LeafXCrow, FeatherXCrow, or NightXCrow: which is the better ship? by Moonseeker

Moonseeker analyses Crowfeather’s relationships.

Hi guys! My name is Moonseeker (aka Moon!) I’m new to BlogClan, and this is my first article, so any advice on how I could improve would be greatly appreciated! 🙂
Alrighty, let’s get this show on the road!
Credits to Fawnpaw and Mountainpaw for inspiring me to make this article!
Also, there will be spoilers in this article, including spoilers for A Light in the Mist! (So read at your own risk… haha).
So, today I’ll be writing about three ships that are usually at war with each other (hehe): LeafXCrow, FeatherXCrow, and NightXCrow. I’ll be analysing these three ships and concluding which one is the best one, in terms of the relationship between the two cats, their love for each other, realisticness of the relationship, things like that!
Oki, so most of us know that Crowfeather loved two cats: first Feathertail, then Leafpool. After reading Crowfeather’s Trial, it is very clear that Crowfeather and Nightcloud do not love each other and never did, and they only view each other as friends/Clanmates. Crowfeather had only taken her as a mate to prove his loyalty to WindClan, and he even tells himself in Crowfeather’s Trial that he had never loved Nightcloud as he had loved Leafpool and Feathertail. So, I’ll be tossing NightXCrow off the drawing board, as both Crowfeather and Nightcloud ended their relationship in Crowfeather’s Trial, and because Crowfeather never truly loved Nightcloud. (Sorry, NightXCrow fans!).
So, now we have LeafXCrow and FeatherXCrow to debate about!
Oki, so I’ll start by reviewing FeatherXCrow. Here is a quick summary of Feathertail and Crowfeather’s relationship (from when it started to Feathertail’s death) *spoilers!*:
Crowpaw doesn’t really have any friends in WindClan, and usually his parents are too busy to spend much time with him, so he’s a prickly cat who doesn’t get along with others very well. Then he gets chosen to go to the sun-drown-place with Brambleclaw (along with Squirrelpaw), Feathertail (along with Stormfur), and Tawnypelt. During the journey, the only cat who saw past his difficult personality to his warm-hearted side was Feathertail. She showed kindness to Crowpaw, helped him out of his shell, taught him how to fish, etc. The two start to love each other and always watch out for each other on the journey. Then, on the way home from the sun-drown-place, they meet the Tribe. To make a long story short (and because this summary is supposed to be short) Feathertail learns that she is the silver cat prophesied to save the tribe from Sharptooth, and ends up sacrificing her life to save the tribe from the vicious lion-cat. Crowpaw is devastated at her death and mourns greatly for her.
Right, so now I’ll be analysing their relationship, from when it started to Feathertail’s death.
So, from what we have seen from the books, Crowpaw and Feathertail did have a cute relationship with each other, and they both looked out for one another. Crowpaw loved Feathertail because she was the only cat who showed kindness to him, who helped him out of his shell and defended him when no one else did, which seems like a good reason to love someone. But I have one theory about this: if Crowpaw loved Feathertail for those reasons, then couldn’t it have been any cat? If that makes sense? For example, Crowpaw loved Feathertail because, you know, she was kind to him, she saw past his difficult personality, she defended him, etc. But then, what if it was someone else? Like, what if it was Tawnypelt who was kind to Crowpaw, defended him, helped him out of his shell, and Feathertail didn’t really pay any attention to him or was nice to him? Then Crowpaw would have fallen in love with Tawnypelt, right? So it doesn’t really seem like a big-big issue, but it just tells us that Crowpaw didn’t really love Feathertail for her personality. It kinda tells us that he loved her more for how she acted toward him, because nobody had really ever been truly nice to him before. And yes, before FeatherXCrow fans start flinging pineapples at me (says this while dodging flying fruit), I do understand that Crowfeather did love Feathertail, but the main reason he did was because of how she treated him. Yes, yes, I can tell what the FeatherXCrow fans are thinking: “but Feathertail had a kind personality, that’s why she was nice to Crowfeather! That means Crowfeather did love her for her personality!” Well, my friends, I can debate with that. Because even if Feathertail had a nice personality, she still might have decided not to show kindness to Crowpaw. She might have still done it, but she also might not have, whether she had a kind personality or not. Which shows that the main reason Crowfeather loved Feathertail was because of how she treated him.
