Onestar's Confession/Chapter 1

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"I'm interested in what I've heard of warrior life. I'd like to know more. Maybe my kits could be apprenticed to become warriors.''

— Bailey to Mudclaw about joining WindClan in Onestar's Confession, page 18

Onestar's Confession
Chapter number:	1 (of 33)
Page numbers:	6-20
Point of View:	Onepaw
Chronology

Below contains in-depth information for chapter one of Onestar's Confession. If you are looking for a shorter summary of the entire book, please check the main article.

Chapter Number: 1 (of 33)

Page Numbers: 6-20

Chapter description

Onepaw is hunting with his mentor, Deadfoot, and his Clanmates, Wrenflight and Mudclaw. Onepaw hopes to be the first cat to scent prey, but Wrenflight scents some first. Wrenflight had scented a rabbit, so her and Mudclaw began circling it towards Onepaw and Deadfoot. Deadfoot asks Onepaw about the wind, and the apprentice answers by noting that the rabbit can't scent the two cats behind it. After Wrenflight and Mudclaw drive the rabbit away from its hole, Onepaw attempts to bring it down, but fails to do so. Deadfoot is the one who slays the speedy critter, which the patrol buries before heading off to patrol the RiverClan border.

At the RiverClan border, Wrenflight mentions that Crookedstar had spoken at the Gathering about a badger had been chased across the WindClan border. Wrenflight instructs Onepaw to stay back if a badger does come out, though Onepaw doesn't plan on staying back in case a badge did come out. Mudclaw runs after letting out an angry yowl, with Deadfoot calling after Mudclaw, but the brown tom doesn't turn back around. Deadfoot sends Wrenflight to chase after him. Onepaw asks Deadfoot if it was a badger that they’d found, and Deadfoot tells him to taste the air. Onepaw gets a whiff of cat scent, not from any of the other Clans, but rather from strange cats on their territory. The duo then race after Wrenflight and Mudclaw.

Reaching the two cats, Onepaw watches as Mudclaw hisses and snarls at the discovered kittypets. Wrenflight tells Mudclaw to take it easy on the strangers. There were three kittypets, one a mother, the young she-cat her daughter, and the young tom her son, with her two kits noted to be around apprentice age. The kittypet mother holds her head up when confronted, but speaks with a worried quiver, claiming she was just exploring. Onepaw thought that exploring just for fun was really brave. Deadfoot asks why she would want to do that, and she claims that she just wanted her kits to survive without housefolk, so the kittypets were practicing hunting. Her son boasts that he had nearly caught a mouse. Mudclaw says that nearly fills no bellies, and threatens the kittypets by hissing that he was going to line his nest with their fur. The kittypet mother gets shaken by the insult, looking scared. Onepaw couldn't help admiring her courage, and feels worried about possibly having to fight her and her kits. Wrenflight calms Mudclaw with reason, and Deadfoot helps back up the kittypet mother's claims. Deadfoot asks the family where they came from and the mother uses her tail to point upriver. So the patrol sets off the take the family of housecats home.

On the walk to the Twolegplace to return the kittypets to their den, Deadfoot takes the lead, followed by Wrenflight and Mudclaw, while Onepaw walks with the apprentice aged kittypets at the rear. They pad forth in silence until the mother cat announced her name as Bailey, asking the WindClan cats what their names were. Wrenflight responds to Bailey, introducing everyone in the patrol and revealing that they are all WindClan cats. Bailey gets confused on what WindClan even is, and Wrenflight explains that WindClan is a group of cats who all live together in the moor. Mudclaw adds that they also chase off intruders, ordering Bailey to stop asking questions.

Bailey goes silent, but Onepaw notes thanks to the flick of her tail tip that Mudclaw's harsh behavior was irritating her slightly. The kittypet tom cat turns to Onepaw, asking if he was a WindClan cat too. The latter proudly announces that he was an apprentice training to become a warrior and restates his name to be Onepaw, to which the kittypet tom's sister confusedly points out that he had four paws and not just one; Onelaw praises her sarcastically, explaining that his suffix represents the fact that he was an apprentice. The kittypet tom then introduces his sister as Melody and himself as Leo, saying that he could be Leopaw and she Melodypaw. Onepaw thinks the names were weird. He then explained that to be an apprentice, they needed mentors, while also explaining how the noble WindClan deputy Deadfoot was his mentor.

As the cats carried on, they soon approach a wooden Twoleg bridge. Bailey announces that she could see their home in a small cluster of Twoleg nests close by, promising that they would be fine from here and could keep going by themselves. Wrenflight wishes for StarClan to light the kittypets' paths. Leo looks confused and asks what StarClan was, but no cat responds. Ready to depart, Baliey goes to cross the bridge when a horrible badger stench wafts over Onepaw. He had almost chokes on it. Melody asks what the stink was, and at the same moment, a badger comes barreling toward them. Onepaw thinks that the creature was terrifying, and that the elders hadn't told him everything when it came to how scary badgers could be.

