Pouncetail (RC)

"For StarClan's sake, trust us to do this one last duty for our leader! Do you think we’ve lost the use of our legs?"

— Pouncetail to Mistyfoot when she offers get help for the elders to bury Leopardstar in Mistystar's Omen, chapter 2

Pouncetail (RC)
The pixel artwork is fanart based on the canon description; undefined traits are left to the artist's interpretation.
Affiliations
Current:	RiverClan
Names
Name:	Pouncepaw Pouncetail Pouncetail
Education
Mentor:	Reedwhisker
Book appearances
Living	The Sight, Dark River, Outcast, Eclipse, Long Shadows, Sunrise, The Fourth Apprentice, Fading Echoes, Night Whispers, Sign of the Moon, The Forgotten Warrior, Battles of the Clans, Hollyleaf's Story, The Last Hope. Mistystar's Omen
Living	The Sight, Dark River, Outcast, Eclipse, Long Shadows, Sunrise, The Fourth Apprentice, Fading Echoes, Night Whispers, Sign of the Moon, The Forgotten Warrior, Battles of the Clans, Hollyleaf's Story, The Last Hope. Mistystar's Omen

Pouncetail is a ginger-and-white tabby tom with a short tail.

History

In the Power of Three Arc

The Sight

Pouncepaw is a RiverClan apprentice mentored by Reedwhisker.

He is introduced by Minnowpaw to Lionpaw, along with Minnowpaw's brother, Pebblepaw. Pouncepaw asks what he thought of the island, and Lionpaw replies that it was great. Minnowpaw offers for them to show them around, but Lionpaw declines the offer.

He takes part in the Daylight Gathering, and Mistyfoot calls that nobody could beat him at catching fish. His reward is the right to choose the first piece of fresh-kill from the pile upon returning to camp. Leopardstar rewards him the right to eat the best fish for his hunting skills.

Dark River

While they fortify RiverClan camp against Twoleg kits, Pouncepaw and Minnowpaw are seen helping Reedwhisker and Voletooth shift stones to block the stream. When Hollypaw and Willowpaw attempt to go into RiverClan territory, Pouncepaw is seen racing behind his mentor, Reedwhisker, who is at the head of the patrol. Hollypaw soon realizes that Pouncepaw's, as well as the rest of the patrol's eyes are wide with terror, and believes that something is wrong.

After Pip appears, Pouncepaw, along with the patrol, are chased into WindClan territory, and is seen stepping closer to Minnowpaw. After being accused of trespassing onto WindClan territory, Pouncepaw is shown hopping forward, his tail flicking angrily and defends himself by replying that they would not eat rabbit if they were starving. However, the WindClan deputy, Ashfoot, tells them to get off their land, and Pouncepaw turns and pads uneasily with Pebblepaw past the WindClan cats.

Outcast

Outcast does not formally appear in The Blazing Star , but is listed in the allegiances. He is now a warrior, with the name Pouncetail.

Eclipse

Eclipse does not formally appear in The Blazing Star , but is listed in the allegiances.

Long Shadows

Long Shadows does not formally appear in The Blazing Star , but is listed in the allegiances.

Sunrise

Sunrise does not formally appear in The Blazing Star , but is listed in the allegiances.

In the Omen of the Stars Arc

The Fourth Apprentice

The Fourth Apprentice does not formally appear in The Blazing Star , but is listed in the allegiances. He is listed as an elder.

Fading Echoes

Fading Echoes does not formally appear in The Blazing Star , but is listed in the allegiances.

Night Whispers

He does not make any formal appearances, but when Dovepaw uses her powers to reach into RiverClan camp, she hears RiverClan's medicine cat, Mothwing, asking her apprentice, Willowshine, if she'd attended to Pouncetail's bedding.

Sign of the Moon

Sign of the Moon does not formally appear in The Blazing Star , but is listed in the allegiances.

The Forgotten Warrior

The Forgotten Warrior does not formally appear in The Blazing Star , but is listed in the allegiances.

The Last Hope

The Last Hope does not formally appear in The Blazing Star , but is listed in the allegiances.

In the Field Guide Arc

Battles of the Clans

He is seen at a Gathering, and shares a story about the great battle, when all the Clans fought on ThunderClan territory. It is noted by Dapplenose that Pouncetail is the only cat who brought honor to the Clans on that day.

Pouncetail and a patrol consisting of Blackclaw, Dawnflower and Reedwhisker invade ThunderClan territory in support of WindClan, planning to set up an ambush in the abandoned Twoleg nest. When they find ShadowClan cats there, Pouncetail and Reedwhisker attack them, and he attacks Whitetail, who was mistakenly shown as a ShadowClan warrior rather than one of WindClan, until she flees from him. When the patrol finds Spiderfoot hiding from the battle, they leave him for Pouncetail to deal with. Pouncetail makes him walk up a sloping piece of wood, but does not push him off it. He takes pity on Spiderfoot, and instead tells him to go back to his Clanmates and tell them never to underestimate RiverClan warriors again. Blackclaw is angry that he did not kill Spiderfoot, and Pouncetail reminds him that there would be no honor in doing that, and that the warrior code states that they needn't kill cats to achieve victory.