Also, after reading The New Prophecy, I noticed something else. I was comparing Feathertail and Crowfeather’s relationship with Leafpool and Crowfeather’s relationship, and honestly, Feathertail and Crowfeather’s relationship just seemed like a cute first love kind of thing while Leafpool and Crowfeather’s relationship seemed like a forbidden, true love. Here’s an excerpt from Crowfeather Speaks: A Forbidden Love:
“From the look in [Leafpaw’s] eyes, I knew she felt the same way. She said everything I’d been feeling—that this couldn’t happen, that she was a medicine cat. But I could see her heart blazing in the depths of her eyes. I could see how much she cared for me too. I’ve seen that same look in Feathertail’s eyes… but this was different. This was more dangerous, more forbidden. There was a feeling like lightning prickling along my fur every time I looked at Leafpaw. And I knew she felt it too. I decided at that moment that we would find a way to be together. The future was terrifying, but we would face it together… our pelts brushing, our tails twined. Our hearts in love, forever.”
Clearly, Crowfeather states that his relationship with Leafpool was “different” and “more dangerous, more forbidden”. Which just goes to prove my point: FeatherXCrow is kinda like a cute first love while LeafXCrow is a more forbidden, true love. And remember, I’m not saying that FeatherXCrow isn’t love! I know it is. It’s just that it’s more of a cute kind of love whereas LeafXCrow is a more intense, true love. Also, Crowfeather says, “the future was terrifying, but we would face it together… our pelts brushing, our tails twined. Our hearts in love, forever.”
Hmm… that kind of love he has with Leafpool sounds more intense and true than his relationship with Feathertail! And he even says, “our hearts in love, forever.” Basically, he says that he and Leafpool would face the terrifying future together and that their hearts would be in love forever. So sweet… and yet he didn’t say that about Feathertail. He basically says that he and Leafpool will be in love forever, but he never said that he and Feathertail would be in love forever. Hmm…
Anyways, moving on. There is another issue I have found with the FeatherXCrow ship: it is a tad bit too unrealistic. Have you noticed that Feathertail and Crowpaw didn’t argue at all or had any disagreements about anything whatsoever during the journey? I mean, that seems kinda unrealistic to me. Even if two cats loved each other a lot, they would still disagree/argue about something. That’s how relationships work. That’s how human relationships work as well. It makes no sense if two cats in a relationship agree about everything! People in a relationship disagree/argue with each other at least sometimes! Here, I’ll list some ships in Warriors that are realistic and where the two cats have some disagreements, like all relationships:
– Bluestar X Oakheart (they had some disagreements/arguments about Bluestar giving up her kits, about meeting at Fourtrees, etc)
– Cloudtail X Brightheart (during the whole Daisy situation they argued once or twice and Brightheart was clearly unhappy about how much time Cloudtail spent with Daisy)
– Bristlefrost X Rootspring (at first Bristlefrost didn’t believe Rootpaw when he told her about the imposter in Bramblestar’s body, and then they disagreed at first about changing Clans for each other. {By the way I miss Bristlefrost so much!})
– Squirrelflight X Bramblestar (personally, I don’t like this ship, but they definitely argued a lot and still love each other)
– Leafpool X Crowfeather (they argued/disagreed several times, but still love each other a lot. Read A Light in the Mist for proof!)
– Firestar X Sandstorm (they argued sometimes and Sandstorm didn’t like Spottedleaf’s relationship with Firestar at first)
And that’s just a few examples of the ships in Warriors where the relationship between the two cats is actually realistic. I also have another ship as an example: ClearsightXDarkstalker, from the series Wings of Fire. (Spoilers for those who haven’t read it yet!). I understand this ship isn’t from Warriors, but it is a great example of a realistic ship where both dragons love each other very much, but still have arguments all the time about Darkstalker becoming king and the dark future that event brings.
