While I would like to give every character roughly the same amount of screentime, the plot doesn't allow it. I'll try to get everyone's perspectives, but narrative comes first.

Edit Note: I added a scene at the beginning, stretched the dialogue at the end, and man, this chapter is twice as long as a normal one. A new record I will not be trying to beat again.


~Jake~

"A rabbit, that's it?" Marco asked as I dragged my recent catch under our bush.

"It was all we could find," I said after laying down my catch. "There's definitely more prey around—I can smell them—but my instincts aren't enough for me to do better. I need to practice hunting."

"And at least we brought something back," Cassie pointed out. "You and Tobias look smug, but I don't see any prey from you. Did you catch anything?"

"We've got something better," Marco said mysteriously.

"Which is?" I asked, raising in eyebrow.

"We'll tell you later," Tobias said. A flick of his ear led me to take a discreet glance at a bright ginger figure coming over the rise. While I doubted he would be able to overhear a conversation from this distance, it was better to be safe than sorry.

With my mind focused on Buddy, I almost missed the arrival of our last two of our members. "We're back!" Rachel declared as she and Ax approached.

"You already ate?" Marco asked, noting the faded bloodstains on their fur. "Come on, leave something for the rest of us!"

"Ax was so hungry he almost ate an entire rabbit on his own," Rachel said sheepishly. "I finished it up and snacked on a mouse on the way here."

"My instincts were stronger than I expected," Ax said sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it," said Tobias. "It takes a while to get used to being a predator."

"You do have the most experience with this," Rachel commented. Then, realizing the lack of prey or bloodstains by Tobias and Marco, she narrowed her eyes at the two small toms. "Did you two not catch anything?"

"Well—"

"Marco, I can understand being incompetent, but Tobias, you should be the best hunter of us all!"

Tobias gave a non-committal shrug.

"It wasn't our fault," Marco grumbled. "This big bird decided to scare everything away."

"A hawk or eagle can be very frustrating when you're hunting," Buddy commented through clenched teeth as he stepped under the bush. Two mouse tails swung from his mouth, with the plump rodents swaying with every step. "Still," he said after setting his catch down. "You six did better than I would expect for humans—and others—that were recently turned into cats."

"You actually have a frame of reference for that?" Rachel asked dubiously.

Buddy shrugged noncommittally. "Dig in, I already ate."

Marco wasted no time snagging one of the mice. Tobias gave a polite nod to Buddy as he took the other one. I turned to Cassie. "I guess we'll share this one then," I said.

"Yeah," she replied with a nod.

My human conscious was disturbed by the thought of casually sharing a freshly killed rabbit, but I stifled that part in favor of my body's natural instincts to eat the delicious-smelling meal in front of me. It did feel weird to eat so close to Cassie, but I just imagined it was like a pot of fondue or a large pizza. We may have been eating from the same food, but there wasn't anything weird about it.

Or so I told myself.

"I believe the best place to start would be with a summary of the area and the clan that live here," said Buddy. "You don't mind if I talk while you eat, do you?"

"Go ahead," I said.

"The lake is a vacation spot for humans with a lodge, several docks, the stables—as you've already seen—and plenty of woods and hills," Buddy began. "A few years ago, four clans migrated here when humans chased them away from their homes in a faraway forest. First, there's the WindClan. Their territory is northwest of us, on the moors. North of them lives the ThunderClan in the deciduous forest. West of them are the ShadowClan, who live in the pine forest. If you head south past the human buildings, you'll find the RiverClan by the river and streams."

"Hold on," Marco interrupted. "So, I get that RiverClan are named after where they live. And WindClan live in the open air, or something. ShadowClan live in a pine forest, so that's a shadowy place. But the ThunderClan, what does deciduous trees have anything to do with thunder? A fire hazard maybe, but lightning and storms?"

Buddy blinked. "I'm not entirely sure where the names come from," he admitted. "The legend is that the clans were named after the cats that formed them, but who knows what the truth is?"

"Please continue, Buddy," I encouraged him.

Buddy nodded as he informed us about what we could expect from the clans. They held onto a Warrior Code, like our U.S. constitution or the Ten Commandments. It had both legal and religious significance, but was broken with surprising frequency in favor of personal morals. Territory boundaries were strictly enforced, clans usually only trusted their own members, and battles rarely involved death on either side.

