

Mountainpaw and his mentor, Petuniaheart, were bringing back plenty of prey at sundown, since it was green-leaf. They had a good surplus of supplies, already, but they decided to bring more since there were going to be more kits on the way. Sandleap, a new nursing queen, and Begoniaclaw would need extra nutrients. *At least we don't suffer from greencough or other leaf-bare problems much,* he thought happily. The last leaf-bare, he hardly remembered anything bad happening, and it went by pretty smoothly. He had been surprised to learn from elder Clanmates about terrible leaf-bares, especially the leaf-bare before the dawn of the Mountain Clans.

He also heard that Begoniaclaw ran out of milk finally, but she was still a queen, of course. Petalkit and Mousekit were now being nursed by Sandleap, which he thought was interesting. Apparently when Sandleap's kits were born, Begoniaclaw's milk was nearly out, and it couldn't suffice both kits that much. Until, of course, Sandleap gave birth.

Shadowclaw and Snowstar were on a hunting patrol together, too. Before they left on the patrol, Quailclaw and Birchpaw seemed to be wondering why he hung out so much with his former mentor, also their father. *I don't know,* the gray tom thought, *but I love my mentor as a father, too. And I guess Snowstar likes me, too.* Mentors were like the secondary mothers or fathers of the apprentice (in most situations, anyway, excluding Stonepaw and Nightnose). As for Snowstar, he didn't know, but he thought that Snowstar missed being a mentor, even while being a leader. He used to go on patrol a lot more with Shadowclaw when the latter was still an apprentice. So still going on patrol together probably gave them nostalgia.

However, Shadowclaw remembered what happened about four days ago. Sandleap's kitting. However, Birdkit was acting similar to Mousekit and Primrosepaw, which made him worried. Rainpaw, Primrosepaw, Swanpaw and Nightnose were watching Birdkit way more than usual, even skipping some important duties. Hailstream and Nutclaw were fine with this, since they were also worried for their niece, but Stonepaw was definitely not pleased. It seemed like she didn't care her mentor's kits were also her first cousin's kits, all she cared about was training, and not about other Clan problems.

*Like AdderClan,* he thought in disgust, still remembering her incident with Swanpaw. He agreed with Peonyclaw about her behavior towards Stonepaw, but he was still confused about Zebrapaw and Birchpaw's neutral behavior towards her. Even if Zebrapaw was her littermate, Shadowclaw didn't know if it was good to be nice or neutral to her. But Birchpaw *was* usually friendly or at least okay with everyone (except if he felt like he was getting annoyed, like what happened when Zebrapaw and Stonepaw became apprentices), so he thought he might be okay with Stonepaw.

Meanwhile, Swanpaw was with Primrosepaw and Birdkit. Hailstream and Nutclaw said that it was okay for them to stay there. They probably still remembered Goldenlily, as she was either their mentor or father's mate, and so did Swanpaw. She sighed, wishing she hadn't died. No one understood her as well as *she* did, since Goldenlily was her mother, and taught her which signs to use to communicate with other Clanmates. She cared about her a lot, and didn't know how exactly to cope without her. When she bled to death... Swanpaw sighed again. It seemed as if the entire world crashed on her, and it looked like that to her older siblings, too. The entire moon without her was very gloomy, and it seemed the same to Nightnose, Nutclaw, and Hailstream, too, despite not being directly related to her, so Nutclaw and her didn't do *that* much training as they were supposed to be doing, only once every other day.

But Swanpaw was even more worried about her younger sisters. Before *they* were born, she was the youngest. Or at least, out of the surviving siblings, since her younger littermate, Vinekit, died before birth. Petalkit was probably still fine, but she was acting too shy for a kit. *Similar to Mountainkit before we met him,* she thought. But Mousekit... Swanpaw didn't know what to do about her. Rainpaw and Lilypool gave her so many herbs, including thyme for greencough, but Mousekit still wasn't responding to anything. Swanpaw didn't want her to die. Goldenlily died for her and Petalkit.

As for Birdkit, she knew she was Moonstar's first great-grandchild and Snowstar's first grandchild, so she was pretty important. She was also Nutclaw, Birchpaw and Rainpaw's niece, and Violetrain and Zebrapaw's cousin's daughter. And also Primrosepaw and Dandelionpaw's second cousin's daughter. And *her* third cousin's daughter, which she thought was a very far off relationship. However, she seemed closer to Birdkit than ever, because of whatever condition she had. Primrosepaw and Swanpaw were both relieved when they figured out that she could still move normally. The former told Birdkit to run quickly through the nursery, and a few seconds later, she obliged, and she ran without freezing or being sluggish. But she was acting sluggish when it came to actual thinking. It took her a while to process anything, as if time was always running a few seconds backwards for her. It nearly brought Sandleap, Nightnose, the grandparents, Rainpaw and Primrosepaw down to a nearly broken state when they figured out her actual condition. She couldn't be a warrior like Primrosepaw could. Not when warriors needed to analyze the situation and react immediately, for nearly every single skill. Primrosepaw could still analyze the situation quickly, and try to do *something,* at least. But Birdkit's delayed analysis of the world was nearly life-changing, regardless whether she had normal reflexes or not.

Mountainpaw also thought about Birdkit, since she was obviously his mentor's granddaughter. He didn't know what to think, since he had no idea about medical conditions. *That's supposed to be for medicine cats to think about, right?* he thought. However, his friend, Rainpaw, and her mentor, Lilypool, seemed to be getting too overwhelmed with all of this. Swanpaw and Primrosepaw didn't need so much supervision after a couple of moons after their birth, but it seemed as if Mousekit and Birdkit would need to be monitored even as apprentices. *Could Birdkit even* become *an apprentice?* he wondered all of a sudden. Lilypool announced her condition to the Clan, and that condition was so severe that she could *not* be a warrior, ever, since she risked being too incompetent in hunting and easily dying in battle. It was still being debated whether she could become a medicine cat or not, but in emergencies, she would not work so well as a medicine cat, either.

As for Mousekit, he remembered what Lilypool told him a moon ago. *She... has a problem... with her lungs. Her lungs... have mucus in them, and she is coughing out a lot.* Mousekit was having a ton of trouble breathing, even while coughing out too much, however. Rainpaw and Lilypool regularly had to tickle her chest in order to get the mucus out, and tried to trickle down a mixture of herbs down her throat, but Mousekit usually ended up coughing it back up.

He still hadn't told Zebrapaw, Birchpaw, Shadowclaw, Icemoon, Swanpaw, Berrypaw, Primrosepaw, or his mentor, or anyone else, but with Birdkit's arrival, he wasn't sure if he wanted to tell the latter six about it. Lilypool had told Rainpaw about it so that the latter could help her, but she was extremely broken after hearing that. But he wondered if it would be a good idea to tell the former two, since it seemed like they were struggling with all of these Clan events, too (the former having to deal with Stonepaw). After all, Birchpaw was the youngest uncle of Birdkit, and Zebrapaw the mother's cousin.

Petuniaheart asked her apprentice in a jovial way, "Mountainpaw, do you want to do anything else?" She probably was training Mountainpaw to take her mind off of her granddaughter's condition, which was fine with him. He liked training, too, as the camp's energy was getting too unbearable at this point. First, Goldenlily, then Mousekit, then Birdkit. He wished it would stop, but Honeyflight once told him, "Once hardships begin, there are usually a chain of bad things to come. To endure them means you can have good times again." He didn't know if that was good or bad, though.

"Um... maybe we can eat lunch?" Mountainpaw replied uneasily. Petuniaheart nodded in agreement. She probably felt burnt out, too.

There was no one else at the prey pile except for Birchpaw, who seemed lost in thought, and didn't even notice him. *Probably about Birdkit,* Mountainpaw thought, picking out a squirrel.

Petuniaheart greeted her son after depositing their prey and picking out a hare. "Birchpaw, how was your training?" Birchpaw didn't respond for a few seconds, similar to Birdkit, until he looked at Petuniaheart.

"Fine, maybe. I wonder why she didn't tell me much about SnowClan or AdderClan," he replied quietly.

Mountainpaw tilted his head in confusion. "Well, she is a good mentor, right? She's also my aunt, which makes us closer, and your mother is *my* mentor, too!"

Birchpaw nodded. "She *is* a pretty good mentor. I know Petuniaheart is a good mentor, too. Redwater told me especially so." He smiled at her, and she smiled back.

"Well, I still have to carry on duties, you know," Petuniaheart replied. "Being a daughter or mate of two leaders doesn't mean I should slack off or get special treatment." Birchpaw and Mountainpaw nodded in agreement with her, especially with the former being the youngest *child* or *grandchild* of two leaders.

Mountainpaw wondered if he should tell Birchpaw now. Birchpaw seemed to be stronger than most like Primrosepaw and Stonepaw, but he could still be very much affected by Birdkit, too. *But is Mousekit's news going to affect him adversely?* he wondered. He hoped not, because Birchpaw already seemed to have so much riding on his shoulders.

"Um... Birchpaw? Do you mind if... I told you some important but... *bad...* news?" Mountainpaw started cautiously in the form of a whisper.

Birchpaw just nodded worriedly, but said nothing. Petuniaheart also heard, however, and frowned at Mountainpaw's words. "What is it?" the new grandmother asked.

"Uh..." Mountainpaw inhaled sharply. "Mousekit... has too much mucus in her lungs...! She has trouble breathing."

The mother and son stared at their friend or apprentice for many moments with a shocked expression. *Apparently Lilypool, Rainpaw or Snowstar didn't tell anyone else other than me, not even their family members,* Mountainpaw thought sadly. It pained him too much to see such a big thing like this happening. How could he help Mousekit?

Finally, Petuniaheart was the first one to speak. Her expression seemed calm, but her tone was quiet and slightly worried. "Are Lilypool and Rainpaw doing anything to try and help?" Birchpaw just nodded slowly.

Mountainpaw nodded, and told them what the two medicine cats were struggling to do. Petuniaheart and Birchpaw looked like they did not want Mousekit to die either, but they were completely helpless in doing so, since they didn't know medicine. Primrosepaw also seemed helpless because she had barely learned any.

Meanwhile, Shadowclaw and Snowstar were in the same forest which eventually led to the cliff off into the creek that Primrosepaw fell into. They were trying to catch adequate prey, as they wanted to prepare for any sort of mishaps that could happen due to food absence.

Shadowclaw managed to catch five mice and one sparrow, and Snowstar three mice and three sparrows, which were pretty good enough.

"Should we catch any more?" Shadowclaw asked informally. "I know the prey pile is plentiful but..."

Snowstar shrugged, distracted in thought. "Well, we should take this haul back first." Shadowclaw frowned, because of his leader's tone. He knew he was also worried about Birdkit. The entirety of MoonClan was worried about her, including Shadowclaw. But warrior duties still had to continue, even if a newborn kit was diagnosed with a life-changing condition.

They both went back to camp, and also deposited the prey in the prey pile. They saw Petuniaheart, Birchpaw and Mountainpaw talking. About Mousekit. Shadowclaw wondered what about Mousekit they were talking about, until he heard about the subject.

"How will she survive with mucus in her lungs?" Mountainpaw wailed, putting his head in his paws sadly. Petuniaheart and Birchpaw's expressions looked sad but they didn't say anything, sort of like Swanpaw.

Snowstar's eyes were wide, but Shadowclaw gasped in shock. *"What?! What are you talking about!"* he exclaimed.

Snowstar's expression also became sad. He told his former apprentice in an apologetic tone, "Lilypool told me, Rainpaw, and apparently Mountainpaw about it. I didn't want to tell you not to worry you, but..."

Shadowclaw shook his head wildly. "No! N-Not after-after Goldenlily died!" A billion harrowing thoughts shot into his brain. *Mousekit! Don't die! Not for your siblings' sake! Don't DIE!* he screamed internally. He looked up at the stars and wondered if Goldenlily was seeing this. *I don't want you to join StarClan, too, Mousekit!* He didn't know what to do if that happened. He adored his sisters more than any tom did. If one died, he would feel like a failure, even if it wasn't his fault at all. For not being able to help even a teensy bit.

Swanpaw was still in the nursery. She was watching both Mousekit and Birdkit at the same time, and so were the other cats in the nursery. Before, Nightnose used to spend a ton of time in the nursery with Sandleap to make sure nothing terribly bad happened to her, but he still did some warrior duties. Now, he seemed to have become a queen himself, permanently staying in the nursery to watch over his daughter. Of course, this pissed off Stonepaw greatly, but Nightnose and Swanpaw couldn't care at all. Swanpaw was also with Primrosepaw and Begoniaclaw, who were monitoring Mousekit and Birdkit, too.

Birdkit was playing Chase with the other kits, but the older kits easily noticed how off Birdkit's playing was. But even Waterkit and Flowerkit started to notice, too.

When Birdkit was the chased, she usually didn't acknowledge it until it was too late and she got caught. And she didn't realize she got caught until Thymekit, Lilackit or Jumpkit had to remind her, which took her a few more seconds to process, and it made her really confused. The three older kits were fine with reminding her for the first few times. However, as Birdkit kept not noticing that she got touched until a few seconds afterwards (usually four or five seconds), the older kits started to show slight annoyance towards her behavior. When she was supposed to be the chaser, she usually kept missing the kits as they ran around the nursery. She only caught her sister, Flowerkit, twice when she stood still as she wanted to be the chaser instead.

"Uh... no offense, but is she fit for Chase?" Thymekit asked Sandleap, slightly annoyed.

Sandleap just became sad. "Maybe you need to go slower. I remember when Primrosepaw was a kit, her friends usually played the game slower," she said, trying to remedy the situation. Waterkit and Flowerkit got confused as they didn't understand why, but Thymekit, Lilackit and Jumpkit just nodded.

Primrosepaw nodded empathetically with Birdkit, too. "Yeah... they had to do... that, otherwise... I couldn't play... with them, which... would be sad... for me."

"Well, but I want to be active, though!" Jumpkit exclaimed. "I want to be a good warrior!"

"Me too! *Is* Birdkit going to be a warrior? Or a medicine cat?" Lilackit asked inquiringly.

Flipsnow explained, "Well, my kits, part of being a good warrior is being a good Clanmate to your fellow warriors. Birdkit is your fellow Clanmate, so you should also try to make her feel better."

"Maybe a medicine cat," said Birdkit out of the blue. "Medicine is cool!"

Rainpaw smiled. "See? She likes medicine. She doesn't *have* to be a warrior!"

Swanpaw was still watching them from a sitting position. Of course, she couldn't say anything to help Birdkit. She wasn't even sure if she could communicate with Birdkit, since the she-kit already had trouble with listening to sounds. Visual sign language was probably going to be next to impossible for her to decipher, since her thinking was delayed. But she smiled, letting Birdkit know that she was supportive of her regardless of her condition. After four seconds, Birdkit smiled back at Rainpaw and Swanpaw.

"Do you want to have a mate or kits, though?" Redwater asked cautiously. "You do need to decide this before you become a medicine cat."

Begoniaclaw nodded and frowned. "Yep, I can say it myself, being in *AdderClan* and all. The medicine cat after Amberleaf, Hollyclaw, became a medicine cat because her mother, Cougarlily, who was also Amberleaf's friend, wanted her to. So Hollykit accepted, however, when she became a medicine cat, she decided that she wanted kits, and was regretting becoming a medicine cat. Luckily she didn't break the rule, because she died from greencough."

Rainpaw nodded. Swanpaw wondered if Birdkit understood the entire explanation, because while she had no idea how it was like for Birdkit, she wondered if a ton of dialogue messed with her thinking. Nightnose looked at his daughter curiously.

Birdkit seemed to be thinking. Then she said, "I am a kit, though."

Flowerkit said to her sister, "Me too! But I like kits!"

"Me three!" Waterkit exclaimed cheerfully.

Rainpaw smiled. "Well, that is fine, you can always decide when you are older."

Suddenly, Swanpaw yawned, which made everyone look at her, including Birdkit after her usual time. It had sort of become instinctive for the entire Clan, including the newborn kits, to look at her whenever she moved, especially if she moved abruptly. Since that was the only way she could speak, anyway, even if it was an involuntary movement like yawning. She just smiled tiredly back at them.

Nightnose smiled back at his brother's apprentice. "Are you sure you want to stay here, Swanpaw? Maybe you can sleep here if you want."

Swanpaw just shrugged, which meant, "I don't know". She yawned once before, but after doing a little fighting training with Nutclaw, so not inside the nursery. She was feeling sleepy since she was here the entire day. *But no, I have to watch the kits.*

But then suddenly, Swanpaw frowned. She remembered someone very important. *Mousekit.* She and Petalkit were both sleeping next to Sandleap, so they weren't participating in the game. Rainpaw, Swanpaw and Primrosepaw were sitting next to Sandleap, just like Nightnose was, since both Mousekit and Birdkit were with her. Swanpaw prodded Mousekit slightly, to see if she would respond. She didn't.

Swanpaw blinked and patted her. She resented in a lot of situations where she couldn't speak, especially the situation where she had to wake someone up, if they had to do warrior duties, or something else important, so she usually ended up using physical force, which she excelled in the most, since public speaking was out of the picture, unlike Primrosepaw. Mousekit still didn't respond. She patted her harder.

By this point, everyone noticed what she was doing. Primrosepaw also frowned. "Uh... is Mousekit still sleeping?"

"Probably," answered Sandleap. "You should probably let her sleep, since she has *that* condition." She also frowned at the mention of the condition.

Primrosepaw just nodded slowly, however, Swanpaw had an awful gut feeling. That something was terribly and utterly wrong. She didn't know how to say this, but she frowned even more, the frown turning into a disquieted grimace. She patted the floor loudly, and Petalkit moved her tail very slightly. But Mousekit did not even move a whisker.

Everyone caught onto Swanpaw's unease sooner or later, and they looked at Mousekit. Rainpaw's frown copied Swanpaw's, and she also shook Mousekit. "Mousekit?"

*Suddenly, Swanpaw and Rainpaw gasped at the same time (Swanpaw making the motions for it). They pulled their paws away and looked at each other with a ton of shock. Swanpaw felt like Mousekit now. She started feeling like she couldn't breathe, and she looked outside the nursery, at the stars.* No. Not this.

*Mountainpaw shook his head at Shadowclaw.* "No, no! Don't worry! Surely! StarClan can't be testing us like this!"

*"How do you know it's StarClan?" muttered Birchpaw anxiously. "Maybe it's nature. StarClan can't do everything, especially things like* this!"

*Petuniaheart and Snowstar looked at their son with a perturbed expression. Snowstar started, "I think so, but still, we should pray that StarClan-"*

*Suddenly Rainpaw ran outside the nursery.* "OH NO! LILYPOOL! COME HERE! COME!" *she screamed at the top of her lungs.*

*Shadowclaw and Mountainpaw both gasped loudly at the same time. Other cats from their dens also came to see what was happening. All together they ran to the nursery.*

*Swanpaw had buried her head in Mousekit's pelt. Everyone in the nursery was as shocked as Swanpaw was, including the older kits. Petalkit had woken up by now, and looked like she was wondering what was happening. Then she looked at her littermate.*

*There was no pulse from Mousekit.*

*Shadowclaw and Icemoon gasped. The newborn kits were pretty confused what happened.* "No! MOUSEKIT!" *the two littermates said at the same time.*

*The rest of the Clan also gasped when they heard what happened. Mountainpaw drastically wondered how this could have happened.*

*Shadowclaw and Icemoon ran up to Mousekit, and Petalkit, Birdkit, Waterkit, and Flowerkit, seemed to be confused why everyone was sad, until Shadowclaw exclaimed,* "Mousekit! MOUSEKIT! WAKE UP! DON'T DIE! I FEARED THIS ALL ALONG!"

*"Me, too," murmured Birchpaw, standing next to Mountainpaw, his expression looking blank. Mountainpaw could say nothing. Neither could Swanpaw, even if she* could *speak. She wished for Goldenlily to come back along with Mousekit, but nothing happened. For a moment she thought she heard a voice.* Don't worry, Swanpaw. She's with me now. And Lightkit and Fallkit. *Swanpaw gasped.* Goldenlily.

*Icemoon started wailing loudly.* "NO! GOLDENLILY! MOUSEKIT! COME BACK FROM STARCLAN!" *she screamed at the top of her lungs. Shadowclaw sobbed, the grief of losing Goldenlily resurfacing. The queens, Nutclaw, Maplestripe, Sealbranch, Hailstream, Quailclaw, Zebrapaw, and Primrosepaw were next to Mousekit, too, and they also looked really sad, and they couldn't think of anything to say to comfort their troubled friends.*

*Petalkit was shocked as well. Then she also started wailing for Mousekit. Shadowclaw sobbed even more. The world started spinning and he couldn't make sense of anything anymore.* Goldenlily! MOUSEKIT! *he cried internally. Then he collapsed on Mousekit, too, her body getting cooler by the moment, trying to hide his face from everyone and everything.* GOLDENLILY! MOUSEKIT! *Then he heard a voice, like Swanpaw had.* Don't be sad, Shadowclaw. I took Mousekit with me, along with Lightkit and Fallkit.

*Shadowclaw blinked.* Lightkit? *He didn't know what to think about except that Mousekit went to StarClan peacefully, and stopped sobbing, but murmured, "There is no more life." He slowly started feeling dizzy from all of this... and everything turned black as he went out.*

### Chapter 26: Birdkit's Problems

Everyone was surprised at the revelation. Not that many cats were awake when it happened, but the ones that were there told the rest of the Clan.

Shadowclaw, Icemoon and Swanpaw's duties were paused yet again. Nightnose officially became a queen, so he could fully watch over Birdkit and Petalkit, since he cared about kits a *lot,* especially his own. Quailclaw, Zebrapaw, Mountainpaw, Spottedpaw, Primrosepaw, and Dandelionpaw had to comfort them again. Rainpaw and Lilypool both were depressed and didn't have the heart to gather or sort herbs.

When Zebrapaw thought about Birchpaw, it seemed like he was spending all of his time thinking at the prey pile, not really doing anything, not even training with his mentor, also Zebrapaw's mother. The newborn kits had never seen death before, so they were pretty confused about what was going on, especially Birdkit, whose learning was also slow, even at a quarter-moon old. MoonClan wondered if Birdkit's condition would improve when she got older, but there seemed to be no change at all. As for Petalkit, she was too sad to even move, and combined with her shyness, she looked like Mousekit while the latter was alive, even while awake. Begoniaclaw and Lilypool tried to comfort her, since of course, they also lost *their* littermate at one moon old, too.

Everyone was also confused how Mountainpaw knew about Mousekit's condition, especially Snowstar and Rainpaw since he didn't seem like a cat who would know about that. Later, Lilypool admitted that she told Mountainpaw because he seemed to want to know about what was happening to Mousekit.

But the weirdest thing happened. After Mousekit died, Goldenlily had appeared as a spirit and said, *"Mousekit is safe."*

After comforting Swanpaw in the apprentices' den, Zebrapaw walked to a secluded corner of the camp, wanting to get away from all this madness, and tried to forget about the event four days ago. He was about to sit down and think until he heard a gist of arguing. He perked up his ears to see where that awful screeching was coming from.

Zebrapaw realized the sound was coming from a secluded training area, the same one that Sandleap and him trained in on his first day, when Birchpaw, then Birchkit found them. He suddenly noticed saw Stonepaw and Nightnose, and they looked completely incensed at each other.

*Ah, Violetrain was right,* Zebrapaw figured humorously. The mentor and apprentice argued so much that it came to a point where it was getting hilarious, especially when Stonepaw was nearly a warrior. *I wonder if they will want to look at each other at all, much less touch noses, when she becomes a warrior.*

He sighed because it was getting ridiculous. He already noticed Stonepaw's stoicism towards Goldenlily and Mousekit's deaths, but she was being a total jerk to Nightnose, who was probably still mourning Goldenlily and Mousekit and scared for Birdkit. It could always happen to another queen sometime, even if not Sandleap, since Goldenlily's cause of bleeding was never really figured out. And Birdkit was Nightnose's daughter, who had a severe life-changing condition. It was still being debated if she could even be a medicine cat. Although Nightnose was probably being immature with his *first* apprentice, too, since he needed to spare *some* time for training. Nursery fathers who were also mentors usually still allotted their work time to training and other warrior duties, and the rest to spend time with their kits. Even nursery *mothers* did this with their apprentices.

*"Hey?! What is with this commotion?"* Zebrapaw snapped at them. Stonepaw and Nightnose immediately froze when they heard him, as they did when Forestcreek reprimanded Stonepaw and Icepaw.

He immediately continued, "I thought you were mentor and apprentice, not AdderClan and SnowClan! You need to be on good terms because of your important relationship!"

The mentor and apprentice did not reply for several moments, still seemingly shocked that Zebrapaw found them. He still continued, wanting to now address them one at a time, "Stonepaw, you should stop being a jerk to Nightnose. Don't you even know what happened?"

Nightnose slowly nodded after a while, but Stonepaw became furious. *"So?"* she snapped back at him. "Did Rosepetal do this sort of drama with him? Where did he learn this stupid behavior from?"

Zebrapaw noticed Dandelionpaw from the corner of his eye perk up from hearing her mother's name. She was in another area of this secluded place covered by trees, talking to Swanpaw, Rainpaw and Spottedpaw. Apparently Rainpaw and Swanpaw calmed down for a little bit, but they still looked sad. Spottedpaw and Dandelionpaw were still comforting them. Zebrapaw remembered Rosepetal was Nightnose's mentor before, and she had gotten pregnant with Maplestripe's kits a moon before he became a warrior, but she was still his mentor. Coincidentally, they were both the same age when they got their first apprentices; 15 moons.

"Didn't her parents already die or something? Also, coincidentally, Rosepetal had a kit with a special condition, but that was *after* Nightnose became a warrior. I think you are being too insensitive! What if Peonyclaw or Blazesky died?" Zebrapaw growled back.

Stonepaw winced at the mention of their mother's name. "I would probably mourn for a day or two then move on."

Nightnose's eyes widened with shock. He was about to retort but Zebrapaw interrupted him, *"Really? Is that your attitude about the Clan?"*

"Also, he's pretending as if Goldenlily is his real mother and Mousekit his sister, which she is definitely not," Stonepaw added angrily, completely ignoring what her brother said.

"But she means a lot to me!" Nightnose finally retorted. "She helped mentor me after Rosepetal got pregnant with Primrosepaw and Dandelionpaw, even if she isn't my real mother! After she gave birth to Swanpaw, anyway. But she's also my father's mate!"

Zebrapaw nodded in agreement with him. He was about to say something but Stonepaw interrupted.

"Oh yeah? If you want to mourn and monitor Birdkit, then spend your *free* time doing it!" she growled back. "I hardly remember training the past few days because you are spending *all* your time, including *work* time!"

Zebrapaw remembered Nightnose being glued to the nursery after Goldenlily's death, and especially after Birdkit's birth and Mousekit's death, until Snowstar, Watereye and Nutclaw told him that he should probably being doing some warrior duties in his time, which included training his apprentice. But after he did so, he always came back to Sandleap and his kits again.

He internally groaned. He had another reason, actually two more, to be angry at Sandleap and Nightnose. Since Sandleap became a queen, her mate was also worried for her, too. And since she got pregnant she had kits, one of which had a condition. *How did Birdkit get a condition anyway?* He couldn't find any sort of trigger for it, except Sandleap not really doing much as a queen.

"I sort of agree with Stonepaw. You should be doing more warrior duties, too, Nightnose! Especially since you have an apprentice!" Zebrapaw scolded him.

Now Nightnose was confused at his mate's apprentice siding with Stonepaw this time. "But-"

"But what? Warriors usually have to move on from death and other bad things eventually since they can't leave the Clan hanging! So you need to do your part, too," Zebrapaw continued with his discipling lecture. He thought about Rainpaw and Lilypool who were barely doing any medicine cat duties.

Stonepaw smirked at her brother in a way that said she appreciated his comments about her awful mentor, but he glared at her, too.

"But seriously, Stonepaw. Stop being a jerk to your *mentor!* Clanmates don't argue like this! I can't count how many times you have been mocking him for mourning Goldenlily and Mousekit and spending so much time with Birdkit."

Now both Nightnose and Stonepaw looked confused at who Zebrapaw was angry at, exactly. "Whose side are you on? This waste of a warrior or mine?" Stonepaw hissed at her brother.

Nightnose said nothing, but he looked tense at the black & white striped apprentice, probably remembering his nature again.

*"Sides? Who needs sides?! I am on MoonClan's peace's side! You both are becoming too much, you know!"* Zebrapaw's loud voice boomed throughout the area, causing the other four she-cat apprentices to notice what was going on, too.

Nightnose and Stonepaw looked completely lost for words now. The angry apprentice was about to leave, but he heard Rainpaw calling his name. His stupid name.

Rainpaw padded over to them, very surprised. "Zebrapaw! What happened?" Dandelionpaw, Swanpaw and Spottedpaw also came over urgently and nodded. It didn't look like they were sad anymore, but confused.

"Trying to teach them a lesson once and for all," Zebrapaw replied as if it was nothing.

Spottedpaw raised an eyebrow. "About their arguing? I thought it was weird, too. How can a mentor and apprentice be so irritated with each other?" She looked very confused now. "Flameeye is perfect for me. He understands my upbringing, since he said that his mother, Raindrop, and his paternal grandfather were kittypets, and goes slow with me about every single thing, trying to explain every single detail about Clan life and being in the wild."

Zebrapaw remembered Snowstar and Forestcreek's father was a kittypet, and the latter mated with a kittypet, too. So Flameeye and Redwater were mostly kittypet blood.

Dandelionpaw agreed. "Sealbranch is so nice to me and spends a lot of time with me, even though she is a deputy!"

Zebrapaw wondered how it was like to be a deputy or leader's apprentice, like Shadowclaw, Dandelionpaw, Maplestripe, Stormlight (Pinetail's brother and Moonstar's apprentice when the Clans were made), Daisyfoot and Littleclaw (who were Wisdomheart's apprentices when he was a deputy), but he *did* knew what it was like to have a queen mentor. *Not fun.*

Rainpaw also agreed. "Lilypool, being a medicine cat is calm and understanding, too. Like *her* mentor was, haha." She seemed to forget about Mousekit for a moment, which Zebrapaw thought was good since the Clan probably wasn't in a good position to handle any more cats mourning. The prey pile and herb pile started dwindling, albeit slowly, much to someone like Stonepaw's disdain.

Swanpaw just shrugged. Zebrapaw knew that she had a good relationship with her mentor, Nutclaw, but he also knew that Nightnose was Nutclaw's brother, so he wondered if she was biased towards her mentor's brother, who was also her mother's stepson, technically. Zebrapaw also knew that she would still be mourning for her sister, so she probably didn't have the attitude to deal with arguments like this. Of course, she couldn't say if that was true or not.

Stonepaw was blazing with anger at this point. *"Who invited you fox-brains in here!"*

The other apprentices didn't reply, except for her brother.

"Well, I wonder if *their* situation is an appropriate time to change mentors," he quipped. He didn't really care about his sister or her mentor's emotions at this point.

Spottedpaw seemed to agree with Zebrapaw. "Probably. But it might be too late, don't you think?"

Swanpaw looked at Zebrapaw weirdly, as if she was remembering his conversation with his mentor. Zebrapaw never liked being stared at weirdly by Swanpaw, Birchpaw, Rainpaw or Mountainpaw, but that was probably because he was remembering his awful skirmish between him, Stonepaw and all four of them that all started in the same place that they were all in right now.

He sighed, thinking about Stonepaw and Icepaw, and Stonepaw and Nightnose. His sister had a very terrible relationship with them both, but he wasn't sure where he stood with *them,* since Nightnose was partially the reason for his mentor not being able to train him for these last moons of his training, and Icemoon... he groaned at the mention of her name. She was the most annoying and love-struck she-cat he had ever seen. Stonepaw was probably better at this, but he worried what would become of her because of the way she was acting so far. She was his littermate, the only cat born next to him (other than that stillborn littermate). Of course he would worry the most about her. But he didn't know what else to think about them.

Shadowclaw and Primrosepaw were in the nursery, watching Birdkit. After Mousekit's death, Shadowclaw wanted nothing but to watch over Birdkit so she didn't die, too. At least Swanpaw and Primrosepaw managed to survive to apprenticehood, but he worried for Birdkit, despite her not being that related to him, just being his sisters' foster sister. But he felt the closeness of a younger sister in Birdkit all the same, like Mousekit was.

He remembered when he blacked out. It turned out Swanpaw did, too, and they both were in the medicine cat's den for a few hours before they came to. And remembered everything that happened. He sighed, wondering who Lightkit was and what Goldenlily was talking about. When he was told by Birchpaw, Icemoon and Snowstar that Goldenlily appeared as a spirit, Shadowclaw and Swanpaw had exchanged knowing looks. *Goldenlily spoke to us. Our mother. From StarClan.* Shadowclaw thought he was way more connected to StarClan than he ever had been before. *Is it because of Goldenlily and Mousekit?* he wondered spiritually.

Sandleap was sleeping, and so were Petalkit, Waterkit and Flowerkit, the other kits and expecting queens. Flipsnow and Redwater were training Robinpaw and Soarpaw. But Birdkit was still awake. Primrosepaw sighed, trying to get Birdkit to sleep, since she didn't want anything bad happening if she fell asleep, too.

"But I don't feel sleepy," Birdkit replied after a few seconds. Primrosepaw wondered if Birdkit's was schedule was also different from her mother and siblings' schedules, since she always fell asleep the last and woke up the last of them four.

Primrosepaw turned around and saw Shadowclaw fell asleep. *Huh, that's oddly different from before,* Primrosepaw thought perplexedly. Shadowclaw was the bouncy and energetic type of warrior, never sleeping in or slacking on duties. Until, of course, Goldenlily and Mousekit died.

Primrosepaw just sighed and looked back at Birdkit. She remembered when her father, Maplestripe, told her and Dandelionpaw a story of what happened to his much older brother and Lilypool's littermate, Fallkit. He was pretty much the same age as Mousekit when he died. He somehow contracted greencough in leaf-bare from Queenheart, now Queen, while nursing at three-quarter of a moon old, and died at one moon old. Lilypool, then Lilykit, got taken away from Queenheart when they found out since the Clan didn't want her to get greencough, too, but for Fallkit, it was too late. Fallkit's death made Lilykit want to become a medicine cat, so no other kit would die like that. *Well, Mousekit and Fallkit's deaths are grossly similar,* Primrosepaw thought disturbedly, as she remembered Lilypool not wanting to do any medicine cat duties. She now knew why Lilypool was acting like that. Maplestripe thought it was appropriate to tell his daughters about the story after Mousekit's death, because he wanted them to know what happened in the past. Primrosepaw didn't know if that was a good idea in the case of Dandelionpaw, though.

Now Birdkit was somewhat like her. Coincidentally, her mother, Rosepetal, and *her* apprentice, Nightnose, both had a daughter with a condition. *How peculiar,* was all she could think about that weird, terrible phenomenon.

But then, while she was thinking, Birdkit suddenly got a burst of energy. "Can I leave the nursery now?!" she squealed, but she didn't wait for an answer from the apprentice. She shot out of the nursery.

Primrosepaw gasped, and began internally regretting her condition again. She was glad Birdkit didn't have the exact same condition, but now Primrosepaw couldn't catch up with her. *"Birdkit! No! Don't leave the nursery!"* she yowled in a desperate manner, because most of her power came from her voice. But Birdkit didn't listen and went out of sight. *Hopefully she doesn't go out of earshot!* Primrosepaw thought, freezing right in place, remembering when she was only one-moon old Primrosekit, and she left camp trying to explore by herself out of boredom and to smell orchids and primroses. *She's not even* half *a moon old!*

Stonepaw just growled, "Well, Spottedpaw, you are literally born four moons after us! You will become a warrior way later than *we* will! How would *you* know what *I'm* going through?" Then she glared at Zebrapaw, directing her words to him. "We will become warriors in a *quarter-moon! A QUARTER-MOON! If Nightnose keeps doing this nonsense for my last quarter-moon of training, I swear to StarClan that I will complain to Snowstar!"* She sighed. "And wasn't Sandleap also getting on your nerves? I heard what happened."

Zebrapaw blinked, not knowing what to say. Of course, he also had his reasons to not like Nightnose or Sandleap. Zebrapaw sighed, since gossip spread like wildfire, so obviously Stonepaw, his only surviving littermate, would hear about him asking Sandleap those slightly intrusive questions.

"You had to train with *Violetrain* of all cats! Our *own* sister! If that happens, that shows great incompetence for the *real* mentors!" Stonepaw continued on her tirade. Nightnose and Swanpaw narrowed their eyes, as if they were going to claw up Stonepaw right now. Rainpaw, Spottedpaw and Dandelionpaw just looked worriedly at each other. Zebrapaw just shrugged, still not knowing what to say, since he was conflicted between StarClan righteousness and love for his littermate.

Stonepaw hissed, "Not to mention Birdkit! Ugh, at least our aunt Flipsnow could finish training Sandleap for a *few* training sessions after she gave birth to Mountainpaw despite having to nurse him but Sandleap didn't learn anything from her mentor and is being too-"

*"That's enough crowfood about Sandleap!"* Nightnose hissed at his apprentice. Swanpaw fiercely nodded. Zebrapaw also forgot Stonepaw hated Swanpaw and vice versa, just like Stonepaw hated Icemoon.

Then Zebrapaw sighed with resignation. "Well, you can compromise, right? Or train with someone *else!* If Nightnose is not up to par, then train with Violetrain or Blazesky *instead!* Or Flipsnow or Redwater or Sealbranch or Hailstream or Flameeye or Petuniaheart or whoever else has an apprentice, *too!"* He didn't mention Nutclaw as he knew Swanpaw wouldn't be happy. Not to mention Nutclaw was Nightnose's littermate.

Dandelionpaw and Spottedpaw looked like they wished Sealbranch and Flameeye were off the list. But Stonepaw stared at him as if she had never thought of that. Then she smiled as if he was a genius.

"Well, then, that is not so bad," Stonepaw said appreciatively. But then she frowned. "However, I don't know if those mouse-brains will do so."

"I doubt Snowstar or Blazesky will be happy if all of them reject. After all, it can give them experience to train another apprentice," Zebrapaw replied nonchalantly. "You can also train with me and Violetrain, too. Or Blazesky. I doubt our father is angry at you for many things, and he can still train you."

Stonepaw shrugged. "Well, okay. I will find Blazesky. Even if *he* is our father, he'll do a much better job than Night*kit* over here." Then she departed from the secluded area. Nightnose and Swanpaw were still glowering at her, but looked relieved when she left.

Zebrapaw looked at Swanpaw. Shadowclaw and Swanpaw had told everyone else that they heard Goldenlily speak to them, so it seemed like they got *some* solace after Mousekit's death, and they weren't that sad. But they seemed to be star-struck by StarClan instead.

"She called you a kit! What a disgrace of a Clanmate," Spottedpaw whispered to Nightnose a little angrily. The latter seemed to agree wholeheartedly, and so did Swanpaw and Rainpaw.

*So Spottedpaw also has an attitude?* he thought blankly. He knew Spottedpaw was a kittypet before so she would have seen some things Clan-born cats have never seen, but it looked like to Zebrapaw that she had an air of wisdom and knowledge about the Mountains somehow. As if she knew about all three Clans. *Well, it's probably not a coincidence if she has Mountain Lion blood, too.* Spottedpaw seemed to be thinking about AdderClan, but Zebrapaw's mind swirled around that word.

*No. Stonepaw wouldn't go* that *far... would she?* Zebrapaw worried. He had *some* faith in his littermate, but it seemed to be wavering by the moons, especially with her attitude about Snowstar, Nightnose, Icemoon, Swanpaw, and the terrible MoonClan events that have been happening so far.

*You are the only one to tame the beast,* said a voice in Zebrapaw's head all of a sudden. He was very surprised. It was Peonyclaw again, and he wasn't sure when he had heard that sentence in his head before, but somehow it seemed familiar. Then he figured out when. *Oh, wait. Our apprentice ceremony.*

"I don't know, maybe she'll change once she receives her warrior name," Zebrapaw hoped out loud. "Don't worry about her so much."

The other cats didn't seem to look convinced, but Spottedpaw and Swanpaw just shrugged in reply. Zebrapaw had no idea what to say so he left the secluded area, too, and looked around for Stonepaw.

Shadowclaw suddenly burst awake from his dream about continuously floating into the sky and seeing StarClan when he felt Primrosepaw shaking him roughly.

*"Shadowclaw! Birdkit ran out... of the nursery!"* Primrosepaw screamed. *"Can you run... after her?! I'm too... slow!"*

As soon as she mentioned Birdkit, Shadowclaw was alert. He got so shocked by what she said that he immediately nodded and bolted out of the nursery without thinking. He accidentally bumped into someone, and felt fur on his face.

"What happened?!" Zebrapaw exclaimed with shock, looking surprised that Shadowclaw suddenly charged into him. *"Did you see* another *StarClan cat?!"*

Shadowclaw got up instantly. *"No, Birdkit is* gone! *Can you help me find her?!"* he cried urgently.

Primrosepaw didn't wait for Shadowclaw, though. She tried to use her running skills (that were taught by Hailstream and Quailclaw) to go after Birdkit. She ran slowly and with short stops, she ran towards the direction Birdkit ran. "She ran... *that way!"* Primrosepaw pointed to a dense group of trees.

But then she froze. *Oh no. This is the path which* I *took to leave camp.* Zebrapaw and Shadowclaw saw where she was pointing, too, and remembered what happened almost seven moons ago. Their expression matched hers.

Nightnose, Rainpaw, Swanpaw, Spottedpaw and Dandelionpaw also figured out what was happening. Nightnose's expression looked terrified.

Shadowclaw bolted towards that path, and ran for a few seconds at high speed. He worried that he wouldn't find her, but to his relief, he saw Birdkit standing next to a berry bush. She seemed to be sniffing the berries.

"Birdkit!" Shadowclaw called out. Of course, Birdkit didn't acknowledge him, so Shadowclaw swiftly picked her up.

"What are those round things?" she asked unknowingly. But within two seconds she realized she was picked up and she exclaimed, "Where are you taking me?!"

"Back to camp, of course," Shadowclaw disciplined. "You're so young! What if something bad finds you!" Zebrapaw came right behind him and wondered what he was doing.

Birdkit said nothing, even after a few seconds, so Shadowclaw just took her back. But Zebrapaw noticed Birdkit start to become tired all of sudden, even though she was somehow energetic before. He shrugged and thought, *That's fine, right? She* was *supposed to be sleeping.*

Primrosepaw watched them leave and wondered when they'd come back. From the commotion, Sandleap, Petalkit, Waterkit and Flowerkit all woke up. They instinctively looked around for their daughter or sister (or foster sister) and became frantic when they couldn't find her.

"Oh no! Where did Birdkit *go?"* Flowerkit exclaimed in worry.

*"Primrosepaw! Where* is *she?"* Sandleap yelled in the same tone.

Primrosepaw's breath caught. "In-in camp... of course!"

Shadowclaw and Zebrapaw came back, but they both noticed her lethargic behavior, similar to Primrosepaw's. Then Birdkit looked like she fell asleep. They thought it was okay, but they still felt something was off.

Nightnose ran to his daughter and exclaimed, "Birdkit, are you *okay?!"* He looked extremely relieved and thankful at Shadowclaw and Zebrapaw. Zebrapaw thought that it was ironic because earlier, he was lecturing Nightnose about being a mentor.

But Primrosepaw saw Birdkit and wondered what happened. Until she suddenly got a bad gut feeling, similar to what Swanpaw had gotten when Mousekit died. "Birdkit?" she exclaimed uneasily. "Are you okay?"

Rainpaw, Swanpaw, Spottedpaw and Dandelionpaw were still watching, and Spottedpaw and Swanpaw became frightened, too. Rainpaw tried to check Birdkit's pulse to see if she was alive. Her face contorted into shock, and the parents, other apprentices and Shadowclaw feared the worst.

"Her pulse is moving really slowly!" Rainpaw yowled in sheer terror. She opened her niece's eyelids and Shadowclaw, Zebrapaw and Primrosepaw saw that they were dilated. She immediately got a tiny piece of yarrow and tried to feed it to Birdkit.

Applefall, Begoniaclaw, Thymekit, Lilackit and Jumpkit had woken up by this time and wondered what was going on until they noticed, too.

*"Oh no!"* Waterkit exclaimed in fear.

*"What happened to Birdkit?"* Applefall exclaimed, too.

Begoniaclaw's eyes widened. "Not... another kit." She seemed to be remembering Smoothkit and Mousekit.

"What is going on?" Lilackit asked anxiously.

Petalkit was silent, though. Primrosepaw looked at Petalkit and wondered what she must have been thinking, after losing a littermate four days ago. She felt sad that it happened, and that she didn't know how to do anything. And right now, she had no idea how to fix this, either. Rainpaw and Lilypool weren't in the mood to teach her anymore.

Finally Birdkit vomited, but she was still unconscious. Nightnose and Sandleap looked horrified in helplessness as they watched Rainpaw do their work. So were Shadowclaw and Primrosepaw as they couldn't do anything, either.

Zebrapaw was worried what would have happened. He thought about Stonepaw again. *If Birdkit dies, too...* he worried. Stonepaw had never told him this, but she always looked like MoonClan was getting on her last nerves, ever since Goldenlily's death, or maybe ever since she became an apprentice, of which Zebrapaw seemed to be the only one who noticed. He didn't want her to get so fed up with MoonClan that she decided to—

"She's awake!" Rainpaw exclaimed, which brought Zebrapaw out of his harrowing thoughts. Birdkit finally opened her eyes again, similar to what happened when she was born. Everyone was massively relieved and thanked Rainpaw for doing so.

After a few seconds waiting for Birdkit to wake up, Rainpaw asked her where she went, and what she did, to which the answer after another few seconds was, "I saw some slightly sweet-smelling berries, so I licked one before *he* came!" She sounded excited about it, and pointed to Shadowclaw. Shadowclaw remembered Birdkit still didn't know everyone's names, but he figured Birdkit must have learned *his* name since he was now in the nursery nearly full-time.

Rainpaw looked extremely worried. "What color were they? What did they look like?"

Birdkit looked like she was thinking. "Bright red?"

Shadowclaw and Primrosepaw gasped, and so did Sandleap, Nightnose, Applefall and Rainpaw. Begoniaclaw and Zebrapaw's eyes were wide. While not being medicine cats, they were still taught basic herbs and plants that were either edible or poisonous, of course, and that probably included Begoniaclaw, too.

*"Deathberries?!"* Rainpaw yelled in distress. *"Oh StarClan!"*

*"At least she didn't* eat *one!"* Shadowclaw exclaimed in shock.

Nightnose looked like he was about to faint, but Sandleap looked thankfully at Rainpaw and Shadowclaw, looking so relieved that nothing worse had happened.

Birdkit seemed to be confused at their distress, but she didn't seem to care why.

Out of the corner of his eye, Zebrapaw noticed Birchpaw staring at them from the medicine cat's den which was across the nursery. Shadowclaw and Primrosepaw spotted him, too. His expression was blank, as if he had no idea what to think about this situation.

All three were worried about Birchpaw because he had barely been communicating with the rest of his friends, just thinking at the prey pile not really doing anything, ever since Mousekit died. He still trained with Peonyclaw, but he didn't do much else.

Then after a few seconds, Birchpaw's expression turned sad, as if he was feeling helpless, too. *What is he thinking?* Neither of them knew. All they knew is that he was under distress.

Rainpaw sighed uneasily. "She will have to rest."

Primrosepaw nodded firmly. "Yes, she does. Birdkit... you *need* to go... to sleep when I *tell* you... to and *don't run... out* of the *nursery!"*

Zebrapaw raised an eyebrow. "How did she escape anyway?" Sandleap, Nightnose, Shadowclaw, Rainpaw and the other cats that were there seemed to be thinking the same thing.

Primrosepaw's face fell. Her condition wouldn't let her to catch Birdkit. Or she definitely... would have. "I *was* trying to... tell her to sleep... but then suddenly... she got *excited!* I *tried* to... tell her to *stop,* but... she *didn't listen* and... she ran *out!"* She sighed in despair. "I-I couldn't run after... her because..."

"We know," Shadowclaw said quickly, and Dandelionpaw and Rainpaw nodded. Shadowclaw's face fell, too. "It's *my* fault! I shouldn't have fallen *asleep!* I *could've* saved *Birdkit!"*

"No, no!" Rainpaw exclaimed. "It's-it's not *your* fault! Birdkit was too fast!"

Shadowclaw shook his head much quicker than he spoke, looking very guilty for his actions. *"No! I could have-"*

"No, it's neither of *your* fault. Weren't there *other* cats who should have been watching so she doesn't escape?" Zebrapaw interrupted strictly, looking at Primrosepaw, then Sandleap and Begoniaclaw. Primrosepaw felt uncomfortable because she managed to sneak out of camp since no one was watching, just like Birdkit.

Sandleap and Nightnose looked at each other worriedly. Zebrapaw and Primrosepaw exchanged looks, too. *How were they going to handle Birdkit?*

Shadowclaw had no idea what to do, and didn't want to look at anyone, feeling too shameful. He was thinking about many things that could have happened if he didn't catch Birdkit in time, or could have easily avoided by staying awake. Then he looked over at Birchpaw, who was still watching sadly, but he did nothing to help, just padding away with the same expression. Shadowclaw watched Birchpaw talk to his mentor, Peonyclaw, about something, and she nodded, her expression looking grim. Then they left MoonClan camp.

Shadowclaw missed the days where he could just have an excuse to train with Snowstar. But now he was a warrior. He wasn't dependent on a mentor anymore. He remembered his wish to postpone himself being a warrior, and recalled why. He also missed the days where all was fine, and Goldenlily was there to cheer him on. Now he felt like doing absolutely nothing but watch his sisters' foster sister, Birdkit. Snowstar and Sealbranch gave him some slack, but he said that after a quarter-moon, he should start doing some warrior duties again. Then he remembered Moonstar. The Battle of Moonstar's Death. The reason why Snowstar became leader.

*Oh, Moonstar! I am sorry that you got killed!* Shadowclaw internally exclaimed. *Please... no more hardships. No more!*

*Don't worry, Shadowclaw. You don't have to feel guilty,* a voice told him. He remembered it vividly. That mouse in reward for saving Quailclaw as kits. *Moonstar.*

Moonstar replied, *Yes, I am Moonstar. You couldn't do anything to save me, Goldenlily, Mousekit or Birdkit. You don't have to miss me, either, but you can still miss your family. However, you can be happy to be a leader's apprentice... that way you can have a much better standing in the Clan. If so, you can save yourself and the rest of your friends, and have Goldenlily be proud of you.*

Shadowclaw blinked for a few times before understanding what she meant. *StarClan. Goldenlily. Mousekit. Icemoon, Birdkit and Birchpaw. Primrosepaw and Zebrapaw and Stonepaw.* He blinked again. *And Lightkit, whoever she is.* He wondered if what he was hearing was real, but it gave him strength. *I need... to save them. Somehow. Or make them proud.*

Shadowclaw looked at Birdkit, and waited for her to look back. *"Don't worry, Birdkit,"* he started. *"We will help you no matter what."*

### Chapter 27: The Ceremony of New Names

The day had never seemed so frightening to him before. He had already reached the age, but now he was trembling in fear of what could possibly happen, already with Birdkit's problems and Mousekit's death, and Stonepaw's terrible relationship with Nightnose on top of that. His stupid name seemed so trivial and insignificant compared to all of those huge problems now. Which was precisely why he didn't want to complain about it before.

