Veil of Shadows is the third book in the seventh Warrior Cats series, The Broken Code.
The prologue is from the POV of the ghost of Spiresight (the strange cat from Tigerheart's Shadow), and takes place during the final scene of The Silent Thaw. He finds a muscular tom (unable to recognize who, due to the darkness) attacking Shadowsight, and tries to help, but cannot do anything since he's a ghost. The attacker tosses Shadowsight's body into a ravine, and Spiresight wonders why his instincts brought him there when there was nothing he could do.
Rootpaw waits with his father Tree and the medicine cats by the Moonpool: they intend to have him summon Bramblestar's ghost for them, but Shadowsight never shows up. He eventually does it anyway, and ghost-Bramblestar is much weaker and more faded than before. The medicine cats aren't sure what to think, and only some of them seem to partially believe him. Bristlefrost awakens in the middle of the same night, and she encounters the living Bramblestar returning to camp, smelling of catmint and covered in blood. She tells Stemleaf and Spotfur, but none of them are sure what to do. In the morning, living-Bramblestar announces the medicine cat's disappearance and decides that it means that ThunderClan has to take action against their codebreakers, so he exiles Jayfeather and Lionblaze, and says that Twigbranch needs to spend half a moon away and return with twenty pieces of prey. Bristlefrost brings them to ShadowClan to stay there with Squirrelflight.
After Rootpaw's sister earns her warrior name, Needleclaw, fake-Bramblestar visits the camp and tells Leafstar to punish any of her codebreakers. She holds a Clan meeting afterward, where the SkyClan medicine cats explain that they saw Bramblestar's ghost when they went to the Moonpool, and Rootpaw reveals that he's the one that saw him first. The Clan decides to keep an eye on the living Bramblestar, and Leafstar suggests that Rootpaw should become a medicine cat apprentice due to the speaking-to-dead-cats thing.
Fake-Bramblestar calls an emergency Gathering, where he basically repeats himself about punishing their codebreakers, and Harestar and Mistystar finally agree to exile Crowfeather and Mothwing since their Clans have been recently having poor hunting. The ShadowClan camp's a bit full with all the exiles now, so they decide that they'll stay in the old SkyClan camp that's now part of ShadowClan territory again. A meeting of the exiles and rebels is held there, and they discuss the possibility of killing Bramblestar's body, but decide that now isn't the right time since too many cats wouldn't believe the reason, and besides they don't know if the real Bramblestar would be able to return.
Shadowsight awakens to find himself next to Spiresight. Turns out he's not dead after all, but similarly to Squirrelflight and Leafpool in Squirrelflight's Hope, he's somewhere between life and death, and currently is a spirit himself. Spiresight suggests using his spirit form to spy on the Clans and see if he can get more information on who attacked him, but warns Shadowsight that he cannot remain away from his body for too long.
Tree tries to use the Sisters' summoning ceremony to call Bramblestar's ghost, first at the camp and then at the Moonpool, but it doesn't work. Leafstar sees that Rootpaw isn't taking to the medicine cat job well, and reassures him that he's back to being a warrior apprentice and that he's about to earn his warrior name. Meanwhile, in ThunderClan, fake-Bramblestar is mad that Alderheart's not giving him more poppy seeds, and declares that Flipclaw is the new medicine cat apprentice (because of a silly dream that Flipclaw had just been describing), in case anything should happen to Alderheart. After this, he instructs Bristlefrost to find Squirrelflight and bring her back, no matter what: Squirrelflight wants to stay with the exiled ThunderClanners, so they fake evidence of her death by a Thunderpath.
Shadowsight has had no luck with finding out who attacked him, but he knows he cannot let his body sit there much longer, because his wounds have become infected. Spiresight wonders if perhaps Puddleshine might have been involved with the attack, but Shadowsight doesn't think so. One cat he does know he can trust is Rootpaw, so Spiresight finds Rootpaw the night before his final assessment and brings him to Shadowsight's body. Rootpaw fetches his mentor Dewspring, and together they bring him back to camp. The rebels meet and share the news, and again many of them want to kill the living Bramblestar, but they decide to wait until Shadowsight awakens before deciding what to do next. Not everyone is convinced, though, and Squirrelflight asks Bristlefrost to protect her mate's body, because if there's still a chance of him returning to it, she can't risk losing him.
