Three moons after the Clans shifted their borders to accommodate SkyClan at the end of The Raging Storm, they're changing their minds about the whole thing, much to Squirrelflight's displeasure. ThunderClan and ShadowClan aren't making use of the additional territory that WindClan and RiverClan gave them, and the other Clans are starting to want it back. At a meeting of the leaders and deputies, Squirrelflight comes up with an idea that might work for everyone: there's some territory farther away from the lake, roughly along ShadowClan and ThunderClan's boundary beyond the abandoned Twoleg nest; the Clans simply never had had the need to use it before.
Leafstar isn't very warmed to the idea of SkyClan moving yet again, and Bramblestar is unhappy about Squirrelflight apparently undermining him by suggesting it (They're at a rocky point in their relationship, especially after Squirrelflight tells him that she wants more kits and realizes that Bramblestar doesn't). Squirrelflight is certain that she's right, however, and decides to visit Leafstar and travel with her to the unused territory to explore it and see if it might be suitable for SkyClan. The territory looks good, and they even discover the site of an apparently abandoned camp that would be perfect.... but oops, turns out it's not abandoned: it currently belongs to a group that quickly takes the two prisoner. This new group is a traveling band of big she-cats that call themselves "The Sisters." They're friendly enough to Squirrelflight and Leafstar, and even agree that SkyClan can take the territory once their leader Moonlight has her kits and they move on, but they refuse to let the two leave in case they'll bring their Clanmates back. SkyClan and ThunderClan eventually send a rescue party and find them, and the Sisters allow Leafstar and Squirrelflight to return home. Leafstar is pleased with the new territory and agrees that she'll move SkyClan there, and Squirrelflight is happy that she was right and that the Clans only have to wait a moon to claim the new territory peacefully.
Things don't go as well as Squirrelflight hoped, however. Once the Sisters find ShadowClan scent near their camp, they follow it onto ShadowClan territory and end up getting into a fight with one of their patrols, leaving a ShadowClan cat permanently deafened in one ear and one of the Sisters near death. The Clans decide that the Sisters are enemies, and ThunderClan debates whether to heal the wounded one because of it (Bramblestar eventually relents and allows it.) Amidst all this, Squirrel and Bramble keep getting into arguments, although they try to project the image of a united front to their Clan, especially to their daughter, Sparkpelt, who reveals that she is expecting kits.
Tragedy strikes when ThunderClan cats start getting sick, the worst of which are Sparkpelt's mate Larksong, and Sparkpelt herself. The Clans suspect the Sisters due to their prejudice, but the Sisters actually know the cause and the cure (certain prey have become poisonous to cats after eating a new invasive plant brought by Twolegs.) As Larksong lays dying next to Sparkpelt, the stress causes Sparkpelt to go into labor early, and one of her kits dies alongside his father.
The Clans start to get impatient with the Sisters. Moonlight's kits still haven't arrived, but the Clans want them to leave, since WindClan and ThunderClan have started to temporarily share the disputed territory on their border and that's made ShadowClan and RiverClan angry because ShadowClan doesn't want to do the same with the new land they'd been given. They try to reason with the Sisters, and send the Clan mediator, Tree, which doesn't work out well because of Moonlight's stubbornness, and the fact that Tree's actually Moonlight's son and harbors a good amount of resentment toward her (the Sisters send away their male kits once they're barely old enough to hunt for themselves.) The day comes when the Clans have had enough and they decide to attack the Sisters the following day. Both Squirrelflight and Leafpool dream about kits in danger that night, and they sneak out to the Sisters' camp to find Moonlight in the midst of a difficult kitting. They finish just after the attacking party arrives. The Sisters still refuse to leave even when surrounded by enemies, and take refuge in a small cave. Tigerstar orders his warriors to dig them out, and this causes the cave to start collapsing. Squirrelfight and Leafpool save the kits, but are unable to escape make it outside themselves before the roof collapses on them.
The two wake up in StarClan's territory and are greeted by Larksong, who tells them that they aren't quite dead yet, but their lives are hanging in the balance. Firestar comes along and warns them that they may not be allowed to stay in StarClan due to their deception about Leafpool's kits all those years ago. A trial is held, with Bluestar, Yellowfang, Tallstar, Crookedstar, Moth Flight, and Littlecloud as the judges: Squirrelflight and Leafpool have to explain their reasoning behind breaking the warrior code. Ultimately they decide that Squirrelflight and Leafpool have done more good than harm, and that if they die now, they'll be welcome in StarClan. In the meantime, they're free to explore StarClan's hunting grounds. They spend time with lost friends and family, including Squirrelflight's lost kits Dandelionkit and Juniperkit (littermates of Alderheart and Sparkpelt), as well as Hollyleaf. Also of note, Ashfur is noted to be there and doesn't really react to Squirrelflight; Hollyleaf says that him being around doesn't bother her anymore since all that had happened between them seems so far behind them now. They also spend some time watching the Clans while they're there. Squirrelflight wants badly to go back, and does her best to try to let her family know that she loves them.
