Do Ravenpaw and Barley have a huge age gap? by Palepaw

Palepaw takes a look at Ravenpaw and Barley.

So hiya guys! It’s Palepaw, and I know I haven’t written an article in a long time, so sorry bout that 😛 Today I would like to discuss Ravenpaw and Barley, as I’ve seen less and less people ship them due to their age gap.

First of all, they DO NOT have a HUGE age gap. This one is very debated on. Some people don’t ship them because they have more of a father son relationship, which I think is totally okay, but tbh the age gap would be (maybe) a little too small for that. Anyways, I’m going to start off at Bloodclan, where Barley and his siblings were born. The earliest that Barley could’ve been born was a little bit after Scourge met Bone and Brick. Presumably AT LEAST a couple of moons. Keep in mind that at the time Scourge found those two, he was kit aged, since he just escaped from his family and was called a kitten in pg. 38 of his manga. I suspect that he took a couple months before creating Bloodclan. I believe that he was around 12 moons (1yr) if not a little bit younger when he completely started Bloodclan. That leads me to the conclusion that this is the EARLIEST time Barley could’ve been born. Then again, I feel like it would be more realistic if he was born a bit after the founding. After Barley was a year old he moved out from Bloodclan and moved to the barn, where he was briefly mentioned in Yellowfang’s secret, described as a ‘Young cat who had just moved into the barn.’ At the end of Yellowfang’s secret, some say that it took place maybe 1yr before ‘Into the Wild’ BUT in Exile from Shadowclan, Yellowfang, Nightpelt and some other elders are shown to be plotting with Whitestorm although she hasn’t yet joined them. Thunderclan’s kits have been kidnapped. The kidnapped kits are Cinderkit, Brightkit, Thornkit, and Brackenkit. If these kits are alive, that means that it has definitely gotten to Into the Wild. Exile from Shadowclan happens right after Yellowfang’s secret so it couldn’t have been a year. Although we have no idea how old Graypaw, Ravenpaw, and Firepaw are, all we know is that they’re older than 6 moons but younger than 12 moons (although I think they’re not too far into their training so maybe 7-9moons? ). By Into the Wild, Barley is estimated to be at least 2yrs old. That calculates to 24 moons – 7 moons = 17 moons (1yr 5moons) But it can also be 24m-9m=15m (1yr3m) at the least. Going back to people seeing them as son and father, I think it would be impossible because at most their age gap would be 1yr 5moons which is 17 moons and presumably too young. Was Barley an adult by the time Ravenpaw was born? Yes. But in defence, what about Ivy x Fern, and Dust x Fern? Everyone loves those ships and they have even bigger age gaps. So really, Raven x Barley is on the minor side.

In conclusion, do they have a huge age gap? Nope! It’s still totally fine if you don’t ship them, since I know some people see them as friends. Ngl, I ship them for 2 reasons. First is because the Erin’s were intending to make them an actual couple, and second, because THERE IS SUCH A LACK OF LGBTQ+ CHARACTERS IN WARRIORS!! To top it off, aren’t they two consenting adults anyways?
That’s all I have for today! I hope you enjoyed reading! As always, please be respectful in the comments! Palepaw out <3