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1.03 Fire and Ice
19 Plays1 month ago
Forbidden romance sassy kits that won't listen—is there anything this book doesn't have? You'll have to find out yourself.
Deep in the heart of the forest, four clans of warrior cats coexist in uneasy harmony—but uncertain times are upon them, and dangers threaten the precarious balance of the forest.Fireheart is a ThunderClan warrior cat now, but his troubles are far from over. As the chill of winter sets in, the cats of rival RiverClan grow restless, while WindClan is weak and facing threats from all sides.As tensions build to an explosive climax, Fireheart faces not only imminent battle, but betrayal from within his own Clan.
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Laura posts about Warriors and other books on TikTok as glomdii
Laura is glomdi on Twitch, Bluesky, and TikTok
JJerrica is on Bluesky as CosmicSparkleheart.
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Transcript
00:00:10
Speaker
This is Never Grow Up, a show where two grown-ass adults discuss their love of middle-grade fiction. I'm one of your hosts, Snowstorm. But it's Laura.
00:00:23
Speaker
And I'm some stranger that was kidnapped off the street. hell I named her Sparkle Heart because of her sparkly heart. Today we are going to be talking about Fire and Ice by Erin Hunter, which is actually by Kate Carey.
00:00:42
Speaker
For this episode. That weird face, sorry. Now this book, guess what year was published, Jerika? 2008. 2008. two thousand and eight No, Jerrica, because the first one was published in 2003, so how could this be five years later?
00:01:00
Speaker
Well, the eight looked like a three. oh okay. Yeah, they did get confused in the in the copyright section a little bit because of that, because they had to handwrite the copyright section back then. Really? Yeah.
00:01:13
Speaker
No. oh
00:01:19
Speaker
No, this book was published the same year that the first one was in 2003. Wow. wow And I don't understand how that's possible because this says it was published in May 2003, which is very early in the year.
00:01:34
Speaker
then I'm looking up when the first one was published. Yeah, so the first book was published in January and then they cranked a second one out in May.
00:01:44
Speaker
Wow. Which is also wild because they originally had intended this to just be one book. And then they were like, hey, why don't you make it three books?
00:01:56
Speaker
And they, uh, Cherith Baldry was, or no, Vicki Holmes was like, oh, geez, I don't know if I can, yeah, I guess I could make into three books. And then they were like, actually, you know what, why don't we make it into six books?
00:02:09
Speaker
And now there are like 60 books. So. And then there's the um the special, and what is it? Infinite editions? Eternal editions? The super editions. Yeah, fuck. Super editions. I was trying to explain this to Janelle when we were at Books A Million the other day, and I forgot all the things. so well She's like, Dan, there's a lot of Warriors books. I'm like, yo!
00:02:39
Speaker
And you said, i know everything about the publishing history of Warriors, except, no, I don't.
00:02:47
Speaker
Something like that. This book was published May 27th, 2003. And as we know, they have alternating authors, even though they have Aaron Hunter on the cover for all of them. So this one was by Kate Carey, who is the one who said she loves writing prologues. Just remember that as we go into the prologue, because this prologue is very dramatic.
00:03:11
Speaker
okay A little recap of Into the Wild, the first book. Rusty, the kitty pet, joins ThunderClan and becomes Firepaw and discovers that, according to Ravenpaw, Tigerclaw murdered the past deputy.
00:03:30
Speaker
Firepaw is very sus of Tigerclaw, is all you need to know, because he thinks that he has murdered Redtail, the previous ThunderClan deputy. And we found Yellowfang, and she joined the clan as our medicine cat.
00:03:47
Speaker
We lost Spottedleaf, who unfortunately as a thing for Firepaw, I guess, the child. I always find it weird in these books when warriors start liking apprentices.
00:04:04
Speaker
Right, because they're cats, so like, okay. Yeah, like, my cat was a year old when she had babies, so like... Yeah, but it's just weird when they like them as children. Like, if they start having feelings for them after they become a warrior, that's different.
00:04:27
Speaker
But... It's when they're like, oh, you're six moons old? i have a major crush on you. and it's Yeah. Strange. But anyway, they had to drive Brokenstar out, the leader of ShadowClan, and Firepaw and Graypaw got their warrior names of Fireheart and Graystripe, and it ended with them sitting vigil because for the first night being a warrior, you have to watch the camp and say nothing and ponder what being a warrior means.
00:05:05
Speaker
What does being a warrior mean? It means you have to fight other cats over your border disputes. Okay. but Well, we could do a whole episode about the warrior code because it is quite fucked up at parts.
00:05:21
Speaker
And in fact, I do have a whole episode about the warrior code scheduled. It just has some spoilers, some light spoilers in it. okay um yeah not really spoilers more like they wrote a book called code of the clans where they did like a bunch of um like short stories about how each code came to be and then they made a prequel series a whole six arc prequel series and it goes against a lot of what that book is so i'm waiting
00:05:52
Speaker
till after we do the prequel series to introduce you because i don't want I don't want you to have my experience and the whole time we're reading the prequels be like, it didn't happen like this.
00:06:04
Speaker
Okay. I trust you. Okay, thank you. so the prologue. WindClan has settled beneath a Thunderpath tunnel and we remember that a Thunderpath is a road with cars on it.
00:06:22
Speaker
We do now. and cars are called monsters. um We have Ashfoot is talking to Tallstar and she's all worried about her kits because they are little teeny tiny babies and she doesn't want them to grow up beneath a thunder path.
00:06:42
Speaker
And they're still worried that Brokenstar is like hunting them down because he's the one who drove them out. But they are... hold on yeah I'm lost already. Okay. Okay, tell me.
00:06:59
Speaker
Okay. What did... what What did we know about WindClan? We knew that ShadowClan had driven them out because WindClan refused to let ShadowClan hunt on their territory. Okay. ShadowClan driven them out, but then... ThunderClan...
00:07:22
Speaker
took out the ShadowClan leader. Yeah.
00:07:30
Speaker
So then WynnClan could go back? Well, that's the thing, is that the last thing that happened at at the end of the first book was that they took out Brokenstar. So they haven't even had time to like, tell WynnClan this.
00:07:44
Speaker
Okay, so these these are WynnClan people's cats. Eh, yeah people Yeah. um And, okay. Okay. yeah So they're like bickering about this and they're like, we don't want to stay here. this is dangerous. And then their leader, Tallstar, tells two cats to essentially just look, just go hunt.
00:08:07
Speaker
I'll worry about where we are. and these two cats become important later on. So I'm going to point them out to you. It's Deadfoot is their deputy and one whisker.
00:08:20
Speaker
do they have just the one whisker? um I don't know why he's called One Whisker, actually. That's a good point. Okay.
00:08:31
Speaker
Some cats are just called silly things. Like, Deadfoot is called Deadfoot because his paw is, like, curled up. So he has, like, a limp. Tallstar, his warrior name was Tall Tail because he's got a long tail.
00:08:45
Speaker
So they're not all creative names. I'll just say that. Okay. So that's the prologue. And then in chapter one, Fireheart is sitting vigil with Graystripe still, and he's pondering Oakheart's death because Oakheart and Redtail died at the same time. And he's like trying to make it make sense in his head.
00:09:13
Speaker
And then when they're finally allowed to go back and sleep, Fireheart has these visions of cats under a tunnel with ah fire raging around them or something. And so he freaks out because only medicine cats are supposed to have dreams from StarClan.
00:09:33
Speaker
Yeah. But he can tell sometimes that his dreams are definitely from StarClan. Like he could tell the difference.
00:09:42
Speaker
And then the next day, Fireheart is looking for a time to tell Bluestar about what he suspects Tigerclaw did. But there's just, like, not really time because she's so busy being leader. Which, I'm going to be honest, I don't really know what the leaders do in these books. Other other than, like, decide when they fight and shit like that. Like, the regular day-to-day, the deputy does...
00:10:09
Speaker
So I've always wondered what the leader does and how they're so busy. I've always wondered that about real life. Well, but there's a i apprentice ceremony and Longtail, which is a cat that hates Fireheart for being a kittypet. Longtail gets Swiftpaw, who, you know what, Jerrica? Swiftpaw, he's named up because he's fast.
