Hollyleaf/Main article

Hollyleaf is a slender, long-legged, black she-cat with soft and long fur. She has green eyes, and a bushy tail.

She is born to Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw, along with her brothers Lionkit and Jaykit. She is named Hollykit for her black pelt, which resembles holly bark. She is shown to be curious and logical as kit. She initially becomes the medicine cat apprentice to Leafpool, taking the name of Hollypaw, because she takes an interest to the path of a medicine cat. During her apprenticeship, she befriends Willowpaw of RiverClan. Hollypaw realizes she is not cut out to be a medicine cat as treating injuries make her squeamish, and is re-apprenticed to Brackenfur on the path of a warrior. She becomes close friends with Cinderpaw. Hollypaw believes strongly in the Warrior Code and follows it very closely. She is disapproving when she discovers her brother Lionpaw meeting Heatherpaw in secret in the tunnels that connect WindClan and ThunderClan.

Hollypaw and her siblings travel to the mountains to help the Tribe of Rushing Water fight off some intruding rogues. After the Clan cats and the Tribe succeed in driving the rogues away, Jaypaw tells Lionpaw and Hollypaw about the Kin of Your Kin prophecy. Hollypaw is stressed about the prophecy and wonders what her powers are, and how they can be used to preserve the warrior code.

Hollypaw is the first cat to see Sol on ThunderClan territory and claims she saw a lion. Nobody believes her, but her littermates help her find the strange cat. Sol tells them that the sun will disappear and they are mesmerized by his foreshadowing abilities. She is later made a warrior alongside Lionpaw and Cinderpaw and is given the name Hollyleaf.

After Sol convinces ShadowClan to stop believing in the warrior code, Hollyleaf helps her siblings, Tigerpaw, Flamepaw, and Dawnpaw create a fake sign from StarClan which later turns into a real sign after StarClan cats appear. ShadowClan begins to believe in the warrior code and StarClan once more.

After a fire starts near ThunderClan camp and Squirrelflight, Hollyleaf, and her siblings are trapped in it, Ashfur blocks the only way out and threatens to kill Squirrelflight's kits to get revenge for her loving Brambleclaw instead of him. Squirrelflight shocks every cat by announcing that Hollyleaf, Lionblaze, and Jayfeather are not her kits. Hollyleaf quickly begins to resent Squirrelflight for keeping this secret from all of them their entire lives.

When it is discovered that her biological parents are Leafpool and Crowfeather, Hollyleaf is distraught because she and her siblings are the result of two cats breaking the warrior code. She is horrified after Ashfur threatens to tell the truth to every cat at the Gathering and murders him at the edge of ThunderClan territory to keep him quiet. Leafpool is the only cat who knows she really killed Ashfur, and Hollyleaf threatens to kill her with deathberries, but backs off. Wracked with guilt and horror, Hollyleaf announces at the Gathering who their real parents are, shocking all of the Clans. Jayfeather and Lionblaze try and talk her down from leaving the Clans once she realizes her mistake. They fail, and she runs into the tunnels which collapse behind her. They force themselves to believe the truth that she may be dead, and they report back to their Clan that she died chasing a squirrel into the tunnels.

Hollyleaf narrowly escapes the tunnels collapsing. She cries for help, but fades out of consciousness. She wakes up to find Fallen Leaves tending to her wounds. Fallen Leaves heals her and offers to show her the way out when her injuries heal. She says no, and she stays with Fallen Leaves in the tunnel in a form of self-exile. She lives underground, and occasionally goes up to the surface to help ThunderClan. She saves Ivypool, Blossomfall when they get lost, and later Cherrypaw and Molepaw. Fallen Leaves tells her that she should return home, and when WindClan starts to plan an attack with Sol, she gives in. She helps Ivypool and Dovewing escape the tunnels when they spy on WindClan, and tells them who she is to get them to trust her. After this, she goes home with them, returning to her Clan.

Hollyleaf's return leaves a lot of mixed feelings in ThunderClan. While her mother, Leafpool and foster mother, Squirrelflight are overjoyed she's alive, her brothers feel hurt they they were lead to believe she was dead for so long. A lot of cats also are wary on her loyalty, especially when she reveals that she was there when Ashfur died. Right before she is about to reveal that she is Ashfur's killer, Brambleclaw stops her and instead tells the Clan that he was there when Ashfur died and that he slipped and hit a rock and Hollyleaf was only defending herself. The Clan comes around to her, and accepts this as the truth.

She prepares ThunderClan for WindClan's surprise attack by teaching them how to fight underground. Her plan succeeds, and they win the battle. During it, she confronts Sol and nearly kills him, but lets him go, saying that the warrior code is still in her heart and she found no reason to kill him. She makes Sol promise he won't come back to the lake again, and he leaves.

During the Great Battle, she sees Ivypool get swarmed by Hawkfrost, Snowtuft and Thistleclaw. Hollyleaf intervenes and drives Hawkfrost away, saving Ivypool but in the process she gets her neck sliced open. Distraught, Ivypool carries her back to camp, where Hollyleaf and Leafpool make amends before Hollyleaf dies. When the Ancients join to help fight the battle, Fallen Leaves mourns for his friend briefly before joining the fight. After the battle, Hollyleaf's spirit is seen rising from her body and following the others that perished during the battle, leaving with StarClan. Her niece, Hollytuft, is named in honor of her.

References and citations
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