You sir desrve a fav, hope you update soon

been a while since I wrote a review

man, i loved maple in this chapter. felt almost like a breath of fresh air. i am a bit curious what grass’s thoughts were during this, but im definitely glad it was maples pov. i like that sapere obviously knew they were faking being friends, and that it ended with having them really talk to each other. i’m glad that grass opened up a bit too, it really seems like a step in the right direction for both of them.

I wonder how Maple is going to act around the others now. Grass made it pretty clear that she shouldn’t act fake around Cloud at least. Will the others notice a change? Hmm.

Overall, lovely chapter! Now I’m definitely going to get whiplash from this character development.

And we’re getting progress! Real, genuine progress! I’m so proud of then, and I’m glad you’re giving both their opinions merit. Yes, it’s wonderful to want to be a better person, but not so much you’re faking everything. At the same time, you shouldn’t refuse to consider others’ feelings.

And that Grassfur can open up about Sweetleaf...that definitely means something. (It’s also probably good to get that off his chest. Now if only Maple would do the same about her past!)

Seriously looking forward to how their relationship shifts over the rest of the fic; I know I’ve said it before, but they’re both so interesting and fleshed out and just fascinating to watch interact.

Happy birthday! I haven't done one of these in a while, but I'll be going through this while we're all still locked down.

Cloudtuft is a good mediator between Flamepaw and Stonefall. As previously noted, Flamepaw inhibits Stonefall's growth as a warrior by being such a fireball, and so Cloudtuft's intervention gives Stonefall time to think without being interrupted by his crippling self-esteem problems.

The thing is, we can assume that Cloudtuft is wrong because Grassfur dying is narratively unacceptable to his arc, and Maplepool dying is narratively unacceptable to the mystery box of her past. Flamepaw as she exists now fills the role of the traditional hero: the youth who is the hope of her people. To this point, Trials has been a fairly traditional journey, which has enabled Flamepaw to take on a leading role. It's natural to see that, if we too make prediction based on narrative reasoning, Flamepaw's assumptions hold true whereas Cloudtuft's don't.

With that, let's talk blind spots. Flamepaw and Cloudtuft both having gaping blind spots this chapter. Flamepaw's is in recognizing danger: this idea has already been developed with the dog fight and her initial response to the blizzard, and there's not much more to be said there. Cloudtuft's is more interesting.

Cloudtuft gets a lot of inner conflict and narration, but there's not much to comment on there other than how he's constructed a mental self-image to fall back on in times of weakness, which creates weakness when that self-image contradicts his emotional response.

He exists so deeply inside his self-image that he can be perfectly 'honest' within it (meaning rejecting the emotional desire to believe his brother and crush are alive) and not creating internal conflict. Let's look at what he's thinking about when pushed to the brink: Grassfur, and friendship. He lists seven things that are wrong. The first was the fight with his brother (presumably the one about Maplepool back in Chapter 13). It exposes his thought process.

What he does in the chapter is isolate himself in a particular state of mind: "Cloudtuft the thinker, Cloudtuft the analyzer", and this mindset absolutely refuses the existence of a living Grassfur and Maplepool. He wants to spare his traveling partners the burden of what he believes to be the truth; this seems to also be an attempt to spare the emotional and fragile part of himself.

With major blind spots in both Flamepaw and Cloudtuft, I think it's safe to say that it'll be up to Stonefall to carve the best path forward. And so this group of three have their personal conflicts this arc set up, and potential for learning from each other. Cloudtuft needs to move past hiding away in a small part of himself; Flamepaw would be a great help, as someone who lives in accordance with her and her alone. Stonefall needs to step up and make decisions, which Cloudtuft has done to this point. Flamepaw may have her worldview of the unknown shaken by impending suffering.

We’re making progress! Good on you Grassfur!

