Shadow is the third book in the eighth Warrior Cats series, A Starless Clan. It takes place immediately after the end of the previous book, Sky.
The prologue is from the point of view of Sunbeam's mother, Berryheart. As Darktail attempts to drown her during the events of Shattered Sky, Berryheart regrets following him and vows that if she survives, she'll do everything to support and rebuild her Clan - and never trust outsiders again.
Immediately after the end of Sky, RiverClan licks its wounds after their defeat by ShadowClan. Owlnose admits that he had willingly chosen not to become leader since he didn't feel like the right cat, and Tigerstar of ShadowClan explains that he'll leave his deputy and two warriors in camp to help out RiverClan until they have proper leadership, and he assigns the RiverClan cat Icewing to share leadership duties with Cloverfoot for now. After he leaves, Icewing tells Frostpaw that they need to talk.
Sunbeam and her Clanmates return to the ShadowClan camp - and to her surprise, Nightheart is waiting there, and announces to everyone that he'd like to join the Clan to become her mate. She is overwhelmed at the attention and somewhat upset that he didn't talk to her first, but she does know that she at least likes him and agrees to give him a chance for it to grow into something more. Berryheart, of course, is less than impressed.
Tigerstar calls an emergency Gathering to discuss RiverClan's situation, and the other Clans are not pleased to learn what Tigerstar has done, but decide to wait a moon to see if it helps. They announce Nightheart’s intent to join ShadowClan, and after Berryheart speaks up saying that it’s too easy to change Clans, the leaders agree that a cat should perform three tasks instead of one.
Once Frostpaw talks with Icewing and confesses that she's pretty sure her visions aren't real, they reveal it to Tigerstar and RiverClan. Tigerstar feels justified in having stepped in, and makes a mention about how they're all temporarily ShadowClan cats, which doesn't go over well. However, Frostpaw feels relieved that she's no longer burdened with her Clan's destiny.
In ShadowClan, Berryheart announces that Tigerstar's given her permission to come up with the tasks for potential new members to join - and that Fringewhisker will have to perform two more in order for it to be fair. Fringewhisker's next task ends up being a challenging dangerous obstacle course, but she ends up succeeding. Nightheart's task is the following day, and it's to catch enough prey to feed the entire Clan - but the only prey that counts are frogs, which he hasn't learned how to catch yet. After struggling until sunhigh, he uses his head: he kills some other prey in order to attract flies (which will then lure frogs), and puts it in a burrow that the frogs can't climb out of. Since his task was only to catch the frogs, he succeeds - but Berryheart is furious.
Tigerstar goes to RiverClan to make Frostpaw a warrior apprentice. The Clan isn't happy about her choice and questions whether Tigerstar is making her do this - even Splashtail questions whether it's the right choice for her to no longer be a medicine cat - but they move forward with the ceremony, and Harelight is assigned as her mentor. Although she enjoys her first few sessions, her littermates seem bothered - and then her sister Mistpaw points out that if her visions aren't real, then maybe Curlfeather wasn't the right cat to become leader and didn't need to die.
Sunbeam and Lightleap are assigned to relieve the warriors currently staying in the RiverClan camp, and while the ShadowClan cats are only trying to help, it can't be more clear that they're not welcome. On the way back, Sunbeam starts to talk about Nightheart and asks Lightleap how she knew Blazefire was the right cat. Although she's fond of Nightheart, she doesn't know if she feels the way that Lightleap is describing, and Lightleap advises her to follow her heart.
While they're gone, Berryheart and her sister Yarrowleaf ask Nightheart to talk privately, trying to make him question Sunbeam's feelings for him, and outright telling him that nobody wants him in the Clan. When he gets to the camp, Dovewing and Tigerstar insist he should talk to his Clanmates and get some closure about switching Clans; Dovewing wishes she'd done it herself. She brings him to the ThunderClan camp, where he gets a mixed reception; some cats understand, he apologizes to them and vice versa, but his conversation with his mother is especially strained. Squirrelflight has him apologize to Bramblestar, who hardly seems aware of what's going on, and then they return to ShadowClan.
Frostpaw continues to enjoy training, and after a session, she talks to Splashtail - and eagerly asks if he wants to be mates. He declines for now, due to her still being an apprentice, the fact that he still thinks of her as a medicine cat, and how things aren't very settled in the Clan at the moment. Frostpaw feels a bit discouraged that he didn't say yes - but comforted that he didn't say no.
