Feathertail

Feathertail is a supporting character in The Prophecies Begin and The New Prophecy, and the protagonist of A Shadow in RiverClan. She and her brother Stormfur were RiverClan warriors born from the forbidden relationship between Silverstream of RiverClan and Graystripe of ThunderClan. Like several other cats from the other Clans, she is chosen to got to the sun-drown place and speak to Midnight the badger for guidance when the forest is being destroyed. Along the way she meets the Tribe of Rushing Water, who she saves from a vicious mountain lion named Sharptooth.
== Appearance ==
Feathertail is a slender tabby she-cat with soft, silver fur. She has light blue eyes, a broad face, and a wide, smoke-like tail.
== Biography ==
=== The Prophecies Begin ===
==== Forest of Secrets ====
Silverstream goes into labor early while visiting Graystripe by the river, giving birth to Featherkit and Stormkit. However, due to birthing complications, Silverstream starts to bleed out excessively and dies of blood loss soon after they're born. As their father grieves, Fireheart, Tigerclaw and Cinderpelt take them back to ThunderClan, where Goldenflower nurses them. 
RiverClan is upset by this, demanding the kits live in their Clan and arguing that half-Clan kits are traditionally raised in their mother's Clan. Not wanting to cause a war, Graystripe agrees to let them take the kits, but not wanting to leave his children either, he goes to join RiverClan as well, much to Leopardfur's irritation.
==== Rising Storm ====
At a Gathering, Graystripe tells Fireheart that his kits are doing well and are beloved in their new Clan, especially by their grandfather Crookedstar. He also comments on how much Featherkit looks like her mother. After ThunderClan shelters in RiverClan due to a wild fire burning down their camp, Graystripe shows Fireheart his children, and the orange tom says that they'll both grow up to be great warriors.
==== A Dangerous Path ====
After Graystripe is exiled from RiverClan, his kittens don't seem to mind as much, knowing that he's still alive back in ThunderClan. They are almost apprentice aged and feel like they belonged in RiverClan, so they stay behind.
==== The Darkest Hour ====
Featherpaw and Stormpaw are now apprentices, being mentored by Mistyfoot and Stonefur respectively. Soon after RiverClan and ShadowClan merge together to make TigerClan though, the two apprentices and their mentors are taken prisoner for being half-Clan. The four are kept in and old fox den and starved, until one day Tigerstar brings them out to challenge Stonefur's devotion, telling him to prove his loyalty by killing the two young cats.
Stonefur states that he only takes orders from Leopardstar, but she solemnly tells him to do what he's told. Stonefur refuses, so Tigerstar orders Darkstripe and then Blackfoot to kill him. After Stonefur is killed, the prisoners are sent back to their den. Shortly after, the three remaining cats are saved by Firestar, Graystripe and Ravenpaw, who take them to ThunderClan for refuge. 
After Tigerstar's death, BloodClan attempts to take over the forest. The four Clans all joining into LionClan, they fight the rogues, where ThunderClan's deputy Whitestorm is killed by BloodClan's own deputy Bone. To avenge his death, Featherpaw, Stormpaw, Bramblepaw, Tawnypaw, Ashpaw and Fernpaw all work together to kill bone. After the battle is won, Firestar tells them that Graystripe is ThunderClan's new deputy, and they are both very proud of their father. Before returning to RiverClan, they say goodbye to Graystripe once more.
=== A Shadow in RiverClan ===
During their warrior ceremonies, Featherpaw and Stormpaw earn the names Feathertail and Stormfur. Feathertail has a hard time adjusting to what happened in TigerClan, not trusting her Clanmates - especially Leopardstar, who complied with Stonefur's execution. She wonders if she and her brother made the right choice by staying in RiverClan, and tries to move on from the event, though finds it much harder than Stormfur does. She gets used to hunting and patrolling alone as she distances herself from her Clanmates more and more. 
Leopardstar punishes her with having to do apprentice duties after she defends Ferncloud from her Clanmates for accidentally crossing the border, and she thinks that her leader is the one who needs to prove her loyalty to RiverClan, not her. Stormfur tries to explain her Clanmate's point of view to her, and she admits that she still feels a bit of loyalty to ThunderClan. 
