Crowfeather

Crowfeather is a major character in Erin Hunter's Warriors book series.
He is the current deputy of WindClan, father of Breezepelt, Jayfeather, Lionblaze and Hollyleaf, and former mate of Nightcloud and Leafpool.
==Appearance==
Crowfeather is a small, lithe tom with long limbs and sleek dark gray fur. He has light blue eyes and is often depicted with a white or light gray muzzle.
==Biography==
Crowkit is born to Ashfoot and Deadfoot alongside Eaglekit, Downkit and Hillkit, though Crowkit is the only one of the litter to survive.
===Ravenpaw's Path===
====A Clan in Need====
After Crowkit goes missing, a search party runs into Ravenpaw and Barley and tells the tow to keep an eye out for him. The two farm cats find Crowkit at Fourtrees soon after, who tells them that he's trying to climb up the Great Rock to see what it's like to be a leader. He's taken back home, complaining that he could've made it to the top if they hadn't interfered, and is surprised when Ravenpaw says that his Clan is very worried about him, as usually his Clanmates don't pay much attention to him. When they get to WindClan's border, the moor cats are about to fight ThunderClan, believing they stole Crowkit. When the kitten is returned, Mudclaw shows great relief and is affectionate towards him, which he's irritated by.
===The New Prophecy===
==== Midnight====
Crowpaw is now an apprentice with Mudclaw as his mentor. In StarClan, a cat from each of the living Clans is chosen to go to the sun-drown place and speak to Midnight the badger about the forest's future destruction. Deadfoot chooses his son as WindClan's representative, and the other StarClan cats are skeptical of his choice due to Crowpaw still only being an apprentice. Deadfoot defends himself by saying that the young tom could be a fine leader someday, but Bluestar points out that today isn't that day. Regardless, Deadfoot is adamant in his decision and Crowpaw is selected.
Later, a patrol of Brambleclaw, Dustpelt and Squirrelpaw sees Crowpaw chasing a vole across the border. Brambleclaw accuses him of stealing prey, which agitates Crowpaw and causes him to try and attack. Onewhisker stops him however, and his mentor silently scowls.
Soon after, the four chosen cats gather at Fourtrees: Brambleclaw of ThunderClan, Feathertail of RiverClan, Tawnypelt of ShadowClan, and Crowpaw of WindClan, to discuss what they're supposed to do. Stormfur and Squirrelpaw tag along as well, the former wanting to protect his sister Feathertail and the latter sneaking off and following Brambleclaw. Crowpaw is rather rude to Squirrelpaw and almost attacks her before Brambleclaw stops him. He's then the first to leave, believing that StarClan isn't coming.
Once the cats find out that they need to go to the sun-drown place, Feathertail and Stormfur convince Crowpaw to go with them, and reluctantly he agrees. While stopping by the farm on their journey, the WindClan apprentice recalls meeting Ravenpaw and Barley in his kithood. While passing by the twolegplace, he and Stormfur are attacked by two large kittypets until a twoleg comes to scare them off. When Squirrelpaw gets caught in a fence, he, Brambleclaw and Stormfur all start arguing while Tawnypelt and Feathertail free the ginger she-cat with some dock leaves.
The group later encounters a loner named Purdy, who offers to guide them around the twolegplace. Crowpaw begins questioning whether or not the old tom actually knows where he's going, with Feathertail being the only one who calms him as the two grow close. When the cats fall asleep near a pond they'd been fishing at earlier, he receives a sign from StarClan about saltwater in his dreams, being the last of the four chosen cats to do so. To Brambleclaw's surprise, Crowpaw finally begins to trust and bond with his peers.
When the group reaches the sun-drown place at last, they meet a passive badger named Midnight who Crowpaw immediately doesn't trust. Midnight tells them that soon twolegs will begin to destroy the forest and the Clans will have to move away, alarming everyone. The group then rests in Midnight's cave for the night, unaware the twolegs have already begun destroying their home.
==== Moonrise====
When leaving the sun-drown place, Crowpaw spots a large rabbit nearly as big as him and runs after it. Brambleclaw yells at him to stop, the apologizes for yelling. While stopping at a campsite, he shares a squirrel with Feathertail and shields her from attacking foxes. He questions Midnight's knowledge, enraging her, and when she and Brambleclaw are discussing where to go next he refuses to pass by the twolegplace again. He says he'd rather go through the mountains, and the group settles on taking that route instead.
While passing through the mountains, the Clan cats encounter a group of cats who live there known as the Tribe of Rushing Water. He becomes more hostile towards Stormfur and questions his loyalty when the older tom starts hanging out more and more with the Tribe cats, and when Stormfur is kidnapped by them, he attacks the cave-guards multiple times, saying that he'd rather die fighting than be trapped.
