the lost warrior

Graystripe watches on, seeing his home destroyed by Twoleg monsters. He leads an attack to rescue his clanmates - resulting in getting caught.

Graystripe remembers the first time he met Firestar, and how they became best friends almost immediately. He remembers the prophecy about fire saving their clan. Suddenly Firestar isn't there anymore. Graystripe looks and looks but he is gone. He wakes up inside a twoleg nest. He longs for the forest, but as the days go by he slowly becomes accustomed to his kittypet life. This upsets him even more and he feels so lost. He manages to sneak out one day but he has lost his sense of direction, and the sights and sounds are overwhelming. Scared, he runs back into nest.

He keeps sneaking out, trying to learn the terrain and the dangers. He catches himself chasing a butterfly one day, like a kit, and is upset with himself. He runs into a kittypet named Duke who beats him in battle. He feels even worse, wondering if he is losing his warrior skills. He meets Millie right after his fight with Duke. She takes him back home, much to his embarrassment since he couldn't find his own way. He dreams of Silverstream and Feathertail, who tell him that they will always be with him.

He goes looking for Millie again but cannot find her. A few days later she finds him, telling him that she was away on vacation with her Twolegs. She takes him to a surprise, which is a patch of trees. There he teaches her how to catch her own prey and how to fight. One day Duke and some other cats show up, looking to drive Graystripe and Millie out of the trees. On Graystripe's insistence they stand their ground and defeat Duke and his friends. Duke runs off, shocked that Graystripe would use attacks that could kill. Millie tells Graystripe that he should go back to his clan, where he will be happy. Angry he tells her that is not an option and leaves.

That night he dreams of Silverstream who tells him to take Millie and go back to ThunderClan. He asks Millie to go with him but she is unsure so he leaves alone. Millie goes back home, wondering if she made the right choice. Graystripe wanders for days and ends up sick and hiding. He dreams of StarClan and his friends, asking them where they have gone. Millie finds him and calls out to him, but when he wakes up he mistakes her for Silverstream. Millie cares for him and he gets better. She tells him she is leaving with him. She asks him who Silverstream is. Graystripe admits that she is his mate and that he still loves her, but she is with StarClan now, and Millie is here with him. Together they leave Twoleg Place and head for the unknown.

So I will admit that from day one Graystripe has never been my favorite. That is not to say that I hate his character - that is certainly not true - just that there are many characters that I like more then him. I enjoyed this story, which surprised me. Graystripe is far moodier and brooding then I ever imagined him to be, but that is actually a good thing. It adds extra dimension to his character and allows him to grow outside of Firestar's shadow, which is a good thing. And I can feel for Graystripe in this story. His longing to go home, unable to find the forest, the knowledge that it probably isn't there anymore, the fear of no longer being a warrior - all of this is understandable and almost crushing to live with. Yet despite it all he tries to find happiness with his situation, discovers Millie, and resolves to return home. Overall I really enjoyed this story and look forward to the next one.