At one point, Squirrelflight wakes up in her actual body in the medicine cat den and notices that Leafpool looks strange next to her, but in a few moments she's back in StarClan. It is then that she sees that Leafpool now has stars in her pelt, and realizes that her sister is dead. Leafpool explains that she's been so happy in StarClan and that she feels like she's come home, and the two exchange an emotional farewell, promising that they'll never truly be parted and that they'll see each other again one day. Firestar tells Squirrelflight that she's healed enough to return to her body now, and she does so.
Squirrelflight recovers, and the Clan sits vigil for Leafpool. Squirrelflight uses her experiences in StarClan to help pull Sparkpelt out of her grief - she passes on a message from Larksong, convincing Sparkpelt that it's true by revealing the name Larksong had given to their deceased kit, which the couple had decided upon earlier and never told anyone else. She visits SkyClan not long afterward. The Sisters are staying with them for now until they're ready to travel again, and the Clan is in the process of preparing for their move to the new camp. Squirrelflight is sad to see that Moonlight has died of her injuries, but takes comfort in the fact that Moonlight's Sisters had named the kits Moon, Squirrel, and Leaf.
At the next Gathering, the Clans honor Leafpool's sacrifice. Squirrelflight reveals to the Clans what Firestar had told her - that they need to turn toward StarClan, not away - and the Clans agree. Squirrelflight and Bramblestar apologize to each other for what had happened between them, and then look up toward the night sky, where they see a new star. Squirrelflight knows that Leafpool is watching over them.
Summary of the manga at the end:
On Squirrelpaw and Leafpaw's first day of training, they are shown ThunderClan's territory by their mentors, Dustpelt and Cinderpelt. Brambleclaw comes along and teases them briefly, but then they continue onward. Squirrelpaw decides to chase after a rabbit, with Leafpaw hot on her heels in an attempt to bring her back; this results in them falling off a small cliff into the river. They're able to get out not long afterward, but have been separated from their mentors and are lost. They use their limited knowledge to try to figure out where they are, to stay safe from a hawk, and to avoid eating any berries they aren't familiar with. Their mentors eventually find them and praise them for making such smart decisions, while Brambleclaw apologizes, feeling responsible for making Squirrelpaw feel the need to prove herself. As they head back to camp, they reflect on how the day didn't turn out like they anticipated, and that they're starting different paths in life. But it was worth it, because the experience brought them closer together, and they know that they'll always be there for each other.
Tropes appearing in this book:
- Afterlife Welcome: Larksong, their recently-deceased Clanmate, welcomes Squirrelflight and Leafpool to StarClan.
- Alliterative Family: Sparkpelt and Larksong name their kits Finchkit, Flamekit, and Flickerkit.
- All Your Base Are Belong to Us: The Clans attack the Sisters' camp.
- Both Sides Have a Point: This is the case for most of Squirrelflight and Bramblestar's arguments:
- Argument number one: Squirrelflight is right that land is being wasted, that the Clans are growing, and that they will all have larger territories if SkyClan moves. Her desire to have another litter of kits and her anxiety about having them sooner rather than later is understandable; she's now middle-aged by cat standards and thus one day will become infertile. Bramblestar is right that it's unfair to ask SkyClan to move again after they've already moved several times (most of which have been against their will), that Squirrelflight should've discussed her idea with him first instead of blurting it out, because they need to show a united front, and that her plan is potentially dangerous because the new territory is largely unexplored and thus might be inhabited by predators. Also, his doubts about having more kits is understandable; he and Squirrelfight have already raised two litters (including one that wasn't their own) and he needs to focus on leading their Clan, especially if trouble is brewing.
- Argument number two: Squirrelflight is right that her plan is working because Leafstar wants to move and that the Sisters are not a threat and are okay with letting SkyClan have their land once they're finished with it. Bramblestar is right that the new territory still isn't fully explored yet so they can't just assume that its completely safe, and that Squirrelflight shouldn't have gone behind his back or put their daughter, Sparkpelt, in a difficult position by asking her to keep Squirrelflight's mission a secret. Trust is an important trait in relationships and going behind someone's back and keeping secrets from them is NOT a good way to increase trust.
