Chapter Recap
In this chapter, some of the cats from ThunderClan and RiverClan fought over the territory of Sunningrocks. A couple of characters are named, like Tigerclaw, Oakheart, Redtail, and Mousefur. They are fighting because Sunningrocks belongs to ThunderClan, but RiverClan wants the territory for themselves. It looks like Oakheart is commanding the RiverClan cats and Tigerclaw is commanding the ThunderClan cats in this battle. The ThunderClan cats are getting injured, and Tigerclaw tells Mousefur to run. Redtail tells Tigerclaw that they should stop because there are too many RiverClan cats, and they cannot fight back against them. After the two cats stare at each other for a bit, Tigerclaw eventually calls ThunderClan to retreat back.
Back at camp, Bluestar, the leader of ThunderClan, is sitting and watching the sky. Spottedleaf, the medicine cat, joins her. Bluestar is feeling troubled because of the defeat, and because she feels that ThunderClan needs more warriors. Suddenly, a shooting star crosses the sky, and Spottedleaf gets a message from StarClan, which is like cat heaven. She says, “Fire alone can save our clan.” Bluestar is confused by this message, but she believes in it because it is from StarClan.
Personal Thoughts
This chapter is pretty short, because it’s only the prologue. But we get lots of lore in just a few pages. I feel like there’s a bit of foreshadowing in the fight scene, with Tigerclaw insisting that they keep on fighting. Him and Redtail have a minor conflict, with Tigerclaw not wanting to admit defeat. This part sets the story up for the scene with Redtail a while later in the story.
Also, the scene with Bluestar and Spottedleaf tells us lots of information too. We learn that Bluestar is the leader of the clan, and that she is feeling iffy about the current state of ThunderClan. She feels wary about not having enough warriors and apprentices (foreshadowing!!!) and then Spottedleaf gets her message from Starclan about how “fire alone will save the clan.” So much foreshadowing!!!!
Chapter Recap
This chapter is where the story really begins. It begins with Rusty apologizing for assuming there was enough food to go around in the clans. After this, Bluestar and Lionheart share a look resulting in Bluestar offering Rusty a chance to join Thunderclan. Rusty is shocked and doesn’t give his answer straight away, but he instantly feels excited and apprehensive about these new opportunities. When Lionheart says that his new life will be difficult and painful, Rusty feels like he has to prove himself. He asks to think about their offer and will make up his mind the next day at sunhigh (noon).
Personal Thoughts
This chapter is pretty short but it says a lot about Rusty’s character at this point. He's stubborn, strong-willed, curious, and has a strong desire to be free of his two-legs. It's interesting because as the books go on, twoleg descriptions get more and more obscure. Like, in the third series, they call them pink-skinned with small tufts of hair. If you've never read the series before, you probably wouldn’t know what they were talking about. While, right now, their gardens and fences are described and Rusty describes his “housefolk” as kind and comfortable. This can probably be seen as Rusty moving farther and farther away from his kittypet origins. That's probably a stretch, tho.
This chapter does not directly showcase Rusty’s and Graypaw’s immediate connection. In fact, Graypaw shouts, “But kittypets can't be warriors, they don't have warrior blood!” He is very much influenced by clan beliefs, but as we saw in chapter one, he already respects Rusty for his fighting skills, and they are able to communicate through quick glances. So from the first time they met, we can see the beginning of their strong friendship.
This chapter also sets in motion the idea that clan cats are struggling. They barely have enough food to scrape by, and they are constantly fighting the other clans. Bluestar makes this quite clear when she says, “Our territory can support us but there is no prey left over,” and when she sighs and says, “warrior blood… too much of that has been spilled lately,” longing for the clan equivalent of financial stability. Besides from the fact that she thinks he’ll fulfill the prophecy, she wants Rusty to join because they simply need more warriors in their clan.
At the end of this chapter, the three clan cats leave, and Rusty stares into the underbrush. It's pretty obvious what he’s gonna choose.