Milkweed

Milkweed is a splotchy, mottled, ginger-and-black tabby she-cat with amber eyes, a shredded ear-tip, and a scar across her black muzzle.

Moth Flight's Vision

 * When Cloud Spots meets at the Moonstone with the other medicine cats, he comments that Milkweed knows a lot about healing and herbs. He mentions that when her daughter Clover kept chewing at a wound on her paw, Milkweed came up with the idea to put mouse bile on it to discourage the ginger-and-white she-cat from continuing to pick at it.


 * Milkweed soon gives birth to a second litter of kits, Shivering Rose, Hazel Burrow, and Morning Fire, fathered by Leaf. Cloud Spots gathers borage leaves to give to Milkweed, explaining that ginger-and-black queen isn't as young as she used to be and that giving her the leaves would ensure that she had enough milk for the kits. When Moth Flight comes to visit Thunder's camp, she goes to the bramble bush den to see Milkweed and finds the queen in her nest with her three kits suckling at her belly. The two she-kits push the third kit, Hazel Burrow, away from their mother's belly, but Milkweed picks the tom-kit up and lifts him back into the nest. She comments that Shivering Rose and Morning Fire are always stealing the black-and-white kit's milk, but that he's going to grow into a handsome tom like his father.


 * Moth Flight tells Milkweed that all three of her kits are beautiful, and Cloud Spots, who has come to the den with the white she-cat, suggests that they leave the queen to rest. Moth Flight asks if he's given the black-and-ginger she-cat any borage, and Cloud Spots replies that he's given her one leaf and left the rest of them in case she needs more. Milkweed, however, tells the black-and-white tom he should take some of the leaves for his store, because she won't need all of them. As the two medicine cats leave the den, Moth Flight thanks Milkweed for letting her see her kits. The queen purrs and replies that there is nothing better than being a mother. Leaf then heads into the nursery to see his mate in their place.


 * Moons later, Milkweed attends a Gathering and speaks with Juniper Branch. The ShadowClan cat tells her that Clear Sky has been patrolling his borders again and that Pebble Heart was turned away when he went to gather herbs from SkyClan land. Milkweed glances uneasily towards the spot where the SkyClan cats usually enter the Gathering.


 * When Blue Whisker goes to live with ThunderClan, Milkweed helps care for her. Thunderstar says that she can share a nest with Milkweed's kits, although he adds that the queen says that they fidget a lot. Blue Whisker soon makes friends with the three other kits, especially Shivering Rose.

A Forest Divided

 * Milkweed is a queen living on the moors with her kits. She first appears when Gray Wing finds her, half-starved and hunting a rabbit for herself and her kits. After Thistle chases after Gray Wing in order to get what was his mother's prey back, Milkweed tells him to keep the rabbit and shoos her son away, saying they don't keep food from strangers. After the she-kit, Clover, asks if they could have a bite, her mother tells her they can catch their own prey. Gray Wing gives the rabbit to Milkweed and her kits to eat, but the queen is wary of the offering, noting that since the mountain cats had come, prey had become more scarce. It is also revealed that her daughter, Bramble, had died the day before. Gray Wing asks for their names, and Milkweed introduces herself and her kits to him. She is still wary of him offering the rabbit and accuses the mountain cats of taking taking land from the rogues. The dark gray tom explains they left because of starvation, but the tortoiseshell queen snaps he's set the rogues against each other. Unable to leave the group alone on the moor, Gray Wing tells Milkweed they should join Clear Sky's group to feed and rest, but she is hesitant, as her friend Misty had been killed by him. She snorts and states that perhaps Clear Sky will take her kits in after he murders her. However, after Gray Wing promises Clear Sky will not hurt her or her kits, Milkweed agrees to join them. She thanks him for the rabbit and heads up the slope with her kits following her.