- Argument number four: Squirrelflight is right that it's morally wrong to let Sunrise die, and that ThunderClan both can't and shouldn't let ShadowClan dictate how they act. Bramblestar is right is that Tigerstar will be furious if he finds out they are helping the Sisters, and while he is ultimately wrong about the Sisters, he does at least somewhat have a point that Squirrelflight is being too trusting of them; she's only known them for two days and yet she never considers the possibility that they might be untrustworthy.
- Cat Concerto: The Sisters perform a ceremony for a deceased cat that involves them all yowling to the sky.
- Dead Guy Junior: Two of Moonlight's kits are named Moon and Leaf, after their dead mother and Leafpool, the medicine cat who died trying to rescue them.
- Death Is Dramatic: Larksong gets a more prominent role in this book as Sparkpelt's supportive mate, and the two are especially close as the birth of their kits nears. He falls suddenly, violently ill, however, and dies gasping for breath as his mate goes into labor from the stress and their kits are born.
- Death of a Child: One of Sparkpelt's and Larksong's kits is stillborn. The Sisters perform a ceremony for his spirit, and he is named Flickerkit by his father in StarClan.
- Did Not Think This Through:
- Squirrelflight comes up with an idea for SkyClan to move to new territory beside the other four Clans, which could keep a lasting peace among them. However, when she comes up with the idea, she rather impulsively suggests it to the other Clan leaders without fully thinking it through or even talking to Bramblestar about it first. Though completely well-intentioned, it inadvertently leads the Clan leaders to become rather demanding of SkyClan, and causes an argument with Bramblestar. The very next day, Squirrelflight goes behind Bramblestar's back to explore the new territory with Leafstar. She believes this will convince her mate that she's right, but she never really stops to think about what might happen if her plan doesn't work, and its not until The Sisters take her and Leafstar captive that she realizes that going behind her mate's back will only make him more angry. It can easily be pointed out that Squirrelflight's plan does work in the end, but her methods of trying to see it through are questionable to say the least and the fact that she never seriously considered the possibility that her plan might not have worked at all is still notable. This shows that while Squirrelflight's impulsiveness has mellowed significantly, it's still there.
- Moonlight decides to hold Squirrelflight and Leafstar captive until her kits are born and weaned, believing it to be the safest course of action for the Sisters and makes it clear she believes it will work perfectly. In the end, it gives the Clans a reason to be suspicious and hostile towards the Sisters, because they didn't make a very good first impression.
- A Dog Named "Cat": Some of the Sisters are named after animals: Hawk, Sparrow, and Squirrel.
- Gender Bender: Fidgetflake appears as female for one scene, when Squirrelflight's spirit visits the SkyClan camp.
- Healthy in Heaven: Cats who are injured in life are healed in StarClan. Sandstorm, in fact, gives this as a reason as to why Squirrelflight should stay there instead of returning to life: Squirrelflight could be returning to a life of being permanently crippled, like Briarlight had been (who is now healthy in StarClan).
- Humans by Any Other Name: The Sisters refer to humans as "Twopaws".
- Hypocrite:
- StarClan's judgment in condemning Squirrelflight and Leafpool for lying about the latter's kits is rather rich considering the fact that in Leafpool's Wish, two StarClan cats (Yellowfang and later Feathertail) actually encouraged the two sisters to do it.
- Moonlight claims that the Sisters let their children decide how they want to live, but she sends away the male kits whether they want to leave or not, and later basically tells Tree how he should live.
- For all her good intentions, Squirrelflight herself is somewhat of a hypocrite in this book:
- She firmly claims that she's not fond of the Sisters and just respects them, but the rather impassioned way she defends them, the almost childish way she gets annoyed almost every time they are criticized or insulted, and the surge of fondness she later feels for Snow, one of the Sisters, makes that statement ring hollow.
- She promises Bramblestar (her leader and long-time mate) that she will support him against the Sisters, but then breaks that promise by helping the Sisters instead in order to protect Moonlight's kits. Squirrelflight herself subtly realizes that she's being a hypocrite, but believes the Clans are in the wrong and she has no choice.
- Is That a Threat?:
- Bramblestar warns Tigerstar that if ShadowClan attacks SkyClan, then ThunderClan will stand with SkyClan, and ShadowClan might find itself in a war it can't win. Tigerstar's response is "Is that a threat?".
- Tree tries to encourage the Sisters to leave so that the Clans won't attack. Moonlight asks him if that's a threat, but he says that he's just trying to reason with her.
