The Great Battle (PoT)

"We dare because we are true warriors. This battle has been too long coming. ThunderClan must learn that they are not the most important Clan in the forest. You watch the suffering of others, waiting to be begged for help like you belong to StarClan. We will not beg. We are warriors! We will fight for the prey and the territory we need to survive."

— Onestar to Firestar on the reason he is starting the battle in Eclipse, page 176-177

Battle for ThunderClan
General information
Book:	Eclipse
Place:	ThunderClan's camp
Outcome:	Narrow ThunderClan and ShadowClan victory
Combatants
ThunderClan ShadowClan
WindClan RiverClan
Commanders
Firestar Blackstar Russetfur
Onestar Leopardstar
Strength
Hollypaw to ShadowClan Russetfur's patrol to ThunderClan
Reedwhisker's patrol to ShadowClan Leopardstar's patrol to ThunderClan
Death and losses
None
None

The Battle for ThunderClan took place in Eclipse, when the alliance of WindClan and several RiverClan cats attack ThunderClan in their own territory.

Description

Premise

Onestar believes that Firestar has been too friendly to strangers instead of concerning about his Clan, and many cats believed that ThunderClan have been treating WindClan unfairly over their recent border dispute. WindClan discovers the tunnels linking between ThunderClan and WindClan and Onestar recognizes it as a tactic to attack ThunderClan deep inside their own territory. He orders his warriors to train underground, honing their fighting techniques to the cramped spaces. Leading the patrol, Onestar takes his warriors into battle.

Overview

WindClan attacks ThunderClan camp, before suddenly fleeing. A patrol sent out to make sure they leave discover the WindClan battle patrol has split into three groups and travelled in different directions in ThunderClan territory. Firestar sends a battle patrol for each group, and a patrol to guard the camp. Hollypaw is sent to ShadowClan to ask for help and Blackstar agrees to fight for ThunderClan. RiverClan also joins the battle and fights for WindClan. The rages on until a black disc falls in front of the sun and blocks out its light, (an eclipse). Every cat panics with ThunderClan fleeing back to their camp and the other Clans running back to their territories.

Summary

Before the battle

A stranger named Sol arrives at the Clans and tells about the sun disappearing but that is at first seen as nonsense. Meanwhile, tensions between the Clans have been rising and many cats outside ThunderClan start believing that ThunderClan is too cocky and stubborn for their own good. Onestar devises a plan to attack ThunderClan and teach Firestar a lesson. Using the tunnels he learned from Sedgekit, he uses the pathways to sneak in and out ThunderClan and prepare for the battle, training his warriors to get used to the darkness of the underground. During a dark night, Onestar leads his Clan into ThunderClan camp, of which is unguarded and they sneak around, ready to attack.

The battle begins

Lionpaw realizes that ThunderClan camp is being invaded, yowls to attack and slams into a WindClan warrior before more warriors come at him. The apprentice wriggles out of the crowd as ThunderClan warriors charge into the battle. Hollypaw asks why they are attacking, but Lionpaw only orders the apprentices to circle the clearing and pick off outsiders. The golden-brown tom ducks under a WindClan warrior’s attack and they wrestle. Lionpaw almost bites at the tom’s throat, but adjusts his aim in time to snap at the ear. He hisses at the WindClan cat to get out of his camp, thinking he will kill him otherwise. This WindClan warrior wriggles free but only disappears into the throng of fighting cats.

Lionpaw watches the scene, seeing his Clanmates struggling against the surprise attack. Cloudtail shoulders his way through the crowd as Whitewing and Icepaw defend the elders’ den. Brightheart fights a WindClan tom and is helped by Graystripe who tosses him away. He then orders Brightheart to get into the nursery. The she-cat obeys with Graystripe guarding the entrance. Ashfur calls from the elders’ den to Lionpaw, stating they have to get Longtail and Mousefur on the highledge. He’ll help Whitewing and Icepaw fight off the WindClan forces while Lionpaw helps the elders’ reach safety. Lionpaw glances at Icepaw who is furiously battering an opponent. Ashfur snaps Lionpaw back to focus and the tom urges the elders’ to leave. Mousefur states they should be fighting but Lionpaw says they might need to but not now. It will be easier to chase away WindClan when they don’t have to worry about two elders. With ThunderClan cats pushing back WindClan’s ranks, the ThunderClan apprentice guides the elders towards the highledge, protecting them from any harm. Mousefur is slow and staggering as Longtail starts up the rocks to the highledge.

