Longtreader family

The Longtreader family is a family of rabbits who were best known as being ambassadors for King Jupiter.

History[]

The Green Ember[]

After the Longtreader home was ravaged by Redeye Garlackson's forces, Heather and Picket Longtreader fled with their uncle Wilfred Longtreader and Smalls to Cloud Mountain. The two siblings found a home there, but lived among those who doubted their allegiance to King Jupiter. Heather and Picket soon learned that this was because their uncle, Garten Longtreader, betrayed the king for Morbin Blackhawk.

Eventually Morbin Blackhawk launched a full-scale attack on Cloud Mountain, and Heather helped the wounded while Picket went to save Smalls—whom it is revealed is Jupiter's son—from an ambush. They both succeeded in their missions, and their favor was restored among those who doubted their allegiance.

Picket went on training to be a solider with Helmer, and Heather became known as "the Scribe of the Cause".

Potter's War[]

Note: Because this story has yet to be publicly released, the Longtreader family's role in Potter's War shall not be disclosed on this wiki. Should S. D. Smith ever choose to publish Potter's War, a complete summary shall be added. Thank you.

The Last Archer[]

Nearly all the rabbits at Halfwind Citadel hate the Longtreaders. When Jo Shanks arrives at Halfwind, he sees Picket being trained by Helmer, and then Heather emerges from a door and walks toward the tree. Seeing how pretty the white doe is, he asks who she is. A passing soldier identifies her as Heather Longtreader, saying that if they asked him, they were all traitors. The Halfwind soldiers refer to the Longtreaders many times, often calling them 'traitors'. When Captain Frye spotted Wilfred Longtreader, he attacked Wilfred, speaking many angry words while Wilfred stayed calm, then drew his sword, placed it against Wilfred's neck, and told his soldiers to do the same. Smalls arrived, however, and took Wilfred away for the citadel congress.

When the wolves attacked Cloud Mountain, Owen said that he had no doubt that the Longtreaders were behind it. Nate agrees, and Jo spits and curses them. Heather then helps him in the forest when he is wounded, and Jo begins to consider the possibility that she really is a friend. He then saves Heather's life with an incredible bowshot. Emma later gives him Heather's story, and the heroics of Heather and Picket spread across the secret citadels.

Ember Falls/The First Fowler[]

Picket, Smalls, and some others went on a journey to the Low Bleaks to a place where they thought Whittle, Sween, and Jacks might be. However, the intelligence was mistaken, and to Picket's great disappointment, his parents and brother were not found.

Jo and Frye felt guilt over how certain they had been that the Longtreaders were traitors. Heather was chosen to accompany Smalls to Halfwind Citadel, as the group's medic. Picket went as well, as a soldier, and later welcomed Jo to the Fowlers.

Heather and Picket were one of the few told of Emma's true identity. Picket begged Smalls to attack the slave camp in the Shade Hills, where they thought Picket's parents and Jacks might have been. Smalls entrusted the Green Ember to Picket before he left. Wilfred brought the news that Smalls did attack the slave camp but found it deserted, and was attacked by birds and presumed dead. Picket felt extreme guilt over this. Heather, who had hoped to marry Smalls, was devastated.

Using a glider cape, Picket saved Emma from the traitor Bleston, and Heather later saved Emma from being carried off by a hawk. Heather was carried off instead, and in Morbin's lair she heard a slave singing. She recognized the slave's voice, and knew that she had found her mother.

Ember Rising/The Archer's Cup[]

Garten takes Heather to Akolan ER — Garten Longtreader and Heather Longtreader ride on the back of a raptor through the High Bleaks, on their way to Akolan.

When Heather Longtreader arrived at Morbin's lair, her mother Sween, a slave working there, sang a song about the Mended Wood. This infuriated the raptors, but they could not figure out which slave had sung. Garten Longtreader knew, though he did not tell the birds, saying to Heather that while he would not go out of his way to keep Sween safe, he would not go out of his way to hurt her.

