be it her parents: Brightheart and Cloudtail, her kits, Dovewing and Ivypool, or even her

mate Birchfall, and the narrative honestly doesn't help that much.

She is often left out of stories that she should be involved in, or entirely forgotten

and thrown into the background once her family is out of the spotlight.

But what is her life really like, and is there something more interesting to her story?

Well, yes.

Of course there is.

Let me explain.

Even as a new apprentice she is close with her parents.

She still regularly goes hunting and does little duties with them, and they share easy

affection with each other.

Whitewing is one of the rare confirmed only-children in the series, so this level of intimacy with

her parents is really nice to see.

She doesn't have siblings to spend her time with throughout her apprenticeship, so she

doesn't grow away from them as quickly as many other cats do.

This relationship is put in even more focus when both of her parents are kidnapped by

twolegs, and Thunderclan was left to assume they had left on their own.

But they never would have left Whitepaw behind, which is why the young she-cat spends the

rest of the book searching for them, and asking her mentor, Brackenfur, to help.

Her parents aren't her only connections though, even this early in her journey.

She and Brackenfur have a good relationship.

He is proud of her progress and she is comfortable going to him for assistance and advice, and

simply to spend time together.

She's friendly with the other apprentices in her generation too: Spiderpaw and Shrewpaw,

the latter of whom she sits vigil for when he dies, something reserved for a cat's

closest connections.

Squirrelpaw, for instance, did not sit with Shrewpaw, despite the fandom's belief that

they were friends before he died.

She also spends plenty of time with Spiderpaw after that, going with him to ask Brambleclaw

and Squirrelpaw about their journey, in her case because she wanted to be prepared for

what lay ahead for them.

Side note, considering Spiderpaw eventually grows to be friends with Thornclaw and Ashfur

instead, and becomes one of the most aggressive and outspoken aggravators in the clan, it

would be interesting to think about where that transition happened, and what Whitewing

and Spiderleg's relationship was later in life.

Perhaps I'll touch more on that if I ever do a video on Spiderleg.

But in Whitepaw's case, she is, by all accounts, a model apprentice with a steady and good

life, save for the brief kidnapping of her parents.

However, with Shrewpaw dead and Squirrelflight and Spiderleg both becoming warriors, Whitepaw

was left as the only apprentice in the den, and became overworked from having to do all

the duties in the new camp.

Some of the younger warriors are recruited to help, and they complain about it.

Even with Brackenfur and Mousefur both scolding them for this and asking them to think about

how Whitepaw feels, it is clear that being forced to do these duties after their promotions

is something they consider a burden or punishment.

Whitepaw herself is embarrassed to have attention in this way, which I believe could easily

come from a mixture of feelings.

Having her mentor and even a cranky elder recognizing and being proud of her work ethic

is something she is clearly happy about, as seen in her joy and excitement whenever Brackenfur

praises her in training.

But I would imagine that cats who are being forced to work because of you in a way they

find demeaning are not easy to be friends with, so there could also be levels of discomfort

or even resentment behind that embarrassment.

This is, of course, just a headcanon conclusion, but I would say it fits well with her behavior

around the situation.

Because naturally, being overworked is not the only result of Whitepaw being alone in

the apprentice den.

She is also quite lonely, becoming noticeably more eager to become a warrior as soon as

possible and spending more time by herself, quietly.

Everyone else moved on without her, and she is determined to catch up so she can have

cats her age to talk to again.

But, something happens that changes her whole attitude.

Birchkit, now another only kit after his siblings all died, becomes an apprentice alongside

her.

Instantly, even as early as his apprentice ceremony, she takes him in and becomes his

closest friend as they constantly ask to train together and spend time together outside of

training as well.

This also coincided with the period where her parents were arguing over Cloudtail becoming

too close to Daisy, so with Brightheart trying to keep her daughter away from Cloudtail and

Whitepaw being upset and uncomfortable with the whole situation, she spent even more time

with Birchpaw than she would have otherwise.

However, her period of loneliness, her parents' feud, and the badger attack which threatened

her life and took another's left her far more hesitant and worried.

She is clearly more fearful than she has ever been before, alert for any sound as she has

become far more aware of the danger inherent to their lives.

For a cat who, to this point, had lived a relatively happy, smooth, and successful life,

being hit with so many tragedies and violence and trouble in her relationships in such a

short time was very stressful to her.

And if anything, I would say it made her closer to Birchpaw, as he was the only worry-free

element of her life at the time.

As for why I would conclude this, it's because, between The New Prophecy and Power of Three,

both Whitewing and Birchfall became warriors, together.

Whitewing decided to delay her warrior ceremony, likely by a couple moons, until she and Birchfall

could become warriors together.

Becoming a warrior, having all of her successes come to fruition and joining her old friends

in the warriors' den, was what she had longed for for a long time.

But had she done that, Birchpaw would have been left in the apprentice den alone, in

the same position she had been in.

So, despite being more than ready to become a warrior, she waited for him.

By the time we see her as a warrior, she is more confident and outgoing than before, spending

some casual time with Spiderleg, along with his new friends Thornclaw and Ashfur.

