Squirrelflight's Hope/Chapter 1

Below contains in-depth information for chapter one of Squirrelflight's Hope. If you are looking for a shorter summary of the entire book, please check the main article.

Chapter Number: 1 (of 30)

Page Numbers: 5-26

Chapter description

Squirrelflight and a border patrol consisting of Eaglewing, Plumstone, and Bumblestripe are walking toward the new ThunderClan border. Eaglewing warns the other cats to be on guard, which reminds Squirrelflight about how Eaglewing’s former mentor, Ambermoon, had been killed by an owl recently. At the border, the ThunderClan deputy notices that the new border has not been marked, then asks the patrol why no one has marked it. Plumstone says Thornclaw had told her not to. Squirrelflight retorts that ThunderClan cats hunt on ThunderClan land as she begins to mark the new border. She reminds herself to tell Bramblestar that they should be marking the new border more often.

Later that day, Bramblestar and Squirrelflight head to a meeting between the leader and deputy of each Clan that Harestar had called. The ThunderClan cats reminisce about sneaking off when they were young. Squirrelflight asks her mate if they can pretend they are sneaking off again. He replies with a sigh they can’t because they can’t be late to the meeting and their Clanmates will be waiting on them to return.

The ThunderClan cats are followed by Mistystar and Reedwhisker to join the other three Clans at the meeting. Harestar starts the meeting by stating he knows StarClan wants SkyClan by the lake, but the new borders mean all the other Clans have land they can’t use. Leafstar angrily replies that he will be going against the will of StarClan if he wants SkyClan to leave. The WindClan leader calmly explains how land is being wasted when no Clan can afford to waste it.

Squirrelflight proposes an idea for the SkyClan cats to move to the land beyond the abandoned Twolegplace. Hawkwing points out they wouldn’t have access to the lake there, and Leafstar adds they wouldn’t be able to collect toherbs that only grow by the lakeshore. The ThunderClan deputy suggests they keep a small strip of land that will lead to the lake. Hawkwing retorts that the land could be infested with foxes or Twolegs. When Tigerstar, Harestar, and Mistystar all agree on Squirrelflight’s plan without SkyClan, Leafstar tells Hawkwing they are only wasting their breath at the meeting, and they leave.

After the meeting, Bramblestar scolds Squirrelflight for suggesting her idea that might end up causing the deaths of SkyClan cats if the land is infested with predators. She reminds him the Clans will be having more kits after leaf-bare, so they need the extra land. When Bramblestar asks her if all she thinks about is kits, she explains she only wants one more litter before she is too old to have more. The ThunderClan leader says he does want kits, just not as much as she does. He comments he is getting old too, causing Squirrelflight to point out he has more lives than her. She stops when she imagines Bramblestar outliving her and then having kits with another she-cat.

She pushes the thought away as Bramblestar tells her ThunderClan has to look united in front of the Clans, and not disagree with each other in front of the other leaders. Squirrelflight sympathetically asks if he really doesn’t want kits. He explains he is sorry and he will if that is what she wants. Squirrelflight is dejected because she wants him to want kits, not just to go off of what she wants. The two cats pad back to camp in silence.

In camp, Larksong, Birchfall, and Lionblaze gather around Bramblestar to hear how the meeting went. Squirrelflight thinks back to how Bramblestar could outlive her, so her dream of becoming leader might never come true. Pulled down by sadness, she thinks she’d only be remembered as Bramblestar's mate. Feeling too heartbroken to sleep beside Bramblestar, she heads to her old nest in the warrior's den.

Characters

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Notes and references