ALLEGIANCES
THUNDERCLAN
LEADER
Bluestar – blue-gray she-cat, tinged with silver around her muzzle
DEPUTY
Redtail – small tortoiseshell tom with a distinctive ginger tail
Apprentice, Dustpaw
MEDICINE CAT
Spottedleaf – beautiful dark tortoiseshell she-cat with a distinctive dappled coat
WARRIORS(toms and she-cats without kits)
Lionheart – magnificent golden tabby tom with thick fur like a lion's mane
Apprentice, Graypaw
Tigerclaw – big dark brown tabby tom with unusually long front claws
Apprentice, Ravenpaw
Whitestorm – big white tom
Apprentice, Sandpaw
Darkstripe – sleek black-and-gray tabby tom
Longtail – pale tabby tom with dark black stripes
Runningwind – swift tabby tom
Willowpelt – very pale gray she-cat with unusual blue eyes
Mousefur – small dusky brown she-cat
APPRENTICES(more than six moons old, in training to become warriors)
Dustpaw – dark brown tabby tom
Graypaw – long-haired solid gray tom
Ravenpaw – small, skinny black tom with a tiny white dash on his chest and a white-tipped tail
Sandpaw – pale ginger she-cat
QUEENS(she-cats expecting or nursing kits)
Frostfur – beautiful white she-cat with blue eyes (mother of Cinderkit, a dark gray she-cat, Brackenkit, a golden-brown tabby tom, Brightkit, a white she-cat with ginger patches, and Thornkit, a golden-brown tabby tom)
Brindleface – pretty tabby she-cat (mother of Fernkit, a pale gray she-cat with darker flecks and pale green eyes, and Ashkit, a pale gray tom with darker flecks and dark blue eyes)
Goldenflower – pale ginger she-cat (mother of Swiftkit, a black-and-white tom with pale amber eyes)
Speckletail – pale tabby she-cat, and the oldest nursery queen
ELDERS (former warriors and queens, now retired)
Halftail – big dark brown tabby tom with part of his tail missing
Smallear – gray tom with very small ears. The oldest tom in ThunderClan
Patchpelt – small black-and-white tom
One-eye – pale gray she-cat, the oldest cat in ThunderClan. Virtually blind and deaf.
Dappletail – once-pretty tortoiseshell she-cat with a lovely dappled coat
SHADOWCLAN
LEADER
Brokenstar - long-haired dark brown tabby tom
DEPUTY
Blackfoot – large white tom with huge jet-black paws
MEDICINE CAT
Runningnose – small gray-and-white tom
WARRIORS
Stumpytail – brown tabby tom
Apprentice, Brownpaw
Boulder – silver tabby tom
Apprentice, Wetpaw
Clawface – battle-scarred brown tom
Apprentice, Littlepaw
Nightpelt – black tom
QUEENS
Dawncloud – small tabby she-cat (mother to Featherkit, a light brown tabby she-cat)
Brightflower – black-and-white she-cat
ELDERS
Ashfur – thin gray tom
WINDCLAN
LEADER
Tallstar – a black-and-white tom with a very long tail
RIVERCLAN
LEADER
Crookedstar – huge light-colored tabby tom with a twisted jaw
DEPUTY
Oakheart – reddish brown tom
CATS OUTSIDE CLANS
Yellowfang – old dark gray she-cat with a broad, flattened face
Smudge – plump, friendly black-and-white kitten who lives in a house at the edge of the forest
Barley – black-and-white tom who lives on a farm close to the forest
Rusty – ginger tom with a flame-colored pelt
Lily – fiery ginger she-cat
Prologue
"Fire alone can save our Clan," the tortoiseshell meowed, turning to the blue-gray she-cat. "I don't know what StarClan is trying to tell me, but that was the only thing they wanted to say."
They gray she-cat stared at the tortoiseshell for a long while. "But fire means danger. Surely StarClan doesn't want our Clan to be destroyed?"
