Oakstep

"What? Has even StarClan given up on us? I remember when Cloudstar led us away from the forest. He said we should never look to the spirits of our warrior ancestors again, and he was right. We should never have listened to StarClan. They have done nothing for us!"

— Oakstep doubting StarClan in SkyClan's Destiny, page 8

Oakstep
The pixel artwork is fanart based on the canon description; undefined traits are left to the artist's interpretation.
Affiliations
Current:	StarClan
Past:	Loner SkyClan SkyClan ancestor
Names
Apprentice:	Oakpaw
Elder:	Oakstep
Loner:	Oakstep
SkyClan ancestor:	Unknown
StarClan resident:	Unknown
Education
Mentors:	Mousefang, Nightfur
Book appearances
Living	Cloudstar's Journey, Firestar's Quest, SkyClan's Destiny
Living	Cloudstar's Journey, Firestar's Quest, SkyClan's Destiny
Dead	Shattered Sky
Dead	Shattered Sky

Oakstep is a gray tabby tom.

Oakstep was an ancient SkyClan elder. As an apprentice, Oakpaw was mentored by Mousefang and Nightfur, and served under Cloudstar's leadership in the forest territories. After SkyClan's exile, Oakstep served as an elder under Spiderstar's leadership in the gorge. He was shocked when Fallensnow and Sunpelt died after the final battle against the rats, and came to the conclusion that StarClan had given up on SkyClan. He stayed behind in the gorge after the Clan disbanded with a few other cats, and later died and went to StarClan.

History

In the A Vision of Shadows arc

Shattered Sky

Upon SkyClan's return with the other Clans in the lake territories, Alderheart and the other medicine cats happily bear witness to SkyClan's ancestors rejoining their ancestors in StarClan.

In the Super Editions

Firestar's Quest

Oakpaw is an ancient SkyClan apprentice when SkyClan is driven out of the forest because of Twolegs. He is called to join a hunting patrol, and he is joined by his mentor, Mousefang.

SkyClan's Destiny

"But if you had brought them back we could have buried them! Where is the honor in leaving them to be picked over by the rats? Sunpelt and Fallensnow should never be crow-food!"

―Oakstep about the bodies of his Clanmates ^{SkyClan's Destiny, page 3}

Oakstep is now an elder of ancient SkyClan, and sees the fall of SkyClan due to malnutrition and a deadly rat attack. When the battle patrol against the rats comes back to camp, he is shocked when he hears about the deaths of Sunpelt and Fallensnow, and asks where the bodies are. When Swallowflight tells him they could not bring them back, he protests, saying it was wrong to leave them behind.

Oakstep hobbles away, grief-stricken, to go retrieve the bodies himself, but Spiderstar stops him. The Clan leader does not want Oakstep to risk his life to save the bodies of their fallen Clanmates, but Oakstep refuses to give up. The gray tabby elder is horrified when Spiderstar says StarClan has given up on SkyClan, not wanting to believe that their ancestors would abandon them. Spiderstar decides that Cloudstar was right when he told them to never look to StarClan again. Oakstep decides to stay behind with the other two elders, Nightfur and Mousefang, and they are joined by Spiderstar and the Clan's medicine cat, Brackenheart.

In the Novellas

Cloudstar's Journey

"Oakpaw was lucky to get off so lightly. He could have broken his neck!"

―Buzzardtail about Oakpaw ^{Cloudstar's Journey, chapter 7}

After the tree falls, Oakpaw and his mentor, Nightfur, ask if they should prepare to leave the forest. During Petalfall's vigil, Nightfur and Oakpaw return from hunting with Mousefang before them, yowling for Fawnstep, the medicine cat. Nightfur is guiding Oakpaw, who is unsteady on his paws, and is obviously hurt, wincing with nearly every step. Cloudstar demands to know what happened, and Nightfur explains that Oakpaw was chasing a squirrel but he chased it where the Twolegs were working and fell into one of their ditches they dug. Fawnstep examines him quickly and comments that he is lucky, and leads him into the medicine den. Buzzardtail growls that Fawnstep is right; he was lucky he did not break his neck, and Cloudstar announces that no cat should hunt over there from now on.

Character pixels

The pixel artwork is fanart based on the canon description; undefined traits are left to the artist's interpretation. Apprentice Version Elder Version Loner Version StarClan Version

Appearances

• Cloudstar's Journey
• Firestar's Quest (First appearance) (Flashback only)
• SkyClan's Destiny
• Shattered Sky (Indirect mention only)