"These cats are sophisticated," Cassie commented as Buddy finished his lecture.

"Their culture seems very tribal and primitive," Ax said with a shake of his head. "It is more than I expected from domesticated felines, but it is not enough to call a true civilization."

"Warriors of the clans are far from domesticated," Buddy corrected him. "Being neutered is the equivalent to a death sentence to cats who live out here without the support of humans."

"Right, neutered cats become docile and lazy," Rachel said with knowing nod. "When you have to fight and hunt, the personality change will make you weak."

"So now that we know about the clans, what can you tell us about what we need to do?" I asked Buddy.

Buddy face scrunched up in thought, and it was a moment before he responded, "Unfortunately, I can't tell you much. I did scout around the nearest city—Twolegplace, as the clan cats call it—"

"Stupid name," Marco muttered.

"But all I learned were rumors of a group that were taking out rival group leaders and acquiring their numbers. Not a very sustainable way to gain power due to constant unrest, but for some reason their method is working."

"So, they're taking the Imperial route?" Rachel asked. The ginger tom stared at her blankly. "Right, human references. What I mean is that they are absorbing other groups By removing opposing leaders and replacing them with their own peo—cats and having the new leaders swear loyalty to them?"

"Not quite," Buddy replied. "From what I can tell, they force relocation and redistribution of fighting cats. The constant shifting makes rebellion difficult to organize, but it also makes the chain of command very unstable."

"So how is this affecting the clans?" I asked. "I can't even see a city from here, which means it's at least several hours away."

"Correct, the city is nearly a day's walk from here. But there's been travel between the city and the lake for several weeks now," Buddy replied. "Normally I wouldn't worry about a few travelers, but the groups are much too regular, and there are growing in size and frequency."

"You've been watching them?" Tobias asked.

"Only for nine, no, eight days," Buddy replied. "I met Ellimist almost three weeks ago, but I spent most of that time traveling and getting a feel for the land. I took me a while to find signs of disturbance."

"So, the city is being conquered and whoever is doing it is turning their sights on the clans' territory?" I summarized.

"I believe so," Buddy replied. "But at this point, it's mostly supposition."

"Do the clans know about this?" Cassie asked.

Buddy shook his head. "And it won't be easy to warn them," he warned. "They're not too fond of outsiders."

"Yeah, but the threat of being attacked should at least be worth listening to, right?" I said.

"Perhaps," Buddy replied cryptically.

"Any reason we shouldn't be talking t the clans about this?" Marco asked with a twinge of suspicion in his tone.

"For you, no, not particularly," Buddy replied. "But when I was speaking to StarClan they did ask me to keep my nose out of their business. Perhaps not so bluntly, but the intent was clear."

"Who's StarClan?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, I thought there was only four clans," Marco added.

"Technically, four clans reside at the lake," Buddy clarified. "StarClan is made up of the fallen ancestors of the four clans."

"…Come again?" Ax asked, the puzzlement clear on his face.

"Afterlife for clan cats."

"They believe in that baloney?" Marco asked.

"People will believe what they want," I remined him. "And that goes for cats as well."

"I think it's a nice sentiment," Cassie stated in the clans' defense.

Buddy, for some strange reason, was looking at us like we were crazy. "The afterlife troubles you?" he asked in attornment.

"Bud, listen, where we come from, very few people take the afterlife seriously," Marco told him. "Reflection of what you do, heaven or hell, reincarnation, yada yada, it's all talk."

"Question," Tobias interjected. "If StarClan is the afterlife, how did you talk to them?"

"A friendly elderly badger named Midnight introduced me to them."

"I really shouldn't be surprised by anything at this point," I said with a sigh. "So, an old badger showed you how to talk to dead cats. And did he give you anything else?"

"She, actually," Buddy corrected me. "And yes, she was the one who taught me a lot about clan life. Ellimist was rather skimpy on the details. Midnight has a heavy accent, but she communicates surprisingly well in cat."

"A badger learned how to speak cat?" Cassie asked. "Is that even possible?"

"I myself speak dog, fox, badger, bird, a decent amount of lizard and snake, and I understand humans pretty well, though their language is beyond my abilities."