Am I the only one getting the feeling Sweetleaf might not be the best cat for Grassfur, romantically? It sounds like she coddles him on bad behavior. Yes, it’s important to support the person you love, but also to help them be the best version of themself. And as Sapere put it, Grassfur as he is now is “at his worst”.

Guess that’s why I like his dynamic with her and Maplepool so much XD You do care about Sapere Grassfur, yes you do, and it’s so sweet! And him and Maplepool just have the most interesting hate-love “challenge each other” relationship.

Can’t wait to see how their trip for the bees works out!

Ahhh Stonefall feels the way I do with other people haha! Poor boy.
I really like your writing style by the way, it's unlike anything I've seen before but I'm greatly enjoying the atmosphere it gives!

- DETAILS -

"Flamepaw had falen from the lead despite her best efforts and she was now flanked on the right by Grassfur, the way they had been last night. Cloudtuft, Maplepool, and Stonefall himself ended up in the rear, in that order from left to right."

It's altogether fitting that this ordering reminds us of the order of capability as warriors, which (in my opinion) from most to least effective in normal circumstances goes Flamepaw/Grassfur, Cloudtuft/Maplepool, and finally Stonefall (whose potential is only really unlocked when he's forced into stressful positions that overwhelm his typical restraint).

The way they're grouped also reminds us of Stonefall's flaw in his self-perception. We have a clear idea of four personal motivations (Maplepool's still elucidates us outside of a generic idea of duty to WindClan), and three are living their wish. Flamepaw is adventuring and experiencing something very new in the blizzard; Grassfur is advancing swiftly towards the possibility of finding Sweetleaf; Cloudtuft is spending time with a new friend. Only Stonefall's position contradicts his motivation. He wants to go on the journey to prove himself, but he hangs in the rear, not fully living up to his potential.

- FLAMEPAW, DAWNHEART, AND STONEFALL -

The Flamepaw/Dawnheart parallel is noted by Stonefall here in elemental terms, both living as "fire", though I think Stonefall applies a little too much distinction in describing them, influenced by his long history with his sister. There is a key difference in their relative satisfaction levels (Flamepaw is much happier overall), and their ambitions are aimed in different directions (Dawnheart's is within the Clan, whereas Flamepaw's is at the outside) - the Impossibility Ch. 2 review provides more of my thoughts on the similarities and differences from before this chapter - but it's still the fire that draws Stonefall.

- PHILOSOPHY -

Of course the philosophical elements become prominent from Stonefall's POV, as the most thoughtful of our characters. Importantly, neither Grassfur nor Stonefall consider their beliefs in an intellectual framework, but rather their beliefs are intertwined with who they are and who they want to be.

Stonefall wonders if he could change who he is just by trying, and he chooses to believe that - after all, he's unhappy with who he is and tries to hide himself (from his own perception, especially), and if he resigned himself to believing that he can't change who he is, he would lose that motivation to prove himself (which is more accurately framed as changing himself to become his ideal of a warrior).

The direction that Stonefall dabbles in before doubt sets in is getting a little close to existentialism. Sartre rather aptly describes the heart of existentialism in his lecture "Existentialism is a Humanism", stating, "existence precedes essence". The question of existence and essence is what dominates Stonefall's thinking. When explained poorly, trying to describe all this is a mess (e.g. "Essence is what a thing is, and existence is what a thing ... is"), but for Stonefall's purpose, his essence is the "I" that is fundamentally him - without it, he ceases to be Stonefall. Existence is the "I" that is Stonefall. Stonefall chooses to believe that "I was made this way, yes, but I can make myself however I want to be" - and the second half is key to existentialism's view of the self as a being-in-the-world and is given shape by one's own choices and actions. Essentially, to the existentialist, the matter of essence - that fundamental quality - emerges only after one already exists. Stonefall's "tendency" towards shyness is a bit more superficial than his "essence", but he reaches that quality through a similar process to considering essence: Grassfur (post-Sweetleaf death) can be reduced to pure anger and Flamepaw reduced to pure optimism and remain intact (i.e. recognizable).

