"So," Crookedstar meowed. "Let me make sure I understand everything. You went back out to hunt again, alone, and decided to cross the bridge." At Firepaw's nod, he continued. "Then you saw ThunderClan chasing Mire—Yellowfang off their territory. She tried to attack you and demanded you let her into RiverClan territory. You fought for a moment, but stopped because she was exhausted. Then, you left an intruder on our border to hunt for her, bring her back prey, and feed her?"

"That's the gist of it," Firepaw mumbled. "I—"

"I don't know what to do with you," Crookedstar said, cutting him off. "First, apprentices are not to hunt or patrol on their own without clear permission. You may be new here, but you should know that. Even if that had escaped your attention, intruders are to be challenged, not fed. You wasted a piece of prey on a cat that you knew nothing about."

Crookedstar paused, and Firepaw finally spoke again. "I couldn't just chase her off," he meowed. "She was so… helpless. Even though she was acting as mean as a dog."

Crookedstar twitched his tail. "Even considering this, Mirestorm… I mean, Yellowfang—she is a medicine cat. Medicine cats are entitled to certain… privileges, you could say. However, they certainly aren't supposed to attack lone apprentices, and her being on her own is suspicious…" he closed his eyes for a few moments.

Firepaw shuffled his paws. "Are you going to exile me?" he asked.

Crookedstar opened his eyes. "Great StarClan, no. You behaved very foolishly, Firepaw, and you will have some kind of punishment, you can be sure of that. But I won't be banishing you from the Clan for something like this."

Firepaw let out a breath in relief.

Crookedstar sighed. "I won't be taking you out of training," he said. "That wouldn't be helpful to you or your Clanmates. I'll think on this for a bit and speak to Dawnwhisker. You are dismissed."

Firepaw nodded, his nerves returning as he rose and left the den. He won't exile me… but I'm definitely in trouble.

To his surprise, Beechpaw and Minkpaw were sitting outside the leader's den. He considered Beechpaw a friend, but didn't spend much time with Minkpaw. The black she-cat twitched her tail curiously as he padded out. "Did he actually exile you? Silverpaw was certain he would."

"No," Firepaw meowed. "I'm in trouble, but he said I wasn't banished."

"Obviously," Beechpaw said, rolling his eyes. "That's just stupid."

"What? I didn't say I wanted him to be," Minkpaw retorted. "He's alright. Better company than Silverpaw, at least."

"Thanks, I guess," Firepaw meowed. "I couldn't tell just how angry he was. He seemed pretty furious at first, but then he just said he's 'think a bit' about my punishment."

"I wouldn't worry much," Minkpaw said with a shrug. "Crookedstar's a big old softie, honestly. Don't get me wrong, he's the best leader RiverClan could have, but he's too nice to just go doling out punishments."

Beechpaw nodded in agreement. "Oh, yeah. You won't be in too much trouble, Firepaw. Maybe you'll be cleaning ticks for a few days, but it won't be too bad. Now I hear that in ShadowClan, they think up all sorts of awful punishments for their apprentices…"

The three apprentices jumped as Leopardfur padded by and stopped to meow, "That's right. Be thankful Crookedstar is kinder to you all. Rainfoot told me that a troublemaking apprentice once had to clear out a fire ant nest on his own. Came back bitten up terribly." She stared right at Firepaw, expression unreadable.

Firepaw gulped uneasily. I have a feeling that Leopardfur would have some kind of thing like that in mind if she was leader…

Though the deputy wasn't cruel or even particularly unkind, she simply was cold. Not just to Firepaw, really, but to every cat. She spoke little and when she did, it was often to give criticism. A compliment was rare, as Firepaw had quickly learned, and he knew had a long way to go before he had even a whisker of approval from Leopardfur.

"That's just cruel," Beechpaw muttered. "No wonder ShadowClan cats are so grumpy. I would be too!"

There was the sound of pawsteps from behind Firepaw as Crookedstar emerged from his den. The apprentices all watched as he leaped on top of a stone that sat near his den and let out a yowl. "All cats old enough to fish gather here for a Clan meeting!"

"What's that about?" Minkpaw whispered.

"Likely the trespasser that Firepaw hunted for," Leopardfur replied, a sharp edge to her tone. She padded past them to sit closest to Crookedstar.

