Crookedstar's Promise/Main article

Crookedstar's Promise is the fourth book in the ''Super Editions. ''Crookedstar is featured on the cover.

Blurb

 * A perilous promise.


 * Two healthy kits have just been born in RiverClan—Oakkit and Stormkit. The whole Clan rejoices, and no cat is more pleased than their mother, who immediately recognizes her kits' innate skill and bravery.


 * But when tragedy befalls Stormkit and he is permanently disfigured, his mother renames him Crookedkit and casts him aside.


 * As the young cat grows in strength, he dreams of becoming Clan leader. Then a mysterious cat appears in his dreams, whispering of prophecies untold and destinies undiscovered. She proclaims that Crookedkit will have all that he desires—but he must pledge his undying loyalty to RiverClan.


 * No cat could ever have imagined the terror and destruction that would lie in one hastily made, seemingly harmless, promise.

The praise
"In this fourth installment of the Super Edition series, Crookedstar confronts his fate. The fulfillment of a dire prophecy leaves him helpless and threatens the delicate peace among the four feline warrior Clans. A deeply nuanced, suspenseful standalone novel."
 * -Barnes and Noble

Detailed plot description

 * There is a storm that is flooding and destroying the RiverClan camp. During the flood, the loss of a cat occurred: Duskwater, a RiverClan elder that was not found and suspected to be dead. Rainflower begins kitting, and gives birth to Stormkit and Oakkit, whom she names after the oak that had protected the cats from danger, and the raging storm that caused such damage to RiverClan's camp. It is said by Shellheart, the deputy of RiverClan and their father, that kits born on such a stormy night will be powerful one day, though it is a shame that they couldn't both be leaders.


 * After this, when the camp is being rebuilt due to the flood, Hailstar insists on sleeping out in the clearing, saying he won't let his den be rebuilt until the rest of the camp is fixed. Echomist is worried he'll get sick, but he still does. Stormkit tries to catch some minnows swimming in the reeds, but falls off of the branch because a magpie swooped trying to get him. Tanglewhisker saves him and he discussed that the warriors were all too busy to save him to his mate Birdsong. He helps the others rebuild the camp, but since he is so small he can only fit a couple reeds in his mouth. Hailstar compliments Shellheart on his son saying that he would grow up to become a great warrior.


 * ThunderClan invade Sunningrocks, but RiverClan does not fight back because Brambleberry does not have enough herbs to treat the injured cats. A patrol confronts the ThunderClan cats, saying that Sunningrocks is only theirs for now. Stormkit and Oakkit follow the patrol, to see what's happening.


 * Stormkit is shown to be an adventurous kit, and he takes Oakkit out to explore and play. Oakkit complains that he is the oldest while they were playing, and that he should be the leader, but Stormkit leads, anyways, because he always imagined himself to be leader first. The two brothers get all the way to the stepping-stones, where they see a mysterious tom. They think he's a loner, and they go across the stepping-stones to chase him off, though that was ThunderClan territory.


 * The old gray cat turns out to be Goosefeather, ThunderClan's medicine cat. Goosefeather gets angry when the kits tell him he's on their territory, and chases the kits off. Stormkit loses balance while at stepping-stones and trips, his face slamming into a stone. He nearly drowns in the river, but he is told by a mysterious she-cat named Mapleshade that it wasn't his time to die and he has a destiny. Stormkit believes she, and the vision he had, is from StarClan.


 * He is then saved by Mudfur, who was a warrior at the time. As Stormkit is being carried, he tastes blood in his mouth, and there is a throbbing pain all over his face. When he recovers from shock and infection a moon later, he sees his reflection in a puddle, and sees his broken jaw that scars him for life. His mother, Rainflower, refuses to look at him or consider him to be hers because he's disfigured and she is no longer proud of her son.


 * Stormkit is then in the medicine den with Rainflower, Oakkit, and Brambleberry. His mother leaves the den, giving the excuse to go on a patrol. Oakkit promises to stay, and before Rainflower exits Brambleberry tells Rainflower that Stormkit can leave the medicine den today. Rainflower is not too happy about this idea, while Oakkit is very happy. The two kits leave the den, as a few cats go over to greet Stormkit. Volekit asks how he is, then Petalkit says that Rainflower wouldn't let them visit the medicine den. Stormkit is confused as Rainflower had told him that nobody came to visit. After that, Oakkit leads Stormkit to the nursery and shows him the training corner. Rainflower complains and tells the kits to go outside to play. They all agree and on the way out, Stormkit trips over a nest. He asks what it is, and Rainflower says it's his nest. She explains that he must be used to sleeping alone in the medicine den, and that Stormkit will fidget in his sleep and will disturb Oakkit. Stormkit promises that he won't, but Rainflower says it's still better if he has his own nest.


