Sasha

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

"Tigerstar's death hurts me. It feels as if a part of me just died with him. And yet...I'm relieved, too. I don't have to lie to myself anymore. Pretend I didn't love him with all my heart. That was so hard...and now I can just remember. Remember how kind and brave he was. And how much he taught me. Oh, Tigerstar...I'll miss you. Always."

— Sasha contemplating Tigerstar's death in Return to the Clans, page 25

Sasha is a sleek-furred,^[7] tawny-colored she-cat^[8] with bright blue eyes,^[9] and a dark tail and ears.^[10]

History

In the New Prophecy Arc

Midnight

At a Gathering, Leopardstar tells the Clans that Sasha was a rogue who RiverClan took in for a while. When it is time for her to leave the Clans, she decides to let her kits, Mothpaw and Hawkpaw, now Mothwing and Hawkfrost, stay with RiverClan, and visits them once in a while.

Moonrise

Leafpaw assumes that Sasha's mate was Tigerstar. She asks Mothwing if Tigerstar fathered Mothwing and Hawkfrost, and she replies that he did.

Dawn

When the cats captured by the Twolegs are conversing with each other, she is seen in a cage as a Twoleg puts it on top of Cloudtail's cage and then leaves. Mistyfoot recognizes Sasha and asks if she is okay. Leafpaw remembers hearing about Sasha and her kits. Cody says that she will need time to recover but Sasha lashes out angrily and shows anger toward the Twolegs. She explains to Mistyfoot that she was in the forest to see her kits, because she knew the Twolegs were destroying everything. Sasha is relieved when she hears that her kits are safe.

When Leafpaw explains to Cody that Sasha is a rogue, Sasha shows anger toward Cody and talks bluntly to her about being a kittypet. She asks them if they have found a way to escape from the cages, and when Leafpaw says StarClan hasn't sent a message, Sasha reacts with scorn. She is later seen talking with the other cats about what might happen to them if they don't escape. Sasha is rescued by the ThunderClan cats along with the other cats in the cages.

She later meets Firestar for the first time, who was leading a ThunderClan patrol near the Riverclan border. The two cats are cool to each other, trading comments on loyalty and birthrights. Firestar later guesses correctly in a private comment to Sasha that Tigerstar was Hawkfrost's and Mothwing's father. Sasha doesn't seem bothered by the question and confirms that he is.

Later, when the Clans are leaving to go on the Great Journey, they run into Sasha again and she asks for Hawkfrost and Mothwing to go with her. Mothwing is unsure and Leafpaw tries to convince the two of them not to leave. Sasha then reveals to the Clans that Tigerstar was their father, and RiverClan is shocked. Hawkfrost shows great loyalty to RiverClan, as does Mothwing. Sasha says goodbye to them sadly and wishes them luck on their journey.

In the Field Guide Arc

The Ultimate Guide

Sasha is briefly mentioned on her son’s Hawkfrost’s page. Sasha strayed into ThunderClan territory shortly after Tigerstar became leader. She gave birth to Hawkfrost, Mothwing and Tadpole alone in the forest and tried to raise them in abandoned Twoleg dens. After losing Tadpole and almost losing Mothwing and Hawkfrost to a flood, Sasha brought her remaining kits to RiverClan. She found that Clan life didn’t suit her but she left her kits there, hoping for a better chance of life for them. She came back for them when twolegs came to the clans’ territory and forcing them out but Hawkfrost and Mothwing were already grown up and loyal to the warrior code.

In the Tigerstar and Sasha Arc

Into the Woods

Sasha is first seen running after a car that her remaining housefolk is in. It is said that she was a kittypet before becoming a rogue and her owners were two Twolegs named Ken and Jean. It is also said that they had to leave her because Ken was being sent to a nursing home following the death of his wife. Sasha doesn't want to go back to her Twoleg nest, even though another Twoleg comes to take care of her. She decides to leave Twolegplace and finds herself a den to live in, and sleeps there that night. While hunting the next morning, she meets a rogue named Pine and he tells her about the Clan cats that live past a crooked tree. Pine also helps Sasha get rid of her collar, and she doesn't try to stop him, though she almost wishes she had. She keeps the collar in the den with her while she sleeps that night.