00:10:40
Speaker
That makes sense. Yeah. And there's going to be a gathering that night. And on the way, Fireheart tries to tell Bluestar everything that's going on with Ravenpaw and with Tigerclaw. Because he had, um in the last book, told her that Ravenpaw died in battle.
00:11:00
Speaker
And now he tells her, actually, Ravenpaw didn't die a battle. And here's why I hid him. Because he knew the truth about Tigerclaw. And Bluestar
00:11:13
Speaker
Surprisingly understanding about Ravenpaw leaving, she's like, okay, yeah, we can let everyone continue believing he's dead. If he wants to go live on this farm, and if he's happier that way, like, good for him. The warrior life isn't for everyone. And Fireheart is like, oh, wow, so, like, you believe me about Tigerstar then? And Bluestar is like, nah, nah, dude, that's my deputy.
00:11:39
Speaker
I don't think he's a murderer just because some nervous apprentice said he is. oh burn. And she's also like, because if what you said is true, that means that Redtail killed Oakheart, which is against the warrior code. So like, are you saying Redtail is a murderer?
00:12:00
Speaker
Because otherwise, how did Oakheart die? Because their, Tigerclaw's whole story was that Oakheart killed Redtail, and then like, as revenge, Tigerclaw killed Oakheart.
00:12:14
Speaker
And then at the gathering, Blue Star tells everyone that Yellowfang is their medicine cat and that Fireheart and Graystripe are made warriors. That's like kind of what they do at gatherings. They say like, hey, we got these warriors. We got these apprentices, which just makes me realize she didn't. i don't think she told them about Swiftpaw.
00:12:32
Speaker
Poor Swiftpaw. And then Nightpelt, who was who used to be an elder,
00:12:43
Speaker
But led the rebellion from the ShadowClan side against Brokenstar. He's the leader ShadowClan now. and he's still Nightpelt because he hasn't gone to the boom ah Moonstone to get his nine lives yet. But he he says he will. Don't get around to it.
00:13:02
Speaker
Yeah. and well, because this is like the next day. So he hasn't had time. So it somehow comes up that... Shadow Clan had bullied River Clan into letting them use their hunting grounds. and Crooked Star, the leader of River Clan, is like, no, you can't do that anymore. That was against warrior code. like we We drove Broken Star out for doing shit like that.
00:13:33
Speaker
And there's almost bickering, but then they go, well, you know what? We do have all of Wyn Clan's territory to hunt on, so I guess it's not that big of a deal. Oh my gosh. And Bluestar is like, well, hold on. We gotta bring Wyn Clan back. and she has the best reasoning ever in the whole world. It's because...
00:13:59
Speaker
There are four seasons and there are four trees at four trees. It's literally called four trees where they meet for the gatherings. And therefore StarClan declared that there has to be four clans in the forest.
00:14:14
Speaker
Okay. I love Bluestar. She's perfect. ah Beautiful. No one can say otherwise. Except that she doesn't believe Fireheart. Yeah, sometimes I'm like, come on, Blue Star. Let's not have that opinion.
00:14:29
Speaker
They finally agree, all of the clans agree, that Wind Clan should come back. Shadow Clan and River Clan are very, they agree grudgingly. because Right, because they're like, oh, we want this territory to hunt on. Yeah. Yeah.
00:14:47
Speaker
But they agree. And so the next morning, Bluestar tells Fireheart and Graystripe that they're going to be the ones to bring WindClan back.
00:14:58
Speaker
So they got to go on this little quest and they set off for it. And you know what? It's astonishingly easy to find them. Because i thought it was going to be the whole book when I started reading this. no Nope. They find them within a chapter. Okay, well, they didn't go far. Yeah, so it was pretty easy. um They meet with the Winklyne cats. It's pretty easy to convince them that, like, no, Broken Star is gone. They can come back.
00:15:30
Speaker
And they meet One Whisker and Deadfoot. And Fireheart and One Whisker are, like, immediately buds. You know, they're like... I feel you on a deeper level.
00:15:43
Speaker
And there's this one cat, Morningflower, who has a kit who is very, very young and like too young to travel. And which makes me think like, I wonder if she had him under the Thunderpath, which would be very sad.
00:15:59
Speaker
Because they make it seem like. Like this is a big thing to be traveling with him. I mean, if it's like only a couple days old, maybe. Yeah. yeah And so Fireheart is going to take turns holding Gorse Kit, which is her kit. and they come to the Thunderpath that they have to cross.
00:16:25
Speaker
And here's when warriors, uh, it's a little bit intense sometimes. Oh, it's cause they're all crossing the thunder path and obviously it's dangerous. Cause you know, there are cars on it.
00:16:42
Speaker
They make it seem like it's maybe like a freeway or something because they have to like carefully time it of when they can cross and So i don't think it's just like some little road, you know? and Fireheart tries to take Gorse Kit so that Morningflower can cross easier because she's recently given birth. And Morningflower just like shakes her head and pulls back. And in like Fireheart's eternal dialogue, he's like, and I understood what that meant.
00:17:16
Speaker
Mother and Kit will live or die together. I'm like, oh my goodness, warriors. You are intense, and for what?
00:17:28
Speaker
but Alright then. They meet up at Barley's Barn. Barley's Barn.
00:17:40
Speaker
That's what it is, though. a i Ravenpaw is there. That's where Ravenpaw has gone, so they get to hang out with their old friend. um Now Ravenpaw was
00:17:58
Speaker
Tiger Claws apprentice? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, you remembered. I'm proud of you. Thank you. It's only been a million years. ah the next morning bark face their medicine cat oh my gosh i don't want to know how they got that name right because like bark makes sense okay it's a bark from a tree but then like well you had face on it imagine like your medicine cat ceremony and that's your name and be like oh thanks i guess i mean it's like leather face
00:18:36
Speaker
Ew. Barkface reads the sky and he gets an omen. This day will bring an unnecessary death.
00:18:47
Speaker
What the fuck? Yeah, so all the cats are pretty spooked. They're like, well, um i guess nothing we could do about that.
00:18:59
Speaker
Sometimes the StarClan messages I feel like aren't entirely helpful because When you're just telling me something horrible will happen, can you tell me how to prevent the horrible thing instead? so they're still just trying to get Wynn Clan back home.
00:19:16
Speaker
Yeah. They rested overnight at Barley's Barn because... Which um ah is is a place where a cat lives and not like just what they call this barn named after the farmer that owns it or something like that. It's just, okay. hu Barley is the cat. okay Just Barley? Yeah, he's a loner.
00:19:40
Speaker
okay. So he's got a loner name. They get WindClan home and they are all starting to settle in and Tallstar says, okay, well, I'm going to give you guys an escort to get back to ThunderClan territory because they had seen RiverClan and ThunderClan cats in the area. They're like, um we just want to make sure you get home safe.
00:20:06
Speaker
RiverClan and ShadowClan, you mean? Is that what I said? You said RiverClan and ThunderClan. Oh, yeah, no, my bad. RiverClan and ShadowClan. But why would they do anything? Well, right, and that's the thing half the time is like, these cats will agree on things, and then it'll be like, oh, we better be careful, though, because ShadowClan might fuck us up anyway, even though we agreed that this should be the thing.
00:20:28
Speaker
the hell? Yeah, exactly. And so they... Jericho...
00:20:38
Speaker
Fireheart, genius Fireheart, has the idea of instead of taking the long way home, which will go through four trees and then straight into ThunderClan territory and not trespass anywhere, he says, you know what? Why don't we just cut through RiverClan territory? And there are some objections because they're like...
00:21:02
Speaker
well, RiverClan didn't a agree to you entering their territory, so maybe we shouldn't do that? And Fireheart is like, no no, no, trust me, because we all agreed that we should bring WinClan home, so obviously it's cool if we go through their territory. We didn't agree that we could cross through their territory day to get WinClan, but everyone knew we were bringing WinClan home, and I want to get home tonight.
00:21:31
Speaker
So they go through RiverClan territory and Deadfoot and OneWhisker are escorting them. And they come across a RiverClan patrol and they're not happy about it Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. they
00:21:54
Speaker
They send escorts for Fireheart and Graystripe. Yep. to go home because it's too dangerous for them to go by themselves. huh But then once they get there, the two Winden Clan cats have to go home.
