| "Can I be better than Brokenstar and Tigerstar were? I never even wondered until now if their decisions were right. What does that say about me?" |
| — Blackfoot's thoughts in Blackfoot's Reckoning, chapter 9 |
- Below contains in-depth information for chapter nine of Blackfoot's Reckoning. If you are looking for a shorter summary of the entire book, please check the main article.
- Chapter Number: 9 (of 10)
- Page Numbers: N/A
Chapter description[]
- Vision fading, Blackfoot shudders and thinks that he does not want to remember any more. He regrets never questioning his orders, even when he knew that Stonefur would have been a better Clanmate than Darkstripe, despite the fact that he was half-Clan. A part of him wanted to beg Stonefur for his forgiveness, but he thought it would sound hollow after he killed the blue-gray tom without hesitation. Stonefur approaches and asks the white tom if he wants the life. Blackfoot replies yes, and he receives the life of integrity. Once again, he receives visions of his past, of him soughting out strong leaders to follow and watching the deaths he caused. The white tom once again feels sorry for the pain he caused.
- Blackfoot wonders if he could be a better leader than Brokenstar or Tigerstar when he never questioned their decisions until now. The white tom asks StarClan if he is fit to be ShadowClan's leader, as every vision of memories is leaving him even more unsure. Nightstar padded forward from the crowd, and told him that he was honest, and that every leader made choices that they regret. Nightstar also tells the white tom that the important thing is that the tom learns from the past and changes. Then, Blackfoot gets a vision, the past before TigerClan, when he had been a rogue.
- ShadowClan permits Blackfoot and the other rogues because there was sickness in the Clan, and Tigerclaw offered to hunt for them. He enters the camp with a vole, and he thinks that it feels good to be in ShadowClan again, inside the forest again. He meets his brother, Flintfang, who looks very sick, and asks him if he is well enough to patrol. Flintfang replies grimly that every cat in ShadowClan has been sick. Boulder tells Blackfoot and Tigerclaw that no cat escaped the sickness, and if they do not want to risk getting infected, they should turn back. Blackfoot wonders if he will follow Tigerclaw as he promised if Tigerclaw decides to leave, or if he will stay in ShadowClan. He decides that Tigerclaw is now his leader, and he can not turn his back on him. Tigerclaw says that they are not afraid to help, and the white tom decides that the dark brown tabby tom is a cat worth following, and he would have never attacked Bluestar without reason.
- The white tom can see ShadowClan cats severely ill, eyes that shone bright with fever. Rowanberry comes to meet the rogues, and says that she did not expect them to bring them manually here. Tangleburr runs forward and tells Rowanberry that they brought it because they had to know if their Clanmates were well. Then, she asks the cream and brown she-cat to let them stay. Soon, Runningnose, who was the medicine cat that took over the Clan because Nightstar was too ill to lead the Clan came out with Nightstar leaning on him. Nightstar tells Tigerclaw that he was brave to come here. The dark brown tabby replies that he could not let ShadowClan's former Clanmates watch them starve, as his loyalty was now to theirs.
- However, Deerfoot says that these cats left ShadowClan for a reason, and they should think carefully before letting them back in. Runningnose retorts that these cats may have saved them from starvation, and that they are welcome to stay. Blackfoot asks his sister, Fernshade if the sickness came from the rats in the carrionplace. She replies yes, and when rats started dying, it was a sign that something was wrong, and cats have died, too. The white tom spots the deputy, Cinderfur, lying dead. Wolfstep tells the white tom that Nightstar has been too ill to appoint a new deputy. Wolfstep says that it is a relief that Nightstar has nine lives, but Blackfoot doubts that he has nine lives as Brokenstar was alive at that time. After, Russetfur asks the white tom if they are all staying, and he replies that he hopes so.
Characters[]
Major[]
Minor[]
- Stonefur[1](Present)
- Nightstar[1](Flashback and present)
- Tigerstar (TPB)[1](Flashback, later mentioned in present.)
- Flintfang[1](Flashback)
- Boulder[1](Flashback)
- Rowanberry[1](Flashback)
- Tangleburr[1](Flashback)
- Runningnose[1](Flashback)
- Deerfoot[1](Flashback)
- Dawncloud[1](Flashback)
- Fernshade[1](Flashback)
- Wolfstep[1](Flashback)
- Stumpytail[1](Flashback)
- Russetfur[1](Flashback)
Mentioned[]
Trivia[]
- This chapter aligns with chapter four of Tigerclaw's Fury.[2]
Notes and references[]
| Blackfoot's Reckoning chapters | |
|---|---|
| Chapter 1 • Chapter 2 • Chapter 3 • Chapter 4 • Chapter 5 • Chapter 6 • Chapter 7 • Chapter 8 • Chapter 9 • Chapter 10 | |