The Ultimate Guide

Introduction to ThunderClan: Bluestar Speaks

LIKE ALL OF THE Clans, ThunderClan has been shaped by the nature of its home, by the dense forest and prey-rich thickets that lie between its boundaries. My warriors are the most skilled predators of any Clan, able to make themselves silent and invisible in order to hunt the tiny furred and feathered creatures that live among us. They can stalk over fallen leaves and brittle twigs without making a sound, and from a standstill they can pounce with enough strength to bring down a full-grown rabbit.

We are descended from the cats who were most adept at hunting beneath the trees, who were undaunted by branches blocking out the sky and the need to fight enemies at close quarters when there was no open space in which to escape an attacker. This battling in close quarters gave us courage and confidence in our abilities to feed and defend ourselves, and we knew the forest was the right home for us.

It was the warrior code that let us grow as a Clan and maintain our beloved forest territory. No

Clan guards the code as passionately as ThunderClan. To our dying breath, we know it will protect us from injustice, cruelty, and needless battles. The code tells us to check our boundaries daily, and prohibits trespassing or hunting on another Clan’s territory, and we follow this. The other Clans might call us cowards for avoiding constant border skirmishes, but we would fight for our territory as fiercely as any of them—just not when a more peaceful answer can be found by obeying the code that we share.

When we lived in the forest beside Twolegplace, our greatest border quarrel was with RiverClan over Sunningrocks. When cats first came to the forest, these rocks were an island in the middle of the river, accessible only to those peculiar cats who were willing to swim to it. But the river changed its course, and the rocks were soon attached by dry land to ThunderClan territory. The only logical conclusion was that they should be absorbed into our borders. RiverClan, those fish-eating mouse-brains, insisted this was unfair and tried bitterly to reclaim Sunningrocks. We won more of those battles than we lost, which speaks for itself. When my warriors know they are in the right, they will fight like lions.

But we also know what it is like to be without the boundaries of a Clan. Living so close to Twolegplace in the forest, we met more kittypets than the other Clans, and had more rogues passing through. I tried to teach my Clan to treat these strangers as cats just like us before judging them for where they were born. Compared to some of the dark-hearted warriors clawing at our borders, there are better cats who have no belief in StarClan at all. Cats can learn to follow the warrior code, but they cannot always learn to have the compassion or courage that comes from faith.

BLUESTAR

LEADER OF THUNDERCLAN BEFORE Firestar, Bluestar was a proud and deeply committed warrior.

Once known as Bluefur, her early life was scarred by tragedy. Her mother was killed during a raid on WindClan and soon after, her sister, Snowfur, died on the Thunderpath. Isolated in her grief from her own Clanmates, Bluefur fell in love with a RiverClan warrior named Oakheart, but their brief relationship ended when Bluefur realized she could not be loyal to ThunderClan while her heart lay elsewhere. Unbeknownst to Bluefur, she was already expecting Oakheart’s kits.

Bluefur paid the highest possible price for her leadership, giving up her three tiny kits in order to become deputy instead of Thistleclaw, whom she feared would destroy ThunderClan with his dark-hearted ambition. Oakheart raised Stonefur and Mistyfoot, the two kits who survived, in his own

Clan. Bluefur told her Clanmates that her litter had been stolen by a starving badger, and then overcame her sadness to become deputy and leader as she had hoped.

When Bluestar was an apprentice, the ThunderClan medicine cat Goosefeather had delivered a prophecy to her: “You will blaze through the forest like fire; only water can destroy you.” During her leadership, as ThunderClan struggled against its rivals, Bluestar looked to another source of fire—the red-pelted kittypet Rusty—to save her beloved Clan. But Bluestar’s murderous deputy Tigerclaw continued to rage against ThunderClan even after becoming leader of ShadowClan. He set a pack of ravenous dogs to raid the camp, and Bluestar gave up her ninth life to lead the dogs over the edge of the gorge, dying for the last time in water, just as Goosefeather had foretold. StarClan showed enough mercy that Stonefur and Mistyfoot found Bluestar on RiverClan’s shore, and her final moments were spent making peace with her surviving children before she went to join her lost daughter, Mosskit, in StarClan.

PINESTAR

PINESTAR WAS THE LEADER of ThunderClan when Bluekit (later Bluestar) was born. He was fiercely protective of ThunderClan’s borders and prey, but preferred a show of strength via patrols and words rather than actual conflict to resolve any issues. Pinestar was a calm, fair-minded leader, resigned to doing battle with RiverClan over Sunningrocks, and confident in the abilities of his deputy, Sunfall, to organize the Clan’s daily routine. When his medicine cat Goosefeather found a sign that warned WindClan was on the verge of destroying ThunderClan, Pinestar reluctantly agreed to take action.

Several of his senior warriors were eager to invade WindClan and teach them exactly what would come of stealing prey from ThunderClan, but Pinestar knew how much this would cost his Clanmates in injuries and even death.

Pinestar led the attack on WindClan himself, and the battle turned out to be as bloody as he had feared, with the death of Bluepaw’s mother, Moonflower, at the claws of WindClan’s warrior-turned-medicine cat, Hawkheart. The battle was lost, and Pinestar grew increasingly disillusioned with the violence and contrasting fragility of Clan life. He started roaming beyond the borders of ThunderClan, crossing into Twolegplace and observing the easy lives of the kittypets who didn’t have to risk their lives for the sake of food and shelter.

Pinestar was befriended by a kittypet named Jake, who was intrigued by the cats in the woods and had once traveled for a while with Talltail, a warrior from WindClan. Pinestar started to take food from a Twoleg, and gradually life outside the Clan became more and more appealing. His travels couldn’t stay secret for long, though, and he was spotted on one of his Twolegplace visits by a young

ThunderClan apprentice named Lionpaw. Embarrassed, Pinestar lied that he was engaged in a long battle with a kittypet, and was just pretending to be one himself in order to pass unchallenged through Twolegplace.

But yet another invasion of Sunningrocks by RiverClan made Pinestar realize that he could not spend his last life fighting for every paw step of territory and every mouthful of food. His greatest regret was leaving behind his kits with Leopardfoot, especially the little tom, Tigerkit, who was already fierce and bold and eager to fight. Pinestar handed over leadership of his Clan to Sunfall, then left to live with his adopted Twoleg. Pinestar believed he had served his Clan loyally and well for eight long lives, and he deserved some peace at the end.

GOOSEFEATHER AND FEATHERWHISKER

GOOSEFEATHER AND HIS APPRENTICE , Featherwhisker, were medicine cats during Pinestar’s leadership of ThunderClan. Goosefeather was a naturally skilled medicine cat, but by old age he became better known for his laziness and sour temper than for his original talents. He took a close interest in Bluefur, who would one day become Bluestar, and her sister, Snowfur, because their mother, Moonflower, was his littermate.

