Into the Forest/Chapter 5

Below contains an in-depth summary of chapter five of *Into the Forest.*If you would like a shorter summary of the whole thing, please check the main article.

## Information

### General

**Chapter Number:**5 (of 10)

**Page Numbers:**52-64

**Point of View:**Furrypaw

### Chronology

**Preceded:**Chapter 4

**Next:**Chapter 6

## Chapter Summary

Furrypaw wakes up five days after Jayfeather got sick. She looked around the medicine den, and notes that all the cats had gone back to their duties, excpet for Jayfeather and Spiderleg , who still had minor whitecough . She notes that Jayfeather sorted through herbs, but Leafpool made Furrypaw deal with all the sick or injured.
Furrypaw asks if that night was the half-moon, and Jayfeather replies that it was. Furrypaw asks if she needs to get any herbs, and Jayfeather replies that they needed tansy , then asked if she could get some. Furrypaw replies that she could, then asked how much. Jayfeather told her to bring as much as she could carry. Furrypaw asks if she could bring Firepaw , and Jayfeather replies that if she thinks she'd be carrying that much, then comments that she'd been hanging out with Firepaw a lot. Furrypaw replies that he was like a littermate, and they were friends. Jayfeather pointed out that she should be hanging out with Bramblepaw  more, and she seems to ignore him. Furrypaw quickly announces that she was leaving and rushes out of the den.
Furrypaw walks into the apprentices' den, and is pleased to find Firepaw inside. Firepaw is talking to Alderpaw about how there were too many ginger cats in the Clan. Alderpaw agrees, and Furrypaw interrupts, asking if Firepaw would help her gather herbs. Firepaw stands up and follows her out. They run into Sandstorm as they walk out, and she greets them, but as she says Firepaw's name her eyes cloud. Furrypaw asks what was wrong, and Sandstorm replies that she missed her mate, Firestar , and when they trained together he was Firepaw, and his name reminded her too much of her former mate. Firepaw pointed out that his name hadn't bothered her when it was Firekit, and Sandstorm explains that when Firestar was a kit his name was Rusty. Firepaw understands, then stares at Furrypaw's face, then asks if she'd already known that. She replies that she had, and Firepaw confirms that there were stories about the Clans in the Twoleg  world. Furrypaw replies that he was correct. She meows that they might be in a book right then, and meows "Hi, reader! I'll try to make our life interesting for you!" Sandstorm asks what she means by "interesting", and Furrypaw replies battles, sickness, danger, and death. Sandstorm screams, asking if people liked reading stories where the Clans fell apart. Furrypaw explians that it creates drama, suspense, and that they always had a happy ending, even if they did lose a few cats along the way. Firepaw says that she wasn't making him like Twolegs any more, and she suggests to just keep going. Sandstorm calls a farewell, and they walk out the thorn barrier.
Furrypaw asks if Firepaw wanted to know what she'd been thinking as Sandstorm's eyes had clouded, then sings *Here I am (Just When I Thought I was Over You)*by Air Supply: "*Just when I thought I was over you, and just when I thought I could stand on my own, oh baby those memories come crashing through! And I just can't go on without you.*" Firepaw says that her singing was amazing, and Furrypaw asks if he wanted to know something she liked doing as a Twoleg She leads them to the lake, and Firepaw begs not swimming. Furrypaw replies yes and feels the air. Firepaw complains that it was cold, so Furrypaw asks if he wanted to know how her brothers had taught her how to get used to the cold water quicker. Firepaw asks how, and Furrypaw replies that you get wet all at once, then runs off a rock and cannonballs into the water. She starts swimming around, calling for Firepaw. Firepaw asks what they say when they go back camp wet, and Furrypaw replies that he accidentally fell in and she rescued him. Firepaw asks why she rescued him, and Furrypaw replies that it was because she was the one who learned life-saving in water as a Girl Scout. This statement is lost on Firepaw, but with Furrypaw guiding him, he jumps in.