When the Clan cats are forced to leave without Stormfur, Crowpaw admits his crush on Feathertail to her and asks if they'll still be able to see each other when they return to their own separate Clans. He says that he wants to be loyal to WindClan, but the silver tabby is unlike any cat he's known before. She agrees, admitting her own feelings to him. The group later returns to the Tribe to rescue Stormfur, with Crowpaw helping Brambleclaw and Squirrelpaw to create a distraction while Feathertail and Tawnypelt save him. Afterwards, the group sees how desperate the Tribe is to rid themselves of a mountain lion called Sharptooth and how they kidnapped Stormfur believing him to be the silver cat prophesized to save them. The decide to help get rid of Sharptooth, with Squirrelpaw making a plan to have it eat a rabbit stuffed with deathberries.
The deathberry plan quickly goes awry however, and Sharptooth corners Crowpaw, about to kill him. Just then, Feathertail leaps at a loose stalagmite to break it off, causing it to fall on top of Sharptooth and kill it. Crowpaw is saved, but the fall that Feathertail had sustained is fatal. He rushes over to his dying friend, choking out a plea not to leave him. Feathertail promises that she won't before she closes her eyes and gives her last breath. Crowpaw throws his head back and wails in sorrow as Stormfur sees the spirits of Feathertail and her mother Silverstream in the waterfall's spray.
Realizing that Feathertail was the prophesized silver cat and not Stormfur, so to honor her for saving them her body is buried at the bottom of the waterfall. Crowpaw and Stormfur sit vigil for her at her grave together, brought closer by the shared grief of her death.
====Dawn ====
As the Clan cats begin to head home, Crowpaw begins to be more open and compassionate towards his peers. He and the rest of the remaining travelers later meet up at Fourtrees along with all four leader to discuss Midnight's message and what to do about it. He's horrified and in disbelief when he sees the damage the twolegs have done to the moorlands while he was gone.
Soon WindClan's camp is destroyed, so they seek shelter with the ThunderClan cats. When ShadowClan's camp is also being destroyed, both ThunderClan and WindClan help in evacuating everyone inside. While doing so, Crowpaw runs out onto the thunderpath in front of a monster, with Squirrelpaw tackling him to stop himself from getting run over. She and Brambleclaw ask him what he thinks he's doing, to which he says that he doesn't fear death if it means he can be with Feathertail again in StarClan. Brambleclaw and Squirrelpaw then calm him down, and he continues to help with the evacuation.
Eventually the Clans accept that the forest is no longer hospitable and they must move to the lake, travelling through the mountains on the way there. They stop to rest at the Tribe, where WindClan's leader Tallstar holds Crowpaw's warrior ceremony. Crowpaw interrupts though, and requests to be named Crowfeather in memory of Feathertail. The leader agrees to this and the newly-named Crowfeather hold his warriorhood vigil next to Feathertail's grave, with Leafpaw seeing Feathertail and Silverstream watching over him once more.
As the cats continue with their travels, Crowfeather's grief begins to fade away and he finds himself bonding with the medicine cat apprentice Leafpaw.
====Starlight====
When finally reaching the Clans' new home at the lake, Crowfeather, Brambleclaw, Squirrelpaw and Tawnypelt all meet up to say their goodbyes now that their mission is complete. Crowfeather says that Stormfur and Feathertail should be with them, as the former had decided to stay with the Tribe, and the others respond that though they're apart, the memories they have of the two RiverClan warriors will still burn brightly. Crowfeather looks longingly at the mountains and murmurs that sometimes just memories aren't enough.
As he dies of old age, Tallstar replaces Mudclaw with Onewhisker as WindClan's deputy and soon-to-be leader, fearful of what the aggressive Mudclaw would do if he became leader. When ThunderClan's leader Firestar and his deputy Brambleclaw announce this, many WindClan cats argue over who the rightful leader is, as Tallstar had made the decision in private with only Onewhisker, Firestar and Brambleclaw as witnesses. Mudclaw asks who would believe the two ThunderClan cats, to which Crowfeather says that he will, greeting Onewhisker as his new leader.
Later, Leafpaw is sent to help WindClan's medicine cat Barkface with taking care of the elders. Crowfeather is irritated at this, and when Onewhisker tells him to take her home, he stays silent the whole way. After discovering the Moonpool, Leafpaw receives a message from Feathertail for Crowfeather in her dreams, the message being to not let his grief blind him to the living world. When Leafpaw delivers this message however, Crowfeather snaps that no other cat will ever be like Feathertail.
