The Prophecies Begin

> "*Fire alone will save our Clan.*"
> ― Spottedleaf to Bluestar[source]
>
>

## Books

Into the Wild, Fire and Ice, Forest of Secrets, Rising Storm, A Dangerous Path, The Darkest Hour

## Chronology

### Followed by:

The New Prophecy

***The Prophecies Begin*** is the first arc of the *Warriors* series. It follows Rusty as he joins ThunderClan and becomes a warrior named Fireheart, and later ThunderClan's leader, Firestar.

## Concept development

The concept for *Warriors* began development when HarperCollins asked Victoria Holmes
 to write a fantasy series about feral cats. Holmes was initially not
enthusiastic, saying she "couldn't imagine coming up with enough ideas".
 However, she played with some story concepts, developing a fictional
world with the added elements of war, politics, revenge, doomed love,
and religious conflict. While initially supposed to be a one-shot, it
was decided that they'd make a 6 book series. This six book series, first known as the *Original* arc but later renamed *The Prophecies Begin* arc, is the first written.

The *Warriors* series is written under the pseudonym of Erin Hunter. The authors that work on *The Prophecies Begin* arc are Kate Cary and Cherith Baldry, with Victoria Holmes working on the storyline.
## Summary

Rusty, a kittypet, meets ThunderClan cats in the forest and joins them, taking the name Firepaw. Bluestar suspects he may be the fire who'll save the Clan, like Spottedleaf predicts. He aids in the demise of Brokenstar's leadership, and earns his warrior name, Fireheart. After the battle, they receive their first apprentices. Fireheart's suspicions of Tigerclaw
continue to grow, and he now hides his best friend's secret

relationship as he navigates being a warrior. He searches for
information, and finds that Redtail was murdered by Tigerclaw. Fireheart and his apprentice manage to thwart an attempt to take ThunderClan's camp made by Brokenstar and some of his rogues. Due to Tigerclaw's treachery, he is exiled, and Fireheart becomes the deputy of ThunderClan. Graystripe leaves to be in RiverClan with his kits,
 and the new deputy feels overwhelmed with everything going on. He
struggles to keep the Clan together as Bluestar's mental state
deteriorates.

A fire tears through ThunderClan's territory, and they are
forced to shelter with RiverClan. Leopardstar then assumes that
ThunderClan is in debt to her, and the Clan has a hard time recovering.
Tigerstar is made the new leader of ShadowClan when it was revealed that
 Nightstar actually was not accepted by StarClan and was not granted
nine lives, so after he dies, ShadowClan is left without a leader. They
are forced to choose the exiled rogue, Tigerclaw, who presents himself
as a strong and worthy candidate. Tigerstar becoming leader of
ShadowClan causes Bluestar to slip further away from sanity. Fireheart
avoids an unjust battle with WindClan by arranging a meeting with Tallstar,
 but ends up losing his leader's trust. Secrets continue to reveal
themselves as Fireheart reveals to Mistyfoot and Stonefur that Bluestar
is their mother to prevent them from attacking her in battle. Meanwhile,
 scraps of prey that patrols find reveal a pack of dogs that are being
led to ThunderClan's camp. Fireheart and the other warriors devise a
plan to lead the dogs over the gorge to their deaths, but during its
execution, Bluestar drowns when she helps Fireheart break free from a
dog, and as a result falls into the gorge herself.

Firestar is now the leader of ThunderClan, and struggles to fill
 his position. Tigerstar and Leopardstar form an alliance to form
TigerClan, but ThunderClan and WindClan do not join them. Firestar joins
 with Tallstar against TigerClan to form LionClan, but Tigerstar is
killed by Scourge before they can fight. Scourge announces that the
Clans have three days to leave the forest, or they'll be driven out. The
 Clans decide to stay, all joining together as LionClan to fight against

BloodClan, and manage to drive them off once Firestar kills Scourge. The Clans disband LionClan, and settle to the way they were before.

## Books

### *Into the Wild*

Rusty, a kittypet, ventures out of his Twoleg's nest and meets Clan cats. He joins their Clan, ThunderClan as an apprentice named Firepaw. Bluestar
has a suspicion that he may be the fire who will save the Clan, as

Spottedleaf had mentioned to her. Firepaw makes friends with Graypaw and

Ravenpaw,

 though scorned for his uprbinging by others. The ginger tom deals with
the kittypet taunts, and earns a grudging respect when he takes a chunk
out of Longtail's ear. He settles into Clan life, and is mentored by Lionheart

and Tigerclaw. Ravenpaw, meanwhile, suffers under Tigerclaw's harsh

mentorship and the knowledge that the he murdered Redtail. Firepaw and
his friends piece together this knowledge, and with Yellowfang's help,
form a plan. Together with his friends, he aids in forcing Brokenstar
out of ShadowClan

along with his closest followers. This earns him his warrior name of

Fireheart, and he Graystripe have their ceremonies together.

