#as we can see w mothwing

[wc-confessions]

i want more canon atheist cats

[warrior-cats-rewritten]

Future Scene from Mothwing's Secrets

"So?" Hawkfrost's voice broke her out of her thoughts and Mothwing turned, setting the burdock down gently onto the wooden plate. "How's it going, new Medicine Cat Apprentice?"

"Amazing!" Mothwing beamed. "Oh Hawkfrost, I've never felt so... Free! Working with herbs and learning all these things feels so much better than warrior training did." She reached over to start bundling some moss together, her claws were extended but her paw was working gently to make sure the moss wouldn't tear.

Hawkfrost sat down, purring softly and puffing out his chest. His large forepaws were digging into the soft earth of the den in excitement. "I knew you'd love it." He remarked. "All thanks yours truly. You're welcome, Moth."

Mothwing stopped. Her paws now resting on the half-formed ball of moss. "W... What do you mean?" She looked into his icy blue eyes, full of pride. 

"Well, it was obvious Mudfur wasn't going to take you on without a sign." He explained, chucking to himself. "So I just..." He pinched two toes together. "Boop! Popped a moth wing clean off a nice moth and placed it near the den!" He pulled his paw back, as if reenacting what he had done with childish glee.

"You what?"

Hawkfrost tilted his head and Mothwing felt as if the ground had flooded under her feet, a deep chill spreading through her bones. "What? I was helping you. It was already dead-"

"You faked the sign?" 

Hawkfrost stared at her as if she'd asked him to fly. "Well... Yeah. 'Starclan' wasn't going to, so I had to take matters on myself."

Her jaw hung open in shock. All of that special connection to Starclan... Was it a lie? Was it just pretty dreams after all? If any cat could fake a sign, then... "Why?" She asked, a lump rising in her throat. "Why would you do that!?"

Hawkfrost glared at her, his eyes like chips of hard ice. "In case you haven't noticed, Moth, we're not like the others."

"What do you mean by that?" Mothwing snarled, her fur beginning to bristle. This couldn't be true, she was wanted by Starclan... Wasn't she? The golden tabby molly hissed at her brother. "What does that have to do with a fake Omen, Hawkfrost?"

"Look at us, Moth!" Hawkfrost jumped to his feet, a desperate growl in his throat. "Because do you know what they see when THEY look at us?! Starclan is NEVER going to approve of us! We are the children of Tigerstar and an ex-kittypet!"

Horror filled her gut and Mothwing took a step back, both siblings tabby stripes reflecting in the water pool the Medicine Den housed. "I thought you loved our mom." She murmured. "I thought you were proud."

"I do and I am!" Said Hawkfrost, his meow getting hoarse but louder. "I love mom! I love her so, so much... But that doesn't change the FACT THAT WE...!" He trailed off, swallowing harshly and panting slightly.

About to burst with rage, Mothwing stepped forward, her claws shredding the moss she'd had into tiny, unusable scraps. "Go on. Finish that sentence. I dare you."

Her brother's quiet mew sounded as he looked down at the scratched earth. "It's not our fault." He murmured. "But... It still can't be helped. I can't change where we came from... I can't make Starclan speak, but I can still help you."

Mothwing swallowed, and hissed softly. 'You really wanna talk about Starclan's approval? What a joke. You've already proven that any cat can make an omen if they're clever enough.' She glared at her brother, and hissed again, louder.

"Do me a favour, Hawkfrost. Don't ever 'help' me again. Better yet, just leave me alone."

Her brother reeled back, his gaze full of hurt that quickly turned to anger. "Fine. Mothwing." He spat her name as if it tasted foul on his tongue. "I sincerely hope you enjoy your new position."

He turned, padding out of the Medicine Den with his pelt bristling, his dark tabby fur turning blood-red in the light of the sunset, not even bothering to look over his shoulder to growl at her.

"You earned it.”

[notwarriorswiki]

What is up with Spark and her arc in your AU?

Sparkfire becomes a villain in my AU.

TLDR; Sparkfire is jealous of Hollystar and spills Willowshine's blood in the Moon Pool in order to reawaken some of StarClan and The Dark Forest's power in hopes of being able to speak to the ancestors she has idolized since kithood.

The way the clans defeat the Dark Forest is by cutting off their connection. Light can't exist without darkness, so to keep the Dark Forest from continuing to attack them in the mortal world, they not only have to break The Dark Forest's power to walk in dreams and hurt the living, but StarClan's as well.

Brambleclaw dies in The Great Battle, meaning Sparkkit and Alderkit mostly grow up without him. Their memories of him when they were kits is limited, but positive. The two of them are apprenticed after StarClan and The Dark Forest are banished away, meaning they grow up without having the chance to speak with StarClan like everyone else older than them had.

A Vision of Shadows is largely rewritten, as SkyClan has returned already in Po3 timeline wise. We jump immediately to Darktail existing and having great sway over the clan cats due to their loss of StarClan. Many feel they are no better than rogues now without their ancestors to guide them. This is made worse when Harespring is unable to get his nine lives as the new leader of WindClan because their ancestors are inaccessible. Will leaders just go on without the gifts of nine lives from StarClan?

When this happens the medicine cats are as such

ThunderClan: Jayfeather w/ Alderpaw apprentice. Alderpaw is intrigued by StarClan due to their history, but is disappointed when he learns that not even medicine cats can speak with them. They really are alone. Leafpool died in The Great Battle.

ShadowClan: Littlecloud w/ Puddlepaw apprentice. Much like Alderpaw, Puddlepaw is also curious about the stars and wants to learn more.

WindClan: Kestrelflight. He has no apprentice. Sole medicine cat of WindClan going through the biggest issues due to their leader not able to get his nine lives.

RiverClan: Mothwing and Willowshine. Well. Kinda. Mothwing is doing really bad mentally and isn't working after The Great Battle and StarClan's existence being made true, as well as seeing her brother.

SkyClan: Frecklewish and Fidgetpaw. Fidgetpaw is much more on the healing and helping side regardless of StarClan compared to that of Alderpaw and Puddlepaw.

Darktail needs a medicine cat, and everyone believes he won't get one. His force has grown stronger and stronger, troubling the clans who are still recovering from The Great Battle. Seeing how ThunderClan is suffering and wanting his older brother Lionblaze to stop pushing himself to near death for the sake of his newly born kits, Alderpaw steps forward so that Darktail's attacks will stop. Alderpaw is our point of view within Darktail's camp, witnessing the mix of cats who join willingly, as well as those who are forced in, like the kidnapped Twigkit and Violetkit.

Sparkfire is a big ThunderClan loyalist, and has a lot of pride in her lineage. She never got to meet Firestar, nor really experience knowing her father. She's prideful yet kind, and looks to be the ideal ThunderClan cat to be the best reflection of Firestar, Brambleclaw, Jayfeather, Hollystar, Lionblaze, and Squirrelflight - the cats who will be remembered for a long time as prophecy cats/leaders of the clan. However over the course of Vision of Shadows rewrite, Sparkfire continues to lose.

Alderheart initially promises to return once they figure out how to overthrow Darktail, but this doesn't come to fruition as Alderheart ultimately decides to stay with the reformed group after the death of his friend Needletail. Then Sparkfire's mate Larksong dies.

She lost the chance to speak with StarClan ever. She loses her brother and her mate. She had lost her father, simply never having a chance to know him. She begins to see how she is not reaching any of the points all of these other clanmates are reaching. Sparkfire sees all her loss and watches as Hollystar stands proudly leading the clan alongside her own mate, Cinderheart - how Squirrelflight is deputy to her. Sparkfire begins to believe she should be the one standing there, and that Hollystar, Jayfeather, and Lionblaze stole her chance at that.

StarClan blessed two cats who aren't even fully ThunderClan, her parents raising them as their own, Sparkfire not even being able to speak with Firestar or Brambleclaw even if she wanted to with StarClan's absence. Hollystar has told Sparkfire how Brambleclaw gave her the final of her nine lives and her send off to him, that closure. Old words are sprouting new wounds in Sparkfire who is angered by all she has lost while those around her remain blessed. Even her kits are born weak, with Flickerkit dying and Flamekit barely able to drink milk properly.

This is when the rewritten Fire Scene happens - I wanted this iconic moment to prevail, but of course under different circumstances. When lightning strikes, Sparkfire sees this as her opportunity. Alderheart races to ThunderClan's territory to help them, fearful for his family since Sparkfire was still in the nursery. Sparkfire knows now since Harestar was finally able to receive his nine lives upon it being revealed Willowshine is the only one with the loophole connection, that Willowshine could reverse the lock placed on StarClan. With ThunderClan scattered thanks to the fire, Sparkfire gets Hollystar and Squirrelflight alone, leading them through the flames on her designated path while Lionblaze and Jayfeather have taken Flamekit ahead already. Hollystar and Squirrelflight don't know this yet though, going back in to help Sparkfire "find" her son.

Side note I haven't decided if Finchlight will die as a kit alongside Flickerkit or not because only child Nightheart sounds fun, but it works either way here. Anyway Alderheart encounters Lionblaze and Jayfeather with Flamekit, asking where his sisters and mother are, going back in to find them. Lionblaze calls him back, but Alderheart relents.

Sparkfire lashes out at Hollystar, blaming her for everything Sparkfire never had, the ginger she-cat adamant she should've been the one who experienced all Hollystar had. Hollystar tries to reason with her alongside Squirrelflight, but it doesn't work. The two fight but Sparkfire was Hollystar's apprentice - she knows her moves well. She manages to knock Hollystar into the fire, the leader falling down below and losing her first life. Sparkfire doesn't have the heart to kill Squirrelflight by her own paws, and instead leaves her trapped in the fire believing it'll finish her off with all of the smoke. What she doesn't expect is Alderheart getting to them, having seen them all together through the haze, but only reaching Squirrelflight's side after Hollystar has fallen and Sparkfire goes to collect her. Squirrelflight is unconscious at this point, Alderheart carrying her out.

Because StarClan is in such a limbo state, when a leader loses a life, they don't immediately awaken, at this point needing Willowshine. Sparkfire believes she has escaped with the downed Hollystar, but she is ultimately exposed by Squirrelflight upon the dark ginger she-cat awakening alongside her clan and telling Alderheart, Lionblaze, and Jayfeather what happened. A rescue mission is launched to save Hollystar.