00:22:11
Speaker
So do the ThunderClan need to escort them home too? Because one's leaving home. Uh-huh. This makes no sense to me.
00:22:23
Speaker
It's almost like this is just a flawed plotline that happened just to bring an unnecessary death. Oh, boy. Because it's in the warrior code that you don't have to kill your opponent to defeat them. All right. You just fight and then eventually one of you will flee. And that's how a battle ends. Mm-hmm.
00:22:47
Speaker
But they get in a fight and they're like, oh no, we're outnumbered. And Leopardfur, the RiverClan deputy, is there and she hates them. She hates that Fireheart was a kitty pet. She hates that WindClan came back so they can't hunt in their territory anymore. So she like starts beating the shit out of them because there are more RiverClan cats than there are...
00:23:15
Speaker
ThunderClan and WindClan. Because it's their territory. Yeah. And... Well, it's not the whole clan. It's just up and down. Yeah, but still, there's going to be more RiverClan cats in their territory than there will be any other cats there. So...
00:23:33
Speaker
But thankfully, a ThunderClan patrol overhears them and rushes to their rescue. And so, because the thunder they're like near the ThunderClan border, but they hadn't crossed it yet. And so, ThunderClan swoops in, and it's being led by Tigerclaw, unfortunately. Sandpaw almost dies. Sandpaw is a cat who...
00:24:00
Speaker
Fucking hated. Firepaw in book one. Because of the kittypet thing. She and Dustpaw would always be like. Once a kittypet. There's a lot of them that hate him. Yes.
00:24:13
Speaker
Yeah. That's kind of. That's not going to go away but um And. Fireheart saves.
00:24:24
Speaker
oh They're fighting by a huge gorge by the way. course. So. Yeah, Sandpaw is about to go over the end, and Firepaw grabs her and saves her, and she, like, flips out, and she's like, I can fight my own battles, fuck off.
00:24:40
Speaker
And Fireheart is like, okay, what the fuck? Like, you were about to die, but, alright. And then, Whiteclaw, a river-clad medicine, or a winter- A RiverClan cat, that's right, his name is White Claw. yeah Okay. um Goes over the edge and does die.
00:25:05
Speaker
And so it stops all the cats from fighting as they're like, holy shit, one of the cats just died for real. And in his inner dialogue, Fireheart is like, and Barkface's words rang throughout my memory that today will bring an unnecessary death.
00:25:24
Speaker
And Fireheart, I hope you learned a lesson. oh Don't be lazy. Take the long way home. This is the most convoluted storyline ever.
00:25:41
Speaker
That I've heard in a while. But at least when after the fighting stops, Sandpaw looks over the gorge and realizes like, oh shit, I did almost die.
00:25:54
Speaker
and kind of looks at Fireheart differently. As she realizes that he wasn't just interfering with her fight for no reason, that he was actually saving her life.
00:26:06
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah.
00:26:08
Speaker
So they go back and they report to Blue Star and Tigerclaw is pissed because he's like, these two dumbass warriors. Why did they go through RiverClan territory?
00:26:19
Speaker
They just, they wanted to get home sooner. Okay, well, White Claw died because of it. And maybe in the future, there will have to be an energy drink named after this cat in honor of their their death. It's not an energy drink. Okay, what is it? It's an alcoholic beverage. I thought it was an energy drink with like a little bit of alcohol, like 5% alcohol. it' It's hard seltzer water.
00:26:47
Speaker
oh that sounds terrible. I agree. oh Okay. Well, Bluestar agrees that they were stupid. But she says, unfortunately,
00:27:00
Speaker
because you have made hostilities between the other clans and us, ah we need more we need warriors more than ever now. And Frostfur's kits are almost six moons old. At six moons, they could become of apprentices. Yeah.
00:27:16
Speaker
So you two going to have to take on these apprentices. And i'm me. So I researched how old these apprentices are because she said they're almost of age. So I'm like, I know someone has done the work to figure out exactly how old they are. I narrowed it down to i think they're about five moons old. So they're only a little bit too young.
00:27:44
Speaker
But it is funny because apparently Fireheart and Graystripe are only nine moons old and they're supposed to be made warriors at 12. They got made into warriors early because of the cool battle they did.
00:28:00
Speaker
so yeah they got fast tracked. Yeah. So this is essentially like a high school student teaching like a middle grade student how to be alive.
00:28:13
Speaker
Okay. ah So they're upset because their decision of going through RiverClan territory got a RiverClan cat killed.
00:28:25
Speaker
he That kind of feels like that's on RiverClan. ah So why the hell are they getting...
00:28:37
Speaker
i mean, yeah, they probably shouldn't have gone through the territory without permission, but...
00:28:43
Speaker
What the fuck? Right. Like what was leopard fur doing starting that fight? And I can't remember what cat it was. Someone points out to Graystripe because, oh, oh, I forgot to mention Graystripe is the one the who is fighting White Claw.
00:28:59
Speaker
So he's dealing with like an immense amount of guilt over this because he blames himself for White Claw's death. So some cat points out to him later that like, yeah, leopard fur just attacked you. She should have known that that was too dangerous of a location to start a fight at. Like, it's her own territory. How does she not know this? And she's their deputy. Yeah.
00:29:22
Speaker
Also, there's there's there's four cats. Four. In their patrol, yeah. two Thunder Clans and two Wind Clans, and they're just minding their business.
00:29:33
Speaker
And these RiverClan cats are like, what the fuck? You're in our territory. We're going to we're going to fight you. Okay. Well, and yeah, it actually doesn't make sense because if the ThunderClan patrol heard them and was able to run in and help, why did the their initial patrol, the ah the ones who were coming home, why didn't they just run to the border?
00:30:00
Speaker
Like you'd think that would make more sense than standing and fighting like, okay, I don't want to fight here. I'm just going to cross the border. Yeah. Like if they're that close to the border, why they just not just let them leave at that point?
00:30:13
Speaker
Like leopard fur is just being pissy and hates them and wants to take her anger out on them. So like yeah white claws death is leopard fur's fault. Yeah. there There could have been a scenario like, Hey, what the fuck are you guys doing here?
00:30:28
Speaker
And then have been like, oh, we had to escort WindClan home, but now headed home now. we're headed home now We're almost there. oh okay
00:30:41
Speaker
Yeah. But no. That type of thinking is what Blue Star got super pissed at Firepaw for suggesting in the first book. they No, they have to fight. You know what's funny is that in later books, they're a lot more chill and they're a lot more likely to be like, hey, I got to go visit this other clan to tell them something I'll just go wait for patrol and then often the patrol will be like hey what's up i big ear what do you need all you need to talk to her later okay come on i'll I'll bring you to the camp
00:31:19
Speaker
but in these early books bitches hate each other damn they will fight over anything
00:31:29
Speaker
damn e So Tiger Claw is super pissed because he's like, hey, so they fucked up a lot and you're going to reward them with apprentices? Why don't you just give these apprentices to someone else? And Blue Star is like, well, who would i There's no one else. i because they Because usually you have to wait a few moons to get an apprentice because you need to ease into it and get more experience and stuff. You just learn how to be a warrior, you know? And Tiger Claw is like,
00:31:59
Speaker
well, what about Darkstripe and Longtail? And Bluestar is like, my dude, they already have apprentices. What are you talking about? Like cats never have more than one apprentice at a time. So it was just funny that he would say that because it felt like ah lot some of the things in the earlier books feel like, oh, this wasn't really established yet. so Does Chiderclaw have an apprentice currently?
00:32:30
Speaker
No, that's the thing, is that he could be taking one on, but I guess they're like, oh, he's a deputy, so he doesn't have time for that. Okay.
00:32:41
Speaker
Which, honestly, deputies pretty much just organize patrols, whether it's border patrols or hunting patrols, but like all you got to do is decide on cats and then tell them, and then the cats take care of it, so it's like, I kind of also don't understand how deputies are so busy, you know? Yeah.
00:33:01
Speaker
Yeah, that... yeah so yeah So they give Fireheart and Graystripe apprentices. Fireheart gets Cinderpaw, who is a very energetic, fluffy gray cat. And I love her to death. And Graystripe gets Brackenpaw, who is like a... I gotta say the right coat color or people will get mad at me.
