Clovertail

Clovertail is a light brown she-cat with a white underbelly and legs, and soft fur.

Firestar's Quest

 * Clover is a rogue living around SkyClan territory.


 * The den she has made in the woods for her kits and herself is found by a fox, who attacks them. Two Clan cats, Firestar and Sandstorm, and a fellow rogue, Scratch, come to her aid and fight the fox away for her. Clover admires their bravery and is extremely grateful for their help. She tells her rescuers her kits' names — Tiny, Bounce, and Rock. Scratch, however, isn't as friendly to Firestar and Sandstorm, demanding to know where they had come from and how long they intended to stay. Clover says it didn't matter why they had come, as if they hadn't, the fox would have eaten her kits. Scratch reminds her that he had been around, and he could see off any fox that had ever been born.


 * Clover begs Firestar, Sandstorm, and Scratch to stay with her for a while, and they do. While she is nursing her kits, she listens to Firestar's stories about the lost Clan he was trying to rebuild, SkyClan. When he comes to the part about Sky, she recalls seeing him around several times, always thinking that he looked mad. She is willing to join SkyClan, telling them her mate left before her kits' birth, and it was hard bringing them up on her own. She still seems to be worried about the fox, despite Scratch insisting he would protect her. She reminds him of how rarely he came as far up the gorge as her den, and they had barely spoken before then. She then tells Firestar and Sandstorm that she would join his Clan, and would go back to the gorge with him that day.


 * When they go to SkyClan's camp, Firestar is concerned about how Scratch would fit in, but Sandstorm is more concerned about Clover. She tells him that Clover wanted to be looked after all the time, and although she had tried to tell her that the proper place for her and her kits was in the nursery, Clover wouldn't listen, as she was still paranoid about the fox. She insisted on sleeping in the warriors' cave instead. Firestar reassures his mate that Clover just needed time, as she had been frightened very badly that day, and once she learned some fighting skills, she'd realize she was capable of looking after her kits on her own.


 * Clover doesn't improve with time, however, to Sandstorm's annoyance. Although she was a strong, healthy cat, she wasn't willing to learn any fighting skills to prepare herself for any danger. Her excuse was that since Firestar and Sandstorm were such good fighters, she was certain they'd look after her. It soon becomes apparent she only joined SkyClan for the protection it provided, and didn't show any interest in learning the warrior code or serving the Clan.


 * Firestar finds her in the middle of an argument between Sandstorm and Scratch. Scratch thought that the Clan's warriors should be fed first, because they were the ones who caught the prey, while Sandstorm argued that the warrior code said that queens, kits, and elders must eat first. Clover softly says that she didn't mind Scratch eating first, because there was enough food for every cat. Firestar tells Scratch that Sandstorm was right, and he had to follow the warrior code. Angrily, Scratch tells Clover to go on and eat. Very embarrassed, she grabs a blackbird and hurries back to where her kits were playing.


 * She is officially sworn into SkyClan, and is given the name Clovertail. Her kits become Bouncekit, Tinykit, and Rockkit.


 * When Skywatcher dies, she tells her kits that they must stay awake all night, no matter what. Firestar is surprised that a loner knew about the tradition of sitting vigil for dead cats, but tells her that kits didn't have to stay up all night. Clovertail is very alarmed by him, asking in a shrill voice if he wanted her kits to die. All of the former rogues and loners cling to a superstition that if they fell asleep the night of a death, they would die as well, though Firestar promises them it wasn't true. Clovertail sits vigil for a while, but finally goes back to the nursery because she was worried about her kits getting cold.


 * Sandstorm tells Firestar that Clovertail still hadn't attended a single training session. Although he says she was still looking after her kits, she says Bouncekit, Tinykit, and Rockkit were old enough to be left alone. Firestar assures her that soon, her kits would be apprenticed, and Clovertail would see she had to join in. Sandstorm is still contemptuous, saying that Clovertail had sworn to protect and defend SkyClan, and she couldn't do that if she didn't learn to fight. Firestar again urges Sandstorm to be patient with her, and she would learn what the promise meant soon.


 * Then, Bouncekit falls into the river, terrifying Clovertail. She begins to shriek, which catches Firestar and Sandstorm's attention. When they realize what has happened, they run over to help her, but before they arrive, Clovertail plunges into the river to save her son. She succeeds in doing so, dragging him up onto the shore and asking him if he was okay. When Clovertail sees that Bouncekit was alive, she snaps at her kits that she had told them not to go into that cave, and now they saw why. She sends them back to the nursery, not allowing them to play any more for the rest of the day, as a punishment. Clovertail is mostly annoyed when they tell her, Firestar, and Sandstorm about a cave they had found full of shining moss, where they heard voices whispering to them, refusing to hear another word about it.