So, sorry FeatherXCrow fans (dodges flying pineapples) but Feathertail and Crowfeather’s relationship isn’t really a realistic relationship. They never argue, fight, or even disagree about something during the sun-drown-place journey. That’s just not how relationships work! FeatherXCrow just seems like a stereotypical perfect relationship where they don’t have any arguments/disagreements about anything. (Remember, this is only my opinion, and I don’t intend any offense to the FeatherXCrow fans! If you like FeatherXCrow, that is absolutely fine! Everyone has different opinions :D)
Anyways, moving on. Now I will try to give a short summary (key word: try) of Feathertail and Crowfeather’s interactions after Feathertail’s death, or whenever Feathertail mentions Crowfeather (from what I can remember) *spoilers!*:
In The New Prophecy: Feathertail comes to Leafpaw in a dream and tells her to give Crowfeather a message: that he should stop grieving and instead open his eyes to the cats around him. Leafpaw gives Crowfeather the message.
Later in The New Prophecy, Feathertail comes to Leafpool again in a dream. Leafpool is scared that Feathertail might disapprove of her and Crowfeather’s relationship. However, Feathertail tells her that she wants Crowfeather to be happy again and she can see that Leafpool makes him happy. She encourages Leafpool’s relationship with Crowfeather.
In The Broken Code: A Light in the Mist: Feathertail appears with the other StarClan cats in the Dark Forest. Crowfeather gives her a wistful look when she appears. After Ashfur’s death (and poor Bristlefrost’s death…) Leafpool comes and says that the connection to StarClan has been restored. She and Firestar agree to allow the other cats to check out StarClan’s territory. Leafpool leads the way there, and Crowfeather runs up to her and presses his pelt against hers as they walk together. When they enter StarClan territory, Feathertail watches Crowfeather and Leafpool in jealousy because of how close they stood together.
In Leafpool’s Wish: Feathertail’s spirit comes to Leafpool after she has kitted and tells her that her and Crowfeather’s kits are beautiful, and that they have an important future ahead of them.
In Crowfeather’s Trial: Crowfeather sees his mother, Ashfoot, in a dream, and Feathertail is with her. Crowfeather is very happy to see them both, and says that he misses Feathertail. However, when Ashfoot and Feathertail try to give him advice on his family life, he is slightly angry and asks them if they are ganging up on him now. When Feathertail asks him what he would do if he listened to himself, Crowfeather says he would go to Leafpool.
And when Crowfeather is banished from WindClan and is trapped in a snowstorm, a cat named Yew saves him. Yew tells him that a beautiful silver tabby she-cat showed him where Crowfeather was. Crowfeather recognises the she-cat’s description as Feathertail’s.
(Yes, I know that was not a short summary… oh well).
Right, so now I’ll be analysing this looooooong summary of the encounters Feathertail and Crowfeather had after Feathertail’s death.
So… first up, The New Prophecy. So when Feathertail comes to Leafpaw in a dream for the first time, she tells Leafpaw to give Crowfeather a message: that he should stop grieving and instead open his eyes to the cats around him. Basically, it looks like Feathertail can see that Crowfeather is already starting to develop feelings for Leafpaw and is telling him to “open his eyes to the cats around him”, meaning that she wants him to express his love for Leafpool. Here’s another excerpt from Crowfeather Speaks: A Forbidden Love, for proof:
“After Leafpaw found the Moonpool, she brought me a message from Feathertail. She said I should stop grieving and instead open my eyes to the living. What did that mean? Could Feathertail approve of my love for Leafpaw? Wasn’t she angry?”