When a civil war is started in WindClan over who the rightful leader is, Crowfeather takes Onewhisker's side despite Mudclaw being his former mentor. During a battle between the two sides, Leafpool is caught in the crossfire and knocked over the edge of ThunderClan's camp, clinging on to the ledge. Crowfeather arrives and briefly freezes as he remembers Feathertail's death, but snaps out of it and rescues the brown she-cat. She remarks that she must have been the last cat he wanted to save, which shocks the dark gray tom as he admits that he loves her and hates himself for falling in love again so soon after Feathertail's death. Leafpool is also shocked and says that they can't be together as they're from different Clans and she's a medicine cat, but internally feels relived that her crush on him is mutual.
====Twilight====
Leafpool frequently has dreams of Crowfeather, longing for him constantly and mourning the fact that she's a medicine cat, and they could never be together. Later, Firestar leads a patrol to inform Onestar about a fox on WindClan's territory. Crowfeather sees Squirrelflight on this patrol, and as the patrol leaves he tries to ask her something. Firestar ushers his daughter to leave with the others, and she asks if what he has to say can wait until the next Gathering. The blue-eyed tom's tail droops as he says that he guesses it could wait.
At the next Gathering, Crowfeather is the first to use the log bridge to cross to the island while the others are wary of it. During said Gathering, Leafpool thinks that her former mentor Cinderpelt knows of their love and is purposely trying to keep the brown tabby away from him as he watches her from afar with anguish in his eyes. The two then make a plan to start meeting at the island in secret, with Crowfeather being hurt after Leafpool misses one of these meeting to help her friend Mothwing in RiverClan.
Later, Crowfeather proposes the idea of them running away from the Clans together, and after some contemplation and encouragement from Spottedleaf to "follow her heart", Leafpool agrees. Cinderpelt discovers them however, telling her former apprentice that she has duties as a medicine cat. Cinderpelt's words don't dissuade Leafpool though, and she goes with Crowfeather to the hills outside of WindClan territory. The two spend a night as loners before Midnight finds them the next day, surprised to see them there and warning them that her fellow badgers are attacking ThunderClan.
Knowing she can't leave her Clanmates to the mercy of the badgers, Leafpool returns to ThunderClan. Crowfeather tells her that he knew she could never give up her Clan for him, but he still loves her just as much regardless. He goes with her to help fight off the badgers, but the two are too late to save Cinderpelt, who'd sustained a fatal blow while defending Sorreltail and her newborn litter.
====Sunset====
In the aftermath of the badger attack, Crowfeather breaks up with Leafpool, telling her that they must stay loyal to their own Clans and that he'll never mean more to her than her Clanmates. He states that it would be best if they didn't meet again, but promises that he'll never forget her. Leafpool somberly agrees to this, thinking about how she loves him more that he could ever know. Crowfeather's Clanmates are furious at him for breaking the code and leaving WindClan, greatly shaking their trust in him.
Later, ShadowClan and RiverClan ask ThunderClan and WindClan to give them some of their territory because of twolegs making it harder for them to catch prey in their own territories. Crowfeather's fur stands on end and his claws dig into the ground as he growls at the RiverClan warrior Hawkfrost that they could only try. He then points out that it'd be difficult for a WindClan cat to hunt in the thick woods of ThunderClan, enraged when one of his Clanmates taunts that he'd know that better than anyone.
===The Power of Three===
==== The Sight====
After much time has passed, Crowfeather now has a new mate; a fellow WindClan warrior named Nightcloud. The two have a litter of three kits together, though only Breezekit survives. Their son is now an apprentice named Breezepaw, while Crowfeather now has his first apprentice in Heatherpaw.
When Jaypaw wanders out into WindClan's territory and falls into a freezing stream, a patrol of Crowfeather, Breezepaw, Whitetail and Heatherpaw are the ones to find him. The dark gray tom pulls him out of the water and irritably asks why he's there, and as the patrol escorts the apprentice home he scolds his son for getting out of hand. When they reach ThunderClan, Crowfeather tells Jaypaw's mother Squirrelflight that her Clan should keep a closer eye on their apprentices. Squirrelflight retorts that WindClan cats once wandered from their territory as well. Upon trying to use his powers to see into Crowfeather's thoughts, Jaypaw senses nothing and compares it to trying to go through a bramble bush.
When the dark gray warrior visits the ThunderClan medicine den, Jaypaw senses a thick tension between him and his mentor Leafpool, but doesn't know what it is. During the Daylight Gathering, Lionpaw and Breezepaw are trapped underground when an abandoned badger den collapses. After the two are saved, Jaypaw once again senses a strong emotion coming off of Crowfeather in response to Leafpool as he and Nightcloud bring their son home.
