57!

Glad to see you folks again. Luckily the time between updates wasn't too terribly long (still longer than I'd like, but that's life), so hopefully you all aren't too impatient with me, eh?

I can't really think of anything to say about the chapter, but I might as well talk more about NaNo to make sure you guys don't expect anything during November. xD

Basically for those that don't know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, wherein thousands of authors sit down during the month of November and try to crank out 50,000 words for a novel. This is a pretty time-consuming task, so I'm dedicating all my time to my novel during November. This is my fifth time doing NaNo, and I'm kinda breaking the rules (you aren't supposed to continue old pieces; rather, you start with something new) but since it's my fifth I figured I had some leeway, haha.

I'm going to be working on Dragon's Bargain, my '10 NaNo. I've been editing it piece by piece for months now, and I'm pretty close to being completely done with that so I can start with a fresh chapter when November 1st rolls around. If you guys want to take a gander, it's on fictionpress (fictionpress.com/~prinpardus). Right now it's at 72k, so it's quite a bit to read, but that's nothing new to you guys. ;)

If you'd like to stop by and review during November, I'd appreciate it immensely, since such work doesn't tend to get much attention. And, of course, reviews to Chilled are also appreciated, since they help motivate me a ton, and sometimes it's hard to get back into the rhythm of fanfic once November ends.

Anyway, that's just a heads up. I won't be working on Chilled AT ALL for the month of November. Maybe plotting out some stuff, but no real writing. All my writing will be soaked up by DB, which should be fun. Do stick around, though, for in December, the Chilled freight-train will be puffing away again. :)

Anywho, reviews!

@Aurea Lilium: Thank you! I'm glad you decided to follow Chilled after Shattered, since they're both so long and it can be difficult for new readers to push through all those words. I'm glad you've enjoyed the characters. As I've mentioned before, they'll probably be apprentices for the rest of the story, since it's less about their journey into warriorhood and more about the current struggles, so that isn't really such a good measurement of length, I don't think. It's interesting to play with, though, since very few fics stick with their characters being young throughout the whole thing, which is a fun experiment. :)

@WildheartTheWarrior: Who knows what will happen in the Boneland? o:

@Dawnshine: Thank you. c:

@Juniper: I definitely appreciate amazingly long reviews, haha. Interesting theory on Rabbit's kits, but we'll just have to wait and see! I didn't remember that Squirrel was Bramble's apprentice, though. That's odd. He's waaay older than her. Neat point about Blight. When I first read the Warriors series, I was pretty typical; loved heroes, hated the villains. Now, though, I do like looking into villains much more (TR and JtR are proof enough of that). They're just fascinating in a way that do-gooders sometimes aren't, I think, and deliciously fun to write. Blight is a really wild dude, that much is true. Originally I had a more refined speech planned for him when he was spilling his guts to Sooty, but he decided to turn it into a twisted fairytale instead. Chilly also tends to grab the reins from me pretty often; he definitely does what he wants, sometimes irritatingly so. We'll see more of the journeying cats quite soon, no worries. As for the summer thing, that pretty much went out the window when school started, which was what I had really meant by summer. Alas. xD

@Guest: As I've said before, length is hard to determine. It just depends on how long it takes to play out certain actions - how much plot I can cram into a single chapter - and also if my characters decide to throw in a twist I wasn't expecting, as they often do.

@Jack Holmes: Thanks!

@Cinderfire: Sooty's parents are clueless, as far as we know. The Pool will allow the DF cats to be reincarnated  I'm not sure who Wolfpaw is...?

@Cinderstar: I have no plans for a third atm. Chilled will prolly lay AshClan's story to rest.

@Hunting Dreams: Spiderpaw went through a lot of hate back in the day, so no. xD

@TheVioletGleek: In most respects, I definitely do that. I forget about a project and then remember it but don't want to face everyone that I've already let down by being so terrible, so then I just creep away and let it die. That happened quite a bit with my earlier stories (not fics, just things I wrote to read to my brother and stuff). For some reason, though, fics are different. I've managed to finish everything that I've started (big story wise, that is, not the lil stuff like the one-shots or parody), which I'm pretty proud of! I think it helps that the community is extremely kind and supportive, and has really sort of embraced my work. I probably would have given up if TR had bombed, but I have my inkling of popularity, and I'm glad of it. Ha, I'll see if I can squeeze a fat rabbit in there somewhere. That would certainly make her feel better, at least for a bit. She's definitely going through the hardest time in her life, though, and the cat that emerges should be interesting. Unfortunately, there are some holes in your other theory. For starters, the three forest Clans were already fully established Clans when they came to the forest. Also, the forest had already been burned when they arrived. This new forest is very similar to the old one, but it's not the same one. Heh, nice caught with the bones. ;)

@Snowlight: Aww, thanks for the effort with this longer review (or reviews, I guess xD). I really appreciate it, love. Rook's accent can be fun to write, although a lot of the time I forget about it and have to correct it later. Accents aren't a thing I've done in the past, at least not with a character that crops up a lot, so he was another cool experiment. Kudos to you too for noticing the bones thing; the last mention was quite a long time ago. Swanpaw and Sooty do share some interesting similarities, even though their personalities are completely different; it's a nice example of how different cats respond to the same situation. They've both isolated themselves, but for completely different feelings. Again, thank you for the extra effort this time around! <3

@Justsmile: A Sooty/Swan partnership would be cool. Girl power. :)

@The Last Clan: Oh dear, don't die on me! That would be terrible. Good on you for picking up on the bones thing. I'm thinking the last/only time they were mentioned was in Shattered, but Jag might have let it slip in Chilled, I honestly don't remember. So many tiny details. Either way, nice job. :3

@Reenakitty: It's fine. c:

@LittleSpark: Ha, yeah, it's kind of a bummer! Sorry. :p

@Lynxeye: Who knows what Sooty will do. She's not really the type that could do well by herself, but she's certainly determined, and she doesn't feel she has many alternatives. The similarities between the territories are definitely not an accident...but neither are the differences. ;)

@Echowind: Thanks!

@Halliova: Clearly she's going to have Chilly's ghost babies! And then Chilled will plunge into the horor genre when his ghost kits set out to avenge their father's death. It will be awesome. But also terrible. :D

@Ranger: Aw, thanks. I'm glad you're sticking with the story, and so many others are too. Warms my heart. :') Interesting note about betrayal and Carmelo...we'll see.

And that's all, hooray! Hopefully I'll cook up another chapter before NaNo starts. Until then!

PS if you have any questions or would like to attempt nano, their site is nanowrimo.org. I'm princessleopard on there, if you can find me. :)

Yo - 56

Finally updated, woot woot. Waking up to a flood of reviews was nice, ha. I missed that. Hopefully the next chapter will come more quickly, although I unfortunately can't promise anything. :c

Not a lot to say about this chapter, I guess, so let's move on.

@cocolate: Yep, Spiderpaw and Sootpaw are the youngest cats in the Clan. Glad you liked it.

@Sara Darkotter: You should know better by now. :D

@Vukasin: Glad you liked it.

@Cinderstar: Yep, they're few and far between, but I'm working on it.

@NoRealReason2Care: Thanks, glad you liked it. Sorry for the pace. :p

@Ranger of the Forest: Not many at all, I'm afraid. They've been dropping like flies, poor things. Taking on everyone is definitely foolish, but they feel like they've been backed into a corner.

@Snowlight: Thanks! If Spiderpaw does get his warrior name, we'll probably see it in the Epilogue, since the story isn't meant to stretch into his warriorhood.

@SuperFirecat: Yep, Spiderpaw's having a tough time of it, and taking out his feels on everyone else, like usual.

@Juniper1919: Eheh, Kitekit. I've neglected that story for a long time, but as I've said before, I've got too much to do to worry about it. Maybe in the future, when I have more time, I'll get back to it. Maggot seems fonder of sending small groups in to test his opponents; he often did the same against Tremor and the others, back when he and Maggot were competing for the same territory - otherwise Tremor likely would have been crushed outright. He kind of has a sadistic streak to him, in that he likes playing with his prey before finishing them off. The thing about Leopardpaw is an interesting point, but what we often don't think about (and I'm guilty of this too) is that the characters don't know they've involved in some big story. They have no idea that Leopardpaw is one piece of a sprawling puzzle that is going to bring them all into a world of hurt, so they aren't as suspicious of her as they might be. Keep in mind that Leopard popped up in a time of (relative) peace, before things started going terribly south with the sickness and dangerous rogues and all. Her timing was suspicious, yes, but most cats would have probably just written it off as StarClan watching over them, bringing her to the right place at the right time. As for the hiatus...well, the settling and stuff is mostly over (I moved rooms and I've been getting used to my new roommate, haha) but there's just honestly a lot of work that I have to do now, because I'm in Honors classes. We have papers due every night, and it gets kinda crazy.

Really, the problem is that I'm a huge procrastinator, even with stupid things, like getting something to eat. I tuck every little thing behind something else, until I have a vast chain of things to do before I can feel satisfied. And, since Chilled won't affect my grades, it's at the bottom of that chain. And then I do everything I can to put off actual work.

Thirsty -> Drinking -> Gotta pee -> Kinda hungry I should make something real quick -> Eating -> Refreshing various sites out of boredom/avoiding work -> Just a few more Reddit pictures -> Just a few more -> No I mean it now, just a few more -> Freaking out because there's barely any time left to do homework -> Reading textbooks/research -> Honors paper -> Hey, I can probably take a break now and just do it in the morning -> But I can't do anything fun until I finish my homework because I'll be stressed -> Okay, I'll finally finish up my homework now -> Put off printing stuff -> Attempt relaxation -> A bit of music to get the juices going -> Zoning out trying to get inspired -> Attempting to plot out every detail of the ending -> Hey haven't checked Reddit in awhile -> Picturespicturespictures -> Back to music and such -> More planning -> Actually writing Chilled -> Oh, I'm five hundred words in, and now it's time for bed. Whoops.

That is basically every day for me, when class ends. And I really hate the cycle, but unfortunately my willpower is extremely slim, so despite my best efforts I end up falling into it anyway. I am today, in fact. I have a paper to edit and a speech to work on for tomorrow, but neither of those things will probably happen until late tonight. Until then, I will frivolously throw away my time. Alas.

