being drawn to and expanding upon certain characters, particularly those that could

have interesting dynamics with each other.

One group I always had a fondness for was the large generation of apprentices in the

Riverclan of the Crookedstar's Promise era.

Like the Thunderclan generations in Power of Three and, to a lesser extent, Omen of

the Stars, this big group of apprentices growing up together had potential for a lot of interweaving

goals, personalities, and friendships that could be super interesting to explore...if

I was ever going to write any of these characters.

Seeing as I will likely never get to use these guys in a story though, I figured I could

just throw up my headcanons into the wind for you to do with as you please.

General notice ahead of time though that I created and grew in interest in these headcanons

before the release of Leopardstar's Honor, a book that gave…unfortunate characterizations

to some of the cats in this generation.

However, the book completely ignored a fair number of the cats in the group and had a

general disregard for the canon that Crookedstar's Promise put forward, so for the most part,

I am going to respond in kind and ignore what Leopardstar's Honor had to say about these

guys.

As a general rule these eight apprentices are a nice, classic friend group.

They like each other, hang out with each other before other clan mates, and will often try

to go on patrols together.

Crookedstar's Promise showed this off directly several times, to the point that they agreed

to all delay their apprenticeships until Leopardkit, the youngest of them, was ready, so they could

all be apprentices together.

And this is the most basic, foundational fact about this group that Leopardstar's Honor

managed to screw up.

As far as my headcanons are concerned, some of them saw the extra time in kithood as more

chances for bonding, others saw it as more time for friendly competition, but they all

enjoyed having each other around.

When it comes to differentiating them though, I need to turn a little more heavily into

the headcanon territory, which in this case I am happy to do.

Sedgecreek, Loudbelly, and Reedtail probably had it the easiest, with the exception of

Leopardfur.

They were the oldest of the group and their parents were Timberfur and Ottersplash, both

highly respected deputy candidates and senior warriors in the clan who encouraged growth

and experimentation in their kits without placing too many expectations on them.

Because of this they didn't have many of the self-worth or jealousy based issues that some

of the other kits had and were able to grow up with more freedom and self-expression.

Sedgecreek, Crookedjaw's apprentice, is already shown in the books to be a bubbly,

eager, and optimistic she-cat who wants to prove herself, but isn't particularly talented

at first.

Still, with Crookedjaw's careful tutelage, she came to learn a lot more, and respected

her mentor greatly.

For my part, I think that it was the encouragement from both Crookedjaw and her parents that

let her stay optimistic despite her initial failures.

She was given the space to learn and grow, and doesn't feel an obligation to be great

right away.

Sedgecreek is generally confident enough to express her opinion even when it isn't popular,

but she isn't especially ambitious and is usually content to go along with what the

group wants.

She's close with everyone else in her generation, acting as the glue that holds them together,

but is closer to Sunfish, Leopardfur, and surprisingly, Frogleap, than anyone else.

Loudbelly, Oakheart's apprentice, isn't the most standout cat in the group.

He's playful with his siblings, and is quite perceptive, but he gets scared by things easily

and doesn't like taking risks outside his comfort zone.

For things inside his comfort zone though, like battle practice, he can actually be quite

reckless.

He doesn't need the whole clan to love him, but he does have a bit of a competitive streak.

This particular impulse stays with him through into warrior-hood, where he can sometimes

be a bit boastful and keeps a careful count in his nest of every warrior he has beaten.

He and Blackclaw are best friends, and Frogleap often joins them.

Reedtail was Beetlenose's apprentice, and his mentor's high expectations and pride

caused Reedtail to be eager to prove himself, and always wanting to be involved in the action,

even if it involves a touch of rebellion.

He often frets about the safety of cats around him that he cares about, but he's pretty

darn confident in his own worth given his successes and the pedigree he grew up in.

He demands a certain level of comfort, is outspoken and clever, but not the strongest,

leading him to find different ways around his problems.

He spends more time with Skyheart than anyone else, half the time as friends and half as

friendly rivals, but he cherishes his relationship with the she-cat dearly.

And yes, Leopardstar's Honor, I suppose you *could* make these two mates but…I like

friendship better.

Time for the middle litter, Lakeshine and Cedarpelt's kits, and the best cat in the

group, (I am definitely not biased at all nope nope).

Sunfish was Voleclaw's apprentice and she would probably be the best leader of the group,

but she often lets her even bolder friends lead instead, since she doesn't personally

care about the status.

She holds a touch of jealousy towards her three older friends for the upbringing they

got, being so close to and yet getting so much freedom from Ottersplash.

Sunfish came to respect the warrior a lot, but she had Lakeshine as a mother, a far more

protective figure who wouldn't let her or her brother get ahead too quickly.

She became more reserved and accepting of authority because of this, but will also advocate

both for herself and her clan whenever she gets the chance.

She is compassionate and has a level head, along with being good at taking care of her

peers, and cats younger than her.

She is best friends with Leopardfur and Sedgecreek, both of whom she took care of when they were

gravely injured.

Even though she sometimes gets jealous of their upbringings compared to her's, it

doesn't stop her from loving them and sticking up for them no matter what.

Also she's a lesbian.

At least Leopardstar's Honor got that mostly right.