====Dark River====
Leafpool flinches when Crowfeather accuses ThunderClan of celebrating half-Clan cats. Later, when Leafpool and Jaypaw are brought to WindClan camp by a patrol, Crowfeather approaches the former and asks what she's doing there, causing Nightcloud to bristle in anger. Leafpool explains that Firestar sent them to see Onestar and talk about ending the feud between their two Clans. The blue-eyed tom tells her that Onestar isn't around right now and that Firestar shouldn't have sent anyone if he wasn't going to show up himself. She hisses that not everyone hides form their responsibilities, and he asks if that's really something he'd do. He then adds that WindClan isn't afraid of RiverClan, but later tells Onestar that they can't trust RiverClan as every patrol looks hungrier than the last.
====Outcast====
When two Tribe cats named Talon and Night go to the Clans to ask for help dealing with some rogues that have been causing them trouble, Firestar decides to send the sun-drown place group. He then tells Squirrelflight to go get Crowfeather while Brambleclaw fetches Tawnypelt. She takes Hollypaw with her, and when they find him he bristles his fur in alarm and asks if something is wrong in ThunderClan. She explains that the Tribe needs their help and the sun-drown place cats have been chosen to go, to which Crowfeather looks at Hollypaw and asks why the apprentices are coming along. Squirrelflight says that there's nothing wrong with bringing them, adding that they should help the Tribe cats after they helped them on the way to the lake. Crowfeather says that there's no need to repay them after Feathertail's sacrifice, though.
Squirrelflight informs Onestar of the situation, who allows Crowfeather to go. The WindClan warrior reminds him that he still has an apprentice in Heatherpaw, but the leader says that Whitetail will train her while he's gone, adding that he should take Breezepaw along with him. Crowfeather relents, admitting that he'd like to visit Feathertail's grave again, but doesn't seem too enthusiastic to have his son tagging along. The next day, Nightcloud tries touching noses with her mate before the group leaves, but he awkwardly moves away.
Alongside Hollypaw, Jaypaw, Lionpaw and Breezepaw, the sun-drown place group all head for the mountains with Talon and Night. Crowfeather once again grieves for Feathertail while there, and Hollypaw takes note of how abrasive he is towards his son, stating how she'd hate having him as a father. She and her brothers wonder if he even cares about Breezepaw at all.
====Eclipse====
Lionpaw thinks that Crowfeather doesn't seem to be proud of his son at all, and when everyone else praises Breezepaw for catching a large rabbit, his father instead compliments Lionpaw for catching a pigeon. As they head home, it becomes obvious that being in the mountains and around the Tribe cats is making the dark gray tom irritable and impatient, such as when he hisses at Jaypaw for going too slow.
During the titular eclipse battle, Crowfeather demands to know where his apprentice is, but Lionpaw tells him to get out of the way. Crowfeather refuses, causing Lionpaw to pin him down and nearly kill him until Heatherpaw pulls him off of her mentor. As a solar eclipse occurs, all four Clans are shocked and stop fighting, to which Crowfeather suggests that they all go home. Lionpaw, however, is haunted by the fact that he almost killed someone.
====Sunrise====
Lionblaze requests that Crowfeather meet him in secret alongside his siblings on the WindClan border. There, he's shocked to learn that Hollyleaf, Jayfeather and Lionblaze are his and Leafpool's kits, with Squirrelflight raising them with Brambleclaw to cover up her sister's secret. Jayfeather looks into the older tom's mind and sees memories of him and Leafpool together, realizing that they really loved each other. Crowfeather angrily claims that they don't matter to him though, and tells them to go home.
At the Gathering, Hollyleaf announces to all the Clans the truth of her and her littermates' parentage, to which Crowfeather confronts Leafpool about it and once again bluffs that she no longer means anything to him as Nightcloud and Breezepelt look at him with shock and anger for this secret.
===Omen of the Stars ===
====The Fourth Apprentice====
On the way to the Gathering, Lionblaze spots Crowfeather walking next to his mother Ashfoot and slinks back. Later, while Firestar talks about the drought and the shrinking lake, Crowfeather sarcastically asks what else is new, but the orange tom ignores him.
==== Fading Echoes====
Breezepelt begins training in the Dark Forest, where its residents tell him that his father always hated him and encourage the young warrior to get revenge on him, as well as Leafpool, his half-siblings and his Clanmates.
====Night Whispers====
Crowfeather, Nightcloud and Breezepelt are all out hunting together when the youngest of the three gets into a fight with Lionblaze over a thrush that was chased over the border. Crowfeather doesn't intervene, causing Leafpool to yell at him, asking how he could just hang back and watch his own sons fight. Nightcloud hisses to the medicine cat that Lionblaze isn't his son, and his only child is Breezepelt. When Leafpool tries to break up the fight, Breezepelt pins her down and is about to attack before Crowfeather pulls him off. He then tells Leafpool that they agreed to choose their own Clans over each other, and Leafpool retorts that it didn't mean she doesn't still love him.