Sandleap smiled at her apprentice. "Looks like you don't need me anymore, soon-to-be former apprentice," she mewed, seemingly intending for a joke.

Zebrapaw sighed at her longingly. It was one of the rare moments he would be found in the nursery, and of course, it was to talk to his mentor and Nightnose. *At least there's no one in here to bother me and Sandleap, except for Nightnose, but he's mostly fine.* "It's not like I was fed up with you or anything," he honestly claimed. "It was the opposite. I wanted to spend more time with you since you were my mentor."

Sandleap shrugged. "But still, you don't need me to be your mentor anymore. You can train by yourself, and go on patrol with me when I am finished with kits."

Nightnose sighed in immense relief. "And I won't have to see that she-brat's face again."

Zebrapaw looked at him and mentioned, "You still have to touch noses."

At the mention of that, Nightnose looked like he was going to vomit. "Ugh, I forgot about that!"

"At least you don't have to make it long or meaningful," Zebrapaw tried to comfort him, but Nightnose still looked like he was regretting ever mentoring at all.

Zebrapaw wondered if Nightnose was going to get another apprentice at all. Sandleap still had a chance, of course, since she did nothing wrong, she only became a queen. But Nightnose... Zebrapaw knew that the black tom was acting a little too immature with his apprentice. Instead of trying to understand her or discipline her strictly, he started a huge feud with her by arguing with her. Zebrapaw thought Nightnose would have a bad impression about mentoring *any* other apprentice, just in case they happened to be like Stonepaw. Zebrapaw wondered if he thought he was extremely unlucky or cursed by StarClan to have such an apprentice when no other cat he'd heard of had such an apprentice. *Does he blame Snowstar?* he wondered, but he figured, *Hopefully not,* but it did explain sort of why Nightnose or Stonepaw never seemed to be that respectful to Snowstar, much to his dismay.

Zebrapaw just shrugged and continued, "You won't have to see her again. Or you could just tell Snowstar that you don't want to do it."

Nightnose shrugged back. *"Probably,"* was all he said.

*That proves my point,* Zebrapaw thought anxiously. He didn't want them to be mad at Snowstar. He wondered why they never asked to change mentors, or why Snowstar didn't change *them. Maybe they all didn't know what to do, or there's a rule like that.*

It was a quarter-moon from when Birdkit ate those deathberries, and it was the exact time Zebrapaw and his littermate would become warriors. *Finally,* he thought with relief. *At least I won't have to train with anyone anymore, especially Violetrain, like Sandleap said.*

Since Sandleap and Nightnose were too occupied, Violetrain and Nutclaw offered to do the exams for them (while Swanpaw was sleeping). Stonepaw was relieved Nutclaw was helping them, and probably thought he was the better of the two brothers, but Zebrapaw was mostly neutral to it. They had passed with flying colors (since they were exceptionally skilled warriors), so lastly they would need to become warriors.

He looked at the kits sleeping, especially Petalkit and Birdkit, and thought nothing of it. Sandleap just smiled. "Well, other cats are still sleeping since it's dawn. It will be *just* a little while." She looked at her mate and apprentice's expressions. Nightnose was just staring at Birdkit while Zebrapaw was looking at Sandleap.

Nightnose just nodded slowly. "I suppose so." Then he suddenly seemed to remember something, and turned his head back to the black and white-striped apprentice. "Zebrapaw, you said you wanted your name to be Whitestripe, right?"

Zebrapaw's eyes widened in recollection. *"Oh, yes!"* He straightened up. "Speaking of which, do you support my decision?"

Nightnose warmly smiled. "Well, yes, of course. It's *your* wish what you want to be named. I can easily get used to the prefix change."

Zebrapaw's eyes widened even more at Nightnose's swift acceptance of his desired name. Then he smiled back appreciatively, thinking that Nightnose wasn't so incompetent after all. "Thanks, I guess," he replied. *He* is *very friendly to other cats,* he couldn't help thinking.

Then Zebrapaw looked at Flipsnow, Begoniaclaw, Applefall and Redwater sleeping along with their kits. *There* are *a lot of kits in the nursery.*

He looked back at Sandleap who said, "I guess you can go now."

Zebrapaw nodded. "Okay, then. I will see you at the ceremony! Bye!"

Nightnose shrugged and grimaced, probably at the thought of touching noses with Stonepaw. "I guess."

Sandleap just smiled, though, and Zebrapaw smiled back at both of them and left.

The apprentice, soon to be warrior, looked at the warriors' den which he would soon be part of and saw Peonyclaw and Rosepetal talking about him and Stonepaw. He was confused why they were talking until he realized, *Oh right, Peonyclaw knew Rosepetal very well when the latter was a kit. Right.*

Zebrapaw looked around for Snowstar who should probably have been awake by now. He saw many cats eating their breakfast at the prey pile and smiled. *I will become a warrior now.*

Then he saw Snowstar jumping on Highrock. Sandleap and Nightnose came out of the nursery with opposite expressions, Sandleap excited and Nightnose disgusted.

The black and white striped apprentice saw his littermate eating a mouse, too, and she looked really happy, too. Zebrapaw then went up to Nightnose and whispered, "At least be happy you are free of her."

"Right," Nightnose murmured, not looking at him.

Everyone was gathering and looking at the two apprentices and their mentors in anticipation for new things. Violetrain also smiled at Zebrapaw, since she helped mentor him for the last three moons, of course. Zebrapaw thought that they all four were pretty gossip-worthy to the Clan due to the events that happened, especially with Birdkit's condition and Stonepaw's history.

Snowstar smiled at Sandleap and Zebrapaw in joy, but he seemed to ignore Nightnose and Stonepaw. *I think I might know why,* Zebrapaw thought dismissively. But Snowstar began, "I, Snowstar, second leader of the ambitious Mountain Clan known as MoonClan, call upon our warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn." His tail flicked in Zebrapaw and Stonepaw's direction. Peonyclaw and Blazesky looked really happy their youngest children were becoming warriors. Stonepaw genuinely smiled at her brother and he smiled back.

Snowstar continued, "By the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name, Zebrapaw. From this moment on by your request"—Zebrapaw smiled that he would be getting a new name, but Peonyclaw and Stonepaw's smiles diminished slightly—"under the moon, you will be known as Whitestripe. StarClan honors your skill, courage and resilience, and we welcome you as a full warrior of MoonClan."

Zebrapaw, now Whitestripe, beamed up at Snowstar and Sandleap, and touched noses with his official mentor. Violetrain padded over to her younger brother and touched her tail against his muzzle in a playful manner. "Good job, Whitestripe. I will miss the name Zebrapaw, but Whitestripe is a good change." Sandleap nodded.

The black and white striped warrior nodded. "I suppose so."

Snowstar looked in the direction of Stonepaw next. "By the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name, Stonepaw. From this moment on, under the moon, you will be known as Stonetooth. StarClan honors your skill, fiery personality and resilience, and we welcome you as a full warrior of MoonClan."

Stonepaw, now Stonetooth, beamed at Whitestripe in delight, too, and whispered in a kit-like enthusiasm, "Now we can do whatever we want! Aren't you glad?"

Whitestripe nodded back. "Yes, of course." Then he narrowed his eyes slightly and whispered back, "Within the warrior code, right?"

Stonetooth just shrugged in reply, still smiling. Then she seemed to remember Nightnose and suddenly frowned.

*"WHITESTRIPE! STONETOOTH! WHITESTRIPE! STONETOOTH!"* the entire Clan cheered repeatedly. Whitestripe looked around and saw everyone cheering for him, especially Peonyclaw and Blazesky. He noticed Shadowclaw, Icemoon, Swanpaw, Mountainpaw, Primrosepaw, Nutclaw and a few other Clanmates seemed to be only chanting *his* name, but he was okay with it. He didn't expect them to be chanting Stonetooth's name anyway.

Nightnose also seemed to be disgusted as he looked at his former apprentice, and she reciprocated his expression. They touched noses for less than half a second and immediately pulled away as if the sensation burned. *How are they going to act with each other in battle,* Whitestripe wondered for a moment, as he thought they should eventually forgive each other *someday.* If one was in danger and the other was the only one to save them, Whitestripe thought their grudge as mentor-apprentice shouldn't stop them from being saved or saving the other, otherwise that would surely be anti-warrior code and Clan disloyalty.

Finally the chanting died down and everyone congratulated Whitestripe for being a warrior. The new warrior felt extremely happy in this moment. More than the praises he got, he felt more freedom and higher in the Clan hierarchy now. It was the highest most cats got to, but few rose to deputy and even leader. Whitestripe wondered if *he* could possibly reach those positions, but he knew he'd need to work hard in order to get a chance at them.

Peonyclaw and Stonetooth looked at their son or brother as if they still regretted his decision to change his name, but Whitestripe knew they would get used to it eventually. Most of the Clan had already accepted it, including Spottedpaw, Birchpaw, Primrosepaw, Sandleap, Nightnose, Shadowclaw, Icemoon, Swanpaw and a few others.

The crowd dispersed within a minute or so, and Whitestripe felt peace again, but Peonyclaw, Birchpaw, Shadowclaw, Mountainpaw, Primrosepaw and Berrypaw were still with him. Stonetooth had sprinted to the warriors' den with glee by this time, and he was okay with that. But more than checking out the warriors' den or hunting with the rank of a warrior, he just mostly felt content that he was simply now a warrior. For a moment he remembered that stupid AdderClan warrior Windwing. *That stupid dung-brain will see my words come true finally. He thought my name was stupid, he thought I was a lowly apprentice, but now he will pay the price for-*

The new warrior was about to think of ways he can punish him for his terrible behavior, until Berrypaw's voice broke him out of his thoughts.

"Are you... happy?" Berrypaw asked shyly, looking at Whitestripe's paws. Whitestripe knew she was always like that with everyone, except for her mother, Mountainpaw and Thymekit. But she was also very friendly to everyone, and never acted out even once, even through all this trauma of bad events. She was mostly interested in comforting Mountainpaw and Thymekit through those ordeals.

"Of course, Berrypaw," Whitestripe replied warmly. He looked at everyone's faces, and as he expected, all of them were very proud of him.

Mountainpaw looked at Berrypaw and said, "We're going to be warriors soon, too, in two moons!" Then he also smiled at his best friend Birchpaw. "Along with Birchpaw and Swanpaw." Berrypaw brightened at his words and nodded. Birchpaw also nodded and smiled slightly but it looked like he was still worried about something.

*Is he traumatized from all those incidents?* Whitestripe wondered darkly. Birchpaw wasn't the type to him to be easily traumatized by Clan events, but he remembered that Birchpaw usually took serious things seriously. Maybe *too* seriously.

But then Shadowclaw bantered, "And then we can all go on our first ever warriors patrol! Where we're all warriors! And don't forget to bring back a lot of prey, because we're going to have a grand feast that day!"

Whitestripe and Mountainpaw both laughed, and Berrypaw and Birchpaw smiled again. Peonyclaw also smiled at Shadowclaw.

"Ahem... remember me?" Primrosepaw spoke up using her usual booming volume, but with a glint of humor.

Shadowclaw looked at her apologetically and added, "Primrosepaw can join to have a bit of a taste of warriorhood. And she can join in for the feast! And she'll be treated like a warrior, too!"

Swanpaw was watching from the nursery, probably also listening in, and she smiled. Whitestripe smiled at her, too, and her smile increased. But when he remembered Swanpaw, he also remembered the cat who could only seem to think about him, who was also Swanpaw's older sister and Shadowclaw's littermate.

*Where is Icemoon?* wondered the warrior in moderate confusion. *I thought she'd be over the* moon *or something about me joining her ranks now.* Icemoon was always eyeing him in a seductive way ever since he became an apprentice, probably, for a reason he had no idea what it could be. Maybe even before, but he didn't know about that. And Icemoon was always trying to flirt with him a lot, even on patrol, and always considered his kindness to her as mate love. But the good thing was she didn't even care once that Whitestripe wanted to change his name as a warrior, and she only supported his decision like Spottedpaw and Birchpaw did. If she truly liked him, wouldn't she be here now? Even if she just wanted to mate with him since they were both warriors now (but the thought of that was very disturbing to him). He decided to ask because it would probably bother him for the rest of the day if he didn't know.

"I had been wondering, where's your littermate that's always crazy about me, Shadowclaw? Surely you must know."

To his surprise, Shadowclaw started laughing, and Mountainpaw and Primrosepaw joined in. Even Peonyclaw and Swanpaw's smiles twitched with humor. Whitestripe looked at all of them with slight confusion but then he remembered exactly what he said. *Right, this probably comes off as love.*

"Do you actually have feelings for her, then?" Shadowclaw joked, still heckling at Whitestripe's misunderstood question.

"No, of course not," replied Whitestripe calmly but firmly, like a proud warrior would.

"Really? Not even... a swirl of fur's... worth?" Primrosepaw added to the blend of jokes.

"I *still* remember you touching noses the first day Berrypaw, Swanpaw and I became apprentices," Mountainpaw laughed.

"You know what I'm asking, right," Whitestripe sighed. *MoonClan cats* sure *love to gossip about love and kits. Those two are* the *main topics of gossip.* He looked at Birchpaw to see if he would say anything but Birchpaw just seemed preoccupied with something.

Thankfully, Peonyclaw answered without teasing him *that* much, "She said that she wanted to get a surprise for you, apparently. I mean, you *should* probably think about her." Shadowclaw, Mountainpaw and Primrosepaw all nodded. *The apprentices are all probably learning gossip humor from Shadowclaw, aren't they.* But with the exception of Birchpaw, seemingly, and Whitestripe looked at him again, but then back at Peonyclaw.

"I can think later," dismissed Whitestripe at that last part. "But what surprise does she have?" he asked in confusion. *Icemoon doesn't think I'm going to be flattered, right?* "A rabbit the size of a boulder? I can hunt by myself, you know. I'm not a kit, or even an apprentice anymore."

"That would be good for you, though. A day without needing to hunt because someone else is giving you food, wouldn't that be relaxing?" Shadowclaw laughed with mirth.

Whitestripe flicked his tail. "That will happen when the prey starts breeding like crazy and we have surplus even in leaf-bare. Probably not, as a warrior needs to do warrior duties. Or if you're a queen, but I'm not a she-cat."

"I was just pulling your tail," Shadowclaw replied apologetically. "I know you are an exceptionally diligent and selfless warrior, and you won't take a break even if you're tired." Finally Whitestripe smiled at him with appreciation. Shadowclaw was also a kind and grateful warrior, and Whitestripe liked those qualities in him.

Finally Birchpaw spoke, but rather awkwardly, which caught the surprise of everyone. "Um... to add to what Whitestripe said, didn't Nightnose become a queen?"

"I know of that," said his mentor softly. "You can't blame the young tom, he's been under too much stress lately. He needs some considerable amount of time to heal."

Shadowclaw and Primrosepaw's face fell. "I remember... Birdkit," Primrosepaw muttered almost silently.

"I guess she's okay but..." Shadowclaw sighed in a forlorn way, trailing off with his expression becoming sadder and sadder by the moment.

Mountainpaw and Berrypaw looked at each other, frowning greatly, and Swanpaw also looked sad.

Whitestripe flicked his tail with discomfort and looked at Birchpaw again. *Did Birchpaw know they were going to talk about that?* To him, this was definitely not how Birchpaw would normally act like this. *Only because of the incident, right?* He didn't know why it hit Birchpaw harder than the others, even through his ceremony, but Whitestripe didn't know how he could possibly help. *I'm not really the best cat to comfort someone else...*

"Um, you don't need to be sad," said Birchpaw even more awkwardly. "I was just thinking."

"What were you thinking about?" Mountainpaw asked in a very worried tone. Peonyclaw nodded in inquiry, wondering the same thing as her nephew. Whitestripe was, too, as he didn't know what Birchpaw was thinking.

"Um..." Birchpaw drawled, and Whitestripe thought he looked uncomfortable before, but now he looked the most awkward yet. "I was thinking about Swiftclaw." Then he blinked in surprise about what he said.

Everyone's face contorted in shock, including Whitestripe.

"Why are you thinking about *him* of all cats!" Whitestripe exclaimed. The other cats seemed to be thinking the same thing, except for Peonyclaw who now looked uncomfortable, too.

"Wait, how do you-" she started, but Birchpaw interrupted, *"Nothing, I just..."* Then he paused for a moment in perplexity, then continued, but with curiousity replacing his awkwardness before, "Wait, do you know who Swiftclaw is?"

"He's the brother of Briarstar, obviously!" Shadowclaw said before Whitestripe could. Birchpaw blinked for a few moments until it was his turn for his face to contort into shock.

"Wait... *what?"* Birchpaw said in immense bewilderment. Then he looked at Peonyclaw in shock. Peonyclaw opened her mouth but closed it almost immediately, then looked at everyone else.

The other cats were perplexed now, including Whitestripe. *Did Birchpaw actually not know?* he wondered with disbelief. *How is that...* He had no idea how it was possible that his mother did not teach Birchpaw about Swiftclaw, after *six* moons of apprentice training. Not even the simple fact that his sister was the rigid and unyielding Briarstar. Then suddenly Whitestripe felt a little angry. From what he knew about Birchpaw, he knew he was usually a curious and inquisitive cat. He didn't understand at all why Peonyclaw would withhold such important information about other Clans.

*"Hey, Peonyclaw, why didn't you tell him?!"* Whitestripe hissed. He didn't really care much that she was his mother at this point, but he felt like the information was necessary, so that Birchpaw can have a better sense of his neighbors. *Imagine if Birchpaw meets Swiftclaw or Briarstar or her kits face to face. If he has no idea who they are then...* He internally shook his head. Birchpaw was the one who tried to warm up to him and become his friend, and therefore, became friends with everyone else. Birchpaw was an outgoing, kind and friendly cat who wanted to be friends with everyone in the Clan. Of course Whitestripe cared about him a lot.

The other cats were still very bewildered, as they looked between Birchpaw and Peonyclaw with wide eyes. Primrosepaw looked even more stupefied than the others, probably because she was younger than Birchpaw but she still knew about it from Hailstream. Even Swanpaw from the nursery looked shocked. Other cats were watching and listening in, but they only started paying attention after they heard that Birchpaw didn't know who Swiftclaw was, including his parents Snowstar and Petuniaheart. Birchpaw was only looking back and forth between Shadowclaw and Swanpaw for whatever reason Whitestripe didn't know, but it didn't really matter to him.

Peonyclaw groaned. "You-you wouldn't understand, Whitestripe. Or anyone else." That only made Whitestripe angrier.

*"What?! What good reason is there not to tell him?! How will he deal with SnowClan, then?! What other things didn't you tell?! Things in* AdderClan?!" he yowled.

Birchpaw looked a little embarrassed, but he was still looking between Shadowclaw and Swanpaw. Other cats from around the camp started to notice Whitestripe's volume, and looked like they wondered what could have happened since his ceremony. Peonyclaw narrowed her eyes at her boisterous son but didn't say anything. Finally Flipsnow came out of the nursery with Thymekit, Lilackit and Jumpkit following her with confusion and said cautiously, "That's... okay, right? I can teach him along with Peonyclaw." Then she gave her sister, Peonyclaw, a look which Whitestripe could not decipher. But it probably meant, *Why didn't you teach him?*

Birchpaw was looking at his paws now, looking even more embarrassed than before. Then Mountainpaw tried to comfort him, "Um, no need to be embarrassed. I guess Peonyclaw wanted to... protect you."

Whitestripe scoffed at his cousin. "For *six* moons? I cannot believe this!" Then he shook his head and sighed. "Birchpaw, Swiftclaw is Briarstar's only littermate and only sibling. Swiftclaw is very loyal to his sister and doesn't like anyone breaking the warrior code *at all."*

Birchpaw's face contorted into shock again, but this time it looked more anguished. "Wait... *what?!"* he repeated, but more urgently and anxiously than before. *"Are you... sure?"* Peonyclaw sighed in what was probably defeat and looked at the sky.

Whitestripe nodded. "Of course. Briarstar also has kits named Crystalwing, Thundermoon and Gravelpaw. Gravelpaw died when he was still an apprentice, but like his siblings, he also supported his unyielding mother's leadership."

"Does Swiftclaw have a mate...?" Birchpaw asked slowly, still seemingly stuck about Swiftclaw.

"No," filled in Shadowclaw. "He's probably not going to have one either, but boy, he sure is annoying." He flicked his tail in anger. Birchpaw stared at him in a strange way before Whitestripe continued.

"Ugh, and there's Blackwater, who for some reason also supports Briarstar," he added. Suddenly, all of a sudden, Peonyclaw's expression became dark and Birchpaw was even more shocked. "Black-Blackwater?! Isn't-isn't-I thought-" he said, but he caught eye of Peonyclaw's commanding stare at him and immediately shut up.

*What was that even about...?* Whitestripe wondered in the most confusion he had ever experienced. It suddenly occurred to him he had no idea about the dynamics of Birchpaw and Peonyclaw's relationship, or how exactly it was. He had an idea it must be sort of strict, but he didn't know that they were *probably* trying to keep a secret of some sort. The details of his sister's and his mentor's mate's relationship were pretty clear because they usually argued a lot. But Birchpaw and Peonyclaw... he wasn't sure if he should ask Birchpaw, but after he figured out Peonyclaw didn't tell Birchpaw anything, he very much thought there was something fishy going on here and he wanted to know.

"His mate is Whitelight, if you do know that," Flipsnow said almost quietly. "At least she doesn't agree with her mate but..." she trailed off. Her expression looked pained for some reason, but Whitestripe thought it was because Blackwater was terrible anyway. But then Birchpaw looked at Flipsnow understandingly for some reason, and her expression softened. *Are Flipsnow, Peonyclaw and Birchpaw having a secret conversation through their minds?* Whitestripe wondered. The expressions of all of them three probably confused him even more than Birchpaw got confused at Swiftclaw.

Then Peonyclaw groaned, "Alright, you can all stop explaining to him now. You're making him overwhelmed." She straightened up and narrowed her eyes even more to look menacing, and glared at her sister and son. "I can teach him in one of my training sessions later. Right now, stop talking about that. Aren't we supposed to be celebrating Whitestripe's ceremony?"

"Yes, yes, of course!" Shadowclaw exclaimed. "You know, we should be glad for him!"

"I saw his ceremony, and I wanted to become a warrior even more!" pointed out Thymekit excitedly. Whitestripe ignored the fact that everyone was ignoring Stonetooth, because he obviously knew the reason why. *But* I *can't really ignore my littermate. I don't think I can, since she's the only one I talked to in kithood other than Peonyclaw.*

"Me too!" said Lilackit humorously. "I bet I can be a better warrior than you!" She poked Thymekit playfully. "Maybe I can be his apprentice, I know he's very good at fighting, so I can be that better warrior!" Whitestripe hadn't thought about mentoring anyone when he became a warrior, but he started thinking about it now.

"I know Whitestripe is a good warrior, too," Jumpkit said admiringly. "Maybe we can throw a mossball and see who catches it first and gets him as our mentor!"

"Maybe, but I know Violetrain is great, too. I've got everything set out for me," joked Thymekit back. "Also I'm older than you both, so I'll be an apprentice and a warrior first."

"I know that, obviously. Violetrain and Whitestripe *are* both siblings," pointed out Jumpkit.

Primrosepaw nodded. "It *is...* pretty good." She still looked very uncomfortable, however, as she kept touching her front paws together and looking down at them.

"Yeah, I guess you should calm down, Whitestripe. This was *your* ceremony after all," Flipsnow agreed with Peonyclaw. Whitestripe sighed at his aunt in exasperation, but nodded. Flipsnow smiled at his silent obedience, then looked back at Peonyclaw. "Let's eat, shall we?" she continued. Most of the cats became relieved when she said that, and the three kits excited, except for Birchpaw.

Whitestripe looked at him and saw he still looked embarrassed. He decided to say *something* so he wouldn't feel left out. "Hey, I'm sorry that she didn't tell you about that."

The dark brown apprentice shrugged. "I didn't really care about it, though. I didn't mean to make everyone sad or shocked."

Whitestripe nodded. "That's still okay. Come on, don't be sad on the day of my ceremony."

"I guess so," Birchpaw said. "I was just thinking about it because it bothered me."

"Maybe." Then he suddenly remembered something. If Birchpaw didn't know about Swiftclaw at all, where did he hear about him? He decided to ask him. "I just remembered, where did you hear about him?"

"Um... From someone else," said Birchpaw slowly and cautiously. "I was eavesdropping on someone who was talking about it."

*Right, obviously. How else?* Whitestripe just nodded and replied, "Okay, that's cool." Birchpaw just nodded back in response.

They were all at the prey pile now and talking about Whitestripe now. Finally, after what seemed like moons, Icemoon came back to camp with three rabbits. Whitestripe was secretly glad *she* of all cats wasn't there while they were talking about Birchpaw, because he didn't know just *how* she would have reacted. He was also glad Stonetooth wasn't there either.

Icemoon spotted him and ran over to him. "Hey, I'm back! And I got three rabbits for you!" she exclaimed happily after putting the rabbits down.

Whitestripe shrugged in mock dismissal. "Great job, but please give them to Lilackit, Jumpkit, Thymekit or another kit instead. Kits and elders first!"

"What an excellent idea, my good friend!" Shadowclaw asserted with glee. Then he looked at his littermate and said, "You will listen, right?"

Icemoon deposited the rabbits in the pile and said, "Fine, *older* brother Shadowclaw. No need to rub it in my face."

"I don't need to do that because it's already in your face!" Shadowclaw cracked a joke and most of the people laughed, including Whitestripe. Even Peonyclaw, Icemoon and Birchpaw smiled. *Apparently Icemoon isn't even denying it anymore.* Thymekit, Lilackit and Jumpkit eagerly took the rabbits and tried to measure which one was the biggest of the three.

"All right, stop yapping like a sly fox. Say, did you miss me, Whitestripe?" Icemoon frivolously groaned at her brother.

"I won't miss someone if they're just out for patrol," Whitestripe replied nonchalantly. He remembered his name again and was happy everyone caught onto it quickly.

"But you are still friendly with Icemoon, right?" Mountainpaw asked him in the same tone as Shadowclaw's. Whitestripe remembered Icemoon and Mountainpaw were sort of friends, ever since Birchpaw invited him to that first game they all told Whitestripe about, and he got to be Icemoon's apprentice for a while. So Whitestripe sort of understood Icemoon better now. He nodded in reply to Mountainpaw.

The only thing left for him to think about was Stonetooth, and he wasn't sure how she would survive in the Clan if almost everybody in the Clan hated her or at least wasn't fond of her, especially now being a warrior. It seemed to him even Snowstar the leader probably didn't like her, and definitely wouldn't give her any apprentices. If all the cats who hated her had kits, they'll definitely not want Stonetooth to be their kits' mentor. But Stonetooth didn't seem to like kits either, which was okay with Whitestripe. He wasn't really *that* interested in kits either.

But he hoped Stonetooth would be better as a warrior, and learn from her mistakes as an apprentice. *Surely,* he thought, *she was a well-behaved kit, so what about now?* He wondered if she was just going through a phase of some sort as an apprentice, as silly as it sounded to him, but he truly hoped to StarClan that Stonetooth learned and would later apologize to everyone for her mistakes.

*After all, she's my littermate.* And he sincerely hoped Stonetooth would swiftly accept his new name, too. They shared their apprentice and warrior ceremonies, and they shared their parents and their mother's womb together. *Hopefully, she will become better.* He looked up at the bright sun, squinting his eyes, and remembered Goldenlily, Mousekit and Birdkit. *Hopefully better things happen now that we're warriors. Hopefully to StarClan. Hopefully the Clan would look forward to new things.*

### Chapter 28: A Final Goodbye

Whitestripe went on patrol with his sister, Stonetooth, to the usual place where tons of bad events (but one was probably bittersweet) had happened, Rabbit Residence. They were already half-moon a warrior, and ever more confident in their duties, and they thought they could handle the AdderClan border since they were now warriors. But Whitestripe's confidence in Stonetooth at the time of their ceremony started fading for a reason he couldn't put his paw on. *Was it just euphoria from moving up in the ranks?* he wondered with some fright. The devoted brother didn't want to lose this confidence, but he just couldn't seem to keep it no matter what he did.

He had noticed some weird behavior in Stonetooth lately. Delightfully to him, Stonetooth stopped trying to argue with anyone or act boorish or closed off to anyone, especially Nightnose or Icemoon or Swanpaw. And she was friendlier with her littermate than ever before, even accepting his new name, and not commenting once on him hanging out with the other Clanmates whom she usually hated as she did so before. But at the same time, it seemed as if she started becoming more detached from her other MoonClan Clanmates, and she didn't even talk to a single one of them about *anything.* In discussions and announcements, she mostly just kept silent and didn't contribute a single word, only nodding and blinking in response to what someone said. No one referenced her in those discussions anyway, but it was still odd to Whitestripe. She mostly just ate, slept and went on patrol by herself or with someone else (usually himself) for long periods of time. And the only cat she conversed with was *him.* And sometimes Begoniaclaw, too, about AdderClan, as strange as it was to him.

Whitestripe didn't have much experience to to be sure what it meant, but from his common sense, he could safely say that Stonetooth wasn't acting normally.

He didn't want to embarrass her or annoy her by asking, though, so he kept quiet for the entire half-moon. But he always wondered what could be wrong.

His thoughts were interrupted when Stonetooth meowed, "Hey, mouse-brain, be focused on your surroundings! Our sister and your mentor told you about this, right?!"

Whitestripe stopped and groaned. "Of course, Stonetooth, how do you think I passed the exam with you?"

Stonetooth just shrugged. "I know, obviously, but being preoccupied with your thoughts on patrol is very unlike you." She frowned. "Reminds me a lot about Birchpaw."

*So I'm not the only one acting off, then,* Whitestripe thought observantly. MoonClan was exceptionally grateful to StarClan that nothing bad happened in the entire half-moon since his ceremony. The moon before and following Shadowclaw, Icemoon and Quailclaw's ceremony was the hardest and traumatic period for everyone, especially the younger cats like themselves because they had never experienced this before, only heard about it from queen or elder stories. And it seemed like Nightnose, Shadowclaw, Icemoon and Swanpaw were hit the utmost hardest by it.

*And Stonetooth the utmost least,* Whitestripe remembered. Before, he thought Stonepaw was probably being selfish and apathetic to the entire ordeal. But as he thought about it now, he wondered if she was trying to be a strong, perseverant and sacrificing figure for the Clan back then, despite being an apprentice. But it didn't seem much like that to him, for some reason.

"Says the cat who's also acting off," he scoffed at his sister. "You barely converse a word with anyone nowadays except with me and Begoniaclaw. Not even the leader or deputy."

A flash of surprise crossed Stonepaw's face for a tiny moment, but it quickly disappeared as fast as it came. "Better than wasting my time arguing with them. I'd rather be a good Clanmate."

Whitestripe's hope in Stonetooth started coming back at those words. "I suppose so. Good for you."

She smiled in what was probably a genuine way. "Good for you, too."

Whitestripe nodded, but suddenly spotted a mouse running at a quick speed. He pounced on it and easily caught it, due to his excellent training. Then Stonetooth spotted a sparrow perched on a tree. She climbed an adjacent tree to it and pounced on it, and also easily caught it.

"We're good hunters," commented Whitestripe with pride.

"I know. MoonClan should be happy to have us," Stonetooth said almost haughtily, but with a pinch of humor. But then for a moment it seemed like a flash of uncertainty crossed her face again, but it disappeared as well. Whitestripe felt uneasy at those brief change of expressions happening twice, but he suppressed the urge to comment on it.

*Stonetooth isn't a cat to let anyone know or solve* her *problems,* he knew thoughtfully. *Even me, her most devoted littermate.*

So he just nodded and buried his mouse, then continued searching for prey.

After they acquired a moderate haul of prey, they went back to camp, and they saw it was late evening. Then they deposited it in the prey pile.

"If it were leaf-bare, we'd be praised greatly," remarked Stonetooth with the haughty but slightly frivolous attitude again.

"Sure, but we wouldn't be getting this much prey," pointed out Whitestripe pensively.

"We would still get more prey than the other warriors. Like you-know-who." She rolled her eyes in a mocking way towards a specific third person.

"Still thinking about your former mentor?" He raised an eyebrow. *Nightnose is a good cat in general, but maybe a bit too emotional for a tom warrior,* he reflected. He thought his conclusion of Nightnose was mostly accurate, but he still wondered about the black warrior's relationship with his first apprentice.

Stonetooth flicked her tail. "Well, he's being a queen even though he doesn't need to nurse or be pregnant at all, or ever. So he definitely fits."

"I suppose so," was all what Whitestripe replied, then he started eating a hare. Stonetooth departed from the prey pile with a big mouse and walked over to Begoniaclaw in the nursery.

Suddenly he remembered Birchpaw and saw he wasn't here. He checked the apprentice's den while carrying his hare, and saw Birchpaw was sleeping. Then he checked the warriors' den and saw Peonyclaw was also sleeping.

*They probably trained,* Whitestripe figured. He wondered if Peonyclaw told Birchpaw everything about external Clan affairs yet, because it didn't really take that much time to explain about SnowClan and AdderClan, considering they had an air of mystery about them. He also heard about the Mountain Meetings where all three Clans had to gather and explain their ideas and conflicts with each other (and some cats from different Clans also became friends), of which the last one was two moons before he became an apprentice. *That's an awfully long time for things in the other Clans to change,* he knew, especially since he heard in the Battle of Moonstar's Death, Fangstar had become the leader only a moon before the battle, and a moon after the last Mountain Meeting. He had no idea how Briarstar was doing or if she died yet, but he knew something in SnowClan was wrong, considering Peonyclaw told Snowstar some odd details of Briarstar making a mess of SnowClan.

Whitestripe went back to the prey pile and finished his hare. He wondered if he should sleep, but decided not to since he wasn't tired. So he tried to figure out what Stonetooth was doing in the nursery while still at the prey pile. Then he saw something strange.

Begoniaclaw patted Petalkit and Birdkit's heads gently while they were sleeping, and looked proudly at all the other kits who were also sleeping. Stonetooth briefly smiled at her then whispered something to her. Then Begoniaclaw nodded and they both started padding out of the nursery. No one noticed because everyone was sleeping in the nursery, and so were nearly all the warriors.

Whitestripe was secretly a tad bit glad he didn't go to sleep, because he wondered what they were doing. Begoniaclaw didn't have to nurse or do any queen duties anymore for about a moon, but she still usually stayed in the nursery to entertain the kits and queens about AdderClan, and other cats usually brought prey to her, like the kits or Stonetooth or Shadowclaw.

*Maybe she's just stretching her legs, and trying to get a snack,* Whitestripe figured, trying to dismiss it. *I should probably stop worrying so much about small things. My concerns probably just have to do with Stonetooth's odd behavior.*

Then they walked toward the prey pile. Stonetooth and Begoniaclaw noticed him and they both greeted him.

"Whitestripe, what are you doing?" Begoniaclaw asked nicely.

"Just eating," the concerned warrior replied honestly. *Well, I finished my food just a couple of minutes ago.*

"Alright, we're eating, too," said Stonetooth brightly. "Say, aren't you going to sleep?"

Whitestripe stared at her. "I could say the same to you."

Stonetooth shrugged. "I'm just not tired."

"Well, me either. So I guess I'm just thinking."

"Thinking at the prey pile? Again, you remind me of Birchpaw."

"You're not mad at Birchpaw, are you?" Whitestripe hoped not because Birchpaw was one of the few cats who didn't wish to claw her up if she weren't their Clanmate.

"Not really, but he is thinking *way* too much after Birdkit's birth and Mousekit's death."

Whitestripe just shrugged in response because he didn't know what to say. It *was* technically true.

"You still have *some* respect for your Clanmates, right?" Begoniaclaw asked Stonetooth seriously.

Stonetooth shrugged again. "Probably."

Whitestripe narrowed his eyes at her. "Probably?"

His sister glared at him back. "Well, you can't force me to like them, you know."

"We're not, but you still should *respect* them in the sense of a warrior," said Whitestripe. "Like how you respect me."

Stonetooth looked sad for a moment but then she became solemn, although she didn't say anything. *For the third time, now. what is going on?* wondered Whitestripe in total confusion. These flashes of vulnerability were very much unlike her. *She didn't even do that as a* kit!

Begoniaclaw quickly ate the sparrow she had picked out, and looked between the two littermates. Then she sighed and said, "Well, Stonetooth. I think..." She looked sad, but unlike Stonetooth's expression, the expression stayed. "I think... we should-"

*"Yes, yes, Begoniaclaw.* You can go ahead," Stonetooth interrupted, then she looked at Whitestripe with a frown on her face. Then like Begoniaclaw's expression, hers also became sad. "I'll have to... do something with my brother."

Her brother contorted his face into even more confusion if that were possible with his current state. He was already so bewildered with her behavior that he didn't know what to expect.

Begoniaclaw just nodded and started to leave camp. Whitestripe's eyes became wide and was about to open his mouth to ask the questions he had for such a long time and also the questions that were propping up right now from *both* of their behaviors, but then Stonetooth prodded him fiercely to get his attention off the queen and onto her.

*"Whitestripe,"* she fiercely commanded. "Come and take a walk with me." She got up and started to walk.

Whitestripe stared at her for a few seconds, not understanding what they were doing, not even listening to her. The gray-colored she-cat looked back and saw him not moving and repeated, *"Come and take a walk with me!"*

*"Stonetooth!"* Whitestripe retaliated in a louder voice than he had expected. *"What is wrong?!"* He felt his utter sense of confusion slowly starting to turn into frustration. *Did they hit their heads on a rock? Especially Stonetooth?*

*"SHH!"* Stonetooth snapped loudly. Then she whispered, "Haven't you heard of good Clan discipline?"

Whitestripe groaned at her, then decided to spill his thoughts. He didn't really care if he was being too loud. *Everyone's usually deep asleep in MoonClan, anyway, from doing warrior duties and such. I've never heard of anyone getting woken up from a single yowl, except for cats who were already awake,* he justified himself. "You are acting *way* too strange, you know that? I'm thinking at the prey pile like Birchpaw because of you! I'm *worried about you!* You know that?"

Stonetooth's face turned into shock for a few seconds, just staring at him with wide eyes, before sighing in exasperation. "Well, then, follow *me,* mouse-brain. I will tell you *everything* you need to know. That's what I wanted to tell you." Her expression became sad again.

The black and white striped warrior looked at her suspiciously. "Why not here?"

"Everyone has secrets to keep. I don't trust a soul but you. Not even a StarClan soul."

He stared at her for a few seconds before finally shrugging. "Fine, I'm not really tired or in trouble, anyway."

Stonetooth smiled at him and started to leave camp silently. Whitestripe followed her, and they both left camp again, and made sure no one was seeing them leave. He looked up and saw night was nearly falling. *What are they doing at nighttime?* he wondered harrowingly. Then he remembered Peonyclaw's voice all those moons ago. *You are the only one to tame the beast.* He wondered if that was actually true.

They both walked to Rabbit Residence, and Stonetooth sat on a rock next to the border. Whitestripe wondered why they were here, but decided to sit down, too. He watched for any dangers but there were none. But he was still cautious.

Then Stonetooth started to speak in a melancholy way. "I am going to start right off the bat, no beating around any bushes..." She flicked her tail. Whitestripe just stared at her, which made Stonetooth think he understood.

Then she spoke solemnly the big news, "I am leaving MoonClan. I am going to join AdderClan."

Whitestripe felt like Birdkit now, taking a few seconds before processing the information, then taking a couple more seconds to reply. *"WHAT?! ARE YOU-ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR-"*

*"Ahem!"* Stonetooth interrupted loudly. "This is *precisely* why I wanted to talk to you *outside* of camp. I knew you would be outraged."

*"Well, of COURSE I WOULD!"* yowled her brother angrily. *"HOW COULD YOU EVEN- YOU ARE SERIOUSLY- THIS ISN'T-"* He remembered all the times he spent with Stonetooth. From Stonekit, to Stonepaw, and now Stonetooth. When he was still Zebrakit and Zebrapaw. His best littermate. At least he thought she was. The depth and meaning of the words she uttered started squeezing his heart and slicing it open. *How could she betray me?!*

*"Calm DOWN! Let me explain for OUR sakes!"* Stonetooth yowled back. *"Why? Why do I want to leave?!"* She pounded her front paws on the rock she was sitting on once with frustration. *"BECAUSE NO ONE WILL EVER APPRECIATE ME HERE!"*

Whitestripe stared at her for a few seconds, and Stonetooth stared back. The staring contest was only interrupted when Whitestripe looked at the rock she was sitting on, then back at her. *"What?!"* he exclaimed with sheer disbelief. "Are you- I mean- I thought that you were..." His disbelieving frown stretched across his face. *"I thought that you were TOUGH or something! Like during all those hardships, you were SO strong! You PERSEVERED!"*

"Do you think that was because I was being strong?" Stonetooth said coldly, narrowing her eyes. "No, I wasn't."

Whitestripe's heart got pierced yet again with those words. *"What?!"* he breathed, only being able to repeat that same word in response.

"I got *tired! TIRED OF MOONCLAN'S TROUBLES! AND THE CATS AROUND ME! SO EMOTIONAL! GAH, I JUST FELT LIKE GOING OUT ON PATROL FOR SEVERAL MOONS STRAIGHT JUST TO AVOID ALL OF THOSE CRYING CATS!"* she growled at the top of her lungs with utmost frustration now, that MoonClan and AdderClan and maybe even SnowClan could hear, and probably understand. *"THE ONE WHO I CAN BLAME THE MOST IS THAT CROWFOOD NIGHTNOSE! NIGHTNOSE! WHY IS HE SO EMOTIONAL?! I'M SURPRISED ADDERCLAN DIDN'T SLAUGHTER HIM IN THE BATTLE OF MOONSTAR'S DEATH! IT WOULD'VE BEEN BETTER FOR ME! OR DID HE HIDE INSTEAD?! GAH, JUST BECAUSE OF HIM, I FELT LIKE I COULD NOT DO ANYTHING! AT ALL!"*

Whitestripe could only stare at her. *Is it really Nightnose's fault?* He knew Nightnose wasn't necessarily doing a good job as a mentor, but he most *definitely* thought that shouldn't be a reason to join *AdderClan* of all affiliations.

Before he could say anything, however, she continued, *"He THREATHENED MY ABILITIES TO BE A WARRIOR BECAUSE HE DIDN'T TRAIN ME FOR MANY MOONS! EVEN VIOLETRAIN DID A BETTER JOB! WHY COULDN'T I HAVE HAD A SENIOR WARRIOR LIKE OUR FATHER OR SNOWSTAR AS MY MENTOR?! OR EVEN SOMEONE LIKE NUTCLAW?! I JUST GOT THIS STUPID"*—she hissed at thin air and pounded her paws against the rock again—*"-STUPID WASTE OF A WARRIOR! HE SHOULD BE A KITTYPET!"*

Whitestripe groaned at her because he thought she was going too far now. *"So what?! Are you going to only blame Nightnose now?! IS THAT A GOOD REASON TO JOIN ADDERCLAN?!"*

*"I ALSO MENTIONED MY OTHER REASONS!"* Stonetooth yowled back. *"AT LEAST ADDERCLAN ISN'T THIS EMOTIONAL! DIDN'T CATS AND KITS DIE BEFORE?! DIDN'T SOME OF THESE HARDSHIPS HAPPEN BEFORE?! I'M HONESTLY SURPRISED MOONCLAN IS EVEN-"*

*"ALRIGHT, SHUT UP ALREADY!"* Whitestripe growled, trying to catch her attention. Stonetooth stopped her rant, but she didn't flinch at his voice, just narrowed her eyes at him. He continued, *"Did you see any* senior *warriors or elders crying? It was mostly the* apprentices *and* young *warriors! Because they never saw this before!"* He remembered Birchpaw told her this before, but he wondered why she seemed to not remember anything.

Stonetooth sighed. *"Yes, they can mourn all they want,"* she said *very* firmly. *"But I do* not *even* want *to tolerate it for a MERE SECOND! I don't even want to be PART of this! I bet even* SnowClan *cats aren't like this, otherwise how are they so smart?! It's just WEAKLING MOONCLAN!"*

*"What about your FAMILY?! LIKE* ME?! *SURELY YOU MUST HAVE SOME IMPORTANCE FOR KINSHIP!"*

Stonetooth flicked her tail in an exasperated way. In a quieter voice, she muttered, "The only *significant* kin I think I have is you. So-"

*"So THEN?!"* Whitestripe interrupted. *"CAN'T YOU STAY? FOR ME?!"*

"Yes, but rest of the Clan doesn't even *like* me, anyway! And what about *Peonyclaw!* Our so-called mother? She *hates* me! *TO DEATH!"*

Whitestripe wondered about that. *Well, all of that* is *true, no denying that.* The three older children of Goldenlily definitely despised her, because of what she did to them, and Shadowclaw cared about his family a *lot,* especially his sisters. Nightnose also despised her because of her boorish attitude towards others, both older and younger. Nutclaw was on his brother and apprentice's side, so he also didn't necessarily like her, but he still tried to be friendly to her as he did the exam for them. But Nutclaw and Violetrain had clearly favored Whitestripe over *her.* And Peonyclaw didn't like Stonetooth either, probably ever since she pushed Swanpaw in that ditch. The rest of the senior warriors were mostly neutral, but they never talked to her about anything, except whenever Snowstar was giving out patrols. No one even talked *about* her. Whitestripe wasn't sure of any other cats that had a personal grudge against her, but he knew the rest of the Clan still disliked Stonetooth in general.

Whitestripe sighed. "Probably because you pushed Swanpaw in that ditch when she was a kit and you were an apprentice." Then he remembered something. *What was the real reason she did that?* Stonetooth just told him that she didn't like Swanpaw in general, but he thought there might be some underlying reason.

*"What? Just for that?"* Stonetooth exclaimed, looking confused.

Whitestripe resisted the urge to sigh in exasperation again and said, "Remember, there was a *hawk!* It could've nabbed Swanpaw, Swankit at the time, away! That is, if *Birchpaw, Birchkit* at the time, didn't find her! Why did you do that? I am pretty sure that's why most of the Clan lost faith in you."

Stonetooth snorted. *"That's because I couldn't believe mute cats were possible! I've never heard that happening in* another *Clan, or even when there was still a Tribe! Yet they still paid more attention to her, even became her friend! While no one cared about me! And I didn't even know that it was so bad to do so."*

Whitestripe stared at her for a long time before narrowing his eyes. *"What? So you were just jealous that a mute kit like Swankit was getting more attention?!"* he growled at the littermate whom he thought would stay with him for a long time, but instead betrayed him. "No wonder MoonClan didn't like you."

She looked surprised for a few seconds before growling back, "I thought you already *understood!"*

"Sure, I did, but I didn't think it was a good reason! Remember, I *scolded* you for that!"

"I thought you were just angry as usual."

"Oh, please. I was furious that you did that. Considering I had *already* befriended Birchkit and his friends at that time!"

"Hmph, but then now, Peonyclaw hates me, and so did Nightnose even before I did that!" She looked angry all over again. "Nightnose is three-quarters of the reason, though, and Peonyclaw probably a third! And the rest a quarter!"

Whitestripe ignored the fact that those three numbers added up to more than a whole and instead asked, "So, why are you even *going* to *AdderClan of all Clans?!"* Then suddenly, he remembered Begoniaclaw leaving camp. *Where did she go?* he wondered. "And where's Begoniaclaw, anyway?"

*"She's going with me!"* Stonetooth revealed the truth angrily.

Whitestripe did another double-take, his expression turning into shock. *"WHAT?!"* he exclaimed. He remembered Shadowclaw, Icemoon and Swanpaw's appreciation for her. The kits' fondness for her. The Clan's kindness towards her. Another betrayal. Another heart-piercing moment. *"WHY?! DID SHE TELL YOU FLOWERY STORIES ABOUT ADDERCLAN OR SOMETHING?!"*

*"WHAT OTHER REASON?! SHE WANTS TO SEE HER KITS!"* Stonetooth justified, at the top of her voice, Begoniaclaw's actions. *"SHE STAYED IN MOONCLAN FOR TWO MOONS BECAUSE YOU ACCEPTED HER IN, AND SHE WAS GLAD TO BE HERE! HOWEVER, SHE STARTED GETTING DEPRESSED AT THE FACT THAT SHE COULDN'T SEE HER KITS SINCE THEY WERE IN ADDERCLAN!"*

Whitestripe blinked at her for a few moments before thinking that was *probably* okay. However, his sister's reasoning just seemed too stupid to him. *And here, I thought Nightnose was emotional!* "So you're just going to leave secretly at nighttime? Again, what about me?"

Stonetooth's expression hardened, then she spoke about something different. "When you wanted your name to be changed, I was completely and utterly *shocked.* I couldn't believe that you would change something other cats have called you for fourteen moons, such a *long time!"*

Whitestripe blinked again, but this time in utter confusion. *What?*

"Like you wanted everyone to, we had to accept the name 'Whitestripe'," she continued. "But to me, the change seemed to alienate even more from what I thought was MoonClan."

Whitestripe face fell. "So am I part of your reasoning?" He sighed. "You realize *why* I wanted to do it, right?"

*"So that enemy cats won't mock you for your kittypet name?!"* Stonetooth flared up with anger again. *"And here, I thought you weren't one of those emotional dung-brains!"*

Whitestripe was even more hurt. He exploded in such anger and anguish that Stonetooth finally flinched, *"I understand why you're hurt, but PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY ADDERCLAN?! WHY MUST WE HAVE TO BE IN DIFFERENT CLANS, ESPECIALLY ONES THAT HAVE IMMENSE TENSION BETWEEN THEM! ADDERCLAN TERRORIZED MOONCLAN SO MUCH AND THEY'RE STILL DOING IT! WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE PART OF THEM?! WHY DO YOU WANT ME TO BE FORCED TO FIGHT YOU IF WE GET INTO ANOTHER BATTLE, WHICH IS INEVITABLE?! BEGONIACLAW HAS AN EXCUSE, BUT YOU DON'T! YOU REALIZE YOU ARE HURTING ME, RIGHT?!"*

Now it was Stonetooth's turn to be hurt, but Whitestripe was still hurt. They sat in silence for many minutes before Stonetooth finally spoke. "I found nothing in MoonClan to look forward to except for you. But I didn't want to stay in a Clan which would never appreciate my doings, or my strength. But in AdderClan... I found something to look forward to. Begoniaclaw and Desertflames."

