Moonpaw's sister, also called the voice, is a small, pale orange tabby she-cat with green eyes, and curled ear tufts shaped like crescent moons.

History[]

Changing Skies[]

The voice appears as a mysterious, secretive, and very persistent voice within the head of a ThunderClan cat, Moonkit. Having never known anything other than this, Moonkit wonders to herself if every cat had an imaginary best friend. Thriftear, Moonkit's mother, dismisses the voice, saying that it is a kit thing and no adult cat has a voice in their head that they can only hear. The voice is very insistent upon Moonkit keeping its existence a secret, encouraging the young cat not to tell her parents or her Clanmates, otherwise Moonkit would be forced into the role of a medicine cat, something neither Moonkit nor the voice wants. However, after some time as Sunbeam's apprentice, Moonpaw attempts a brief stint at as a medicine cat. This annoys the voice, and it becomes more and more intrusive and refuses to let Moonpaw try things out on her own. Moonpaw's consciousness is wracked by the voice, and sometimes it appears to turn malicious and gaslighting, telling Moonpaw that she would not become a successful medicine cat and that she was destined to become a warrior.

The voice constantly shows up when Moonpaw least expects it to, distracting her from learning and seemingly intentionally getting her into trouble. The voice, wanting more and more attention from Moonpaw as she gets further into her apprenticeship, gets her into trouble with both Sunbeam, and Alderheart and Jayfeather. After Cherryfall is injured, Moonpaw sleeps in the medicine den that night, and when she finally starts to think she might be okay with being a medicine cat apprentice, the voice appears and continues to reaffirm that Moonpaw is lost and that she is not meant to be a medicine cat. The voice constantly tells Moonpaw that this is the wrong path and that this is not who she is meant to be, but Moonpaw tries her best to shut the voice out.

The voice shows herself in a physical form while at the Moonpool with Jayfeather and Alderheart. After the medicine cats all touch the Moonpool, Moonpaw tries as well, hoping to communicate with StarClan. The voice pipes up, saying that it was only her there with Moonpaw. When Moonpaw opens up her eyes, all she is able to see, however, is just the reflection of the orange tabby she-cat that she had seen by the lake. She stretches out her paw, wanting to make the reflection vanish, but Moonpaw ends up falling into the Moonpool instead, forcing her to be rescued by Frostdawn and Mothwing, RiverClan's medicine cats. The voice mocks Moonpaw afterwards, saying that it was embarrassing. The following evening, Moonpaw sneaks out of camp to confront the voice about her actions again.

The voice, very resentful of Moonpaw at this point, mews that Moonpaw hardly ever answers her anymore. The voice yet again insists that she is real, despite Moonpaw's denial of it. In an attempt to prove that she is real, the voice tells Moonpaw that something will happen to the sun, saying it will disappear, but they will find it shining in a hollow tree. Moonpaw is unsure what the voice means, and is almost ready to completely dismiss the voice, when she discovers the following day that the voice meant Sunkit went missing. Moonpaw searches for Sunkit, finding him in a tree, and rescues him, bringing him home. Despite the pressure from Squirrelstar, ThunderClan's leader, Moonpaw is not honest in what happened with Sunkit, and the voice is also no help. Moonpaw confronts the voice about Sunkit's disappearance, but she dances around the subject and instead just thinks Sunkit is being a kit.

Afterwards, Moonpaw decides to ask her parents, Bayshine and Thriftear, about the voice, though she omits certain details, such as the maliciousness of her mysterious companion. She learns that not only did she have a littermate who died at birth, the voice in her head is her sister, communicating with her. While Thriftear believes the voice is honest, Moonpaw does not believe this and still does not tell her parents that the voice may be malicious and disingenuous, judging by how an innocent kit was put into very real danger just to prove a point. The voice is finally relieved that Moonpaw has learnt the truth as to who she really is, but does not want to leave Moonpaw's side for StarClan just yet. She threatens Moonpaw, saying that the young apprentice has no idea what is going on and that Moonpaw will join her sister in her world.

Personality and traits[]

Moonpaw's sister is very intrusive, manipulative, and bossy, despite only being a kit when she died. She has also been described as spiteful, mischievous, and malevolent.^[1]

The voice often likes to butt into Moonpaw's thoughts during important times, such as Gatherings, and training and distracts her from being able to pay attention to what is going on around her. This frustrates Moonpaw and those around her, who think that Moonpaw is not paying attention to what she is being taught.^[2]

Despite this behavior, the voice shows that it can be playful, wanting to spend time with Moonpaw and talk to her. This turns mischievous at times, when the voice tells Moonpaw not to say anything about her existence, and is very determined to make sure Moonpaw does not become a medicine cat, even going so far as to taunt her.

Relationships[]

Moonpaw[]

Moonpaw has had a bond with the voice in her head for as long as she can remember, even as a kit. When Moonkit was young, she used to believe that every cat had a tiny companion, due to the voice in her head. Moonkit's mother, Thriftear, brushes off any concern as kits have imaginary friends, but not grown cats. Despite this, the voice insists that she is, in fact, real. This come-and-go banter with Moonkit and the voice in her head continues even past kithood, and the voice can be heard many times throughout Moonpaw's apprenticeship.

The voice, for the most part, seems to care about Moonpaw and wants what is best for her. She is inquisitive towards Moonpaw, asking questions about what she thinks of Sunbeam, her mentor, but Moonpaw is annoyed by how much the voice talks and often tries to shut her up by ignoring her. At times, this angers the voice, who then tries everything she can to get her to pay attention to her instead of Moonpaw's own surroundings.^[3]

After the revelation that the voice is actually her deceased sister, the voice seems to understand a little better why Moonpaw was so scared of what was going on. However, they turn to fighting with one another rather quickly, with the voice turning more and more malicious as their exchanges grow. This goes to show that despite understanding why her sister was scared, she is not afraid to threaten Moonpaw. Throughout the book, she appears to gaslight and manipulate Moonpaw into doing what she wants, going so far as to sow seeds of doubt in her about her skills as a potential healer in the Clan.

Thriftear and Bayshine[]

Bayshine and Thriftear, the voice's parents, initially kept the existence of Moonpaw's sister from her, not wanting to upset her or cause problems. Bayshine and Thriftear also believed that Moonpaw would not have any memories of her sister either. She died shortly after she was born, despite the best efforts of the ThunderClan medicine cats, Jayfeather and Alderheart. They loved their daughter greatly despite only being moments old, and did not abandon her once. Despite their insistence that the voice is benevolent, Moonpaw is hesitant to tell her parents about her sister's darker side, and the fact she put an innocent kit in danger just to prove a point.