Cheetahpaw's rise to success: Jaypaw and Cheetahpaw speak

Jaypaw: A lot of cats ask me why I chose to join MudClan, traveler. I always tell them the same thing: A MudClan cat saved my life when I was a kit. If it wasn't for Red Eyes, both me and my father would be dead. Because of that, I feel that I always had a special bond with MudClan. I felt like they were my home.

Cheetahpaw: Bunnypaw was very unhappy when Jaypaw left. Besides Nightpaw, the rogue-born GreenClan apprentice, Jaypaw was the only cat that considered her a friend. Every other cat in GreenClan seemed to avoid her. But I knew that Jaypaw's heart lie in MudClan, and with Nightpaw's sister, Sunpaw. Every cat on the island knew how much the two cats were in love.

Jaypaw: I was happy to be with MudClan and with Sunpaw. I knew from the first time we shared tongues that I wanted the golden she-cat to be my mate. Sunpaw's sister, Gingerpaw, didn't like that she was in love with a former GreenClan cat, but Sunpaw didn't care.

Cheetahpaw: My mother, Frozenwater, seemed to dislike Bunnypaw the most. She thought that Bunnypaw's deafness was a sign from StarClan that she would never become leader, which was her life goal. With Bunnypaw deaf, Jaypaw gone, Frostypaw being apprenticed to Honeydrop, and Tallpaw being a mouse-brain, she decided that I was the best choice for her to train to be leader in her place. She taught me many awful things, telling me that I wasn't allowed to let anything get in my way. She even told me that the old MudClan medicine apprentice, Baypaw, had been murdered by my own father.

Jaypaw: I was the only cat to know that my sister, Tallpaw, who remained in GreenClan, was in love with the new medicine cat apprentice, Brownpaw. That DOUBLE broke the warrior code, but I'd rather the warrior code be broken than my sister's heart, so I kept quiet.

Cheetahpaw: I think that the reason Frozenwater was so obsessed with becoming leader was the fact that Thorncloud, her brother, was the apprentice moon cat, and Honeydrop, her sister, was the medicine cat. She wanted to be something great like her siblings, but she knew that she would never be leader as long as Rainy Day still lived. That's why she asked me, no, made me kill her own mother. I made it quick and painless, pushing her off a mountain on MudClan territory, then under Frozenwater's command, I blamed it on a MudClan cat.

Jaypaw: I saw my brother kill Rainy. I promised him that I'd keep quiet, when he said with urgency that he'd die if Frozenwater found out that I'd seen. He told me everything about how she had threatened him and made him do it. I wanted to tell Stormstar what Frozenwater had done, but I knew it would result in the banishment of Cheetahpaw, so I stayed silent, keeping yet another deadly secret to myself.

Cheetahpaw: But Frozenwater wasn't made deputy. Instead, Stormstar reacted to his deputy's tragic death by giving Tallpaw and Nightpaw their warrior names; then named Fallenflight deputy. Because Tallflower became a warrior, Stormstar also gave Bunnypaw her warrior name and moved her to the elder's den. Her name was Bunnyfall.

Jaypaw: Not long after she became a warrior, Tallflower gave birth to Brownpaw's kits, Morningkit, Sandkit, Flamekit, and Riverkit. Brownpaw was excited to meet his children, but sad to know that they would never know him as their father, but rather, a medicine cat from another clan.

Cheetahpaw: Frozenwater was extremely angry. First, Fallenflight had been made deputy instead of her, and second, stupid Tallflower had been made a warrior before I had. Bunnyfall was in love with Nightwing, which made her angry because she hated her daughter and didn't want her grandchildren to be born to her or Tallflower. But they were, and Bunnyfall had a single kit, Skykit.

Jaypaw: The only kits that Frozenwater accepted were mine. After I had become a warrior and been given the name Jaytail, Sunflower, my mate, gave birth to three healthy kits, Snowkit, Redkit, and Blurrykit.

Cheetahpaw: I was the last of my siblings to become a warrior, even after Bunnyfall. Stormstar named me Cheetahleap, because I apparently had good "jumping skills." Frozenwater was angry about that too, because she had wanted me to be given a fiercer name like Cheetahclaw. But little did she know, I, Cheetahleap, was out to get my revenge on her.