Several of his senior warriors were eager to invade WindClan and teach them exactly what would come of stealing prey from ThunderClan, but Pinestar knew how much this would cost his Clanmates in injuries and even death.
Pinestar led the attack on WindClan himself, and the battle turned out to be as bloody as he had feared, with the death of Bluepaw’s mother, Moonflower, at the claws of WindClan’s warrior-turned-medicine cat, Hawkheart. The battle was lost, and Pinestar grew increasingly disillusioned with the violence and contrasting fragility of Clan life. He started roaming beyond the borders of ThunderClan, crossing into Twolegplace and observing the easy lives of the kittypets who didn’t have to risk their lives for the sake of food and shelter.
Pinestar was befriended by a kittypet named Jake, who was intrigued by the cats in the woods and had once traveled for a while with Talltail, a warrior from WindClan. Pinestar started to take food from a Twoleg, and gradually life outside the Clan became more and more appealing. His travels couldn’t stay secret for long, though, and he was spotted on one of his Twolegplace visits by a young
ThunderClan apprentice named Lionpaw. Embarrassed, Pinestar lied that he was engaged in a long battle with a kittypet, and was just pretending to be one himself in order to pass unchallenged through Twolegplace.
But yet another invasion of Sunningrocks by RiverClan made Pinestar realize that he could not spend his last life fighting for every paw step of territory and every mouthful of food. His greatest regret was leaving behind his kits with Leopardfoot, especially the little tom, Tigerkit, who was already fierce and bold and eager to fight. Pinestar handed over leadership of his Clan to Sunfall, then left to live with his adopted Twoleg. Pinestar believed he had served his Clan loyally and well for eight long lives, and he deserved some peace at the end.
GOOSEFEATHER AND FEATHERWHISKER
GOOSEFEATHER AND HIS APPRENTICE , Featherwhisker, were medicine cats during Pinestar’s leadership of ThunderClan. Goosefeather was a naturally skilled medicine cat, but by old age he became better known for his laziness and sour temper than for his original talents. He took a close interest in Bluefur, who would one day become Bluestar, and her sister, Snowfur, because their mother, Moonflower, was his littermate.
Goosefeather had a habit of interpreting omens in the darkest way, and in the end, it was his doom-laden prophecy that led to the battle with WindClan, and Moonflower’s death. Goosefeather interpreted the flattened fur on a vole from the fresh-kill pile as a sign that WindClan would crush
ThunderClan, kill all the warriors and destroy their territory. Strong feelings stirred up in the Clan left Pinestar with no option but to attack WindClan first. A second omen—a shred of catmint on the vole’s flank—was seen by Goosefeather as a warning from StarClan that they must invade the very heart of WindClan, inside their camp, and destroy their supply of herbs. It was a bold plan and ultimately disastrous, leading to death and defeat for the ThunderClan warriors. Goosefeather was unrepentant, insisting that his omens were correct.
Soon after the battle with WindClan, a branch was struck by lightning and fell, burning, between
Bluepaw and a threatening fox. Rain swiftly came to extinguish the fire, and Bluepaw and the woods were saved. To Goosefeather, this was a prophecy about Bluepaw herself: that she would blaze through the forest like fire, quenched only by water. Bluepaw had no inclination to take his words seriously, not after he had prompted the battle that killed her mother.
From that moment on, Goosefeather’s mind wandered from the dedication and curiosity essential for a medicine cat, and his Clan turned more and more to his apprentice, Featherwhisker, instead.
Goosefeather retreated into a world of sinister omens, and an unfailing conviction that ThunderClan was on the brink of destruction. Featherwhisker took over all medicine duties with a calmness and sense of optimism that had been missing in his mentor. Goosefeather’s final act of madness was to react with horror whenever he was in the presence of Tigerkit, Pinestar and Leopardfoot’s sole remaining son. He confided to Bluefur that Tigerkit should never have been born, and he urged Bluefur to become deputy instead of the ambitious warrior Thistleclaw, whatever it took.
Whether he interpreted omens correctly or not, Goosefeather shaped the future of ThunderClan by setting Bluefur on the course of her destiny. But she was glad to have Featherwhisker by her side by the time she received her nine lives as leader of her Clan.
FIRESTAR
THIS BRAVE, BIGHEARTED THUNDERCLAN leader started life as a kittypet named Rusty, and lived with housefolk for his first six moons. He inherited his father Jake’s fascination with what lay beyond the Twoleg nests, in the woods where wild cats were rumored to live. A chance encounter with a
ThunderClan apprentice named Graypaw led to an introduction to Bluestar, who saw in the young kittypet’s flame-colored pelt echoes of a recent prophecy: “Fire alone will save the Clan.”
Renamed Firepaw, and then Fireheart, the young ginger cat trained hard to become one of ThunderClan’s most trusted warriors, and later, Bluestar’s deputy. But his path was darkened by a feud with Tigerclaw, the former deputy who was driven out of the Clan when Fireheart uncovered his plot to kill Bluestar.
Firepaw’s closest friends in the moons following his arrival were Graypaw, Ravenpaw, and the young medicine cat, Spottedleaf. After Spottedleaf’s death during a ShadowClan raid, he grew close to a feisty, russet-furred she-cat named Sandstorm, and soon after Fireheart became leader and took on the name Firestar, she gave birth to his daughters, Leafkit and Squirrelkit.
Firestar led ThunderClan during the Great Journey from the forest to the lake and helped to establish all four Clans in their new homes. His untiring faith in StarClan gave him strength to fight against illnesses, drought, Twoleg disturbances, and border clashes. Except for one life lost to illness, he gave each of his nine lives for the sake of his Clanmates—most of all his final life, lost in the battle against the Dark Forest. A blaze of lightning marked the moment that Firestar joined his warrior ancestors—ancestors not by blood, but by heritage, honor, and tradition.
SPOTTEDLEAF
SPOTTEDLEAF WAS THE MEDICINE cat in ThunderClan when Rusty the kittypet, who would one day become Firestar, first arrived. She saw in him the same qualities that Bluestar did: courage, spirit, unwavering loyalty to doing the right thing. But Spottedleaf also saw Rusty as a warm, sensitive cat who was not limited by his expectations of her role as medicine cat and who viewed her more than anything else as a friend. If things had been different—if Spottedleaf had been a few moons younger, an apprentice warrior rather than a medicine cat—their relationship would have become even closer.
Instead, Spottedleaf died before she and Fireheart could find a way to express how they felt about each other, which left her frustrated and lonely in StarClan, missing the friend she had left behind. She refused to let go of the connection she had shared with Fireheart, and walked in his dreams, guiding and supporting him in his early days of leading ThunderClan.