What's different about shyness is that its properties are not like anger or optimism. Reduction to pure shyness is a loss of form (picture the violet that shrinks to nothingness). It happens to be vaguely Cartesian (the whole "I think, therefore I am") where the self is alienated, but it's distinct because the Cartesian self is found by removing the world from "I", whereas absolute shyness is the removal of "I" from the world (thereby recognizing that the world exists prior to the recognition that "I exist"). This is a potential line of thinking Stonefall could've gone down, but it's for the best that he doesn't have that tendency, and for good reason. His motivation is to prove himself, after all - it's recognition. And yet to be reduced to pure shyness is to deny the ability to gain that recognition. If Stonefall believes it is his core tendency to be shy, then he must believe he can act against his core tendency. This is why he's unable to simply accept his beliefs.

Still, while he halts his philosophical thinking because of his self-doubt, Stonefall takes a major step towards healing his mental wounds. For a brief moment, his mindset shifts from "I am unhappy with who I am" to the next step, "I can change who I am".

- STONEFALL AND THRUSHFEATHER -

I've found Stonefall's belief that Thrushfeather wanted to get rid of him to be laughable since the first chapter. I might be misreading the situation entirely, but it does irritate me every time he dives down that rabbit hole. This time is worse, because he's been through enough experiences that he ought to have a better view of himself (since I also believe Stonefall is projecting his own self-esteem issues onto Thrushfeather).

I have mixed feelings about what he's trying to do, which is good - it'd be boring if he just had a straight and narrow path to self-actualization. Specifically, I find his thought, "Don't be a Stonefall when you can choose to be a Flamepaw" to be disturbing, though not unexpected. Flamepaw is something akin to Stonefall's ideal warrior specifically because she is so different from him (and her resemblances to Dawnheart, who dominates Stonefall's perception of what a warrior is). The problem is that he can try to become Flamepaw, sure, but he sure can't be Flamepaw. To do so would be to replace Stonefall. It's the same desire to be something other than oneself that he's had this entire time. Flamepaw isn't a solution for him - she's just part of the exact same problem. It's a barrier that's preventing him from realizing himself.

- GRASSFUR -

Reading Grassfur's POV is fun. He's moving the blame to anywhere but him because he doesn't want to acknowledge how hurt he is by the possibility that he might have some fault in this. His self-conception can't acknowledge that, as it contradicts the image he's created of himself.

So far, Grassfur's been the most conflicted character, mostly since his contradiction is between who he wants to be and who he is, unlike other candidates for the dubious honor (since Flamepaw's contradiction needn't arise until much later, and Maplepool has learned to repress her feelings fairly effectively). The source of this contradiction, of course, is the pain from losing Sweetleaf, so if all goes well, Grassfur will probably have the first opportunity to start repairing himself out of all of them: "Failure is not an option" is just tempting fate.

- GRASSFUR, MAPLEPOOL, and CLOUDTUFT -

I don't necessarily disagree with Grassfur's assessment of Maplepool. She is the least notable protagonist so far and the only one who still has a fairly unclear motivation. That's not really grounds for hatred, but Grassfur's pretty much an angsty teen, so it doesn't have to be rational.

And Grassfur's getting clearer recollections of his dream, which is the most interesting wrench to throw into the relationship between these three so far.

- ADVENTURE -

If there's one POV I want to see right now, it's Flamepaw's reaction to leaving the Twolegplace, because even for Grassfur, the sight of wilderness was something to behold. That being said, Grassfur's POV was very important for my favorite line this chapter:

"He was breathless from the wind, enlivened by the sky, strengthed [sic] by the soil beneath his paws... and for once, at peace with the world that stretched before him." This is precisely the kind of excitement that he'd lost with Sweetleaf, and it reappears like a narrative counterbalance to the gap growing between him and Cloudtuft over Maplepool.