Firepaw comments that it felt weird to be spending so much time with Furrypaw instead of Bramblepaw, and said that before she'd come along, the two brothers had promised to do everything togther, and now he was running away from his brother to be with Furrypaw. Furrypaw asks if he trained with Bramblepaw, and Firepaw replies that often he was on patrol while Bramblepaw was training, or vise-versa. Furrypaw feels a pang of guilt and quickly states that they'd went out for herbs, so they should get herbs. Firepaw asks what tansy looks like, and Furrypaw replies that the leaves were round and yellow, and they smell sweet. The two search the area, and Furrypaw calls that she'd found a clump. She divides the clump in half, and gives some of it to Firepaw, and takes the rest. They walk back to camp, and Jayfeather asks why it took so long, and why they were wet. Furrypaw explained that they were searching the forest for tansy near the lake, and Firepaw had gone too close to the edge and fallen in, so she'd had to rescue him. Jayfeather asked why they were searching for tansy by the lake, then decides that he didn't want to know, so takes the tansy and walks into his den. Furrypaw asks what Firepaw was doing, and Firepaw replies that Lionblaze  had said he could have a day off, so could do whatever Furrypaw wanted. Furrypaw tells him to spend the rest of the day with his brother, so Firepaw runs to Squirrelflight , asking where Bramblepaw was. When Squirrelflight replies that Bramblepaw was training, he bolts out the thorn barrier.

Furrypaw walks back into the medicine den, and asks Jayfeather if she could visit her parents. Jayfeather says that her parents were a long way away, and asked why she wanted to see them, reminded her that she'd run away. Furrypaw snaps that she'd run away because she knew her heart lied with the Clans, not because she hated her parents. She protests that Cloudtail and Hazeltail had gotten to see thier parents even though they'd lived in Twolegplace , and Jayfeather says that that was different. Furrypaw argues some more, and Jayfeather replies that if Bramblestar said it was okay she could go. Furrypaw bounds to the Highledge and enters Bramblestar's den, then asked again if she could see her parents. Bramblestar says that he understood, but reminds her that Twolegplace was far away, and that it was the half-moon, and that she had to become a medicine cat apprentice . She goes back to the medicine den and reports to Jayfeather that she couldn't go today because it was the half-moon. Furrypaw walks outside and comments that it had gotten cold fast, and stares at the sky, noticing heavy, dark gray clouds. It soons snows, and she cries that she'd missed snow so much. Jayfeather questions her, and she replies that as a Twoleg when she was little, she lived in a place that got a lot of snow, and then she moved to a place that didn't get any snow, so only got 6 years of snow, and had to spend the next 90 years stuck in miserable heat. When Jayfeather questions her again, she does some math in the dirt, and replies that she got 72 moons of snow, and 1,080 moons without. She adds that she might've gotten a bit more snow in her life when she included college in Utah, and Jayfeather tells her that she'd lost him. She replies that she'd expected that.
At this point there's a lot of snow on the ground, and Furrypaw asks if Jayfeather knew where Firepaw and Bramblepaw were, and then FIrepaw and Bramblepaw enter camp, asking if Furrypaw wanted something. She curves her paw around a bit of snow and throws the snowball at Bramblepaw. The three apprentices get into an all-out snowball fight until Bramblestar calls a Clan meeting. They take their seats next to each other, and Alderpaw and Sparkpaw walk up and Bramblestar performs his kids' warrior ceremony . They earn their names Alderclaw and Sparkheart. Bramblestar declares that ThunderClan would be safe, and Dovewing and Hollytuft cry that everyone can sleep.
Jayfeather calls Furrypaw for the Moonpool, and Leafpool firmly mews that he wasn't going. Jayfeather protests, saying he had to introduce her to StarClan . Leafpool tells him that he was still sick, and says that she would Furrypaw. Jayfeather argues that Leafpool wasn't an official medicine cat, and Leafpool firmly responds that StarClan would understand. Leafpool takes Furrypaw to the Moonpool, and the other medicine cats question why Leafpool was there instead of Jayfeather. Leafpool waits for everyone to show up, then explains, and everyone rudely comments that Furrypaw was the "weird Twoleg cat". Kestrelflight  curiously asks what her favorite thing to do was, and she replies that it was singing, then sang a song from *Beauty and the Beast: "I want adventure in the great wide somewhere! I was it more tha I can tell! And for once it might be grand to have someone understand. I want so much than they've got planned.*" She continues to sing *Let it Go: "Let it go, let it go! I am one with teh wind and sky! let it go! Let it go!  You'll never see me cry! Here I stand, and here I'll stay! Let the storm rage on!"*and as the medicine cats request another song, she sings *What Hurts the Most*by Rascal Flatts: *But what hurts the most was being so close! And having so much to say, and watching you walk away. And never knowing what could've been! And not seeing that I'm loving you is what I was trying to do.*"
Furrypaw suddenly stumbles, and Leafpool quickly steadies her. They walk down the slope to the Moonpool, and Leafpool performs the ceremony to make Furrypaw a medicine cat. Furrypaw drinks from the Moonpool, and opens her eyes to find Firestar. She cries that he was her second favorite character. Firestar questions her, and Furrypaw replies that Bluestar was her favorite. Firestar replies that he couldn't argue with that. Bluestar appears behind him, saying that she knew that Furrypaw thought they were mad since she was introduced by Leafpool, who wasn't techinically a medicine cat, but they understood that Jayfeather couldn't come, and accepts her. Furrypaw excitedly asks "Really?" and Lionheart replies "Of course".  Furrypaw cries that Lionheart was one of her favorites too, and asks who else was there. Willowpelt , Yellowfang , Hollyleaf , Ferncloud , Dustpelt , Sorreltail , Honeyfern , Poppyfrost , Seedpaw , Molepaw , Brightspirit , Braveheart, Rainwhisker , Sootfur, Brindelface , Hazeltail , and countless others appear. Furrypaw runs for Poppyfrost, apologizing for her death, saying that she FIrepaw and Bramblepaw were extremely sorry. Poppyfrost forgives her, saying that she'd stood up for the Warrior Code at first, and they hadn't meant harm. Yellowfang mutters that it had still been stupid. Furrypaw notices Goldenflower , and she asks how her son was doing as leader. Furrypaw replies that he was doing a wonderful job--almost as good as FIrestar. Furrypaw says "No offense" to Bluestar before saying that Firestar was the best leader the Clans had ever seen. Bluestar understands, saying her mind had been out of whack towards the end, and Firestar tells her that the real her had come back when they'd needed her to, and that she'd saved his life. Honeyfern says that it was all touching, but reminds them that they had a guest. Bluestar tells her that it was time for her leave, and all of StarClan wishes her farewell, and she wakes up next to Leafpool, who asks if she'd had a good dream. Furrypaw replied that she'd met about every cat ThunderClan had ever had. Leafpool says that Jayfeather would love to hear about it.