Later, while on a patrol with Stormfur, Blackclaw and Leopardstar, she encounters a loner named Sasha and her two kits Hawk and Moth, who ask to join RiverClan. The silver she-cat and her littermate convince Leopardstar to let them in, and a week later, Feathertail becomes envious of Sasha's ability to fit in so easily. The two becomes friends quickly however when the latter saves Hawk from drowning. She teaches the two kits how to swim, realizing what it means to be part of a Clan and hoping she could mentor one of them one day. She tells Sasha about Tigerstar and the history of TigerClan, but assures her that RiverClan has changed since then, and that Hawk and Moth will be safe.
When the newly apprenticed Mothpaw and Hawkpaw are assigned to Mistyfoot and Leopardstar, Feathertail is disappointed that she didn't get to mentor either of them, doubting that she can trust Leopardstar's motives. Sasha reveals that Tigerstar is the father of her kits, and Feathertail feels betrayed due to what the cruel leader did to her and her brother in the past. She denounces Sasha's friendship, but still agrees to keep it a secret. Later, she looks at Hawkpaw and notices how much the brown tabby tom looks like his father. At the next Gathering, Graystripe hears about his daughter's troubles and comforts her, offering her a place in ThunderClan. She refuses, knowing that Stormfur would want to stay in RiverClan and not wanting to leave him behind. Afraid that ShadowClan might recognize her and figure out her secret, Sasha leaves the Clans after making sure that Feathertail won't spill the truth, bidding her kits farewell.
Feathertail starts to distance herself from her Clanmates again, including Hawkpaw, Mothpaw and even her own brother. She worries about Hawkpaw inheriting his father's ambition and bloodlust when the young tom starts a fight with a WindClan patrol, but is then saved from a huge fox attacking the camp by him. She volunteers to go on a patrol Leopardstar organizes to track down the fox's den so that she may protect Hawkpaw. She feels uneasy around her leader, refusing to share prey with her. They find the fox den but are then cornered by its inhabitant. Leopardstar orders her apprentice to stay back while the warriors fight it, but Hawkpaw attempts to enter the fray anyways, and the leader is badly wounded when the fox bites her. She orders her Clanmates to run away for their own sake, but Feathertail sees the pain and fear in her eyes and comes back for her, killing the fox alongside Stormfur.
She helps the injured Leopardstar back to camp, and her leader apologizes for helping Tigerstar in the past and failing to protect her and her littermate in their apprentice days, realizing how wrong her actions and trust in Tigerstar were. She states that she's very proud of the cats they've become and doesn't expect either of them to forgive her, but Feathertail replies that she isn't angry anymore and forgives her. The spotted she-cat commends their bravery at the next Gathering, with Feathertail telling her father that she and Stormfur belong in RiverClan. By newleaf, the silver tabby finds her place in the Clan and realizes she shouldn't judge Hawkpaw or Mothpaw for who their father was. In her dreams that night, the spirit of Oakheart appears to her and tells her that she's been chosen for a quest to save the Clans, one she's unlikely to survive. After a moment, she reaffirms her loyalty to RiverClan and says that whatever comes next, she'll be ready.
=== The New Prophecy ===
==== Midnight ====
While telling her she's been chosen to go to the sun-drown place, Oakheart jokingly asks if she hadn't been trained well because her mentor was Mistyfoot, his daughter. She's chosen for the journey to represent RiverClan, with Brambleclaw being chosen for ThunderClan, Tawnypelt for ShadowClan, and Crowpaw for WindClan. Her brother Stormfur along with a ThunderClan apprentice named Squirrelpaw go with them to the sun-drown place. Along the way, Squirrelpaw gets stuck in a fence, with Feathertail and Tawnypelt slathering chewed-up dock leaves on her to make her slippery enough to pull out.
A few days later, all of the travelling cats except for Crowpaw get a sign from StarClan about saltwater. When Feathertail tells Brambleclaw - who got the sign first - that she got it as well, he tells her not to tell the WindClan apprentice. She states that Crowpaw isn't so bad, explaining that his sharp attitude may be because he's going on the journey alone, while she has her brother and the ThunderClan warrior has his sister and Squirrelpaw. As they travel, they encounter a dog, and everyone except for Feathertail climbs up a tree for safety, as the dog is blocking her way. Crowpaw suddenly jumps down to attack the dog, but misses. He then improvises by running past the dog, leading it away from the RiverClan warrior so that she may climb to safety. After outrunning the dog, Crowpaw joins them back up in the tree, where they meet an old kittypet named Purdy who had called to them to climb up in the first place.
