Warriors/Ships

Canon
Dustpelt and Ferncloud are mates. They have seven children.

Spiderleg
Dustpelt and Ferncloud’s son from the same litter as Shrewpaw, the pair’s first litter. He died in the great battle after having kits with Daisy, giving Dustpelt and Ferncloud grandkits in Toadstep and Rosepetal.

Shrewpaw
Dustpelt and Ferncloud’s son from the same litter as Spiderleg, the pair’s first litter. He died as an apprentice, having been hit by a car while chasing a shrew.

Birchfall
Dustpelt and Ferncloud’s son from the same litter as Larchkit and Hollykit, the pair’s second litter. He is currently alive and mates with Whitewing, who he had Ivypool and Dovewing with. He is the grandfather to Ivypool and Dovewing’s kits which makes Dustpelt and Ferncloud great-grandparents.

Larchkit
A male kit from the same litter as Birchfall and Hollykit. He died of starvation as a kit along with his sister Hollykit.

Fanon
DustFern is a generally welled liked, but not too popular ship. It is easy to find fanart of the ship if you were to look, but it is uncommon to come across fanart if just browsing. However a lot of the fandom views the ship as cute and healthy, with Dustpelt often being portrayed as being protective of his mate and kits. The pair has the third most kits out of all cats from the series with seven kits, with first place being taken by Snowbird and Scorchfur with nine. This is often joked about. Sometimes Dustpelt is headcannoned to stay with Ferncloud in the nursery to look after the kits, something unheard of in the canon of the series yet highly anticipated by the fandom. It was a common joke to call Ferncloud a “baby machine/maker” or say she was lazy(because Queens do not hunt and are fed first), because of this, but it is now rare to hear this joke as some in the fandom finds this sexist.

There is also a tragic side to protrayls of this ship, as many of their kits are dead(with most dying young), and Ferncloud had died before Dustpelt in the great battle. Some fanart picture Dustpelt grieving over the loss of his mate and kits, sometimes being comforted by Ferncloud as a StarClan spirit.

Some fans dislike the beginning of the pair’s relationship, as Dustpelt was a warrior while Ferncloud was an apprentice. This is thought to be made worse by the fact that according to the official family tree on the Warriors Website, Dustpelt is Ferncloud’s uncle. However, not all fans take the Warriors website as canon, nor any information provided outside of the books as the authors have contradicted themselves before- for example, Vicky had previously stated that Runningwind was the father of Ferncloud while the website now claims it is Whitestorm. But since incest is so common in the series, it usually isn’t payed much mind.

Canon
Thistleclaw and Spottedleaf were mates before he showed his true colours to her by taking her to the Dark Forest and killing a cat. Spottedpaw broke up with him and became a Medicine Cat to avoid him.

Fanon
Like any ship, there are still fans.

Fandom
FAN FICTION