- STONEFALL AND FLAMEPAW -

The past few chapters have aligned Stonefall and Flamepaw as friends and allies. Stonefall is introverted and awkward to Flamepaw's extroversion and confidence, which makes for a good character dynamic, as Flamepaw is rarely malicious. This contrast goes deeper in this chapter with Flamepaw's recollection of the battle, as she values self-preservation first (a value she adopts from her Clan, perhaps even more than usual due to being their only hope and all that), whereas Stonefall demonstrated that he valued the livelihood of others above his own.

Nevertheless, Flamepaw seems to admire that ("She should have jumped down, should have fought the dog with him even if she died with it") - this reflects the established pattern where her personal desires do not align with the desires of Darkstar and her Clan, and it parallels Stonefall's own admiration of her skills as a warrior and her confident mindset. Both have traits that the other want but can't really have, so they spend time together. And, of course, they've developed non-verbal communication, which is always a good step.

An interesting development is that Flamepaw doesn't like the Twolegplace and its stifling atmosphere, which is the first time her wanderlust has been challenged.

Flamepaw has also demonstrated that she's not all that great at analyzing other cats, and while she's fairly nice, she's also a little short on empathy. This pairs nicely with Stonefall, who so far has been the best at analyzing others. Specifically, Flamepaw has an ironclad sense of self, one that absolutely dominates her worldview. There's no room for anyone except Flamepaw. She refuses to try to understand Mintpaw/Brave better because the act of doing so would intrude on her sense of self. This is the opposite trait of Stonefall's worldview, which allows entry from everybody except himself.

- MINTPAW AND UNITY -

Our protagonists so far have demonstrated an important trait that Mintpaw's group seems to have lacked, which is loyalty within the group (as opposed to loyalty along Clan lines). This may be a benefit from the smaller group size, as it requires inter-Clan communication (especially since Grassfur is so prickly), whereas a group of eight or more divided by family unit can fairly easily split without inter-Clan communication.

- ARCS -

This is the end of the second arc (the Twolegplace arc, as you called it), and it's also 6 chapters long like the first arc (the exposition arc). It's rather neat.

- CLOUDTUFT -

This is the first time we really see Cloudtuft thrust into a stressful situation where he overcomes his apathy. Will this stick? I don't know. Nevertheless, it's important to contrast Cloudtuft's behavior with Grassfur's mindset over Sweetleaf in past chapters, as it emphasizes the differences between the brothers while (possibly) foreshadowing part of the future story direction.

Cloudtuft's judgement is rooted in emotion this chapter, for the most part, compared to Grassfur's cold action. This reversal is noted in the chapter itself, and it reaffirms the brothers' characterizations: Cloudtuft's motivation is social, and so the potential loss of a group member affects him deeply; Grassfur's motivation is (for now) antisocial, and that enforced emotional separation allows him to act more coldly.

Importantly, Cloudtuft is a delegator under pressure. He knows that Stonefall is the best tracker and barrels through any barrier in the way. Stonefall himself would likely adopt a similar leadership style if he ever figures out his self-esteem problems, and this contrasts with the more direct leadership-by-example demonstrated by Flamepaw and Grassfur. This contrasts Grassfur's thoughts about Sweetleaf, where he's so far not revealed his motivations while continually thinking that he'll be the one to save her, failing to utilize the skills and perspectives of his group. Overcoming that will likely be an important step in Grassfur's journey, and Cloudtuft shows that he can aid in bridging that gap.

Cloudtuft demonstrates situational awareness, examining the environment and predicting behavior from that. At the same time, he falls slightly short on the social awareness analysis compared to Stonefall (which, of course, still makes him second-best so far), as he recognizes that Stonefall is fond of Flamepaw but doesn't recognize why (and, as a result, finds Stonefall's battle rage to be strange). Of course, his prediction is wrong, but when your opponent is Mintpaw, that's forgivable.