As the group continues on their quest, Feathertail and Crowpaw grow closer, developing crushes on each other. She's able to break down the abrasive tom's barriers and gets to know him for who he really is, wishing to prove to her fellow travelers that he has a soft side and is as capable as any warrior. Soon the six cats all arrive to the sun-drown place and meet a friendly badger named Midnight. They find out that soon the forest will be destroyed by twolegs, and all six are horrified. 
==== Moonrise ====
The group all starts heading back to the Clans, deciding to go through the mountains rather that the twolegplace this time. Stormfur is agitated by his sister's bond with Crowpaw, especially since the two of them where once held prisoner and almost killed for being half-Clan. Feathertail gets into a brief argument with him when he confronts her, before apologizing for starting a quarrel. She then states that her and Crowpaw's bond was none of his concern, and he replies that he was just worried about her. Later, the WindClan tom asks the silver tabby if they can still see each other after going back to the Clans, and she says yes without hesitation. She again wishes that others could see the softer side that Crowpaw shows around her. When they get to the mountains, she teaches the dark gray tom how to fish.
As they pass through the mountains, the group happens upon the Tribe of Rushing Water, a group of cats who live in a cave behind a waterfall. The Tribe is threatened by a mountain lion named Sharptooth who's been killing and eating their members, and have recently received a prophecy of a silver cat saving them, who they assume is Stormfur. The Tribe cats take Stormfur hostage until he kills Sharptooth for them, and as the Clan cats try to rescue him, Sharptooth appears and corners Crowpaw. Feathertail tells the WindClan tom and her brother that she knows what she must do, latching onto a loose stalagmite. She's able to break it off and crush Sharptooth with it, though is fatally injured from the long fall. With her dying breathes, she tells her brother that he must save the Clans without her, and tells Crowpaw that she loves him and will always be there for him. Crowpaw begs that she needs to live and fulfill the prophecy, wailing in grief as she dies.
The Tribe realizes that the silver cat in the prophecy had been referring to her and not her brother, and they bury her by the waterfall, one of the greatest honors in the Tribe. For a brief moment, Stormfur sees the silver silhouettes of Feathertail and Silverstream in the waterfall's spray, and wishes that he'd been the silver cat instead so that she wouldn't have to die. He and Crowpaw hold vigil for her together, brought a bit closer by their shared grief.
==== Dawn ====
When the Clan cats come home, Stormfur informs his father what happened to Feathertail, who yowls in grief that it isn't fair that both she and her mother had died so young. While staying with the Tribe of Rushing Water to rest on the way to the lake, Leafpaw sees the spirits of Feathertail and Silverstream watching Crowpaw's warrior ceremony. The WindClan tom requests to be named Crowfeather after the silver tabby she-cat, and later sits by her grave during his warrior vigil.
==== Starlight ====
When Leafpaw discovers the Moonpool, Feathertail is one of the StarClan cats who greets her, revealing that she now resides in both StarClan and the Tribe's afterlife, the Tribe of Endless Hunting. She tells Leafpaw to tell Crowfeather that he shouldn't hold onto his grief, and that one day, many moons from now, they would see each other again.
==== Twilight ====
Due to RiverClan's medicine cat Mothwing not believing in StarClan, Feathertail goes to Leafpool in her dreams instead to warn her of the danger RiverClan will face because of the twolegs. Leafpool is afraid that Feathertail would be angry with her for her and Crowfeather's relationship, but the StarClan spirit assures her that she's happy to see him moving on from her death.
==== Sunset ====
She appears in Leafpool's dreams once again, guiding her to RiverClan's medicine cat apprentice Willowpaw. She has Leafpool train Willlowpaw how to communicate with StarClan, since her mentor Mothwing won't due to her not believing in them.