 * Clear Sky welcomes Milkweed and her kits into the camp, and have been given Birch and Alder's old beds, as they are warm and cozy. Star Flower invites Clover and Thistle to the prey pile to get food as Milkweed squeezes out of their den, telling her kits not to take the best prey, as that should go to the hunters. She is less stern on the matter after Star Flower tells her that they can take whatever they wish, as someday they will be hunters as well, but Milkweed still seems hesitant about relying on others for food. After a short argument, Clover and Thistle carry a mouse for themselves and their mother to share.


 * After noting how much better Milkweed and her kits look after only a couple of days in the camp, Clear Sky invites her to join him on the next hunting patrol, thinking that it may make her feel better about sharing food with the others.


 * Milkweed contracts a mild chest infection, and Thunder finds her in Cloud Spots' den chewing tansy to help her chest feel better. She is seen later coughing while Cloud Spots chews up tansy for her to eat to ease her sickness.


 * Later, Milkweed huddles over her kits while Leaf shouts about how she, Clover, and Thistle stole and ate his prey while Blossom defends her. He is angry about their arrival due to the fact that all she has brought to their group is two hungry kits and a cough that keeps the entire camp awake. This leads to Thunder deciding to leave Clear Sky's group, and Milkweed brings her kits to join with him. Leaf protests, saying that she and her kits are useless due to her illness and the fact that they can't hunt. Milkweed lashes out and scratches his muzzle, saying that her kits will drive her to hunt and fight, but Leaf is dedicated to his own hunger and safety only. After ending the argument by saying Leaf is loyal to him and Milkweed will be useful to them, Thunder agrees to let her join him.


 * While they are walking, Milkweed and Thunder have a conversation about Clear Sky. Milkweed explains, after Thunder asks why she left, that she was grateful that Clear Sky took her in, but despite his promises to have her come on a hunting patrol he never let her. She says that she prefers to hunt for herself and her kits, rather than be dependent on other cats. After this, she goes to urge Clover and Thistle onwards. When Thunder's group reaches their new camp, she is seen curling up with her kits.


 * Milkweed finds Thunder after he agrees to help Quiet Rain and Sun Shadow find their kin. He notes that now she has been allowed to hunt, she is as lively as any cat and her sickness is gone. She asks where he is going and when Thunder tells her, Milkweed is at first against the idea, as he has his own cats to take care of. Eventually she agrees with him leaving to take them to their kin, as she trusts him to do the right thing, but makes him promise that he will return at night. After Thunder leaves, Milkweed goes back to hunting.


 * When Thunder returns to the camp, Milkweed is seen in the den she has woven for herself, Clover, and Thistle. Lightning Tail tells Thunder that she caught as much prey as Leaf did that day; as he says this, Leaf is seen giving Milkweed a squirrel as he squeezes beside her and the kits. She is seen returning from a nighttime hunting patrol with Leaf, a mouse in her jaws, when Thunder returns from Clear Sky's camp.

Path of Stars

 * Milkweed makes a den for herself and her kits in a bramble bush in Thunder's new camp. When a hunting patrol returns to the camp with prey, Thistle and Clover rush out to see what has been caught. Milkweed warns them to slow down, as others might be hungry as well. Thunder decides to send out another hunting patrol, and Thistle begs to be included as part of it, but the older cats decline his request. Running up to him, Milkweed explains that he can't go because he is needed at the camp; if everyone went hunting, there would be no one left to guard it. Thistle and Clover soon begin to argue with each other, and their mother exchanges a glance with Thunder. The group leader offers to take the two kits out into the forest after everyone has eaten, to which Milkweed gives the ginger tom a grateful look.


 * Milkweed, padding across the clearing, notices that the bracken in Pink Eyes' nest is limp and soggy, and the black-and-ginger tabby offers to make him a new bed. The white tom protests that he can make his own nest. The queen replies that she knows he can, but that she will make a start on it and he can help her later. She says that he can lay his old moss out in the sun to dry while she fetches some fresh bracken for the nest. Without waiting for Pink Eyes to answer, she goes and starts to gather the bracken, tearing fresh bracken stems from a patch at the edge of the camp.


