In the prologue, we see Splashtail’s POV from the start of River. He and Curlfeather plot the death of Reedwhisker and agree that RiverClan should stop following StarClan, and he decides that he wants to be leader instead of relying on her to name him deputy and wait for her to die nine times.
At the Gathering where the last book ended - with Splashtail claiming that he's RiverClan's new leader - Frostpaw confronts him, and he denies her allegations. The Clans decide to leave things as they are for now, and Frostpaw is allowed to stay with ShadowClan after Splashtail kicks her out. Nightheart and Sunbeam reunite, and the park cats Wasp and Waffle are allowed to stay as guests in ThunderClan. During a border patrol, Sunbeam learns from some WindClan cats that her exiled family's been spotted nearby - and that her mother Berryheart is injured.
Frostpaw decides to spy on RiverClan and finds Splashtail training them for battle, claiming that’s more important than going to get his nine lives. Nightheart and Sunbeam take Wasp and Waffle hunting. Sunbeam wants to check on her family, and Nightheart convinces her to get Squirrelstar’s permission. She goes, and Berryheart’s even more resentful than before but refuses to get medical help from the Clans, or the horseplace cats like Frostpaw had.
Frostpaw goes to the Moonpool with the other medicine cats for the half-moon meeting. Podlight - Splashtail's "medicine cat" - claims to see StarClan, while Frostpaw has a vision of a river disappearing and fears that it'll mean RiverClan will disappear. Nightheart goes with Squirrelstar to visit Frostpaw in ShadowClan. Sunbeam steals some herbs for her mother, but gets caught by WindClan on the way back and has to stay the night.
That same night, Frostpaw expects Splashtail to try to get his nine lives, and so she gets Puddleshine to come along as a witness. Sure enough, he and Podlight show up and discuss their treachery (such as how long they should wait to make it look real), making it clear to Puddleshine that Frostpaw’s telling the truth - especially after Riverstar appears to the pair of medicine cats. Tigerstar reports this to SkyClan (who apparently kicked him out) and ThunderClan (Squirrelstar believes him). Sunbeam is punished by being confined to camp: she sends Nightheart to help her family in her place, but they don’t show up.
The Clans attend the next Gathering. Frostpaw, Puddleshine, and Tigerstar announce what actually happened at the Moonpool, but Splash"star" points out that the cats speaking against him are from the Clan that invaded his. SkyClan, WindClan, and RiverClan support Splashtail (who has chosen Harelight as his deputy), so, outnumbered, there's nothing the remaining two Clans can do. Duskfur and Icewing tell Frostpaw afterward, however, that they'll work on convincing other RiverClanners. Frostpaw then has a vision of WindClan in trouble.
Waffle decides to stay in ThunderClan, and is apprenticed alongside Bristlekit, Stemkit, and Graykit, with Nightheart as his mentor. (Wasp tries going to RiverClan, but after being attacked there decides that the warrior life isn't for him.) A storm comes up, and Frostpaw tells WindClan that she's had a vision that their nursery's in danger from a tree falling on it. They don’t really believe her but listen just in case, and sure enough, it happens. Sunbeam rescues the one kit they weren’t able to get out in time, and Kestrelflight and Harestar tell Frostpaw that they believe her now.
Nightheart, Sunbeam, and Frostpaw sneak onto RiverClan territory, where they learn that Mothwing, Duskfur, and Icewing have left the Clan overnight. Sunbeam's exiled family also members had sought help and have been welcomed into the Clan. Harelight questions Splashtail, and Splashtail responds by killing him. He declares that RiverClan will no longer follow StarClan, and makes Berryheart his new deputy. RiverClan is horrified, but too afraid to speak out. The book ends with Frostpaw vowing to fight to save her Clan.
Tropes appearing in this book:
- Animal Assassin: Splashtail lured dogs to Curlfeather so that they'd kill her.
- Call-Back: A tree falls into the WindClan camp, like what happened to ThunderClan in Fading Echoes. Fortunately, there are no deaths this time.
- Cassandra Truth: Frostpaw tries to convince RiverClan that Splashtail killed Reedwhisker. However, the Clan is skeptical of believing her due to lying about her visions in the past. Some cats - like Mothwing, Harelight, and Icewing - believe her.
- Deceased Fall-Guy Gambit: Splashtail claims that Curlfeather - who he secretly killed - was the one that murdered Reedwhisker in an attempt to claim leadership.
- Ensemble Cast: A Starless Clan features three protagonists: Nightheart, Frostpaw, and Sunbeam.
- Exact Words: Squirrelstar tells Sunbeam that getting caught crossing WindClan would be a bad thing (emphasis hers), which Sunbeam takes to mean (especially considering Brambleclaw's snort of amusement) that Squirrelstar can't explicitly give permission but that she's hinting that it's ok as long as Sunbeam doesn't get caught.
