Safariaster’s (144) kit has been apprenticed to Xhosa (105).  Hopefully Xhosa’s quiet cunning will help even out Nettlepaw’s (6) more flamboyant tendencies.  There are now almost the same number of apprentices as warriors.  The leadership has taken an interest in Downgaze (18).  Both Primcrest (79) and Creekstar(91) want to spend more time with him (he is Creekstar’s son and Primcrest’s nephew, but I’m sure that has nothing to do with it).  Primcrest is proud of how far Frostpaw (12) has come and is excited to see what she achieves once she’s a warrior.  Vaxxstreak (123)  notices that Echomoor (18) has been helping around the camp a lot lately.  He really wants to do something to prove himself.  Meanwhile, Shinepaw (12) is still being rude to her fellow apprentices.  Amberwhisker (96) tries bringing her behavior up to her, but it ends in a fight that Hopedawn (26) has to break up.  Hopedawn talks with Shinepaw and tries to help her work through her feelings about losing Eaglepaw in a healthy way.  Skippaw (12) is distracted by wondering what her visions mean.  She even calls Hopedawn the wrong name.  Creekstar is curious about these visions and wants to get to know Skippaw better.  Meanwhile, in the Dark Forest, Yuccawillow is watching Creekstar with a sly smile.

The terrible triad is now back to being the fearsome foursome!  After a long, hard journey, Archpaw (29) has found her way back to the Clan.  In a much overdue (and much celebrated) ceremony, she is given the warrior name of Archdapple in honor of her spirit.  She’s already making her sisters laugh with her antics, although she is saddened to hear of Frostblotch’s death and the loss of Brightmouse’s (29) mate.  And it’s good news for Paleburst (33) to have a star-blessed cat in the Clan who can assist with healing.  She helps Sweet Marmalade (39) heal from his broken bone, only for him to immediately get his tail injured by falling rocks.  Primcrest (96) feels like they should just declare Skipneedle (29) and Bluestripe (29) proven already, but Creekstar (108) disagrees, leading to an argument.  However, their argument turns out to be somewhat unnecessary when Skipneedle saves Spotfoot (35) from a dog and selflessly takes the lion’s share of the run leading the dog away from the territory.  That earns her the title of proven.  Her sisters are glad to celebrate with her. Vaxxstreak (140) is also excited to have Archdapple back and tells her an embarrassing story about Skipneedle.  Dawnfreckle (37) sees Bluestripe stumble while hunting and thinks it’s cute that the usually poised she-cat can stumble.  Nettlestripe (23) is not a fan of the Clan’s youngest warrior and thinks that Cavecatcher (12) is annoying.

Healer’s den: Lakepelt (greencough), Whorlstorm (broken bone), Hatchswipe (mangled leg)

Creekstar’s (86) final kit has become a warrior.  Spotpaw (13) is now Spotfoot, in honor of his steadfastness.  Primcrest (74) is stressed with training yet another apprentice.  On top of that, it’s hard to keep Echomoor (13) convinced to keep the true cause of his sister’s death a secret.  He feels like it would help both him and Creekstar.  But he trusts the advice of the deputy and keeps it quiet.  Because of all this, Eaglepaw (7) was trying to tell Primcrest how his training was going, but she was noticeably distracted.  Tumbleswoop (21) ends up needing to fix something with Bluepaw (7) and gets into an argument with her.  She was trying to use her earth magic to grow the moss in the nursery, but Tumbleswoop freaks out and snaps at her.  Palepaw (11) has to step in and fix it instead.  Dawnfreckle (16) has been obsessed with finding a way to prove himself, lately, to take some of the stress of his mother.  It’s led to him not doing a ton of work around camp, and cats (like Smokefoot-21) are noticing.  He also gets into an argument with Archpaw (7).  It’s a little intimidating when the dark-cursed and star-blessed cats are fighting.  Archpaw hasn’t let her star-blessed powers come between her and her dark-cursed littermates, though.  She makes sure to spend some time playing with Skippaw (7) when they both have a break from training.  Archpaw also covers for Frostpaw (7) when she sneaks out of camp to escape the adults’ supervision. Bluepaw is glad that there are older dark-cursed cats in the Clan and asks Echomoor if he can give her advice for training with Creekstar, as she is his mother, after all.  Bluepaw is determined to do well and wants to become a warrior before Streamkit (3) is made an apprentice.  Unlikely, but possible.  However, the Clan receives an unfortunate omen.  While on patrol, Archpaw, the one star-blessed cat in the Clan, is captured by twolegs.  That can’t be good.