Goosefeather had a habit of interpreting omens in the darkest way, and in the end, it was his doom-laden prophecy that led to the battle with WindClan, and Moonflower’s death. Goosefeather interpreted the flattened fur on a vole from the fresh-kill pile as a sign that WindClan would crush

ThunderClan, kill all the warriors and destroy their territory. Strong feelings stirred up in the Clan left Pinestar with no option but to attack WindClan first. A second omen—a shred of catmint on the vole’s flank—was seen by Goosefeather as a warning from StarClan that they must invade the very heart of WindClan, inside their camp, and destroy their supply of herbs. It was a bold plan and ultimately disastrous, leading to death and defeat for the ThunderClan warriors. Goosefeather was unrepentant, insisting that his omens were correct.

Soon after the battle with WindClan, a branch was struck by lightning and fell, burning, between

Bluepaw and a threatening fox. Rain swiftly came to extinguish the fire, and Bluepaw and the woods were saved. To Goosefeather, this was a prophecy about Bluepaw herself: that she would blaze through the forest like fire, quenched only by water. Bluepaw had no inclination to take his words seriously, not after he had prompted the battle that killed her mother.

From that moment on, Goosefeather’s mind wandered from the dedication and curiosity essential for a medicine cat, and his Clan turned more and more to his apprentice, Featherwhisker, instead.

Goosefeather retreated into a world of sinister omens, and an unfailing conviction that ThunderClan was on the brink of destruction. Featherwhisker took over all medicine duties with a calmness and sense of optimism that had been missing in his mentor. Goosefeather’s final act of madness was to react with horror whenever he was in the presence of Tigerkit, Pinestar and Leopardfoot’s sole remaining son. He confided to Bluefur that Tigerkit should never have been born, and he urged Bluefur to become deputy instead of the ambitious warrior Thistleclaw, whatever it took.

Whether he interpreted omens correctly or not, Goosefeather shaped the future of ThunderClan by setting Bluefur on the course of her destiny. But she was glad to have Featherwhisker by her side by the time she received her nine lives as leader of her Clan.

FIRESTAR

THIS BRAVE, BIGHEARTED THUNDERCLAN leader started life as a kittypet named Rusty, and lived with housefolk for his first six moons. He inherited his father Jake’s fascination with what lay beyond the Twoleg nests, in the woods where wild cats were rumored to live. A chance encounter with a

ThunderClan apprentice named Graypaw led to an introduction to Bluestar, who saw in the young kittypet’s flame-colored pelt echoes of a recent prophecy: “Fire alone will save the Clan.”

Renamed Firepaw, and then Fireheart, the young ginger cat trained hard to become one of ThunderClan’s most trusted warriors, and later, Bluestar’s deputy. But his path was darkened by a feud with Tigerclaw, the former deputy who was driven out of the Clan when Fireheart uncovered his plot to kill Bluestar.

Firepaw’s closest friends in the moons following his arrival were Graypaw, Ravenpaw, and the young medicine cat, Spottedleaf. After Spottedleaf’s death during a ShadowClan raid, he grew close to a feisty, russet-furred she-cat named Sandstorm, and soon after Fireheart became leader and took on the name Firestar, she gave birth to his daughters, Leafkit and Squirrelkit.

Firestar led ThunderClan during the Great Journey from the forest to the lake and helped to establish all four Clans in their new homes. His untiring faith in StarClan gave him strength to fight against illnesses, drought, Twoleg disturbances, and border clashes. Except for one life lost to illness, he gave each of his nine lives for the sake of his Clanmates—most of all his final life, lost in the battle against the Dark Forest. A blaze of lightning marked the moment that Firestar joined his warrior ancestors—ancestors not by blood, but by heritage, honor, and tradition.

SPOTTEDLEAF

SPOTTEDLEAF WAS THE MEDICINE cat in ThunderClan when Rusty the kittypet, who would one day become Firestar, first arrived. She saw in him the same qualities that Bluestar did: courage, spirit, unwavering loyalty to doing the right thing. But Spottedleaf also saw Rusty as a warm, sensitive cat who was not limited by his expectations of her role as medicine cat and who viewed her more than anything else as a friend. If things had been different—if Spottedleaf had been a few moons younger, an apprentice warrior rather than a medicine cat—their relationship would have become even closer.

Instead, Spottedleaf died before she and Fireheart could find a way to express how they felt about each other, which left her frustrated and lonely in StarClan, missing the friend she had left behind. She refused to let go of the connection she had shared with Fireheart, and walked in his dreams, guiding and supporting him in his early days of leading ThunderClan.

When Firestar left to rediscover SkyClan, Spottedleaf knew she had lost him to Sandstorm. In her heart, she understood that the young she-cat was a far better choice, able to walk side by side with Firestar, bear his kits, and share responsibility for the Clan over the coming seasons. Spottedleaf grieved for missed chances, for a life that could never have been, but she still watched over Firestar and her former Clanmates as they moved to the lake and built new lives far from her forest home.

In the final confrontation with the Dark Forest, Spottedleaf gave her life in the stars to save Sandstorm, one last gift to her beloved Firestar.

GRAYSTRIPE AND MILLIE

AS AN APPRENTICE, GRAYPAW’S boldness and bravery led him to be the first Clan cat to approach

Rusty the kittypet, who went on to become Firestar. This boldness would lead him into trouble more than once—but it was the same courage and impulsive generosity that moved him and Fireheart to catch food for RiverClan when the river was poisoned, and to travel far beyond the territories to rescue WindClan after they had been chased out by ShadowClan.

Like Bluestar, Graystripe fell in love with a RiverClan cat: Silverstream, daughter of Crookedstar. Silverstream died giving birth to Graystripe’s kits, Stormkit and Featherkit, and when ThunderClan failed to treat these kits with the kindness that Graystripe hoped for, he took them back to their mother’s Clan. It tore him apart to leave his Clan—and his best friend, Fireheart—but he believed that RiverClan was the only place where they’d be truly welcomed. Stormkit and Featherkit thrived, eventually taking the warrior names Stormfur and Feathertail, but Graystripe returned to ThunderClan when he realized that his loyalties were not to his kits’ Clan, but to his own.

When Twolegs began to destroy the forest to make way for a new Thunderpath, they set traps for the cats in their way. Graystripe was captured while risking his life to free others, and was taken away to live with Twolegs. Although treated kindly, he never forgot that he was a warrior and always yearned to find the Clan he had lost.

While imprisoned by Twolegs, he met a kittypet named Millie who loved him enough to travel with him all the way to the lake where the Clans had made new homes. Graystripe was welcomed like a returning hero, but it was Millie’s determination that got them out of Twolegplace, and her untiring encouragement that helped Graystripe find his lost Clanmates. Millie quickly learned to hunt for prey and fight as well as any warrior, but she refused to take a warrior name or be ashamed of where she had come from. Because of this, some cats always questioned her loyalty to the warrior code—though never within earshot of Graystripe.

