The Great Hunger

The Great Hunger is a starvation epidemic that took place in Goosefeather's Curse, killing several ThunderClan cats.

The Omen

 * After Goosefeather watches Doestar refuse to eat the remains of a squirrel, despite Cloudberry's insistence, he looks down at the plump, thick-furred vole he chose and thinks that if StarClan continues to send them such healthy prey, they will hardly notice leaf-bare.


 * However, Goosefeather opens his eyes to find that the air in the medicine cats' den is bitterly cold. He pads out of the den, noting that the ferns are crisp and the moon is thin, and the ground is very hard beneath Goosefeather's paws. The air is so cold he can hardly breathe, and it is completely still, other than a faint moaning coming from one of the dens. As Goosefeather rushes into the clearing, he stops at the sight of his Clanmates staggering around him, ribs sticking out of their pelts and eyes bulging from their sharp-edged faces. The air is thick with wails of pain and the keening of a cat lost in grief. Squirrelwhisker and Rooktail are seen clawing where the fresh-kill pile once was, but it is now empty save for a few scraps of fur and some tiny bones. A ginger shape slumps in the middle of the clearing, eyes open and clouded, but none of the other cats pay attention to it, and simply step over the dead cat's crumpled legs, blind and numb from hunger.


 * A few cats watch from the edge of the clearing, their pelts sleek and glossy, bellies plump with food, but at seeing their sorrow-filled eyes, Goosefeather knows that they are the StarClan cats he sees every day among his Clanmates, and waves of grief come from them at seeing the living cats starve. Goosefeather notices that he is standing in thick snow and a bleary, hunch-shouldered cat lurches close to him. Goosefeather asks if it it Daisytoe, but the she-cat doesn't hear him and stumbles to the fresh-kill pile, leaning on Rooktail. She rasped that he said he would go hunting, and he growls that he did, but that there is no prey in the snow. Squirrelwhisker wails that they will all die, but Goosefeather yowls that he won't let it happen.

Digging up the Ground

 * Goosefeather bursts into Doestar's den and frantically shares his vision, explaining that it was extremely cold, the fresh-kill pile was empty, and the cats were dying from hunger. Pineheart enters the den and asks if everything is okay, and Doestar updates him on what has happened. Pineheart asks Goosefeather if his vision showed him how to survive what is coming, and Goosefeather admits that he hasn't, though he says that they must do something. At Doestar's request, he fetches Cloudberry, and after she is told of Goosefeather's vision, Doestar wonders if they should expand the territory or send cats into Twolegplace. Pineheart suggests setting borders around the treecutplace, but Cloudberry murmurs that when she was a kit, RiverClan had a very cold leaf-bare, where the river froze and trapped the fish. She recalls that some warriors broke off a piece of ice at the edge of the river and brought it back to camp, and it had contained a frozen fish that tasted like perfect fresh-kill when the warmth of the dens had melted the ice. She goes on that the ice kept the prey fresh, and suggests finding a way to keep their own prey fresh when they have nothing else to eat. Doestar points out that the earth freezes when it gets very cold, and suggests burying the fresh-kill so it would freeze, and they could dig it up when needed. Goosefeather agrees that if they send out extra hunting patrols the next moon they could store enough food to last until newleaf, and Pineheart agrees that half of the dawn patrol can hunt, and that apprentices an hunt instead of battle train. Doestar tells Goosefeather not to tell anyone about his vision, as they will say that they are preparing for the chance of a hard leaf-bare.


 * Three sunrises later, the camp's clearing is dotted with large holes, each a full fox-length apart, and dug by the cats with the sharpest claws and strongest front legs. When asked by Stormtail about the purpose for digging up the ground, Goosefetaher tells him that Doestar wanted to be prepared for leaf-bare. Goosefeather waits and watches Flashnose and Rainfur put a pigeon and two mice they caught in their hunting patrol, into a hole dug by Rockfall and Heronpaw. The dark brown apprentice is dusted with earth, a claw bleeding, and Goosefeather thinks that he will check all the apprentices' paws at the end of the day.

