Leafpool and Squirrelflight – How Starclan and the Warrior Code Failed Them by Cherryblaze

Art by harriers on DeviantArt

Cherryblaze analyses Leafpool and Squirrelflight

Leafpool and Squirrelflight are the daughters of Firestar, a famous leader, and Sandstorm, a skilled warrior. They also have a strong bond, especially during The New Prophecy. But sadly they still face a lot of hardships, and some of them are linked to the warrior code and Starclan itself. Warning: Spoilers for 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘧𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘭’𝘴 𝘞𝘪𝘴𝘩 and 𝘚𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵’𝘴 𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘦.

𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟭 – 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗳𝗽𝗼𝗼𝗹’𝘀 𝗪𝗶𝘀𝗵

Before Leafpool started labor, she moved away from Thunderclan with the help of her sister so she could give birth where no one would see them. Then Yellowfang appeared, asking Squirrelflight to raise the kits as her own. Here is an excerpt:

The old she-cat sighed. “I wish that the stars had not sent this message to me to pass on. But it is my duty. Squirrelflight, you will never have kits of your own.”
Leafpool gulped. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵? Her sister rocked backward on her haunches. “Are you sure? How can you possibly know that?”
“Are you questioning StarClan?” Yellowfang hissed. Then she let her fur lie flat again. “Leafpool is offering you your only chance to be a mother. And Brambleclaw will be a great father. One day he will be the leader of ThunderClan! He needs kits to follow in his paw steps, don’t you think?”

Earlier in the book, Yellowfang was comforting Leafpool because she was in a similar situation before. But now she is lying to Squirrelflight about being infertile in order to get her to raise Leafpool’s kits. Another thing to note is that the stars told her to give Squirrelflight the message, meaning this was a choice made by Starclan and not just Yellowfang.

This decision caused a lot of problems in Leafpool and Squirrelflight’s lives when the secret got out. It makes you wonder, how much of this could’ve been avoided if Leafpool was allowed to raise her kits?

𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟮 – 𝗦𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁’𝘀 𝗛𝗼𝗽𝗲

When Leafpool and Squirrelflight are hit by falling rocks and sent to Starclan, they meet a few Starclan cats to decide whether they should be accepted or not. Here’s another excerpt:

“Leafpool.” Moth Flight frowned. “You had kits even though you were a medicine cat. I know how that feels. I was the Clans’ first medicine cat. I gave up my kits and it broke my heart. That’s why I made the rule that no future medicine cat should have kits. I wanted to save you all from such pain.”
“I fell in love,” Leafpool mewed simply.
Littlecloud’s pelt ruffled. “Do you think that is an excuse?”
“Every cat falls in love at least once,” Tallstar mewed. “You didn’t have to act on it.”
“You broke my rule.” Moth Flight’s gaze was still fixed on Leafpool.
“I had to.” Leafpool lifted her chin. “But being a medicine cat was too important to give up.”
“Was it worth lying for?” Moth Flight pressed.
“What else could I do?”
Moth Flight eyed her coldly. “You put your feelings before your Clan.”

Starclan’s judgement doesn’t make sense when it was them who knew that it was part of Leafpool’s destiny to give birth to the three, and yet they still considered punishing her for breaking the code. Ever since the rule was made, not allowing medicine cats to have a mate and kits has done more harm than good. Here’s the last excerpt:

Crookedstar padded forward and glared at Squirrelflight. “You lied to your Clan,” he told her bluntly. “You lied to your mate. You told them that Hollyleaf, Lionblaze, and Jayfeather were yours. Why should such a deceitful cat have a place in StarClan?”
Squirrelflight looked at her paws. Her pelt burned. “That was my only lie,” she mumbled. “I have been loyal to my Clan in every other way.”

Starclan is blaming Squirrelflight for doing something they told her to do; they wanted her to foster the kits. If it weren’t for them saying it was her only opportunity to raise kits, she wouldn’t have done it. It’s a shame that the cats Squirrelflight trusted ended up lying to her face.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think about Leafpool and Squirrelflight’s situation. They’re doing fine now, but maybe things could’ve been done differently?

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29 comments

  • Me: Contemplating on whether StarClan is fair or not . . . . . .

    MAKE UP YOUR MIND STARCLAN ARE THEY GUILTY OR INNOCENT. This is a very VERY good article because you made points that are EXTREMELY valid. Congrats to you, Cherryblaze. Leafpool and Squirrelflight didn’t deserve this WHATSOEVER

    • YESSSSS, me too! They’re just a bunch of shining ghost cats, with their own opinions, like how can you trust them?

  • Nice Article!

    I feel bad for Squirrelflight and Leafpool when they had their trial in Starclan. I think Starclan was too harsh and unfair to Leafpool and Squirrelflight, especially when what Squirrelflight lied about was because of them.

  • StarClan, in Leafpool’s Wish: We will be with you and always support you!
    StarClan, when Leafpool dies: Nah you know what, we take that back. Maybe you shouldn’t be here.

    StarClan literally says something about “always supporting you” or something similar to Squilf and Leaf, then when they (Leafpool…) die half of them reject them because Leafpool broke the code (even after they say they will always be with her or something) and lying (and it was StarClan who convinced Squirrelflight to take Leafpool’s kits). Besides Yellowfang is a StarClan cat after breaking the code and Leafpool (and Squilf) needs to trial? Non-sense.

  • If I was Squirrelflight I would have yelled at the Starclan cats for lying. I can’t believe these starclan cats who call themselves ‘great’ when they’re ABSOLUTELY USELESS

  • I hate star clan moth flight and crooked star and all the cats who lied and denied about something they were responsible for shouldn’t have a place in star clan they should be demoted from judge ugh the cold hearts of these supposed “good guys”
    lol hi Graciesong (my previous ACC)

  • always thought that the warrior code left no room for grace or understanding. wonderful article!

  • StarClan: *lies and tells them to also lie*
    Also StarClan: I can’t believe you lied to your clan.

  • StarClan is ridiculous with Leafpool and Squirrelflight you make excellent points. In my opinion I don’t think the living clans need them but StarClan needs the living clans to survive. So they manipulate them into believing they’re all powerful ghosts. They lie to cats telling them they support them and then they backstab them. Bristlefrost and Graystripe died for nothing. They had to sacrifice their life’s so StarClan can keep lying to the clans. I hope in A Starless Clan Nightheart Sunbeam and Frostpaw realize this and work to break ties with them. They literally told Squif and Leafpool that there with the
    And then they tell them that they’re wrong that they lied and back stabbed them. DF is more fair in my opinion I hate StarClan.

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