Firestar yowls from the top of highledge to stop, his furious call and gaze halting the battle. With everyone’s attention, the ThunderClan leader asks how dare they and Onestar steps forward as head of the attack patrol. Lionpaw realizes that this was not a raiding party, but war. Onestar declares his Clan dares because they are true warriors and this battle has been long overdue. The leader states ThunderClan has to learn they are not the most important Clan in the forest. He accuses Firestar of watching others suffer and waiting for them to beg for help as if he is a StarClan cat. Onestar lashes his tail, growling they will not beg as they are warriors. They will fight for their prey and territory they need to survive. Firestar’s outraged eyes widens as he asks if he just decided to invade his camp then. Onestar hisses he wanted to make sure he gets the message. He says that Firestar thinks being a warrior is helping mountain cats and taking in strays but he and he believes it’s taking care of his Clan. Lionpaw thinks that is unfair as he questions where any Clan would be without Firestar, forcibly stopping himself from attacking the WindClan leader. Firestar jumps off the highledge to face Onestar, stating if he wants a battle, he has one.

Onestar flicks his tail and Lionpaw is ready for the battle to begin again but the WindClan cats suddenly turn away and flee the camp. This is questioned so Firestar sends a patrol to make sure WindClan leaves and Lionpaw is part of this patrol. The patrol discovers the WindClan attack patrol split into three groups, one heading to the old Thunderpath, one towards the lake and the last deeper into the woods, not one leaving ThunderClan territory. They report this to Firestar who splits the Clan into three battle patrols: one stays at camp while the others face WindClan’s patrols. Firestar’s patrol discover the WindClan cats used underground tunnels to reach ThunderClan territory without crossing the border, and have been doing it for some time. Lionpaw spots Nightcloud and is about to raise the alarm but is barrelled over by Harespring and the WindClan patrol attacks.

The true battle

Meanwhile, Brambleclaw’s patrol is ambushed by the other WindClan patrol at the Twoleg nest. Brambleclaw orders his patrol to spread out but Hollypaw doesn’t know where since she cannot see the deputy’s tail signal. She freezes as Weaselfur and Emberfoot barrel towards her and knocks her over. Suddenly remembering her training, she lashes back and scratches Weaselfur’s shoulder. Mousewhisker, who has an injured eye, attacks Emberfoot as Hollypaw again swipes at Emberfoot. She has to jump out of the way of Brackenfur and Tornear, who are rolling and wrestling. Emberfoot takes this chance and takes down Hollypaw and goes to snap down at the apprentice. She dodges, kicking out her hind legs and sending the WindClan warrior flying backwards. Hollypaw gets up to bite his hind legs and with Brackenfur’s help, bites and slams the tom until he flees.

Hollypaw scans the battle, seeing Thornclaw facing two opponents at once and Cloudtail’s white fur glowing, revealing to WindClan exactly where he is. Mousewhisker suddenly shrieks beside the apprentice, having being pinned onto the ground by Emberfoot. Brackenfur tells Hollypaw he’ll help Mousewhisker, she needs to help Cloudtail. Hollypaw goes to but Brambleclaw beats her to it, dragging two warriors from Cloudtail and flinging them away. He looks to Hollypaw, stating they are outnumbered and she has to get help from Blackstar. Hollypaw questions how she can ask on behalf of her Clan but Brambleclaw insists she must go as Blackstar would rather ThunderClan on his border than WindClan currently. The two WindClan warriors Brambleclaw threw before have recovered and are leaping back into battle. With a last order to go, Hollypaw rushes to ShadowClan, managing to run into a patrol. With Tawnypelt’s help, Hollypaw persuades Blackstar to help ThunderClan and ShadowClan rushes into battle.

RiverClan and ShadowClan

Jaypaw is allowed out of camp to help any injured warriors as due to his blindness, he is used to the darkness of the night. While trying to find the battle happening beside the lake, he runs in two RiverClan cats facing Honeyfern and Sorreltail. As one of the RiverClan tom’s get closer, Jaypaw attacks one of the RiverClan cats and catches him by surprise. Honeyfern and Sorreltail retaliate and send their opponents running. Honeyfern chases after them to make sure they leave and Sorreltail tries to join but she sprains her paw. Jaypaw treats her and wants to take her back to camp but Sorreltail insists she must fight. She informs Jaypaw that more RiverClan warriors are also present and are helping WindClan. Sorreltail tries to get up but cannot walk properly so Jaypaw guides her back to camp. He reports to Graystripe that RiverClan is helping WindClan and will try to find how far into the territory they got. Graystripe asks him to try to tell Firestar about RiverClan but warns to not take risks.