While riding on the back of a raptor with Garten, Heather urged Garten to turn back to the Cause and repent of his traitorous ways. Garten refused, and pushed her off the raptor's back, and she fell in the Leper's District of Akolan. Once in Akolan, after a meeting with the Commandant, Heather was injured. When she woke, she heard her mother singing, and saw Sween in a rocking chair in front of her. She also sees her father Whittle, and a joyful reunion between parents and daughter follows. Heather catches her parents up on everything that has happened outside of Akolan since Redeye Garlackson attacked Nick Hollow.

During this time, Picket Longtreader and Helmer were busy. After leaving Cloud Mountain, they make for Harbone Citadel, intending to go to First Warren from there. They were told that Winslow ruled First Warren under the control of Morbin, through Garten Longtreader. After some convincing, the inhabitants of Harbone decided to aid them. Using glider capes, Picket and Helmer entered First Warren, where they find out that Picket has been a legend and even has his own song, and also met Airen and Weezie. While on a walk together, Picket and Weezie are set upon by black-clad rabbits. Despite Picket's efforts to escape, they are taken to the original First Warren, a myriad of underground tunnels and placed in a prison cell. They are then brought to the Citadel of Dreams, and learned that their capture was a ruse to throw off the secret police, and they are truly in the heart of First Warren's resistance. After a run-in with Daggler, they successfully bring Helmer and Airen to the Citadel of Dreams and begin plotting to retake First Warren.

Whittle, Jacks, and Sween Longtreader ER — Whittle and Sween Longtreader with their son Jacks.

In Akolan, Whittle Longtreader brings his daughter to the Seventh District, and Heather tells her story. The Tunneler accepts her and she becomes a member of Akolan's resistance. When she returns home, she finds her younger brother Jacks, who has returned from the Akolan school for a few days. Jacks does not call his parents Mother and Father, as Heather does, but instead Sween and Whittle. Heather also sees that he has been influenced by the Preylords' propaganda; Jacks is displeased that Whittle and Heather have been out after curfew and debates whether to tell his teacher about this. He then reveals that he is going 'on an adventure', which actually means that he will become a meal for Morbin on Victory Day.

After Harmony came looking for Heather on an urgent mission, the Tunneler was dying, and provoked Jacks, Jacks did inform on the family. Heather and Sween were taken to a jail in Akolan and tortured by Captain Vitton. Just as Vitton was about to kill the two, Whittle Longtreader arrived, along with other members of the Seventh District, disguised as prisoners, and engaged the evil captain. He revealed that he had become the Tunneler, and eventually ended Vitton with a pickaxe. Whittle planned to go down into the city square and rescue Jacks, while Heather carried the unconscious Sween back to the Seventh District, but Heather could not carry her mother that far, so she went for Jacks instead. However, she was intercepted by Garten Longtreader, angered by the uprising in the city, who had arrived on the back of an eagle. Heather urged him again to turn back, but he drove his sword through her middle, mortally wounding her, and kicked her into the Tomb of Lander's Dragons. There in the tomb, Heather found her love, whom she had thought deceased, Prince Smalls.

Picket Longtreader was a major figure in the Battle for First Warren, playing a major role in motivating First Warren's rabbits to resist. Aided by Weezie, he destroyed the statue of Morbin Blackhawk which defiled the seventh standing stone, and later waved a banner of the Cause atop the statue of Falcowit on the third standing stone. He later saved Jo Shanks from a fall after killing a raptor. He later woke and found, to his great pleasure, the First Warren liberated.

Those at Blackstone Citadel do not like the Longtreaders or anyone associated with them, which is one of the reasons they do not welcome Princess Emma.

Ember's End[]

Picket Longtreader met with the Terralain army in the hopes of getting them to join Emma's cause. They, however, would not, and when Kylen let slip that they were allied with Morbin Blackhawk, Picket flew into a rage and attempted to attack Kylen, stopped only by Helmer.