- The Exile:
- Sunbeam's parents are in exile after trying to depose Tigerstar in the previous book.
- In the first chapter, Splashtail announces that Frostpaw is no longer welcome in RiverClan, so she's forced to take refuge in another Clan.
- Hypocrite: Tigerstar reacts in mock surprise when Squirrelstar doesn't want ThunderClan jumping in to interfere in another Clan's business. Yet he's been guilty of doing exactly that over most of the arc.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: The books in this arc are each named after one of the Clans: River, Sky, Shadow, Thunder, Wind, Star.
- Immediate Sequel: Chapter 1 picks up immediately where the previous book ended, with Frostpaw and Nightheart watching Splashtail declare himself the new leader of RiverClan.
- Leader Wannabe: In the prologue, Curlfeather discusses her plot with Splashtail about how she wants to be leader, and by the end of the prologue, Splashtail decides that he'd rather be leader.
- Master Actor: At the Gathering at the start of the book, Splashtail puts on an act of being sympathetic for Frostpaw and regretful at Curlfeather's treachery. Frostpaw is devastated at how convincing it is.
- Meaningful Rename: Splashtail calls himself Splashstar after going to the Moonpool and pretending to have received his nine lives. The cats who know he's no true leader, however, continue to call him Splashtail.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: Splashtail kills Frostpaw's warrior mentor, Harelight, and she's devastated that it was him of all cats who had to die.
- The Mutiny: Discussed. Several of the leaders believe Frostpaw and agree that Splashtail should be stopped, but due to the fact that Splashtail still has many supporters, and ShadowClan trying to get involved previously turned out terribly for everyone, they ultimately decide that if he's to be ousted, it needs to happen within RiverClan first.
- Nepotism: Honeyfur accuses Nightheart of having an apprentice at a young age because he's Firestar's great-grandson, ignoring that she's descended from Cloudtail, Firestar's nephew. Squirrelstar tells her off for that, saying that Nightheart is forging his own legacy regardless of his lineage.
- One-Word Title: Wind.
- Rage Against the Heavens: Curlfeather blamed StarClan for "taking" her mate from her and wanted the Clan to abandon their ancestors due to this.
- Rouge Angles of Satin: Wafflepaw is male, but in one scene after he answers Nightheart's question, it says "Nightheart told her" when responding to Wafflepaw.
- Series Continuity Error: Mothwing says, "You've just seen how he's training our Clanmates for battle, and I'm afraid of what comes next. I've seen it before, when the first Tigerstar led ShadowClan: The whole forest was caught up in war." Mothwing did not see the first Tigerstar leading ShadowClan: she was born outside the Clans around the time he died and didn't join RiverClan or know about Tigerstar until moons after his death.
- Slashed Throat: Splashtail kills Harelight this way. It happens so fast that there's nothing anyone can do to save him.
- Sneaky Departure: Duskfur, Icewing, and Mothwing sneak away from RiverClan in the middle of the night.
- The Starscream: Curlfeather and Splashtail plot to arrange Reedwhisker's death so that they can be leader and deputy. Splashtail isn't happy about getting deputyship as a consolation prize and arranges for the pack of dogs to maul Curlfeather to death in River.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Starling is Berryheart's favorite, and Sunbeam thinks of her when she catches one.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: Splashtail's leadership begins by exiling Frostpaw (who, depending on his Clanmates' point of view, is either telling the truth or is in a confused, shattered mental state from all the trauma she's experienced throughout her life), escalates to violent battle training and planning to attack at least one other Clan, declaring that those who left will be killed when caught, and then finally murdering his own deputy in front of the whole Clan. At this point they're too terrified to oppose him.
- Vagueness Is Coming: Frostpaw has a vision of a shadow falling over the river and it disappearing into the earth. It's not clear what it means, aside from RiverClan probably being in danger of disappearing. One of the other medicine cats suggests that the shadow means that Frostpaw, who's currently sheltering in ShadowClan, is the danger, though Jayfeather finds that unlikely.
- Villain Opening Scene: The prologue shows Splashtail and Curlfeather plotting Reedwhisker's death, and Splashtail deciding to betray Curlfeather.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Splashtail is a murderer, but from his Clanmates' point of view he's always been a loyal and honorable warrior. Not only do his Clanmates find it hard to believe Frostpaw's accusations, but many cats from the other Clans do as well.
- While You Were in Diapers: After Splashtail declares that Mothwing, Duskfur, and Icewing are to be killed for betraying (leaving) RiverClan Harelight calmly points out that the three have been loyal RiverClan cats for a long time - before Splashtail was even born - and probably can be reasoned with. Splashtail does not agree with being questioned.
- Young and in Charge: Splashtail, one of the youngest warriors in the Clan, has made himself leader of the Clan.
