Hollyleaf – A defense and a tribute by Hollysong

Hollysong defends Hollyleaf.

As you could tell from my name, I like Hollyleaf. She is one of my favorite warrior cats, if not my absolute favorite. But before I get into the reasons why I like her so much and debunk arguments that I know you will be throwing at me, I need to state that this is purely my opinion. I am not trying to force my ideas onto you people, so don’t yell at me.

Also, this is my first article, so that’s another reason not to yell at me. :3 So, I’ll start with the things that people say about her that I believe to be incorrect.

1. She killed Ashfur, and his death was for nothing.

This is somewhat true, but oh well. First, she killed Ashfur because she knew it would devastate her clan and shame her brothers who had done nothing wrong. And while she does break the code, she also FOLLOWS IT by taking out a threat to her clan and defending it from a malicious cat who would cause nothing but trouble. Additionally, she believes such a horrible act is punishable by death, so it makes sense she would do it. And while it’s true his death was somewhat pointless, characters kill bad cats all the time and it doesn’t make them evil to an extent.

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2. She randomly decided to spill the beans at the Gathering and ran away after.
The reason she revealed it was because she was having mental issues. You do crazy things when suffering. And a cat she had trusted and looked up to, Leafpool, had ruined her whole life and made her a violation of the code she loved. She was, quite frankly, not right in the head due to shock. Everything she loved had just been ripped away, and she had lived in shame for so long. She didn’t realize how it would hurt her clan and the cats in it if she revealed the truth. She was suffering from emotional trauma, she was having a horrible life! And it’s really her parents and her fake parents’ fault for making her like this, for wrecking everything and ruining the life she thought she had. The only way she could win, to get over her shock and grief, was to tell the secret. When she realizes this, she immediately shows remorse and runs away, due to her shock at what she’d done. And don’t we all sometimes need a break? To get away? That’s what Hollyleaf needed, just for a long time. She even went so far as to help her Clan even after it destroyed her, risking her secret being revealed just to give something back to her Clan.

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3. She tried to kill her mother!
Yes, but honestly, her mother was trash to her. I respect Leafpool as a character, but her treatment of her kits was downright wrong. And Leafpool had a choice, it was just a suggestion from Hollyleaf. Picture this. You are having a wonderful life, everything is perfect! You are a child of powerful cats, and you have supportive brothers. You even are in a prophecy, and any day you’ll get magic powers! Sounds awesome, right? Well, your mother’s psycho ex comes and tries to kill you! And to protect you, she tells the truth. You are not her kits. You could be from a rouge, a kittypet, anywhere! You don’t know, and your world shatters. So, to save yourself, your siblings, and your fake “parents”, from shame and exile, you kill the psycho ex. Problems solved, to an extent. Then you find out you are a violation of all you hold dear. Half WindClan, born from a medicine cat? It’s over. Everything you stood for, everything you thought you were, was crushed in the extent of a month. Your real mom, the one who was supposed to guide you, protect you, love you, didn’t care enough about you. She only cared about her reputation and her job. Your father refuses to acknowledge the fact that you exist. And those magic powers that were going to appear and make you important to your clan, the only thing you ever wanted, gone. In a heartbeat, it’s over. Your life is shattered. So it is very understandable to be angry at your real parents! They do deserve to suffer, not die, but suffer for what they did.

Now, for why I like her. She was so loyal, tried so hard to prove herself. Also, slight side tangent, Fallen Leaves is poggers. He really helped Holly get over her trauma and was a great companion in the tunnels. Without him, she would have died. I don’t love the ship, because ghost x cat doesn’t really work, I still respect everyone who ships it. I think they are better as friends, that’s all!

Oh and side tangent number 2, no one flipping cared when she died. Lionblaze didn’t even acknowledge her death, just went straight to Firestar! I feel like Ivypool and Fallen Leaves were the only ones who really got worked up about it. Leafpool, Squilf, and Jayfeather get points for some effort though.

Anyway, back to why I love her. I’ve always been a sucker for tragic stories, and Hollyleaf is no exception. eeeee I just love her. She just wanted to be special! Her redemption story really struck me. And just how devoted she was, even after everything she went through! She shows so much humility, even though she really deserves to be stuck-up after what she had to go through. She deserved to be leader! Her life was so short. She was the only cat in all Warriors who actually cared about the rules, there’s no cats who follow it like her! It’s her duty to uphold the code, although in her past she had broken it. She shows so much regret for her actions, and she really did change.

And her time in the tunnels really was gorgeously written and it made me so happy. Hollyleaf’s story – best warriors book. She was so sad in the tunnels, so lonely. Holly gets so guilty, and it hurts me. It’s Leafpool, Ashfur, Squirrelflight, and Crowfeather’s fault! It’s not you that’s wrong. She feels like no one will accept her, that she will be alone forever and never redeem herself for stuff that isn’t even her fault! Well, it is a little, but her parents screwed up big time. She’s afraid she’ll go back into that warrior code-obsessed state of mind again, the one that made her go a little crazy. She even feels bad for existing, for being born! When she returns to ThunderClan, everyone is horrible to her, accusing her of murder (which she did commit but for good reason), and it gets so bad that she tries to leave again, back to the place where there is no one but a ghost and her own footsteps to accompany her.

I know my article is a bit all over the place, but I really believe this stuff. Urghhhhh Hollyleaf is such a good character! I think my siblings have probably combusted from hearing all about Hollyleaf, so now the internet is my next target to rant about Hollyleaf to. Jeez, I realized just how long this article is. 1,245 words as of now.

This is Hollysong, signing off! I hope this changed your mind about my favorite black she-cat, and I hope to see you again. :3