I looked at him in surprise. "That must make you a pretty good translator in inter-species affairs," I commented.

Marco snorted. "Where? The United Critters Association?"

"While I don't understand Marco's joke, it is true that my skills are generally unnecessary," Buddy responded. "Most interspecies conversations go along the lines of 'Get off my territory' and 'No' before the fighting begins. But that's enough about me, it's time to move on to our next lesson."

"And what would that be?" Cassie asked.

Buddy got up and stretched. "It's time I showed you how to hunt properly," he replied with a sly grin. "While I was pleasantly surprised by your catches, you've got a long way to go before you can truly be hunters."

"Hunting won't be a problem once we get used to our bodies," Tobias argued.

"Well, you're not going to get a better teacher than me," Buddy replied cheekily. "Unless you know someone else who will teach full grown cats how to hunt properly?"

While my own hunt had gone pretty well, I knew it was mostly by luck that I had found anything to catch at all. "Let it go, Tobias," I said. "We're not going to be able to do anything if we can't feed ourselves in these bodies."

Buddy nodded. "Mother Nature tells me that a great place to hunt is this way," he said as he ducked out of the bush.

"Mother Nature?" Rachel echoed softly.

"He seems to have the same customs as my people," said Ax thoughtfully.

Marco sighed. "As long as Mother Nature isn't some talking earth spirit, I'm cool with whatever he says."


~Marco~

They say that home is where the heart is. Hogwash. I couldn't care less about the large bush I was living under, but I still had to call it home. Why, you might ask? It's simple really. I was homeless kitty out in the wild. No soft bed, no warm blankets, no food in the kitchen. It was like camping out, except worse. It rained last night, so the entire ground was wet. We all had to sleep in a doggy—no, kitty—pile to stay warm. There goes another experience to add to my list of top ten most awkward nights.

"How long have we been doing this?" I through at the question as a blearily opened my eyes. "I'm soaked, cold, hungry, and bored. No TV, no comics, not even alien invasions. Just hunting, walking, learning. Out of all the things that had to stay normal, why was school one of them! I feel like I'm going crazy!"

"We're only on day three, Marco, chill," Rachel said dismissively. "Two days of this is nothing compared to our stint in the artic."

"But I'm bored," I whined as I arched my back in a cat-like stretch. "And today's probably going to be like yesterday, except wetter."

Buddy, who had been grooming bits of moss and grass from his ginger fur, paused to respond. "Today, you'll be doing a review," he replied briefly, before returning to his all-important grooming.

"Please tell me its not about clan culture," Rachel complained.

"Yeah, we already wasted two afternoons on that!" I added.

"I actually find those lesson on culture to be quite fascinating," said Ax. "Despite their lack of proper civilization, these cats have a very humanistic culture if you learn to recognize the parallels."

I made a gagging sound, but Cassie nodded in agreement. "Besides, the more we know about them, the better we can help them," she said.

"Whatever," I grumbled.

Then Jake and Tobias, who had been suspiciously absent when I woke up this morning, ducked into our humble abode. Each was dragging a rabbit behind him. Tobias seemed to be struggling with his, but that was understandable since it was almost as large as he was.

"Excellent job you two," Buddy said with a purr.

"It was mostly Tobias," said Jake modestly. "All I could do was herd the rabbits, but he was the one who caught them."

"It was teamwork," Tobias muttered, though I could tell he was pleased with the praise. His lips turned up ever so slightly as his eyes lost a bit of their usual glare.

"You six enjoy your meal," said Buddy. "I'm going to catch a mouse or two for my own breakfast." He slunk out of the bush and bounded away.

Jake looked at Tobias, who nodded and slunk out of the bush. A few moments later, he returned. "All clear," he announced before lying down on the grass.

"Thank you, Tobias," Jake said with a nod. Then he addressed all of us. "It's been a while since we've had some time to ourselves, so I think it's time to have a frank discussion about our situation."

"And the reason we waited for Buddy to leave…?" Cassie inquired.

"He's not a part of us," said Tobias frankly.

Jake nodded. "Speaking of which, what do you all think about our guide?"

"I think he's trustworthy," Cassie replied immediately. "I don't get any bad vibes from him."