This is also about the time where she gets her first apprentice: Icepaw.

Birchfall actually speaks out against this, saying he would be just as good of a mentor

as she would, something that Sandstorm immediately shoots down as she reminds him of her competence,

and what she sacrificed so he wouldn't be alone.

I personally read his outburst as a symptom of his own insecurities, as, especially compared

to Whitewing, he really *isn't* as talented of a warrior.

But in addition, since becoming warriors Whitewing has spent far more time with her old friends

than him, leaving him to flounder and join up with Berrynose when he had become used

to always having Whitewing at his side.

However, over the course of the next couple moons, and Whitewing settling into being a

mentor, Birchfall mellows out and they become close again, frequently sharing tongues with

each other.

Soon enough, it is confirmed that they will in fact have kits together.

The transition between Birchfall being jealous and resentful of her success and he and Whitewing

getting along enough to have kits is one that mostly takes place offscreen, but how exactly

it happened is interesting to think about.

Given how calm and understanding Whitewing is, and how well she came to know and trust

Birchfall, I would imagine that she came to him in private, and that they talked it over.

She would explain how, even if she is somehow more talented than him, it doesn't matter

to her.

She likes Birchfall because of who he is, not what he can do.

At that point, they could reconcile and come to a balance where Whitewing spends equal

time with Birchfall, Icepaw, and her other friends.

By the end of Power of Three, she's grown a good reputation throughout the clan, with

several different groups of normally antagonistic cats, from the elders and queens to various

different warriors, thinking fondly of her and respecting her talents.

Counting through to the present she's had three apprentices: Icecloud, and later Cherryfall

and Dewnose, and did well in training all of them.

Dovekit and Ivykit are born to a strong and valued mother, and also their father whose

biggest claim to fame is having Whitewing as his mate.

Here we enter what is probably the most well-known chapter of Whitewing's life, but not because

of her own actions.

Instead, it is because both of her daughters are now main characters, and she gets to be

in the story through her interactions with them.

She is a supportive mother, standing up for, encouraging, and comforting her kits whenever

they need it.

But Ivypaw and Dovepaw don't seem to need her as much as she needed Brightheart and

Cloudtail; they have each other, and the large number of other apprentices in the den with

them.

Whitewing does her best to encourage them to develop their own social lives with their

peers, likely as a result of knowing how much she appreciated having friends her age, but

always stops to help them when they are in distress or trouble.

Of course, there was a huge portion of their lives, and Birchfall's, that she was never

told about.

Dovewing was a part of a clan-saving prophecy and had magic powers that others desperately

wanted to use and both Ivypool and Birchfall were recruited to train in the Dark Forest.

In the case of Ivypool we know it was because of her jealousy over her sister's attention,

but as a headcanon, I think Birchfall was recruited at least partially over his lack

of self-esteem when comparing himself to his mate.

Having such a successful and put-together family member might have actually made the

three cats less willing to come to her with their problems, when they all truly wanted

to find success like her's on their own.

After the Dark Forest battle ended, Dovewing was willing to confide in her and Whitewing

had difficulty processing everything, but was there to help her daughter through guilt

and grief she held.

However, the baggage Ivypool and Birchfall carried was never brought up to her, at least

on the page.

Imagining what those conversations could have been like and what their relationships could

have evolved to become post-Dark Forest is one of the more interesting headcanon jobs

of someone working to flesh out Whitewing.

Since Omen of the Stars ended, like many cats, she mostly faded into the background, with

only a couple of interesting moments to mark what she might be going through.

In A Vision of Shadows and The Broken Code, she continues her trend of being a respected

and compassionate warrior, being one of the most senior warriors in the clan, she feels

comfortable putting forward an idea to attack the Kin by letting Riverclan hide in the water

ahead of time, and a request that Squirrelflight go to the Moonpool and claim her place as

leader once Bramblestar turns up dead.

When Dovewing comes back with her half-clan kits, Whitewing isn't concerned with her

choosing to leave Thunderclan like Ivypool was, only happy that her daughter was safe

and finding her place.

This seems like it would place Whitewing and Dovewing in opposition to Ivypool once again,

in a personal conflict that hasn't been resolved to this day.

And in the case of Birchfall, Whitewing does once publicly disagree with him over whether

or not to help Skyrclan, though she does shoot him an apologetic glance afterwards.

This could be an indication of how they learned to deal with their dynamics in the clan, but

if any of Birchfall's jealousy remains, this could be another spark to light a fire.

While Whitewing is, by and large, an extremely well respected figure in Thunderclan, the

rifts in her personal life have never fully mended.

I doubt she'll ever get focus in the canon material again, so it seems like we lovers

of headcanon have a lot of work to do, and, thankfully, plenty of guidelines to jump off

from.

Even with what we already have of her though, I can't help but love Whitewing, who finds

work so easy and relationships so fraught with difficulty.

I hope you can learn to enjoy her as well.

Thank you for watching, and always remember that talent in some area does not determine

your worth as a person.