Whitestripe did not do anything in response except blink. "D-Desert...*flames?!* Who's that?!" Stonetooth said nothing, just staring back at him. Then he realized what might have happened.

"You-you *MET A CAT?! FROM ADDERCLAN! WHO IS THAT?! YOUR MATE?!"* he exclaimed, and for the first time ever, he felt like he couldn't breathe, similarly to what Mousekit might have felt throughout her life. *Stonetooth... mating?* He thought Stonetooth was just like him. Just wanting to be a fierce warrior, not interested in mating or kits. He remembered what she said many moons ago. And here, she mated... *outside of the Clan!*

Stonetooth slowly nodded and Whitestripe's heart further sunk. He felt it would soon sink into the abyss if Stonetooth revealed one more dastardly revelation of hers. *Why did I... believe in her... in the first place? To learn that she has another tom in her life...* Whatever confidence in Stonetooth he had left, it was all thrown into the abyss, the abyss of the Dark Forest.

"Since... when?" he could barely articulate. *No, no... I'm... losing... everything... my littermate.*

Stonetooth looked down shamefully, as if she regretted her decision in that moment. "A quarter-moon before our warrior ceremony. So not *that* long."

"Not *that* long? How do you even *trust* someone whom you have only known for three-quarter of a moon?! Even Begoniaclaw is a better choice, because she could've easily done something to harm MoonClan but she didn't, instead she helped us by spilling all of AdderClan's secrets! So we gained her trust, but whoever *that* tom is?! *I THOUGHT* YOU *WEREN'T EMOTIONAL!"* His voice started to break. *"AND THE WORST THING IS, YOU AND BEGONIACLAW WILL SPILL ALL OUR SECRETS! YOU WILL BE THE CAUSE OF SOME INEVITABLE DOOM!"*

Stonetooth still looked shameful, but now it seemed like she was utterly guilty. "We won't spill *everything.* We won't spill Swanpaw or Primrosepaw's conditions, or any kits that were born, or what hardships happened. Just... normal Clan stuff. Like Snowstar being leader and Sealbranch being deputy and other stuff like that."

Whitestripe still felt broken. He wondered desperately what could have happened differently just so that she would have stayed. Just so the rest of the Clan would have liked her. Just so she would have liked *them.* Just so she felt like... she was truly part of MoonClan. Just so... she wouldn't have to find that sense of belonging in the Clan... that was their utter enemy, from the beginning... to the end. *Peonyclaw and Nightnose. Icemoon and Swanpaw.*

After many minutes, he looked up at the night sky. It was already dusk, and he could see stars. *StarClan. Oh StarClan, why is Stonetooth leaving us?!* Only one star twinkled, but in an unhelpful manner. He decided to ask one question, perhaps the last, which had been on his mind for a while during this conversation. "How are you going to get accepted, anyway? Weren't..."—saying it in the past tense stung his heart once more—"you both part of... MoonClan... or something?"

Stonetooth looked up at him, surprised at his question. She replied very quietly and slowly, "We aren't going to tell them Begoniaclaw joined MoonClan, obviously. We are planning to say that Begoniaclaw learned her lesson, and that she'll be a strong and loyal warrior again. We'll say that I thought MoonClan was terrible and that AdderClan was superior, and we'll try to prove that we truly belong there. And don't worry, Desertflames and his mother, Bluewater, will advocate for us. Perhaps Fangstar and his deputy will agree."

Whitestripe felt uncomfortable listening to all of this but he just nodded. "Did Desertflames tell you flowery stories of his Clan?"

"He only told me the details of AdderClan and how Clan life was. Begoniaclaw told me that, too, but he told me an updated version. When I heard both of theirs, I knew their life suited mine better. I'm mostly only interested in hunting and fighting and discussing important matters, not gossiping or chatting about lovey-dovey stories. Are you... okay?" she explained, looking gloomily. Then she looked at him hopefully. "I mean, unlike me, you have Birchpaw, Mountainpaw, Quailclaw, Shadowclaw, Icemoon—"

"Icemoon's not my mate, though, or friend," Whitestripe quickly interrupted, not intending any sort of joke.

But for the first time in what seemed like forever, Stonetooth smirked. "Oh really? But the point is, you can still be friends with her, if I'm not there anymore. I don't really have anyone in this Clan except for you. But there, I have Desertflames and Begoniaclaw. We can both be with our mates."

Whitestripe ignored her smirk and shrugged. "I know you hated Icemoon. I still remember that violent fight before Goldenlily died."

"I know. But the main reason was that I didn't want her hogging your attention from me. But if I'm gone, you have more time for her, and the rest of your friends. I think Icemoon is a good choice for you, personally with our rivalry put aside in the corner."

Somehow, hearing this made his lips twitch into a smile. "Why does everyone think that? Shadowclaw, Mountainpaw, Dandelionpaw, Rainpaw and even Primrosepaw guffaw about that a bit too much. Quailclaw, Birchpaw, Spottedpaw and some other cats are more sober but still. I'm not even interested in mating."

"I see," Stonetooth said contently, still smiling. But then her smile got replaced by a forlorn expression. "Well, I'm glad... we could talk to each other... for the last time."

Whitestripe also became forlorn. "In a little while, right?"

"Yes, only in a little while. But for the last time in the same Clan." She looked at the very obscure MoonClan-AdderClan border of Rabbit Residence.

Her brother nodded. "Yes, in the same Clan. Do you have to... go?"

She nodded sadly. "Night has already fallen. Begoniaclaw has already gone, and must be waiting for me for a while now. I told her that I would need to talk to you first and she understood. So... farewell."

"Farewell," Whitestripe murmured, barely managing to make a sound. Stonetooth smiled at him, and he tried to smile back at the littermate who, now, in his eyes, had changed completely. Then she turned her back and crossed the border, and padded off into the darkness.

He watched her go, her silhouette becoming more and more smaller and obscure. Then, he looked into the night sky, watching the stars again. When he looked back, his sister's silhouette had completely disappeared.

He wondered what else he could have asked, until he remembered, *Wait, what in StarClan do I tell the rest of my Clan what happened to them?!* He was about to call out for Stonetooth, but restrained himself from doing so. He decided against it because he didn't want Stonetooth to have to come back.

Whitestripe touched the rock that his sister was sitting on minutes before, trying to feel her warmth for the last time, but then he found a small tuft of fur. He picked it up and decided to keep it. *This is my only souvenir of her.*

He remembered all their good times together. He loved his littermate, and only wished the best for her. *Hopefully, she manages to carve out a path that's best for her.* Whitestripe remembered Stonetooth being forced to put up with his name change, such a major thing. He thought it was only fair that he put up with her decision to leave MoonClan and join AdderClan.

*But hopefully, she still has me somewhere in her heart and mind. I will always have her in my heart and mind, too,* he thought, padding back to camp, all by himself, in the young night.

### Chapter 29: Anger at Loss of a MoonClan Warrior

Whitestripe got a rude awakening when a particular cat shook him out of his sleep. Since he slept a little later than the other cats, he still felt groggy.

*"Wake up, you dormouse!"* yowled his mother, shaking him violently. Whitestripe sleepily groaned in response, "Why... are you waking... me up?"

He slowly opened his eyes and saw other cats in the warriors' den all watching him. Even some apprentices, kits, queens and Snowstar were in here.

The sleepy warrior suddenly jolted awake at the volume of cats in here. He had no idea what in StarClan the reason could be, until it all came back smashing him like an avalanche of boulders.

*Stonetooth. Begoniaclaw,* he realized. Then he blinked at everyone not knowing what to say, until Snowstar asked him, "Well, Whitestripe, you're the last one awake."

Whitestripe noticed even the youngest kits, Birdkit, Waterkit and Flowerkit were in the warriors' den with their parents, Sandleap and Nightnose, all watching him curiously. Petalkit was here, too, obviously, with her foster parents. He learned from his old mentor a few days ago that Petalkit finally got weaned from her, since she was a whole moon older than her foster siblings, but she still wanted to stay with them for safety. Then he looked back at Snowstar, asking in mock disbelief, "What *happened?"*

"I don't know if you know, but your littermate and Begoniaclaw are gone," Sealbranch answered him with what he already knew. "Do you have any sort of idea what could have happened?" Some other warriors nodded, and he noticed Shadowclaw, Icemoon, Swanpaw, Mountainpaw, Primrosepaw, Rainpaw and all the kits and queens looking sad when Sealbranch mentioned Begoniaclaw. *Well, she* was *a lively soul, indeed.*

Whitestripe bit his lip, remembering what he was thinking about last night. *Should I tell the truth, or should I lie?* He didn't know if lying would get him anywhere, because if they suddenly found both of them in AdderClan, that would be the rudest awakening for everyone, especially Peonyclaw, Blazesky, Nightnose and everyone else who hated Stonetooth, and everyone that loved Begoniaclaw. *But at least it won't incriminate me in any way.*

He noticed Birchpaw was among the crowd, looking worried about something. For a moment, Whitestripe's breath caught. *Did he notice us leaving?* But then he remembered the apprentice was already sleeping, so he calmed down. *I don't think he would suddenly wake up in the middle of the night for no reason.*

He continued thinking about whether he should tell the truth or lie that he didn't know anything. If he told the truth... everyone would definitely be shocked. But he reasoned, *But I guess that at least that saves them from getting the utmost shock from seeing them in AdderClan and passing wrong judgements.* He didn't know if Stonetooth's reasons would be considered good by the rest of the Clan, though. Even he had a hard time accepting her reasoning, because it incriminated a lot of cats, especially Nightnose, Peonyclaw and the three older children of Goldenlily.

Suddenly, he remembered Desertflames. *Oh no. They would most* definitely *not accept it if I mentioned* him. He bit his lip again. *Curse you, Stonetooth, why didn't you explain to me what to tell them before defecting to* AdderClan *of all Clans?! You wouldn't just disappear without a trace, especially having a lot of kin in MoonClan and being Moonstar's granddaughter! Even Begoniaclaw is being missed greatly even with no kin here!*

He looked at Birchpaw again for any sort of clues, but this time he was exchanging worried looks with his littermate, Rainpaw.

*"Uh, let me think,"* was all Whitestripe could say in response to Sealbranch. Then he decided to ask something else. "Better question, why is everyone in here?"

"When we discovered Stonetooth was gone, a lot of warriors, apprentices and even kits and queens came in to see what was happening," Sealbranch explained solemnly.

Snowstar added in the same tone, "Since you were the only cat other than Begoniaclaw that usually talked to her, we think you might know something."

To him, the deputy and leader's tones made explaining the truth seem more trivial than ever. *But it isn't...* He saw Shadowclaw whispering something into Swanpaw's ear and she slightly nodded in response. Spottedpaw and Nutclaw were also exchanging a few words almost silently. *Probably about being glad that their worst enemy Stonetooth is finally gone. If only they knew the truth, that she isn't gone forever...*

"Maybe they're just out on patrol," suggested Robinpaw thoughtfully, which made some cats look at him, including Whitestripe.

"I doubt Stonetooth wouldn't alert Snowstar before she went out," Whitestripe pointed out to him.

"Also, Begoniaclaw is a queen, right?" Thymekit added. "I think, anyway. Why would she go on patrol?"

"Maybe she decided to be a warrior now," Robinpaw continued. "And maybe they forgot."

"Wouldn't that be weird not to tell Snowstar, though?" Soarpaw told her brother.

Snowstar nodded towards Thymekit and Soarpaw. "I would agree. Sadly, we have no idea what happened."

Robinpaw looked a little confused before Quailclaw told him, "Stonetooth still followed Clan rules even if she was an outlaw." The cats who Whitestripe knew hated Stonetooth all winced or grimaced at her name, and they probably did so when he mentioned her for the first time.

"And Begoniaclaw said that she would stay a queen to help out," Quailclaw continued. "So it is very surprising to the Clan about what could have happened to them." He looked a little worried at Whitestripe, similarly to what Birchpaw was doing.

"Maybe they're playing hide and seek," Birdkit suggested humorously, and her siblings, the other kits, Mountainpaw and Berrypaw all laughed. Sandleap, Redwater, Flipsnow, Quailclaw, Nutclaw and Petuniaheart all smiled, too.

Whitestripe only bit his lip in response, for the third time now. *Technically they're hiding in AdderClan. And if I don't reveal their location now,* they'll *become the seekers in the game hunting* us *down!* he thought worriedly. Begoniaclaw wasn't that good of a warrior from the stories he heard about, especially in the Battle of Moonstar's Death, but Stonetooth... everyone in MoonClan knew her warrior skillset was one of the sharpest in the Mountains, and soon, AdderClan would, too. He kept trying to think of what to do. The truth, or the lie. The truth, or the lie. *The truth... or the lie?*

*"Okay,* I know what happened," he said seriously and loud enough for everyone to pay attention. Everyone else also became serious, and looked at him with an expression probably meaning, *What?* He ignored the fact that they might have thought he was lying before that he didn't know.

"Do you know for *sure?"* Sealbranch asked with clarification.

The warrior sighed. "Stonetooth told me herself." *The big bad truth...* has *to come out now.* He remembered how utterly shocked he was at hearing Stonetooth's departure, but even then, he still tried to forgive her, being littermates and all. He was afraid of how everyone would react, since they didn't even have a fur's worth of respect for her. *Best case scenario, they don't start panicking like crazy and throw the hissiest fit.* Stonetooth told him that she and Begoniaclaw wouldn't spill any serious secrets of MoonClan's, but he didn't know how far that could be true, or if he could even explain that to the rest of his Clan.

Everyone looked even more shocked, and Whitestripe felt like he had to be forced to continue. He felt like silently cursing his littermate again for putting him through this until Birchpaw interrupted with, "Wait, when did she tell you? *Last night?"*

The black and white striped warrior grimly nodded. His parents looked shocked, and so did both his aunts, Petuniaheart and Flipsnow, and so did his *remaining* siblings, Violetrain and Fireclaw. But the other cats who hated Stonetooth also looked shocked.

*"What did she tell you, Whitestripe?"* Peonyclaw demanded furiously.

*Maybe I should start slow, unlike Stonetooth,* he figured rationally. She *could trust me not to hate her forever, even in the afterlife, but how can I trust* them *not to do so?* He decided to explain to them from the beginning, skipping all mundane details, "We finished our hunting patrol late at night, but then she started talking to Begoniaclaw about something. Then Begoniaclaw left camp!"

Everyone's eyes were widening more and more by the moment that it was clear to him what they were thinking. *How is that even possible?*

"Then Stonetooth told me to follow her out of camp, so I did, wondering what they were doing! Then we went to the MoonClan-AdderClan border of Rabbit Residence..." He then explained Stonetooth's thoughts about how she hated the emotional MoonClan, especially Nightnose, and what she thought about how no one respecting her (although he tried to make the words least defamatory as he could).

Most of the cats looked like they were hit with a boulder as they looked utterly shocked and the others looked utterly confused.

*"What?!"* cried Shadowclaw in pure bewilderment. *"Did she want to complain to you about* us *now?! Aren't we your* friends?!"

"I didn't think she'd take to complaining," muttered Spottedpaw, flicking her tail. Swanpaw, Primrosepaw and Rainpaw all exchanged a mix of shocked and perplexed looks.

*"No!"* cried Whitestripe back desperately, but while also trying to be respectful since they were all his friends and Clanmates. *"She just* bottled *her feelings before! But now she decided to spill them to me!"*

The other cats looked confused at Whitestripe trying to defend Stonetooth, but Icemoon spat, *"Does that mean she wasn't so haughty after all?!"* She snorted in disgust and rolled her eyes. "What a stupid she-cat, acting as if her littermate was her property." Shadowclaw, Swanpaw and Mountainpaw looked at Icemoon strangely, probably at the last part she said.

Whitestripe just ignored Icemoon as usual and was about to say something to the others until Nightnose exclaimed in frustration, "Well, does that mean she's going to leave us alone? Thank StarClan, because I felt traumatized for the eight moons I had to mentor her!" Swanpaw nodded sadly in agreement with him and Nutclaw looked empathetically at both of them.

"I would agree, too. I don't know which traits she got," Peonyclaw grumbled angrily, and Whitestripe could only stare at her. Again, he was about to retaliate, but then Birchpaw interrupted him.

"Wait, I have a better question, or statement," he exclaimed, looking skeptically at Whitestripe. "What are you getting at, Whitestripe?"

"I would agree, it's very unlike you to talk about these sorts of things without any solid reason," Quailclaw agreed, looking even more worried at him.

Whitestripe looked at the two brothers back contemplatively, and attempted to repress the forlorn feeling he had when talking to Stonetooth for the last time. *I don't want to show any sadness right now. It would convey...* way *too many things.* "I *will* get to that, don't worry."

Snowstar and Sealbranch exchanged nervous looks as if they knew Whitestripe was going to reveal something utterly bad. Birchpaw was also exchanging these looks with Quailclaw and Rainpaw.

The black and white striped warrior sighed and continued with his story. He told her how he tried to explain to her, and how he was confused what she meant. How he asked her about kinship and all, and why she was acting this way. He also talked about Begoniaclaw and how she wanted to see her kits again. "Then..." he said, taking a deep breath in. "She told me how she and Begoniaclaw wanted to..." *This is inevitable. The truth* has *to come out.* "...leave MoonClan. And join AdderClan."

Now everyone was acting like Birdkit, as they didn't do anything for a second or two, until most of them gasped in unison, a few were grimacing, and the others utterly confused. A few of them started wailing or cursing or muttering under their breath, and most of them exchanged looks. Whitestripe could only sigh in exasperation.

Birdkit herself also looked shocked after a few seconds, and looked around to see what her other fellow Clanmates were doing.

*"What?! But isn't AdderClan evil?!"* Thymekit exclaimed indignantly.

*"I will claw up Stonetooth, too!"* Lilackit exclaimed in the same voice, and Jumpkit and Petalkit furiously agreed.

*"WHAT?! I MUST AGREE WITH THEM!"* Peonyclaw yowled with pure rage in her voice. Her expression looked the same as her voice sounded.

Sealbranch and her littermates, Sandleap and Hailstream looked irately at Whitestripe, and Nightnose and Shadowclaw's mouths looked open. Icemoon looked even more disgusted. Petuniaheart and Blazesky stared at each other totally horrified. Violetrain and Fireclaw also looked horrified and seemed to look ashamed that they even had Stonetooth as a sister. Flameeye, Redwater and Spottedpaw looked like this was expected of Stonetooth. Even Swanpaw's face scrunched up into a vexed look meaning, *Are you kidding me or not?!* Birchpaw and Quailclaw looked like this was worse than what they had thought was the worst. Primrosepaw and Dandelionpaw and their parents looked utmost confused or horrified, too.

"What about Begoniaclaw?" Whitestripe said glumly.

*"I thought Begoniaclaw was nice!"* Petalkit wailed somberly. "I didn't know she *liked* that Clan!"

*"Me either!"* Flowerkit wailed in the same way. "She took care of Petalkit *very* well!"

*"What if they don't like her?!"* Waterkit exclaimed anxiously.

"I know! I knew her from the nursery, too!" Robinpaw said in the same tone.

Birchpaw said something surprising, though. "Oh no, I was sort of predicting this." It looked like he was thinking about something else horrifying, but Whitestripe couldn't think of what it could be. Everyone else looked at him, including Quailclaw who was mimicking his looks before.

*"What?! How did you predict it?!"* wailed Shadowclaw in despair and disbelief.

Birchpaw looked embarrassed for a moment before straightening up and saying, "I-I thought-I was wondering why Stonetooth was talking to Begoniaclaw so much about AdderClan. And Begoniaclaw also seemed to be sad about her kits. Then I wondered if they wanted to go to AdderClan, but I hoped that wasn't true." He looked gloomily at Whitestripe.

Snowstar looked at his son once before looking back at Whitestripe, then sighed with defeat. "If Stonetooth and Begoniaclaw joined AdderClan, then..."

"They promised that they won't tell any *serious* secrets," Whitestripe tried to reassure them.

But Orchidmoon, Berrypaw's mother, replied suspiciously, "How do you know if that's true?"

*"I must agree! How can you trust someone whose heart truly belonged to AdderClan!"* Peonyclaw agreed indignantly.

*"But, I'm her* littermate!" he protested, but Peonyclaw just groaned at him.

*"Why didn't you* stop *her or something?!"* she growled at him very ferociously.

Whitestripe tried to keep his calm expression, but the sadness seemed to be winning the fight, and nearly surfaced. "Don't get me wrong, I was *truly* shocked and appalled at her, too! I tried to ask her why, and this is what she said!" The sadness of losing his sibling was also piercing his heart.

Flipsnow also seemed confused why her niece defected to AdderClan as she asked, "Was it because she thought no one liked her? What about *you?"* She looked sad, too. "Didn't *you* like her?" Whitestripe sadly nodded in response.

"It must have also been because of Begoniaclaw. Maybe she wanted to help Begoniaclaw get accepted back into AdderClan," he continued.

*"After getting exiled?!"* Mountainpaw exclaimed, also in disbelief. *"I thought that warrior Windwing said that she was never welcome back!"*

"I agree with Mountainpaw," Icemoon growled. "I know Stonetooth just wants to kill MoonClan. She tried to kill Swanpaw once!"

*Well, this is another reason why I don't like Icemoon,* Whitestripe thought downtroddenly. "No, she thought that she would have a better chance in AdderClan when it came to her skills!"

"Why-why are you defending her?" Nightnose breathed in shock. *"She-she gave me pain!"*

"She was also acting violent like AdderClan," pointed out Redwater seriously.

"And why did she push Swanpaw in the first place?!" Spottedpaw cried with anguish.

*"Better question, or BEST!"* Peonyclaw interrupted everyone. *"WHY DIDN'T YOU KILL HER?!"*

Whitestripe felt like a tree fell on his face. *WHAT?!* he screamed internally, and he was sure his expression also represented it. Snowstar, Petuniaheart, Blazesky, Flipsnow and Birchpaw also looked utterly confused at Peonyclaw saying this. Even Mountainpaw and Nightnose also looked shocked, despite hating Stonetooth.

*"What-what are you EVEN TALKING ABOUT?!"* Whitestripe exclaimed, utterly distressed by what she said. *How could she even- why is she- how could-* His thoughts were all over the place. Most of the cats who hated Stonetooth didn't look distressed by what she said, but neither did most of the other cats.

"If she's in AdderClan now, we *do* have the liberty to kill her since she isn't our Clanmate anymore," Nutclaw pointed out seriously and the three older children of Goldenlily nodded in agreement with him.

Whitestripe stared at Nutclaw, not knowing what to say in response, since that was technically true. *And here, I thought that I always followed the warrior code, and so did Stonetooth.*

"What about Begoniaclaw?" Birdkit asked somberly.

"If Begoniaclaw is a warrior, then perhaps," replied Sandleap in the same way. Petalkit, Waterkit and Flowerkit all looked shocked at this revelation, and Birdkit copied their expression a few seconds later, too.

"That's terrible!" Jumpkit exclaimed fretfully. Lilackit and Thymekit seemed to feel the same.

"Well, *why do you want me to kill her BEFORE SHE LEFT!"* Whitestripe yowled at his mother, feeling boiling rage again. Like when he got mad at all his friends eight and a half moons ago. When he got mad at Stonetooth and Icemoon for fighting. When he figured out Birchpaw didn't know much about external Clan affairs.

*"SO THAT SHE WOULDN'T JOIN ADDERCLAN! WHY DID SHE JOIN ADDERCLAN ANYWAY?! YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE* SOMETHING!" she yowled back. The four younger kits shrank back against their mother (or foster mother), Sandleap, at Peonyclaw's voice, who raised an eyebrow at her.

Whitestripe wasn't even sure what he could say that wouldn't incriminate *himself* and begin to make himself seem like a horrible cat for defending his littermate to them. *Do I just say that she could have possibly overpowered me since we're equally strong and skilled?* he wondered about that gloomily. *Sure, Stonetooth probably wouldn't expect me to attack her, but then again, she knows I'm a pretty angry cat, even if it's mostly through verbal language. She would have definitely kept her guard up while we were talking in case I got too outraged.*

Then Whitestripe realized he didn't even get to the part about Desertflames yet. *Will saying this justify Stonetooth's departure, or ruin her image?* he wondered with an immense worry now. But he decided that the truth could possibly come out later, especially if she were having kits. *And it* could *make* some *sense to them.*

"Maybe because she met a tom in AdderClan named Desertflames?" Whitestripe tried to suggest confidently, but he realized there was nothing to be confident about. He didn't even know if the others knew who Desertflames was. *Was he a warrior in the Battle of Moonstar's Death?*

Everyone stared at him in shock, completely silent, before Peonyclaw exploded, *"WHAT?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"* The cats who hated Stonetooth were even more wide-eyed.

*"I KNEW STONETOOTH WAS A HYPOCRITE!"* Icemoon yowled in abhorrence, too. *"SHE SAID SHE NEVER WANTED TO MATE!"*

*"I NEVER KNEW STONETOOTH HAD THIS MANY LAYERS!"* Nightnose added woefully. *"WHAT KIND OF CAT HAVE I BEEN MENTORING?! A CAT WHO WOULD USE THE SKILLS I TAUGHT HER AGAINST US!"*

Whitestripe groaned. He was just a little bit tempted to say that Nutclaw, Violetrain and Forestcreek helped out with the training more, but he decided not to mention that, since that would be a petty thing to say now.

Sandleap, Shadowclaw, Swanpaw, Mountainpaw, Spottedpaw and the older kits, Thymekit, Lilackit, Jumpkit, looked even more vexed at this information. Blazesky, Flipsnow, Violetrain, Fireclaw, Rainpaw, Berrypaw, Primrosepaw, Dandelionpaw, Petalkit, Birdkit, Waterkit and Flowerkit all were extremely shocked. Since the queens usually taught their kits about the warrior code when they first started remembering things, even Sandleap's kits knew that having a mate outside of the Clan was against the code.

*"Wait, so did she actually* mate *with Desertflames?"* Nutclaw asked with disbelief.

"I am wondering, too, since like Icemoon said, Stonetooth wasn't the type to mate," added Quailclaw forlornly.

Some of the senior warriors such as Orchidmoon, Forestcreek, Petuniaheart, Maplestripe and Littleclaw looked like they were unable to comprehend that this was true. Redwater and Flameeye exchanged looks, the former looking a little uncomfortable and the latter looking absolutely perplexed. Birchpaw also looked frightened, and seemed like he got even more worried about something as he looked at Peonyclaw and Icemoon.

The black and white striped warrior could only shrug in misery and look down at his moss bed. He thought the answer should be pretty obvious to everyone. *Even I couldn't believe it, too...*

Now it seemed like even the leader and deputy had a hard time keeping their formalities as they looked a little tense. "So, are you saying another reason is because of whoever Desertflames is?" Snowstar asked solemnly, but with a bit of puzzlement.

*So that means that Desertflames was probably not in the Battle of Moonstar's Death, since Snowstar doesn't seem to know at all, and perhaps was born sometime between Fireclaw and Shadowclaw,* Whitestripe figured. *Makes sense, probably, since mates are usually similarly aged.* He doubted that the age helped anything, however, since all that mattered was that Desertflames was AdderClan-born and bred.

Whitestripe sighed. "Yes, I guess." He had no idea what to think or say anymore about Stonetooth, because the entire situation was just getting too stressful for him. "So I guess she wanted to join her mate, instead of breaking the warrior code."

Everyone still looked skeptical, especially Snowstar and Sealbranch.

*"JUST THE FACT THAT SHE WAS EVEN A TAD BIT FRIENDLY WITH AN ADDERCLAN CAT SHOWS HER TRUE LOYALTIES!"* Peonyclaw yowled at her son, as if she would explode any moment like intense lightning from the sky.

Whitestripe said nothing because he didn't think he could ever convince his Clanmates that Stonetooth probably didn't have evil underlying reasons. Then he wondered if he could even trust her, since she withheld the fact of Desertflames from him. He figured she might have definitely told Begoniaclaw about her mate, since they were going to AdderClan together. But that made it worse for him, since her AdderClan friend, Begoniaclaw, knew more about her than her own littermate.

"Wasn't Begoniaclaw an AdderClan cat before?" Lilackit asked sadly.

"Yes, but she was much nicer than a *MoonClan*-born cat, which is *Stonetooth!"* wailed Shadowclaw with distress.

"And she saved Petalkit, too..." Icemoon sighed in sorrow. Swanpaw nodded miserably, too.

*"IF STONETOOTH HAS A MATE IN ADDERCLAN, THEN THAT IS AN AUTOMATIC REASON FOR DEATH!"* Peonyclaw continued with her rant.

Whitestripe narrowed his eyes at her again. He knew that Peonyclaw (along with Nightnose) was mostly the reason for her leaving. The mother and mentor were two of the most important things to a cat. The mother when the cat is a kit, and the mentor when they are an apprentice. The two relationships are supposed to persist through warriorhood for this reason in a good way, even when the warrior becomes a leader or a queen themselves. Whitestripe knew the leader and deputy became the two most important things to warriors, since those two were the ones they were supposed to look up to and follow the command of, so warriors also needed to have good relationships with them. But if those three relationships were spoiled... He sighed. Snowstar did not seem to like her very much either, because he didn't hesitate to give her punishments, which he didn't do with any other cat, and was perfectly okay with Nightnose skipping training (not for *too* long, of course, but at least for moderate periods of time). And Snowstar wasn't going to be the leader forever, like Moonstar. He remembered as a kit wondering how long Moonstar was going to live, but he was shocked when she died. Whitestripe thought if someone who hated Stonetooth even just a bit became deputy and even leader, they would not have hesitated to do something about her, if she didn't leave MoonClan.

"Well, if Whitestripe had done that, then we wouldn't have to deal with her in the future," Nightnose muttered.

Whitestripe glared at the black tom warrior so furiously that he got a bit frightened. *Hmph, this must have been another reason for hating Nightnose,* the black and white striped warrior thought, remembering what Stonetooth said about her mentor before she departed MoonClan, and before they became warriors. *He easily gets scared of death stares.* He thought Nightnose still meant well towards him, but he was getting tired of everyone being hardcore anti-Stonetooth, especially since he was still conflicted between his littermate and MoonClan, and still feeling hurt from her betrayal.

He was so annoyed at everyone that he growled, *"SO WHY DO YOU WANT ME TO KILL HER! WHAT WILL THAT DO!"* He remembered Stonetooth saying that she was going to get Begoniaclaw accepted by trying to bribe them with her *own* skills. So he decided to add, *"WHAT ABOUT BEGONIACLAW! WHAT WOULD SHE HAVE DONE WITHOUT STONETOOTH?! SHE STILL NEEDED HER TO BRIBE ADDERCLAN TO GO BACK TO HER KITS!"* He wondered if they succeeded, however. He shuddered at any mere idea that they might have not. He felt like his heart would squeeze so much he died if that were to happen.

Almost of MoonClan looked like they didn't think about that last part. Peonyclaw still looked suspicious of Whitestripe, however.

*"AND BESIDES,"* he continued, getting even more angry, *"DON'T YOU THINK I MUST HAVE BEEN FEELING HORRIFIED WHEN SHE TOLD ME EVERYTHING?! I WOULDN'T DO THAT TO HER!"*

The three older children of Goldenlily looked a little surprised at his statement, for whatever reason Whitestripe didn't care about anymore. Peonyclaw got even more suspicious of him, however.

*"Did you actually still care about her?!"* Nightnose wailed in agony.

*"What about Swanpaw?!"* Shadowclaw cried in the same tone.

Whitestripe frowned and looked at Swanpaw. He knew where it all started. He couldn't blame her, obviously, but he wondered why she trusted Stonetooth, Stonepaw at the time, enough to leave camp with her, if she was known to be a bit rowdy. He even remembered the incident with Swankit's friends before she did that, and Stonepaw was clearly being hostile to them. And Stonepaw probably didn't know that Swankit could have been snatched by a hawk. *She probably thought that she would just have been stuck there until someone found her.* He highly doubted Nightnose had even gotten to that part yet, since hawks were high-level prey, and also perhaps since he was not *that* great of a mentor. Whitestripe looked at Primrosepaw, Thymekit and Birdkit and wondered if Spottedpaw and all the kits born after her were told *everything* that happened in that incident.

*"I DON'T KNOW! MAYBE SHE DIDN'T KNOW THAT HAWKS EXISTED!"* the forlorn littermate cried. He didn't want to say anything that would be insensitive of what happened to Swanpaw, but at the same time, he felt like Stonetooth wasn't given much chances to apologize and be forgiven for that.

Everyone was a bit surprised at his volume, but most of them seemed to think that was normal with him anyways. Swanpaw just bit her lip in response, but that was it.

*"I AM PRETTY SURE SHE THOUGHT SWANPAW WAS STUPID FOR BEING MUTE!"* Icemoon yowled at the top of her lungs. *"WHICH IS WHY SHE DECIDED TO KILL HER ONCE AND FOR ALL!"*

Whitestripe was biting his lip harder than Swanpaw now. He felt like it was too much now. *"NO! I THINK SHE JUST WANTED ATTENTION!"*

*"NEGATIVE ATTENTION?!"* Icemoon responded furiously. *"WHAT SHE-DUNG!"*

*"I MEANT, MAYBE SHE WAS JEALOUS OF THE ATTENTION SWANPAW AS A KIT WAS GETTING OR SOMETHING!"* Whitestripe cried, nearly leaking his dismal feeling in his voice. *Stonetooth, you would probably be clawing me out ferociously right now if you caught me revealing your weaknesses,* he thought glumly. *But you didn't even tell me what to say to them that could palliate their fury even just a teensy bit!*

*"BAH! DEFINITELY PRETENDING TO BE HAUGHTY, I SEE!"* Icemoon growled in reply and flicked her tail in disgust. Her three living siblings looked like they all agreed fully, even Petalkit, who wasn't even supposed to know what went down with Stonetooth. Nightnose just looked like he was exhausted from Stonetooth and Peonyclaw glowered at Whitestripe even more.

The two sons of Snowstar, Quailclaw and Birchpaw, were exchanging extremely worried looks now. Whitestripe was secretly glad these two were calmer and more understanding than seemingly everyone else in the Clan, but he knew that they would be a lot more worried what would happen to MoonClan now than whatever happened to Stonetooth. Then Birchpaw looked at Peonyclaw even more anxiously, probably because she was his mentor. Berrypaw was just staring at her paws for most of this time, probably because she had nothing to contribute and didn't want to be part of any drama, much like Quailclaw and Birchpaw.

*"YOU SHOULD HAVE KILLED HER! MAYBE BEGONIACLAW WOULDN'T HAVE LEFT, THEN!"* Peonyclaw yowled in a way that meant she totally agreed with Icemoon. Whitestripe was nearly reaching the end of his rope, and the anger in him was nearly about to boil over at her words. Additionally, he felt that she was being inconsiderate of Begoniaclaw, since she wanted to see her kits.

All the kits looked like they thought that would have been good for Begoniaclaw to stay, but Flipsnow, Applefall and Redwater were probably remembering Begoniaclaw's kits, too. The other cats seemed to have mixed feelings about what Peonyclaw said about Begoniaclaw, but it seemed like they nearly reached a consensus of what Whitestripe should have done with his littermate.

*"I KNOW SHE WAS EVIL! NOTHING YOU SAY WILL EVER JUSTIFY SWANPAW BEING PUSHED IN!"* Icemoon hissed at the top of her voice.

*"I'M NOT JUSTIFYING IT! I'M JUST SAYING PERHAPS STONETOOTH DIDN'T KNOW THE CONSEQUENCES!"* Whitestripe wailed, not knowing what else to say that could put Stonetooth out of the guilty light for once.

*"OH YEAH?! IS PUSHING A MUTE KIT INTO A DITCH EVEN SOMETHING A* NORMAL *CAT WOULD DO, EVEN WITHOUT KNOWING THE CONSEQUENCES?!"* Peonyclaw yowled in response at the top of her voice, too.

Swanpaw looked a little uncomfortable about them discussing that incident, but she seemed to keep her cool about it and was just looking strangely at Whitestripe, probably at why he was defending Stonetooth. That made him even more hot and uncomfortable, since he didn't want to be stared at strangely by *any* of his friends. Everyone was looking a bit worried at this hot argument between the mother, son and the cat that was obsessed him too much, but hated Stonetooth even more than she liked him. Blazesky looked like he was hoping nothing worse would happen, but he seemed powerless to stop his mate and son. He probably wasn't exposed to this much verbal violence, and probably neither did most of the other cats, since it was *MoonClan,* a *normally* peaceful Clan.

*"NOT TO MENTION, SHE WAS ACTING EXTREMELY UNCOOPERATIVE IN TRAINING! SHE WANTED EVERYTHING TO GO HER WAY AND FOR ME TO LOSE ALL THE TIME!"* Nightnose wailed somberly, as if that was more traumatizing for him than Goldenlily and Mousekit dying and Birdkit having a condition. Whitestripe had no idea if that was true, or if anything else was true, either, anymore. Other cats looked only a bit shocked at this revelation, but that was probably because it was expected of her anyways. Of course, Nutclaw, Swanpaw and Spottedpaw looked at him empathetically.

*What?* the forlorn littermate thought. He had no idea if that was true, but then he remembered Stonetooth was usually pissed off at Nightnose after training and vice versa, ever since the two littermates became apprentices. *No wonder he was trying to escape.* But he still didn't know if that was a good reason for trying to skip training, as that caused even more issues with Stonetooth.

*"ALSO, REMEMBER WHEN YOU BECAME APPRENTICES, SHE STOLE A MOUSE FROM BIRCHPAW AND BLAMED IT ON YOU! THEN SHE TRIED TO CLAW US UP WHEN WE CALLED HER CROWFOOD!"* Mountainpaw cried in agony, too.

Whitestripe yowled in reply, *"MAYBE SHE HAD PERSONAL ISSUES, LIKE SHE WAS TOO FRUSTRATED AT SOMETHING, MAYBE! LIKE-"*

*"SHUT UP, WHITESTRIPE!"* Peonyclaw interrupted him rudely. *"WHAT WOULD SHE BE FRUSTRATED AT?!"*

*"NOW YOU SHUT UP, PEONYCLAW!"* Whitestripe retaliated at the top of his voice, too. Now everyone looked anxious when they heard his furious words, especially the kits. Nightnose, Violetrain, Fireclaw, Shadowclaw, Icemoon, Rainpaw, Swanpaw, Mountainpaw, Spottedpaw, Dandelionpaw, Robinpaw, Soarpaw, Thymekit, Lilackit and Jumpkit all looked exceptionally frightened at him and tried to back away from him, as if they all thought he had lost his whiskers. The younger four kits looked extremely confused but they didn't seem to be scared, which was pretty surprising for someone of their age, as even the older three kits got scared, but Whitestripe figured they had simply no idea what was going on anymore. Quailclaw, Birchpaw and Primrosepaw were all exchanging looks with each other that looked like they were expecting a major catastrophe to happen at this very moment. Applefall, Sealbranch, Hailstream and Nutclaw were also exchanging these looks. All the older warriors, especially his father, Blazesky, and even the quieter ones like Flameeye, Redwater and Berrypaw were looking very anxious, too. Only Peonyclaw kept her angry expression and she definitely looked like she would explode with lightning and claw up the entirety of AdderClan right now.

*"YOU ARE TELLING ME TO SHUT UP?!"* she screamed at what Whitestripe thought might have exceeded the top of her voice. She took one dangerous step towards him, while everyone was backing away now, in case a claw fest occurred. Some of the cats seemed like they were about to say something to stop them, but Peonyclaw and Whitestripe only kept interrupting.

*"YES! YOU WERE HER MOTHER! I AM PRETTY SURE IT ALL BEGAN BECAUSE OF YOU! YOU MUST HAVE DONE SOMETHING TO MAKE HER FEEL THAT WAY WHEN WE WERE KITS!"* Whitestripe yowled back at the top of his voice. He didn't care anymore if others got offended. He just felt that finally, Stonetooth's issues should be put in the open for everyone to judge, as he thought it was the only way left that he could defend his littermate.

*"BLAMING ME FOR HER BEHAVIOR NOW?! YOU THINK I SECRETLY STARTED ALL THIS?!"*

*"YES, BUT INDIRECTLY! YOU WERE ACTING PRETTY STRANGE AROUND HER! YOU MUST BE KEEPING SOMETHING! SUCH AS WHEN YOU DIDN'T EVEN HINT TO BIRCHPAW ABOUT ANY EXTERNAL CLAN AFFAIRS!"*

Some cats looked at Birchpaw who looked a little embarrassed when he said that, but he still looked worried.

*"THAT WAS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!"* Peonyclaw yowled into his face. The verbal war had officially begun.

*"YOU ARE DEFINITELY PROVING WHAT I'M SAYING! YOU MUST HAVE DONE SOMETHING TO MAKE HER FEEL FRUSTRATED! REMEMBER WHEN WE WERE KITS, WE ONLY TALKED TO YOU AND EACH OTHER?! AND I ONLY TALKED TO MOUNTAINPAW OCCASIONALLY, BUT SHE NEVER DID! AND SHE LIKED ME WAY MORE THAN SHE DID YOU, SHE WAS WILLING TO CROSS YOU ALONG WITH BLAZESKY! YOU MUST HAVE DONE SOMETHING TO LOSE HER TRUST SOMEHOW!"*

*"YOU PROBABLY TALKED TO HER MORE, I'M PRETTY SURE! AND I ONLY TAUGHT MY KITS HOW TO BE FRIENDLY TO ALLIES, AND FEROCIOUS TO ENEMIES! I NEVER GAVE ANY NEGATIVE EXAMPLES! YOU ARE BEING VERY DISRESPECTFUL OF YOUR CLANMATES LIKE STONETOOTH WAS, NOW, TOO!"*

*"SO WHY DID SHE HAVE TO FIND SOMEONE IN ADDERCLAN THEN?!"* A few cats winced at that, including Whitestripe and Peonyclaw themselves. *"SHE WAS NEVER GIVEN THE PROPER LOVE NEEDED! MAYBE YOU WERE BEING TOO HARSH ON HER AS A KIT! MAYBE SHE THOUGHT OTHER KITS WERE HER ENEMIES SINCE THEY HAD MORE FRIENDS THAN HER, SO JEALOUSY TOOK OVER!"*

*"DID STONETOOTH TELL YOU ALL OF THIS?! DID SHE PUT WORDS IN YOUR MOUTH TO SHOUT TO ALL OF US?!"*

*"SHE ONLY NEEDED TO TELL ME A FEW THINGS! AND ONLY AFTER SOME TIME DID I THINK ABOUT IT! I AM PRETTY SURE THIS IS THE UNDERLYING CAUSE FOR IT! NEARLY EVERYONE ELSE HATED STONETOOTH TOO MUCH TO THINK ABOUT ANY REASONS FOR HER BEHAVIOR, BUT I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO WASN'T BLINDED BY HATRED!"*

*"DO YOU SERIOUSLY THINK I DID EVERYTHING WRONG TO STONETOOTH?!"*

*"WELL, NO, BUT YOU MUST HAVE STARTED HER ON THE PATH OF HATRED!* OTHER *PEOPLE"*—he looked in the direction of Nightnose—*"MUST HAVE FUELED IT! ESPECIALLY NIGHTNOSE! BECAUSE HE APPARENTLY DIDN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT STONETOOTH WAS GOING THROUGH, AND INSTEAD VERY BITTERLY DEALT WITH HER!"*

*"ARE YOU GOING TO BLAME EVERYONE IN MOONCLAN NOW?!"*

*"NO! I AM NOT SAYING THAT YOU OR HE DID IT ON PURPOSE! BUT I AM SAYING THAT FURTHER ESCALATED STONETOOTH'S INTERNAL ISSUES WITH EVERYONE! SHE FELT LIKE SHE HAD NO LOVE LEFT! I MEAN, SHE EVEN GOT HURT WHEN I WANTED TO CHANGE MY NAME TO WHITESTRIPE! NEARLY EVERYONE IN THE CLAN GOT USED TO IT, BUT SHE WAS SOMEHOW STILL STUCK ON THAT FOR THIS ENTIRE HALF-MOON! HOW COULD SHE STILL BE HURT BY MY NAME?! EASY, SHE THOUGHT IT WAS THE ONLY THING SHE WAS USED TO, AND SEEING IT CHANGED MADE HER FEEL ALIENATED!"*

*"HOW DO YOU EVEN KNOW ALL OF THIS IS TRUE?! HOW DO YOU EVEN KNOW SHE ISN'T LYING TO YOU! DID SHE TELL YOU ABOUT DESERTFLAMES BEFORE?!"*

Whitestripe's face fell. *"ONLY BEFORE SHE LEFT ADDERCLAN! SHE THOUGHT SHE COULDN'T TRUST ME WITH THIS INFORMATION BECAUSE SHE KNEW I WOULD NEARLY BE SHOCKED TO DEATH! AND I KNOW IT MUST BE TRUE BECAUSE WHAT ARE THE OTHER REASONS?!"*

*"BEING A HIDDEN MONSTER?!"*

The forlorn littermate got so angry at her that his physical self-control finally boiled over, too, and he pounced on her. Everyone gasped, and finally Snowstar, Blazesky, Flipsnow and Sealbranch tried to do something.

*"WHITESTRIPE! STOP! WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE PEACEFUL!"* Sealbranch yelped in fear of what could happen next, and the former three tried to run to stop the fight.

*"OH YEAH! I WAS JUST GOING TO SLASH YOU UP, TOO!"* Peonyclaw yowled at her son, completely ignoring Sealbranch and she tried to swipe his forehead, too.

All of the elders and the cats younger than Snowstar and Forestcreek looked too frightened to move, however, except for Flipsnow and Orchidmoon and including Watereye, Daisyfoot, Petuniaheart, Maplestripe and Rosepetal, even though most of them were supposed to be senior warriors. Even Blazesky froze when his mate also opened fire on their son. Even Littleclaw and Lilypool froze, ironically. Orchidmoon came to the rescue and the remaining cats tried to break up the fight using physical force, since the mother and son were clearly too angry at each other to listen to any reason.

Orchidmoon and Flipsnow tried to pull Peonyclaw away from Whitestripe, and Snowstar, having been the mediator nine moons ago when Moonstar died, along with Forestcreek tried to pull on Whitestripe. All four managed to stop the fight before things could get ugly, but the mother and son were still furious at each other, especially Whitestripe at Peonyclaw, since he had no idea why she would not even be a tad bit receptive of her own daughter.

Then he groaned at everyone at the top of his voice and growled, *"I'M GOING ON PATROL BY MYSELF! I'LL COME BACK WHEN EVERYTHING IS RIGHT!"* Then he stormed out of the den which he felt trapped in for the entire time he was awake, especially with the amount of cats in here. He never liked crowded spaces like the nursery usually was, as it made him feel claustrophobic. Then he decided to go to Rabbit Residence, the place where he saw his littermate for the last time. He thought he might need some solace from her leaving, even if it was just the place he last saw her.

Everyone watched him leave, most still frightened and Peonyclaw still fuming. Finally she yowled to everyone else, *"I'M GOING ON PATROL BY MYSELF, TOO! BIRCHPAW, YOU CAN STAY BEHIND!"* Birchpaw looked a little startled, but he said or did nothing else in reply. Then Peonyclaw also left the den and went in the opposite direction of Whitestripe, to the forest that led to the cliff which Primrosepaw and Birdkit left camp from before.

While walking, Whitestripe thought miserably, *Stonetooth, I wish you wouldn't have put me in this situation. I wish you would have just forgiven Peonyclaw, Nightnose, Icemoon and Swanpaw. And Peonyclaw, Nightnose, Icemoon and Swanpaw, I wish you would have done the same. I wish you would have done it so I wouldn't have to be the exhausted, depressed middlecat in between. I hope you will forgive each other eventually, though. That way, MoonClan would finally be healed. That way... I wouldn't feel so empty anymore.*

### Chapter 30: Peaceful Aftermath

Birchpaw was in the apprentice's den thinking over what happened the day before. Peonyclaw and Whitestripe were still silently fuming at each other, but they weren't talking to each other in case another fight happened. To keep the peace that MoonClan was known for, they were completely avoiding even the topic of each other and Stonetooth. Other cats didn't want to bring up Stonetooth either, since it also brought up the bad memory of Begoniaclaw leaving with her. So it was like they never existed, almost. He wondered if SnowClan and AdderClan had a higher frequency of skirmishes like the one that happened yesterday, but he decided not to care about that since it was too sensitive of info, considering what happened yesterday.

He remembered Peonyclaw mentioning Stonetooth only once, though not by name, when she was regretting about Stonetooth and reminiscing the past. *"I thought my kits needed a little push because their older siblings, Violetrain and Fireclaw, were so outgoing, and they were playing with the other kits! So I wanted to advocate Sandleap and Nightnose to be their mentors, just as I had advocated for Maplestripe and Littleclaw to be Violetrain and Fireclaw's mentors, because Sandleap was my sister's apprentice, and I knew she would do so well because Flipsnow taught her a lot. And Nightnose was my younger friend, Rosepetal's apprentice and my mentor, Watereye's son! I knew I could trust her training and their parents' parenting, too, since both mentors and their parents were calm and intelligent. I knew Sandleap and Nightnose were both good kits and apprentices, too, and they worked so hard to become warriors! But-but I had no idea what in the Dark Forest would happen in the future!"* Most cats that were there (excluding Whitestripe, of course) were pretty surprised at her whole rant, especially Sandleap and Nightnose themselves. However, Nightnose had said that he forgave Peonyclaw since she didn't know what Stonetooth would act like. Sandleap also said that she still had a good time with Whitestripe, even if he was boisterous. Birchpaw was mostly just confused, because he didn't know that all this had happened behind the scenes, and he didn't think that Whitestripe was boisterous with Sandleap nearly at all.

He had silent worries about bad things happening for the entire depressive period, which began when Goldenlily died. And when MoonClan thought it was all over, it turned out Stonetooth left two nights ago. So the sadness morphed into a lot of tension, with a lot of cats worried about what would happen to MoonClan now, if AdderClan decided to raid after Stonetooth joining them. The only thing Birchpaw thought was good was Begoniaclaw being able to see her kits again, since she wasn't that much a good warrior anyways. But he still wondered if they would spill any important secrets, since they couldn't be trusted that much if they went back to AdderClan.

MoonClan seemed to be a bit worried about Birchpaw, especially Snowstar, Petuniaheart, Peonyclaw, Shadowclaw, Quailclaw, Whitestripe, Rainpaw, Swanpaw, Mountainpaw and Primrosepaw, since he wasn't talking as much as he used to as a kit and younger apprentice. Birchpaw still tried to be friendly with them, but the thoughts of him not being able to do anything about the situation was always irking for him. He didn't think it would help to tell everyone else what he was worrying about, since he thought it was obvious to them.

