He led his ShadowClan warriors against the Dark Forest in the Great Battle, and survived. The oldest Clan leader by many moons, still proud of his warriors’ fighting skills and fearsome reputation, Blackstar would lay down every one of his remaining lives to defend the warrior code.
RUSSETFUR
RUSSETFUR WAS BORN TO Twolegplace rogues who gave her the name Red. She came to ShadowClan with Boulder after glimpsing the lifestyle of the proud and disciplined wild cats.
Cedarstar changed her name to Russetpaw to mark the beginning of her new life. Russetpaw trained harder than any other apprentice, and quickly earned her Clanmates’ respect and the warrior name Russetfur. Despite having left her kittypet life behind, Russetfur was devastated when Raggedpelt killed her father, Hal, in a skirmish. She never learned the truth that Raggedpelt was her half brother and that Hal was also his father. Russetfur dedicated her life to serving ShadowClan and was rewarded by Blackstar when he appointed her deputy.
She had a reputation throughout the Clans for a sharp tongue and a short temper, as well as fearlessness in battle and deep pride in ShadowClan. She played a vital role in helping establish the new territory beside the lake when she took on the troublesome kittypets who lived in a Twoleg den amid the pine trees. Even as she got older and more frail, Russetfur remained the ShadowClan deputy, keeping younger warriors in line with her brisk words and high expectations. She was killed by Lionblaze in a battle over the clearing between ShadowClan and ThunderClan; her death was a shock to everyone, and there were suggestions that such an old cat should not have been allowed to fight.
But it was the death Russetfur would have chosen for herself, bravely and in the midst of battle on behalf of her beloved ShadowClan.
BOULDER
THE SHADOWCLAN WARRIOR BOULDER was born and raised in Twolegplace. He first encountered cats from the forest when Yellowpaw and Raggedpelt visited Twolegplace looking for Raggedpelt’s father. Even then, Boulder was full of curiosity about the mysterious wild cats. Later, he took part in a skirmish with ShadowClan cats after one of their patrols caught Twolegplace cats stealing prey. The ShadowClan warriors were victorious, and Boulder had nothing but admiration for the way they had fought: in particular, the fact that the Clan cats could have killed their rivals, but chose not to. He was intrigued by this warrior code that brought with it honor, dignity, and fiercely honed battle skills.
With another Twolegplace rogue named Red, Boulder went to ShadowClan and asked Cedarstar to accept him as a warrior—and Cedarstar agreed. Boulder was given Mousewing as his mentor, but refused to change his name—a decision that was seen as a challenge by the warriors, but was due to nothing more than Boulder’s attachment to the name his mother had given him as a kit.
Boulder trained hard, proving himself to be a courageous and skillful fighter, and his origins were soon forgotten. He was an outspoken supporter of Tigerstar when he came to ShadowClan, seeing in the former ThunderClan deputy the bold and fearless leader that could restore ShadowClan to its former strength. And when Tigerstar announced his plans to take power over the whole forest, it was Boulder who suggested an alliance with the Twolegplace cats. Boulder visited Twolegplace on Tigerstar’s behalf to speak with Scourge, the new leader of the rogues and former kittypets. But Boulder was too trusting, and when Scourge came to the forest, he killed Tigerstar and took on all four Clans in battle.
Desperate to make amends, Boulder fought with the strength of a horde of badgers to defeat the BloodClan cats. He never mentioned his Twolegplace roots from that moment on and remained a loyal ShadowClan warrior until his peaceful death in the elders’ den, in his Clan’s new home beside the lake.
TAWNYPELT
BORN IN THUNDERCLAN, BRAMBLECLAW’S littermate and the daughter of Tigerstar and Goldenflower, Tawnypaw was a bright and confident apprentice, with a quickness of temper that sometimes led her into clashes with her Clanmates, especially when her loyalty was questioned. She was horrified to learn the truth behind her father’s exile, which had happened when she was still a kit, and insisted that her loyalty was to ThunderClan only, refusing her father’s continued requests to join him in ShadowClan once he became their leader.
When Tigerstar allied his Clan with RiverClan and started to drive out all cats with half-Clan blood, Tawnypaw found herself judged more and more harshly by her Clanmates for the crimes of her father. Pushed to the breaking point by Smallear’s comparison of her with Tigerstar because she seemed to share her father’s reluctance for clearing out the elders’ den, Tawnypaw left her home and went to find acceptance in ShadowClan. Even after Tigerstar’s death in the battle with BloodClan, Tawnypaw stayed with her adopted Clan, gaining her warrior name—Tawnypelt—and earning Blackstar’s trust.
Tawnypelt went on the quest to the sun-drown-place as the representative of ShadowClan, where her courage and willingness to look beyond Clan boundaries made the unlikely group of cats bond much more quickly. She was less hasty to dismiss Crowfeather because of his sullenness and quick temper, and encouraged Feathertail to see past his shy exterior to the qualities beneath. Given that Feathertail died saving Crowfeather from the mountain lion, Sharptooth, perhaps Tawnypelt regretted this later.
Tawnypelt was visited by Tigerstar in her dreams, just like Brambleclaw, but she refused to accept his offer of secret training because she knew her father would never help her achieve what she wanted most: security, peace, and loyalty to one Clan above all. Instead, she found this in Rowanclaw, who fathered her three kits: Flametail, Dawnpelt, and Tigerheart.
Tawnypelt proved that being loyal didn’t mean treating all other cats as enemies. She stayed friendly with Brambleclaw and other ThunderClan cats and raised her kits to have the same sense of fairness. While Brambleclaw never completely escaped the shadow cast by their father, Tawnypelt lived her life entirely free of Tigerstar’s influence and reputation, with an independence and sense of purpose that Tigerstar himself would have been proud of.
FLAMETAIL
FLAMETAIL WAS THE SON of Tawnypelt and Rowanclaw, and littermate to Dawnpelt and Tigerheart.
When he was an apprentice, but had not yet been given a mentor, Blackstar lost faith in StarClan and followed the advice of a rogue named Sol to let each cat choose his own path. Tawnypelt had no wish for her kits to grow up in a Clan that no longer listened to its warrior ancestors, so she took them to ThunderClan and asked for shelter. Flamepaw was particularly angry about Blackstar’s change of heart because he was on the verge of being apprenticed to Littlecloud the medicine cat, but all the same, he and his littermates were intrigued to meet Lionblaze, Jaypaw, and Hollyleaf, who were kin because their father, Brambleclaw, was Tawnypelt’s brother.
When Jaypaw came up with the idea to fake a sign from StarClan, Flamepaw and his littermates were keen to help. When Blackstar was trapped by the uprooted saplings, Flamepaw was rewarded by the sight of Runningnose and Raggedstar visiting the forest to speak with the ShadowClan leader.