00:33:29
Speaker
Who is a golden brown tabby.
00:33:34
Speaker
And apparently has long legs, according to the wiki. but And Brackenpaw is much more like reserved and shows his like nervousness. and you could tell And he has such like a serious look on his face. Like, I'm going to do this. I'm going to be a good warrior. Meanwhile, Cinderpaw is just like...
00:33:57
Speaker
Yay! Apprentice time! And it's also funny because they were actually part of a litter with two other cats in it.
00:34:10
Speaker
So i'm going to chalk that down to continuity issues and they didn't actually mean to split the litters up because two of the other kittens... two of the other kits in this litter get made apprentices in later books
00:34:34
Speaker
okay yeah it's it's strange um so well but what if they were meant for a different track they can't be they're all warriors all of them even the medicine cats well the medicine cats are really special and only happen sometimes so there's You can only have a medicine cat and a medicine cat apprentice. You can't have like more than that, essentially.
00:35:03
Speaker
So there's two medicine cats and the rest are warriors. Yeah. I mean, they're like elders and then there's the leader, the deputy, but like all the rest are have been trained as warriors. Yeah.
00:35:19
Speaker
ah very rarely there will be cats who essentially just live in the nursery and they're just like yeah i'm just like here to help out with the kits and like nursing mothers but that's more of like if that's what that cat wants to do and feels comfortable doing like they don't like assign the position to anyone which is surprisingly progressive for warriors interesting yeah gray stripe is still all depressed about supposedly killing white claw and so does not want i thought you were laughing about that i was like damn i mean it was but so yeah
00:36:04
Speaker
And so he doesn't want to explore the forest with Fireheart and show their apprentices the forest together, which Fireheart is super bummed about because he's like, oh man, we so we explored the forest together for the first time and now we don't get to do with our apprentices, which also doesn't make sense because... Graystripe met Firepaw when he was in the forest by himself.
00:36:26
Speaker
So he definitely had explored before, but whatever. um He sees a cat on like a fence and he's like, oh, there's a a plump kittypet. That's how they always describe kittypets, as plump. and Which is very funny to me because i have a feral-born cat and she is so teeny tiny. So like I get it.
00:36:50
Speaker
Oh, and she's being a little angel right now. Oh, she was sleeping. That will grow You don't go, baby. um And so he sees this kittypet and he's like, huh, that kittypet just seems kind of familiar.
00:37:08
Speaker
And I don't know why. And Cinderpaw wants to chase her off. But Fireheart is like, nah, she's a kittypet. Let's just, you know, keep patrolling. She's in her yard. So whatever.
00:37:20
Speaker
Except the next day, he goes to see that cat again. oh my gosh. He's got to figure out why he knows her. Like, he's like, what what is this and he realizes from her scent, he's like, that scent is so familiar. And he's like, oh my god, this is my sister.
00:37:42
Speaker
Jerika's face palming. Okay, hold on.
00:37:51
Speaker
So, but kitty pets don't necessarily know about the warriors. Because... Right, there are, like, rumors about them. So this this cat is just sitting up there, like, presumably just watching them?
00:38:06
Speaker
Yeah, i just, like, looking out into the forest.
00:38:10
Speaker
Okay. this this And so he goes and he talks with her and he's like, hey, it's me, Rusty. and she's like, holy fuck, Rusty. well you don't look like a house cat at all.
00:38:25
Speaker
And so he explains to her like what happened, everything. He's like, i'm Fireheart now. And so they start talking and they have a chill time. And then when he gets home that night, he's like, oh shit.
00:38:39
Speaker
Am I truly loyal to ThunderClan?
00:38:44
Speaker
Just because because he talked to his sister? yeah because he's feeling real lonely in ThunderClan because he doesn't have any family there. Graystripe isn't paying attention to him anymore because he's all depressed about murder. and
00:39:03
Speaker
So, yeah. And then, um i don i don't know if this is the next day or within the next few days or whatever, but at some point, Fireheart and Graystripe are out with their apprentices and they see that the river separating RiverClan and ThunderClan is frozen over. but But not all the way. Just enough that a cat could walk on it. And Fireheart is like Oh, God, I hope my stupid apprentices don't, like, run out onto the ice. Okay, good. It looks like they're not going to. Oh, my God, there goes Graystripe. Graystripe runs out onto the ice like a fucking dumbass, and he it cracks, and he falls in.
00:39:48
Speaker
So now he's just drowning because there is yeah because there's ice, so they can't get to him, and they're, like, trying, but they're like, I don't swim. How can I get him out?
00:40:01
Speaker
And then suddenly, out of nowhere, RiverClan cat appears. And she does not want to watch a cat drown to death, so she yanks him out. And she is a beautiful silver cat. And they always describe RiverClan cats as like sleek and shiny because they swim in the water.
00:40:24
Speaker
And she's like, hey, doofus, what are you doing in my river? And Gray Stripe's like, drowning? but And they have this like this flirty little back and forth.
00:40:41
Speaker
And she's like, can't you do that in your own territory? And he says, oh, but who would save me there? gosh. She kind of she has her ears back and she's got this attitude still, but you can so see her eyes twinkling like she did think that was kind of funny. And she's like, OK, we'll get out of here because, you know.
00:41:04
Speaker
You're not River Clan, so GTFO. And they decide that they will lie to Bluestar about how Graystripe got wet because they don't want them to know ah they don't want the clan to know that Graystripe was a dumbass and ran onto this river.
00:41:21
Speaker
and Fireheart is little disturbed at how easily Cinderpot comes up with a lie. She's like, oh yeah, he was pulling me out of a a pond or something, and Fireheart is like, whoa, okay? don't they just wait till he dries off before they go back?
00:41:40
Speaker
Um, have I told you that they're a little bit of dumbasses sometimes? Yeah, yeah. Okay. So the next few days, Graystripe has developed a cold from falling into the river. So Fireheart takes on the majority of Brackenpaw's training. So he's got Cinderpaw and Brackenpaw now. And...
00:42:05
Speaker
It's time for their assessment. So all the apprentices get assessed just to see how they're doing. Like at various times throughout their training. So the assessments are supposed to be like the apprentice goes out and hunts and the mentor follows them silently and like watches them. But Cinderpaw just straight up like goes over to Fireheart and is like, hey, how are you? How am I doing?
00:42:31
Speaker
And Fireheart is all flustered and he's like, Oh my god, this apprentice, I can't get her to fucking listen to me. Why is she talking to me during her assessment? And he's like, you're doing great, but come on, pretend I'm not here, dude.
00:42:49
Speaker
But they do good on their assessment. and um when they get back to camp, Graystripe is just getting back and Fireheart is like, what? Where were you? You have a cold. You're supposed to be staying in camp. And Graystripe just like, it says, oh, how were the apprentices assessments? Like he dodges the question.
00:43:09
Speaker
and they talk a little bit. But then Fireheart finds something in Graystripe's nest. ah He finds catkin, which I had to look up because I don't know what it is. Apparently it's like a plant or something.
00:43:23
Speaker
But he says that it only grows on Riverclan territory. Yeah. And that's like, that's not, not like not allowed. Right.
00:43:35
Speaker
Right. Yeah. It's against the warrior code to cross the borders. Unless it's like a special circumstance. yeah Oh, I meant like hooking up with someone. much Oh yeah. That's major. Don't know.
00:43:50
Speaker
Super forbidden. The next day, Fireheart takes Running Wind out to train with the apprentices because he's like, Graystripe still is out, so can you help me?
00:44:02
Speaker
And it's really funny because like grace ah Fireheart is like, okay, let me show you how to stalk a bird. And they're all just like watching him like, what the hell? And he's like, why are they watching me like that? And they're like...
00:44:15
Speaker
are you sure that's how you do it And then he's like, oh, and I realized i was actually showing them how to stalk a mouse. And so he just looks like a fool. and Running Wind is like, okay, moving on.
00:44:33
Speaker
ah
00:44:36
Speaker
Is it that different? um Yes. According to them, it is because when you stalk a mouse, you got to be careful and use light footsteps because they can feel you. And when you stalk a bird, they're going to be able to hear you better.