 * When Firestar asks her about how she knew how to swim so well, Clovertail says she was actually born downstream, near an abandoned Twoleg nest, and her mother had taught her how to fish. Firestar then tells her about RiverClan, a Clan back in the forest who also liked swimming and fishing, and wonders aloud if she wasn't descended from them. Clovertail then asks if that meant she didn't belong in SkyClan. The dismay in her voice pleases Firestar, because it indicated that she at least wanted to be a member of SkyClan. Sandstorm reassures her that she belonged in SkyClan because that's where she had chosen to live. Firestar adds that she owed it to her ancestors to learn their skills of hunting and fighting so that the warrior code lived on in her. Clovertail recalls promising that when she had been made a warrior, and was beginning to realize what those words meant. She still doesn't believe she would be as useful as other cats, but promises to start attending training.


 * She is battle-training with Sandstorm when Rainfur comes to camp and begs SkyClan to help his mate and kits. Once they are rescued from their abusive Twoleg owner, Clovertail is friendly to Petal, and nurses her kits, who are named Mint and Sage. Petal returns the kindness when she looks after Bouncekit, Tinykit, and Rockkit as well as her own kits so Clovertail could attend the Gathering.


 * She volunteers to fight against the rats, which impresses Firestar. The two times she is seen during the battle, she is swatting at the rats. After Rainfur is killed, the rats force the SkyClan patrol up into a tree. Leafdapple insists that they couldn't give up, otherwise Rainfur would have died for nothing. Clovertail declares that they were a Clan now, and they had to fight for the place they were supposed to be.


 * During Leafdapple's leader ceremony, Firestar notices that Birchstar, an ancient RiverClan leader, looked like Clovertail as well as Heavystep.


 * She is present when her kits are made apprentices, looking on with pride as they are renamed Bouncepaw, Rockpaw, and Tinypaw. Before Firestar and Sandstorm leave, they see her out on patrol, catching prey.

SkyClan's Destiny

 * Clovertail has a new mate, Patchfoot, and is pregnant with a new litter of kits.


 * Leafstar notices how much Clovertail had changed since she joined SkyClan; before, she had been spoiled, lazy, selfish, and had only joined the Clan because it offered her protection. Although she still wasn't the best hunter or fighter, she had become like a mother to all the cats in the Clan, and was always ready with comfort and advice. Because of her, the nursery is always kept neat and orderly. She is proud of Bouncepaw, Tinypaw, and Rockpaw when they become warriors--now Bouncefire, Tinycloud, and Rockshade--and anxiously tries to clean them up before the ceremony. She mostly makes minor appearances helping out in the nursery.


 * Plumkit, who is one of Fallowfern's kits, is upset that her brother, Nettlekit, kept saying she had been the one to push him into the river. Wanting someone to believe her, she tells Clovertail he was lying, and he had really fallen in because he had been showing off a battle move he knew he couldn't perform yet. Clovertail remains calm and patient, and murmurs that no harm had been done as she gives Plumkit's head a lick. She offers to tell them the story of when Firestar came to the gorge inside the nursery as a way to distract them from their quarrel.


 * She is one of the senior Clan members Leafstar wants present when she finds out the rats have returned to SkyClan's territory. Petalnose is horrified, remembering the death of her mate, Rainfur, and says they must stay as far away from the rats as possible. Seeing her friend so upset, Clovertail presses against her and licks her ear, trying to calm and comfort her.


 * After the second battle against the rocks, she is seen asking Echosong if she could help her. She goes to take over for Cora, who was cleaning Waspwhisker's wounds and was also hurt, while Fallowfern got water for them.


 * Clovertail later suggests to Leafstar that she'd like to use one of the newly cleaned-out caves as a birthing den, thinking that if the rats came back, or a fox or a badger attacked, young kits would be safer up high. She grimly agrees with Petalnose that being up so high would increase the risk of the kits falling out, and they would have to move the kits once they were strong enough to go outside. Leafstar guesses that Clovertail was worried that her new litter would be overwhelmed by Fallowtail's kits if they were born in the nursery, and acknowledges she might have a point. She allows Clovertail to move into one of the higher dens.


 * When the Clan hears a strange noise, she worries that it was a fox, and scolds the kits when they say it was the old Twoleg that had once owned Petalnose and Shrewtooth. When they find that the creature was a Twoleg kit and have to decide what to do with it, Leafstar gives Clovertail the job of comforting her by cuddling up to her and purring. Clovertail is doubtful, but does as she was told.


