Whoops. Forgot all about updating the blog. Sorry!
Anywho, now we've passed 50 real chapters, which is splendid. I think it's obvious that Chilled will be longer than Shattered now, but some of the big twists are coming soon, so hopefully there won't be terribly long to go.
Anyway, now we've seen more of Silverstar and Shimmerfrost's issues. Something I've always found interesting in the Warriors fandom is how small the litters are; litters of two to three are common, whereas in real life litters tend to be much, much larger (a friend of mine IRL had a cat who continually gave birth to litters of nine or more). Usually this is for story purposes, since too many kits means too many new characters, but that was part of the reason I decided to give Silverstar a large litter the first time around.
Also, I love how you guys almost all commented on the grand finale pregnancy thing, whereas your comments on the actual plot varied. Don't ever change. :D
@TheVioletGleek: I think the grand finale will be set a few moons in the future, so perhaps Robinpaw might have her warrior name...but it would still be pretty weird. xD Shimmerfrost's definitely changed from who she was in Shattered. In Shattered she did have a pretty wide callous streak, and sometimes she was shifty (I think at one point she saw Buck before the others, but didn't say anything and basically let a complete stranger surprise them) but she did aspire to higher things. She was always interested in herbs and enjoyed helping with that sort of stuff, but now it seems like a duty for her. She's turned her back on StarClan, even her mother, which is almost shocking compared to how excited she was when she accompanied Silverstar when she was getting her nine lives. I do feel bad for her, in a way, but then again some of it is her own fault. Her solution to the problem (i.e. sneaking off to break PeakClan hearts) is definitely not okay. As for the berries, they can't really plant them yet, since it's leaf-bare and all. The ground's too hard for them to really dig into, plus it hasn't rained in awhile (the plants themselves are strong enough to weather those conditions, but getting them in the ground would be a chore and they would be more likely to succeed closer to newleaf). Interesting thought about him and the rogues. I think if they had been there earlier, and he had met them then - like back when the journeying cats had only recently left, and he basically had no friends in the Clan and hated everyone - it would have been entirely possible for him to run off, much like Snowkit in Snatched. Ultimately, I think his loyalty to his family would have driven him back, but I can see him with tangled loyalties.
@Nightkill: Rook and Nightingale aren't really mates, but thank you. :)
@Juniperleaf: Spidey and Soot are almost exactly 8.5 moons old (they've lived 239 days so far, and I split every moon into 28 days, so there is one week for every phase of the moon). They've had three Gatherings since they were apprentices, because they were apprenticed halfway through a moon. It's probably overdue for him, but considering his behavior in the past, I can't really fault Eaglestrike for not taking him. xD For PeakClan, it isn't so much about bodies decomposing as it is about remembering grave sites. They don't want to bury one cat where they buried another - it's seen as disrespectful - but they've run out of room for individual sites, so they've been forced to leave the Peak because carrying bodies down is super-dangerous. As for the snowberry plant, the berries are actually pretty small, and they kinda come in clumps on each individual 'branch' on the plant. For one Clan, it would be fine, but for two, sharing is rather stressful.
@Hannahmae: Thank you, I'm happy I could help. c:
@justsmile: It's weird how much Tubs is growing on me. I didn't like him at all at first, but now I kinda do. And yeah, the plot is pretty glacial at times. A lot of it is trying to keep the timeline on track - since it's linear, I have to make sure that every day is accounted for both of them, which is annoying - but there's also a lot of plot-laying and hints here and there that need to be done as well. We're close to at least one nice twist, though, and another should follow it before too long.
@Sara Darkotter: I'm sure in her mind she shouts that salutation every time she enters the apprentice den. |D Of course it will happen! My ANs are all sorts of canon, didn't you know? :p
@Hermytail: Oh, dear. Shimmerfrost's kits would be terrifying. I don't think anyone wants a bunch of mini-Shimmers running around smirking at everything and being sarcastic. Darky might have a heart attack. xD
@Lynxeye: Robin's kinda sharp about romance, although sometimes she acts like a bit of a ditz to throw everyone off. She's fascinated by love, though, and a bit of a gossip. I'm not sure she's brave enough to talk about Leopard, though. You never know when she's standing behind you, watching creepily. @.@ As for Silverstar, all I can do is cackle. PeakClan is extremely desperate right now, since their younger cats are dropping like flies and the older ones aren't doing much better. They were kind of forced to kill the really sick ones that couldn't be moved; Blackmoon and Birdpaw would have had to supervise them constantly, and in doing so they would divert herbs from the cats that actually might survive long enough to see the journeying cats come home. They pretty much used up all their poppy seeds trying to make the transition as painless for the really sick cats as possible, but they couldn't see any alternatives. As for story length, it's hard to say. Soot has two more stories in the DF to hear, one more herb to collect, and then something has to happen with Bullet (either them finding him, giving up, or hearing about him from a third party for the last time), plus she has to make the return journey (which will hopefully be faster than the getting-to journey). Spidey has to contend with PeakClan, the Colony, and whatever Maggot has up his sleeve, since it seems he is straying a bit from Carmelo's original orders. Right now, I have plans for their climaxes to coincide, but we'll have to wait and see if that actually happens. Basically, there's a lot of plot to get to, but I think once certain things happen everything will start to move more quickly.
@Ranger: Shippers are the best kind of people, so long as they aren't rabid about it. I'm excited for a dozen pregnant she-cats waddling around too. :D
@Shadow-Wolf: I don't think there are many she-kits at the moment, hmm. The only ones I can think of are in Emberflight's litter in PeakClan, which would be super-awkward. xD
@samredlamb: I think I have Spiderpaw's warrior name picked out, but it's liable to change. Usually I'm not too certain about names in advance, for some reason.
@Nightkill: Thanks. :)
@WillowBurn: Thank you, I'm glad you like it so far.
