Heathertail

Heathertail is a pale, lithe, light brown tabby she-cat with smoky heather-blue eyes and soft fur.

The Sight

 * Heatherpaw is part of the patrol that finds Jaypaw drowning in the lake on his second day as an apprentice. She is with her mentor, Crowfeather, along with Breezepaw and his mentor, Whitetail. She asks Whitetail if he'd be okay, and Crowfeather tells her he'll be fine.


 * Heatherpaw is later talking to Lionpaw, Jaypaw's brother at a Gathering, and tells him that she has met Jaypaw before. Upon seeing Heatherpaw, Lionpaw stops, thinking she is the prettiest she-cat he has ever seen. She asks Lionpaw if Jaypaw is recovering and he says that he is fine now. Heatherpaw tells Lionpaw that Jaypaw is brave to go out on his own, even though he's blind, and Lionpaw feels a twinge of envy. She tells him she'd be miserable too if she was cramped in camp all day. Heatherpaw tells Lionpaw that she's been an apprentice for a moon and a half. When Lionpaw asks her if she's met Mousepaw, Heatherpaw says she's never met him, and she asks Mousepaw if Russetfur, ShadowClan's deputy, tried to get information out of him, since she tried to with her. Then, she introduces Lionpaw to Breezepaw and tells him that Breezepaw is the newest apprentice, and has been trying to boss around other apprentices since he became an apprentice. Heatherpaw teases Breezepaw by telling him that he'll be a warrior before he knows it, and then he can boss around the apprentices all he wants. She tells Lionpaw that he thinks that he can boss her around because his father, Crowfeather, is her mentor.


 * She takes part in a battle with a dog pack on WindClan territory. She tears her claws through the dog's hind legs to help Lionpaw. Heatherpaw tells Brambleclaw that WindClan couldn't have chased the dogs off without ThunderClan's help, and also says that Lionpaw saved her from one of the dogs. When Breezepaw agrees with Crowfeather that WindClan can fight on their own, Nightcloud scolds him, telling him that if Lionpaw wasn't there, Heatherpaw could've gotten hurt.


 * During the daylight Gathering, she competes with Hollypaw, Lionpaw and Jaypaw's sister, in a mock battle, in which Hollypaw wins. Heatherpaw later wins the climbing contest, and Onestar tells Heatherpaw she may have the fattest rabbit as a reward. From the first minute Lionpaw shows certain feelings of love for Heatherpaw.

Dark River

 * Lionpaw greets Heatherpaw, and she observes that he doesn't seem too happy to see her. She tells him that she had been on her best behavior all moon so she could go to the Gathering. Heatherpaw gets excited when she sees Jaypaw, and exclaims to Lionpaw that he brought his brother this time which makes Lionpaw a bit jealous. This enrages Jaypaw, and he snaps at her that no one had brought him, that he had come with his Clan. Flustered and embarrassed, Heatherpaw apologizes.


 * After a Gathering, Heatherpaw talks Lionpaw into secretly leaving camp to visit her. They meet in secret along their shared border until Hollypaw, Lionpaw's sister, and her friend, Cinderpaw, follow the scent trail and discover them there.


 * Later, Heatherpaw finds a network of underground tunnels that lead from WindClan to ThunderClan. She tells Lionpaw and they resume meeting in secret again. There, they make up a Clan themselves, DarkClan, where Heatherpaw makes herself a leader as "Heatherstar" because she is the one who found the tunnels, and makes Lionpaw her deputy as "Lionclaw."


 * Lionpaw stops meeting with Heatherpaw after a meeting with Tigerstar in his dreams, where the former ShadowClan leader tells Lionpaw that he can't be a good warrior if he keeps meeting Heatherpaw.


 * In their next meeting, he tells her this and she protests, but then storms off with a broken heart, declaring that she hopes being a warrior for Lionpaw is worth it.


 * Later, Heatherpaw enters the underground tunnels and three WindClan kits - Sedgekit, Thistlekit, and Swallowkit, follow her in, and are trapped. Heatherpaw, along with Breezepaw, Lionpaw, and Jaypaw, goes looking for the kits, and they find them. However, the river begins to rise, and soon floods the tunnels. The cats desperately try to find the way out, and are saved by Fallen Leaves, who guides them out. Heatherpaw realizes that she and Lionpaw started the whole trouble of the missing kits, and she understands that they cannot meet with each other anymore. Heatherpaw sadly tells Lionpaw that he would make a good warrior and then goes back to her territory without another word.

