Shattered Sky is the third book in the sixth Warrior Cats series, A Vision of Shadows.
In the prologue, Alderheart has a vision of a dying medicine cat. Said medicine cat thinks she sees a cat called Frecklewish that is not there, and tells her Clanmates to "follow the blood trail in the sky", before dying. Her Clanmates mourn her and Alderheart hears them call her Echosong, and he realizes that this is SkyClan, and he knows they have to do something to help the lost Clan soon. He decides to tell Bramblestar about it, but doesn't think he'll get the chance until after the morning's battle.
The main story starts in Twigpaw's point of view. All four Clans are gathered together on the border of ShadowClan's territory, ready to drive out the rogues (which Darktail refers to as his Kin): they are following the newest rule in the warrior code, added during Bramblestar's Storm: that in times of need the Clans will stand together so that no Clan falls. Onestar doesn't seem too thrilled with it, blaming Rowanstar for the whole thing. They attack and the Clans seem to be winning, but during the battle Twigpaw notices Onestar and Darktail fighting. Onestar pins down Darktail, then Darktail pins down Onestar and whispers something to him; Onestar looks horrified and tells his Clan to retreat, and WindClan leaves. The remaining Clans continue to fight, and Twigpaw and Violetpaw come up against each other. They don't fight, at first, but Needletail and Rain tell Violetpaw that Twigpaw's the enemy now, and Violetpaw attacks her; Lionblaze saves her. Twigpaw finds it hard to focus on the fact that the rest of the Clans are retreating, too stuck on the fact that her sister attacked her.
That night is a Gathering, and battered as the Clans are, they make it there and confront Onestar. He refuses to say why he did it, at one point claiming that he didn't want to see his Clan destroyed. They argue about whose fault the whole thing is (Onestar's? ShadowClan's for not driving the rogues out and then not wanting to attack their former Clanmates in the battle?) and then despair about the "clear the sky" not seeming to be coming true. Clouds cover the moon and the Gathering breaks up. On the way Alderheart tells Bramblestar that he thinks it's time to tell the other Clans about SkyClan, and Bramblestar agrees; offscreen they tell ThunderClan and the three ShadowClan refugees, and then send patrols with Alderheart to WindClan and RiverClan. Mistystar is surprised but rather disinterested in helping, while Onestar is furious that ThunderClan "lied" and never told the other Clans. He's shocked for a moment when he hears that Darktail's rogues were the ones who drove SkyClan out, then orders the ThunderClan cats to leave.
Violetpaw is helping the elders when Needletail scolds her for it (it's not something that is done in Darktail's camp) and has her come visit Darktail, who is recovering in the medicine cat den. Darktail praises her, and as the cats leave, including Puddleshine, Needletail's mate Rain offers to watch over the leader. Violetpaw decides to bring Darktail some prey and she returns to the medicine cat den to find Rain strangling Darktail. When the leader is still, Rain turns toward Violetpaw, but then Darktail - who was not dead after all - springs up and kills Rain, commenting that he always knew Rain would betray him.
In ThunderClan, Blossomfall has had Thornclaw's kits (Stemkit, Eaglekit, Plumkit, and Shellkit). Alderheart has a dream about some cats in a barn, and one tom has the pelt of Twigkit and eyes of Violetkit, so he realizes he must be their father or other kin. They announce this to the Clan and suggest sending a patrol (Alderheart knows where the barn is). The Clan doesn't want to make itself weak with the threats of the rogues, however, and Twigpaw feels betrayed.
In Darktail's camp, the rogue leader seems to be treating Violetpaw well since she confirmed his side of the story about killing Rain. Three kittypets are brought into the camp, enticed by promises of hunting lessons, adventure, and friendship. Darktail has them swear an oath of friendship, even going as far as to make it a blood oath (by pricking their pawpads with his claw), and has Violetpaw show the youngest one, Zelda, around. At the end of the day, the kittypets are about to leave, but Darktail suggests they stay for a few days, and they agree. Violetpaw wonders what Darktail wants them for.
Alderheart realizes that Twigpaw is missing. He starts to look for her, when suddenly Purdy - who had been complaining of bellyache but thought it was normal - collapses. He tells Alderheart that he's a good medicine cat and that Alderheart has some big paw prints to fill but that he'll do fine, and then dies. The Clan sits vigil, and when Alderheart notices that Twigpaw isn't there, he realizes she must have gone to search for SkyClan on her own. Bramblestar sends off a patrol (Dovewing, Tigerheart, and Molewhisker) to find her.
Dawnpelt awakens Violetpaw a few days later (during which time Darktail has told the kittypets that if they leave they will not be welcome back). A few other cats had left the Kin, and Dawnpelt and a few others are about to. Dawnpelt invites Violetpaw to join her, but Violetpaw wants to take care of Needletail. Violetpaw hears Dawnpelt and Darktail talking and thinks that Darktail is allowing her to leave, as he'd allowed the others to do as well.