00:44:52
Speaker
okay And Fireheart eventually is like, yeah, I'm not feeling good. Could you actually take over this training session? Running Wind is like, okay, that makes sense because you did the whole weird stalking technique and I wondered.
00:45:10
Speaker
Fireheart...
00:45:13
Speaker
fucking lied. He's feeling fine. He just wants to spy on Graystripe. So he goes and spies on Graystripe and turns out he has been meeting with Silverstream, the river clan cat who pulled him out of the river and he confronts them and he's like, hey, you guys are going to get caught so probably don't do this. And Silverstream is all like well actually we're just gonna avoid the patrols and i know when the patrols go out because i'm the clan leader's daughter oh
00:45:57
Speaker
my goodness but so yeah this is gonna break bad so hard
00:46:05
Speaker
And when she says that, Fireheart is like, wow how do you not see that? That's worse.
00:46:15
Speaker
But they refuse to stop seeing each other because they're like, we're in love, though. Fireheart, even, like, a few days later, goes to Silverstream alone, and he's like, maybe if I talk to her alone, I can convince them to stop seeing each other, but obviously she says no. Like, I don't know what he thought he was gonna accomplish at that point.
00:46:38
Speaker
And then, um, Yellowfang starts freaking out, because guess what? The whole fucking camp has white cloth, which...
00:46:52
Speaker
I've never... You know what? Let me look it up. Wait, Yellowfang was the ShadowClan cat? Who turned ah into a a... Yeah, who turned... Whitecough is just like...
00:47:10
Speaker
Pretty much a common cold for people. um But since they're cats and they don't have very advanced medicine, they're always terrified of it turning into green cough. Which I um i don't actually know what in human terms green cough is. But...
00:47:33
Speaker
It's a sickness. Probably pneumonia, maybe. Yeah, that would make sense because it happens most often during Leaf fall ah leaf Bear. So yeah, Yellowfang is freaking out because also Bluestar has white cough. Yellowfang and Fireheart know that Bluestar has less lives than she's letting everyone believe she does. because Didn't she use one up in the first book?
00:47:59
Speaker
Yeah, when they went to Barley's Farm. Darkstripe bursts into the camp and he's like, where's Bluestar? Tigerclaw needs Bluestar. Get her here right this instant.
00:48:11
Speaker
And Fireheart is like, she's sick. What do you need? And Darkstripe is all like, ugh, I'm not going to tell a kitty pet. Tigerclaw asked Bluestar to come, not you. Yellowfang has to be like, okay, well too bad because she's sick. She's not coming. so what do you need if you don't tell us nothing is going to get accomplished and Darkstar finally says like oh well Tigerclaw found evidence that ShadowClan is hunting on our territory near the Thunderpath and he needs Bluestar to come look at it and Yolfe is like I think she can trust her deputy to just say that that happened I don't think she needs to come look at it like seriously what is he they even there for
00:49:01
Speaker
Literally. And so there's a bunch of like running around everywhere because Yelfang is like, I need cat mint, which is catnip. And apparently cures green cough and white cough.
00:49:16
Speaker
And um there aren't enough warriors. There aren't enough warriors in camp and Fireheart is like, okay, well, I can't go to Tiger Claw and tell him that...
00:49:30
Speaker
Blue Star's not coming and get this cat mint and Blue Star needs it real bad. So Tiger Claw is just gonna have to wait. And Cinderpaw pops up and is like, hey, i got this.
00:49:43
Speaker
I'll do one of those tasks. And Fireheart is like, no, no, no. You are a ah very young apprentice. And if we're seeing ShadowClan on our territory, I'm not letting you out into the forest alone. You're going to wait at camp.
00:50:01
Speaker
Tireclaw is going to have to wait. And I'm going to go get the Capman and bring it back to Bluestar. I can see where this is going. So he goes to get it, gets the catmint, brings it back, gives it to Yellowfang.
00:50:17
Speaker
and when he gets back he's like oh good gray stripe is gone again right when i need him of course gray stripe is gone but also cinderpaw is gone and fireheart is like this goddamn apprentice i can never get her to listen to me and now she's put herself in danger um But do I go track her down or do I go to Tiger Claw?
00:50:46
Speaker
And he says, well, i have no idea where she went, so I'm going to go to Tiger Claw. And she's going to have to fend for herself because, like, I i can't go find her right now. I have no idea where she is. Yeah.
00:51:02
Speaker
And... As he's going to meet Tigerclaw, he sees on the Thunderpath a cat and he realizes that it is a little grey cat and he goes over and pulls Cinderpaw off the Thunderpath because she got hit by a monster.
00:51:29
Speaker
And she's like just barely alive, but her leg is all twisted and Tigerclaw like pops out of nowhere. And he's like, what the hell? Why is she here? And Fireheart is like super pissed. He's like, you need a blue star to come so badly. And Cinderpaw came instead because we don't have any fucking warriors.
00:51:51
Speaker
And Tigerclaw is um very heartless about it because he's Tigerclaw. hmm. But they get her back to the camp. And it was probably a trap anyway.
00:52:06
Speaker
So they get her back to the camp and Fireheart learns that Bluestar has indeed lost a life to the green cough. Even though he got the cat mint there, it wasn't in time and she lost life and now she's on her very last life.
00:52:25
Speaker
Oh no. Uh-huh. And so Fireheart, after a while, goes to see Cinderpaw again to like check up to see how she's doing. And Yellowfang says she might pull she might pull through, she might not, but she's definitely not goingnna be a warrior because her leg is super fucked up.
00:52:44
Speaker
And in this series, ah i think the Arons don't realize how much a cat can do with a fucked up leg. Because...
00:52:56
Speaker
I mean, you take a whole leg off a cat and they just go. They do not give a fuck, you know? So it's definitely like, there's a lot of ableism in this book series. So just, you know, be prepared for that. Sure.
00:53:11
Speaker
Um...
00:53:14
Speaker
And Fireheart goes to Princess for comfort over this because Graystripe is gone and now his apprentice is hurt and he has no one to turn to. So he his loyalties are shifting. Princess his sister, right?
00:53:34
Speaker
Yes. um He has to...
00:53:41
Speaker
yellowfang is worried because she thinks that maybe she is not a good enough medicine cat and says like oh i wonder if spotted leaf would have done better which honestly to me is so wild because yellowfang is a very experienced medicine cat and spotted leaf was described as being like brand new at it oh But like she's like super talented. And Fireheart obviously says, like no, dude.
00:54:12
Speaker
You're doing great. And he feels terrible because he feels like Cinderpaw's accent is his fault. Because he like couldn't get control over enough so that she would actually listen to him. And... she so he said, no, you are staying here. Uh-huh.
00:54:33
Speaker
And she didn't. yeah so yeah it's kind of like well how do you make the apprentices listen because like there's not a whole lot you can do to reinforce things like you could be you could give them punishments like okay you have to like take care of the elders ticks and stuff but what do you do when they just say no to that yeah You know? so it's kind of like, yeah, they have to just behave. They have to just learn how to behave. Mm-hmm.
00:55:11
Speaker
But he's going in to see Cinderpot, and her mother Frostfur is there, so he's extra feeling bad about it. And he's like, oh, I'm so sorry. And she's like, huh? For what?
00:55:24
Speaker
And he says, you because I injured your daughter. Except they don't use the word daughter in this, so they say, i and you she i got your kid injured. And Frostfur just kind of...
00:55:37
Speaker
She is exhausted with worry. And so she doesn't have a lot of energy to comfort him. And she just kind of says like, oh I don't blame you. It's not your fault. And then goes back to paying attention to Cinderpaw, which is, you know, pretty reasonable. Mm hmm.
00:55:55
Speaker
And i think that makes Fireheart feel a little bit better. The next day, firepaw ah Fireheart is on patrol with Sandpaw. And he's like, oh shit, I gotta be with Sandpaw, the cat who hates me. But this time, Sandpaw's acting a little more friendly.
00:56:17
Speaker
She's joking around with him a little bit. They're doing like, oh, race you to that tree or whatever. And Fireheart is like, okay, okay. I could get used to this. Not being hated. That's pretty fun. but and they see that the river between ThunderClan RiverClan is once again frozen over. no, come on.
