Not long after Redpaw and his littermates begin their apprenticeship, an angry patrol returns to camp, reporting that RiverClan has been encroaching upon Sunningrocks. Sunstar decides to send a patrol to teach RiverClan a lesson, and they decide that all of the apprentices are to come.
On the way, a hawk attacks the ThunderClan patrol, and Redpaw's panic results in him getting separated from his Clanmates. Just before it's able to get him, Tigerclaw saves his life. Redpaw promises to help Tigerclaw if he ever needs anything, since he owes Tigerclaw everything. It turns out that this whole thing has delayed the patrol from helping their Clanmates in the raid on RiverClan, and Redpaw feels like it's all his fault. Tigerclaw promises to back him up when explaining things to Sunstar, and Redpaw says he owes him one. Tigerclaw responds that Redpaw doesn't just owe him "one", but his life.
Redpaw earns his warrior name, Redtail, six moons later. Tigerclaw invites him hunting, and along the way, they encounter a WindClan apprentice, Sorrelpaw, who had accidentally strayed just barely across the border chasing a rabbit. Tigerclaw orders him to teach Sorrelpaw a lesson, asking if he's still a cowardly apprentice, and Redtail decides to listen to him. They stop just as Sorrelpaw's mentor arrives. Afterward, Redtail and Tigerclaw report to Sunstar, but Tigerclaw twists the story, claiming that the WindClan cats had attacked Redtail.
At the Gathering that night, Redtail speaks to Sorrelpaw's mentor Stagleap, who points out that what Redtail had done was wrong, and encourages him to speak to Sunstar in the hope that this doesn't result in a battle. However, on the way back, Tigerclaw convinces Sunstar that the best course of action is to attack WindClan's camp to warn them to stay out of ThunderClan territory. Redtail argues with Tigerclaw about it being the wrong thing to do, but Tigerclaw reassures him that they aren't going to hurt anyone, and that ThunderClan will be stronger for it.
The following day, they attack the camp. Although Tigerclaw had promised they wouldn't hurt anyone, he does attack one of the queens, and shortly afterward it erupts into full battle when some WindClan patrols return. Bluefur is badly injured, and Redtail, seeing that the ThunderClan patrol is outnumbered, calls a retreat. Tigerclaw is furious, but Redtail decides that his loyalty isn't to Tigerclaw, but to ThunderClan.
Seasons later, Redtail has become the ThunderClan deputy under Bluestar. They've recently lost Sunningrocks to RiverClan, and Tigerclaw insists that they need to fight to win the territory back. Bluestar finally agrees that they should re-mark the border, and Redtail decides to go along with Tigerclaw to make sure he doesn't try to instigate any trouble. While they're there, they come across a RiverClan patrol, and Tigerclaw starts a battle with them. Redtail doesn't think it's worth fighting, as outnumbered as they are, and wants to flee: Tigerclaw and Ravenpaw don't want to, however. Oakheart threatens to kill Ravenpaw, and Redtail leaps foward, biting Oakheart's throat until the RiverClan deputy is dead. Finally, there are only two more RiverClan warriors left, and Tigerclaw eventually agrees with Redtail ordering Ravenpaw back to camp. Redtail and Tigerclaw win, and just afterward, Tigerclaw attacks Redtail and slashes his throat, telling him that ThunderClan needs a real deputy just before Redtail dies.
Sunstar welcomes Redtail to StarClan. He leads him to a pool where Redtail sees Tigerclaw back in the ThunderClan camp spinning a tale about the fight, and Redtail is furious, but Sunstar points out a stranger to Redtail: a bright orange apprentice that Bluestar will name Firepaw. Redtail thinks about how his sister Spottedleaf has recently received a prophecy that fire will save the Clan, and is warmed by the thought that Firepaw is their future.
Tropes appearing in this novella:
- Afterlife Welcome: Sunstar greets Redtail in StarClan.
- All Your Base Are Belong to Us: ThunderClan decides to attack WindClan's camp: not necessarily to hurt anyone in the attack, but to warn them that their camp is vulnerable for future attacks should they continue to antagonize ThunderClan.
- Big Damn Heroes: The hawk is just about to grab Redpaw when Tigerclaw runs over and tackles it out of the air.