In ShadowClan, Fringewhisker's second task is to find her way out of a cave. She succeeds, officially being welcomed again as a ShadowClan cat, and Berryheart clearly intends to make Nightheart's next task much harder. As they go to sleep that night, Sunbeam and Nightheart confess their doubts to each other that had arisen from their conversations with Berryheart and Lightleap. After reassuring each other, they're just about to fall asleep when they notice Berryheart, Yarrowleaf, and several other cats sneaking out; they follow them, and turns out they're meeting with Splashtail, Duskfur, and Mallownose - the RiverClan cats who are most vocal about their unhappiness with ShadowClan getting involved with their Clan. What they all want is to get Tigerstar is to leave RiverClan alone, but they know that in order to do that, RiverClan needs a new leader - and in order for them to figure out who that is, they need a medicine cat. Splashtail suggests "helping" his Clan along and Berryheart tells him he'll need a suggestible cat; he replies that he already has someone in mind. Sunbeam and Nightheart are disturbed by the idea of Clan cats faking a sign for a new medicine cat, but they're not sure what to do about it yet.
After a training session, Splashtail evidently injures a paw, and Frostpaw helps treat it. The two go fishing together afterward, and he keeps mentioning that she seems meant to be a medicine cat and that it's hard to think of her as a warrior instead. She thinks that they'll have plenty of time for him to get used to it.
Sunbeam confronts her mother, and Berryheart points out that if the RiverClan problem isn't sorted out by the next moon, Leafstar and SkyClan will have something to say about it - and it's very well possible that Bramblestar and Harestar will agree, putting them in a war with three other Clans. StarClan has refused to reveal anything to the other Clans' medicine cats, so there's no help there either. Berryheart reminds Sunbeam of what she had experienced under Darktail's rule, and at the end of the conversation, promises that she and the others plan to do nothing more than talk.
Nightheart's second task the following day is to steal something from inside a Twoleg tent without being caugh. He succeeds, though ends up disturbing a Twoleg and dog at the campsite: Berryheart tries to claim that he failed, but he reminds her that the task was to not be caught by them: they may have seen and chased him, but he got away just fine. She warns him that she has one more chance to keep him out of the Clan.
While fishing with her mentor, Frostpaw has a vision of Reedwhisker's death. She sees through an unknown cat's eyes as the cat attacks him - she can tell by Reedwhisker's expression that he recognizes his attacker - and pushes him into the ravine. At the end of the vision, she sees Reedwhisker himself, with stars in his pelt, and he warns her that there's a darkness in the Clan, closer than she thinks. She remembers her mother Curlfeather's final words to her - "trust no one" - and realizes that Reedwhisker's murderer must have been a Clanmate.
The next Gathering arrives, and obviously things haven't still been sorted out yet with RiverClan. They explain to the other Clans that Frostpaw has become a warrior apprentice, believing that she hasn't had any real visions. The leaders argue about the next step: Leafstar thinks Tigerstar should back off, Harestar is convinced that the current situation is only temporary and still peaceful so there's no need to take action just now, and Bramblestar agrees with Harestar - though Squirrelflight is very vocal that she feels otherwise. Bramblestar explains that he's tired of fighting, and suggests that Squirrelflight might make a better leader than him. The Gathering breaks up uneasily.
As they begin to leave, Nightheart talks with his sister Finchlight. She personally feels that Bramblestar should step down; Nightheart realizes that if Bramblestar does, and Squirrelflight becomes leader, she'll oppose Tigerstar running RiverClan, and Nightheart may have to fight against his kin and former Clanmates. He has a nightmare about this, ending with him hesitating instead of attacking Bramblestar. Upon awakening, he decides to go talk to his former leader. Nightheart tries to encourage Bramblestar, reminding him of all the amazing things he's done throughout his life, but Bramblestar admits how defeated he feels and how the horrors he's seen still haunt him. He confesses to Nightheart that he had been to the Moonpool with Jayfeather two moons past, where Leafpool told Jayfeather that Bramblestar must prepare himself to make a sacrifice. Bramblestar assumes that this means his death, but Nightheart points out that it could mean stepping down. Despite what Bramblestar said at the Gathering he's not sure that it's what he truly wants, but agrees to think about it.
