Squirrelflight's Hope/Chapter 12

"I'm sorry, Squirrelflight, I know I've fought you on this. But perhaps you're right. There's no other way to solve the dispute fairly."

— Bramblestar to Squirrelflight in Squirrelflight's Hope, page 181

Squirrelflight's Hope
Chapter number:	12 (of 30)
Page numbers:	173-189
Point of View:	Squirrelflight
Chronology

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

Chapter Number: 12 (of 30)

Page Numbers: 173-189

Chapter description

Ever since Squirrelflight and Bramblestar's argument, the ThunderClan deputy has volunteered for every possible patrol, wanting to keep herself busy. Twigbranch scents a squirrel, but the scent is stale. Twigbranch thinks that the animals are getting ready for leaf-bare. Squirrelflight suggests checking the moorland for prey, as their hunt in the forest was not successful. While Ivypool does not see the point, they follow Squirrelflight and head to their stretch of the moor. While there, they run into Breezepelt and his patrol consisting of Nightcloud, Hootwhisker, and Sedgewhisker. They get into a brief argument over prey, due to neither Clan fully accepting the fact that the borders have switched places. Squirrelflight reminds Breezepelt that the leaders have agreed to these borders, she tells the WindClan cat that she will be discussing this incident with Bramblestar when they return to camp. She says that without borders, there can be no unity between Clans. She gazes at Breezepelt until the black tom decides to stand down and take his group back to the higher parts of the moorland.

Upon returning to ThunderClan's camp, Squirrelflight seeks out Bramblestar, and the leader sees the uneasy feeling in Squirrelflight's gaze. He asks what happened, and when Finleap replies that WindClan is refusing to honor the borders, Bramblestar says that he will be discussing this incident with Harestar. He decides to leave immediately and asks Squirrelflight to accompany him to WindClan's camp. When asked what Bramblestar plans on doing, he mews that he will not be giving the stretch of moorland back and that he will not let ThunderClan go hungry. Ivypool is not satisfied with Bramblestar's answer, and beckons Twigbranch and Finleap to join her elsewhere. She mutters a cheeky line about feeding rogues and not keeping land as she walks away. Squirrelflight tells Bramblestar that other cats will not be happy either, including Birchfall, Thornclaw, and Blossomfall.

Bramblestar and Squirrelflight soon depart for WindClan's territory. On the journey there, the pair of cats discuss the Sisters and the issue with SkyClan's territory and new home. Bramblestar apologizes to Squirrelflight, admitting that she is right, and they may not be able to solve this dispute fairly. The dark brown tabby says that he believes that once the Sisters have left, SkyClan should move to their territory. However, he states that this must be SkyClan's choice and SkyClan's alone, and they should not be pressured into moving by other Clans. When asked why he would not let Tigerstar attack Moonlight and the Sisters, Bramblestar says that there is no need for war without even knowing if SkyClan wants the territory to begin with.

The leader and deputy pair soon arrive at the border between ThunderClan and WindClan, and they wait for a patrol. Soon, Slightfoot, Larkwing, and Oatclaw come across their path, and Bramblestar asks if they may travel to WindClan's camp to speak with Harestar. Not looking surprised by this, Slightfoot leads Bramblestar and Squirrelflight to their camp, and they soon find themselves surrounded by WindClan cats. Harestar emerges from his den, and he is soon joined by WindClan's deputy, Crowfeather. Bramblestar tries to convince Harestar that they only need to wait until leaf-bare, and then they can discuss borders again, due to the Sisters likely being long gone by then. Harestar retorts that if ThunderClan has enough prey, WindClan should be able to take their moorland back. Bramblestar concedes and allows WindClan to hunt on the moorland.

Oatclaw, upon hearing this, wants to know what Tigerstar would think of this arrangement. Squirrelflight looks at Oatclaw and says that this talk has nothing to do with Tigerstar and no one should care what he thinks. Bramblestar, however, agrees with Oatclaw and even goes on to say that RiverClan would likely take advantage of this agreement and try to go after the land they had to surrender to ShadowClan. Squirrelflight worries that this could start a war with the Clans, despite knowing StarClan wants peace. She also says that Tigerstar would likely go after the Sisters and try and give that land to SkyClan. Both Harestar and Bramblestar agree to keep this conversation between ThunderClan and WindClan, and Bramblestar tells Squirrelflight that peace depends on this agreement not getting out. Squirrelflight hopes that this will give the Sisters enough time to leave before Tigerstar decides to go after them.

Characters

Major

• Squirrelflight
• Bramblestar

Minor

• Ivypool
• Twigbranch
• Finleap
• Breezepelt
• Hootwhisker
• Nightcloud
• Sedgewhisker
• Slightfoot
• Larkwing
• Oatclaw
• Featherpelt
• Gorsetail
• Kestrelflight
• Harestar
• Crowfeather

Mentioned

• Tigerstar
• Jayfeather
• Alderheart
• Sparkpelt
• Thornclaw
• Birchfall
• Blossomfall
• Leafstar
• Moonlight
• Hollyleaf

Important events

• ThunderClan agrees to letting WindClan hunt on their land. Bramblestar and Harestar opt to keep this a secret between the two Clans.

Errors

• In the audiobook version, Thornclaw is mistakenly referred to as “Thornclan” by the narrator. This mistake is not present in the text.