Sparkfire lures Willowshine out by telling her she's needed to save Hollystar and connect with StarClan as she did for Harestar. Sparkfire has allied herself with Sleekwhisker as well, ambushing Willowshine to bring her to the Moonpool. This would've gone smoothly had it not been for Alderheart, confronting them there alongside the assembled group as they plead Sparkfire to stop.

Unfortunately it does not work though, as Sparkfire strikes a devastating blow to Willowshine, spilling the blessed she-cat's blood within the pool. The assembled group charges, but alas it has already been done. Hollystar immediately wakes up, returning to her body upon the connection reopening.

A thing to understand about the afterlife in Warrior cats is there's a respectful distance that must be kept. When the door is shut, it'll stay that way, but when it's opened again, if the mortals abuse that connection, it'll open wider and wider until the dead ancestors can walk amongst them again, thus repeating the issues with The Dark Forest. Sparkfire reopens the gate, allowing leaders to receive nine lives again and cats to speak at the MoonPool, but the conditions were very strict still, rather than as open as they became before.

Anyway, Sparkfire manages to flee, her and Sleekwhisker being rogues post Vision of Shadows, though lingering around the Moonpool. She keeps an eye on Flamekit, who is in a way adopted by Hollystar to take care of.

[songsteps]

okay I broke and read Sky in a day here are my general thoughts

Frostpaw my baby you really are The Only (tm) A Starless Clan protagonist... she's the only one I don't have any particular negative feelings towards and I'm genuinely interested in her storyline, also I love seeing how much it's highlighted that Mothwing is incredibly capable and responsible, like we all knew she was but, makes me happy that some attention seems to be brought to it :)

like man I know she would want to stay a med cat and she DESERVES WHAT SHE WANTS but tbh? I feel she'd make a good leader.... Mothstar

and I think that's all I really have to say that's good

god I hate Nightheart now, like my original interpretation of him in River that he might be good and was relatable was based upon the fact that he seemed a lot more genuinely insecure like thinking he has capabilities but fucking up because of an (irrational) focus on lineage and overthinking shit, and the thing he felt he deserved was more his own identity, which is fair, and I thought they might take a more complex route exploring that BUT NO, like, I feel like the things that get passed around the most that garner hate for him are probably just more shocking and yea could probably be explained away but it doesn't matter cause the biggest problem with him is instead of having like plausibly having a fight with self doubt and stuff like I viewed him in River he's constantly like "well I deserve RESPECT for HOW GREAT I AM and just no one can see that" like dude, shut up where are you getting the idea that you're so great, and I just, completely rescind all my previous opinions on him, even though my inital expectations of his character would've been better for a protagonist that wouldn't have made want to throw my phone at the wall while I read the book. Which I think was why I was much more inclined to interpret him that way initally but like, to anyone still attached to him there is no question at this point this isn't just a case of a young adult having an angst session this is a character thinking he deserves things that he hasn't earned like especially in the case of his warrior duties he has proven he doesn't deserve respect in that regard, outright blames Squirrelflight repeatedly, like it comes down to his self righteousness instead of self questioning you know? that's the thing that is the crux of his shittiness as a person and I understand wanting to cling to an inital interpretation of him being more complex but his ridiculously prominent self righteousness just kills any reasonable interpretation that requires anything but a complete overhaul of his personality. like, I like Crowfeather, I don't like or accept everything he does in canon but there's enough that is not stated to us and enough depth behind the intention of his character that allows some different interpretations of him as someone who can and does eventually choose change without entirely breaking from the story given to us, but god... NIGHTHEART IS NOT IN THAT BOAT

Sunbeam is... okay as a character I guess? I wasn't fond of how she treated Lightleap though I still guess it's an understandable temporary emotion, her taste in toms makes me a lil more hesitant to give her as much slack on that as I might otherwise, but her interactions with her mother Berryheart are interesting, though that is really the only interesting thing in this arc besides what's going on in RiverClan

these books still make me angry, but I do want to see what happens to RiverClan myself, though I can't quite theorize what exactly is going on yet. Berryheart and Sunbeam's conflict is interesting as well, I honestly can't give a shit about anything else like I have so little to say on the plot because I honestly feel like this book didn't really... feel like it added much more to the story

hey! I've got a good idea! only Frostpaw and... I guess Sunbeam (for her interactions w/ her mother) get a POV in the books after this one, Frostpaw gets more chapters though so we can focus on the only plot thread that is significantly interesting

I know it's not gonna happen but it'd make the rest of this arc so much more fucking bearable

[mistblaze]

Genetics Basics

I hate myself.

*jumps down the rabbithole*

Because I´m no genetics expert, just a writer with an obsession of learning new things and applying them to my favorite fandoms, please see @littlehungrywarriorcats Series on Cat Genetics for Writers and Artists for an in depth explanation. Just a few things are being said and then I´ll put the whole Tigerkin desaster under a cut so you don´t have to scroll forever.

Because I have limited knowledge of physical disabilities, I´ll be avoiding breeds/traits that are linked to genetic disabilities in cats. So no manx, no folded ears and so on. The only disability I can´t avoid is deafness in White Dominant cats with blue eyes, because saying that all of the white cats are either albino or dodged the bullet feels ignorant. There will be ONE cat who gets to be white, blue eyed and hearing in this entire story, and it´s Cloudtail. Luck of the draw, buddy.

I will rant about shit that makes no sense, like where the hell did golden tabby Mothwing come from.

I´m working from the most iconic canon designs backwards, as well as designs I´ve already comitted to. So when Tigerclaw is a black classic tabby and Mist is a silver mackerel tabby, then one of their parents gets hit with the Inhibitor gene and we´ll either have smoke Pinestar or silver tabby Leopardfoot.

Here´s a list of the genes I´m working with, and I´m using the word genes because writing allele all the time breaks my dyslexic brain.

Base Colors: B - black b - Chocolate bl - Cinnamon

Ginger: O - Ginger o - no Ginger

Dilute: D - no dilution d - dilution

Tabby: A - Agouti a - non Agouti (no tabby, no matter the modifiers) Mc - Mackerel mc - Classic Ta - Ticked ta - not ticked (Ta overwrites anything on Mc, so no matter what, if a cat has one Ta it´s ticked, and if it´s Ta/ta it´s ticked but with leftover stripes on the face, the legs and the tail. No matter what, if a cat is a/a it´s a solid.)

Inhibitor: I - Inhibitor, making a "silver" or a "smoke" i - no Inhibitor (If a tabby is I/i, the silver can look "tarnished")

Widebanding: Wd - Widebanding, "golden tabby" wd - no widebanding (This is not entirely accurate, but simplified for fictional purposes. Also, I´ll keep inhibitor and widebanding from interacting on the same cat.)

Extension: E - normal cat e - amber (There´s two more Extension phenotypes but I´m only using amber so they´re not in here.)

Albino: C - full color cats c - complete albino (white + blue eyes, NOT DEAF) cs - siamese (The PATTERN, not the BREED)

Fur lengh: L - shorthair l - longhair

White Spotting + Wide dominant Wd - White dominant (This is the "white + blue eyes = deaf" gene) S - white spotting w - no white spotting (w/w is no white on the cat, S/w is a little white up to tuxedo, and S/S is a lot of white)

[lesbianacorn]

i think we can just move on from biological accuracy and make gay warrior cats have biological kits with 0 catches. gay cats can just have kits no strings attatched no funny business no need for thinking about cat genitals bc thats weird. gay cats can just procreate and theres no logic in it but its ok bc theres no logic in 80% of warrior cat births anyways. this would be most advantageous

i say this bc i see people get upset w the transfem mothwing hc bc a lot of the time these people only want transfem mothwing for mothpool biological kits (plus weird stereotype reasons) and not actual representation. and i agree that it is weird to think about the logistics of warrior cat sex so we should just fandomly decide that gay cats can have kits because it's convenient and cute and fun and doesnt have to make sense.

[fallenrain40]

the warrior cats fandom has a massive issue with erasing characters who are so clearly aspec-coded, or show a LOT of semblance to aspec experiences… but the moment anyone tries to erase other characters with lgbtqia+ undertones (ravenpaw, barley, tallstar, jake, flipclaw, mothwing, rowanstar) all hell breaks loose. which is good! any character w/ lgbtqia+ undertones should not be erased.

but what about aspecs? mousefur, tall shadow, leopardstar, shadowsight, hollyleaf, needleclaw, juniperclaw, flametail, echosong… all of them get people saying ‘well that’s just a headcanon! they’re not *really* aspec!” or “you can not take a partner and be allo!” which. sure, okay… but where’s this attitude, then, for the other cats who are widely accepted by the fandom to be queer? where?

Yeah, though it's definitely not a warriors fandom exclusive problem... mousefur is basically confirmed aroace, and though I'd seen ace headcanons for her, they were very few. I actually think I've only seen like, 3 people say mousefur is aroace? which is just wild to me, why don't more people talk about this. And she gets shipped with longtail SO often still- another odd thing I see is a lot of people tend to only really pay attention to aroace headcanons if a cat says they don't want to have kits... despite the want to be a parent having nothing to do with being aroace???(or just ace. they seem insistent on erasing the aros even more.) yet if a cat is just not interested in relationships, welp that's just too bad apparently. they are gonna get shipped with someone. shadowsight is one of my favorite aroace cats. he has never showed ANY desire to have a mate and unlike other medicine cats, never seems to be bothered by the fact he will never be allowed to have a mate. yet people ship him SO MUCH, with rootspring, with sunbeam... I also kind of hate how everyone just accepts blackclaw was mistystar's mate... despite them literally never being shown in a romantic way. yes, she had his kittens, but how does that make him her mate?? what if she just wanted kits? it's really annoying how this fandom ties wanting to have a family automatically to wanting a romantic relationship... it's also quite annoying how the fandom just HAS to ship every medicine cat that doesn't show romantic interest in anyone. Kestrelflight? "obviously into jayfeather." Puddleshine? "Alderheart and him for sure are in love." Shadowsight? "Let's ship him with everyone we possibly can!" Mothwing? "She and Leafpool are together and if you say anything else you are homophobic-" Hollyleaf is an interesting case becuase I always saw her and Fallen Leaves as an alloace couple... but at the same time it does bug me that a lot of people jump to showing that line of her not wanting KITS to be a reason why she is aroace. (though she probably also mentioned not wanting a mate?? i dont remember) Leopardstar is another aroace I really like. I honestly hate her super edition for introducing a love interest for her. It's incredibly annoying. anyways i started rambling i think haha. I have more to say about cats that I see as aro or aroace, and how the fandom just kinda ignores them all. like Mistystar. but this is already too long.

