Bios

Okay, bios are up now. That took a really really long time, so sorry about that. Anyway, they're up and beautiful so go look at them.

If there are more cats you guys want to see, just holla~

New chapter yeaaaaah~

New chapter, yay, etc. etc.  xD

Sorry for the time between updates, like I said I've been really busy. I'm in like four different community service club thingies now and they're such time-wasters. D:

However, I've had time to dabble in a few things, namely making more character-picture-things. I'll put them in with the others (Sootpaw, Spiderpaw, Leopardpaw, and Chillpaw; scroll down and I think you'll find them) after I finish this post. The bios basically just help you picture the characters and maybe get insights from them, I guess. Also I like making pictures, so yeah. xD

@Sara Darkotter: It is a mystery~ :O

@CrystalSakura: Yes, Leaf/Frozen/North had a lovely time dragging the bodies of their friends and Clanmates to a secret place in the middle of the mountains. Sometimes they would have picnics and reminiscence about the old times before Northy was born and Frozen was crazy. Like a happy family. :D I'll agree with B/N/M's name, it's a puzzler for what to call her when I'm chatting about her, since she's had so many (three names might be a record, actually, since the kit/paw/whatever name-changes don't count. xD

@Nightkill: I was thrilled that everyone loved Northy as much as I did in Shattered. He was always one of my favorite charries to rp, so I'm glad I was able to do him justice.

@Lynxeye: In my kitties' defenses, the original Clans bury their dead too (they have a special ceremony with the elders, I think?) and I'm sure they mark them in some way (so that an old body isn't dug up when a new one is being buried, since that would be uber-gross xD). I think kitties riding on flaming wheels (because Northy would be that crazy-awesome) would be pretty cool. We'll see what Tremor decides to do about his journey. And yes, he knows Rumble is dead; Feather told him, because she chats up StarClan all the time~

@Sunspirit: Sage and Swift both know who their real mother is; Minnow's made sure to tell them all about her, both the good and the bad. Sage has a bit of an odd position, we'll get to more of him later. Reedrush's mother was Cinderstream, Silverstar's secret sister (and the mother of Shimmer and Chill later on in her life). We don't see much of Reedy's childhood, it's mostly mentioned in passing. Under the plants Frozenstar and Brackenheart are buried, but the third plant is a mystery~

@PurplePanda: First, darling, don't berate yourself for criticism! I actually enjoy it, it gets my brain moving. Let me see if I can address everything:

• Bullets are hard to work with on this blog thingy, bleh. Bear with me here.
• The forest-sickness (let's call it FS, since I'll be saying it a lot) and chilling disease (CD) are very similar in that they both stem from the same place and both have the same initial symptoms; a fever, cough, tired feeling, lack of appetite, etc. They can also take more than one life; StarClan alone cannot cure them. It's only as the diseases progress further that the differences become more apparent. FS moves faster than CD, and with FS the fever climbs higher and higher as fluid seeps into the cats lungs; essentially they are being baked alive while also drowning. CD, on the other paw, is rather slow-moving; in Silverstar's case, it took nearly two moons to kill her. This is prolly because she has some immunity to it, since her body attacked it like it would FS and managed to stall it. PeakClan cats are not so lucky. Swanpaw, the PeakClan apprentice who died of CD, died in only a moon's time because PeakClan cats have little/no immunity to the disease. As CD progresses, its behavior changes. The cough stays, but it is a dry cough, unlike FS. The fever begins to lower the farther CD goes; eventually it reaches a point where the cat's temperature is almost normal. Unfortunately, CD eventually pushes the cat's temperature down even further and further as the cat grows weaker and weaker. Generally the cats hallucinate in this stage, as Silverstar and Swanpaw did; they will think they're on fire and thrash around and make lots of noise and junk. Swanpaw was feeling this when she died. Silverstar, on the other hand, passed more peacefully; the disease took longer with her and her temperature eventually became very very low, so she just sort of slipped away (I think Bluepaw described it as just being a sigh). Right now, NO ONE from AshClan or PeakClan has FS. Some of Tremor's cats have it (mostly the rogues from his group + any of Cane's cats that joined him, since they have not encountered FS before). Some of Tremor's cats also have CD (mostly ex-Clan cats, who are the ones that gave it to AshClan and PeakClan in the first place during the battle). The iceleaf/snowberry plant definitely cures FS, but its effects on CD are currently unknown, since it's never been used on CD before.
• As for Leopardpaw, keep in mind that many members of the Clan are rogues. Very little is known about Jaggedclaw's past, for example, since he hates talking about it. Jaggedclaw proved himself by helping Reedrush. In Eaglestrike's eyes, Leopardpaw proved herself by saving his kits (both of them, since Spider was about to jump into the water after Soot when Leopardpaw appeared). Eaglestrike is obviously still wary of her, and he does try to keep an eye on her, but the whole Silver-dying-thing has kind of captured his attention as of late. Also, even if he had interrogated her about her past, she could have easily lied and he couldn't verify it, so it would be kinda pointless. If she is evil, she wouldn't say 'Hey so I was raised by Slaughter himself as his ebil second daughter just in case Toxin died so that I could kill everyone :D'.
• I can see what you mean about the kitty names, but as I said before, Thistlethorn isn't really redundant since a thistle is a plant, not a pokey thorn. His name refers to the thorn of the thistle plant. I use -thorn for strong cats that are a bit hot-headed/prickly, which fits him to a T (Thistlethorn, T, geddit? I'm going to punch myself in the face now). As for Fireblaze, I don't personally view -blaze as a noun. I use it as a verb. Thus in his case his name brings the imagery of a blazing fire (compared to a feeble candle or something xD) which is indicative of his blazing nature. I also love Thistleclaw, but unfortunately it's been taken by the Erins, and the canon Thistleclaw is actually alive right now (since this is about the same time as BP) so two Thistleclaws in the same world at the same time would be weird. xD
• I concede to you about the ocean. My cursed descriptional weakness has struck again. I will give her something prettier to look at and describe it like I have never described anything before! (I'm thinking a bunch of shooting stars on a clear night during a fireworks show while there is magically a rainbow above their heads: thoughts?)
• Like I said, you're not making me feel bad at all! I enjoy critique, it helps me think. ^^

@Silverblossom: We'll hear more about the Tremor/Minnow stuff later, I promise. And we'll see more Northy in future chapters, just from Spider's perspective instead of Soot's. ^^

@Shimmertail: Yay, you reviewed! I was starting to miss you. The third grave isn't Birdpaw's, since she was only a lowly apprentice and would therefore be buried further away from the center (if it had been Northy's choice she would have been closer, but she died under Frozen's reign). As for Sage's eyes, if both Bella and Blight had a parent with green eyes, it would work. :D

@Priceless: No problem, I understand. :D

Anywho, I'll update the bios soon, so please scroll down and take a look at them eventually~

I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the maaaap~

Look, I made a thing:

 

Sorry for any eye-burning this might have caused (it's awful, I know). But I was thinking it over a few weeks ago and realized that some of the territory and stuff was prolly confusing, and it'll only get worse as the journey continues, soooo I made you this beautiful monstrosity. Pretty much NOTHING in this picture is to scale (except for the ridiculously giant car, obviouslyyy xD), it's just to help you guys with the PLACEMENT of objects in the territory. And the trail of the journeying cats is pink because pink is awesome and kicks other colors in the face. :D

It will probably show up really small, so just click on it and it'll get bigger. :)

Chapter 20~

Updated a few days early for you darlings; the last three days flowed really well for me, writing the Sootpaw chapter was really easy and delicious. It helps that there was plenty of Northy, I suppose.