### *Fire and Ice*

Fireheart goes with his friend Graystripe go on a journey and return WindClan
to the forest, since they'd been beaten away by Brokenstar. Their

mission is successful. On their way home, they take a shortcut back to
camp by the RiverClan gorge, and after a skirmish, Whiteclaw

dies. This ends it, and tensions stay high. Fireheart and Graystripe

both receive apprentices, and while out on patrol together, the gray
warrior falls through the ice on the river. A RiverClan warrior named Silverstream

saves him, and they continue meeting romantically after that. Fireheart

 tells them to stop, but they don't. Cinderpaw's leg is permanently
injured on the Thunderpath by a Twoleg monster.

As whitecough breaks out in camp, and Fireheart visits his sister Princess in the Twolegplace to fetch catmint. At the next Gathering,
 ThunderClan accuses ShadowClan of stealing prey, but soon finds that
Brokenstar's rogues are the real stealers. They attack the camp when
there are few warriors there, but are beaten off and Brokentail is kept
prisoner. Onewhisker comes with news that WindClan has been attacked by
both RiverClan and ShadowClan, so ThunderClan comes to help and saves
WindClan. However, Tigerclaw distrusts Fireheart, because he shows mercy
 to Silverstream during the battle upon recognizing her as Graystripe's
mate.

### *Forest of Secrets*

Fireheart searches for answers about Redtail's death, and gathers information from both Ravenpaw and Mistyfoot.
 He thinks about it, and concludes that Cinderpaw's accident was
actually a trap set for Bluestar by Tigerclaw. Fireheart begins to trust
 Tigerclaw less, and Graypool reveals to him that Mistyfoot and Stonefur

aren't her kits, but are from ThunderClan. In the midst of these

investigations, Fireheart carries out his warrior duties, help keep
Graystripe and Silverstream's meetings a secret, supervise Brackenpaw's training, put up with his disobedient nephew Cloudkit, and face Tigerclaw's continuous hostility.

After he and Graystripe rescue a pair of RiverClan kits, they
offer to hunt for the rival Clan, and are punished when found out.
ShadowClan finds out that ThunderClan is sheltering Brokentail, which
sends WindClan into an uproar, and alliances begin to form. Meanwhile,
Silversteam is now expecting Graystripe's kits, but she dies during the
birth. Two kits survive, however, and RiverClan demands to have them.
Cloudpaw is now apprenticed to Fireheart, and while on a hunting
mission, they see Tigerclaw leading a band of rogues to attack
ThunderClan's camp. They are beaten off with help from a RiverClan
patrol, but Bluestar is badly shaken by her deputy's betrayal. She
banishes him from the Clan, and announces that Fireheart will be the new
 deputy. The leader also surrenders Silverstream's kits to RiverClan,
and Graystripe goes with them.

### *Rising Storm*

Fireheart settles into his role as ThunderClan's deputy, but the
 Clan is still shocked over Tigerclaw's betrayal. Bluestar is the most
affected, and when denied access to Highstones by WindClan, she thinks
that StarClan has abandoned them. As a result, Bluestar slips into
further paranoia, especially when ShadowClan scents are found on
ThunderClan territory. It turns out to be Littlecloud and Whitethroat,
 who are very ill. Cinderpelt helps them against orders, and Fireheart
keeps it a secret. The new deputy also struggles with his nephew and
apprentice, Cloudpaw, who has taken to getting kittypet food from a
Twoleg den and doesn't take to the warrior code or believe in Starclan.

However, one day, the white tom is taken away in a Twoleg monster,
 and is later rescued with Ravenpaw's help. Tigerclaw and a group of
Brokentail's old rogues attack a ThunderClan patrol near the
Thunderpath, killing Runningwind.
 They almost kill the other Thunderclan warriors, but a Riverclan patrol
 arrives with Graystripe and helps fight them off. Fireheart is alert
for danger now, knowing the former deputy wants revenge. As the weather
gets drier, a fire rips through ThunderClan's territory, forcing the
Clan to flee over to RiverClan's territory. After the fire is out,
Fireheart and Graystripe go out to inspect the damage, and the deputy
finds Yellowfang alive and witnesses her death. At the next Gathering,
the ThunderClan cats learn that due to the death of Nightstar with no deputy in line, Tigerclaw is now Tigerstar, the leader of ShadowClan.