- Blood Knight: Tigerclaw. Redtail is so shocked by Tigerclaw's pleased encouragement of "Tear her apart, Redtail!" that it jolts him out of his battle rage.
- Broken Pedestal: Redtail looks up to Tigerclaw as an apprentice, especially after he saves him from a hawk. After becoming a warrior and seeing Tigerclaw for who he really is, he stops, and even tells him he doesn't owe him anything anymore.
- The Darkness Before Death: As Redtail dies, everything seems to be growing dark around him.
- A Day in the Limelight: Redtail's only POV.
- A Death in the Limelight: The book ends just after Redtail dies.
- Deer in the Headlights: When the hawk swoops at Redpaw, his Clanmates tell him to run, but he freezes in panic.
- I Owe You My Life: Tigerclaw saves Redtail's life, and from then on Redtail repeatedly says that he owes Tigerclaw everything, that he owes him his life. Tigerclaw takes this as meaning that Redtail has to go along with everything he says, even when Tigerclaw breaks the warrior code. Eventually, since Redtail doesn't do exactly that, Tigerclaw starts to see him as being in his way of his pursuit of power, and the novella ends with him killing Redtail.
- It's All My Fault: Redpaw says this about the patrol being too delayed to help the other ThunderClanners during the attack on RiverClan. Sparrowpelt tells him that the hawk wasn't his fault.
- Just Following Orders: Redtail says to Stagleap that in attacking Sorrelpaw, he was just doing his duty by defending his territory. Stagleap counters that as a warrior, his duty is to teach apprentices, and that he should have scolded her instead of attacking her.
- Nobody Calls Me "Chicken"!: Part of the reason Redtail attacked Sorrelpaw was because Tigerclaw asked if he was still a mouse-hearted apprentice.
- Nothing Personal: After Tigerclaw slashes Redtail's throat, he tells him that it was nothing personal, just that Redtail was in his way and that ThunderClan needs a "real" deputy.
- Not Quite the Right Thing: Tigerclaw ordered Redtail to attack Sorrelpaw for crossing the border, and afterward praised him for it, saying he was in the right since she was on their territory. Redtail, however, feels terrible and wonders why doing the right thing felt so wrong.
- Out-of-Character Moment: One of the biggest criticisms of this novella, aside from the Series Continuity Error involving Oakheart, is the characterization of Ravenpaw. Previous books have firmly established him as a gentle character who's never been interested in fighting, and have mentioned that even from birth he was quite timid. In this novella, he's as eager for battle as Tigerclaw and even calls Redtail a coward for not wanting to fight. One theory as to why this happened is that the novella was written by a newer Erin who, as far as fans know, wasn't involved with the earlier books.
- Pick on Someone Your Own Size: Tigerclaw orders Redtail to attack the WindClan apprentice Sorrelpaw, who has accidentally strayed across the border. When her mentor arrives, he rightfully calls out the two full-grown warriors for attacking a young apprentice on her own who's just made a mistake.
- Sensing You Are Outmatched: At both the WindClan camp battle and the border fight against RiverClan, Redtail is aware that his Clan is badly outnumbered and knows that the best option is to flee.
- Series Continuity Error: This novella contains one of the most infamous in the series. Oakheart's death was a major plot point in the early Warriors books; part of the reason Bluestar couldn't believe Tigerclaw's betrayal was because Tigerclaw not killing Oakheart meant that Redtail had to be the one who'd killed him, and that went against everything she knew about Redtail's honor. Fireheart later learned that Redtail didn't intentionally kill him, only had indirectly and accidentally caused Oakheart's death by driving him underneath a rockfall. In this novella, Redtail kills him by biting his throat.
- Slashed Throat: This is how Tigerclaw kills Redtail.
- The So-Called Coward: Tigerclaw repeatedly calls Redtail a coward for not wanting to fight. Redtail is as loyal to ThunderClan as any warrior; he just knows that fighting isn't always the right option.
- Tactical Withdrawal: Redtail calls a retreat several times since it's the safest option for his Clan.
- Watch Where You're Going!: Tigerclaw and the WindClan apprentice Sorrelpaw collide when chasing after the same rabbit.