Also, I guess this post is a bit late, since I updated last night, but right after I did so I had to take a shower and junk so I didn't have time to work on this blog until I came home.

@Nightkill: Yes, Spiderpaw is kind of freaky to Darkstorm because he's so teeny tiny. Darky is pretty easy to freak out, though. xD

@Artemis: Blackpaw can indeed be sneaky when she wants to be (or at least when it helps her friends ^^). As for what Spiderpaw plans for Fireblaze...well, I'll allow myself a brief 'bwahahaha.' And yes, Leopardpaw hasn't really been a focal point; she's only been mentioned a few times, and most of the time she is 'skulking,' as Spiderpaw loves to say. She'll be more important next chapter. And thank you. ^^

@Sara Darkotter: Aw, thanks! Out of curiosity, why exactly do you love me? :O

@PurplePanda: Ha, that's a lovely theory. It further supports my belief that Spiderpaw will end up with an entire harem of she-kitty devotees. He seems to attract them like flies, for some reason. And it's interesting that you pointed out the whole SandxFirexSpotted comparison, I hadn't been thinking about it. Of course, Bluepaw could also be like Cinderpelt in CinderxFirexSand. :O As for juiciness, hopefully his next chapter will be more to your tastes. :3 And that's another remarkable theory with the Jaypaw thingy! The only problem is that the chilling disease, while being closely related to the forest-sickness, doesn't really do the whole filling-up-the-lungs junk. If Jaypaw was sick with the normal forest-sickness stuff, that theory would work, but unfortunately he is not. Sneaky thinking, though, I like that. ^^

@Ravenshade: Blackpaw and Robinpaw are very close, so they're always sort of giggling about something (especially toms. Robinpaw is very fond of talking about toms...which is how Blackpaw began to work the conversation towards Spiderpaw in the first place). As Robinpaw said, she was already getting tired of the whole pretending-to-be-mad-at-Spiderpaw-because-he's-an-arrogant-unapologetic-furball thing. Robinpaw's a cat that forgives very easily, but Jaypaw does not. Jaypaw's a pretty relaxed guy most of the time, but as we've seen he's very protective of his sister. With Jaypaw around, Robinpaw couldn't talk to Spiderpaw because he would still be angry; with Jaypaw's influence gone, Robinpaw is more willing to forgive Spiderpaw, even if she doesn't hear the apology from him. And Blackpaw's fairly persuasive, when she finds the courage to speak her mind.

@Silence: Yay! Glad I didn't have any goof-ups this time. Sorry that Sootpaw is causing your brain distress. The pairings in this story are more complex than Shattered, methinks. It's kind of a good thing, though. What do you mean about the riddles, incidentally? I don't think we've had very many thus far.

@Lynxeye: Thanks! If Spider is a little Northy now...just imagine what he can accomplish later. How exciting. ^^

@TheVioletGleek: Excellent point! Silverstar is too much of a small fish for Spiderpaw. Clearly he's going to start badgering someone more important, like Thunderstar. Good plan, Spiderpaw, good plan. xD And I'm sorry you're confused! Let's see if I can help:

Silverstar and Cinderstream are sisters (although they didn't know it until much later). Cinderstream gave birth to Reedrush and Toxin. She took Reedrush with her when she fled to the lake. There she fell in love with Ashstir, and gave birth to Chill and Shimmer. Thus, Silverstar is Shimmer's aunt (and Chill's too, obviously). Frostfeather had kits with Brightfire; she had Jaypaw and Robinpaw. Ravenwing is Frostfeather's sister and had Spiderpaw and Sootpaw, so thus Spider&Soot are cousins to Jay&Robin.

@CrystalSakura: Ha, I'm glad you asked. Frost and Darky have a very odd relationship. They are mates, but not in the traditional sense; they have never 'sealed' their relationship by actually physically mating with one another. They are involved romantically. We saw the beginnings of this in the Shattered epilogue, during Darkstorm's little piece; Frosty was showing him some affection (such as licking his muzzle 'long and slow') and they had a feelings-sharing session and it was lovely. Since this story started five moons after all that, we didn't really see their relationship completely develop, but they definitely love each other. Darkstorm obviously never wants to be the father of actual kits, so he and Frostfeather have never mated, as the risk would be too great. This is obviously pretty difficult for Frosty, who had her way with oodles of toms in her youth, but she loves Darky enough to put her own feelings aside. ^^

Anywho, I think that's all for the questions. Next post will have my super amazing (i.e. super crappy) map thingy. :D

Chapter 19~

New chapter, yay. This one was still late but not as late as the last, which I guess is some pathetic progress. Yaay. D:

@Shimmertail: Yes, Soot and Spider are very different from one another, which I did on purpose because it makes them so much more refreshing! The only problem is that when I get halfway through a chapter I'm usually thinking longing thoughts about the other POV, sigh. As for Northy growling at Bracken, that's kind of his tone with everyone, except possible Rabbit and Rose (but they kind of forced their way into his heart without his permission xD). Northy loves Bracken and Bird, of course, but sometimes he feels uncomfortable around them, partially because Bracken looks a ton like Brackenheart and also because Bracken and Bird are reminders of all the crap Rose had to go through before they hooked up, and that makes him kinda sad.

@Ilex-Chan: The group has noticed it (as we'll see) but there's nothing they can do about it, so they're kind of preferring to ignore it in a sort of 'saying it out loud makes it real' way. So long as they don't voice their concerns, it's like Jaypaw isn't really sick.

@TheVioletGleek: The best part about Soot is that everyone seems to ship everyone with her, because she doesn't have any clear love interests. Which makes things fun/amusing for me. ^^ I really love your summary of the pairing, though, I love it when readers dissect relationships. Also, traveling-cat-sacrifice would be really cool, except that Chilly couldn't really contact any of them the way he can Soot.

@CrystalSakura: One of the best things about journeys is that they narrow the number of characters available, which makes each character infinitely more important! Such as, if there was no journey then we would probably never ever pay attention to Thistlethorn, because he doesn't stand out from the pack. But on the journey, he acquires new importance, which is lovely. It's pretty much confirmed by now that Jay is sick, so good job guessing on that. As for the Carvings, the tunnels are made of a softer rock than most of the mountain (hence how the stream carved them out in the first place; they're like veins of softer rock within the harder rock that makes up most of the mountains). However, don't think it was easy for them! Many FrozenClan cats had to scrape until their claws bled to leave their marks on the rocks. It was worth it, of course, since the tunnels were infinitely helpful for the cats. But yeah, it took a lot of work. ^^

@Sara Darkotter: Aww, thanks! Although it's not really hard to know more about cats than the Erins, since they've created like five tortie toms. :p

@RadiantDawn: Yay, glad that you're taking their kinship into consideration (for some reason a lot of people are forgetting it?). Really, everyone knows that Bluepaw is a ditz, they just won't say it to her face...although Sootpaw doesn't think that's necessarily a bad thing, since Bluepaw is always happy and doesn't seem to mind. Also, I'm really fond of Snatched as well. I'm not sure why; it just has a different atmosphere from Shattered, and I always become very nostalgic when I read it over (although sometimes I also cringe at the mistakes and things that I spot).