00:56:45
Speaker
And Sandpaw says, quick, we got to go back to tell Bluestar. She'll probably want to send a patrol over there because they've been so they've been sent in RiverClan cats on their territory.
00:56:59
Speaker
So Bluestar will probably want to send a patrol to teach him a little lesson. And Fireheart obviously is dreading this. But they go back and there's like a whole meaning about it.
00:57:14
Speaker
And they set up a patrol to attack and they're like, okay, we're going to attack tonight. And then Graystripe is all worried and he's like, well, you know, it's not very cold. It's probably going to thaw. So this will probably be dangerous. And so Blue Star talks with her senior warriors and she comes back and says, you know what? Graystripe is right.
00:57:39
Speaker
We'll attack now instead before the river thaws. Oh my gosh. And so they're asking for volunteers and they're like, okay, we need one more cat and fire heart volunteers so that Graystripe doesn't have to make the decision. yeah And they're getting all ready for their fight and they go out and the river's flooded already.
00:58:08
Speaker
Thawed already. So they can't anyway. yeah
00:58:14
Speaker
And Fireheart is like, oh, thank god God. Don't worry about that. But they go back to camp and...
00:58:25
Speaker
Jericho gray stripe is not happy with fire heart. He fucking attacks fire heart its for doubting his loyalty.
00:58:47
Speaker
What the fuck, man? Yeah, Graystripe jumps Fireheart and they get into ah a physical fight and Fireheart is like, I did it for you so you wouldn't have to make a choice. And Graystripe is like, how dare you think that like I wouldn't be loyal to ThunderClan? Of course I would have gone and attacked RiverClan if Bluestar told me to. And they fight in the warrior's den, but then their fight gets...
00:59:12
Speaker
ah too dramatic for the warrior's den and it spills out into the camp clearing so everyone is essentially like fight fight fight because they're and then blue star is like hold the fuck up stop what are you doing first of all you're friends so idiots that doesn't make sense and second of all can we not when we're like suffering how we are like we're about to have no food because it's going to be leaf bear all the tensions between the clans is high like please just don't right now but gray stripe and fireheart are super pissed now it's too late to cool off after this happening fireheart goes to see princess princess once again
01:00:03
Speaker
and you know what? Princess has... ah i should have mentioned she was pregnant this whole time. She was pregnant. They knew that. We knew that last time.
01:00:15
Speaker
ah She has a little snowy white Longford kit with her this time. And she says, oh this is my son. And... The two legs are going to decide where all my other kits go, but this is my firstborn kit and I want to decide where he goes. So I'm giving you him to you, Fireheart, and I want you to raise him in your clan.
01:00:42
Speaker
what
01:00:47
Speaker
and and Fireheart is so touched by this. And he's like, I am going to make this cat the best warrior ThunderClan has ever seen. And so he brings the kit back to the camp. And the camp...
01:01:03
Speaker
When he's almost at the camp already, he realizes, oh wait, how am I going to explain this kit to the clan? I'm going to have to tell them that I've been seeing Princess and that that's where this kit came from. But it's like too cold out now for me to turn back and give the kit to Princess because the kit is a newborn and can't make that journey. So I guess I'll have to just go through with it and bring this kit into my clan and have everyone pissed at me.
01:01:37
Speaker
So that's what he does. my gosh. the whole clan is like, where the fuck did that kit come from? And Bluestar is pissed because she obviously learns not only that he has just given them another mouth to feed is what they're all saying about the kit, but also that Fireheart has been seeing his sister without telling anyone. And she's like...
01:02:03
Speaker
Why what would you do this thing? Like you're going to have split loyalties and all that. But half of the clan is like look at it it's a little a sickly little kitty pet it's just gonna die soon anyway and they're just saying these awful things about this literal baby it's kind of hard to read damn yeah like they literally say like oh he's just gonna get sick and die so like just throw him out of the camp
01:02:35
Speaker
Jesus. Yeah, which is also like one of the and in the warrior code, they say if there's a kit, you have to help it regardless of if it's a clan, if it's your clan or a different clan or not even a clan like you have to help kits that need help.
01:02:53
Speaker
so But eventually, Bluestar is like, ah she says, let me talk to my senior warriors about this. And Frostfur, who is Cinderpaw's mom, comes over and she's like, oh, oh because Fireheart...
01:03:10
Speaker
Fireheart goes to the warrior done with this little kit and he's like, I guess I'll just try to make the kit warm in the warrior's den because i don't know what else to do And the kid is like crying because he's hungry.
01:03:25
Speaker
and one of the other cats is like, can't you shut that thing up? And he's like, gosh I'm doing my best here. Frostfur comes in and she's like,
01:03:37
Speaker
all right, you freaking young bachelor cat, give me that kit. We're not going to just put it in the Warriors' den. So she brings it to the nursery, and one of the other cats, Brindleface, had just lost a kit.
01:03:52
Speaker
She still has two kits left, but she had lost one of her kits. And Frostfur is like, hey, um you should take this kit because he needs a mom and you have milk. And Brindleface kind is against it at first, but you could tell it's out of sadness for her other kit. She's not ready to...
01:04:12
Speaker
accepts the loss of her other kit and frost for just puts the kit down and he goes over and starts nursing at brindle face and brindle face it looks surprised and then just like looks at him like oh my god i i love you i'll protect you with my whole life so it's cute and so blue star says okay fine we're gonna accept this kit into the clan we're gonna call him cloud kit and Fireheart asks if they're going to have a naming ceremony. And Bluestar just coldly says no. Which is very confusing to me because i have never heard of a naming ceremony for a kit before.
01:04:53
Speaker
Like this is the only time it ever comes up. So it's just another one of those things where it's like, I guess early on they hadn't established a lot. But yeah, we have not since had a naming ceremony before.
01:05:05
Speaker
I haven't read the latest two arcs, so don't kill me if there's one in there. But as of like six arcs from now, there's not been a naming ceremony. Graystripe is still slipping out of camp, except this time, or at this point, Fireheart has convinced them to meet at Four Trees, which is the gathering place. So at least there won't be like, oh, I've scented ThunderClan on my territory and vice versa. Mm hmm.
01:05:33
Speaker
Which I don't know how they didn't think about that in the first place. The borders are patrolled twice a day. Of course, they're going to smell a ThunderClan cat on their territory. ah These cats are not smart.
01:05:49
Speaker
No, they are not. So Graystripe is still neglecting Brackenpaw. So Fireheart essentially still has an apprentice, even though Cinderpaw is the medicine cat done because he's got to take care of Brackenpaw. So now his time is split between training Brackenpaw, checking in on Cinderpaw and checking in on Cloud Kit. So he is a very busy boy.
01:06:14
Speaker
And at the gathering, Bluestar accuses RiverClan of hunting on sunning rocks, which is like a long disputed piece of territory between them. And Krukestar is like, actually, my cats have sunned ThunderClan in RiverClan territory. And Fireheart is like, those two dumbasses. Because he knows it's Silverstream and Graystripe. And they're because the clans are fighting about it now. Because they think that they're hunting on each other's territory.
01:06:46
Speaker
ShadowClan says, well, we've scented rogues in our territory. So maybe there are just rogue cats fucking with everyone. But then the gathering gets too potentially aggressive. And clouds come to cover the moon. And the cats know that this is StarClan telling them that the gathering is over. So what's the difference between a rogue and a loner?
01:07:11
Speaker
a rogue is essentially an aggressive loner. Okay. um And, oh, I'm sorry. This is when they agree to meet at Four Trees after this whole gathering happens. And Fireheart is like, can you at least meet in a neutral territory so that you don't, like, cause a war between our clans?
01:07:31
Speaker
And they agree to that. And then one day on a patrol... One of the ThunderClan patrols has scented ShadowClan on some bones in their territory. And Tigerclaw is so pissed because he's like, okay, not only are they hunting on our territory, but they want us to know they're hunting on our territory.
01:07:53
Speaker
And so he takes a patrol out to just go attack them. Fireheart
01:08:02
Speaker
pretty much taking care of camp when he's gone and he hears that ah blue star is out on patrol with another group of warriors so he's like wait a minute am i the only warrior left in camp right now ah And then he starts to think, this is a trap. but And so he gets up onto the high ledge, which is or the high rock, which is where Bluestar is.