Twigpaw, on her own, is chased by dogs. She climbs a tree to get away from them and is successful, but ends up falling onto a Thunderpath, where she sees a monster coming toward her.
The following morning, Darktail brings his rogues (including the kittypets and elders) to the edge of RiverClan territory, and start a battle. Four RiverClan cats, one of the kittypets, and one ShadowClan cat (Pinenose, Violetpaw's foster mother) are killed, and the rogues win and declare that RiverClan territory is now theirs. They refuse to let RiverClan bring the injured with them, taking those cats prisoner.
RiverClan takes refuge in ThunderClan's camp. Mothwing convinces Alderheart to come with her to sneak into RiverClan territory and learn what they can about how Darktail is holding the prisoners (under the claim that they've come to collect Mothwing's herb stores). Along the way she explains that they'd asked Onestar for help but were refused, and that Mistystar had tried to rescue them but was told that if she tries again they'll kill the prisoners. They're met by a patrol consisting of Needletail, Violetpaw, and a rogue, Raven. Raven tries to send them away, but Needletail allows them in, as long as they tell Puddleshine what they are used for (Alderheart realizes that she's trying to help them with their objective, and Puddleshine realizes it after a few moments too when they greet him in the camp.) Alderheart speaks to Needletail during this time - they establish that none of them know where Dawnpelt is, and Alderheart realizes that she seems terrified of the rogues.
Darktail tells Violetpaw (who he claims he feels a connection with, since they were both unwanted kits) that he thinks one of their group stole the herbs, and Violetpaw said that no, Mothwing and Alderheart just collected Mothwing's herbs. Darktail asks if it was Needletail that allowed it, and after he assures Violetpaw that he won't punish Needletail, she admits that it was. Darktail makes Needletail a prisoner with the RiverClan cats, claiming that he's not punishing her, he's helping her learn where her loyalties lie.
Dovewing, Tigerheart, and Molewhisker return, reporting that they think Twigpaw is dead: they found her blood on a Thunderpath near the tunnel where she was born. Ivypool and Alderheart blame themselves (Ivypool for not agreeing to send a patrol, and Alderheart for forgetting about her when Purdy collapsed). The Clan sits vigil for her that night. A patrol returns the next day, reporting that the rogues have announced that they're coming for ThunderClan next. Lionblaze announces that Cinderheart's expecting their second litter and that he doesn't want them to grow up in a world without the Clans, and the cats discuss what they might do. They suggest possibly speaking to cats within the rogue camp that they can trust, but do not commit to a plan yet. The medicine cats (well, the ThunderClan and RiverClan ones, anyway) visit the Moonpool, and Alderheart dreams of SkyClan and the cat who is Twigpaw and Violetpaw's kin again, but he does not see Twigpaw with them, so he assumes that she must be dead after all.
Violetpaw hates how Darktail is letting the prisoners starve, so she sneaks them prey; she also notices how eager he is to hand the worst jobs to any cat that displeases him. When Darktail orders her to go hunting, she sees a chance to get away, and goes to ThunderClan territory for help. They talk to her and she agrees to be a spy in the camp, and asks to talk to Twigpaw. Alderheart tells her the news, but she refuses to believe her sister is dead. She returns to camp and tells Needletail that she has a plan to free her and the prisoners, and then goes to speak to the ShadowClan elders.
Violetpaw brings the ShadowClan elders to ThunderClan territory. The leaders discuss what to do, and Mistystar says firmly that RiverClan isn't helping until they get the prisoners out, because she doesn't want to risk Darktail killing them. They get the idea to incapacitate Darktail and his main cats by having Violetpaw serve them prey with poppy seeds hidden in it; Violetpaw agrees.
Twigpaw, since we last saw her, was healed by a veterinarian, escaped, and found the barn where SkyClan had stayed (empty). She falls asleep and sees a gray cat with blue eyes in her dream, telling her to "look for the blood trail in the sky... follow it until you can see the whole circle of the sun". She listens, following the red glow from the sunset, and finds SkyClan. One of them, a gray tom, seems surprised to see her while the others are suspicious, but she explains she's from ThunderClan and the SkyClanners get excited. The SkyClan leader, Leafstar, introduces herself and the deputy, Hawkwing (the cat who seemed to recognize her). Leafstar explains the hardships they've gone through, and Twigpaw tells them how Darktail's taken over ShadowClan. Twigpaw offers to bring them to ThunderClan, and before they leave, Hawkwing tells Twigpaw that he's her father.
