Hello! I have a quick question, if you can answer, if not that's chill too. So, it was mentioned at the very beginning by of the comic when Sheriff Crestedstar was getting his lives that cats need to "die" before being able to speak to Starclan. How can medicine cats speak to them if that's the case?
Hello, thank you for the ask! So, there's a lot I wish I had dived into at the start of the comic, especially Starclan. If I could go back now, I would've changed a lot about Crestedstar's interaction with Rattail, but oh well. But to actually answer your question, Healers have to die to be able to speak to Starclan, which is why Blackstripe is especially picky with who he'll choose as his apprentice. Usually, when a healer apprentice is going to graduate, their mentor will take them to the Moonshard, and kill them right in front of the Moonshard. If Starclan approves of the choice, they give a medicine cat a life for "safe travels", and their revived, solidifying their connection to Starclan.
The ceremony can and does fail often though. If Starclan doesn't approve of the choice of apprentice, the apprentice just stays dead. Blackstripe had a very late ceremony but was accepted by Starclan.
Honestly, there's a lot I want to cover about Starclan, but the only opportunity I have in the near future is at the tail end of year three. I'll probably make a lore post about it.
Thank you for the ask again, and sorry for the rambling.