01:08:36
Speaker
starts meetings from and he's like hey everyone um i'm pretty sure broken star is about to attack our camp because i'm the only warrior here and we need to be prepared for it and right as he does that he hears broken star enter the camp and say oh wow this is gonna be easier than i thought
01:09:00
Speaker
Yeah, so they attack the camp, and obviously things are going poorly because Fireheart is the only warrior at camp. and he sees Clawface, who is the warrior who murdered Spottedleaf. And Clawface is now, like, exiled with Brokenstar. And...
01:09:25
Speaker
He's getting just annihilated by Clawface until Graystripe comes out of nowhere because he's finally done fucking Silverstream, I guess.
01:09:36
Speaker
So he comes home and he... just kills the shit out of claw face and he has a moment of regret and then fireheart is like nah dude claw face killed spotted leaf so like don't even sweat that which you know fair enough yeah so they somehow win this battle i think I think... I didn't write this down, but I think that Bluestar interrupts... Or Bluestar gets back in time. Because Bluestar also um
01:10:15
Speaker
smelled the bones and recognized Brokenstar's scent. And so she knew what was essentially going to happen. So she ran back to camp to help defend it. And...
01:10:26
Speaker
They go into the medicine cat den and Yellowfang has blinded Brokenstar. Nice. Yeah. so she... Here's another... Like, I mentioned this series being kind of ableist before. um As soon as he gets blinded, he essentially turns into, like...
01:10:52
Speaker
ah just Just a very weak crybaby. And he's like, no, no, don't hurt me, don't hurt me. And like his whole personality changes, which I don't like because... Yeah. Yeah. Because these are these are cats and they can rely on their other senses. They got smell, they got hearing and whiskers and all that. like He shouldn't be completely changed just because he got blinded, you know? Mm-hmm.
01:11:23
Speaker
And they... Tigerclaw wants to kill Brokenstar. Yellowfang gives the whole, we can't kill him. Because then we'd be no better than he is.
01:11:37
Speaker
Even though, like, okay, well... Brokenstar killed children, but alright. Like, he's a literal child murderer. And he brought children into battle with him. Like...
01:11:54
Speaker
So now Broken Star is just their prisoner. But good news. Dustpaw and Sandpaw finally get to be made warriors. They have been kind of bitter about it because they were made apprentices before Graystripe and Fireheart.
01:12:11
Speaker
And so they are now Dustpelt and Sandstorm. And...
01:12:19
Speaker
Oh yeah, apparently it's been two moons since Fireheart and Graystripe were made warriors. So... They're still technically not even old enough to be warriors.
01:12:35
Speaker
Like, according to the norm, you know? Later on, in the next few days... Bluestar pulls Fireheart into her den and she's like, hey, I noticed that you and Graystripe still aren't getting together.
01:12:52
Speaker
i don't like that. So go hunting with him and make up with him. Wow. Right? She's like, tensions are high. We're going to get into war with another clan. i can have my warriors fighting. So she makes them go hunting together and they're both so pissy about it.
01:13:12
Speaker
And Graystripe is like, just keeps bringing up how, oh, how dare you doubt my loyalty. and nothing really gets accomplished for this hunting trip. um They find that Cloud Kit has gone missing. Oh no.
01:13:30
Speaker
And... They track him down eventually in the forest. This spunky little kit took Ashkit and Fernkit, his littermates, his adopted littermates, took them out to go hunting.
01:13:49
Speaker
And he's so proud. I think he caught like a vole or something. He's so proud of it. He's like, I'm going to be the best warrior there ever was. And Fireheart is like, go answer to Blue Star. You made all of us worry. And Blue Star scolds him and she's like, you have to take care of the elders now. And Cloudkit is definitely not upset about that at all because he adores the elders. Like they all love him and he loves hearing their stories. But he's like, yes, Blue Star. And then she's like,
01:14:22
Speaker
but go add your fresh kill to the prey pile. So he like picks it up tail high and brings it over. He's so proud of himself. And Fireheart is like, wow, good on him for catching that when he's just a tiny baby. But, um,
01:14:38
Speaker
Is this kind of bad that he seems to not give a fuck that he broke the warrior code and he doesn't care about his punishment? And um is he going to be really hard to turn into a warrior? Oh my gosh.
01:14:52
Speaker
That night, Spottedleaf comes to Fireheart in a dream. Not the kind of dream you're thinking of, though. No, I wasn't thinking of that, actually. Okay.
01:15:05
Speaker
i was What I was thinking is like, damn, this is all in the same book? Uh-huh. It's kind of crazy. Yeah, we're like almost done with it. There's like so much going on. i know. It's so funny compared to the later books where and where it's just so much talking and not as much happening, which a lot of people have issue with. I'm kind of okay with it. I would take either one.
01:15:29
Speaker
I do think these books are a little bit better though. But Spottedleaf tells Fireheart, beware a warrior you cannot trust. And of all the fucking obtuse things that StarClan tells these cats, like, yeah, no shit. I'm gonna... If I don't trust the warrior, I'm gonna be wary of them. Like...
01:15:56
Speaker
Because then Fireheart is like thinking it's Graystripe because of his divided loyalties. And he's like, oh no, like is something bad going happen with Graystripe? who So he's pondering over this. And then super early one morning, one whisker busts into the ThunderClan camp.
01:16:18
Speaker
And he says he's he's asking for the help because RiverClan and ShadowClan are attacking the WindClan camp.
01:16:28
Speaker
And so, Bluestar sends a patrol to help them. Except along the way, they hear a cat following them.
01:16:40
Speaker
And they stop to find out who it is. ah And it's fucking Cloud Kit with Ash Kit and Fern Kit trailing behind him. And Fireheart is like, hey, bud, what are you doing here? and Cloud Kit is like, I came to help. You said one day we would fight together side by side.
01:17:06
Speaker
And Tiger Claw is like, essentially sees this as an opportunity to mock Fireheart because he takes any chance he can. And he says, all right, Fireheart, your call. It's your kin that is making us wait and inconveniencing us. You got to decide what to do. Because he's been questioning Fireheart's loyalty. um with i mean, yeah, overall. But he's been thinking that Fireheart is the one that's been going over to RiverClan.
01:17:41
Speaker
And so Fireheart tells Brackenpaw to take Cloudkit home. to which Breckenpaw is like super disappointed he's like oh I want to fight but okay because he is a well behaved apprentice and during that fight good Graystripe they get to the Windclan camp and they join in the fight Graystripe is like avoiding fighting Riverclan cats all that he can and being super obvious about it ah which ah obviously is not good
01:18:14
Speaker
But then Leopard Fur sees Fireheart and Fiori is in her eyes because she can't fucking stand Fireheart. And she attacks him and she is just completely destroying him. And he sees Tiger Claw across the clearing and Tiger Claw is just standing there watching him. And he's like, Tiger Claw, help me. And Tiger Claw just like turns and attacks other cats. Wow. Yeah. And then. Fucking dick. Right, Fireheart realizes in that moment that, oh, a spotted least warning was about Tigerclaw, which, like, once again, i don't know what use that was.
01:18:56
Speaker
She didn't help anything. yeah like, he already had suspicions of Tigerclaw, and he gets away from Leopardfur, though. i think running wind helps him.
01:19:12
Speaker
Some cat helps him. And Silverstream has like you know the battle fury in her eyes. And she charges at Fireheart. And she rears up and is about to attack him. And Fireheart was not going to attack her because right of Graystripe.
01:19:32
Speaker
And then Graystripe, from across the clearing, screams at Silverstream to not attack Fireheart. And she stops and like, you know, her eyes get clear like, oh, that's Fireheart. And she goes back down to all four paws.
01:19:52
Speaker
And she just like flees the battle. And Graystripe goes after her. Well, I guess the cat is out of the bag, so to speak. then, well, you would think that, wouldn't you?
01:20:08
Speaker
i would. Yeah. Well, what firear or what Tiger Claw is pissed about at the end of that battle, they do drive RiverClan and ShadowClan off. What Tiger Claw is pissed about is that Darkstripe tells him he saw Fireheart let Silverstream go.