Shadowsight continues to try to spy on the others, and while watching ThunderClan, the impostor-Bramblestar suddenly addresses Shadowsight directly and tells him that spirits can recognize other spirits. A figure detaches itself from Bramblestar's body, but it's too dark for Shadowsight to tell the color; all he can see is that the cat is a tom and that his eyes are dark blue. The impostor reveals that he's seen Bramblestar's spirit too, but hints that he's done something so that the real Bramblestar won't bother him again. He confirms that he was the one who attacked Shadowsight, and he was the voice Shadowsight had been hearing, who had told him about the codebreakers and how to treat Bramblestar in the first place. And then when Shadowsight says that the impostor should be in StarClan or the Dark Forest, the impostor says, "There are ways to move between those worlds, if one is clever enough." Shadowsight demands to know what he did with the real Bramblestar's spirit, but just at that moment he realizes he has to return to his own body now or be lost, and he vows that it isn't over. Instead of having Rootpaw do his warrior assessment, Leafstar decides that his actions in saving Shadowsight are heroic enough, and makes him a warrior with the name of Rootspring. Shadowsight wakes up afterward and tells everyone that it was the fake Bramblestar that had attacked him, but nobody's quite sure what to do yet.
Twigbranch returns to ThunderClan after her half-moon atonement, bringing the requested twenty pieces of prey, but fake-Bramblestar still refuses to let her back into the Clan. Alderheart argues with him, reminding every cat that serving a cat blindly was what led to the rise of Darktail, and fake-Bramblestar kicks him out too. The impostor then brings Bristlefrost into the forest alone and says that he thinks there are cats working against him and asks what she thinks... when she sees a group of the rebels sneaking up on Bramblestar, ready to kill him. They attack: she knows that they want her to join in, but she made a promise to Squirrelflight to protect Bramblestar's body so that he can return to it, and she runs back to the ThunderClan camp for help. They chase off the rebels, three of whom have been killed: Conefoot of ShadowClan, Dappletuft of RiverClan, and Stemleaf of ThunderClan, who Bristlefrost had once loved. She faints, and upon awakening, Bramblestar informs her that Berrynose was too slow to bring help and that she's the new deputy.
The rebels hold another meeting, with the newly-exiled Berrynose as their new prisoner. They discuss how they're not sure if they can trust Bristlefrost now, and talk about who the impostor might be (suggesting the first Tigerstar and Darktail, but it can't be the former since his spirit was killed, and the latter doesn't seem right.) They decide that their next step is to see what the medicine cats do at the half moon, and see if Kestrelflight and Willowshine can convince their leaders that Bramblestar isn't a true leader.
The Gathering is held, and fake-Bramblestar does the same thing he's been doing for the last couple books about "we must follow the code and punish codebreakers". Nothing new there. Flipclaw, as the only "medicine cat" in ThunderClan now, has no idea how to treat cats, and Shellfur has a wound that gets infected. Sparkpelt points this out to Bramblestar, and he banishes her - then Graystripe, who added his voice to hers - then any other cat who wants to leave (among them are Graystripe's kits Blossomfall and Bumblestripe, Sparkpelt's daughter Finchpaw, Finchpaw's mentor Cinderheart, and Bristlefrost's sister Thriftear.) Bristlefrost tries to talk to him, but before she enters the den she hears him arguing with an unseen cat, asking why they're questioning him - but then she realizes that there's no other cat in his den.