Oki, now for another event that occurs in The New Prophecy. Later on, Feathertail comes to Leafpool in another dream. Leafpool is scared that Feathertail will disapprove of her love for Crowfeather. Instead, Feathertail says that she wants Crowfeather to be happy again and encourages Leafpool’s relationship with him. So, from what we can see, Feathertail seems to want Leafpool and Crowfeather to be together. She probably wasn’t too happy about it, but she still wanted Crowfeather to stop grieving for her and express his love for Leafpool.
Oki, next up, we’re analysing their encounters in The Broken Code: A Light in the Mist. So, when the StarClan cats first appeared in the Dark Forest, Feathertail was one of them, and Crowfeather was one of the cats in the patrol that the Clans sent. Crowfeather and Feathertail had all the time they spent there to talk and spend time together and everything. But they didn’t. They didn’t! If they did, I would think that perhaps Crowfeather still loved Feathertail, but no. They never even spoke to each other. The only thing Crowfeather did was to give her a wistful look, meaning he was probably remembering her death or the time they spent together on the sun-drown-place journey. But that’s all he did. He never spoke to her! And it can’t be because Crowfeather doesn’t want to seem disloyal, because during the sun-drown-place journey and many other times in The New Prophecy, he freely spoke in front of other cats about how much he missed Feathertail and how much he loved her. He even requested Tallstar to make his warrior name Crowfeather, in honor of Feathertail, in front of all the Clans. And if a cat showed feelings toward a dead StarClan warrior, no cat would say anything about disloyalty, because it’s disrespectful to say anything rude to their ancestors. So, the reason he wasn’t speaking to Feathertail couldn’t be because he was afraid of being disloyal to his Clan. I think it was because he didn’t love her as much as he used to, and I think he loves Leafpool more. Hear me out, FeatherXCrow fans! Please don’t throw fruit at me haha. So, here’s why I think he loves Leafpool more: in A Light in the Mist, when Leafpool showed up, he spent all his time with her and not Feathertail. While Leafpool guided the cats to StarClan’s territory, he ran up to her and pressed so close against her that “the starlight in her fur seemed to spark into his”. Then, Feathertail watched Crowfeather and Leafpool in jealousy because of how close they stood together. Leafpool and Crowfeather share loving words together about how much they missed each other, and when Crowfeather jokes with her about how clear StarClan’s visions are, her eyes shine with affection as she looks back at him. And if you’re wondering, I’m talking more about what happens in A Light in the Mist because it’s the most recent book where Crowfeather has interactions with both Feathertail and Leafpool. If he doesn’t seem to love Feathertail anymore in A Light in the Mist, then he simply doesn’t love Feathertail anymore, or at least not as much as he used to. I know that he loved Feathertail in the past, but the past is the past, and in the present, we can clearly see he loves Leafpool more. It doesn’t really matter anymore what happened in the past between them, because the present is what’s happening right now, and he loves Leafpool in the present.
Oki, now let’s analyse Leafpool’s Wish. Well, in this book, Feathertail is slightly pushy and pressures Squirrelflight, because she does say things like “Oh Squirrelflight you must raise Leafpool’s kits”. She does also say that Leafpool and Crowfeather’s kits are beautiful, though. Not much to say on this one, because Crowfeather and Feathertail don’t have any interactions in this book.
Finally, analysing Crowfeather’s Trial. Crowfeather speaks to Ashfoot in his dream, and then Feathertail shows up. Well, he is happy to see her, because he did love her once. He is again reminded of how she died and feels saddened. But, when Ashfoot and Feathertail try to give him some family advice, he gets angry and asks them if they are ganging up on him now, because I guess he didn’t like being told what to do by them. I don’t think he expected Feathertail to tell him what to do either. It’s not really Crowfeather’s fault for snapping at them, because he was under a lot of pressure and stress while he was trying to be a better father to Breezepelt. And then, when Feathertail asks Crowfeather what he would do about his current situation if he listened to himself, Crowfeather says he would go to Leafpool. He doesn’t say to Feathertail, “Oh, if I listened to myself, I would want to talk to you about everything that’s been going on, Feathertail”. Nope. Instead, he says that if he truly listened to himself, he would go to Leafpool and share his worries with her. That shows pretty clearly that he trusts and loves Leafpool, and feels most comfortable sharing how he feels with her. Now, I know what the FeatherXCrow fans are thinking (once more, I’m a mind reader haha): “Well, Moonseeker, Feathertail is dead! Maybe Crowfeather wants to talk to Leafpool only because he can’t talk to Feathertail!” Well, my fellow BlogClanners, I have an answer for that! Yes, Feathertail is dead, so Crowfeather can’t talk to her unless she appears in his dreams. But, Crowfeather could have still told Feathertail that if he listened to himself, he would want to talk to her about his problems, even if only in dreams. Then Feathertail would have come to his dreams to talk to him about his family problems. But no, he said that if he listened to his heart, he would go to Leafpool and share his worries with her. Which, to me, clearly shows that he loves Leafpool more.