### *A Dangerous Path*

During a Gathering, the Clans learn that Tigerstar is the new
leader of ShadowClan. Fireheart is shocked, and his Clanmates feel the
same when he relays the news. ThunderClan is faring well, but every cat
is overstretched by recovering from the fire damage. Cinderpelt receives
 a warning and keeps hearing 'pack, pack' and 'kill, kill', but is
unable to decipher it's meaning. Bluestar slips deeper into paranoia,
and refuses to appoint new warriors. Her misgivings are enhanced by the
various hardships they meet, and Fireheart tries to fill her place.
Patrols find scraps of prey, and Bluestar thinks WindClan is guilty,
even with no proof. A battle is narrowly avoided by Fireheart setting up
 a meeting between Bluestar and Tallstar, but he loses her trust.

At the next Gathering, it's revealed that Leopardstar
is now the leader of RiverClan, her first act is to try and take back

Sunningrocks. RiverClan loses to ThunderClan, and Graystripe returns to
his birth Clan because he sided with Fireheart. Bluestar reveals to
Mistyfoot and Stonefur that she is their mother, but they do not believe
 her. Cloudtail is made a warrior, but no other apprentices are, and it
leads to Brightpaw and Swiftpaw's accident in which dogs maul them both.
 Tigerclaw's kits are apprenticed, and Longtail finds out about a plot
for dogs to come and kill ThunderClan. The plan is thwarted by Fireheart
 leading them off the gorge, but Bluestar dies from drowning after
saving her deputy when a dog grabbed him. She reconciles with her kits
and with StarClan, appointing Fireheart leader after her.

### *The Darkest Hour*

Tigerstar meets with Scourge, the leader of BloodClan,
 trying to make a deal to enlist his help in taking over the Clans.
Meanwhile, Firestar is the new leader of ThunderClan, and receives a
disturbing dream during his leadership ceremony about blood and a bone hill. Upon his return, he becomes more suspicious of Darkstripe, and when the dark warrior tries to murder Sorrelkit

to keep her quiet about his meeting with Tigerstar's deputy Blackfoot,

he is exiled. At the next Gathering, Tigerstar proposes making all four
Clans merge into one, and announces that Leopardstar has agreed already
to joining their Clans as TigerClan. However, Firestar and Tallstar say
no, and the ThunderClan tom tries to tell all of Tigerstar's treachery. A
 storm breaks while he's talking, and the dark tabby claims it as sign
from StarClan.

Graystripe worries about his kits in RiverClan, and they go to
check on them along with Ravenpaw. They witness the murder of Stonefur,
and manage to escape with Featherpaw, Stormpaw, and Mistyfoot. Later that day, WindClan is attacked by TigerClan, and Gorsepaw

is killed in cold blood as a warning. When Firestar and Tallstar still

say no to TigerClan, they prepare to fight together as LionClan, but
Tigerstar is brutally killed by his supposed ally, Scourge. Scourge
gives the Clans three days to get out or fight, but they choose to stay
and fight. During the battle, Whitestorm
 is killed, and Graystripe is appointed the next deputy of ThunderClan.
BloodClan is driven off once Scourge is slain, and the Clans settle back
 to the way it was before.

## Characters

### Major characters

* Tigerstar
* Bluestar
* Graystripe
* Cinderpelt
* Ravenpaw
* Darkstripe
* Sandstorm
* Cloudtail
* Yellowfang
* Dustpelt

### Supporting characters

* Crookedstar
* Leopardstar
* Tallstar
* Mistyfoot
* Stonefur
* Feathertail
* Stormfur
* Onewhisker
* Nightstar
* Longtail
* Silverstream
* Brokenstar
* Whitestorm
* Scourge
* Oakheart

## Important events

*The Darkest Hour*
Firestar becomes the leader of ThunderClan.[20]
LionClan beats off BloodClan, and keeps the forest as their home

 *Fire and Ice* | Fireheart and Graystripe help WindClan return to their territory after Brokenstar's leaderships ends.
 *Forest of Secrets* | Tigerclaw is exiled from ThunderClan.
 *Rising Storm* | Tigerclaw and some ShadowClan cats attack a ThunderClan patrol, killing Runningwind.
 *A Dangerous Path* | Tigerstar becomes leader of ShadowClan.
 *The Darkest Hour* | Firestar becomes the leader of ThunderClan.
LionClan beats off BloodClan, and keeps the forest as their home.

## Publication history

* The Prophecies Begin (EN), HarperCollins (paperback box set), 9 October 2007
* The Prophecies Begin (EN), HarperCollins (paperback box set; reprint), 17 March 2015

## See also

* Arcs
* *The Prophecies Begin* arc
* Mistakes