@Nightkill: I'm in the habit of calling him Deathy as well, so don't feel bad. xD

@Silverblossom: I think the amount of love Bluepaw has is congruent to the amount of hate that Swanpaw has recieved. It's very interesting to play with the readers' perspectives of characters, and I'm really looking forward to messing with Swanpaw (and maybe Bluepaw too). Northstar being Soot's mentor would be amazing, but then I'm afraid she would develop into a Destroyer of Worlds because Northy is just too awesome. :O Also, Northy leaves before the others because he is only there to get FrozenClan's cure for the regular forest-sickness, in hopes that it can help treat the new chilling-sickness, in order to buy the journeying group more time. Thus he has to leave sooner to get the forest-sickness plants back to the Clans and help 'em out. :)

@Priceless: Yay, I'm glad you don't hate me for being so late. I've been grappling with some serious block. I like Jaypaw too, and he and Soot would definitely be good friends if they had more time together. ^^

Ummmmmmmm so I think that's it. I made you guys a really spiffy (i.e. terrible) map that helps with the placement of some stuff, but I don't think I'll post it until next chapter because it's a tad bit spoilery (not really, it just looks terrible and I am ashamed of it).

So yeah, until next time~

Late chapter is late :(

Again, I shower my apologies upon you lovely ducklings. Feel free to badger me on how terrible I am. D:

@Shimmertail: Oh noes, sorry you got in trouble (although I hope you were squeeing, rather than "squeezing" xD)! Also glad you liked your birthday present (apparently I was entirely correct when I said I prolly wouldn't update before Friday; dear lawd this chapter took me forever). As for the city kitties, I'm planning on us seeing them eventually, but it might not be for awhile (and might not be who you expect).

@Tangleflame: Glad I could make you smile! :D

@Koraki: Ha, don't worry about it. Lots of people get my charries' names mixed up...and you did bring an interesting new pairing (SootxBlue) to light. I'm kind of waiting for the masses to begin clamoring for them now. xD

@Crowstorm: Spider can be cunning when he wants to be, although most of the time this doesn't really show through because of his big head/temper. He's really good at capitalizing on others' tempers too, though, which is what makes him a very good fighter. ^^

@PianoGirl: Thanks!

@CrystalSakura: Yes, he probably would; Jaggy isn't one for nicknames (I doubt even Reedrush could avoid getting smacked, however gently, for calling him that xD). Blackpaw might be an elder by the time she becomes a warrior, but at least she'll have her warrior name, right?

@Silverblossom: I do love opposites attracting, but we'll just have to wait and see how things work out...one of the best bonuses of SpiderxBlack would definitely be Fire's conniption, though. Also, I am quite surprised how many people support LeopardxFire. It's very...interesting. Shimmer has definitely changed a lot, in ways that we haven't yet seen; I actually sort of considered her keeping her weird speech thing, but it didn't really seem to fit since she's a lot more mature here than she was in role-play (in role-play her speech never changed, but that was a long time ago). And no, I don't want you to die, so clearly I absolutely must make sure everything turns out exactly as you said. :O

@Nightkill: Redpaw is definitely a stupid furball; maybe he'll get some character development (but I kinda doubt it xD). He actually wasn't meant to become the way he is, but we already had two pretty chill, normal toms (Jay and Blizzard) that adding a third felt redundant. And thus thug!Redpaw was born. :p

@PurplePanda: I'll admit, I was proud of that paragraph, although there was a little piece near the end that kinda bugged me, but I'm too lazy to fix it. This most recent chapter was much less descriptionily-delicious, sadly. I get your comment about the dirt, but my viewpoint of those sorts of words is that if the word is in third-person commentary, outside of any cats' thoughts or speech, it's used as it would be normally; if it had been Spiderpaw saying or thinking "dirt," then it would have been poopie. I feel that I use earth/ground too often, and other synonyms like soil/dust wouldn't have worked in that context. As for the herbs, it's true that leaf-bare is coming and they'll prolly be disappearing, but Shimmer always has a pretty vast store; not only that, but a lot of his pain was coming from stiffness/disuse, so once he starts moving around more it should help lessen the pain. I always thought Darkstripe needed a good cuddle, so many Redpaw will get one too. Also, wow, it sounds like your addiction is much worse than mine, you poor thing! I can't even remember the last time I cried over anything. I'm not much of a crier; didn't even cry at Marley and Me, if you can believe that. :O

@Priceless: I'd like to get something of mine published, but I guess we'll just have to see. Thanks. ^^

@TheVioletGleek: Shimmer is very, very bitter, that much is definitely true; what's more, she's holding onto this bitterness, rather than Silver, who's starting to let her sadness go. Shimmer is very, very angry with StarClan - she blames them for her brother's actions - as well as herself, because she feels responsible for Chilly as well, since she helped him get into the Clan in the first place. There are very few cats that Shimmer cares about, and Chilly was the cause of both her mother's death as well as Silver's. Most of her anger/spitefulness is derived from these inner feelings...and then she's generally irritated at apprentices for doing stupid apprentice things (xD). As for Blackpaw, she did sort of want to become a medicine apprentice when she was younger; however, at the time Shimmer was already holding that position, and it wasn't until after Blackpaw became a normal apprentice that Rumble died and the position became open. Shimmer wasn't taking any apprentices for a few moons, so Blackpaw couldn't switch over, and when she decided to take on Bluepaw it was too late for Blackpaw. Blackpaw isn't bitter or anything over it, though; she trusts that StarClan helped Shimmer make the right decision. And it would be amazing if Blackie totally snapped on her brother...although I think tigers only live in Asia. xD

@Sara Darkotter: Spider's thoughts exactly! :D


@Silence: I do have a pairing (or two...or three) in mind for Soot, yes. Prolly not Fire, though, since it's going to be a good long while before they see each other again. ^^

School = Crack

Okay, so remember how the other day I said I would update the blog the next day? And it totally didn't happen?

Of course you do, it was yesterday. Honestly, why am I asking such silly questions.

I'm really sorry about not doing this yesterday, but you see, the thing you need to understand is that I have recently started school. No, I'm not going to say what you expect (that I am too busy now to update the blog and stuffs). Actually, that's not it at all. The real problem is this:

My body thinks school is crack.

Or, perhaps more correctly, my body things being around people is crack. Seriously, for at least the first week or two at school, I am nothing but a useless giggling mess. Seeing all the people I haven't seen in months and telling them new stories and jokes and everything just makes me feel extremely high, for lack of a better term. And it's great and bubbly and wonderful and onmygodsomuchfun.