Oki, now for another event in Crowfeather’s Trial. When Crowfeather is banished from WindClan, he is trapped in a snowstorm. A cat named Yew saves him and tells him that a beautiful silver tabby she-cat showed him where Crowfeather was. Crowfeather recognises the she-cat’s description as Feathertail’s and is happy and massively relieved that she saved him. Obviously, he would be happy, because he did love Feathertail once. And he is definitely relieved, because, well, he’s still alive! Well, that’s all I have to say about Crowfeather’s Trial!
Alrighty… now for the final paragraph, where I share my opinion on the FeatherXCrow ship! (I will try to make this paragraph short, because this article is already really long, and I still need to analyse LeafXCrow haha).
Alright, so I see FeatherXCrow as more of a cute first love kind of thing. They had some cute moments and watched out for each other on the sun-drown-place journey. Feathertail saw through Crowpaw’s prickliness to his soft side and defended him when no one else did. However, I do think that Crowpaw only loved Feathertail because of how she treated him, and I don’t think that their relationship is realistic. I see it as a stereotypical perfect relationship where both Crowpaw and Feathertail don’t have any disagreements about anything. I also think that by loving Leafpool, Crowfeather showed that he has moved on from Feathertail and now loves someone else. And when we look at A Light in the Mist (the most recent book where Crowfeather has interactions with both Feathertail and Leafpool), Crowfeather basically ignores Feathertail and spends all his time in StarClan with Leafpool. So, I think Crowfeather’s love for Feathertail has faded, and I think he loves Leafpool more, according to A Light in the Mist. (No offense to FeatherXCrow fans! This is only my opinion, and it’s perfectly fine if you ship FeatherXCrow! :))
Alrighty… now, we are moving onto LeafXCrow! 😀
So, here is a quick summary of Leafpool and Crowfeather’s relationship before Leafpool’s death *spoilers!*:
In The New Prophecy: Dawn, Crowpaw comforts Leafpaw when she is scared to make a big jump over a gap in the cliff. This is where they start to develop feelings for each other. Then, when the sun-drown-place cats go on patrol to investigate their new territory, Leafpaw wishes she could go with them, imagining herself walking with Crowfeather with their pelts brushing. Later, when Leafpaw is sent to WindClan to help Darkfoot and Morningflower, Crowfeather is ordered to help her with the herbs. Their pelts brush and they both leap away, embarrassed. Crowfeather tries to hide his feelings for her whenever they have interactions, and sometimes snaps at her so as not to reveal how he feels. Then, in Starlight, Leafpool is hanging off a cliff. Crowfeather saves her and confesses his love for Leafpool. Leafpool is overjoyed that he feels the same way she does. They meet several times and show true love for each other. Eventually, they leave the Clans to be together. They spend several more days with each other, but then Midnight shows up and tells them that badgers are coming to the Clans. Leafpool and Crowfeather make the decision to go back and save their Clanmates. After the badger attack, they share words of farewell before going to their own Clans and continuing their normal life. Leafpool discovers she is expecting Crowfeather’s kits, which makes her stressed because she can’t care for them, as she is a medicine cat. In the further books, Crowfeather and Leafpool sometimes snap/argue with each other, but only because they are under a lot of stress, as their own Clans think they are disloyal because they had kits together. Then, in the Great Battle, Crowfeather saves Leafpool from Breezepelt’s attack and tells her that he never regretted anything. Then in Crowfeather’s Trial, Crowfeather goes to Leafpool for family advice and she willingly helps. In Squirrelflight’s Hope, Leafpool dies, and Crowfeather mourns silently for her.
