“After many moons as an apprentice, he was a warrior at last.”

Fireheart is proud and satisfied with his new identity. The novel begins at the start of a new life stage for him and at a moment when he thinks everything will become easier. This implication sets the stage for an assumption that will present a challenge throughout the plot as Fireheart realizes that being a warrior is more complicated than he imagined.

“He had dreamed like this before—dreams so vivid that he could taste them, and which had later come true.”

Fireheart experiences prophetic dreams, which signal that he isn’t an ordinary cat and may have a special destiny. However, the dreams also frighten him because they make him feel different from the other cats in the clan and lead him to keep secrets.

“‘It goes against warrior code—we fight to prove our strength and defend our territory, not to kill each other.’”

Graystripe’s words to Fireheart, as the two cats argue about whether Tigerclaw could have intentionally murdered another cat, reveal that a strong moral code guides the ethos of the warriors and clans and that the clans expect all cats to follow that code. Conflict arises when individuals like Tigerclaw (and, later, Graystripe) violate these ethical dictates.