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"On the far side of the ridge, the ground sloped steeply away to a vast, smooth expanse of water. All the stars of Silverpelt were reflected in the lake, glittering silver against indigo-black, as if they were swimming in the night sky. [...] This is the place we were meant to find, and StarClan is here."
Leafpaw's thoughts as the Clans arrival at the lake at the end of the Great Journey in Dawn, pages 334-335

The lake, also known as Sanctuary Lake, is the large body of water in the middle of the Clans' new territories.[3]

Description[]

«Alderpaw blinked at the shining expanse of water that lay in front of him. He had heard his Clanmates back in the camp talking about the lake, and he had imagined something a bit bigger than the puddles that formed on the floor of the hollow when it rained. He would never have believed that there was this much water in the world.»
—Alderpaw's thoughts about seeing the lake for the first time The Apprentice's Quest, chapter 2
The lake

The lake on the reprinted cover of Starlight

The lake is irregular in shape and large enough that a cat needs two full days to circle it in a leisurely pace.[4] It is bordered by marshes in parts of RiverClan territory, moorland that would become WindClan's territory, pine forest where ShadowClan lives, and woodlands where ThunderClan and SkyClan live. It contains an island where the Clans hold their Gatherings, with a fallen tree serving as a bridge to it.[5] There are several Twoleg halfbridges scattered around the shoreline as well.[6] Twolegs visit the lake often in greenleaf, swimming and sailing in boats.[7] Around the lake are various Twoleg settlements: the horseplace with four buildings where Smoky lives,[8] a greenleaf Twolegplace where Twolegs temporarily visit in thin-flapped dens,[9][10] a Twolegplace in the pine forest where Jacques and Susan live,[11] and nearby Twolegplaces.[12][13] There are two shallow streams that feed into the lake; one between the pine forest and the oak and beech forest, and another stream between the forest and moor.[9] A large river flows from the lake to the sun-drown-place.[14] RiverClan makes their camp in an island formed by the river.[11]

Location history[]

Main articles: The Long Dry and The Great Storm
"Five territories beside one another with the lake at their heart."
―Mistystar The Raging Storm, page 319
A group of cats called the Ancients used to live around the lake many years before the Clans. Twolegs begin construction of what would later become the horseplace.[8] Growing fearful of Twoleg development so close to the lakeshore, the Ancients eventually leave the lake for the mountains.[15] Many seasons later, the four Clans arrive to the lake following the destruction of their former home by Twolegs.[3] Brambleclaw, Squirrelflight, Crowfeather, Mistyfoot, and Tawnypelt scout the new territory.[4] The Clans settle into their new territories: ThunderClan to the woods, ShadowClan to the pine forest, RiverClan to the marshes by the river, and WindClan to the moors. After Mudclaw's death created a tree bridge to the island, the Clans use the island for their monthly Gatherings.[11] The Clans agree that cats can travel around the lake as long as they stay within two fox-lengths of the lakeshore, making it neutral territory.[16]
Darktail and Onestar

Darktail and Onestar drowning each other in the lake in Onestar's Confession

In leaf-bare, the lake occasionally freezes over with ice though its surface can still break; Flametail drowned after the ice broke while he was playing prey-stone with his Clanmates.[17] When beavers built dams in the streams that feed into the lake,[18] the lake shrivels up. In addition with a period of hot weather, the lake water quickly dissipates to a tiny pond and resulted in a drought. RiverClan grows protective of the lake water as it was their last source of fish and posted guards to monitor it from the other Clans. The other Clans sent water patrols to gather water for the rest of the Clans.[19] While the former lakeshore is dry, the sections closer to the remaining water is thick with mud.[20] The Clans later send a joint-patrol to travel upstream to free the lake water from the beavers.[21]
During a severe storm, the river that feeds to the sun-drown-place flooded, causing the lake to severely flood.[22][14] Several cats drown in the floodwaters, and the Clans are forced to evacuate their camps.[22][12][23] The flooding also affects the nearby Twolegplace.[12] The flooding lasts for nearly two moons.[24] When Darktail and his Kin took over ShadowClan and RiverClan, Darktail drowned his victims in the lake, resulting in Needletail's death.[25] Darktail did the same to Berryheart and Beenose, but only Berryheart managed to survive.[26] After Dawnpelt, Mistcloud, Birchbark, and Lioneye go missing after fleeing Darktail, Alderheart wonders if they also met the same fate.[27] To stop Darktail, Onestar dragged Darktail into the lake in the midst of battle, drowning them both.[28]

Known deaths[]

This is a list of deaths, ordered chronologically, that took place at the lake.


Book mentions[]


Gallery[]

Map art[]

Official art[]

Trivia[]

Author statements[]

Continuity[]

The following information is from sources considered non-canon or retconned.

External links[]

See also[]

Notes and references[]

  1. Revealed in Long Shadows, page 207
  2. Revealed in Dawn, pages 334-335
  3. 3.0 3.1 Revealed in Dawn, chapter 23
  4. 4.0 4.1 Revealed in Starlight, chapter 1
  5. Revealed in Starlight, chapter 23
  6. Revealed in Sunset, chapter 3
  7. Revealed in Sunset, chapter 6
  8. 8.0 8.1 Revealed in Long Shadows, chapter 15
  9. 9.0 9.1 Revealed in Starlight, chapter 4
  10. Revealed in Sunset, chapter 15
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 Revealed in Starlight, chapter 3
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 Revealed in Bramblestar's Storm, chapter 10
  13. Revealed in River of Fire, chapter 12
  14. 14.0 14.1 Revealed in Bramblestar's Storm, chapter 9
  15. Revealed in Long Shadows, chapter 18
  16. Revealed in Twilight, chapter 5
  17. Revealed in Night Whispers, chapter 24
  18. Revealed in The Fourth Apprentice, chapter 16
  19. Revealed in The Fourth Apprentice, chapter 1
  20. Revealed in The Fourth Apprentice, chapter 3
  21. Revealed in The Fourth Apprentice, chapter 18
  22. 22.0 22.1 Revealed in Bramblestar's Storm, chapter 8
  23. Revealed in Bramblestar's Storm, chapter 12
  24. Revealed in Bramblestar's Storm, chapter 35
  25. Revealed in Shattered Sky, chapter 16
  26. 26.0 26.1 26.2 Revealed in Tigerheart's Shadow comic
  27. Revealed in Shattered Sky, chapter 17
  28. Revealed in Shattered Sky, chapter 21
  29. Revealed in Starlight, page 317
  30. Revealed in Night Whispers, page 282
  31. Revealed in Bramblestar's Storm, page 190
  32. Revealed in Bramblestar's Storm, page 216
  33. 33.0 33.1 Revealed in Bramblestar's Storm, page 468
  34. 34.0 34.1 Revealed in Shattered Sky, page 218
  35. Revealed in Shattered Sky, page 230
  36. While not explicitly stated, Darktail drowning his victims in the lake was his signature method of murdering cats, as demonstrated by Needletail's death[34] and how he attempted to kill Berryheart.[26] Alderheart also briefly wonders if Mistcloud, Lioneye, Birchbark, and Dawnpelt, who all went missing, met their fate in the lake.[35]
  37. 37.0 37.1 Revealed in Shattered Sky, page 279
  38. Revealed in Erin Hunter Chat 6
  39. Revealed in Secrets of the Clans, pages 18-21, 34-36, 47-49, 59-62


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