SkyClan

SkyClan is a group of cats that live in a gorge with rocky cliffs, that zigzag down to the base. The founding leader, Sky got his/her name from being able to jump far and high, so by extension the name was thought to be given to the Clan.

Description
SkyClan was the fifth Clan, but was forced to leave the forest because Twolegs had invaded and taken over their territory, turning it into the Twolegplace cats see now. Their current leader at that time, Cloudstar, appealed to the other Clan leaders at a Gathering and asked for them each to give up some of their territory for SkyClan. Each Clan gave reasons to refuse to let SkyClan stay, and in the end, the Clan was driven out. Because of this, Cloudstar swore that SkyClan will never look to their warrior ancestors again. Cloudstar's mate, Birdflight, was offered a place in ThunderClan by Kestrelwing the ThunderClan medicine cat with her kits, since she had just given birth to them and that were too young to make the journey to SkyClan's new home. With much sorrow, Birdflight accepted and promises Cloudstar that they will someday meet again.

Later, SkyClan was brought back by Firestar in Firestar's Quest, a journey in which the ThunderClan leader, Firestar, traveled to the gorge to bring back the Clan.

Modern SkyClan is a Clan of cats with strongly built hind legs which allow them to jump great heights or distances. They have rough, hard gray pads which help them to jump and walk long distances on hard, rough surfaces without breaking skin, which makes them infected; this feature allows them to climb and hunt in the trees, hence the name SkyClan. They are very powerful cats, who are a bit like ThunderClan, eating mainly squirrels, mice, and many kinds of birds.

In the Forest Territories
Ancient SkyClan lived in the area in which there are now Twolegplaces and the Treecut Place. Their territory was destroyed a long time ago, and little is known about it. Their camp was in a hollow, and a Twoleg Nest was built on it, where now the kittypet Smudge lives.

In The Gorge
Modern SkyClan is located in a gorge, known to Twolegs as Deepsands Gorge. Twolegs also call other places in this territory the River Chell, High Dene Woods, and Deepsands Pool. Landmarks in this territory include:


 * Camp - The camp is located at the base of a steep gorge, making it a tad difficult to be attacked.
 * Skyrock - is where the leader makes announcements to the Clan. It's at the top of the gorge, so the Clan has a full view of the leader.
 * Sandy Gorge - Is the hunting territory of SkyClan, and is located around the Gorge.
 * Sky's Den - is the den that Skywatcher had. It is unused now, since Skywatcher passed away.
 * Rockpile - is a pile of rocks where the warriors place the prey that they have caught.
 * Twolegplace - are Twoleg Nests a little ways from the gorge. The Twolegplace was home to Dodge and his gang of rogues during SkyClan's Destiny.

Modern SkyClan lives in a gorge located north of The Forest Territories at the end of the river. The dens are small caves in the cliffs of the gorge that used to have tiny rat clawmarks, but Leafstar then covered them up as a sign of their victory. They jump high into the trees with their powerful limbs to catch their prey, and have some attack moves dealing with the trees. The Rockpile is like ThunderClan's Highrock, where the Clan leader would be able to make announcements and such. The gorge is very rocky, and cats need to either jump or climb to get to their high dens. In their camp, there is a river leading to a fallen tree. There is also a path to go to the forest. Near the territory is a Twolegplace and a Thunderpath. The Forest near the gorge is where the cats hunt. They also hunt in the forests by the Twolegplace and the forest that follows the river. The Whispering Cave is where the leader will receive their nine lives and where the medicine cat will go to share tongues with StarClan.

Firestar's Quest

 * Firestar is starting to see visions of a group of cats running away, and begins to think he is going crazy. Eventually Smudge, Firestar's kittypet friend, visits him and tells him he is having the same dreams. Firestar then finds out that Smudge's house is built on the old SkyClan camp. He then sleeps in Smudge's backyard, and the leader of ancient SkyClan visits him more clearly in his dreams. He explains to Firestar that it is his destiny to follow the river upstream, where he would find a place where SkyClan could once again live. Firestar later talks to Bluestar about it and is shocked that she kept something from him; when she says, "There were five Clans in the forest," he thinks she is talking about StarClan, but she literally means five Clans. Firestar gets mad at her and StarClan and resolves to try to put things right, therefore making the dangerous journey. Firestar brings Sandstorm along with him. Firestar and Sandstorm then travel there, where they meet a cat named Sky, a descendant of SkyClan, who they ask about old SkyClan. They seek out cats to once again make SkyClan great. In one cave where SkyClan will settle, Firestar and Sandstorm think that the scratch marks on the wall of the cave are from kits, so they make that cave the nursery. As it turns out, those were actually rat claw marks, showing that rats actually attacked the Ancient SkyClan.