Anyway.

@Echoflight: Yup, PeakClan seems screwed!

@Reenakitty: Spidey's reaction would be interesting, I think. A Leopard POV isn't really feasible at the moment, since Chilled is stuck with two POVs only, and there's not really anything for her to do in a one-shot. It would be fun, though. And yes, it's weird that they're still apprentices so far in the story, but we've only covered about a moon of real time, and we won't really be going too much further.

I think a common misconception with the story is that it intends to follow Sootpaw and Spiderpaw through their entire time as apprentices, and culminate with them becoming warriors. That's often the case in many stories, and has happened with me in the past - Tigerkit and Snowkit both worked their ways up through the ranks, and even Silverstreak ascended in-story - but that will not be the case here. Them becoming warriors isn't such an important story; what is important is how they cope with the trials they face as apprentices. They're forced into situations that most warriors would never dream of, and their mistakes and pitfalls are what makes the story interesting, I think. They're trying to figure out what real warriors would do and what kind of cats they want to be, and that's the source of a lot of conflict. If we do get to see them as warriors, it will be in the Epilogue, and I do not think we will see their actual ceremony. It's just not as important.

@Jack Holmes: Like I mentioned earlier, Carmelo has approximately zero alternatives. Maggot's one of his oldest allies, if not the oldest, and it only makes practical sense for him to pass off his duties while he's gone. I don't think he believed Maggot would betray him, if only because Maggot's been cooperative and loyal thus far - and he thought Flicka might work to keep him in check. Sure, Carmelo's foresight wasn't the best, but he didn't have anyone else to look to. It's lonely at the top. The Chilled Nation is kinda a cool name though, haha.

@Lynxeye: Don't worry, love! I don't intend to leave. Chilled will be completed, no matter how long that takes. I wouldn't lead you guys on for a year and a half just for giggles. As for the ending, there's little that I can say, as usual. Just remember that you'll see it for yourself someday. :D

@Guest: Ah, that's rough. There is a warning in the first AN, though, so sorry you missed it.

The length's pretty hard to gauge, atm, it just depends. Some scenes drag out longer than I intend, and some are shorter, so my expectations are fluctuating with every chapter. It will probably be long, that's all I can say. xD

@Kera Alter: Thank you. :)

That's all for now, folks. Until next time~

Soot 55

First, let me again apologize for the wait! I know it was prolly driving you guys crazy after the last chapter, and I'm sorry! I've just been crazy busy recently, and adjusting to a lot of changes, the biggest of which being moving to college.

I had a camp before college and then moved in early, so I've spent the last few weeks getting used to college life and figuring out my work load. I'm also trying to find exactly when I can write. I'm used to writing late at night when there's no one to bother me, but of course now I have a roommate who's always present at night. Another problem is that when I write I tend to mimic certain actions of the characters - glances, head-turns and the like - to see how practical they'd be, which of course feels weird when my roommate and her friends are around.

Add that in with all the stuff I have to do during the day - classes, homework, and let's not forget hanging out with new buddies - and there's precious little time to write.

Also, Spiderpaw's been a pain lately. He's just not working for me, and one reason is because his personal timeline is held back by Sooty's. Certain things have to happen to her before certain things can happen to him, and unfortunately I can't pack as much into Sooty's chapters as I like, so writing for him can be frustrating.

Anyway.

This most recent chapter had the most readers in all of Chilled history, I believe, and also a ton of reviews, so thank you very much for that! You guys all reacted as I hoped you would, which was fantastic. There are plenty more reveals coming up, so I hope you stick around despite my terrible schedule. :)

Okay, now since there are a ton of reviews to respond to and most of them are the OMG-variety (both for the reveal and Soot/Chill, haha), unfortunately I can't respond individually to each one. I'll stick to the ones with any questions or other specific comments for this chapter; for the next chapter I'll be back to my respond-to-everyone self, no worries.

And again, I'd just like to say that I'm really happy this reveal worked out. Before I've always felt a little heavy-handed in the past, but this managed to go under the radar so well that I feel it was pretty successful, and you guys seem to do as well, which is fantastic. It's a lovely feeling.

@Sara Darkotter: 242? Nice. Care to name the others? ;)

@AangLuvr: Nah, she was gonna say she loved the snow. Close enough though, right?

@Shimmertail: C'mon now, did you really have so little faith in me? Blight had his time in the gray area, i.e. back in Shattered before his death. He really is a monster at the core, and he wouldn't represent himself any other way. I think in death he was forced to confront the truth of himself - that he is, in fact, a beast - but embraced it rather than tried to turn away from it. Glad I didn't shatter you beyond repair. :3

@Justsmile: Yep! I hate leaving little details unfinished, so Minnow had to be important somehow, ha. I think it worked out rather well.

@Cinderfire: Yep, Spiderpaw is alone (bloodly, at least) in the world. Kinda sad. Why do you think Chill/Soot is cliche, out of curiosity?

@Juniperleaf: Yup! This was planned before Chilled even began, so it's probably close to 1 and 3/4s of a year now, or something? It's been up my sleeve a terribly long time, at least. Unveiling it was a fantastic feeling, fo' sho'. Nature vs nurture is always something else that's fascinated me (especially when it comes to twinsies), so it's another fun thing to play with, in this instance. A trilogy would be cool, but I don't think it'll happen, sadly. I'm more than happy to lay the Shatter-verse to rest after this story. :)

@Guest: Good on you for guessing! When did you first come up with the theory, out of curiosity? And sure, you can call me Prin! Most people do.

@Snowlight: Fern's the "deputy" of the marsh cats. She's kind of in charge since Baron's all over the place atm. I've read almost the third series but literally quit right in the middle of one of the books because I simply wasn't interested in the story any longer, so I do know about the Three.

@Lynxeye: November tends to be my time of dabbling in legit writing, but I have fiddled with some old NaNos during the year (I was reconstructing DB a few months ago). I'm not sure I could ever go away from fanfics entirely; the community is fantastic and it's super-nice to interact with the people here. I'd miss that too much to give it up. Soot/Red is 100% canon, btw. No doubt. xD

Sorry this blog thing was rather short! Again, I do appreciate all the feedback, and I'd reply to each one if I could, but I'd just end up repeating myself, I'm afraid. You guys are sublime. Thanks for sticking with the story this long, and I hope you hang on all the way to the end! <3

HAHAHA. 54

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
Hahahahahahahahahahaha.
Hahaha.
Ha.

Oh dear. I simply cannot believe I was finally able to unveil this secret. I've had this planned since Nighty became preggers back in ol' Shattered. Today is a glorious day!

Also this is the 100th post on the blog, so I guess that's cool to. But not as cool.

Seriously, though, I am very happy to finally make this reveal. It's incredibly difficult for me to keep secrets from you guys without wanting to foam at the mouth, and I've been plotting this one for 1.5 years, so hopefully it was worth it.

As far as I can recall, there was one person who called it. Said person PM'd me and I carefully nudged them in the wrong direction (without lying, of course). Kudos to said person, but I'll keep his/her name quiet unless s/he wants to reveal it for bragging rights, haha.

I think the only time I fudged outright was saying that Soot/Jay was out of the question because they were related. We now know that's not true, of course, but she still feels like his cousin, so it would be a little weird.

Anyway, one last chuckle to Sage/Soot, which had a little following for awhile, before moving on.

@Halliova: Thank you, I'm glad you like it! Welcome to the site. :)

@samredlamb: Thanks. c:

@Cinderstar: Redpaw already ran off, though, so exiling seems a bit redundant, haha. Who knows what would happen if he came back, though.

@Shadough: Lol, it's fine, don't worry. I'm glad you liked the chapter. :D

@A new reader: Thanks!

@Lynxeye: Redpaw is a really cowardly dude. He didn't dare fight Spider on his own terms, preferring to sneak after him once he was separate from the group. There's definitely some potential for him turning to the dark side, but there's not really anything they can do about it. If they enter Twolegplace, they'll almost certainly be attacked. It's a precarious situation (my favorite kind). c:

@Ranger: Yup, Fire's a decent guy when you're not smashing his sister's heart to pieces by humiliating her in front of everyone. Not that he doesn't have a temper, of course. We'll have to see what happens to Red. :D

@Snowlight: No problem, I understand! Life always takes precedence, haha. Yup, lots and lots of pairings hanging out there. Oodles and oodles. That's what makes it fun, doncha think?

@The Last Clan: Yes, and I missed you. Soot and Spider have definitely matured, you're right, and there's still plenty yet to do.

@Snowlight: Thanks! Yes, it's true, Silverstar's first litter never really had a shot. Poor things. :c

@Wintershine: Thanks!

53

Busy busy busy.

@Sara Darkotter: Double-betting is cheating, silly. Gotta make a judgement call. Lep, or someone else? :)

@WildheartTheWarrior: The general consensus on Carmelo tends to flip-flop quite often, no? That's always interesting. I understand getting attached to a whole bunch of characters. I do the same thing all the time. xD

@Samredlamb: Glad you liked it. :)

@Shadough: I don't know what you're talking about, I do not ship Soot/Chill at all (/whistles). Thanks for the review. /snuggles

@Dawnshine: Thank you, glad you liked the chapter. c:

@Juniperleaf: Shame on you for having Blight be your favorite. xD Really, though, sorry you had to wait! I know that can be a bit maddening. Hopefully you won't be disappointed. Believe me, Nightingale loves Rook a whole bunch (platonically). They're the only family they have left now, and she can't really imagine life without him. As for Northy, that's a good point, but remember that her animosity didn't really end with him until after they trained together, and he revealed that he only had one life left. He was willing to sacrifice himself for the good of PeakClan, if it came to that, and she had to give him a little grudging respect for that. The others definitely aren't fond of him, although their anger has faded over time. And thank you! I do love writing, and it would be pretty awesome to turn it into a career. :)

@justsmile: Yep, Sooty did give him a bit of a talking-to, for once. And Chilly allowed himself to be a bit gentler than normal. Fun times. Thank you!

