They’re Stronger Than You Know – Cats whose strength has been overlooked by Ospreymist

Ospreymist takes a look at some characters whose inner strength goes beyond what we see in the books.

Hihi! It’s me, Osprey, back with yet another article! I’ll be looking at cats who I believe have a lot of strength, but no one seems to realise that they have it.

First up –
LILYHEART
If you know me, you know I love Lilyheart and Seedpaw to pieces. Lilyheart has had a very tragic life, yet she’s been able to remain supportive to those cats around her who’ve needed it, and gone beyond being kind to make sure ThunderClan is the best place possible. She lost Sorreltail and Seedpaw at a very young age, and went on to lose Snowbush and Larksong when she was older. She had to sacrifice time with her own kits to make sure that Twigbranch felt like she had a place within ThunderClan. Twigkit had already had a hard life, and a queen like Lilyheart was exactly what Twigkit needed to feel wanted in ThunderClan. She put aside her own grief to help others, and that sort of power and kindness is rare in Warriors. A wonderful motherly figure to all who need it (She and Seedpaw were almost acting like motherly figures to Snowpaw, Amberpaw and Dewpaw in Bramblestar’s Storm, bossing them around).

Next –
GREYPOOL
Greypool’s life was pretty hard from the start. She and Willowbreeze probably just felt that they were only wanted in WindClan so their ranks were larger, and I think it was mentioned somewhere neither of them enjoyed WindClan that much and missed their mother. They eventually came back to RiverClan, and as a queen, her entire litter died, and she agreed to take in 2 kits when she was grieving, and raised them as if they were her own, a truly noble action, and like Lilyheart, she pushed aside her own grief to make sure that Mistykit and Stonekit lived the best life they could. Around the same time, Willowbreeze and 2 of Greypool’s 3 nieces died, another moment of grief she was able to push through. Even well into Mistyfoot and Stonefur’s adulthood, she treated them as if they were her own kits, and she died trying to protect their information from Tigerstar after realising she accidentally told him about their sudden appearance. She tried to run away, and slipped, hitting her head on a rock.
To back up her love for Mistystar once more, she gave her the first life, and Mistyfoot treated her foster mother with absolutely heartwarming love, telling Greypool she was scared. A strong warrior and mother, even after her death. On that note –

STONEFUR
Despite being an arc 1 cat, I never see that much love for Stonefur, a cat who was a truly noble warrior (Side note – I didn’t put Mistystar on this list because she’s not very strong or honourable in the latest arc, she’s just being annoying). He devoted his entire life to RiverClan, and was even chosen as deputy because of his strength and honour. He learnt pretty soon that he was half-clan, something that would’ve shattered him entirely, and with that, he also lost Leopardstar’s trust entirely, all because of his birth. He was able to push aside that hatred towards his mother to try and save her from drowning, and Firestar, Bluestar, Mistyfoot and Stonefur shared a very special moment before Bluestar died. Even though they only really knew their mother for a few minutes, Stonefur attended her vigil and commented that he was proud to be Bluestar’s son, pushing away any opinion ThunderClan may have of him to acknowledge that Bluestar tried to do what she thought was right. Then, of course, he died upholding those same beliefs, that no one should judge him for his birth, protecting 2 young cats that had already learnt that the world was against them. A truly strong and amazing cat, who lived and died upholding very strong beliefs, and proving that half-clan cats should not be discriminated against, and that they were strong warriors too.

STORMCLOUD
Anyone who’s read Bramblestar’s Storm knows why Stormcloud is on this list. He lost his brother, Benny, in a storm, and he held onto the belief that Benny was still alive for a very long time, and after Bramblestar found Benny, dead, Stormcloud, or Frankie as he was then, grieved. With his inner strength, though, he was able to push through that grief and serve a Clan he’d know for a very short amount of time to his fullest extent, and even fighting against the badgers with all the power he had. He chose to stay with ThunderClan instead of returning to his Twolegs, earning the warrior name of Stormcloud. In Veil of Shadows, Stormcloud tried to feed the elders, but was banished temporarily because of it, a truly honourable action. Even though he tried to support Bramblestar’s imposter, this was because of Bramblestar’s kindness towards him in the super edition (no I still don’t like Bramblestar).

PEBBLESHINE
Let me put it out there, Pebbleshine is underrated.
I’ll skip her early life because after she was separated from her Clan is when her strength shines through.
Throughout Tree’s Roots and Pebbleshine’s kits, Pebbleshine believed that she would find SkyClan, and even though Tree was telling her otherwise, she truly believed that she would be reunited with Hawkwing one day, even sacrificing a comfortable and warm place for her kits when they were young. Earlier, she befriended some kittypets, and also sacrificed a comfortable place for her kits, all because of the inner strength she had and the belief that she would find Hawkwing. She died trying to feed her kits, showing her strength for her kits and her Clan.

Finally

VIOLET
Violet shows exactly that kittypets are not soft and lazy, as the warriors assume based on the stereotype. She was able to confront her previous life as a BloodClan cat head-on, and in Ravenpaw’s Path, Barley made the following comment after dealing with the BloodClan cats –
“No, Violet’s fine. She’s safe. I think she dealt with all of this better than I have.” (pg 173)
It takes an immense amount of bravery to talk to 2 brothers who neglected you when you were younger, and she did it with strength and determination, and she only wanted what was best for ThunderClan, Ravenpaw and her brother, Barley.
Later on, she was brave enough to give her kits to Ravenpaw and Barley, and later on SkyClan, to ensure that they always had each other, and they didn’t have to separate as she and Barley had to, as well as all of her other kits, even though she sacrificed valuable time with them before they left to make sure they were happy in the long run.
A truly stong, honorable and selfless cat.

That just about wraps things up! Which cats would you put on your list? What did you think of my selections? See you next article!