"He's alright, but he reminds me too much of my social studies teacher from middle school," Rachel complained.

"Rachel," Jake deadpanned.

"Fine," Rachel huffed. "He's weird, but I think we can trust him."

"I also believe he is trustworthy," said Ax. "But I will defer to your judgement as always, my prince."

"He annoys me," Tobias grumbled. "But he does have his uses."

"I don't think we can trust him completely," I said cautiously. "But he knows Ellimist and he's a cat, so… I guess he's cool. Definitely not a Yeerk, so that's always a plus."

Jake nodded. "I trust him to a certain degree as well, but I wanted to know how the rest of you felt about him. Glad that we're in agreement."

"Eh, more or less," I said, making a so-so gesture with my paw. Just because I trusted him not to be evil didn't mean I would stake my life on him. After all, Ellimist was a good guy, but he still was huge pain in the butt.

"Now, I believe Tobias has something he's been dying to announce." Jake nodded to our mottled, formerly feathered friend.

Tobias rose from his position. "I can morph," he declared. I could tell he tried to make his announcement as monotonous as possible, but the excitement in his voice was as plain as day.

Ax, Cassie, and Rachel gasped. I, of course, had been there when he discovered his morphing abilities, so I was not shocked by the announcement.

"Can you turn back into a hawk, or a human?" Rachel asked.

"I have acquired a new hawk morph, as well as a rabbit and mouse morph," Tobias replied.

"I also acquired a rabbit morph this morning," Jake added. "It appears that it was not our morphing that was taken away, but rather, our morphs."

"When did you find this out?" Ax asked.

"First day," I answered for Tobias. "But with Buddy always around we had to keep it hush-hush."

"You could have just whispered," Rchel huffed.

"Not with the sensitivity of a cat's hearing," Jake reminded her.

"But I've already wasted two days I could spend finding powerful morphs!" Rachel exclaimed. "If I could find a grizzly bear—"

"You would be eaten," said Tobias flatly.

"A girl can dream, can't she?" Rachel responded in a huff.

"Save the flirting for later you two," I said dryly. They both shot me death glares, but I responded with a wide smirk.

"Jake, this means that our new bodies are our new 'original' forms, right?" Cassie asked.

Jake nodded. "While it's not ideal, at least we still have the ability to morph. Though, our normal forms will have to serve as our battle morphs for now."

"But what can a domestic feline safely acquire as a battle morph?" Ax asked.

"For anonymity?" Cassie guessed.

Jake nodded. "We don't want our abilities to be discovered, so we should use them sparingly."

"Who's going find out about our morphing ability?" Rachel asked.

"There is Buddy," Tobias mentioned.

"I thought we decided we could trust him?" Cassie said uncertainly.

"We can, but there's a difference between us being turned into cats, and us being able steal anyone's body for our own personal use," I commented. "He has no reason to know how dangerous we are right now.

"Buddy was chosen by Ellimist, Marco," said Jake. "I don't think we have to worry about him betraying us. Still, we have nothing to gain from telling him, so we'll keep this under wraps unless it becomes important for him to know."

"Like when?" Cassie asked.

"Maybe… if we're in morph and need to talk to him?" Jake suggested. "We'll deal with the situation as it comes.

"Even with our morphing power back, we still need to find some good morphs," said Rachel. "Nice job grabbing a hawk, Tobias, but everything else around here is food."

"I think we could find some badgers, foxes, raccoons, and even dogs around here," said Cassie.

"Horses and other raptors are options too," added Tobias.

"Whatever morph we chose, we'll have to actually find the creature if we want to use their bodies in combat," said Jake. "I would suggest we keep an eye out for any potential morphs, but our first priority is to stay safe."

"Tell that to Tobias," I muttered.

"How about we go on an expedition to acquire morphs?" Cassie suggested. "We'd probably only be able to acquire prey animals, but it's a start."

Jake nodded. "We'll have to plan in advance though," he said. "Preferably when Buddy is preoccupied."

Tobias suddenly perked up his ears. Frowning, he lashed his tail on the grass.

We never rehearsed that signal. In fact, we hadn't created any new signals for our new bodies. However, due to our experience battling down laser-blasting aliens, we've learned to understand improvised signals.