@Ranger: Yeppers, Soot's been making progress recently! As for Leopardpaw, who knows? We'll find out eventually, I guess. Carmelo is pretty creepy, especially in the middle of the night when you're all alone...anyway, glad you liked it. :D

@Guest: Thank you! Yes, Blight's will be pretty horrible for poor Sooty, since his excuses kind of suck. I'm excited for it, though. Should be fun. c:

@Lynxeye: No problemo, I get it. Yes, Spider's still pretty out of his league when it comes to taking on a lot of opponents at once; he's still used to fighting just one or two, and he's comfortable enough with most of their styles, unlike the rogues. Firefire's warming to Spider a bit, mostly because aside from his fairly obsessive protection of his sister and mother, he's a pretty good guy. Sooty's feelings aren't really all that important for the ceremony (unfortunately?). It would kinda suck if they were, since she'd be scared of being in the dark, and worried about the DF kitties that she actually likes. I can't say anything about your other questions, but they're good ones. :DD

All for now, folks. See you next time!

52

Sorry it's a little late, yesterday was pretty busy for me.

This chapter was pretty fun to write, though. Being able to refer to JtR (if you guys haven't read it, that's where most of the north star/life force stuff comes from, so if you're confused I'd recommend giving Journey to Redemption a glance) is nice, since I like nodding to past works. And I'm pretty excited for the next Soot chapter, heehee.

@WildheartTheWarrior: Both of Carmelo's allies are pretty shifty, unfortunately for him. Leopardpaw was pretty fun to work with, too, I really like her. c:

@samredlamb: I've heard that it's good. I was never really a Spiderman fan, though. ;)

@Sara Darkotter: Yup, Leopardpaw obviously trusts Twolegplace cats more than the Clanners, for some reason. We already know that she grew up there, but her trusting everyone wouldn't really make much sense....Hmm. :3

@Juniper: Ah, yes, snowberries. They're something I keep meaning to mention, but I forget. The plant are structured a lot like pokeweed plants (Google them if you don't know what they are) in that they have a lot of little berries that come in clumps. The clumps usually have around 20 berries in each one (like pokeweeds) and there are three in the remaining plant, which leaves around 60 berries up for grabs. Some have already been used, and some have been put aside for replanting, leaving probably 40-45 remaining. Divide that by two (two for each sick cat) and you have 20-22 cats that can be given berries, which is more than the number that is sick. Now, once every cat finishes all four doses (since each berry will be split into two), which might take time since the meddys will try and space out the time between each dose, things might get a little more desperate as they squabble over the berries that remain. Silverstar is deteriorating slowly, but it took her two moons last time to lose a life - the disease is slow-acting - and it's been a little less than one since she lost her last life. I've seen the "hug every cat" video, it's pretty funny, so kudos to you for working a reference in there. xD Swiftshade's an interest case because, as you said, he had no malicious intent, but he still committed acts that he knew were wrong, and placed his life above others by murdering them rather than letting his sister turn on him.

@MatsuriWolfsong: Underneath the smugness, Leopard's kinda pitiful. :c

@TheVioletGleek: I like Fern too. She reminds me of Blackheart from TR, for some reason. Hopefully she won't have a tragic death, haha. All sorts of interesting questions with Leopardpaw there, but unfortunately I can't answer any of them just yet. I'm glad she interests you, though. :D

@Shadow-Wolf: Fern's pretty cool, but she's not necessarily a good guy. She's on AshClan's side at the moment - or rather, they're on hers - but that could always change. Glad you liked the chapter. :)

@RangeroftheForest: Glad you liked it! It was nice to have Spider admit to being a bit of a bully, and allowing Leopardpaw to be  lil more vulnerable than she normally is. Character development is always one of my favorite things. :3

@Justsmile: Fern's good at taking charge of things, certainly. She's the one who whipped everyone into shape in the marsh, according to her, and Baron's absent most of the time. She enjoys the challenges that come with leading, and is protective of her cats and others, so it would be interesting to see if she was able to replace Baron/what she would think of becoming a Clan. As for Maggot, loyal companions is one of Carmelo's key issues. Originally, his group was very small and weak because Amber and Cane controlled most of the territory. He'd steal a few followers when he could, but any time he became too powerful, Amber and Cane would put aside their differences to fight him and pick off most of his followers. This led to the makeup of his group being very turbulent, with few cats living/lasting long enough to really get close enough to him to become trustworthy. Maggot is actually his oldest ally at this point, since they had contact with one another while they worked with Lion. After Cane's death, Carmelo became more powerful, and when Amber died he seized control of most of her cats as well, and Maggot remained with him this entire time. Carmelo probably knows that Maggot is shady, but he doesn't have many alternatives and has grown a little too secure in his power, now that he basically has the entire city under his paws.

@Snowlight: Maybe cats taste like chicken? :p Spider's feelings for Blue are basically gone, since she's not been around and he's made new friends/moved on.

@Cinderstar: Glad you liked the chapter. I can't speak of pairings, but Black's assessment was fun. c: Spider pretty much almost dies all the time, haha. He has a rough time with things, I guess. Maybe StarClan just really wants him. xD

Exaggerated yaaaaaawn, 51

Hey, guys. Sorry about the lull between updates. Spider wasn't cooperating and things were kinda jumbled there for a bit. Still not entirely happy with the chapter, but ah well.

Anyway!

@Jack Holmes: Thank you, glad you enjoyed the chapter. It's a little hard to believe that Chilled's even longer than Shattered now, but kind of exciting, too. :)

@Sara Darkotter: Aww, thank you. I appreciate it. ^^

@samredlamb: Thanks, glad you liked it!

@MatsuriWolfsong: Thank you. I'm sorry if I made you sad. D:

@Ranger of the Forest: Swanpaw's pretty loyal to her Clan, but we don't get to see that often. Thistle is being a pretty big jerk, but he's anxious about his mother (in some ways he feels responsible for her) and wants to get home ASAP. He was never counting on the journey being this long, and Rabbit will slow it down even more. A Soot/Spider duke-out would be pretty awesome. :D

@justsmile: Well, if she did start yelling at Chilly through her mind, some of that anger would probably leak out in her expression and she might even start growling in real life, which would obviously unnerve her journey-mates. If she's going to confront him, it'll be in a dream, where she won't risk exposing herself to anyone else.

@Dawnshine: I'm sorry. Maybe things will turn out okay?

@Lynxeye: Oh noes, don't pull a Shimmerfrost. The journeying cats could have their own story, maybe, if it wasn't so closely tied to this one. There would certainly be enough action, what with the multiple deaths/almost deaths, and all. Half of them don't even have names, though. xD Rabbit could leave the group, but in doing so she would also be taking at least one good resource (Sage) with her, and probably another of the group (Swanpaw) with her, which would weaken them if they were attacked again, not to mention that, as Sage said, within two weeks or so she'll be too large to move (strenuous activity could pose dangerous to the kits, so if she did keep walking she would have to be careful and rest often, which means she wouldn't get far). At this point, it wouldn't be possible for her to reach the Clan before kitting. She'd probably end up somewhere near Adder's old territory, which would of course be dangerous. For right now, staying with the group is her best bet.

@TheVioletGleek: I already mentioned the Angel/Lune stuff in a PM (timelines don't match up, although it would be cool). Heehee, every time anyone says ERMAGAWD or some variation thereof, I can't help but think of the Fancy Feast cat picture thingy. So cute. Anyway, we'll just have to see how Silverstar's pregnancy goes! :)

@Snowlight: Wow, that is a lot of reviews. Thank you! I'm sure it's daunting to review every chapter, but I appreciate it. I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far. Prowling the Clans used to be posted here, but I took it down after I realized I'd never finish it. It resides on deviantART now, where my username is Prin-Pardus. You can read it if you want, but it's not very good. xD

@WillowBurn: Thanks, glad you liked it!

@Cinderstar: This story is secretly all about breaking Silverstar down, haha. :p Not really, but it seems that way sometimes.

That's all for now. Thank you guys for your continued support! <3

50

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.

49

Welp, we're here. Chapter 49, which makes 50 chapters of Chilled total. Took us a little longer than Shattered, but then again word-count wise we're almost even. That should prolly take another chapter or so to reach. It's hard to believe, really, and I'm glad you guys are here along for the ride. <3

Some bombs dropped, too. Most of you guys figured out that Silverstar was preggers before, but now it's official. So to Chilled's current pregnancy list, we can put Silverstar (x2), Rabbitleap, and technically Emberflight, since she kitted within the confines of the story. I guess we can count Nettlefrost too. Not bad.

This might cut off suddenly because a friend of mine is supposed to be coming over, but rest assured that if it does I'll be back later to finish it off.

@samredlamb: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. :)

@Shadow-Wolf: Hey, Shadow! What made you think someone in the group had to be pregnant? I love you...r face. :)

@WildheartTheWarrior: I think Rook's accent makes him more adorable than he really intended to be. You're right, he does need to learn how to share; I guess he never really had kitty preschool. He tends to cling onto what he has, since everything was pretty much lost to him during the fire. I don't know any Phantom of the Opera songs, unfortunately (except for the titular one, I guess? My mom has one on her iPod that I used to listen to, and that's the title of it, which does kinda remind me of Chilly) but I've heard him compared to the Phantom before. The Phantom doesn't win, though, does he? o:

@Sunspirit: Correctamundo. Bullet and Blizzardpaw aren't related at all. Reedrush and Birchpool (Bullet's mate) did know each other back in the Kalan (when Birchy was Brightflash) but they weren't super-close and they lost track of one another after Ashstir died. Yep, Sootpaw's always been a bit of a doormat, which can be good - in that she's not terribly selfish - but it's also landed her in some sticky places, like the DF. Soot and Spider only heard of lakes and the like from their mother, but hearing about something and imagining it for yourself are very different things, haha. It's a good thing Bluepaw isn't really the jealous type, or she might have been miffed about Nightingale spotting the pregnancy while she didn't. Bluepaw isn't all that observant, like a good meddy should be, unfortunately. And yes, Nighty can speak, although her voice is extremely unpleasant and it can be a little painful, so she prefers to pretend that she can't. She's very self-conscious about it, poor thing. :c

@Ranger: Aww, don't feel bad! I've miss-typed character names on many an occasion. It happens. For every predictable twist, I try to throw in a curveball now and then, to keep you guys on your toes. :D

@Hermytail: I don't have any plans for a sequel, at the moment. Chilled's already a sequel, and I can't really see myself rounding out a trilogy. Maybe a few one-shots about the characters, though, after everything's said and done. :)

@Lynxeye: Usually really timid characters bother me too. Sootpaw actually wasn't intended to be so timid - she was supposed to have a bit of a temper - but since her brother was already so hot-headed, they ended up contrasting one another. We'll probably be seeking the SkyClan-searchers sometime soon, although I can't promise exactly when it will be. ^^

@Jack Holmes: It's okay, I love you even without your sophisticated language! Thank you, I'm glad you appreciate my schedule struggle, haha. I slipped a bit in the last week, but that was partially because I was trying to get a job at the library and I was a little too frazzled to really write. Ah well. Hopefully this week will be smoother!