There's only one problem. When I come home, suddenly the people are GONE. And I'm just sitting by myself or with my brother staring at a computer scene. And my brain kinda goes 'Oh, the people are gone? That's good, we were running out of happy-make-Prin-do-stuff-juice anyway" and kinda shuts off and then I just like vegetate until I go to bed. Seriously, not making this up.

So please please please bear with me for these next few days, because things WILL get better. I just have to adjust to seeing my friends on a regular basis again.

Also, if you don't believe me, then I think you should also know that I was thinking about doing this blog update for like three hours before I actually summoned up the energy to do it. So.

Anyway, reviews and all that stuff I normally do:

For all the people who went 'Aw Reedrush is mean why? D:":

See, this is another case of author-sees-stuff-that-we-don't. What you readers don't know is that Thistlethorn and Swanpaw spent basically the whole day sniping at each other and bickering. Northy didn't care, Jay is pretty chill, Blue is a total ditz, and Bracken wanted to stay out of the whole thing, which left Rainwind and Reed playing the peace-makers; Reed's generally a pretty understanding and sweet gal, but dealing with stoopid lil Swanpaw all day really burned her bacon, so to speak. Then there's the fact that she's still feeling bad over fighting with Jagged, she's tired from walking all day without stopping to rest or eat, she's worried about her aunty Silver, and she's concerned with her own private motives (such as the reason she wanted to go to the Twolegplace). All of this is putting a lot of stress on her, so when Sootpaw (who, remember, was supposed to be Reedrush's next apprentice but Blackpaw wasn't warriorized, which Reedrush blames herself for) shows up, it's pretty much the last sequence of events in an already-terrible day. At that point, Reed kinda snapped inside and basically told Soot to shove off because she really couldn't deal with anything else. In this, Reedy was showing that's she's only human. Or only a cat. Whatever~

@Crowstorm: As fun as that would be, it would be pretty unrealistic, since she's only had a few hunting lessons and is in general really clumsy and stuff, and thus the odds of her teaching herself to hunt is pretty slim. Someone else like, say, Spiderpaw could prolly do it, but that's because he's a really intelligent lil boy. Sooty isn't stupid, exactly, but she's not as smart as him.

@TheVioletGleek: About Reedy leaving Blackpaw behind: at this point there is very little she can do with Blackpaw. She honestly doesn't know how to teach Blackpaw any better than she already has been; heck, Eaglestrike, the DEPUTY isn't even having much luck with poor Blackie. Reedrush leaving her isn't really a big deal (besides the emotional toll for Blackie, i guess) since there was nothing more she could do for her anyway.

@Nightkill: Yeppers, that's the Bleach guy's name. Sorry your family looked at you weirdly. :p

@Lynxeye: Bleh, don't even get me started on Crowfeather's issues, ha. I find it interesting that you're considering him turning on his allies rather than Sootpaw. It's a neat theory~

@Artemis: At first, when Blue and Rabbit met I was afraid there would be a cutesplosion, but thankfully that didn't happen and our world is still intact. As for Chilly, I really love him too; I think I've used him in four different places now, because he's really grown on me as a character, ha. The Soot-sacrifice thing makes me think of them all dancing around and chanting around a fire, or something....xD

@Nightfrost: It'll be a looong time before Soot and Fire meet up again...but maybe he's harboring some intense passion for her that even I don't know about. All kidding aside, I'm actually kinda surprised how many people have mentioned SootxFire. But, I was sort of surprised when people mentioned SpiderxBlue after her very first appearance, so I guess I should be used to it by now.

@Silverblossom: Be careful, I don't want your parents shipping you off to the loony bin because you're giggling to your computer! I'd feel so guilty. And sure, make all the mind-Northy plushies you like...I don't think I could stop you anyway. xD

@Shenzi: Out of curiosity, what would I write about Black/Northstar? Both of their stories are sort of already complete, in a way. Blackstar is supposed to die sometime in the fourth series, I think, and as for Northy...well. There won't be a lot for him to do after Chilled, I don't think.

@PurplePanda: Wow, that was a deliciously long review (and a funny one, too)! Thank you very much for that! Sorry you don't like the tongue-yawn thing. See, the thing about that is every cat I've ever seen yawn does the tongue-curl thing, but most dogs don't (one of mine does, but the other two I've had in the past never did). So that's always been a cat thing for me. And I definitely know about the jumping-off-the-page sentence thing you're talking about; that happens to me all the time (although usually it's just words/phrases and I describe them as being delicious xD). As for Swanpaw, she musta inherited it from her mother, since Iceblossom's the same way. Swanpaw's been going on like that alllll day, but Rainwind is a really laid-back dude, so he didn't say more than that, and Swanpaw only stopped to consider her next insult; she doesn't go over-board like Spiderpaw does, most of the time. The Moonpaw-eye twitch thing really made me laugh. And I totally get what you're saying about the thesaurus (dinosaurs rock), I try to use synonyms but Open Office really sucks at providing them and looking them up is so much worrrrk. Kidding aside, I am trying to improve. As for the apprentices, they just sort of popped in during Shattered; Reedrush had Blizzardpaw at the very beginning when we first met her, Frostfeather was preggers during the beginning of Shattered and had Jay/Robin, Raven was preggers with Spider/Soot at the end of Shattered, Red/Blue came from Twolegplace (semi-adopted, I guess), and then Fire/Black came from a group of rogues, several of which joined AshClan at the end of Shattered. There's a lot of them, but that's necessary because obviously not all of them will survive the story and AshClan needs a strong second generation to make sure that the Clan doesn't end up all teeny-tiny. As for the paragraph-spacing, I don't think FFN does that, since when I'm writing that's just how my paragraphs format. I need spaaaace (I have mild claustrophobia, maybe that's why I space out my paragraphs xD).

@ShadowedRadiance: YOUSHOULDBESOASHAMEDIAMSOMAD--Kidding, of course. I won't hate you if you don't review every chapter, or whatever. That's fine, although I definitely appreciate the reviews I recieve. For Spiderpaw's temperament, that's just sort of the way he is; I'm sure you know people like that, who are all sarcastic and snippy /all/ the time (I certainly do). Most of his anti-friendship prickliness is driven by the belief that cats have to be strong to be respected, and respect is all that matters; that's just sort of what was somehow driven into his thick lil skull. There's not any real reason you could point at that directly leads to his viewpoint, it's just sort of how he developed growing up. I'm also a lover of underdogs, so I totes get what you mean about Sooty. C:

I've got to go now (volunteering at a church pantry thingy) but hopefully when I get back I won't be school-crack-deprived or whatever; sometimes leaving the computer for awhile helps, I guess. We'll see.

Anyway, love you guys and your reviews, as always. <33

Mini-Vacation

Like I said in my AN, I'm gonna be gone for awhile, and school starts soon, so updates might be a bit spotty. Bear with me. D:

@Nightkill: Blackpaw does seem like an airhead in this chappy, but it's mostly because she's scared stiff of Spider. He does have a bit of a reputation for being a growly jerk, after all.