Outcast

 * Lionpaw and Heatherpaw no longer meet, and both cats seem to be depressed about this.


 * When Squirrelflight goes to WindClan to ask Crowfeather about the trip to the Tribe of Rushing Water, it is obvious that Crowfeather doesn't really want to go, and argues, because he didn't want to leave and neglect his apprentice, Heatherpaw's training. She's given Whitetail as a temporary mentor so Crowfeather can go to the mountains, and Breezepaw joins them. Heatherpaw shows envy that Breezepaw was chosen, saying she would have given her tail to go.

Eclipse

 * When Lionpaw and Ashfur try to find the WindClan patrol, Hollypaw accidentally finds another entrance to the tunnels, which she tries to hide from Lionpaw so he wouldn't start meeting Heatherpaw again. When Lionpaw finds the tunnels, he thinks to himself that he wouldn't ever meet Heatherpaw again, because he was trying to be a loyal ThunderClan cat.


 * When WindClan attacks ThunderClan, Lionpaw finds Heatherpaw near the border. He yells at her because he thinks she told WindClan about the tunnels and that's why they had attacked. Heatherpaw protests, saying that Sedgekit had been boasting to Weaselfur about them, and that's why the whole Clan knew. Lionpaw doesn't believe her. He almost kills Crowfeather when he gets in his way, trying to get to Heatherpaw, but barely misses his neck and she stops him. Heatherpaw is horrified by what Lionpaw could have done. They separate when the fight starts to form, and Lionpaw tells Heatherpaw she will always be his enemy forever, and that he will never forget. After the sun disappears, Heatherpaw, like all the other cats, is confused and terrified.

Long Shadows

 * She appears in Lionblaze's dream. She is splayed out in the mud, dead, with a gash down her body, from her neck to her tail. Her fur is soaked in blood, her lips are pulled back in a snarl, and her blue eyes stare sightlessly at the sky. When Tigerstar tells him that he fought her well, Lionblaze tells him this wasn't what he wanted for Heathertail. Tigerstar reminds Lionblaze about how she betrayed him, by telling WindClan about the tunnels. Lionblaze tells him that she didn't deserve to die like that, and Tigerstar tells him all traitors deserve to die. After the dream, visions of Heathertail's broken body fill Lionblaze's mind.


 * In Lionblaze's second dream, she appears again, lying dead in a lake filled with blood. Lionblaze gets scared that he'll end up killing Heathertail. He wishes that he could believe Heathertail about the kits telling WindClan about the tunnels, but he can't. He thinks of her as his enemy now because he is completely committed to ThunderClan. Lionblaze will never forgive her, but doesn't want her blood on his paws.


 * She confronts Lionblaze when he is traveling through the tunnels to get catmint. She reveals she is now a warrior, and her new name is Heathertail. She is angry at Lionblaze, but lets him pass back into ThunderClan territory without fighting, stating that she has no quarrel with ThunderClan or sick cats and does not want to see any cat die. She also seems to know how close Lionblaze got to killing her, telling him not to end up a bully like Tigerstar before she leaves the tunnels. Lionblaze appears to still have affection for Heathertail, but he does not act on it out of respect for the warrior code.

Sunrise

 * When Lionblaze, Firestar, Brackenfur, Sorreltail, and Brambleclaw visit WindClan to learn more about the murder of Ashfur, Lionblaze sees Heathertail. All he can see in her eyes is cold contempt. Lionblaze thinks that she could kill him now for a couple of mousetails. Lionblaze is aware of her padding right behind him, her gaze piercing his pelt. Heathertail is seen standing off to one side, fixing her gaze on Lionblaze. She seems to be daring him to strike out so that she could sink her claws into his fur. Breezepelt sits very close to Heathertail and gives Lionblaze a gloating look, as if to say that she was his now. Lionblaze privately thinks that he could have her.

The Fourth Apprentice

 * She now has an apprentice, Furzepaw.

Fading Echoes

 * Heathertail first appears in one of Lionblaze's memories that Jayfeather walks through. He sees Heathertail up on the rock in the cave, where he had seen Rock, looking at Lionblaze affectionately, and saying, "I am the leader of DarkClan!"