(*sighs* BlogClanners, you have probably already realised that I no longer can write short summaries. Oh well.)
Oki, so now I’ll be analysing their relationship, from when it started to Leafpool’s death.
So, from what we have seen in the books, Leafpool and Crowfeather had concern for each other, loved each other deeply, and cared for one another. Crowfeather fell in love with Leafpool because of her compassion and loyalty, and how she cared for every cat, not just the ones from her own Clan (he has these exact thoughts in Crowfeather’s Trial. Just wanted to give some proof!). Which shows that he fell in love with her because of her personality, unlike Feathertail, whom he had fallen in love with because of how she treated him. Some people say that when Crowfeather saves Leafpool from falling over the cliff, he was basically saving Feathertail. Oki, nope. Nope! Here’s some proof from Crowfeather Speaks: A Forbidden Love: “I heard yowling ahead of me, and I crashed through some bushes, and there she was. The two ShadowClan warriors had fallen to their deaths, but Leafpaw was clinging desperately to the edge of the cliff, her claws scrabbling on the slick, wet rock. Her wild amber eyes met mine, and she called for help. I was frozen… all I could think of was how I had failed Feathertail, how she died because I couldn’t save her.”
So, Crowfeather did not save Leafpool because he thought she was Feathertail. Nope. He was just thinking of how Feathertail had died by falling from a height, and he thinks that his new love Leafpool will die like that too if he doesn’t save her.
A lot of people also think that because Feathertail and Leafpool have similar personality traits like being kind, caring, and sympathetic, they think that Leafpool is Feathertail’s replacement. Uh… what? Where’s your proof for that? Just because Leafpool and Feathertail share similar personality traits doesn’t mean that Leafpool is Feathertail’s replacement! It just means that Crowfeather likes cats that are kind, caring, etc. It’s perfectly normal for someone to have their type of people they like! People also say that LeafXCrow hardly had any development, and I disagree. First of all, FeatherXCrow developed over two books: Midnight and Moonrise. LeafXCrow developed over two and a half books: Starlight, Twilight, and half of Sunset. Technically, we could also count half of Dawn, because that’s where LeafXCrow started. Here’s some proof from Crowfeather Speaks: A Forbidden Love: “I thought that when we reached the lake and went our separate ways I’d be able to forget her. But first she came to our camp to bring watermint to our sick cats, Morningflower and Darkfoot. And the way I felt when I saw her—it made me so angry to realize how little I could control my feelings.”
So, the Clans reached their new home at the end of Dawn. This quote proves that Crowfeather had already developed feelings for Leafpool before they reached their new home. So, we would count half of Dawn in the development of their relationship as well, because they started having feelings for each other then. So technically, LeafXCrow developed over three books: half of Dawn, Starlight, Twilight, and half of Sunset, which is more books than FeatherXCrow.
Yes, yes yes… Moonseeker the mind reader magically knows what the FeatherXCrow fans are thinking: “But Moonseeker, even though FeatherXCrow developed over less books, Feathertail and Crowfeather were together for the entire two books! Leafpool and Crowfeather were only together for short times in the three books, so really, FeatherXCrow had more development!”