Birchpaw remembered what he asked his father after Birdkit's birth. *"Snowstar... do you... do you think... this is an ill omen?"*

*His father looked shocked at his question but at the same time uneasy. "Um... I am not sure. Do you think so?"*

*Birchpaw just shrugged in reply but said nothing else. So Snowstar continued, "I was going to ask you what you seemed to be worried about, but I guess* this *is what you were worried about."*

*"I am worried what will happen after this," Birchpaw finally replied in an anxious tone. "Will Birdkit be okay?"*

*"I hope so. Goldenlily's death was already shocking for us, so I wouldn't want anything else to happen," Snowstar replied. Birdkit was also the one who made him a grandfather for the first time, so he would definitely be extra worried about her.*

After all that had happened now, Birchpaw figured Birdkit's birth probably might have been an ill omen. Even if Birdkit didn't die (he thanked StarClan greatly for that), he thought it might have been a sign for Mousekit's death. And he wondered about Stonetooth leaving, too, if the entire situation happening in MoonClan was too much for her to handle. He was mostly neutral towards Stonetooth before, but now he thought she might be an ill omen, too. He wondered about Applefall's kits, since she was two moons pregnant now. But he hoped nothing would go wrong with *them.*

He thought about his mentor. Peonyclaw had told him that the reason why she didn't tell him much about SnowClan because of Blackwater. She didn't want Birchpaw to stress out too much about Whitelight and Blackwater since she noticed that he was getting bothered by it a little bit during training. It was also because of Swiftclaw, in fact *mostly* him, because of the situation and the sheer direness of the mating, which is why he accidentally mentioned it. But Birchpaw didn't want to tell her that, of course, since it was secret information. He understood what Peonyclaw thought she should have done with her apprentice, but he always wondered why she told him about her secret sister in the first place. Flipsnow never told Sandleap, and probably not Robinpaw, either. *Maybe it's because I was the only one who encountered Whitelight with her,* he figured.

Flipsnow still knew that Birchpaw knew, though, but it seemed like she was resenting that Peonyclaw ever told him, since she was shocked when Peonyclaw told her that he knew. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do about it except keep it a secret. But he wasn't sure how it would benefit him in any way to know. *Maybe if I ever encounter Whitelight with Peonyclaw, I will understand why they don't like each other.* But he wasn't sure how *that* would help, either. He *was* pretty curious, but he also respected secrets. *Maybe I won't attack Whitelight so hard since I know who she is?* He found that unlikely, since Clan battles required Clan members to do their best in fighting, and going soft on one specific cat would be considered disloyalty.

Birchpaw then thought about Swiftclaw and Blackwater fully. From what the others told him, he got really alarmed by the information. Swiftclaw supporting Briarstar all the way with her rigidity and mating outside of the Clan? The only thing he could think of him now was *"hypocrite".* He was alarmed at the fact itself that Swiftclaw was Briarstar's sister. *That means... Briarstar's the aunt of MoonClan cats. My friends.* It was so peculiar to him that it took him a while to stomach. He knew Swiftclaw might have relatives in SnowClan, but he didn't think *Briarstar* of all cats, the second leader of SnowClan, was his sister, which he thought made it a lot worse than he thought it would be. Not to mention, Briarstar and Swiftclaw were the great-niece and nephew of SnowClan Snowstar (as he learned from what Peonyclaw told him afterwards) through Hailclaw, the first deputy and Snowstar's littermate. *So Shadowclaw, Icemoon, Swanpaw, Mousekit and Petalkit are basically closer in blood to important SnowClan leaders and deputies than to important MoonClan cats, like Moonstar and Sandpounce.* Thinking about Mousekit made him feel a little uncomfortable, though, because she was already dead. Birchpaw had worries and doubts about his friends' SnowClan father being good before he was told this information, but now it felt like Swiftclaw was now a terrible cat to him, and wondered *why* in StarClan Goldenlily would mate with him.

And although the revelation about Blackwater wasn't *that* terrible, he still thought it was bad because he supported Swiftclaw and Briarstar's rigid actions, for whatever reason he couldn't think of. Whitelight was his mate, but at the same time she opposed the leader's rule, which probably meant their relationship was steely. Birchpaw thought about the story that Peonyclaw told him and wondered if Whitelight regretted her decision to leave her sisters and join her mate. He still wondered about Whitelight and Blackwater's kits, Juniperpetal and Paleeye, however, and what *their* relationship was with them. Swiftclaw, Blackwater and Whitelight weren't even close in blood to him, yet at the same time they seemed to be so related to him, due to the secrets he held. Birchpaw was sure no one else knew about those secrets, and he was sure no one else knew that *he* knew, except for Whitelight, of course. And he figured Swiftclaw would hide his secret until he died, unless Birchpaw did something about it. But he didn't want to do anything about it either, as the secret would be too dire if it were to be leaked, even more than Whitelight being his mentor and Flipsnow's sister, since they both still hated each other.

Peonyclaw calmed down enough to train Birchpaw today, since Birchpaw wasn't part of the problem, but she still seemed incensed at her belligerent son. However, during hunting training in the forest that led to the cliff of the creek, as if it was by StarClan destiny, Peonyclaw and Birchpaw encountered Whitelight again. Birchpaw knew that Peonyclaw encountered her a few other times, but this was the second time it happened while *he* was there.

*Whitelight saw Birchpaw and bit her lip. Birchpaw was confused why, but Peonyclaw shouted,* "WHY ARE YOU HERE, WHITELIGHT! DON'T YOU SEE I'M ANGRY!"

*Birchpaw looked worriedly at his mentor because of her volume, and Peonyclaw saw his expression and realized that she should probably be quieter when she was around her sister. Whitelight narrowed her eyes and said, "I can* see *that. But this is important!"*

*"Why don't I tell you what* happened?!" *Peonyclaw growled.* "My daughter, Stonetooth, left MoonClan to join that *abhorrent Clan!"*

*Whitelight knew which Clan she was talking about and looked utterly shocked. Birchpaw just looked down because he already knew. But Peonyclaw continued, "And don't tell your perfect, 'sweet' mate Blackwater about this, or* anyone! I'm not going to deal with SnowClan about that!"

*Whitelight blinked a few times before sighing, "Fine, it's not going to be of importance to SnowClan, anyways." But then she narrowed her eyes. "But seriously, why did you tell your apprentice about me?"*

*Now Birchpaw realized why.* Did Peonyclaw tell her that I knew? *he wondered with shock. He knew that Peonyclaw would have to tell Flipsnow since they were in the same Clan, but Whitelight? Peonyclaw bit her lip and only said, "Why* shouldn't *I?"*

*Whitelight narrowed her eyes even more, and Birchpaw thought the calm of his mentor and the brashness of Whitelight that Peonyclaw talked about would soon surface. "I remember asking you the next time we met what you told Birchpaw about me, since I thought I was sort of suspicious to him. And* that *is what you said? The* truth?" *She looked even more angry. "You* do *realize what could happen if it gets out! Briarstar is already acting* nuts!"

*Peonyclaw regained her angry expression and replied, "I'm not a* SnowClan *member." She said "SnowClan" as if it was dirt. "I'm* MoonClan. *And I'm going to tell the truth. Besides, what* else *could I have said? That we were secretly friendly and passing secrets? What if he told our leader that I was acting suspicious? And I'm not SnowClan or AdderClan to terrorize cats into forgetting what happened." Birchpaw was a bit confused that she said leader instead of Snowstar or his father, but then he realized SnowClan* probably *didn't know what happened in MoonClan all those moons ago. But he was* way *more surprised at her explanation, especially since he learned that Peonyclaw didn't trust him with* not *knowing the truth. But he thought that sort of made sense since someone could misinterpret a situation in many negative ways.*

*"What about terrorizing into* keeping secrets? *And who said* SnowClan *did that?" Whitelight growled back. Birchpaw was getting pretty anxious now, since he thought the two sisters would start fighting if they kept this up.* Not that MoonClan would probably care, though. They would think it's good. *But he was still worried of his* own *wellbeing.*

*Peonyclaw snorted. "Birchpaw consented, though, without me having to do that! And I wouldn't put it past SnowClan to do so! How else are important secrets not leaking?"*

*"If it results in important secrets not leaking, then that's good! Unlike MoonClan! But we don't terrorize, because we have trust in each other not to do so!"*

"Now, why don't you SHUT UP! Didn't you have something to say about stupid SnowClan? You're praising the very Clan you have complaints for? I bet Briarstar began this tradition of terrorizing!"

*Whitelight just blinked slowly as if she didn't agree with most of what her sister said, but Birchpaw was really anxious now. "Well, Briarstar and her kits* are *getting to be too much. Honeywhisker, Sparrowstem and Cloverheart can't seem to convince her otherwise! I'm trying to change the Clan for the better, too, but Blackwater doesn't want to do anything about it!"*

*Peonyclaw just sighed, but it seemed to be sarcastic. "Oh* really? *Is he* finally-"

"Um, Peonyclaw?" *Birchpaw decided to speak up.* "Maybe we should leave. What if *another* cat sees us talking to her?" Whitelight still looked angry, but she was a little surprised at her sister's apprentice.

*Peonyclaw blinked at her apprentice's audacity, but she looked like she thought that was a good idea. However, both sisters still glared at each other as the mentor and apprentice were leaving.*

Birchpaw sighed, as he thought the entire encounter with his mentor's sister was peculiar and tense, especially since Peonyclaw quit training because of it and retired to the warriors' den. He didn't know what he was supposed to do about it, because the secret was best kept as a secret anyways, as it involved Clan loyalties. He didn't want the secret to accidentally leak because of him, even if they were just *discussing* how he knew about it, since Peonyclaw *was* still incensed at Stonetooth leaving and Whitestripe fighting with her, and Whitelight coming exacerbated her emotions.

Then Shadowclaw, Icemoon, Swanpaw, Mountainpaw, Dandelionpaw and Rainpaw all entered the apprentice's den. He was confused why the first two and latter last were entering since they were either warriors or a medicine cat apprentice, until they all spotted him.

"Hey, *Birchpaw!"* Shadowclaw greeted, although with a little worry, which confused Birchpaw.

Then Mountainpaw asked anxiously, "Birchpaw, did Peonyclaw *do...* anything?"

"You came back *so early,* and she looked pretty angry, too!" Rainpaw exclaimed in confusion.

Birchpaw sighed. *What should I tell them?* He was a *little* glad he could blame it on Whitestripe since he didn't have any other good reason why Peonyclaw would get angry. He didn't want to mention Whitelight in case that started issues with *SnowClan.* Issues with Windwing, Begoniaclaw, Stonetooth and AdderClan in general were enough to handle, perhaps too much now.

"I *am* pretty worried what happened! Did something else happen?" Dandelionpaw added uneasily. Icemoon and Swanpaw nodded worriedly, too.

"Peonyclaw decided that we should go back since she was having trouble focusing on the prey," Birchpaw replied nonchalantly. He had no idea if that made much sense to them, but it was the best he could think of, which still had to do with yesterday's events.

Luckily, everyone understood and didn't question him as they nodded empathetically.

"I wonder why that happened, though," Mountainpaw said fretfully.

Swanpaw raised her paw to communicate, and everyone looked at her. Then she pretended to look angry and claw someone up, then she made her front leg slither like a snake. The cats understood that she meant, *Because she wants to claw up Stonetooth in AdderClan,* even without mentioning Stonetooth's name.

Birchpaw shrugged because he had no idea what else to say in response. Icemoon sighed, "I would claw up Stonetooth, too, if I got the chance. I wouldn't blame her." Birchpaw knew she still hated Stonetooth, but he didn't know if that would make any difference now.

"What about Whitestripe?" Rainpaw asked distressfully.

Icemoon seemed like she had completely forgotten about Whitestripe's part in Peonyclaw's anger and was surprised to listen to his name. But she just shrugged in reply.

"Maybe he was stressed," Shadowclaw tried to reason, but it seemed like he was grasping at pebbles. Swanpaw looked skeptical, though.

"Maybe, but he seemed to be defending Stonetooth to the point he wanted to claw his mother up!" Dandelionpaw said with utter puzzlement.

Shadowclaw shrugged, too, as it also looked like he had nothing else to say about that. But Rainpaw replied, "Maybe he thought Stonetooth could have changed before she went on this dark path?" She looked sadly at the three older children of Goldenlily, the cats who partially caused Stonetooth to leave. Birchpaw was thinking that, too, but unlike Whitestripe, he didn't think it was necessarily *anyone's* fault, since they didn't have good understanding in the first place, and Stonetooth probably didn't want to build understanding, either.

"What could *we* have done, though?" Mountainpaw asked sadly. "By the time we realized there was something wrong with her, it was too late! And we were only kits, too!" Shadowclaw, Icemoon and Swanpaw's expressions looked uneasy in response to that, and Rainpaw and Dandelionpaw just looked gloomily at each other.

Birchpaw looked at Shadowclaw and Icemoon and wondered about what their relationship was with the two littermates as kits, since he wouldn't know the full truth. Since they and Quailclaw were the only five kits in the nursery at the time Whitestripe and Stonetooth were born, he thought Shadowclaw, Icemoon and his older brother must have known them well. Birchpaw never asked them about it since he thought it was pretty obvious. Whitestripe and Stonepaw *were* very shy in kithood, while Shadowclaw and Icemoon were very outgoing. Quailclaw was also sort of quiet, but he still made friends with the cats who were the same age as him and the cats who were younger than him.

"What happened when you were kits anyways, Shadowclaw and Icemoon?" Birchpaw decided to ask, since he wanted to know the truth. The cats younger than them looked like they wanted to know, too.

The two littermates were slightly surprised at his question, but they regained their composure. However, they were frowning.

"Well, when Icemoon and I were born, we were the first and only kits in the nursery, because the cats born before us, Violetrain and Fireclaw, are a tail-shaking seven moons older than us!" Shadowclaw started explaining solemnly. "We played with each other for a while, but we were getting pretty bored, since there were no other kits than us, until Quailclaw was born a few days later. We were very disappointed at his littermate being stillborn, but we were glad *he* was alive. Then all three of us played together for a moon, but of course, we were getting bored again. I mean, some cats who were still apprentices when we were born, Heronwing, Applefall, the trio of sisters, the two brothers, Nightnose and Nutclaw, and Violetrain and Fireclaw played with us, too, but we wanted someone our own age or younger than us to play with!" He smiled. The younger cats, including Birchpaw, thought it was a little weird that Shadowclaw, Icemoon and Quailclaw remembered all those cats as apprentices, but it still made sense because they were older than them.

Icemoon added, "I can agree with everything he said."

"Wait, how do you remember everything when you were born?" Rainpaw exclaimed in confusion.

"Well..." Shadowclaw started miserably. The other cats knew why. "The other queens that were there told us, especially Goldenlily." Icemoon, Rainpaw and Swanpaw also looked gloomy when he mentioned Goldenlily. Mountainpaw and Dandelionpaw exchanged sad looks, too.

"Okay, well, maybe you can continue?" Birchpaw suggested. He didn't want to be insensitive or anything, but he didn't want to dwell on bad memories of the past, either, since he already had worries of his own about it. And he still wanted to focus on the point.

"Well, okay," Shadowclaw replied, turning back to normal. "Anyways, we were anticipating Peonyclaw's kits to be born so that we could have more kit friends. When they were finally born, we were very excited and tried to play with them, but they didn't trust us and weren't even a tad bit receptive of us!" His eyes widened as he was saying this. "Peonyclaw wasn't the only one disappointed with them! I wonder if they inherently disliked us because they thought we were strangers!" Icemoon nodded, frowning and flicking her tail.

The younger cats, including Birchpaw, seemed to think it was peculiar to think about Whitestripe being shy as a kit, especially because he was good friends with them now. Stonetooth, however, never even tried to become friends with them.

"So imagine our relief when *you* were born two moons later, Rainpaw and Birchpaw!" Shadowclaw exclaimed, looking happy and grateful. "Since you both were outgoing and warmed up to us immediately, we finally had someone to include in our games! And luckily, Swanpaw, Mountainpaw and Berrypaw were born a quarter-moon later! Berrypaw was pretty shy, but Swanpaw and Mountainpaw wanted to play with us, too! Well, Mountainpaw *was* shy, too, but he eventually warmed up to us, too!" He warmly smiled at the four of them and so did Icemoon. Rainpaw, Swanpaw and Mountainpaw smiled back, but Birchpaw just nodded.

Icemoon added exuberantly, "I can agree with what he said, too!"

Birchpaw was thinking about what Shadowclaw said. It confirmed what he was already thinking, pretty much. He wondered if the part about inherent dislike was true, though, because Whitestripe still warmed up to them, even if the original confrontation was intense. He thought the part about not trusting them made more sense, though. *Maybe they were naturally like that. They* did *turn out to be the loudest apprentices and warriors, however.*

"Well, I'm glad you had all four of them! Even if Primrosepaw and I weren't born yet, since we have the same age gap that you do with Violetrain and Fireclaw!" Dandelionpaw said cheerfully.

Shadowclaw looked a little surprised at the last part and grinned joyfully. "Oh right, I nearly forgot! We were *your* mentors, too! And we got to play with you the same way they did with us! Especially Quailclaw to Primrosepaw." He winked, and the other cats smiled at his subtext, including Birchpaw because he thought he should be a little bit more lighthearted now. *I wouldn't mind if they became mates, because they have good understanding, and mating is great. I would not at all be embarrassed to be an uncle again.* He recalled being supportive of Sandleap and Nightnose, even if they were displaying public affection which he thought was totally fine. He didn't want to tease them *that* much or be gossipy for that reason.

He also remembered that his mentor's first litter became warriors and the second became apprentices a few days before Primrosepaw and Dandelionpaw were born, which proved that they were fourteen moons apart from the first litter. He still wondered if they made any more effort, though.

"Did you try to talk to them after some time they were born?" Birchpaw asked curiously. The two littermates stared at him, frowning yet again.

Shadowclaw bit his lip. "Yes, but they *still* didn't talk to us or anyone! Even their older siblings and father and grandmother and aunts had a hard time!"

"They also ignored us and intimidated us with their looks when we persisted!" Icemoon added frightfully. "They didn't talk to *anyone* but each other and Peonyclaw!"

*Oh,* Birchpaw thought in surprise. *That's what Shadowclaw meant by inherent dislike.*

"I *sometimes* talked to Whitestripe. Only a few times, though," pointed out Mountainpaw.

"We know that," replied Shadowclaw. "But that still didn't help *us.* Even Berrypaw at least talked to *someone* as a kit!"

"Um, who was it again?" Dandelionpaw asked, a bit confused. "I only remember Mountainpaw talking to her as an apprentice, and later on Thymekit talked to her, too."

"She still sometimes talked to Mountainpaw as a kit, but after he became friends with us," Birchpaw explained to her. The other cats nodded in agreement.

Dandelionpaw nodded, too, and asked, "Okay, but Berrypaw was still shy, right? Even now."

"Yeah, but that was still okay," replied Shadowclaw. "She wasn't *as* shy as these two. Luckily Whitestripe grew out of it thanks to Birchpaw and Rainpaw and Berrypaw made two good friends"—he smiled at Birchpaw, Rainpaw and Mountainpaw again—"but Stonetooth seemed to get *worse!"* He looked extremely anxious. *"I can't believe she-"*

"Uh, maybe we should not talk about that," Birchpaw interrupted worriedly, since he knew it would be negative. He knew he was going to talk about Swanpaw's fall into the ditch. Swanpaw glanced at Birchpaw for one moment, but she just shrugged in response. *Did Swanpaw want to talk about it?* he wondered with confusion. Shadowclaw just shrugged in response, too.

*"I was genuinely scared that Whitestripe and Peonyclaw would injure each other!"* Icemoon said all of a sudden, extremely anxious. Swanpaw nodded in the same way, too.

Rainpaw frowned, too. "I wouldn't know what to do! I'm not that great at fighting, being a medicine cat apprentice! No knowledge of medicine would have helped!"

"I guess he wanted justice for Stonetooth," Birchpaw suggested. The three older children of Goldenlily looked especially uneasy at that, and Mountainpaw and Dandelionpaw looked worried. Rainpaw just shrugged, which made Birchpaw think that she had similar ideas as him. *Well, we* are *littermates after all.* Their older siblings had a similar attitude, too. He figured Quailclaw was the most like him, though, except generally more introverted.

"I am confused about that, though," said Shadowclaw almost silently. Icemoon and Swanpaw seemed to agree.

"Well, you *did* say they only talked to each other as kits, so..." Rainpaw pointed out, trailing off.

Mountainpaw shrugged. "I *guess* they had a good relationship from kithood?"

Swanpaw bit her lip and pointed to Rainpaw, Birchpaw, Mountainpaw and herself. Then she pretended to do a thumbs-up and smile.

"Oh yeah, we *are* good friends, too, from kithood!" Rainpaw grinned and looked at Birchpaw. "Especially *us* two."

Birchpaw smiled back, even if he didn't remember much under two moons of age, but he still had a great relationship with Rainpaw, as he didn't know much about Swanpaw or Mountainpaw yet, and of course, the other five kits were much older (relative to kit moons) to be great friends with.

"Speaking of which, did Rainpaw ever consider you in anyway younger, Birchpaw?" Dandelionpaw asked curiously.

Birchpaw shook his head. "No, in fact, it always seemed like *she* was the younger littermate. Even I was a bit surprised to learn I was born after *her."*

Shadowclaw smiled with fascination. "That's *very* interesting. I always thought that I was the oldest, and Icemoon was younger, which is, of course, correct."

"Primrosepaw also usually acts more mature than me, which I guess proves her age, too," Dandelionpaw added.

"If *I* had a littermate, I would probably act like the younger one," Mountainpaw laughed.

Swanpaw smiled, but her eyes showed a little sadness, as she was probably thinking about Vinekit, her stillborn littermate.

"Does Whitestripe act older than Stonetooth?" Birchpaw wondered out loud. He wanted to know if maturity had anything to do with it.

Icemoon snorted in disgust, as she always did when she had something to speak her mind loud about Stonetooth. "Definitely, because Stonetooth's maturity is that of a *newborn kit.* No wonder she's so haughty."

Swanpaw tilted her head and squinted one eye which most likely talked about the "haughty" part, *Still on that?* Icemoon just groaned in response.

"I agree with Icemoon," Shadowclaw growled and groaned, too. "At least Whitestripe had a *good* reason to be outraged at other MoonClan cats, but *Stonetooth?* She was being *way too petty!* Stealing a mouse from Birchpaw just for being a *bit* annoying to Whitestripe? Pushing Swanpaw just out of jealousy?"

"I hope AdderClan killed her," Icemoon spat.

Swanpaw looked a little shocked and pointed to Shadowclaw, Icemoon, herself, Robinpaw and Soarpaw and in the direction of the nursery, then made comforting movements. The others were a bit confused until they realized she was talking about Begoniaclaw. Begoniaclaw *did* comfort everyone in the nursery while she was there.

"Oh... I hope nothing happened to her," Icemoon remedied, looking very forlorn now.

"I hope AdderClan was being nice for once," Mountainpaw added sorrowfully.

*"Would* AdderClan have recruited Begoniaclaw based on Stonetooth's skills, though?" Birchpaw wondered out loud sadly.

*"I hope so!"* Shadowclaw cried despairingly. "I care *nothing* about Stonetooth, but *Begoniaclaw SHOULD be okay! She* was *very nice!"*

"Okay, but you still had good times with these four, right?" Dandelionpaw inserted, probably not wanting to talk about them anymore and instead about good things. After all, the topic was getting pretty morbid.

"Yeah," Birchpaw added, going along with her. "I remember we played Clan a few times."

Mountainpaw smiled, looking relieved from the new topic. "I remember I was Icemoon's apprentice and she was the deputy."

"And I was the leader!" Shadowclaw exclaimed joyfully, also looking relieved. "And it was named ShadowClan after *me!"*

"And *I* was the *medicine cat!"* Rainpaw said and winked at Dandelionpaw.

"I suppose that was a precognition, right?" Dandelionpaw replied, smiling. "For what you wanted to be!"

"Quite so," Rainpaw responded approvingly.

"Quailclaw and I were also mentor and apprentice," Birchpaw added.

"And Swanpaw was a normal warrior, but still a great one, too," Icemoon said cheerfully. Swanpaw nodded brightly.

"That's great!" Dandelionpaw exclaimed joyfully. "I *do* wish I could have played Clan, too, but Robinpaw and Soarpaw were too shy. But at least there was Primrosepaw, Thymekit, Lilackit and Jumpkit to play with! But that wasn't really enough cats..."

"Well, don't worry, you have *us,* right? We can always play pretend Clan sometime!" Shadowclaw cheered up.

Dandelionpaw grinned in delight. *"Of course!"*

Birchpaw was still thinking about the situation, though, and what had happened in the last two and a half moons. *I wonder if we could still recover,* he thought. He hoped so, because he didn’t want any more hardships to happen. The situation was very depressing, but he hoped better things would happen. From what Shadowclaw and Icemoon told him, he thought that perhaps Whitestripe was indeed right about Stonetooth not getting any love or respect, even if she technically was the one who repelled most of the attention.

Then Birchpaw wondered why Shadowclaw, Icemoon and Rainpaw entered the apprentice's den anyways, since Rainpaw was supposed to be in the medicine cat's den. So he decided to ask, "Um, did you *only* want to ask me about Peonyclaw, or did you also have something else to do in here?"

The other cats looked a bit surprised at his question, and Shadowclaw, Rainpaw, Swanpaw and Mountainpaw started looking a little worried for him for some reason. *Maybe my question* does *seem like I'm being closed off,* he figured.

"Well, I almost forgot! We wanted to ask you if you wanted to come with us on patrol with us, since Peonyclaw cut it short," exclaimed Shadowclaw brightly, his worried demeanor gone.

"Yeah, since Shadowclaw and I obviously don't have mentors, and the others' mentors are pretty busy," Icemoon added.

"What are they doing?" Birchpaw inquired.

"Lilypool is out on a hunting-gathering patrol with Petuniaheart, Maplestripe and Snowstar, and Sealbranch, Nutclaw and Hailstream are playing with our nieces and nephew!" Rainpaw answered cheerfully, especially at the last part.

Birchpaw nodded and started to think about his older niece again, until he decided he should answer their question. "Well, I guess I can go if you want."

All of them smiled at his approval. Swanpaw pointed to Snowstar and Mountainpaw replied, "Yup, we *should* tell him. Then we can go!"

Birchpaw just nodded and smiled. He thought he *should* spend more time with them to keep his mind off of bad things, after all.

"And we can go to the forest that leads to the Rocky Passageway!" Dandelionpaw suggested gleefully.

"Yup, and that has more significance, too!" Rainpaw chuckled. "Because it leads to the sacred Pool of Enlightenment!"

Birchpaw started thinking about spiritual things when they said that, but he made sure to stay away from negative thoughts, as he was a bit worried about StarClan's actions throughout the entire depressive period.

"I wonder if we can go there?" Shadowclaw asked sarcastically.

"I wish I could go to the Pool of Enlightenment," Icemoon sighed. "But hey, at least we can always think about StarClan!"

"That's okay! Hunting in the forest near there might be spiritual enough!" Rainpaw replied cheerfully. "But I can tell you *all* about it, since my ceremony was there!"

"That's great, Rainpaw!" Mountainpaw exclaimed joyfully.

Birchpaw nodded and said, "I would also like to learn about it, too." He remembered the day Rainpaw came back from her ceremony, which was a good one. It was also the day he learned about Whitelight's relationship to his mentor, but he didn't think about that.

"Sure, but first, let's tell Snowstar that we're leaving!" Rainpaw told her littermate.

"Alright, let's go!" Shadowclaw said cheerfully. It seemed to Birchpaw that Shadowclaw was the self-proclaimed leader of the group, but that was fine with him, especially if he was the patrol leader. All the other cats nodded in agreement with Shadowclaw.

Birchpaw looked around the camp and saw Peonyclaw talking to Flipsnow with a defeated look on her face. *Probably about Whitelight.* Then he looked around for Whitestripe and saw him talking to Quailclaw and Primrosepaw joyfully. *Probably about Quailclaw mentoring Primrosepaw.* Then he looked in the direction of Rabbit Residence. *I hope Stonetooth and Begoniaclaw are okay, and nothing bad happens from them joining.* He decided to hope for the future, and that better things would come. *I hope we can recover,* he repeated spiritually and optimistically, this time, to StarClan themselves.

### Chapter 31: The Creek of Blood

Birchpaw looked at the prey pile. It was a half-moon later, and he had no idea what would happen next. The events seemed so wild and out of whack, that he had just mentally prepared himself for anything else that could happen. He was thirteen moons old, almost a warrior, but he wasn't sure if he could be ready for the randomness of terrible events.

The tension between his mentor and Whitestripe had lessened greatly, but they were still only talking on formal terms.

Birchpaw remembered yesterday and the day before that. The day before yesterday was a good change to the vibe Peonyclaw and Whitestripe currently had, as Applefall gave birth.

*While Birchpaw was doing fighting training with his mentor, his littermate called out to everyone,* "Applefall's kitting!" *Of course, to expect her new grandchildren, Peonyclaw quit the training and asked her apprentice to come. Birchpaw dutifully agreed. Nearly almost all the other cats were there, too, especially the father, Fireclaw, the grandparents, Daisyfoot, Peonyclaw and Blazesky, and their closest families, Violetrain, Whitestripe, Petuniaheart and Flipsnow. For a moment, Birchpaw had remembered Stonetooth would become an aunt for the first time but she wasn't here, which irked him a little a bit. But he had shrugged that off.*

*Everything went perfectly, and all the kits were excited to have new friends, including Thymekit who would become an apprentice in one day. As usual, Applefall had a tom and a she-kit, and she named the tom Dustkit. Fireclaw named the she-kit Oakkit indirectly in honor of Birchpaw, due to the tree name. Birchpaw had smiled, because now there was another tree name in the Clan. Everyone was happy, especially when Peonyclaw and Whitestripe had a silent, temporary truce between them to play with the kits. Even Whitestripe who usually didn't hang out with kits watched them with a smile on his face.*

*And the day after that, Thymekit's apprentice ceremony was here. It was a very wonderful day, giving joy and happiness to the entirety of MoonClan. Birchpaw heard his father's voice very clearly.*

*"Thymekit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, under the moon, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Thymepaw. Your mentor will be"—as everyone expected—"Violetrain. I hope she will pass down all she knows on to you."*

*Everyone cheered for him, especially all of the friends he had in the nursery, Primrosepaw and Dandelionpaw, and Robinpaw and Soarpaw, and Lilackit and Jumpkit, and Petalkit and Birdkit and her siblings. His senior apprentice friends, Mountainpaw and Berrypaw were cheering loudly as well. Flameeye and Redwater who were especially fond of him also cheered, and so did Forestcreek. Violetrain was cheering the loudest as she went and touched the nose of her new apprentice. Birchpaw was personally proud that there would be more apprentices now. And Thymepaw was the oldest kit out of any of his cousins or siblings' kits, so Thymepaw also felt more special to him, too.*

Suddenly, he was snapped out of his flashback when he heard Snowstar and Sealbranch starting to give out patrols. *Well, warrior duties can't stop now,* thought Birchpaw seriously.

He decided that he should probably go on patrol, and not think about what happened lately. How the Clan lost Goldenlily, Mousekit, Begoniaclaw and Stonetooth. And only *he* knew the story behind Goldenlily's kits. He knew Whitestripe was also the only one who knew Stonetooth's real intentions. Birchpaw sighed as he only wished that Stonetooth and Begoniaclaw didn't tell any of MoonClan's secrets to AdderClan. Otherwise, MoonClan would only get into more hardships.

His father's voice took him out of his thoughts. "Since we have a shortage of water, we need a patrol to go get it. It will also be a border patrol, since SnowClan borders it."

Birchpaw's ears perked up. *Water and border patrol?* He thought it may not be that hard for him, since he had plenty of training for fighting and hunting. But he wondered what water place it would be that they would need to keep an eye on the border of SnowClan. For a moment he remembered Whitelight and Swiftclaw but he shook that off.

All the other cats were also paying attention, of course. As they waited for instructions, they seemed to be thinking of something. *What is it?* Birchpaw wondered but he just decided to see what Snowstar and Sealbranch would say.

"We also need to check the border of Rabbit Residence," said Sealbranch seriously. "So we will send another patrol to go there. Each will have ten cats." Birchpaw wondered why there needed to be so many cats, but then again, he knew they were border patrols. Things *could* get messy, especially with AdderClan around.

"Twenty cats in total," Snowstar added, looking around, probably to see which cats could go. The other cats seemed to agree and look determined, but Birchpaw went back to staring at the prey pile. He wasn't sure if he felt useful enough to do anything. Sure, he saved Swanpaw as a kit from that ditch and found Begoniaclaw to nurse Mousekit and Petalkit, but he didn't really do much else to help the Clan, or avert any catastrophes that happened. Snowstar, Sealbranch, Shadowclaw, Whitestripe, Primrosepaw, Rainpaw and probably Peonyclaw, too, did much more than *he* did. The most important title he had was a leader's descendant.

He did not pay attention to *all* the cats who would go on the Rabbit Residence patrol, but he heard Lilypool, Hailstream, Nightnose, Shadowclaw, and Mountainpaw's names.

Suddenly, Snowstar looked in Birchpaw's direction. "Birchpaw and Peonyclaw, you can go on the water patrol." Birchpaw looked up at him in slight surprise, but nodded quickly. He wondered if Snowstar figured out his distress and his feeling of unusefulness.

Peonyclaw nodded, too, looking *very* slightly relieved. Birchpaw guessed it was because she didn't have to see AdderClan's faces. Especially Stonetooth. He thought that Peonyclaw and himself felt the brunt of the entire previous two moons on themselves.

He remembered Whitelight and why she was coming to MoonClan for help with Briarstar's odd leadership of the Clan. *Is SnowClan becoming more dangerous?* he wondered anxiously. *Like AdderClan?* He hoped history wouldn't repeat itself and Briarstar and Fangstar's Clans ganged up against MoonClan again. He was a little anxious to go, based on what Whitelight was saying about Briarstar.

"Sealbranch, Blazesky and Dandelionpaw, you can also go," Snowstar continued. Sealbranch and Blazesky nodded and smiled at each other. They *were* previously mentor-apprentice before, after all. Dandelionpaw also looked excited to go with her mentor and her mentor's mentor.

"I will also go," said Whitestripe quickly and formally. Peonyclaw and Birchpaw looked at him in confusion, and so did some other cats like Swanpaw, Mountainpaw and Primrosepaw, until Whitestripe clarified, "I *should* help out my parents. And the Clan."

Peonyclaw's eyes widened like the moon, but turned back to normal after a few seconds, but now she was very slightly skeptical.

Snowstar was also thinking for a few seconds until he nodded. "Okay, Whitestripe, if that is what you wish."

"Can *Primrosepaw* go, *too?!"* Dandelionpaw exclaimed in delight, making other cats pay attention to her now.

Primrosepaw looked confused for a moment and looked at Hailstream. "Are you... sure?"

Hailstream just nodded. "It will be good training. Besides, you don't *have* to be with your mentor all the time."

The apprentice looked skeptical, but simply nodded, too, looking longingly at her mentor. Birchpaw wondered what she must have been thinking.

"We also need a medicine cat, of which Rainpaw is left," Snowstar said, smiling. Rainpaw looked happy to be with her littermate, Birchpaw, and Primrosepaw. Birchpaw was happy, too, because he loved his littermate a lot, and she equally took the brunt of all the hardships, being a medicine cat.

Sealbranch nodded. "We need two more cats."

Maplestripe flicked his tail. "I will go with my daughters," he simply said. "I do need to make sure they are safe."

"Me too," added Sealbranch, even though she was already on the patrol. "Dandelionpaw *is* my apprentice after all." She looked around. "One more cat."

Nutclaw suddenly looked like he got an idea. "I know, how about Swanpaw?" He smiled at his apprentice encouragingly. "Like Hailstream said, you don't always have to be with me."

Birchpaw knew Swanpaw couldn't speak, but she looked pretty confused, which probably meant what Primrosepaw said, *Are you sure?*

Finally, Nutclaw seemed to understand her as he nodded eagerly, and Shadowclaw, Whitestripe, Rainpaw, Primrosepaw and Dandelionpaw did too. Swanpaw just nodded back, and walked towards Rainpaw and Birchpaw.

Birchpaw said or did nothing, as he was starting to get a bad feeling, somehow. He had no idea where it was coming from, though, because he usually seemed to be getting it more and more nowadays. He just decided to ignore it as usual.

Snowstar smiled. "Okay, that is good, Maplestripe and Swanpaw. I suppose you can go now."

"Where is this water place anyway?" Primrosepaw asked cautiously. Birchpaw blinked and looked around, wondering who would answer.

Suddenly, Peonyclaw, Sealbranch and Maplestripe frowned, and Blazesky looked grim. "Well, it's... it's the same cliff you fell off of," said the orange warrior quietly.

Whitestripe, Rainpaw, Swanpaw and Dandelionpaw frowned, too. Birchpaw and Primrosepaw blinked for a few moments before looking at Blazesky in shock.

"Wait... *what?!"* Primrosepaw exclaimed in fright. Snowstar and Petuniaheart copied the expressions of those on the water patrol, and so did Rosepetal, Nightnose and Nutclaw.

*I knew it,* thought Birchpaw, melancholy. *This might be bad.* He was about to speak up in order to comfort her, but surprisingly, Whitestripe spoke up first.

"No, no, it's okay, Primrosepaw!" Whitestripe said loudly and abruptly. Then his tone calmed down but he was still speaking quickly. "I mean, we will be careful. I *have* been there before."

*And here, I thought Whitestripe wasn't very good at comforting,* Birchpaw thought, a tad bit confused. Whitestripe *did* admit it himself before.

Primrosepaw still looked skeptical. Rosepetal reassured her daughter, "It's okay if you don't stand at the edge."

"Yep, you won't be getting water, right?" Hailstream also reassured her. "Since you can't really climb. All you need to do is guard." She didn't have to speak further for the Clan to know why. Others nodded in agreement with her.

Finally Primrosepaw nodded, too, but she still looked uncomfortable. Birchpaw wondered what he should have said, looking at her wistfully.

Snowstar nodded towards all the twenty cats who were going. "Alright, now that everything's settled, you can go now. Remember, make sure to tell me everything once you come back. And don't forget to send a messenger back if there's any trouble." All the cats, including Birchpaw, nodded.

The (unofficial) patrol leaders, Sealbranch and Blazesky, nodded towards everyone in *their* patrol. "Alright, let's go," Sealbranch said formally. "Follow us." The older cats started walking towards the camp exit where Primrosepaw as a kit and Birdkit left camp when they decided to "explore", as Birchpaw expected. *That's the path to the cliff of the creek. The cliff which Primrosekit fell down, and nearly into the creek.*

He looked at Primrosepaw curiously, who looked back at him a little nervously. Dandelionpaw, Rainpaw and Swanpaw were already following the warriors. Then they both started following them, too, last in line in their patrol. Primrosepaw looked at Blazesky a little gratefully, and Birchpaw knew why, of course. *She* has *grown more fond of Quailclaw and Blazesky after that incident,* he observed.

He finally figured out something he could say. "Perhaps you could stay with Blazesky." Primrosepaw looked at him again and just nodded.

As they started to leave camp, his littermate suddenly exclaimed, "Hey, Whitestripe, are you *still* only friendly with Icemoon?"

Everyone looked at Rainpaw for a moment, until Primrosepaw visibly relaxed and smiled. "I would like... to know, too," she quipped humorously.

Swanpaw looked between Whitestripe and Primrosepaw curiously for another moment, but then she nodded at the former, too, smiling impishly at him.

Whitestripe's expression turned into mock irritation, but his lips twitched slightly with humor, too. "Of course I am. What do you think?"

Sealbranch, Blazesky and Maplestripe also smiled at Rainpaw and Whitestripe, probably for distracting Primrosepaw away.

"Oh, really? I *still...* remember you... touching noses," Primrosepaw continued toying with the probably embarrassed warrior. Swanpaw nodded eagerly.

"So that was *what?"* Whitestripe exclaimed, pausing for a moment to think about the time passed. *"Seven moons ago?* A lot of things can happen. Also, I wasn't even doing it out of love."

"Trying to act like a tough tom, are you?" Dandelionpaw joined the bandwagon. "You *could* have done *something* that we don't *know* about."

Birchpaw watched them poke good-willed fun at Whitestripe, and started feeling his worries melt away, too. *Rainpaw* is *smart.* He started wondering about mates now. Like Whitestripe, he wasn't interested in mating, at least not right now. *Who* could *I mate with, anyway?* he wondered. He thought he probably had what Lilypool called a medicine cat's mindset when it came to relationships. *I can only look at another Clanmate as a sibling.* Birchpaw was about to look around for any suitors, but decided not to, for now, since he was still an apprentice.

Swanpaw stuck her tongue out at Whitestripe, causing him to sigh with mock exasperation. Peonyclaw said lightheartedly, "Icemoon *is* a good cat in general. If you ever think about mating, consider her." Blazesky smiled in agreement with his mate.

"Probably in a few *years* or so," replied the black and white striped warrior.

"That's too late for me to get the chance to birth your and Icemoon's kits!" Rainpaw joked and chortled with amusement. Swanpaw, Dandelionpaw, and Primrosepaw followed her suite and Peonyclaw and Birchpaw smiled, too.

"I wonder why you are joking about Icemoon, anyway?" Birchpaw decided to ask.

"It's the perfect way to calm down Primrosepaw!" Rainpaw replied jovially. Primrosepaw nodded in agreement. Birchpaw thought so, too.

"But you are being an awfully good annoyance, too," Whitestripe said with amusement.

"That is okay... because I am awfully... curious about every...thing," Primrosepaw responded, her eyes twinkling with pride. *"Especially* about... internal Clan affairs."

"That is a good thing to be," said Maplestripe proudly, too. "That way we can be closer to each other."

"I see, but with things like love?" Whitestripe said. Then he looked at Primrosepaw. "Anyway, enough about *me.* What about you, Primrosepaw? I think you and *Quailclaw* are a little too *close."*

Almost immediately, Primrosepaw's expression turned shocked and embarrassed when he said that. "No-no, we're not."

Then Swanpaw started grinning impishly at her and Whitestripe looked at Primrosepaw like, *Uh huh, you teasing hypocrite.*

Rainpaw looked at Primrosepaw brightly and said, "I would love to birth your and Quailclaw's kits, too! Since you're the queen and my best friend, I can help you a *lot!"*

Primrosepaw looked down at her paws, still walking but looking even more embarrassed. "Oh, stop that," she groaned. "We're just... mentor and... apprentice."

Dandelionpaw nudged her littermate with her flank and suggested, "But he's a good mate for you! He took care of you so much! I think he loves you. You should, too!"

"What?" Primrosepaw told her sister in disbelief. "You mean... as siblings, right? We... already do."

"She means as mates, obviously," Whitestripe elaborated on what Dandelionpaw said. "That's what you're telling *me, right?"*

"Oh, please. Quailclaw... doesn't show any... *serious* love. *But!* Icemoon does!" Primrosepaw retorted.

Whitestripe sighed. "That doesn't mean I should jump on the offer, right? Quailclaw helped you, though. So by your definit-"

"But it's... *different!* I owe him... so much!"

"Good to repay it by becoming his mate."

"When you become a warrior, Primrosepaw, you *should* consider him," Peonyclaw added.

Swanpaw was laughing at both of them so much that Birchpaw could hear sharp hissing coming from her. *If she weren't mute, MoonClan camp would definitely have heard her from here.* He wondered what he should contribute to the conversation, as gossip-like it was.

"How loyal you are to Whitestripe and Primrosepaw," Rainpaw told Swanpaw sarcastically, who just shrugged and kept on laughing at them.

"And what would *you* know about mating?" Dandelionpaw asked Rainpaw. "Lilypool said you have a medicine cat's mindset on mating, right?"

Birchpaw smiled at Dandelionpaw's mention of that, but so did Maplestripe. "My sister *did* say that," he said. "But so do some non-medicine cats, like Sealbranch over here." Sealbranch nodded.

Maplestripe smiled at both his daughters and Dandelionpaw smiled back, but Primrosepaw just sighed in exasperation. *Well, Whitestripe and Primrosepaw* do *have something in common,* Birchpaw figured observantly.

Rainpaw chuckled and said, "That's true, but that doesn't mean this medicine cat shouldn't have some *fun!* It also gives me more sense of fulfillment because I can help queens give birth. And that only happens by mating!"

Birchpaw nodded, agreeing with everything his sister said. "It also gives more kits and warriors and medicine cats. And maybe deputies and *leaders."*

Whitestripe and Primrosepaw looked a little surprised at Birchpaw joining in, too, but Rainpaw nodded eagerly, looking brightly at him. "My brother is totally right! You *should* give more warriors to the Clan!"

"Yes, and also, don't mentors and apprentices touch noses?" Birchpaw continued thoughtfully, looking at Whitestripe. "Not *very* lovey-dovey."

Whitestripe let out a huge sigh of relief and breathed, *"Finally! Someone realized!"* He looked *very* grateful to Birchpaw. "It was only supposed to be *friendly!"*

"But there was still... no reason to do... so, right?" Primrosepaw continued.

"I wanted to be friendly!"

"In a lovey...dovey way, right?"

"You're also hanging out with Quailclaw in the same way."

"No, I'm... not!"

"Cool how Icemoon and Quailclaw are about the same age," Dandelionpaw said. "If only they were siblings, that would be even cooler! Because then your kits would be cousins!"

"If only I... can ship you... with someone," Primrosepaw groaned at her sister. Dandelionpaw just chuckled in response.

Birchpaw wondered who would fit the bill for Dandelionpaw, as it didn't look like she hung out with any tom in particular. However, suddenly, he remembered one tom who was always bright, loved to joke around, especially with Rainpaw, Mountainpaw and her. And he had gone through several personal deaths and hardships before, too.

"Shadowclaw?" Birchpaw accidentally suggested. Everyone looked at Birchpaw for a moment before most of them burst out in laughter and the others smiled with humor, except for Dandelionpaw.

"What? He didn't show any signs of love," muttered Dandelionpaw in denial.

"Uh, that was an accident," Birchpaw said apologetically. "But he fit the bill."

"Shadowclaw is a nice cat, though," Maplestripe said politely towards her.

"He'll brighten up your life, too," Rainpaw added gleefully. "He's wonderful at humor!"

"And who said he didn't show any signs of love?" Whitestripe added as well.

"Icemoon still *loves* you, *that's* for sure," Dandelionpaw retorted.

"If you both mated... then your kits would... *surely* be cousins!" Primrosepaw quipped.

"Your kits would be the nieces and nephews of Birchpaw and Rainpaw, how about that?" Whitestripe told Primrosepaw with slight annoyance, but in good fun.

Swanpaw blew raspberries at all three of them and Rainpaw inserted some side comments about queens and kits.

Birchpaw watched the sisters and Whitestripe bicker and Swanpaw and Rainpaw poking fun at them, with the older warriors watching them humorously. Blazesky, Peonyclaw and Maplestripe didn't seem to mind their children defending themselves and arguing with each other. *I think it's good Shadowclaw, Icemoon and Quailclaw didn't come, especially Quailclaw,* Birchpaw thought since he knew these types of things weren't usually what Quailclaw participated in, especially as the shipped. He also thought his brother would get pretty embarrassed at this. And Shadowclaw and Icemoon would probably try to either deny it, too (especially the former), or prove it (especially the latter).

He also thought Whitestripe, Primrosepaw and Dandelionpaw were being sort of hypocritical because they were teasing others for being in love but got annoyed when someone pointed out that *they* were in love with someone. *I guess it's just funny in general for them. Especially when they* do *become mates.* He wondered if that would happen. For a moment he remembered his best friend, Mountainpaw, who also did this teasing, too. *Well, he hangs out with Berrypaw a lot.* Birchpaw wondered when *he* and Berrypaw would start getting teased, too. He also wondered if he should mention Whitestripe and Swanpaw being together but he remembered what happened just a few minutes after him and Mountainpaw were talking about that. *Goldenlily.* So he decided not to bring it up, since he didn't want to get *too* much involved in this.

But it served as a great distraction from all the chaos that had happened already, and his worries about the chaos that *could* happen, potentially right now. He completely forgot about the cliff and the creek while listening to them, even if it was about gossip.

"Alright, fun's over," said his older sister, Sealbranch. Rainpaw was also his older sister, technically by a couple of minutes, but Sealbranch was a whopping eleven moons older. "We're here." They all stopped when she said that and saw the edge of the cliff.

Primrosepaw started to look worried again, and her sister and Rainpaw tried to console her silently by patting her. Maplestripe also tried to comfort her by touching his tail against hers.

"Hmm, this means we should climb down. Eight of us should, and one should stay with Primrosepaw," Blazesky said, looking around.

"I could," advocated Maplestripe immediately. "Primrosepaw *is* my daughter." Primrosepaw relaxed a little when he said that, but she still looked worried as she didn't look at the cliff, only at a flower next to a tree, looking nervously at it.

*Well, I guess she didn't see the edge of the cliff until she fell when she was here eight moons ago,* figured Birchpaw. But he tried to give her an empathetic look. Primrosepaw seemed to acknowledge it by looking at him back but didn't do anything further.

"Alright, you need to stay with me, Birchpaw, since you're with your mentor. Same for you, Dandelionpaw," announced Peonyclaw. Sealbranch nodded in agreement and Birchpaw and Dandelionpaw nodded back dutifully.

"Let me go first so-" Blazesky was saying until he got interrupted by a very loud rustling in the bushes. All ten cats immediately got alert and into fighting mode, including Primrosepaw, since it seemed like her condition improved quite a bit, thanks to her wonderful skills. Birchpaw could feel the adrenaline rushing through his body as he remembered his previous worries before their amusing conversation. *Oh no. Is something bad going to happen?*

Then suddenly, a cat with long, light brown fur, bright amber eyes and big ears appeared from a bush a few fox-lengths away from them. Then three more cats appeared which Birchpaw could not recognize, either. But the four oldest warriors gasped when they saw the first cat.

"Fangstar," Sealbranch breathed in bewilderment.

The six younger cats also gasped (Swanpaw made the motion) when they heard that. Birchpaw and the other cats knew that this wasn't going to be so light-hearted anymore. It got a lot more dire, and Birchpaw was extremely worried that they would have to fight. But then, he remembered something. *Isn't this the SnowClan border? Why are AdderClan cats here?*

His mentor seemed to be thinking the same thing as she growled, "What *business* do you have here, *Fangstar?"* She said his name like it tasted like crowfood.

Fangstar looked unimpressed by the MoonClan patrol and he replied nonchalantly, "Why, we're hunting."

*"On MoonClan territory?!"* Sealbranch hissed with disgust. *"You have transgressed from the warrior code too far now!"*

However, Whitestripe looked like he was worried about something, and Birchpaw wondered what it was. Until he realized, *Wait... could* Stonetooth *be here?*

Then four more cats came out of the bushes, and like destiny, one of them was the dark gray she-cat with lime green eyes they all knew and remembered vividly.