A Huge Catastrophy

 * At a Gathering, Doestar announces that ThunderClan has three new litters of kits, but Houndstar of ShadowClan mutters that the warriors won't like having to catch so much prey in leaf-bare, but Doestar says that ThunderClan is well prepared for leaf-bare. However, as the Gathering comes to an end, it begins to rain, and each of the Clans leave Fourtrees. The ThunderClan cats race down the side of the ravine and bound into the camp, and the cats go into their dens. The rain continues the whole night and the clearing is soon awash with rivulets. Warriors run from den to den hunched against the rain, and the fresh-kill pile sits in a brackish puddle. Pineheart says that they will have to move it to higher ground, but Mistpelt asks whose idea it was to dig up half of the clearing, as they will sink to their necks if it keeps raining. Goosefeather looks at the freshly marked soil, each bubbling with liquid, and he pictures the prey underneath, soaking and festering. Goosefeather tells the deputy that they must dig up the fresh-kill and take it somewhere dry or it will be ruined, but the deputy protests that they just buried it, and that the ground will be soaked everywhere in the forest. However, Goosefeather says that they can't waste time worrying about that and he begins to scrap at the nearest patch of mud. Pineheart summons all of the warriors to help, and Harpeounce helps Goosefeather dig until they find a lump of sodden fur. She pants that it is a vole and hauls int out, but when the prey is pulled free, Goosefeather sees that its flank has caved in, and the flesh is eaten away by maggots that writhe in the shriveled fur. The remains of the creature stinks worse than crow-food, and greasy slime oozes out of it, soaking Goosefeather's paws. Harepounce whispers that it is ruined and all around them, warriors dig up more rotten, soaked, maggot filled prey. Pineheart promises Doestar that he will send out more patrols to restock the stores, but Goosefeather knows that his vision will come true, and there will be nothing he can do to save his Clanmates from starvation.

A Wave of Deaths

 * Harepounce dies first, as she refuses to eat a mouthful from the moment they dug up the rotten prey, and instead she gives all of her meager share to her kits. The snow comes, and the forest is pierced by pain and hunger, but the many patrols that Pineheart sends out return empty-pawed. Goosefeather and Cloudberry also have troubles searching for herbs to sooth bellyaches and ward off coughs; Flashnose dies from a bout of sickness that racks her body with terrible spasms, and Stagleap and Hollypelt also died soon after. By the time that Nettlebreeze had passed away, sprawled in the middle of the clearing on his way back from the dirtplace, none of the cats are strong enough to move his body. A circle of StarClan cats gather around the dead tom, their pelts noticeably shiny among the dull-eyed, mangy warriors. Swiftbreeze almost trips over Nettlebreeze's legs, and her eyes are noted to be clouded and vacant. A scrap of bark clings to his whiskers, and Goosefeather notes that some of the warriors had attempted to start chewing twigs in an effort to ease their hunger. Cloudberry offers Goosefeather some worms that Rabbitpaw dug up, but Goosefeather doesn't want it. Cloudberry whispers to him that they did everything they did, and that it is not his fault that they couldn't stop it from happening, as the rain was just bad luck. Goosefeather says that there is no such thing as bad luck but only destiny, and says that he only made it worse. Goosefeather runs toward the gorse tunnel, whee churned slush shows where a patrol had gone out in hopes of finding food, and he scrambles up the ravine and into the forest. Pearnose encounters him there, and she murmurs that she sees what is happening in ThunderClan, and her heart is breaking for them all. Goosefeather exclaims that he can't believe there was nothing they could do to stop it, since he knew what was coming.

Newleaf Is Here

 * Eventually, the snow melts and the days lengthen, while the chill leaves the air. The forest echoes with the sound of dripping water, and tiny green buds appear on the trees. The ThunderClan cats emerge, weak and blinking, from the moons of darkness and horror. On the first day of sunshine, Doestar sumomons her Clanamtes and gives the apprenitces their warrior names- Moonflower, Poppydawn, Heronwing, and Rabbitleap. She states that they have fought hunger alongside them with the courage of lions and the loyalty of true warriors. Goosefeather cheers her sister's name, noting that she had never given up hope or stopped looking for food or caring for her Clanmates during the hungry moons. After the ceremony, Cloudberry mentions to Goosefeather that Specklekit was complaining about belly ache since she had a good fed from Rainfur for the first time since her mother's death. Rainfur had brought the kits into the clearing to watch the warrior ceremony, and Goosefeather notes that she had suckled all five kits since Harepounce's death, and looks like a ragged pelt draped over empty bones. However, the kits survived, and Rainfur is given first choice of every piece of fresh-kill with the prey returning to the forest.



Deaths as a Result of the Epidemic

 * Unnamed ginger cat
 * Harepounce
 * Flashnose
 * Stagleap
 * Hollypelt
 * Nettlebreeze