1. Ratha gives Shongshar the choice of leaving clan ground with his cubs, or abandoning them away from clan ground. Is this a fair choice? Could Ratha have arrived at a different solution or offered Shongshar another alternative? Why or why not?

2. Thakur senses that Aree and the other treelings can change the Clan's way of life with their special abilities.

What other tasks might the treelings help the Named to perform?

3. In the first chapter, Thakur is made uneasy by the Clan's dance-hunt and its use of fire in the ceremony.

What details of the ritual justify Thakur's concern? How do these concerns foreshadow the conflicts that occur later in the book?

4. The cats of the Clan refer to their herd-animals as "dapple-backs" and "three-horns." Fire is called "the Red Tongue." What other examples of Clan language can you find in the book?

How...