Picket's band then received word that there was something wrong at Harbone Citadel, and so Helmer and the Fowlers set out for Harbone. There, they found the warren in ruin. Lords of Prey were leaving but wolves were attacking now, and traitor rabbits were nearby. Picket helped protect the Harboners still alive, and Uncle Wilfred, wounds healed miraculously by Jone, helped too. He insisted on taking one traitor rabbit as a captive, and after revealing he was a member of the Longtreader Command and speaking of all the damage Morbin would do to First Warren when he attacked, he told Picket that Garten had killed his sister Heather. This devastated Picket.

In Akolan, Whittle Longtreader, the newly appointed Tunneler, was leading many rabbits of the Seventh District in inviting other Akolanians to join them in freedom. They did this by throwing stones with messages inscribed on them into the windows of Akolan homes. Jacks joined his parents, even engaging in playful banter with his father about who could throw the message stones the farthest. This pleased Whittle greatly, as before, when Jacks had been influenced by the propaganda, he had been suspicious of his family and even informed on them. They then attempted to enter the gate of the Sixth District to bring their message to the Wrongtreaders, but their way was barred by Captain Tram. The Commandant, who was secretly an agent of the Seventh District, repeated Whittle's message to Tram and told Tram to let them in, but Tram would not. Whittle apologized before hitting him over the head with his sack of stones, and then he led the rabbits with him into District Six.

Meanwhile, Heather Longtreader was in the Tomb of Lander's Dragons, mortally wounded and kicked in there by Garten Longtreader. There, she had found her love, Prince Smalls, and to her astonishment found his heart was beating. She treated her own wound, applying some ointment in the hopes that it would prolong her life slightly. She remembered treating Master Mills in Akolan and wondered if Aunt Jone had really done what she said. With the last gasp of her strength, Heather poured some of Jone's tonic into Smalls' wound. She then fell unconscious.

In First Warren, Lallo asks Picket for some training, as Picket is a legend and Lallo remembers a promise Picket had made to him and the other young soldiers. Picket does not like the attention at first, but eventually agrees, and spends an hour with Lallo instead of the ten minutes Lallo asked for, relaying Helmer's training to the young buck. Before the Siege of First Warren, Lord Captain Helmer assumed command of the whole of Princess Emma's forces and delegated his half of the Royal Warrenguard to Captain Picket.

When King Farlock and his wolves arrived to First Warren, Captain Frye perished in an attempt to attack Farlock. Picket, however, realized that this was the right strategy, and engaging his glider cape, leapt at the wolf king. Picket succeeded in killing Farlock, but in doing so enraged the wolf pack, and they converged on him in an attempt to avenge their king. Picket was sawed by Kylen, Naylen, and a group of soldiers under their command. Later, Picket volunteered to attack Falcowitson, but Helmer stopped him, telling Picket that the Six could not be defeated one-on-one. They decide to employ the Blackhawk Option early, instead.

Lady Glen told Picket of Helmer's longstanding grief concerning the King's Arm, and Lady Glen assures Picket of how much Helmer loves him. Helmer and Picket then aid Wilfred and the part of the Warrenguard he is leading, in defeating a band of wolves. Helmer later sacrifices himself for Picket, to Picket's great grief.

Heather drifts in and out of consciousness, not sure what is a dream and what is real. Eventually she wakes, and finds Smalls alive too. Both feel strong and have healed wounds. They discover that Jone's tonic has incredible healing powers. Heather catches Smalls up on everything that has happened outside of the tomb. They then meet a dragon, who calls himself the dragon keeper and tells them that he is waiting for a conference with the king. Smalls tells the dragon that he is no king, and Heather is grateful for this as she does not trust the dragon. She tells Smalls so after the dragon is gone.