 * Petalnose worries that the Twolegs would come back, and it might be best for them to go live somewhere else. Clovertail refuses to move anywhere until her kits were born and ready to travel. Patchfoot brushes his pelt against hers, saying he was sure they wouldn't have to.


 * Clovertail later complains to Echosong that she felt as if her belly was going to burst, and the intense heat wasn't helping. Echosong soothingly says she knew it was hard, and lets her sleep outside her den in a cool, shady patch. Clovertail thanks the medicine cat, saying she didn't know what the Clan would do without her. She is still napping in the patch when a patrol led by Leafstar comes running back into camp, screeching about a bee attack. When she opens her eyes, she lets out a wail. She doesn't get into the river, the only place safe from the swarm, before receiving a sting dangerously close to her eye.

The Rescue

 * It is briefly noted that she has decided to remain in the nursery and look after the queens and kits rather than become a warrior again. Clovertail's second litter of kits are now apprentices by the names of Honeypaw, Sandypaw, and Birdpaw. Clovertail worries over her kits, telling them to stop playing on the rocks before they get hurt. However, they don't listen and Birdpaw gets injured. Clovertail asks if she's alright and scolds her, saying she just told them not to do that. After Birdpaw returns from Echosong's den, she frets again over her injured eye. Echosong reassures her, saying that it's nothing serious and it will heal.


 * Afterwards, Clovertail sees Leafstar and scolds her about going hunting when she's expecting kits. Much to the dismay of Leafstar, she sits through with her and gives her advice about raising kits, and since it seemed like good advice, Leafstar always listened. Leafstar confides to her that she thought that raising kits was going to be even harder than leading the Clan. Clovertail responds that it probably would be, but at the same time, there was nothing better.


 * Shortly afterward, she, Echosong, and Leafstar are sharing prey, when Leafstar asks them if they noticed how oddly Sharpclaw and Cherrytail had been acting. Clovertail asks if she was serious, saying it was as plain as the muzzle on her face. Amused, she remarks that there would probably be more kits in the Clan soon. Leafstar is surprised, because Sharpclaw had always seemed too dedicated to his duties to take a mate. Echosong points out that many cats would say the same about her.


 * When Leafstar is having her kits, Clovertail quickly comes to her aid, trying to calm her and help her. At the end of the book, Clovertail watches over Leafstar's kits while she speaks to the Clan.

Beyond the Code

 * While Leafstar watches her kits, Clovertail surprises Leafstar and interrupts her thoughts. Clovertail fusses over Ebonyclaw's leg injury in the battle with the badgers. Later, Leafstar asks Clovertail and Honeypaw to look after her kits for the evening while she goes on hunting patrol with Sol.

After the Flood

 * After the flood destroys the camp, she supervises the reconstruction of the nests that had been washed away. She asks Leafstar's kits, Stormkit, Firekit, and Harrykit to help her find some feathers for Tangle's new nest. Leafstar thanks her, and Clovertail replies that it wasn't a problem, especially since Tangle probably wouldn't mind a few extra feathers in his nest. Later, she watches over the kits while Leafstar goes out into the forest with Sol.

Battles of the Clans

 * She is lying in her nest with her kits when Sparrowpaw comes up and catches her attention. When he finds that she is awake, he says he thought her kits might have worn her out. He awkwardly tells Clovertail they were lovely, asking if they were supposed to be so loud. He asks if they had a thorn stuck in their side, or if they were just hungry. Clovertail begins to nurse them as she listens to the apprentice.


 * Sparrowpaw then continues to explain a battle move unique to SkyClan that Sharpclaw taught him, called the sky-drop. When he's done, he's surprised that Clovertail's kits are still so hungry. He wishes her luck getting them back to sleep, and teasingly suggests that she train them to sleep better before leaving.

Trivia

 * It has been hinted that she has RiverClan ancestry.
 * It has also been noted that Birchstar, an ancient RiverClan leader, and Heavystep, a RiverClan elder, look very similar to her, and Clovertail could be descended from Birchstar.
 * In Beyond the Code, she appears to be drawn in the same style as Echosong-a fluffy, light-colored tabby with a paler muzzle, in two of her three appearances.
 * Vicky thinks Birchstar is related to both Heavystep and Clovertail.

Members
Mates:
 * Patchfoot:
 * Unnamed Tom (formerly):

Sons:
 * Rockshade:
 * Bouncefire:
 * Sandypaw:

Daughters:
 * Tinycloud:
 * Birdpaw:
 * Honeypaw: