Pouncetail (RC)

"The warrior code says that we do not have to kill to achieve victory. Having mercy on your enemy, and sparing him to fight another day, shows the greatest courage of all. Where is the honor in winning four against one?"

— Pouncetail to Blackclaw on why he let Spiderfoot go in Battles of the Clans, page 106

Pouncetail
The pixel artwork is fanart based on the canon description; undefined traits are left to the artist's interpretation.
Affiliations
Last known:	RiverClan
Names
Apprentice:	Pouncepaw
Warrior:	Pouncetail
Elder:	Pouncetail
Education
Mentor:	Reedwhisker
Book appearances
Living	Power of Three, Hollyleaf's Story, Omen of the Stars, Mistystar's Omen, Mothwing's Secret, Dovewing's Silence, Crowfeather's Trial, Bramblestar's Storm, Battles of the Clans
Living	Power of Three, Hollyleaf's Story, Omen of the Stars, Mistystar's Omen, Mothwing's Secret, Dovewing's Silence, Crowfeather's Trial, Bramblestar's Storm, Battles of the Clans

Pouncetail is a ginger-and-white tom with a short tabby tail.

Pouncetail was a RiverClan elder under Leopardstar's and Mistystar's leaderships in the lake territories. As an apprentice, Pouncepaw was mentored by Reedwhisker. After earning his warrior name, Pouncetail fought in the battle against ThunderClan and ShadowClan. Pouncetail retired to the elders' den and helped bury Leopardstar. After the Great Battle, Pouncetail teased Bramblestar that he was lucky to have Squirrelflight to keep him in check.

History

In the Power of Three arc

The Sight

Pouncepaw is a RiverClan apprentice mentored by Reedwhisker. He is introduced by Minnowpaw to Lionpaw, along with Minnowpaw's brother, Pebblepaw. Pouncepaw asks what he thought of the island, and Lionpaw replies that it was great. Minnowpaw offers for them to show them around, but Lionpaw declines the offer.

Pouncepaw takes part in the Daylight Gathering, and Mistyfoot calls that nobody could beat him at catching fish. His reward is the right to choose the first piece of fresh-kill from the pile upon returning to camp. Leopardstar rewards him the right to eat the best fish for his hunting skills.

Dark River

"We wouldn't eat rabbit if we were starving!"

―Pouncepaw trying to defend himself from trespassing ^{Dark River, page 194}

While RiverClan fortifies their camp against Twoleg kits, Pouncepaw and Minnowpaw are seen helping Reedwhisker and Voletooth shift stones to block the stream. When Hollypaw and Willowpaw attempt to go into RiverClan territory, Pouncepaw is seen racing behind his mentor, Reedwhisker, who is at the head of the patrol. Hollypaw soon realizes that Pouncepaw's, as well as the rest of the patrol's eyes are wide with terror, and believes that something is wrong.

After Pip appears, Pouncepaw, along with the patrol, are chased into WindClan territory, and is seen stepping closer to Minnowpaw. After being accused of trespassing onto WindClan territory, Pouncepaw is shown hopping forward, his tail flicking angrily and defends himself by replying that they would not eat rabbit if they were starving. However, the WindClan deputy, Ashfoot, tells them to get off their land, and Pouncepaw turns and pads uneasily with Pebblepaw past the WindClan cats.

Outcast

Pouncepaw earns his warrior name of Pouncetail.

In the Omen of the Stars arc

The Fourth Apprentice

Pouncetail resigns his warrior duties and becomes an elder.

Night Whispers

Pouncetail is seen when Dovepaw uses her powers to reach into RiverClan camp. She hears RiverClan's medicine cat, Mothwing, asking her apprentice, Willowshine, if she had attended to Pouncetail's bedding. When Dovepaw uses her powers, she can hear Hollowpaw being lectured for not getting all of the ticks out of Pouncetail's fur the day prior.

In the Super Editions

Bramblestar's Storm

"You're the leader now. You have to make all the hard decisions. You're lucky to have Squirrelflight to keep you in line!"

―Pouncetail teasing Bramblestar ^{Bramblestar's Storm, page 60}

At a Gathering, Bramblestar chats with Pouncetail, who tells him a long story about catching fish, making Bramblestar consider introducing him to Purdy. As ThunderClan leaves, Pouncetail teases that since Bramblestar was now leader, he had to make difficult decisions, and was lucky to have Squirrelflight to keep him in check.

In the Novellas

Mistystar's Omen

Mistyfoot: "It's perfect. Are you able to dig the hole, or should I fetch some help?"

Pouncetail: "For StarClan's sake, trust us to do this one last duty for our leader! Do you think we’ve lost the use of our legs?"

^{Mistystar's Omen, chapter 2}

Pouncetail basks in the sunlight on a sandy slope with Dapplenose, tails twitching and eyes half-closed. Mistyfoot thinks that they had not missed a single moment of the events that morning. She informs them that they needed to find a place to bury Leopardstar. Dapplenose claims that she knew where to bury her, and Pouncetail gets to his paws more stiffly, stretching out each of his legs in turn. Once they arrive, Mistyfoot asks if they will need any help doing the job. Pouncetail snorts, and asks her to trust them to do one last duty for their leader. He then asks if she thinks that they have lost the use of their legs. Dapplenose tells Mistyfoot to ignore him, calling him a bad-tempered trout, but she agrees that they can manage by themselves.

Soon, they are alone with Leopardstar's corpse, and when Mistyfoot murmurs a prayer to her, Pouncetail rasps that he had not heard that for a long period of time - not since they lived in the forest. Mistyfoot explains that Graypool used to say it to Stonefur and she when they were to go to sleep, and Pouncetail sighs that he missed Stonefur. He then asks if she had much to forgive Leopardstar for, and Mistyfoot replies that she was a good leader for most of her life. When Mistyfoot asks Stonefur once more, all she hears is a muffled snore from Pouncetail, who sleeps beside her.

When Mistyfoot, now known as Mistystar, offers to get Grasspelt to make the apprentices help, Pouncetail grumbles that he would be lucky, and gets out from outside the elders' den. He adds that their bedding was supposed to be changed that day, but there was no sign of any apprentices. Pebblefoot then recalls that he told Rushpaw and Hollowpaw to do so earlier before battle practice. Pouncetail then grunts that he would have to check their hearing.

Hollowpaw then states that they were collecting fresh bedding, and Pouncetail prods the dusty moss with his paw, asking where they were doing it, and if it was from another cat's manky nest. Robinwing states that they could use what he had collected, and they begin to claw out Pouncetail's and Dapplenose's old bedding, and replace it with Robinwing's fresh supply.

Mothwing's Secret

Before the Great Battle, Mothwing spots Pouncetail and Dapplenose looking alert. During the battle, Pouncetail, Dapplenose, and Duskfur face off against a Dark Forest cat. Hawkfrost attempts to attack the nursery and slaughters Dapplenose, and Pouncetail and Duskfur yowl in horror.

In the Field Guides

Battles of the Clans

Pouncetail is seen at a Gathering, and shares a story about the Great Battle, when all the Clans fought on ThunderClan territory. It is noted by Dapplenose that Pouncetail is the only cat who brought honor to the Clans on that day.

Pouncetail and a patrol consisting of Blackclaw, Dawnflower and Reedwhisker invade ThunderClan territory in support of WindClan, planning to set up an ambush in the abandoned Twoleg nest. When they find ShadowClan cats there, Pouncetail and Reedwhisker attack them, and he attacks Whitetail until she flees from him. When the patrol finds Spiderfoot hiding from the battle, they leave him for Pouncetail to deal with. Pouncetail makes him walk up a sloping piece of wood, but does not push him off it. He takes pity on Spiderfoot, and instead tells him to go back to his Clanmates and tell them never to underestimate RiverClan warriors again. Blackclaw is angry that he did not kill Spiderfoot, and Pouncetail reminds him that there would be no honor in doing that, and that the warrior code states that they do not need to kill cats to achieve victory.

Character pixels

Main images

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

Alternate images

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

Appearances

• The Sight (First appearance)
• Dark River
• Outcast (Allegiance only)
• Eclipse (Allegiance only)
• Long Shadows (Allegiance only)
• Sunrise (Allegiance only)
• Hollyleaf's Story (Allegiance only)
• The Fourth Apprentice (Allegiance only)
• Mistystar's Omen
• Fading Echoes (Allegiance only)
• Night Whispers
• Sign of the Moon (Allegiance only)
• The Forgotten Warrior (Allegiance only)
• The Last Hope (Allegiance only)
• Mothwing's Secret
• Dovewing's Silence (Allegiance only)
• Crowfeather's Trial (Allegiance only)
• Bramblestar's Storm
• Battles of the Clans
• The Clans Decide

Trivia

Mistakes

• Pouncetail has been mistakenly described as a brown tabby she-cat.
• In Mistystar's Omen, Pouncetail states that he still misses Stonefur. However, it's highly unlikely that he even knew Stonefur, as the former deputy was killed three years before Pouncetail was introduced as an apprentice in The Sight.
• In Battle of the Clans, Pouncetail insults RiverClan even though he belongs to RiverClan.
• He is mistakenly called Pouncefoot in the allegiances of Bramblestar's Storm and Dovewing's Silence.

Continuity

The following information is from sources considered non-canon, retconned, or from adapted material.

• In The Clans Decide, Pouncetail and Otterheart arrive at the ShadowClan-ThunderClan border heavily injured and thin. Firestar discovers them, and Pouncetail explains that they were attacked for trespassing. He brings them to his camp to recovery, and he calls an emergency Gathering to discuss the shortage of prey during the harsh leaf-bare. Pouncetail and Otterheart reunite with their, and Pouncetail thanks Firestar for saving them. During the vote that would decide who would lead the Clans during the harsh leaf-bare, Pouncetail votes in favor of Firestar to temporarily lead the Clans.

External links

• Stand Together or Fall Divided on the Warriors official website (Indirect mention only) (backup link)