SANDSTORM

WHEN RUSTY THE KITTYPET first joined ThunderClan, Sandpaw sided with fellow apprentice

Dustpaw in tormenting him. But the former kittypet, who would eventually come to be known as Firestar, soon made a very different impression on her, as she began to appreciate his courage and loyalty to his adopted Clan. He slowly came to realize how important she was to him as well, and Sandstorm’s friendship and support were especially important to Firestar as he prepared for the battle against BloodClan. Firestar was determined to save the forest from Scourge and had heard StarClan’s prophecy that he was the only one who could do so. But Sandstorm was the cat who made

Firestar believe that he was doing the right thing by fighting the cats from Twolegplace and that he would be able to defeat them.

Sandstorm was a proud and committed warrior and her courage equaled Firestar’s on the journey to rebuild SkyClan in the sandy gorge far from the forest. Sandstorm took on the role of medicine cat to help the scattered Clanmates, and she matched Firestar blow for blow in the battle against the rats, even though she had only a single life to lose. She was an excellent mother to Squirrelflight and Leafpool, and stood by her daughters when the truth came out about Lionblaze, Hollyleaf, and Jayfeather.

Sandstorm had a quick temper and a strong sense of what was right, which Firestar respected.

Next to his deputies and his medicine cats, Sandstorm was the cat he consulted most often before making any decisions for the Clan. She spoke up for the cats in ThunderClan who shied away from the traditional warrior lifestyle, in particular Daisy, who came from the horseplace by the lake.

Sandstorm defended Daisy’s wish to stay in the nursery and help other queens, instead of joining border or hunting patrols.

Sandstorm would have loved to have had more kits, but she knew that Firestar had enough demands made on him by the rest of the Clan. She shared his sense of responsibility to all of the cats who lived in the hollow, and never wished that their lives could have been different.

BRIGHTHEART AND CLOUDTALL

BRIGHTHEART’S RAVAGED FACE REMINDED every cat of the attack from Tigerstar’s half-trained pack of dogs. But Brightheart only remembered when she saw her reflection in a pool of water—so she avoided drinking from anything except fast-flowing streams. She tried hard to forget the horror and pain of the mauling, and to ignore the flinches that came from strangers seeing her for the first time.

Far from being treated like an invalid, Brightheart hunted and fought alongside her Clanmates and spent time with every apprentice, training them in specialized battle skills to use if one of their own eyes were injured. She possessed the true beauty that comes from courage, loyalty, and devotion—but she had no wish to see her own face.

Happily, despite her scars, Brightheart’s life turned into everything she ever dreamed of: She and Cloudtail had two litters of kits, and their daughter Whitewing had her own kits, Dovewing and Ivypool, who played a critical part in saving the Clans from the Dark Forest.

Cloudtail never flinched from Brightheart’s scars. But then he knew how it felt to be different, not just because of his fluffy, white pelt that older warriors scorned for the way its brightness stood out to every piece of prey. Cloudtail was the son of Firestar’s kittypet sister, Princess. She gave him up to be raised as a ThunderClan warrior. As an apprentice, Cloudpaw struggled at first; he even went back to the kittypet life until StarClan—and Fireheart—gave him a second chance.

Cloudtail made the long journey from the forest to the lake, helped establish his Clan in a new home far from anything they had known before, and risked his own life to save his Clanmates from badgers, storms, and illness—all without believing in StarClan. But he did believe in the battle between good and evil, and he fought as fiercely as any warrior against the cats of the Dark Forest. In the end, loyalty to the warrior code and to his Clanmates mattered more than anything else.

YELLOWFANG

YELLOWFANG WAS THE EXILED ShadowClan medicine cat discovered on an early solo patrol by Firepaw, who would one day become Firestar. His act of kindness in giving her a piece of fresh-kill was punished by Bluestar because he had broken the warrior code of feeding elders and kits from his own Clan first. As a result, Firepaw was ordered to feed and care for Yellowfang in her first moons in the Clan, where she was viewed with suspicion because of ThunderClan’s long rivalry with bloodthirsty ShadowClan. In spite of Yellowfang’s simmering anger at being treated like a prisoner, she formed a strong bond with the young kittypet-turned-warrior, a connection that lasted beyond her death.

Yellowfang was cranky, stubborn, impatient—and the most loyal cat you could ever meet. Her whole life was a quest for loyalty—to ShadowClan, to her role as their medicine cat, to the son that she bore in secret, and then to ThunderClan after her exile. Yellowfang’s biggest mistake was her love for Raggedstar, leader of ShadowClan, despite knowing that medicine cats are forbidden from having mates or kits. When Yellowfang’s bitter, neglected son, Brokenstar, became ShadowClan’s leader and made the forest run red with the blood of kits too young to fight, Yellowfang’s loyalty to what she knew to be right led to Brokenstar exiling her and forcing her across the border to ThunderClan.

She blamed herself wholly for Brokenstar’s brutality, and when he was finally defeated during a raid on the ThunderClan camp, she persuaded Bluestar to let him stay there, blind and captive. Just a few moons later, Yellowfang discovered that Brokenstar had plotted with Tigerclaw and some rogues against the Clan that had given him food and shelter. Wracked with guilt, Yellowfang fed deathberries to her own son: It was the only solution she could find for a problem she believed she had caused.

Her loyalty to ThunderClan was proven beyond all doubt when she died saving her adopted Clanmates from a fire that swept through their camp. Fireheart grieved as if he had lost his own mother.

CINDERPELT

CINDERPELT WAS A MEDICINE cat who should have been a warrior. She was Fireheart’s first apprentice, but when she was struck by a monster on the Thunderpath, she injured her hind leg so badly that she had to give up all her hopes of hunting and fighting for her Clan. In spite of her disappointment, she trained fiercely as Yellowfang’s apprentice and became a skilled and reliable medicine cat. She fought hard to save Silverstream’s life at the birth of Graystripe’s kits and was always haunted by her failure. Cinderpelt tried to make amends by helping two sickly ShadowClan cats who sought refuge in ThunderClan’s territory; this forged a strong, lasting friendship with one of them, Littlecloud, who went on to become ShadowClan’s medicine cat.

Cinderpelt didn’t have the same sensitivity to StarClan that other medicine cats have had; for example, she interpreted blades of burning grass as a warning that Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight would unite—fire and tiger—to destroy ThunderClan. In fact, those cats’ quest to the sun-drown-place saved the Clan by finding them a new home.

But StarClan did not blame Cinderpelt for her mistake. They understood that she should never have been a medicine cat. Her warrior ancestors gave her one more test before deciding to give her a second chance: Led by Bluestar, they told Cinderpelt when she would die and then let her live with that knowledge even though her apprentice, Leafpool, was on the brink of leaving the Clan to be with the WindClan warrior Crowfeather. Cinderpelt went on in the shadow of her own death with such courage and dignity, resisting the temptation to beg Leafpool to stay, that she proved herself worthy of a second life, returning to ThunderClan at the moment of her final breath as one of Sorreltail’s kits, Cinderheart.

