#leafpool's wish

Squirrelflight and Leafpool

and Squirrelpaw

I tried to show how her hardships changed her by designing a young and old version. I like that she's a leader now but my girl really deserved better the years before :(

Good news: it backs up my "Yellowfang in this period was largely acting separately and lying in order to achieve goals to make up for her mistakes." She is lying to Squirrelflight about her being unable to have kits. It's very obvious in the text that Yellowfang is manipulating her. And, honestly? That's in line with her characterization in the third and fourth arcs. She is meant to be a villain character, weirdly enough.

Bad news: Leafpool recognizes that Yellowfang is lying and still uses it in order to manipulate her sister into taking a hugely consequential action that they both know could harm them? Yeah that's incredibly out of character for her. Leafpool would absolutely not do that to Squirrelflight even at her lowest point. She was clearly scared but still, something about how she tried to coerce Squirrelflight into taking the kits felt off and undermines Squirrelflight's character, actually. Instead of it being a selfless act Squirrelflight takes to help her sister, knowing fully of the consequences but still braving them because she knows it would help Leafpool, with the new information, Squirrelflight was a victim of emotional manipulation by both her own sister and an ancestor she was raised to worship. That's not good! I like Squirrelflight because of how she handles the consequences of her decision, and this story undermines that.

Leafpool is a small, lithe, pale brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes. She has a white chest and paws.