Warriors Ultimate Clan Leader: The Clans Decide is a short story written by Vicky Holmes which takes place roughly around the events of Long Shadows or Sunrise, but is not strongly canon as it doesn't truly fit in with the seasons and events of the books.
In order to teach young Warrior Cats fans about voting, around the time of the 2008 U.S. Presidential elections, the series' official website created a small subsite which had information about voting, and which ran a poll for several weeks, narrowing down several Clan leaders to find out who the fan favorite was. In the final round, Firestar beat Crookedstar. The winner of the poll was to have a story written about them (involving voting) to be released in January 2009 when Barack Obama took office. The PDF file can be found on the Wayback Machine here
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This story takes place roughly around Sunrise. Firestar is hunting on the ShadowClan border, and he's discovered some kind of prey. But it turns out to not be prey - it's the RiverClan cat Pouncetail, who appears to be badly hurt. He explains that they'd been hunting in ShadowClan territory, caught, and chased to the border. When Firestar asks for what he means by "we", he realizes that Otterheart is lying on the ground next to Pouncetail, nearly dead. The two are about to take Otterheart back to the ThunderClan camp, but they're interrupted by a ShadowClan patrol consisting of Russetfur, Rowanclaw, and Smokefoot. They insist that the RiverClan cats are their prisoners, but Firestar points out that since they're on ThunderClan territory, they're his prisoners now, and he decides that this leaf-bare's been too difficult, they need to work together to figure out how to get through it. He plans to call a Gathering before the next full moon.
At the Gathering, Pouncetail and Otterheart are returned to their Clanmates. All the cats in attendance are starving thanks to the hard leaf-bare. Firestar speaks to all the Clans, explaining that if they keep attacking each other and trying to steal prey, they'll only make themselves weaker. The Clans argue about it, and Firestar's just so frustrated he starts to leave, until Mosspelt of RiverClan urges him to go back. Even though the moon is not full, when Firestar returns, the stars shine brightly, and the Clans take it as a sign that StarClan approves of the Gathering.
The cats continue to discuss whether to help each other or not. Some cats consider it right to share any leftovers they do not need. Others do not wish to give other Clans an advantage. Some don't think they should listen to a kittypet. Jayfeather steps in, announcing that they should have a vote - he claims he's seen it done in dreams he's shared with StarClan. Jayfeather explains that each cat can put a stone in a pile to represent their choice: one will be for each Clan to follow their own leaders, the other will be for all the Clans to follow Firestar. Firestar is a bit surprised, but Sandstorm points out that if they choose to follow him, he'll be able to keep peace until the cold passes.
The cats begin to vote. All of ShadowClan votes against Firestar, except for Rowanclaw, Snowbird, and Tawnypelt. RiverClan votes unanimously for Firestar, except for Leopardstar, who feels hurt that her cats do not trust her judgement. Mistyfoot replies that they only want a chance for peace and recovery; it has nothing to do with Leopardstar. WindClan's vote is more mixed: Tornear, Nightcloud, and even Ashfoot are noted as voting against Firestar, while Onestar votes for his old friend. ThunderClan's vote is also mixed: many cats support Firestar's idea, but others show their loyalty by saying that he's their leader and nobody else's.
The medicine cats count the vote. Firestar wins.
Firestar lays out his plan: there will be no patrols between the Clans. Each quarter moon, the Clans will meet at the island to share leftover prey with those who need it. And when the first green bud appears on ThunderClan's trees, there will be four Clans again. Together, they came to the lake; together, they will survive.
Tropes appearing in this story:
- Audience Participation: The story is the result of a poll held on the official site where readers would vote on their favorite Clan leader and the winning character would have a story written about them.
- Blood from the Mouth: Blood comes out of an injured she-cat's mouth as she tries to speak. She gets better, but she is near death at this point.
- Election Day Episode: The event that led up to this story was meant to teach children about voting, with the story itself involving some sort of vote. Ultimately it was Firestar that won the fan vote; the story focuses on the Clans deciding to work together to survive a harsh winter and voting on whether Firestar should temporarily lead them all.