"So a cat and a dog walk into a bar," I said conversationally. "The cat sits down and tells the bartender, 'I'll have some H two O.' So then the dog pipes up, 'I'll have some H two O too.' When the bartender returns, the two animals drink and the dog falls over, dead. Do you know what the moral of the story is?"

"Cats are smarter than dogs?" Jake guessed.

I shook my head mournfully. "Nope. Dogs just aren't fortunate enough to have nine lives."

"That does not make any sense," said Ax. "Cats do not have nine lives either."

"Some actually do," said Buddy as he crawled under our bush. "But that's a story for another time."

"That was quick," Cassie commented casually.

"I had a favorable wind and a nice mouse," Buddy replied with a grin. "Come, today's lesson will take place outside."

We ducked out from our bush and stepped into the warm sunlight. "So, what's our lecture about today, oh Wise One?" I asked.

"This is not a lecture, it a lesson. And a review at that," Buddy corrected me.

"Goody," I grumbled.

"First, I need you in pairs," said Buddy. "Ax and Jake. Rachel and Tobias. Cassie and Marco."

We paired of obediently, even though we were all slightly confused. "So… is this a group test?" Rachel guessed.

Buddy smirked. "Wrong," he said. "Jake, step forward. The rest of you, step back." After we did so, Buddy said, "Jake, attack me."

Jake didn't hesitate. All of his warrior instincts were turned on in the flick of a switch. He was a ginger blur as he leapt towards Buddy, who barely managed to jump aside in time. When Jake hit the ground with his forepaws, he used his momentum to swing his body around and face Buddy on all fours. Again, Jake pounced, and again Buddy managed to leap aside. This happened three more times, until Buddy lost his balance in mid dodge. Jake was on him in an instant.

At this point, I thought the match was over, but despite Jake's obviously heavier bulk, Buddy managed to rear his hind legs to kick Jake off. Jake landed with a roll and prepared to strike, but this time Buddy was on the offensive. Jake was forced dodge and block Buddy's strikes, and I noticed that Buddy kept his claws sheathed even as he assaulted Jake with furious speed. Finally, Jake tried to muscle his way through Buddy's attacks. He sent Buddy sprawling to the ground easily. However, when he tried to pin Buddy down, the sly ginger cat managed to twist in a way that left Jake on the bottom. Jake struggled, but he was unable to squirm out of Buddy's grip.

"I yield," Jake finally declared.

Buddy jumped off Jake shook out his ginger fur. "Do you know why you lost?" he asked.

"Because you have more experience than me?" Jake guessed.

Buddy nodded. "I can see that you're used to using ferocity and strength to battle," he correctly deducted. "This works well against some opponents, but around here, strategy is much more important."

"Our strategy is to work together to kick butt!" I piped up.

"Kick butt?" Buddy echoed.

"It is a human expression referring to the defeating of opponents," Ax explained.

Buddy gave Ax a nod of thanks. "Working together is good, but you need to be able to have individual strategies besides raw power. As you can see, Jake has the most fearsome build of all of you, but his strength and size were not enough to defeat me, and I'm only of average build for a feral cat. Some of the clan cats are at least as large and bulky as Jake, which means you will stand little chance in direct combat with your current tactics."

"I thought that they don't fight to kill?" Cassie asked.

"Yes, but some of their more aggressive warriors tend to bend the rules when it comes to non-clan cats," Buddy warned. "Or at least, so I've heard. The point is, you need to learn how to fight properly, or else you won't be able to 'kick butt' as you say."

I snorted at his awkward use of the phrase. I could feel the air quotes in voice. Jake managed to keep a straight face as responded, "Understood."

"What's the first lesson in kitty crushing?" Rachel asked as she lashed her tail back and forth in anticipation.

"First, stop looking at where you're aiming," said Buddy. "Your actions are very predictable, which makes all of your speed and power useless because I have a moment to think of a counterattack before you strike. Jake, try again."

Jake nodded, and sprang for Buddy without losing eye contact. Buddy jumped back, and Jake's leap fell short. Before Jake could recover, Buddy had tackled and pinned him to the ground.