 * Shellheart enters the nursery, and asks how good Stormkit is settling in. He replies that he's got his own nest. Shellheart then asks Rainflower to come outside to talk. She leaves the nursery. Stormkit then hears his parents arguing outside. Shellheart tells her Rainflower that Stormkit shouldn't have his own nest. Rainflowers argues that he'll get used to it. Shellheart disagrees, and says that at least she's still calling him Stormkit, to which Rainflower replies that she'll keep calling him that until Hailstar changes his name formally to Crookedkit. Angry at her, Shellheart then declares that the pair are no longer mates, and that he will never share a piece of prey with her again if she insists on being so cruel. Stormkit runs outside the nursery and says that he doesn't mind having a new name or his own nest but Rainflower is already walking away. Shellheart says it's not his fault, and blames it on Rainflower. Brambleberry tries to comfort Stormkit about his change of name, and when Hailstar holds the ceremony, he sees Mapleshade again.


 * Crookedkit is unhappy especially when Rainflower forces him to sleep in his own nest and Oakkit becomes an apprentice before him. He decides to go to the Moonstone to find out if his broken jaw was part of his destiny, and on the way through WindClan territory he sees Fallowtail with a WindClan cat, Reedfeather, thinking she's on some sort of mission, just for warriors. He falls asleep before even making it halfway to the Moonstone, and Mapleshade visits him in his dream. She tells him he is special, and insists that he returned to his Clan. Crookedkit refuses saying that they won't miss him.


 * Crookedkit ends up living and learning with Fleck, a barn cat, and his littermate Mitzi, with her four kits Mist, Magpie, Soot, and Piper. He gets better at hunting, learns how to eat and hunt with his twisted jaw, thanks to advice from Fleck, who had kin with an injury just like Crookedkit's. During this time, he grows bigger and stronger, thanks to the hunting he was doing. Mapleshade visits him in another dream a moon after he came to the barn, saying that if he was a true Clan cat he would head back immediately and prove that he is equal to any Clan cat. During harvest, when a monster threatens Mitzi and her kits, Crookedkit saves Soot, and he realizes he should be saving one of his own Clanmates, not a loner. Though he will miss his barn friends, he tells them he has to return to his Clan. He is later found by one of his Clanmates and taken back to camp. A lot of cats crowd him and ask him questions while the other question his loyalty. He says that he is RiverClan and nothing else. Then Hailstar tells him that he will have to prove his loyalty to the Clan before he can become an apprentice. When he goes to sleep, he sees Mapleshade, who offers to make him her apprentice if he promises full loyalty to RiverClan without interference from his own wants, and he promises.


 * Fallowtail gives birth to Willowkit and Graykit soon after. When Crookedkit saves them from a heron, Hailstar gives him his apprentice name, with Cedarpelt as his mentor. The next day, the Clan finds Reedfeather, the WindClan deputy, sitting in their camp. He says he has come for his kits, and it is revealed that Fallowtail is the mother and Willowkit and Graykit are his kits. Fallowtail gives up Willowkit and Graykit to the WindClan warrior, desperate to keep the peace.


 * Crookedpaw defeats Beetlenose in training, but doesn't receive his warrior name. Cedarpelt sends him to Hailstar's den, where the leader tells him to be patient and enjoy his training. Suddenly Oakpaw and his patrol race into the camp and tell Hailstar that Oakpaw drove off a huge dog. Oakpaw then becomes Oakheart. At the warrior ceremony, Rainflower tells Crookedpaw that his brother will always be better than him. Shellheart overhears this and defends his deformed son. The two brothers go to the gathering, and Crookedpaw meets Bluepaw, a ThunderClan apprentice. After the gathering, Mapleshade rebukes him for becoming friends with her, as he can't be friends with other Clans.