Nightcloud pulls Crowfeather away from the medicine cat, to which he hisses at her and it looks as if the two are about to attack each other. Breezepelt shoves his father aside and tells him to stay away from his mother. The three eventually decide to let the ThunderClan cats have the thrush, saying that if they're that desperate for it then there's no point in fighting them for it as they return to camp.
====The Forgotten Warrior====
When Hollyleaf returns from the tunnels, Crowfeather stares at her in shock at the next Gathering, everyone believing her to be dead after the tunnel's collapse. She notices him staring at her and pointedly turns her back on him, still not forgiving him.
==== The Last Hope====
During the battle against the Dark Forest, Breezepelt sees Hollyleaf's dead body and taunts Lionblaze that she deserved it before attacking him. Crowfeather stops him and says that his vendetta against his half-siblings needs to end. Breezepelt spits that he always knew his father hated him, but Crowfeather denies this, saying that he never hated him and claiming Nightcloud only told him that he did. His son protests that it isn't Nightcloud's fault before he's chased away from the battle.
Leafpool then approaches Crowfeather and apologizes for everything, but the dark gray tom tells her that she's not to blame, as Breezepelt has chosen his own path. She then laments that things could've been different if they'd never broken up, but her ex-mate tells her that it was never meant to be. He then glances at Lionblaze and says that even so, he never regretted a second of it. Later, he mourns Hollyleaf and the bond they never had, and now never will.
===Crowfeather's Trial===
In the past, Crowfeather wakes from a dream of him witnessing Feathertail's death, lying next to Leafpool under a thorn bush. He reflects on how he never thought he'd love again after losing the silver she-cat, but managed to fall for ThunderClan's medicine cat. Leafpool then wakes up as well and urges the two of them to return to the Clans, and as the two race back together, he thinks that he could never truly bring himself to abandon WindClan. He then thinks back on how love only brought him pain and loss, vowing to himself to never fall in love again.
In the present, Crowfeather sits in a circle with the rest of his Clanmates as they honor the lives lost in the Great Battle. Onestar lets the new deputy Harespring place the final stone representing the old deputy Ashfoot. Crowfeather then looks to Breezepelt, recalling how his son sided with the Dark Forest and when he had to stop him from killing his half-brother Lionblaze. He feels immense guilt that he didn't raise Breezepelt like he should have. He then thinks about how Onestar forgave all of the Dark Forest trainees, and in Harespring's case, even promoted him to send a message to the Clan that they could be trusted. The dark gray warrior later overhears his peers gossiping about the former trainees, claiming that they'd be better off without Breezepelt.
Crowfeather, Nightcloud, Harespring, Featherpaw, Slightpaw and Hootpaw all go on a hunting patrol near the ThunderClan border, where they take note of a lack of prey as well as an odd smell. During the hunting trip, Nightcloud ignores Crowfeather the entire time, which annoys him. They then go investigate the tunnels after Hootpaw claims to have seen a ghostly white cat within. The rest of the patrol is skeptical, but Crowfeather spots a tail vanishing down into the tunnels. After returning to camp and reporting to Onestar, the leader asks to speak with Crowfeather in private. Onestar tells him to try being more friendly with Breezepelt, and that the reason he chose Harespring over him to be deputy isn't just to send a message about forgiving the Dark Forest trainees, but also because he thinks Crowfeather cares more about his own feelings than what's best for the whole Clan. Crowfeather snaps that he's sacrificed so much to stay loyal to Clan already, but Onestar retorts that a truly loyal warrior wouldn't have done what he did in the first place and would've gotten over it by now. After his leader dismisses him, he goes off to eat by himself.
That night, Crowfeather has a dream of chasing a rabbit into the underground tunnels. He sees his mother Ashfoot there and tries to follow her, but loses track of her quickly. He's then awoken by Ashfoot screeching, and begins to wonder if the cat Hootpaw has claimed to have seen was his mother's spirit, but then dismisses the thought. The next morning, Onestar calls a Clan meeting to announce and discuss a vision that the medicine cat Kestrelflight has had. In said vision, the former medicine cat Barkface showed him dark water rushing out of the tunnels which is initially pushed back by a strong wind before the wind dies down and the water submerges everything. As the Clan speculates what it could mean, Hootpaw reveals the ghost he'd seen, which unnerves everyone.
Onestar decides to send Crowfeather, Nightcloud, Breezepelt, Heathertail and Furzepelt to go investigate the tunnels. The group then splits into three, where Crowfeather, Furzepelt and Heathertail fail to find anything. Breezepelt then comes rushing back to the group, chased by a hoard of white stoats. The four fight the stoats off before realizing that Nightcloud, who went with her son, is missing. The patrol return to camp and reports the incident, and a shaken Breezepelt says that he thought Nightcloud was right behind him when he was fleeing. His Clanmates doubt this, believing that he'd abandoned his mother to the stoats, but Onestar defends the young warrior and expects his cats to agree.
