i tell them money talks ★ intro

^{★★★ applekit swiped a careful tongue over her mitt, flattening any stray hair that may have hung off of her now smooth and shining coat. It was woven of wheat and gold, splotched and framed by darker orange stripes that snaked around her form like vines on a tree. it was beautiful. applekit was well aware. someone had once told her she was all too aware. but really, is it such a crime to love yourself?}

^{she neatly tucked a wispy tail of silken fur, that was a little too clean for a kitten over her paws. applekit had watched the other kids outside. bumbling children who would fall in the grass and mud, dirtying their already tangled and wild pelts. tch. applekit knew better than that.}

^{she did want to play a game though. as lovely as she was, the girl was but a child, and couldn’t keep herself company for the rest of her kithood. she had to.. play with other kits. and while she was mildly put off by the idea that one might trample into the nursery with muddy paws and wild eyes, she knew it was a necessary risk to take.}

^{“does anyone want to play a game with me? i’m making my own clan and if you hurry I’ll maybe maybe maybe let you be deputy if you like” she called out to the camp, slipping out of the nursery. her frame was bulky and muscular, and though she was but a child the genetics of a maine coon showed through her long-furred coat of gold. sitting down in a bed of grass, applekit’s ear twitched and she blinked her dusky green eyes slowly, waiting for anyone to join her.}

^{★★★ applekit smiled brightly, when one of the older kids approached. her eyes were a soft amber, which was a pretty contrast to the solid white of her pelt. apple nodded. "of course, my new friend! you'll make a stellar deputy.... but first you need a totally awesome name like applestar! but um- not applestar because thats mine" she grinned, laughing. her pale eyes crinkled at the ends with laughter for a flicker of a second, before her gaze caught on to someone behind diamondpaw. oh? another apprentice.}

^{“hey acornpaw! and yeah, o’course you can join.” she sat up, happy to have the two apprentices’ attention. “you can be medicine cat if you like! or even a senior warrior” she wondered if acornpaw liked being in windclan. he probably did. it was the best clan, duh! shadowclan was probably stinky, thunderclan was for chumps, skyclan was for squirrels and birds, riverclan was for slowpoke fish, and bloodclan was.. well, bloodclan.}

^{watching another girl around her age trot over, applekit parted her mouth to mew a hello to her denmate when she walked right past her. petalkit offered the other girl diamondpaw a pretty flower, a gorgeous buttercup, apple was fairly certain, before she said something about diamond paw being pretty. which she was..! but, maybe not as pretty as applekit. she probably should have just continued smiling and brushed it off, but right now the golden tabby's green eyes widened and a small pool of jealousy began to coil in her stomach. jealousy was an ugly thing, and apple really didn't like harboring unpleasant feelings. her maw hung open, before she gathered her wits about her and clamped it shut so fast her teeth clacked on contact. ooooh, the nerve of that petalkit!! she just made applekit’s fur stand on end!}

^{what, am i not pretty enough for you?? applekit huffed, trying to still her feathery tail which had begun to lash despite the fact that she was obviously and completely unbothered by the stunt petalkit just pulled. like whatever, right? it didn't matter. applekit watched diamond paw accept the daffodil gratefully, before petalkit finally turned away.}

^{applekit smiled to the others again, but it was painfully obvious how forced this one was. “right. back to the game. where was i... uh right! new clan rule. nobody can name their babies petalkit or they get out in time-out. also we’re having a clan meeting now, so all cats old enough to uh, hunt or something I don’t know- gather round” applekit finished, smiling smugly to herself. see!! she could be a great leader. stand up all tall and mighty like jasperstar.}

^{letting her green gaze idly trail over to the tall rock, applekit stood up suddenly. of course!! she’s be like a real leader. sit up all tall and beautiful on that big boulder. who was gonna stop her? not petalkit no siree.}

^{“hold on this is perfect, i’m gonna address you guys from the rock. I’ll give you ceremonies and everything.” applekit grinned. and without wasting a second, the girl broke off into a carefully paced trot, stepping around the dirtier areas of camp, before she looked up at the tall rock. ooooh yeah. she was so gonna climb this sucker. she was real strong and big for her age- so she could probably do it!}

^{applekit narrowed her green eyes determinedly, before walking around and heaving herself onto the slope of the rock where it was the least steep. she tucked her paws close, and scrabbled at the edge for a moment before finally collapsing onto the stone. it was warm with heat and she let the feeling soak through her fur for a moment, before finally walking over to the edge of the rock.}

^{and wow. it.. camp looked small from up here. applekit couldn’t help the small “oh” that slipped past her mouth, before she remembered that she was applestar, not some baby!!}

^{“all those who can hunt gather at the tall rock for a clan meeting” she recited. uh.. that was how you said it, right? peering over the edge of the rock, a sudden wave of nausea hit her. ugh... this rock didn’t seem so tall on the ground. swallowing nervously, she offered diamondpaw and acornpaw a strained smile.}

^{★★★ applestar took a deep breath, as she sat up a little taller. right!! she was a leader of a clan now. her loyal clanmates needed her! good thing she was so smart and brilliant and pretty and... hehe oops. getting a little side-tracked. she nodded enthusiastically at acornpaw before standing up abruptly. “awesome!! I mean, acornpaw is still a nice name, so you can be an apprentice for sure” applekit chirped. how wonderfully kind, the great applestar was! wow, she would probably make the best leader ever.}

^{her careful green gaze trailed from behind acornpaw, to a larger bicolor male. cowspots was going to play- er, become a part of her clan too? wow! a real warrior. the girl flashed him a grin. her game was so much better than other kit games that consisted of rolling around in mud and dirtying her very pretty pelt. “roger that, mister cowspots” she said all business-like because she was applestar and leaders didn’t call anyone papa.}