 * Crookedpaw fights at Sunningrocks against Bluepaw and Snowpaw, and ThunderClan wins. When they return to camp a lot of cats have deep wounds, but Hailstar has the most severe wounds of all. Brambleberry and Echomist try to clean up the blood and protect the wounds, but regardless, Hailstar loses his eighth life. He is now down to his last life.


 * Hailstar launches a raid on WindClan to steal back Fallowtail's kits. They succeed, and a moon later Graykit and Willowkit become apprentices. Brightsky is Graypaw's mentor and Owlfur is Willowpaw's. The two new apprentices and Crookedpaw go to the Moonstone, and on the way Crookedpaw meets Soot again, who informs him of how life on the farm is going. When he gets back, Hailstar talks to him, telling him that Brambleberry is worried about his apprenticeship. He confronts her, and she is reluctant to tell him why. Crookedpaw comes up with a way to chase the dog in their territory away, and saves Willowpaw in the process. Oakheart teases him about being close to Willowpaw. Hailstar decides to reclaim Sunningrocks, and gives Crookedpaw his warrior name, Crookedjaw.


 * As Crookedjaw moves on in life, Mapleshade appears to him many times, constantly reminding him of his promise, especially trying to move his attention away from Willowpaw. At the gathering, he finds out that Bluepaw has also gotten her warrior name, Bluefur. Afterwards, he finds out that Shimmerpelt has had kits. Brightsky also has kits, but she dies along with her kits except for one that Mudfur names Leopardkit. Willowpaw and Graypaw also get their warrior names, Willowbreeze and Graypool. Hailstar decides to take more of ThunderClan's territory, and Crookedjaw takes a different patrol. On the patrol, Mapleshade causes Willowbreeze to be captured by Twolegs by rolling their ball over to her. Crookedjaw decides to go rescue her even though Hailstar told him to wait. Mapleshade is angry at him and reminds him of her promise. She says Crookedjaw cannot have a mate because it would stop him from being a great warrior. Crookedjaw doesn't listen to her because Hailstar had a mate and kits, and he was a great leader in his opinion.


 * In a dream, Crookedjaw searches for Mapleshade, but only finds two cats, one a ThunderClan warrior named Thistleclaw and the other an unknown cat named Shredtail. As Crookedjaw watches their training session, he realizes that it's much more violent and brutal than his apprenticeship with Mapleshade. Days later, Hailstar gives Sedgepaw to Crookedjaw. A few days later, when they are practicing climbing, they see a dog and attack it, but when Rainflower is injured, Mapleshade persuades Crookedjaw to leave her and help drive off the dog, but she dies. Hailstar decides to take back Sunningrocks, but when they get there, Mudfur insists on fighting one of the cats, Adderfang, alone. He wins, but when they get back, he says he would like to switch to a medicine cat, and Crookedjaw realizes he is still grieving for Brightsky.


 * Shellheart announces that he, too, would like to retire. After a whole day of consideration and discussing with his senior warriors, Hailstar still hadn't chosen the new deputy. He comes back and sees the squirrel Crookedjaw caught. He notices it has a crooked jaw, and declares Crookedjaw deputy, believing it to be an omen from StarClan. Brambleberry is distraught because she knew the sign wasn't from StarClan, it was sent by Mapleshade, who is actually in the Dark Forest.


 * That night, Crookedjaw dreams of Mapleshade. She tells him there was someone he had to meet. Crookedjaw thinks she means Rainflower, as his mother was already dead. Mapleshade brings him to see Thistleclaw training with Silverhawk. He watches in horror as Silverhawk and Thistleclaw practice killing moves. Crookedjaw can't believe StarClan was like that. Thistleclaw laughs at him and tells him this isn't StarClan, this was the Dark Forest. Crookedjaw is angry at Mapleshade for lying at him, but Mapleshade told him he never asked her directly if she was from StarClan, and she never told him she was from StarClan. She tells him he shouldn't be mad at her, because she was the one to give Hailstar the sign to make him deputy. Crookedjaw thanks her for making him deputy, but he has decided he doesn't need her help anymore. Mapleshade tells Crookedjaw it was too late, as he had already promised her.