- Judgement of the Dead: Squirrelflight and her sister, Leafpool, are fatally wounded by a rockfall while helping the Sisters and their souls end up being judged before StarClan. There, the StarClan cats challenge Leafpool for having broken the code by taking a WindClan mate and for Squirrelflight lying about being the mother of her kits, to which Leafpool defends her sister and tells the cats that she had long paid for her mistakes and never regretted having her kits. Leafpool then chooses to move on to StarClan while Squirrelflight successfully fights to return to her family and clan.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: When Squirrelflight and Leafstar are taken captive by the Sisters, Squirrelflight decides to play along, knowing they stand no chance against the Sisters.
- Averted with Moonlight, who refuses to leave despite being heavily pregnant, vastly outnumbered and repeatedly warned she can't win.
- Let's Have Another Baby: Squirrelflight wants to have another litter of kits; Bramblestar doesn't (at least not as much as she does). By the end of the book Squirrelflight comes to accept that it's okay if she doesn't.
- Mayfly–December Romance: Discussed. Squirrelflight's mate has become a Clan leader, meaning that he was gifted with nine lives. She thinks about how this means that he'll likely long outlive her, and frets that he can always take another mate after she's gone, and wonders if the reason he's not ready to have more kits right now is because he has so much more time than her.
- "Near and Dear" Baby Naming: One of Moonlight’s kits is named Squirrel, after Squirrelflight. One of the other kits is named Leaf, which may be a reference to Leafstar (or perhaps Leafpool, or both).
- Near-Death Clairvoyance: Squirrelflight discovers that while she's in a coma, she has the ability to step out of her body and observe what's going on in the Clans in spirit form.
- No Animosity in the Afterlife: In StarClan, while cats tend to stick with their own Clanmates, the territorial disputes between Clans are gone; Bluestar and Oakheart are mentioned to be living together in what used to be RiverClan territory. Squirrelflight also is uncertain of Ashfur's presence, and Hollyleaf mentions that it was strange at first but that the conflicts of the living world feel so unimportant in StarClan.
- Nostalgia Heaven: Leafpool and Squirrelflight discover that StarClan's territory is in the old forest where they were born, which was destroyed when they were young.
- Official Couple Ordeal Syndrome: After all Bramblestar and Squirrelflight's issues spanning previous books - from their quarrels over Hawkfrost and Love Triangle with Ashfur, to their big fallout after Squirrelflight lied to him and claimed her sister's kits as their own - they had finally mended things for a whole series. In this book they're back to arguing: Squirrelflight wants more kits, Bramblestar doesn't. Squirrelflight tries solving the tensions between the Clans, Bramblestar thinks she's undermining him. There's even a moment where Graystripe mentions that Squirrelflight's going to "patch it up", referring to a hole in a den roof, but Millie misunderstands and asks if Squirrelflight and Bramblestar are quarreling again.
- Other Stock Phrases: Tree's greeting to Moonlight: "Hello, Mother."
- Plot Hole: When Sunrise is brought into camp injured, Hollytuft is one of the cats present in camp, and she gives her opinion that they shouldn't treat Sunrise's wounds. They ultimately decide to have the medicine cats consult with StarClan on whether to heal her. There's a chapter break, it mentions that Jayfeather and Alderheart have just left camp.... and then Hollytuft arrives in camp and asks what's going on, as if she was gone and had never given an opinion on the matter, and someone explains to her that one of the Sisters is injured and that they're consulting StarClan on whether to heal her.
- Refusing Paradise: Squirrelflight and Leafpool are caught between life and death while badly injured, and it becomes clear that they can choose whether to stay in StarClan, or return to life. Leafpool decides to stay, and despite their late mother trying to convince Squirrelflight to do so too, Squirrelflight is insistent upon returning to life so that she can be with her mate.
- Sneaky Departure:
- Squirrelflight sneaks out of the ThunderClan camp to talk to Leafstar in order to convince her to move SkyClan to new territory.
- Near the end, Squirrelflight sneaks out again, this time with Leafpool, to help Moonlight give birth.
- Secret-Keeper: Sparkpelt becomes a temporary one for Squirrelflight, who asks her daughter not to tell anyone, not even her father Bramblestar, about her and Leafstar's mission to explore new territory. Bramblestar does not take it well.
- Tragic Stillbirth: One of Sparkpelt's kits is stillborn. In StarClan, Squirrelflight sees that the kit is with his father and has been given the name Flickerkit. What helps Sparkpelt out of her depression is Squirrelflight mentioning this fact in order to comfort her: Sparkpelt knows that it has to be true because she and Larksong had never told anyone that they'd planned to name a kit Flickerkit.
