Эрин Хантер - The Ultimate Guide

After the fire, Clear Sky and the other forest cats temporarily took shelter with the cats on the moor, and Clear Sky was impressed with the promise of his strong young son. Thunder was proud to be praised by his father, and went with Clear Sky when the forest cats returned to their camp. But Clear Sky’s aggressiveness alienated Thunder’s compassionate nature, and when Clear Sky drove another cat, Frost, out to die, Thunder went with him, taking him to the moorland camp.

While he struggled to find the place where he truly belonged, Thunder was always strong and determined. He fought bravely in the Great Battle and won the respect of the cats around him. In the end he became the first leader of ThunderClan.

STORM WAS A LONER , a beautiful she-cat with silver fur and green eyes. She had no permanent home, but moved easily between the forest and the Twolegplace. The first mountain cat she knew was Gray Wing. Though she teased him, she clearly liked him and was happy to spend time with him in the forest, but when she met Clear Sky, the two cats instantly fell in love.

Storm went to live with Clear Sky, but gradually became disillusioned. She could not approve of Clear Sky’s obsession with guarding his territory and controlling his cats’ lives, or his violent clashes with trespassers. She felt guilty because she didn’t speak up when Clear Sky drove Jagged Peak out of the forest. As an independent, spirited cat, she also became impatient with Clear Sky when he tried to pamper her while she was carrying his kits.

Finally Storm couldn’t stand Clear Sky’s ways any longer and grew tired of making excuses for him. She left the forest and made a nest in an abandoned Twoleg den, where she had her kits. She and two of her kits died when Twolegs demolished the den; Gray Wing rescued the third kit, Thunder. In his grief, Clear Sky was unable to forgive himself for driving Storm away and would not accept

Thunder into his group.

Despite her death, the memory of Storm continued to affect Gray Wing and Clear Sky for many moons, and Thunder would always yearn for the mother he could barely remember

Turtle Tail had tortoiseshell fur and green eyes; her name came from her stumpy tail. She was part of the group of cats who came from the mountains, and remained on the moor when the group split into two. She befriended a kittypet named Bumble and spent a lot of time with her, even visiting her home in the Twolegplace.

Always cheerful and brave, Turtle Tail’s natural optimism was tried when she fell in love with Gray Wing, who at first only regarded her as a friend. She was hurt when Gray Wing became interested in Storm and, feeling rejected, she went to live with Bumble and her Twolegs.

When the Twolegs brought another kittypet named Tom into their home, Turtle Tail thought she might be able to make a life with him and became pregnant with his kits. But when Bumble admitted that the Twolegs would take her kits away from her, she left the Twolegs and returned to the moor.

At first Turtle Tail was unsure whether her former denmates would welcome her back, and some of them were hostile to admitting a cat who had chosen to be a kittypet. But Gray Wing spoke up for her; while she was away he had missed her dreadfully, and now he realized how much she meant to him. Turtle Tail finally had the life she’d dreamed of when she and Gray Wing became mates, and Gray Wing became father to her kits, Pebble Heart, Owl Eyes, and Sparrow Fur.

TALL SHADOW WAS A thick-furred, black she-cat with green eyes. She left the mountains with Clear Sky and the others and became the leader of the group after the death of Shaded Moss.

She was always a watchful and thoughtful cat, tending to be suspicious of strangers. She was reluctant to allow other cats to join the group and at first sent Gorse and Wind away, even though the rest of the group would have welcomed them in. This caused a quarrel among her cats; some of them even called for her to step down as leader and for Gray Wing to take her place, though Gray Wing himself had no wish to do this. Her insistence on watching the camp also angered some cats, who felt that she should be taking a more active leadership role.

However when her littermate, Moon Shadow, was badly injured in the forest fire and later died, Tall Shadow found her anxiety and grief was too much to bear. She willingly gave up the leadership to Gray Wing, although later she resumed her authority and for a time the two cats acted as joint leaders.

Eventually Tall Shadow became the first leader of ShadowClan and led her cats into new territory across the Thunderpath.

DAPPLED PELT WAS A tortoiseshell she-cat with a compassionate nature and an instinctive talent for healing. She was interested in herbs and had an excellent memory for which ones were the best to treat her denmates’ injuries and illnesses. She came with the cats from the mountains and settled on the moor with Tall Shadow’s group.

When Jagged Peak was injured by falling from the tree, Dappled Pelt went to the forest and lived for some moons with Clear Sky’s cats while she took care of him. But her loyalty to the moorland group never wavered and she was glad to return home.

On first leaving the mountains, Dappled Pelt discovered a natural affinity for the water, learning to fish minnows from the river with her paws. While exploring the moor, she became good friends with the helpful and friendly River Ripple and was delighted to find a lush growth of herbs around the river. After the Great Battle, she soon found her true home by the riverside, joining River Ripple’s group of cats and eventually becoming the first medicine cat of RiverClan.

A long-furred, black tom, with white ears and chest and two white paws, Cloud Spots was a mountain cat who settled on the moor. He was interested in healing, particularly in figuring out why certain herbs worked on certain illnesses, and in researching more curative plants. He and Dappled Pelt were close friends and worked well together, her warmer nature complementing his focus on the effects different herbs. He was not a strong fighter and in fact did not participate in the Great Battle, instead staying in the moor cats’ hollow, preparing to treat injuries from the battle.

Cloud Spots was a shy and reserved cat, which made it harder for him to show his compassion toward his patients, and he tended to be brusque with them. He was especially impatient when dealing with sickly kits, often explaining in great detail the effects of a particular herb rather than sympathizing with a kit’s aches and pains. He did, however, form a close bond with young Pebble Heart, who would one day become ShadowClan’s first medicine cat, and taught the kit all he knew about herbs and the treatment of illnesses and injuries.