In the Short Stories and Plays

Ultimate Leader Election: Firestar

When Firestar is near on the ShadowClan border, he asks what was a RiverClan patrol doing there, and Pouncetail looks up at him with huge eyes. He asks him to help them, with fur stained red with blood, and his tail lies awkwardly as if it were snapped like a twig. Firestar gasps the warrior's name, and asks him what had happened. Pouncetail struggles to sit up, and explains that while the patrol was in ShadowClan territory, they were attacked. He adds that the patrol was split up, and they were chased to their border. Firestar asks if they were trespassing to begin with, and if there were others, and Pouncetail shifts sideways to reveal more of a dark brown shape behind him. Pouncetail confirms the cat's identity to be Otterheart while Firestar checks her, and asks if she was okay.

Not long after, Firestar encounters a ShadowClan patrol, led by Russetfur. Following some brief arguing, Firestar nods to Pouncetail, informing him to go to the other side of the bracken. Appearing perplexed, Pouncetail jumps through the dead ferns, and lands with a grunt of pain. Russetfur commands them to halt, stating that they were their prisoners, but Firestar replies that as they were on ThunderClan territory, they were therefore his prisoners. After Firestar threatens Russetfur, Pouncetail lets out a whimper, and the ShadowClan warriors look scornfully at him before they turn and vanish into the bushes. Afterwards, he then tells them that they were to get back to the hollow.

Soon, they arrive on the island, and when Firestar encounters Leopardstar, she asks where were her injured warriors. Firestar confirms that they were present, and feels Pouncetail and Otterheart brush past him. One of their clanmates, Pinefur is relieved to see them, and thanks StarClan that they were alive. Pouncetail replies to credit Leafpool, as well as Firestar, for giving them shelter while ShadowClan was on their tail.

During the vote that would decide who would lead the Clans during the harsh leaf-bare, Pouncetail votes in favor of Firestar to temporarily lead the Clans.

In the Novellas

Hollyleaf's Story

Hollyleaf's Story does not formally appear in The Blazing Star , but is listed in the allegiances.

Mistystar's Omen

He is is seen basking in the sunlight on a sandy slope with Dapplenose, tails twitching and eyes half-closed. Mistyfoot thinks that they had not missed a single moment of the events that morning. She informs them that they needed to find a place to bury Leopardstar. Dapplenose claims that she knew where to bury her, and Pouncetail gets to his paws more stiffly, stretching out each of his legs in turn.

Once they arrive, Mistyfoot asks if they will need any help doing the job. Pouncetail snorts, and asks her to trust them to do one last duty for their leader. He then asks if she thinks they've lost the use of their legs. Dapplenose tells Mistyfoot to ignore him, calling him a bad-tempered trout, but she agrees that they can manage by themselves.

Soon, they are alone with Leopardstar's corpse, and when Mistyfoot murmurs a prayer to her, Pouncetail rasps that he had not heard that for a long period of time - not since they lived in the forest. Mistysfoot explains that Graypool used to say it to Stonefur and she when they were to go to sleep, and Pouncetail sighs that he missed Stonefur. He then asks if she had much to forgive Leopardstar for, and Mistyfoot replies that she was a good leader for most of her life. When Mistyfoot asks Stonefur once more, all she hears is a muffled snore from Pouncetail, who sleeps beside her.

When Mistystar offers to get Grasspelt to make the apprentices help, Pouncetail grumbles that he would be lucky, and gets out from outside the elders' den. He adds that their bedding was supposed to be changed that day, but there was no sign of any apprentices. Pebblefoot then recalls that he told Rushpaw and Hollowpaw to do so earlier before battle practice. Pouncetail then grunts that he would have to check their hearing.

Hollowpaw then states that they were collecting fresh bedding, and Pouncetail prods the dusty moss with his paw, asking where they were doing it, and if it was from another cat's manky nest. Robinwing states that they could use what he had collected, and they begin to claw out Pouncetail's and Dapplenose's old bedding, and replace it with Robinwing's fresh supply.

Trivia

• He has been mistakenly described as a brown tabby she-cat.
• In Mistystar's Omen, Pouncetail states that he still misses Stonefur. However, it's highly unlikely that he even knew Stonefur, as the former deputy was killed three years before Pouncetail was introduced as an apprentice in The Sight.
• In Battle of the Clans, Pouncetail insults RiverClan even though he belongs to RiverClan.

Character Pixels

The pixel artwork is fanart based on the canon description; undefined traits are left to the artist's interpretation. Apprentice Version Alternative Apprentice Version Warrior Version Elder Version

Quotes

"We wouldn't eat rabbit if we were starving!"

―Pouncepaw trying to defend himself from trespassing ^{Dark River}

Pouncetail: "Help us, please."

Firestar: "Pouncetail! What in the name of StarClan has happened?"

^{The Clans Decide}

Mistyfoot: "It's perfect. Are you able to dig the hole, or should I fetch some help?"

Pouncetail: "For StarClan's sake, trust us to do this one last duty for our leader! Do you think we’ve lost the use of our legs?"

^{Mistystar's Omen}