Harespring asks if they should get ThunderClan's help, as the tunnels connect the two Clans, but Onestar says that they'll keep it to themselves and don't need ThunderClan's involvement. The day after, Crowfeather leads a search party for Nightcloud in the tunnels. But are unsuccessful and must return home after another hoard of stoats attacks and nearly kills Heathertail. Crowfeather and Breezepelt return to the tunnels on their own, and when they're attacked by stoats again a ThunderClan patrol of Berrynose, Cinderheart, Spiderleg and Rosepetal comes to their rescue. Berrynose asks what they're doing on ThunderClan's side of the tunnels and accuses them of spying, with Spiderleg suggesting they be taken to Bramblestar. Cinderheart disagrees however, allowing the two WindClan toms to return home.
The next day, Crowfeather suggest that another search party be sent to look in ThunderClan's side of the tunnels, reasoning that if Nightcloud escaped to the surface, she'd use one of the exits there. Onestar says that he doesn't want to go looking in ThunderClan and will be fine with anywhere else, later changing his mind and stating that Nightcloud will be able to find her way back herself. When Breezepelt returns from the dawn patrol, he asks his father when they'll be leaving to find Nightcloud. Crowfeather is shocked and hints that Onestar is against having anything to do with ThunderClan, not knowing how to explain the truth that he intends to wait for the black she-cat to return on her own when his son asks what the leader is going to do. He avoids answering by instead telling Featherpaw and Hootpaw to stop play-fighting. Featherpaw apologizes before asking when they're going back out to search, and when Breezepelt figures out that Crowfeather has no intent to go looking for Nightcloud anytime soon, he storms off.
Crowfeather has another dream where he sees Ashfoot in the tunnels and asks why she isn't in StarClan. She tells him that she can't leave him yet, as she still has something to do and he may lose everything. She then gestures behind her son, and when he turn around he sees an unmoving body in a pool of blood, realizing with horror that the body is Nightcloud. He wakes up and knows that his dream meant something, feeling incredibly worried about Nightcloud and sneaking off to ThunderClan territory to look for her. He finds her blood staining the ground and the scent of a fox, concluding that his former mate is dead. When he tells Breezepelt this, he blames the stoats for her death and in a state of rage vows to kill them all. Crowfeather assures him that they'll avenge her and prevent Kestrelflight's vision from coming to fruition, to which Breezepelt says that he doesn't care about the vision and just wants the stoats dead. Leaftail hears this and accuses Breezepelt of disloyalty, starting an argument between the two. Crowfeather, knowing his son has been loyal to WindClan ever since after the Great Battle, wonders how long he's expected to pay for his mistakes. He wishes to reach out to his son and support him, but doesn't know how as worry wells within him.
After learning of Nightcloud's supposed death, Onestar hold a Clan meeting to talk over the threat of the stoats once more. Crowfeather is anxious about the stoats and Kestrelflight's ominous message, wondering if they'll end up needing ThunderClan's help. As Nightcloud's vigil is prepared that night, Breezepelt tells his dad that he won't be attending since his Clanmates don't trust him. During the vigil, several cats briefly insult Breezepelt until they're reminded that they're supposed to be honoring their fallen Clanmate. When it's time for Crowfeather to speak about his former mate, he speaks both for himself and on behalf of their son.
He later has another dream with Ashfoot, where his mother tells him that she can't go to StarClan without giving him a message. When he asks what that message is, Ashfoot only responds with "love". Crowfeather says to her that every cat he's loved he'd lost, and the light gray she-cat responds that he shouldn't have closed his heart. He wonders who he's supposed to love now that Nightcloud is dead, but as he begins saying something about Breezepelt, he wakes up before he can finish. After waking up, he wonders what he was about to say about his son. He ponders this dream on the way to the Gathering, where Onestar announces Nightcloud's death. Cats over the other Clans begin accusing Breezepelt of causing his mom's death and suspect the other ex-trainees, nearly causing a fight to break out.
After Kestrelflight shares the vision Barkface gave him, Bramblestar offers to help Onestar with the stoats, but the older leader still stubbornly refuses. Onestar later assigns Breezepelt, Heathertail and Weaselfur to watch the tunnel entrances to see if they can learn anything about the stoats. Crowfeather later has a dream of Hollyleaf's death and Breezepelt nearly killing Lionblaze, and when confiding in Kestrelflight about this dream, admits that he still has trouble trusting his son after he'd sided with the Dark Forest during the Great Battle. They then talk about the vision of the dark water, and Crowfeather wonders if the wind pushing it back could represent Breezepelt and if he has a major role in defeating the stoats.