@Koraki: I don't mind repetitiveness (and I do love long-winded spiels flattering me xD) but if you have any critique or specific ideas to give, don't hesitate! I won't hate you even if you don't review. :)

@Ravenshade: Every night. Yay. :D I like "newborn mouse" too; I seem to be coming up with some odd phrases for this story, ha. And yes, it was pretty obvious. Spider doesn't know how to hide his feelings very well. xD

@Lynxeye: Yep, Spider seems to push all his ladies away. Maybe he could just go for the harem solution, and make them all his mates, just so they don't each have to have too much time with him...clearly this is the best option. :D

@Silverblossom: Love blinds a momma to her children, sometimes, I'm afraid. Fireblaze is always sweet around her, too, cuz he luffs her so much. As for Fire's past crush, it (obviously) never amounted to anything, so maybe we sees it, maybe we don't~ And no, Spider/Black are not related at all (Black and Fire's biological parents are a mystery, actually, since they were adopted by Petalcloud and Swansong).

@Emberspark: I don't think I'll be working on my parody any time soon; I'm too busy and comically
 uninspired. :(

@Nightfrost: A good guess, as good as any. ^^

Late D:

Eep, a few days late. I was going to do it yesterday morning, but it kept slipping my mind. My memory is the worst. D:

Anywho~

I found it to be interesting how many of you mentioned Blight's pet-calling this chapter, even though he only had a few lines before popping out. It makes me smile, seeing how astute you all are!

@QueenOfThePens: And I quote:  "If StarClan did show you these visions for some reason, it could be a variety of things. They could be warning you of things to come. They could be trying to fix their mistakes in the past, trying to learn from them, to protect those on this new journey. Or, this journey might hold important information of another matter...the destination, what they were looking for, how it all ended...something has to be important for them to show it to you." They're quite relevant, I promise you. :3

@Silverblossom: I really do dislike forbidden love...but apprentice love, in any form, is just too gosh-darn adorable for me to hate. At heart, I'm honestly a hopeless romantic. D:

@Ravenshade: Interesting catch there...but most could still mean that she isn't coming back, since she was somewhat prominent at the beginning of the story. You never know, ha. As for Reedrush, you're guess was incorrect, but it was a good one! We might figure out why soon, methinks. As for the smell of freedom, I bet you're right about that.

@Veni: Yep. I don't generally like "new generation" stories, but I especially dislike them when they're just a continuation of the lineage. I figured I'd do something a little different. And yes, we'll see Minnow and her kits, I promise! As for the poll, I figured I had to throw some random pairings in there, just to keep things interesting. Weird little ghost babies would be pretty cool, though. Imagine the question marks from the rest of the Clan when Soot delivers those. xD

@Dustleaf: We haven't really seen Soot longing for freedom, that much is true; however, I think it's sort of an inborn thing for young cats, to crave a bit of freedom and a bit of distance from their family, to spread their wings (so to speak). Soot just sort of reflects that longing. Freedom also gives her the ability to become a hero (technically a heroine, but I've always thought that sounded too druggy xD), which is what she really wants to be. She wants to live up to her father's legacy, and at home, with her deputy daddy and protective mother watching her carefully, her brother screwing everything up for her, and without a mentor, she feels she won't ever get that chance (aside from helping the DF cats, but of course no one could ever know about that). Freedom gives her the chance to become that hero. As for following them in secret, that much is true; she has very little training when it comes to hunting/fighting, and there's no way that she could provide for herself. However, she only has to follow them for a day or so; by then they'll be too far away to send her back, since she could just keep following them and they couldn't waste time escorting her home. Now, as we learned in this most recent chapter, Northstar is coming back earlier than the rest of the group, so he might be bringing her back with them, but as of now that's not certain. As for how she can track them, remember that most, if not all of her training sessions thus far have been focused on stealth. She's pretty decent at being stealthy by now; as seen in the chapter, she uses her knowledge from everything she's learned (the ferns from Spiderpaw, remaining hidden from Frostfeather, keeping track of her movements from Ravenwing, etc.) to help her on her way.

@CrystalSakura: Good question, about Thistlethorn's name. Firstly, I had to come up with it quickly, because I sort of changed the timeline of when the story started; originally where I'd planned to start, Thistlethorn was still an apprentice, but then when I changed the timeframe, he was a warrior, so the name was kind of created on the fly. However, I think you have a misconception; a thistle is not just the thorny part of a plant, it is the entire plant itself; thorns are just one part of that plant. It's basically the same sort of name as Rosepetal. Anyway, I generally use -thorn for fierce, powerful, somewhat "prickly" cats, all of which fit him pretty well. He's pretty friendly to his Clanmates, but to outsiders he's very leery (which might cause problems on the coming journey, since he's not fond of PeakClan).

I think that's all the questions. Sorry about the lateness, darlings~

Oops! Double Blog Update~

Gah, I forgot about the blog last update and then I remembered but kept forgetting to actually start updating it and stuff. Sooooo, we'll handle both of the last two chapters here. Sorry! D:

@CrystalSakura: Moonpaw is Sootpaw's /imaginary/ friend. She's completely imaginary, she never existed or will exist. She does seem to have an odd connection to the afterlife, but that could just be part of Soot's subconscious creating somenoe to help her move between life and the Dark Forest to hepl her move through it.

@Nightkill: It's weird that several of my stories deal with reincarnation, since I really really /really/ hate using it in role-play; it cheapens the death of characters, when they can just be brought back to life. Of course, the cases I've used it in are sort of weird ones, soooo. Chilly might be lying, that's always a possibility, but we'll just have to see.

@Shimmertail: You get all the cookies in the internets. They won't do you much good, but you can have them. I think you're the only one who guessed, tho, so. xD Shrew's a pretty sweet guy, you're correct about that; he's sort of like Death, in a way. I'm curious as how to chose your three picks for the moss-stealer; Storm would probably think it was a bit beneath him, I'm puzzled as to why Bluepaw would steal from him and then be his friend, and aside from the obvious Moonpaw problems, I like that theory the best. Maybe Soot's stealing it in her sleep on Moonpaw's orders? xD

@VeniVidiVici: Did you mean Darkstripe or Dustpelt? I don't know why kitties wouldn't say 'pal' (I suppose that would depend on the origin of the word, but I don't know how to figure that out). I like sillypaws too, I will admit. xD

@Silverblossom: Hmm...maybe I brought Dapplefern back specifically from how much hate she received...I wonder if I might really be that cruel? ^^ Interesting pairings you've got lined up there, ha. xD

@lynxeye: It sure is! I don't know what Forest would do if Silver died...fall into an immense depression, probably, poor boy. Tiggy managed to regain his memories because of Tigerstar's Dark Forest ceremony (with his first life), so that situation wouldn't work out with Chill and company, since they don't have the same extra lives thing. Still, there's no way to know for sure about the memories.