Violetpaw gives Darktail and his cats the prey, as planned, but it doesn't work - she thinks Sleekwhisker might have spotted her placing the seeds. Darktail tells her that killing her wouldn't be enough punishment, and he goes and gets Needletail. He starts to drown Needletail until Violetpaw admits that it was her, but he continues to do so as Violetpaw pleads. Finally he decides to give Needletail another chance: if she's loyal, she'll kill Violetpaw. Needletail acts like she's attacking Violetpaw but tells her to run, and then turns on the rogues. Violetpaw flees, knowing that Needletail is sacrificing herself to save her.
The Clans arrive to find a battle already in progress. They realize that the prisoners have started fighting the rogues, and that many ShadowClan cats among the Kin have joined in, and they manage to drive the rogues off; the ShadowClan cats promise to be loyal to Rowanstar again. The two remaining kittypets choose to stay with the Clans until Darktail is taken care of. Upon returning to the ThunderClan camp, they discover that Twigpaw and the SkyClan cats are there. Introductions are made, and the medicine cats go to the Moonpool to visit with StarClan. They see Firestar in their dream, and he tells them that this is about restoring the Clans - all five of them - and one Clan is currently not bonded with the other four. They know they have to convince WindClan to help.
The following morning, Twigpaw and her father are bonding, and Violetpaw arrives in camp, explaining what had happened to her. Twigpaw introduces her father and sister to each other, and he tells them that they're meant to be in SkyClan. The medicine cats return and tell the Clans that they need WindClan. A patrol of warriors is sent, including Twigpaw, Violetpaw, and Hawkwing, and they find the rogues attacking the WindClan camp. The rogues retreat after they join in the fight, but Darktail promises it's not the last they've seen of him. Onestar tells the patrol that he needs to tell the truth about what's going on, and they bring the other leaders.
And then Onestar tells his story:
When he was a young warrior in the old territory, Onestar sometimes liked to go to the Twolegplace beyond Barley and Ravenpaw's barn and impress the kittypets, and he ended up falling in love with one, a she-cat named Smoke. He refused to let her join WindClan when she told him she was expecting his kits, partly because it wasn't the life for her and partly because he didn't know how he'd explain himself to Tallstar. The only one of her litter to survive was Darktail, and he still refused to let his kit join the Clan for the same reason. So Smoke raised Darktail to hate his father and the Clans that rejected him. It was when the rogues first showed up at the lake that Darktail promised Onestar revenge, which was why he was so hellbent on ShadowClan driving them away, and during the battle at the ShadowClan camp Darktail had whispered to him that surely a cat who had rejected and killed his own kit would end up in the Dark Forest. Onestar is on his last life, and he's been afraid that Darktail was right. They assure him that he was never evil, and of course he wouldn't go to the Dark Forest after trying to save the Clans from a cat like Darktail. He agrees to let WindClan join.
The medicine cats visit the Moonpool again, and this time Firestar's words of wisdom are "The Clans must remember their names". They puzzle out what it means, and when Alderheart overhears Hawkwing telling Twigpaw about SkyClan's battle strategies - dropping down from the trees, making the enemy feel like they're being attacked from the sky - he realizes what Firestar meant. The Clans set up a battle strategy that sets it up so that each Clan is playing to their particular strengths (and name), which culminates in Thunder, Shadow, Wind, and SkyClan driving the rogues to the lake, where RiverClan waits in the water. Most of the rogues flee, and in the end Darktail faces Onestar in the water, their battle taking them further and further out, until both of them go under and neither surfaces.
The Clans split up, deciding that they'll eventually figure out where SkyClan fits in as far as territory goes, but in the meantime they'll share the other Clans' territories. Tigerheart and Dovewing are deep in conversation, Violetpaw notices. Hawkwing tells Twigpaw and Violetpaw that his daughters belong in SkyClan, where they were born, but they don't have to decide now. Violetpaw and Twigpaw both have conflicting feelings, and Violetpaw feels that change is coming soon.
The Barnes-and-Noble-exclusive bonus scene at the end takes place partway through the book, from Dovewing's point of view. After Ivypool speaks out against sending a patrol to look for SkyClan at the barn, Dovewing confronts her. After she storms away, Bumblestripe offers to hunt with her - she's hesitant at first since they're no longer mates, but ends up agreeing. He's all positive and happy and complimenting her through the whole thing, and just when she hears him about to ask to be mates again, she decides that they've hunted enough, and returns to camp to find that Purdy has died. Dovewing wants to be alone, so she goes to the warriors' den, but Bumblestripe follows. He asks to be her mate, saying how he loves her and that it'll be good for the Clan to have kits. She's furious, telling him that this is the worst time to have kits what with the threat of the rogues, but he asks her to think about it.
