The Clans Decide

The Clans Decide is a short story that depicts Firestar and what would happen if he became the leader of the Clans for a short time. It takes place sometime between Long Shadows and The Fourth Apprentice during leaf-bare.

Summary

 * The story begins with Firestar finding two injured RiverClan warriors, Pouncetail and Otterheart, on the ThunderClan-ShadowClan border, barely alive, being chased by a ShadowClan patrol for trespassing on their territory. Firestar takes them to the ThunderClan camp, where they are treated by Leafpool.


 * He calls a daylight Gathering, and asks the Clans to share the leftovers from their fresh-kill piles. He is challenged by many cats, including Tornear, who says "If we can catch prey by crossing borders, then that's what we'll do. It's not our problem if you can't protect your territory."


 * Firestar decides to leave, when Mosspelt comes to him and tells him to come back. Firestar hesitantly comes back and sees Blackclaw and Tornear fighting. He interrupts, and just then Otterheart notices the stars and tells the Clans that StarClan have come and that they approve of this Gathering. The cats start arguing again, when Jayfeather interrupts, saying that they could have a vote and each cat could decide their own future. He explains that each cat has a chance to put a stone in a pile. One pile for cats who support Firestar, and one pile for cats who support being led by individual leaders. He puts a stick on the ground and tells them that cats supporting Firestar may put their stones on one side of the stick, and the cats supporting individual leaders on the other side. Blackstar starts the voting, voting for individual leaders, and the rest of ShadowClan does the same, until Rowanclaw reaches the stick. He votes for Firestar, and Snowbird and Tawnypelt do the same.


 * From RiverClan, Mistyfoot, Otterheart, Mosspelt, and Pouncetail vote unsurprisingly for Firestar, while other unexpected supporters are Mintfur and Reedwhisker, who tells Firestar that he had saved his life, back in the flood, and he believed Firestar could do it again. Leopardstar sadly puts her stone on the other side of the pile, asking her Clan if they had thanked her like this for all the moons she had been their leader, to which Mistyfoot exclaims that she has done nothing wrong, but the rest of RiverClan want peace, to give them a chance to recover. Leopardstar replies that they would have to prove that they could be loyal to two leaders.


 * From WindClan, Onestar votes for Firestar, saying that if Firestar could show them a way to survive without prey stealing, he would listen for the sake of old times. Tornear, Nightcloud, and Ashfoot vote for individual leaders, Ashfoot saying that she has faith in Onestar to lead them through the harsh leaf-bare.


 * From ThunderClan, Sandstorm, Squirrelflight, and Brambleclaw vote for Firestar, and Dustpelt, Thornclaw, Cloudtail, and Brightheart vote for individual leaders, with Dustpelt saying, "You are this Clan's leader, and no other's".


 * Jayfeather, Barkface, Littlecloud, and Mothwing lay out the stones in two lines, and Firestar's line stretches just longer. He thanks them, and tells the cats that they will meet at every quarter moon to share leftover prey, and if they didn't take exactly what they needed, or if they saved the leftover fresh kill for their own Clanmates, StarClan would be their judge, and when the first green bud would appear on the ThunderClan trees, the Clans would have four leaders again.

Trivia

 * Jayfeather suggests that they decide using stones. This could be a reference to his time spent as Jay's Wing in Long Shadows when he went back in time to that of the Ancients.