LEAFPOOL

IN CONTRAST WITH ClNDERPELT, Leafpool was always destined to be a medicine cat. From birth, she had a special sensitivity to other cats, particularly her sister. As young apprentices, Leafpaw and Squirrelpaw could always sense where the other was and what they were feeling. StarClan fostered this link because they knew Squirrelpaw would be journeying far from the forest—farther than any

Clan cat had been before—and they needed a cat back home to be aware of what she was going through.

For a while it seemed that, young as she was, Leafpool knew what lay around every corner and over every horizon. She knew the Clans had found their new homes when they reached the lake; she knew that Brambleclaw would make a strong and loyal deputy for ThunderClan; she even knew that blood would spill blood before the Clans were truly settled around the lake—and she watched with her own eyes as Brambleclaw killed his half brother, Hawkfrost, to save Firestar.

But the one thing Leafpool did not foresee was falling in love with a WindClan warrior, Crowfeather. Like Yellowfang before her, she broke the warrior code and bore kits: Lionkit, Hollykit, and Jaykit. To keep Leafpool’s secret, Squirrelflight raised the kits as her own, even convincing her mate, Brambleclaw, that they were his. Leafpool suffered the pain of watching her kits grow up without them knowing she was their mother.

When her secret was discovered by Hollyleaf and blurted out at a Gathering of all the Clans, Leafpool was forced to give up her role as ThunderClan’s medicine cat and become a warrior instead. To add to her agony, her kits hated her for lying to them, especially Jayfeather, who became medicine cat in her place. But Leafpool never judged them, and she served her Clan with quiet loyalty until Jayfeather realized that her skills and experience were too precious to lose and invited her to return to the medicine den alongside him.

SQUIRRELFLIGHT

IF LEAFPOOL WAS LIKE water—calm, deep, reflecting the stars—then Squirrelflight was fire. She had enough energy to scorch every tree in the forest, and a tongue that could leave scars in beech bark.

She was passionately loyal to her Clan and incapable of doing anything but what she believed to be right—including taking on her sister’s kits and making their Clanmates believe they were Squirrelflight’s own.

Squirrelpaw was still an apprentice when she insisted on joining Brambleclaw on the quest to sun-drown-place, following the message from StarClan that they must “listen to what midnight tells you.” Midnight turned out to be a wise, old badger who steered the cats toward their new home by the lake. Squirrelpaw proved herself to be a brave, feisty companion to the other cats on the quest, demonstrating the courage of her father, Firestar, and the quiet determination of her mother, Sandstorm. For a while on the journey, it seemed as if she was growing close to the RiverClan warrior, Stormfur, but it was Brambleclaw who captured her heart.

Once the Clans had settled by the lake, Ashfur fell in love with Squirrelflight, noticing something behind the mischief and the fire, when Brambleclaw saw only a quarrelsome nuisance. But though Ashfur would have been loyal to the end, he failed to appreciate the strength beneath her impulsive ways. Squirrelflight needed someone to match her fire, not contain it, and that cat was always going to be Brambleclaw.

Squirrelflight watched Brambleclaw raise Lionblaze, Hollyleaf, and Jayfeather as his own, a fair and devoted father. When the truth came out that the kits were Leafpool’s, Brambleclaw couldn’t forgive Squirrelflight for lying to him. Squirrelflight accepted his anger as her punishment; the death of Ashfur and the shame she had brought to the whole of ThunderClan meant that she didn’t feel worthy of being loved. But she never stopped being unwaveringly loyal to her Clan, and fought like a lion in the battle against the Dark Forest. When Brambleclaw became leader after Firestar’s death, there was only one cat he could choose to be his deputy: Squirrelflight, his former mate, the cat he knew he could trust to his very last breath.

BRAMBLECLAW

THE SON OF TIGERSTAR was always going to walk a path of light and shadow, torn between the courage and ambition he inherited from his father and loyalty toward the Clan his father had tried to destroy. Brambleclaw was the first cat chosen by StarClan to go on the quest to find Midnight, and the fact that Firestar didn’t hesitate to trust him sent a clear signal to his Clanmates that Brambleclaw should not be judged for Tigerstar’s sins. Though still a young and inexperienced warrior, Brambleclaw led the five other cats through Twolegplaces and across mountains to the sun-drown-place. He endured the return journey, keeping his little band of warriors together even after Feathertail’s tragic death in the Cave of Rushing Water, and inspired Firestar and the other Clan leaders to set out in search of a new, safer home.

But at the same time he showed the greatest courage in saving his Clanmates, Brambleclaw was also walking with Tigerstar in his dreams, letting his father nurture his ambitions to lead his Clan, and scheming with his RiverClan half brother, Hawkfrost, to destroy the weaker Clans. Brambleclaw stepped as close as he possibly could to the path of vengeance and bloodthirsty destruction that Tigerstar had planned for so long. But at the last moment, faced with the possibility of Firestar losing his lives in a trap set by Hawkfrost, Brambleclaw realized where his loyalties truly lay. He killed Hawkfrost, fulfilling the prophecy that “before all is peaceful, blood will spill blood,” and turned his back on Tigerstar’s attempts to corrupt him.

Brambleclaw’s greatest challenge after that was becoming a father to Lionblaze, Hollyleaf, and Jayfeather, a challenge that he relished as he watched the kits grow up into strong, loyal members of ThunderClan. His heart was broken when he learned that Crowfeather of WindClan was their real father, and Squirrelflight had lied to him all along. But he kept a check on his rage, stayed loyal to his Clan, and served Firestar well as his deputy. Deep down, Brambleclaw knew that Squirrelflight had followed the only path she could to keep her sister’s kits safe from hostility and rejection. He missed her wisdom, her generous spirit, and her impulsive desire to help others, and he wanted no other cat beside him as deputy when he became ThunderClan’s leader.

ASHFUR

ASHFUR TRULY LOVED SQUIRRELFLIGHT and was bitterly hurt when she passed him over in favor of Brambleclaw. That was the defense he would offer for his dramatic—and terrible—actions on top of the cliff in the midst of a thunderstorm, when he threatened to kill Squirrelflight’s kits to punish her.

There was no way he could have expected the reaction he received, which was Squirrelflight telling him that the three cats meant nothing to her because she was not their real mother.

Now Ashfur had an even more powerful weapon to use against Squirrelflight: the chance to reveal to the Clan that she had been lying to them about Lionblaze, Hollyleaf, and Jayfeather. Would

Ashfur really have done this, knowing it would hurt Squirrelflight more than dying with her secret untold?

It was too great a risk for Hollyleaf, who tracked Ashfur to the stream on the boundary with WindClan and fatally wounded him. It was a tragic and unfortunate end for a cat whose greatest fault had been loving too much. He was a strong, brave warrior, and a good mentor for Lionblaze because he was able to shape the young cat’s raw talent for fighting into powerful, well-practiced techniques.

Ashfur may not have been a close friend of Firestar, but that didn’t stop him from being trustworthy, loyal to his Clan, and a valuable warrior in the thick of battle. In different circumstances—if the cat who he loved had loved him back—he might have led a noble, well-respected life, perhaps even become deputy and leader. But his rivalry with Brambleclaw, and the love for Squirrelflight that soured so cruelly, put him on a path that led only to tragedy.