[mallowstep]

I'm going to do a hot sizzling take but also bring up with what happened with Mothwing the last arc. A lot of people talked about how out of character she was with how she didn't trust Shadowsight but - I don't know? I feel like people in this fandom put characters on pedestals and never let them be in the wrong. If they DO happen to do something wrong suddenly they are so out of character. But Mothwing had been kicked out of Riverclan, had been brought to another very low point in her life, and with stress it was understandable what she did. Was it right? No. But it wasn't completely out of character or "ruined" her like some people claimed.

hm...

i agree and i don't.

i feel her treatment of shadowsight is out of character, but that's because i don't think it makes sense for mothwing, a character who has gone through a lot of manipulation and struggles with religion, to treat shadowsight so poorly for...being a victim of manipulation and struggling with religion.

that doesn't make sense to me. shadowsight is young and made a mistake, and i find it hard to believe mothwing would punish him for that.

NOW what i will accept is the interpretation that she really did come to shadowclan, which has a mess of a medicine den, and say, "okay, shadowsight needs a break."

i will also accept that she and puddleshine didn't really convey that properly to shadowsight, and the execution was terrible because of stress and emotions running high.

i STILL don't really think that makes sense, but without seeing inside mothwing's head, it's hard to know. her novella makes me cry, and i'm Emotionally Strung Out, so someone else can look at her and willowpaw's relationship if you want some evidence, but i think there's a solid argument for this.

like, i don't think it makes sense but that's because i love mothwing and have strong and correct feelings about her. it's hard to say...there's. there's like, so many overlapping things?

like what is her relationship w/ mistystar like now? what was it like before? how does she feel about the imposter situation? etc.

and when i answer all of the questions, i add them up and get "this doesn't make sense," but that's not the only answer.

but i really don't think there's any world in which mothwing deliberately punishes shadowsight the way shadowsight interprets it.

THAT SAID you're so right about fandom. i usually actually complain about mistystar, because everyone is like, "oh, she's an asshole now, she's always being isolationist," and it's like did you hear her fucking reason why? her very justified reason why? like mistystar has seen some shit please give her a break and also remember that she's probably been pushed to a bit of a breaking point with everything and i honestly can't blame her for going, "that's it, we're done, riverclan is out."

so like, yes in the general case, but i do think mothwing was out of character wrt shadowsight.

but who knows! we don't know what's been going on in riverclan, so maybe mothwing had YET ANOTHER traumatic experience that changed her. we have no gd idea.

[yarrowleef]

Read Darkness Within all in one sitting last night and then passed out so here are my scattered thoughts i wrote down as i read, (afterthoughts in parenthesis)

Darkness Within Spoilers, obv

UGH GOD THE SECOND HAND EMBARRESMENT FROM SQUIRREL FAKE FLIRTING WITH ASHFUR IT HURTS

Just remembered Sandynose died and got a small boost of happiness (will Hawkwing and Plumwillow ever be allowed to talk again now? I mean probly not b/c they aren’t protags and non-protags don’t rly have friends but I can hope. Sorry, Hawkwhing and Plumwillow’s short-lived friendship in Hawkwings Journey was one of the last times I felt something)

Ghost fleas lol

Mothwing: i’m rude now. (but more importantly, Fuck Tigerheartstar for forcing his son to be around the cat that hurt him so badly, like he HAS to know how upset everyone is regarding Shadowsight and his accidentally helping the imposter, and he’s making him be the sole one to tend to him??? There is NO REASON Puddleshine couldn’t have done it. You think Puddleshine is going to try and murder someone?? )

Oh no don't make this a traveling book, and a ROOTBRISTLE traveling book this is going to be insufferable

BACON AND EGGS

Lightleap Is Good (Hey didn’t Shadowsight have another sister? lets be real we all knew Pouncekit was going to end up as the forgettable 3rd one)

Bristlefrost’s crush continues to feel unnatural to me. It’s like she’s grasping at straws romanticizing the most generic things.....wow....I love how ur just so...bare minimum competent....being polite to the loner we came all this way to ask for help like any somewhat reasonable person would....How admirable...I love the way you just *clenches fist* exhibit some basic traits of loyalty and skill that literally every warrior has (I s2g I’m this close to head canon-ing Bristle as a clueless aromantic who doesn't understand what romance is actually suppose to feel like so she just looks at feelings of low-bar admiration and assumes “oh I guess this is that “romantic attraction” everyone’s always talking about? guess I must be in love???” because both her crushes have felt out of nowhere and like. Idk fake/forced sounding like she’s just telling me that that she’s In Love Now while I continue to not actually feel it at all from her end. I know it’s just that I hate the way Erin’s write female characters in love but this head-canon makes me laugh)

Got scared because I thought they were going to villainize Spotfur for not wanting kits for a minute, but also excited at the concept of maybe exploring a female character that doesn’t want to be a mother, but it turns out she was just pulling a Sparkpelt and actually DID want the kits all along and was only hesitant because she’s sad. Shrug oh well.  (the only female character in warriors that was distinctly upset about pregnancy and motherhood was Lizardstripe and as we all know she was eeeeeevil and abusive and “overly ambitious” because why else would you not come around to being happy about motherhood?? YES I’M STILL SALTY ABOUT YELLOWFANG’S SECRET, BAD BOOK)  Whatever it’s fine so long as Spot doesn’t lose her rebel leader spirit forever and default to “soft mom” personality for the rest of her life, I gotta have hope because I actually like Bristle and Spot’s current relationship. Also I am actually very grateful they never made Bristle resentful at Spot for getting with her crush, as lots of middle grade/YA media has a very bad habit of demonizing female romantic “competition” and its super gross, so I rly do like that Bristlefrost is so protective and caring towards her instead. )

This series is trying to tell me that Rootspring is actually Big but I refuse to accept that. he has dumb scrawny bitch energy and we all know it

Sunrise: “Thunderclan may be better with a new leader” lol go off (i mean........they right tho...It’s unfortunate that the tension in this whole plot is a bit dampened by the fact that i DO in fact want bramble to die v badly. I don’t even have special hatred for him, I’m just bored of him.)

Yes Lionblaze beat the shit out of Ashfur

*HOLY SHIT THAT’S FUCKED!!!! (I wrote this in reference to the ghost summoning scene, this was all I could manage at the time, that scene was WILD and I am VIBING WITH THE HORROR OF IT ALL)

* Brashfur: Oh yeah? Could Ashfur fake THIS? *stands up with slightly better posture* Shadowsight: oh damn you got me there...... (asdfhhfhhgh im sorry that was really funny, how did that prove anything?? ONLY A ~REAL~ WARRIOR COULD STAND UP STRAIGHT WE ALL KNOW ASHFUR IS INCAPABLE OF GOOD POSTURE!)

End of the book: *LAUGHING NERVOUSLY* WHAT THE FUCK??? (I thought he was just gonna kill Squirrelflight right there holy shit can you imagine the RIOTS that would ensue in the wake of all this Squirrel/Bramble discourse I was so scared for a second.  

 But it’s fine, she just....went to super hell instead......Warriors has come so far lmao WHAT IS HAPPENING

Final Notes:

*On Mothwing, I don’t think her behavior struck me as “CHARACTER BUTCHERING” as much as it did for other people? I mean.....Warriors fans will say that literally any time a character does ANYTHING less then perfectly nice I think her actions just seemed that much harsher because we are reading from Shadowsight’s POV, and Shadowsight is taking everything 10x more personally right now (understandably so, but Mothwing isn’t inside his head) she wasn’t trying to hurt him. Also... like... Shadowsight DID get his name too early. It’s not Mothwing’s job to put his feelings above everything else, she’s not even his mentor, Puddleshine on the other hand, as his main mentor, I don’t understand what his deal is ignoring Shadowsight, that’s not how you help an apprentice but I suppose I chalk many of his mistakes up to also not being the most experienced medicine cat (he barely even had his own mentor.) Maybe he’s distant because he feels guilty and actually blames himself for not guiding Shadowsight better?? the two of them haven’t communicated about it yet so idk

 any way I give Mothwing a pass to be a little short tempered right now as a cat who has had her abilities periodically questioned all her life no matter how hard she works or how much experience she has, just because she doesn’t vibe with the spiritual cult side of the clans, I can understand why she’s a bit defensive of being questioned and frustrated watching so much hurt happen Yet Again due to reliance on StarClan visions over common sense, and I for one still stan her for slandering StarClan and refusing to accept Mistystar’s bullshit banishing like everyone else. Sometimes a character is at the end of their rope and can’t manage to be 100% nice 24/7 and that’s maybe not inherently bad writing? idk just my hot take. At a certain point we all gotta reckon with the fact that our perception of most popular supporting characters in heavily colored by fanon and we can’t always get mad at the authors for not adhering to it

*The sisters magic shit is my fav worldbuilding warriors has had in AGES, I love the way it’s described and it actually feels like it adds something to this world. I love this horror imagery with the ghosts, very excited for that. 

*still won’t be thrilled if Ashfur is working alone, because his motive doesn’t make sense right now. I mean the trying to get Squilf thing, sure, whatever, but the “I will make everyone pay for what they did to me”???? cause like?? Who??? they didn’t do anything to him?? Ashfur’s grievance was very specifically JUST Squilf. He has no other cause for revenge, he had no other beef or complaints about the clans to my knowledge? The cat that killed him is dead, and she’s like, the only other one that I could see as having “wronged” him?? I guess he also didn’t like Firestar much according to Graystripe’s Vow (and on account of how willing he was to kill him w/ Hawkfrost) but Firestar is ALSO dead. I don’t understand his angle. Will have to see last 2 books to judge i suppose.