Puddleshine explains what happened after the half-moon meeting: Kestrelflight and Willowshine did speak to their leaders about what's been going on, but neither trusted the source of the information (Rootspring, Shadowsight) over Bramblestar and still align with him. The rebels decide that they can't win any others to their side and have no choice but to attack: in two days they will fight Bramblestar, and take him prisoner if possible, kill him if not. Shadowsight has a sudden vision of flames around all the Clans that suddenly vanish when he sets his vision-self's paws on the path to the Moonpool, and it gives him an idea. He eats a deathberry and finds himself as a spirit between life and death again, and begins his search for the real Bramblestar's spirit at the Moonpool. He sees Bramblestar's eyes in the pool, and then branches and brambles rising from the pool that tangle around him, and the next thing he knows, he's in the Dark Forest. Shadowsight investigates the forest and finds a barrier woven from branches - like a den with no entrance - around a pool that he can see stars in, and he realizes that this must be what's blocking StarClan from contact. He's unable to move the barrier, but promises that he will find a way. He hears Bramblestar calling to him, and realizes that Bramblestar's spirit is stuck in a hollow tree with barriers around all the gaps. Shadowsight gets him out, and Bramblestar explains that he was too weak to get himself out. Then Shadowsight hears his Clanmates around him and the Dark Forest fades away as he wakes up in his own body. He reassures them that he knew what he was doing and that he now knows what's blocking StarClan.
Rootspring finds Bristlefrost along the border and she explains that she has not betrayed the rebels. In their conversation, he confesses that he still has feelings for her, and she admits that she has feelings for him too, but they can't act on it. They wonder if things might change after the whole code-breaking drama is over. Bramblestar goes to visit Leafstar and reveals that Tigerstar is apparently planning to attack ThunderClan, and he wants Leafstar's help. She acts like she's going along with it, even pretending to exile one of her cats who had participated in the attack on Bramblestar, but after he's gone, she reveals she wants to stop him.
The morning of the attack, ThunderClan, WindClan, and RiverClan surround ShadowClan's camp, but ShadowClan is ready and waiting for them. SkyClan arrives late and appears to fall in with the three allied Clans, but when Leafstar gives the orders to attack, it's the Thunder/Wind/RiverClan warriors that get pounced on. And so the battle begins. The exiles join in, Berrynose tries to fight on Bramblestar's side but gets killed by Tawnypelt, and Lionblaze accidentally strikes a fatal blow on Harestar. Everyone pauses when they realize that a leader is down. Harestar returns, his wound closed, and he reports that he did see StarClan, but that they were faint and sounded distorted, as if they were fading. This convinces many other cats that Bramblestar is lying. Tigerstar and Bramblestar face off against each other, and Tigerstar is victorious; they take the impostor prisoner.
While Shadowsight treats the impostor, Squirrelflight comes to talk, and suddenly the impostor says to her, "I came back for you"; Squirrelflight starts to think that there's something familiar about the him. Everyone decides that Squirrelflight's the best cat to be ThunderClan's acting leader for now, and she chooses Lionblaze as her deputy since Bristlefrost is too young (Bristlefrost agrees). The impostor tells Shadowsight that sparing his life was the wrong choice, because "Once I'm back to full health, I'll be able to bend any cat to my will.. just ask that skinny black cat with the yellow eyes". Shadowsight knows he's talking about Spiresight, and is unsure and afraid of what it might mean.
The Clans hold a Gathering the day after, and Rootspring sees the spirits of the cats who had died in the recent battle, wondering why they're not in StarClan. Shadowsight reveals what he'd seen in the Dark Forest, but the cats still aren't sure what to do next. Most of the exiled cats are able to return, now that they know Bramblestar was an impostor and a liar, but Mistystar banishes two of her warriors for fighting on ShadowClan's side in the battle, and Mothwing refuses to return because of the unjust way she and the others have been treated. Tigerstar offers to take them in as ShadowClan warriors. As the Gathering breaks up uneasily, Squirrelflight runs over to the other leaders and says that she knows now who has taken over Bramblestar's body - and that if she's right, things are worse than she thought.
Tropes appearing in this book:
- Afraid of Blood: It's demonstrated that Rootpaw is not the right fit for the medicine cat role when he panics at seeing a bloodied Clanmate... who just got back from hunting and has a thorn in his paw.
