MoonClan's ambitious story/(1): The First Four Leaders/2/23

### 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.

**This is a chapter subpage of MoonClan's ambitious story (1): The First Four Leaders.**

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