*All in all I am interested to see where this is going!! but also the pacing as I feared is becoming a major issue. It’s better then ending the main conflict on book 3 like Vision of Shadows did, but omg. Hardly anything happened in all these pages. I realized I was over half way through and nothing about the situation had actually CHANGED or advanced at all in all that time. Similar to the past 2 books which I believe could have been combined, this plot felt like it should have been the first half of a book. Discussing whether or not to kill the imposter isn’t much of a standalone plot, it’s just the set up to a plot. Finding the sisters didn’t need to be a whole long thing, the debates about the Imposters fate didn’t need to be repeated 10 times, all those chapters illustrating that “Shadowsight is sad” were also drawn out, repetitive, and interchangeable, we probably only needed 2 or so chapters showing his struggles to get the necessary information across. It felt like a lot of padding, it was really slow and I did a lot of skimming. I am still very interested in the overarching plot and mystery behind the ghosts so that kept me reading but man this “will they won’t they kill him” plot did not justify it’s own whole book. Alas this is a persisting issue that will never be resolved while they continue to force 6 books into 1 series that doesn’t need 6 books. I’m sure the writers are doing the best they can with these unfortunate constraints but still, it’s a wonder this slow padding isn’t more of a detriment to their younger readers that the books are supposed to be marketed to.

[twilights-800-cats]

<< Allegiances || Chapter 19 || Chapter 20 || Chapter 21 || From the Beginning || Patreon >>

Chapter 20

Mothwing looked up at the sky, frowning. The clouds that had formed the night before looked like they were staying around. She had a feeling it didn’t signal another sudden downpour, but she was unwilling to trust her own instincts at a time like this.

Tawnypelt… The deputy’s absence was a huge blow to the Clan’s morale, and Mothwing could see it on every cat’s face. Even though Leopardstar had stepped in and was doling out the morning patrols as if nothing happened, Mothwing could see behind her mother’s confident stance – Tawnypelt had been her closest friend for a long time, and Leopardstar was worried.

“Keep an eye out for her,” Leopardstar was telling every patrol. “But no cat is to go near a Twoleg if you see one; and stay within our borders no matter what.”

“Even if we catch WindClan stealing our prey?” asked Brackenflight, her eyes flung wide.

Leopardstar nodded. “Be safe,” she urged.

She’s finally taking this threat seriously, Mothwing thought, her stomach churning. She could hear the Twoleg monsters starting up in the distance – they always roared to life just as the sun rose, and their patrols were getting closer and closer…

Mothwing had to force herself to breathe evenly. If she panicked in front of the whole Clan, it wouldn’t make anything better. Mudfur was already so weak he refused to get out of his nest until the sun warmed him through – RiverClan needed her to be strong.

A flash of gray caught her eye, and Mothwing straightened her back as she watched her brother pad towards her. Mothwing frowned – he smelled faintly of the reeds, like he’d been outside recently, and she spotted him favoring a paw slightly.

What have you gotten into? A season ago she might not have hesitated to ask such a question, but Falcontail’s attitude had soured since Mothwing had become a medicine cat. Lately, though, Mothwing wondered if her littermate had always been that way, and she had been blinded by their shared perspectives while they trained to be warriors. She kept her jaws shut for now, only dipping her head to acknowledge Falcontail as he stopped a tail-length away.

“I want you to come with me,” he stated.

Mothwing’s ear twitched. It ruffled her fur that it sounded more like a command than a request. I might be an apprentice, but I’m not your apprentice! Still, there were no other tasks pressing her – it was her duty, after all, to see to the needs of her Clanmates. Falcontail might be a pain in the tail lately but he was still her Clanmate.

“Where to?” she asked.

Falcontail sniffed. “Just come,” he insisted, turning his back.

Mothwing sighed and got to her paws, letting Falcontail lead the way out of camp. His scent lay very faintly on the path they were trotting along, heading towards a thick reed bed that lay beside an open stretch of land near WindClan territory. Mothwing’s nose twitched – she could smell it so well because they were littermates, but… He tried to disguise his path, she realized.

Not only that, but Mothwing saw the seriousness in Falcontail’s yellow eyes, and the stiff way he walked put her on edge. Where were they going? What did he want with her?

Falcontail led her into the center of the thicket of reeds. Mothwing could hear the roar of the gorge water not far off, and her legs ached. He’d come all this way, earlier than any cat was awake… for what?

She smelled it before she saw it – the smell of blood, and something bird-like. Falcontail parted the reeds to reveal a dead falcon hidden in the fronds, still fresh. Mothwing looked up at a nearby young tree – there was a falcon’s nest just at the top. Empty, now, she realized. Did he climb up there just to kill it?

Mothwing flinched and took a pawstep back, staring incredulously at her brother. “What is this?” she demanded. Her claws flexed with uncertainty, and something in her was telling her this was a very strange, bad situation to be in.

“I want you to take a feather from this bird and give it to Leopardstar,” Falcontail stated, his tone very even and serious. He sat himself down beside the corpse, curling his striped tail around his paws. “Tell her it was a sign from StarClan that I should be deputy.”

Mothwing stared at her brother, jaws agape in shock. It took her a moment to collect herself, to really process what her littermate was suggesting – “You want me to fake a sign from StarClan? For you?”

“Yes.” Falcontail’s tone was flat.

“Do you know how against the warrior code that is?!” Mothwing hissed, glancing behind her to ensure no cats were within earshot – thankfully they were so deep in the reeds that no cat could see or hear them. Her heart was pounding in her ears. “I can’t believe you would ask me such a thing! Have you any idea how much trouble we would both get into?”

Falcontail still looked unoffended. He shrugged. “It’s no big deal, really. RiverClan needs a deputy and we can’t afford to wait for whenever Tawnypelt decides to return. I’m the cat that can help RiverClan best now – everyone knows it, but Leopardstar needs a push to see it.”

Mothwing was bristling from ears to tail, her limbs shaking. How could Falcontail be so arrogant?! “You’re an ambitious fool!” she spat. Remembering that he was her littermate, she added, “Maybe one day you could be a great deputy, but you’re too young! Frostsplash has been your only apprentice, and he was already an adult! Not to mention the fact that you want me to fake a sign from StarClan to get you what you want! Have bees gotten into your brain?!”

Falcontail’s eyes flashed. “I have the backing of the Clan, and by the warrior code I can be deputy,” he stated simply. “There have been younger deputies, and not just in RiverClan’s history. Leopardstar will wait until the sky falls before she appoints someone to replace Tawnypelt – a sign is all that will make her budge.”

He got to his paws. “So, if you won’t do it, I will,” Falcontail declared.

Mothwing stared at her brother, feeling as if he had taken all the wind from her lungs. She gripped the earth beneath her paws in order to keep from swaying.  

Falcontail seemed to take Mothwing’s silence as an invitation to keep going: “It’s really not so hard – I’ve done it before. For you.”

Mothwing’s mouth went dry. “I was chosen by StarClan,” she retorted, her hackles rising. How dare he say—

“StarClan? Please – I killed the moth. I put its wing in front of the medicine cat’s den,” Falcontail snapped. He rose to his paws to meet Mothwing, his face twisted and smug. “Did you really think StarClan had done it?” He said ‘StarClan’ as if they meant nothing to him. “Did you really think you were worthy?”

Mothwing flung herself at Falcontail before she could process what was happening, her screech of horror echoing through the reeds. She dug her claws into her brother’s pelt as she pushed him to the earth, but though fury was searing in her veins like fire, she couldn’t bring herself to tear into him. He was still her littermate.

Falcontail wasn’t even fighting back. He lay beneath her, his yellow eyes narrowed to slits as they bored into her. “You wanted to be a medicine cat so badly,” he hissed. “But Mudfur wouldn’t dare accept an apprentice without a sign from his precious StarClan. I helped you get what you want, Mothwing – so now it’s your turn!”

Mothwing trembled. She didn’t want to believe him but his words rang with truth – Mudfur had been so reluctant at first that Mothwing had felt like she would never be a medicine cat; but the moment the moth’s wing sign appeared…

She felt hollow, like Falcontail had drained all the life and light from her body. It’s true, she thought, staring down at her littermate. He… it’s all because of him… He’s the reason StarClan won’t talk to me!

Falcontail’s eyes burned. “If you don’t do this for me… I will tell all of RiverClan the truth – and then who knows what will happen to you?”

“You… you faked the sign, though,” Mothwing trembled. “It would be you in trouble, not me!”

Falcontail shrugged. “I don’t have to tell the whole truth… ‘Oh, my poor sister wanted to be a medicine cat so badly!’” His voice rose in shrill mockery. “‘She begged me to help!’ That’s all I have to say – what do you think RiverClan would do if they found out their medicine cat was falsely appointed…?”

Mothwing felt as if the world was upside-down. She pulled away from her brother as if he were a snake about to strike, her entire body shivering. She curled her tail around herself, trying to keep from fainting.

“I won’t do it,” she managed to whisper. Though she felt like collapsing, the fury at what her brother had done was still there – perhaps that was what was keeping her upright. No matter what, she would not let RiverClan suffer. She forced her lip to curl, growling, “StarClan chose me. I will never help you!”

Falcontail shook his head and sighed as he got to his paws. “If you really think so… why not ask them?” he meowed, his voice low and dark. He gave her a very sinister look, and for the first time Mothwing could see darkness in his eyes, pulsing and hungry and angry. “And when you learn the truth, you’ll see the mistake you made in defying me.”

He bent down and plucked a feather from the falcon’s corpse before he slunk away. Mothwing watched him go, bile rising in her throat. She felt sick, and pushed herself into the reeds to retch. Every bit of her felt like it was coming apart, and she didn’t know how to keep it all together.

A raindrop hit her ear. And then another, and, a long while later, another. Mothwing lifted her head to look at the sky. The gray clouds had come together, and it felt like the whole world was weeping with her… but the sound of the Twoleg monsters drowned out the pitter-patter of the raindrops, and Mothwing felt like retching again.

She stared hopelessly at the falcon corpse. Mothwing knew she should have stopped Falcontail, but how could she do that short of killing him? How could she explain his death to her Clan? What good would it even do?

Mothwing moved her gaze up into the clouds, into the rain. A medicine cat should see something in this weather, right? All she could see were clouds.

“Why couldn’t you stop him?” she asked, her voice small and quiet. “Why did you let him do this to me?”

There was only the sound of Twoleg monsters, and rain.

[guiltyidealist]

Having read both Squirrelflight’s Hope and Veil of Shadows, have some spoilers and speculation for both. Warning: the post is long as shit and includes spoilers for Squirrelflight’s Hope and TBC up to VoS.

After VoS, I can’t deny that LBramblestar is Ashfur. Here are passages from the book that seal the deal. (I’m gonna cite the pages they were on from the PDF, since that’s what I have) In bold are pieces of text that are particularly damning.

