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This Article Contains Spoilers -
WARNING: This article contains major spoilers. If you do not wish to know vital information on plot / character elements in a story, you may not wish to read beyond this warning: We hold no responsibility for any negative effects these facts may have on your enjoyment of said media should you continue. That is all. |
| “ | Curlfeather: Don't do anything. It's all going to be fine. Just trust me. I'll come up with an explanation. It'll sound reasonable. I'll just say his death was an accident, and Frostpaw will believe it. She always does. She believed it when I told her she was a medicine cat. She'll believe this too, and the others will believe her. Splashtail: What if they don't? You know what she's like. She'll dither and panic and start asking mouse-brained questions. The whole plan could fall apart. Curlfeather: You're the one who's panicking and asking mouse-brained questions. It's not going to fall apart. I won't let it. I'm going to be leader and you'll be deputy, just as we planned. Splashtail: How do I know you won't turn on me? Curlfeather: You don't. You'll have to trust me. Stop acting like a kit and just do whatever I tell you. |
„ |
| ~ Curlfeather discussing her plan with Splashtail |
| “ | Keep RiverClan safe! And trust no cat! | „ |
| ~ Curlfeather’s last warning to Frostpaw before getting killed by the dogs. |
| “ | You don't need nine lives to run a Clan. All you need is to be smarter than the other cats. | „ |
| ~ Curlfeather justifying her actions to Frostpaw. |
Curlfeather is a major character in Erin Hunter's Warriors book franchise.
She is the mother of the medicine cat, Frostdawn, and formerly a warrior of RiverClan. She conspired with Splashtail to kill the Clan's deputy Reedwhisker, so she could take his place and then become leader. On her way to the Moonpool to receive nine lives from StarClan however, she was attacked and killed by a pack of dogs. After her death, she haunted Splashtail in his nightmares and later in the waking world as well. When Frostpaw was close to death, she subconsciously summoned Curlfeather's spirit to her mind. Curlfeather wasn't repentant for her actions in the slightest, but she was sorry she'd hurt Frostpaw. After once more attempting to convince Frostpaw that she hadn't done anything wrong, she faded away.
She now resides in the Dark Forest for her crimes.
Appearance[]
Curlfeather is a slender, she-cat with a narrow forehead, thick, pale brown fur, and amber eyes. She has small ears with feathery tufts of fur on the tips.
Personality[]
At first, Curlfeather came off as motherly and supportive, especially towards her daughter, Frostpaw. She was especially overprotective of them after her mate, Jayclaw’s, death. She was proud when Frostpaw became a medicine cat apprentice and was surprised when she herself was announced as StarClan's choice to lead RiverClan.
However, she was also secretly plotting to become leader with Splashtail as her deputy. She plotted with the former to kill the then-deputy, Reedwhisker, and pressured Frostpaw to become a medicine cat to dream up omens in her favor (similar to how Hawkfrost got Mothwing to do the same. However, unlike Mothwing, at the time Frostpaw had no idea that they were fake).
Despite all of that, it appears that Curlfeather does love genuinely love Frostpaw, as the last thing she did before she died was sacrifice herself to buy her daughter some time to escape from the dogs. However, similar to Juniperclaw, this act was not enough to save her from the Dark Forest. She also does seem to love her mate, Jayclaw, as part of her anger at StarClan was a result of his untimely end. Frostdawn only realized the truth after her mother died, when she witnessed a vision of her mother's plot.
As noted by Splashtail in the prologue of Wind, Curlfeather was also hypocritical. She told her co-conspirator that she hated StarClan, but was still willing to accept nine lives from them.
Biography[]
A Starless Clan[]
River[]
Curlfeather is the mother of Frostpaw, the medicine cat apprentice, Mistpaw, and Graypaw, two warrior apprentices. Before Frostpaw goes to the Moonpool for the first time to make her apprenticeship official, Curlfeather reassures her daughter that she's meant to be a medicine cat by reminding her of the supposedly prophetic dream she had about her father Jayclaw leaving her alone in camp shortly before his death. Curlfeather, Graypaw, and Mistpaw then all wish her luck as she heads out with her mentor, Mothwing. After the most recent Gathering, Curlfeather and Frostpaw share prey together, during which the pale brown she-cat expresses how happy she is that the other Clans cheered for her daughter when RiverClan's leader, Mistystar, announced her apprenticeship.
Later, Curlfeather goes on a patrol with RiverClan's deputy, Reedwhisker, along with Splashtail, Podlight, and Fognose. Reedwhisker is missing when they return to camp though, with the patrol claiming that they thought he already went back without them. They are shocked to learn that Mistystar had died while they were away, and Mothwing organizes a search party to go look for the deputy.