LIONBLAZE

“THERE WILL BE THREE, kin of your kin, who hold the power of the stars in their paws.” Firestar received this prophecy from Skywatcher, the last surviving link to the original SkyClan cats. He waited a long time for three kits to be born, wondering all the time what exactly the prophecy would mean.

When Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw announced the arrival of their kits, Firestar knew that these were the cats of the prophecy. Each of the kits turned out to have unique strengths and abilities.

Lionblaze seemed the most likely to play a role in saving the Clan because from the start he was exceptionally strong, skilled at fighting, and as brave as Brambleclaw’s father, Tigerstar. Which could be why Tigerstar sought him out in his dreams, walked beside him as he slept, and trained him to be even more fearless and ruthless in his fighting.

Lionblaze rejected Tigerstar’s bloodthirsty words of encouragement when he realized that the old cat only wanted revenge on Firestar. He didn’t need Tigerstar’s mentoring anyway, because

Lionblaze soon realized he had a unique ability to fight in the midst of any battle and escape without a scratch on his pelt. As a warrior, he was invincible.

His heart was less so and he fell in love with Cinderheart. But when she learned about the prophecy, about the responsibility Lionblaze bore for every single one of the Clans, she saw herself as nothing more than a distraction from his greater destiny. Lionblaze had to fight one of the hardest battles of his life to make Cinderheart understand that they could choose their own destinies and that being together would not diminish his strength in the final confrontation with the Dark Forest.

HOLLYLEAF

FROM THE MOMENT SHE opened her eyes, Lionblaze’s sister was the thinker, the politician. She was sensitive and cunning and aware of all the different consequences that might come from a single action. For her, the warrior code lay at the root of every choice a Clan cat had to make, and she was willing to tread the hardest paths to defend it. Even before she heard the prophecy, Hollyleaf was determined to serve her Clan in the best way she could. She started training as a medicine cat with Leafpool, but Leafpool soon realized that Hollyleaf’s heart lay in the life of a warrior, defending her Clanmates with tooth and claw rather than repairing the damage done in the battles of other cats. So

Hollyleaf dedicated herself to becoming the most skilled warrior ThunderClan had known, training harder and longer than the other apprentices, even her brother, Lionblaze.

When she learned that she and her littermates might one day be more powerful than StarClan, Hollyleaf began searching for the way she would fulfill her destiny. Lionblaze had his unconquerable fighting ability, Jayfeather had the gift of sight in his dreams and the ability to walk in StarClan whenever he chose. Hollyleaf found her strength in her absolute faith in the warrior code, and her courage to defend it to her dying breath.

Hollyleaf was utterly broken by Squirrelflight’s revelation that she and her brothers had been born to different cats. Was Hollyleaf nothing but a sordid secret, hidden from her own Clanmates?

She was terrified that Ashfur would tell the rest of the Clan and that she’d be driven out for being an aberration, a demonstration of what happened when the warrior code was trampled over. Hollyleaf knew she had to make Ashfur keep the dreadful secret, whatever it took. She didn’t mean to kill him—she struck, he slipped, and when he fell into the stream with blood streaming from the wounds in his throat, she knew he was beyond saving. There seemed no point in telling Firestar what had happened. She was being punished enough by her conscience—the warrior code said no cat must kill another—and by her fear that the truth would emerge anyway.

When she and her brothers discovered that Leafpool was their mother, and Crowfeather, a

WindClan warrior, was their father, Hollyleaf was overwhelmed by the size of the secret she was trying to keep. The only way she could master it was by revealing everything herself, announcing the truth to a startled Gathering of the Clans, and disgracing Leafpool forever.

Then came her escape into a tunnel that collapsed behind her, leaving her dead to her Clan and everything she had ever known. But the silence of the underground caverns, the quiet, undemanding friendship of Fallen Leaves, and her endless concern for her former Clanmates sent Hollyleaf back to the hollow, to the place where she had been born. The place where she belonged. She fought to the death saving her Clan from the cats of the Dark Forest, her last desperate plea for a forgiveness that had already been granted.

JAYFEATHER

DESPITE BEING BORN BLIND, able to see only in his dreams, Jayfeather was confident in his ability to also navigate his world when awake. He shared his littermates’ courage and curiosity, which led to an adventure with fox cubs that nearly took all of them to StarClan prematurely. Jaypaw saw no reason why he couldn’t train to be a warrior alongside them, and he was bitter and angry when Firestar insisted on apprenticing him to Brightheart, the one-eyed warrior, in the hope that she could help the blind apprentice become a warrior too. After his disastrous first battle and a dream visit from Spottedleaf, ThunderClan’s former medicine cat, Jaypaw realized that it was his destiny to become a medicine cat and was apprenticed to Leafpool. His memory for herbs and his connection with StarClan made him unusually gifted from the beginning, but Jaypaw still chafed at what he saw as a second-best future, limited to the confines to the territory.

He found freedom by walking in other cats’ dreams, which is how he learned about the prophecy

Firestar had received so many moons ago.

The discovery that he was expected to have more power than StarClan gave Jaypaw the confidence to challenge his ancestors and also to interfere with the destiny of the Tribe of Rushing Water in the mountains. Jaypaw learned from their ancestors, the Tribe of Endless Hunting, that something dark and terrible loomed for all of the Clans—and that the chance of survival depended on him and his littermates.

After receiving his medicine cat name, Jayfeather’s destiny became entangled with that of the mountain cats when he walked with the Ancient Clan cats, who had once lived beside the lake, as a long-ago sharpclaw named Jay’s Wing. He fell in love with Half Moon and helped guide the cats to the mountains when their home by the lake was threatened. Knowing that he had to return to his own

Clan, many seasons and fox-lengths away, Jayfeather made Half Moon the first ever Teller of the Pointed Stones for the mountain cats and gave to her the seeds of a faith in something more than what the cats could see around them—a faith that would be passed on for every generation to come.

CINDERHEART

CINDERHEART WAS BORN TO Sorreltail at the exact moment a badger took the life of Cinderpelt.

Perhaps in recognition of Cinderpelt’s thwarted destiny and of her unceasing loyalty to her Clan as their medicine cat, StarClan allowed her spirit to return in the body of tiny Cinderheart.

Cinderheart became a warrior apprentice alongside her brothers, training hard to learn how to hunt and fight—and never knowing about her connection to the former medicine cat.

Following an accident in which she fell from a tree while saving another apprentice, Cinderheart’s peace began to be disturbed by vivid dreams where she walked through a forest she didn’t recognize—and yet it was completely familiar. She knew the names of the cats who lived there and could identify the scents of herbs that clung to her pelt. The images felt as real as memories, but she tried to ignore them until Jayfeather walked with her in the dreams and gently showed her that they were memories—from her former life as ThunderClan’s medicine cat. Cinderheart was torn between her ambition to be a warrior and serve her Clan by hunting and fighting, and her responsibility to make use of the medicine skills she had somehow been born with. She felt trapped by the destiny that seemed to have been forced upon her.