 * Shellheart dies from a lump in his stomach soon after. ThunderClan takes back Sunningrocks without a fight. But later on, on a trip to a barn for straw, rats attack the patrol and Hailstar dies. Crookedstar and Brambleberry tell each other what they know about Mapleshade, and Crookedjaw expresses his worries that StarClan won't accept him as a leader, but they give him his nine lives. Later on, Graypool's newborn kits die. But mysteriously, two new kits are found by Oakheart and Graypool decides to take them in and names them Mistykit and Stonekit.


 * Mapleshade visits Crookedstar only once more, to suggest the true father of the kits that Graypool found on the border: his brother, Oakheart. Crookedstar confronts Oakheart, who confirms that the kits are his and Bluefur's. Crookedstar decides to let them stay in the Clan.


 * Soon, Willowbreeze confesses that she is expecting Crookedstar's kits. The pregnancy seems to go well until Willowbreeze develops a bad cough. She delivers the kits, but within a day the cough grows worse, also spreading to two of the three kits. Brambleberry realizes that Willowbreeze and the two sick kits have greencough, and are dying. Crookedstar goes to them and names the three kits calling them Minnowkit, Willowkit, and Silverkit, and spends one last night with Willowbreeze, who begs him to take care of their daughters. When he wakes up, Willowbreeze is dead. They take her body, and Silverkit, who is not sick, out of the nest. Crookedstar does not leave to mourn, instead staying with Minnowkit and Willowkit. However, when he woke up, they were already dead. Crookedstar is overcome by grief, and intentionally visits the Dark Forest to confront Mapleshade. He was about to kill her when she reveals her terrible past. She says that she was a ThunderClan cat who fell in love with a RiverClan cat, and lost her kits when she tried to cross the river to RiverClan. Her mate cast her out and took another mate, this one RiverClan, who was Shellheart's grandmother, and that she used him to get revenge on her mate's bloodline.


 * Crookedstar gets beyond his grief, and tries to be a good leader to his Clan. However, he has been neglecting his only surviving kit, Silverkit, afraid of growing too close to her, for fear of losing her because of his promise to Mapleshade. Oakheart confronts him, and Crookedstar nearly does the killing move that Thistleclaw had taught him, but stops at the last minute, and finally acknowledges his daughter.


 * The bonus manga at the end of the books shows the final moons of Crookedstar's life. During this time, he has to deal with Silverstream falling in love with a ThunderClan cat, Graystripe. For the next moon, Crookedstar has to deal with his daughter sneaking out to see Graystripe. One night, he finds himself on the border of StarClan and the Dark Forest. He doesn't know why he is there, but he sees Silverstream going to StarClan, and she asks him to watch over her kits. After she leaves, Crookedstar confronts Mapleshade for one last time, saying that he didn't lose everything, and that Mapleshade was wrong, as he still has his Clan, and that he will see his kin in StarClan.


 * A few moons pass, and Crookedstar recalls that his daughter lives on the lives of her two kits, Featherpaw and Stormpaw. He also notes that Silverstream would have been shocked that Graystripe joined RiverClan to be with them. Crookedstar then dies, and finally meets up with all of his friends and loved ones in StarClan.

Mistakes

 * A compiled list of the errors present in Crookedstar's Promise can be found here.

Publication history

 * Crookedstar's Promise (EN), HarperCollins (hardcover), 5 July 2011
 * Crookedstar's Promise (EN), HarperCollins (e-book), 5 July 2011
 * 钩星的承诺 (CN), Wuhan Press (paperback), 1 May 2012
 * 曲星的承諾 (ZH), Morningstar (paperback), 15 September 2012
 * Streifensterns Bestimmung (DE), Verlagsgruppe Beltz (audio-book), 29 September 2014
 * Streifensterns Bestimmung (DE), Verlagsgruppe Beltz (hardcover), 23 December 2014
 * Обещание Метеора.Западня (RU), OLMA Media Group (unknown binding), 2014
 * Обещание Метеора. Прозрение (RU), OLMA Media Group (unknown binding, volume 2), 2014
 * Väärätähden lupaus (FI), Art House (hardcover), 20 January 2016, translated by Nana Sironen
 * 钩星的承诺 (ZH), Future Press (paperback), 1 February 2017
 * Streifensterns Bestimmung (DE), Beltz (paperback), 6 March 2017, translated by Klaus Weimann
 * Streifensterns Bestimmung (DE), Verlagsgruppe Beltz (abridged audio-book), 21 February 2017