Goosekit is listening to an unnamed elder tell a story about TigerClan when his mother calls for him. He wants to stay with the elder and hear more but she shoos him away. Goosekit finds his mother then goes to the fresh kill pile. He has a hard time navigating the camp because there are so many cats there. He makes his way back to his mother, speaking about how overwhelmed he is. She is amused and tells him there are no more cats then usual and that they are his clan and will protect him. His sister Moonkit is playing with Stormpaw. Goosekit tells his mother that one day Stormpaw will try to kill him with a badger attack. His mother, Daisytoe, does not believe him and tells him to stop making up stories. But Goosekit insists so she tells him he needs to stop listening to the elder's stories. Goosekit won't be swayed and believes Stormpaw to be the meanest cat in ThunderClan.
Goosekit is playing hide and seek with the other kits. When it is his turn to find the other cats a warrior he doesn't know tells him where they are hidden. Because he found them right away the other cats accuse him of cheating and declare they don't want to play with him anymore. Goosekit is upset since he feels he didn't actually cheat - he didn't ask the strange cat to tell him where everyone was hiding, he volunteered the information. There is a commotion when Cloudberry, the medicine cat, asks after Swiftpaw. Swiftpaw was supposed to be gathering herbs for her but hasn't returned to camp yet and should have a while ago. Patrols are started to go look for her and Goosekit asks the strange cat why he doesn't look for Swiftpaw. The cat responds that he is an apprentice and isn't sure he can go out to look for her but he asks a passing warrior after Swiftpaw. He responds that last he knew Swiftpaw was at Sunningrocks and leaves. Goosekit runs over to the warriors and blurts out that he knows where Swiftpaw is.
Everyone else thinks Goosekit is making it up and refuse to go to Sunningrocks but Larksong and Mumblefoot take him seriously and leave. They return with Swiftpaw but when the cats try to thank them they respond that Goosekit is the one who deserves thanks. When they question him about how he knew he tells them a warrior he doesn't know told him. No one believes him and insist that he tell the truth. Cloudberry steps up for him and tells the cats that it doesn't matter since Swiftpaw is safe, then she takes Goosekit to Doestar and has him repeat everything. After talking about what happened Cloudberry then takes Goosekit outside to show her other cats that he doesn't know. Cloudberry realizes that Goosekit can see dead cats. She tells him he has a gift but must keep it a secret and decides she must train Goosekit to be a medicine cat.
Swiftpaw is made a warrior and then, even though he is only four moons old, Doestar names Goosekit as a medicine cat apprentice. This causes some grumbling in the clan since he is not six moons old yet. Some cats - including Larksong, Mumblefoot, and Moonkit - cheer him while others - including Stormtail (formerly Stonepaw) and Nettlebreeze glare. Cloudberry takes him to the Moonstone for the first time for the medicine cat gathering. Some of the cats are welcoming, while others, like Echosnout the RiverClan medicine cat who was Cloudberry's mentor, are less welcoming. As they settle down Goosepaw asks why he has to do this since he sees StarClan all the time and is practically a medicine cat already. Cloudberry points out to him that there is more to being a medicine cat then speaking to StarClan and tells him to settle down. But as he does dead cats emerge from the shadows and start speaking to him all at once, telling him of events to come and overwhelming him. (They speak of a cat who burns like fire - Firestar. Of fickle hearts - Spottedleaf. Of more water then any cat has ever seen - probably the sun drown place. Listening to midnight - the badger. The lake running red with the blood of brothers - Brambleclaw killing Hawkfrost. ShadowClan soaring above all - not sure, possibly the rise of Tigerstar. Leopard and Tiger feasting on bones - Tigerstar and Leopardstar's alliance. Rivers of blood washing away everything the clans know - I assume the fight with the Dark Forest.) Scared and overwhelmed, Goosepaw runs away. Cloudberry follows him, telling him he cannot leave before the ceremony is over. He refuses to return, telling Cloudberry of the dead cats. She tells him they will have to figure out a way for him to ignore them.
Goosepaw is practicing memorizing herbs with Pearnose's help. Moonpaw overhears him and asks who he is talking to. Knowing his sister cannot see the dead cat he tells her he is talking to himself. Moonpaw leaves to find Stormtail and Pearnose dismisses Goosepaw. As he goes back to camp he has a vision of kittypets attacking a ThunderClan patrol. He doesn't know if this is an image of the past or the future. Suddenly another cat is there, telling him that the kittypets are strong. She is enjoying watching the fight and when Goosepaw asks her who she is, she is surprised that ThunderClan has forgotten her already. The vision fades and Goosepaw races back to camp. He tries to act like everything is normal but then he hears Squirrelwhisker's patrol isn't back yet. He goes to Doestar's den, seeking out Cloudberry to tell her of the vision he had. Cloudberry has Goosepaw tell Doestar, who orders Pineheart to take a patrol. Pineheart is annoyed, feeling they shouldn't be listening to an apprentice but Cloudberry points out that Goosepaw is a medicine cat. When Pineheart returns with the missing cats Doestar calls a clan meeting to acknowledge Goosepaw, and to ask Cloudberry to give him his full medicine cat name. Cloudberry agrees causing some cats (including Moonpaw and Stormtail) to become upset but other cats (like Squirrelwhisker) are supportive.
Okay, I will admit, Goosepaw is not the most likeable cat, however his clanmates seem to have a real problem with respecting medicine cats. A medicine cat is supposed to be a place of honor, yet all of his clanmates seem very dismissive of him. I get that he was made an apprentice very young, and I know his clan wasn't told why, yet they don't seem to care that StarClan chose him for this path from birth. Even Pineheart is not supportive. I don't know if he knows about Goosepaw's visions or not, but he is constantly talking down to Goosepaw. One day he will be clan leader and Goosepaw his medicine cat - granted, he doesn't know this but, at the same time, it is the logical assumption to make - yet he is wholly uninterested in anything Goosepaw has to say and dismisses it outright despite the number of times Goosepaw has been right.
I did wonder at Ravenwing's death, and what ThunderClan would do. It is nice to see that RiverClan sent a fully trained medicine cat to them. And I bet anything that the cat who was enjoying the vision of the kittypets and ThunderClan fighting is Mapleshade - which makes me worry for Goosepaw's future. He is already bitter and struggling with his visions and his status as an outsider. He doesn't need Mapleshade filling his head with lies too.
On a final note, it was nice to see all the references to things that have yet to happen, and seeing that StarClan foretold of them long before. Especially since they didn't necessarily give away the outcome. Hawkfrost could have killed Brambleclaw. Leopard and Tiger could have feasted on the bones of the clans instead of prey. Spottedleaf could have fallen for Thistleclaw completely. All they did was foretell that these moments would come, not the outcome of those moments. So it was nice.
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