Fire and Ice

The clan system plays an important role in the cats’ lives: Because conditions in the wilderness are often harsh and dangerous, the cats need to live in a community and know that they can rely on one another. The clan structure ensures that cats have protection and support when they’re ill, elderly, or raising young kittens. Moreover, membership in a clan provides a sense of belonging and identity. Fireheart and later Cloudkit both struggle with feeling a sense of belonging because they weren’t born into a clan.

For the clan system to function, individual cats must feel and display loyalty toward their clan. This ensures that they’ll be obedient to their leader, protect their clan’s territory and resources, and go to battle on behalf of the clan if necessary. Most clan cats display this loyalty, but in some instances loyalty to community conflicts with individual destiny. Most notably, Graystripe and Silverstream fall in love despite belonging to different clans (and despite knowing that cross-clan romantic relationships are forbidden). Similarly, Fireheart feels drawn to spend time with his sister even though he knows that interacting with a kittypet is forbidden.