Sorry this is kind of late, I didn't have time to write it last night (my dad's trying to pull some restrictions again, so I had to get off...we'll see how long this lasts) but now I have time and everything will be wonderfullllll. :D
@The Last Clan: You definitely have a point about Swanpaw, but unfortunately thus far I've had little room to play with her. Every situation she's come up against thus far she's met with hostility, because that's just the sort of cat she is; she's cold and snarky and biting and not really all that nice. The only cats she treats with compassion would be her Clan, but as we've seen she's icy even with them; however, above all she loves her family, and we saw that when she volunteered to embark on a dangerous mission to both save her mother and ensure that what her sister endured will never happen again. She also seems to have clashing feelings about Sage; she hates rogues and their kind (whatever Sage is, since he doesn't really have a structured life, with Tremor's group just starting out and all) but at the same time he saved her life, and she has to respect him for that. I'd like to focus more on her in the future, but right now we haven't had the opportunity to view a situation wherein she would act with grace rather than malice.
@Dawnshine: Indeed he does. Thank you. ^^
@Lynxeye: Sootpaw's a bit too afraid to tell everyone about her dreams; keep in mind that no one (save perhaps Bluepaw) has communicated with their warrior ancestors before, and thus they know absolutely nothing about the original four Clans. Some, like Swanpaw, would love to mock Sootpaw for dreaming up four Clans that (they believe) never existed. As far as Sootpaw knows, even Bluepaw has never heard of the four Clans (plus SkyClan, I guess), since Bluepaw is still very young and new to the job, and if Bluepaw doesn't back her up then no one will believe Sootpaw. Nothing has happened so far to give Sootpaw solid proof of her dreams; all of the situations that have occurred have been different from what happened in her dreams (such as sixteen cats went on the first journey, while there are only eight in hers, and the sixteen cats were forbidden to return until they completed their mission, which was also different from the new journey's; Nightpaw drowned while Swanpaw did not; instead of it being one rogue and real adders, it's two rogues who warn them of the danger of one cat conveniently named Adder; there will be more differences as we go along). Sootpaw isn't yet sure of the purpose of her dreams; they could be warnings, but thus far none of the warnings have amounted to anything, since everything that has happened would have happened whether she said anything or not. There's also the possibility that the dreams aren't a warning, but some sort of other message, perhaps concerning when the original journey ends up. I'm glad you like Rook and Nightingale thus far, but I'll just point something out: Nightingale doesn't love Rook, at least not how I think you're implying. They aren't a couple, but rather another one of my (seemingly infamous) sister/brother pairs. They're not related by blood, but by circumstance, and they harbor only platonic feelings for one another. :D
@Ravenshade: It's odd that you mention Swansong, I wasn't even really thinking of her. Rook is kind of like Deathy, though (I had actually considered him skulking around the trees and trying to intimidate the cats from above, but it reminded me too much of Deathy's first appearance xD).
@Anonymous: Wow, thank you! That was a long and delicious review. <3 I'm glad you've liked the plot and characters so far (and I see you've jumped on the Northy bandwagon, ha xD). Sootpaw asking them to join was probably surprising, since she is indeed wary of Rook, but she couldn't help but feel sorry for them. Keep in mind that Sootpaw was woken from her dream before she should have been, however; she doesn't know what ends up happening to Smoke. It's possible that she guessed Smoke joined the journeying cats, and decided that having Rook/Nightingale along for the ride was supposed to happen. Or maybe she just felt sorry for them, being the bleeding heart kinda gal she is.
As for why the patrol isn't avoiding Adder's Fangs, we'll find that out soon, but basically they cannot. Adder controls most of the territory on either side of the Thunderpath, so they can't avoid him without making a wide wide wide detour, which would waste a lot of time. There's more to it, but we'll get there. ^^
I don't have an account on the official forum; I've kind of glanced over the place before, but wasn't really intrigued. Posting my fics there would probably help them get more attention at such, but it would be a lot of work (I don't think I would be allowed to simply post a link to Shattered and Chilled, I'd have to actually post them...and since Shattered is loooong (right between the 4th and 5th Harry Potter books, for reference) it would be a lot of trouble. If you (and the rest of my readers, too xD) want to spread the word there it would be fine, but I can't really see myself trying to carry both stories to the forums myself. ^^;
@Nightkill: Glad you like him, he's an interesting little dude. My first posh kittypet, I think. :3
I think that's everyone now, phew. Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of Sootpaw Dreams About Lots of Weird Crap! :D
