Chapters Thirteen and FourteenWhat really surprises me is that Brackenpaw and Cinderpaw are so skilled already in hunting, despite not having been with Fireheart and Graystripe for long. Besides that, both warriors are very recently made, with no time to hone their abilities or really get a grasp on teaching other cats anything. And I doubt that they're just ~magically talented~, nor do I believe that either of our main duo are that good at what they do. It doesn't make any sense. I don't know why I'm expecting anything more.
Anyway, when they return to camp with all their kills, Tigerclaw says that Graystripe's gone missing. We can all obviously guess where he's gone, because we're not idiots, but Fireheart hasn't been on TvTropes recently, so he has no idea. Bluestar and Tigerclaw get a report about the apprentices, and Graystripe returns.
Hypocri-see, hypocri-see, hi-po-cri-see,
It's clear you've got no idea what that word means!
Hypocri-see, hypocri-see, hi-po-cri-soo,
Greystripe's just doing what you're known to do!
But it's only okay
When it's done by you!
I mean, he straight up thinks about how he hangs out with Princess, and doesn't see the connection! How oblivious do you have to be to miss that entirely?
Well, at any rate, Runningwind finally gets a proper introduction, and goes out with Fireheart to help train the apprentices. Fireheart gets all embarrassed because he's so distracted that he doesn't do the proper techniques for hunting, and bails out under the pretense of feeling ill. He sneaks in through an area by the nursery. It's mentioned that this is the easiest area to slip through unnoticed, which is weird, since you'd think that would be the area under the heaviest surveillance, but whatever's convenient for our hero!
He follows Graystripe, where it's revealed that - gasp! - Graystripe's seeing the cat who rescued him! And Fireheart's astonished that anyone would break the rules in such a manner! How incomprehensible!
While Fireheart's last line does make me laugh, I'd like to point out that blood means pretty much nothing in a Clan. Any cat would know the patrol schedule if they listened closely. Being the leader's daughter has nothing to do with anything. All she'd have to do is ask the deputy what the patrol plans are for today.
Fireheart and Graystripe argue a little, and Graystripe shows off his apparent lack of brains by handwaving any concerns his friend would have, even proclaiming that StarClan itself must want them together if Silverstream likes him, even after the death of Whiteclaw. Here's the thing: death is an extremely common occurrence in the Clans. Any cat would be used to the idea of their Clanmates dying, including by another's hand...paw. And it's pretty obvious that Whiteclaw was an accident. His death is not only unimportant, but average in Clan life. It just seems like Graystripe's trying to come up with excuses for his rule-breaking.
Actually, hold on.
Inter-Clan relationships aren't explicitly forbidden. There's no rule directly stating that a cat cannot be with someone from the outside. At most, it says that loyalty to the Clan comes first, and the only mention of mates is from the medicine cat rules, which don't apply here, because neither cat involved is a medicine cat. So, technically, this relationship is perfectly legal, so long as they both keep their loyalties where they need to be.
I just...wow. I can't believe that isn't an actual rule. You would think so, but...
Honestly, though, I can see where, in a much better book, this would be the one "rule" that's kind of overlooked. A Clan is constantly in danger of muddying up the gene pool via incest, so mollies with mysterious fathers to their litters would probably have a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" thing going on. After all, purebred or not, there's new warriors on the way, and if the mother's got standards, they'll have certain biological advantages over the rest of their Clanmates. Some of the more old-fashioned warriors would only want to breed within the Clan, but these cats are clearly intelligent enough to recognize family when they see it. So what if a ThunderClan kitten is going to be born big and strong with a particularly sleek coat? The mother lives here, doesn't she, not over there.
In fact, had this been written differently, wouldn't it have been neat if the conflict that Graystripe's kits bring wasn't due to them being half-Clanners, but the situation of the mother being dead? See, normally, the mother's Clan gets inherent rights to the kittens, for obvious reasons, but if the mother dies, shouldn't they come back to the one living parent, especially if the father's Clan has a nursing queen and the mother's Clan doesn't?
I'm just saying, that would have been pretty cool.
Anyways, enough dreaming. Fireheart comes back with Graystripe and goes to Yellowfang for his "bellyache".
The blatant...irony...it hurts...it's...
overwhelming...!
For real, though, Slowpokes catch on faster than him. I'm amazed that this never even occurred to the Hunters.
Oh wait! No I'm not! This is the
Hunters we're talking about! Goodness me, how
could I be so foolish?
Fireheart goes out to Sunningrocks, where he catches RiverClan sneaking onto ThunderClan territory again. Who cares. You're an idiot, dude, that's all we like to talk about here.
Up next: Chapter Fifteen. Image Count: Overdosed!
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