The leader is usually the one who makes decisions for their clan and is the one who represents the clan at clan gatherings. They are also granted nine lives went they become leader so they can be given a chance to lead their clan for a decent amount of time.
The deputy’s job within the clan is to organise the scout and warrior patrols and keep the clan organised, they will also be put in charge temporarily if the leader ever need to journey to somewhere outside of their territory.
The lead medicine cat is in charge of the medicine team in the clan and is responsible for training apprentices and is usually the one with the most knowledge in medicine. When the medicine team has to act quickly they are the ones who will give orders to the team and will tell them what to do. Lead medicine cats also have the strongest connection to spirits compared to the rest of their team and will usually be the ones to have dreams or omens sent to them.
There can be multiple assistant medicine cats in a medicine team and they could be warriors/scouts who have lost interest in their warrior/scout rank and have since become interested in herbs and medicine. But most would usually be apprentices who were trained as medicine cats from apprentice age. Assistant medicine cats can have omens or dreams sent to them but not very often. An Assistant medicine cat will become the next lead medicine cat when the leader of the team dies, it will usually be the assistant with the most knowledge of medicine and strongest connection to the spirits.
Apprentice medicine cats will usually ask their clan’s leader or lead medicine cat if they can become a medicine apprentice when they are a kit and will begin being taught when they are 6 moons old. After their apprenticeship and training is finished and they get their full name they become an assistant medicine cat until the leader of the team dies and they have a chance at becoming the leader for the medicine team.
The senior warriors are the oldest and most experienced warriors. Senior warriors are nearing the age where they can retire to the elders den.
The warriors make up most of the clan’s cats and are tasked with hunting and feeding the clan, as well as patrolling the camp’s close perimeters. The warriors are trained to be the best fighters and how to hunt the prey on their territory.
Senior Scouts are the oldest and most familiar with the clan’s territory and what surrounds it. Senior scouts are nearing the age where they can retire to the elders den.
The Scouts role in the clan is to patrol around the outskirts of the territory to check and make sure everything is in order at the territory boarders and also beyond the territory too. They will also seek out the best place for different herbs at different times in the seasons and the best places for different kinds of prey, which comes in handy especially during leaf-fall and leaf-bare as prey and herbs can both be very scarce in the colder seasons. Herb information is then relayed back to the medicine cat team and information about prey is given to the warriors.
Scouts are taught basic fighting moves and hunting techniques when they are apprentices so they can help the warriors defend and feed the clan when needed. Scouts usually take a big part of the day to patrol around the outskirts of the territory and so they will usually take breaks to hunt and eat before setting off again. Scouts don’t just look out for resources but also environmental dangers or changes in their territory such as a flood or a fire that looks like it could be a hazard to the clan.
Warrior apprentices are taught close to the camp and learn combat moves and hunting techniques to help feed and defend the clan when they earn their title as warriors.
Scout apprentices are taught further away from the camp and are usually taken with the rest of the scouts to learn what changes to look for in the environment in case of danger and are also taught the best places to find different prey and herbs. In the early days of training scout apprentices will often train with the warrior apprentices so that both groups can learn basic combat and hunting.
The elders are cats that have retired their past duties as warriors or scouts because they have become too old or injured to do them, and so they can rest and be looked after by the clan for the remainder of their days in the elders den.
Queens are pregnant or nursing cats who are about to have kits or have recently kitted, they will spend most of their time in the nursery with their kits until their kits reach apprentice age, at which point they can go back to their clan duties.
Kits are young cats from newborn age to 6 moons of age, at which point they will become apprentices and start doing duties for their clan. Kits aren’t usually allowed outside of the camp until apprentice age to avoid them getting hurt or attacked by predators.