=== Leafpool's Wish ===
After Leafpool has her and Crowfeather's kittens in secret, Feathertail visits Squirrelflight in her dreams. Squirrelflight is shocked to see her old friend again, asking if she's there to see Crowfeather's kits. She introduces the newborn Hollykit, Jaykit and Lionkit to Feathertail, who remarks that Crowfeather would be proud of them. The ginger she-cat then asks why she's visiting, and she explains that to cover up the forbidden relationship between Leafpool and Crowfeather, Squirrelflight must claim the litter as her own and raise them in ThunderClan with Brambleclaw.
Squirrelflight protests, not wanting to lie to her Clan and mate, but the silver she-cat insists that she must. She adds that they must fulfill their destinies in ThunderClan, and the short she-cat asks the spirit if she wishes they were her own kits. Feathertail replies that it isn't meant to be, and reiterates that the three must be raised in a Clan. She then vanishes as Squirrelflight wakes, and she agrees to raise her sister's litter as her own.
=== Omen of the Stars ===
==== The Fourth Apprentice ====
In StarClan, the spirits of ThunderClan are talking about the three prophesized cats, and Feathertail shows up to join them. Yellowfang tells her to leave, saying the matter concerns only ThunderClan, but Feathertail replies that two of the prophesized cats, Jayfeather and Lionblaze, are half WindClan. She adds that she grieved for the supposed death of Hollyleaf just as much as the rest of them, and Yellowfang gently replies that Crowfeather's and Leafpool's kits aren't hers.
=== Mistystar's Omen ===
After Leopardstar's death, Feathertail appears during Mistyfoot's leadership ceremony. Mistyfoot exclaims that she missed her old apprentice, and Feathertail replies that she missed her as well. She then gives Mistyfoot her third life, a life of accepting destiny, no matter how hard it may seem. She adds that though some things are beyond control, but it doesn't mean they should be fought against. As she gives the life, Mistyfoot feels like she's choking on a fish bone that she can't spit out, and wonders if it's a sign of how difficult her leadership may be.
=== The Ultimate Guide ===
After the death of Firestar, Brambleclaw is visited by Feathertail during his leadership ceremony. She tells him that she resides in both StarClan and the Tribe of Endless Hunting, and Brambleclaw apologizes for leaving her behind in the mountains. She replies that she was the cat prophesized to save the Tribe from Sharptooth, and that she belongs in the mountains, but has never forgotten the Clans. She says that she's been watching over the Clans, and is very proud of Brambleclaw before giving him his eighth life; a life of exploring places beyond the Clans, seeking solutions in unexpected places, and discovering untrodden paths. She tells him that he isn't limited by invisible boundaries, and advising that if he can't find a solution within the Clans, then to look further, stating that there's always hope somewhere. As he receives the life, he remembers his time at the Tribe and all the places beyond the lake and forest that he's been. Feathertail then assures him that she'll always be with him before she disappears.
== Quotes ==
== Gallery ==
File:FeatherkitCrookedstarsPromise.webp|Featherkit in the manga epilogue of Crookedstar's Promise
File:FeathertailConceptArt.webp|Concept art for Feathertail
File:FeathertailReturnToClans.webp|Feathertail in Return to the Clans
File:MoonriseOG.webp|Feathertail on the original cover of Moonrise
File:FeathertailGraystripesAdventure.webp|Feathertail in Graystripe's Adventure
File:FeathertailTheUltimateGuide.webp|Feathertail in The Ultimate Guide (2013)
File:FeathertailFactSheet.webp|Feathertail's fact sheet on the official website
File:FeathertailFamilyTree.webp|Feathertail's icon on the family tree
== Trivia ==
* In Forest of Secrets, it was stated that Greenflower would take care of her and her brother while in RiverClan. However, in Rising Storm, Mosspelt takes care of them instead.
* The Tribe of Rushing Water didn't think she was the prophesized silver cat at first because her fur was slicked back from the water and appeared to be black.
* Author Victoria Holmes has stated that if Feathertail had lived, she most likely wouldn't have ended up in a relationship with Crowfeather.
* In the manga at the end of Leopardstar's Honor, she's seen welcoming Mistyfoot back after the latter had been taken by twolegs, however this isn't possible because she's supposed to be dead at this point.
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