Mudclaw races into battle with rippling muscles, Wrenflight a heartbeat behind. The two cats rake their claws along the badger's flanks, leaping back when the badger swins at them, and Deadfoot dives under the badger, raking its underbelly. He leaps out before it could land a blow on his pelt. The badger seems confused and startled by the commotion of the battling cats. Onepaw was trying to remember his battle moves before leaping up to deal his own blow, scratching at the creature’s nose. He fell back after his blow connected, stumbling. The badger almost got a hold of him before Mudclaw thrust him out of danger.

To Onepaw's surprise, Bailey joins in the battle, copying what the Clan cats were doing. Onepaw races over to stand with Leo and Melody, who insisted on helping. Onepaw explains that they can help by staying back and he praises Bailey. But Onepaw thinks to himself that he must stay with her children, just in case the badger bolts over to attack the younger kittypets. He can hardly finish his thought before seeing Deadfoot violently thrown aside by the badger’s huge paw, hitting the ground and remaining perfectly still.

Mudclaw and Wrenflight get distracted watching Deadfoot bounce against the ground, thus the badger twists around and comes barreling towards the kittypets and Onepaw. The tabby apprentice yowls at the kittypets to run, trying to do an attack crouch so he could lunge at the badger. However, they didn’t leave his side, trying to copy his moves to help him. Wrenflight and Mudclaw finally come to the young cats’ defense, and the badger flees after having enough. Every cat huffs in exhaustion once the beast was gone, and Deadfoot limps over to join the others once he was back on all fours.

As Deadfoot approaches, Wrenflight watches him with worried eyes, asking if he was okay. Deadfoot insists that he was fine, insuring he was just winded. He’d also admit that he was concerned with what the outcome of the confrontation would’ve been like, then turns to praise Bailey for her bravery. Bailey insists it was nothing, for she was just protecting her kits. Leo praises his mother alongside with Melody and Onepaw. Deadfoot starts to bid them farewell with one last bit of praise, but Bailey doesn't leave. She asks Deadfoot if she could talk to Tallstar. Mudclaw becomes suspicious immediately, asking her why she’d want an audience with their leader.

Onepaw starts to admire Bailey even more, seeing that she wasn't affected by his abrasive behavior. Bailey says that she was now interested in the life of a wild cat, asking if her kits could be apprenticed and eventually become warriors. Leo gives a cheer at that suggestion, beaming, while Wrenflight was in disbelief. Bailey continues to explain how they rely on their housefolk all the time, and they need to learn how to survive on their own. And that she's seen housefolk abandon their cats, and how helpless they were upon being abandoned. Bailey also mentions how being in a Clan might make her and her family enjoy a better life, saying that surely they have something they could all offer to WindClan. Wrenflight looks thoughtful, Deadfoot disapproving, and Mudclaw hostile.

The brown tom glares at Bailey as if he would fight her at the drop of a few mousetails. Onepaw explains how he didn't think that would work, declaring that kittypets aren't welcome in the Clans, because they aren't not cut out for warrior life. Bailey acknowledges what Onepaw says, earnestly stating she appreciates his concern, yet she would still like to talk to Tallstar regardless. Mudclaw lets out an angry yowl, saying that WindClan already has apprentices, and they don't need kittypets making trouble and eating their fresh-kill, demanding that the housecats needed to head back to their Twoleg nest and stay there. Wrenflight protests his outburst. It wasn’t fair of Mudclaw to say such things, especially since Bailey was incredibly brave with helping to fight off the badger. Furthermore, she points out that the only apprentices WindClan had were Onepaw and his littermates, and they could do with some more young cats. Mudclaw snarls back that they needed true Clan cats and not soft, useless kittypets.

Leo fluffs out his pelt, snarling at Mudclaw and challenging him for his audacity. Swiftly afterwards, Bailey moves between the fighting toms and tries to ease the tension. Leo mimics Mudclaw's glare, but does and says nothing else. Deadfoot helps to push the two toms away from each other, remarking that Leo had spirit. He raises his tail for silence, stating that Mudclaw’s insults would help no cat, and that it's not up to him to stop the kittypets from joining WindClan. The deputy decides to bring the family of three to Tallstar after all. Mudclaw merely retortes that Tallstar would most likely deny the kittypets from joining WindClan’s ranks, given their background. Harsh as Mudclaw is, Onepaw finds himself agreeing with the senior warrior’s expectations.

Characters

Major

• Onepaw

Minor

• Deadfoot
• Wrenflight
• Mudclaw
• Bailey
• Leo
• Melody

Mentioned

• Tallstar
• Crookedstar

Important events

• Meeting the kittypets
• Badger attack