"It's strange focusing on a single opponent," Jake admitted as Buddy let him op once again. "We usually can strike fast and hard enough to overwhelm our enemies. Having to learn how to fight properly is very… different."

"It may be strange to you, but it's vital for your survival. If you can be beaten by an ordinary cat like me, then you'll be in trouble when you run into a real challenge," said Buddy. "Your style of fighting is very good for rats, weaker rogues, and maybe foxes, but not for the clan cats or a seasoned fighter. Strength is valuable, but a smart opponent can make openings that can end a fight. You each will need to learn how to maximize your strengths and counter your weaknesses. Which pair wants to fight?"

"Me!" I cried at the same time as Rachel.

"Cassie and Marco next then," said Buddy. I grinned at Rachel, who stuck out her tongue in response. "Remember, claws must be sheathed at all times. Only use your teeth for nipping and grabbing. No killing bites or neck injuries. Understood?" We both nodded. "Begin!"

I leapt at the same time as Cassie. We collided in mid-air, but despite my smaller size, I was not bowled over. We landed in awkward heap, hissing and batting at each other. Actually, it was kind of silly how we were fighting without using our teeth or claws. At least, it would have been funny if our sheathed blows didn't sting so much.

Cassie wasn't that much bigger than me, but I quickly realized that my smaller size and greater agility allowed me to evade her attacks with ease. However, my limbs were too short to hit her without receiving a stunning blow to the ears.

After some time had passed, we split apart and began circling each other, looking for an opening. Cassie leapt towards me, and I jumped back. I pounced forward when she landed, expecting to use the same move I had seen Buddy use, but Cassie's jump had fallen far shorter than I had expected. Now I was the one unbalanced as she tackled me to the ground. I tried struggling, but Cassie made good use of her larger size to keep me forced to the ground.

"Yield," I muttered under my breath.

"I can't hear you!" Rachel jeered from the sidelines.

I growled, but thankfully, Cassie let me get up without forcing me to repeat myself.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" Cassie asked with concern.

"All I have is my wounded pride," I grumbled.

"Tobias and Rachel, you two are next," said Buddy

Tobias and Rachel didn't immediately leap into battle like the rest of us. They circled around each other and maintained eye contact as they sized each other up. Their match up with the most unbalanced of us. Cassie wasn't too much bigger than me, and I was stocky enough that we weighed roughly the same too. Jake was a beast, but Ax was easily the tallest of us. But Tobias was around Cassie's size, and Rachel was a slimmer version of Jake. Theoretically, Rachel would have an easy win.

"Now all we need is the theme music from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly," I commented.

The two sprung, but they didn't hit each other. Tobias sailed low and far, while Rachel sprang high and didn't land too far away from where she started. Rachel took the offensive immediately by plowing towards Tobias. Tobias leapt over her head, an impressive feat considering he wasn't that much bigger than I was. When Rachel turned around and charged again, Tobias leapt over her once more. Rachel jumped up to intercept, but Tobias took that opportunity to smack into her paws first. Unfortunately, he didn't have nearly enough strength to knock Rachel over. When they hit the ground, Tobias was squashed under Rachel's sizable bulk.

"Great job, Xena! Too bad bird-boy!" I called out.

"My form isn't as strong as the rest of yours," Tobias wheezed.

"Neither is Cassie's but she still managed to whoop Marco," said Rachel. "Now yield." After Tobias had muttered his submission, Rachel finally got off him.

"I believe it is time for Prince Jake and I to have our round?" Ax queried.

Buddy shook his head. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to borrow Jake and Cassie for a bit," he announced to all of us. "Tobias, you're now paired up with Marco. Rachel, you're up against Ax. Make sure not to kill each other while we're gone!"


~Cassie~

Buddy led Jake and I down to a calm brook. "You two are going to need to learn more than the others," he told us.

"Why?" Jake asked in surprise. "Anything we should know, the others should know as well."

"Yes, but to is not for me to tell them," said Buddy. His trademark smile was no longer present. Instead, he looked completely serious as he addressed us. "Jake, as leader, it your responsibility to give crucial information to the ones you lead. It is also you're right to conceal information, as you should already know from your experience."

Jake nodded knowingly.

"But why am I here?" I asked. "I'm not a leader, and I'm nowhere near the running for second-in-command. That's usual Ax or Marco's job."