Frostpaw returns to camp after training to find that one of the ShadowClan warriors currently staying there has gotten a thorn in his mouth - it seems to have been intentionally stuck into his fresh-kill, and some of the RiverClan cats block Mothwing from getting to him. Frostpaw dodges past them and helps him out. She realizes that things might escalate into violence if she doesn't do anything about her vision of Reedwhisker's murder. She decides to talk to Splashtail for advice - she trusts him, and doesn't think he'd have had anything to gain by killing Reedwhisker because he's too young to have been made leader - and explains her vision. He's very shocked, but voices doubts that a Clanmate would have killed Reedwhisker, or that this was a real vision after she thought her previous ones weren't. He suggests that she go to talk to one of the other medicine cats about it, and she decides to talk to the WindClan medicine cat apprentice Whistlepaw that night. He warns her to be careful in case she runs into anyone, with all the tension in the forest.
In ShadowClan, Sunbeam is concerned to find Nightheart missing - especially as it's the day of his third and final task. They nearly give up waiting for him, but then he shows up: his task is to fight some rats in a tunnel, catch three pieces of prey, and then retrieve a pigeon egg from a tree without breaking it. He's injured in the fight, but chases off the rats and kills one, then catches the prey. However, when it gets to the pigeon nest, he tries to use a flimsy branch, which breaks, and ultimately the nest falls to the ground, breaking all the eggs. Sunbeam learns when talking to him afterward that he's done this on purpose. He explains that he's just realized this morning that his home is in ThunderClan. Sunbeam accuses him of playing with her. He apologizes, saying she's still the best cat he's ever met, but ThunderClan needs him more, and he's learned to stand up for himself so he thinks things will be better there. He clearly wants to say more, but Sunbeam tells him that he's broken her heart and she has nothing more to say to him. As she leaves him there, Berryheart comforts her, and she starts to wonder if her mother was right about everything.
Nightheart feels torn apart when Sunbeam leaves, and realizes as he heads toward ThunderClan's territory that they may not take him back, so him throwing away his relationship with Sunbeam may have all been for nothing. When he returns, his mother Sparkpelt is genuinely happy that he wants to return, and apologizes for not being there for him when he was younger, promising to do better. Squirrelflight and Bramblestar come out of the leader's den and call a Clan meeting. They have an announcement: that Bramblestar intends to step down as leader and retire to the elders' den, and he's confident that Squirrelflight will be a great leader. Bayshine then points out to them that Nightheart has returned. Bramblestar and Squirrelflight both agree to accept him back into ThunderClan, and he promises to make his Clan proud.
Frostpaw sneaks out of the RiverClan camp to go see Whistlepaw. She thinks she hears pawsteps behind her a couple times, and almost reveals herself to a WindClan patrol before she remembers Splashtail's warning about the tensions in the forest and the fact that she's no longer a medicine cat apprentice. She nearly reaches the WindClan camp, and then smells a scent "like WindClan and yet somehow different", and suddenly is attacked from behind. She feels pain across her throat and collapses into darkness.
Sunbeam has a dream of a Gathering where Nightheart's with a beautiful ThunderClan she-cat she's never seen before, and she realizes how hurt she is by this. When she wakes up she remembers how bad she had felt when Blazefire had rejected her, knowing now that that had only been a crush, and thinks about how suited Blazefire and Lightleap are for each other - just like her and Nightheart. Tigerstar calls a Clan meeting, and explains that Cloverfoot's told him about how some RiverClanners are plotting against ShadowClan; his solution is going to be to send more ShadowClan cats to stay in the RiverClan camp - and Sunbeam's going to be one of them. She knows that whatever happens, there's going to be trouble.
In the ThunderClan camp, Bramblestar and Squirrelflight tell the Clan that they'll be traveling to the Moonstone tonight. Just then, a patrol reports that Sunbeam has arrived, wanting to speak to Nightheart. She tells him that she's realized that he means more to her than her Clan, so she wants to join ThunderClan. He warns her that Bramblestar is stepping down, so if Squirrelflight becomes leader, there's a chance that they'll be fighting ShadowClan to get them out of RiverClan, meaning Sunbeam would have to fight against her former Clan. Sunbeam is stunned, and the book ends as Nightheart worries for the future.