When everyone noticed her, it seemed like they were hit by a boulder yet again. Stonetooth looked a little embarrassed to be there, and Whitestripe looked like he was in disbelief, staring into Stonetooth's eyes, probably trying to somehow interact with her again (Birchpaw knew they were friendly since the beginning). But surely enough Peonyclaw looked like she wanted to kill her daughter right now.

*"STONETOOTH!"* Peonyclaw growled so loudly that everyone looked at either Peonyclaw or Stonetooth, taking a step towards her. Stonetooth didn't flinch, but she didn't say a word either. *"WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"*

"She's here because she's on *patrol,"* growled Fangstar. "I see you are still mourning her loss."

Whitestripe and Birchpaw exchanged extremely worried looks because they didn't want Peonyclaw to start a conflict.

"Um, Peonyclaw-" Birchpaw meekly addressed her, but Peonyclaw ignored him and tried to pounce on Stonetooth. Stonetooth dodged, of course, but it didn't seem like she was trying to attack her, just dodging her blows. *How odd,* Birchpaw thought, just gaping at them. *Isn't it usually the parents that avoid trying to attack their kits even if their kits trying to kill* them? It was the other way around now, but he thought Stonetooth didn't want to hurt her mother for the sake of Whitestripe, and Peonyclaw just wanted her daughter to die because she joined AdderClan (and for plenty other reasons).

*"PEONYCLAW!"* Whitestripe yowled at the top of his lungs. He tried to run after his mother, and immediately after, the battle had begun.

Rainpaw, Primrosepaw and Dandelionpaw looked like they had froze, especially the former two, but Birchpaw told them really quickly, "Don't worry, I'll protect you." Swanpaw was there, too, and she nodded.

"Me-me too," Primrosepaw responded, trembling in fear. "I hope... my nerves don't-"

"I'll help, too! And don't worry, Primrosepaw, just try to use the skills Quailclaw and Hailstream taught you!" Dandelionpaw told her sister, and Birchpaw and Swanpaw nodded, too.

One old-looking she-cat looked around frantically, watching the battle go on and cried, "No, stop fighting! We come in *peace!"*

"When there's MoonClan, we *fight,* Amberleaf! *You must know that!"* Fangstar told the cat firmly, and Birchpaw and the other apprentices seemed to recognize the name from Begoniaclaw's stories. *Amberleaf? The oldest cat in AdderClan? The first* medicine cat *of AdderClan?*

The other cats also seemed confused that a medicine cat, especially the *first* one who was against all the battles that Adderstar waged, was here. *But Fangstar and Stonetooth being here are way more surprising,* Birchpaw thought frantically, since medicine cats were usually supposed to be peaceful, anyways. But he didn't know what he was supposed to do. He was only one moon short of being a warrior, but he felt like he was too scared to fight, especially Fangstar and Stonetooth.

Then he noticed another one of the AdderClan cats was a cat Whitestripe, Stonetooth, Mountainpaw, Primrosepaw and him knew too well. The cat which chased out Begoniaclaw. The cat which wanted Fangstar to do another raid. *Like right now.*

Whitestripe and Primrosepaw also seemed to recognize him and growled at him, trying to look menacing. Windwing also recognized them and growled back. *Great,* Birchpaw thought anxiously, his heart beating even faster. *Fangstar, Stonetooth, Amberleaf and Windwing are all here.*

Swanpaw hissed at an AdderClan warrior and tried to pounce on her. The AdderClan warrior yowled, "I'm Airpaw, and I'm being mentored by Fangstar!" Fangstar nodded when she said that while fighting Blazesky and Sealbranch. Swanpaw looked only a little shocked and slashed Airpaw's forehead violently, making an expression that most likely meant, *Who cares, dung-brain?!*

*So Fangstar is also taking his apprentice. She looked like a warrior, though,* Birchpaw continued thinking, trying to figure out what to do. He tried to count how many AdderClan cats there were. *Eight, so we outnumber them,* he observed. *But we have two younger apprentices, three senior apprentices, one which is a medicine cat apprentice, one young warrior and four older warriors. And they only have one senior apprentice, one young warrior and the rest older warriors, or medicine cat.*

Rainpaw tried to run to Peonyclaw's rescue when she was getting clawed up by another AdderClan warrior, and Primrosepaw followed her, trying to protect her. Rainpaw tried to give Peonyclaw cobwebs (Rainpaw was carrying some herbs in case of danger) and Primrosepaw tried to swipe at the AdderClan warrior to scare him off.

*I guess that makes Primrosepaw's vow to Rainpaw true,* Birchpaw figured, remembering what Primrosepaw said about protecting Rainpaw in battle. He decided he should save his mentor and also protect his littermate and the younger apprentice, and pounced on the AdderClan warrior, and tried to scratch his cheek.

Peonyclaw and Rainpaw looked relieved, and Rainpaw tried to tend to Peonyclaw. Primrosepaw closely watched them and the surroundings like a hawk so that no one else would attack them. She also watched Birchpaw and called out for her father and sister to help, who were trying to help Sealbranch and Blazesky fight Fangstar, Stonetooth and another warrior.

Birchpaw watched the other warrior's movements closely, who hissed, "You look small for a warrior."

Birchpaw didn't say anything at first but instead tried slashing the warrior's chest. Then he replied, "Does AdderClan care only about size?" Then he narrowed his eyes. "Or do they also care about skill?" He attempted to pounce on the warrior again, but then another warrior knocked him down halfway through the pounce.

*Ugh!* Birchpaw thought painfully, falling on the ground. Luckily before they could do anything, he saw Maplestripe and Dandelionpaw here and trying to fight the two warriors. "Littlemoon, you won't get to him," Maplestripe hissed at the warrior whose chest Birchpaw slashed.

Birchpaw was also relieved and looked around to see what was going on with Sealbranch and her former mentor, Blazesky. Fangstar had started trying to fight Peonyclaw again but the former mentor and apprentice and Whitestripe, too, were trying to defend her.

Rainpaw tried to run to Birchpaw to see if he was okay, and Birchpaw nodded. Primrosepaw was also trying to help her father and sister fight the two warriors by distracting them. But then they spotted Airpaw about to pounce on Rainpaw. Rainpaw dodged quickly, but Birchpaw and Primrosepaw immediately went into defense mode, trying to swipe Airpaw away from Rainpaw. Airpaw hissed and tried to swipe Primrosepaw. However, Birchpaw saw Primrosepaw looked like she wasn't ready to dodge (due to her condition), and he immediately went in front of the swipe.

He felt his skin get pierced, but he thought it was worth it for Primrosepaw not to get hurt. *If I get hurt, that is fine. But if* she *gets hurt, will she be able to fight properly, with her reflexes problem and all?* he justified himself.

Rainpaw and Primrosepaw noticed, and so did Sealbranch. Primrosepaw and Sealbranch tried to fight Airpaw full-on now, with Primrosepaw taking small breaks in between (as Quailclaw taught her to do between attacks), and Rainpaw ran to her littermate and took out another batch of cobwebs asking if he was okay.

"Of course I am. That was just a simple scratch; I don't think I'm bleeding," Birchpaw reassured her, and Rainpaw looked relieved. He tried to help his older sister and Primrosepaw fight Airpaw but Stonetooth came to defend her apprentice Clanmate. Primrosepaw and Sealbranch both glared menacingly at Stonetooth and she glared back, but Birchpaw could only feel sad for her in that moment. *Whether she was MoonClan before or not, we still need to fight her.*

Fangstar, Windwing and Amberleaf also came and the first of the three tried to slash Birchpaw's neck. Of course, Birchpaw managed to dodge by ducking, but the slash still hit his ears. He was a little surprised Windwing was bigger than Fangstar when he saw them together in close vicinity now, but he shrugged that off. *That's still possible to be bigger than the leader, right?*

Windwing also tried to pounce on Primrosepaw, but luckily enough she was in the pouncing position and managed to dodge. Windwing then slashed Sealbranch's chest, causing her to gasp in pain, but Birchpaw tried to crawl under his belly and slashed it hard. Blazesky, Maplestripe, Whitestripe and Swanpaw also rushed to help fight the AdderClan warriors.

Amberleaf was trying to nudge the leader, even claw him a little, saying, *"Fangstar! I'm running out of herbs! Retreat!"*

Fangstar groaned back, *"We can still go back to camp!"*

"Why are you here, anyway? Isn't your camp far? Did you have to cross through SnowClan?" Birchpaw boldly articulated, but then he shut himself up, realizing this was the *leader* of *AdderClan.*

Fangstar looked at him with a little surprise, but growled fiercely, *"That's not* your *business,* MoonClan *warrior."*

Birchpaw decided to ignore him and saw Stonetooth about to pounce on him. Then he jumped out of the way and whispered, "Stonetooth, why did you come?"

"Because I'm good, obviously," Stonetooth whispered back, then attempted to swipe his nose. Birchpaw dodged and slashed her flank, but Stonetooth immediately slashed his forehead so hard blood fell out. Rainpaw and Primrosepaw noticed this and immediately sprinted towards him. Swanpaw also tried to run towards him, but she was still busy fighting Airpaw.

*"Ugh!"* groaned Birchpaw very painfully. "This was what MoonClan was afraid of."

"It's my duty as an AdderClan cat," Stonetooth hissed. "If only MoonClan was accepting of me."

"Whitestripe still likes you," Birchpaw pointed out to Stonetooth, still reeling from the blow. "Even *after* this betrayal."

Then he saw his mentor about to rip off one of Stonetooth's ears, but she ducked and jumped out of the way in time.

*"CROWFOOD!"* yowled Peonyclaw with so much anger that it could probably start a fire. *"JUST CROWFOOD!"* Birchpaw figured she was angry because Stonetooth slashed her apprentice's forehead. Peonyclaw, Rainpaw and Primrosepaw ran to him to see if he could still fight. Rainpaw told Peonyclaw and Primrosepaw to clean up Birchpaw's blood so she could put the cobwebs, which they did.

"It still stings," muttered Birchpaw, but he didn't really want to complain.

"Then come here," Rainpaw said, taking him to a bush. Peonyclaw and Primrosepaw followed them but so did Maplestripe. Birchpaw looked around to see what was happening.

Sealbranch and Dandelionpaw were facing off against Fangstar and Airpaw now, and the fight got *really* heated. Sealbranch and Fangstar were wearing a coat of cuts and bruises, and their apprentices nearly had as many as their mentors, too. *Mentor and apprentice versus mentor and apprentice, huh.*

Whitestripe had gotten into a serious fight with Windwing, too, when Birchpaw saw them, and Whitestripe hissed under his breath, *"Remember what I told you a moon ago?"*

Windwing looked like he was trying to gouge out Whitestripe's eyes in response to that. Then he hissed back, *"I don't care if that's true or false. But* I'm *Clan deputy now."* Whitestripe looked a tad bit surprised for a moment but he just slashed Windwing's forehead in response, similar to what Swanpaw did to Airpaw.

*Wait... what?!* Birchpaw thought even more frantically. He was told by Peonyclaw (after it was revealed to everyone he didn't know who Swiftclaw was, well, he knew who he was way before that, but not who he *really* was) that the AdderClan deputy was Longfoot. *Did Longfoot die during that time or something and* this *warrior was chosen?* He knew that Windwing was a strong warrior, and he also knew it would be bad for MoonClan if he were deputy.

*"Come on, Fangstar, retreat, or I'll poison you with deathberries! We're outnumbered and we're going to lose!"* Amberleaf yowled at her leader so loudly that he even flinched, making Birchpaw think she was one of the few cats who had power over the leader. *Makes sense, since she's the first medicine cat.* Fangstar sighed in response and gestured for all the cats to come, which probably meant he finally agreed.

Birchpaw looked around for Swanpaw and saw she was fighting with Littlemoon, the warrior whom he first fought with, whose name had also been mentioned by Maplestripe. But he saw that they were dangerously close to the cliff. *Oh no! Swanpaw!* he thought, his adrenaline rushing quickly.

He bolted towards Swanpaw to help her fight Littlemoon, until from the corner of his eye, he saw Whitestripe pouncing on Windwing while he was also at the edge of the cliff. Peonyclaw was trying to run towards him while being careful. Birchpaw tried to scratch Littlemoon to get him to retreat, too, but then he saw Whitestripe aiming perfectly for Windwing. Then he saw Windwing harshly kicking Whitestripe off of him. In a terrible direction. Off the cliff.

Everyone saw this happen and all the MoonClan warriors gasped, especially Whitestripe's parents. Almost immediately after, Littlemoon tried to pounce on Swanpaw, but Swanpaw dodged and was at the stark edge of the cliff. However, Birchpaw saw her stumbling slowly, then her front paws went out. Then her body also started to fall down, too.

*No. No. No,* Birchpaw thought, his heart beating so fast he felt like it would explode. *Not-not this!* Everyone in MoonClan seemed to be thinking the same thing, but the AdderClan warriors seemed to be satisfied, except for Stonetooth, who was also in pure shock, just watching her littermate fall off, and Amberleaf, who continued threatening Fangstar that she would feed him deathberries. Fangstar listened to the medicine cat, but he sneered at Sealbranch and the rest of the patrol, satisfied that they had killed two cats.

Windwing was also sneering at Whitestripe, probably mocking him silently that he thought he was so strong. Littlemoon looked a little confused, but he also looked happy.

Birchpaw didn't even blink to do anything. These were his friends. These were his Clanmates. The two fallen cats fell into the water. *If I don't do something to save them now, then...*

Every cat there watched as Birchpaw flung himself off the cliff, close to where they fell, and he thought even AdderClan would be surprised at this. He felt himself touch the water gracefully, and he made sure to hold his breath before falling in. However, the most excruciating, white-hot pain he had ever felt, even more than all of the cuts and slashes he ever got combined, shot up his right hind leg.

He couldn't resist the urge to yowl in pain and got a huge gulpful of water which he choked on for a few seconds. He tried his hardest to ignore the pain and swim upwards to catch his breath. Then he looked around frantically for them, and there he saw them underwater, laying on the rocks. Unconscious, drowning and bleeding.

Birchpaw gasped and tried to pull them up by holding the scruffs, Whitestripe first, choosing one at random. But he never thought they would be so heavy as he thought they were usually light. *Is it because of the water and them being unconscious?* He had no time to ponder, as he was soon running out of time. Using every single muscle and inch of his body, mustering all the strength he ever could, using all his mental and emotional strength to ignore the pain that kept reverberating inside of him, even trying to get help from StarClan by praying to them, he pulled Whitestripe's scruff and pushed Swanpaw's body up. *StarClan, StarClan, StarClan,* he kept repeating over and over again, and he started feeling that he would soon join Whitestripe and Swanpaw.

But finally, after the hardest trial he thought he would ever experience, he managed to get both of them up without them slipping, and himself, too. But then, he started seeing someone familiar. Someone he last saw when he was only three moons old, as she died at that time. *Moonstar.*

Moonstar was beaming at him with a lot of pride, and then, he saw everything turning into nothing and he could only feel his leg. Until that pain also subsided into nothing.

### Chapter 32: The New Warrior

"Blazesky!" *Rainpaw had yowled at her uncle.* "Where is the safest spot to jump into the lake?!"

*"Um, over there," Blazesky had quickly pointed to the spot where he caught Primrosepaw, which was a clear and deep water spot with no rocks.*

*Birchpaw had already jumped into the lake. It looked like he was nearly about to drown, but Primrosepaw knew she couldn't do anything due to her condition, since swimming needed quick constant movement, especially when rescuing, which she couldn't do at* all.

*AdderClan had already left by this time, looking satisfied at their achievement. But Primrosepaw didn't care about that. She could only think of her three fallen friends, one who was trying to save the other two.* No. No, I fell off the cliff but I didn't get hurt and now they fell off the cliff and- *She could only feel herself hyperventilating as she watched her best friend Rainpaw jump into the creek as well with a huge bundle of cobwebs, moss balls (which were originally for soaking up the water) and other herbs, but in a safe location much farther away from the others.*

*As she watched Birchpaw finally rescue them, she still felt like she was suffocating. She vividly remembered what happened to Quailclaw and herself as kits, and how Shadowclaw and Blazesky were able to save them. Birchpaw finally collapsed on top of Whitestripe and Swanpaw.* No, they're injured. I can't do anything from here, even if I knew everything about medicine, I can't do anything, I can't do anything at all-

Primrosepaw woke up from her nightmare twitching and sweating all over, which had horrifying reflected the events that happened yesterday. She looked over at the other apprentices who also looked like they were disturbed, but not quite awake.

She remembered a few seconds before she went out of reality, the other MoonClan warriors were climbing down the mountain except for Peonyclaw, since she was still in shock (but she was also in shock, definitely from her son and apprentice being unconscious), and Dandelionpaw who didn't know how to climb that well. Peonyclaw also needed to stay with the other two apprentices, Dandelionpaw and Primrosepaw, of which Primrosepaw had fainted from the shock.

She was told the details of what happened after that. Birchpaw had also fainted (as it was discovered that he had a broken hind leg, probably by the rocks), but Rainpaw managed to get to the three before they bled too much, and covered their wounds up with cobwebs. *Birchpaw and Rainpaw were the real heroes,* Primrosepaw knew gratefully. *Just like Blazesky, Quailclaw and Shadowclaw were those other times.* It took two minutes for Rainpaw to get to them, which would have been too late without Birchpaw as they would have drowned, but it would have also been too late for Birchpaw if it weren't for Rainpaw treating them in time.

Sealbranch, Blazesky and Maplestripe had all got to the three of them, and along with Rainpaw, they safely used the shortest trail through the forest all the way to get up to the cliff. Primrosepaw had woken up by this time, very relieved that they were saved, and together the ten cats went home, but very downheartedly. *With three cats being unconscious and having to carry them.* She was secretly glad no SnowClan cats were there, though, or that would have exacerbated the issue.

When they went back to camp, though, it was a completely different story. When the entire Clan saw them, they looked even more shocked and traumatized than they were at Stonetooth defecting to AdderClan. Shadowclaw and Icemoon immediately started hyperventilating, as they already had to go through two close deaths to them before. It was also a double whammy as Whitestripe and Swanpaw was their close friend, crush or sister, and perhaps a triple whammy for Shadowclaw as he also liked Birchpaw.

It was also a double whammy for Peonyclaw, Blazesky, Petuniaheart and Snowstar, who witnessed both their son and nephew getting nearly killed. Sandleap, Hailstream, Quailclaw, Mountainpaw, Berrypaw, Spottedpaw and Thymepaw looked like they couldn't believe what they were seeing. The queens didn't even let their kits see what was going on (except for the oldest kits, Lilackit and Jumpkit, and they definitely looked shocked that they were so broken) as it would have been too horrifying. Fireclaw looked worried that his kits could be a bad omen as they were born just two days before this, and Violetrain looked like she had nearly lost all the excitement she used to have with mentoring Thymepaw. Nutclaw was also shocked at his apprentice being in a coma and seemed to feel guilty for it, as he had suggested her to go in the first place. Flameeye, Redwater and Forestcreek were also devastated that their cousin or nephew was in a coma.

And Lilypool was the most devastated, as she had to take care of them now. The entire Clan had pleaded desperately to her and Rainpaw to save them all, of which Rainpaw was already dutifully doing so. A similar situation had occurred after Goldenlily and Mousekit's deaths and Birdkit's birth, except now Petuniaheart, Shadowclaw, Icemoon, Mountainpaw and Primrosepaw were camping in the medicine cat's den. But for the night they had to go back to their dens.

*Why did* I *have to witness this happening?* Primrosepaw internally screamed, wishing she didn't have to see that. *Things were so calm before, even light-hearted! We were teasing each other about our mates before!* Now she was getting nightmares about this incident, and she didn't like this at all. And she was still too traumatized about it (along with her sister). Sealbranch and Hailstream seemed traumatized, too, as they didn't even mention it once, much less anything about training. *Hopefully... they wake up soon. I don't want to be too stalled from being a warrior. And I don't want my heart to break from all this trauma. Please, StarClan, please.*

She tried to sleep again as it was still nighttime, but she still felt too anxious. She tried to take deep breaths, short walks and praying to StarClan for peace, which were few of the calming methods Quailclaw and Hailstream taught her. To her, it seemed that it took her way too long of a time to calm down, but the harrowing thoughts finally managed to go away and she felt StarClan lull her to sleep.

#### Few days later

*"He's moving! His tail, it's twitching! Look, Rainpaw and Lilypool!"* exclaimed an extremely relieved voice. Birchpaw could barely make out who it was until he heard a voice he recognized. His loving littermate, Rainpaw.

*"He-he is, he's waking up! Dandelionpaw, you're right!"* exclaimed Rainpaw in delight. *"Birchpaw, do you-do you hear me?!"*

Birchpaw just groaned in response. He felt like he was continuously dreaming about StarClan before he thought he might actually be in StarClan. But now that he saw them, he realized he must be alive as he felt alive. However, he felt some numbness in his right hind leg and struggled to get up.

Then he saw multiple cats in the den where he was, and he wondered for a moment if he was in the apprentices' den until he looked to his right. And saw two cats who were lying down. Unconscious.

Birchpaw gasped, even more confused now. *What had happened? Why am I here?* he wanted to ask, but he felt too weak.

*"Birchpaw!"* wailed another she-cat. It was his mother, Petuniaheart. *"Birchpaw, are you* okay?! *Can you stand?! Oh, Rainpaw told me your leg nearly broke into many bits!"*

Birchpaw looked at her before blinking furiously to see if where he was was real and to force light into his eyes. *Is that why my leg feels numb?* He looked to his right again, trying to see what happened to Whitestripe and Swanpaw. They were still unconscious, and Birchpaw didn't know for how long. Then, he started remembering the details of what happened.

*Moonstar. She appeared,* he remembered with a jolt. Whitestripe and Swanpaw fell off the cliff into the creek. He also fell in on purpose to try and save them. They had fallen into the water, on the rocks. They were bleeding profusely with their tails at odd angles. Their heads were under the water. Birchpaw remembered what he did. He didn't want them to drown.

Birchpaw groaned as he tried to lift his right hind leg, but Rainpaw firmly held it still, saying, *"Yes, your leg, it* did *get broken! Luckily Lilypool and I managed to treat it because it was also bleeding!"*

Birchpaw groaned in pain again, trying to say, "I'm... I'm okay." By now, he realized he was in the medicine cats' den, because he was pretty injured and injured cats only stay in the medicine cats' den.

"Oh, I know you did something great," Lilypool said gratefully, coming into view. "Your injury is a sign of true Clan selflessness." She gave him a genuine smile.

"I know what you did was great," Petuniaheart said, agreeing with Lilypool. Mountainpaw and Primrosepaw also came into view looking very relieved.

*"I'm so glad you're awake, Birchpaw!"* Mountainpaw exclaimed tearfully. *"It was the hardest time not being able to talk to you for* three days! *I barely not talk to you for more than an hour!"*

Primrosepaw nodded quickly. *"I know! I couldn't... sleep proper...ly for those... many nights!"*

Birchpaw smiled at them. "Well, I'm awake now." He looked at Mountainpaw. "And we usually sleep for more than an hour, you know."

Mountainpaw looked even more relieved that he seemed to be back to normal. "I know, but when we're awake, anyway."

"We still go out on patrol," Birchpaw replied.

"Fine, then maybe not more than four hours."

"I was so worried, too!" Dandelionpaw exclaimed, entering the conversation. "I-I didn't want you to die!"

"But I'm not dead," was all Birchpaw could reply.

"Thank StarClan!" said Shadowclaw, also entering the conversation. "I-I was worried, too!"

"What about his leg?" Quailclaw asked anxiously, his voice booming throughout. He was standing next to Shadowclaw. "Will it heal?"

Lilypool sighed somberly. "Fortunately, yes, but unfortunately it will take a while. He will probably not be able to do duties for about a moon."

Birchpaw's face fell. He was utterly shocked at this revelation. *A moon? How damaged is my leg that I need to stay in here for about a moon?* He wondered about his mentor and how she must have been feeling nearly losing her son and apprentice, also her mate's nephew. And now she wouldn't be able to train him.

*But I broke my leg to do something entirely selfless. Otherwise... the events would have turned out vastly different,* he justified himself. To him, he would gladly trade a moon of his life to stay in the medicine cats' den without being able to walk properly, only for the chance that Whitestripe and Swanpaw, two of his closest friends, would be alive to see the rest of their lives. *Hopefully to StarClan, they live for a long time. And I do, too.* He briefly remembered when he saved Swanpaw from that ditch. *I guess that means I saved her for the second time.*

Suddenly, while he was thinking, Peonyclaw and Snowstar came in. *"Birchpaw's awake?"* Snowstar's voice boomed with joy. *"That's great!"*

*"I know!"* Peonyclaw agreed with emotion in her voice. *"Birchpaw, I am so thankful to you!* I'm glad to have had an apprentice like you."

Birchpaw looked at Peonyclaw with a little confusion. *She usually doesn't say stuff like that, especially in the past tense.* But he figured that she was just thankful to him.

"Wait, are we going to do it now that he's awake?" Nightnose asked curiously, but Birchpaw couldn't see him as he was behind the others.

"Of course, he deserves it," Hailstream replied enthusiastically. She was also behind the other cats. "Same for Rainpaw. Otherwise we wouldn't have these two in our medicine cat den in the first place."

Lilypool smiled at Hailstream. "I also wanted to reward Rainpaw, but she insisted that she learn everything about medicine and become a great medicine cat first." Rainpaw just laughed at that and nodded.

*"I'm so excited!"* Mountainpaw exclaimed brightly. "Birchpaw, I'll help you outside!"

"I'll help, too," Primrosepaw added helpfully. "I can support your leg." Petuniaheart, Shadowclaw and Dandelionpaw nodded, too.

Birchpaw looked at everyone in even more confusion. *What are they...* he thought, until an epiphany came to him. The reward was usually not given to most senior apprentices, only ones that expressed the selflessness and sacrifice for their Clan. And that included *him.*

"Am I... becoming... a *warrior?"* Birchpaw asked everyone slowly and meekly. Everyone smiled at him and nodded with a few cats saying "Yes" and "Of course" cheerfully.

"Yes, Birchpaw. You're becoming a warrior," Snowstar said happily. "I had this thought ever since this happened, but I waited for you to wake up. I believed your actions were enough to be a warrior early, for doing this exceptionally good deed. I think all the Clans, including StarClan, should be ready to receive you as a warrior."

"Yes, I even recommended you," added Peonyclaw. "No warrior exams or more training needed. Your selflessness is enough for the Clan."

Birchpaw kept looking between both of them. *What... really? No exams? No more training?* He felt a little proud of himself, but he also felt awkward at this, being a hero and all. *Well, I'd better get used to it,* he thought and smiled happily. It *was* a very good deed to get injured severely just to save one's Clanmates, despite one not being in trouble at all. *But it's not being a warrior one moon early that counts. It's my deed.* He thought he wouldn't be able to do warrior duties anyway if he had to rest for a moon, so that would match up with the fourteen moon mark.

"Okay, I accept it," he replied, and all the cats looked happy for him. "Are we doing this on Highrock?" he decided to ask, because he felt like he couldn't even walk, much less stand under Highrock, which was a much worse position than Primrosepaw was in.

"To make it more official, yes, but we can do it in here if you feel too weak to walk," his father said.

"That's fine, we can do it on Highrock. I'm *mostly* okay, I guess," Birchpaw replied, trying to ignore the pain. He looked one last time at his two unconscious friends, Whitestripe and Swanpaw. *Hopefully they wake up soon,* he hoped silently. They wouldn't be able to witness his ceremony, but he figured he could always tell them about it.

"Then we'll help you," Mountainpaw said, and proceeded to stand by Birchpaw's side. Petuniaheart, Shadowclaw, Primrosepaw and Dandelionpaw also followed his suite.

Together they helped Birchpaw outside. Getting up wasn't too hard as long as he didn't put weight on that leg, but he still struggled painfully to walk as he needed to carry that leg while walking. He was sure he would have fallen over if it weren't for the others supporting him.

Snowstar jumped up on Highrock and announced, "All cats come under Highrock and the moon!" He quickly scanned the area to make sure everyone was here.

Then he began, "I, Snowstar, second leader of the ambitious Mountain Clan known as MoonClan, call upon our warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn."

Birchpaw didn't know what to feel as everyone was looking at him like a hero. His heart was pounding, but with anticipation for something better to come out of this.

Snowstar continued valiantly, "By the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name, Birchpaw. From this moment on, under the moon, because of your deed of saving Whitestripe and Swanpaw from the creek, you will be known as"—his eyes went over his brother, Forestcreek, for a moment—"Birchcreek. StarClan honors your selflessness, bravery and resilience, and we welcome you as a full warrior of MoonClan."

*"BIRCHCREEK! BIRCHCREEK! BIRCHCREEK!"* the entire Clan cheered. Birchpaw, now Birchcreek, felt extremely happy over this. He hoped his suffix didn't remind anyone of bad memories, especially Whitestripe or Swanpaw, but he felt happy nonetheless.

*"YOU'RE THE BEST!"* Mountainpaw cheered additionally.

Peonyclaw nodded and touched his nose gracefully. Birchcreek touched it back and felt overjoyed. He was also grateful to his mentor for teaching him everything. Even if she didn't teach him much about external Clan affairs, the training she gave made all the difference.

Now Birchcreek looked at the sky, and squinted at the sun, which reminded him of what he did right before his apprentice ceremony.

He decided to pray to StarClan, *I am now a warrior. And with my higher rank, hopefully to StarClan, better things come to MoonClan. Hopefully, just hopefully.*

The cheers of his new name and the feeling that he was finally useful filled him up and spread throughout the afternoon sky, and throughout the Mountains.

## Part 3: Birchcreek's Selflessness

### Chapter 33: Right Hind Leg

It was a few days after he woke up and Birchcreek still had to stay in the medicine cat's den for some time. Rainpaw seemed to be happy that she could have her warrior littermate in the den for the time being he had to heal, though. Birchcreek thought it was pretty weird to have both his apprentice and warrior/medicine cat ceremonies before her, since he was younger than her. But Petuniaheart, Shadowclaw, Rainpaw, Mountainpaw or another apprentice or warrior had to carry his right hind leg around, otherwise he couldn't walk. Mostly Rainpaw did it, though, since Petuniaheart still had to train Mountainpaw and Shadowclaw still had to fulfill important warrior duties. But they still helped in their free time.

Birchcreek sighed. He couldn't put pressure on the leg at all otherwise he would wince in pain and fall over immediately, which would definitely be more detrimental. Even while sitting, he had to outstretch the leg on a rock that was higher than his heart was, and Lilypool and Rainpaw had to attach a stiff branch to it by wrapping flexible branches around it so it wouldn't move. It was pretty uncomfortable just sitting like this, and he tried to shake his leg just a little so it wouldn't get too lax. He remembered the carefree days as Birchkit where he could run everywhere he wanted to. He had taken that for granted, before and he sighed again, longing for that time. Birchcreek didn't blame himself, though. He knew why he had to do it. He couldn't see the rocks from where he was up on the cliff, since it was almost a tree-length down. He figured the water cushioned his fall, otherwise his leg would probably have sustained more damage. But he needed to save two of his close friends, one of which was his mentor's son and his maternal cousin, and the other was just as important to the Clan, especially to Shadowclaw, Icemoon, Petalkit and Pinetail.

He thought about Whitestripe and Swanpaw who were still sleeping. It was a little over a quarter-moon after it happened, and he worried if they would wake up soon. Almost all of their abrasions were pretty much healed thanks to Lilypool and Rainpaw's wonderful expertise (with Primrosepaw trying to assist, too), but it seemed like most of their rear bones were broken from the fall, especially their tail bones, since they also hit the rocks under the water, but with probably more force and less cushioning. Unlike him whom only the right hind leg got struck by a rock at extremely high force after landing in the water. The medicine cats said that they weren't sure what to do about the bones except try to straighten them out and keep them in one place, so the bones could hopefully fuse back to their normal state. Lilypool told Birchcreek that his ankle was impacted the most, which made sense to him since the ankle is most likely to get broken from falls.

Petalkit, Birdkit, Waterkit and Flowerkit seemed to be confused what happened to Whitestripe, Swanpaw and Birchcreek since they suddenly disappeared for some time. Even though Petalkit was old enough to leave the nursery, she didn't enter the medicine cat's den. The newest kits, Dustkit and Oakkit didn't seem to notice at all, however, probably because they were too young to remember them exactly.

He wondered what would happen in the future, however. Everyone else was still trying to recover from the AdderClan attack. Snowstar, Sealbranch and some other important warriors were still seriously discussing about what to do with AdderClan, since this was their first official battle with them after the Battle of Moonstar's Death. They were questioning what Fangstar's patrol was doing there, and how he even got there without SnowClan noticing. *I also asked Fangstar that, too,* Birchcreek remembered, when he was still considered an apprentice. But of course, Fangstar wouldn't spill such information to a MoonClan cat like *him.* He sighed for the third time, since he had no answer to that, or what AdderClan's goals were. All he could worry about was for the betterment of the three of them, the ones who got the most injured, the ones who even fell into comas. He also noticed that Primrosepaw and Dandelionpaw still looked traumatized from the creek battle, since they were still so young, of course, only nine moons old. And Blazesky, Maplestripe, Peonyclaw, Sealbranch and Rainpaw all still looked grim about it even now, especially Blazesky and Peonyclaw, of course, whose son probably wouldn't wake up anytime soon. Birchcreek briefly wondered about Stonetooth who was shocked about it happening, but he figured that it wouldn't matter now what she thought. *Most likely guilty for going on the patrol,* he figured.

All of Whitestripe, Swanpaw and Birchcreek's kin and their friends were all still exceptionally worried for them, however. Applefall, Nightnose and Nutclaw were all worried for them, too, especially the unconscious cats. And Nutclaw was extra worried because Swanpaw was his apprentice. The other senior warriors were also especially tense.

The dark brown warrior sighed into his paws for the fourth time now. Sighing about his current situation was the best he could do, since everyone was still too distressed about what horrors could occur in the future to talk to him, except to ask him if he was okay. Birchcreek silently prayed to StarClan that AdderClan would hold off attacking until they at least healed fully, but he secretly hoped they would hold off for even longer, like they did for almost ten moons after the Battle of Moonstar's Death (and for the time of Snowstar's reign). He didn't want any more bad stuff to happen, because the depressive period that happened was already enough for a lot of cats, especially Shadowclaw, Icemoon and Swanpaw, and including himself. The depressive period seemed to have been lengthened even more from this terrible incident.

The sun was at its peak, which meant that late morning patrols would be coming back soon, especially hunting patrols. Birchcreek, of course, had the most priority, but so did Whitestripe and Swanpaw. Even if they couldn't eat anything, the medicine cats tried to trickle some crushed prey into their mouths, similarly to what they did when giving herbs to Mousekit before she died. Other Clanmates usually gave prey to Birchcreek at the usual eating times without him even asking, which was a good thing for him as he knew they were trying to help him out. A few cats like Peonyclaw, Shadowclaw, Quailclaw and Mountainpaw even left some prey in front of his nest so he could eat on his own time, like when he woke up at nighttime. He could still wait for the hunting patrols to come back, though, so he decided to wait.

A few minutes later, Rainpaw and Primrosepaw entered the den with squirrels each. Of course, they kindly gave them to Birchcreek and sat in the same moss bed. Rainpaw was also holding herbs until she put it down on the floor of the den.

"Hey, Birchcreek," greeted Primrosepaw normally, much to Birchcreek's relief.

"Hey as well," said Rainpaw in the same tone.

*At least they don't look worried anymore, at least for the time being,* thought Birchcreek calmly. "Hey, Rainpaw and Primrosepaw," he replied. "Is everything all right?"

Primrosepaw nodded. "Yes, because... Hailstream, Rainpaw... and I went to the... Rocky Passageway... forest to hunt."

"Yep, and I gathered more herbs! I also taught Primrosepaw more of what herbs to gather!" Rainpaw said excitedly. But then her face fell. "Because you know..." Primrosepaw also looked sad.

Birchcreek just nodded slowly, but he tried to smile positively. "I appreciate your efforts, both of you. And I'm still okay, you know."

"Yeah, I know, but I'm also worried about Whitestripe and Swanpaw," Rainpaw said anxiously.

Primrosepaw nodded in reply. "Me too! I'm just... trying to help out. You know, try to... be more useful... when Lilypool... and Rainpaw are... too busy to... tend to a lot... of sick and injured... cats!"

Rainpaw and Birchcreek both nodded with appreciation. Rainpaw exclaimed, "I am glad *you're* here, Primrosepaw! At least you can pass us herbs and place cobwebs on cats!" She flicked her tail. "I wonder how Lilypool even managed when *I* was around! Because it feels like even *two* medicine cats would be crushed under all this load of work!"

Birchcreek shrugged. "I know medicine cats are hard-working for that reason. There are a ton of warriors to hunt and fight, but not a lot to tend to cats. Of course we know about basic medicine, but we have no clue about what poultices to use, or that much about cat anatomy."

Primrosepaw nodded and smiled. "I know. That is why... I wanted to learn... too! So that... I can be a... better Clanmate... and warrior... overall!"

"I'm glad, too! With the Clan growing bigger than before, we definitely need some help!" Rainpaw exclaimed gleefully.

"The Clan growing bigger now could be one of the natural reasons why one medicine cat was enough before," suggested Birchcreek.

Rainpaw nodded in agreement. "I am pretty sure, too. But with all these new kits, especially Dustkit and Oakkit, and new *apprentices,* like Thymepaw, Robinpaw and Soarpaw, and soon Lilackit and Jumpkit, it seems to be a lot bigger than before!"

"I know that, too. There *were* a few cats that died, like Lionrain, Blackfur and Moonstar," Birchcreek added, not wanting to mention Falconblue, Goldenlily or Mousekit, of course, "but there were a lot of cats who were born afterwards."

"I guess so, but... who were Lionrain... and Blackfur ex...actly, any...ways?" Primrosepaw asked inquisitively.

"Lionrain was Berrypaw's father who died just sometime after she was born," Birchcreek explained in a mentor-like way, "and Blackfur was Robinpaw and Soarpaw's father who died sometime after *you* were born."

"Oh," replied Primrosepaw quietly. "So a moon be...fore they were born."

"Yes, sadly," Rainpaw said, although she didn't look that sad, but neither was Birchcreek since they didn't know them that well. "Both died from infections from wounds during minor battles."

"Did you know... them? Or at least... Blackfur?" Primrosepaw asked.

"Well, only Blackfur a little bit. He didn't come to the nursery *that* often to see Heronwing," explained Rainpaw. "Maybe other older cats know them better, like Shadowclaw, Icemoon and Quailclaw. I *do* know that Blackfur was the son of an elder named Redear. Lionrain's parents, Laketail and Streamclaw, are also still alive, but they're elders, too."

"Okay, I guess," replied Primrosepaw. "Any...ways, do you think... that there should be... *another* medi...cine cat? Like perhaps... Birdkit?"

Rainpaw seemed to be thinking about it and Birchcreek was, too. MoonClan was less worried about Birdkit now than when she was born, as they saw Birdkit was able to do a lot of what she liked without any detrimental effects, similarly to Swanpaw and Primrosepaw, as they were also mute or reflexively-disabled. Their mothers, Goldenlily and Rosepetal, were the most worried for their daughters, until they saw that Swanpaw had little issues with making friends despite her muteness and was able to work around speech-related warrior duties using her intelligence and by mastering her physical prowess, and Primrosepaw had good intelligence to make up for her slowness, not to mention she had good training from Quailclaw and Hailstream, with Sealbranch helping out, too. Birchcreek was glad that his niece was also getting better with her condition, as she could do a lot already.

However, it still didn't look like she could become a warrior since she was still having trouble getting an immediate, accurate understanding of her surroundings, since her processing time was still slow. MoonClan wondered if her response time was also slow, as it usually looked like she acknowledged what cats said and did in the period of a few seconds, but it took her just a couple more seconds to respond in words or movement. She could probably ambush a prey that was hopefully sitting in the same spot for more than a few seconds, but a few seconds was easily enough time for her to get slashed by a warrior, and even get pinned and killed without her being able to do anything when she realized. Even as a medicine cat, she had to be guarded by other warriors and be careful in battle as warriors could still try to attack her while she was treating cats, and she wouldn't be able to dodge in time. He thought about Primrosepaw who had a similar condition, but Quailclaw and Hailstream had taught her how to work around it. They told her not to be on the offensive since that could carry risks such as not being prepared to attack or dodge, and she could freeze if she moved too quickly to attack. On the defensive, however, she could at least be in the right position to leap out of the way and prepare for the next attack. Of course, getting attacked from behind was always a possibility, but if she stayed with other cats like Rainpaw, they could alert her in time.

However, Birdkit wouldn't even be able to see what's going on or hear those warnings in time, much less dodge. And if she were on the offensive, she would definitely keep missing the opponent, unless her Clanmates helped her by pinning down the warrior for her to attack. But that would probably not be useful to the battle at all. The Clan thought the only good way she could be a good Clanmate was being a medicine cat, since cats that had to be treated were usually in one place, and the process usually went slowly. They were still worried about how she would fare in medical emergencies or in battle, however, since those usually needed quick response time since cats could get serious injuries. But they reasoned that Lilypool or Rainpaw could handle the emergencies, while Birdkit could treat the cats with minor injuries on the sidelines. And of course, other cats could be watchful guards for her during battle.

"Probably," replied Rainpaw worriedly. "But... will Birdkit be able to succeed?"

Primrosepaw looked sad. "I hope so. I have... a lot of hope... for her and I'm... pretty close to her... because we have si...milar condi...tions! I have slow re...flexes, while Birdkit... has slow processing... time. Probably res...ponse time, too."

"I hope so, too," said Birchcreek hopefully. "She should be able to learn medicine and treat cats, since she seems to be very bright." He smiled at Primrosepaw. "Like you, Primrosepaw."

Primrosepaw smiled back. "I know... so. She likes to be out...going and also has... interesting i...deas, too! I know she... will do a great job... at her work!"

Rainpaw smiled, too. "I hope so, too. I am confident she'll be the best medicine cat, especially under *our* training!" She grinned at that.

"Primrosepaw! *Where are you?* We need to eat!" someone called out. It sounded like Rosepetal.

"Okay! I was just... meeting Birchcreek!" Primrosepaw called out to her.

"I think you should eat, after all, we were out for a while!" Rainpaw told the younger apprentice humorously.

"So should you," Primrosepaw replied in the same way. "You *are...* the medicine... cat, right? You need all that... energy for... your mental duties!"

"Well, I agree with that," added Birchcreek. "You already gave me some prey, right?"

"Yep, in fact... *I* caught it!" Primrosepaw said, her eyes twinkling with pride.

Birchcreek smiled even more. "That's wonderful, then."

Rainpaw nodded exuberantly. "I agree! And of course, I'm going to eat soon, but I need to stay back here for some time. I can wait, you know!"

Primrosepaw shrugged. "Fine, I guess. I will... go and eat, then. There must be plen...ty of prey in the... pile now, since other cats... must have come back. I will... wait for you!" She started walking out, but then she slowly turned towards Birchcreek and said, "Oh, yeah, see you... soon, Birchcreek!"

"You, too," Birchcreek replied courteously.

Primrosepaw smiled at him, then left to go to the prey pile which was just a couple of fox-lengths across the medicine cat's den.

"Rainpaw, shouldn't you also eat? Or do you want someone to bring it to you?" Birchcreek asked his littermate humorously.

"Well, that's because I have some *important* stuff to do," Rainpaw answered with a little amusing haughtiness. However, there was a hint of worry in her voice.

"Like what?" Birchcreek inquired concerningly. He tried to stretch his three unharmed legs a little since they were starting to get cramped and tingly.

"You know, the usual medicine cat work," Rainpaw replied seriously.

Birchcreek just nodded in reply since he knew that medicine cats had a lot of work to do. Since Rainpaw had gathered herbs, she would have to sort them now, and that was probably tough to do. Birchcreek didn't want to invalidate it and instead wanted to be more understanding, as he remembered that he had made a big deal out of nothing with Whitestripe and unnecessarily dragged his friends into it. He also remembered he had looked at Primrosepaw in confusion after she was rescued from her fall as he had no recollection of her leaving, but he didn't realize how Primrosepaw was feeling, and that she was uncomfortable and embarrassed from everyone doing so, which caused her to be disappointed with everyone for a few days. And when he asked Quailclaw those questions, he didn't realize why Primrosepaw had gotten sad until he realized that she was probably jealous of them playing but she was too shy to join in, plus her condition, whereas he was only worried about her somehow wandering off again, when she would obviously have been traumatized from her fall. Of course, he had apologized to her afterwards. And he remembered when Rainpaw and Primrosepaw broke the news to him of the former's dreams of being a medicine cat. He was shocked, of course, since he always envisioned them standing next to each other, becoming warrior apprentices. He was also confused why she wouldn't tell him something like this before, especially since Rainpaw had been acting slyly about breaking the news.

But after those two incidents, now Birchcreek wanted to be patient and understanding of everyone, most definitely of Rainpaw. But also especially ones who had wavering loyalty like Stonetooth, and probably Goldenlily. So he tried to be calm and walk away so he could try to accept it, instead of getting annoyed or sad like he would have normally before. But of course, he knew that he had a limit to his patience, and the depressive period had taken a toll on him. He was also shocked when Moonstar died, but the shock didn't last for as long as the depressive period's did, and it wasn't as intense. And learning about Swiftclaw made him feel frustrated and annoyed at the fact that Swiftclaw had done this at all despite sticking tightly to the warrior code. The feelings sort of reminded him of what he felt when he fought with Whitestripe and a few other times as a kit, as he thought he had been wronged somehow. He had also felt a little guilty for making Primrosepaw feel that way, even if he hadn't done much. Birchcreek thought it might have to do with him having a strong sense of justice. He was also overwhelmed at the fact that he was the only one who knew about it other than the perpetrators themselves, as far as he knew. But he wasn't sure if anyone else knew about it, so it was only him.

But Birchcreek was pretty sure he was doing a good job of being patient and understanding already, and he was trying to be more bright and outgoing like he used to be by chatting with his Clanmates about various things and being positive about his injury. He figured that his new sense of positivity must be from the new sense of usefulness he was feeling now, especially from basking in the positive attention he was getting from his heroic act.

While he was thinking about all of this, Rainpaw suddenly broke him out of his thoughts when she said, "Hey, what are *you* thinking about, anyways? Don't you *also* have some squirrels to chow down?" She laughed, as her playful attitude had come back. It didn't seem like she was doing any work, though.

Birchcreek realized from all this talk, he had barely touched *his* prey, either. He just smiled and replied, "Well, you know I used to sit at the prey pile a lot, too, right? I usually never touched the prey."

"Yeah, but that was different," Rainpaw murmured in a monotone way, which was the flip of her previous attitude. "I know you were worried about the wellbeing of MoonClan. And I know you wanted to do something, but of course, you didn't know medicine, and you didn't know much about Stonetooth. It explains why you acted the way you did when saving these two." Her gaze went towards the two unconscious cats, Whitestripe and Swanpaw.

Birchcreek was a little surprised at her seriousness, but a lot more surprised when she basically explained how he felt throughout the depressive period. It was almost as if she could read his mind. *We* are *littermates, though,* he thought spiritually, remembering all the times they spent together. They had quite similar personalities and they were the type to always invite others to play or chat with them. And they had similar ideas about everything. Birchcreek also knew Rainpaw was as worried he was during the period, since, of course, she was hit much harder due to being a medicine cat, since the two deaths were medicine-related.

"And as for me... well, I know you did a great job, in saving them. I wouldn't have gotten there in time, after all, especially since I was holding these herbs," Rainpaw continued, smiling in what seemed to be an exhausted way. But then she frowned. "But after you also collapsed on top of them, I had to save you three quickly. You see, I had jumped soon after you did, after asking Blazesky where the safest place to jump was, since I also wanted to save them from dying from their injuries. Even though cobwebs don't dissolve in water, I was easily losing grip of them while trying to hold my breath and swim. I was much farther from where *you* jumped, since of course, I jumped in a safe place, while you jumped closer to them."

Birchcreek just nodded slowly and looked down at his paws. "Well, I wasn't even thinking about rocks underneath the water. I was just thinking about saving them somehow."

Rainpaw just nodded. "I know that, but I'm glad and grateful to StarClan you weren't too injured that you couldn't save them. Or even *yourself!* Otherwise..." She shivered at the thought.

Birchcreek just frowned at that and felt a little worried about what would have happened otherwise. He would have definitely drowned if he got too injured to swim, and realized how fearless he had been when he had jumped. He was just grateful everything went for the better, even if he got injured from doing so.

"And then, luckily I managed to save you three with my herbs! Because you were breeding profusely!" the medicine cat apprentice continued worriedly.

Birchcreek winced a little at that. He had no recollection what had happened when he blacked out, and the memories after he fell into the water were foggy, too. But he had clearly remembered Moonstar appearing to him and being proud of him.

"Afterwards, even when we took you up, Lilypool and I had to treat you! I was the most worried, of course, you're my littermate after all, and you were seriously injured!" Rainpaw wailed, stretching her front legs out on the ground and scratching the floor in distress. "I felt like I was going to get stressed out so much that I fainted for a moon! I felt like I might have aged from stress!"

Birchcreek winced even more at what she said, but for a different reason. He was concerned about his littermate's wellbeing, who had never been in such a big emergency consisting of more than one cat before. Perhaps not even Lilypool had been in one before as far as he knew, since he hadn't heard of such big things happening in the history of MoonClan. He hadn't even been thinking what would have happened if he had died. Since the two deaths had already wracked the Clan so much, he figured three more deaths would have been permanently traumatizing for everyone. "I'm sorry about that," he said quietly.

Rainpaw just stared at him anxiously. "I know you were just trying to be brave, but *I even-even had dreams about continuously being in StarClan for the entire time you were asleep!"*

Birchcreek blinked in realization when she said that last part. *Wait... what?* he wondered in surprise, remembering that he had also been continuously dreaming about being in StarClan, too. He had thought that he was dead for that reason, especially since Moonstar was there before he blacked out, until he randomly woke up sometime later and realized he was back in MoonClan camp. "Really?" he inquired in confusion.

*"Yes! It was so worrying because I thought it was a sign that one of you had died!"* Rainpaw yowled in distress, but Birchcreek was pretty sure she wasn't angry at him or anything. He knew that she was just trying to let out her sadness and frustration from the entire depressive period.

"Oh... well, I also had dreams about that, too," Birchcreek replied slowly, trying to somehow make her feel better by connecting with her. "While I was still sleeping."

His sister stopped looking worried, but looked utterly confused at him instead. *"Really...?* Like... wandering around in StarClan?"

Birchcreek nodded. "Yes, and hunting there as well."

Rainpaw stared at him for a moment before replying, "I was also somehow hunting, even though I was a medicine cat. I wasn't doing the *best,* but I was still catching some prey." Then her eyes widened. "Wait, so did we have the exact same dreams at the exact same time?"

