Frog (Ro)

"I'm sorry about Frog. He's always been greedy. And it's hard being hungry."

— Willow apologizing for Frog's behavior in The First Battle, Bonus Scene, page 12

Frog (Ro)
The pixel artwork is fanart based on the canon description; undefined traits are left to the artist's interpretation.
Affiliations
Last known:	Rogue
Past:	Slash's group Loner
Biographical information
Cause of death:	Spinal injury
Names
Kit:	Frog
Rogue:	Frog
Kin
Mother:	Tansy
Sister:	Willow Tail
Book appearances
Living	The First Battle, Path of Stars
Living	The First Battle, Path of Stars

Frog is a skinny mottled gray tabby tom with an injured spine.

History

In the Dawn of the Clans arc

The First Battle

Frog is a kit living on the moor with his mother, Tansy, and sister, Willow.

He is first heard by Wind demanding that his mother catch him and his sister a rabbit to eat. When Tansy says she cannot move fast enough to catch one, Frog announces he'll catch one for them and runs out from under the gorse bush where his family have nested. Willow calls him back, but Frog refuses, claiming that if he stayed with Tansy, they would starve. Wind shows concern for the kit, thinking that he would be easy prey for a marsh harrier, and calls for him to wait. Frog bushes out his fur, and asks for Wind's identity, which prompts her to introduce herself. Willow tells Frog to run, as Tansy advised them to stay away from the moor cats, but Wind declares that she wouldn't harm him.

Frog then pads toward Wind, claiming that he was right in that he scented rabbit, and Wind watches him sniff her catch. She then nudges him away, and Frog complains that he thought they could have it, only for Wind to correct him that they couldn't have all of it. Willow moves to Frog's side, and apologizes for Frog's behavior, as he was always greedy, and it was hard being hungry. Once Tansy meets Wind, she explains that they were former strays in Twolegplace. Frog and Willow begin to crowd around Wind's rabbit, and Tansy pleads for her to share it, but she declines, and Frog tugs at the rabbit's fur with his teeth.

When a fire starts on the moor, Willow calls for her brother, and Wind pushes her and Tansy back. Frog is seen climbing up the trunk of a holly tree, and lets out a squeal as he reaches the lowest branch, and disappears among the leaves. Wind realizes that if the tree caught fire, Frog would be burned alive. Tansy calls for him to come down, and Frog pokes his head through the leaves, and refuses, claiming that the fire would burn him. Wind adds in that if he didn't come down, it would be too late, as he disappears, climbing higher. Willow makes note of his decision, and when Gorse tells her to not risk her life, Wind refuses, as she had to save Frog.

She begins to scale the tree, and calls for Frog. Wind continues to climb, looking for Frog's pelt, and calls for him again. Gorse tells her to stay still, but again, she replies that she had to get to Frog. He is shown clinging to the very tip of a thin branch that Wind is on, which dips under his weight. Gorse informs her to keep him calm until he got below him, and Wind assures Frog—who is frightened—that they would save him. Lightning then cracks in the sky, making Frog squeal with terror, and she assures Frog again, this time telling him that he would be fine. She reaches a paw toward the trembling Frog, and notes that Gorse was beneath him. Frog looks down as Gorse picks his way along the branch underneath, and he reaches the stretch below Frog.

Gorse then calls Frog's name, reaching his forepaws toward him, and informs him that he would catch him. Wind urges him to let himself drop, but Frog complains that he would fall to the ground. Wind reminds him that Gorse would catch him, but Frog questions her claim, and she replies that he could trust him. Frog cries that he didn't know Gorse, but Wind reminds him that he didn't know her until that day, and Frog then looks at Wind, doubtful. She reminds Frog that Gorse would catch him, and Frog shifts his paws, uncurls his claws from the bark, and with a squeak, lets go. Gorse catches Frog's scruff in his teeth, and wobbles due to the younger cat's weight. Frog squirms beneath Gorse's chin, and demands him to put him down, hanging from Gorse's jaws, but Wind declines.

Wind then suggests for her to land down first, and she would then steady Gorse as he lands with Frog. Once they land, Wind catches Frog between her paws, shielding him from the hard ground. Tansy sniffs Frog, and asks if he was hurt, making him claim that he could have jumped down himself. Tansy then thanks Wind for saving Frog, but the latter informs her to find shelter.