- MAPLEPOOL -

Maplepool gets the first bit of subtle character work with her suppressed past. This is more of a hint than anything I can actually work with, so it'll be filed away for future consideration. That being said, it's worth noting that Grassfur appears to have an intuitive grasp of this suppressed nature, as he continues to nurse an otherwise irrational hatred for Maplepool.

This does promise fairly interesting developments for Maplepool, who heretofore has been the least developed character. We get a better idea of what's in her head now, which is much appreciated.

- STONEFALL -

This is our first chance to actually get an outside perspective of Stonefall's warrior abilities, as his own POV chapters are too weighed down by his low self-esteem to give much meaningful information. Given that he held his own against the dog, his fighting skills are clearly fine.

His vicious attack against the dog ought to terrify him, since it's likely the first time he's ever had to bring that out of him, but it is an important point where he's crossed one of his inhibitions. It also serves as one of those moments that affirms how much he cares about Flamepaw, which is nice, I suppose.

- STONEFALL'S LEADERSHIP (AND HOW HE THROWS IT AWAY) -

Stonefall's intuition for leadership really shines in this chapter. He keeps his priorities straight and tries to organize the group to search for Flamepaw, and he's quick to use reason to evaluate various hypotheses and determine likely scenarios in the time that the rest of the group is devolving into argument.

I mean, the journey to the Moon Tunnels goes against the structure of the Clan system, which emphasizes division and sovereignty above cooperation, with cooperation arising in response to external threats. Within each Clan, apprentices tend to be taught as individuals in competition with each other. There's little training afforded towards cooperation; consequently, when thrust into these situations demanding cooperation, smooth sailing can hardly be expected. Stonefall is a character who can grow up in such an environment and still maintain a clear head during conflicts. That's his strength as a leader. It's a real shame how he lets his own self-esteem problems get in the way of that.

Grassfur and Flamepaw are both characters who have embraced a kind of individualism. For Flamepaw, it's merely a hedonistic kind, where she explores what excites her; for Grassfur, it's a far more toxic kind, expressed as distrust and anger. For Stonefall, he focuses on himself over the group less as a way of life and more as a natural consequence of his desires. He wants the affirmation of his father and Clan, people who no one on the journey knows or cares about. It's a selfish desire, and it's his driving force. "I'll grab Flamepaw and be back soon [...] Then... I'll be a hero."

This mindset is not healthy for Stonefall. He's trying to gain affirmation by imitation rather than by embracing his own strengths. In this case, he's imitating Dawnheart, who herself is merely representative of an ideal warrior and has apparently won the approval of the Clan and Thrushfeather. The parallels between Dawnheart and Flamepaw are not lost on Stonefall, as to be expected of our most thoughtful character. "She was everything he wanted to be." That's a painful statement, because he very much isn't that, and he shouldn't be. It's trying to imitate that that causes him to fall into exactly the same problem that Flamepaw faced. ("I'm a mouse-brain, sure, absolutely. But so are you. Stonefall, what in the world are you doing here?")

- SELF-SACRIFICE, AND THE SELFISH QUESTION -

Sacrifice is a tricky concept. It's typically viewed as the most selfless of actions. After all, it denies the opportunity for one's own self to continue existing for the sake of an external concept. For this, I like to divide between the act and the maxim, or the reason behind the act.

Stonefall's act in attacking the dog is selfless, in the sense that he seems to have no sense of how bad this is for himself. He does this to save Flamepaw, which is selfless on the surface - after all, he very well could be saving her at the cost of his own life. But behind all of this, the reason he came after her alone was so that he could be a hero. More uncharitably, he's risking himself for his own self-satisfaction, because that's better than wallowing in his low self-esteem.

