Secrets Of The Clans

BloodClan

Clan character: Not so much a Clan as a loosely organized group of cats who have come together for their mutual protection in hostile and crowded living conditions. These cats have no warrior code, no belief in StarClan, no ceremonies, and no formal training for young cats. Their leader rules by strength and fear.

Habitat: Twolegplace.

Leader: Scourge is a small black cat with icy blue eyes and a high-pitched voice. He wears a collar studded with the teeth of the dogs and cats he has killed, and attached to his claws are dog’s teeth. Cruel, calculating, and deadly, Scourge murdered Tigerstar with one blow.

Deputy: Scourge does not have an official deputy, but the closest cat to him is Bone, a large, muscular, black-and-white tom with green eyes. He does all of Scourge’s dirty work and reinforces the black cat’s leadership with violence and brutality. He also wears a collar studded with teeth.

Notable history: Came to the forest after being offered a deal by Tigerstar, recently made leader of ShadowClan. In return for helping him drive out the other Clans, BloodClan would be allowed hunting rights in the forest. Firestar told Scourge about Tigerstar’s past, how he had tried over and over to control the whole forest and failed every time, and how he lied, betrayed, and murdered to satisfy his endless greed for power.

Scourge refused to fight on Tigerstar’s behalf, and when Tigerstar insisted, Scourge killed him, ripping all nine lives from him with a single blow. With Tigerstar dead, the forest Clans united against BloodClan and drove them out, back to Twolegplace. Scourge himself was killed by Firestar, leader of ThunderClan and Tigerstar’s chief opponent.

I never questioned my life with BloodClan until I met Fuzz. I thought all cats lived in terror, afraid of being punished by one of Scourge’s minions. I thought every cat had to find his food by scrabbling through Twoleg trash. I thought all cats slept in dark, cold alleys and dreaded the day they got too sick or too old to take care of themselves.

My mother taught me and my littermates how to scrounge for food and how to fight. She loved us, but she had to be harsh, or we would never learn to survive. When we were twelve moons old, she threw us out of her den. She had no choice. Scourge had decreed that all cats must fend for themselves. I think he was afraid that strong families might challenge him. As long as we were isolated from one another, we had to rely on Scourge.

I knew my two brothers would seek out Bone and try to become part of Scourge’s guard. They admired strength and power, and they wanted some for themselves.

Although it was against the rules, my sister and I stayed together. Violet was a tiny cat, pale orange with thin darker orange stripes. Her paws were small and white and always seemed too delicate for the hard Thunderpaths we ran across or the dirty garbage heaps we had to dig through. We found a hollow below a bush in a Twoleg park where we both could live.

It wasn’t a great den. Rain seeped through the branches and into the ground until we were shivering and soaked. And there were always Twolegs around, often with dogs, who sniffed loudly at the entrance to our den.

Violet was terrified of both the Twolegs and the dogs, and I was terrified that Bone would find out we were living together. I convinced her that she should stay inside the den all the time. It was safer, and I could hunt for both of us. I think she was relieved. She could still go out at night, when the park was empty, and stretch her legs in the moonlight.

Bone caught me a few times with an extra mouse in my teeth.

When he snarled at me, I would give him both mice and tell him they were an offering for Scourge. He liked that, although he must have known I was lying, just as I knew that those mice would disappear into his own mouth the moment I walked away.

Once I ran into my brothers as they patrolled the dump where Scourge made his den. At first I nearly didn’t recognize them. Their eyes were now cold and hard. And around their necks were collars studded with teeth. I stopped and stared at them as they strutted up to me.

“Jumper?” I meowed. “Hoot?”

“Those aren’t our names anymore,” Hoot sneered. “I am Snake.”

“And I am Ice,” hissed Jumper. “And don’t even think about hunting here.”

I hurried away. I’d had my ears battered enough by Scourge’s guards. In fact, my ribs were aching and my back leg was bleeding from a beating I had received the morning I met Fuzz. Bone and one of his guards had decided to demonstrate fighting skills on me for a pair of terrified kits.

When I got away, I limped onto a small Thunderpath, looking for prey that lived on the edge of the forest. A Twoleg monster came out of nowhere. I shot up the nearest tree and over a fence so fast that I tumbled off and landed with a thud in the grass.

“Mrrrow!” a voice exclaimed. “That was some jump!”

My whole body tensed to run, but I was too winded to scramble back up. I lay there as the strange cat padded closer. I could tell from his scent that he wasn’t BloodClan. He smelled of milk and Twolegs.