... Bramblestar halted and plunged his nose into a thick growth of moss on the root of an oak tree, sniffing deeply. Turning to Bristlefrost, he asked her, “Is that Squirrelflight’s scent? Has she been here?” 

Bristlefrost wasn’t sure how to react. [...]  [W]hy was Bramblestar asking? Was he looking for reassurance that the exiled deputy was gone?

[...] “It smells like ... moss. “I’m not sure,” she replied to Bramblestar. “It could be.”

Bramblestar gave her a curt nod and continued toward the lake, but he was still watchful, and a few paces farther on he stopped to sniff at the debris beneath a holly bush and asked Bristlefrost the same question. There was a strange, wistful look in his eyes. [...] Even when Bramblestar and the rest of the cats reached the lakeshore and crossed into WindClan territory, the impostor still kept up his search for Squirrelflight. Why? Bristlefrost wondered. Does he feel threatened by her? Does he think she might come back and try to take leadership of the Clan? Then she saw how Bramblestar’s tail began to droop with disappointment when he couldn’t find any definite traces of the former deputy. Bristlefrost realized there must be something more behind his search. He misses her.

But then why had he sent Squirrelflight away in the first place?

Warriors: Veil of Shadows, PDF page 104-105

“Come in, come in,” Bramblestar mewed testily. “I need to talk to you.” [...] Dipping her head respectfully, she padded forward to within a tail-length of where Bramblestar sprawled in his nest.

“I’ve been in the Twolegplace, searching for Squirrelflight,” he told her. “But I haven’t caught the least hint of her scent. I was there all night, but it was no use. I don’t have the faintest idea where she is.” Apprehension began to gnaw at Bristlefrost’s belly. “Why are you looking for her?” she asked. “Squirrelflight left Clan territory, just as you ordered. Surely you don’t think she deserves more punishment?”

Bramblestar shook his head sadly. “To tell the truth ... I expected Squirrelflight to come home and ask to be taken back into ThunderClan,” he admitted. “But she hasn’t. I must have really angered her,” he continued, gazing up at the den wall as if he could see his former deputy standing there. “I know she must still love me, deep down. If I could only talk to her again...” His voice choked and he closed his eyes, resting his nose on his paws.

[...] Bramblestar’s head snapped up again. “I have a new task for you,” he rasped. “You have to search for Squirrelflight. You must find her. And when you do, you must tell her that her exile is revoked. You must get her to come back to ThunderClan.” “But what will the rest of the Clan think about that?” Bristlefrost asked. “You exiled all the codebreakers. How can you let just one come back? Wouldn’t that encourage other cats to start doubting your leadership?”

“Oh, Bristlefrost ...” Bramblestar blinked at her with a look of amused affection that made her feel cold right down to her claw-tips. “When you’re older and more experienced, you’ll realize that there is such a thing as forgiveness, even from StarClan. I’m their representative in the Clan, now that the medicine cats can’t speak to them, and I’ve decided that Squirrelflight can be forgiven, if she changes her ways. Squirrelflight is ... special.”

Warriors: Veil of Shadows, PDF pages 186-188

How much do I need to explain here? Despite previously exiling Squilf, LBramblestar wants her back... because he expected her to beg to come back. Why would he do this? Let’s look at this from an Ashfur lens: he wanted to see her grovel and beg for him just to satisfy himself. However, he still has feelings for her (though it isn’t love, because that’s..... not love) and wants her to return, as he is distressed about her absence. This is further supported by LBramble’s previous possessiveness over Squilf. The last sentence, too, supports that LBramble is Ashfur for obvious reasons.

Anybody remember Squirrelflight’s Hope and how, when Squilf and Leaf were in StarClan, the authors took the time to showcase Ashfur’s acceptance into StarClan in spite of his mistakes and Squilf’s discomfort with three separate paragraphs?

She stiffened as gray fur moved at the edge of her vision. She recognized it at once. Ashfur. The gray tom had caused so much trouble for her and for Leafpool’s kits. And yet he was here. He dipped his head as she saw him, then glanced at Hollyleaf. [...] Hollyleaf blinked calmly at the gray tom. There was no sign of anger in her gaze. Had the two cats learned to live in peace here in StarClan?

Squirrelflight nodded curtly to Ashfur. She wasn’t sure she could be as forgiving as Hollyleaf. After all, Ashfur had threatened to destroy the happiness she’d found with Bramblestar, and almost succeeded.

Warriors: Squirrelflight’s Hope, PDF page 531

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Squirrelflight could still see Ashfur out of the corner of her eye. She leaned closer to Hollyleaf. “It seems strange that he didn’t end up in the Dark Forest,” she whispered. 

Hollyleaf shrugged. “I guess, but he’s apologized. I think he’s changed.” 

Longtail narrowed his eyes. “I wouldn’t wish the Dark Forest on any cat.”