Only Lionblaze could convince Cinderheart that she could choose her own path. Cinderpelt had lived one life, but this was Cinderheart’s life now. And when Cinderheart chose to spend that life as a warrior, alongside Lionblaze, she felt the spirit of the medicine cat lift softly away from her and take its place in StarClan.

DOVEWING

KIN TO FlRESTAR THROUGH her mother’s father, Cloudtail, Dovewing was the third cat of the prophecy, in place of Hollyleaf. From the time she was a tiny kit, she could hear sounds from far, far away, even beyond the lake, and could picture what was happening in other territories. Dovepaw assumed that every cat was the same, so it was a shock when she first learned she was the only one after she helped her Clan by realizing that the shortage of water in the lake was caused by big, brown animals—beavers—building a dam of wood to block a stream much farther up. Jayfeather instantly recognized the potential of Dovewing’s gift, but he told her to pretend she had dreamed what was happening, which was something Firestar would understand.

Although she was still only an apprentice, Dovepaw traveled with cats from the other Clans to find the beavers and destroy the dam, releasing the water back into the lake. She forged a powerful friendship with the ShadowClan cat Tigerheart on the journey, a friendship that persisted and deepened when they returned to their own Clans. Even after she had learned about the prophecy and knew about the role she would have to play in the clash between the cats of the Clans and the Dark

Forest, Dovepaw couldn’t resist visiting Tigerheart at night, using her powers of hearing to keep them safe from detection.

But the looming crisis forced Dovewing to reconsider her loyalties, and she knew that defending her Clan—and the warrior code—mattered more to her than anything else. She found a good friend, somewhat unexpectedly, in Bumblestripe and began to see a future with a cat of her own Clan, rather than the tormented and secret love she’d had for Tigerheart. As the echoes of the final battle died away, with the scratches from Dark Forest cats still stinging on her pelt, Dovewing made her choice.

IVYPOOL

IVYPOOL WAS DOVEWING’S ONLY littermate and, like Squirrelflight and Leafpool, the sisters were closer than hairs on a vole’s pelt. But their paths began to diverge when, as an apprentice, Dovepaw went on the quest to free the water. When Dovepaw came back, she had distant horizons in her eyes and a connection with cats in other Clans that seemed to stretch the limits of the warrior code.

Feeling unwanted and left out, Ivypaw continued to train hard, even though Dovepaw always seemed to hear and see things much faster than Ivypaw could; on the occasions when Ivypaw did make a catch first, she knew it was because Dovepaw had let her. When a mysterious dark brown cat with ice-blue eyes visited Ivypaw in a dream and offered to train her to be a better warrior than she ever imagined, Ivypaw immediately said yes. Her new mentor, Hawkfrost, led her nightly into a forest of shadows and black rivers, where cats that Ivypaw recognized from other Clans were taught to fight harder, run faster, attack with more cunning than their daylight mentors allowed. Here, Ivypaw shone. She began training apprentices of her own and was sought out for praise by Hawkfrost time after time.

But when Tigerstar laid bare the true purpose of training these cats—to destroy the Clans from within, using cats from past and present—Ivypool, by this time a warrior, swore never to return.

Unbeknownst to Ivypool, Jayfeather had followed her into her dreams and discovered her involvement with the Dark Forest. He and Lionblaze saw the potential of recruiting Ivypool to spy for them; to Dovewing’s dismay, her sister agreed and risked her life by going back to the Dark Forest to learn when the attack would happen. Despite suspicions from older cats, Ivypool maintained the illusion of loyalty right up until the final charge through to the living Clans. Then she fought with immense courage against cats who she knew had no hesitation about killing to secure a victory.

Hawkfrost cornered Ivypool at last, hissing vengeance for her betrayal, but Hollyleaf leaped forward at the final moment, taking Hawkfrost’s death blow and saving Ivypool’s life.

BRIARLIGHT

BRIARLIGHT WAS THE ELDEST of Millie and Graystripe’s kits, born in the same litter as Blossomfall and Bumblestripe. As a young apprentice, she was bold and adventurous, like her littermates. She also had a healthy curiosity about Jayfeather’s skills as a medicine cat. Near the end of her apprenticeship a storm hit the woods, sending a huge, loose-rooted beech tree crashing down into the hollow. Dovewing heard the tree start to fall and Firestar ordered an evacuation of the entire camp.

The blind elder Longtail was killed because he returned to his den to retrieve Mousefur’s fresh-kill.

Briarpaw chased after him, trying to fetch him back, but was also caught by the crushing branches.

She survived, but her spine was broken, leaving her hindlegs numb and useless. At first Briarpaw believed her future to be utterly bleak and pointless, and she even refused to eat, unwilling to take prey that could feed the cats who hunted and patroled for the Clan. It took stern words from Jayfeather to remind her that a Clan cares for all its cats, including kits and elders who are unable to hunt for themselves. If Briarpaw gave up on life, she would be betraying the warrior code itself.

So Briarpaw started to work hard within the confines of her injury, strengthening her front legs until she could drag herself around the camp and doing breathing exercises to keep her chest strong and clear. Briarpaw helped Jayfeather by sorting and storing herbs, she kept kits entertained, she soothed the elders when they were troubled by bad dreams. And when her littermates received their warrior names, Briarlight was given one too, a reflection of her fierce-burning spirit, in recognition of the unimaginably difficult and unique apprenticeship that she had served.

BRAMBLESTAR’S NINE LIVES: THE RETURN OF HEROES

THE WATER IN THE Moonpool was so cold that Brambleclaw gasped in shock when it touched his nose.

“You’ll get used to it,” Jayfeather mewed beside him. “Either that, or your nose will go numb.”

“Great,” muttered Brambleclaw, trying to lie more comfortably on the stones. Inside, he was quivering with excitement as well as exhaustion from making the long journey to the pool so soon after doing battle with the Dark Forest. Grief for Firestar dragged at his pelt and stung his eyes, but this was a moment that Brambleclaw had always known would arrive someday: his own ceremony of nine lives and the start of his leadership of ThunderClan.

“Stop wriggling,” Jayfeather hissed. “Close your eyes and wait for StarClan to come to you.”

Brambleclaw tucked his forepaws under his chest and let his muzzle fall a little deeper into the Moonpool. The shock of icy water briefly did battle with a heavy wave of tiredness that washed over him. He let himself slip into sleep, but almost at once the sound of whispers made him sit up and look around. What was disturbing him? He was supposed to be sharing tongues with StarClan!

He was still in the rocky hollow that held the Moonpool, round and silver in the moonlight, but now the slopes were filled with rows and rows of cats, glowing and murmuring. StarClan!

