Hollyleaf, and Nothing Else by Sorrelpaw

Sorrelpaw recounts Hollyleaf’s life and decisions, from her birth to her death. Spoilers abound!

Hi, I’m Sorzi, and I haven’t written an article in a long, long, long time. (It feels great to be writing again :P) Waait a moment– what are you doing, Ginger Muffin?! NO GINGIE YOU CANNOT EAT MY ROSES!!!!! Get away from there you silly kitty…Sorry. My cat decided to be naughty and eat my roses. I had to reprimand her.

So, since my cat just sauntered away to StarClan-knows-where after I swatted her away from my precious roses, I guess I can keep typing this article in peace. I’d better enjoy this peace while it lasts, because I have a strange sort of feeling that once this article is posted, there’ll be a lot of arguments against it.

Now. I’m not going to keep you in suspense wondering what my article is about, so here is everything that I want to say, conveniently packed into a short sentence: HOLLYLEAF WAS NOT A GOOD CAT.

Then, who was Hollyleaf? She was the daughter of Leafpool and Crowfeather, born in a hollow tree miles away from her Clan. She was a carefree, adventurous kit who went on fox-hunting expeditions with her littermates Jaykit and Lionkit. She was an eager apprentice who wanted to become med-cat because it would gain her some respect. She was a troubled young cat who had to decide between choosing to become a warrior of. housing to become a medicine cat. She was a devastated cat who discovered the secret of her true parents. She was a desperate warrior who killed Ashfur to stop him from revealing that secret. She was a despairing she-cat who revealed the secret herself and then fled from the Clans into the tunnels. She was a sad hunter who lived with Fallen Leaves for those so many moons. And finally, she was the warrior who sacrificed herself to save Ivypool.

Yes, Hollyleaf’s life was tragic. Yes, she repented for killing Ashfur by sacrificing her life for Ivypool’s. Yes, that makes her a honorable cat.

Yet, I still firmly believe that Hollyleaf was not a good cat. But don’t assume that just because I don’t think she is a good cat that I think she is evil. She is not good, but she is not evil.

First of all, Hollyleaf was proud. Pride is technically not a bad thing, but when pride makes you choose to become a medicine cat so that others will respect you, it is not good. When pride makes you kill a fellow ThunderClanner to stop him from revealing your secret but then revealing it yourself, it is not good. When pride makes you flee from your Clan to save your dignity, it is not good. Hollyleaf’s pride affected all of the choices she made, and her pride was the reason why Hollyleaf did so many things that made her not a good cat.

Because when you think of it, Hollyleaf’s choice of becoming medicine cat, killing Ashfur and escaping from her Clan– those were all the results of pride.

In addition, Hollyleaf was selfish. Why was it that Hollyleaf was the one to flee from her Clan and reveal the secret? Why did she even reveal the secret???

Because she was selfish. She felt that Leafpool and Crowfeather and Squirrelflight had done something wrong to her, and so, she wanted them to suffer.

Some people excuse Hollyleaf by saying that she cared too much for the warrior code. It was not her fault that she was born caring so much about the Code! As much as that is true, it is indeed not Hollyleaf’s fault that she was born obsessing over the code, but it WAS her choice to continue obsessing over it. The Warrior Code is broken, sometimes. It’s not a good thing for the code to be broken, but most of the time, the cats who broke it did not mean any harm. They didn’t do it on purpose. Yet Hollyleaf, ever the drama queen, decided to blame them.

People often tell me that although it was true that Hollyleaf did so many things wrong, she made up for it at the end when she gave her life to save Ivypool. She was honorable! She deserves respect! She is a true warrior!

The thing is, though, if Hollyleaf really were so honorable, then she would never have had to beg for forgiveness by sacrificing for Ivypool. If she had been so brave and good, then she wouldn’t need to prove it.

BUT
although I have spent most of this article arguing against Hollyleaf, there is always another side to the story. No cat can be pure evil and no cat can be pure good.

This is why I said that I merely believe that Hollyleaf was not good, because there is a diff between not good and evil.

Hollyleaf chased off the fox and she fought for ThunderClan. She knew she had done wrong and tried to repent. In this, she was good.

And so on this very peaceful note, I conclude my article!
Bye! Keep faith and may StarClan light your path!

-Sorzi