Rising Storm is the fourth book in the original Warrior Cats series (aka The Prophecies Begin), picking up a quarter moon after the end of Forest of Secrets.
Tropes that appear in this book:
- Almost Dead Guy:
- Fireheart finds Whitethroat by a Thunderpath. Whitethroat gets hit by a car, but he still keeps talking for a little bit before he dies.
- At the end of the book, Fireheart finds Yellowfang dying of smoke inhalation. Before she dies, she confesses all her secrets (which he already knew), and gives him reassurance that it's a good way to die.
- American Kirby Is Hardcore: Compare this American cover
◊ to the more hardcore Russian cover◊. One translation of the title also was Raging Storm rather than Rising Storm. - Big Damn Heroes: A RiverClan patrol - at Graystripe's urging - shows up to save Fireheart and his patrol from Tigerclaw's group of rogues.
- Blood from the Mouth: After he is hit by a car, blood trickles out of Whitethroat's mouth as he tries to speak.
- Child of Two Worlds: Cloudpaw struggles with the allure of kittypet life while learning to become a Clan warrior.
- Dark Is Evil: Tigerclaw, the main villain, is a dark brown tabby.
- Denied Food as Punishment: If a cat is assigned to hunt and eats his catch rather than sharing it with the kits and elders of the Clan first, they have to give their share of fresh-kill to the elders and go hungry until the next day. Fireheart punishes Cloudpaw with this, but it doesn't have much impact, as Cloudpaw is already full from eating kittypet food.
- Dies Wide Open: Yellowfang. Fireheart gently closes her eyes for the last time.
- Gender Bender: Originally when Sandstorm announces that Willowpelt has had her kits, the book said that she had two she-cats and a tom; later books would reveal that it was actually two toms and a she-cat. The 2015 reprint corrected this.
- Gray Rain of Depression: On a rainy gray afternoon, Fireheart and Graystripe return to the ThunderClan camp that has been devastated by fire, where they find Halftail's body and the dying Yellowfang.
- The Great Fire: A fire sweeps through ThunderClan's forest. They're forced to flee their territory and shelter with RiverClan, several cats die, and the following book involves them dealing with the aftermath of the burned forest.
- His Name Is...: Zigzagged. Runningwind is dead and Fireheart sees Whitethroat nearby, who he assumes to be the killer. Whitethroat is hit by a car after Fireheart realizes it wasn't him. Fireheart asks who killed Runningwind, and Whitethroat says who it was but Fireheart can't hear him over the noise of a passing car. Fireheart asks again, but Whitethroat dies just as he's about to say it, however he has a look of horror in his eyes. Then Fireheart turns around and sees the killer right there. In Tigerclaw's Fury, when the entire scene and more is written from Tigerclaw's point of view, Tigerclaw notes that this is exactly what Fireheart will think and relishes it.
- Incurable Cough of Death: ShadowClan comes down with an illness spread by rats from the Carrionplace. Yellowfang refuses to shelter them in ThunderClan because there is no known cure for it and it's contagious, but Cinderpelt secretly treats them and manages to figure out the cure.
- Killed Offscreen:
- A patrol returns to camp, frantically reporting that they were ambushed by an unknown enemy, and Runningwind is missing from the group. They find his body at the ambush site when they return.
- Upon returning to the camp after the fire, Fireheart finds Halftail dead of smoke inhalation.
- Let the Past Burn: Toward the end of the book, a dry summer and young humans messing around results in a forest fire, badly burning ThunderClan's territory, including their camp. Three of the Clan are killed in the fire, and while the Clan does return, it takes a long time to recover and rebuild.
- Like a Son to Me: Yellowfang tells Fireheart that he was like this to her - that he's more like her son than the cat she gave birth to, Brokentail.
- Lost in Transmission: Whitethroat is injured, and Fireheart questions him about Runningwind's death. But just when Whitethroat opens his mouth and begins to speak, a monster roars past so Fireheart can't hear him, and when Whitethroat tries to speak a second time, he dies.