There was the bright blue collar around his neck, with a small silver bell that jingled as he moved. He was plumper than BloodClan cats, and his long gray fur was feathery and well-groomed. He looked at me as if the moon had fallen into his yard.

“My name is Fuzz!” He jumped back into a play-crouch. “What’s yours?”

“Er—Barley,” I meowed.

“Hello, Erbarley!” Fuzz meowed.

“No, just Barley,” I meowed.

“All right, Justbarley,” Fuzz meowed.

I began to get the idea that this wasn’t the brightest cat I’d ever met.

“You should let my Twolegs take a look at that leg.”

“Oh, no!” I couldn’t think of anything more alarming.

“Don’t worry,” Fuzz purred. “They do this all the time.

It’s their job.” He let out a yowl loud enough to wake a sleeping badger on the far side of the forest. The door to the Twoleg nest swung open, and a tree-tall Twoleg male stepped out into the garden.

I must have blacked out. When I awoke, I was nestled in something soft, surrounded by warmth. I opened my eyes slowly.

Fuzz’s face was a mouse-length from my own, peering at me with his giant green eyes.

“You’re awake!” he meowed, sounding delighted and amazed.

“Have some milk!”

I twisted around to sniff at my leg. It was wrapped in a soft white web of stuff and felt much better. I tried to stand and realized I could put my weight on it with only a little pain.

Suddenly I remembered Violet. I glanced up at the window. The sky outside was dark.

“How long have I been here?” I asked Fuzz.

“All day,” Fuzz meowed cheerfully.

“I have to get back to my sister,” I meowed, scrambling to my feet. “She’ll be so worried.”

“Well, eat something before you go,” Fuzz urged me. I swiped my tongue around the saucer, licking up the scraps of tuna that were left.

The flavor was dazzling. Fuzz led me through a flap in the door. Then I was back out in the yard, scrambling over the fence and hurrying back to the park.

The moon was high in the sky when I reached our den.

“Violet?” I called, crawling into the darkness below the branches.

“Violet?”

Bone’s scent hit my nose just before he spoke from the shadows.

“Your sister is not here.”

I froze, all my muscles turning to stone. “W-where is she?” I stam-mered.

“She came looking for you.” The black-and-white cat stood and stretched his long, muscular legs. His eyes gleamed in the fragments of moonlight. “What an interesting setup you have here, Barley. You and your sister, living in this den. Isn’t that against the rules?”

“I’m just taking care of her,” I meowed. “We’re no threat to Scourge.”

“That is for Scourge to decide,” Bone hissed. “Come.” He stalked out of the bush, brushing past the thorns as if he didn’t feel them. I hurried after him, my heart sinking as we approached the trash heap where Scourge held court.

The small black cat was perched atop a mound of discarded Twoleg things. The teeth on his collar and claws glinted like the freezing chips of ice that were his eyes. Cats were gathered all around the mound, waiting for something to happen. Below Scourge, in a cleared circle of dirt, my sister was sitting with her shoulders hunched. Her eyes were huge and terrified.

“Violet,” I cried, springing forward, but Bone whirled around and slammed his paw into my head so I was knocked aside, my vision spinning. I crouched for a moment, shaking my head.

“This is what we do with cats who break the rules,” Scourge hissed in his eerily high-pitched voice. He flicked his tail at the shadows to his left. My brothers emerged into the moonlight, their teeth bared in furious snarls.

“No!” I yowled. “Leave her alone! Fight me, if you must! She’s done no harm!”

“It’s true,” Scourge snarled. “You are the one who broke the rules.

You are the one who must be punished.” He swiped his tongue over his paw, making us all wait for a long, horrible moment. Then he looked down at me with a sinister twitch of his whiskers. “And what better punishment could there be than for you to watch your sister die right in front of you.”

“No!” I wailed, but before I could move, Bone leaped on me and pinned me down. I could only struggle futilely, my claws scrabbling at the ground, as Snake and Ice stalked up to Violet. There was a flash of claws and a shriek of pain from Violet. And then my poor little sister was lying on the ground, blood spilling out of her, her paws twitching feebly. I stared in horror as Snake and Ice licked the blood off their paws and slunk back into the shadows. Scourge nodded, looking pleased, and then he melted away into the darkness, with all his followers disappearing behind him. Bone lifted his paws and looked down at me with disgust in his eyes.

“Don’t ever try to fight BloodClan again,” he snarled. “We always win.”

Then he too vanished into the darkness.

I crawled over to Violet, my breathing coming in ragged gasps.

She was so still, so small. I nosed her face gently and suddenly her eyes opened.