Heathertail and Weaselfur return to camp with a badly wounded Breezepelt after the black tom had attacked the stoats in a fit of rage. Crowfeather watches over him as he sleeps in the medicine den, promising once more that Nightcloud's death will be avenged. WindClan then forms a plan to fight the stoats head-on, and before the battle the apprentices show up despite being ordered to stay behind. Crowfeather tells the apprentices to be bold, blaming himself for this when Featherpaw ends up injured. His Clanmates are shocked that he'd say something like that, and he's berated by Emberfoot and Sedgewhisker.
Crowfeather once again suggests taking ThunderClan's offer to help, and Onestar is outraged at the idea. Later, while watching over Featherpaw for Kestrelflight, he meets Ashfoot again in his dreams. Feathertail is with her this time, and advises him to accept Breezepelt and be true to himself. Crowfeather responds that he'll try, but WindClan's safety comes first. he then decides to go behind Onestar's back and sneaks into ThunderClan territory to talk to Leafpool about convincing Bramblestar to help fight the stoats. He instead encounters Berrynose and Thornclaw, who fetch Jayfeather for him. The blue-gray tom agrees to talk to the leader about it, and when Crowfeather returns to camp and confesses to Onestar what he did, his leader is furious with him.
Later, a ThunderClan patrol visits, and Onestar refuses to cooperate with them, warning Crowfeather not to step out of line again when they leave. He's then tasked with escorting Kestrelflight to the Moonpool, and on the way there, the medicine cat says that he'll look for Nightcloud's spirit in StarClan and have her reveal that her son played no part in her death. After Kestrelflight visits StarClan however, he tells Crowfeather that Barkface said there was no trace of the black she-cat there. Along with the recent dream he had with Ashfoot, this convinces Crowfeather that she's still alive somewhere. He tells Breezepelt this, and the two request to go look for her. Onestar says that they may, but only after the stoats have been dealt with. He then reveals his plan to block off all the tunnel entrances on WindClan's side so that the stoats will go to ThunderClan's territory instead.
Crowfeather harshly criticizes his poorly thought out plan, to which Onestar decides to exile him for a week. As Crowfeather leaves, Breezepelt and Heathertail try to get him to apologize to Onestar so that he can stay, but the blue-eyed tom refuses to grovel and exits the camp. As he travels, he tries hunting in the snow, but falls down a hill and is knocked out. While unconscious, he finds himself in the Dark Forest with its residents trying to get him to join them. He refuses, and Ashfoot appears to scare them away. She then tells him that he needs to help WindClan and get Onestar to take Kestrelflight's vision seriously, as the stoats are only the forerunner to a much greater threat. Crowfeather then wakes up to find a kittypet named Yew tending to him. Yew tells him that he'd seen a cat with a scent like his a while ago, but that her injuries were too sever for him to fix, so he told her to go to twolegs for help.
Realizing the cat he met was Nightcloud, Crowfeather sneaks back into WindClan to get Breezepelt to help him look for her. He ends up sneaking out with Heathertail, Gorsetail and Hootpaw as well, and when they get to the twolegplace they soon find Nightcloud living in a twoleg's nest. The group helps Nightcloud escape, and she explains that after the stoats attacked her, she got lost and ended up in ThunderClan territory where three foxes chased her into the twolegplace. There she met Yew, and took his advise to seek out a twoleg to treat her injuries, and has been living as a kittypet since then. When the group returns with Nightcloud, they discover that stoats had attacked while they were gone, and Onestar reveals that he'd lost a life in the attack while scolding them. He's happy to see that Nightcloud is ok though, and allows Crowfeather to return to the Clan early for finding her.
Kestrelflight is overworked from treating all his Clanmates that were wounded in the battle, and Crowfeather manages to convince Onestar to let the other Clans' medicine cats help. He and Harespring are sent to ThunderClan for help, and return with Leafpool in tow. He's attacked by a stoat soon after, and as Leafpool treats him she advises him to cherish what he has with Nightcloud and Breezepelt and make it up to them for how he treated them in the past. Crowfeather takes his ex-mate's advice and apologizes to Nightcloud for his treatment of her, wondering if they should be mates again. Nightcloud denies that they should get back together though, saying that they both know that they don't truly love each other and perhaps never had. They agree to stay friends however, and to try their best to be there for their son.
Ashfoot appears in his dreams again to tell him that he's finally taken the lessons she's been teaching him to heart, and now must use what he's learned to reopen his heart and be a father to Breezepelt. As she fades away, she tells her son that she's proud of him. At the next Gathering, Onestar finally accepts Bramblestar's help, and the two Clans come up with a strategy to get rid of the stoats once and for all. They decide to block all the entrances to the tunnels but one and send two warriors down to lure the stoats out to the surface, where the rest of the warriors will attack them. Crowfeather and Breezepelt agree to bait the stoats out and the plan is a success, but the young black tom is gravely injured in the process.