- All Crimes Are Equal: Fake-Bramblestar's treatment of codebreakers; it doesn't matter how serious - or not - the crime is. Had a forbidden relationship with a cat from another Clan? Exile. Left the Clan for a while but later returned? Exile. Accidentally took a couple steps across the border? Exile. Questioned his orders by asking him to please un-exile the medicine cat? Exile!
- Assassination Attempt: The rebels discuss doing this to the fake Bramblestar, but decide to hold off in case they can get the real Bramblestar's spirit back in his body. A small group attempts to ambush him anyway, which is unsuccessful and ends with three of them dead.
- Audience Participation: Early in this arc, the official website had a poll for what Rootpaw's warrior name should be. The winning name, Rootspring, did indeed become his warrior name. (The other available options were Rootfall, Rootwing, and Rootspirit.)
- Barred from the Afterlife: Cats who die during the book are stuck as ghosts since they're unable to reach StarClan.
- Battle-Interrupting Shout: The five-Clan battle ends when Crowfeather yells "Stop! Harestar is dead."
- Cat Concerto: Tree has SkyClan attempt the Sisters' summoning ritual, which involves everyone singing in a yowl to the sky.
- Cliffhanger: Squirrelflight knows who the impostor is, but we have to wait til the next book to find out.
- Continuity Nod: Brightheart double-checks Flipclaw's treatment of Bristlefrost, and explains that she once learned the basics of healing from Cinderpelt.
- Control Freak: The impostor possessing Bramblestar's body. He becomes extremely strict on enforcing the rules, not only within ThunderClan but the other Clans as well, and begins to exile any cat who speaks against his behavior. He even starts checking on what his Clanmates are doing at all times and butting in on private conversations just to make sure they're not doing anything he doesn't want.
- Covering for the Noise: After the fake Bramblestar's latest declaration about punishing rulebreakers, Jayfeather mutters some comment to Alderheart about how it's "nonsense". The word is loud enough for everyone to hear, and they go quiet, when Alderheart pipes up, "He says it's nonsense for a cat to fear your orders!" The impostor clearly doesn't believe him, but doesn't make any comment about it.
- Cut Himself Shaving: Kitescratch is one of the cats that attempts to kill the fake Bramblestar, and manages to escape during the ensuing fight. He tells his Clanmates afterward that his injuries were from an owl, but they don't really believe him.
- Dead Person Conversation: Spiresight's ghost speaks with Shadowsight and with Rootpaw.
- Dishonored Dead: Since trying to murder a Clan leader is a crime, and Mistystar doesn't know that Bramblestar is an impostor, Dappletuft is buried as a rogue without the honor and vigil she normally would have gotten.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Shadowsight eating the deathberry in order to get to his spirit form. Some readers compared it to suicide, while others felt that a more accurate comparison was taking a dangerous drug to hallucinate.
- Eye-Dentity Giveaway: When the impostor-Bramblestar loses his temper, Bristlefrost notices that his eyes look blue for a second - the impostor's natural eye color - rather than Bramblestar's amber. This helped confirm the identity of the impostor to readers.
- The Exile: Practically half of ThunderClan by the end of the book. Mistystar also exiled Icewing and Harelight from RiverClan for siding with the rebels.
- Faint in Shock: Bristlefrost faints when she sees that one of the dead rebels is Stemleaf.
- Faking the Dead: Squirrelflight fakes evidence of her death so that fake-Bramblestar will stop looking for her.
- Ghost Reunion Ending: At the Gathering at the end, Rootpaw sees the ghosts of all the cats who had died in the book, unable to move on since StarClan is blocked.
- Grand Theft Me: An impostor has control of Bramblestar's body.
- Hypocrite:
- Despite supposedly being all about following the warrior code, the impostor insists upon eating before the elders, and for the second time appoints a cat who hasn't had an apprentice as his deputy.
- Mistystar exiles Mothwing because Mothwing's mother was a rogue and her father was from another Clan. This, despite the fact that Mistystar herself is born of two cats from different Clans.