“Barley.” She coughed. “Help me.”

She was alive! I frantically tried to stop the blood spilling out of the long slice in her stomach, but I didn’t know anything about healing another cat.

Then I remembered Fuzz and the Twoleg. It was risky, but it was the only thing I could think of to do.

I closed my mouth gently around the scruff of Violet’s neck and dragged her out of the dump. She kept letting out little yips of pain, but she didn’t struggle. I dragged her all the way down the small Thunderpath to the gate in the Twoleg fence where Fuzz lived. And then I laid her down on the path and started yowling with all my heart.

Fuzz shot out the cat door a few moments later, his face as brightly confused as ever. He sprang up to the top of the gate and teetered precariously, gawking at me and Violet.

“Who’s that?” he exclaimed. “She’s the most beautiful cat I’ve ever seen! Why is she so sad? Oh, my whiskers, is she bleeding too? What on earth is wrong with your Twolegs? Why don’t they take better care of you?”

“Fuzz, I need your help,” I panted. “I need your Twoleg to take care of Violet for me.”

“Where are you going?” Fuzz asked, all wide-eyed innocence.

Until he said that, I hadn’t really thought about it. I knew I couldn’t stay anywhere near BloodClan. She would be safe only here in this Twoleg nest—and she would be safe only if I was far away. Then perhaps Scourge and Bone would forget about us.

“The far side of the forest,” I meowed. “Please will you take care of her?”

“Sure,” Fuzz meowed. “She doesn’t look like she eats much tuna.

Maybe she’ll share hers with me.” He tilted his head at Violet.

The door opened behind him, spilling yellow light into the garden. I bent my head to whisper in Violet’s ear.

“You’ll be safe now,” I meowed. “Remember, I love you.”

She blinked up at me. “I love you too, Barley.”

“I’ll always be your brother,” I meowed. “However far apart we are.”

“Bye, Justbarley!” Fuzz meowed.

I dashed across the Thunderpath and up a tree. From there, I watched as the Twoleg swung open the gate and saw Violet. He made a sad, shocked sound, then leaned over to gently pick her up. From the way he cradled her as they went back inside, I could tell that he would take care of her. I didn’t know why I felt so sure we could trust him, but I did.

Fuzz scampered after them. His long, fluffy tail whisking through the door was the last I saw of the Twoleg nest before I turned and ran swiftly toward the woods.

I traveled quickly through the trees. I could smell other cats around me, but I was afraid they would be like BloodClan, so I didn’t stop. I crossed a stream and ran through a clearing guarded by four tall oak trees. I scrambled up a rocky slope and found myself on an open moor, where I ran even faster, as if my life depended on it. I wanted to put as much distance as I could between myself and BloodClan.

Finally, as the sun was rising over the distant hills, I came to a large Twoleg nest. It smelled of hay and mice and sunshine. I could tell after a short exploration that Twolegs came here often but didn’t stay long. Something about it felt safe and friendly. Nothing could have been more different from the dark alleys and cold puddles of Twolegplace.

I dug my way into a pile of hay and curled up, breathing in the sweet warmth.

I would be safe here. Safe and free to live my own life. Maybe one day I’d go back and look for Violet—or maybe she’d be happy living with Fuzz and his Twolegs. Maybe she’d get plump on tuna and sleep on the bed with the Twolegs, purring contentedly. The important thing was we’d escaped from BloodClan.

Scourge couldn’t hurt us anymore.

The Tribe of Rushing Water

Tribe character: Smaller and leaner than forest cats. They smear their fur with mud for camouflage against the rocks. Tribe cats are born as either cave-guards or prey-hunters and are known as to-bes while training. Their warrior ancestors belong to the Tribe of Endless Hunting, cats who appear in whispers in the leaves and the pattern of water over stones. Their most sacred place is the Cave of Pointed Stones, where the Healer may interpret signs in the way rain drips from the roof and in the shadows of the stalagmites and stalactites cast by moonlight.

Habitat: The mountains.

Camp: A rocky path leads behind a waterfall into a huge cave, as broad as the waterfall and screened from the outside world by the rushing water. The cave burrows under the mountain. Narrow passages lead off on either side, one to the Cave of the Pointed Stones, one to the nursery. Cats sleep in hollows on the cave floor lined with moss and eagle or heron feathers. A trickle of water runs down a mossy rock into a small, clear pool, providing fresh drinking water.