Frogleap, Sunfish's brother, is the most volatile one in the friend group despite being

Timberfur's apprentice, and I'll send a brief reminder here that we are ignoring

everything Leopardstar's Honor ever made him say so pipe down.

He's aggressive, outspoken, and wants to personally be the one to take down whatever

challenge comes between him, his friends, or his clan and their safety.

He wants to be the one to defeat Thunderclan once and for all and shove it up in the face

of every cat who thought he was average compared to the other cats in his generation.

Even in clan meetings or when Hailstar and his deputy have already made decisions, Frogleap

will challenge them, wanting to be noticed in any way possible.

The only time this isn't the case is when he's alone with his friend group, where

they do all care about each other, Sedgecreek especially.

She just seems to like him unconditioned by how strong he is, and Blackclaw and Loudbelly

seem to enjoy the intensity he has that other cats find offputting.

In that group, he doesn't need to fight to be recognized…but he knows all too well

that he wants to be liked by more than just his friends.

As for the youngest litter, the kits of Shimmerpelt and Piketooth, we'll begin with Softwing's

apprentice, Skyheart.

She decided that she wanted to be the group's leader very early on.

Even being one of the youngest kits, she would always be sure to put herself in charge and

make decisions during their games and adventures, and she would announce new changes if it ever

looked as though her control was going away.

Having Shimmerpelt as a mother, who wasn't especially protective like Lakeshine or a

strong warrior like Ottersplash, and then losing most of her time with her own mom to

Leopardkit made her especially eager to get out and make her way somewhere else in the

clan.

She does act out a fair bit, and doesn't respect her mentor Softwing as much as she

probably should.

(But come on, her brother got the clan leader!

Why did she get stuck with stupid Softwing?)

She ends up leading Frogleap into a bunch of her minnow-brained schemes.

His volatile nature made it far easier to get him to do the dirty work and get punished

in place of her.

But it got both of them information and opportunities they wouldn't have gotten otherwise, so

Frogleap isn't all that upset about it.

Skyheart and Reedtail are…friends, though from her perspective he's the biggest threat

to her place as the group's leader, as a strong and assertive cat from the oldest and

most fortunate litter.

Surprisingly though, he mostly doesn't challenge her position, only her ideas, so they end

up being the best of friends more often than not.

Her brother Blackclaw was pretty content with life where he was.

He never understood the whole status-chasing aspect of the group, but he did like them

being strong together, and as a group they were undoubtedly a formidable force.

Hailstar was his mentor, which pretty much gave him a free pass to coast through his

apprenticeship without issue, not having any need to catch up when he already got the best

option.

He's secure in his strength, and usually opts for sneaky plays of aggression rather

than brute strength like Skyheart and Frogleap prefer.

He's more of a follower by nature, adding suggestions but ultimately defaulting to the

highest authority, be it Skyheart or Hailstar or the clan at large.

One thing is for sure, Riverclan is awesome and Thunderclan is sticky.

His clan is a team, the strongest team in the forest.

He's good friends with Loudbelly, with Frogleap often tagging along with them.

They feel their loyalty quite intensely and really care about standing up to fight the

other clans.

Both Loudbelly and Frogleap get a little caught up in their personal successes sometimes,

but Blackclaw likes to be there to inspire Loudbelly to work harder for himself and to

take Frogleap down a peg when he gets in his own head.

And finally, we come to Leopardfur, the baby of the group.

Her mother, Brightsky, died giving birth to her, and her father Mudfur soon became a medicine

cat, but he and her foster mother Shimmerpelt still fussed over her constantly.

Actually, the whole clan fussed over her, and she had them all wrapped around her paw

pretty quickly.

She didn't *need* to be strong to get others to listen to her, unlike Skyheart, and she

got along well with most of her friends.

Leopardfur got used to having others around to pick up after her mistakes and became pretty

demanding due to always getting what she wanted, using her wit and cuteness to her advantage.

But she does, intrinsically, want to be strong for her own sake.

She fights as hard as she can when she decides to do something, is stubborn as a rock, and

will never show weakness when it does exist.

Sunfish likes to help her even when she doesn't need it, cooling down her temper and seeing

her as an equal rather than a victim, leader, or rival, and Sedgecreek…darn it she's

just so kind and optimistic.

She doesn't see any dreary future or even present like Leopardfur often does.

Faced with the same fight, coming out with similar injuries, Leopardfur prayed to Starclan

in case she was to die, and Sedgecreek turned to promise her that they wouldn't, already

asking for them to go on a hunting patrol together when they were both released from

the medicine den.

Big generations in Warriors almost always have enormous potential for interesting characterizations

and dynamics by comparing the involved cats against each other and letting them each show

off more of their personalities and goals through their interactions.

But it's taken to a whole new level with the characterization Crookedstar's Promise

gave to all of its characters, from the main heroes to each and every background cat.

Everyone had a clear and distinct place in Riverclan, and this generation, as I described

them in this video, is one of my favorite products of that environment.

I love these little kitties so much, even though I will never do anything with them,

and I hope you've come to understand at least part of that love now.

Thank you for watching, and always remember that Riverclan fish!

Riverclan swim!

Riverclan cats use water to win!