Whelp, that streak of good luck ended.  The greenleaf rains hit hard, and, being underground, the camp is prone to flooding.  ElementClan also doesn’t have many water-blessed cats (only Cilantro-69-and Silverpsots-26), so they are at a serious disadvantage if their were to cave flood.  Which, of course, it did.  Lightheather (25) was the first one to sound the alarm that the waters were rising.  In the aftermath, he can’t help but wonder if tragedy would have been prevented had he had acted sooner.  The nursery, where Cypressbadger (74), Cilantro, and the kits were hanging out, was hit hard.  Lotuskit (4) and Rubblekit (4) didn’t know how to swim.  Cypressbadger was able to get Rubblekit out, but, when she went back to try and help Cilantro and Lotuskit, she found that Cilantro had hit her head on a treebranch, sinking to the bottom of the cavern with Lotuskit in tow.  Cypressbadger tried to save them, but was unable to and drowned as well.  Fry (114) helped Chiku (142) to safety. He regretted that he never had the chance to confess his feelings before he succumbed to the waves.  Timberarch (125) tried to help Tornflake (35) and Glowquake (44), both of whom were injured, to safety, but the waves took all three of them. After the floodwaters recede, Chiku lies next to Fry’s body as the Clan sits vigil for him.  His world has ended with Fry’s.  Chiku never considered the possibility that he would one day be without Fry and wishes that they had had more time together. Primcrest (50) and Wildcave (91) are devastated by the loss of their father.  Primcrest wails when she sees Fry’s body, laying still and cold.  If she were more talented with her water magic, could she have saved him?  Once the vigil ends, Primcrest curls tightly in her nest, her throat raw from crying.   For Wildcave, Fry was his last tie to his life before the Clan.  Losing him feels like losing a tail, or a limb, or his shadow.  Wildcave relied on Fry, trusted him, and contemplating moving on from the loss seems impossible.  He and Primcrest hold each other close, taking comfort in their sibling bond.  Primcrest also lost Glowquake, which tears at her.  Primcrest takes comfort in Rubblekit.  Despite they’re rocky start, he reminds her a lot of Cragpaw. Then there’s Frecklestone (35), who lost her only surviving family member.  And little Rubblekit, who lost his mom. He doesn’t really understand what happened, so Creekstar (62) tries to explain it to him.  It’s hard.  She can’t help but blame herself for how the Clan is faring.  How could she do better?  The Clan has known so much loss.  Will it never end?  

Unfortunately, Cragpaw (8) could not beat greencough and died.  The young cat had been doted on by the Clan and they are sorry to see him go.  Creekstar (59) is especially broken up.  Yet another cat has died on her watch.  Is she truly that bad of a leader?  If a star-blessed cat were leader, would they have been able to step up and heal Cragpaw?  Primcrest (47) and her mate are also shaken by the loss of their only kit.  It feels wrong that he should have died so young.  Why can’t they escape loss?  The Clan does need some lifting up, so Creekstar decides to try and act like she’s alright (even though she’s not).  She notices that Fry (112) is upset with the death of his grandkit, so she hides behind a bush to pounce on him.  Rubblekit (1), despite being young, notices that something is up with Creekstar and asks her how she’s doing.  She appreciates it, but doesn’t want to trouble the kit.  Primcrest is feeling a bit lost and asks Creekstar for advice on how to keep going.  Creekstar supposes that giving someone else assistance helps. She suggests helping out Cypressbadger (71) in the nursery.  Primcrest is still not a fan of Rubblekit.  She thinks he’s so much more stuck up and rude than her Cragkit was.  And he’s always using his wind powers to make a breeze whistle through the camp.  And boost the sound of his yowling.  Can’t Cypressbadger get that under control?

Healer’s den: Dawnstar (whitecough), Bumble (broken bone), Embershell (frostbite), Dapplemuzzle (bite wound, torn pelt), Petalfrost (sprain), Copperheart (running nose), Flailvalley (small cut)

New personalities: Mistytooth (insecure, lore master, and steady paws)