Jaypaw goes out again and discovers a RiverClan patrol consisting of Reedwhisker, Mosspelt and two other RiverClan cats heading for Firestar’s patrol. He rushes to the patrol and finds Lionpaw and warns him of the incoming attack. Lionpaw rushes to meet them, despite Jaypaw’s protests. Firestar bumps into the medicine cat apprentice and is informed by him about RiverClan. The ThunderClan leader orders Jaypaw to let Brambleclaw know, stating they are outnumbered and might have to retreat to the hollow. Jaypaw knows this means WindClan will control their territory and it will become the fight for their lives. Jaypaw wants to tell his leader everything will be okay but he has jumped back into battle. Noting dawn must be coming; Jaypaw rushes to find Brambleclaw’s patrol, only to discover he is too late. Hollypaw finds Jaypaw and the gray tom notes she is exhausted, wishing he brought travelling herbs to give her strength. Jaypaw informs her why he came but Hollypaw states obviously that they know RiverClan has joined the battle.

Suddenly, Hollypaw pushes Jaypaw back to protect him against an approaching RiverClan warrior. Jaypaw notes that Hollypaw is exhausted and the RiverClan cat is rested and well. He tenses to help but senses ShadowClan and briefly wonders if they are also fighting against ThunderClan. He bumps into Tawnypelt who informs him ShadowClan is helping ThunderClan. Jaypaw asks for help for Hollypaw and Tawnypelt says Snaketail and Scorchpaw will help. Jaypaw tells Tawnypelt about how Firestar’s patrol is outnumbered and the ShadowClan warrior promises to send help. Mousewhisker is sent back with Jaypaw for his injured eye despite his protests. Jaypaw is disorientated with the multiple sounds of battle and notes all four Clans are fighting and StarClan has said nothing.

At the Twoleg nest

Around this time, Blackclaw leads his RiverClan Clanmates on ThunderClan territory as he has visited before. He takes them to the abandoned Twoleg nest so they have height advantage and a place for a surprise attack at the old Thunderpath. Pouncetail, Reedwhisker and Dawnflower are with Blackclaw and struggle through the forest, not familiar with the prickly bushes. Reedwhisker is nervous as there are ShadowClan scents in the air and Dawnflower suggests they could be using the Twoleg nest for the same reasons they want to capture it. Blackclaw declares they’ll attack and take it then. He sends Pouncetail and Reedwhisker around back so he and Dawnflower could take the front. Pouncetail hears voices of cats coming from inside the Twoleg nest and gives the signal to attack. A ShadowClan warrior jumps onto her back as she enters the den, but she sends the warrior flying. Pouncetail faces a cat named Whitetail and waits before dodging her attack. He flicks her face and Blackclaw bites her flank so the warrior flees. Reedwhisker wrestles with Snaketail and manages to bang the ShadowClan warrior’s head against a stone and pin him down.

Blackclaw and Pouncetail back Antpelt into a gap in the wall and was hard to see but he gave himself away, squealing when something, probably a rat scrambles in the corner. The RiverClan warriors thump on Antpelt’s ears until he flees. The RiverClan cats capture the Twoleg nest and find one ShadowClan warrior hiding in a corner of the nest named Spiderfoot. They want to hurt Spiderfoot, but instead Pouncetail sends him to on top of the Twoleg nest as if he is going to push him off the great height. The tom however shows mercy and sends Spiderfoot away. He states the warrior code says to show mercy and says one battle is won but the war isn’t over yet.

The final fight

Lionpaw fights off three RiverClan warriors and lunges at the last one, Mosspelt. He notes he met her at Gatherings, but now is not a Gathering and she will regret coming here. Lionpaw corners Mosspelt, ready to attack the frightened warrior but Firestar calls, distracting Lionpaw. Mosspelt escapes and flees, much to Lionpaw’s disappointment. Firestar tells him the she-cat knew she was beaten and states WindClan has been driven back over the border. The patrol heads back to camp to heal the wounded and meets up with Jaypaw who is taking Mousewhisker back. He informs them about the help sent from Blackstar and they head back to camp.