Birchcreek shrugged. "I don't know, I'm not sure what it is, exactly." He thought it might have mostly been spiritual.

"Do you think we got them from being so worried? Plus the fact that we're littermates *and* heroes?" Rainpaw tried to reason.

"Perhaps. I guess StarClan was proud of us. Moonstar *did* come to me looking proud of me before I fainted."

"Probably." She still seemed to be thinking about it. Then she looked surprised again. *"Wait, our late grandmother, Moonstar, came to you before you fainted?"*

"Well, yes. I am pretty sure it meant that StarClan approved of my actions. Maybe it meant that they were going to give me a good reward or destiny in return."

"How interesting!" The bluish-black apprentice grinned. "That means StarClan was blessing us!" But then she frowned again. "However, it didn't feel like that to me for some reason."

Birchcreek frowned, too. "I also thought I was dead from those dreams." Rainpaw just shrugged at that, however. He was still pondering the exact reason why he had the same continuous dream as his older littermate. But then he remembered something important from his fulfilling, exciting and relaxing days of kithood with his littermate.

*"Hey, Birchkit, guess what, I had a dream last night about chasing a rabbit!" Rainkit told him excitedly.*

*"Really? So did I!" Birchkit replied in ebullient surprise.*

*"Wait, really? At the same time? Last night?" his sister inquired with the same kind of surprise.*

*"Yes! I can't believe you did, too!"*

*"That's amazing, fascinating and cool all at the same time!"*

They had a similar conversation when they talked about their dreams of chasing butterflies. It was very interesting to them since it almost seemed like a StarClan coincidence. But they figured it was just because they were littermates. But now, listening to what his sister was saying, he wondered if it had something more to do with them being littermates. Or even more than that, since he had never seen other littermates with the same kind of phenomenon, like Whitestripe and Stonetooth who only talked to each other and their mother in kithood and still stuck together despite being in different Clans or Primrosepaw and Dandelionpaw whose bond was as close and inseparable as the former two, even though Dandelionpaw had talked to a few other kits as a kit, but almost always her sister. He was pretty sure no one else had this phenomenon otherwise they might have talked about it before. But he decided to mention it to Rainpaw. "Do you remember when we were kits, and we talked about two dreams we had were the same?"

Rainpaw looked surprised at that, and looked like she was trying hard to recall that memory, until her eyes lit up. *"Oh, yes! I do!"* she squealed enthusiastically. "I remember the good old days!" She grinned from ear to ear. "It was so fun and fascinating, especially when I was with you!"

Birchcreek grinned, too, and looked up at the ceiling, reminiscing over his early life. He didn't think any of those good memories would have to do with the present other than making him feel better when pondering over it. But now, he wondered if it had some importance relating to this weird phenomenon.

"Do you think that's related to this? Or could it be a coincidence?" Rainpaw asked inquisitively.

"Perhaps either one," replied Birchcreek pensively. "I honestly have no idea."

His sister shrugged. "Probably. It's pretty peculiar, though. I don't know if these two are related. This one feels more important than the ones in kithood, though..."

Birchcreek thought so, too, since wandering around in StarClan seemed to be more spiritual and symbolic of something than merely chasing a hare or a butterfly. But of course, he couldn't be sure of anything related to StarClan, since they *did* have a mysterious and ambiguous nature after all. He decided to suggest, "Maybe if it happens again, we can try to figure out more about it."

Rainpaw nodded. "I suppose so."

Birchcreek nodded back and wondered about it. He thought it *could* be a coincidence because as far as he knew, they both had either a StarClan-related role or situation, plus they both saved other cats which would definitely get StarClan's approval. And when they were kits, they usually played the same things, so they could have dreamt the same things as well.

"Aren't you going to eat anyways?" he asked her, redirecting the conversation to right before Primrosepaw left.

Rainpaw stared at him for a moment, most likely still thinking about the previous topic, until she shrugged. "Well, maybe. I do feel thinking a lot made me hungrier," she said humorously.

"Me, too," her brother replied back in the same tone. Then he came up with a great idea. "If you want, we could share."

Rainpaw shrugged again, but this time with happiness. "I suppose so! Primrosepaw has gotten a *lot* better at catching squirrels, you see! Climbing was a bit hard for her to master at first, but of course, she was taught by Hailstream before to find low lying branches and bushes to climb up to bypass her freezing, and then of course, she went into pounce mode as she was taught by Quailclaw to do, and then she managed to do it!" Her eyes twinkled brightly as she was saying this.

"That's really amazing," commented Birchcreek genuinely, as he took a bite from one of the very squirrels Rainpaw was talking about how Primrosepaw caught.

They continued talking about Primrosepaw's amazing skills until they each finished a squirrel of hers.

"This was a pretty interesting chat, hehe," Rainpaw jested. Then she got up and straightened herself out. "Well, now, I'm not going to leave the den, obviously, someone needs to sort these herbs!" She simply smiled about that. But then her expression became neutral and said, "But I might not be able to chat as much while doing so."

Birchcreek just smiled and nodded. "Well, that's fine. Us warriors need to be quiet for catching prey, too. And we can't really chat while we're fighting or on border patrol, either, except when intimidating our opponents."

Rainpaw just nodded and smiled back at him. Then she wordlessly went into the herb area and started inspecting which herbs to sort.

Birchcreek looked at her for a moment before turning his gaze towards the two unconscious cats. He wondered if anything spiritual had to do with Whitestripe or Swanpaw, since the entire situation was indirectly caused by them falling off. He had seen Moonstar before he blacked out that time, dreamt about being in StarClan while being in a coma and it turned out his littermate dreamt the same as him, despite not being in a coma like him. They also talked about Primrosepaw's amazing progress despite her disability. But the shared dreams were still a puzzling thing for both of them. He wasn't sure if he or Rainpaw should tell anyone else like Lilypool or Snowstar, since they most likely didn't have this phenomenon and were therefore unrelated.

Then he looked at his two front paws, then turned his head to look at his right hind leg. It still needed to heal, of course. But from all this chatter, he nearly forgot about it, which he figured was a good thing. He wanted to hope for better things after all. He wondered if the shared StarClan dream with his littermate had some spiritual, hopeful significance to it, which is why he got it.

Birchcreek looked at his two unconscious friends again. *Whitestripe and Swanpaw... hopefully you wake up soon, too,* he thought optimistically. *With all the hope of MoonClan and StarClan, including mine... I hope you will wake up soon.*

### Chapter 34: A New Normal

"Am I doing good?" Thymepaw asked his mentor warily, trying to pounce on her.

"Yes, you are," Violetrain said encouragingly. "Just think about where I might be going. Most likely I might pounce on you, but I might go somewhere else when it's necessary."

Flameeye, Spottedpaw and Birchcreek were watching Thymepaw and Violetrain in a grassy patch used for fighting training. Birchcreek was still limping, and although he didn't need any help like he used to when he first woke up, he still wasn't fit to do warrior duties. However, Snowstar and Sealbranch said that he could still try to assist other *younger* apprentices with non-physical training, which Spottedpaw, Primrosepaw, Dandelionpaw, Robinpaw, Soarpaw and Thymepaw were excited about. Birchcreek thought the situation was weird, because the only cats who usually assisted with non-physical training were pregnant queens. Even nursing queens did a *little* physical training. But he guessed that severely injured cats like him would also only be able to do just that and decided to do it. He still wanted to be useful in the Clan, even while he was healing. Birchcreek felt a little bit awkward being praised as a hero and all, since everyone was giving him higher priority than ever before, but he decided to roll with it since it was good attention, very much unlike Stonetooth's case. For a moment, he got a little nostalgic for the times when nearly all of his friends were apprentices, from Shadowclaw to Dandelionpaw, since it seemed like there were much less apprentices now, and soon Mountainpaw and Berrypaw would become warriors. But he knew that things had to go forward. Also, that period was very excruciating for everyone as well, especially for those two.

He wondered when Whitestripe and Swanpaw would wake up, though, as they were sleeping in the medicine cat's den for a half-moon now. He worried about Swanpaw especially because she was still an apprentice, and he wondered if she would have to become a warrior after the normal time, quite the opposite of himself, and similarly to Spottedpaw who became an apprentice at seven moons. Birchcreek remembered that their bones had nearly shattered, so it would probably take more time for them to wake up and recover. He hoped by now most of the bones fused back to what they used to be normally, but he wasn't sure about the tail bones since they seemed to be nearly shattered.

Flameeye was still supporting Violetrain and Thymepaw since the latter was his nephew. After Spottedpaw and him finished training, they both decided to assist them. They were also happy that Birchcreek was here, too, since all four were extremely fond of him. Even if Whitestripe and Swanpaw weren't related to them, they were still their Clanmates. Also, Whitestripe was Violetrain's younger brother, and Swanpaw was Shadowclaw and Icemoon's younger sister.

Spottedpaw remembered when she became an apprentice, when she came to the Clan many moons ago, when her Twoleg family came back to the Mountains. It was very exciting for her, especially since Appleberry, her mother, recommended MoonClan to be a good Clan to join, even better than SnowClan. And her ideas were correct. Spottedpaw wondered if she would be able to tell anyone about her backstory, however, since it was probably more extraordinary than everyone else's, and might be incriminating according to the warrior code. She thought that Flameeye would be a good first choice, though. Being very shy and aloof, but kind and friendly, too, she figured he would be the perfect confidant as he wouldn't be the type to spill any secrets of hers. Especially since they were mentor and apprentice. However, Spottedpaw felt like she felt something more towards him, as her heart usually fluttered with joy whenever she was around him, and even more when they trained. She admired him a lot for all his good qualities, and it didn't seem like he had any negative ones, unlike *Stonetooth.* She wondered what it could be, but she briefly thought it could be the love that Icemoon loved Whitestripe with. She also thought about Quailclaw and Primrosepaw. Quailclaw was a lot like Flameeye, as they both rarely liked to gossip or partake in drama. Training and playing was more of their style since they were pretty quiet. Spottedpaw wondered if Primrosepaw also liked that about Quailclaw, even if she wasn't necessarily in love with him.

She looked at Thymepaw excitedly, as she wanted to cheer the newest apprentice on, who was also her mentor's nephew. Thymepaw seemed to have a more boisterous type of energy than his uncle, similarly to Peonyclaw, Whitestripe, Lilackit and Jumpkit. She also thought of Stonetooth but she didn't want to relate anyone in any way to her, since that gray she-cat felt like too much a disgrace. Spottedpaw lived as a kittypet for most of the time she remembered, but even *she* wouldn't have done such a thing, even without knowing the warrior code. But she was still fond of Thymepaw, as he seemed like he had a lot of potential, and he was very determined and dominating, too. For a moment, she worried about who his father might be, but then she decided it might just be a kittypet. *I guess that would make him only one-eighths Clan cat, then,* she thought, amazed by the variety of cats in MoonClan. She would give a tail and a whisker to bet that SnowClan and AdderClan didn't even have close to this much variety, and she silently chuckled at that.

"Okay, now try to see if you can pounce on me and stay on me," Violetrain suggested thoughtfully. "This trick can be useful in battle against foxes and big cats."

"Okay," Thymepaw replied, focused, and tried to look for an opening.

*"You can do it!"* Spottedpaw cheered, and added, "Flameeye taught me that you need to make sure that the opponent is off-guard!"

Birchcreek nodded. "I learned that from Peonyclaw, too, obviously, her being the expert of physical training experts. Since Violetrain is her daughter, I think she inherited that, too." Flameeye nodded at both their statements.

Thymepaw brightened at those two statements, and tried to look for a way to get Violetrain off-guard. Violetrain attempted to pounce on Thymepaw, but he jumped out of the way in time and onto a small rock. Then he tried to look in a different direction from Violetrain, but still seemed to have her in the corner of his eye.

Thymepaw then tried to pounce on Violetrain. His mentor jumped out of the way and tried to move to the left to get a good opening. Then she tried to pounce on him, but Thymepaw managed to dodge. Then he tried to pounce on Violetrain again, but this time she couldn't get out of the way in time. Then he tried to scratch her neck and stay on top of her. Violetrain tried to kick him off by zig-zagging and shaking her body. Birchcreek thought Violetrain's actions were similar to the foxes Whitestripe, Shadowclaw and Swanpaw had to deal with, so he decided to point it out.

"Whitestripe, Shadowclaw and Swanpaw also had to hold onto a fox as well," he said positively.

Flameeye, Spottedpaw and Thymepaw nodded. Violetrain seemed to remember that Whitestripe and Swanpaw were still unconscious, but she was a bit relieved that no one else remembered them for the time being.

Then Thymepaw clawed her more until Violetrain finally kicked him off. Then she swiftly turned around and tried to slash him, but he dodged and tried to jump on her again. Then his mentor tried to swipe him while he was in the air since she had no time to dodge, and Thymepaw nearly missed, but he managed to hang onto her pelt. Violetrain easily shook him off by flipping around, though.

Then she explained to her apprentice, "Swiping someone who's in the air is a good way to stun them and make them lose velocity."

"Also, their weak spots are usually exposed while in the air," Flameeye added. Thymepaw nodded and tried to watch out for Violetrain again.

They continued training for some time until they decided to take a snack break. Flameeye and Thymepaw brought a squirrel and a shrew to Birchcreek from the prey pile, and got some mice for themselves. The dark brown young warrior thanked his cousin and *his* nephew and decided to eat his shrew first. Violetrain and Spottedpaw got some shrews, too.

Thymepaw asked Violetrain hopefully, "Did I do good?"

"Of course you did," his mentor replied reassuringly. "You learned some new things today. That's an important part of apprenticehood!"

"Don't forget, you've been unofficially training a little with Violetrain as a kit!" Spottedpaw pointed out and chuckled.

Birchcreek then thought about Dustkit and Oakkit. They were obviously a half-moon old now. Sometime after he woke up from his sleep and saw them in the nursery, he was alarmed at their size, since they were nearly a quarter-moon old.

Now Dustkit and Oakkit were even bigger and able to play with the older kits. His nephew and nieces, Birdkit, Waterkit and Flowerkit, were also old enough to leave the nursery by themselves, as they were two moons old now and already weaned from Sandleap, too. Birchcreek thought about Whitestripe and Swanpaw again and how much they might have missed out so far. Whitestripe might not have cared about kits that much, but he seemed to be more interested in his nephew and niece than any other kit. *I guess he could mentor them if he had the chance,* Birchcreek figured.

Then Birchcreek noticed Quailclaw and Primrosepaw and Shadowclaw and Dandelionpaw talking to each other, and they all seemed to be discussing Dustkit and Oakkit.

"I like that Dustkit likes to be funny," Shadowclaw said mirthfully. "Just like Birdkit, Dandelionpaw and me!" Dandelionpaw smiled.

"And Rainpaw and... Spottedpaw, too?" Primrosepaw mentioned with mock seriousness, raising an eyebrow. "Don't forget Swan...paw and Mountainpaw... and Waterkit and Flower...kit!"

"Them, too, obviously." Shadowclaw replied apologetically. "And Quailclaw and Birchcreek in their own ways!"

Quailclaw subtly smiled. "Well, I do like to banter sometimes, when I feel like talking to someone. Birchcreek does so, too."

Primrosepaw beamed at Quailclaw with understanding. "I know you like... quality time by... yourself! I do, too! But I also... like to talk to others... when I am feeling like... it, too!"

Birchcreek smiled at his brother and the younger apprentice. He knew that Quailclaw was more calm and sensible than most cats were, much like Primrosepaw, not being easily brought down by hardships. His four older sisters (including Rainpaw) were also like this, too. In fact, his parents, uncles and grandparents had these qualities, too, which was why he figured his siblings and him all inherited these qualities. His paternal cousins, Flameeye and Redwater were also like this, too.

"I do, too! But Dustkit likes to chat with other cats, even *grown-up,* a lot!" Dandelionpaw exclaimed with wonder. "I wonder if he spends a second not talking to anyone, except when he needs to sleep! Even his sister, Oakkit, can't seem to keep up!"

"Pretty interesting that he's comfortable bantering with senior warriors and kits alike," Shadowclaw replied. Then he smirked, tilted his head and added sarcastically, "Reminds me of someone, don't you think?"

"I can remember very vividly, Shadowclaw," Quailclaw responded genuinely. "You and Icemoon talked to a lot of the senior warriors due to the lack of kits in the nursery. I think Applefall also did that, too, when there were no kits except for Heronwing who was soon becoming an apprentice, until Sealbranch, Sandleap and Hailstream were born."

"I can definitely see who inherited what from who, then," Dandelionpaw joked. "I wonder if Dustkit will also be mature like her, too, talking to senior warriors more than he does his kit friends?"

"I suppose so. But... what about Flameeye... and Redwater and... Nightnose and Nutclaw?" Primrosepaw asked in confusion. Dandelionpaw seemed to wonder, too.

Flameeye perked up upon hearing his name, and wondered what they were talking about. Birchcreek was interested to see what Shadowclaw or Quailclaw had to say.

"I am pretty sure they told us that they were given to the Clan by their kittypet mothers, Rain Drop and Anna, respectively, when they were weaned, so two moons old," Shadowclaw explained in a mentor-like tone. "So the trio of sisters were born before they came to the Clan."

"Well, we *did* come a moon after they were born," Flameeye explained in the same tone, since he was pretty much used to talking formally ever since he became a mentor anyways. Violetrain, Spottedpaw and Thymepaw started to pay more attention to their conversation now.

The other four were pleasantly surprised to see that they were listening in. "That's true," replied Shadowclaw brightly. "I think Applefall was no longer alone at that point!"

"That's great!" said Spottedpaw, remembering the brief history her mentor gave her about himself and the cats around his age group. "I do suppose she was alone, having to wait for so long for other kits to come."

"Yep, and Violetrain and Fireclaw were born the next moon," Shadowclaw continued, looking at Violetrain who nodded. Then he cheekily grinned and teased, "And guess what happened afterwards? They got to know Sandleap and Violetrain as kits a *little* too-"

"Oh, would you stop that," Violetrain mockingly sighed. "We definitely were *not* mates as kits."

"I *would* agree," added Birchcreek after finishing his shrew. "Most cats get crushes during apprenticehood." Violetrain nodded in agreement with him.

Birchcreek thought it was true because Icemoon barely paid attention to Whitestripe as kits, mainly due to the separation Whitestripe wanted from other kits, but only a moon after they became apprentices (and friends, he remembered) did she start taking interest. He also noticed that Primrosepaw seemed to admire Quailclaw more as an apprentice than as a kit, but he figured that was mostly just appreciation for his help. Mountainpaw and Berrypaw's bond was also tighter for these last seven and a half moons than as kits. But most of the other apprentices such as Shadowclaw, Quailclaw, Whitestripe, Stonetooth (well, not until her last quarter-moon of apprenticehood, anyways), Rainpaw (of course), Swanpaw, Dandelionpaw, Robinpaw, Soarpaw and him didn't seem to have any crushes, and he wasn't sure about any older cats, of course, and not that they would tell him either. Birchcreek wondered if Thymepaw would have any crushes on any apprentice, but decided he was probably still too young to think about that since it didn't seem like he had any.

Spottedpaw thought she could agree with him about that. She had no interest in any other tom as a kit, even though there were a few in the Kittypet Place. But after getting apprenticed to Flameeye... *Well... he's interesting,* she thought. Spottedpaw wondered if she was indeed falling in love with him and felt a bit awkward about it. *Well, Flameeye doesn't seem to be interested in any cat other than Thymepaw and me, but that's probably because we're his nephew and apprentice,* she thought woefully. *He* would *be pretty embarrassed if I told him, since he's probably not looking for mates.*

Flameeye wondered about what Birchcreek said, too. He had no crushes as a kit, and not as an apprentice, either. He only started thinking about mates as a warrior, but in a methodical and less passionate approach, so he figured it might be different for different cats. Since he was mostly calm, quiet and very obedient, he thought a strong-willed, light-hearted and leader-like she-cat would have been best for him, like Sealbranch, but he thought it would be awkward for their fathers since they were paternal cousins. He thought of other cats who could fit the role, but oddly enough, he could only think of one cat, which was his apprentice.

Thymepaw just looked fascinated about the history of his mother, uncle and mentor and their families. He was born ten moons after Shadowclaw, Icemoon and Quailclaw after all, so he was definitely much younger than the cats in his mother, uncle and mentor's age group, and would probably want to know their relationship with the others. Much like how a moon ago, Birchcreek, Birchpaw at the time, and the other apprentices wanted to know about Shadowclaw, Icemoon and Quailclaw's relationship to Whitestripe and Stonetooth. However, he remembered his unconscious friends and was sad about what happened to Whitestripe and Swanpaw and worried about Stonetooth's actions.

"Hey, but who knows, right? We haven't *seen* you as kits, right?" Shadowclaw joked teasingly.

"We were *not* mates, you know," Violetrain groaned.

"I can agree," added Flameeye calmly.

"I don't have any mates, either," said Thymepaw. "I don't think Lilackit and Jumpkit do, either."

"If that's the case, then what about Birdkit, Waterkit and Flowerkit? And Dustkit and Oakkit?" Dandelionpaw asked amusingly.

Violetrain's eyes shined at the mention of her niece and nephew. Birchcreek also smiled at the mention of those five kits.

Violetrain replied, "I think they might have some crushes, too! Especially Dustkit, maybe with Flowerkit!" and she laughed at that.

Spottedpaw beamed. "Flowerkit and Dustkit *are* pretty friendly, indeed!" Even though they weren't blood-related to her, she still adored them as kits.

"So are the other kits," pointed out Birchcreek. "It can go any way, you know! Or the older kits and Thymepaw might also have crushes on each other, too." He then took a bite from his squirrel. He wondered what pairings would occur in the future. Pairing kits seemed pretty peculiar to him since anything could happen, of course. No one probably knew Icemoon would have interest in Whitestripe as kits.

Thymepaw snorted at his mother's cousin. "I am pretty sure I won't have a crush until I become a warrior."

Flameeye secretly smiled at that, since it reminded him of himself.

"Dustkit *is* as talkative as Shadowclaw, though. But Shadowclaw didn't have any crushes, right?" Quailclaw said good-naturedly.

Shadowclaw seemed to be a bit embarrassed at that. "Well, not really?" His eyes went over the medicine cat's den for a moment, but returned back to Quailclaw.

"Who knows if he had... a crush or not?" Primrosepaw pointed out amusingly.

Shadowclaw shrugged. "If I did, you'd never know!" Then he started to laugh menacingly.

"I'm going to bet... Rainpaw," Primrosepaw replied and smiled.

Shadowclaw stopped laughing and stared in surprise at Primrosepaw for a moment.

"You're the closest in age... right?" Primrosepaw continued teasingly. Birchcreek noticed that she obviously ignored Stonetooth, but that was probably fine.

"Oh, is this true, Shadowclaw?" Spottedpaw asked coyly.

"Of course not," said Shadowclaw with mock annoyance. "She was going to be a medicine cat apprentice, anyways!"

"Also, that would be awkward," said Birchcreek matter-of-factly. He thought it would have been weird if Shadowclaw were interested in his littermate. But he guessed that wouldn't have mattered since like Shadowclaw said, Rainpaw was becoming a medicine cat apprentice anyways.

"Oh, really?" Dandelionpaw replied sarcastically to Birchcreek, raising an eyebrow. "And apparently no other cats having crushes or acting lovey-dovey is awkward?"

"Well, it's pretty weird to talk about shipping Rainpaw since she's my littermate and she's going to be a medicine cat," Birchcreek replied.

Violetrain smiled. "I am glad you don't think other cats being mates is awkward, though, Birchcreek."

Birchcreek just smiled in response.

"Well, if Dustkit were like Shadowclaw, then," Quailclaw said, redirecting it back to Dustkit, "Then he wouldn't have any crushes, either."

"That's probably fine," Violetrain said in reply, probably relieved.

"What about Applefall?" Dandelionpaw asked, probably directed towards Flameeye and Violetrain.

"Applefall, Nutclaw, Violetrain and Fireclaw used to chat as apprentices," said Flameeye normally. "And Applefall and Nutclaw were mostly friendly since Applefall's mother, Daisyfoot, was Nutclaw's mentor. But I doubt they were being lovey-dovey." From what he remembered, they mostly talked about Clan life while the four of them were together. But Applefall and Nutclaw who were good friends, when they were by themselves, usually talked to each other about sophisticated topics such as other Clans and important things happening, almost like himself and Redwater.

Violetrain stared at Flameeye for a moment, probably for mentioning her, and added, "Yeah, we usually talked about *normal* things. And Applefall and Nutclaw *were friendly."*

"Probably why they decided to become mates with you two," Shadowclaw joked and guffawed at that. Spottedpaw couldn't help smirking, and so did Primrosepaw and Dandelionpaw. Flameeye and Thymepaw just shrugged, though, and Violetrain just groaned in response. Flameeye noticed Thymepaw wasn't really interested about love gossip, but instead about training and fighting, much like Whitestripe.

Then Quailclaw said, "Well, I suppose Dustkit might be a mix of Applefall and Fireclaw, then."

"I suppose that makes sense," Birchcreek agreed. He guessed his brother and him had the same thoughts.

Then Sealbranch and Hailstream walked towards them together, looking very cheerful.

"Oh, hey, Sealbranch and Hailstream!" greeted Violetrain. "We were discussing about Dustkit and apprentice crushes!"

"That's cool, I guess," Sealbranch replied. Then she asked brightly, "Hey, Primrosepaw and Dandelionpaw, do you want to do double training like we usually do?"

Primrosepaw and Dandelionpaw both nodded excitedly. Quailclaw also beamed, most likely at the mention of Primrosepaw training. Birchcreek thought, *Well, Hailstream and him usually get excited when they think about training Primrosepaw. I guess they like mentoring a lot, just like Violetrain. And I guess Quailclaw has good memories of training her.*

"I am still glad our mentors are sisters *and* littermates, and *we're* sisters and littermates, too!" Dandelionpaw said exuberantly.

"Me... too! It is *very...* interesting!" replied Primrosepaw happily. "That way... we are *even...* closer!"

Sealbranch and Hailstream smiled even more and nodded. Quailclaw was still beaming, but he also added, "I am glad you all are in sync. I also remember doing light training with Primrosepaw when she was a kit."

Primrosepaw looked gratefully at Quailclaw. "I remem...ber, too! I sup...pose we were in sync... too!"

Quailclaw nodded happily. "I am pretty sure that's true." Dandelionpaw smiled at both of them genuinely.

Shadowclaw looked happily between the unofficial mentor and apprentice. Surprisingly, he didn't tease them about being lovey-dovey or anything, but instead he asked genuinely, "Quailclaw, you're such a good mentor, especially to Primrosepaw, did you think about having any apprentices yet?"

Quailclaw shook his head. "Not really, because I want to have most of the time to help out Primrosepaw until she becomes a warrior. Even afterwards, I can still help her."

Suddenly, a smirk tugged on Shadowclaw's lips, but it seemed like he was trying to fight it. "Really? What about afterwards?"

Spottedpaw knew why he was smirking. *It's not a far stretch to ship them together.*

"I can become Waterkit or Flowerkit's mentor," Quailclaw simply replied. "I guess Birdkit would become Lilypool's apprentice anyways."

Primrosepaw smiled. "Well, I'm also... technically... being mentored... by Rainpaw and Lily...pool!"

"That's a lot of mentors you have, Primrosepaw," joked Dandelionpaw. Primrosepaw just shrugged, still smiling.

Shadowclaw grinned. "That's true! But I guess when you become a warrior, Primrosepaw, you'll only have Rainpaw and Lilypool... right? And *sometimes* Quailclaw?"

"I guess so! But... I can still train... with them," replied Primrosepaw genuinely.

"Alright, so are we going?" asked Sealbranch hopefully.

"Quailclaw, you can come with us, too!" Hailstream suggested excitedly.

Birchcreek smiled. "I suppose that makes *three* siblings, then."

"Too bad we're not littermates," said Hailstream. "But at least we are all similar to each other!" She smiled at Quailclaw.

Primrosepaw and Dandelionpaw seemed to be excited about Quailclaw coming. "I also want a great mentor to come with us!" said Dandelionpaw. "You really *did* help Primrosepaw!" Primrosepaw beamed even more at that.

Shadowclaw smirked. "I suppose so. Primrosepaw can surely *benefit a lot!"* Spottedpaw and Dandelionpaw also smirked at the subtext.

Then Spottedpaw got an idea. "Hey, Thymepaw, Violetrain, do you want to go?"

Violetrain seemed to be thinking. "Is it hunting?"

"Of course!" Sealbranch answered. "We need some more prey for this growing Clan." A few cats chuckled at that.

"I guess I can go," said Thymepaw normally. "I like to train more than gossiping anyways."

"How Whitestripe of you," Violetrain said, chuckling.

Birchcreek smiled. "I can *sort* of share the same sentiment. I am okay with anyone being mates, so I prefer to train."

"Oh, but we're trying to push them *together,"* said Dandelionpaw jokingly.

"So the Clan can grow even more!" Spottedpaw joked. Everyone laughed at that.

"Okay, I think we can go, too!" Violetrain said excitedly.

"That's great! Have fun, all of you!" Shadowclaw said happily.

"I wish that to you, too," said Birchcreek thoughtfully. "And be safe."

Then Thymepaw got sad for a moment, and his uncle and Birchcreek noticed his expression.

"Well, I wish Birchcreek could come," Thymepaw said forlornly.

Everyone seemed to get a bit sad about that.

"I wish so, too," said Dandelionpaw wistfully. "He *is* a pretty good hunter."

"Also, he's our men...tors' brother," Primrosepaw added sadly. "And... he saved Whitestripe... and Swanpaw."

"That's true. I wonder when they'll wake up, anyways," Shadowclaw sighed.

Flameeye and Spottedpaw were also sad for Birchcreek since his leg was broken, and they worried for Whitestripe and Swanpaw, too. When they first came back to the Clan, everyone was worried that they might die. And even worse, Birchcreek's sacrifice would be in vain. But now, at least Lilypool and Rainpaw got them to a point where they wouldn't die, but they didn't want them to be paralyzed or anything, either.

Birchcreek didn't want them to think about that, though, so he said, "I'd rather have this broken leg for a moon than for Whitestripe and Swanpaw to die, you know. And you don't have to worry about me, Thymepaw, or anyone else." He didn't know if Whitestripe or Swanpaw would wake up right now, though.

"I know. I'm so glad you saved them!" said Violetrain graciously.

*"I'm eternally grateful!"* Shadowclaw exclaimed, nearly tearing up.

"Me too! I'm not sure what we would have done *otherwise!"* Dandelionpaw exclaimed tearfully, too.

"I'm grateful, too," said Quailclaw appreciatively. "Especially since you were brave and selfless enough to try and save your Clanmates at the expense of yourself."

Sealbranch, Hailstream, Flameeye, Spottedpaw, Primrosepaw and Thymepaw nodded in agreement.

Birchcreek just smiled at everyone, especially at Quailclaw. He didn't think he was being brave and selfless before that happened since it felt like he was doing nothing useful to help in the depressive period, and didn't think much of it after the creek fall. He wasn't thinking about bravery or selflessness at that moment, either. But after all the compliments he got relating to his deed, he thought it was probably true.

"Well, you're welcome all of you," Birchcreek decided to reply positively. "I am okay with not doing duties for a moon. But you still can, so I guess you can leave for hunting patrol now."

"Alright, I hope you heal fully, Birchcreek," Sealbranch said empathetically. The other cats nodded.

"I hope so, too," Hailstream added, getting ready to leave.

"Well, me too," Violetrain said, also getting ready to leave.

"Me too, and bye... I guess!" Primrosepaw said excitedly.

"See you soon!" Dandelionpaw added.

Everyone else said farewell to each other, especially Birchcreek. However, Violetrain, Quailclaw and Thymepaw looked worriedly at him, probably at the fact he'd have to stay idle for some time longer. But he decided to just smile back at them.

As everyone was leaving, Shadowclaw also seemed to be worried for Birchcreek and whispered, "Are you *actually* okay?"

Birchcreek nodded reassuringly. "Of course I am. I am still okay not doing anything. I still saved them and I'm helping out apprentices, didn't I? So I don't feel useless."

Shadowclaw nodded, however skeptically. Flameeye and Spottedpaw both nodded in agreement with him, though.

"By the way, do you want to talk about Snowstar?" Birchcreek continued, nearly finished with his squirrel.

Flameeye and Shadowclaw's eyes lit up at the mention of their former mentor. Of course, he was a great mentor. Flameeye had him when he was just Snowpool, while Shadowclaw, for a vast majority of his apprentice time, had him as Snowstar. But nonetheless he had the same mentoring techniques when he was mentoring both.

"I *love* Snowstar," replied Shadowclaw excitedly. "He taught me everything I needed to know as an apprentice. I'm proud that he's the leader. Even while being so busy for the vast majority of my training, he still found enough time to mentor me."

Flameeye smiled, too. "He's also very calm in tough situations, which fits the energy of Moonstar and MoonClan."

Spottedpaw beamed as well. "I am glad that he was your mentors, too! He's also a very nice leader since he was warm and forthcoming to me when I joined! I heard he also had the same attitude to Flipsnow and Peonyclaw! He even gave me a great prefix!"

Birchcreek smiled for his father, remembering that discussion of who should be the next leader after Moonstar and her deputy, Falconblue, both died. "I know he's amazing. No wonder the near entirety of MoonClan voted for him. I know he'll also give you a good suffix, too, Spottedpaw."

All of them looked happy about what he said, much to the dark brown warrior's joy.

He remembered the times when Snowstar, back when he was just Snowpool for the first half of Birchcreek's kithood, when he was just Birchkit. He only remembered one moon worth of it, so he didn't remember him mentoring Flameeye very well, he only remembered Flameeye and Redwater's warrior ceremony, but it was a pretty interesting time when his father was just a normal warrior, not even a deputy, and therefore had a lot of off time to see his kits. Sure, Snowpool had to mentor Shadowclaw, Shadowpaw at the time, in the last quarter-moon of his normal warriorhood, but he still got to see his kits since Shadowpaw and Quailclaw, Quailpaw at the time, still wanted to see their family members and the other kits at the same time. Then for the next half of Birchkit's kithood, his father was the leader, therefore having the title of a leader's son, while he was still a kit. And Birchkit didn't get a lot of time to see him either.

They continued talking about Snowstar for some time until it was time for the other three to do their obligatory warrior duties. For Spottedpaw, it meant hunting training with Flameeye.

"Well," started Shadowclaw bouncily, "that was a good chat about him!"

"I agree," said Flameeye happily. "We still miss him as our mentor."

"Yeah, I agree, too," Spottedpaw said in the same tone. "He's very great! Anyways, I think we should be leaving for warrior duties and such."

Birchcreek nodded and greeted them farewell. Shadowclaw looked a little sadly at him, but he just smiled and nodded in response.

Flameeye and Spottedpaw were also a little bit sad that the first moon of Birchcreek's warriorhood was when he was injured while other cats usually got to enjoy the benefits of their warriorhood. They knew why he was promoted to warriorhood, but they still hoped that he would heal soon. Then all three left to hunt.

Birchcreek watched them leave and wondered about himself. *Am I really okay?* he wondered. He remembered when he was still an apprentice and kit, and he was still perfectly fine. Now, his first memories of being a warrior were him being injured. He wondered if Snowstar and Peonyclaw could still have waited for him to heal and become fourteen moons, since the warrior reward wasn't that enticing while one was injured and could do nothing. *Except not worry about future trainings or warrior exams,* Birchcreek remembered. But he still figured they could have still made him a warrior once he healed without him doing the trainings or exams. He could also mentor younger apprentices, but he was pretty sure he could still do that as a senior apprentice. Mountainpaw and Berrypaw might have also appreciated it as well being with their apprentice friend. And maybe Whitestripe and Swanpaw would have seen his warrior ceremony.

Birchcreek finished his squirrel fully and tried to limp back to the medicine cat's den. He remembered getting a cut on his forehead by Stonetooth before Whitestripe and Swanpaw fell. But compared to the pain of nearly breaking his leg into many bits, the cut was nothing compared to it. He wasn't sure if the cobwebs fell off when he leaped into the water, but when he woke up, he saw it was perfectly healed. There was only a minor scar now. The slash that hit the tips of his ears was also gone, too, and perfectly healed. *Well, it* was *already a few days when I woke up,* he figured.

Birchcreek looked at the two unconscious cats in the den. Him being injured seemed like the new normal now. And so was Whitestripe and Swanpaw being unconscious. He desperately hoped to StarClan that they would wake up soon. *Please, StarClan, please. I pray to you. You have enough power to do so, previously having been the Miracle ancestors. You have a lot of power, right? Please, StarClan, make things right.*

He remembered Moonstar meeting him as a StarClan spirit right before he blacked out. He didn't think about it much before, even though he mentioned it to Rainpaw once, but now he wondered if Moonstar healed him somehow, or if they healed the other two cats. *I hope so. I hope we continue to heal. Soon, StarClan, things should be fine. Please, everything should be alright soon. Soon everything will be alright.*

### Chapter 35: Serendipitous Surprise

Whitestripe saw nothing. Neither did Swanpaw. It felt like they were floating in the mist of StarClan for eternity, and they thought they could see their dead Clanmates, especially Goldenlily, again. But now, there was a strange sensation, almost as if they were entering into another world. They had no idea what it was, but they were scared to go there.

Until suddenly, they saw the dim light, and later, the gray ceiling of a den. Whitestripe was the first one who woke up since he got rescued first. He had no recollection of what happened after that fox-dung warrior Windwing threw him off the cliff. He had no desire to scream because he knew he would fall onto the rocks anyways. But surprisingly, after his rear and tail smashed into the rocks of the shallow part of the water near the cliff, other than him instantly passing out, his paternal grandmother, Moonstar, had come up to him and smiled, almost as if she were saying, "Whitestripe, you have proved yourself to be a great warrior already." He had no idea what it meant, if she were taking him to StarClan, or instead healing his wounds.

Swanpaw hadn't realized she was on the direct edge of the cliff until, of course, she noticed her front paws landed on air. But it was too late as she toppled off and onto the rocks directly onto the rocks near the cliff. She fell rear-first as she remembered, but the last thing she remembered after falling was her mother, Goldenlily, warmly smiling at her. Swanpaw could only smile back as she thought her mother had come back as she blacked out almost instantly. It was the second time she had seen her, and that too, in a comforting manner, and it comforted her to know Goldenlily was always watching her. But she didn't realize that she hadn't died until she saw that they were inside of a den.

They couldn't move their hips or their tail at all, as it felt stiff. But to their utter surprise, they saw Birchpaw there with his right hind leg wrapped in a branch. Birchpaw was watching them wake up in utter shock for a few seconds before looking utterly relieved.

"Birchpaw! You're here?" Whitestripe said happily. Swanpaw nodded cheerfully as well. But suddenly, Birchpaw's expression became a little sad.

"Um... well, I'm not Birchpaw anymore," he said.

The two fallen cats stared at him for a while before wondering if a moon had already passed since their fall, which meant that Swanpaw, Mountainpaw and Berrypaw would also become warriors in a quarter-moon, or perhaps right now. But Swanpaw felt despondent at the fact that she might not be a warrior at her right time due to being unconscious for so long.

But then Birchpaw replied, "Well, the thing is, I saved you by helping you up. I jumped into the water, but my hind leg nearly broke, but somehow, I still pushed you out before you could drown. You were out for a half-moon, while I woke up in three days. And now I'm Birchcreek."

Whitestripe and Swanpaw couldn't be more shocked, half at the part where he saved them and got injured himself and the other half at only a half-moon passing.

"So-so, you saved us, and became a warrior a half-moon early? Due to your deed?" Whitestripe asked almost breathily. It was the first time Birchcreek and Swanpaw saw him speak so much in shock, as even with Stonetooth, he seemed to be confident about it. But of course, it was very shocking and almost traumatic for him and Swanpaw, and of course Birchcreek, since they nearly died and got almost severely injured that they were asleep for so long. Swanpaw had been saved by Birchcreek once before while Whitestripe had never been saved by anyone before, but it was still so equally shocking for both of them in such a life-threatening situation, and they felt so far removed from it since they didn't remember any of that part.

Birchcreek nodded. "I actually became a warrior a half-moon ago, after I woke up, so a full moon early. I thought about stalling my ceremony until the normal time since I wouldn't be able to do anything in my first moon of warriorhood anyway, and also so that you could see it, but at the same time I wanted our Clan to feel proud of me and experience the taste of warriorhood sooner. Rainpaw also saved you by jumping into the water and administering emergency medicine to all three of us after we passed out, so she was also considered a hero. But she didn't want to become a medicine cat just yet until you were fully healed."

Swanpaw tried to move, but she felt immense pain in her rear and tail. She felt almost helpless because she thought she couldn't even gesture properly, since front paws and head movements and expressions didn't fully convey every single sign, as for some she had to move. She could move her hind legs and feet unlike perhaps Birchcreek with his right, but her hips and most of her tail felt like they would collapse if she even moved her legs a whisker. At least Whitestripe and Birchcreek could still speak even while being stuck in one place, but Swanpaw would be very limited to one spot. And worst of all, her warriorhood would definitely be delayed, unlike Birchcreek, since she didn't necessarily save anyone. Swanpaw tried to ask Birchcreek if he got to skip his warrior exams since it looked like he was too injured to do them anyways by moving her paws in a pouncing motion and then shrugging, but she wasn't sure if they would understand since usually, she would move her entire body forward in a pouncing motion to indicate hunting and fighting.

It took Whitestripe and Birchcreek a minute or two to understand what she was saying, but Birchcreek wasn't sure if he should talk more about his reward. He knew Swanpaw was feeling down about this because, after all, warriorhood was her passion, and sitting in one place would be utterly terrible for her. Plus, she would have to delay her warriorhood for a little while before she recovered. He figured MoonClan would probably give her a break and not delay it too much unlike AdderClan and SnowClan, but he was still worried that Swanpaw would not be with Mountainpaw and Berrypaw who became apprentices along with her. Birchcreek heard that Snowstar was planning to make Mountainpaw and Berrypaw were going to be warriors quarter-moon early to go along with other warriors, especially Birchcreek who became one a moon before they would, but he wasn't sure about Swanpaw. He didn't want Swanpaw to feel jealous of him as he really wanted to be considerate of others, and he was rethinking if he should have become a warrior a whole moon early. Even so, Mountainpaw, Berrypaw and him might have still become warriors before she did since Birchcreek wasn't as injured as Whitestripe or her.

"They said that I didn't have to and that my bravery and selflessness was enough," Birchcreek decided to say.

Whitestripe and Swanpaw were still staring at him in shock, which made him feel a bit embarrassed and sad for them, since they had such good skills and dreams. But at the same time, Birchcreek was wholly relieved that they woke up. After all, he was praying for this the entire time and so was the rest of MoonClan. He was so grateful that StarClan had finally shined their miracles on them again, as it was perhaps a miracle in itself that three young cats survived nearly drowning and breaking their bones. He fully hoped that they would be fully functional again, even if not completely heal.

"Birchcreek, who are you talking to?" Rainpaw suddenly called from outside the den, but none of them had to say anything as she entered, and her eyes also widened in shock. *"Whitestripe and Swanpaw! You're finally awake!"* she yowled in utter delight, and that immediately alerted everyone else in MoonClan. Birchcreek realized that all the patrols must have come back since it was now close to evening, especially the cats who he was talking to just earlier in the day.

All of Whitestripe and Swanpaw's kin, including their cousins, rushed in and so did a few other cats like Primrosepaw, Dandelionpaw and Lilypool, all looking so surprised and delighted and relieved.

*"Whitestripe! Are you okay?!"* exclaimed Peonyclaw in the same tone as Rainpaw. Birchcreek knew that it must have been hard for her with her son being injured, even if they weren't on great terms before. But he felt that now, their relationship would be fully repaired, and even get better after this.

*"I was almost dead for the entire half-moon!"* Icemoon shrieked forlornly.

*"So was I! I couldn't bear to lose* another *sister!"* Shadowclaw added in the same tone.

*"I couldn't believe it either since I saw it, but I'm so glad you're awake!"* Dandelionpaw exclaimed.

"Are you fully okay?" asked Lilypool mostly in relief, but the injured cats could also sense a bit of worry in her tone. "I mean, we know that was very traumatizing for everyone including you. Maybe more for the rest of us since you three seemed to handle it fine."

*"I agree!"* said Thymepaw sadly. "My mentor felt sick after seeing you three so injured, and so did I, and we couldn't train that much!"

*"I was also shocked! After all, you were my mate's apprentice and cousin!"* Nightnose also exclaimed.

Petalkit also happened to be here, and she also looked shocked. *"I didn't realize you were hurt! Otherwise, I would have tried to help!"*

Rainpaw looked at Petalkit and said reassuringly, "You didn't know, and you couldn't do anything, so don't blame yourself!"

Petalkit still seemed shocked and forlorn about it, however. "Birchcreek's my foster siblings' uncle, though, Whitestripe's my friends, Dustkit and Oakkit's uncle and Swanpaw's obviously my sister!"

Whitestripe and Swanpaw were a little shocked at when Petalkit might have figured out that Sandleap and Nightnose weren't her biological parents, but Goldenlily was instead. They figured Shadowclaw, Icemoon or Primrosepaw might have told her, though. But Whitestripe was also worried about his nephew and niece and if they would even know if he even existed at all. It felt so strange to have so much time skip by, since a half-moon was definitely a lot of time when it came to young warriors and senior apprentices, as lots of things surely happened in that time. But they knew everyone else was still mourning, so perhaps not that much had happened, except for of course, Birchcreek's warrior ceremony.

"I felt so bad that I was the one who told her to go, and I'm also her mentor! I was worried that she wouldn't wake up!" Nutclaw added, also forlorn.

"I was also fee...ling depressed!" lamented Primrosepaw. "I felt better af...ter Birchcreek woke... up, but I still had... a heavy heart about you... two, Whitestripe and Swan...paw, until you woke up... too!"

"I am also relieved that they woke up," added Quailclaw. "After all, they are important members of the Clan, as is everyone else."

Whitestripe and Swanpaw already realized that they were in the medicine cat's den since there were a ton of herbs, and their wounds were mostly treated, and their hips and tail were in cobwebs and held still by sticks. It felt weird not being able to move their tails at all, since it seemed like they were severely damaged. But they were just happy to be alive, just like everyone else was.

"Yes, of course, I'm glad, too," Whitestripe said lightheartedly, and Swanpaw nodded, doing a thumbs-up at herself.

"Yeah, you don't need to remember the past anymore," reassured Birchcreek. "Now that the future is surely going to be better after this, I surely hope."

"Um, did Birchcreek tell you about his early warrior ceremony?" Mountainpaw asked nervously. "I felt a little bad that you didn't get to witness it."

"No, it's fine, since Birchcreek did a great thing, and yes, he did tell us about his and Rainpaw's savior status," Whitestripe said quickly, and Swanpaw nodded since they had already processed this information.

"Wow, that's great! I am very proud of Rainpaw, too! I want to be a medicine cat just like her!" they heard Birdkit say, and the two fallen cats were also surprised that Birdkit was here, until they realized that Sandleap's kits must have gotten to the age of two moons already, so she could leave the nursery now. Everyone smiled at her words, especially Rainpaw and Lilypool.

"I'm extraordinarily glad, too!" Rainpaw exclaimed happily. "Now MoonClan can finally get to live in peace!"

"I really hope so, too, because these things are very tragic for everyone in the Clan!" said Flipsnow, who had been empathetic for her sister's tragedy, and previously, her former apprentice, Sandleap, and *her* mate, Nightnose's tragedies.

"I know. Now hopefully, only better things happen after this," agreed Birchcreek. "We should all be hopeful to the future, and that we can achieve more in our lives, and become stronger from all of these experiences."

The entire Clan also agreed, looking very relieved and perhaps finally starting to heal their emotional wounds inflicted from all of these catastrophic disasters now, especially the ones who had personal trauma like Shadowclaw and Icemoon, and also Whitestripe and Swnapaw themselves. But Swanpaw was still lamenting that she couldn't communicate as properly as before, because to her, her body was her language as her mouth did not serve that function for her. She still hoped that she could still be understood by the rest of the Clan even in her stuck state, since most of them could still understand her with only her front paws, head and expressions. Swanpaw was also worried about her warriorhood, as she really didn't want to be left behind. She felt that she would have to come to terms with this sooner or later, but at the same time she worried that she would become hopeless if she did. *I* really *want to be independent,* she thought, remembering that she would have to be strong after going through what most cats never did, including her lifelong, incurable condition of being mute. It wasn't that bad as what the other three she-cats with conditions go through as she had now observed, but it would definitely bar her from a lot of leader-like roles, including perhaps mentorhood, since a lot of mentoring goes with telling information about the Clans. After going through two deaths, she didn't want to have to face more trouble. She was comforted that Goldenlily had greeted her and she also got to see a few glimpses of Mousekit and even her dead littermate, Vinekit, but she was not fully assuaged yet.

Swanpaw waved her paws to get everyone's attention, then pointed to herself and tried to do pouncing movements again, then shrugged. A few more cats had entered the den when she asked that, including Snowstar.

Whitestripe and Birchcreek already understood her question was similar to the one from earlier, so they looked a bit disappointed. "Um, I don't know if your warrior ceremony would be delayed," said Birchcreek unfortunately. He looked at his father for an answer, who also looked sad. The rest of the Clan also looked sad for Swanpaw, especially her mentor, Nutclaw, as he was the one who told her to go in the first place, and the one who was supposed to train her.

"I am not really sure," sighed Snowstar. "I don't know when you would be fully healed, so I can't really say. All I hope, and the rest of MoonClan hope, is that you fully heal first."

Swanpaw just nodded, still looking downhearted about it. Birchcreek decided to say something to comfort her, "Don't worry, Swanpaw. Once you become a warrior, you'll be the most celebrated warrior in MoonClan for your deeds and troubles." Swanpaw just nodded again, perhaps feeling a little better.

"I was a bit surprised you three managed to handle your physical wounds so well emotionally," Mountainpaw said in a more positive light. "I probably wouldn't have done it so well."

"Perhaps it's because physical wounds are a part of warriorhood," Birchcreek said thoughtfully.

"Don't forget, warriors always handle their own stress well!" Whitestripe added also thoughtfully. "But with others, it's much more painful."

"Due to empathy, right?" Dandelionpaw said, looking quite relieved.

"That's quite true," Petuniaheart replied, looking warmly at the three of them. "We all fear for others more than we do ourselves, due to that connection. We can count on ourselves to try to be okay, but we are very much worried for others as we don't know how they would take it."

"Sometimes, guilt plays a part, too, if you feel you might have done something that might have set those events into motion that inflicted those wounds," Hailstream added, looking a little proud of her littermate's apprentice and her mentor's daughter for surviving, but of course, the most at her younger sister and brother. The three injured cats also remembered that she wanted her apprentice, Primrosepaw, to go, too, just like Nutclaw.

Sandleap nodded. "I was also feeling despair over my apprentice, since I spent so many moons training him, and over my brother since I often visited my mother and him and Rainpaw and Quailclaw in the nursery. And also for Swanpaw, my other Clanmate, as I also have many connected relationships with her, too."