Brambleclaw felt himself gaping as he saw cats so familiar they tore at his heart: Sorreltail, Ferncloud, and his mother, Goldenflower… Soft footsteps sounded beside him, and he turned to see Jayfeather. The medicine cat’s blue eyes were clear and bright and focused on Brambleclaw.

“You can see!” he exclaimed.

Jayfeather nodded. “In my dreams, yes.” He flicked the tip of his tail. “Not that it makes much difference. Now, are you ready?”

Brambleclaw nodded, trying to ignore the nervous moths that had started whirling in his belly.

Jayfeather seemed so old and calm, as if being among the ancient, long-dead cats was as natural as being among his living Clanmates. Brambleclaw looked at the medicine cat and felt a flash of pride. I raised you as my son, he thought. You have done so well, in spite of everything.

There was a flicker of orange at the far side of the shore, and a cat stepped out of the ranks of StarClan. His eyes shone as green as the forest, and his fur was the color of flame. Brambleclaw felt his eyes fill. “Firestar!” he breathed.

The orange cat trotted lightly over the stones to meet him. Firestar looked young and strong, with no sign of the terrible, bloody battle he had fought until his dying moments. “Welcome to StarClan, Brambleclaw!” he announced.

“It is an honor to be here,” Brambleclaw croaked, hardly able to speak through the lump of emotion in his throat.

Firestar lightly rested the tip of his tail on Brambleclaw’s flank. “Do not grieve anymore,” he mewed. “We always knew this time would come.”

Brambleclaw winced. “But not so soon!”

The orange tom shrugged. “StarClan chooses the moment it wishes us to join them. My lives were long and full, and I had so much happiness. And I chose the best deputy I could have, knowing that you would one day succeed me.” He stepped closer and touched his muzzle to Brambleclaw’s head.

“I give you a life with the courage to make the hardest decisions, not just for ThunderClan but for all the Clans. The lake needs four Clans; with this life, serve them all well.”

A bolt of lightning seemed to shoot through Brambleclaw’s bones, rocking him on his paws. Was this how difficult it would be to honor all of the Clans? He fought for breath until the searing force eased and he was able to open his eyes.

Firestar had stepped back, and in his place stood a cat with fur the color of ripe barley. She smelled of milk and warmth and safety, and Brambleclaw fought down an urge to curl up at her paws and whimper like a kit. “Goldenflower,” he whispered. “Is it really you?”

The she-cat’s eyes softened. “Yes, my son, it is. I am so proud of you, my love. And so honored to give you this life.” She leaned against him, and Brambleclaw flashed back to the nursery, tiny and mewling at Goldenflower’s belly, with nothing more sinister than a game of moss-ball ahead of him.

“I give you a life for understanding the love of a mother,” she meowed. “But then, you have already known what it is to love as a father. Keep that knowledge, feel its power, and use it to keep all of your Clanmates safe.”

Warmth filled Brambleclaw from nose to tail-tip, making his legs tremble and a fire blaze in his belly that roared with the sound of tigers. Yes, he had known what it was to love this fiercely. He pictured Lionblaze, Hollyleaf, and Jayfeather, and knew that he would still give his life in a moment to protect them. Now that is how it must be for all of my Clanmates.

Bluestar took Goldenflower’s place; Brambleclaw felt a pang of sorrow as he watched his mother walk back to the starry rows on the far side of the hollow. Bluestar followed his gaze. “She will be watching over you, always,” she murmured. She took a deep breath. “Brambleclaw, you have walked a long and difficult path to reach this point. But you have proven your loyalty to ThunderClan more times than I can count. I am proud to see my Clan pass into your care.” She reached up and touched his nose. “I give you a life for clear judgment of character, for the ability to see the value of some cats, and the threat posed by others.” Her eyes clouded. “It is a gift I did not always possess myself,” she admitted.

“But you found Firestar!” Brambleclaw reminded her.

The she-cat’s gaze softened. “So I did.” She pressed her muzzle against his. “Tread carefully in whom you trust,” she whispered.

This life washed through Brambleclaw’s mind like an ice-cold river, making his ears ring and dazzling his eyes with light. He felt a stab of loneliness, as if the life was reminding him that some decisions would be his alone, and the fate of every cat in his Clan would depend upon him making the right choice.

The next cat to walk forward was a dusky brown she-cat with eyes the color of sunlit ice. Her pelt was glossy and the muscles rippled on her shoulders as she padded over the stone. For a moment

Brambleclaw didn’t recognize her, then his heart leaped and he gasped, “Mousefur?!”

The she-cat’s eyes gleamed. “Indeed. Did you think I would always be old and patch-furred, even here? You never knew me when I was young and strong, Brambleclaw. But this is how I will be for the rest of memory.” She stretched up to touch his cheek. “I give you a life for listening to your elders, for taking advice even when it is not expected. The oldest cats have seen the most, and there is precious little that is new, even beside the lake. Trust their wisdom, learn from their mistakes, and remember that without them, you would have no Clan to lead.”

Brambleclaw’s mind filled with countless murmurs and he was buffeted by unseen cats brushing past him on both sides. The hollow was overflowing with cats! He strained to hear what they were saying, but the whispers were too quiet and too numerous to pick anything out. Brambleclaw felt his legs start to tremble from all the memories that swirled around him, and he was grateful when a cat put its shoulder against his side to steady him.

“It’s all right,” said a deep voice. “Receiving nine lives is always hard, but you are fresh from a battle as well. Stay strong, it will soon be over.”

Brambleclaw opened his eyes and looked up at the gold-striped tabby in front of him. The tom’s shoulders were even broader than Brambleclaw’s, and the way he held his head made Brambleclaw think of the lions that were described in nursery tales.

“I am Lionheart,” rumbled the huge tom. “I died in a battle with ShadowClan before you were born, but I have watched you grow, and I know you will make a great leader for my precious

ThunderClan. I give you a life to have the greatest pride in your Clan, to honor the legacy that has been left by the leaders who have walked this path before”—he paused and nodded to Bluestar and Firestar—“and to have the courage to lay down your own paw prints over theirs. This is your chance to shape ThunderClan’s destiny. Use it wisely and make us proud.”

Lionheart had to stoop to rest his muzzle on top of Brambleclaw’s head. Brambleclaw was filled with a warm energy that made his fur stand on end. He pictured all the ThunderClan cats around him, felt their support like a blast of wind that could power him upward, higher than the treetops, to do whatever he wanted to do. “Thank you, Lionheart,” he whispered breathlessly.

The noble cat stepped back and dipped his head. “It is always an honor to bestow a life,” he meowed.

A lightly framed cat whose pale gray fur was dotted with darker flecks trotted forward. Her green eyes were wide and earnest. Brambleclaw stared at her with a swell of grief. “Ferncloud!”

The she-cat nodded. “Oh, Brambleclaw, this is a bittersweet meeting for both of us. I am so sorry to have left you all behind. Please look after Dustpelt for me, and all my precious kits.”

“I will,” Brambleclaw promised. “They miss you so much.”

