I am aware that this theory has been brought up many times but I think this theory is interesting enough so I put it on here.
You see, when Snowkit was taken away by that hawk and went to Starclan, he is never heard of again.
The theory goes like this: Snowkit is taken away by the hawk and dies. He goes to Starclan where he is now able to hear as a spirit. A moon later, Snowkit hears a cat call him from the Starclan border, who turns out to be Mapleshade. She tells him that Starclan is responsible for his death and how they brought a hawk to kill him so Speckletail, his mother, could move into the elder's den. Snowkit is pissed to hear this and joins Mapleshade and the rest of the Dark Forest cats. Mapleshade takes Snowkit under her wing and trains him. Snowkit grows up (by some miracle) to become Snowtuft.