- Mentor Archetype: Although she isn't his mentor in the sense the series usually uses the word (training the character to be a warrior or medicine cat), Yellowfang serves this role to Fireheart; she's the elderly, dear friend he always goes to for advice.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: Yellowfang, who was a mentor figure to Fireheart, dies at the end of the book.
- Named in the Sequel:
- Cloudpaw's adopted littermates, who appeared unnamed in previous books, are introduced as Fernpaw and Ashpaw.
- In Into the Wild, Firepaw met an unnamed ShadowClan apprentice at a Gathering. He is revealed to be Littlecloud in this book.
- Goldenflower and Tigerclaw's kits were born, but not named, in Forest of Secrets. This book reveals them to be Bramblekit and Tawnykit.
- Never Say Goodbye: Fireheart does this to Yellowfang when he finds her dying. She starts to tell him something she wants him to hear before she dies, and he stops her, insisting she isn't going to die. She knows she is, though, and continues speaking.
- Ominous Owl: Owls are often thought of as ill omens. In the prologue, the ShadowClan medicine cat tells his Clan about a sign he saw - a star shining through the trees - that promises a great new dawn for his Clan. What he doesn't tell them is that the star was obscured by the wing of an owl when he received the sign, meaning that the great new dawn will come at the highest possible price.
- The Plague: An unnamed sickness crops up in ShadowClan from them eating rats: it only comes once in a great while and wipes out a good chunk of the Clan, and it doesn't have a cure until Cinderpelt discovers one.
- Sanity Slippage: Bluestar, after Tigerclaw's betrayal has shattered her trust in her Clanmates and in StarClan.
- Secret Underground Passage: Fireheart and Sandstorm discover that there's a secret tunnel under the Thunderpath in ShadowClan territory.
- Series Continuity Error: This book makes it sound as if Yellowfang didn't know that Fireheart knew that Brokenstar was her kit - it says she "revealed her secret" and "How could he tell her he already knew this?", forgetting that she'd told him herself in Fire and Ice.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Tigerclaw's attack on the ThunderClan camp and attempted murder of Bluestar in Forest of Secrets shattered her, so that she cannot trust her Clanmates or her own judgement, and has brought other mental issues to the surface: she's beginning to forget major things like who the current apprentices are or the fact that Graystripe left the Clan.
- Sneaky Departure: Cloudpaw sneaks away from ThunderClan to get food from humans. Unfortunately for him, this leads to him getting kidnapped.
- Stalker Shot: The original cover◊ of Rising Storm depicts an unaware Fireheart as Tigerclaw sneaks up on him.
- Stopped Caring: Bluestar has stopped caring for herself and her Clan.
- Tag Line: On the UK cover: "Four Clans. One Destiny."
- Treachery Cover Up: The Clan does not reveal Tigerclaw's treachery after he is exiled, possibly because it will make their Clan seem weak.
- Unsuccessful Pet Adoption: Cloudpaw is caught by the humans who'd been feeding him and is brought to a house near WindClan territory. They've had him barely a month when they open the door to see what he's meowing about (which turned out to be his uncle coming to rescue him), and he escapes.
- Vagueness Is Coming: Many prophecies in the series vaguely foretell destruction and danger without actually managing to tell the Clans what exactly is coming. This includes the one in this book: "Beware an enemy who seems to sleep."
- Verbing Nouny: The title, Rising Storm.
- Vomit Discretion Shot: Fireheart and Cinderpelt are helping a pair of very sick cats. They bring them food, and after a little bit, the two ill cats stumble away into the bushes, and Fireheart can hear them vomiting.
- Watching Troy Burn: ThunderClan has to watch the forest burn from across the river.
- You Dirty Rat!: ShadowClan has to be careful to not bring infected rats back from the Carrionplace.