 * When Dovepaw and Ivypaw come to the WindClan camp, she wants to go with the patrol to look for more ThunderClan cats. Onestar asks Heathertail and Breezepelt to escort them back to ThunderClan. Breezepelt is very bossy, speaking abusively to the young apprentices. Heathertail finally snaps at him, saying that he wasn't Clan leader. Heathertail tells Ivypaw and Dovepaw that they're bringing them back to ThunderClan camp, and Ivypaw argues, saying that Firestar would kill them. When Ivypaw and Dovepaw ask her how she knows where the ThunderClan camp is, she tells them that she's been there before. She often puts Breezepelt down, and gets angry at him for being too harsh on Dovepaw and Ivypaw. She then tells Lionblaze in the ThunderClan camp that he needs to keep a better eye on his apprentice, with a hint of a cold, scolding expression on her face.

Sign of the Moon

 * Heathertail does not formally appear, but is listed in the Allegiances. She is only mentioned by Lionblaze close to the beginning of the book.

The Forgotten Warrior

 * Heathertail briefly appears on a patrol with Breezepelt, Boulderpaw, and Furzepaw over challenging Ivypool and Birchfall, who were washing their paws in the border stream. They snap at them to leave, and that they were specifically crossing WindClan's border. Breezepelt threatens them to fight, but the skirmish is broken up by a ThunderClan patrol led by Sorreltail.


 * Later, she is among a group of WindClan cats attempting to raid ThunderClan through the tunnels. She openly accuses Jayfeather of murdering Flametail before the battle.

Cats of the Clans

 * In this, Heathertail is referred to by her apprentice name, Heatherpaw. Rock tells the StarClan kits how Heatherpaw found the tunnels and convinced Lionpaw to join "DarkClan" with her. To Lionpaw, she seemed like the bravest, most devoted companion he could wish for. She saw Lionpaw as brave, loyal, and a great companion. Hawkfrost and Tigerstar soon put a stop to Lionpaw meeting with her, but Rock thinks Heatherpaw is not guilty of anything but selfishness as, after all, they didn't do any real harm to their Clans by meeting each other, and luckily they never had to face each other in battle. Rock says that she was brave to enter the tunnels to search for the lost WindClan kits, but then again, maybe they wouldn't have gotten into the tunnels if she hadn't led them there by accident.

Battles of the Clans

 * Heathertail explains the lost art of tunneling, and how the smallest cats were trained to dig tunnels under the moor. She says that some lead into other Clans' territories, giving them access to the Clans', or they can use them as escape routes. Heathertail says that some tunnelers were clumsier on the ground, because they were so used to the blackness of the tunnels. The job for tunneling was keenly fought over, and the training took twice as long as a warrior's training, and that injuries and death were common amongst them.


 * They learned to leave a clear scent trail, to help lead them throughout the caves. They learned that just because the wind would hit them on their muzzles, didn't mean that they are close to the end of the tunnel. It could mean that there was an air shaft in the tunnel, allowing air to flow into it. Even the least experienced tunneler knew to listen for the sound of dripping water, or the river, since rivers are no places for WindClan cats, above ground or below ground. They learned to recognize the smell of underground animals, to not hunt them, but to stay away from them. After several moons of tunneling, the tunnelers were able to picture their route above ground, which was one of the skills that was highly prized among the Clan, and even other Clans.


 * Heathertail says that when they first arrived in WindClan's new territory, the senior warriors said that there were no tunnels under the ground, so every cat must be trained to fight above ground.


 * She also claims that Jayfeather, Hollyleaf, Lionblaze and Breezepelt are the only ones who know about the underground tunnels.


 * She says that she shouldn't have explored underground with Lionblaze, but she was in love with him, so she risked everything to be with him. She says that her discovery nearly brought them to StarClan, and the games that they played ended up breaking their hearts.

Trivia

 * In a chat with Erin Hunter, it was revealed that Heathertail is still in love with Lionblaze and does not have any romantic feelings for Breezepelt, but that their relationship is more complex than just friends.
 * It was later revealed in the 7th Erin Hunter Chat that Heathertail no longer loves Lionblaze.
 * Heathertail was once mistakenly described as a gray she-cat.
 * Heathertail was instead shown as a dark orange cat in Cats of the Clans and on the cover of Dark River.