When they leave, they run into another WindClan patrol and this time manages to surprise them. Lionpaw leads the way despite Firestar’s call to come back. Ashfur knocks over a brown tabby warrior and Firestar lunges onto a black tom. Lionpaw runs into Heatherpaw of whom he was once friends with and used to play together in the tunnels. Lionpaw attacks her, pinning her down and accusing her of telling WindClan about the tunnels. Heatherpaw insists it wasn’t her, Sedgekit boasted to Weaselfur about the tunnels he found. He rushes away and bumps into Crowfeather who is blocking him. Not getting out of the way, Lionpaw attacks Crowfeather and violently tears at him. Heatherpaw drags him off and Lionpaw stops after seeing her horror. He has severely injured Crowfeather but the WindClan warrior insists he is okay. Lionpaw is ashamed as he would have killed Crowfeather if Heatherpaw didn’t stop him and he wonders what he has become.

Quite suddenly, a black disc slips in front of the sun and the whole forest turns silent. Just as Sol predicted, the sun disappears and all Clans flee back to their territories in a panic, ending the battle.

After the battle

ThunderClan retreat back to their camp and the other three Clans retreat back to their territories. The sun returns, but it leaves the Clans terrified and shaken. Most cats believe StarClan blocked the sun to stop the battle, but since Sol predicted the sun, he manages to get Blackstar to listen to him and temporarily lose his faith in StarClan and the warrior code. Tensions between the Clans remain high for a long time after the battle.

Characters

ThunderClan cats

Firestar

Firestar has been taking in strangers into his Clan, such as Daisy and Brook, which the other Clans see as weak. ThunderClan has also been having a border dispute with WindClan which he is seen as not handling it fairly. Onestar leads the attack and Firestar is furious that he’d attack his own camp, ready for the battle. He is confused as WindClan suddenly leaves, but after hearing they are still in the territory and has split, Firestar organises the battle patrols and leads one. He encourages the apprentices to do their duty and meets up with Jaypaw during the battle. Later, Firestar witnesses Lionpaw’s anger as he tries to attack Mosspelt, and stops him, but he seems weary of the apprentice.

Lionpaw

With the power to be undefeatable in battle, Lionpaw is the first to realize that WindClan is intruding and is the first to attack. He is part of the patrol that goes to see if WindClan has left the territory after they have left the camp. He knows about the tunnels previously due to meeting Heatherpaw often in the tunnels beforehand. Before ThunderClan even finds these tunnels, Lionpaw realizes WindClan has used these tunnels to sneak into ThunderClan territory. As part of Firestar’s patrol, Lionpaw uses his powers to fight back against WindClan and four RiverClan cats. He meets with Heatherpaw and fights with her, believing she told Onestar about the tunnels. Crowfeather gets in the way of Lionpaw and he nearly kills him. Lionpaw is left horrified over his actions and his bitter rage against Heatherpaw grows worse.

Hollypaw

Hollypaw is part of Brambleclaw’s patrol and fights against the WindClan forces. Brambleclaw sends Hollypaw to get help from ShadowClan and she manages to find a patrol. She convinces Blackstar to help ThunderClan and runs back with the ShadowClan battle patrol. Hollypaw grows exhausted but still tries to fight an energised RiverClan tom. She pondered often about why the battle is happening, thinking kittypets, rogues and loners are against the warrior code and Firestar is breaking this.

Jaypaw

Jaypaw assists Leafpool with healing his Clanmates at camp at first but then asks to head out and help his Clanmates. Since he is blind, he is used to darkness and has a better advantage in navigating the forest. Warned to keep away from danger, Jaypaw bumps into Sorreltail and Honeyfern and help them scare off two RiverClan cats. He takes Sorreltail back to camp for treatment and acts as a messenger, telling the cats at camp about RiverClan joining and telling Firestar’s patrol too. He goes to tell Brambleclaw’s patrol but it turns out RiverClan has already attacked them. He meets Hollypaw and wishes to give her something for her exhaustion but continues to help his Clanmates, taking Mousewhisker back for his eye. He learns about ShadowClan’s help and tells the rest of ThunderClan this too.

Other cats

Onestar

Onewhisker was quite suddenly made leader and Mudclaw lead an unsuccessful revolt to overthrow him. After receiving his leader name, Onestar made sure the ThunderClan border was furiously patrolled, making sure Firestar knew no favors were owed. Secretly, this hurt Onestar as he and Firestar were once friends, but he kept up his hostility towards the ThunderClan leader. When Onestar discovered the tunnels from either Heatherpaw or Sedgekit, he had the idea to sneak into ThunderClan through those tunnels and reach the heart of ThunderClan territory. As border disputes between ThunderClan and WindClan rise, Onestar decided to teach Firestar a lesson and attacked his camp before splitting it between three battle patrols. Leading the attack, Onestar confronts Firestar at camp about how he leads his Clan. The WindClan leader’s plan however fails as an eclipse stops the battle. Tensions remain high between the two Clans and leaders.