Tropes appearing in this book:
- Abdicate the Throne: Bramblestar is haunted by his experience in the Dark Forest and struggling to get through each day, so knowing that he isn't a good leader for the Clan anymore, announces his decision to step down from the leadership role and retire to the elders' den.
- All Your Base Are Belong to Us: The book opens with RiverClan having just been defeated in their own camp by ShadowClan.
- Break-Up/Make-Up Scenario: When Nightheart fails his final task for joining ShadowClan, Sunbeam realizes he failed it on purpose so that he could return to his birth Clan, and she storms off, feeling hurt and used. She intends this to be a permanent split, picturing her future without him. His absence makes her realize that she does, in fact, love him, and so she goes to his Clan, intending to join him there.
- Did Not Die That Way: Frostpaw previously had thought Reedwhisker was killed by a badger. In this book, she sees in a vision that he was actually killed by a cat - likely one of their own Clanmates.
- Ensemble Cast: A Starless Clan features three protagonists: Nightheart, Frostpaw, and Sunbeam.
- Exact Words: Nightheart's task isn't to kill the frogs, just catch them. And his task was to not get caught by the Twoleg, which he didn't - the Twoleg only saw him.
- Failure Gambit: After realizing his birth Clan needs him, Nightheart intentionally fails his final task to join ShadowClan so that he's free to re-join ThunderClan and it'll be less embarrassing for Sunbeam than him just up and leaving her.
- For Your Own Good: From Tigerstar's point of view, RiverClan needs his help until they get a new leader - going so far as to keep their camp constantly occupied by ShadowClan warriors.
- Freudian Excuse: The reason Berryheart hates outsiders is because she and many other ShadowClan cats had trusted a rogue named Darktail. He had turned out to be a violent dictator who ended up killing many cats, including Berryheart's daughter Needletail, and he nearly killed Berryheart herself.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: The books in this arc are each named after one of the Clans: River, Sky, Shadow, Thunder, Wind, Star.
- Immediate Sequel: Chapter 1 picks up minutes at most after the end of the previous book.
- Innocently Insensitive: Frostpaw decides to ask Shadowsight what it was like when he realized his visions weren't from StarClan, to compare it with her own experience. When she asks, he flinches and says "You don't mince words, do you?" and she realizes how painful her words had unintentionally been for him.
- Love Epiphany: Sunbeam and Nightheart are already friends at the start of the book, and Nightheart has fallen for Sunbeam. She doesn't feel romantically toward him, but agrees to give him a chance for those feelings to develop. It's only after he leaves that she actually realizes that she does love him, enough to consider leaving her Clan for him.
- One-Word Title: Shadow.
- Schmuck Banquet: How Nightheart catches the frogs for his first task; he sets out prey to attract flies in a hole too deep for the frogs to escape.
- Sneaky Departure:
- Berryheart, Yarrowleaf, and several of their Clanmates sneak out at night to meet with some RiverClan cats.
- Frostpaw sneaks out at the end of the book to go talk to Whistlepaw of WindClan.
- Speak in Unison: Nightheart and Sunbeam have a variant of this at the end of the book when she goes to see him: at the exact same moment, they say "I can't believe (I'm/you're) here!" It shows just how much the two have in common and seem to be meant for each other.
- Succession Crisis: RiverClan is in the middle of one. Mistystar and Reedwhisker died in River, and then the cat next chosen to be leader, Curlfeather, died on the way to the Moonpool, and Frostpaw's next choice, Owlnose, proved to be incompetent and chose to go back to being a normal warrior. No cat seems willing to step up now.
- Switching P.O.V.: Nightheart, Frostpaw, and Sunbeam.
- The Three Trials: The leaders decide that a cat wishing to join another Clan must first pass three challenges set by the Clan they're trying to join. Fringewhisker and Nightheart take on these tasks during the book; Fringewhisker passes, and Nightheart would have if not for intentionally failing the final one.
- Uncertain Doom: The last we see of Frostpaw in the book is her being attacked, having her throat slashed, and falling unconscious. The blurb of the next book, Thunder, reveals that she survives.
- Unwanted Assistance: Things are rough in RiverClan, but many of them do not want the other Clans to get involved, especially with having their camp occupied by ShadowClan. They make their displeasure very well known, with someone going so far as to sabotage a ShadowClan warrior's fresh-kill so that he's injured by thorns, and others trying to block the medicine cat from helping him.
