Firestar is the leader of ThunderClan, succeeding the former leader,
Bluestar, when she drowned saving ThunderClan from a pack of wild dogs. As he receives his nine lives at the Moonstone, StarClan gives him a prophecy: "Four will become two, lion and tiger will meet in battle, and blood will rule the forest." Firestar chooses Whitestorm, a senior warrior who is well admired and respected, as his deputy. During the next Gathering, Tigerstar, ShadowClan's treacherous leader, tries to unite all the clans as one, claiming that they would be stronger together. Leopardstar, RiverClan's leader, has already agreed, but
Tallstar, leader of WindClan, and Firestar both refuse to join this alliance, which Tigerstar has named "TigerClan", after a mythical ancient Clan. Later,
Graystripe asks Firestar if he can quickly check on his kits in TigerClan. Firestar agrees, and he and Graystripe, accompanied by Ravenpaw, their old friend, all sneak into TigerClan territory. In TigerClan territory, they find Stormpaw and Featherpaw, Graystripe's kits, along with
Mistyfoot and
Stonefur, Bluestar's kits, being held as prisoners in TigerClan. The three friends rescue Stormpaw, Featherpaw and Mistyfoot, but Stonefur is killed by two ShadowClan warriors. In an attempt to force Firestar and Tallstar into joining his clan, Tigerstar introduces BloodClan, a group of rogue cats who live in alleys in Twoleg (human) territory. When ThunderClan and WindClan's leaders still do not agree, Tigerstar orders BloodClan to fight for him, though the cats do not, for they take orders only from their leader, Scourge. Firestar then reveals the treachery Tigerstar has done, killing ThunderClan's former deputy, Redtail, for power. Scourge then says that there will be no battle. Tigerstar, enraged, attacks Scourge, but Scourge kills him easily by slicing him from chin to tail with his claws, causing Tigerstar to lose all nine of his lives. Scourge then warns the clans that they have three days to leave the forest, or else BloodClan will fight with them. In response, the clans unite as one and form an alliance called LionClan to face this threat. During the battle, Whitestorm is killed by Bone, BloodClan's second in command, but Bone is killed soon afterwards by a group of Clan apprentices. Graystripe becomes the new deputy of ThunderClan. The battle is won when Firestar kills Scourge, though he loses one of his own nine lives in the process. Without their leader, BloodClan scatters. With the threat of BloodClan gone, the four Clans dissolve their alliance and become independent from one another once more. ==Publication history==