Pouncetail

Pouncetail later tells his side of the story during the battle at a future Gathering. He, Blackclaw, Reedwhisker and Mosspelt navigate the territory and aim to take over the old Twoleg nest as a good spot for sneak attacks. They find a patrol of ShadowClan cats already there and attack them. Pouncetail has a spout with Antpelt due to him telling off Pouncetail for scolding his apprentice who was being rude to an elder. Pouncetail happily drives Antpelt away before meeting Spiderfoot. His Clanmates want to kill him but Pouncetail sends him up higher on the Twoleg nest. It seems as if he is going to send the ShadowClan cat over but instead he sends Spiderfoot away. In response to his Clanmates’ protests, Pouncetail explains the warrior code states they are not to kill unless absolutely necessary.

Blackstar

Although there is no evidence he took part in the battle, Blackstar was a big part of ThunderClan’s win. He has been hostile to ThunderClan before so it was feared he would refuse to help when Hollypaw rushed to ask for help. The leader however acknowledges that the forest needs four Clans and WindClan has forgotten that. He sends a battle patrol to help ThunderClan and helps them win the battle.

Sol

Although not taking part in the battle, Sol was partially the cause as he is one of the strangers Firestar took in and gave Onestar a reason to attack. Before the battle, Sol travelled to ThunderClan and told the medicine cats the sun would disappear. Although keeping up a wise and has-much-knowledge attitude, he only knows of this from Midnight who sent him to test the Clans faith in StarClan. The battle ended when an eclipse happened and the sun disappeared. Lionpaw, Hollypaw and Jaypaw, who are meant to be the three, requested to Sol to return to ThunderClan and teach them his ways so they can fulfil the prophecy. On their way back, they are stopped by a ShadowClan patrol led by Blackstar. He learned that Sol predicted the sun’s disappearance and takes the cat into his Clan. Blackstar is convinced by Sol to give up on the warrior code and StarClan temporarily, but Sol’s air of wisdom and knowledge lets him easily trick the Clans once again in moons to come.

Characters that took part in the battle

ThunderClan

Lionpaw

Hollypaw

Cinderpaw

Icepaw

Foxpaw

Cloudtail

Sandstorm

Sorreltail

Brightheart

Whitewing

Graystripe

Ashfur

Longtail

Mousefur

Firestar

Brambleclaw

Dustpelt

Berrynose

Spiderleg

Poppyfrost

Mousewhisker

Hazeltail

Squirrelflight

Brackenfur

Thornclaw

WindClan

WindClan Warrior

WindClan Warrior Tom

Onestar

Nightcloud

Harespring

Weaselfur

Emberfoot

Tornear

Tabby Tom

Brown Tabby Warrior

Black Tom

Heatherpaw

Crowfeather

ShadowClan

Tawnypelt

Snaketail

Scorchpaw

Antpelt

Spiderfoot

Whitetail

RiverClan

Two RiverClan Cats

Reedwhisker

Mosspelt

Two RiverClan Cats

Blackclaw

Dawnflower

Map

Links to external sites:

• Official Map (hosted on warriorcats.com)
• Official Map (hosted on mywarriorcats.com)

Quotes

"This was no raiding party. This was war."

―Lionpaw’s thoughts on the battle ^Eclipse

Firestar: "Stop! How dare you?"

Onestar: "We dare because we are true warriors. This battle has been too long coming. ThunderClan must learn that they are not the most important Clan in the forest. You watch the suffering of others, waiting to be begged for help like you belong to StarClan. We will not beg. We are warriors! We will fight for the prey and the territory we need to survive."

^Eclipse

"One battle has been won, but the war is not yet over."

―Pouncetail to his Clanmates ^{Battles of the Clans}

Trivia

• This battle is mentioned in Battles of the Clans, where Pouncetail tells his side of the story during the battle for ThunderClan.
• This battle is also mentioned in The Ultimate Guide on Onestar's page. It describes how Onestar led an attack on ThunderClan and ThunderClan won narrowly.

See also

• Eclipse/Cliffnotes
• ThunderClan