The positivity was filling up everyone's hearts, as even though they were talking about reception of emotional pain and empathy, talking about it and sharing their experiences was making them better and more understanding of each other, and plus, they felt like that they were now past the worst, and even the bad.

"I wonder, how did we even stay alive if we were out for so long, anyways?" Whitestripe asked, confused, and Swanpaw was relieved that he asked that question since she had it, too, but she probably wouldn't have been able to convey it properly.

"We had to feed you prey and herbs by crushing it, and we also had to toss and turn you manually so that your muscles wouldn't become stiff or degenerate," Rainpaw said, still feeling a little sad. Swanpaw frowned, as that awfully reminded her of Mousekit before she died.

Whitestripe decided not to think about Mousekit and instead about the positives. "Well, I am very glad you did, otherwise we wouldn't have survived afterwards."

"I'm also glad, because you both are my uncle's and mother's apprentices!" Birdkit said cheerfully right after Whitestripe finished. Everybody smiled at that again, especially Sandleap, Nutclaw, Whitestripe and Swanpaw. The three injured cats were glad that Birdkit was able to get some words in by what she might have been thinking was interrupting, because otherwise in large group discussions or gatherings like this, she would have hardly been able to get a word in since everyone would always have something to fill in the silence before she would be finished.

"And Birchcreek is obviously our youngest uncle!" Flowerkit added excitedly.

"And he's only eleven moons older than us, like our youngest aunt, just like what Sandleap said was *her* and our older uncles and aunts' distance from them!" Waterkit said thoughtfully. The conversation was definitely very heartwarming now, which MoonClan definitely needed and appreciated in these excruciatingly testing times. Birchcreek knew that he was a half-moon older than that, but the estimation was fine so that way the comparison could fit.

Their mother chuckled. "Well, isn't that interesting? We were senior apprentices when your grandmother, Petuniaheart, gave birth to them, and Birchcreek and Rainpaw were, too!"

"That makes them the youngest uncle and aunt in the Clan!" Violetrain said happily, and Petuniaheart, Nightnose and Nutclaw nodded at that.

"Unless..." Icemoon started, looking coyly at Whitestripe. Shadowclaw, Rainpaw, Swanpaw, Spottedpaw, Primrosepaw, Dandelionpaw all started smirking, getting the hint. Birchcreek just smiled as he genuinely wanted them to be together and add more happiness to the Clan. He was pretty sure Whitestripe couldn't mate right now, but when he healed, he would hopefully be able to do so.

"Come on, Icemoon, you want Petalkit to be an aunt as a kit?" Whitestripe said with mock annoyance. *These cats* do *very much like this topic,* he thought, amused.

"That would be even more interesting," Petalkit mewed humorously. Birdkit, Waterkit and Flowerkit also seemed to be looking forward to that as they smiled, too.

"Better start now so we can make history again! Petalkit's already three moons old!" Lilackit added in the same vein.

"Lilackit? You joined in, too?" Thymekit asked curiously. Whitestripe, Birchcreek and Swanpaw were also surprised as they didn't think Lilackit was that type as it looked like she had a sharp warrior's mindset. But the former first and latter last figured that might have changed in the last half-moon.

"She's just cheering on her future mentor," joked Shadowclaw. *I guess Lilackit won the Mossball dare,* Whitestripe figured.

"No, I just like to see history and greatness and firsts happen!" Lilackit exclaimed thoughtfully. "Maybe I can get to mentor their kits if they have them now! Mentoring your mentor's kits is always a good deed and payback!"

"You are very weird, Lilackit," added Jumpkit amusingly. A few cats also chuckled at Lilackit's ideas, especially the jokers of the Clan, and other cats smiled.

"I have to agree with your brother, I'm afraid," Whitestripe added. "That *is very* weird!"

"I would also want to mentor my future mentor's kits!" Waterkit exclaimed, too.

"Which is?" Petalkit asked.

"Quailclaw, obviously!" Waterkit replied. Quailclaw and Primrosepaw smiled at that, but Shadowclaw, Rainpaw, Swanpaw and Dandelionpaw found a deeper meaning to that.

"I know Primrosepaw is friendly with you, too, Waterkit, so it would be the best for you!" Dandelionpaw bantered.

Swanpaw nodded exaggeratedly and did a thumbs-up and Shadowclaw and Rainpaw grinned at that. *I also want to become an aunt, since the idea seems like a very cool thing in MoonClan,* thought Swanpaw mirthfully. She was grateful that she had such things in her life to help her move on from her personal terrible tragedies. *And I also want to fulfill Primrosepaw and Quailclaw's connection, and have Dandelionpaw be with my brother, too!*

"I'm glad that you're in your normal moods, too, now, Whitestripe and Swanpaw," Birchcreek said before his brother, Whitestripe and Primrosepaw could get embarrassed any further in front of the entire Clan, especially the former first. Even if he wanted them to mate, he thought that it was better for them to not be teased, at least in front of most of their elders, even their parents who were supportive of it. *I hope that it comes true, however, just like the rest of our dreams and hopes,* he thought positively.

Whitestripe was relieved that his cousin finally stopped the conversation from going down into the rabbit hole of love gossip, as it felt weird to partake in, not being interested in Icemoon anyways. *These mouse-brains won't stop until we do it, won't they?* he thought with joking resignation. *But, maybe even afterwards, as you never know with them.*

"We're *all* glad!" Sealbranch said to her brother. "When you three become fully healed, we promise that we'll get the most surplus of food and herbs for the entire MoonClan!" Snowstar and Petuniaheart nodded, agreeing with their daughter.

"And Lilypool and I will *definitely* help! Don't you *all* worry!" Rainpaw added exuberantly as well.

MoonClan definitely looked jubilant at that. The hopes had never reached so high before, even when they were in a long period of sleep previously, and still not completely convalesced, but the stars in the sky would surely help with that. The Clan had faith that soon, everything will eventually be all right, as long as they had high hopes for it, and in StarClan's blessings and miracles, having previously been the Miracle ancestors.

The entire Clan continued their unofficial gathering to banter and joke with the three injured cats, and with Sandleap's kits as well, as it was their first time leaving the nursery, so it was very exciting for them. This day marked one of the most relieving days of their lives, and perhaps one of the most special ones, too, as they didn't often have such large fun gatherings even while being MoonClan, and definitely not other Clans, either.

And the three injured cats felt finally at peace with their relevant emotional and physical troubles, not at all realizing they were even hurt, having completely rained off the trauma of whatever fateful events had ever happened to them, and indirectly MoonClan.

### Chapter 36: Insult to Injury

Whitestripe, Birchcreek and Swanpaw were sitting in the medicine cat's den as usual. Or at least, it became usual. It was just a few days after the former first and latter last woke up, and all were feeling pretty bored since they couldn't do anything useful. Three moons had passed since Goldenlily's death, two since Mousekit's and one since Stonetooth's defection, so it seemed like the Clan, Goldenlily's kits, Whitestripe, and Birchcreek himself were pretty much past that, much to Birchcreek's relief. He definitely did not want to think about any trouble, much less accidentally invite any.

Birchcreek was still limping, and although he didn't need any help like he used to when he first woke up, he still wasn't fit to do warrior duties. And Whitestripe and Swanpaw still needed to rest, of course, since they could barely walk around. There wasn't any improvement with their tails, either, which got impacted the hardest from their falls. Nutclaw and Swanpaw were still disappointed that she couldn't become a warrior yet, since she was getting closer to the fourteen-moon mark, and so were most of the other cats. But Swanpaw was definitely in no condition to do any warrior activities, much less train or do the exams. She was still grateful she could move her front paws and her head to communicate, since she had fallen on her rear.

Lilypool and Rainpaw were still looking over them, and Rainpaw wanted to make sure to watch them for most of the time so they could tell her about any issues they had. And right now, she was just sorting the herbs Lilypool brought.

Interestingly, Whitestripe and Swanpaw told Rainpaw and Birchcreek about their vision of Moonstar and Goldenlily after they passed out, and of course, Rainpaw and Birchcreek recognized that as the former saw her, too. They had all figured that it must have been a sign that StarClan saved them.

Then Shadowclaw and Icemoon came to the medicine cat's den with two plump rabbits each. Since the three of them were severely injured, they had the same feeding priority as queens, elders and kits, as the warrior code dictated. They needed to eat well to heal quickly, after all.

"Hey, Whitestripe, Birchcreek, Rainpaw and Swanpaw!" Shadowclaw called out gleefully. "Here's some juicy rabbits!" He looked at Birchcreek first then at Rainpaw, which probably meant that he was secretly grateful to them for saving Whitestripe and Swanpaw.

"And of course," Icemoon started, batting her eyes seductively at Whitestripe, "these rabbits are only for-"

"Oh please, enough with the favoritism," groaned the black and white striped warrior humorously. "I would rather someone else more needy eat it than me."

"But you need good nutrition!" Icemoon persisted joyfully. "You know that good warriors need good diets!"

Swanpaw winked at Whitestripe mockingly, which probably meant, *Take the hint.* Whitestripe shot a mock annoyed look in her direction.

"Yup! Besides, you can at least take one rabbit that she caught, right?" Shadowclaw added. Whitestripe just shrugged and took one.

Rainpaw groaned with mock hunger, "Oh, thank you, because I was nearly going to eat the herbs myself!" She chose one of Shadowclaw's rabbits.

"There *is* a prey pile," Birchcreek pointed out humorously. "Not very far away from the medicine cat den." He took Shadowclaw's other rabbit.

Shadowclaw smirked at both littermates. "You are very welcome, Rainpaw! And I agree with Birchcreek. You can simply walk there, you know!"

"Well..." Rainpaw smirked back. "I was just being a bit *lazy.* Even medicine cats need to relax!"

"Relaxing while sorting herbs?" Shadowclaw pointed out. "That is a whole new form of relaxation, then!"

"I am pretty sure even *I* could sort herbs while relaxing, Shadowclaw," Whitestripe told him amusingly.

After taking the last rabbit which was Icemoon's, Swanpaw gave him a look that most likely meant, *Oh, really?* Then she put her toe on her chin with mock curiousity.

"Oh, really? *Mental* fatigue anyone?" Icemoon mocked him in a friendly way. "Even *I* would be tired from sorting herbs!"

"Maybe she means *physical* relaxation?" Birchcreek suggested thoughtfully. "Except she was in this den all day, so I doubt she needs to relax."

"Yep, but I am already relaxing!" Rainpaw replied, chuckling.

Icemoon laughed, too. "I suppose this means we can relax with you, too! Because Shadowclaw and I *really* need it." Shadowclaw nodded.

"That's great!" Rainpaw exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear.

Swanpaw smirked and winked at Icemoon this time, and Birchcreek was pretty sure it meant *Good luck!* Icemoon grinned at Swanpaw in response to that, then looked seductively at Whitestripe. It was common knowledge for everyone in the Clan that Icemoon clearly liked Whitestripe too much, similarly to how Sandleap and Nightnose were with each other. Birchcreek thought that was okay since he was looking forward to more love in the Clan, as that equaled positivity, which was what they desperately needed right now. He wondered what he could do to contribute to the positivity, other than being a hero, that was. He figured his outgoing personality should make up for it, though. Even if he didn't talk about mate gossip, there were plenty of other positive things to talk about.

Whitestripe made a mock bored expression. "Fine for you, then. I guess I will relax between Shadowclaw and Birchcreek, then. You can relax between Swanpaw and Rainpaw."

"Oh, *really?* That's too far away, don't you *think?"* Icemoon replied humorously, tilting her head. "Perhaps the *front* is better?"

Swanpaw sighed exaggeratedly at Whitestripe, which made him groan, "Okay, maybe you can sit at the far end, and I will sit at the opposite far end."

Swanpaw sighed even more if that were possible, which made Shadowclaw remark, "Oh, but Swanpaw doesn't think so at all, *Whitestripe."*

*"So?* Why should that matter to *me?"* Whitestripe replied good-naturedly.

"We can all just sit in a circle, you know," Birchcreek proposed helpfully. "And Whitestripe and Icemoon can be across each other."

"Yeah, but not good enough," Whitestripe replied, looking at Birchcreek, amused. "Too close."

"You mean too *far!"* Rainpaw exclaimed and laughed delightfully.

"I agree with Rainpaw," Icemoon added. "We won't be close enough to talk to each other."

"Sound can travel *pretty* far," Birchcreek added in good fun.

Swanpaw just pointed at Whitestripe and started laughing with amusement, and it looked Shadowclaw decided to join in, too.

Whitestripe groaned very loudly, "Oh, seriously, if only I can ship Swanpaw with someone. Maybe *Shadowclaw,* if they weren't siblings."

Swanpaw shook her head and kept laughing at him. Shadowclaw agreed, "Oh, please, not my *sister!"*

"Perhaps we can ship Swanpaw with... Mountainpaw. They usually gossip about love," Rainpaw suggested humorously. Birchcreek wondered about that, since he remembered Mountainpaw usually hung out with Berrypaw alone a lot more than he did with Swanpaw alone.

Swanpaw shook her head again and put her paw on her forehead with mock annoyance.

"Oh yeah, they do. That would be *very* good!" Icemoon agreed, nearly bouncing up and down.

"I *do* want more cousin's kits!" Whitestripe added, too.

"And I want nephews and nieces, too!" Shadowclaw added. "I want to be an uncle *really* soon, you know!"

"And remember! More queens equals more kits? More queens to *birth?"* Rainpaw also added.

Swanpaw just blew a raspberry at all of them and pointed at Whitestripe and Icemoon at the same time. Then she put the toes that were pointing at them together and made exaggerated kissing movements.

*"That's it!* Swanpaw is *too* lovey-dovey," Whitestripe groaned with mock annoyance. "I bet that's the *only* thing she thinks about."

Icemoon exclaimed delightfully, "So? That is good if she ships cats together!"

Swanpaw just pointed at everyone else, did a thumbs-up and nodded. Then she pointed to herself, did a thumbs-down and shook her head, which probably meant *Only about* other *cats. Not myself!*

"Right, you only exclude yourself," Shadowclaw replied. "How medicine-cat-minded. Except you should also get a mate, too!"

Birchcreek smiled at the entire conversation. It was pretty interesting to listen to them banter. He wondered who Swanpaw's mate could be, as cats could get mates who were years older or younger, as long as they were of mating age. He figured that Swanpaw mostly hung out with him and Mountainpaw, though, so they had the closest relationship to her. She also usually hung out with Quailclaw and Whitestripe, but he thought they might have been taken by Primrosepaw and Icemoon, as funny as it sounded to him. He briefly remembered the conversation before the creek fall, but he decided that shouldn't stop them from gossiping.

Swanpaw shook her head at her brother and pointed to Whitestripe and Icemoon again.

Then Sealbranch came into the den and everyone stopped teasing each other for a moment. She smiled at the atmosphere in the room, but her eyes seemed to have some sadness in it for some reason. Birchcreek was worried about that but he decided to ignore it for now.

"Hey, everyone, how are you doing?" Sealbranch asked informally. "Especially Whitestripe, Swanpaw and Birchcreek?"

"We're perfectly okay," said Birchcreek nonchalantly. Swanpaw nodded in agreement.

"I suppose so, too, but I still feel numb in the torso," Whitestripe said, a little distraught.

Rainpaw frowned sadly. "I wish I could do more to help. I wish there was spiritual healing."

"I know StarClan is already doing so much to help," said Birchcreek spiritually. "I am pretty sure they saved us last time, remember?"

"I remember you mentioned that you and Whitestripe saw Moonstar," said Shadowclaw quietly. "And *you* saw Goldenlily, Swanpaw."

Swanpaw nodded at that and stared at the ceiling, probably thinking about StarClan and their mother. Shadowclaw and Icemoon followed her gaze, too. Birchcreek remembered that Shadowclaw and Swanpaw *had* seen Goldenlily after Mousekit died, and she even spoke to them, causing them to faint. But the creek fall was the second time that Swanpaw saw her.

Sealbranch just nodded wistfully, but it looked like she had more to say about it.

"I guess Birchcreek is right," said Rainpaw optimistically. "At least no one died! And I'm going to make sure no one dies! I'm going to make sure you heal as soon as possible! And Lilypool, too!" She beamed at that.

Shadowclaw, Birchcreek and Swanpaw all smiled at that, but Sealbranch, Icemoon and Whitestripe just nodded.

"I wouldn't want to go to the elders' den, either," Birchcreek said quietly.

A few cats winced at that, however. "I wouldn't want to go there so young, either," Sealbranch said sadly. "At least no one went there that young so far."

"Me too," said Shadowclaw forlornly. "I hope there's no permanent damage that it would happen."

"I'm going to make sure to heal fully, too," Whitestripe said hopefully, too. "Even if it takes a moon." Swanpaw nodded exuberantly, too.

"That's the spirit!" Icemoon exclaimed joyfully, grinning widely. Whitestripe just subtly smiled in response.

Birchcreek nodded and looked around at the den that he spent a half-moon in so far. It started feeling familiar for him and quite cozy as well, since it was his new home. Plus, he was now much closer to his littermate than ever before, since they never slept in the same den again after his apprentice ceremony, until now. After all, that was his dream as a kit, for them to be together, and it made him feel more warmer and spiritual, now that he could talk to her most of the time. But he knew he couldn't stay here after he healed since there would have to be space for future injured cats. *It would feel very strange to go to the spacious warrior den after I heal,* he thought. He thought his situation was quite unlike most warriors would ever have to go through, one part of it being that he moved out of the apprentices' den into the medicine cats' den instead of his designated den. Well, he figured some other apprentices might have gotten injured before they became warriors and stayed in the den, but of course, usually not for this long.

Sealbranch just nodded again, but there was still some sadness in her expression. *Does it have to do with AdderClan?* Birchcreek wondered, and he genuinely hoped not. But his suspicions were confirmed when Sealbranch said, "Anyways, I really don't want to have to tell you this information, considering what happened that fateful half-moon ago, but..."

All the other cats in the den frowned at the prospect that she might say something else tragic, after all the hope they worked hard to bolster for these past few days.

"Is it very terrible?" Icemoon asked worriedly. "Does it have to do with that stupid she-dung?" Whitestripe frowned at her this time, of course.

Sealbranch sighed. "Not specifically. It has to do with *AdderClan*."

Immediately the atmosphere became tense. *AdderClan?* Birchcreek thought with shock. *What had happened now?* He knew that the peaceful period couldn't last forever, even if it lasted for several moons like previously. His other Clanmates had the same question, too.

"I'm afraid to say that a skirmish happened on the MoonClan-AdderClan border of Rabbit Residence," Sealbranch continued despondently. "I am extremely glad that no one on our side got hurt enough that they had to enter this den, however, which is the most important." The cats were still worried. "But I think with the Fallen Two Battle, tensions between us and them heavily increased after that, which is why they were trying to sneak onto our side."

Birchcreek remembered that the creek battle had been named so due to the circumstances that had occured with Whitestripe and Swanpaw. But he recalled that Mountainpaw, Berrypaw, Primrosepaw, Dandelionpaw and their mentors were sent on that border patrol, including Sealbranch, of course. He was very much uncomfortable at four cats from the tragic border patrol being on this one, too, two being his young apprentice friends and another being their father.

"What happened to Petuniaheart, Mountainpaw and the others?" Rainpaw also asked her sister worriedly.

"They're telling Snowstar, of course," Sealbranch replied. "Though Snowstar isn't sure of what to do about it because he thinks that a battle may soon be inevitable at this point."

"Not that you could convince AdderClan to not fight anyways," Whitestripe snorted.

Icemoon flicked her tail. "*I agree!* Every cat in that Clan only wants *war!"* she yowled. Again, Whitestripe looked uncomfortable at that. Swanpaw shot her a concerning look to not bring up Stonetooth even indirectly for the sake of Whitestripe, which Icemoon seemed to acknowledge but at the same time didn't care. Birchcreek knew that Swanpaw hated Stonetooth too, for obvious reasons, but he was glad she at least cared about Whitestripe and the rest of MoonClan's wellbeing. He figured Icemoon simply wasn't over her rivalry yet.

"So what are *you* going to do, Sealbranch, being the deputy?" Birchcreek inquired.

"I'm not sure, either. I'm afraid that I will have to prepare the Clan for a battle soon," she said, looking down.

"At least no one got hurt, right?" Shadowclaw said, also looking worried. "At least it wasn't that terrible as..." He didn't have to continue as they already knew.

"I don't know if it will cause any problems, however," the older bluish-gray she-cat sighed.

Swanpaw waved her arms to get everyone's attention, then made her arm slither like a snake and shrugged.

"At least we inflicted some cuts on AdderClan's warriors," replied Sealbranch positively. "Primrosepaw and Dandelionpaw were still traumatized from the previous fight so they didn't do anything, which is still fine, but the rest of us managed to do so. I doubt that hunting patrol consisted of strong warriors, anyways."

"What exactly happened, anyways?" Birchcreek asked, a little confused about the entire situation. Like Sealbranch, he wasn't sure if their victory was a good thing.

"I'm not sure I want to know," Shadowclaw lamented, looking at his injured sister. "I am curious about it, too, but at the same time, I don't think so!"

The deputy of MoonClan just sighed. "Well, it started off as a normal patrol, of course, but then suddenly, a few seemingly inexperienced warriors or apprentices crossed the territory, saw us and thought we were on *their* territory, since the line is obscure anyways. There were no warriors that were on the creek patrol, thankfully, but it quickly got hectic as they wanted to fight us. Primrosepaw and Dandelionpaw hid because they didn't want to have to face them again, but of course, we had to defend ourselves."

"Did Mountainpaw and Berrypaw also fight?" Icemoon asked in the same tone as her littermate.

"Yes, and they did a good job, being experienced senior apprentices, and they were also skillful enough not to be hit," Sealbranch said in a praising manner.

"I'm just glad they didn't have to see the face of that dung-eating deputy," Whitestripe growled, and it looked like Shadowclaw's two sisters fully agreed with him by their expressions.

Rainpaw nodded. "Well, Mountainpaw saw him only once with Birchcreek, but not in a violent manner, thankfully! So I'm glad, too! I just wish there was a medicine cat when that happened, but since no one got hurt, I guess it's not *that* bad?"

"Unfortunately, we don't have a surplus of medicine cats for that," Sealbranch started wistfully, until it looked like she suddenly got an idea, "unless of course, our niece becomes one!"

Rainpaw and Birchcreek beamed at that, and so did Shadowclaw, Icemoon and Swanpaw.

"I know, right? I plan to start teaching her a few things, just like with Primrosepaw!" Rainpaw exclaimed, grinning. "Oh, maybe Primrosepaw can help me mentor her, too! Then she'll have three wonderful mentors!"

Birchcreek remembered that joke about Primrosepaw having multiple mentors, and he thought it was interesting if she had multiple apprentices, too. *But wait,* he suddenly thought. *Would Primrosepaw get an official apprentice?* Since a lot of warrior training went along with the heavy physical things, it would be nigh-impossible for her to teach with her freezing reflexes, so he was worried that the leaders would not want to burden her with those extra duties. But at the same time, he figured Birdkit was a perfect choice as an unofficial apprentice since they had very similar conditions.

Sealbranch nodded. "I would be glad, too, if we had three medicine cats sharing all the work. That means we could send two out on patrol and leave one at camp." She didn't say it explicitly, but the cats already knew that Birdkit was the one who would have to stay at camp due to her condition.

"I'll also be glad as well, so that way we'll be rest assured," Icemoon said confidently. But then she frowned again. "But I am *very* worried that so many apprentices already had to see their faces, Primrosepaw and Dandelionpaw twice!"

"I know, right?" Shadowclaw added, also frowning. "Us three, including Quailclaw, weren't in any battles yet, but all of you did! Not that I would want to even see one, though!"

"To be fair, we got very unlucky," said Birchcreek cautiously. "You just coincidentally didn't see one."

"Maybe it's because StarClan knew we aren't strong enough to handle more than what we already had!" Shadowclaw said, looking forlornly at Swanpaw, who widened her eyes at him, probably at what he said. "But Swanpaw, of course, went through a lot and still persevered through it all!" he continued proudly.

Swanpaw nodded and smiled back, but she also pointed to him and did a thumbs-up.

"I agree with Swanpaw, you are also very strong for surviving through all those things, especially your warrior exams," said Birchcreek, also with a smile.

Shadowclaw just nodded, still seeming skeptical about that, and Birchcreek decided to let it go since after all, like Snowstar had said during his ceremony, one of his great virtues was humility.

"So, did everyone in MoonClan dodge their slashes? Were all of those warriors inexperienced or weak?" Rainpaw questioned.

"Mountainpaw and Berrypaw only got minor bruises, and Maplestripe and Petuniaheart and I just got thrown over a couple of times," her sister replied. "And thankfully, Hailstream, Primrosepaw and Dandelionpaw didn't get hurt. Hailstream was just trying to protect the two sisters so that no AdderClan warrior or apprentice could get to them. The AdderClan border patrol's slashes were very minimal compared to some of the stronger ones I had seen. I wonder what Fangstar would think at his easy defeat."

"I feel like I should have probably helped, though," sighed Birchcreek. He remembered the feelings he had before his daring attempt at saving lives. *Uselessness*. *That I couldn't help at all.*

His Clanmates looked sad at that, especially Whitestripe and Swanpaw since they couldn't, either.

"Don't worry, you don't always have to feel the brunt of battles on yourself," reassured Rainpaw. "I mean, we can be there to help for you, and of course, you're already learning medicine from watching me sort and gather and treat you, obviously!"

"That's true," Birchcreek said smiling. "We *are* unconsciously learning from you and Lilypool."

"I suppose it can help me in emergencies which is good," agreed Whitestripe.

Swanpaw nodded and pretended to put a cobweb on her arm.

Rainpaw nodded at her exuberantly. "Yeah, you can do that too, if I'm not there!"

"We can also help you train Birdkit, if we learn enough," added Birchcreek.

"Don't forget spending time away from a *certain* warrior," joked Whitestripe, looking directly away from Icemoon.

"Don't worry, I will help, too!" said Icemoon coyly. Shadowclaw and Swanpaw both nodded and smirked at that. Birchcreek thought it was peculiar that Whitestripe purposely brought back the cats to this topic of being mates with Icemoon in a humorous manner when he would usually try to avoid it. But then he remembered that he usually entertained this topic in almost every situation, even when it claimed to pique him, so he wondered why that was so. *Maybe my sister's apprentice finally got lovestruck, too,* Birchcreek thought humorously. He figured that might have also happened to his other maternal cousins, including Stonetooth, and his sister, Sandleap, and that it may as well happen with his brother and Primrosepaw.

"I promise that I will book sessions with Birdkit with you and Icemoon alone together!" Rainpaw guffawed and winked. "Just make sure Birdkit doesn't see you doing anything out of the ordinary, alright?" It seemed like it was so funny that the three older children of Goldenlily finally snorted hard in laughter and Sealbranch, Whitestripe and Birchcreek beamed.

"Right, as if I am such an unprofessional warrior," replied Whitestripe normally. Then he looked at Icemoon, who just looked back at him seductively. "I cannot say the same for Icemoon, however."

"I remember teasing my direct younger littermate and Nightnose the same way before they also became mates," Sealbranch said, still beaming. "So I'm glad that you're still carrying on the tradition. So keep up the good work, and good luck!" She glanced between her cousin and Icemoon before smiling and leaving.

"I am *very* sure what Sealbranch meant by those statements," Shadowclaw said impishly, grinning at his friend.

"You must have definitely bribed her, didn't you?" Whitestripe sighed. "Otherwise I doubt she would normally say that."

"With what? Mice? You know that deputies aren't kits!" Shadowclaw laughed.

"Sort of, but by doing extra *hunting."*

Swanpaw gestured for Whitestripe and Icemoon to go together and laughed as well. Icemoon grinned at her siblings as well.

"To be fair, deputies are cats, too. Maybe she just likes it as much as you," Birchcreek decided to add, also smiling.

"Yeah, maybe, but first, Shadowclaw and Icemoon, are your stomachs not rumbling after hunting for so long?" the tabby tom asked seriously.

"Well, yeah, the prey pile is literally just a walking distance!" Rainpaw added, grinning even more than Shadowclaw. Birchcreek smiled at her clever reference to earlier in their banter.

"Now that you mentioned it, I suddenly remember," Shadowclaw said, pretending to be disappointed.

"I also realized that I had to eat, unfortunately," Icemoon started also a bit disappointed, but then she suddenly got an idea. "But we can always eat together in the den!"

"Now, I feel Lilypool will have qualms about that, Icemoon," Whitestripe replied.

"And why would she? She's probably the most friendliest medicine cat! After Rainpaw, obviously."

"Because the den is so cozy that you can't make any meaningful moves in it." Shadowclaw, Icemoon, Rainpaw and Swanpaw all wheezed in laughter again.

"You know, you make up such clever remarks, Whitestripe, I have no idea how to rebut them, kind of like Birchcreek and Rainpaw," Shadowclaw joked, still trying to catch his breath.

"It's simply an important skill to learn as a MoonClan warrior. After all, MoonClan warriors need to know how to be peaceful."

Birchcreek nodded. "That's typical of SnowClan, but still fits."

Whitestripe nodded at him. "So, then, littermates with almost polar opposite fur colors, will you go and fulfill your needs?"

"Oh, I sure will, including the emotional ones," Icemoon replied and winked. The shippers smiled, while Whitestripe just shrugged in reply.

"I won't see you there, but fine," he said with mock disinterest, and Shadowclaw and Icemoon left laughing.

Rainpaw and Swanpaw were still laughing for Whitestripe, so Birchcreek decided to ask, "I was actually surprised that you were playing along with them, Whitestripe." He noticed that Whitestripe started becoming more of a jokey type of personality, more than he had ever seen him before, and he wondered if it had to do with Stonetooth's departure. *I guess the stress of his littermate was wearing down on him all these moons, but when he finally let it all out, he finally became more lighthearted.* He did remember seeing Whitestripe talking excitedly with Quailclaw and Primrosepaw just the day after his fight with Peonyclaw.

Whitestripe just smiled. "It's the best way to distract them away from me, obviously. You might think that's ironic, but trust me, they will be so wrapped up in their gossipy fun that they will actually lose all their energy afterwards to try to attempt any more moves towards me."

"You know, I think you fit the perfect description of Lilackit's dream mentor," Birchcreek joked, smiling back. "You are also very weird, you know." Birchcreek was glad that he also lightened up after his StarClan-worthy deed, and all the burden of the previous two moons had finally been shed in the form of a new confidence, hope and gratitude. And of course, a new, positive change in the Clan.

"Good for me, then, to get an apprentice at only sixteen moons old, kind of like Rosepetal, Sandleap and Nightnose."

"I hope I get one at the same age, if there are any suitors."

Rainpaw genuinely smiled. "Well, Petalkit's becoming an apprentice when we're sixteen and a half moons, so perhaps you can try being her mentor?"

Swanpaw also smiled genuinely and did a thumbs-up, since of course, she was extremely fond of Birchcreek after he saved her and Whitestripe.

Birchcreek smiled back at his three denmates who he had stayed with for quite a while now and nodded. He knew that he would be looking forward to better moments to come. But somewhere in his mind, the thoughts of the recent border skirmish still swirled around. He couldn't help be worried that sometime, somehow, there would be much more tension to come. After coming face to face with them again, Birchcreek wanted to have more time to heal, and not have to open those emotional scars again. MoonClan's wounds had bled so much already, and they were almost losing grip of themselves. *Only after I woke up did the healing process begin.*

Birchcreek knew he couldn't ignore such a terrible thing, but for now, he simply wanted to push it back, since he was too injured to do much about it, anyways. But he couldn't ignore the nagging feeling that something would terribly go wrong soon, even in just a few moons. *StarClan, keep us safe. StarClan, help us recover and keep hope.* It was the only thing he could rely on after seeing his friends go through so much, and he had felt it on himself, not only being very empathetic, but also knowing the drastic secrets of his mentor and his friends' mother. *StarClan, please keep us safe. StarClan, please keep us happy, at least for now.*

### Chapter 37: Thymepaw & Birdkit

Thymepaw left the apprentices' den and looked up at the sunlight of the early morning. As always, he was looking forward to training with Violetrain. He recalled his kithood to be an excellent one, regardless of the dire problems of the Clan that had happened during late at that time, including witnessing Goldenlily and Mousekit's deaths and Birdkit's peculiar birth. And he wanted his apprenticehood to be just as excellent, even if the three injured cats had fallen in a day after his apprentice ceremony.

The young apprentice glanced at the medicine cats' den and wondered if Lilypool, Whitestripe, Rainpaw, Birchcreek or Swanpaw had woken up yet. Every Clanmate was important to him, especially one who had saved others like Birchcreek. Birchcreek and Rainpaw were also his mother's much younger cousins, by twelve moons. It was ironic to him because they were only seven moons older than him, so he was much closer in age to them, similar to the age between his mentor and Fireclaw and Shadowclaw and Icemoon, and between Whitestripe and Robinpaw and Soarpaw.

Thymepaw went up to the prey pile and thought about eating, but he decided he wanted to hunt first. But since he was too young to leave camp by himself, even at day, and it was still dawn, he needed to wait for his mentor to wake up. So in the meantime, he decided to visit the nursery and see if anyone was awake since queens and kits typically didn't need to follow the schedule of warriors and apprentices.

Surprisingly, he saw Birdkit awake in bed next to her parents and siblings, including Petalkit. He felt pride for the younger kit as she was still ever optimistic and determined about life despite her condition and played and joked with others in a way that almost no one thought about her condition even if they had to wait for her to respond, similar to Swanpaw and Primrosepaw, and was also ready to take on the hard task of medicine. Apparently, she had said that being a warrior would be harder than being a medicine cat even if she had no condition. So MoonClan was glad she wouldn't be at all sad about not being able to be a proper warrior anyways.

Of course, Birdkit didn't react to his presence until a few seconds had passed. “Hey, psst, Thymepaw, is anyone else awake? I've been laying here for an hour and still couldn't fall back asleep!”

“No, it's just me. But you can still leave with me if you want, there's no rule that you can't,” Thymepaw replied.

Birdkit looked at the ceiling, then frowned at him. “Yeah, but my parents and Shadowclaw and Primrosepaw don't want me to leave by myself, especially at night or even dawn!”

Thymepaw also frowned, and remembered that Birdkit somehow escaped the nursery at only a half-moon old while everyone else was sleeping and Primrosepaw couldn't catch her due to her reflexes. *That was definitely not pretty.* “It might have been because of... you know.”

Birdkit sighed into her paws. “That happened when I was young.”

Thymepaw smirked. “You're still young. I mean, you're still a kit.”

The she-kit smiled back. “So are you. You're only three-quarter-moon an apprentice, otherwise you were just like me!”

“Yeah, but still. I can catch my own mice now.”

“I wonder why Redwater let you go out with your uncle, anyways? You were also the same age as me!” she abruptly asked, looking at the sky.

“Maybe she trusted me with him. I don't want to rub it in or anything, so no offense, but I was also careful to stick with him at all times and not even leave his touch, much less his sight.”

She played with the moss of her bed. “I promise I won't do that, either.”

“You can always go with me, not outside of camp, of course. Even I can't do that yet, especially not at dawn.”

Birdkit continued playing with the moss until her eyes lit up. “Really? That's great! Because there's nothing fun to do in here when they're all sleeping!”

Thymepaw remembered when Primrosepaw had told him and Lilackit and Jumpkit her story while she was still a kit, and she had said that she had felt the same thing which was why she decided to explore. “Well, try not to escape camp again, because Primrosepaw told you why, right?”

His kit friend scratched the floor. “She said that since she was too shy to talk to other cats other than her mother and sister and also because she had slow reflexes, she wanted to have fun by herself.”

“Yep, so I am pretty sure your parents and Shadowclaw and Primrosepaw want you to understand the moral of her story,” the yellow tom-apprentice tried to say politely, trying to reassure her. “I'm sure they want you to have fun, too.”

“I know it's not because of my condition, but still,” Birdkit replied. But her eyes lit up again. “But anyways, let's go out! I wouldn't want my family or denmates to be irritated! And I'm also hungry!”

Thymepaw nodded, and they both left the nursery together. “If you look at the sky, you'll see it's very beautiful.”

Birdkit went to the prey pile and picked out a thrush. “I know right? The pink and yellow colors remind me of you, Swanpaw, Primrosepaw and Flowerkit! And of course, my grandmother.”

Thymepaw nodded and sat next to the prey pile. He remembered when he was trying to play with Birdkit when they were younger and that he, Lilackit and Jumpkit had gotten a little annoyed at her for not being able to keep up. He really didn't want to be annoyed at Birdkit since he already knew her condition and he wanted to be a good Clanmate and let her play, but at the same time, he wanted to be able to play the games perfectly. Thymepaw also remembered Waterkit and Flowerkit were shocked to hear that their littermate had a life-changing condition, and Birdkit herself was shocked to hear that most cats didn't see things the same way she did and she had previously been wondering why cats were acting slightly weird around her and not around anyone else.

Then Birdkit looked at him and asked, “Why aren't you picking one out?”

Thymepaw just smiled. “You know queens, kits, elders and injured eat before warriors and apprentices. Oh, and medicine cats can also eat before.”

“Even younger ones?”

“You have to get used to the routine once you become a warrior apprentice since you're going to be a warrior for most of the rest of your life, especially if you're a tom or don't have any kits and don't retire.”

She wolfed down her thrush and continued, “Well, that's a bit weird for me if I can't eat whenever I want. I like to eat lots of food!”

“Birds, especially, right?” Thymepaw chuckled.

Birdkit beamed. “That's my name!”

“No wonder you think being a medicine cat is easier.”

“I am great at memorizing facts, not as much moves, you know. I would do much better in mental challenges than physical, as ironic as that might sound. In fact, I'm thinking about learning early, just like Rainpaw and Primrosepaw and you!”

Thymepaw nodded. “I'm glad for you, too.”

Birdkit continued, “You know, I was wondering, if MoonClan's supposed to be peaceful, why are there more medicine cats in the other Clans and not as many here? There was only three so far, and one died!”

“I don't know, but my best guess is that MoonClan cats like to mate.”

Birdkit played with the soil, then smirked. “Really? That sounds boring.”

“I totally agree, the only reason I became a warrior was to hunt for my Clan, just like Whitestripe. Other cats, however...” Thymepaw pretended to be annoyed, but he smiled. “Well, based on how much they gossip, it shows how much they're interested in it.”

“Also like Birchcreek and Rainpaw, right? We're like both of them! And Lilackit, too! Maybe Oakkit?”

“Yeah, obviously them, too. It's kind of interesting that we're second cousins.”

“Yeah, our maternal grandfathers are brothers! It's very interesting that we're both related to Snowstar!”

“You're also related to Moonstar on the maternal line.”

“Yeah, her, too! I wonder what she was like, because she died way before I was born.”

“Well, same for me, but the warriors said that she was mostly calm and reserved like Snowstar.”

“That's interesting, was she like how Mountainpaw and Primrosepaw and Whitestripe and Petalkit used to be?”

Thymepaw suddenly remembered Stonetooth. He had no idea if Birdkit remembered her that much since she was only one moon old when that traitor left. *Well, that traitor was also just like that.* He figured Petalkit might remember her somewhat, being a moon older, but he didn't know. “Robinpaw and Soarpaw were also shy but they became better. Berrypaw *does* talk to me a lot, though, even though she is very quiet to others. Swanpaw was probably not that talkative, being mute, but she was open to everyone, though.”

“I noticed that you usually talk an awful lot with her, so I can see that.”

Thymepaw knew she meant Berrypaw. “I think Petuniaheart and Blazesky were also shy as kits, and maybe Moonstar, too. I think Snowstar was more outgoing but mellowed with age.”

Birdkit picked out a sparrow while he was talking and said, “That's *great!* But Dustkit and Shadowclaw and Dandelionpaw and Rainpaw and Birchcreek and the rest of us kits, including you, were very talkative!”

“I know, which was probably why everyone liked me, especially Berrypaw and Mountainpaw.”

“I especially like you, too, and so do Waterkit and Flowerkit and Petalkit and Lilackit and Jumpkit! You are very interesting!”

Thymepaw smiled at that, as he knew MoonClan adored him, especially his only uncle, Flameeye, and of course, Mountainpaw and Berrypaw. “That's true. But are you seriously going to eat another bird?”

Birdkit was already finished with her sparrow when she replied victoriously, “Already did!” Thymepaw just sighed, but in a good way, since he knew they had a vast surplus anyways, being so close to green-leaf.

Then coincidentally, he saw a few cats starting to wake up in the apprentices' den, and two of them were his older friends.

“Thymepaw and Birdkit? You're *awake?”* Mountainpaw exclaimed when he saw them. Berrypaw also smiled at both of them.

“It's dawn, not night, so yep,” Thymepaw replied with a smile. “Speaking of which, is Violetrain still sleeping? We really need to hunt.”

“Feeling hungry, eh? So do I,” his friend chuckled.

“Guess what, I already ate *two* birds!” Birdkit exclaimed.

Mountainpaw smiled at his mentor's granddaughter. “Looks like someone's a foodie!”

“So are you, you know,” Thymepaw also chuckled.

“As a kit, though. Not that much as an apprentice for obvious reasons.”

“I am glad that we can hunt together, though!” Berrypaw said happily. Mountainpaw and Thymepaw smiled at that.

“That is why I will be a medicine cat, so I can eat whenever I want!” Birdkit replied smugly.

“Sure, but you know you will have to learn so much, right?” Mountainpaw replied to her.

Birdkit looked at the prey pile longingly again. “As if that's bad! That's *wonderful!”*

“Already awake, young cats?” Spottedpaw quipped, also padding to the prey pile.

“Yep, but I think Birdkit's going to take another,” Thymepaw replied humorously, looking at his younger friend. *She is sure a lively cat, just like her siblings and parents and uncles and aunts.*

“Yes, I'm *already awake!”* Birdkit yipped. Then she looked at her older friend mischievously. “And that's perfectly fine, *right?”*

“Obviously, since we will hunt and demonstrate my awesome skills!” Then Thymepaw looked at the other three apprentices. “But speaking of which, since you three are senior apprentices, I can go with you right?”

The older apprentices' eyes sparkled. “Why wouldn't we? We're your friends after all,” Spottedpaw said with a smile.

“Good luck with your awesome skills! While in the meantime, I will be honing mine!” Birdkit quipped back with a wink.

“Good luck!” Mountainpaw, Spottedpaw and Thymepaw said at the same time, while Berrypaw just smiled.

“Where should we go?” Berrypaw asked.

Mountainpaw replied, “Perhaps nearby, since it's still dawn, so that way we can easily alert the camp if...” He frowned, and so did Berrypaw.

“I heard about that battle a few days ago,” Thymepaw whispered so that Birdkit couldn't hear. *Birdkit shouldn't have to worry about things completely out of her control.* “I know that it was terrible considering what had happened. I wish I could have helped, but I'm so new and even younger than Robinpaw and Soarpaw.”

“I know. I wish Petalkit, Birdkit, Waterkit and Flowerkit didn't have to see Birchcreek, Whitestripe and Swanpaw like that,” Mountainpaw whispered back sadly. Thymepaw knew that the four of them were shocked to see the three when they all explored the medicine cat's den together, but they had quickly accepted it since they were too young to understand the terrible effects of their injuries.

Spottedpaw also frowned. “I'm just glad you didn't get injured, though, thank *StarClan!”*

“We should probably go now,” Thymepaw said quickly so that they didn't talk about it. It was painful for him because he wished he could have slashed all their faces hard enough for them to remember even as elders. *But I should keep training until I can do that. For MoonClan.* He bolstered his confidence enough to go out on his first patrol without his mentor. Even if it was with older apprentices, two who were just a quarter-moon away from warriorhood and the third quite experienced enough already.

Birdkit seemed to hear the part of their conversation where Mountainpaw mentioned her as she said with a smile, “Don't worry, I already figured out that Birchcreek needed to save them and Whitestripe and Swanpaw needed to fight for our Clan. I want to be more like them, in a medicine-cat sense, of course!”

The older cats smiled at her optimism about the entire situation and Thymepaw figured he didn't need to hide everything bad from her after all. *She is probably the best kit, and also cat, I have ever seen.*

“I'm glad, too, but let's not waste moonlight!” Spottedpaw said, beaming even more. “Let's go into the forest! And Birdkit, don't forget to tell Snowstar that we left!”

The other three apprentices nodded and so did Birdkit while eating yet another thrush, and the party went into a nearby forest in the direction of Rabbit Residence.

“Do you want to hunt birds?” Mountainpaw asked his younger apprentice friend.

*Most likely in the spirit of Birdkit,* Thymepaw figured positively. But he frowned since he didn't get the hang of that yet. “I usually stumble while trying to catch them, so no.”

Spottedpaw reassured her mentor's nephew, “Don't worry, we can show you how to do it! We just need to wait for birds to come out since it's almost day.”

“We can hunt mice while waiting,” suggested Berrypaw quietly.

“I can do that!” Thymepaw said confidently. He scanned the area for any burrows that mice might come out of or escape into. Then he heard a almost imperceptible sound of leaves rustling. He turned in that direction and looked for it, and saw a small, long tail poking out. Thymepaw knew that it was trying to hide, but its slight movements had given it away. He very carefully went into position so it wouldn't try to run, and pounced on it.

The mouse almost got away, but Thymepaw managed to hold his paws on it and swiped it, and it died. His fellow apprentices smiled at him in pride.

“You did excellent!” Mountainpaw exclaimed.

“Yes, you managed to do it!” Spottedpaw added cheerfully.

Berrypaw simply nodded, but she was still proud of him. Thymepaw took in the praise confidently and buried his mouse. *Squirrels,* he suddenly remembered. *Are they awake?* “Are squirrels there at dawn?”

“Not typically on the ground or even on the trees, but yes,” Mountainpaw replied. “But you would have to climb to find them.”

Thymepaw frowned at that, but he nodded. “Well, the sun is rising, so there might be some birds now.”

Spottedpaw perked up her ears. “True, and I think I hear one!”

The other apprentices also listened for it and true enough, they heard some chirping in the distance.

“Should we go to it?” the young apprentice asked.

Mountainpaw looked in the direction of the chirping. “Maybe after we're finished hunting mice, since it seems to be a little while away.”

Thymepaw simply nodded, and tried to look for more. After catching another mouse and Mountainpaw, Berrypaw and Spottedpaw caught three each, Thymepaw got curious about something, since he noticed Berrypaw was sticking closer to him and Mountainpaw. “Berrypaw, are you friendly with Spottedpaw?” Thymepaw whisper-asked her.

“Yes, since we're close in age,” Berrypaw whispered back. “But not as much as with you and Thymepaw. And Orchidmoon and Maplestripe, obviously.”

“I had been wondering why, though,” Thymepaw continued.

“Well, we can always chat in camp, so dig up your mice!” Mountainpaw instructed while already doing so. *Is he feeling uncomfortable talking about it in front of Spottedpaw?* Thymepaw wondered.

“I suppose,” the younger apprentice replied and looked for his mice.

Then Spottedpaw joined them with her three mice and announced, “Well, this was a plentiful haul! We can feed all the kits with this!”

*“Excluding* Birdkit, right?” Thymepaw joked.

Mountainpaw and Spottedpaw smirked while Berrypaw just smiled. “We won't need to give her any, don't worry!” Mountainpaw replied.

Thymepaw pretended to look relieved, then found his mice and dug them up.

#### Small while later

After they returned to camp, they found the camp awake and lively, and a lot of cats looked at them, especially their mentors, Violetrain, Maplestripe, Petuniaheart and Flameeye.

Then Birdkit, still at the prey pile along with the rest of her family, also noticed them and exclaimed, “Guess what! I told the Clan about you leaving!”

Her mother joked, “After leaving the nursery and then coming back? How sneaky!”

“She *was* with Thymepaw, though!” Flowerkit said. “But I guess she came back after he left?”

“I'm just glad Birdkit is smart in a lot of ways,” their father replied with a glint of pride.

“Well, I *was* hungry!” Birdkit mewed. Then she looked appreciatively at him. “And thanks, Nightnose!”

“Well, of course, but just wake me me or Nightnose next time so that we can know where you are, alright?” Sandleap replied caringly. “We promise we won't be irritated.” Birdkit just nodded while playing with a mossball.

*Well, she* is *a mischievous kit,* Thymepaw thought, recalling that it was Birdkit's idea to explore every den, including the leader's den and medicine cats' den, and that she also somehow sneaked in two small birds in her part of the bed without anyone noticing so that she didn't have to leave her bed to eat. *She also ate a few juniper berries while on her exploration mission before Rainpaw and I caught her.* He smirked at the memory.

Redwater and her apprentice, Soarpaw, were about to leave through the entrance, until they noticed the former's son and the older three apprentices. “Hello, Thymepaw, Mountainpaw, Berrypaw and Soarpaw, we were just about to leave,” Redwater greeted.

The older apprentices greeted her back, though Soarpaw stayed silent, looking down shyly. Afterwards, Spottedpaw rushed to the prey pile and deposited her prey, then playfully asked Birdkit how many more birds she ate after they left.

“That's good, I hope StarClan makes everything go well,” Thymepaw replied to his mother, then looked at Soarpaw. “And Soarpaw, how's your training?” Since Soarpaw was only two moons older than him and also his mother's apprentice, he felt more closeness to her than other cats, and he really wanted to befriend her. He wondered how Icemoon, Quailclaw and Mountainpaw managed to do it, but he figured he could do it too being outgoing and friendly just like how he did with Berrypaw, similar to Birchcreek.

Soarpaw just said without looking up, “It's fine, I guess.” *I guess she just needs to finish her training, and maybe then she can be more comfortable with me,* Thymepaw thought.

“I guess we should deposit our prey now,” Berrypaw said quietly, and Mountainpaw and Thymepaw nodded. Their mentors, including Flameeye, also joined them at the prey pile, and Thymepaw noticed that Birdkit had somehow disappeared.

“Since you already hunted, I guess we can do fighting training,” Flameeye told Spottedpaw. Then he smiled at Thymepaw and said, “Also, that's good that you did your duties, Thymepaw. Birdkit told us, of course, including Snowstar.” Thymepaw smiled at the praise, then picked out a rabbit.

“Yeah, we can do fighting training instead, Thymepaw,” agreed Violetrain happily. “And likewise, great job, even if you went while we were sleeping! Since you went with them. But of course, you can rest if you want.”

“No, I would like to train, being an aspiring warrior,” Thymepaw replied confidently. “After I eat, obviously.”

Berrypaw also asked her mentor if they could train, and Maplestripe nodded. “We should make sure to get you prepared for your warrior exams, obviously.”

“You also did that for Violetrain, right?” Thymepaw asked excitedly.

Maplestripe, Violetrain and Berrypaw all smiled. “Well, of course he did! And he did a very good job, along with Littleclaw with Fireclaw!” Violetrain replied.

