You find yourself wandering onto a strange beach. Instead of being covered in sand, however, it is covered in tall grass and ferns, with a small ledge near the lake being the only indication that water begins. Perplexed, you turn around and find yourself nose to nose with a copper-eyed ginger cat. Startled, you jump back, but this doesn’t seem to bother her. “Hi!” she says, loud enough to wake any prey in the nearby area. You hear hissing coming from a nearby tree, and the ginger she-cat’s ears flicker. “Oops,” she says, embarrassed. Quick as it came, though, she brushes it off, and goes back to her hyper self. “Sorry about that. The warriors can be a bit grumpy in the mornings. I’m Maplepaw. Welcome to the Flameclan camp!” You look around, not really realizing what you’re seeing. To you, it just looks like a bundle of trees, tall grass, and a lake. Maplepaw sees your confusion, and walks up next to you. “Come on,” she says, “I’ll give you a grand tour.” Without waiting for a reply, she bounds off towards the large semicircle of trees. Shrugging, you figure you’d better follow her. First, Maplepaw stops at the large tree where you heard hissing earlier. It has a massive base, and a large slit in the front leads to a cavern inside the tree. Quietly, you peak your head inside, and see that there are two layers of holes; a larger one on the bottom, and, after a small winding path up the side, a smaller level higher up. Perplexed, you turn to Maplepaw. “Neat, right?” She says. “That bottom, larger layer is the warriors den. All the clan warriors sleep in there.” She puffs out her chest, proud. “Blazestar says if I do well on my next assessment she may make me a warrior!” She seems to forget what she’s doing for a moment, and claws at the ground, kneading her paws as if anxious for a battle. You give her an odd look. Suddenly sheepish, she gives her chest a few quick licks. “That upper level there is the nursery. It’s the most protected place in camp. If any enemy warrior wants to get to our kits, they have to get through all these warriors first!” She shifts her weight, “Although, I hear it can be tough sleeping sometimes with all the mewling of those tiny furballs. Blech! I swear, I’ll probably never have kits. Anyways, follow me! I still have a few more places to show you.” Without waiting for a reply, Maplepaw bounds off. You quickly follow her across the semicircle, to a slightly smaller tree. This one only has a small entrance; however, there don’t seem to be many cats inside. “This,” Maplepaw says, “is the elders den. It’s where all the retired cats get to stay. It’s smaller than the warriors den, but at least they don’t have to put up with all those pesky kits!” Suddenly, Maplepaw hears a harsh meow coming from inside the elders den. “Oh no!” she exclaims. “I forgot to check the elders for ticks. C’mon, let’s get out of here, before they see me.” Once again, Maplepaw runs off, even faster this time. She comes to the tallest, largest tree in the semicircle, the one directly in the center. The tree has many low hanging branches, and, about a fox-length off the ground, a small hole, probably an old owl’s nest, sits, with a large, sturdy branch sticking out across from it. ‘That’s Blazestar’s den. She gives clan meetings up from that high branch. I don’t know how she does it! She says trees never bothered her all that much, but I know I’d be nervous that high off the ground. If I were up there, I’d be visiting the medicine cat all the time. Which reminds me! I haven’t shown you their den yet. It’s the coolest one.” Seemingly tuckered out from all the running, you and Maplepaw casually cross the clearing together. A slight breeze shuffles the tall grass, giving the whole camp a very warm, safe feeling. She notices you enjoying the breeze. “Green-leaf is always nice here,” she comments. When you get close to the lake, Maplepaw leads you away from the ledge, and shows you a small sloping path that leads down to the beach. Turning, she goes back towards the highest part of a ledge, and shows you a large, gaping cave, facing the center of the lake. “It’s empty right now,” she says, “but this is where our medicine cat stays. The cave can flood, but only a little bit in the front. The actual stores and dens for everything is father back than the water has ever gone, even during heavy rains. Luckily, an old rabbit hole near the warriors den leads to this tunnel, so if it ever did flood, there’s an easy escape route. However—“ she says, nervous, “let’s get out of here. All this water makes me anxious. C’mon, I’ll show you the escape route.” Crouching, she crawls up through a tunnel barely large enough to fit a cat, before she pops out in a thicket next to the warrior den. If you didn’t know the hole was there, you’d never catch it. “Lastly,” Maplepaw says, stifling a yawn, “I’ll show you the apprentices den. Arguably the best den, in my humble opinion.” She strutted across camp, walking in between the elder tree and the leader tree, before showing you a large patch of brambles. Quickly, she slipped under it, revealing a small patch in the middle. “This is where I stay,” she says. “And that’s basically our camp. ‘it’s not the greatest, I know. The dens are super cozy, and we do our best to defend it, with brambles and logs, but unfortunately, the camp is left a little bare. Fortunately, since our camp is on an island, we typically post patrols on the landbridge, so we’d be given proper warning before any cats arrived. So, we don’t really have much to worry about. Anyways,” she says, circling, “I’m gonna get some rest. It was super nice meeting you! I’m glad I got to show you around my home.” Leaving Maplepaw be, you turn and head out to the center of the clearing, just in time to watch the lake water turn orange with the setting sun.