"Do you remember what I taught you about clan leadership hierarchy yesterday?" Buddy asked.

I felt that answering a question with another question was aggravating, but decided not to tell him so. "The leader's word is law, the deputy is the second-in-command and future leader, and the medicine cat functions as an advisor and sometimes an ambassador," I recited.

"Excellent," said Buddy with a purr. "In a group as small as yours, there is no need for you to recognize a deputy under normal circumstances. However, you, Jake, are the obvious leader of your group. If you can command respect from the leaders of other clans, it will aid your mission considerably."

"But what am I here for?" I asked.

"I believe it's obvious," Buddy mewed.

I looked at Jake, who nodded in agreement. "What do you—oh," I said in realization. For some reason, that role had completely slipped my mind.

"That is right, Cassie," said Buddy. "You are effectively your group's medicine cat."

"But I don't know how to use medicine like this!" I exclaimed as I stretched my paws forward. "I can set a broken bone just fine with hands, but I've never tried to do it with paws. And I've only used human medicine. What kind of medicines do cats use? Herbs?"

"What else would we use?" Buddy asked. "Don't worry about the skills; I'll be training you to the best of my ability. The only thing you must do is take the role. With this structure, the clans will find it easier to respect you. Maybe StarClan will talk to you one day to give you words of wisdom, or maybe they won't. Regardless, you need to be the calm voice of reason in your group. Can you do that?"

I took a moment to think about this. The title carried a heavy responsibility, but then I realized, I was going to do pretty much the exact same thing as I usually did. Questioning the brutal efficiency of the other Animorphs had always been my job. I wouldn't have to change anything about myself. "Yes," I said confidently.

Buddy grinned. "Jake, you can head back to the others. It's time for Cassie to learn about natural remedies."


Three sunrises ago…

~Leafpool~

Leafpool was already awake before the first rays of dawn broke through the forest canopy. Leafpool was already awake before the birds had begun their pre-dawn songs. Leafpool was already awake before the dew had settled on the grass.

And yet, she still hadn't seen Jayfeather.

"You're up early," Squirrelflight, her sister, yawned as she stumbled out of the warrior's den. Her ginger fur was roughly groomed, with stray clumps of fur sticking out at odd angles. Her signature bushy tail was even worse, with clearly visible bits of moss stuck to it.

"Couldn't sleep," Leafpool replied. Her eye amber eyes showed her tiredness, and her tabby brown fur was as unkempt as her sister's. "Something was bothering me."

Squirrelflight's green eyes jumped open. "StarClan?" she asked in surprise.

Leafpool shook her head. While Bramblestar had allowed Leafpool to use her skills to help the clan, she was Medicine Cat in name only at this point. Only Jayfeather still had the right to speak with StarClan properly, "Not StarClan, but I still felt something," Leafpool insisted.

Squirrelflight shrugged. "Ask Jayfeather about it then," she said. "I'm sure he'll be up by sunhigh."

"He's not here."

Squirreflight blinked in surprise. "Come again?"

"He's not here," Leafpool repeated. "I've been waiting for him to return from the Moonpool since before dawn, but he still hasn't returned."

Squirrelflight frowned. "That's strange, he should've been back ages ago," she said. She eyed the warriors who were lumbering out of their den. "I'll send a patrol to make sure he's okay," she promised.

"Thank you," Leafpool said graciously. She watched as Squirrelflight sauntered to the warriors and began barking out orders.

It turned out that Squirrelflight's offer was unnecessary. Jayfeather suddenly burst through the camp entrance as if a herd of badgers were chasing him. "Where's Bramblestar?" he asked as he perked up his ears and opened his mouth. Leafpool recognized that he did this when he was trying to make full use of his other senses.

"In his den," Squirrelflight replied with concern and no small amount of confusion. "Is everything alright?"

"Do I look like everything's alright?" he snapped sarcastically. "Come with me to Bramblestar's den, there's something important I need to tell you. You too, Leafpool."

The two she-cats nodded, though Squirrelflight looked a bit perturbed being orered around by her surrogate son. "Cloudtail, get your patrol moving!" Squirrelflight yowled over her shoulder as we approached Bramblestar's den.

