Into the Wild

Rusty, a flame-colored kitten, lives a comfortable life as a house cat to Twolegs (humans) but dreams of adventure in the woods behind his house. He has recurring dreams in which he hunts a mouse, but the mouse evades him every time, leaving Rusty to wake to bland cat food and a restrictive collar around his neck. After awakening one night from such a dream, Rusty finally ventures into the woods, which beckon to him with their moving shadows. In the forest, Rusty tries to hunt for real but is attacked by Graypaw, an apprentice warrior of ThunderClan about Rusty’s age. Rusty defends himself from Graypaw, guided by instinct, until Graypaw’s mentor, Lionheart, emerges from the undergrowth with Bluestar. Bluestar is impressed by Rusty’s fighting skills but takes offense when Rusty makes a thoughtless comment about the abundance of prey in the forest. As Bluestar and Lionheart loom over Rusty, he is reminded that these unknown forest cats are a far cry from the house cats Rusty is used to. 

Bluestar explains the challenges of feeding an entire Clan and the harshness of life in the wild. Rusty understands and apologizes for his previous statement. Bluestar invites Rusty to join ThunderClan; Graypaw protests that kittypets—the Clan cats’ word for house cats—cannot become warriors because they don’t have warrior blood. Bluestar replies sadly that too much warrior blood has been spilled lately. Bluestar warns Rusty that it will be a hard but rewarding life; although he will have to adapt to the Clan’s ways and learn to survive, in exchange he will learn the ways of the wild and enjoy the fellowship of an entire Clan. Lionheart warns Rusty that he must choose carefully; he cannot live with a paw in two worlds (22). Rusty asks for time to think it over, and the warriors give him until sunhigh (noon) the next day to give his answer. As Rusty reflects on his comfortable life as a kittypet, he feels the forest calling him.

That night, Rusty dreams his usual dream, but it’s more vivid than before, and this time there are cats watching him from the bushes. When he wakes, Rusty feels conflicted as he considers the ease of his kittypet life. However, after a conversation with his friend and fellow house cat Smudge, Rusty makes up his mind: He will join ThunderClan. Lionheart greets Rusty in the forest and takes him back to ThunderClan’s camp, a clearing hidden at the bottom of a ravine. Bluestar announces Rusty’s arrival to the camp and is met with mixed reactions as some spurn Rusty because of his kittypet origins. One such warrior, Longtail, challenges Rusty with insulting comments; Rusty, eager to prove his mettle, attacks Longtail.

During the fight, Longtail pulls at Rusty’s collar, choking him, until the collar snaps and breaks. Bluestar declares this a sign of approval from StarClan and welcomes Rusty as an apprentice into the Clan. Rusty steps forward into a beam of sunlight, making his orange fur glow like fire, and Bluestar rechristens him Firepaw, for his flame-colored pelt. Afterward, Firepaw does not hesitate to bury his collar. Graypaw enthusiastically congratulates Firepaw; just then, another apprentice, Ravenpaw, crashes into the camp, wild-eyed and bleeding. He announces to the gathered Clan that Redtail—who Graypaw explains is Bluestar’s deputy—is dead. 

Ravenpaw explains that Redtail perished at another border skirmish over Sunningrocks with RiverClan. Before he can elaborate further, Ravenpaw collapses and is tended to by Spottedleaf, whom Firepaw notes is very pretty. Tigerclaw arrives, bearing Redtail’s body. Firepaw admires Tigerclaw’s strength and impressively battle-scarred body. Tigerclaw reports that Oakheart killed Redtail and then Tigerclaw killed Oakheart. The Clan gathers around Redtail’s body for a mourning vigil; they will sit quietly at his side until moonrise, when Redtail’s spirit will join StarClan. Graypaw explains to Firepaw that StarClan is the afterlife for warriors, where their spirits run forever with their warrior ancestors; each star in the sky represents a fallen warrior’s spirit. Tigerclaw, as Ravenpaw’s mentor, questions Spottedleaf on his apprentice’s condition; Spottedleaf responds that Ravenpaw will live but needs rest first. Firepaw can tell that despite her gentle and teasing tone, she is protective of her patient’s recovery. Firepaw is impressed by Tigerclaw’s strength but also notes the cavalier attitude with which Tigerclaw treats Ravenpaw.

Later that night, Bluestar appoints her new deputy: Lionheart. Several cats (including Firepaw) are surprised that Tigerclaw did not win the appointment, since he avenged Redtail’s death, and Firepaw can’t help but notice how hungrily Tigerclaw stares at Bluestar as she makes the announcement. Graypaw gives Firepaw a tour of the camp and introduces him to some of the Clan’s customs, like sharing tongues, a social ritual in which all the cats gather to groom each other and share news. Graypaw helps Firepaw settle into the apprentices’ den, but there, Firepaw is surprised to be greeted with animosity from another apprentice, Sandpaw. Nonetheless, Firepaw sleeps contentedly next to Graypaw that night, feeling secure in his new home.

Firepaw begins his training the next day; he has not been assigned a mentor yet, so Tigerclaw and Lionheart share his training for the moment. Firepaw joins Tigerclaw and Lionheart on a border patrol and learns about the Clan’s territory and the warrior code, the honor laws that govern life in the four Clans. He learns the important landmarks of the territory, such as the Thunderpath (highway); the border with ShadowClan, the marsh-dwellers; Sunningrocks, the border with RiverClan; and Fourtrees, the border with WindClan, the moor-dwellers. Fourtrees is also the site of the all-Clan Gathering that takes place once a month at the full moon; for this one night only, the Clans all mingle with one another in friendship to swap news. Firepaw questions why the Clans don’t simply form one large Clan and pool their resources; surely they’d increase their chances of survival that way?

Tigerclaw and Lionheart explain that it is Clan loyalty that ensures survival; thus, the divisions are necessary. The next day, Firepaw has his first hunting lesson with Graypaw and Ravenpaw and their respective mentors. Tigerclaw is extremely critical of Ravenpaw, and of Firepaw as well. Tigerclaw rebukes Ravenpaw for complaining about the pain of his still-healing wounds and warns him that he needs to learn to hold his tongue. Later, Tigerclaw criticizes Firepaw’s hunting crouch but declares it better than Ravenpaw’s, snapping at his apprentice that he’s been shown up by a kittypet. Firepaw stands up for Ravenpaw, earning him Tigerclaw’s ire. Graypaw attempts to diffuse the tension by cracking a joke about his own hunting abilities. Despite Tigerclaw’s vitriol, Firepaw catches his first prey and feels like a true apprentice of ThunderClan.