 * Two kittypets, Cherry and Boris, decide to join the new Clan and are eventually renamed Cherrypaw and Sparrowpaw, respectively. Firestar also finds a queen, Clover, defending her kits from a fox and tries to drive it off. Firestar and Sandstorm are wounded, and a rogue named Scratch comes and helps them to chase it away. Clover and her kits Rock, Tiny, and Bounce decide to join SkyClan, becoming Clovertail, Rockkit, Tinykit, and Bouncekit. At first, Clovertail only joins the Clan for the protection of her kits, but once one of her kits falls in the river, she jumps in and saves it. Only then does she realize that she can protect her kits and fight for them. Scratch also decides to try out the Clan and goes back to camp with them.


 * Later, Sparrowpaw takes Firestar to the cats he knows around the Twolegplace, and they ask them to come to a meeting in the gorge to tell the local cats about the new SkyClan. When they get back to camp, Scratch, whose Clan name becomes Sharpclaw, takes Firestar to talk to the rogues and loners. That night, a small group of cats come to the gorge, and three of them, Leaf, Hutch, and Patch, join the Clan. They are given the warrior names Leafdapple, Shortwhisker, and Patchfoot respectively. When Firestar talks about the Clan leaders receiving nine lives from StarClan, Sharpclaw's eyes brighten and Firestar is worried that he might have the same ambition as Tigerstar once had. Rainfur, another loner, attends the meeting, but does not want to join the Clan and taunts that cats who do. To honor his devotion to SkyClan's memory, Sky is given the name Skywatcher, as he always watched the moon every full moon. Clovertail's kits venture into the Shining Cave and say that they heard voices whispering to them. Firestar realizes that the Shining Cave is like the Clan's Moonstone, a way to share tongues and communicate with their ancestors.


 * Rainfur later returns to ask Firestar to rescue his mate Petal and their kits Mint and Sage from Petal's Twoleg who is neglecting them and hurting his family. Firestar leads a rescue mission and brings Rainfur and his family back to the Clan. They later join the Clan, when Petal is renamed Petalnose and Mint and Sage become Mintkit and Sagekit. Since Rainfur's name already sounds like a Clan name, Firestar decides to leave it as it is.


 * SkyClan also receives trouble from the rat army that drove the first SkyClan away. The rats actually left the scratches in the place Firestar and Sandstorm thought was the nursery. They had scratched over the cat's claw marks to show that the cats were defeated and they had won. Sky admits that he didn't tell Firestar about the rats because he might not have decided to help rebuild the Clan. Firestar leads a patrol of cats to attack the rats in the old warehouse, their home. The attack goes wrong when the rats cut off their escape route and they are trapped in a tree. Rainfur is lost in the turmoil and Sandstorm pulls Firestar up the tree to save him. Firestar knows that the only way to defeat the rats was to defeat its leader. After studying the movement of the rats, he pinpoints the leader and swiftly kills him. Confused, and without a leader, the rats scatter and Firestar leads his patrol home. Rainfur is reported dead and is the only cat that dies. However, Shortwhisker decides that the dangerous life of a Clan cat is not for him, and goes back to being a kittypet.


 * The first leader of modern SkyClan turns out to be Leafdapple, which Echosong realizes after she gets a sign from StarClan. Firestar and Echosong witness Leafdapple's leader ceremony, and the newly-named Leafstar chooses Sharpclaw to be her deputy. Leafstar also makes Cherrypaw and Sparrowpaw into warriors, for their brave actions during the fight with the rats, naming them Cherrytail and Sparrowpelt. Cherrytail becomes mentor to Rockpaw; Sparrowpelt becomes mentor to Tinypaw; and Patchfoot becomes the mentor of Bouncepaw. Firestar, with much regret, leaves SkyClan to fend for itself and returns home to ThunderClan.

SkyClan's Destiny

 * In the prologue of SkyClan's Destiny, the remains of SkyClan are coming back to camp after the battle with the rats, exhasuted. Nightfur asks Spiderstar, who is the leader of the battle patrol that attacked the rats, if they won. Spiderstar doesn't directly answer, and tells Brackenheart that his den better be stocked with herbs, due to the wounds he would have to treat.


 * Swallowflight tells the Clan they had lost the battle, and Honeyleaf retorts that he can't say that, that SkyClan still has its pride. Frostclaw asks if they will hold vigils for Sunpelt and Fallensnow, which are two cats that had died in the battle with the rats, and Oakstep reacts with disbelief and asks where the bodies are. Swallowflight tells Oakstep they had to leave them behind.


 * Spiderstar slowly confesses to his Clan's weakness, and the Clan slowly departs, breaking into groups of rogues, kittypets, and loners. Honeyleaf, Spiderstar, Nightfur, Mousefang, Swallowflight, and Brackenheart are some of the cats who stay in the gorge and don't become kittypets or rogues, just loners.