The dragon leads Heather to a vault and asks her if she can open it. She eventually figures out that the key is the Green Ember, and controlled by the dragon's breath goes to take it out of her satchel and open the door, so that the dragon horde she saw down the hall could leave the tomb. However, she does not find the Green Ember in her satchel. The dragon becomes enraged that she would dare fail him, and calls the dragon horde. But Smalls then comes out of the door, wielding the starsword, and kills the dragon keeper and pulls Heather into the vault with him. Heather begins to panic, thinking they are trapped as she has lost the Green Ember. However, Smalls reveals that he had it, having taken it for reasons unknown to him. He tells Heather that the vault is compromised, the dragons can enter from the side, and they need to stop the dragons. Heather realizes that they need to collapse the tomb on the dragons, even if that means dying themselves. They profess their love to one another and prepare to do the right thing and die, though no one will know about it. Heather takes a maul and Smalls his sword, and they rush out of the vault again and into battle with the dragon horde. They succeed in collapsing the tomb, but are rescued from their death by a rope lowered by Whittle from above.

A happy reunion with her parents follows. She finds the Seventh District escaping Akolan on their ships, and a massive battle raging in First Warren, with Morbin himself in the fray. They had a different problem, however— there was a whirlpool in the Brute's Gorge and they were hurtling right toward it, as their rudder had been knocked out by an attacking bird. Whittle tied a rope around his waist and went over the edge in an attempt to fix the rudder. Then a raptor arrived, bearing a grey rabbit on its back. Garten Longtreader dismounted onto the boat. He was shocked to see Heather alive, and seemed enraged at something. Dote charged at him, but Garten ran Dote through, and Dote lay motionless on the deck. Garten began to accuse Sween, revealing that he had loved Sween, but Sween had chosen Whittle instead. Sween pleaded him to "come home", as they were still family, but Garten refused. He went to kill Sween, but Whittle arrived, pulling himself over the deck and blocking Garten's stroke with his pickaxe. A fight ensued, resulting in Garten falling over the edge of the boat. He grasped the railing, and Whittle urged Garten to take his hand, but Garten refused to "take pity" from Whittle, and the traitor rabbit fell to a watery death in the Brute's Gorge. Looking around, the three realized that the boat was about to sink into the whirlpool, and Whittle embraced his wife and daughter, telling them he loved them, as he prepared to die. However, they were rescued by another boat of the fleet, Jacks Longtreader and Harmony aiding to pull the three out of the boat just before it splintered apart.

To Picket's great astonishment, he saw Prince Smalls atop First Warren's seven standing stones, clearly intending to charge at Morbin Blackhawk. Picket engages his glider and leaps at Morbin, blinding the great black hawk in one eye so that he does not see the leaping prince. Picket leapt again at Morbin, but Morbin's scythe cut off Picket's sword arm. He fell on the sixth standing stone, and heard Smalls rushing to leap. Knowing his duty, he leapt at Morbin once more. Morbin sliced at Picket with his claws and threw Picket away. Picket fell unconscious to the ground, but the deed was done— Smalls was able to kill Morbin Blackhawk with Flint's sword. Picket hit the water and sank, and Heather dove into the flood to rescue her brother. Heather eventually surfaced with Picket, and once she was pulled back onto the ship she immediately went to work on him, which in Smalls' opinion saved Picket's life. Smalls later arrived to the palace in time to see Picket wake to a happy reunion with his family, something that so moved Smalls that he felt it to be when the Mending truly began.

Following the Mending, Heather married King Smalls. During the Feast of the Mending, Picket Longtreader was Smalls' guest of honor. He walked beside his wife, a smiling, pregnant Weezie. Smalls had a long table for special guests, and he invited all Longtreaders to that table.

Heather and Smalls had multiple children, among them Maggie and Hanna Joveson. Picket and Weezie also had many, among them Jo Longtreader. According to Heather, Picket was very happy with Weezie. Wilfred and Airen also married, and adopted fifteen war orphans. Picket became a farmer, growing cabbage with Lallo, and visiting the Citadel of Dreams often. Sween sang to her grandchildren, often and happily, something that made Whittle happy as well. Whittle wrote the history of King Jupiter, The Rise and Fall of King Jupiter the Great, and Heather began Smalls' history, The Fall and Rise of King Smalden Joveson. Jacks taught a school, with Whittle as headmaster, and according to Smalls the parents were very happy with it. Heather and Picket taught their children Starseek.