Breezepelt is rushed to the medicine den and Kestrelflight fears that he won't survive without burdock root, which he's run out of. Crowfeather goes to ThunderClan to borrow some, but Jayfeather is hesitant to give it to him, still holding a grudge against both his birth father and half-brother. Jayfeather does hand it over though, saying that though he doesn't forgive Crowfeather or Breezepelt, it's his duty as a medicine cat to save others. Breezepelt makes a full recovery, and Crowfeather sees Ashfoot once more, who has now moved on to StarClan and reiterates how proud she is and assures him that she'll always be there for him. At the next Gathering, Onestar thanks Crowfeather and the former Dark Forest trainees in their help in the battle against the stoats. The dark gray tom later has a dream of him playing with Breezepelt's and Heathertail's kittens, where he sees Ashfoot one last time watching him from the clouds. He thanks her for guiding him and resolves that if WindClan can survive the Dark Forest and the stoats, then there's no threat they can face.
Several months later, Harestar is now the leader of WindClan following Onestar's sacrifice to kill his son Darktail, leader of The Kin. Crowfeather and Breezepelt are out hunting, the former thinking about how much damage Onestar had done to the Clans, especially in the case of Darktail trying to destroy them for revenge on his father for abandoning him. Crowfeather then asks Breezepelt who he thinks Harestar will appoint as deputy, to which the younger warrior answers that it doesn't matter to him. The dark gray tom thinks he hears a bit of resentment in his kit's voice as he isn't likely to be chosen, then wonders if he's actually just tired of all the change. Crowfeather then thinks that he also isn't likely to be pick as Harestar may want someone younger, which he understands and is content with as long as his family is happy. He then compliments his son's sharp eyes when he sees a squirrel, to which Breezepelt thanks him before catching it. This causes Crowfeather to think about how he's finally letting go of his anger and may have a good future ahead of him after all.
The two then talk about all the damage Darktail and The Kin have caused, with the younger tom worried that after so many trusted Darktail, it may restart the distrust help for the Dark Forest trainees. As they walk back to camp, they pass by a ThunderClan patrol with Lionblaze on it. The half-brothers see each other and exchange respectful nods, with Crowfeather happy that they've put past rivalries behind them. He then takes note of how Breezepelt hasn't spoken much and worries that he'll begin pushing his Clanmates away if he thinks they still don't trust him. He silently promises that he won't let that happen. When they get back to camp, every cat is staring at Crowfeather, and he worries that they're going to reject his son until he notices that they all look happy. Harestar call him over and announces that he's been chosen as WindClan's deputy. He looks over to Breezepelt, fearful that he'll be envious and resentful, but the young warrior is supportive and proud of his dad. He then wonders if he deserves it as he accepts, thinking about how peaceful his family and Clan are now and promising to be the best deputy he can be.
== Gallery ==
File:CrowkitRavenpawsPath.webp|Crowkit in Ravenpaw's Path
File:CrowfeathersTrialManga.webp|Crowfeather in the manga epilogue of Crowfeather's Trial
File:CrowfeatherTheUltimateGuide.webp|Crowfeather in The Ultimate Guide (2013)
File:CrowfeatherFactSheet.webp|Crowfeather's fact sheet on the official website
File:CrowfeatherFamilyTree.webp|Crowfeather's icon on the family tree
==Trivia==
*Author Victoria Holmes stated that if Crowfeather hadn't chosen his own warrior name, Tallstar would've named him Crowclaw for his "scratchy personality".
*Victoria also stated that if Feathertail had lived, a relationship between the two of them most likely wouldn't have worked out.
*He mistakenly has yellow eyes in The Ultimate Guide.
*Secrets of the Clans reveals that Crowfeather is a distant descendant of WindClan's founder Windstar.
*Victoria Holmes believes that Crowfeather will choose Leafpool in StarClan, while Kate Cary believes that he'll choose Feathertail.
==External links==
* 
==Navigation==
Category:Warriors (Erin Hunter) Heroes
Category:Book Heroes
Category:Animals
Category:Anthropomorphic
Category:Male
Category:Siblings
Category:Parents
Category:Spouses
Category:In Love
Category:Fighters
Category:Right-Hand
Category:Officials
Category:Jerks
Category:On & Off
Category:Anti-Nihilists
Category:The Chosen One
Category:Related to Villain
Category:Mentors
Category:Titular
Category:Localized Protection
Category:True Neutral
Category:Anti-Heroes
Category:Disciplinarians
Category:Apprentice of Villain
Category:Successors
Category:Misguided
Category:Pessimists
Category:Protectors
Category:Provokers
Category:Rebellion Heroes
Category:Rivals
Category:Successful
Category:Loyal
Category:Honorable
Category:Tragic
Category:Suicidal