 * Spiderstar tells the remaining cats that they still live on, but SkyClan has died. Brackenheart tells Spiderstar he has to look at his injuries.


 * Spiderstar sighs and wonders if a Clan will ever live in the gorge again. Brackenheart says that he thinks he will, and reveals the mysterious prophecy: "This is the leaf-bare of our Clan. Greenleaf will come, but it will bring even greater storms than these. SkyClan will need deeper roots if it is to survive."


 * Leafstar is seen as the current the leader of SkyClan.

Battles of the Clans

 * Buzzardstar welcomes the cats - two kittypets who are endlessly curious about the Clans' battle tactics - to SkyClan. He tells the reader that SkyClan earned their name because their warriors were the happiest in trees, hunting birds, and they could jump higher than any cat. He explains why they were driven out of the forest, after their territory was destroyed by Twolegs and the Clan refused to share territory.


 * Sparrowpelt, in the time period Sparrowpaw, is in the nursery with Clovertail, telling her about the Sky-drop. He tells her that first, he had to climb this big tree, then wait on a branch. He tells Clovertail that he needed to be very quiet, and he comments that he is not as deaf as an old badger, as what Sharpclaw thinks. Whitewater was pretending to be his enemy, and Sparrowpaw jumps on him, his belly landing on his back so that he toppled over. After finishing up his explanation, Sparrowpaw says bye to Clovertail and her kits.


 * Some battle moves in the Aboveground Battle Moves section are The Sky-Crusher: Landing with all four feet on top of an opponent, flattening him like a leaf. More battle moves are listed here.


 * In another story, Cloudstar, right now Cloudstorm, comes up with an idea who attack the kittypets who had been stealing their prey. He makes up a battle plan - to use the Sky-drop on the fence. Nightfur deems that it will be the greatest battle in SkyClan's history. It is revealed that Flystar, the Clan leader at the time, was at the Moonstone while Petalfall, the deputy, was back at camp. The SkyClan cats invade the Twolegplace, and Cloudstorm beats off a tabby tom and warns them this is SkyClan territory. Of course, they won, and Cloudstorm tells the kittypets that SkyClan's survival laid in their power, in the strength and swiftness in their paws, the thrust of their hind legs as they leaped higher than any other cat, and not in any dreams of the warriors' past.


 * In The Victorious Clan, Redstar comes into the camp and announces that they've won a battle with SkyClan. The kits ask about the SkyClan cats - such as, "Were the SkyClan cats superbig and scary?" and "Tell us about the battle!". More cats ask about the battle, and it is revealed that they fought over territory that now belongs to ThunderClan.


 * In The Defeated Clan, Cloudstar sadly tells his Clanmate they lost against a battle with ThunderClan - the same one in The Victorious Clan. Cloudstar, regaining confidence, announces to his Clan that they will take back what is rightfully theirs - they will seize back the territory from the ThunderClan thieves. Fawnstep tells Cloudstar that she had a dream - that they were at the Gathering, and other cats were watching them leave. Cloudstar, bewildered, tells her that's absurd, but Fawnstep gently tells him that there was no territory left, and that the Twolegs took it all. Fawnstep finishes off with, "I'm so sorry, Cloudstar. You should have not lost that battle. It is a defeat we cannot survive."

Cats of the Clans

 * The SkyClan cats, Cloudstar and Skywatcher, appear. Rock tells the kits Mosskit, Adderkit, and Blossomkit that he could not believe that SkyClan was driven out of the forest. He had watched with disbelief as each Clan gave their reason that they cannot share their territories. Cloudstar was the leader at the time, and he stayed with them, leading them all the way to the gorge, where they made a new home in the sandy cliffs, he lost everything when he left his home: his home, the borders he had patrolled for so many moons, his faith in StarClan, and worst of all, his mate, Birdflight, and their kits. They had promised each other that they would wait for each other, but it was not until Firestar and Sandstorm rebuilt the scattered Clan that they were able to keep their promise. Rock tells the kits that Skywatcher was the last descendant of SkyClan living in the gorge, when Firestar and Sandstorm survived. The cats around him scorned him for being mad, but his madness became reality when SkyClan arose from the dust.


 * The next SkyClan cats are Leafdapple, Echosong, and Sharpclaw. Rock tells the kits that these were the cats who became the leader, medicine cat, and deputy of SkyClan. Leafdapple was a rogue (it had mistakenly said kittypet) with the SkyClan talent for leaping into trees. She was also wise enough to realize that cats without her bloodline would need to be welcomed to swell the ranks, and strong enough to win their respect.


 * Rock tells the kits that Echosong was pure kittypet, with no hint of SkyClan in her long, fluffy coat and delicate paws. But she was mentioned of dreaming of starry cats, and knew that someday, strange cats would need her help. SkyClan's warrior ancestors had called to Echosong, this and her quick learning when it came to herbs made her the clear choice for medicine cat for this Clan.