@CrystalSakura: Yeppers! I think that some diseases would be too hard for them to completely take away (especially since this one requires three different ingredients for the cure, so it's not all that simple to make). I'm not sure how StarClan really fits in; if they had all sorts of awesome powers, they would sort of be 'story breakers' since they could just solve and problem with ease and the living cats wouldn't be able to do anything. I think they might get glimpses of the future, and try to help living cats as best they can, but I'm sure there are rules as to how much they can intervene. Maybe there's a certain cat that makes prophecies and sends them to the rest of StarClan to give? I don't know...that's actually quite intriguing. Tiggy definitely wouldn't be in this story, since I'm not sure sure if he's been born yet (I'll admit, I never read BP :P).

@Shimmertail: I've been hearing about DH all week, so no worries. I'm an HP fan, but I never watch the movies. My imaginary movies are so much better! I really hate forbidden love too, so it almost never works out for me (case in point: SnowxFrost) unless the rules have sort of changed (for WhitexBat in TR it was less 'forbidden love' and more 'somewhat frowned upon love'. I don't think poor Birch is ever getting her memories back, poor dear. Glad you noticed Jag's helpless movement; it's the little details that make me smile. And hellz yeah, UST-filled training. It's on. >:D

@Artemis: Indeed! Soot and Spider are there to illustrate the difference between the original series (believable, realistic) compared to these more spiritual later arcs (which I hate, hmm). I'm not sure what you mean by switching up words, though.

@CrystalSakura: Glad you think so; I like rating names and the like. :p

@Ravenshade: Even I'm not sure how the pairings will line up right now...or am I? I don't mind rambling, I'm the queen of it myself. Thanks. :D


I think that's it...also, there's a new poll, just because I can. Feel free to vote for your favorite two pairings~

WHAM Chapter!

I think this chappy was pretty whammy. We got Chilly's motives and the quest for the sickness and everything all in one chapter! Yaaay. <3

That wasn't my original intention, though, I was going to drag on the introductions of our seven ebil kitties for awhile longer, but Dapplefern kind of got away from me and started picking fights and then Chilly was issuing orders and there was nothing I could do to stop him. It's kind of nice when the characters take charge on their own like that, but also a little hard to keep up with.

Also, on a side note, the seven kitties of ebil (mmm, they need a nickname, that's a bit of a mouthful) were formed on a certain ideological construct. I did this because I knew I needed a good-sized cast of baddies, but choosing their appearances and backstory was a little difficult...and then I thought of this really obvious one that's been used a bazillion times and I figured that I would too, just as an experiment (because, really all these stories are experiments for me...plus some of the characters fit into the slots so nicely that it was hard to pass up). So. Cookies if you guess what ideological thingamajig I based them around. :D

Anyway. Questions and all that~

@Shimmertail: Ooh, that is a delicious title for the moss-theft mystery. Lovely. As for who is doing it (or why) you might be surprised (who doesn't love surprises?). Kudos for thinking of Dapplefern, you were nearly right. ^^

@warriorcrazy: Fireblaze would prolly back off once his sister became a warrior...unless something else happened to tick him off....*mysterious laugh*

@Silverblossom: Lollipops and rainbows? I know not of what you speak! Still no Northy yet, but he's coming, I promise you. Eventually.

@VeniVidiVeci: You're right, I do tend to go for expected pairings, sigh. But, as I mentioned before, most if not all of these stories are just huge experiments for me; perhaps someday I'll surprise you. Especially with some of those you mentioned....And you're right about the kit thing, I never really paid attention to that; I suppose I like it because it helps the siblings be foils for one another, I guess? And it would be my dream to have boy-girl twins myself (as if xD). Technically some of those you mentioned had another sibling, but they died at birth or something...eh. After you mentioned that, I tried thinking of exceptions, but I could only find a few (Frost/Cricket/Rain was a litter of three, Silver and Cinder were both females, Reed and Toxin were both females, Sorrel and Willow were both girls) and some others I don't remember now) but you're right. I should prolly work on that, I s'pose. I don't think I've ever done one with two male kits. @.@

@QueenofthePens: Yay, more pairing theories! One of my favorite things about apprentices is how many theories everyone churns out about who is pairing up with who. I love it. We'll have to see who (if anyone :p) Leopard curls up with. <3

@Ravenshade: Indeed, just think of the UST! Ah, fond memories....Shimmer's still all shook up over Chilly, you're right (you would be too if your brother killed your aunt and StarClan didn't warn you about it!). Maybe she'll get better...maybe not.

@CrystalSakura: *pats* I don't hold it against you. And thank you! I think apprentice shenanigans are tons of fun and under-used in the series. Moonpaw's not a real cat, she's Sootpaw's imaginary friend (which Sootpaw is completely aware of). Moonpaw might be more than she appears...or she could just be a red herring that I'm throwing at you guys because I'm trolling you. Either is possible. :D As for Jaggedclaw, Soot and Spider aren't technically obligated to look after him, but as the youngest apprentices they're sort of forced to, since the older ones won't do it (Leopard got off easy, since when she joined Soot and Spider were being punished and had to take care of Jaggedclaw, then they become the youngest apprentices so they still had to). Bluepaw mentions in one of the chapters that Redpaw is glad Soot and Spider have to do it, because as the youngest apprentice it used to be his duty. Also, Spider kind of likes Jaggedclaw, so he doesn't mind as much, and Sootpaw feels sorry for him.

I think that's everything...until next time, darlings. <3

Fireblaze! Fireblaze! Fireblaze!

Yay, chanting title~!

Again (in case you didn't see this in my AN) I'm going to be gone on Saturday to visit family, and my parents might just decide to drop my brother and I off for the week. If so, I won't be able to update for some time. They haven't decided yet, so that might change, but I decided to say so just in case~

@Shimmertail: But of course we get more Northy! I didn't kill him off in Shattered for a reason (although I briefly considered it xD). I'm pretty sure you don't know who the wailer is, since we haven't met her yet, but there's another kitty in Chill's group that you probably do~

@TheVioletGleek: Thanks! Nice to see you again. I do enjoy being cruel to my characters (although, oddly, I really hate reading stories where characters die and stuff...go figure!). The forest-sickness isn't really any disease in particular, although I remember drawing from a few of them during the planning stages (same for this new chilling disease). They're both combinations of different illnesses, although I couldn't for the life of me remember which ones. As for Blackpaw, it was probably a 70/30 split between not wanting to be humiliated/doing what's right for the Clan. He's selfish that way. Shimmerfrost puts up with her...mostly because she has to, since her getting another apprentice that could stand her iciness probably isn't going to happen, ha. The other older warriors make sure Shimmer's not too hard on the poor ditz.

@VeniVidiVeci: Yuppers, we'll most definitely see Minnow and the little Blight/Nightshade 2.0's eventually. Rather soon, actually, I think.

@Smokefrost: Chilly feeding off of Spiderpaw would be ridiculously cool, but I think all of Spider's anger would probably melt poor Chilly. xD

@Silverblossom: Moonpaw's eyes have always been blue, like the sky or the flowers or whatever else Soot likes to compare them to, ha. Sorry you're confused about the relationships thing, I'll get to that here in a minute for you! And of course Blight had to come back. Some of you felt sorry for him in the end, and he definitely hates to be pitied. xD

@Crowstorm: Unfortunately, Toxin died in Shattered's epilogue so we won't see her again, sadly. ;^;

Everyone seems to be shipping BlizzxRobin. I wonder why. *shifty eyes*

Anyway, Silverblossom was confused about some of the relationships, so I figured I should brush up on that a bit, for the apprentices at least.