- FLAMEPAW AND STONEFALL -

This chapter establishes an importance difference between them, namely in the way they view other people. Stonefall takes care to interpret and play out the actions of others, looking a few moves ahead to characterize his view of the present. Flamepaw is someone who is deeply rooted in the present and herself as she exists. Her plan in Chapter 8 essentially amounted to finding a tree to climb and waiting it out. She doesn't take into account what anyone else will do, which leads to Stonefall's arrival, which puts him in danger, precisely the problem she was trying to avoid by waiting it out.

This is reflective of their upbringings. Stonefall was raised alongside Dawnheart as the less talented sibling; Flamepaw was raised alone as the hope of her Clan. This leaves Stonefall specialized for analysis of others while Flamepaw is specialized for independent action. Furthermore, Flamepaw recognizes herself as an active agent, and in doing so, she falls into the trap of focusing only on what she can change, whereas Stonefall has hardly ever perceived himself as an active agent and so is suitable for predicting the actions of such agents.

- FLAMEPAW AND STONEFALL -

In the review for Chapter 7, it was noted that Flamepaw inhibits Stonefall's potential by functioning in a position similar to that of Dawnheart (nee Dawnpaw) in ThunderClan. Well, this chapter conveniently deals with that.

"She didn't really think she needed to prove anything to anyone, actually" - this contrasts Stonefall's motivation, which is entirely rooted in proving his right to be a warrior to his father and, by extension, himself. Flamepaw, on the other hand, is utterly assured in her own existence.

- FLAMEPAW -

She holds onto the title of being my favorite character, but there's really not much to say at the moment. Her contradictory desires are a matter for the far future, and while it's easy to appreciate her sense of responsibility and competence in addressing challenges, that's not exactly fodder for analysis.

- GRASSFUR AND BEING ALONE -

Among all the characters, Grassfur is the one with the most individualistic attitude towards the journey. Among the five, three (Flamepaw, Stonefall, and Maplepool) actually intend to reach the Moon Tunnels and complete the rite of passage. Cloudtuft's just along for the ride. Only Grassfur has a separate goal, finding Sweetleaf. Add in his irritable nature and conflict is sure to arise as it does here.

We learn quite a bit about Grassfur in this chapter, mainly because he's forced to interact with others instead of being an edgy loner like he tries to be. While he still has his destructive desire to save Sweetleaf coming into play down the line, this changed environment has introduced a new internal struggle for him, namely one of emotional connections (becoming the opposite of his brother Cloudtuft). Grassfur expresses anger and frustration with every one of his traveling companions, and he's actively avoiding emotional attachment in favor of focusing on his own mission.

To an extent, one could argue that he's distanced himself to protect himself from being hurt like he was when Sweetleaf never returned. In essence, his self-perception as a being willing to form these connections was damaged and he's desperately trying to find it, believing that if only he could be reunited with Sweetleaf, he could let go. This is alienating him from the rest of the group.

He doesn't even stop to consider asking them for help finding Sweetleaf and other missing apprentices, or expressing his opinion that every second spent resting is a second not spent trying to find them. It's because Sweetleaf is an ideal for him and him alone - he's convinced himself that he will be the one to find her. This kind of possessiveness was already present in his first chapter and it continues on leading him to doom.

- FLAMEPAW AND STONEFALL -

For now, Flamepaw is functioning in a role similar to Dawnpaw in Stonefall's apprenticeship: a hyper-competent leader figure. Given the circumstances, she is the best-suited for the job, but just like with Dawnpaw, this is inhibiting Stonefall's own development. He still has a tendency to defer to others and has difficulty coherently expressing his thoughts, but luckily, we have edgy Grassfur for him to work his empathy on.

Still, I have a hard time seeing Stonefall growing into his full potential so long as Flamepaw remains in the picture. And, since he is a protagonist, I do expect Stonefall to grow into his full potential somewhere down the line. These two don't create a nice conclusion when put together, at least in the short term.