And yes, Moonseeker the magician has an answer for that question! Well, yes, you are correct: Leafpool and Crowfeather were not together for the entire three books; they only had secret meetings. However, I would like to ask you all this question: How many of you ship BlueXOak? Or how about GrayXSilver? I know I do! Well, guess what? BlueXOak only developed over one book: Bluestar’s Prophecy. And Bluestar and Oakheart weren’t even together the entire time: they spent the night together at Fourtrees, they had a couple of encounters at the border, and that was all. And yet, we can see how much Bluestar and Oakheart love each other, and they even had kits together: in fact, Squirrelflight’s Hope confirmed that they live happily together as a family in StarClan. Another example: GrayXSilver developed over two books: Fire and Ice and Forest of Secrets. And Graystripe and Silverstream weren’t together the entire time for two books: they only met several times at the border. And Graystripe and Silverstream loved each other so much, they had kits, and Graystripe was heartbroken after Silverstream’s death. So, in my opinion, I don’t think it matters how long the cats spend their time together. I think it matters how much they loved each other during the time they had together. And keep in mind, LeafXCrow is a forbidden relationship, so they weren’t able to spend all their time together. FeatherXCrow is also a forbidden relationship, but because they were both in the sun-drown-place journey together, their relationship had time to develop. However, FeatherXCrow didn’t have many intense love moments, they only had some cute love moments. LeafXCrow didn’t spend as much time together, but in the time they spent together, they got to know each other better and had an intense love, which kinda shows that Leafpool and Crowfeather loved each other more, even if they didn’t spend as much time together. And how many of you guys ship SorrelXBracken? I do! And yet, their relationship only developed over one book. But they still love each other very much, have kits, and are a happy family. Brackenfur mourns heavily for Sorreltail after she dies. So, it just goes to prove my point: I don’t think it matters how long their relationship developed, as long as the cats loved each other during the time they had together. And while FeatherXCrow had some cute love moments on the sun-drown-place journey, LeafXCrow had some intense love moments and loved each other a lot. This quote from Crowfeather Speaks: A Forbidden Love, proves it. Crowfeather talks about his love for Leafpool: “I decided at that moment that we would find a way to be together. The future was terrifying, but we would face it together… our pelts brushing, our tails twined. Our hearts in love, forever.”
Wow, that love sure looks more intense than FeatherXCrow to me! And Leafpool and Crowfeather’s love doesn’t end after The New Prophecy. Like I said earlier, Leafpool and Crowfeather clearly still love each other in A Light in the Mist (see my proof earlier in the article). And because A Light in the Mist is the most recent book where Crowfeather has interactions with both Feathertail and Leafpool, it is the book that we should be looking at the most, because it is the present. Since Crowfeather basically ignored Feathertail and spent all his time with Leafpool, we can clearly see that he loves her more. Also, in Squirrelflight’s Hope, when Leafpool is in a cave with Moonlight’s kits, Crowfeather runs up to Squirrelflight and asks her whether Leafpool was stuck in the cave. His eyes were wide and anxious while saying this, and Squirrelflight notes that they had once been forbidden mates, and that those feelings never completely went away, even after both Leafpool and Crowfeather had continued on with their lives. And when Leafpool had sadly died, Crowfeather was grimly silent, and he clearly fought back emotion, showing how sad he was after Leafpool’s death. Squirrelflight wonders to herself whether Crowfeather really had loved Leafpool after all this time, and in A Light in the Mist, we can see that he does, in fact, still love Leafpool. So, this proof also shows that Leafpool and Crowfeather still love each other. And although there was that whole fiasco about Crowfeather not accepting Leafpool’s kits as his own and all that, the fact that they pulled through their arguments and still loved each other at the end shows how strong their relationship is. The only reason that Crowfeather was being kinda rude to Leafpool was because of how sad he was that he couldn’t be with her, and that he wanted to show his Clan he was loyal. Crowfeather even stopped Breezepelt from attacking Leafpool and told Leafpool that he didn’t regret anything. By the way, this does not mean that Crowfeather did not regret leaving her and staying loyal to his Clan. This means that Crowfeather did not regret falling in love with her! See the Warriors fandom for proof; it says there that Crowfeather telling Leafpool that he didn’t regret anything meant that he didn’t regret falling in love with her. And remember, Crowfeather only took Nightcloud as a mate to prove his loyalty to the Clan, not because he wanted Leafpool to be jealous or anything. This entire time, he clearly still loves Leafpool, shown in A Light in the Mist and Squirrelflight’s Hope. In Crowfeather’s Trial, when Ashfoot and Feathertail come to Crowfeather in a dream and ask him what he would do about his family issues if he listened to himself, Crowfeather says that he would go to Leafpool to talk about it. Like I said earlier, that really shows how much trust Crowfeather puts in Leafpool. And in Crowfeather’s Trial, I found it really sweet that Crowfeather leaped in to save Leafpool from the stoat and how Leafpool took care of Crowfeather when he was injured from the stoat. While Crowfeather talked to Leafpool about his issues with Nightcloud and Breezepelt, he thinks about how he trusts Leafpool more than any cat, which really shows that he still has feelings for her and even trusts her more than Feathertail.
