#BB!Needletail also ends up in the Dark Forest... though that's a sort of mixed bag because the DF isn't as bad as canon

[bonefall]

do you think you’ll keep the part about Needle ultimately sacrificing her life to save Violet? it was one of the few deaths in the series that actually tugged at my heartstrings, and it sucked that nothing ever internally came of it for Violet

ABSOLUTELY 100%, I wouldn't dream of axxing that part. What I want to do with it, in particular, is deeply reframe it.

Needletail gives her life for Violet, dies trying to atone for a massive mistake she made in supporting Darktail from the beginning and keeping Mistfeather's murder to herself, but... that doesn't make up for what she's done.

They were all young and mislead. Needletail never should have been responsible for another child; but she'll demand for Rowanstar to back up her claim out of entitlement. She realizes that she's done something awful by separating the sisters, and lands them all in trouble by having them meet secretly. She loves Darktail's capricious rules and how they can control others together-- until the rules apply to her too.

And Violetshine deals with that, forever. She's actually ending up in a polycule in BB; with Tree and with Dragonfly. She has a hard time trusting anyone outside of her mateships. Her adopted siblings adore her and miss her, but she can't handle ever going home because of what ShadowClan and The Kin did to her.

Needletail died for her, after living a selfish life. She was her best friend and the reason why her life was a living hell. A grand gesture can't make up for all that.

What I like about them is how painful and complicated that is... and how little time it takes for Violetshine to suddenly be the same age as Needletail was when she died. They were both just kids. And Needletail never truly became an adult.