Literature: Warrior Cats Dawn Of The Clans aka: Dawn Of The Clans
"Our home cannot support us all. But there is another place for some of us, full of sunlight and warmth and prey for all seasons. I have seen it in my dreams. I believe in my heart that these mountains are not where every cat belongs. The other place is waiting for those of you who are brave enough to make the journey."
—Half Moon
Follow the trail of the rising sun.
Dawn of the Clans is the fifth arc of the popular Warrior Cats series, after the Omen of the Stars arc. Set to release in 2013, it tells the tale of the beginnings of the Warrior Clans, when the Warrior Code was unmade, and the Clan founders still ruled.The first book, titled The Sun Trail, was released in March 2013 and tells the tale of WindClan's legendary leader Graywing the Wise before he was famous. The second book, which will be released in December 2013, is called Thunder Rising.The plot of The Sun Trail stars several cats from the mountains where the Tribe of Rushing Water live. Tired of the cramped cave behind the falls, they follow the rays of the rising sun, hoping it will lead them to paradise. However, it will be a long and difficult journey for cats who have spent their entire lives in the mountains, never having seen things like Twolegs or forests before.The prologue of The Sun Trail was released as part of the Warriors Tenth Anniversary, while the first chapter was released with Cloudstar's Journey. For now, you can check them out here.The Browse Inside for The Sun Trail contains the first quarter of the book, and can be read for free here, on the official HarperCollins website.
This series provides examples of:
A Day in the Limelight: This is the first time in the main series that the other Clans will have a role equal to ThunderClan.note In Moonrise, two RiverClan cats got Point of Views, but they were on a journey away from the main Clans. In Night Whispers, a ShadowClan cat got a Point of View, but all four ThunderClan cats had more screentime than he did.
Anyone Can Die: After Power of Three and Omen of the Stars flip-flopped with this, The Sun Trail brings it back full force with the deaths of Bright Stream, Shaded Moss, and Storm, all of them being major characters.
The Clan Founders, and possibly some of the other field guide characters.
The Sun Trail has given this status to Cloudspots, Dapplepelt, and Graywing The Wise.
Badass Crew: The group which sets out to follow the sun trail is sure to be this.
Breaking the Fellowship: About two thirds of the way through The Sun Trail, Clear Sky, Quick Water, Moon Shadow, Falling Feather, and Jagged Peak leave the group in the moor to live in the forest. Later, Turtle Tail leaves to become a kittypet.
Continuity Nod: The Followers of the Sun Trail pass by Mothermouth, but none of them enter it. This is because Mothflight will one day be the first cat down there, leading to the discovery of the Moonstone.
The Ditherer: Gray Wing ends up angsting over whether or not to join the crew and find a new home.
In The Sun Trail, Stoneteller/Half Moon declares a cat named Shaded Moss the leader of the Followers of the Sun Trail. Since we never heard about him as a major power in any of the field guides, his death shortly before the group reaches the new territories doesn't come as much of a surprise.
Word Of God has actually caused a Foregone Conclusion of a character living to turn into one of these. It is most definitely a spoiler, as it hasn't happened in the books yet. Fans initially assumed that Gray Wing would survive the series, given that he has to live past Wind and Gorse to become the WindClan leader Graywing the Wise. However, Vicky revealed on her Facebook that Graywing the Wise was the leader of Proto WindClan, the cats in the moor before the Clans came about. This means that something will almost certainly happen to him, given that Wind is going to become the leader of the moor.
Foregone Conclusion: Unless serious Retcon applies, anyone who's read the other Warriors books knows certain things about the plot: Lightningtail never becomes ThunderClan's leader, Shadow is the first of the founders to die, Wind gets together with Gorsefur, who later becomes the second ever leader of WindClan. And on and on...
It's All My Fault: Gray Wing and Clear Sky both blame themselves for Bright Stream's death. Gray Wing eventually manages to move on, but Clear Sky never lets go of the guilt.
Jumped at the Call: Clear Sky is very eager to go on the journey to find a new home. He takes this to the point of jerkassistude, forcing his Love Interest Bright Stream to go unless she wants to be separated from him.
The Leader: Shaded Moss is named the leader of the crew setting out to find a new home.
Legendary in the Sequel: Inverted. The Sun Trail is about the founders of the Clans before they were legends, so it's more like "unlegendary in the prequel". So far, we have seen Thunder, Wind, Gorse, Sky, and Graywing the Wise, for sure, and most likely Shadow, Cloudspots, and Dapplepelt.
Love Dodecahedron: Turtle Tail loves Gray Wing, who loves Storm, who loves Clear Sky, who's crazy. Now that Storm is dead, Gray Wing will most likely get together with Turtle Tail.
Meaningful Funeral: It's a Tribe custom. One is held for Fluttering Bird when she dies, and the Followers of the Sun Trail later hold a funeral for Shaded Moss.
The Migration: The Sun Trail is about a group of cats leaving the mountains to move to the forest.
Storm calls Gray Wing "Gray Whatsit", which is the name that Rusty gave to Graypaw when they first met in Into the Wild.
Remember the mountain hunting skills that Gray Wing showed to Jagged Peak? Those were first shown in Battles of the Clans as WindClan battle strategies invented by Gray Wing himself. It looks like we know where he got them.
Never Found the Body: The Followers of the Sun Trail don't find Bright Stream's body after she is carried off by an eagle, leading to some potential ambiguity over her death.
No Antagonist: The majority of The Sun Trail is about the cats moving and settling into a new home. However, the ending sets up Clear Sky as an antagonist.
Origins Episode: The series shows us the origins of the Clans.
Prequel: The earliest in series historynote Not counting the myths about LionClan, TigerClan, and LeopardClan, which are only myths after all., because it features the origins of the Clans.
Retcon: To be expected from an entire series based on a pawful of conflicting information.
The Thunderpath between the future ShadowClan, WindClan, and ThunderClan territories is present in The Sun Trail as it is in Seccrets of the Clans despite having been previously retconned out in Code of the Clans.
At the end of The Sun Trail, Thunder is named after Storm, not the Thunderpath.
Shipper on Deck: Silver Frost, one of the elder cats of the Tribe, ships Clear Sky with Bright Stream. She also ships Gray Wing with his admirer Turtle Tail.
Gray Wing and Clear Sky are brothers who work together to hunt and fight.
Fox and Petal are a brother and sister team who only rely on themselves.
Trailers Always Spoil: Before The Sun Trail even came out, the blurb of Thunder Rising revealed that the group would split into two, Gray Wing and Clear Sky would become enemies, and Thunder would have some sort of connection to Gray Wing and Clear Sky.
Visual Pun: The gorge on the cover of Thunder Rising. The Followers of the Sun Trail are divided.
Lion's Roar addressing Half Moon by name in the prologue, which reveals that much less time than readers expected had passed since the formation of the Tribe.
The last chapter of The Sun Trail has a massive one. Gray Wing is trying to think of a name for the only surviving kit of Storm and Clear Sky. Turtle Tail says, "How about Thunder?", revealing the kit to be the future founder of ThunderClan.
The Browse Inside for The Sun Trail contains the first quarter of the book, and can be read for free here
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