That night, Sasha finds the crooked tree, and goes to sleep on one of its branches. When she wakes, she sees a ShadowClan patrol consisting of Jaggedtooth, Rowanpaw, and Tigerstar, who Sasha remembers especially. The next day, she finds the patrol again. Rowanpaw attempts to catch a frog, but the frog instead is caught by Sasha. Tigerstar sends his patrol away and tells Sasha that the next time she gets caught in ShadowClan territory he would let his warriors rip her fur. Sasha listens as he tells her about the Clans, and is very interested. Tigerstar then leaves to go back to the ShadowClan camp, and Sasha goes back to her den, still thinking about him.

Another day, when she is hunting a rabbit, she meets up with Tigerstar again. The two then decide to meet every night, and Tigerstar starts teaching Sasha how to hunt. One night, foxes try to attack them, but Tigerstar chases them off. When Sasha goes to meet him again, he doesn't come, and she begins to get worried. She later discovers that Tigerstar had gone into Sasha's den and had seen her collar. He tells her to get rid of it, but she refuses. He then walks back to his camp, turning to say that no cat would believe it if they thought he was talking to a kittypet. The next day, she catches a pigeon and leaves it by the crooked tree to show Tigerstar that kittypets can hunt. However, the foxes come and attack Sasha, and Tigerstar turns up to help her defeat them. He is badly injured so Sasha takes him to her den. He then tells her that she isn't like any kittypet he had ever met before.

They soon start meeting again, and Sasha decides to show Tigerstar the house she grew up in, explaining a little about her life in Twolegplace to him. He doesn't seem to care, and tells her that her old kittypet life shouldn't matter to her anymore. Sasha then sees her old kittypet friend, Shnuky. When Shnuky sees Tigerstar, she becomes very scared. Tigerstar leaps to the top of a fence, saying he isn't interested in kittypet talk. After he leaves, Shnuky tells Sasha she can tell that she loves Tigerstar. Sasha replies that she is lonely without her housefolk, but Shnuky tells her that housecats and Clan cats don't mix. Sasha and Tigerstar then head back into the forest.

The next morning, Tigerstar takes Sasha to the ShadowClan camp, and shows her around. All the cats there are quite friendly to her, even to the extent of inviting her to share fresh-kill with them. Tigerstar then invites her to go on a patrol with Russetfur, Blackfoot, Jaggedtooth, and Rowanpaw. She and Russetfur soon become very good friends. When they go on another patrol the next day, two ThunderClan cats are found on ShadowClan territory. Tigerstar frightens them off, but before they leave, they call Tigerstar a traitor, and that he would pay for what he did to ThunderClan. Sasha is confused by this, so Tigerstar explains a little about his past in ThunderClan. However, he leaves out the details about murdering Redtail, only telling her that he was driven out by Bluestar, who, according to him, is weak, nervous, and afraid of his strength. Tigerstar then asks her if she would join ShadowClan with him. She is uncertain, and he tells her he would come back to her den the next night for her answer. Sasha later finds Pine, who is very sick. She decides then that she doesn't want that for herself, so she decides to join ShadowClan, and runs to their territory to tell him.

However, before she can find him alone, she stumbles across a meeting where he is telling his warriors how he would bring Scourge and BloodClan into the forest to help him achieve supreme rule over all the Clans, and rid them of impure blood and Firestar. Horrified, Sasha retreats and runs back to her den. Tigerstar then shows up, and the book ends where he asks her if she would join ShadowClan.

Escape from the Forest

After hearing Tigerstar talk to ShadowClan about how to take over the forest, she declines his offer on joining ShadowClan. He had deceived her telling her that Firestar had been the horrible cat in the forest, when it really was him. Tigerstar then leaves, telling her she'll always be nothing. Sasha is left heartbroken and decides to travel back and look for her Twoleg, Ken, but not without saying goodbye to Pine, who doesn't want her to go.

Upon returning to Twoleg place, Sasha returns to her old Twoleg home, but finds other Twolegs and is chased away. She follows the scent of food into a pet store and is thrown out by the owner. She then wanders into a clothing store containing Ken's scent, but sees the clothes on a Twoleg. The Twoleg throws the clothes to the floor and she recognizes the coat because of the hole she had put in it by accident. While she's wondering why the clothes are there but not Ken, Sasha is thrown out yet again into BloodClan territory, but is shown out of the territory and is told to never come back.

