MoonClan's ambitious story/(1): The First Four Leaders/1/8

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

*← Previous Chapter: Chapter 7: The FoxNext Chapter: Chapter 9: Apprentice Ceremony →*

*← Previous Part: Prologue: Beginning of the Mountain ClansNext Part: Part 2: Birchpaw's Training →*