Эрин Хантер - Cats of the Clans

Your warrior ancestors could only watch helplessly as Brokenstar led his Clan against WindClan, driving them out of their home; next they turned on ThunderClan, jealous of their prey-rich trees, and Spottedleaf died in their raids. Even after he was blinded and taken prisoner by ThunderClan, spared after Yellowfang pleaded for mercy, Brokenstar plotted with Darkstripe and Tigerstar to attack the Clan that had given him shelter. It is fitting that he did not die a warrior’s death, struck down in battle, but was forced to eat deathberries by his own mother. Yellowfang avenged your death, Blossomkit, and all the deaths of kits forced to train as warriors too young.

ShadowClan will have togo through many, many leaders to shake off the echoes of Brokenstar’s and Tigerstar’s deadly reigns: Nightstar, Brokenstar, and now Blackstar. Blackstar was Nightstar’s deputy, and then Tigerstar’s, and after Nightstar’s timid, tortured leadership, Tigerstar must have seemed like the cat who would lead ShadowClan back to the days when they were feared and respected throughout the forest. No cat can envy Blackstar for having to follow in his paw steps, swimming with blood and with the Clan in tatters. He has done well to rally his Clanmates, to lead them on the Great Journey and build them a new home by the lake.

Blackstar never harks back to the days when ShadowClan won every battle, when it looked as if they really would take over the whole forest and make the other Clans serve them. He has made his Clanmates proud once more, confident that they deserve to be one of the four Clans around the lake, brave in battle and respectful of the other Clans at Gatherings. Mosskit, you can let your fur lie flat. If Blackstar has threatened the ThunderClan border, perhaps it is because, yet again, ShadowClan has been given the territory least rich in prey.

Blackstar has a long way to go before the other Clans forget ShadowClan’s battle-hungry past. But he should not be punished for having pride in his Clan.

ThunderClan cats wouldfind it much easier to hate and fear ShadowClan if one of their trusted Clanmates had not chosen to make her home with them! Perhaps they should respect her judgment more; Tawnypelt was no supporter of Tigerstar, but she was punished for his crimes when she lived in ThunderClan by her Clanmates’ lack of trust. Brambleclaw was willing to spend his whole life proving himself worthy to be part of ThunderClan; Tawnypelt preferred to find a place to live where she would be judged on her own terms.

StarClan chose Tawnypelt to represent ShadowClan on the journey to find Midnight, a choice that was perhaps meant to challenge ThunderClan, to show them that Tawnypelt had found her true home.

The quest would have been less successful without her willingness to look beyond Clan boundaries. She recognized Crowfeather’s strengths before her companions did, and Feathertail would have fought much harder not to fall in love with the WindClan warrior if Tawnypelt hadn’t encouraged her.

Tawnypelt believes she can be a loyal ShadowClan cat without any darkness of heart or purpose. When Tigerstar summoned her to his shadowy forest in her dreams, she refused to listen to him. She knew he couldn’t help her achieve what she wants most: loyalty and security and peace. She will go into battle for ShadowClan, yet she never forgets her kinship in ThunderClan, either. She has proved that being loyal does not have to mean treating others as your enemy. You should be proud of Tawnypelt, Blossomkit. She and her kits could do much to salvage ShadowClan’s reputation.

The ShadowClan catwho was raised in BloodClan; the cat who led Tigerstar to Scourge and sealed the deadly pact that would bathe the forest in blood. The foolish, hapless warrior whose desire to impress Tigerstar made him forget the nature of his birth Clan, made him think Scourge would really be swayed by the promise of a few trees to hunt among. He’s not an evil cat, and never tried to serve any dark ambitions of his own. He just had too much faith in the warrior code. Boulder lived as wretched a life in BloodClan as any other young cat. When he met a forest cat who told him about how the Clans lived, with warriors and apprentices and well-defended borders, Boulder left BloodClan and went to live among pine trees and learned how to chase frogs. His memories of living in Twolegplace faded to nightmares, then dreams, then half-remembered images of red stone and stinking alleys and furtive conversations. What he did remember was the possible advantage of bringing a fierce, bloodthirsty group of cats to fight on his Clan’s behalf. Better to spill the blood of other cats than their own, especially cats who had made his early life a misery.

He paid a high price for his misjudgment.

Runningnose tried sohard to save your life, Blossomkit. You were the third kit he’d seen that day with fur ripped away, your pelt stained scarlet like a deathberry. He’d been trained as a medicine cat by Yellowfang, but all his knowledge of herbs could not stop your tiny life from melting away like a snowflake on a rock.

Runningnose must have regretted the day he asked to become Yellowfang’s apprentice. As Brokenstar’s medicine cat, he was forced to interpret omens that promised nothing but success in battle for his bloodthirsty leader, and then tried to stop the lifeblood of the Clan from sinking into the ground as apprentices were taken from the nursery. Even after Brokenstar was captured by ThunderClan, Runningnose had more secrets to keep: this time, the fact that StarClan would not grant Nightstar his nine lives. His conscience must have weighed heavier than stone.

Littlecloud was Runningnose’s apprentice. He was inspired to follow this path by the ThunderClan medicine cat, Cinderpelt. She rescued him during ShadowClan’s Great Sickness, when disease from the rats at Carrionplace sliced through the warriors sharper than a badger’s claw.

Cinderpelt was punished for raiding ThunderClan’s store of herbs to cure two ShadowClan apprentices, but ThunderClan has been rewarded by the presence of a fair and peaceful medicine cat in their rival Clan, who will never forget the debt he owes.

Are you sitting a little straighter, Adderkit? You should be proud of your birth Clan, whatever other cats might say about Brokenstar driving you from your home, or your Clanmates’ willingness to make alliances to protect their borders. There is a great difference between being weak—which your Clan is not—and being vulnerable, which is the price paid for living on the moor. Your Clan has spent many moons learning how to survive in the open, where speed and a sense of danger count for more than stealth and stalking skills. And they are nearer to StarClan, up on their hill beneath the open sky; perhaps that explains why their warrior ancestors have spared them many times over.