Squirrelflight and Leafpool had the decency to announce our arrivals as we approached the den, but Jayfeather simply barged in. Bramblestar was already awake, but Leafpool still frowned at the blatant disregard for authority. Jayfeather was brash and snappy, but he hadn't been so wound up in moons.

"What is it, Jayfeather?" Bramblestar asked in alarm. He too had noticed Jayfeather's agitation.

"I have received an omen," Jayfeather began gravely.


My visit to the Moonstone was quiet. Firestar was there. He didn't say much, only to be vigilant in the moons to come. The other medicine cats also seemed troubled by their visits. On my way back, I decided to look for some comfrey and other herbs. Eventually, I found myself at the lake, even though I was not near any of the herb beds.

Then, I heard a rustling nearby. I turned around saw a maple tree sprout among the trees of our forest. Beside it, a fir tree began growing from a rotten stump. However, the fir tree was dead and rotten even as it grew alongside the maple tree.

The two trees towered over me, and then I saw the night sky turn blood red. The trees came crashing down, cats fled running and screaming, but when the red light from the sky shone on them, they were safe. I didn't know how, but they were. Even as the two trees toppled towards us, every cat that stood exposed to the blood red sky only watched the spectacle calmly; and miraculously, the trees' branches missed them.


When Jayfeather finished his tale, the three older cats looked back at me with a mixture of puzzlement and concern.

"What does this mean?" Squirrleflight asked.

"When strangers take root and old enemies arise, destruction will only be averted through a sacrifice of blood," Jayfeather recited.

"What old enemies?" Bramblestar asked.

"What does StarClan mean by this?" Leafpool asked.

"I'm not sure," Jayfeather admitted. "The words were whispered to me by a voice, but I can't remember whose it was. Which was strange, because StarClan usually don't conceal their identities. And if I was going to receive an omen, why did they wait until after

"I should've gone with you to the moonpool," said Leafpool mournfully.

"Many of StarClan still don't recognize you as a medicine cat anymore," Squirrelflight reminded her. "There was nothing you could have done."

"We must take precautions," said Bramblestar.

"Don't you think we should wait until we have a sign that things are really bad before we take drastic measures?" Leafpool asked.

"I'm not going to take drastic measures," said Bramblestar. "I will only make sure that we prepare ourselves unless I see reason to relax. We've barely recovered from the Dark Forest's assault. It's too soon to deal with another catastrophe on our paws. Squirrelflight, make sure we have three border patrols a day. No apprentice will be allowed to leave camp without the company of a warrior. Tell everyone to report to me directly if they smell anything unusual."

"And what should I tell them if they ask for a reason?" Squirrelflight asked.

"Tell them only that we need to make sure these rogues we've scented know to keep their distance," the ThunderClan leader replied. "Don't tell them about the prophecy yet, we want to remain alert, but we do not want a panic."

Noticing that the news bearer had fallen silent, Leafpool turned to the clan's medicine cat, only to find him shivering. "Jayfeather?" Leafpool said with concern. "Are you alright?"

"I don't know," the grey tabby replied. "That vision, it was different. Raw."

"Raw?" Bramblestar echoed.

Jayfeather nodded. "The vision wasn't too different from what I've seen from StarClan, but the feeling behind felt a lot more powerful."

Bramblestar hummed softly as he thought. "Do you think we should treat this differently from any other vision?" he finally asked.

Jayfeather shook his head. "I don't really know if it matters in the long run," he responded.

Bramblestar nodded. "Then we'll continue as planned. Dismissed."

Leafpool watch Jayfeather's back as they left the den. She knew him well enough to know that he was hiding something. There was something in that vision that frightened him. Oh well, she thought. Hopefully, we'll get to enjoy at least another few moons of peace before the prophecy comes to pass. Despite her optimistic thoughts, she could feel a stone of dread settling in her stomach. Somehow, she knew things were going be very bad, very soon.


School's starting for me next week, so I'm going to hold off the chapters. I've already written the next one, but I find it very good to have a chapter on hand for emergency times of writer's block.

Edit Note: I'm trying to consistently have Animorph POVs been in first person (like their books) and have the Warriors POVs in third person (like their books), but it's a pain to keep it straight.

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