The Elders' Quest Excerpt is out!

I really love the name Beesting. On the other hand, *Stretchkit*? Okay then.

Out of all the cats they could have used in Riverclan to be a queen, they chose Floatshimmer!? Aside from that, I see Nightcloud has finally retired and glad to see that Bramblestar didn't suffer from dying between books. I'm glad that Tawnypelt finally has a chance to shine and I really hope they do my favorite character justice (Snaketooth is shooting up there as well). It might seem that the crowd in Skyclan might be thinning out soon? Hopefully in Thunderclan as well- I really want to see deaths in this book. Also, Moonpaw is very interesting and I can't wait to see where her character goes.

Not many changes in ThunderClan, not surprising. Spotfur’s kits really came out kicking with the boring names, though I don’t mind Stemtail and Bristleclaw is just… fine. But why Graywhisker instead of Grayspots?
Wafflepelt is funny too. Especially since his pelt doesn’t really have a waffle pattern, but yeah, none of these cats know what a waffle is. I was thinking it would be Waffleheart but this is alright.
What was the point of not making Moonkit a NightSun kit, other than having Sunbeam be her mentor? Man. I guess we’ll see. Still annoyed at BayThrift but hey, we already had HawkPebble so first cousin pairings that are parents of protagonists aren’t a new thing.
I’m glad Sunbeam and Nightheart didn’t do any legacy names. Goldenkit and Shinekit are nice names. And Myrtlebloom is a mother now? Let’s go girl! If she named Sunkit after Sunbeam, that’s really cute. I wish there wasn’t an Oakkit though, we already have an Oakfur in ShadowClan! I wonder who her mate is. It would be, if in the Clan, Flipclaw, Stormcloud, Graywhisker, Stemtail, Molewhisker, Bumblestripe or Mousewhisker. Whatever brings the most diversity I guess. Hopefully we find out.

Onto ShadowClan! I’m surprised Snowbird and Tawnypelt are still warriors. And Fringewhisker has an apprentice! Where did Redpaw and Sprucepaw come from?
Birchfeather is unexpected but okay. Bloompetal is good, if predictable. Firbark is pretty good, and I think Streamripple introduces -ripple as a modern suffix? And now we have a Whisperbreeze AND Whistlebreeze. That might get confusing.
The LightBlaze kit names are alright, nothing special.

In SkyClan, Cherrytail and Sparrowpelt have retired! Wasn’t expecting that as much. Needleclaw getting with her brother’s former bully is…okay girl, sure. The names are cute though! Another Robinwing please!
But these new warrior names are…something. Beetleshine and Duskshine in one timeskip? What is this madness? Beetleshine should have been Beetlewing honestly. Besting has a nice new suffix, as is Ridgeglow. I like those two.

Nightcloud has retired! I didn’t realize she was much older than Crowfeather, Emberfoot or Leaftail. Where did Fluffpaw and Silkypaw come from? Great new names though.
Appleshine in the nursery! Rustlekit is a good name and Stretchkit is…sad. I guess this is the Clan with Crouchfoot, though, so it makes sense. Her mate could be Harestar, Leaftail, Crouchfoot, Branchleap, Flutterfoot, Slightfoot, Hootwhisker, Brookripple or Stripeheart. I guess we never found out Larkwing’s mate so nobody is narrowed down.
Gorsetail is gone from the allegiances! RIP?
Brookripple is the second use of this new prefix in one timeskip. It’s alright, but Stripeheart? What does that convey? I was expecting Stripetail. Grassfur is BORING, Branchleap is less so, and Leafcurl? Not Leafspots or anything? I shall now headcannon her with curly fur. That’s the only explanation. And she’s still called a she-kit, getting the Beesting treatment!

RiverClan! Nice to see the new leadership listed. Hollowspring and Sparrowtail moved back? Maybe ShadowClan really didn’t accept them, or they never felt comfortable there again. Poor Spireclaw. It is funny that only one of Berryheart’s kits stayed in ShadowClan, and still with a mate from another Clan. I wonder if this was a mistake or if they really are in RiverClan now.
-shine strikes again with Troutshine! Why so much -shine?? It doesn’t even make much sense! Rapidsplash is pretty good, and Floatshimmer is very pretty. And she’s already in the nursery? Her kit names are nice, hopefully Eelkit isn’t a third Eeltail. I’m predicting her mate is Graysky or Gorseclaw, if we find out.
And Podlight is still here. Get him out!
Mosspelt is still kicking! Good for her.

i am SO excited for this arc. already it seems super promising, and i can't wait to see how moonpaw's little situation progresses. i'm also loving these names and their symbolism. goldenkit, sunkit, shinekit, and then moonkit- very subtle, erins. i also adore the name duskshine!! poor gorsetail though. we should have a forum funeral /hj

Oooh boy, lots of new names! And some good ones too, both new and reused. Firbark...is he named after Slatefur's brother, Birchbark? I wonder who the mates are for Myrtlebloom, Appleshine, and Floatshimmer. Nightcloud, Sparrowpelt and Cherrytail retired! Makes me remember how old they are. Gorsetail also seems to have died.

Ah, so we're going on a journey. Not surprised.

Kinda reminds me of Graystripe in his SE where he reflects on all the friends he's lost and how he's effectively the last cat of his generation. I'm glad to see acknowledgement of Oakfur and Tawnypelt's relationship with him. Not surprised Tawnypelt still misses Rowanclaw. And so Tawnypelt is a great-grandmother! This is menial but I'm glad when these relationships are acknowledged. I really wish Strikestone was able to have kits of his own so Dawnpelt's line could continue

Leafstar has gone through so much and yet she still keeps on going. I'm kinda surprised she hasn't retired yet. I am interested in seeing how they'll portray Leafstar's growing blindness and how her age is clearly catching up with her. She has such a low tolerance for nonsense and a great leader so I'm hoping she stays in power, but at the same time, she deserves a rest. One thing I do like is showing how Leafstar works around her loss of vision; identifying voices, character tics, or general colors.

So Needleclaw and Kitescratch are mates? Interesting. That makes Violetshine and Tree grandparents. I'm still getting used to Lionblaze and Cinderheart having grandchildren!



I wonder if Leafstar's trying to think of happier times when she was younger? Their life was pretty good in the gorge. She had friends, a mate, and kits. Like a coping mechanism because Leafstar's aware she's growing older.

NightSun kits are Goldenpaw and Shinepaw? I will say, I like the names. This also makes Sparkpelt a grandmother...jeez. Mysterious voice was mentioned in the announcement as well...is it StarClan or something to do with her twin? Sunbeam also seems like a good mentor.



I'm half-heartedly joking that the reason she looks like this is because her parents are first cousins. At least she's not looking like the Habsburgs, I suppose.



Maybe it's something to do with possession? We know StarClan spirits can possess the living (Cinderheart, Rootspring) though I'm not sure what business it would have with Moonpaw or just lingering around her as it is.