Secrets Of The Clans

StarClan’s messages are not always clear. Perhaps the hardest part of a medicine cat’s job is reading the omens that are hidden in the natural world. Do they truly come from StarClan?

What do they mean? How can they guide our pawsteps?

It is easy to misread their meanings or to manipulate how they are read. For instance, RiverClan’s medicine cat, Mudfur, found a moth’s wing lying outside his den, which he took to be a sign that Mothwing should be his apprentice, even though she was the daughter of a rogue cat and Tigerstar. However, as Leafpool later discovered, Mothwing’s brother Hawkfrost actually left the moth’s wing there on purpose, intending to trick Mudfur into believing it was a sign. His plan succeeded, paving the way for Hawkfrost to blackmail his sister into manipulating future signs to his benefit as well.

Some cats see signs everywhere; others doubt that StarClan is behind them. If our spirit ancestors can walk in our dreams and speak with us, why would they need to use such cryptic messages?

But there have been some undeniable omens. Before the battle with BloodClan, Firestar saw instead of his own reflection the face of a lion in a pool. He realized this was a reference to the lion and tiger prophecy (see Major Prophecies) and that only by combining the four Clans into LionClan could he save the forest.

As WindClan returned from their exile, the WindClan medicine cat, Barkface, saw the dawn clouds stained with blood.

He interpreted that the day would bring an unnecessary death. It was true. On their way back to the ThunderClan camp, Fireheart and Graystripe were attacked by a RiverClan patrol, and a warrior named Whiteclaw fell to his death over the edge of the Gorge.

Prophecies, on the other hand, are proclamations from StarClan that foretell huge events in the future of the Clans.

Although they may seem ominous and hard to understand, they mark significant turning points in the span of Clan history.

Major Prophecies

Spottedleaf received this message from StarClan on the night of the battle at Sunningrocks. It was my first defeat as ThunderClan’s leader. Morale was low, and there were stirrings of trouble from ShadowClan. ThunderClan needed more warriors, and I needed a sign from StarClan. But what we got didn’t make sense.

“Fire alone can save our Clan.”

But fire is feared by all the Clans. How could it save us?

A few days later, I was leading a patrol along the edge of the woods near Twolegplace. Tigerclaw had gone on ahead with Ravenpaw, and I was turning to ask Redtail a question when I spotted a cat sitting on a fence, looking out at the forest. From the way he held himself, I thought he must be a Clan cat. He looked proud and restless and curious, ready to charge into battle. A ray of sunshine broke through the clouds and touched his orange pelt. It lit up like a blaze of flame. In the next instant, the clouds closed in, and the fire dimmed; the cat began washing his paws with quick, delicate strokes.

I realized he was just a kittypet—the prophecy must have muddled my brain. A kittypet would be about as much use to us as fire!

Still, I kept thinking about him, and I wasn’t surprised when we ran into him again on a patrol. Lionheart and I saw him hunting a mouse. He had excellent form and sharp eyes. When Graypaw attacked him, rather than running like a regular kittypet, he turned to defend himself.

Maybe there was something to my theory after all…

That’s why I invited him to join the Clan. That’s why I named him Firepaw—part of me was hoping that he was a cat of prophecy and destiny.

And I was right.

When I died and joined StarClan, I knew that Fireheart had saved ThunderClan many times over and would do so again as leader. He is living fire: he has the warmth of fire to protect his Clan and the ferocity of fire to defend it.

This prophecy came to me during my leadership ceremony. I had received my nine lives and my Clan leader name. Then, even as StarClan welcomed me, I saw a hill of bones spattered with blood. I heard Bluestar whisper, “Something terrible is coming, Firestar. Four will become two. Lion and tiger will meet in battle, and blood will rule the forest.”

The meaning of the prophecy revealed itself to me gradually. Four will become two—that meant the forest Clans. RiverClan joined ShadowClan under Tigerstar’s leadership, calling themselves TigerClan. ThunderClan joined WindClan to make LionClan…

two Clans where there used to be four. Then lion and tiger would meet in battle.

I had no way of knowing about BloodClan, of course, until Tigerstar revealed his alliance with Scourge. That’s when I discovered our real enemy. LionClan and TigerClan had to unite to drive out Scourge, or else Blood really would rule the forest.

Luckily I had something Scourge did not—faith in StarClan.

With my nine lives and my warrior ancestors fighting beside me, I defeated BloodClan.

In the end, peace, not blood, ruled the forest.

This prophecy came to me, Brambleclaw, not to a medicine cat or a leader. Bluestar, the former ThunderClan leader, told me in a dream that I had to meet with three other cats at the new moon and listen to midnight.

Have you ever heard anything more peculiar? Who were these cats, where were we supposed to meet, and how could midnight tell us anything?

I learned the full prophecy later, after much traveling and danger.

“Darkness, air, water, and sky will come together and shake the forest to its roots. Nothing will be as it is now, nor as it has been before.”

Can you guess what this meant? It meant that four cats from each Clan would come together. ShadowClan was darkness, WindClan was air, RiverClan was water, and ThunderClan was sky. We did shake the forest to its roots, but we had no choice. The Twolegs were destroying our home with their monsters. There was no safe way for cats to live in the forest anymore. Tawnypelt, Crowpaw, Feathertail, and I were chosen to lead our Clanmates to a new home.

That’s what StarClan meant when they said, “Nothing will be as it is now, nor as it has been before.” From the moment we set paw outside the forest, with the cats of all four Clans following us, I knew that wherever we went and wherever we settled, nothing could ever be the same.

This prophecy came to me on our first night in the new camp, in a dream. I am Leafpool, the ThunderClan medicine cat. In my dream, I was gazing at the stars reflected on the lake when the water turned bloodred. Then I heard a voice whisper, “Before there is peace, blood will spill blood, and the lake will run red.”

I knew it meant that there would be bloodshed before there could be peace. But what could I do about it? And when would it happen?

When Mudclaw and Hawkfrost rose up against Onewhisker, I wondered if that was the event in the prophecy. Later, I thought it might be the badger attack. But the prophecy kept returning to my dreams.

I knew that Brambleclaw was meeting his father, Tigerstar, in his dreams, and, of course, I was afraid of where that might lead. So when I heard that Firestar was in mortal danger, I thought he had been betrayed by Brambleclaw. I blamed myself for not having warned my father in time.

But I was wrong.

Brambleclaw’s brother, Hawkfrost, had set a trap for Firestar.

Brambleclaw had fought and killed Hawkfrost to protect his leader.

That’s what the prophecy meant by “blood will spill blood”—the death of Hawkfrost at the paws of his brother.

As Hawkfrost’s blood spilled into the lake, turning the water red, I knew that I could never fight a cat of my own blood. I couldn’t imagine how Brambleclaw must be feeling.

At least now, I thought, there can finally be peace.