A group of feral cats known as ThunderClan are battling against their rival,

RiverClan, by a river for control over a territory called Sunningrocks, to which

both Clans had equal claim. Redtail, ThunderClan's deputy, soon realizes
ThunderClan is badly outnumbered and orders the battle patrol to retreat.
Tigerclaw, a ThunderClan warrior, reluctantly follows the order, angered that
RiverClan should be allowed to win territory so quickly. In the ThunderClan camp,
Bluestar, leader of ThunderClan, is trying to seek answers from StarClan, troubled
by that night's defeat. At that moment, Spottedleaf, the medicine cat of
ThunderClan, receives a prophecy from StarClan, echoing to Bluestar that "Fire
alone can save our Clan." But Bluestar is confused, for fire is feared by all
Clans, until....
A kittypet named Rusty has a dream about catching a mouse in the forest, but lets
his prey go due to a distracting noise. As he wakes up, he finds that this is food
pellets being poured into his food bowl. This dream drives the young cat into the
forest, though his friend Smudge warns him that forest cats are much bigger and
dangerous. On his arrival in the forest, he is briefly attacked by Graypaw, a
ThunderClan apprentice. Instead of fleeing, Rusty turns and fights back.
Unbeknownst to the two young cats, two warriors from ThunderClan are watching -
Lionheart, Graypaw's mentor, and Bluestar, ThunderClan's leader. Impressed after
having seen Rusty and Graypaw fight instead of fleeing, Bluestar offers Rusty a
chance to join their Clan of feral cats and train as an apprentice.
The next day, Rusty is escorted to the ThunderClan camp by Lionheart and another
ThunderClan cat, Whitestorm. Most of the cats disagree with a kittypet joining
their ranks, especially Longtail, who relentlessly taunts Rusty. Rusty attacks
Longtail after being persuaded by Lionheart to prove his loyalty and worth to the
Clan. Rusty's collar snaps off during the fight, which Bluestar takes as an omen
from StarClan that Rusty belongs in their Clan. Bluestar renames him Firepaw, after
his flame-colored pelt, and officially appoints him as a Clan apprentice. Suddenly,
another apprentice, Ravenpaw, rushes into camp with the news that Redtail has been
killed in a skirmish near Sunningrocks. Tigerclaw soon follows with Redtail's body,
claiming Redtail to have been killed by Oakheart, the RiverClan deputy, who
Tigerclaw says he has killed in vengeance. Firepaw is unable to see the body, only
spotting a red tail, true to the deputy's name, from around a bush. Lionheart is
made deputy in Redtail's place.
Firepaw is not immediately assigned a mentor of his own and instead trains with
Ravenpaw and Graypaw and their mentors, Tigerclaw and Lionheart, respectively.
Firepaw soon learns that kittypets are traditionally thought to be weak and useless
amongst Clan-born cats. He is steadily able to adjust to his new life despite being
seen as an inferior. He trains hard to become a respected member of the Clan,
hoping to eventually earn full warrior status.
On his first solo hunting assignment, Firepaw comes across Yellowfang, a medicine
cat who has been exiled from ShadowClan. He immediately attacks, knowing rogue cats
are not tolerated in enemy territory. After defeating her, he realizes that the old
cat is starving, and he hunts a rabbit for her out of pity and eats some himself,
breaking the warrior code. When a patrol led by Bluestar arrives, Yellowfang tries
to flee but is hindered from doing so by her wounds. The ThunderClan leader
recognizes Yellowfang as ShadowClan's former medicine cat, and the Clan brings
Yellowfang into camp as a prisoner. After appointing herself as Firepaw's mentor in
order to speed up apprentice training, Bluestar puts Firepaw in charge of taking
care of Yellowfang as punishment for eating before his Clanmates are fed.
At Firepaw's first gathering, Graypaw is telling him who is who. Firepaw asks about
WindClan and Graypaw tells him that ShadowClan drove them out. Brokenstar, the
leader of ShadowClan , reports that ShadowClan has recently driven out a cat who
has murdered ShadowClan kits. He makes it clear that this rogue should be killed as
soon as any cat finds her and urges the Clans to keep a close eye on their kits. He
also states that since ShadowClan are the strongest and most thriving Clan, they
require more territory to support themselves, and that they drove WindClan out of
their territory and claimed it for their own after they refused to surrender it
willingly. This explains WindClan's absence from the Gathering. Crookedstar,
RiverClan's leader, announces that he has allowed ShadowClan hunting rights on the
edge of their territory. After the Gathering the ThunderClan cats rush back to
camp, suspecting Yellowfang to be the cat Brokenstar warned them of, but Bluestar
orders that Yellowfang should not be harmed, arguing that since there is no proof
of Yellowfang being the culprit (as Brokenstar has not named her as the rogue), and
since she has not yet done anything wrong to ThunderClan, Yellowfang will remain in
camp. She puts the Clan on battle-readiness as they are now the only ones standing
up to Brokenstar.