Path of Stars

Frog is one of the cats living in Slash's camp. Thunder and Lightning Tail, watching from the bushes, watch as Slash calls him forward when it is time for the gathered rogues to receive their share of prey. Slash calls Frog's name, and Frog jumps up with both fear and hope in his gaze. Pulling out a fat thrush from the pile, he pushes it towards Frog and asks him if he is hungry. Frog nods, and Slash asks him if he's hungry enough to eat the thrush, and Frog nods again. Tossing the bird back onto the mountain of prey, Slash says that it's a shame Frog didn't bring back more prey from the moor, because he would have been able to eat it otherwise, calling it laziness. Frog's pelt bristles as he declares it wasn't laziness, and Slash growls instead if it was stupidity, and a kit could have brought back the share that he had.

Frog attempts to retort that that isn't true, but before he can finish, Slash slices his nose open, causing Frog to back away with his fur still bristling and blood welling up from his nose. Slash flings a rather squashed wren from the bottom of the pile at him, growling he is lucky to even get that. Frog stares at Slash defiantly for a moment, and Thunder wills him on the inside of his head to defy the tom, but he ends up backing down and taking the miserable prey away to eat, settling down beside Fern. Fern shifts closer to him in order to help him lick the blood from his injured nose.

After Thunder sneaks back to spy on Slash's camp again, the camp is assaulted by several dogs. Frog races past Thunder, nearly unbalancing him, as he bounds away from a huge black dog. Stone leaps out of the reeds to attack it, and Frog rears up and aims a vicious blow at it's snout. Beech falls in beside them, and together the three rogues cats aim their assault at the dog together. Thunder is distracted temporarily, and thinking they're winning, turns towards the black dog again. Stone lies at the edge of the clearing with blood pooling all around him, and Frog keeps attempting to attack the muzzle of the dog, desperation in his gaze. Limping and only able to use three of his legs, the dog locks it's jaws around Frog's flanks with a massive crunch before dropping him and proceeds to drop the cat as it turns on Beech for slicing its nose.

The dogs are driven away, but the cost is high—Beech and Stone are dead. Frog drags himself towards the dead she-cat as her sister Fern stares at her sister's body, asking if she's breathing. He is seen soon after having collapsed, eyes dull with pain.

Slash, Splinter, Beetle, Snake, and Swallow leave the rest of their group, and soon after, the hunting patrol that consisted of Violet, Juniper, Raven, and Willow return to camp. Violet races to Frog, who is lying in the shadow of the camp wall, with blood staining the earth around him, and she asks what happened. Later, Lightning Tail comes back to the camp with Pebble Heart, who surveys the cats, then hurries to Frog. The mottled gray tom is noted to be the only cat who hadn't struggled to his paws, and Pebble Heart drops his cobwebs beside the rogue and begins to sniff his pelt. The young tom runs his paws over Frog's spine and down his legs, and his gaze darkens. Thunder hurries over to Pebble Heart and smells blood, and he asks if it is bad. The gray tom explains that he can clean the wound and stop the bleeding, but that there is a jagged lump in his spine. Thunder asks if it is broken, and Pebble Heart answers that he hopes it isn't, and may just be swollen, but that only time will tell.

When Gray Wing comes to the camp and talks with Thunder about where they could take the cats, Thunder mentions that Frog is badly injured, and admits that he isn't even sure if the rogue can walk. The ginger tom adds that he doesn't know how they will get him over the Thunderpath, but Gray Wing states that they will deal with that when they come to it.

After Gray Wing and Thunder decide to take the rogues to the hollow and Beech and Stone are buried, Gray Wing gathers that rogues in the remains of the camp, and asks if they are well enough to walk to the moor. Willow looks toward Frog, who is still lying at the edge of the clearing, and Pebble Heart crouches beside the injured tom, stating that he will need to be carried. Gray Wing asks Moss, Raven, Juniper, and Lightning Tail to carry Frog, and Moss agrees and pads toward his injured campmate immediately, with Juniper and Raven following. Moss tucks his nose beneath Frog's shoulders, and the mottled gray tom grunts as Raven grasps his scruff. Pebble Heart warns them to be careful, and he says that Frog has injured his spine, and that too much movement might make it worse. Raven tugs Frog onto Moss's shoulders, but the injured rogue screeches with pain, and Pebble Heart exclaims for them to stop. Moss gently moves away and Raven lowers Frog to the ground. Thunder asks Pebble Heart what to do, since they can't leave the rogue there. Willow crouches beside her brother and says his name, reassuring him that he will be okay, and that they won't leave him behind. Pebble Heart murmurs that he needs to lie flat as he is moved, and he decides that they need to find a bark the right size that will curve around his body but be flat enough to support him. The tabby explains that they can use it to drag him to the moor, and Lightning Tail and Moss hurry to find some with him.