 * After Clear Sky brings a patrol of cats to camp to speak with Thunder, Thistle and Clover run up to the gray-furred group leader and are subsequently scolded over him. Milkweed runs up and asks what is going on, casting a nervous look at Clear Sky and his patrol. Clover and Thistle indignantly explain that the gray tom thinks kits shouldn't be allowed to talk, and that they should be doing chores. The tabby queen casts an angry look at Clear Sky and leads her two kits away. When Clear Sky explains that he wants Thunder's group to agree to give Slash a portion of their prey, Milkweed worries that the rogue might attack them if they refuse. She wraps her tail around her two kits and says that perhaps they should agree to Slash's demands and give up a little prey to keep the rogues quiet.


 * When Slash's rogues do attack one of Thunder's hunting patrols, Milkweed paces anxiously beside a tree stump, asking with a glance at Thistle and Clover if this means that the woods aren't safe anymore. Lightning Tail suggests battle training to prepare to fight the rogues, and Milkweed is supportive of it. A few days later, Milkweed attends the gathering in which the issue of Slash's attacks on patrols is discussed, and there she stands with Leaf under the shadow of the great rock.


 * Milkweed helps to build a den inside of a hazel bush, fetching extra moss to shore up the gaps in the walls to keep it warmer. She first strips all of the moss off the fallen tree in camp, then heads up the ravine to search for more. Thunder worries for the black-and-ginger tabby's safety, but Milkweed calls down that she will stay close to the top of the ravine and call down if she sees Slash. However, she breaks off before she says the tabby rogue's name, worried she might offend Slash's former campmate, Violet. The gray she-cat, however, says that the queen can say Slash's name, because she doesn't like him either and she is not a rogue anymore. Milkweed dips her head, saying she knows Violet isn't a rogue and that the group is glad to have her. The queen then exits the camp and begins taking moss from the roots of a beech nearby to the ravine.


 * When it is time to go to a gathering between the five groups, Thistle and Clover are allowed to come for the first time. Milkweed goes over to groom the ginger tom-kit, but he ducks away, scowling. Milkweed protests that they must look neat, but her kits argue that they have already washed themselves. Violet assures the ginger-and-black queen that the two will be the handsomest kits there, and Milkweed puffs out her chest at the compliment. As the cats set off towards the gathering, they pass by the river. Shuddering, Milkweed says that she's glad that she glad they don't live near the river, because she would never be able to let Thistle and Clover out of her sight. Leaf brushes close to her, pointing out that the two would probably be able to swim if they did live by the river.

Thunderstar's Echo

 * Milkweed is now mother to two more kits, Patch Pelt and Beech Tail. During an argument between Leaf and Pink Eyes, Leaf mentions that Milkweed needs to eat, but Pink Eyes retorts that all Leaf thinks about these days is Milkweed. Their conflict is then resolved by Thunderstar.


 * When Violet Dawn moves to the nursery, the stormy gray she-cat complains she's hungry all the time now, but Milkweed comforts her, saying it's normal for a pregnant cat. Milkweed's kits then start to play fight, to which their mother tells them to stop kicking up mud. Then when Patch Pelt asks Milkweed for shrew, which was meant for Violet Dawn, she looks hesitant. Violet Dawn graciously gives it to the kits, and Milkweed nods, though Thunderstar silently wishes to object.


 * During the dog attack, Milkweed helps Beech Tail up the tree that Thunderstar nudges Patch Pelt up. Afterwards, she seems relieved no one was killed during the attack. At the end of the novel, Milkweed is nursing her kits after Violet Dawn's kits are born.

Mistakes

 * Milkweed is not listed in the allegiances of A Forest Divided, despite her appearances in the book.

Members
Mates:
 * Splinter:(formerly)
 * Leaf:

Daughters:
 * Clover:
 * Bramble:
 * Shivering Rose:
 * Morning Fire:
 * Beech Tail:

Sons:
 * Thistle:
 * Hazel Burrow:
 * Patch Pelt:

References and Citations
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