Bluestar goes to the Moonstone to seek guidance from StarClan with Firepaw,
Ravenpaw, Graypaw, and Tigerclaw, leaving Lionheart in charge. Firepaw, Tigerclaw,
and Bluestar go into Mothermouth, but Tigerclaw is overwhelmed and flees, telling
Graypaw and Ravenpaw that he was sent back to keep watch. Bluestar has a dream of
trouble back at the camp. They meet Barley on the way back, who warns them to stay
clear of the dogs on his farm, but then they are attacked by rats and Bluestar
loses a life. Tigerclaw believes that Barley sent them there on purpose, though the
others don't. Back at camp, ShadowClan launches an attack on ThunderClan's camp,
and Lionheart is killed in the battle, allowing Tigerclaw to be appointed as the
new ThunderClan deputy. Ravenpaw, Tigerclaw's apprentice who had witnessed the
earlier events at Sunningrocks, confesses to Firepaw that it was Tigerclaw, not
Oakheart, who killed Redtail, presumably in his ambition to become deputy.
Tigerclaw suspects his secret has been discovered and begins to secure his status
in the Clan by spreading rumors about Ravenpaw and making sure no cats, not even
his Clanmates, trust the apprentice.
Soon after, Frostfur's litter of kits vanish, and Spottedleaf is found dead near
the nursery. Firepaw, who had developed a close bond with the medicine cat, was
devastated. When Yellowfang is discovered to be missing as well, Tigerclaw
immediately blames her for the disappearance of the kits as well as the death of
Spottedleaf. This rumor is immediately accepted by the other cats in the Clan, as
most of them, excluding Firepaw, did not trust the former ShadowClan medicine cat.
Tigerclaw proceeds to make the assertion that Ravenpaw helped Yellowfang steal the
kits, as he witnessed the true death of Redtail, being killed by Tigerclaw. This,
in turn, prompts Frostfur to chase him out of the nursery when he attempts to check
on the other kits. Bluestar asks Firepaw to find Yellowfang instead of sending a
patrol to find the kits and the former ShadowClan cat, because she knows that they
share a bond and if Firepaw asks her to come back, she will. Firepaw takes Graypaw
and Ravenpaw with him, sending Ravenpaw to Barley’s barn, where he hopes that he
will be safe from Tigerclaw.
When Firepaw and Graypaw find her, Yellowfang tells the apprentices she left camp
as soon as she discovered the kits were missing and smelled the scent of Clawface -
a ShadowClan warrior - in the nursery. Yellowfang reveals that Brokenstar has been
mercilessly training kits early so that ShadowClan could have more warriors and be
the most feared Clan in the forest, even going so far as to kill his own Clan's
kits. This lead to Yellowfang being framed for the murder of Brightflower's kits,
and in turn, being exiled from the clan. She reveals that they are sent out to be
warriors at just 3 moons old, and Firepaw and Graypaw realize that this is why the
ShadowClan apprentices seemed so small and young at the Gathering. With the help of
a ThunderClan patrol, led by Whitestorm, and a ShadowClan patrol, made up of senior
warriors who were kicked out by Brokenstar, they raid ShadowClan's camp. The
patrols drive out the blood-thirsty leader along with his closest followers, but
not before Brokenstar reveals himself as the killer of the ShadowClan kits for
whose death Yellowfang had been blamed for, as well as the killer of Raggedstar,
the previous ShadowClan leader and Brokenstar's father, whose death had been first
attributed to an ambush by a patrol from another Clan. ThunderClan promises to
leave ShadowClan in peace for one moon while they adjust and find a new leader. The
ThunderClan cats, including Yellowfang, return with the kits to their camp, where
Firepaw and Graypaw inform the Clan it was Clawface, not Yellowfang, who had stolen
the kits and killed Spottedleaf. When Ravenpaw's absence is noted, Firepaw, for
Ravenpaw's safety, tells the Clan he has been killed by a ShadowClan patrol.
Bluestar asks Yellowfang to be ThunderClan's new medicine cat, and she accepts,
realizing that ShadowClan is not the Clan she once knew. Most cats are wary of
Yellowfang at first, but begin to slowly accept her in books to come.
After the battle, Tigerclaw looks all around for Ravenpaw, and not finding him,
says loudly how suspicious it was that he should go missing when Brokenstar
attacks. Firepaw says boldly that Ravenpaw was not traitorous to his Clan, but
found murdered beside ShadowClan territory, not giving away his true location.
Tigerclaw quickly retorts that he never thought Ravenpaw was a traitor and says
that he would have become a fine warrior. Soon after Firepaw and Graypaw are
promoted to warriors and receive their warrior names - Fireheart and Graystripe.
Bluestar honors Ravenpaw's memory, saying before the ceremony that he also would
have taken part and earned his warrior name. Just before their vigil is supposed to
begin, Fireheart attempts to speak to Bluestar about Tigerclaw's betrayal, but she
silences him by reminding him about his vigil. Tigerclaw locks his eyes with
Fireheart, and they glare at each other. Fireheart realizes that he has made a
powerful enemy, but is ready for the challenge. He and Graystripe guard the camp
until dawn.