@TheVioletGleek: Of course I remember you! It's great to have you back, I wondered why you kinda dropped off the face of the earth there. I'm glad you can accompany us again. :) Yup, plot-wise Spider's hasn't been as big as Soot's - since she has the DF and the StarClan cats and the real journey to worry about - but things are heating up with Carmelo and PeakClan, fo' sho'. I'm glad you're fond of the siblings, and I have to say that Swifty is one of my favorite DF kitties too. My top three would prolly be Chilly, Swifty, and then Shrew/Nettle tied for third (although that's not really a top three, mm). I've never heard of Alexithyma, but after you mentioned it, I went and looked it up. It's really quite interesting, especially in that it overlaps a bit with Aspergers, and a few people have said Chilly might have a touch of that as well. Neat stuff! As for Petal-snuggles, do you mean Stormshadow? We haven't seen much of him as of late, but he and Petal did come from the same group, so they do have a history. Bullet's not related to Jaggy by blood; Jag's brother died when he was a kit, and he never knew his father. How come you're getting a vibe from Bluepaw? I think that's interesting, since so far she's just been a ball of forgetful fluff. xD Anyway, glad you're back!

@Flowerleaf: Glad you're enjoying the story, but I'm afraid you might be a budding serial killer for liking Blight, haha. It's okay, though, we accept all types here. xD

@Tangleflame: Thanks, glad you liked it.

@Pinestar: Thanks, I think? I'm not entirely sure what you were meaning to say. Sorry. ^^;

Anyway, that's all for now. See you guys next time. <3

48

Finished this one way ahead of time, but I hunt onto it again for a little bit. Have to space out the updates a little bit so you guys don't wear yourselves out reading and reviewing. xD

@Sunspirit: It's okay! There are a lot of cats in this story, and it's very easy to mix them up, haha. His name is Hawktalon. Your first guess is probably the closest, but not exactly right. Fireblaze is a good sparrer because he's always been good at fighting - it's his strength - plus he has moons of experience over Spiderpaw. Spider has raw talent, but he doesn't have as much discipline or training.  As for Abrazame, I'm not really sure...but I think I'll get back to it eventually. After all, DB rested for nearly two years before I picked it up again, so there's a good chance that my interest in Abrazame will spark again, sometime down the road. :)

@Juniperleaf: I'm glad to have your reviews, haha. Spiderpaw is really clueless about somethings, for some reason. Maybe it's on purpose, who knows? Blackfeather was angry before because he made fun of her fate/love idea, and then later she thought he snubbed her by not letting her spar with Blizzardpaw. ^^

@Sara Darkotter: I'm assuming you meant Blackspider, since Bluespider kinda sunk? ;p

@Spottedtalon: A lot of reviewers seem to be in favor of Fire/Leopard, which I think is interesting. Hopefully we'll see why PeakClan moved soon!

@Samredlamb: Glad you liked it! :D

@Ranger: I'm really, really hoping that you meant Spider instead of Soot, because Black/Soot would be...hrrm. I'm looking forward to Blight and Chilly too, haha.

@Lynxeye: It's possible that they could leave the sick cats behind, but walking back up and down the Peak every day would be very dangerous. They found it easier to just move everyone instead, although that wasn't easy either. I'm glad you like the sparring; I do think it becomes irritating sometimes when the completely inexperienced cats can easily defeat older and more seasoned opponents. Spiderpaw has a lot of talent, but that can't replace moons of training. He still doesn't even always manage to overcome Leopardpaw, so him beating Fireblaze would be quite a feat! Blackfeather's gotten a lot better too, since the only reason he could beat her before was that she was so reluctant to fight in the first place. As for the dying thing...I will grant one of those requests, but I won't say which. ;)

47!

Sorry for the delay, guys, I know this one was late a few days. Hope you aren't mad at me. ;)

I've just been working on DB (my NaNo from a couple years back). I've been editing out some mistakes, fixing continuity errors, and tightening the plot up a teensy bit, that kind of thing. Cut out some unnecessary scenes and all that. I've removed all the old chapters and I'm working on updating them (only the Prologue is finished at the moment, but the others should follow soon), before I can work on some new chapters. But don't worry, I'll try not to neglect Chilled. :D

Something I forgot to mention last chapter is that Nettlefrost is an old rp character of mine, and her story here is very similar to what happened in rp. All of her 'conquests' - saving the kits from the rogues, fighting the dogs, and courting Eaglepaw (although his name was Wolfpaw/shadow) - happened in rp. Wolfpaw confessed feelings for her as an apprentice but she turned him down and he went to a warrior, looking for 'comfort,' but she turned him away too. He fell for Maplepelt, an ex-kittypet, but still had feelings for Nettlefrost, and when Nettle finally went back to him he took her back but kept Maple too, in secret. Nettle and Maple became pregnant by him within a day of one another, and when Nettle found out, she was pissed. She broke it off with him, and had her kits in secret, but didn't murder them or anything. She left them there, and repressed the memory, and then went on to become deputy. After that, the group had some difficulties and role-play lapsed, so I didn't get to do much else with her, unfortunately.

Just some random background, I guess. Anywho:

@Shadow-Wolf: Thank you, glad you liked it! Nettle is surprisingly popular judging from the poll, and she was a favorite rp character of mine, so I'm glad she has gotten a positive reception (despite being, you know, evil xD).

@Sara Darkotter: I'm not sure it counts as filler, really, since the stories do advance the DF plot, but I'm glad you liked it. :)

@Samredlamb: Glad you like the story! However, no offense, but I'd rather not release the name of my college. I try to keep my FFN life and personal life separate, to a degree. Thank you for the interest, though. :)

@Justsmile: Maplepelt and Mapleshade aren't connected, actually, but it's an interesting thought. I haven't read Crookedstar's story, but I've heard Mapleshade is an interesting baddie. ^^

@Juniperleaf: Yup, Chilly's been building up to this for a long time now. He's shown some flashes before, but this is rather overwhelming for him, I'm afraid! At least he has Soot for some comfort. :p Thank you, glad I get some appreciation for an early chapter. ;)

@MatsuriWolfsong: We'll just have to wait and see what happens to him, haha. :)

@Lynxeye: You're German? I didn't know that. Neat. We had some German exchange students last year that were really awesome--anyway. I think Bluestar's pretty badass on her own, but I'm glad you like Nettle. She's sort of a Blue/Tiger blend, I think, in that she was intensely ambitious but also loyal to her Clan and leader. I think Nettle was actually more surprised that Soot would bring up their new lives, since in her mind it's not certain that they'll end up in the same place as they did when they died, and there's the possibility of them screwing everything up again. Nettle's more pessimistic than Sootpaw, as are most of the cats she spends her time with now, so she's not used to positive thinking. I enjoyed Twilight the first time I read it, but there are a lot of plot holes to examine and the characters aren't as intriguing as I'd like. I don't think it deserves the bashing it receives, though, and I have nothing against people that enjoy it. I don't think Chilly will be sucking blood any time soon, though. xD

@Ranger: Yep, Dapplefern's pretty screwed up. Most of the others have a sympathetic light to them, but she has few redeeming traits, in all honesty. I do feel a little bad for her in that she was kind of screwed in the beginning because she staked her life on the wrong values, but when it all comes down to it, her problems were her fault. Nettle's a little more sympathetic, although she still crosses some lines. The values for Chilly and Blight aren't too had, since Blight's been lusting after she-cats ever since we first met him (although there's more to it than that, of course). Thanks for the review. :)

@Jaystripe: Haha, yes. I don't think any of my readers have ever been fond of Dapplefern, and I've always disliked her myself. Nettle was a pretty clever girl, really, and even though what she did was wrong, you still have to admire her intelligence! xD Ha, Soot's a little more than meets the eye sometimes, although she doesn't get to chatter on often. She's pretty good at comforting others, when she gets the chance. Heh, maybe the DF cats will just miss her? She's the first cat to be nice to them in a long time, after all, and they'll probably never see her again. :p

@Nightkill: Sage is kind of a dork, but he's very kind. Glad you like him. And yes, Deathy can be angsty at times. We saw it here and there in Shattered - he has a lot of self-doubt - and I missed being able to explore it in Chilled. I love him.

@Dawnshine: Thank you, glad you like it! I try to update often. :)

Beep boop 46

Woot, got a chapter finished several days ahead of schedule! Life is awesome. :p

We might actually have a chance of finishing Chilled before the summer is over, or at least getting close! Here's hoping. <3

Anyway, Sin time.

Dapplefern embodies Envy. She was jealous of Rosedapple for most of her life and always felt under-appreciated, which only intensified when Northstar rejected her for Rosedapple as well. Dapplefern has some deep-seated inferiority issues, and always felt under-appreciated, which led to her switching sides. Pretty straightforward. Also, she's a literal green-eyed monster, haha.

