Applestar folded his ears back. Flutterstar spoke up. “*Ahem*. I need to make Lionkit an apprentice.” “Yes. Lionpaw… You can mentor him, Flutters.” “It’s Flutterstar. Lionkit, do you promise to follow the warrior code and do your best to train as a warrior?” The sand-colored tom nodded. “I do.” “Then by the power of Starclan, I name you Lionpaw. I will mentor you myself.” The Clan began to silently chant his name, softly. The chants barely echoed, they were timid. They were cut when Shadowleg glared at everyone. Lionpaw stood up and Flutterstar walked up to him to touch noses. Flowerfoot sighed. “Are you sure you can handle this?” Flutterstar glared at her deputy. “I might be a newer leader, but I can handle an apprentice.” Flowerfoot nodded. Flutterstar purred as she took Lionpaw towards the newly-built camp wall entrance. Lionpaw gasped in amazement but then cringed, “Will I have to help build more?”

The yellow she-cat shook her head. “No. Not if I have something to say about it.” Lionpaw nodded, “Alright… Do I have to help build anything today?” “No. Today I’m going to show you the borders.” She then thought to herself, no matter what that Shadowleg says. Lionpaw could feel her boldness. His whiskers twitched, “Alright!” Flutterstar took her new apprentice down to the pebbly beach. “This is the lake. All of the Clans have access to it.” Lionpaw looked around. “Wow! There's a lot of herbs in here!” He pointed to some marigold and spiderwebs that were weaved around a rock. “I’ll have to remind Flytail sometime.” She began to trek towards the Crystalclan border. Lionpaw followed. “This is the Crystalclan border. Whenever a medicine cat needs to talk to Starclan, they go to the Starclan Crystal.” “Can we do it now?” “Are you sure?” “Yes. I know Meadowclan needs help.” “I guess it’s worth a try.” Flutterstar glanced around before heading over the border. Lionpaw followed and sniffed.

“I don’t smell anything.” “Good.” The Crystalclan mountains came into view. Lionpaw gasped. “They own all the mountains?” “All of the ones in their territory.” “So do we or Fadedclan own any?” “Nope. None reach into our territory.” Lionkit looked higher at the moututions, “So, only Crystalclan has them?” “Yep.” “They're so lucky!” “They can be very dangerous. Sometimes they hold Pumas.” “What are those? They sound like a weird fruit.” Flutterstar shook her head. “They’re like big cats, much bigger than Ice, usually from sand-colored to brown, and they live in the mountains, but they solemnly come down.” “Then why aren’t they in any clans?” “Because, Lionpaw, they are very dangerous, and they might try and eat cats. They don’t speak the same language we do.” Lionpaw gasped, “Oops. So like dogs! But like cats!” “Not really like a dog at all, in fact. Pumas are mentioned in Legends elders used to tell. Along with Bobcats and something called the Canada Lynx.”

Lionpaw winced. “I hope Amberface is alright up there.” “A Puma rarely comes down, so she should be safe. We should see how she is before we go to the crystal.” They were coming up to the cave entrance. Lionpaw walked in. His paws were tired! This was the most walking he had ever done, but he remained silent. He followed his mentor leader. Brisknose looked up from his lizard. “Why hello Flutterstar! It’s been a while! And… Lionkit?” “Lionpaw.” He gloated with pride. “Really? What are you two here for?” “Starclan Crystal, because we need help… But we wanna visit Amberface first!” “Ok. She’s in the nursery, and I’ll go get Quartzfur in the meantime. Oh, and by the way,” He added as he turned around. “She has kits now.” “That’s great!” Lionpaw purred and ran inside the nursery. Amberface was licking Safekit and Splashkit. Lionpaw walked in. “Amberface!” He said goofily. The queen looked up. “Lionkit! What are you doing out here?”