Later, she travels further away and is startled by many loud Twolegs and runs even more. She becomes tired and stumbles onto a boat smelling of fish. After eating some leftover food on the ground, she curls up on the chair for a good nights sleep. Upon awakening she realizes the boat is moving and starts to become sick; she's noticed by a couple of Twolegs and the captain locks her up in a hot, stuffy room. He later lets her out at the end of the day, but Sasha sticks around, seeing how sad the Twoleg is.

Sasha begins to bring business back to the Twoleg, being known as a ship cat. The captain decides to claim her as his own and renames her "Brownie". She begins to enjoy having the life of a ship cat, and helps bring more people to the Twoleg. One night, two Twolegs from a rival boat company sneak into the ship dock and pour gasoline onto the dock, obviously wanting to burn up the whole place. To warn the captain, Sasha pushes over some large cans and startles the Twolegs, and they get tangled in nets while running. The captain awakens and calls the police, and he identifies the two Twolegs as employees from the rival company. Sasha becomes known as the hero cat and brings in even more tourists to help them with their big competitor. This changes when Sasha spots a sack in the water and a kit is found inside. Sasha helps bring him back to consciousness.

The captain decides to keep the kit and names him Patch. Patch loves his new home and being with Sasha. Sasha is also becoming rather chunky. Sasha takes Patch's arrival as a sign that things are about to change, followed by when the river is frozen. She soon knows it's time for her to move away from here and the forest. She knows that she can't look towards ShadowClan for help and will take care of herself and her upcoming new kits. The captain packs up, ready to leave, but Sasha tells Patch she's not going, much to his dismay. The captain understands her, saying he always known she was a wanderer. The two leave driving off in the distance with Patch looking out the window at Sasha and she stares back. It begins to snow and Sasha decides that she'll never see her housefolk again. She begins traveling back to the forest to raise her own kits.

Return to the Clans

Sasha gives birth to three kits in her old den in the forest. She names them Hawk, Moth, and Tadpole. She thinks about telling them about Tigerstar, but then pushes away the idea when she reminds herself that she had to hunt every day to feed her kits, even though prey was scarce in leaf-bare.

Soon, at the end of leaf-bare, Sasha hunts a squirrel when she accidentally strays into ShadowClan territory and right into a patrol made up of Russetfur and two other ShadowClan warriors. One of the ShadowClan warriors comments that Sasha must be the one of the worst spies for BloodClan because she threw herself into the paws of the ShadowClan cats. He then suggests to take her to their leader to deal with. Thinking that their leader meant Tigerstar, Sasha panics, knowing that Russetfur might tell everyone about who she really was. To her relief, Russetfur secretly helps her by saying that they should let her go if she agrees never to come back. Sasha thinks that she is safe, until the other ShadowClan warrior scents milk on her and says that she must have kits close by. Sasha panics again, now thinking that the warriors might capture her kits to become warriors in ShadowClan. Quickly, Sasha lies that her kits had died in leaf-bare, and Russetfur takes pity on her and lets her go.

Back in the forest den, Sasha feels a bit generous and lets her kits out of the den to play. Tadpole, the strongest of the litter, climbs to the top of the den successfully, and Hawk follows but falls quickly. Tadpole encourages him to try again, but then they switch their game, and they decide to check out a bush. A bird suddenly flies out from the bush, and the kits are amazed when Sasha calls to them, saying that it was time to go back inside.

That night, Tadpole begs Sasha to tell them a story, and Sasha tells them about the time when she was six moons old when she sneaked away from her housefolk and walked to the edge of the woods to explore, but then she got chased by a fox cub. Sasha said that she ended up hiding in a hole, and one of her housefolk, Ken, came looking for her and brought her home with his walking-stick.

The next day she lets the kits out to play again when she meets Russetfur with a mouse in the ShadowClan deputy's jaws. Sasha doesn't speak and when Russetfur puts down the mouse she asks if the kits are Tigerstar's. After a second, Sasha answers yes, and Russetfur comments that the toms look like him. Sasha begs Russetfur not to tell Tigerstar and Russetfur tells Sasha about Tigerstar being dead, killed by a terrible blow from Scourge, ripping all his nine lives away, and she advises her to stay away from the ShadowClan border or the other warriors would want the kits as warriors. Russetfur leaves, telling Sasha that she had a lovely family, and that she hoped that the kits grew up strong and healthy. Sasha considers telling the kits about Tigerstar, but always doubts whether it is the right time to do so.