Eventually the three cats return into clearing carrying a piece of bark, and Lightning Tail lets it drop beside Frog. Pebble Heart crouches beside the injured tom and explains that they need to move him onto the bark, and that it will hurt, but not for long. Frog grunts that he can bear it, and Willow paces beside the injured tom and asks Pebble Heart to be careful.

Pebble Heart buries his muzzle into Frog's scruff and bites down, and Lightning Tail and Moss nose Frog's hindquarters and lift him onto the piece of bark, while Pebble Heart guides his head. Frog grunts, eyes sparkling with pain, then falls limp as they lay him into the curve of the bark. Thunder tugs one corner of the bark and Juniper takes the other, and together the two cats begin to carry Frog toward the clearing. The rest of the rogues rogues limp behind them, but Gray Wing wonders if they will really be able to drag Frog all the way to the moor.

Once the rogues have made it onto the moor, Willow anxiously asks Frog's name, and she leans over the bark nest, in which the rogue's body is slumped into. The tabby she-cat says that he isn't moving and looks at Pebble Heart, who sniffs Frog's muzzle, and murmurs that he is breathing very weakly. Willow Tail exclaims to do something to help him, horror in her mew, but Pebble Heart says that he can clean wounds and stop them from bleeding, but that Frog's injury is inside and there is nothing he can do. Willow angrily exclaims that they got him so far, and are so near, so that he must make it.

Frog softly grunts and Willow crouches beside him, comforting the tom that to hang on, that they are nearly there, and that he will be okay. Frog's tail slides limply onto the ground, and Willow hops over the bark and tucks it neatly beside him, reassuring Frog that they will take care of him. However, the wounded cat makes no noise, and Willow asks his name and leans into the nest, lapping at his shoulder urgently. She tells him to say something and wake up, and goes on that he must stay awake, as he can sleep when they get to safety. Pebble Heart places a paw on Frog's flank and shock darkens his gaze. Gray Wing looks at Frog and sees stillness beneath Pebble Heart's paw, and notices that the rogue isn't breathing. Willow exclaims Frog's name in panic, but Pebble Heart apologizes that he is dead. Violet steadies Willow as the she-cat begins to tremble and notes that there is so much death, but Thunder says that it will be the last of them. Gray Wing dips his head and meows that there is no point dragging Frog to the hollow. He points out that they should bury the deceased cat there and mark his grave so that he will not be forgotten.

As he speaks, Wind Runner and Gorse Fur come, and Gray Wing tries to convince them to let the rogues come to their camp. Willow asks to at least bury her brother before moving on, as he deserves to rest in peace, and Wind Runner follows the tabby's gaze the the scrap of wet fur curled in the bark. She asks if they dragged him all the way there, and Willow tells her that they thought they could save him. Wind Runner decides that the rogues can stay, and Gray Wing turns to Willow and suggests that they find a sheltered spot to bury Frog.

Trivia

Mistakes

• Despite appearing in Path of Stars, Frog is not listed in the allegiances.

Interesting facts

• Kate confirmed that he is the same cat from the bonus scene of The First Battle.

Character pixels

The pixel artwork is fanart based on the canon description; undefined traits are left to the artist's interpretation. Kit Version Rogue Version Alternative Rogue Version

Kin

Members

Mother

Tansy: Status unknown

Sister

Willow Tail: Deceased, verified StarClan member

Tree

Tansy ♀

Willow Tail ♀

Frog ♂

    = Tom

    = She-cat

    = Gender unknown

Quotes

"If I stay with her, we'll all starve. I'll be back once I've caught something."

―Frog refusing to return to the gorse ^{The First Battle}

Frog: "You said we could have it."

Wind: "Not all of it."

^{The First Battle}

Slash: "What a shame. If you'd brought back more prey from the moor today, I'd have let you have it. But I can't reward laziness.”"

Frog: "It wasn't laziness!"

^{Path of Stars}

"Was the skinny tom going to fight back? He hoped so. But his heart sank as Frog grabbed the wren between his teeth and padded slowly toward a campmate huddled beneath the arching reeds."

―Thunder hoping Frog will confront Slash over his treatment of his cats ^{Path of Stars}