Warriors: Squirrelflight’s Hope, PDF page 532

~~~~~~~~~~~~

... Ashfur got to his paws. He signaled to Dustpelt with his tail. “Do you want to come hunting?” he called. “I’m meeting Whitestorm by the river.”

“Sure.” Dustpelt acknowledged the gray warrior with a nod. “I’d better go. Whitestorm will be waiting.” Dustpelt dipped his head. “I’ll see you when I get back.”

[...] She watched as Dustpelt met Ashfur at the entrance. “Isn’t it weird having Ashfur around?” she asked Hollyleaf.

“Not really.” Hollyleaf licked a paw absently. “After a while, what happened in the forest seems less important.”

Warriors: Squirrelflight’s Hope, PDF page 555

All the talking about forgiveness and moving on in regards to Ashfur should remind you of LBramble’s words: “... there is such a thing as forgiveness, even from StarClan.” There’s far too much weight on those words for that to be coincidental.

Okay, onto a new track. Here’s what happens when Bristlefrost Squ, Mothwing, and Squilf fake Squilf’s death:

[...] [T]he false Bramblestar padded up to join her.

His amber eyes widened as he saw the blood and fur, and then, to Bristlefrost’s astonishment, his face contorted in what looked like real grief. Hunching his shoulders, he bowed his head and flattened his ears. For a few heartbeats he seemed unable to speak.

“She’s dead ... and I killed her,” he choked out at last.

Fuck nice citation. VoS, PDF page 196

“Maybe you should get up now,” Bristlefrost suggested. “There’s a hunting patrol waiting for your orders, and a few warriors want to speak to you about border marking. And—” Bramblestar gazed at her with confusion in his face. “What are you meowing about?” he grumbled. Then he lifted a weary paw and waved her away. “Let Berrynose deal with them,” he murmured. “I don’t care about any of it. How can I? Squirrelflight is dead, and it’s my fault. If I hadn’t exiled her ...”

[...]

Bramblestar just moaned and looked away, closing his eyes as his whiskers drooped in pain. Bristlefrost wasn’t even sure that he had heard her. Then with a pitiful whine he buried his face in the bracken fronds of his nest.

He looked so miserable that Bristlefrost couldn’t suppress a pang of sympathy. For a moment she was tempted to tell him the truth, that Squirrelflight wasn’t dead at all; she just didn’t want to be found. But that would undo all our hard work. [...] She thrust the temptation away and remained silent.

VoS, PDF page 226-227

LBramble obviously gives an actual fuck about Squilf for some unknown reason... that is, the reason would be unknown if we didn’t know it was Ashfur. As said before, he still harbors feelings for her for some reason. He displays this grief again on PDF page 332.

Onto something else:

“Ungrateful cats!” Bramblestar was grumbling as he entered his den. Shadowsight slipped in behind him. “They need discipline. They need to be taught not to steal, not to question their leader, not to trespass ...” He glanced back over his shoulder. “Wouldn’t you agree, Shadowsight?”

Shadowsight’s jaw dropped, and he stood gaping, utterly astonished. The false Bramblestar was staring straight at him. [...] The ThunderClan leader bared his teeth in a grin. “That’s right ... I can see you,” he meowed. “I knew you were trespassing in our territory the minute you appeared in the camp.” Shadowsight struggled to find words. “But how?” he asked eventually. [...] “[M]aybe,” Bramblestar continued, his face still set in the same chilling grin, “it’s because spirits can always recognize other spirits.” As Shadowsight stared at him with a mixture of fear and disbelief, he thought he saw the edges of Bramblestar’s body begin to blur, as though mist were seeping out of his pelt. A heartbeat later another cat slid out like smoke from a burning fire and stood in front of Shadowsight, while the body he had left slumped to the floor of the den. A glow pulsed around the cat’s pelt; Shadowsight found it hard to make out the color of his fur. But his eyes were dark blue, so different from Bramblestar’s warm amber ones. His gaze was fixed on Shadowsight with a menacing gleam.

VoS, PDF pages 254-255

Fire imagery and blue eyes (also mentioned on PDF page 303 by Bristlefrost)? hMmmmMMMMmmmmmmm....

Finally, the most damning of them all, in the scenes following the defeat of LBramble’s forces:

She was turning to leave the den when Bramblestar stirred again and his eyes flickered open. “Squirrelflight!” he called out in a pained, wheezing gasp. [...]

Bramblestar’s chest heaved as he fought to breathe, and he finally managed to force out a few more words. [...]

“I came back ... for you.”

The effort had been too much. Bramblestar’s body sagged and his eyes closed as he lapsed back into unconsciousness.

“Is he dead?” Squirrelflight asked, her eyes wide with alarm.

Shadowsight bent over the ThunderClan leader, placing a paw on his chest and sniffing around his muzzle. “No, he’s alive,” he mewed at last. Straightening up, he added, “Squirrelflight, what did that mean? ‘I came back for you’?”

For a moment Squirrelflight seemed completely confused, gazing up at the roof of the den and back down at Bramblestar’s motionless form. “I’m starting to think there’s something familiar about this fake Bramblestar,” she murmured. “But I can’t quite put my paw on what it is, or who it might actually be. I do know one thing, though,” she added, meeting Shadowsight’s concerned gaze. “I have a terrible feeling about all of this.”

Vos, PDF page 407

If the encounter with Shadowsight hadn’t sold you, this should. At the very end of the book, Squirrelflight exclaims that she figured out who the impostor is and they leave us on that cliffhanger. The reveal of Ashfur as our villain is just a matter of time, now.

[meowmaids]

I know there's probably like a billion trillon overlaps w warrior cat and starwars and hero's journey ect for a lot of reasons but in the broken code and the last trilogy released what abt these:

-a guy we thought for sure was dead IS BACK and causing problems for everyone's kids

-Everyone is looking for the son of a REALLY bad guy who is somewhat better, his twin sister watched her husband die and their son became the leader a group

-The parent's of one of the main characters were heavily featured for their abilities in the last arch and are alarmed to see their son having a dark influence that leads to death

-3 twenty somethings gotta save everyone with some help from a rebellion meet up group one spouse of the rebellion dies leaving the other to grieve

-ghosts

-the main girl is a fighter

-ppl shipping the main girl's friends bc they are not related and bc they rescued eachother

- I think based on coloring and they bc thy have to stay alive for now Mothwing and Jayfeather are C3-po and R2-d2 (mothwing can speak vs Jayfeather who would swear if he could)

(probably a lot of other stuff Pls feel free to add on!! Idk abt starwars)

[doves-wing]

Warriors Song Post

what up here’s a bunch of songs that i connect to warriors in some fuckin way. this took way too long and i’ll add more later because i couldn’t everyone in the tags lol

People in my Head by Oceans on Mars: Goosefeather - If the title wasn’t obvious enough as to why it fits him, the song is about hearing voices and going mad because of it. If that doesn’t fit Goosefeather, what does?

Twisted by MISSIO: Darktail - The whole song is about a bad guy with fucked up thoughts and how his dad was a shit but had a good mom. 

Bottom of the Deep Blue Sea by MISSIO: Bluestar - The song is about addiction and depression. And well, Bluestar has depression so there we go already but it uses the specific metaphor of drowining which is strongly connected to Bluestar’s character, so it fits even better! 

Everybody Gets High by MISSIO: Sol - It’s his tragic backstory. I mean if this was a human AU this would just be his backstory. Sol is an evil gay, makes sense if he had a homophobic upbringing which led him to drugs and eventually running away. Makes sense to me at least.

Kamikazee by MISSIO: Sol - This is a song about greed, desire, and dark hearts. Who has all three? That’s right, it’s Sol baby! The boy desires all the nice things in life and will not stop at anything to get them.

Best Friends by Grandson: The Kin - So I’m kinda cheating with this one as it isn’t a singular characer but my post, my rules. I feel as if this fits best when Needletail and the other apprentices joined The Kin. Thinking they’re so cool and shit.

Kiss Bang by Grandson: Leafpool/Crowfeather/Nightcloud - Okay again not a singular character but my post, my rules. Basically this song represents Crowfeather’s relationship with the two of them. In short: a fucking mess

Things Change by Grandson: Crowfeather - I’d say this is specifically about Leafpool soon after the badger attack, but could still work for him and Feathertail. Either way, this guy is dumb angst monster lmao

Saint Bernard by Lincoln: Mapleshade - This is a song about one-sided love and how the singer won’t be going to heaven. Also it’s fucking scary so Mapleshade :)

Hellbent by Mystery Skulls: Ashfur - It’s him about Squirrelflight. He does not care that she is in a relationship. All he cares is that the relationship she’s in, isn’t with him. All he wants is her and he truly won’t stop at anything to have her.

The Wolf by SIAMES: Tigerclaw - This is another song that’s about addiction but it has a strong theme about being out of your mind, and well, if you kill people I don’t think your sane. And in a way, Tigerclaw could’ve been addicted to killing. Either way many of this song’s lyrics (and especially the chorus) remind me of him so he gets this masterpiece of a song to himself.

Same Old Forest by Nathan Sharp: Firestar - This fits Firepaw/Rusty specifically but hey I prefer using the most recent names of a character in the title. Anyway though, this song is all about beginnings and wanting to be something (while also being a protaganist) and who could fit better than Firepaw? I mean one of the lyrics is literally: “Because compared to every child you know, you’re something else”. Tell me it isn’t about Firepaw.

Far Away by Nathan Sharp: Spottedleaf - This is a song sung by a female about the character from the previous song on this list, who knows that the character is destined for greatness. Tell me it isn’t sung by Spottedleaf. 

Time to Go by Nathan Sharp: Yellowfang - Yellowfang is the grumpy grandma we all know and love. If you know her and then listen to this song and say she didn’t sing it you’re so wrong it’s unbelievable. Did her savior just wake up? Yes. Is she going to push him out and force him to save the world now? Yes.

Drowning by Nathan Sharp: Bluestar - Look at the title. Okay but the song is about losing everything in your life and well, the water metaphors :}

Shell by Nathan Sharp: Bluestar (w/ Firestar) - I think this fits really well for Bluestar and Firestar’s relationship. Bluestar after having been almost murdered by her trusted deputy, Tigerclaw, has lost faith in everything. Fireheart is desperately trying to keep her what remains of her, alive. The chorus speaks for itself, she is a shell, almost entirely withered away. Just, it’s mostly Bluestar but the way the lyrics go it sounds as if someone is speaking to another character about Bluestar, which in this case is probably Tigerclaw and Firestar.

The Evil King by Nathan Sharp: Tigerclaw & Firestar - This is their final battle in song form. At the end it becomes a duet, but for the majority it’s Tigerclaw monologuing about why he should and deserves to win. How Firestar should’ve never come to the forest, as he was meant to rule the forest as his father did before him, unfortuneately this is a YA novel which means that evil can never win. 

Unaligned by Nathan Sharp: Ivypool - I imagine this is when she’s starting to realize that the Dark Forest isn’t good. That it’s full of evil cats, but because she’s only started to realize this their abusive teachings are still in her head, thus “You took me in, showed me love when I had nowhere to run” is a lyric. She’s done bad things by joining them, she doesn’t know if she can be good but she knows she doesn’t want to be bad.

Dead Silence by Nathan Sharp: Mothwing - Mothwing can’t get it out of her head that she is the daughter of Tigerclaw. The worst cat in the history of the Clans yet she chose to be a medicine cat, a peaceful cat who does no harm. Her intrusive thoughts won’t stop reminding her of how brutal her family as been. Her father first and then her brother, Hawkfrost, second. Maybe she is destined to be a violent monster, she knows it isn’t true but those evil thoughts say otherwise, and she can’t ignore them any longer.

Epcoh (TLT Remix) by Salvonic: Hollyleaf - After she ran away from the gathering, she had a lot of time to think about everything. She had time to regret her actions and came back to apologize, and hope that she would be accepeted. Just about everything in this song fits her and someone needs to make a map for her with this song because it fits her so fucking well it’s insane.

Terrible Things by Brick + Mortar: Ivypool - She sees no difference between her and her sister, Dovewing, yet her sister is consistently praised more than her and gets more attention. Ivypool then joins the Dark Forest as they claimed to have seen in her, what her Clanmates saw in Dovewing. Instead of dreaming, she fought hard to get the attention and mild praise of a few dead cats. She murdered cats for them and all she got in return was a free t-shirt.