Still mad, Dovewing goes out into the forest, and Tigerheart approaches her. She confides in him what Bumblestripe said, and he agrees that she's right about it being the wrong time to have kits. He then makes a comment about how they're all getting to the age where they're thinking about kits, and says they should get back or else someone will ask questions. When they return, Bramblestar makes the announcement about how Twigpaw is missing, and he chooses both her and Tigerheart for the patrol. She feels bad about Bumblestripe, but as she leaves she feels like she's exactly where she's supposed to be, on patrol with Tigerheart.
Tropes appearing in this book:
- Assassination Attempt: Rain tries to kill Darktail.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Darktail acted friendly to ShadowClan before taking them over and showing his true, cruel side.
- Bodyguard Betrayal: Rain offers to watch over the wounded Darktail for a while. Violetpaw decides to bring a piece of prey for Darktail to eat when he wakes up, and she returns to find Rain suffocating their leader. It looks for a moment as if he's successful, but it turns out that Darktail was just Playing Possum: when Rain turns away, Darktail jumps up and kills him in revenge.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Darktail does this to the four injured RiverClan cats he captures, allowing their wounds to fester and starving them in a humiliating fashion until they all reluctantly swear an oath of loyalty to him. Even after they give in, Darktail continues to starve the prisoners anyway, making it clear that he is treating them the way he is purely for his own amusement.
- Cryptic Conversation: For no discernible reason, StarClan is often cryptic when speaking to or giving prophecies to the Clans. This is lampshaded by Jayfeather in this book when their advice for defeating Darktail is "the Clans must remember their names"; he complains about StarClan always being vague.
- Dark Is Evil: The villain is named Darktail.
- Death by Irony: Darktail is noted as having a "thing" for drowning his enemies. This ends up being exactly how he himself is killed.
- Dishonored Dead: After taking over RiverClan's territory, Darktail cruelly rubs salt in their wound by forcing them to leave the bodies of their slain Clanmates (which he callously dismisses as "carrion") to rot in the open, instead of allowing them to be taken for burial.
- A Dog Named "Cat": Some of Darktail's rogues are named after other creatures: Raven and Roach.
- Dream Intro: In the prologue, Alderheart has a dream about SkyClan, which he knows is a vision from StarClan.
- Ensemble Cast: The A Vision of Shadows arc features three main protagonists: Alderheart, Twigpaw, and Violetpaw.
- "Eureka!" Moment: StarClan has given the cryptic advice that in order to defeat the villain, "the Clans must remember their names". Everyone's a bit baffled at what this means, but then Alderheart happens to walk past Hawkwing telling his daughters about SkyClan's history and how they certainly live up to their name due to their attack-from-above techniques. Alderheart realizes that this means that each Clan must use their own unique battle strategies to fight Darktail.
- Heaven Seeker: Onestar is terrified of going to the Dark Forest when he dies, leading him to hesitate on killing Darktail when he realizes that Darktail is his son.
- Heel Realization: Needletail has a moment where she admits that it is her mistakes that have gotten her and Violetpaw into the horrible place they are now in.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Needletail attacks Darktail's rogues, knowing that they'll kill her, so that Violetpaw can escape.
- Internal Reveal: SkyClan's existence is finally revealed to all the Clans. This is something that the fans have known since Firestar's Quest released ten years prior.
- I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure: Darktail decides to have Needletail killed as punishment for Violetpaw trying to drug him - though Needletail was already imprisoned and on thin ice with him due to her own actions and Rain's.
- Kick the Dog:
- After taking over RiverClan's territory, Darktail cruelly rubs salt in their wound by taking their most severely injured cats prisoner and forcing them to leave their dead to rot in the open.
- When Reedwhisker, the RiverClan prisoner who defies Darktail the longest, finally gives in and says the oath of loyalty, Darktail gleefully (and needlessly) humilates him by forcing him to say the oath again, louder.
- Killed Off for Real: Onestar loses his ninth life in this book.
- Mutual Kill: At the end of the book, Onestar and his son Darktail fight each other further and further out into the lake until eventually both of them go under and neither one surfaces.
- Panicky Expectant Father: Thornclaw, when his and Blossomfall's kits were born. According to Alderheart and Leafpool, he was "as nervous as an apprentice on his first hunt" to the point that they had a hard time keeping him calm.
- Playing Possum: When Rain tries to kill him, Darktail goes limp and stops moving. It's just a trick, and as soon as Rain's back is turned, Darktail kills Rain.
- Series Continuity Error: Beetlewhisker of RiverClan appears in the Allegiances and in the book itself, despite having been killed in The Last Hope.
- Suicidal Sadistic Choice: Darktail forces Needletail to either kill Violetpaw or be killed herself, expecting that she will choose to die but wanting to torture her psychologically.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: Violetpaw hides poppy seeds in the prey meant for Darktail and his henchmen in order to make them fall asleep, but unfortunately she's seen doing so and they don't eat it.
- The X of Y: The series name A Vision of Shadows.