01:20:29
Speaker
and so he wants him to explain that. And Fireheart says, yeah, I let her go just like we let all of the warriors go because we don't kill them. And Tigerclaw says, well, Darkstripe said you didn't even scratch her. But maybe we can ask Graystripe when he comes back because apparently he ran after her. OMG.
01:20:56
Speaker
They all go back to camp and Graystripe returns eventually and he's all like somber and quiet and he says, okay, Fireheart, maybe you were right all along that I do have divided loyalties. Because when we were fighting, it didn't feel like we were fighting enemy warriors. It felt like we were fighting Silverstream's clanmates.
01:21:24
Speaker
And they have a little heart to heart Graystripe is like, but I can't stop seeing her. I'm in love with her. and they agree that, well, no matter what happens, their friendship will always be important to them. And the book ends with them sleeping together in their den And with their declaration of everlasting friendship.
01:21:57
Speaker
Oh, boy. And this is why many people ship them together.
01:22:05
Speaker
Yeah, but...
01:22:09
Speaker
I can see it. Yeah. I have found... There are obviously a lot of errors in these books, but most of them are like, oh, they call this cat a ginger when they're a tabby. And I don't really find those interesting.
01:22:25
Speaker
But I found two funny things worth sharing. First of all, And this is a very well-known thing, so I but i didn't just find it for this episode. but Cinderpaw says she recognizes ShadowClan's scent based off of the kits that were stolen in Book 1. Like, ShadowClan stole some of their kits.
01:22:45
Speaker
But the funny thing is that she was one of those kits. So she seems to have forgotten that she was stolen. Yeah. Because it was like, yeah, she was the, her litter was the only one in the nursery that they could have stolen. And they ah described the colors of the kits and it matches her and Brackenpaw.
01:23:07
Speaker
but And then the second one was that they say that it's been three moons since Broken Star was driven out. Like by the end of the book. um And six moons since Spottedleaf was killed, even though somehow these happened on the same day.
01:23:25
Speaker
So there's some time confusion. Yeah, that doesn't make any sense. Yeah. Near the end of this arc, there's like a really big one about that. But ah yeah, that's fire and ice.
01:23:43
Speaker
What do you think of it? i
01:23:47
Speaker
I am worried about Blue Star. Oh, yeah? Tell me. She's it seems like she's been making some weird decisions.
01:24:00
Speaker
And she's on her last life.
01:24:03
Speaker
So. If she goes, Tiger Claw gets to be in charge. Mm hmm. Sounds like a fun time. so why did why did she like make.
01:24:16
Speaker
Fireheart and Graystripe warriors so soon, knowing that it would piss people off. Yeah, I mean, the whole thing was like, oh, you helped drive ShadowClan out and, you know, you proved yourself to be warriors. But it's like, well, they're still like way ahead of schedule with becoming warriors. Like and it was like, like Brackenpaw and Cinderpaw being apprentices of Moon early, i feel like
01:24:52
Speaker
okay in an emergency like it is now is more understandable but cutting apprentice training time in a half is kind of wild yeah
01:25:05
Speaker
it feels a lot like anakin somehow ah oh my god that's such a good comparison he's too old well we're gonna make it as exception Uh-huh. And we know how that went. Yep.
01:25:23
Speaker
That's how you get Darth Vader. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we'll see how it goes next book. There's a lot of the plot lines that I do like.
01:25:34
Speaker
um i like this whole, like, affair that Graystripe is having in the in the divided loyalty thing and Fireheart kind of be in the middle. Like, that's interesting.
01:25:46
Speaker
i don't understand the point of some of the things that happened, but ah it just seemed it seemed like it wasn't going anywhere.
01:26:01
Speaker
yeah Like, there's this war, but there's this conflict now between all the clans when they... I don't... This is okay. Hold on. let hold It wasn't that long ago before they helped ShadowClan oust Broken Claw.
01:26:23
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Right? Which they wanted to do. And they're like, okay, cool. We helped you with this. And then ShadowClan's like, yeah, but we don't like the fact that you brought WindClan back, even though we agreed to it.
01:26:38
Speaker
Mm-hmm. So now we're going we're going to... now now But ThunderClan has to go and fight them. it's like, dude, what are you doing? Yeah, some of the fights in the series are like...
01:26:55
Speaker
You're just cats who are angry. and I mean, if that's the case, okay. That... Fine. That makes sense.
01:27:06
Speaker
Mm-hmm. It just seems weird. I don't know. Yeah. I mean, I think the thing is that this early on they were struggling to figure out how much they wanted these cats to be people and how much they wanted them to be cats. Because like some things are like, okay, they did that because they're cats. um Like with knowing the father of a litter, sometimes they're just like, yeah, I'm not going to tell who the father is. And they're just like, well, we're cats, so we don't care. And then sometimes it's like,
01:27:39
Speaker
You're fighting based on these ideologies that essentially boil down to just you want to fight because you're cats, I guess.
01:27:52
Speaker
But then there are things like, oh, Graystripe and Silverstream fall so madly in love that they have to break the warrior code. And it's like, well, that's not very cat-like. So I think it's just this early on, especially it never entirely goes away for the series, but I think this early on, especially they are definitely figuring out how much they want them to be cats.
01:28:15
Speaker
And again, the whole territory thing, I mean, cats are territorial. So like, yeah, yeah, they will attack someone from being on their territory. They don't care why. i guess that makes sense.
01:28:27
Speaker
But damn, yeah.
01:28:31
Speaker
Yeah, and I think that's a good example of things that they do narrow down later. Like I was saying how they kind of get less like that as the series goes on. I think they get more humanized, which makes some things more interesting, but don't know if I care for overall. Because I kind of liked that...
01:28:52
Speaker
At the end of the day, they're cats. And it's like, can you really can you really judge them based on human morals if they're just doing what their instincts tell them to do? Right.
01:29:10
Speaker
When in other situations, it's like, well, you were clearly just evil. You're an evil cat. Yeah. Yeah.
01:29:20
Speaker
The fight with Longtail and Firepaw in the first book also is a good example of that because um it's been a while. So i ah remind as a reminder, I went to fire. Yeah, that's the one where there was the whole collar thing, right? Yeah.
01:29:42
Speaker
Yeah, so that's a good example of how much they... How things have changed because i think it was liot he was either Lionheart or Whitestorm were the ones who were like, hey, are you going to take that? You should go fight him.
01:29:58
Speaker
And then in this book, we have Blue Star being furious that Graystripe and Fireheart are fighting. So it's kind of contradictory, but also like... There three different people who have their hands directly on this book. I know there way more actually in the publishing industry. but like we are someone yeah both the books Both the first books were written by Kate Carey, though. So i don't know if we can really excuse it like that.
01:30:31
Speaker
I think it more has to do with how quickly they pumped these books out. Yeah, that that could be too. I feel like Cloud Kit's going to be a problem. ah feel like his sister's going to be a problem.
01:30:47
Speaker
Obviously, Graystripe and Silverstreamer is going to be a problem. I'm so excited to tell you what happens with all three of those things.
01:31:01
Speaker
Bluestar's not going to make it to the end of the arc. I can just... These lips are sealed. But do you know what is not sealed? Tell me. Access to our Discord.
01:31:13
Speaker
oh o Which you can find the link in the description below or glitterfoxmedia.com. And come and tell us what you think of these cats.
01:31:30
Speaker
And... really Am I going to be right? Am I going to be wrong? let's We'll see. So I'm hoping to get a lot of fans of Warriors in on this first season. And so I'm just going to say right now...
01:31:48
Speaker
If you go on the Discord, just if you post anything beyond what we've covered on the podcast, please give a spoiler warning. Because obviously Jerka has not read the rest of these and I don't want her spoiled for it. So give a little spoiler warning and put them in the the spoiler tags on your comments.
01:32:06
Speaker
we could all all We could even make a a different channel just for people who know... Oh yeah, definitely. Yeah, that'd be fun. I really want for this podcast to be like really community focused. And like if you like kind of a, you know, book club format. So yeah, go ahead and jump on there and I'll talk to you about it because I love these books.
01:32:32
Speaker
Yes, they will definitely talk to you about it. I can confirm. I have Jerika. And I've been Laura. And just remember, just because you're older doesn't mean you have to grow up.
01:32:47
Speaker
Bye. Bye.