Nettlefrost is Greed. Her ambition drove her to take on every challenge thrown before her, and she also lusted after glory and praise from her Clanmates. However, she was torn between becoming deputy and having a mate. She deluded herself into thinking she could have both, which resulted in her becoming pregnant. Even then, she wasn't willing to choose one or the other, and continued to believe that she could have both without any repercussions. This led to to tragedy when she saw Eagletalon with Maplepelt, resulting in her miscarriage. Rather than give up Eagletalon and focusing solely on becoming deputy, she instead framed Maplepelt as the murderer of her kits, leading to her leaving the Clan. She clung to Eagletalon while also earning the deputyship. However, because she felt she could no longer trust Eagletalon, she wasn't satisfied. She continued to crave glory, and because of this she led many campaigns to earn territory for her Clan, and used other tom to her advantage in order to prove herself. She was never able to overcome her desire for 'more,' even after she fell in battle and went to the Dark Forest. She still craves more life, even though she wasted hers.

So, if you've been keeping track, that leaves Lust and Wrath for Chilly and Blight. Which is which? Who knows? o:

Also, have I ever told you guys how much I love theories? Like I really, really do. Theories are my favorite things to read about; the idea of creating a story complex enough to leave multiple readers theorizing about multiple plotlines and coming up with multiple conclusions is amazing to me, especially when you guys all tag on evidence and stuff. It makes me sniffle a bit. :')

@Sara Darkotter: Ooh, nice long review. Leopardpaw seems to be a bit of a mystifying character, to the other characters and to readers, haha. You're right about her growing up in the city; her attitude (and a few of her comments about city cats) hint towards that. Interesting interpretation of the Baron/Fern convo; Leopardpaw is certainly a character that would make sense for being connected, what with her sneaky demeanor and all. But what purpose would such a spy serve? The Clanners aren't up to much, really, not with the sickness diverting their attention. (When you mentioned the vagueness thing, I was considering just saying 'Maybe' for my whole response, haha :D)

@Jack Holmes: Neat theory about Carmelo and Leopardpaw, and interesting point about Flicka, since we haven't seen her for a very long time and she's only been mentioned here and there. We might be seeing more of her soon. I'm curious, where does Maggot fit into your theory? He's been out of the spotlight for a long time too, but might come into relevance again. Also, you have a ton of respect from me for writing all that on a touchscreen, haha. I hate using those to write out anything longer than a couple sentences. :)

@Lynxeye: Maybe she's just a moderately evil jerk, ha. She seems to be one of my more perplexing characters, since her allegiances are difficult to pin down and she's always sneaking around. Glad you like her! As for Jag, we'll just have to wait and see. I suppose my character-killing habits are a little excessive sometimes, though, but I have to make up for all those years where I never killed off any rping characters (I used to have over a hundred and forty in one place, and only two of them died in role-play, haha. I was too attached).

@Ranger of the Forest: Yup, Sootpaw did get angry for once, but in the end she was complacent with Bluepaw taking all the credit, unfortunately. As for Bluepaw, you're right, it was selfish of her; Bluepaw actually has some self-esteem issues, as we saw in that chapter, since StarClan bascially took no notice of her until she came back with that prophecy. She's a little attention-starved, since Bramblethorn was sort of her father and he died and all.

Ha, I'm the same was as Spiderpaw in that regard. There are very few people that I legitimately hate, but I'm kind of judgmental in real life, so I dislike plenty of them. I'm glad you like how I portray Clan life; I do like dramatics now and then, but I think the Clan dynamic is pretty interesting in itself, and it's been awhile since I was actually able to explore a Clan setting (the Clan was too new in Shattered, same for Snatched, and JtR didn't have a Clan at all) so I'm enjoying myself there. Thank you. :)

@Justsmile: Thanks, glad you like him! Yup, Leopardpaw has that skill of being able to reveal a bit more of herself and still being able to leave everyone in complete confusion, haha. She's a hard-to-pin-down kind of kitty. :)

Weeeeeeewt (45)

Whooooooooo updated early (only by a day, but still)? This gurrrrrl! :D

Ever since I tried out my old headphones, things have been flowing quite nicely, and I really hope that doesn't stop any time soon.

Thank you all for your congratulations and stuff! I'm excited to be out of high school. You guys are great. <3

I'm actually pretty pleased with this chapter, for once, because I got to do a lot of stuff that needed to be done. More setting up and such, which is always fun. And for some reason it was full of Leopardpaw, whom I love. So yeah, this chapter was fun!

Anyway:

@InkxInk: Cool, yours started half an hour before ours. Was it nice? Was anyone crying? We had some criers at mine. :p

@MatsuriWolfsong: Ha, sorry, I did it as fast as I could! It's flattering that you would stick around, though. ;)

@Sara Darkotter: Thanks! Good guess, but we'll just have to wait and see. c:

@Hermytail: Yup, he's more aggressive than he was as a kit, probably in part because his mother never really recovered (as a kit it was easy to imagine that she would regain her memories, but of course now that he's matured he knows it won't happen). It's hard, growing up when your mother doesn't remember you. :c

@Sunspirit: Good guess for Rabbitleap. I'm not sure why she would be pregnant with Rainwind's kits, though, if she's preggers at all. Her mate is Hawktalon, remember? Interesting theory about the DF cats, too, but as of right now I can't say a word. As for Bullet, he is Thistlethorn's father (although Thistle doesn't know Reed is looking for him, and Reed doesn't know the connection) and has some (??) connection with Jag. Jag mentioned Bullet a few times to Spiderpaw when he was talking about Myrtle and Destiny, too. Forest also saw Bullet once in Twolegplace, during Shattered, but only for a few moments. Rook being Bullet wouldn't make as much sense, since Bullet's blue-gray/kind of old, whereas Rook is really dark brown/fairly young. And yes, Nightingale's adorable. :D As for the phrases, you're probably write, I have a subconscious habit of using the same stuff over and over within a few sentences, bluh. I try to curb it, but most of the time it happens without me really noticing it. xD

@SwiftyGirl/Crystal: Could be! I like a lot of the Sinners too, but then again I have a nasty habit of sympathizing with everyone. Soot's certainly trusting enough to let it happen, although I'm not sure all of the Sinners would be able to go through with something like that. Yeah, Soot tends to be a bit of a welcome mat when it comes to what she wants; she's more about letting others do what they need first, and picking up the pieces later. It's definitely something she needs to work on, although I do think she's making at least a little progress, since she chewed Bluepaw out for it. And thank you! I've always enjoyed really interwoven 'tapestry' type stories, so I think I have a habit of just tying everything together whenever I can, so long as it doesn't screw up the timeline too bad. Some things just sort of happen by themselves, but others (like what I have planned for a certain she-cat, mmm) have been going on since they were introduced in Shattered. Right now it looks like Rook and Nightingale will join the Clan, since they don't really have anywhere else to go (they did side with the Clanners against Adder's group, after all, and since we recently learned that Adder is connected to Carmelo, that doesn't bode well for them).

@ScarlettFire: It's a possibility!

@Lynxeye: Ha, thank you. Some of the story falls into place without much work from me (a lot of the characters have their minds set already, and there's nothing I can do to persuade them) whereas other bits took/are taking a lot of groundwork to set up properly. I just hope the eventual pay-off is worth it! As for the parody, I'm sorta-kinda working on it when I have the time. I updated it a few months ago, I think. The chapters are really short, so it doesn't take long to write them, it's more a matter of whether I feel humorously inspired/am not too busy doing other stuff. Once I finish Chilled, I'd like to work on my other projects a lot more. And thank you. :)

@Justsmile: All good questions, but unfortunately I can't answer them yet. All will become clear in tiiiime. I find that generously sprinkling hints on each chapter (and being rather ambiguous about directly-asked questions, mm) helps. A lot of plot-questions have already been pieced together by some readers that can piece together the signs, but of course there is also still a lot that I haven't really given out yet. Just keep looking for breadcrumbs (and if you like writing long plots, remember to hand them out when you can). :D

Chapter 44 (cont)

Leaving in an hour, so let's bang this out!

@Ranger: Thank you! Darky's one of my favorites, and I often wish that I had more time to explore his character. Good guesses for Rabbitleap. :D

@Sharkfin: Thank you! I'm glad you think so highly of the story. :)

@Juniper: Yep, both kits are a little tough to love at the beginning, but you've stuck it out, so that's good. And yes, ha, a lot of people were expecting Chilly to be a POV. I love messing with you guys. c:

@Lynxeye: Spidey's definitely moving up in the world, ha. As for the chilling disease, it can be passed through contact, but the quickest way it's transferred seems to be in battle (since the sick cats caught it from TalonClan/Chillpaw). Forestheart's been in battle, and it's possible that he's already sick. He might not have contracted it in the battle, but could have gotten it from Silverstar, in which case it would take time for the effects to be shown, because the disease moves so slowly. As for the cars, you might be surprised. I can't tell you how many dead cats I've seen at the cross-sections of our little town, which was kind of an inspiration for that scene. People can be cruel. D:

@Dawnshine: Thanks, I do love cliffies. ^^

@Echoflight: Thank you! I didn't really have a date to prom, I just went with a good friend of mine (we dated in the past, so perhaps that counts?). It was a lot of fun, I had a great time!

@Jack Holmes: Thanks!

@Sunspirit: Well, perhaps I'll do it in Flying High (my parody fic, if you didn't already know). Sounds like a fun topic to explore, actually. Good point with the Forest thing, I hadn't even thought of that. Darky and Forest are both a lot alike in that sense, I suppose; it took them a long time and a lot of pursuing to get the ladies they fancied. And yeah, Spidey's apology was a little awkward, but he's just not used to being so humble! xD

@Jack Holmes: Ha, thank you very much. Chilled and Shattered are both huge mountains to climb, and I'm glad you liked it enough to give it a go. I know the length intimidates some people...I guess I just love long stories. I'm glad you enjoyed it thus far, and good luck with your own fics!

@Juniper: Yes, both of them have matured quite a bit already, although they still have quite a lengths to go. Thank you. :)

Welp, that's all for Chapter 43. Again, sorry for the wait. Until next time~!

Chapter 44

Okay, hopefully I can get this all done now because if not it might take days.

Tonight I graduate, followed by eating with my grandparents, which is in turn followed by Project Graduation, which is basically when the seniors sleep over at the high school and win prizes and play games and generally act like children. So Saturday will probably just be me sleeping.

