It's over, and Fire has won

Rusty looked at Bluestar and solemnly nodded his acceptance. He stood up and stepped forward into a shaft of sunshine, welcoming the warmth on his sore muscles. The pool of light blazed bright on his orange pelt, making his fur glow. Rusty lifted his head proudly and looked at the cats that surrounded him. This time no cat argued or jeered. He had shown himself to be a worthy opponent in battle.

Bluestar approached Rusty and placed the shredded collar on the ground in front of him. She touched his ear gently with her nose. "You look like a brand of fire in this sunlight," she murmured. Her eyes flashed briefly, as if her words had more meaning for her than Rusty knew. "You have fought well." Then she turned to the Clan and announced, "From this day forward, until he has earned his warrior name, this apprentice will be called Firepaw, in honor of his flame-colored coat."...

... A body was lying on the ground. Dovewing frowned. Tigerstar had disappeared, right? Why was there still a huddled shape on the bloodstained grass?

No!

She pelted after Sandstorm. He can't be dead! She skidded to a halt and stared in horror at Firestar's body.

Sandstorm buried her nose deep into her mate's sodden fur. "I told you not to waste your final life," she whispered.

Bramble law crossed the clearing, rain streaming from his whiskers, and stood beside her. "He didn't waste it."

"Fire will save the Clan," Leafpool whispered.

Brambleclaw lifted his muzzle. "The battle is over. Our victory belongs to Firestar!"

The rain eased as he spoke and a shaft of moonlight sliced through the clouds and lit up the unmoving orange body.

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I know Firestar has seemed annoyingly perfect in the last few series. I myself was getting tired of him, but when I read his death scene, the full impact of his bravery and loyalty hit me. Even when he wasn't Clanborn and was just a young warrior, he didn't let Tigerclaw's physical strength, power as deputy, or place of honor in the Clan daunt him. He was determines to get to the truth, even if it cost him his life.

He spoke out against Tigerclaw, both after the battle with the rouges, and before the battle with TigerClan and BloodClan. Every cat there would have been shredded if he hadn't convinced Scourge to rethink the battle. He kept the secret of Bluestar's madness from the Clan, where anyone else would have turned to their Clanmates for help. Even when he was losing his faith in StarClan, he united the Clans, even though he was far younger than the other leaders, and even though the battle with BloodClan seemed pretty much hopeless. He took on Scourge himself, and secured the Clans' place in the forest.

In Firestar's Quest, he was willing to leave the familiarity and safety of ThunderClan behind, because he that what had happened to SkyClan was wrong. He brought SkyClan back from the dead, leading them to victory in the battle with the rats and teaching them the ways of the warrior code. A lesser cat would have given up.

Firestar didn't waver once during the new prophecy. He waited in the forest for the other Clans to leave with then, even if it meant starving to death first, because he knew that the Clans needed to work together to survive. He helped lead the Clans to their new home, and gave WindClan back the offered territory.

He outdid himself in The Last Hope. As both the fire destined to save ThunderClan and the Fourth cat of the ancient prophecy, he united both StarClan and the forest Clans, which is no small feat when you consider how completely divided they had become in recent moons. He led them to victory in the battle against light and dark, giving up his ninth life in the final showdown with Tigerstar. Those two were always destined to meet in battle, and Tigerstar always was the more physically stronger of the two. Firestar would have never come out of that fight alive, and he probably knew it. But his loyalty to his Clanmates and his fierce need to defend the Clans from evil allowed him to triumph over the stronger Tigerstar before he died of his wounds.

Firestar was the kittypet who fought prejudice and became a warrior, the fire who saved ThunderClan and SkyClan, the lion who met tiger in battle, the one who's kit gave birth to the Three, and the Fourth cat destined to save light from total destruction. Bluestar was almost right in her last words. Firestar wasn't just the light of ThunderClan, he was the light of the entire forest, fighting with the ferocity of fire against darkness and warming the Clans with his acceptance and his nobility. This is my tribute to a very brave cat. Farewell, Firestar. You can rest now.

* rereads the artist's comments* Wow, I'm not usually that sentimental on the Internet. And for anyone who's still reading this, I take my hat off to you. I tend to rant a bit, as you can see.