## Important Events

### Ceremonies

#### Alderclaw and Sparkheart's Warrior Ceremony

**Bramblestar:**"*I, Bramblestar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand they ways of your noble code,and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn. Alderpaw and Sparkpaw, do you promise to uphold the Warrior Code, and to protect and defend you Clan, even at the cost of your life?*"

**Sparkpaw and Alderpaw:**"*I do.*"

**Bramblestar:**"*Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names. Alderpaw, from this moment you will be known as Alderclaw. StarClan honors your bravery and dedication, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan. Sparkpaw, from this moment you will be known as Sparkheart. StarClan honors your compassions and courage, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan.*"

**Everyone:**"*Alderclaw! Sparkheart!*"

Reference, *Into the Forest,*page 52

#### Furrypaw's Medicine Cat Apprentice Ceremony

**Leafpool:**"*Furrypaw, is it your wish to enter the mysteries of StarClan as a medicine cat?*"

**Furrypaw:**"*It is.*"

**Leafpool:**"*Then come forward. Warriors of StarClan, I present you with this apprentice. She has chosen the path of a medicine cat. Grant her with your wisdom and insight so that she may understand your ways and heal her Clan in accordance with your will.*"

Reference, *Into the Forest,*pages 61-62

## Characters

### Minor

* Jayfeather
* Firepaw
* Alderpaw
* Sandstorm
* Squirrelflight
* Bramblestar
* Bramblepaw
* Sparkpaw
* Dovewing
* Hollytuft
* Leafpool
* Kestrelflight
* Littlecloud
* Mothwing
* Willowshine
* Firestar
* Bluestar
* Lionheart
* Willowpelt
* Yellowfang
* Hollyleaf
* Ferncloud
* Dustpelt
* Sorreltail
* Honeyfern
* Poppyfrost
* Seedpaw
* Molepaw
* Brightspirit
* Braveheart
* Rainwhisker
* Sootfur
* Brindleface
* Hazeltail
* Goldenflower

### Mentioned

* Spiderleg
* Lionblaze
* Brackenfur
* Cloudtail
* Hazeltail
* Berrynose
* Mousewhisker