Anyway, sorry updates have been sparse. Chilled is almost a year old now, but far smaller than Shattered, which is kind of depressing. Senior year has proven to be much busier than junior year, I'm afraid. Over the summer I might have to seek a job (gasp!) plus moving to college and everything, so I'm not sure how things will go. I really hope to finish Chilled before I move to college, because there's no telling what that will be like.

Bah, this sounds depressing. Moving on.

@Honeystream: Thank you for being the first! I know a lot of people are too busy to review, but sometimes it can be a little depressing when the Viewers number rises and the Reviews number stagnates. Anyway, I think the idea of Sootpaw being alone is pretty interesting. I do like independent lady-folk, but for some reason I always end up pairing them up anyway (Blackheart/Darkstar, Frostfeather/Darkstorm, etc.). I guess I just want everyone to be happy by finding love, haha. As for Blackfeather, she might have been talking about Spidey. It's amazing how oblivious he can be about stuff like that, considering how sharp he is with other details. And by all means, write a Black/Spider one-shot, if you want! That's always extremely flattering. I understand missing some of the older characters. That's why I always hated reading sequels; they're always about the new generation instead of the old. Perhaps more of my one-shots in the future can feature kitties like Ravenwing or Frostfeather.

Whoops, looks like I'm running  out of time. I'll get to the rest of the reviews ASAP!

Supppp 43

So, this chapter is a day late, and I feel bad, but considering how my schedule has been lately I guess it's okay??

Also as I mentioned in my AN I have a crapton of stuff to do this week and the next, so updates might be slow again. Sorry! I still love you all. D:

@Hazelnose: It's weird how many people mentioned liking Fogheart's name in this chapter, especially since most of them have never said anything about it before? It's funny because he was barely in this chapter at all, ha. But I'm glad you like his name. It's one of my favorite -heart names that I've come up with thus far, I must admit. Yes, Sooty has a tendency to act all calm and try to be composed, but it tends to explode out of her at inconvenient times, especially when Chilly is around. Dude's like a magnet for emotions or something (opposites attract??). Glad you liked the chapter, and thank you. :D

@Sunspirit: Maybe we'll get confrontations next chapter? And hopefully Bluepaw can explain herself. As for Whitecloud, her fate is ambiguous for the moment. After all, it's not set in stone that the one lives/one dies theory is entirely correct. Jaypaw's pretty sick at the moment, so if he was to die then the balance would already be shifted. Or, Whitecloud could live for a short period of time only to die later. The dreams aren't all that clear, really. And no more hints for Rabbitleap! I've sprinkled a few throughout the last few Soot chapters already. c:

@Tangleflame: Yup, the lil Thundertracks is indeed a bike trail. I've always wanted to bike around places, but unfortunately I'm too lazy/long legs make rides fairly uncomfortable, since I've outgrown my own bike. Ah well, one can dream. :p

@Jiay: Glad you like it. Yeah, I know the plot is kind of glacial (fitting, considering the title?). I tend to get stuck laying down the paths for future events/character development. When things really start taking off near the end, it'll be over so quickly no one will know what's going on, just like Shattered, I'm afraid. |D I'm not really sure what you meant about Sootpaw; when she's dreaming, her own personal thoughts are never in italics, and she is part of the dream because they take place within her own mind...? If you're talking about the journeying dreams, it's true that she can't really influence them, but she's still connected to them. They take place within her dreams, so they're kind of a part of her? It's murky territory. As for Rook, I knew his accent wasn't going so well in this chapter, but he didn't have many lines and there weren't many words I could Rookify without mangling everything, unfortunately. Maybe he'll have more screentime next chapter. |D

@Shadowmist: Chilled has so many shipping possibilities, and I do love ship-teasing (maybe I'll write a Spider/Reed oneshot just to make everyone cry??). A poem would be really neat, if you have time! I'd love to read it. I always find it kind of intimidating that people actually want to write about my characters. It's sort of freaky, but also kind of flattering? Thanks for the lil Spider/Black peek. Of course Black would be the calm one, and Spider's so easily embarrassed. |D

@Ranger of the Forest: Thank you! Interesting theory about Rabbitleap. Rabbit/Hawk kits would be pretty amazing, but they would also probably be a lot of trouble. The last thing you want on a journey is an uber-pregnant she-cat running around. ^^

@Nalasleafheart: Aww, thank you! I'm glad you like the story thus far. Please don't stay up so late, though, I wouldn't want your grades to suffer because of me. I do plan on becoming an author someday, but I think I need a lot more practice before I get there. :p

@WilliamBurn: Thank you!

@Willowstream: Ha, it's okay. You could always subscribe or something (I forget how it works) to let the site send you an e-mail when I update? And thanks. I'm fond of Nightingale's name too; there's something about it that I've always liked, and when she popped into my head the name was absolutely perfect for her. :)

Ch 42 Get!

So yeah, posted the most recent chapter...and apparently blogpost updated or something? That's cool, I guess!

Anyway, I also posted three oneshots on the challenge that you should read, staring Dapplefern, Chilly, and the ensemble darkhorse of Shattered, respectively. Enjoy those, if you haven't already~

I feel like I had a lot to say about this chappy, but forgot it all? Oh well, I guess.

@Spongestar: Thank you! I like writing about rogues, since their perspectives are quite different from those of the Clanners. As for Leopardpaw, I can't say much at the moment. I'm sure Tubs would love you too, so long as you have something for him to eat. ^^ As for the length, I'm not quite sure. We could track the story by the journey, I suppose: at the moment they have 1/3 herbs from Bluepaw's prophecy, and Sootpaw has listened to the confessions of 3/7 DF cats. That makes it seem like a little under half way, but since they are pretty close to the next herb and the DF cats should move faster here in a bit, I'd say we're quite past half. It will definitely be as long as Shattered, although I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up at 60 chapters? Length is always a tricky thing to guess, so unfortunately I can't be more specific. :x

@Isi Writer: Thank you, I'm glad you like it thus far! Yes, it is almost like two stories in one. I've said it before; Sootpaw's arc is more spiritual/mental much like the 2nd/3rd series (and I guess the 4th, which I haven't read) whereas Spiderpaw's is more down-to-earth, like the 1st series. I like to keep things fresh in my writing, so multiple story lines definitely helps. c:

@Sunspirit: Yep! I could see everyone jumping to rape conclusions regarding Faint, but of course not every she-cat that gets preggers should be because of that! She does have a worse situation than most, though, with no hubby to look after her. It'll be a tough time for the Colony, trying to get used to the new territory. And yes, Spiderpaw is very good at predicting things. He has an analytic mind, unlike his sister (but much like Chilly) and he always uses his observations to his advantage. Thanks! :D

@Hermytail: Sorry I'm so slow. Time keeps getting away from me. :c

@Purple Panda: Yay, I missed you! I was scared my semicolons and adverbs had scared you away. I felt the same way about that chapter; it was a little slower going than most, but I was pleased when I finished it. I'm really glad you liked it! And yeah, I can see why you might like the Spider chapters more, since they have more of that 1st series feel to them, which most of us remember with nostalgia. As for Redpaw, he wasn't there. He doesn't like Spiderpaw and didn't think that wandering around in a dark, cold marsh in the middle of the night following a she-cat that you really can't trust was such a good idea. He was wrong, of course, and looks like a lil turd because of it. I imagine Tubs being jiggly too. He's just such a lardball. I'm lazy roughly all the time, so don't feel bad. |D

@Spiritwing: Thanks!

@Ivystep: That's very flattering, thank you. ^^ That's pretty much how everyone feels about Spiderpaw, it seems like; he started out as a little turd, but has developed quite nicely thus far, methinks. I know some people see Sootpaw as lacking something, which makes sense since her brother overshadows her pretty easily with his personality and all, and she's really passive. I love surprises when I read stuff too, so I always try to tuck in a few here and there. ;p

@Nightkill: I like Shrew too, even though he's a baby-eating monster and all. Thanks. :)

@Lynxeye: The SkyClan-searchers are all in the allegiances on this blog (at least those that have been named). If you search 'allegiances' you should be able to find their entry. I added them below PeakClan. Yup, Shrew's stuff was pretty grisly. I intentionally kind of left it really vague, without any detailed description or anything like I did with Brightstar. That's an interesting comparison between the rogues and AshClan. There are certainly a lot of similarities, as you pointed out...although it's Baron, not Byron, ha. Leopardpaw's even more of a wildcard than ever, perhaps?? She is by far one of my most elusive characters, heehee. I hope you didn't get in trouble, though! It was a lovely review. <3

@Redleaf: No problem, glad you liked it. :)

A timely update for once!

I actually updated in a timely fashion, hooray! I'm so proud of myself, haha. <3
This chapter was pretty fun overall to write. And we get to return to Soot and Chilly and all them peeps again, which is great! :D

Umm, not much to say in this chapter, I guess. Baron has a crush on Fern (he was pretty sensitive when they were talking about Carmelo being dreamy, remember...but Carm's such a sex magnet that there's nothing Baron can do!) and Fireblaze is an upstanding citizen once more...and Tubs is Tubs, I guess. Good times.

@ReploidCat: Mmf, I know. I used to name chapters back in the days of Snatched, but I kinda got tired of it. I think in my next fic (whenever that happens |D) I'll name them again. It's too hard keeping track, otherwise.