Leader (known as Healer): Teller of the Pointed Stones, called Stoneteller, is a wise old brown tabby cat who serves as both leader and medicine cat. He is responsible for reading the signs in the Cave of Pointed Stones, and he guides his Tribe according to the messages from the Tribe of Endless Hunting.

There are strangers in our cave tonight.

They are returning to their home in the forest, but they must not linger there long. They say that a terrible danger is destroying their home. Soon all the forest cats must go on a journey to no cat knows where…

We are struggling with a terrible danger too. I cannot tell the strangers about it. I fear they would leave the mountains if they knew.

And yet one of them must save us from Sharptooth.

I have read the ripple of shadows on the rock wall, the drops of water in the moonlight. I have seen bright gray fur flash in the pool.

The signs are clear. A silver cat, not from this Tribe, will come to save us from Sharptooth—that is what the Tribe of Endless Hunting has promised.

The six cats arrived wet and shivering in our cave. They are scrawny, tired, and suspicious, and one of them is badly injured. I have heard them whispering about us—they don’t realize how good our hearing is. They can see that we are afraid of something.

I believe the silver cat must be the one called Stormfur. His fur gleams with the dark silver of the moon when it is just a claw in the sky.

The dark tabby, the one called Brambleclaw, is their leader, although the small black cat and the tortoiseshell don’t hesitate to challenge him. Nor does the ginger she-cat named Squirrelpaw, yet I can see her respect for him in every ripple of her fur. There is something about those two—a destiny longer, darker, and more fraught with danger than I care to look at. But it does not affect my Tribe.

Once the strangers dried off, I saw there was another silver cat in the group—Stormfur’s sister, Feathertail. Could the prophecy refer to her instead? No, it must be Stormfur. He has a proud courage about him, a strength in those shoulders that would defeat any of my cave-guards.

Whatever he is going to do to save us, I hope it will be soon. My Tribe has lost so many cats already. And it is not only the lives of the dead cats that Sharptooth has taken. He has taken the pride, the joy, the fierce will to live of all my Tribe. We are but a shadow of a Tribe now, haunted by the flashing claws and teeth of a mindless killer.

I beseech you, Tribe of Endless Hunting. Guide the silver cat’s paws to save us from Sharptooth, so that we may have peace again.

Rogues and Loners

A rogue is a Clan cat who has been banished for crimes against the warrior code. These cats are usually hostile and live as out-laws on Clan territory or on the outskirts. Loners are cats who choose to live neither in Clans nor with Twolegs. They live and hunt alone. Loners can be friendly and even helpful to the Clan cats.

Barley: A black-and-white tom who left BloodClan to live as a loner in the forest. (See Barley Speaks: Flight from BloodClan.) His home is a warm barn north of WindClan territory. Warriors often pass through his farm on their way to Highstones, and so most of the Clans know of him. The Twolegs who run the farm don’t mind him living there, since he keeps down the rodent population.

Barley bravely came to the aid of Bluestar during a rat attack when she was leading four ThunderClan cats back to the forest from Mothermouth. Later, he offered his barn as shelter for WindClan while they journeyed home to their camp. When BloodClan came to the forest, he was able to give Firestar insight into their weaknesses, which helped LionClan win the battle.

Ravenpaw: A small black loner, originally a ThunderClan apprentice. His mentor was the ThunderClan deputy Tigerclaw. During a battle at Sunningrocks, Ravenpaw saw Tigerclaw kill the ThunderClan deputy, Redtail. This knowledge put Ravenpaw’s life at risk. With the help of Firepaw, he fled the ThunderClan camp to the safety of Barley’s barn. He is happy here; the loner lifestyle suits him better than Clan life.

Sasha: A tawny-colored rogue. She fell in love with Tigerstar while he was recruiting BloodClan. She bore him two kittens, Mothwing and Hawkfrost, and brought them to RiverClan for a better life, as she wasn’t interested in raising kits by herself.

Later, she tried unsuccessfully to convince them to rejoin her instead of traveling to the Clans’ new home.

Purdy: An elderly, mottled brown tabby tom who met the questing Clan cats on their way to the sun-drown-place.

Purdy did his best to help the cats find their way through the confusing tangle of Thunderpaths and Twoleg nests, although it might not have been by the shortest route! He tried to warn the young cats of the danger in the mountains, but it was their destiny to go that way, no matter what he said.

Smoky, Daisy, and Floss: These three cats live as loners in a barn near the horseplace. They do not hunt prey, since they are fed by the Twolegs. This, in the opinion of many Clan cats, makes them as useless as kittypets.