Sasha returns from a hunting trip and finds her collar outside the den. She scolds the kits for taking it out, and Tadpole realizes that Sasha misses Ken very much. So the next day, while Sasha is out hunting, the kits leave the den and wander to the Twolegplace, determined to find Ken. They bump into Sasha's kittypet friend, Shnuky, who invites them into her yard. The kits refuse, telling the kittypet that they had important places to go.

Sasha returns to the den, finding the kits gone. She goes to Twolegplace and Shnuky tells her about Tadpole, Hawk and Moth. Meanwhile, the kits bump into some BloodClan cats who want to turn the kits' pelts into collars. The kits run off, hiding in an abandoned house, and Hawk accidentally seals away the only exit into the house. At the same time, Sasha and Shnuky meet the same BloodClan cats from earlier, and Sasha pretends to be a Clan cat, threatening to tell her Clanmates where they were so that they can take revenge for the death of Tigerstar if they didn't tell her where the kits were. The cats panic, telling them where the kits went.

In the abandoned house, a pipe breaks due to heavy rain, flooding the house. Tadpole urges his siblings to climb up to the window where they had come in through, and Hawk sees Sasha through the window. Sasha opens the window from the outside, and Hawk and Moth get out safely, though Tadpole drowns. Shnuky offers to take Sasha and the two remaining kits to her housefolk, but Sasha refuses, taking her kits back to the den. Later, Sasha sees Tigerstar in one of her dreams, and asks him if Tadpole was with him. Tigerstar says no, but also says that "he is in a safer place."

After a few days, Pine comes, inviting them to a small farm where some other cats, including a queen with three kits, to live. The farm cats look down on Sasha and her kits, and the queen's kits bully Hawk and Moth, angering Sasha. She attacks the queen, and the queen asks if she was one of those stupid warriors. Sasha replies with yes, getting herself and the kits thrown off the barn. They travel to RiverClan, and Leopardstar, the leader of RiverClan, invites them to join the Clan. Hawk and Moth decide to stay, earning their apprentice names, Hawkpaw and Mothpaw. They enjoy their time in RiverClan, but Sasha leaves, telling her kits that if she stays away from them, they will be safe, and the secret about Tigerstar being their father will be hidden forever, aside from Russetfur.

Trivia

Interesting Facts

In an Erin Hunter chat, it was revealed that Sasha was Tigerstar's true love, not Goldenflower.^[1]
- However, Vicky has since stated that it was more of a "Spiderleg and Daisy" kind of relationship, for Tigerstar.^[11]
In another chat, Erin Hunter revealed that Sasha continued to live as a rogue after she left RiverClan, and eventually found an elderly Twoleg who fed her and gave her affection.^[1]
Vicky doesn't think Sasha is alive at this time.^[12]

Character Pixels

The pixel artwork is fanart based on the canon description;

undefined traits are left to the artist's interpretation.

Kin

Members

Mate:

Tigerstar (formerly):^[13] Status unknown

Sons:

Hawkfrost:^[14] Deceased, no residence

Tadpole:^[15] Deceased, unknown residence

Daughter:

Mothwing:^[14] Living (As of Wind)

Tree

Template:Adderfang Tree

Quotes

"I don't think this is about making life easier for warriors. I think this is about you wanting more power than you can have. And I don't want to be part of that. If you're really going to kill those cats, doesn't that mean you'd have to kill me too?"

―Sasha to Tigerstar ^{Escape from the Forest}

"But I'd rather be nothing than a murderer."

―Sasha ^{Escape from the Forest}

"Even with my kits here... sometimes I feel so alone... so old and helpless. I want Tigerstar back. I want Ken back. But the best I can hope for is just to make it through each day."

―Sasha ^{Return to the Clans}

"Nice enough. Quiet and ready to be friendly. A lot like Mothwing to look at. But it was clear that being among a lot of cats spooked her. I wasn't surprised when she left the forest as soon as Mothwing and Hawkfrost were old enough to do without her."

―Graystripe to Leafpaw about Sasha ^Moonrise

"I don't need time to recover. How dare they put me in here? If I could get out, I'd rip that Twoleg to shreds!"

―Sasha ^Dawn

"Nor I you. I have come to ask Hawkfrost and Mothwing to leave RiverClan and come with me. I've seen what the Twolegs are doing to your homes. It is no longer safe for them to stay with you."