Reedwhisker doesn't return for a while, so the Clan starts debating on whether they should have a substitute leader. As the argument escalates, Curlfeather tells Frostpaw to go ease her nerves in the medicine den. Once the apprentice discovers a dock leaf torn into the shape of a five-pointed star, Curlfeather suggests that it's a sign from StarClan that Mothwing and Frostpaw should lead for the time being, which her Clanmates agree on. Her daughter is stressed about this, but she assures her that she'll be fine.
Later, Frostpaw receives a message from Leopardstar, the leader of RiverClan before Mistystar, that Reedwhisker is somewhere shadowy in the Clan's territory. She leads a search party consisting of Curlfeather, Splashtail, and Gorseclaw to look for him, and they discover the deputy dead at the bottom of a ravine, covered in gashes. Frostpaw wonders if the wounds are from a badger, but her mother claims that they must've been from the fall, and his death was an accident. As the Clan clamors on what to do now that they have no one to succeed Mistystar, the pale brown she-cat tells her daughter to trust her instincts when choosing a new leader.
Soon after Frostpaw goes to the Moonpool to ask StarClan who the new leader should be, and Curlfeather sends Splashtail to follow after her in secret. On the apprentice's way back from the Moonpool, Splashtail plants a false sign from StarClan of a curled feather on the path. She interprets this as meaning her mother should lead, and though Mothwing is skeptical as her brother had once planted a false sign, she's convinced when her apprentice has a dream of the Moonpool surrounded by curled feathers.
Frostpaw announces this the next morning, to which Curlfeather acts shocked that she was chosen. As the two head to the Moonpool for the leadership ceremony, Frostpaw admits her insecurities regarding her interpretations of signs from StarClan. Her mother advises she trust herself more, adding that StarClan will prove her right with the ceremony. However, a pack of dogs suddenly attacks the two, and the pale brown she-cat orders her daughter to climb up a tree to get to safety. The dogs catch up before she herself can climb up though, and as the pack kills her, she yowls to Frostpaw to keep the Clan safe, and to trust no one.
Frostpaw escapes and returns to camp, telling everyone what happened. As they hold a vigil for Curlfeather, the Clan discusses what to do now that they once again have no leader, and some suggest that Frostpaw return to the Moonpool to ask StarClan, but the apprentice is too traumatized by what happened to go back.
Sky[]
Frostpaw grieves for her mother and is hesitant to return to the Moonpool to ask StarClan for a new leader, not wanting to pass by the spot where she died. She eventually musters up the courage to go to the Moonpool again, where she's relieved to see her mother's spirit approaching her in her murky vision. Curlfeather tells her that she has to save her grieving for later, as RiverClan needs her now more than ever. Frostpaw asks who the new leader should be, and Curlfeather tells her she needs to pick one herself, suggesting she look beyond the obvious choices. When her daughter tries to ask any more questions though, Curlfeather vanishes and the dream ends.
Frostpaw ends up choosing Owlnose as the new leader, who then names Splashtail as his deputy. Owlnose struggles with leadership however, and Duskfur questions the legitimacy of Frostpaw's vision, as Curlfeather had always been more direct in life. While going to the Moonpool with the SkyClan medicine cat, Fidgetflake, for Owlnose's leadership ceremony, Frostpaw tells the older medicine cat about her mother's death, and when he replies that WindClan had found prey bones near that area, she wonders if someone had purposefully lured the dog pack there with prey to get Curlfeather killed. After she tries and fails to connect to StarClan, and Owlnose steps down from leadership, Frostpaw reflects on how her mother had always insisted being a medicine cat was her destiny whenever she struggled.
Thunder[]
While visiting the Cats of the Park, Frostpaw learns how to glimpse into the past via meditation. Using it she finds out that Splashtail had been the one to kill Reedwhisker and send dogs after Curlfeather, and he had also been the one to plant the false curled feather sign. Before she and the ThunderClan warrior Nightheart return home though, she says there's still one last thing she needs to find out. The spirit of Riverstar, RiverClan's founder, tells her to be ready, and she gets a glimpse of a moment sometime after Reedwhisker was murdered, but before the Clan found his body. She hears Splashtail worrying about his Clanmates finding the body, and he asks if he should move it. Frostpaw is horrified when she hears Curlfeather's voice telling him not to do anything.