Burn The House Down by AJR: Squirrelflight - Honestly this just gives me some lighthearted Squirrelflight vibes. More so when she was still an apprentice and wanted to be treated with the same amount as respect as a warrior but she tried to gain their respect in ridiculous ways, such as joining Brambleclaw on the journey to the Sundrown place, for instance.

G-G-Ghost by Steven Universe: Fallen Leaves - He’s just a ghost boy who wants someone to notice him!

Noticed by MandoPony: Sol - This theatre gay just wants someone to pay attention to him! And if you do look away, he might have to kill you. M i g h t

Nothing Personal by Night Riots: Darktail - He came to erase the Clans. He will wash away their history, he will make himself the leader of his own group and lead them with an iron fist, his ideology is correct. To the members of his group he is a shining star, a beacon of light and truth.

Contagious by Night Riots: Shadowpaw - This is more speculative but it seems to me that he could definitely start to think that he is bad, wrong. Because of the voice in his head. He is plagued with lies, just by existing he has broken the code. He has to remind himself, it isn’t his fault that he is shunned, looked down upon. But everything is wearing him down. Reminding yourself that it isn’t wrong to exist is tiring.

On the Line by Night Riots: Tawnypelt - Tawnypelt is the type to give all she has for her Clan. Sometimes she gets nervous but she fights through it because her Clan is what matters most. 

She Wants Me Dead by CAZZETTE: Crowfeather - This is just every female in Crowfeather’s life at him.

Bet on You by The Man Who: Mistystar - Back when Mistystar was known as Mistyfoot, she crtiticized her leader, Leaopardstar harshly. The latter did let her brother be murdered. Though Leopardstar would’ve risked her own life, among everyone in her clan’s life, had she tried to stop it from happening. Leopardstar made many mistakes throughout her life but Mistyfoot always came back to her, in the end she knew Leopardstar was only doing the best she could. 

Choke by I DON’T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME: Darktail - Only he would say the most fucked up things while having a genuine smile on his face and making it sound nice. He only cares for himself, and a distorted love for his mother, painting her as this perfect being who was ruined by his father. I have no doubt that he would do all the things in this songs, given he were able to of course.

Crossing a Line by Mike Shinoda: Leafpool & Squirrelflight - This is all about the truth of Holly/Jay/Lion and how they want to tell them, but don’t know how, and just that whole mess is this song. 

Play with Fire by Sam Tinnesz: Brokenstar - He is one of the most evil characters in the series, using child soldiers will do that though. He takes pleasure from seeing cats die, especially kits. He enjoys watching others suffer, especially if he can gain something by it. He forced WindClan out of the Clan territories because he wanted the extra hunting land.

Monster (Under my Bed) by Call Me Karizma: Tigerclaw - After his father left, Tigerkit felt alone. His sisters were dead, and his mother was heartbroken. He looked for friends in the shadows, hoping that they’d take form and want to play. It took some time but they took form in the shape of a cat. She was a transparent tortoiseshell, claiming to be of ThunderClan’s past. It didn’t matter to Tigerkit though, she promised to make him the strongest cat in the forest, in all of the Clan’s history even. That’s what mattered to Tigerkit. He wanted to be strong enough to take down any of his enemies and most importantly, his father.

Wolves (You Got Me) by DREAMERS: Fire/Raven - Firepaw is the new apprentice and oh no there’s a cute anxious boy. “Guess we’ll fall in love” they said, and then they did. Firepaw learned how to hunt, and fight. Though it was a bit harder because he was absolutely smitten with Ravenpaw.

Our Song by Vinyl Theatre: Sandstar (w/ Clan) -  (Med-Cat!Fire AU) This happens before the battle with BloodClan, when they’re still preparing. 

High Hopes by Panic! At The Disco: Hollyleaf - (Wind!Holly AU) - This is her coming home after leaving the tunnels and rescuing Dovewing, and Ivypool. She is welcomed back warmly by her mother, brother, and best friend (Heathertail)

[everybody-loves-purdy]

Hi, long time warrior cat fan here! I have been re-reading the books with my so (who hasn't read them before and is loving it) while I continue reading the modern books. We just finished moonrise and I have been interested in investigating who the antagonist is in TBC. I have read a lot of interesting arguments and originally suspected it just being some ancient that we had never heard of or something etc. etc. (part 1 of "Pebblewhisper's" theory [yes that's my govt assigned name haha)

So as I was reading moonrise we see the beginnings of Hawkfrost's ambitions...upon going back in time he is the only cat who cares about the warrior code... for example pg. 76 of moonrise "I shall learn from [Tigerstar's] mistakes". Hawkfrost's voice rumbled deep in his chest. Our mother told us enough about him, after all. He broke the warrior code, and he deserved to fail. I shall know better." (part 2... to be continued)

ex. 2 mothwing to leafpaw: Hawkfrost is loyal to the Clan,not to me or to any cat. He cares more for being a great warrior than anything else"... ex. 3 when sorreltail trespasses in ch. 21 by accident w leafpaw... could be connected to shadowpaw's weird vision where borders catch fire...? idk but he is the only antag i'm realistically starting to suspect who seems to care about keeping the w.c. vs. "code breakers" but i still think its possible it could be a rando ancient or starclan cat

———————————————————————

That’s a pretty interesting theory and honestly one I can see potentially happening. I know his ghost was killed in The Last Hope but I wouldn’t put it past the writing team to say something like “oh if you get killed in the afterlife rather than fade you go to limbo until you do fade” or something similar. Also I love Hawkfrost as a villain but I feel like he never got to be as villainous as he could have been (if that makes sense), he always got killed before he could reach his goal. Maybe he could be mad with the system feeling that while he was condemned while others (e.g Ashfur) weren’t was unfair?

But yeah like you said knowing the writing team it’s probably some rando we’ve never heard of, but I do think it’s a plausible theory if the writing team find a way to bring him back.

[overcareful]

2, 3, and 8 for the wc asks?

2. Which protagonist had the best perspective?

jayfeather and leafpool. if were going by the main series. yeah squirrelflight had the great journey, but i always looked forward to seeing what was going on with leafpool in the camp. it might just be because i connect with her as a character lol.

of course firestar too, who doesnt love the prophecies begin ?!? and every novella and super edition ive loved! like i dont think any novella (aside from the atrocity that was spottedleafs heart, even though i love her) or super edition wasnt interesting to read. i love the characters so much

3. Do you read the novellas? If so, which one is your favorite?

speaking of novellas!! hmm. if spottedleafs heart wasnt the most uncanon thing ive ever read i would have said hers, just cuz i have a bias. but pinestars choice hit me so hard… shanty 3 i love that they finally had a ‘kittypet’ perspective that had a connection w twolegs so we can love our pets more

mapleshades just made me sad, i lowkey hate that shes a villain bc she just went through trauma… yeah we need villains in the series but like.. ugh her story breaks my heart. i like her as a villain but i wish she could just heal, rest, and see her kits again

goosefeathers was good but i wish it went into more detail about how he inadvertently killed moonflower. when i finished it i was like “really?? just like that? what about his dementia???” i wish he had a super edition, i wouldnt feel as though i read it and it had no value if that makes sense? his story could have been so much more powerful

8. Name five characters you’d go on a journey with.

stormfur, brackenfur, hollyleaf, mothwing, sandstorm

[tskumoyuuma]

cause tumblrs a Bitch im remaking this post on my computer so ill be able to edit it later on, but this is basically a reference for how much time passes in each warriors book, primarily based on how many gatherings r shown. will add on later

into the wild: ~3 moons. evidence: firepaw joins the clan, the next night is a gathering (gathering 0). we get a timeskip, saying it’s been “more than two moons” since firepaw joined tc. this means there have been two gatherings not shown (gathering 1 + 2). a gathering soon happens after this timeskip (gathering 3), which means that a total of 3 moons have passed. this makes firepaw ~9 moons old at the end of the book, since it’s been stated he n graypaw barely saw six moons when they first met

fire n ice: ~3 or 4 moons. book starts off where last one ended, but a timeskip happens in the middle if the first chap. we learn that a gathering is happening (gathering 4), so around a moon has passed. at this gathering, the clans agree to bring windclan back, which they do. towards the end of the book we learn that a gathering (gathering 5) was canceled because of rain. fireheart meets onewhisker again after two moons at the gathering after that (gathering 6). in the first chapter of forest of secrets, we learn the last chapter of fire n ice takes place three days before the next gathering (gathering 7). almost 3 moons have passed, but if u count the beginning of the first chap almost 4 moons pass. this makes fireheart ~13 moons old at the end of the book

forest of secrets: ~1.5 moons. first chapter starts off with a gathering (gathering 7). many things happen and towards the end we have the next gathering (gathering 8) where its revealed to the clans that thunderclan has brokentail. silverstream has her kits n dies, then cinderpaw becomes a medicine cat apprentice by going to the moonstone during the half moon. the next day tigerclaw leads the attack on thunderclan w rogues, but is caught trying to kill bluestar n is banished. this means 1.5 moons pass, making fireheart ~14.5 moons old

rising storm: ~1.5 moons. a gathering happens (gathering 9) a few chapters in. the fire happens near the end of the book, then the gathering where tigerclaw is revealed to be shadowclans new leader happens (gathering 10), ending the book. around 1.5 moons pass, making fireheart ~16 moons old

a dangerous path: ~2 moons. begins with the tigerstar gathering (gathering 10). a half moon passes as cinderpelt goes to her first medicine cat meeting by herself. snowkit is taken away by the hawk, and the next gathering happens (gathering 11). swiftpaw dies n brightpaw is injured in the fight w dogs, and another gatherings occurs (gathering 12). its now been a year since fireheart joined thunderclan. they drive the dogs out, but bluestar dies in the process. 2 moons pass, making fireheart ~18 moons old

the darkest hour: ~1 moon. fireheart becomes firestar and makes whitestorm his deputy. the next gathering takes place (gathering 13) where tigerstar asks thunderclan and windclan to join the new tigerclan. stonefur is killed, tawnypaw joins tigerstar, n gorsepaw is killed. tallstar n firestar confront tigerstar. scourge appears, kills tigerstar, n gives the clans three days to decide if they fight bloodclan or not. they decide to fight, the clans win, and graystripe becomes the new deputy. only 1 moon passed n at the end of the prophecies begin arc firestar is ~19 moons old

time skips between arcs is a little tricky...

firestar’s quest: ~2 or 5 moons. this book begins in greenleaf. going by this timeline, the end of darkest hour would be the beginning of greenleaf, when it was actually leafbare in the canon book. looking at the canon books, this means its a half year timeskip in between the canon books. if we switch the seasons (darkest hour being set in greenleaf n this book in leafbare), it would make sense regarding this timeline. a time skip of a half year would also make sense regarding ages. the book opens w bramblepaw becoming a warrior. going w my assumption that a usual apprenticeship lasts around 6 moons, a half year would fit this perfectly. this is because bramblepaw is born somewhere around (gathering 7) in forest of secrets, making him a new apprentice in the darkest hour (gathering 13). so, when the first gathering is shown at the beginning of the book, this is (gathering 19). longtails eyes get scratched, willowpelt dies, n fire n sand start their journey to remake skyclan. when they arrive at the gorge, they wait to meet ‘moony’ during the full moon (technical gathering 20, makes me wanna kno what tc did that gathering when fire coudnt show up..). lots of cats join skyclan n they have their first real gathering (gathering 21, has a rumor spread thru the forest that fire is dead ? hasnt been spotted in two moons now). skyclan fights the rats, leafstar gets her nine lives, n fire n sand finally go back to tc. epilogue where squirrel n leaf r born happens three moons after returning, so (gatherings 22 to 24) have gone by. not including the epilogue, two moons pass in this book, but including it means five moons have passed. at the end of the book firestar is ~30 moons