Oki, moving on. Now I will try once more to give a short summary on Leafpool and Crowfeather’s interactions after Leafpool’s death *spoilers!*:
In A Light in the Mist: Leafpool comes to the patrol of cats in the Dark Forest and tells them that their connection to StarClan has been restored. As she leads the cats to StarClan’s hunting grounds, Crowfeather runs up to her and presses so close against her that “the starlight in her fur seemed to spark into his”. Then, Feathertail watches Leafpool and Crowfeather in jealousy because of how close they stood together. Crowfeather and Leafpool are affectionate with each other and share loving words about how much they missed each other, and then when Crowfeather jokes about how clear StarClan’s visions are, Leafpool’s eyes shine with affection as she gazes back at him.
(Was that a short summary? I have no idea)
Oki, so I don’t really have much to say on this since I mainly explained it earlier, but in A Light in the Mist, the only thing Crowfeather does to acknowledge that Feathertail was there was to give her a wistful look. After that, he ignores her completely and spends all his time with Leafpool from the moment she arrives. Which, to me, shows that he clearly loves Leafpool more than Feathertail in the present. Not much more to say on this, since I already explained it all earlier haha.
Oki, so here is a paragraph where I share my opinion on the LeafXCrow ship! I, Moonseeker, will again attempt to make this paragraph short. Can I do it? Probably not, but oh well! It is what it is, haha! And I promise, after this paragraph, I shall say which ship is the winner!
Alright, so I think that LeafXCrow is actually a beautiful ship. They had a lot of true, intense love moments and cared for each other. Even after they came back to their Clans and returned to their normal life, Crowfeather keeps pining for Leafpool and wishes that they could have run away together. Leafpool keeps pining for Crowfeather and wishes that things could’ve been different and that they could’ve been together. This ship is realistic, as both Leafpool and Crowfeather have their arguments and disagreements from time to time. Maybe they had more intense arguments and the fiasco about their kits, but the fact that they pulled through and still love each other at the end shows the strength of their relationship, as I had said earlier. I think that by loving Leafpool, Crowfeather has shown that he has moved on from Feathertail. In A Light in the Mist, Leafpool and Crowfeather have sweet moments together and freely express their love for each other. It doesn’t matter how much development LeafXCrow has. It doesn’t matter how much time they have spent together. What matters is how much they loved each other in the time they spent together and how much they love each other in the present book, which is A Light in the Mist. Crowfeather loved Leafpool for her caring personality, how she hated to think of cats in need, and how kind she was to every cat, not just cats from her own Clan. LeafXCrow is a beautiful ship. Leafpool and Crowfeather showed true love for each other, and in A Light in the Mist, they share words on how much they missed each other. Leafpool and Crowfeather faced many challenges and were seen as disloyal in their own Clans, but they pulled through and loved each other till the end, which are signs of a strong, lovely relationship.
(BlogClanners, I no longer can write short summaries. Woohoo!)
Alright everyone… Here’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for…
LeafXCrow, FeatherXCrow, or NightXCrow: which is the better ship?
Well… the winner is…
LEAF X CROW!!!!
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this article! (It was my first article haha!)
Oki, I gotta go trespass in WindClan’s territory now.
Moonseeker out!

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