“It’s Lionpaw,” He cooly licked his paw, “And we're here to see the kits and visit the Starclan Crystal. I’m with Flutterstar.” “It’s nice to see you’re an apprentice! Anyway, this is Safekit,” She licked the black and white she-cat, “And Splashkit.” The gray tom with white paws mewled. Lionpaw melted and licked them. “How old are they?” “Only a week old.” “They're so small! It’s cute!” Lionpaw cooed, and couldn’t believe he was that size once. “We should get going towards the Starclan Crystal.” Flutterstar meowed. Lionpaw purred, “Just an extra minute please!” He nuzzled Safekit. “Oh… Fine.” She smiled as she walked over. Splashkit mewed out a cry and nuzzled the leader’s paws. Safekit, even with her eyes open, bumped into Lionpaw’s leg. Lionpaw sniffed curiously, “Huh? Is her eyes alright?” Amberface got up and sniffed her kit. “They’re open…” Quartzfur grimly walked in, “Without sight…” She looked down. Flutterstar turned around. “Huh?”

“Safekit is blind.” Quartzfur sat down with her injured paws still blistering, “Starclan told me.” Amberface wailed in grief. Qaurtzfur sighed, and a lie began to form, “She’ll be a perfect warrior though…” Even to her own, stubby years that sounded off. “How!?” Amberface demanded. “She can’t even see her prey!” “She has other senses!” Qaurtzfur looked down, “Us Crystalclan cats hunt without sight in some caves…” “What if there’s a hawk coming?” “Then…” Quartzfur was stumped, until, “That has nothing to do with hunting unless your going to make her stay inside dens or caves all day... “ “My daughter is not living in Crystalclan! She’s living in Meadowclan with her family!” “I was not trying to say that! What I meant is that she can be swept by a hawk, even if she doesn't hunt.” “I’ll protect her!” Lionpaw meowed, puffing out his chest. “Even when she’s all grown?” Jasperwhisker added in. Flutterstar looked up. “She can take care of herself at that point.” “Alright, alright… Why are you here, b

y the way?” “To see the Starclan Crystal.” Quartzfur cringed, “You can’t do that.” Flutterstar huffed. “Why not?” “Starclan is mad… Lava has surrounded the crystal.” Both Flutterstar and Lionpaw gasped. “Really!?” Brisknose popped his head into the den. “Yes really. And Lionpaw, what happened to your tail?” “Shadowleg’s group snapped it.” He frowned. “Shadowleg’s… HE DID THIS!?” “YES! HE TAKEN OVER THE CAMP TOO!” Lionpaw wailed. “Quartzfur! We need to go there now!” Quartzfur nodded, and ran to the high rock. “ALL MEMBERS UNDER THE ROCKS AND CRYSTALS, SNOW AND STARS, REPORT TO ME!” The Crystalclan cats came out of the dens. Even the queens and kits. “Now! Who's ready for a fight?” Quartzfur asked. Suddenly, the cave exploded with shocked murmurs and gasps. “I am!” Vixenkit called out. Brisknose shook his head. “You’re too young.” “No! I can fi-” Jasperwhisker swiftly took all the kits, and forced them deep inside the nursery. Quartzfur sighed, “Shadowleg has taken over Meadowclan. We need

to investigate.” “We need to take all that we can.” Flutterstar added. “Even Meadowclan cats might turn on you.” Quarzfur nodded, "Yes. Anyone that can fight will. Even the youngest warriors… Excluding Emeraldspeck…” The gray she-cat cocked her head. “Won’t we need the other Clans?” “Hm…. I suppose we should get the other clans… We need to get Shadowleg and his gang out.” She hissed, “Do we have a lot of herbs, Emeraldspeck?” “I believe I have enough… But not for all three Clans.” “I’m sure Leafclan and Fadedclan can supply their own… What about Meadowclan?” Quartzfur cocked her head to the leader. “We have three medicine cats there. And I’m sure Rogueclan won’t take any, unless they destroy it.” “Who’s all three?” Treeface questioned from the crowd. “Flytail, Robin, and Mossheart.” Emeraldspeck focused her attention when Flutterstar said Mossheart. “How did he get in Meadowclan?!” Quartzfur freezed. “I was told that Robin led him there.”

“Emearldspeck. Why was he so far out? The herbs and garden is close to the camp.” “He got mad and uh- Ran away.” “He never gets mad!” Treeface pointed out, “What did you say to him?” “I started talking about his father. And anymore, we have more important things to deal with.”

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