SOOTPAW is the sister to SPIDERPAW. SOOTPAW and SPIDERPAW are cousins to ROBINPAW and JAYPAW, who are siblings. BLIZZARDPAW is unrelated to any of the other apprentices. REDPAW and BLUEPAW are brother and sister, parents unknown. FIREPAW is REDPAW'S idol. FIREPAW and BLACKPAW are brother and sister. Their biological parents are unknown, but they were raised by PETALCLOUD and SWANSONG. LEOPARDPAW'S heritage is unknown.

Blizzardpaw's a weird case because of Silverstar's crazy legacy. He is Silverstar's grand-nephew, and Shimmerfrost's nephew (or like half-nephew or something, since Reed and Shimmer had different dads. I have no idea; of course, that makes him Chillpaw's half-nephew or whatever too.)

Hope that helped Silverblossom and anyone else who was confused. :)

Also, poor Silver has had a bit of back-lash because of her becoming a bit of a recluse and her sickness; I was talking to Queen of the Pens about it, and I wrote something extremely long and explaination-y. Here it is if anyone wants to take a look:

Ah, I see. Actually, the illness has nothing to do with her personal beliefs, she's just sick, because she's been more exposed to the disease than the other cats. That, coupled with the fact that she hadn't been taking care of herself (which is because of the betrayal, I'll acknowledge that, but I'll address that in a moment) left her susceptible to the sickness. In other words, she is honestly ill with some sort of virus/bacteria thingamajig. I assure you, she won't be the only one to get sick -- or die. (Spoilers, oops! Not really, I always kill someone off, so it's not that big a surprise xD).

Anyway, as for the handling, you're right. She handled it badly, but keep in mind that her entire belief system was based on two things:

1. Everyone deserves a second chance. More importantly, if you give them that second chance and show that you think they're worthy of it, then they will turn themselves around; all you have to do is prove to them that you believe in them. This has always held true with her, as illustrated by Doveflight (the apprentice who was a trouble-maker that Silverstar helped mentor back in BirchClan, if you don't remember). The one time it was broken before was with Snake, when he turned on her to help Toxin, but Silverstar never knew about that because she never saw him or the body after Toxin killed him.

2. StarClan will always provide/look after those they care about, when possible. Again, this has always held true for her; it could be argued that even the whole Northstar-FrozenClan fiasco eventually resulted in something good, because she built AshClan/found Forest/sort of allied with Northstar, etc.

However, with his betrayal, Chilly shattered both of those notions completely. He destroyed her belief of second chances because he used his second chance to attempt to kill her. He destroyed the second because StarClan didn't try to warn Silverstar, or alert anyone to what Chilly was planning. As far as she could tell, absolutely nothing good came from his actions; she lost a life, AshClan lost an apprentice, and their sense of security and trust in one another was broken.

That doesn't sound like much, I know, but she believed those two things with her whole being; her faith in StarClan and others was what helped her through the loss of her Clan and all that. It's like if you were religious (I obviously have no idea if you are, and it doesn't matter much to me, but for the sake of an analogy) and you devoted your life to your chosen god/religion/church, and then somehow science managed to prove that your god(s) didn't exist and that all of your beliefs were a lie. Naturally, you would experience a horrible emotional crash that would take months, if not years to deal with.

It also impacted a more personal aspect of her life, which I've alluded to (and I'm sure you figured it out, most people did, but in case you didn't then I won't say anything) which took another emotional toll.

Does that make sense? Please don't think that I'm attacking your opinion, or anything, you're completely entitled to it. I just want to make sure you see all sides of the issue, because there's obviously a lot of stuff that I know that the readers do not, which puts you guys at a bit of a disadvantage when you draw conclusions.


Hope she doesn't mind me posting that. xD


Anyway, I think that's all for this chapter. Stay tuned. <3

Whoops!

Sorry about the lateness of this blog update, it was late last night so I didn't have time to update then, and I forgot about it when I woke up. xD

Anyway, I sort of realized that I've been a little...chatty (?) when it comes to this blog, reply to every individual review. Normally that would be good, but doing so takes a ridiculous amount of time (because I get so many reviews, which is amazing :D), so I'm going to try and ease back into the answering questions thingy, which was what this was for in the first place. xD

@Shimmertail: Spiderpaw doesn't need friends! Only losers have friends! All he needs is a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T! And yes, Spiderpaw makes Darkstorm nervous because he's still all teeny tiny and whiny, like a kit. Darky doesn't like him very much (who does?). Blizz is a pretty chill guy (ohgawdapun), much like Jay. Normally Jay wouldn't be a jerk at all, but he's uber-protective of his sister; Blizz is kind of the same way when it comes to Robin, but at the same time he doesn't really let anger cloud his decisions, which is why he is, indeed, Switzerland.

@Veni0Vidi0Vici0: I'm confused; you don't like goodie-goodies like Silver, but you also don't like breakin-all-da-rulez kitties like Spider? Just kidding, I understand (although I feel like Soot is more of a g-g than Silver, oddly enough). xD

@Ravenshade: BlizzxRobin? I don't know what you're talking about. *innocent face of complete innocence* That does sound like a good motive for Robin, but it would kind of be a pain for her to dispose of his moss, with her limp and all. Still, don't rule anyone out~!

@QueenOfThePens: We'll see why Silver is much sicker than anyone else (ohgawdaspoiler) soon, no worries! But she's had more, ah exposure to the disease than most of the other warriors.

@Anonymous: I can never smell Anonymous right, sigh. It always comes out Anaymous, or something like that. Anyway, I do enjoy cliffhangers (which is obvious by now xD). Keeps everyone on their toes (including me, because if the cliffie isn't resolved by the next chapter, you guys get snippy :D). That's a cute idea for a pairing, but as usual my lips are sealed~

@PokemonWarriorSwellowfeather: CinderClan/CascadeClan wasn't really based off of a role-play, really; I took the basic "mountain Clan vs forest Clan" structure that was present in the role-play upon which I based Shattered, and then added a few characters from role-play (Nettlepaw, for one), but the plot itself was just sort of cobbled together. The CC/CC story is on my dART, if that's what you're asking? I'm not quite sure. xD

Any role-play that I've done has been lost to the sands of time, I'm afraid. None of the places where I used to role-play exist anymore. :P

@Warriorcrazy: I think you lived up to your username in this review, I'm actually a little frightened. *slides hammer forward with foot*

@Anonymous-hope you don't mind: Your Firepaw/Pyro-anger-issues is actually a very good point; he's always been a very protective, violent furball. Kudos for connecting those dots. :D

It's hard not replying to everyone anymore, but it does go a lot faster now. Sorry, everyone-that-I-didn't-reply-to! I don't treasure your reviews any less, it's just that I want to focus more on answering questions now. xD

Also, just a side note, but you guys really don't have to take the time to write out S H A T T E R E D and C H I L L E D when you're talking about them. You can just call 'em Shattered and Chilled, like I do; that format is mostly for aesthetics, and shortening it is no different than calling Tigerstar's Redemption as TR, or Snatched: The Story of Snowkit as Snatched. Just a thought, since a lot of you do it and I just wanted you all to know that I won't be offended or anything if you abbreviate the name. xD

Anyway, until next time, my ducklings. <3

HOSHI--

We're in deep doo-doo now.