 * Sharpclaw had used to be a rogue called Scratch, with the SkyClan ability to jump and the courage of a fully trained Clan leader. Rock tells the cats that he will make a strong leader one day, but he has much to learn from Leafdapple.



Code of the Clans

 * In Dawn of the Clans, Sky is one of the cats who vow to protect their new Clanmates from endless bloodshed and unneeded battles.


 * In Follow my Leader, Beechstar, leader of SkyClan, is dying. He appoints his son, Mothpelt, as leader, and requests him to attack RiverClan. He believes that SkyClan must restore their strength in this conflict, and that RiverClan will not be satisfied with this death. Mothpelt, a brave and reckless warrior, deems to attack, even though the river is swollen twice its usual size. Robinwing, a senior warrior, tries to stop Mothpelt from his rambunctious plan, but half of the Clan had already followed him through the river. Robinwing and Maplewhisker, the SkyClan deputy, work out a plan to save the Clan from drowning. Afterwards, Robinwing convinces Maplewhisker to take over the leadership of SkyClan. Hesitant, yes, but Maplewhisker agrees. Later, Robinwing adds to the Warrior Code: The deputy must succeed the old leader.


 * In Poppycloud's Rule, Poppycloud and her apprentice, Mottlepaw, cross into ThunderClan territory unknowingly. Two SkyClan cats are challenged by the ThunderClan warriors, one of them being Greeneyes, ThunderClan's deputy. Poppycloud and Mottlepaw return to camp and tell Rowanstar of the incident. The next day, Lionstar, Greeneyes, and an unknown warrior come into camp to protest to Rowanstar. Poppycloud suggests that marking and patrolling should be apart of the warrior code. Rowanstar is intrigued by the idea but Lionstar and Greeneyes are dismissive and turn to leave. Rowanstar decides to put Poppycloud's idea to the other Clan leaders at the next Gathering and let them decide. Lionstar leaves, warning the SkyClan leader that if the idea is accepted then he will have to right to attack any SkyClan cat that crosses the border with impunity. It is not stated in the story but Poppycloud's idea is instated as the eleventh law of the Warrior Code.


 * Raincloud, the SkyClan deputy, watches as her old and very frail leader, Darkstar, climbs the Great Rock. Vinestar of ThunderClan announces that they have many more mouth to feeds and that they must expand their territory. To the dismay of SkyClan warriors, Darkstar announces that they will give a sizable chunk of territory to ThunderClan in order to support their new kits. When Raincloud refutes with Darkstar's word, Darkstar also suggests that there should be a new law to the Warrior Code - that the word of the Clan leader is the warrior code. As SkyClan leaves the Gathering, Darkstar warns Raincloud not to challenge him like that again.


 * In Cloudstar Speaks: An Empty Prayer, Cloudstar talks about the gorge - SkyClan's new home, and how much he misses his mate, Birdflight.


 * In The Medicine Cats Decide, Quailfeather, SkyClan's medicine cat, goes to the Moonstone with Swiftfoot, Mossheart, Kinktail, and Prickleface. They visit StarClan as an suggestion to put a stop to endless bloodshed. Instead, Swiftfoot suggests that there shall be a new additon to the Warrior Code - that the medicine cats should meet every half-moon. The others agree, and it becomes apart of the Warrior Code.


 * In Rules that Did Not Become Apart of the Code, Robinstar of SkyClan suggests that the Clan cats eat prey suited for them - fish for RiverClan, birds for SkyClan, rabbits for WindClan, ect. That did not become apart of the law.

In the Warriors App

 * Buzzardstar is mentioned to be telling about the ancient hierarchy on SkyClan. He tells that SkyClan earned their name by how their warriors were the happiest in the trees, hunting birds and eggs. He says that they could jump higher then any other cat, and climb more confidently. SkyClan warriors could launch into battle from the branches of trees, catching warriors by surprise.


 * He says that that SkyClan were driven out many moons ago, when Buzzardstar was deputy. They tried to make a new home by the river source but faced too many enemies to deal with. He states that before long, the Clan had disappeared.

Further Appearances

 * It has been confirmed (by Erin in a Wands and World author chat) that the SkyClan cats will appear in their own special edition, that was released in August. It is titled SkyClan's Destiny, and excerpts have been featured in the backs of Battles of the Clans and Bluestar's Prophecy (paperback version).


 * It has been confirmed on Vicky's facebook page that SkyClan will have their own manga after Ravenpaw's Path. It is titled SkyClan and the Stranger. It is about how Sol finds out about the Clans.

Trivia

 * In Erin Hunter Chat 4, it was mentioned that SkyClan's symbol was a mountain with a half-moon over it. However, in Battles of the Clans, it is changed to a tree instead.