#spiderstar

Imagine it: The book would begin and just throw us in. We'd be introduced to a new, but very charming, community of cats. Of course there are aspects about them that are familiar to us who know about the Clans: the same naming conventions and organization, but the characters themselves and the environment are entirely foreign, leaving the reader confused but intrigued. The first chapter ends with Spiderstar calling SkyClan to order. Cue shock from the reader about this new Clan that we've never heard of before.

As the book goes on, we'd flip back and forth between Spiderstar's POV and Firestar's. In Spiderstar's we'd get to know SkyClan more. We'd see their special jumping and climbing abilities, familiarize ourselves with their camp and territory, and just generally grow attached to these new characters. There are hints of some sort of danger lurking in SkyClan's territory, but nothing that (at first) seems overly alarming. In Firestar's POV, via his dreams/haunting by Cloudstar we'd get to know SkyClan's history, and realize how they'd used to live with the other Clans before they were driven out by the twolegs and the other Clans not helping them. We'd put the pieces together that Spiderstar's POV must be showing SkyClan in their new home. Firestar and Sandstorm finally set out to the gorge at Cloudstar's vague urging to "right the wrong."

As Firestar and Sandstorm journey to the gorge, they'd wonder about what state they'll find SkyClan in. The reader would not be concerned because we'd know SkyClan is doing well through Spiderstar's POV chapters. They are growing, with Spiderstar having just made a litter of kittens into apprentices. Back to Firestar: he and Sandstorm finally arrive. We can tell it is the gorge from their description, but it seems strange and eerie from the home we'd gotten to know from Spiderstar's POV, with the worst part being: it is entirely empty of cats. The reader is confused and unsettled. What could be going on? Where did Spiderstar and his Clanmates go?

Finally, Firestar and Sandstorm locate an old cat named Sky, who the reader doesn't recognize. Sky explains himself to Firestar and Sandstorm, saying his great-grandmother was a member of SkyClan. He names her, and we recognize the name as the prefix of one of the kits Spiderstar had just made apprentices. This would be when the reader realizes that the POV we've been seeing from Spiderstar is actually decades in the past. So what the hell happened to this group of cats we've grown so attached to??

This is when the story would really start building tension around SkyClan's fall. The readers would know Spiderstar's Clan dissolved, but we'd not know why. Skywatcher seems to know more than he's letting on about what happened in the past as Firestar recruits cats for present-day SkyClan, but Skywatcher dies before admitting anything to Firestar. Things start going less well in Spiderstar's POV. We are introduced more to the rats, which have been mentioned as a minor nuisance throughout the book, but now they've evolved into an actual threat, attacking patrols and causing serious injuries. The Clan starts to struggle some, unable to hunt or patrol without worrying about attack, but they aren't in dire straits yet. Firestar has his first encounter with the rats, and we meet the eldritch monster that is the rat leader. He speaks the cat's language and ominously warns Firestar that they have killed cats before, and will do it again. Now the reader finally realizes what happened to SkyClan.

As Firestar's present-day SkyClan prepares for a decisive battle against the rats, Spiderstar's Clan does the same. But the reader would be sick with dread over Spiderstar's battle, knowing what will happen to these cats we'd come to love. It's only made worse by the fact that it's clear that Spiderstar and his Clanmates do not fully understand the magnitude of the threat the rats pose. They do not know how intelligent or organized they are, or how many there are.

Before Spiderstar's SkyClan can launch their attack, the rats strike first and ambush them in the gorge. It's a massacre, with the cats trapped inside their cave dens as wave after wave of rats pour over them. The rat leader confronts Spiderstar and, to his horror, speaks. The rat leader declares in no uncertain terms that the rats own this land. (It'd be unclear to the reader if this is the same rat leader who'd somehow lived for decades until Firestar's time. I like the ambiguity since I think it just adds to the horror elements around the rat leader.) The rats know that they've won, so they fall back, and Spiderstar takes stock of his decimated Clan. Many beloved cats have been killed. The Clan discusses what to do, bringing up their journey to the gorge under Cloudstar and asking if they should leave again. But many cats are disheartened about losing their home for a second time— not to mention everyone is injured (some grievously) and winter is setting in. Another treacherous journey may kill them all. Grieving and devastated, and not knowing what else to do, Spiderstar formally dissolves SkyClan in order to save the lives of his remaining Clanmates. (This would be the last POV chapter of past-SkyClan.)