Ferncloud’s eyes darkened. “And I miss them. But tell them I am watching over them and will be waiting for them always.” She gave herself a shake. “I have a life to give you, Brambleclaw!” She sounded almost kitlike with excitement. She reached up and nudged his chin with her nose. “My life is for understanding that it is not only warriors who play a part in protecting the Clan. She-cats who choose to live in the nursery do just as much as those who patrol borders and stock the fresh-kill pile.

We raise every new apprentice, feed every small mouth, teach every kit the importance of the warrior code. Without us, the Clan would be as rootless as an upturned tree. Honor the mother-cats, Brambleclaw, for we give you all life.”

Brambleclaw was plunged back into the nursery, his nose filled with the scent of milk and warm fur, soft moss enclosing him while his mother licked his ears. The small, shadowed space seemed full of more cats than he could recognize, all bending over him, watching him with warmth in their eyes and purrs rumbling from their bellies. Brambleclaw’s chest swelled with gratitude for everything these she-cats had done for his Clan, bringing new lives into the world and nurturing them until they were strong enough to hunt and fight alone. “Thank you, all of you,” he murmured, and the cats around him nodded and carried on soothing him until he felt an urge to drift off to sleep.

“Wake up, Brambleclaw!” said an amused voice.

Brambleclaw blinked open his eyes and saw a dark gray she-cat standing in front of him. Her blue eyes reflected the stars as she watched him. “Cinderpelt!” Brambleclaw exclaimed.

The she-cat dipped her head. “It took me a while to reach StarClan, but I am here now,” she meowed. Brambleclaw wanted to ask her what she meant, but she went on before he could speak. “I give you a life for offering second chances,” she announced, pressing her muzzle to his. “If a plan fails, if a Clanmate disappoints you, if destiny seems the wrong way around, never despair. Have the faith to try again, learn from what happened before, and success may come. The best things come to those who wait, Brambleclaw. Trust me.” Again amusement bubbled up in her voice, and Brambleclaw relaxed into the flood of energy that raced through him. Suddenly he felt strong enough to fight every battle twice, double the size of the fresh-kill pile, and train apprentices for twice as long as usual, until they had every skill, every battle tactic perfected.

Cinderpelt brushed her tail lightly along his flank, glanced at Firestar, then padded back to the ranks. Another gray she-cat walked forward, paler than Cinderpelt, with eyes the color of a dawn sky in newleaf. Brambleclaw’s breath caught in his throat. This was not a cat he had expected to see.

The she-cat nodded as if she knew what he was thinking. “I walk with the Tribe of Endless

Hunting now,” she meowed, her voice echoing as if she was still among the vast mountains and tumbling waterfalls where the Tribe cats lived. “But tonight I have come here with my StarClan friends to give you one of your lives.”

Brambleclaw bowed his head. “Oh, Feathertail, not a day goes by that I don’t think of you. I am so sorry we left you behind.”

Feathertail flicked her ears. “But I was part of the Tribe’s prophecy, remember? The silver cat who would destroy Sharptooth? The mountains are where I belong, but I have never forgotten the Clans. I watch over you still, and I am so, so proud of you, Brambleclaw.” She reached up and pressed her soft, stone-scented cheek against his. “I give you a life for exploring beyond the borders of your Clan, for seeing the possibilities that lie in unexpected places, and the untrodden paths that wait to be discovered. You are not trapped by your invisible boundaries. If you cannot find the answers within them, then look farther off. There is always hope somewhere.”

The sharp, slicing wind that Brambleclaw remembered from his stay in the mountains whipped around him, buffeting his fur and rocking him on his paws. He heard the keening cry of an eagle far above him, and his pelt felt damp from the mist thrown up by the waterfall. A pang of longing shot through him, for all the cats he had known and lost, for the long path he had followed in search of a new home for the Clans, for the sights he had seen far beyond the lake and the hills.

“I will be with you, always,” Feathertail whispered to him as she faded away to sparkling, empty air.

Brambleclaw looked around. There was just one more life left to receive. Who would give it to him? What more did his leadership need? The starlit cats lined around the hollow were still and watchful. Even the ripples on the surface of the Moonpool had stilled. Everything seemed to be waiting.

Paw steps sounded behind Brambleclaw. He spun around and saw a small, black figure descending the spiral path that led down to the edge of the pool. Brambleclaw tipped his head on one side. Could it be…? Surely not! “Ravenpaw?” he croaked. “Is that you?”

The tom stepped into the light cast by the StarClan cats on the other side of the hollow. The tip of his tail twitched nervously, and his blue eyes blinked several times before he answered. “Yes, it is I,” he meowed. He took a deep breath. “Wow. I never expected to see those faces again.” He stared at the starry cats, mouth open.

“It’s pretty extraordinary, isn’t it?” Brambleclaw agreed. He shifted his paws. “So, are you here because… well, because you’re in your own StarClan now?”

There was a flicker of amusement in Ravenpaw’s eyes. “You mean, am I a living cat, or like them?” He nodded at the StarClan ranks. “Oh, I’m one of them,” he mewed. “But also not, because my life in the Clans was so long ago. I was so happy with Barley, and I miss him so much.” His gaze clouded. “But I see him still, in our home of hay, and I know it won’t be long before he is with me once more.”

“I remember Barley,” meowed Brambleclaw, picturing the sturdy, welcoming black-and-white cat who had given him and his Clanmates shelter at the start of the Great Journey. “He must miss you too.”

Ravenpaw blinked. “I should hope so! Now, Brambleclaw, it is a long time since I set eyes on you, but I see why Firestar chose you to be his deputy. I am honored to give you your ninth life, and I am humbled to be part of the new leadership of ThunderClan.” He looked at Firestar. “Your Clan will grieve the loss of my dear friend for countless moons,” he murmured. “But I know his spirit will be with them all forever.”

Lifting his head, he stepped forward and rested his muzzle against Brambleclaw. His voice rang out clear around the rocks of the hollow. “I give you a life for speaking out against injustice, for pursuing the truth above all else. Lies bring shadows in which darker things can hide. Never fear the truth, Brambleclaw, however blinding it may be.”

A jolt of light shot through Brambleclaw, shaking him on his paws. His mind cleared as if all his thoughts had been sucked out by the wind, then filled with sunshine so bright he thought his head might blow apart. There was a sharp, dazzling pain before a sense of peace descended on him, all the way down to the end of his tail. Brambleclaw took a deep, shuddering breath.

“It is over,” Firestar whispered in his ear. “You have done well.” He raised his voice.

“Welcome, Bramblestar!”

His new name echoed around the hollow, picked up and cast aloft by every cat that watched him.

“Bramblestar! Bramblestar!”

Bramblestar drew himself up and dipped his head to them. “Thank you all,” he meowed. “I will do my best to live each of these lives according to the gifts you have made. Firestar, your Clan will never forget you.” He held the gaze of his green-eyed mentor. “And if I can be half the leader you were, I will be proud.”

Firestar nodded in return. “Go well, Bramblestar,” he ordered. “I will be with you always.”