"Bluestar, I am only telling you what StarClan told me. I don't understand the message, but I'm sure StarClan will guide our paws," the tortoiseshell she-cat said gently.
"I envy your faith, Spottedleaf," the leader told her. She sighed and looked up into the sky. "I just hope that the fire will be quick, as we don't have enough apprentices or warriors."
"Bluestar, don't fret. Everything will be alright, you'll see," Spottedleaf meowed. She got up and touched Bluestar's shoulder with her tail. "You should go and get some sleep." Spottedleaf dipped her head to the leader and leaped down the Highrock. She waved her tail and walked over to the medicine cat den. She disappeared through the split in the rock and left Bluestar alone on the Highrock. The blue-gray she-cat sighed and looked up into the clear night sky.
"StarClan, whatever it is that you are trying to tell me, please, help me guide my Clan through this hard time." The stars glittered but they stayed silent. Bluestar shook her head and slowly got up. With one last glance at the stars, she jumped down the Highrock and slowly padded into her den.
Bluestar shivered as she fluffed out her fur to keep out the cold. She was on a patrol that consisted of her finest warriors, Tigerclaw, Whitestorm and Redtail. They were patrolling the edge of their territory that bordered twolegplace. Bluestar was about to tell them they could go back to camp when a flash of ginger caught her eye. "Wait here, I think I saw something," Bluestar told her patrol.
Redtail, her loyal deputy, nodded. "Okay,"
Bluestar disappeared into the bushes and began to stalk the flash of ginger. It wasn't a fox, like she thought before, it was a cat. A tom to be exact. The tom was hunting, but before Bluestar had time to be angry, the tom stepped out into the sunlight and his ginger fur lit up. He looked like a brand of fire. Fire! The prophecy! Bluestar watched the tom with interest. The ginger tom fell into a hunting crouch and Bluestar was surprised at how good it was. It wasn't perfect, but it was good for a kittypet. Bluestar strained to see what the tom's prey was and lifted her head. He was hunting a small mouse which was nibbling on a seed. It didn't see the tom, and as the tom was about to catch it, a blur of ginger flew out of a tree and landed right on top of the mouse. Bluestar shrank back before leaning forward. What was that? It was a ginger she-cat and as she stepped out of the shadows her fur too lit up. They both look like they caught fire…wait a minute, fire! 'Fire alone can save our Clan', what if the prophecy doesn't even refer to the fire, but to those two cats? But the prophecy didn't say anything about two 'fires'. So if the prophecy is about one of them, who is it? The tom or the she-cat?
"Lily!" the tom protested. "That was my prey!"
"But I was faster," the ginger she-cat – Lily – replied, snickering.
The tom let out a growl. "If you had just waited for a second-"
"You would have caught it. But I didn't wait, I saw my chance and I took it, not like you, Rusty," Lily meowed, cutting him off. "Don't fret, you can have some."
Rusty stared at Lily for a second before nodding. "Okay," he meowed grudgingly. Lily laughed and took the mouse between her yaws. She dropped it in front of Rusty and nudged it toward him. "You can have the first bite," she offered, eyes full of amusement.
Rusty meowed his thanks and took the first bite of the mouse. "Mhm, delicious," he mumbled and took a second bite.
"Don't eat it all!" Lily exclaimed and settled down, taking her first bite of the mouse.
Bluestar watched them until the mouse was gone and both ginger cats had gone home. Bluestar got up and stretched her stiff muscles. I should hurry back, I bet Redtail is worried. Bluestar thought and raced back to her patrol.
"Bluestar, where were you?" Redtail jumped up and ran forward to meet her halfway. "We were worried out of our fur!"
"I'm sorry, but I was occupied," Bluestar meowed. "I'll tell you later."
Redtail nodded, though he still watched her suspiciously. Bluestar ignored him and walked past him, gathering the rest of the patrol. "We're going back," she told them curtly and whisked past them and toward camp. "I have to talk to Spottedleaf."