^{applekit’s attention instantly snapped away from cowspots to petalkit however, when the other girl began to speak. oh, the NERVE of that petalkit!! applekit felt her fur puff out and it took all the strength and will that she had to try to keep calm. mm nope. she couldn’t. “oh, you know exactly what I meant you stinky piece of hare-dung!!” applekit yowled. “and no you can’t be the medicine cat, you have to be a medicine cat apprentice” she huffed. after taking a deep breath, applekit sighed dramatically. it was hard work being applestar. just look at what she had to put up with.}

^{good thing she had her loyal deputy by her side, right? applekit glanced sideways at diamondpaw, who had managed to scrabble up next to her. wow.. this game really was so awesome!}

^{“diamondstrike is a super cool name” applekit nodded seriously. again, no name could compare to applestar, but it was still nice.}

^{smirking smugly after diamondp- diamondstrike backed her up, the maine coon sat up a little straighter. “that’s right!” she grinned cheekily, until her expression shifted rather abruptly to a more somber one. “however now- we must prepare for... war” applekit spoke gravely. yes- war!! duh. that was like, totally a part of living in a clan. fighting and stuff.}

^{“riverclan just invaded!! those stinking fish-brains. we have’ta defend camp. um-“ applekit cut herself off, looking for something to attack. she hadn’t really thought this out.. it was sort of improv. well, they could attack the clumps of grass and heather near the nursery!}

^{“there!! those fat chumps will never beat windclan” applekit bounced on her paws, extending one to point in the general direction of the grass clumps.}

^{she was lost in her own world now. applekit has no idea how politics worked or anything, and in her three moons of living here she hadn’t seen any ‘wars’ with riverclan. but hey- she could just pretend. applestar had nine lives now!}

^{excitedly skidding down the slope of the rock, applekit landed clumsily on her large russet paws, before she realized- oh great. she was going to get her beautiful fur all dirty.}

^{skidding to a stop, applekit looked over at her small clan of one warrior and some apprentices. surely they wouldn’t mind fighting off riverclan?}

^{“windclan! attack” she yowled, however she didn’t make any move to join the battle.}

^{what? did they expect her to roll around batting at some grass like a dumb kit?}

^{well.. hm. she was asking them to do that. and everyone else was older than her. uhh.. oh well! she was the leader and the leader’s word was law.}

^{★★★ applekit’s fur puffed up proudly, and her green eyes danced with delight as diamondstrike sprung off of the rock.}

^{“yeah! get those fish-hearts!!” applekit cheered, feeling her paws scuffle excitedly. yes, she didn’t want her pelt sullied, but she was still but a child, and it looked mighty fun to wrestle with one of those springy clumps of grass. the golden tabby caught herself several times, inching forward and back-pedaling again.}

^{but when diamondpaw seemed to have- OH. the mighty deputy had been struck down!! by streamstar!! ooooh, those dirty riverclaners! how dare they mess with windclan?}

^{and in that moment, looks and appearance forgotten, applekit sprinted ahead, launching her stocky body at a small clump of heather.}

^{“hiyAH. take that! the great applestar is takin you down!!” the maine coon cried, eyes ablaze with excitement. her heart thud, as she was caught up in the moment, and after a moment of rolling around she had glanced up to see petalkit and diamondpaw. what the...? hey! what was going on here?}

^{jumping up with a start, applekit’s maw parted indignantly.}

^{well... okay fine. a super herb was a totally awesome idea. a superb idea even, haha. applestar could have totally like given one of her nine lives somehow though. the tabby flushed, feeling a heat of embarrassment or maybe even jealousy coarse through her body again.}

^{frowning a little, suddenly pulled a paw to her chest, and let her jaws part is a dramatic gasp. “oh!! the mighty applestar has dealt deadly blows to the powerful streamstar but uh.. she’s dying now!!” the tabby announced, collapsing onto the heather and grass with a small ‘oof’.}

^{★★★ applekit couldn’t keep her eyes closed, and even though she was losing a life or something, she squirmed impatiently and peeked at the others through her half-closed eye.}

^{aha! see? she was such a great leader. how lucky these poor chumps were to have applestar as their guide.}

^{sitting upright, the maine coon flashed acornpaw and diamondpaw a radiant smile each, when the delighted expression suddenly fell flat.}

^{oh no.}

^{she just....}

^{she just got dirty.}

^{suppressing a gasp of horror, the tabby looked down at her dirt-dusted pelt, which had tangled with heather in her little game. oh no no no. this wouldn’t do at all! they couldn’t see her while she looked like this.}

^{applekit glanced up from her dirtied pelt, and saw that morningfrost was hanging by the side, idly watching the game as well as the nursery.}

^{hmph. she hadn’t meant to ruin her pretty pelt like this in front of her parents and new friends and ARCHNEMISIS petalkit. the tabby hurriedly swiped a tongue over her ginger-streaked paw before finally sighing and looking up at the others.}

^{she simply couldn’t go on as leader. too much fighting and getting dirty was involved.}

^{“that fight sure was something. but now it is with great regret and sorrow i’m afraid i’m going to have to give up my position to my trusted deputy” applekit mewed somberly, lowering her head for dramatic effect.}

^{“it’s time I joined the stinky elders and told weird rambly stories to kits about how I totally wrecked streamstar in battle. take care of my clan, diamondstar” applekit lifted a ginger paw to her head and pretended to brush away a tear from her cheek.}