@Hannah: Hey, nice to see you again. And yup, you guessed right. Funny how the nice ones can be some of the creepiest, eh? Thanks for the review. <3

@CrystalSakura: Yeah, Bluepaw's kind of a piece of work; she's one of those kitties that keeps everything inside because she doesn't want to burden anyone else...kinda like Sootpaw, in a way, although Sootpaw can at least release her feelings to Chilly. I suppose Sage and Chilly are alike in some ways, you're right. I guess I just have a thing for well-spoken toms this time around? As for Spider/Robin, I actually considered it in the beginning (nasty sharp-tongued cat + cripple fun times?) but decided against it after remembering they're cousins. 'Sides, Robinpaw has nicer toms padding after her. I know what you mean about Swift, it's always been one of my favorite prefixes, partially for its double meaning. And no problem, using his name is fine. I'm fond of Chillwind too. <3

It's been a long time coming, but the rogues finally did /something/ other than skulk around...although it prolly wasn't what you were expecting. I know what you mean about the kits; not having any to write about is kind of depressing, and for some reason I love naming kits. Snowkit just sounds so much better than Snowstep or Snowfur, for some reason; I guess it's the open possibilities for the suffix, and the character or something. I dunno. I miss kits. |D

@Spongestar: Yep, Shrew's kind of an odd character to write because I feel sorry for him but feel that he's a gross dude at the same time. As for the kits, it was probably a mixture of reasons. For one, the timing was close to the ancient times (a few generations after SkyClan left, really) so there weren't many Twolegs around. Twolegs only moved in after destroying SkyClan's territory, and it probably took them a long time to build all their houses and stuff. The Clans wouldn't be used to the Twolegs hanging around, and wouldn't want to get close to them or entrust them with their kits. Plus, most of the kits were sick; only two were alive, and both their parents were dead, so the Clan wasn't focusing on them as much as they should. Most of the Clan was down-in-the-dumps and dejected, and grappling with their own survival/morality was probably closer to their minds than the needs of the kits. It was a bad time for ShadowClan. :c

@Sunny: Ha, sorry. I have a knack for killing off some of my favorite characters. It's a problem. :p

As for the other pairings, I can't say anything yet~

@Zera: Aww, thank you! I'm glad I was able to leave such an impression. I'm glad you were touched by Shrew's scene. I love writing emotional stuff. You're right, we have been lacking a lot of Northy lately! I miss him. Maybe we'll get a oneshot of him when I write the last two Sinner oneshots (we only have Dapplefern and Chilly remaining for those, I believe). I still find it amusing how overwhelmingly popular he is, haha. Northy was always my favorite to rp, and I'm glad you all love him to pieces as much as I do. Thanks for your review. <33

Mffm

Ugh. And again I will say it, ugh.

I really had good intentions about updating the blog yesterday, honest. But our ten hour drive turned into a thirteen hour drive, and then we had the wrong address because hotelsdotcom lied to us, so then we wasted another hour trying to figure out where we were staying, and it was terrible. But now we are in the correct place and it has wifi (glorious, glorious wifi) so I can finish up all dat blog junk.

SO BRACE YOURSELVES.

Now, we just saw Shrew's little story, and I think it's pretty obvious that Shrew embodies Gluttony. Gluttony is usually seen as the sin of stuffing yourself, but basically it's about enjoying anything in excess. Shrew gorged himself on prey when it was needed for the whole Clan, and then he went and nommed some kits out of desperation. Basically, he put himself before everyone else, even those that he swore to protect under the warrior code and all. That's the reason he's one of the few DF cats (the others being Chillpaw and Blight, since Chillpaw refers to himself as Chill...Sootpaw just doesn't listen to him very well) that doesn't have a warrior name. Brightstar, Nettlefrost, and Dapplefern all still consider themselves warriors (Swiftshade just doesn't care one way or the other, and getting used to being called just Swift would be too hard for his lazy butt) but Chillpaw, Blight, and Shrew do not. Chilly and Blight don't for obvious reasons, since they were never all that good with the warrior code anyway, but for Shrew it's more of a self-inflicted punishment. Like he said, he dreamed of being a hero as a kit, but in the end he failed his Clan and himself, and he knows he doesn't deserve a warrior's name any longer.

Again, I'll mention that we saw him in the Skeleton one-shot. He wasn't such a bad dude there, or at least he didn't seem to be; he stayed with the kits when they asked him to. Shrew isn't incapable of compassion; he's just too weak to put that before his own needs.

Also, the reason I named him Shrew in the first place is because shrews have a nasty habit of eating their own young. There are also a few types of shrew that can actually starve to death in a single day because their metabolisms are so high. Nasty little creatures. o:

Also (kinda random fact) Baron is a tuxedo tom, because he is a lil mister fancypants.

Now for the reviews~

@Sunspirit: I'm not even really sure if I like Tubs or not, but I'm glad you do. He probably needs all the fans he can get. Spiderpaw staging an escape would be cool, but difficult on his own. We'll have to see if he manages that or if Eaglestrike is forced to send someone to bargain for his son. As for Tubs mentioning Reedrush...we'll see. c:

@Iceflower: Thanks! I hope you enjoy the audiobooks, I think they're neat. c:

@The Last Clan: Yep, after all that training his first battle was kind of a flop, but that's what he gets for having such a big mouth. As for the two Barons, just remember mine's the one with the most class. ;D

@Sara Darkotter: Oh noes, I'm kind of scared of what your mind might have worked up for her. She's such a leetle thing. D:

@Tangleflame: Ha, that's awesome. Give your Tubbs a big hug from me. ^^

@Crystal Sakura: I can't say much about kit possibilities atm, but I'm curious about your concern about the gap? It seems like the gap would be more beneficial, since I don't think most warriors should receive apprentices until they're sixteen moons old anyway. As for Goldenshine, he's been there the whole time. One of the biggest obstacles AshClan had in getting established was PeakClan's immense numbers. Remember, they've lived on their territory for years and years with more prey than they could ever eat, plenty of water, and a huge camp, not to mention that they don't have any enemies in the forest beyond a stray badger or too. That allowed their population to pretty much asplode. I didn't have time to show every single PeakClan cat, and in the Allegiances I only listed those we've already met. Goldenshine is a normal PeakClan cat, born and bred...he just as a fondness for silver medicine cats. As for the sinners being reborn, that's hushhush for right now. :x

@Nightkill: Well, I do like complicated love triangles. Let's say SootxBrackenxSwanxSagexBluexSpiderxLeopardxFirexReedxJagxMyrtle and call it a day, shall we? c:

Aaaargh

I know everything is taking forever, and I apologize! I just have a lot to do and I'm super forgetful and sljglfjgldfgds

Plus I forgot to update the blog last time, so I'll try to do both at once hererrrr

Also I'm on vacation and I dunno if our next hotel (which we'll be staying at most of the week) will have wifi. The one we're in now does, but we're leaving in less than an hour, sooooo I have a lot of work to do!

CHAPTER 38 (39 IN THE REVIEWS)

@Sara Darkotter: That's one way to look at it, I suppose. I do like me tangles. :D

@Pot of Gold: Sorrrrrrry, I fixed it I think. Most people end up liking Forest, to my knowledge, but not all, so it's okay if you hate him. |D

@Dapplefawn: Thank you! Plot twists and connections are some of my most favorite things, so I try to include them whenever I can. ^^

@i.like.pie: Pffft, Spiderpaw just had a battle-thing the chapter before, don't you remember? Anyway, I guess you got your wish, since he had another in the next Spidey chapter, eheh. Also, it'll be some time before either of them get warrior names, since they've only been training for two moons. :p

@The Last Clan: I'm not planning to, don't worry! Things just keep getting in the way, I guess. The past couple days have been nice, though, I've been plugging away like there's no tomorrow, so perhaps there's still hope!

@Lynxeye: I think you're one of my oldest reviewers, so of course I missed you! And thanks. c: Don't worry about your Sage shipping, I know what you mean. Shipping's one of my great joys in any Warriors-type-thing (or just about any story, for that matter) so I understand your frustration while trying to figure out the angles. We'll have to see! :D

@Anon: I've actually played KH, but only the second one, so I'm afraid I'm not all that knowledgeable about Marluxia. All the Nobodies were pretty cool, though. c:

@ElfCat: Thanks!

@Nightkill: I know, Fireblaze protecting Spiderpaw is like the most shocking twist of all o:

@Sunleaf: That would be pretty convenient for the Chill/Soot shippers, fo' sho. I don't think Shimmer had a crush on him, though, since they're siblings. :p

@CrystalSakura: Love you too. Thanks; I used to be really loose about Warriors names, but I read a couple guides and decided that I liked having a system for it much better than just doing whatever. -feather's perfect for Blackfeather, but not so much for Frostfeather at first glace; I also use -feather for either feathery tabby markings (especially if their prefix was named for their markings) or very thick, feathery fur. It's also a very feminine suffix, and Frostfeather is a very feminine cat, mmhm. Chillpaw's name would have been Chillwind, for his speed.

Right now, it doesn't look like we'll make it to Soot and Spider having warrior names, but it just depends. If we don't, I'll tell you guys what they woulda been called, no worries. As for Blackfeather, I think she was five moons or so when Spiderpaw was born, so that's right (I'd have to check my timeline again, but it's kind of confusing to count days on?). Silverstar and Eaglestrike sort of conferenced on the warrior names, since Silverstar tries keeping up to date with everything. It was more Silverstar's choice than Eaglestrike's.

@Stormy: Good theory, but not quite. Moonpaw is mostly from Sootpaw's imagination. ^^

Running out of time now, so I'll have to end it here. Next chapter's reviews will come later, hoepfully when I get to the new hotel (10 hours from now ;^;). See ya!

Blah blah balance blah blah

Chilly, stop being so weird with your hints. I know you're resisting the urge to monologue about your values and all - I can feel you fighting it, buddy - and I'm very proud, but you really need to stop bringing it up at all. It's hard, reining you back.

Anywho, as I said in my AN my schedule has been kinda whack. I dunno why, I just haven't been all that into writing recently. I actually wrote 3/4 of this chapter yesterday, in about two hours, then finished it up today. My muse is weird, I guess. Shrug!

@The Last Clan: I know, I'm sorry everything has taken so long. Just been kinda weird lately. Ha, Black does seem to be crushing just a leeeetle bit (Spiderit'ssoobviouswhatiswrongwithyou). We've seen Leopard hit rock bottom with her outburst and isolation, so hopefully she'll start moving back upwards, with Spider's help. We'll see!

@Oscuro Dream: Thanks! I can be really finicky with my names sometimes. Every prefix and suffix means something. ^^

@TheCatOwl: Yup, they sure did! Leopard has all of Spider's friendless arrogance, and now he's the one who is attracting attention. That's interesting; I used to have one of the songs in my iPod a looong time ago, but I dunno what happened to it...I really need to watch The Phantom of the Opera, since i've always heard it's amazing but never actually watched it myself. Hmm.

