Shortly after the ending of Escape from the Forest, Sasha's kits have been born: Tadpole and Hawk, both toms, and Moth, the only she-cat. Sasha isn't doing well, though; she's becoming tired and weak from caring for her kits and the poor winter hunting, and she constantly dreams of Tigerstar. While hunting one day, Sasha accidentally strays into ShadowClan territory. Only Russetfur recognizes her, but she does not give any sign of it to her Clanmates, simply warning Sasha away.
Russetfur finds Sasha's den the next day while the kits are outside playing. She tells Sasha about Tigerstar's death, but also suggests that Sasha leave the forest, because if any Clan cats knew the kits were Tigerstar's, they'd want them as warriors. Sasha becomes a bit more depressed over the next few days because of Tigerstar's death, she misses her housefolk, and the weather is horrible and the hunting is just as bad. Her kits notice how sad she seems, so they decide to cheer her up by finding Ken for her, sneaking out when she's away. They make their way to Twolegplace. Sasha's friend Shnuky greets them, but they simply continue onward, saying that they have important places to go.
Sasha arrives back at her den to find the kits missing. She follows their trail to Twolegplace, and Shnuky tells her where he last saw them. He offers to help her search. Meanwhile, the kits get into no end of trouble, running into some BloodClan cats and then dogs. They decide to hide in the basement of an abandoned Twoleg nest, and the window slams shut behind them.
Shnuky and Sasha meet up with those BloodClan cats, and by pretending she's a Clan cat she threatens them into telling her where the kits went. She finds them - but a pipe has burst in the basement, and it's flooded. Moth and Hawk are able to climb out, but Tadpole drowns before they can get to him. They head home and grieve. Pine finds Sasha shortly afterward. He describes the battle with BloodClan, which he observed from up in one of the Fourtrees. He asks how she's doing, and when she tells him how down she is, he offers to bring her and the kits to a farm where they'll be able to live comfortably.
Things don't go quite as nicely as planned. The she-cat who lives in the barn isn't ready to share it with a filthy, homeless rogue and her kits. After Pine leaves, she warns them away, setting her healthy kits to attack Hawk and Moth, and to top it off, she taunts Sasha by saying that she knows nothing about motherhood. Sasha does not take this well. She attacks the she-cat and wins easily. She considers kiling her, but decides not to. They leave the barn, and Sasha comes to the realization that perhaps she and her kits are meant to be Clan cats after all. They go to RiverClan territory. She finally tells him about their father, making them promise to never say his name.
RiverClan finds them and agrees to take them in. Leopardstar offers Sasha a warrior name, but she claims that she's not ready. Before long, Hawkpaw and Mothpaw are named apprentices. They show great promise, but then one day the two watch some kits playing. One is pretending to be Tigerstar, killing everybody. The kits ask Sasha about it, but she simply says that the RiverClan cats only saw one side of Tigerstar. Leopardstar once again offers Sasha a warrior name, and again she says she's not ready.
Then the kits find the remains of the Bonehill. Leopardstar explains to them what it is, and that's when Sasha realizes that Tigerstar was closely involved with RiverClan. Fearing that they're just as vulnerable in the Clan, she tells Hawkpaw and Mothpaw that they have to leave, but they don't want to go. She realizes that if she doesn't stay in the Clan, then no cat would recognize her at Gatherings, and if the kits don't tell anyone who their father is, then no cat will ever know. She agrees to let them stay, and finally tells Leopardstar that the warrior code isn't for her. As Sasha leaves the Clan, she hears Tigerstar's voice. He says that he is proud of his kits, and that he will always watch over them.
Tropes appearing in this volume:
- Advertised Extra: Despite appearing in the title, the only thing Tigerstar does in this volume is to appear in a couple minor dream sequences.
- Berserk Button: Sasha, who recently lost one of her kittens, is snidely told by another she-cat that the former doesn't know anything about motherhood. Big mistake!
- Big "NO!": Hawk does one at Tadpole's death.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: The farm cats act nice until Pine leaves.
- Bittersweet Ending: To the entire trilogy as a whole. Tadpole is dead, as well as Tigerstar. Not to mention Sasha must leave her remaining kittens behind at RiverClan. But Sasha has made peace with her past with Tigerstar and is content knowing her kittens are safe.
- It's later revealed by
Word of God that Sasha found new owners to take care of her, making the ending to her character arc that much sweeter.
- It's later revealed by
- Caught in the Bad Part of Town: Sasha's kits wander into a bad part of town where they're chased by BloodClan cats and shelter in an abandoned, beat-up house. The illustrator even commented on his blog that the scene is in a bad part of town and that he was instructed by an editor to remove some markings on a car that appeared to be bullet holes.
- A Day in the Limelight: The manga trilogy serves as Sasha's.
- Death of a Child: Sasha's kit Tadpole drowns in the flooded basement.
- Deceptive Legacy: Sasha had become pregnant with Tigerstar's kits before she realizes that he's a power-crazy murderer bent on ruling the entire forest. She raises her kits on her own, only telling them stories about how their father Tigerstar was strong and brave and that he'd be proud of them. A while after Tigerstar's death, Sasha takes the kits to RiverClan. Imagine the kits' shock when they see young RiverClan cats pretending to be the evil Tigerstar and reenacting his death.
- A Dog Named "Cat": Sasha's kits are all named after animals: Hawk, Moth, and Tadpole.
- Gender Bender: Shnuky was female in the first volume of the trilogy, but now is male in this one.
- Ghost Reunion Ending: Tigerstar appears next to Sasha at the end and promises her that he'll watch over their children.
- Gutted Like a Fish: Sasha discovers that this is how Tigerstar died when some apprentices reenact his death while playing. One even refers to it this way word for word.
- Name and Name: Tigerstar and Sasha.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Sasha's kits go missing, and she spends a scene searching for them - until she finds them in danger in a quickly-flooding basement. The worst thing that a parent can experience happens to her when Tadpole drowns.
- Scene Cover: The image on the cover of the three kits playing comes from the end of the scene where Russetfur visits Sasha.
- Series Continuity Error: In Midnight, Graystripe told Brambleclaw about Sasha, explaining that he'd met her at a Gathering while she was deciding whether to stay with RiverClan. In this volume, she decides not to go to Gatherings for fear that someone from ShadowClan will recognize her, and leaves RiverClan without having attended one.
- Stargazing Scene: After learning of Tigerstar's death, Sasha spends a while gazing up at the starts and reflecting on this.
- Struggling Single Mother: Sasha finds life as a rogue single mother difficult, especially after Tadpole's death when she comes close to giving up completely.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Hawkfrost is shown in this volume as a cute kit who loves his littermates, and is broken-hearted when his brother Tadpole drowns.
