Discussing the Cats of the Dark Forest; by Sunscorch

Get ready for today’s article curator, Sunscorch, to deliver you an in depth discussion on the cats of the Darrrrrrk Forest.

Hey everyone! Sunscorch here, and I’m going to give you a long lecture about the cats of the Dark Forest! (Or, if you prefer, just a discussion…)

1, Brokenstar:

First off, I think Brokenstar is a lot more complex than just simply “evil”. He was influenced as a kit by Lizardstripe, who gave him little affection and tried to make him feel unwanted and unloved. Lizardstripe was also a rather tough she-cat, and that was where he got his ruthlessness and fierceness. Yellowfang admitted that it was her mistake that she had not given him enough love and care, and Brokenstar really wasn’t that bad as a kit. He was also too reckless and eager to prove himself, because his denmates Tanglekit/burr, Deerkit/foot, and Runningkit/nose teased him about no one knowing who his mother was. They often excluded him in games, just for that reason. I think he could’ve become a great leader if he had been given care as a kit.

2, Tigerstar:

Tigerstar, like Brokenstar, had an influence: Thistleclaw. Since Thistleclaw was his mentor, he probably taught him to be ruthless and to love battle. He does have a soft spot, as he was kind to Sasha when she met him. Though Tigerstar is in the Dark Forest, he truly believes that he is doing the right thing and just like any other cat. StarClan chose him to be leader of ShadowClan because they thought that he was a worthy leader and that he was destined to lead ShadowClan. For those who argue, I shall tell you that StarClan cannot do everything.

3, Mapleshade:

Since a lot of people have read Mapleshade’s Vengeance, many of you also understand Mapleshade. I’d probably do the same thing if that happened to me, and I have a lot of sympathy for her. Appledusk loved her, but he loved his position in RiverClan more. Reedshine was being selfish and didn’t care about Mapleshade, she only wanted to get rid of her so Appledusk could be her mate. Oakstar was also selfish, holding grudges against her for something that Appledusk did, not her. Same with Frecklewish. A lot of other cats went again the warrior code and had kits with a cat from another Clan, and they didn’t get punished (*cough* Graystripe and Silverstream, Crowfeather and Leafpool, Fallowtail and Reedfeather, Bluestar and Oakheart, *cough*). Her kits didn’t deserve to die, neither are they “half-Clan creatures”. I’m talking to you, Frecklewish!

4, Thistleclaw:

I’m not sure about Thistleclaw. It seemed that being evil was just in his personality, though I think he is more complex than that. It’d be great if a novella was written about him. He did have a hint of decency though, as he was really nice to Snowfur and Whitestorm (although he was less warm to his sister-in-law).

5, Hawkfrost:

Hawkfrost was mostly just ambitious, but his father Tigerstar swayed him and caused him to go too far, to point where he deliberately got rid of Stormfur to be deputy. He just wanted to be leader, kind of like Oakheart, though Oakheart had a better personality. Maybe he could’ve been different, and maybe not. Like Thistleclaw, I’d like to see a novella written about him.

And yeah, that’s about it! I know I didn’t cover all of the Dark Forest cats, but I did the main ones. Let me know what you think in the comments!