@Sara Darkotter: Best of both worlds, amirite? Can't go wrong there. :D

@Lynxeye: I missed you! I'm glad you're still reading, ha. And yup, I think so too. That's part of why I wanted two POVs, to balance out the mayhem and the development and everything. Soot kind of embodies the newer series, all journey-ish and mystical and junk (admittedly not my favorite, but still fun to write?) whereas Spider has the more typical first-series feel. Fun stuff. And I will continue to torture you with Leopard's mysteriousness, just because you mentioned it! *cackles* More seriously, that is kind of all she has going for her right now, isn't it? Poor thing smashed into rock bottom and doesn't know how to get back up. She's not used to losing, not at all.

@Nightkill: Isn't he? Thanks. :D

Whoops/Hello

I forgot that I promised a blog update. My bad on that.

I know it's been a long time, and I apologize. Things have just been all kinds of busy lately, and it's been hard for me to remain motivated.

Anyway.

@Sara Darkotter: I don't know what you're talking about my characters never flirt they will all be completely celibate forever and ever fo' real.

@Frostblossom: Thanks. And yes, he really is. c:

@The Last Clan: Whether she wants to admit it or not she, like Leopardpaw, is a bit of a lonely creature. And again I'll apologize for the fish thing. My brain is dumb sometimes |D

@Jiay: I hope you're enjoying Chilled! I know the kit bits prolly aren't super-exciting, but they're a good way for laying the groundwork, which I did a loooot of. And you're welcome. :)

@Splashstorm: Thank you! And you probably have a point, sometimes I just slip into 'writer mode' and write whatever I feel rather than what I should. Sootpaw does have a skewed view of herself as being big and clumsy, so part of it is in her head, but part of it should also be more evident. If you have any specific examples of her seeming graceful/sleek (outside of her dreams, since that was intentional; dreams are idealized, after all) please share them! :D

That's all for that chapter, unfortunately. I'll try to have the next one up sooner.

'Til then. <3

Brb, rising from the dead

Omgomgomg it's been forever, I know I know I know, and I am really really truly sorry! There has just been so much going on for me the last two weeks that writing has been really difficult.

Let's see if I can explain myself a bit.

I updated on the 18th, and I wrote a little bit over the next few days, but not much. Usually I kind of procrastinate until five or six days after the most recent update, and then I write a ton and get it all finished and stuff and then post the new chapter. Unfortunately, my computer went down on that Saturday (it was like the 22nd, or something? I can't remember) and it was being worked on until that Thursday. I didn't get it back until pretty late on Thursday night. I spent Thursday night and a lot of Friday restoring old files and stuff (the computer people had to completely wipe the computer clean, but luckily they were able to back everything up first). Then on that Saturday I came down with something and I was coughing and sneezing and miserable the entire week until like Thursday/Friday. I'm still coughing a bit, but I'm feeling better now. Anyway, I wrote a lot Thurs./Fri. and finished it today, so there you go.

Anywho, there's not much to say about this chapter, I don't think, so I'll just hop on to the reviews. ^^

@35226: Thank you!

@(no name given): Thanks, I'm glad you like her. :)

@Hermytail: Aww, glad you think so. Characters are my favorite part of the story, so I do a lot of work on them. ^^

@Scarlet: Interesting thought, but -flash sounds more like a Kalan suffix, to me, like when Birchpool was Brightflash.

@The Last Clan: Shocking twist, haha. Blackpaw's sneakier than we gave her credit for, methinks! And I'm fond of Leopardpaw too. Hopefully we'll be delving more into her and her temper soon....

@Sunspirit: It was pretty obvious that Blackpaw would win (since her being an apprentice for much longer would have been lame!) but I wanted to pull off her victory in a surprising way. I'm glad I succeeded. I kinda like the home scenes too, since they're more 'traditional' Warriors-y. As for Soot's dreams, we'll see. :D

@CrystalSakura: Great to see you again! I'll answer your reviews in separate paragraphs.

Rainwind was kind of rude, but I think you'd agree if you had to put up with Swanpaw, ha. From what I hear, you guys like Nightingale, which is good. And yes, flickin' is totally perfect. I kind of want to use it at any excuse now. xD

Spiderpaw's capable of having a heart, on occasion. :p

I kind of take guilty pleasure from tweaking human expressions to fit cats, even if they don't always make sense (I'm sure the first thing that comes to mind after seeing 'first paw' isn't 'first hand'). For the Clanner's knowledge, only the medicine cats know about the Dark Forest, and their knowledge is pretty hazy. StarClan doesn't tell them a lot, since they don't need to know most of the time.

Thank you! I kind of feel like battle scenes are my favorite and least favorite scenes to write, as odd as that sounds. Sometimes they flow really well (like Spider's imagining of the Moss Rocks battle, I really liked that scene) but sometimes they are just totally icky. It varies. |D

Jaggy doesn't talk much, but when he does he kind of gives everything away. And yup, Myrtle was his mate. Jag tells Reed about her when she's giving birth; all Reed knows is that Myrtle looked kind of like her, and that she died giving birth to Jag's kits.

Eheheh, Sootpaw is soo useless. She'll be getting better, though, even if it won't be instantaneous. Robinpaw and Nightingale are surprising entries on your favorite charries list, since neither of them have done much thus far. How come you like them, out of curiosity?

Brightstar would have made a good elder, if she wasn't totally crazy and stuff. She is a pretty good storyteller, and she certainly has a flair for he dramatic. :D

@nightfrost14: Thank you very much! I'm glad you like the story and stuffs. :)

@(no name given): Please, don't be rude. Leaving a two word review demanding an update is rather impolite, and it won't make me update any more quickly. I write when I have time and I'm in the mood.

@Nightkill: Glad you liked it. ^^

Hopefully the next chapter will be out more speedily. Until then, ducklings~

Spiderpaw learns about the birds and the bees

Because that is totally what this chapter was all about. fo' serious.

I'm really sorry this took so long, since I try to update once a week and it's been two. I was kinda burnt out after December (during which I updated much more quickly than normal) and I've been crunched for time, too...plus I've been suddenly flooded with a whole bunch of delicious ideas for my next fic (which I think will be titled Thin Ice...it's a more refined version of the idea that I had for a story about Scourge, the one on my profile) which has meant that my inspiration for Chilled has waned a bit. No worries, though, I'll try to plug away as diligently as ever.

Anywho~

@Sara Darkotter: I feel this way about most of my characters, tbh. Even the bad ones are difficult for me to entirely hate ('cept Blight, he's stone-cold ebil)...and I do find her issues to be intruiging.

@Spottedstream: Yup c:

@ReploidCat: Yep, Brightstar's a piece of work! As for Chilly, it does seem odd that he isn't just telling her what she wants to hear...I wonder why that might be...winkwink.

@The Last Clan: Perhaps! But Brightstar is much too prideful to let anything so embarrassing slip (being the illegetiamate child of a queen and a rogue is bad enough!) so Sootpaw might never hear such a thing. As for the prophecy, we've only heard bits and pieces of it. Bluepaw's being rather clingy, and so far she and Shimmerfrost appear to be the only ones with the full scoop.

@?: You didn't list your name, so unfortunately I can't address you, but I found your review to be interesting. While I agree with the slow pace (mostly because I am setting up plot points that will collapse like dominoes in my mad scheme of chaos and destruction and character development and awesome...which isn't really an excuse, but it's all I've got!) some of the other parts of your review confuse me. I'm sorry, but I can't really see Sootpaw as a Sue. I ran her through several supposed-sue-tests, and she came out just fine, and I don't honestly think that she embodies any of the core aspects of being a Sue. She isn't incredibly popular, she's not gifted at hunting or fighting (or any combination thereof |D), she doesn't have a dozen lovers following her around (unlike Spiderpaw and his harem, ehheh...), she doesn't receive special attention from the adults (positive or negative). Her only Sue-boon would be her special dreams, but she really doesn't like them at all, and if I was in her position, I wouldn't either; dreaming of evil dead cats and failed journeys isn't really my idea of fun...not to mention that she can't tell anyone for fear of being ostracized (because, come on, if someone came out and told the Clan they were aiding the cat that attempted to murder their leader, how mcuh do you want to bet the Clan would turn on them?). Plus, her father's position really has nothing to do with her. She's proud of him, but she doesn't receive any special privileges. He's too busy to be a good father for her (he broke his promise to show her the territory, remember) and he punishes her as he would any other kit, not to mention that she doesn't even have a mentor (and is pretty hampered by this, compared to the other cats she's with). I don't really see how her decision to go on the journey had anything to do with her father or her acting spoiled, and she's not at all like Squirrelpaw. Squirrelpaw was bold, outspoken, and completely unafraid of adventure or ridicule, whereas Sootpaw is much more timid and awkward.

As for Jaggedclaw and Bramblethorn...I'm honestly not sure what to say. I'm sorry you don't like Jag being crippled, I guess, but in the end it was my decision. I was tired of having every character get off completely scot-free, and I wanted to experiment with characters who didn't have the bonuses of being able-bodied warriors, not to mention that it's taking Jag's character in an interesting direction. As for Bramblethorn, his death was decided the moment that certain characters came into being (said characters were introduced waaay back in Chapter 33 of Shattered, but I knew they would exist well before that). I'm not quite sure if many of you realize just how far back I had certain things planned out. I had some major, major plotpoints already staked out halfway through Shattered, even though some of them haven't yet made themselves obvious. Bramblethorn's death was not the result of a so-called "Bus Crash" (for non Tropers, a "bus crash" is a term for when a character no longer has a purpose on the show and has to be written off; more specifically, it is when a character is written off by dying, such as Kutner's suicide on House). Bramblethorn was fated to die well before Shattered ended. His death set off two separate chains of events (one of which was Chillpaw being named a warrior, which has in turn spurred almost all of Chilled's plot!) that will become quite evident very soon.

I realize some parts of this reply are cryptic, but I honestly cannot say much more without releasing quite a few spoilers, and no one wants that. If you could explain your feelings a bit further (specifically on Sootpaw's Sue-tendancies, your issues with Jag being crippled, and why you disliked Bramble's death) I would appreciate it.

@Nightkill: Awesome in a terrible snubby way, yes. |D