- CLOUDTUFT -

Cloudtuft makes an interesting move and is the first to agree to Flamepaw's plan, despite Grassfur being the one with a vested interesting in leaving. Grassfur is held back by his distrust of Flamepaw and his anger over being mocked. As written, it's a good segue into the reveal of Cloudtuft's motivations, which I did not expect.

Friends. That's rather nice. It's mildly disturbing, but nice nonetheless. After all, Cloudtuft doesn't really have any friends, but he does have apathy in spades. He acts the most mature out of the main cast, but his motivation is definitely the most childish in a very literal sense. It's rooted in elders' tales and childish imagination tempered by less exciting experiences, but fundamentally, his motivation is no different than his motivation as a kit.

Cloudtuft's apathy is likely sustained by his lack of connections. He is fine with the knowledge that he will likely die because he doesn't really have anything to live for. There's the obvious parallel with his brother, who is willing to risk his life because he has the one thing he will sacrifice everything for. Oddly enough, Cloudtuft doesn't seem to have an internal enemy because of this. He finds no affirmation in how he's resigned to life; it's merely how he is. By forming connections with others, that apathy can be chipped away at. It'll make it all the more painful if someone is hurt or dies. Cloudtuft's struggle is odd in that he'll be forced to reconcile with the journey as being far from a childish dream, and yet that's not a dream that's worth giving up. Essentially, I'm not sensing doom from Cloudtuft they way that I sense it in the other protagonists.

- MAPLEPOOL, CLOUDTUFT, AND GRASSFUR -

Where I am sensing doom is here. Maplepool and Cloudtuft are alike in their motivations, both understanding their own likelihood of survival but being willing to risk that for something they've only imagined (the WindClan she leaves behind, in Maple's case, and friends, in Cloud's case). Both are happy to see each other and Cloudtuft describes her as "the most mysterious".

Maplepool also has a connection with Grassfur, since he possibly dreamed of Maplepool's death, and Grassfur already has an unhealthy desire to be a hero and save Sweetleaf. If he remembers that dream, that very well could create fear of creating another Sweetleaf, which I suspect would be a tragic mistake.

- DARKSTAR IN THE BACKGROUND -

This may just be my own interpretation seeping in, but Darkstar seems to be moving pieces towards advancing the interests of ShadowClan. The Gathering unfolds in such a manner that he is the one who sends the travelers out, and he is the one telling them what route they should take, one that conveniently goes through ShadowClan territory that Flamepaw can lead them through.

Essentially, Darkstar seems to have taken advantage of the chaotic Gathering to place himself and Flamepaw in positions of authority right under the noses of the other leaders. He clearly wants the mission to succeed, and it's likely he believes this is the best way forward.

- FAVORITE QUOTE -

"He was born to go to the Moon Tunnels and die in vain; that was all there was to it."

- END OF ACT ONE -

This is the end of the first act, and so it's fitting, I believe, to retrospectively examine the past six chapters and see where everything stands.

Flamepaw and Grassfur are the most competent as warriors, both having trained extensively in preparation for the journey. Flamepaw's training is reflective of the hopes of her Clan, while Grassfur's training is reflective of his personal desire. Grassfur distrusts strangers, while Flamepaw seeks out new experiences. Their final end states are complete opposites. Grassfur wants to save Sweetleaf because she represents a kind of idyllic warrior life, whereas Flamepaw wants this journey for the adventure and the experience that an idyllic warrior life can't offer. Suffice to say, this is a recipe for conflict, especially since Flamepaw has been placed in a position of temporary leadership on the escape.

Maplepool and Cloudtuft form the second tier as competent, while Stonefall rounds out the third due to his self-esteem issues and inhibitions. Each of these three, however, have great potential that has yet to be fully realized, particularly Stonefall.

The first act sets the story up extremely well. Story flows naturally from the interaction of interesting characters, and it goes to show that these are good enough characters when the bulk of each review so far has been dedicated to their motivations and how those motivations relate to those of others.