Curlfeather says that she will claim the deputy's death was an accident, confident that Frostpaw will believe it, since she believed her mother when she told the apprentice she was supposed to be a medicine cat, revealing to Frostpaw that her dream of Jayclaw's death wasn't prophetic, but just a coincidence. Splashtail worries that Frostpaw will panic, and the whole plan will fall apart, but Curlfeather retorts that he's the only one who's panicking, adding that she won't let the plan fall apart. She assures him that she'll become leader, and he'll be her deputy just as they planned. He asks how he can trust her, and she replies that he can't, telling him that he'll have to trust her and to stop acting like a kit.
As the vision fades, Frostpaw realizes with horror and sadness that her mother had been using her all along. She brokenly asks Riverstar if Curlfeather is in the Dark Forest, to which he solemnly confirms, saying that she knew the consequences of what she did and was willing to accept them. Riverstar then reminds the apprentice that her mother's last action was to save her from the dogs, and Frostpaw wonders if Curlfeather really did love her despite what she had done. The apprentice then resolves to return to RiverClan and stop whatever scheme Splashtail is continuing. Once she returns home however, she finds that Splashtail has already been appointed as RiverClan's leader, and Podlight is the new medicine cat, which makes Frostpaw wonder if the latter is in on the plan as he is Curlfeather's brother.
Wind[]
In the prologue (which takes place before Reedwhisker's murder), Curlfeather takes Splashtail out of camp to talk to him, telling him the time has come to kill Reedwhisker so that she may become deputy, and after Mistystar's inevitable passing, eventually leader. Curlfeather had first approached Splashtail after a tumultuous Gathering (while he was still an apprentice), telling him that perhaps StarClan did not hold all the answers. She could tell the young tom already had a thirst for power. Splashtail asks Curlfeather how she will kill the deputy, and she replies that she won't, but Splashtail will, startling the tom. Curlfeather explains that Reedwhisker's death must appear as an accident, and there must be no suspicion cast onto her at all. When brown tabby hesitates, Curlfeather asks him if he wants the leadership in RiverClan to change, and he affirms it but states that he is unsure that he will be able to kill the deputy when the time comes. He is also secretly upset that Curlfeather will get the prize of leadership when he is the one who will do the hard work.
Curlfeather reveals to him that she pushed her Frostpaw into becoming a medicine cat because she will be able to convince her daughter to believe anything she needs to, providing signs from StarClan that Curlfeather is meant to become deputy. The pale-brown she-cat further explains that once she becomes deputy, she'll be able to assign an apprentice to Splashtail, so that he can become her deputy once Mistystar passes. She declares that they won't have to listen to StarClan again. Splashtail is disgusted by Curlfeather's hyprocrisy, as she rejects StarClan but will still receive their gift of nine lives. He realizes that if Curlfeather becomes leader, he will have to wait for her to die nine times, and he may never become leader. He decides then to kill Curlfeather before she receives her nine lives.
Back in the present, Frostpaw informs the Gathering of Curlfeather and Splashtail's plot. Unfortunately, her Clanmates are reluctant to believe her as she had previously admitted that her visions were fake. Duskfur questions Frostpaw, as she cannot believe that her daughter would do something like that. Even after revealing her vision of Riverstar, Duskfur still does not trust what her young kin is saying. Splashtail denies killing Reedwhisker or Curlfeather, or attempting to kill Frostpaw. However, he does admit that he knew that Curlfeather was manipulating others, and her own daughter.
He claims that he only found out shortly before Curlfeather's death, hearing her talk in her sleep. He states that he didn't confide in anyone as he was trying to find proof. Then after she died, he did not want to further add on to the Clan's sorrows by revealing her treachery and hurt her already grieving kin. He claims that Frostpaw has been too affected by her mother's manipulation to properly see reality, and says that Curlfeather killed Reedwhisker. Duskfur is not completely satisfied with this answer, and she asks the tom why he didn't speak out earlier. Splashtail lies and says that he was only pretending to be Curlfeather's ally.
When Podlight attends his first half-moon meeting, he claims that his littermate, Curlfeather, was the only one who did ruthless things to obtain leadership, enraging Frostpaw as both Splashtail and Curlfeather plotted together.
Star[]
To be added
Relationships[]
Family[]
- Duskfur (mother)
- Podlight (brother)
- Jayclaw (mate)
- Frostdawn (daughter)
- Graysky (son)
- Mistpool (daughter)
Trivia[]
- Author Kate Cary has said that she likes the idea of Reedwhisker being Duskfur's mate and the father of Curlfeather and Podlight, and even wrote it into her personal allegiance list.[1]
External links[]
- Curlfeather on the Warriors Wiki
References[]
- ↑ Thunder and Shadow Spoiler Page on Kate's blog