Smoky is a muscular gray-and-white tom, who is distant but not unfriendly. He met the Clan cats on their way to the first Gathering. He is the father of Daisy’s kits: Berrykit, Hazelkit, and Mousekit.

Daisy is a creamy brown she-cat with blue eyes. She brought her kits to join ThunderClan.

Floss is a small gray-and-white she-cat, whose kits were taken away by the Nofurs (their name for Twolegs).

“Your kits! Where have they gone?”

The barn suddenly seemed a large, forbidding space, with a thousand different places for kits to get hurt. I scrabbled through a stack of hay next to my friend Floss. She had recently had kits—but her kits had vanished.

“Their eyes were still closed! They couldn’t even walk!”

Floss was lying on her side in a patch of sunshine. She blinked large, sad eyes at me.

“It’s the Nofurs,” she explained. “They take our kits after they’re born. They took my first litter too.”

“Why would they do that?”

“Maybe they think three cats in one barn are enough?” Floss meowed. “Maybe there are other barns that need cats.”

I curled my tail over my stomach as if I could already protect the little lives inside. I thought there might be three of them, from the way they kicked and wriggled.

“But—you never see them again?” I meowed softly.

“One moment they’re here.” She lifted a paw and licked it. “The next, they’re gone.”

I studied her face carefully. I think she was more heartbroken than she was letting on. “Then I’ll have to leave,” I meowed. “I’ll take my kits far away from the Nofurs.”

“Where will you go?” Floss asked. “And how will you survive, all on your own with a family of hungry mouths?”

She was right. I wasn’t used to being on my own. I wouldn’t know how to feed myself or my kits. And I would miss the friendship of Floss and Smoky.

“What about those new cats?” I remembered. “The ones who moved to the lake?”

“Strange creatures. Why not find a nice warm barn to live in?”

meowed Floss. “It must be cold and wet out there.”

It was true; I hated being cold and wet. But some of those wild cats had looked friendly. There was that white tom who had nodded to me, and the orange leader who had warm green eyes.

Floss narrowed her eyes. “We don’t know anything about those cats, except that there are a lot of them,” she meowed.

But I was sure they would help me. I could carry my kits there, if I needed to. I knew Smoky wouldn’t try to stop me. He had always cared more about Floss than me. Perhaps out there I could find a cat to care about me the way Smoky and Floss care about each other. And he’d take care of my kits too.

I knew there were scary things outside the barn, but I was sure that the wild cats would protect me and my kits, so that I could see them grow up. I knew what I was going to call them too: Mouse, Berry, and Hazel. They’re going to be fine, strong cats, and I will be there for every pawstep.

Kittypets

Cats that live with Twolegs are called kittypets. They wear collars and are usually timid, soft, and scared of Clan cats. They are fed by their Twolegs, and so have no need to hunt. They have only a vague sense of territory beyond their Twolegs’ garden.

Smudge: Friendly, plump, and contented black-and-white tom. He lived next door to Firestar, whom he knew as Rusty. He sees none of the appeal of the forest or Clan life.

Princess: Firestar’s sister. A light brown tabby with a white chest and white paws. She is intrigued by the forest and gave up her son, Cloudkit, to be raised as a ThunderClan cat. Yet she finds it terrifying too; she could never leave her Twolegs to chase mice in the forest! Cloudkit had some trouble adjusting to the warrior code at first, and he has never believed in StarClan, but he is still a brave, loyal ThunderClan warrior.

Cody: Sweet, plucky, tabby kittypet with blue eyes. Cody ran away from her Twolegs, intending only to have a bit of fun before returning home. She was caught by the construction crew tearing down the forest and thrown into a cage with the wild cats. Here, she befriended Leafpaw, and after they were rescued, Cody went with her to ThunderClan.

Although she was willing to help the Clan in their hour of need, the precarious, violent life of the warrior cats was not for her, and she returned to her housefolk. She will never forget her friend Leafpaw.

Jacques and Susan: Jacques is a huge black-and-white tom with a torn ear. Susan is a small tabby she-cat. They live in a Twoleg nest in ShadowClan’s lake territory. Both of them are hostile and dangerous, with no warrior code to guide their actions. When the warrior cats moved into their territory, they showed their displeasure by targeting young or weak cats. ThunderClan helped ShadowClan teach them a lesson.

Millie: A light gray tabby she-cat. Millie befriended Graystripe when he was captured by Twolegs. When he decided to leave in search of his Clan, she chose to leave her housefolk and go with him. Although she was raised as a kittypet, Graystripe has trained her to fight, and she is committed to becoming a true ThunderClan warrior.