"We can hear fine from here," Beechpaw said. "Besides, I don't want to go sit by Leopardfur. She's in an odd mood."

"She's always in a mood," Minkpaw retorted.

Firepaw moved to sit beside Beechpaw. The rest of the Clan quickly gathered—it was sunhigh, so most cats were in camp resting. When Crookedstar seemed satisfied with the attendance, he sat, wrapping his tail around his paws. Firepaw blinked as he noticed Mudfur and Silverstream escorted a still-bedraggled Yellowfang from the medicine cat's den. The three cats sat close to the stone as well.

"Cats of RiverClan, we have a visitor in our camp," Crookedstar began. "Most of you should know of her. ShadowClan's former medicine cat was found by Firepaw on the human bridge. I have spoken to both her and Firepaw about her appearance her. She wishes not to speak much on why she has left ShadowClan, but she attempted to seek refuge in ThunderClan, and they chased her from the territory."

"Wait, she left ShadowClan?" Skyheart asked. "Why would a medicine cat abandon their Clan?"

"Are you daft?" Yellowfang sharply asked. "Or do you just not pay attention to the Clans you share borders with? Spending too much time sunning yourself these days?"

Reedtail stood and curled his lip. "Watch how you speak to us, rogue!"

Crookedstar flicked an ear. "Calm yourselves, please. Though I do wonder what you mean by that, Yellowfang, since you expressed the need for secrecy."

Yellowfan lashed her tail. "Your comfortable lives behind the river have always cut you off from the going-ons of the other Clans," she muttered.

"Speak plainly, crone, or be silent," Blackclaw growled.

Yellowfang stared at him without speaking. Crookedstar sighed. "I will be speaking to you again after this meeting, in the chance that you have decided to share something else you know. Anyhow… Yellowfang claims that she is no longer in ShadowClan's ranks. If she were a warrior, it would be appropriate to consider her a rogue, but given that she is a medicine cat, I believe it is in RiverClan's best interests to allow her to stay with us, for a time."

Leopardfur's pelt seemed to bristle in the slightest. "Crookedstar, why?" she asked. "ShadowClan may be a desolate place, but they value their medicine cats as much as any other Clan. How can you accept her silence and trust that she isn't a danger to our Clan?"

Yellowfang watched the deputy as she spoke, eyes narrowed. "Cast me out if you please," she said, voice low and dangerous. "It is up to StarClan to judge you, not I."

There were a few dubious mutters passed between Clanmates at these words. Firepaw wasn't sure what she meant by it, but he felt unsettled by the change in the mood of the Clan. "Why's everyone worried now?" he whispered.

"Medicine cats are special," Beechpaw murmured back. His tail was twitching nervously. "They have a connection to StarClan that average warriors don't. If we rejected a medicine cat in need of help… StarClan could curse us."

"StarClan isn't cruel," Minkpaw whispered. "But… they wouldn't look favorably on us for throwing her out, if she really does need help…"

Crookedstar shifted his paws. "If Yellowfang presents herself as a threat to our Clan, she will be dealt with accordingly. But medicine cats—regardless of Clan—are deserving of our respect. Perhaps she will even prove an asset to the Clan. That being said, we don't know her well enough to put unconditional faith in her. Yellowfang, until I decide otherwise, will be under guard at all times. Firepaw, as you found and already have taken it upon yourself to feed her, you will serve as her main caretaker."

Firepaw blinked. What?

Crookedstar went on. "You will hunt for her and care for her as though she were any other elder or queen. You will train as usual when you are not attending to her, but should you have free time on your paws, it will be your duty to guard her."

Firepaw flattened his ears, embarrassed, as a number of cats turned to stare at him. "Y-yes, Crookedstar."

"Good. That will be all." Crookedstar hopped down from the stone, and the Clan broke up to resume their business.

Silverpaw padded up to Firepaw and smirked. "Nice going, kittypet," he sneered. "You might as well just become a medicine cat yourself."

Firepaw growled and resisted the urge to unsheathe his claws. Before he could reply, Silverpaw continued on to the fresh-kill pile, tail swishing behind him.

"Maybe it won't be so bad," Beechpaw meowed sympathetically. "It's just like looking after the elders, really."

Except this one has the attitude of Blackclaw and smells like rubbish, Firepaw thought miserably. 'Nice going' is right.