“It's pretty interesting that your mentor's mentor is *my* mentor,” Berrypaw joked.

“I know! Generation differences, I guess. Also I guess Snowstar wanted to make sure she was ready,” Thymepaw replied.

“Don't forget your mother's mentor is mine!” Mountainpaw added. Thymepaw smiled at that, too.

Petuniaheart smiled at her apprentice and her mate's great-nephew, then said, “That *is* interesting to have so many interconnected relationships. And of course, Mountainpaw, like Maplestripe with Berrypaw, we have to prep you for your exams, since they're only in a quarter-moon.”

“I obviously know, so let's do it!” Mountainpaw replied excitedly.

“How is it like almost being a warrior?” the younger apprentice questioned curiously.

“It's *great!”* But then he frowned, definitely remembering Swanpaw. “I hope Swanpaw heals quickly enough to become a warrior with us, or at least very soon after us.”

Petuniaheart, Maplestripe, Flameeye, Violetrain and Spottedpaw looked a little sad, especially the former first and Violetrain, since their immediate family member was also injured. “I hope so, too,” Petuniaheart said solemnly. But then in a happier tone, “Well, we should be training now!”

The three older apprentices nodded and went with their mentors to a clearing. *I wish I could join my friends in warriorhood already.* The yellow tom-apprentice really wished that he could be able to fight back properly against the dangers against the Clan, especially with what had happened a few days ago.

Then Rainpaw, Birchcreek and Primrosepaw came out of the medicine cat's den looking for something, or rather, *someone*. “Where did that boisterous kit go? She scattered a few juniper berries!” Rainpaw asked humorously.

“She might have eaten one, in fact,” Birchcreek added, still limping. Thymepaw secretly hoped that his mischevious friend's uncle would heal soon.

“I think she likes... the taste too much,” Primrosepaw replied with a smile. Even though Primrosepaw was only three moons older than him, she seemed to be a lot better of a warrior and leader than him. *I guess due to age differences.*

“Well, you can't deny they are great!” Rainpaw laughed. Thymepaw felt glad that both her and her brother saved the other two and Birchcreek himself.

“I think she's hiding in the nursery,” the younger apprentice suggested. “She usually hides there, ironically.”

The three older cats nodded, then called out for Birdkit in the nursery.

Violetrain smiled. “I hope she doesn't do that as an apprentice! After all, we're trusting her with the herbs!”

“Haha, don't worry, with me as her mentor, she'll be extra vigilant not to!” Rainpaw chuckled.

*Since I know Birdkit the best, I should help,* Thymepaw figured. He entered the nursery and looked around, and saw Waterkit and Flowerkit playing Mossball with Dustkit and Oakkit while Petalkit was just watching them. He had taken it upon himself to tell Dustkit and Oakkit about their uncle and Birchcreek and Swanpaw, especially Whitestripe and Swanpaw since they couldn't visit the nursery yet. MoonClan appreciated it, especially Peonyclaw, his mentor, Fireclaw, Shadowclaw and Icemoon. So far, Dustkit and Oakkit had a good idea of them and what they looked like, but he had yet to tell them about their personalities. But he wanted to try his very best to inform them. He did not want to say anything about Stonetooth, of course, and neither did any of the other cats, including Whitestripe himself. Being six moons older than them since he became an apprentice the day after they were born, similarly to his mentor's younger brother to his mentor's mentor's daughters, and perhaps Robinpaw and Soarpaw to Birdkit, Waterkit and Flowerkit except with a half-moon addition, he thought he might be wise enough to teach them in their eyes.

Flowerkit was the first one to notice them and she looked excitedly at Thymepaw, almost in a idolizing way. “Hey, Thymepaw! And Birchcreek and Rainpaw and Primrosepaw! We're playing Catch!”

Applefall smiled at him. “Ready to tell Dustkit and Oakkit more stories, Thymepaw?” she asked. Fireclaw, who was visiting his kits before he went out on patrol nodded, smiling as well.

“I want to learn more about the legendary Birchcreek and Rainpaw!” their son exclaimed happily. “Birchcreek's also our paternal grandmother's apprentice and grandfather's nephew!”

“Well, the legendary Birchcreek and Rainpaw are right here!” Birchcreek announced, limping in while also smiling. The kits all looked excitedly at him when he entered.

“Sure, Birchcreek, Rainpaw and I can tell you more, but first, where's Birdkit?” Thymepaw asked cheerfully. “She went into the medicine cat's den, I'm pretty sure.”

“Is that true?” Sandleap asked, amused. “I have to admit, I'm also curious where she went.”

“I promise I was just trying to feed you!” Birdkit exclaimed before anyone had to say anything. She came out of a moss pile, somehow.

“She told me that, too!” Waterkit chuckled.

“Really? I already administered them, but okay, that's perfectly okay!” their aunt replied proudly. “Except, of course, if you actually were trying to feed yourself!” A few cats chuckled.

“Well, I wanted to give them more!” Birdkit abruptly said with a smile. “After all, they should heal!” She paused for a moment, probably to listen to Rainpaw's second statement, then continued, “I was just trying to sniff them if they were the correct ones!”

Thymepaw just smirked. “You can do that without touching them, I'm pretty sure.”

“I have to agree with that, definitely!” Rainpaw added.

“Well, being a medicine cat is interesting, so I should learn!” Birdkit replied cheerfully.

Primrosepaw's eyes sparkled. “I can help Rainpaw and... Lilypool teach you!”

“After all, I should be one of the best in the Clan!” Birdkit continued. Then she replied to Primrosepaw, “That's great! We can both learn together! Where is Lilypool anyways?”

“Don't you remember? She went on patrol with Orchidmoon, Nutclaw, Heronwing and Rosepetal!” replied Petalkit politely.

Violetrain entered the nursery and looked at her nephew and niece proudly, then looked at Birdkit. “Well, then, Birdkit, will you take on the honor of being a medicine cat?”

“I was hiding, *remember?”* Birdkit replied to her foster sister humorously. Then she looked at Violetrain and replied, “Well, obviously! As long as I can get to *heal!”*

“Birdkit's just like Lilackit! She is very weird!” Waterkit said, looking slyly at his littermate.

“That is good, though! Weird cats are funnier, like Shadowclaw!” Flowerkit exclaimed.

“I obviously know that!” Waterkit replied with a laugh.

“Okay, but is Thymepaw going to tell us more about the four cats now?” Dustkit asked no one in particular.

Thymepaw looked at his mentor, who just shrugged. “Well, I have to train, but once I finish, I'll get right back to you,” he promised them.

Dustkit and Oakkit looked slightly disappointed, but they nodded. Birchcreek reassured them, “Don't worry, I can always tell you in the meantime, along with other cats like Rainpaw and Primrosepaw.” The two youngest kits looked more excited and intrigued at that.

But then Dustkit looked at Birchcreek directly and replied, “That's great, but I'm sorry if we were ill omens for your fall. I promise we didn't want it.” Oakkit nodded sadly.

The other cats in the nursery looked sadly at them. “It wasn't your fault,” Sandleap consoled them.

“Yeah, you weren't ill omens, it was just lack of luck,” Fireclaw added reassuringly.

“We didn't know that fateful day that the encounter would be tragic, either,” Birchcreek told his former mentor's grandchildren in the same way. “It was simply supposed to be a *SnowClan* border patrol.” Thymepaw knew that the AdderClan border patrol was ironically not attacked that day.

“Yeah, you had nothing... to do with their... issues,” Primrosepaw said, too.

“I also know that my apprentice ceremony wasn't an ill omen, either. It was supposed to be a defense against the odds,” added Thymepaw thoughtfully. “So you don't have to be sad about your births.” The other cats in the nursery nodded at that and a few smiled at his wisdom, and Dustkit and Oakkit looked a little relieved.

Thymepaw then looked at Violetrain again who nodded this time and they both left the nursery. Then Thymepaw remembered what he wanted to do during hunting. “Well, actually, I want to learn to catch birds.”

Violetrain smiled. “Well, that's what I was going to teach you originally! So sure!”

Thymepaw also smiled and they both left to go into the forest. As he remembered, he perked his ears up to listen for any bird calls, and so did his mentor. Then they heard several birds chirping in the distance.

“Do you hear that?” Violetrain whispered, and he nodded. “We should try to see where it is coming from.”

Thymepaw nodded again, and tried to hear where it was. He realized it was coming from the direction of the sun. “It's over there!” He pointed in that direction.

Violetrain nodded. “That's good, now we should follow it.”

They both padded quietly to the east and found a few sparrows on the same tree chirping to each other. *Okay, so this is it,* Thymepaw sighed silently. *The part where I usually stumble.* He was okay at climbing, but while trying to pounce on a not-so-thick branch, he usually lost his balance.

“Okay, try to make sure your balance is perfect, so that you won't stumble,” instructed Violetrain, demonstrating on an adjacent tree. Thymepaw watched her do it so easily, and he felt some doubt that he wouldn't be able to do it, especially not in the perfect way she was doing it. *No, I need to overcome it to be a better warrior.*

His mentor climbed the tree a bit more. “Also make sure to hide behind leaves so that way they can't see you and stay still until you get an opportunity.”

The sparrows were still calling to each other, not noticing her, until she went into pouncing position and made a giant pounce at them. Thymepaw was amazed at the fact she managed to catch one sparrow in her mouth and swipe another. *I suppose she inherited Peonyclaw's skills like Birchcreek said.*

All the other sparrows quickly flocked away, but the one that got swiped fell off the tree, and Thymepaw decided to catch it before it could fly. Violetrain made a graceful leap down from the tree with the bird still in her mouth and she put it down.

“How did you *do* that?” her apprentice asked in amazement.

Violetrain smirked. “That was actually pretty lucky. The chances of that happening are usually low, so I guess we can thank StarClan for that.” Then she looked encouragingly at Thymepaw. “You can do it, too, if you try hard enough.”

Thymepaw looked down, worried that he might fail again. “Is it actually *as* easy as you make it look?”

“Well, I can answer that with an anecdote of my own,” Violetrain replied thoughtfully. “You see, Fireclaw, Firepaw at the time, and his mentor, Littleclaw, used to go with me and Maplestripe sometimes as double training, since that is usually the case with littermates. Of course, this was before you were born, but also before Shadowclaw and Icemoon and Quailclaw, too! Since we were new apprentices just like you, of course. We were trying to catch birds, but we kept failing and and one time, Firepaw nearly broke his leg from falling from a great height! Peonyclaw was a little mad at Littleclaw and Maplestripe, but Firepaw managed to heal. But we were wondering how our mentors did it, and after that fall, we were disheartened. It was leaf-bare as well, which definitely didn't help. Until suddenly, we managed to find finches in an open area on the ground, and we managed to catch them without having to climb a tree!”

Thymepaw was surprised at her story, but he realized that most warriors just simply learned how to do it, as much as they should try.

“Oh, and it was also smart of you to catch that sparrow before it could fly away,” his mentor added proudly. Thymepaw nodded, also feeling proud for *something* at least.

“Anyway, let's bury these birds and go search for more,” she continued, and her apprentice nodded. After burying the birds, they went a little deeper into the forest. Thymepaw was looking up at the branches for any signs of birds, but he was also making sure to look down once in a while to check for any dangers or obstacles. Then he suddenly spotted a robin on a open patch of ground, probably looking for worms.

His mentor also noticed it and they both stopped. Violetrain smirked again, probably at the coincidence of the situation and her tale, then gestured for him to go on. Thymepaw silently nodded and tried to pad very quietly towards it. The robin didn't notice him since it was faced away from him and looking on the ground where there were small holes, most likely worm tunnels. The apprentice made sure to stay completely silent and not touch any leaves. But he also didn't want it to fly away since it looked like the robin wasn't finding any worms. So he tried to quicken the pace just a little. Then when he figured that he got close enough, he went into pouncing position. *I sincerely pray to StarClan that this will be my first bird, and that I will be proud to say that I caught my first bird which is Robinpaw's namesake at only six and three-quarter moons.* Then he made the giant leap towards it.

The robin noticed him and almost escaped, but Thymepaw managed to snag it by his claws. The robin chirped very loudly and tried to scratch him with its talons, but Thymepaw decided to swipe it so that it would stop moving. When the robin stopped struggling, Thymepaw inspected it to make sure it was dead, and then blinked a few times to see if it was actually real. *I did it. I* finally *caught a robin. My first bird. I finally caught something else other than mice!* He couldn't help smiling at his victory and achievement that he was finally able to catch a bigger type of prey. *And also Birdkit's favorite and namesake, obviously.*

Violetrain came closer and grinned at him, which made him feel even better about himself. “Wow, StarClan gave you a miracle! That tale really helped, didn't it?”

Thymepaw nodded, still looking at the bird. He was glad that he could finally help the Clan in a bigger way. “I am extremely glad, too. Should we take this back?”

“I guess so, but why don't you try hunting one more? It can just be a mouse, since other birds might harder to catch for you. Just so that we can bring back four pieces of prey,” his mentor replied, looking in the direction of camp.

The apprentice nodded and looked for one more mouse. He saw a very tiny mouse speeding frantically through the clearing, though Thymepaw thought it might be too small to even feed a kit. Then he saw a much bigger mouse following that mouse at the same speed. *What are they running from*? Thymepaw wondered, until an eagle suddenly swooped into view with its talons out trying to catch the bigger mouse. Violetrain spotted it and tried to pounce on the eagle before it could fly away.

Thymepaw watched wide-eyed at his mentor trying to fight it off, but he hoped she could succeed. The eagle was about to catch the mouse, but it noticed Violetrain about to scratch it and it flew upwards instantly. Thymepaw spotted the bigger mouse running away and immediately tried to pounce on it. He felt it underneath his paws and immediately bit into it.

“Oh well, it went into the sky, but I can't catch it from below it, anyways,” Violetrain simply commented about the eagle while he was catching it, before seeing her apprentice catch the mouse.

“Yes, but we got the mouse at least, which is good enough,” Thymepaw replied.

His mentor nodded. “That's great! As for me, eagles are *very* hard to catch from the ground, so I'm not surprised. For our warrior exams, we did it from the trees, and the eagles were on a lower branch from us.”

“I have to catch an eagle for *mine* as well, right?”

She nodded again. “Of course, and I need to help you get there. Luckily we still have seven more moons to go!”

“Sadly a quarter-moon more than that, but great!” Thymepaw looked back in the direction of camp.

“Anyways, let's dig up our prey!” Violetrain said cheerfully, walking back to the place where she buried her birds. Her apprentice did the same with his robin.

While walking back to camp, Thymepaw was still extremely cheerful over his victory. He was so excited to tell Mountainpaw, Berrypaw, Lilackit, Jumpkit, and Petalkit, Birdkit, Waterkit and Flowerkit, his closest friends. He wanted to tell Primrosepaw, Dandelionpaw, Robinpaw and Soarpaw as well, and perhaps also Whitestripe, Birchcreek and Swanpaw, though he wasn't sure if they were finished with their duties, or if he was close enough in friendship to them. *Well, I guess Birchcreek was the most equivalent in personality to me as kits, so we must understand each other the best.*

#### Short while later

When they got back, Snowstar, also his great-uncle, spotted them and simply smiled. Violetrain and Thymepaw smiled back and deposited their prey in the pile. The young apprentice saw three of his friends, Mountainpaw, Berrypaw and Birdkit, and his mother and her apprentice there and they all seemed to notice the robin. Thymepaw decided to tell them about it before they could ask if it was his catch. Of course, all five looked proud of him.

“Wow, you finally did it!” Mountainpaw was the first one to respond, looking joyful.

*“Great job!* I knew you can catch birds for me!” Birdkit replied, smirking all the way.

“I am also proud of you, Thymepaw,” Redwater added, smiling as well.

Berrypaw and Soarpaw didn't say anything as usual, but they beamed at him. Thymepaw appreciated the praise from all of them, but he was thinking about Soarpaw's reaction and if it meant that she in fact, *did* want to be friends with him, and that she was just a bit shy before. *Well, I want to befriend her, too, and everyone else, of course, but especially her, being my mother's first apprentice, so great for me!*

Thymepaw nodded at all of them, the sky seeming to soar above him in his pride. “Thanks all of you! I'm very proud of myself, too!”

“Yep, he did a wonderfully amazing job!” Violetrain added with a smile, taking a mouse.

“Can *I* taste it? I usually never got to taste your prey,” Birdkit asked excitedly.

“Sure, since you've been hooked on your namesakes ever since your first bite of prey, anyways,” Thymepaw joked, and Mountainpaw chuckled in response to that, though his mother, Berrypaw and Soarpaw also smiled at that.

Birdkit beamed, and took a bite of the robin. Then she exclaimed, “It tastes *great!”* much to Thymepaw's joy.

Thymepaw smiled. “I *obviously* knew you would.”

“I would also like to taste for quite *obvious* reasons,” Mountainpaw chuckled.

*“Only* a *little,”* the she-kit replied mischievously.

“Don’t be greedy!” Violetrain joked. “Alright, Thymepaw, I’ll go and visit Dustkit and Oakkit now! See you later!” she said while leaving.

Thymepaw nodded, then started reminiscing about his kithood, especially with the optimistic though disconnected Birdkit. When she was born, he was already four moons old, so he became an apprentice by the time she would start fully remembering things anyways. He remembered the times he had gotten a little irritated with the fact Birdkit couldn’t play properly as her senses were always delayed by a few seconds, making quick physical play, especially between kits, impossible.

*I doubt she cares that she had a hard time integrating into our games, but I should probably apologize, anyway,* Thymepaw thought. The previous kit with a similar condition, Primrosepaw, didn’t normally play with him since she was too shy, but despite her being three moons older, he had still wanted to play with her. *Would having tolerance of Primrosepaw helped me to have tolerance of Birdkit?*

“Hey, Birdkit, I just wanted to say, sorry if I did anything to hinder you from having a good time with us,” Thymepaw whispered to her softly.

Birdkit just grinned. “Don’t worry at all, I still enjoyed it even if things were weird for me!”

The apprentice smiled. *Of course Birdkit would not care and simply shrug it off.* Then he remembered Soarpaw, looking shyly at the prey pile. *I hope she will be willing to talk with us now.*

So he whispered to her, “Hey, Soarpaw, I know Redwater is a good mentor.”

Soarpaw sheepishly nodded. “Yes, she is.”

“What kind of training did you do?” asked Thymepaw inquisitively.

She still stared at the prey pile. “I guess hunting, then fighting.”

“Soarpaw, I know you’re also going to be a great warrior!” Mountainpaw added happily, and the younger she-apprentice smiled.

“I like Soarpaw for being a great apprentice and Clanmate!” Birdkit exclaimed.

Thymepaw added, “Yeah, the Clan knows you and Robinpaw will do well. You both have my mother and Mountainpaw’s mother as mentors!”

Soarpaw smiled and nodded sheepishly, but didn’t say anything. *I guess she’s warming up more.*

Redwater smiled. “I guess you can talk while I visit the nursery to see Birdkit’s mother, too, so goodbye!” She also left while Birdkit beamed at that.

“Sandleap is cool,” Soarpaw said softly.

“I also think she’s cool, which is why she mentored Whitestripe,” Thymepaw replied humorously.

“That is why I love Sandleap!” Birdkit grinned.

Thymepaw nodded and was about to respond to Soarpaw, but then Berrypaw looked at him in a peculiar way. *Is it because they’re both shy?* he wondered. He knew she had many similarities with the shy littermates, one being that their fathers, Lionrain and Blackfur respectively, had died when they were too young or not yet born. Thymepaw didn’t have a father, but at the same time, he didn’t care since he could always be a good Clan member without one. And Berrypaw, Robinpaw and Soarpaw, as everyone knew, were all painfully shy as kits, and still a little bit now.

Thymepaw remembered that he wanted to ask how friendly Berrypaw was with cats other than him, Mountainpaw, Orchidmoon and Maplestripe. But first, he wanted to make better friends with his mother’s apprentice.

“So, Soarpaw, how is Icemoon and Quailclaw?” he asked.

Soarpaw’s eyes lit up. “They are really looking forward to mating or mentoring!”

“She loves Whitestripe immensely, doesn’t she?” Mountainpaw joked.

“It is interesting that so many cats like to mentor or mate,” Birdkit added.

“I suppose kits are the biggest thing she desires,” Thymepaw replied thoughtfully. “Maybe she thinks that Whitestripe would have good warrior genes to pass down to her kits. But as for Birdkit’s uncle, he seems to really like your siblings, Birdkit.”

“I hope they inherit them!” Birdkit said with a smirk, then paused for a bit. Then her eyes glistened at Thymepaw. “I surely hope one of them gets him!”

“I hope so, too,” Soarpaw replied with a hopeful smile.

“I also hope that you get a good apprentice, too, Mountainpaw and Thymepaw,” Berrypaw added.

Thymepaw just smiled. “My apprentice is most likely going to be one of the kits of cats of your age group, since they are definitely not born yet.”

“That’s obvious, right?” Mountainpaw replied with a grin. “But I am sure that I will get Dustkit or Oakkit! Or maybe I can get one of my siblings.” He chuckled at that. “Our ceremonies are like my cousins, which is interesting.”

Thymepaw knew that his mentor and Fireclaw were eight moons older than Whitestripe, and same for Mountainpaw and Lilackit and Jumpkit, so it made sense that they would share their apprentice and warrior ceremonies with their siblings.

Birdkit exclaimed, “I would also like to mentor my niece like Rainpaw is doing with me!”

Berrypaw just nodded. “I probably don’t need an apprentice, however.”

Thymepaw frowned at that, since it felt like she didn’t want one because of her shyness. “But I know that you can be a great mentor.”

“I can probably become a mentor,” Soarpaw murmured. “It would probably be fine.”

Berrypaw seemed to understand what Thymepaw was thinking as she whispered back, “It’s not for that reason. It’s just that I don’t want to mentor right now.”

Then suddenly, they heard Sandleap call out for her daughter. Then Thymepaw looked at Birdkit and joked, “That’s your cue, Birdkit!”

Birdkit looked at Soarpaw before glancing in the direction of the nursery, then at Thymepaw. “I hope it’s for a good reason!” she joked back before running off.

“I hope so, too!” the apprentice called out, making sure that she would catch it. But he surely hoped that he would have more good times with her. Then he looked at Berrypaw and Soarpaw who seemed to be a little awkward around each other.

“I should probably find Robinpaw and Quailclaw,” Soarpaw muttered anxiously before Thymepaw could say anything appropriate. He frowned at her leaving, but he figured that she must have been feeling anxious around him and Berrypaw by herself. *I hope Redwater can encourage her to socialize with me more at least. Soarpaw would probably accept, me being her mentor’s son.*

Berrypaw looked a little relieved when she left, making them three the only cats left at the prey pile. Then she looked at Thymepaw. “I guess I can tell you now.”

“About the reason why you don't talk to anyone else but us?” Mountainpaw asked, clearly confused, probably because he didn't think it needed to be told.

"So, what is the reason?" Thymepaw asked curiously.

Berrypaw shrugged. "I don't have many friends or speak much because I usually feel burdened by having to talk so much, and I fear what other cats would think if I talked to them for some time and then stopped suddenly."

"So what about with us, then?" Mountainpaw asked. "You're as calm as a mouse without any predators around near us!"

"I don't want to be pressured with other cats for that reason, but with you, I can speak as less as I want since you don't expect me to talk much. You do all the talking for me, so I can just listen and reply when necessary."

Thymepaw smiled at that. "I am sure that's also your motto with Orchidmoon and Maplestripe, right? I'm glad that you know we understand and support you."

Berrypaw smiled back. "It sure is. For me, other cats don't interest me much anyways since I am perfectly comfortable being by myself."

"That must be why you are always okay not being outgoing, right? Though I do have to disagree with other cats not interesting *me,"* Mountainpaw replied with a chuckle.

"Well, it helped with my solitude, but not fully. I *was* getting a bit jealous of other kits having so many friends and playing group games all they wanted, because there isn't too much to do as a kit by yourself, and you know the same, Mountainpaw. Mothers are fine, but they don't always fulfill every need of yours the same way other kits do. And to top it off, Lionrain died only a quarter-moon of my birth, so I didn't have a father, either, or maternal grandparents, only paternal. Whitestripe and Primrosepaw had littermates who talked to them, but even *they* mentioned that they got terribly bored as kits, which is why what happened had happened."

Thymepaw decided to ignore the subtle mention of Stonetooth since he and MoonClan likewise did not want her being mentioned even indirectly ever again. But he felt a little sympathy for Mountainpaw and Berrypaw since even shy kits with littermates got bored, and even more for Berrypaw because most of her family members died in her kithood or before she was born, which was quite a contrast to Birdkit's situation. Even Thymepaw had an uncle, grandfather and mother, even if he didn't have much more than that. "I guess so. It is a bit peculiar to think about now."

But then Berrypaw smiled at Mountainpaw, who smiled back. "But I *am* happy that Mountainpaw warmed up to me as a kit. That way, we each had a close friend to talk to before you came along."

Thymepaw smirked. "I remembered how you warmed up to me ever since I was born. It was almost like you had an affinity to me."

"You could say that," Mountainpaw chuckled and Berrypaw smiled.

"I am also grateful for Birchcreek since he indirectly inspired Mountainpaw to pass on the favor," the red she-apprentice continued. "It is a great virtue to show enough kindness to someone and open them up enough to give that to someone else."

"I also plan to do the same since you did to me, technically," the yellow tom-apprentice replied. *With Birdkit and Soarpaw,* he thought valiantly.

"I am also glad I managed to extend his kindness to more cats than me," added the light-gray tom-apprentice.

"Kind of ironic you're speaking so much, Berrypaw," Thymepaw said humorously.

"You know I sometimes have an urge to speak when it's important, like now. Understanding me better is what I consider to be important," Berrypaw replied.

Thymepaw nodded. Then he remembered how Quailclaw usually got shipped with Primrosepaw, and likewise Whitestripe with Icemoon. *Mountainpaw and Berrypaw always hang out together alone much more than Primrosepaw and Quailclaw do, and* definitely *more than Whitestripe and Icemoon.* He thought it was interesting and wonderful that the two had such a great bond, being best friends, but he silently wondered if there was something more between them. *Just because* I *don’t like to mate doesn’t mean they won’t, either. Mountainpaw is pretty gossipy if not teasy, and Berrypaw still adores sweet things.*

“Hey, Mountainpaw and Berrypaw, just to understand you more, so no offense or anything,” Thymepaw started with a whisper, “*do* you love each other? You’re the exact same age *and* hang out the most with each other alone!”

His two older apprentice friends looked at each other with slight surprise for a moment, then Mountainpaw awkwardly chuckled and Berrypaw simply smiled.

”Well, that’s a bit hypocritical of logic, isn’t it?” Mountainpaw replied humorously. “Since you claim to not be in love with anyone, but you also hang out with other she-kits and apprentices!” Berrypaw nodded in agreement.

”Not alone, last time I checked,” Thymepaw chuckled. “Unless you mean with Redwater which definitely does *not* count.”

Berrypaw replied warmly, “I *do* agree with Mountainpaw. However, we *are* good friends due to our bond since kithood and we have the most understanding between each other, so we usually hang out with each other alone the most.”

“I could already guess, but you know I just needed clarification on that, since I can’t see that properly, being a third cat,” Thymepaw replied politely. “Because you never know since you’re almost warriors! And of course, I would keep it secret since I’m not a gossiper, it’s only for personal reasons.”

”We understand, because we’re your friends and indirectly mentors!” Mountainpaw replied, and Berrypaw nodded.

Then he noticed Birdkit come out of the nursery towards the prey pile. "Thymepaw! Guess what, Sandleap just wanted to tell me a story about how she mentored Whitestripe! I hope it can help me in the future!"

Mountainpaw smiled. “That’s great! After all, Sandleap *is* my mother’s apprentice and Whitestripe my maternal cousin!”

”She is also my third cousin through Orchidmoon, Stormlight and Sandpounce,” Berrypaw added, quieting down again.

“That’s *great!*” Birdkit replied excitedly. “That means you’re my mother’s mentor’s son! And *we’re* third cousins once removed!”

“Don’t forget maternal grandmother’s apprentice!” Mountainpaw added.

Thymepaw smiled, but then he remembered that he needed to tell Dustkit and Oakkit about Birchcreek, Swanpaw and of course, Whitestripe himself.

”Oh, I should also give Dustkit and Oakkit what I promised!” he quipped.

”*Alright!* We’ll see you in there!” Mountainpaw replied cheerfully.

”I want to join in for the story with you!” Birdkit replied excitedly.

”That’s fine! You should also get to know more about them, too!” Thymepaw replied and gestured for them to come.

Running into the nursery, he knew that he wanted to be one of the best warriors and Clanmates he could be. *Birdkit is going to be one of* my *best friends,* he thought positively. *And hopefully, so will Robinpaw and Soarpaw, and Waterkit and Flowerkit, and Dustkit and Oakkit. Just like I am with Mountainpaw and Berrypaw.*

### Chapter 38: Icemoon & Flameeye

Whitestripe and Birchcreek were at the prey pile while Swanpaw was sleeping in their den, which had pretty much become their new den by now since they were there for three quarter-moons now. Lilypool and Rainpaw had told Whitestripe and Swanpaw that they needed to make sure not to stay stagnant even if their hips were damaged, just like they had advised Birchcreek previously, as it could cause certain infections and muscle degeneration to occur.

Whitestripe was glad he could still move around to not be too stagnant, but he still couldn't walk that well, unlike his mother's apprentice, who even though was limping could still move to other places by himself, having been past most of it. Whitestripe, however, needed the assistance of the two medicine cats themselves to get to the prey pile. He remembered Birchcreek had done his warrior ceremony without them being able to see, and they were the last ones to realize he had been a warrior for a half-moon. *I mean, I suppose it's fine if he accepted because he deserved it, but what was the point?* he silently wondered. Looking at his paternal cousin, Whitestripe could obviously see he still couldn't do any warrior duties. Birchcreek was so close to fourteen moons old already that he supposed Snowstar and Peonyclaw could have just waited for him to heal and still skipped his exams for his truly heroic deed, which he truly appreciated.

Birchcreek was hoping that Whitestripe and Swanpaw had passed *their* halfway point to recovering by now, as he felt they couldn't afford staying any more time. *Not only is it pretty boring, I am also starting to feel useless again...* he thought despondently. Telling stories to the kits and assisting the apprentices wasn't something he had ever thought would be the only useful things he could do after becoming a warrior, as usually only queens did that. He thought the hardest part would have been them dying, which would definitely have been terrible. But he was starting to rethink it when he had to sit here for quite a while. *I don't want to disvalue my friends or myself, but still...*

"So, Birchcreek, what are you thinking of doing right now?" Whitestripe asked, looking around the camp. "I suppose Lilackit is doing pretty well with her physical attributes. She will be a great apprentice for sure."

Birchcreek broke free from his stare at the prey pile as he usually did before, obviously surprised at his question. Whitestripe silently hoped with worry that his cousin wouldn't be returning back to his state of hopelessness again.

"It also seems like Icemoon is hanging out with Robinpaw and Soarpaw right now, who are also with Mountainpaw, Berrypaw and Thymepaw, apparently," Whitestripe decided to continue when he didn't respond.

Birchcreek nodded, probably at the mention of his best friend, Mountainpaw, and cousin's son, Thymepaw. "Did they become friends with each other?"

"Probably, it seems like Icemoon is hanging out with them more often, now. Which is good for *me,"* Whitestripe said with a smirk, trying to poke some fun at it.

Birchcreek smiled. He knew that Icemoon and Mountainpaw were already friends ever since that Clan game in kithood, perhaps even at the level of best friends as well, so he didn't find it a surprise that Icemoon was hanging out with Mountainpaw's friends, too. Robinpaw and Soarpaw had also befriended Icemoon and Mountainpaw, and of course, Thymepaw was ever talkative to every cat in the Clan. But he *was* confused at Berrypaw being there, since she most likely wouldn't have said much, simply listened.

"I guess you're trying to bask in your solitude, then?" Birchcreek replied, trying to reciprocate the humor.

Whitestripe flicked his tail. "Definitely, because I've had enough of their teasing!"

"I thought you might have shown a little interest in her from our chats, though?" Birchcreek said genuinely.

"Come on, Birchcreek, you usually don't tease me!"

"I was *obviously* joking, Whitestripe. But I *am* still curious to know."

Whitestripe just smiled wryly. "Well, even in jokes, you usually don't do it! And where did your curiousity come from?"

Birchcreek looked down at the prey pile again. "Sitting in one location like the prey pile or medicine cats' den for what seems like days on end," he sighed.

Whitestripe frowned at that. Of course, they weren't medicine cats or kits to normally do that, so he agreed with his situation. Even medicine cats usually went outside of camp to gather herbs, or in other medicine cats like Rainpaw's case, she still walked around camp to meet other cats, just like kits always usually did. "Well, we *do* have your littermate in here, right?"

Birchcreek shrugged. "That's probably the best thing that is making it better, other than you and Swanpaw being there to talk to. Lilypool is also fine, but you know how I wasn't really fond of elders or much older cats like Moonstar even in kithood, right?"

"Lilypool's not *that* old to be an elder, though. But I suppose she *is* pretty old, being born just a year and one moon after the foundation of the Mountain Clans."

Birchcreek shrugged again. "Well, I wouldn't say she isn't funny and nice, but of course, I didn't play with her in kithood, so we don't have those shared memories."

"Neither did we, even though we were around the same age, but we still built them together in my apprenticehood, you know," Whitestripe replied thoughtfully. "We managed to make more than enough to cherish our friendship."

Birchcreek nodded. "That's true. I didn't think you would become more wise after our fall."

"When bad times be*fall* us," Whitestripe started humorously, "it makes sense to gain wisdom from it, so we can learn from it."

Birchcreek smiled at that. Remembering that Whitestripe had to go through a big family loss with his only surviving littermate, he knew that he would definitely rethink his own behavior towards other Clanmates after that fateful night, and the fight the morning afterwards. And therefore, Whitestripe become nicer and more friendly in general, now that he didn't have Stonetooth's influence on him or dependency on her anymore. Birchcreek also remembered Whitestripe was pretty annoyed at Sandleap becoming a queen, and also indirectly at Nightnose for mating with her, three moons before his ceremony, but he forgave them pretty quickly after his warrior ceremony, especially since Birdkit was there now.

Flameeye saw the two injured cousins speaking to each other, one of which was *his* cousin, too. He was just about to talk to his former mentor, Snowstar, to go on patrol, probably by himself but perhaps with another Clanmate.

He was glad that his former mentor’s son and nephew’s mentor’s brother were doing much better now, and as well as Swanpaw. But he was worried that Swanpaw’s assessment would be delayed and hoped that it wouldn’t be for be for more than a moon, since of course, she was a great Clanmate.

Flameeye then noticed his father’s former apprentice, Icemoon, hanging out with several apprentices, including his nephew, Thymepaw, and his sister’s apprentice, Soarpaw, which he was happy about. But of course, they needed to go on patrol, so they all said farewell to each other and went with their mentors, leaving Icemoon by herself, being the only warrior in the group, of course.

Then Icemoon walked over to Flameeye, and he guessed that she wanted to go on patrol with him, which was fine with him. He was thinking about going with his apprentice, Spottedpaw, too, but he wasn’t sure if she would come back from another patrol with Forestcreek, Orchidmoon, Rosepetal and Heronwing soon.

### Chapter 39: Swift Recovery

Birchcreek was eating a sparrow and a squirrel in the medicine cat's den as usual. His right hind leg was still healing, but he wasn't sure what he could do about it except wait for it to heal more. He remembered what he told Mountainpaw, Mountainkit at the time, seven and three-quarter moons ago, when he was almost becoming an apprentice and smiled. *"Well, every time you wait, you get closer to anything. So wait."* Though he wasn't sure how *long* he would have to wait. Kits become apprentices at fixed times, usually at six moons but sometimes more if they joined the Clan at a later time, like Spottedpaw. But injuries had no fixed times to heal, and it depended on the injury and the amount of care. Birchcreek wasn't walking that much as his Clanmates gave him and his other two injured friends, Whitestripe and Swanpaw, fresh prey that they hunted and some fresh water, much like Clanmates do with full-term pregnant queens. So he thought not walking that much would speed up the time of recovery. He was still only able to limp as putting pressure on it would hurt a lot for him anyways. For a moment he had a thought his leg might be somewhat permanently damaged, but he shook that off. Birchcreek knew his leg bones didn't shatter completely, it was just broken at several places, so he still had hope he could recover.

Whitestripe and Swanpaw still had to heal, though. They were doing much better now, too, except for the fact that it still hurt them to move their hips, so they still couldn't move around that well. Birchcreek remembered Shadowclaw's joke about Icemoon doing everything for Whitestripe after Whitestripe became a warrior, and Whitestripe had replied that he would only need to do so if he became a queen or the prey started breeding like crazy. *Well, that turned out to actually happen.* Icemoon had been giving him and Swanpaw prey she caught now, too. Of course, to prevent stagnancy, Clanmates were moving them around, and Whitestripe and Swanpaw healed enough to finally get to go to the nursery for the first time after their fall and see Dustkit and Oakkit, which was where they were right now, and it was a wonderful time.

Birchcreek was in the medicine cat's den by himself since he needed to rest his leg so he didn't go to the nursery with them, but he was able to feel it getting better which was great for him. However, he was getting a little bored since he usually talked to Whitestripe, Rainpaw and Swanpaw and also Lilypool while she was in the den, and he got to know the older medicine cat much better than he used to, especially about her littermate, Fallkit. It was odd to think Lilypool was his mother's maternal cousin since she was much older than even Petuniaheart and Blazesky.

Then while he was thinking, his mother entered the den with a mouse and a wet mossball. "Hello, Birchcreek, I figured you'd need some water," she greeted warmly.

Birchcreek smiled back. "Thanks, Petuniaheart, though I don't need the mouse, I already ate."

"Oh, don't worry, it's for me to eat while I chat with you," she said, putting down her mouse and gave him the mossball.

Birchcreek nodded and took a sip from it. "I guess that's fine. I was just thinking about Whitestripe and Swanpaw's injuries."

Petuniaheart nodded back, though she looked a little sad at that. "I am glad they are doing much better now, thanks to Lilypool, Rainpaw, and of course you."

He just looked down humbly and waited for her to continue, since of course, it was true that he saved and helped them out, especially on the emotional end.

His mother's expression looked excited about something. "Speaking of which, I heard they're visiting the nursery. It seems like Birdkit, Waterkit and Flowerkit still remembered them when they all sneaked into the medicine cat's den together which makes sense, and of course, Petalkit already did."

Birchcreek chuckled, remembering his older niece trying to steal a few juniper berries before Rainpaw and Thymepaw caught her in time. "They are pretty lively, even for kits."

Petuniaheart beamed, since of course, they were her first grandchildren, and Petalkit seemed like one, too, since she was her daughter's foster daughter. "I know. I know they will be great warriors and medicine cats in the future, and they will be able to succeed, including Petalkit."

"I wholeheartedly agree. And what about Dustkit and Oakkit?"

She beamed even more at the mention of her great-nephew and niece. "They're doing so wonderfully. Dustkit's the older and more talkative of the two, but Oakkit is easily as crafty as him, maybe even more! Her shyness probably comes from being around her parents and brother, but when she's by herself, she's more outgoing, kind of like Robinpaw and Soarpaw as kits, and perhaps Jumpkit, too, as Thymepaw and Lilackit always seemed to overpower him a little while they were around him, but he was more loud by himself, and Robinpaw and Soarpaw were more comfortable away from talkative kits and around other shy kits."

Birchcreek nodded, thinking of something humorous, taking another sip of water. "I guess that means they're passively talkative, or assertively shy? Maybe aggressively shy for Whitestripe and his littermate, and perhaps Jumpkit, too."

"I guess you can say that. However, for me and Blazesky, like Primrosepaw, Quailclaw, Whitestripe, Mountainpaw and perhaps Petalkit, we *only* used to talk to our family members, and I guess I could say we were just a little aggressively shy."

He was a bit surprised to hear his mother's anecdote of her and Blazesky being aggressively shy, since he thought they were simply shy. Even now they didn't usually talk much, except when explaining something or telling a story like right now, kind of like most of their kids, including himself when it came to serious matters.

Petuniaheart continued, "We were the only kits in the leader's den along with Maplestripe, because we were the leader's kits, of course, and since Queenheart, Lilypool and Maplestripe's mother, left the Clan, Moonstar had to nurse him for some time, almost a half-moon. So we were only friendly to each other, Moonstar, Orangehill who was our father, and Lilypool, who became a full medicine cat at seventeen moons when we were two moons old. Blazesky was the more quiet one, Maplestripe the thoughtful one and I was the boisterous one."

Even though he knew it already, Birchcreek felt a little weird to think that kits could actually stay in the leader's den, since it was usually a secluded, high-risk area. But then again, Moonstar was the only she-cat leader he knew who had kits after leadership so far, since SnowClan Snowstar didn't have any. But he was more surprised to know more about his mother's personality back then, and it oddly reminded him of the two trios he had heard so far, which was probably what she was referring to, at least the first one anyways. He didn't mind that Petuniaheart decided to launch into a story about her past since she didn't often do so anyways, and he was curious to know.

"Everybody in MoonClan was interested in us for obvious reasons, but it was very annoying for me as I really wanted to be by myself. So like Whitestripe and his sister, I tried to scare off any visitors by acting boorish. But for some reason, Snowstar and Forestcreek, Snowpaw and Forestpaw back then, were persistent on meeting us, and even their mentors, Barktail and Poppyfall, couldn't stop them!"

Birchcreek knew that Barktail was Littleclaw's father and his father's mentor, while Poppyfall was Watereye's mother, and apparently also the cousin of Rosepetal's father, Cloudear, but of course, they had both died before he was born. He wondered if his mother's story was about rivals to lovers, as it sort of came off like that to him. It was very weird to him considering they were his *parents,* and to top it off, they already shared grandchildren now, too.

"But luckily, their mother, Lilyear, managed to convince them that they can chat with me when I was older. Since she seemed nice enough, Moonstar decided to make her my mentor. Of course, you know that Honeyflight became Blazesky's mentor since Moonstar knew that she can trust her skills, and that was when Blazesky finally got a good friend, Littleclaw, her son, of course."

Birchcreek nodded, knowing his paternal grandmother had mentored his mother, and his uncle and Littleclaw were close friends since the former was an apprentice, and that was why they had mated with the two MoonClan kittypet sisters and their kits were close to each other. He wondered if it was common to mate with one's mentor's child, since he knew that Lilyear had probably influenced her son and her apprentice to be together. Littleclaw and Blazesky were also best friends, Peonyclaw and Flipsnow had befriended Rosepetal, Nightnose and Nutclaw since they usually visited their mentor's children in the nursery, Birdkit, Waterkit and Flowerkit seemed to admire Whitestripe very much for being their mother's apprentice, Robinpaw had become better friends with Mountainpaw, Lilackit and Jumpkit after being apprenticed to Flipsnow, and Thymepaw seemed to really want to be friends with Soarpaw.

"However, when I got apprenticed to Lilyear, it wasn't the case for me since I thought Snowstar and Forestcreek were too outgoing for me, and I was also a bit skeptical of Flipsnow and Peonyclaw when they joined but Blazesky was quick to befriend all of them. Apparently, Snowstar wanted to mentor one of them since his father was a kittypet, of course, but Watereye and Diamondfly had snatched the opportunity before he could. Luckily I had befriended the two sisters sometime later, too, and tried to make them feel comfortable since I was the leader's daughter. I also felt the same as Snowstar when I had wanted to mentor Goldenlily, Goldenkit at the time, and she also wanted to be my apprentice, but Moonstar gave her to my father, Orangehill, instead. We were both exceptionally angry at her for that." Petuniaheart smiled at that, which seemed so different from Birchcreek's usual thoughts about her personality.

It felt odd for Birchcreek to see his mother smile at mischief she might have done in the past since she usually seemed so calm and patient, especially in his kithood. But Petuniaheart seemed oddly happy at Birdkit acting mischievous, too, and totally ignored Whitestripe and Stonetooth's attitude towards others as kits, and so had Blazesky, and Birchcreek realized it was probably because they were like her, too. But he figured Petuniaheart must have mellowed down after starting to have kits, which was why he never saw her like that.

But the most important part was that Goldenlily wanted to be Petuniaheart’s apprentice and was apparently upset that she couldn’t be one. Birchcreek silently wondered if this had to do something with her mating with Swiftclaw later on in warriorhood. *Was she feeling alienated from what she felt comfortable with, in this case Petuniaheart? Did she feel that Swiftclaw was much better than Orangehill? Wasn’t Petuniaheart still there to fill her void?* He remembered that Greenheart, Goldenlily’s mother, had also died when she was an apprentice. *Did that further deepen the pain?* He wasn’t sure if he could ask his mother about it since she most likely wouldn’t have known.

"So what happened afterwards?" he asked. "And were there any kits in the nursery when you were born? And were Flipsnow and Peonyclaw nice?"

"No, the nursery was empty, and I think they were when they joined, but Peonyclaw started becoming more boisterous during apprenticehood. And Goldenlily was angry, of course, and didn’t want to train for a quarter-moon, since we were like best friends. Apparently Moonstar thought I was too shy for the task while Orangehill knew how to convey information properly, but she promised that I would get someone later. But eventually, I outgrew my shyness and immaturity and decided to start a family with Snowstar, and of course I got Redwater as an apprentice. And I was happy for Littleclaw and Blazesky when they had kits with Flipsnow and Peonyclaw, of course. And I was a little comforted when Goldenlily eventually joined the nursery, too, and so we hoped that our children would be friends, and of course, that was the case.”

”So, you basically changed in a way similar to Whitestripe, right? And Goldenlily did, too?”

Petuniaheart nodded. ”Yes, of course. But it was sad for me to see her die, of course, since other than my brother, she was my like mind, even if I was fourteen moons older than her. But I just wanted to tell you that change can occur, and that a shy kit can be an outgoing warrior, and sometimes vice versa.”

The dark brown warrior thought he might be vice versa since after the death of Goldenlily, he had quieted down a bit. His friends and family had been worried about his mental health since he hadn’t talked as much as he used to. Now, he figured he was still outgoing, though in a more modest way, but also more serious.

“I guess I can agree with that,” said Birchcreek. “A lot of things can change due to circumstances.”

Petuniaheart nodded again and said, “Yes, I just wanted to spend time with you to keep you company. I know you liked my company the best in kithood, considering your behavior.”

Birchcreek smiled. He knew that he used to sleep so much in the moss bed he shared with his mother in the nursery.

“This was a good chat, wasn’t it? Now I think I should go and train Mountainpaw now,” continued his mother.

”Yes, of course. I hope Mountainpaw does well,” he replied.

Petuniaheart nodded and got up to leave the medicine cats’ den. Birchcreek wondered what he should do now, but then he remembered that he hadn’t gone to the elder’s den in a while, not even for a half-moon before his fall since he was so caught up in all the chaos that could occur to worry about the elders.

When he entered the elder’s den, he saw something curious; Littleclaw, Rosepetal and Nightnose were with Wisdomheart, and Watereye and his former mentor were with Redear. Wisdomheart had mentored Littleclaw, who in turn mentored Rosepetal, and of course, she mentored Nightnose. And Redear had mentored Watereye, and of course, he mentored Peonyclaw.

He wondered if there was a mentor-apprentice session going on, or if Littleclaw and Watereye wanted to visit their elder mentors (and for Littleclaw, also Honeyflight), or both, so Birchcreek decided to join Redear, Watereye and Peonyclaw. *At least Blazesky and Sealbranch and Dandelionpaw aren’t visiting Honeyflight,* he thought humorously. *Or Pinetail, Orchidmoon and Heronwing.*

Wisdomheart, Peonyclaw and Nightnose smiled at him when he entered since they had a close relationship to him. The other cats acknowledged him, too, and the dark brown warrior smiled back, since of course, he was the most popular cat in the Clan now, equally along with Rainpaw.

”Hey, we’re just visiting our mentors while visiting their mentors, too!” Nightnose said happily.

”I guess I should do the same to equal you then,” Birchcreek joked back.

”Good luck!” Honeyflight exclaimed from a corner of the den.

Birchcreek smiled and asked his former mentor, “What are you talking about anyways?”

”We’re listening to Watereye’s story about Anna,” she replied.

Watereye nodded. “After mentoring Peonyclaw, I got a great feeling about kittypets, and my view of them increased significantly.” Peonyclaw looked a little proudly at that. “Then I happened to meet Anna, and of course, she was nice like Peonyclaw. I didn’t find any suitors in the Clan, so I decided to become her mate. I told Peonyclaw about it first, and of course, she wanted to help us out, especially when Anna gave birth to Nightnose and Nutclaw. When they were weaned, Peonyclaw and I took them to MoonClan since they would probably have been taken away by Anna’s Twolegs, and I renamed them Nightkit and Nutkit.”

”Did Peonyclaw help with bringing them back? She was probably nursing Violetrain and Fireclaw,” Birchcreek asked.

”No, but I *did* make them feel comfortable in their new surroundings,” Peonyclaw replied. “That is why they are still great to me today. I even offered to nurse them if they hadn’t been completely weaned off from Anna, but of course, they were.”

Nightnose was obviously eavesdropping, so he nodded. “Yep, that’s all true.”

”That must be great, but I was also wondering, what were their original names? Since you said they were renamed,” the dark brown warrior continued.

Watereye shrugged. ”I don’t honestly know. Anna didn’t seem to know either, since she only heard her Twolegs refer to them as Anna’s older kit and younger kit, or Anna’s kits for both.”

”Is that the same for Flameeye and Redwater?”

”I am pretty sure, because their mothers never named them themselves,” Peonyclaw replied.

”I remembered thinking it was foolish to take away kits from their mothers, especially for Twolegs, but the four seemed to have adjusted well,” Redear said, sounding much older than Watereye and Peonyclaw.

”Redear *was* very grumpy at his apprentice for it,” Peonyclaw said with a smile. "Since of course, his mate died when Blackfur was young. But he was pretty strict in general."

"He use to scold me as an apprentice, always," Watereye added.

"That was because you acted too rowdy for my liking," Redear replied. "It was no wonder you were so drawn to Peonyclaw."

Birchcreek was a bit surprised to learn that Watereye might have been more like Peonyclaw back then, or at least similar that he didn't like to appeal to authority if it didn't suit him. But he nodded. "Redear, how often do Heronwing, Robinpaw and Soarpaw visit you, anyways?" he decided to ask the elder.

Redear replied without even moving, "More often than you'd expect. They might have been terribly shy, but not to me or their mother. They visited the elders' den more often than they did the nursery."

Birchcreek nodded, feeling a little relieved that Robinpaw and Soarpaw were still talkative to their grandfather. He figured Whitestripe, Stonetooth, Berrypaw and Primrosepaw were not at all receptive to their grandparents, especially the ones who never left the elders' den like Wisdomheart, Laketail and Streamclaw. He didn't really see them communicating all that much with them as kits, unlike Thymepaw and Forestcreek for example, who always interacted.