- If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: The rebels discuss whether to kill the impostor-Bramblestar. Bristlefrost points out that if they do that, they'll be no better than he is.
- Immediate Sequel: The prologue of the book takes place during the final scene of the previous book, and the first chapter takes place just minutes afterward.
- Implied Death Threat: Fake-Bramblestar - after Alderheart objects to one of his wishes - decides that since Jayfeather's been exiled, they need another medicine cat apprentice in case something "happens" to Alderheart. Bristlefrost knows that this means that once Flipclaw's been trained, then Bramblestar will be free to get rid of Alderheart. Alderheart himself also clearly recognizes the threat.
- La Résistance: There is a growing rebellion against the fake Bramblestar.
- Lazy Bum: The rebels discuss that the impostor is this: he wants the glory of leadership without putting in any work. It's why they don't think he could be Darktail or the first Tigerstar.
- Looking Busy: In order to eavesdrop on fake-Bramblestar's conversation with Leafstar, Rootpaw sneaks around behind the den and starts pawing at debris on the ground, so that if anyone asks he can tell them that he's just tidying up the camp.
- Master Actor: Bristlefrost is impressed multiple times at Tigerstar's acting abilities, as he hides his knowledge of the secret rebellion and pretends to act shocked at things he already knows.
- Mess of Woe: Ever since Squirrelflight left the Clan, the impostor possessing Bramblestar, who'd shown an obsession with her, seems to become depressed and stops cleaning his den or allowing others to do so.
- The Mole: Bristlefrost pretends to be the fake Bramblestar's most trusted ally, while really working with the rebels.
- My Way or the Highway: The impostor-Bramblestar gives an ultimatum: that any cat who doesn't like his orders can leave the Clan.
- Near-Death Clairvoyance: Shadowsight intentionally eats a deathberry to get between life and death so that he can do some sleuthing as a spirit.
- Not His Blood:
- Rootpaw panics at the blood on Rabbitleap, but most of it is actually a squirrel's blood; Rabbitleap had just returned from hunting.
- When they bring Shadowsight back to camp, Violetshine is worried that something happened to her son, because Rootpaw's covered in blood, but it's Shadowsight's, not his.
- Nurse with Good Intentions: After the false Bramblestar banishes both medicine cats from ThunderClan, he appoints Flipclaw as their new medicine cat - despite him not having any experience or knowledge of healing. Flipclaw tries to do his best to care for his Clanmates, but unfortunately he doesn't know enough to be any actual help.
- One-Steve Limit: Mocked. They're wondering who the impostor might be, and Lionblaze suggests "Tigerstar?" Then there's an awkward moment between him and the current ShadowClan leader where Lionblaze apologizes and clarifies that he means the first Tigerstar.
- Scratchy-Voiced Senior: Graystripe; "scratchy" even is the exact word used to describe his voice.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After the impostor gives an ultimatum that anyone who doesn't like his commands can leave, many cats voluntarily decide to leave and join the rebels.
- Switching P.O.V.: Shadowsight, Bristlefrost, and Rootpaw.
- Trapped on the Astral Plane:
- Ever since Bramblestar lost his life in Lost Stars, he is unable to return to his body since some unknown being has begun to possess it, leaving his spirit stuck in the territories, visible only to Rootpaw.
- Shadowsight is stuck as a spirit while his life hangs in the balance.
- This happens to cats who've died during the book, since they're unable to get to StarClan: Rootspring sees them as ghosts watching the Gathering.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: Fake-Bramblestar, from his treatment of "codebreakers" to the way he himself breaks the code by eating before the elders, and not caring about the danger he's putting his Clan in by exiling both medicine cats.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Mistystar exiling Mothwing (despite she herself being half-Clan) and later two warriors who fought alongside Tigerstar against Fake-Bramblestar.
- Would Harm a Senior: When Graystripe challenges the fake Bramblestar, the impostor rakes his claws across Graystripe's nose.
- Wrong Line of Work: Leafstar has Rootpaw try training as a medicine cat for a while; it quickly becomes clear that it isn't the right role for him.