midnight: ~1 moon. according to the wikia which is based off of the canon seasons, 18 moons have passed from darkest hour to this book. this makes sense to me regarding the ages so I'm keeping it that way, which means this book happens 7 moons after firestars quest, making the first gathering shown (gathering 31). the chosen meet up at the half moon. they then leave for their journey. a half moon med cat meeting is held shortly after they leave. the next gathering (gathering 32) occurs after tawnypelt gets her rat bite. the chosen cats meet midnight, the forest starts getting torn down, n the book ends. around a moon passes, so brambleclaw is ~25 moons old n squirrelpaw is ~8 moons

moonrise: ~ .5 moons. many chapters in we have a half moon meeting. this is around when stormfur is held prisoner in the tribe. lots of things happen, mainly that feathertail dies, then the book ends. only like, .5 moons pass n there are no gatherings. brambleclaw = 25.5 moons, squirrelpaw = 8.5 moons

dawn: ~ .5 moons ?? its... very hard to know how much time passes in this book because the forest is destroyed so they cant hold regular gatherings. but considering that leafpaw mentions to stoneteller towards the end of the book about gatherings, it can be safe to say that a gathering (gathering 33 ?) would have occurred then. since theres no other mention of the moons phase (that I can tell from the wikia chapter summaries cause I dont have this book), only .. .5 moons pass ?? maybe. brambleclaw = 26 moons, squirrelpaw = 9 moons (this is where the bramblesquirrel love confession happens ..... yike). will prob update this when / if I reread this book for more accurate info. so far this arc has had only .. 2 moons pass maybe. first arc had 8.5 moons pass by the end of book 3 for comparison

starlight: ~.5 moons. squirrelpaw becomes a warrior, tallstar dies, clans find their own territories. leafpaw finds the moonpool in time for the half moon, where she gets her full name. mudclaw leads his rebellion against onewhisker, but loses. so.. another book w around .5 moons passing ? brambleclaw = 26.5 moons, squirrelflight -= 9.5 moons (good to kno shes following in her fathers footsteps in becoming a warrior early)

twilight: ~1 moon. finally a real gathering (gathering 34) happens. they do it on the island. a little later another half moon meeting happens. leafpool feels left out from .. basically everything, so she runs away w crowfeather, but they come back when they find out badgers are attacking tc. just a moon passes, but hey its finally more than .5 moons. brambleclaw = 27.5 moons squirrelflight = 10.5 moons

sunset: ~1 moon. a half moon meeting happens. then the next gathering (gathering 35) happens. brambleclaw is made deputy when firestar finally accepts graystripe may never come back. another half moon meeting happens and leafpool helps guide willowpaw to starclan. hawkfrost traps firestar in the fox trap, but brambleclaw refuses to kill him and kills hawkfrost instead. 1 moon passes, making brambleclaw 28.5 moons n squirrelflight 11.5 moons, thus ending the new prophecy books. only 4.5 moons pass from midnight to this book, compared to the first arcs 13 moons

leafpools wish: no real time passes, but i wanna mention this book cause it takes place after sunset n leafpool gives birth to holly lion n jay. ill say this happens a half moon after sunset ends (around gathering 36) to make their ages rounded. the trio = 0 moons old

the sight: ~1 moon. a few chapters in the trio become apprentices, meaning 6 moons (gatherings 37 - 41) have passed since being born in leafpools wish. the trios first gathering (gathering 42) happens but jaypaw doesnt go as punishment for wandering onto wc territory. graystripe shows up w millie. hollypaw n jaypaw switch their duties. half moon meeting happens. another gathering happens (gathering 43). tc hosts a ‘daylight gathering’ but it ends w lionpaw n breezepaw trapped in a badger set, which jawpaw helps free them out of. 1 moon passes n the trio are 7 moons old

dark river: ~2 moons. first chap is the trio going to their first gathering all together (gathering 44) where tigerkits birth is announced. holly n cinder find out lion n heather have been meeting in secret. jay n leaf go the moonpool. jay finds The Stick. millie keeps her kittypet name n cinder breaks her leg. lion meets tigerstar n hawkfrost for the first time after a meeting w heather. next gathering (gathering 45) happens n all of rc is on the island. holly goes to rc to see what's the matter but becomes a prisoner instead. lion breaks up w heather. wc loses kits but the trio + heather n breeze find them n bring them back before tc n wc could fight. two moons pass n the trio are ~9 moons old

outcast: ~1 moon. few chapters in jaypaw goes to a half moon meeting where mothwing is sick. talon n night of the tribe arrive at tc asking for help w rouges. the trio plus the og journey cats go (oh yea also breezepaws there). then good ol purdy joins the group just until the mountains where he heads back. most of the tribe including stoneteller is convinced they will be destroyed by the attacking rouges but r convinced to fight anyways w the clan cats training the tribe cats. the final attack is scheduled for the full moon (gathering 46). they win the fight n cause lion is only covered in other cats blood w no injuries to himself, jay has to explain the prophecy to him n holly. a moon passes n the trio = 10 moons.

eclipse: ~1 moon. the clan cats return home w stormfur n brook staying behind. half moon meeting happens n willowpaw becomes willowshine. sol appears n says the suns gonna go out. wc attacks tc w rc, holly goes to recruit sc. battle ends cause eclipse happens. the trio go find sol cause hey maybe he can help w the prophecy, he agrees to mentor them all. theyr caught by a sc patrol n sol stays in sc. next gathering happens (gathering 47) n only blackstar n sol show up claiming sc isnt going to come anymore n doesnt believe in starclan. lion holly n cinder become warriors. another one moon book w the trio being ~11 moons (so close to them being made warriors at the right age ..)

long shadows: ~1 moon. jaypaw goes to the half moon meeting alone so leafpool can take care of the sick cats at home. the trio plus tawnypelts kits help trick sc into believing starclan again n blackstar kicks sol out. jay meets fallen leaves in the tunnels n when he exits the tunnels he becomes Jay's wing. after making sure the ancients go to the mountains, he wakes up. both leafpool n jaypaw go to the moonpool n he becomes jayfeather. the fire happens n its revealed that squirrelflight isnt the trios birth mother. tc leaves for the gathering (gathering 48) n finds ashfur dead. one moon passes yet again, trio = 12 moons.

sunrise: ~1 moon. tc thinks wc killed ashfur until ashfoot says she saw sol by where his body was. a patrol goes to find sol, brings both him n purdy back. sol wont tell anything n the other clan tell tc to get rid of him before next gathering. half moon meeting happens where jay realizes leaf is the trio's birth mom. lion releases sol so he would tell them who their birth father is, but that was a waste of time n they leave him for good when he starts talking about taking over all the clans. yellowfang then tells jay crowfeather is his birth father. next gathering (gathering 49) happens n hollyleaf reveals everything. she runs away into the tunnels which collapse n jay thinks the third cat could be either dove or ivy. one moon passes Again, trio = 13 moons. only 7 moons pass in this arc, but it's at least more than second arc

the fourth apprentice: ~2 moons. six moons have passed since sunrise cause dove n ivy are becoming apprentices, making the gathering in the first chapter (gathering 55). dove n ivy become apprentices. lionblaze n jayfeather figure out doves power n thats shes the third cat. another gathering (gathering 56) occurs n the plan for going upstream to find the source of the drought is devised. the patrol consisting of cats from every clan, including dove n lion, set out. the patrol reaches the dam n fights the beavers. they fail n rippletail dies. meanwhile breezepelt theatens to kill poppyfrost cause he hates jayfeather. round 2 of destroy the dam plan works n they all head home. two moons pass, ivy n dove r 7 moons old.

fading echoes: ~1 moon. leopardstar dies n mistyfoot gets her nine lives. dove n ivy go to windclan to see sedgewhisker but r instead called intruders n punished. firestar learns about the three. a gathering (gathering 57) happens where tigerheart asks dove to trust him when she confronts him about crossing the border. ivy begins training w hawkfrost. the tree falls on thunderclan camp, killing longtail n disabling briarpaw. jay goes to the moonpool for a half moon meeting. thunderclan n shadowclan fight over territory cause ivy followed hawkfrosts orders by making up a dream. lionblaze accidentally kills russetfur, firestar loses a life, n thunderclan wins the battle. around a moon passes, dove n ivy = 8 moons

night whispers: ~1 moon. first chapter starts from where last book left off. jay finds out ivy is training in the dark forest. cinderheart finds out about lionblaze being one of the three n somehow thinks that means they cant be together. jay goes to a half moon meeting where the meddie cats r told to stand alone. ivypaw gets captured by shadowclan when she goes confront dove n tigerheart. shes eventually traded back for some herbs. gathering (gathering 58) happens where dove n tigerheart argue. ivy finds out about the three n doves powers n is basically forced to spy on the dark forest. flametail drowns in the lake n ivy is almost forced to kill his ghost in the dark forest, but tigerheart stops them. 1 moon passes again, dove ivy r 9 moons old

sign of the moon: ~1 moon. dove n ivy become warriors. jay n lion figure out holly is still alive. a gathering (gathering 59) happens. jay demands to go to the mountains n dove comes w. antpelt dies n is now a spirit in the dark forest. jay goes back to ancient times again n once his duty is done he tells rock he wants to stay, but is forced to leave. ivy n blossomfall go exploring the caves but blossom gets hurt. theyr led out of the tunnels by gasp hollyleaf but we dont kno that its her quite yet. jay names the next stoneteller n the clan cats leave. 1 moon passes yet again, dove n ivy = 10 moons old

the forgotten warrior: ~2 moons. dove is having issues w her power. tigerheart tells her that dawnpelt thinks jay killed flametail. gathering (gathering 60) happens where dove tells ivy about the whole dawnpelt thing. sol is found by lion n brought to camp. sol tries to get wc n tc to fight. hollyleaf returns, sol disappears. cinderheart remembers cinderpelt. ivy kills antpelts ghost. another gathering (gathering 61) happens where dawnpelt announces her accusation for jay. wc n tc fight in the tunnels n sol talks about his hatred to the code. holly lets him go instead of killing him. 2 moons pass, dove ivy = 12 moons old

the last hope: ~1 moon. jay goes to moonpool meeting even tho he was told not to. he n mothwing try to unite the clans. dove n tiger r meeting again. a gathering (gathering 62) happens n jay doesnt go. jay finds flametail in starclan n by telling the truth of his death, unites the meddie cats. firestar is revealed to be the fourth cat. dove turns down tiger as a mate. cinderheart chooses lionblaze n being a warrior, thus letting go of cinderpelt. dark forest begins to attack. holly dies saving ivy from hawkfrost. lots o cats fight, lots o cats die. eventual show down of firestar vs og tigerstar. firestar kills tigerstar, but then dies like a min later. brambleclaw becomes bramblestar n squirrelflight his deputy. the end. 1 moon passes, dove ivy = 13 moons. overall, 7 moons pass in this arc. 

dovewing’s silence: ~1 moon. starts right after last hope. few chapters in we have first gathering after the great battle (gathering 63). 

crowfeather’s trial: ~3 moons. the book starts seemingly a little after the great battle. it is not right after because the first gathering shown is where blackstar starts listing off all the dead, which did not happen the first gathering after the great battle since no indication of it was made. its reasonable to say that this gathering happens a moon after that one, making it (gathering 64). towards the end of the book, (gathering 65) happens. then at the end of the book is (gathering 66).

bramblestar’s storm: ~2 moons, 8 if u include the manga section. its stated at the beginning of the book that six moons have passed since the great battle, making the first gathering in the book (gathering 68). its also stated that (gathering 67) was missed, probably due to poor weather. at the end of the book, (gathering 69) happens. the manga ending is when lionblaze n cinderhearts kits, who were not yet born in the last chapter, become apprentices, which means at least 6 moons have passed since the last chapter, making the manga take place around (gathering 75). squirrelflight finds out shes pregnant in this manga section.

the apprentice’s quest: ~2 moons. the book begins w the apprentice ceremony of squirrelflight n bramblestars kits, meaning at least 6 moons have passed, tho i’ll say 7 since squirrelflight only just figured out she was pregnant at the end of bramblestars storm, making the first gathering shown (gathering 82). next gathering (gathering 83) happens where violetkit n twigkit get separated. alderpaw = 7 moons, violet twig = 5 moons

thunder n shadow: ~3 moons. first gathering of the book is (gathering 84) n a little after violet n twig become apprentices, making them 6 moons. then another gathering (gathering 85) happens. and the last gathering of the book (gathering 86) happens. alderpaw = 10 moons, violet twig = 8 moons