@Shimmertail: Clearly the badger-butterfly was indeed a hidden message from StarClan; obviously the metamorphosis from badger to butterfly signified the change in the Clan over time, from a fierce enemy to a soft (somewhat creepy looking) insect. Obviously StarClan is telling them that without proper leadership, AshClan is going soft...and that all of the cats will soon develop a third pair of legs. I should have known that you would ship ChillxSoot. You would think I'd have learned by now. We'll see their relationship develop more in the future, in ways that not even you can imagine! *evil laugh* Okay, probably not really, since you seem to always figure things out. But I can try.

@Nightkill: Soot always seems to get the short end of the stick, no?

@Silverblossom: Aww, thank you! Bluepaw has been specifically calibrated to fit your cuteness needs. I like Ravenwing too; she's kind of minor now, but she's always been a sweet girl. As for Moonpaw...she's harmless, honest. Probably.

@Brambleshine: Thank you! Don't worry, I think we all lolz from time to time. I would really recommend reading Shattered, since a lot of stuff won't really make sense unless you do...hinty hint. Not that I'm forcing you to, or anything, it's only a suggestion. xD

@Insane: Thanks! Better use the right suffix for Moonpaw, or else she might get mad at you. And she's pretty terrifying when she's angry, for an imaginary friend. ;)

@Mlaia: Yep! Despite his roughness, Firepaw definitely has a soft spot for his sister. Probably his one redeeming quality, really. xD

@Pain: Sorry, but Firepaw wasn't going to let him off that easily! I think he made the right choice, too, although he probably shouldn't have humiliated Blackpaw the way he did.

@Priceless: Thank you! :D

@Ravenshade: Thank you! It's always great to see new faces! Forestheart is definitely one of my favorite characters, and Soot/Spider make an excellent team (when Spider isn't yelling at her, of course). Leopard definitely has her own motives for choosing AshClan instead of PeakClan...hopefully we'll delve into that. We'll definitely see more of Chill, as he sinks his claws even deeper into Sootpaw's subconscious...wow, that sounded more ominous than I intended. Thanks again! <3

@Personwithoutaname: Yeppers! Although, Spider doesn't even have a decent reason to be so cranky, ha. Silver won't be getting better in the near future, but maybe by the end of the story she'll have come around. Or died. One of the two. xD

@Too lazy to log in: Thank you very much! I'm excited for our mystery disease, indeed! I can safely say that Moonpaw doesn't know anything about the sickness; she's about 85% Sootpaw's imagination. Of course, there's still the question of where the other 15% comes from, but even that part of her doesn't know anything about the sickness. Maybe Spider is all squishy and adorable on the inside...or he could be a total jerk through and through! I guess we'll just have to see, ha. Stormshadow unwittingly echoed the opinion of many readers, I'll admit. Yes, it's a pity that Bramblethorn died...but his death will definitely have repercussions for the rest of the story, oh yes indeedy. I'm glad you like Leopardpaw, I do too! I've always wanted a Leopard character, and she's going to be marvelous. I'm glad you like Bluepaw, too! She's like Rabbitpaw 2.0. I'm not a  member of the official forums, if that's what you're talking about, sadly; I don't venture onto very many forums, especially not fandom-based, since I have some, ah, very strong opinions about the direction the series has taken. I'm glad you read my silly dA story, though! It's definitely a bundle of nonsense, but very fun to write. xD

I think that's everyone, ha. Thanks as always for the reviews, lovers, I always appreciate them. <3

Apprentice Shenanigans

Not the fun kind, tho.

Sorry for the late update, gah, like I said I've been busy. That's the only excuse I have...I'm sorry. D:

@Pain: Thanks! Yes, it definitely is. ^^

@Shimmertail: Not to be a creeper, but what timezone are you in? It seems like you're on every hour of the day! I'm impressed you remembered Nightpaw's warrior name (I honestly didn't). You know me, I always aim to please comically (when I'm not killing off characters, that is). Yes, Shimmer's not really too happy with anyone...least of all our buddies in the stars. AshClan's in for some trouble, I'm afraid.

@Crowstorm: I really like Bluepaw too, I'll admit. I miss Rabbitpaw, but we'll see her plenty. Yikes! I wasn't even considering suicide, ha. Interesting that you thought that. I promise we'll get to something interesting soon. D:

@QueenOfThePens: I hate all of those pairings too (especially LeafxCrow, bleh)! Don't worry, darling, just trust me. I'll take care of everything in my own special, often-deadly way. C: You know very well that I can't telll you about future pairings (as much as I would like to xD). We'll just have to wait and see!

@Mlaia: She was about the Clan-starving bit (just a bit) but the rest of it was sincere. Petal's a sweet gal. ^^

@Silverblossom: I hadn't even considered the suicidal implications, ha. Luckily she didn't, I guess. Shimmer's definitely not her old self anymore, but who is, right? We'll get Northy to your heart's content later (ha, not really, who can ever get enough of him? But we'll get a lot), no worries. ^^

@Insane: See? Eagle's not crazy after all. He's got a master plan. :D

@Artemis: Clan cats are a bit dense in the relationships department, eh? You'd think StarClan would just learn enough to lift that dumb rule, but they never do. Sigh. Chill is very important, and we're definitely getting closer to something cool with him. ^^

@CrystalSakura: Soot's quite frustrated, the poor girl! She's helping her clumsiness a bit, but she's definitely got a long way to go. If only she had a mentor. *dramatic sigh*

@Warriorcrazy: I don't know, do ya see it? It could all just be a figment of your imagination...or it could be there. You never know. Am I driving you insane with curiosity yet? xD

@Nightkill: Thanks! And yes, he's got it all figured out. ^^

@Smokefrost: Thanks! It's about time he had his tail handed to him, doncha think? And yes, I've watched BCD, on Animal Planet. It's been awhile now, but I remember it fondly. C:

Something I noticed that made me smile was that Spider got several more votes in the poll, after he compromised with Petal. My plan worked. *cackles*

V I G I L

Now, this post is mostly dedicated to Shimmertail, who wrote a (very good) one-shot for Shattered. The rest of you guys probably don't want to read it, but there IS an important bit of information tucked away inside. I'll put it in bold so the rest of you can see it, because typing it again is tiring and I'd probably forget to, sooo....Yeah. Anyway, talking-to-Shimmertail-time. xD

Firstly, I want you to understand how amazing I find it that you actually wrote this one-shot, completely unprompted. You wrote a one-shot of my fic which was based on original role-play which was based on the Warriors series. That's a lot of stuff in the middle, and you could have snipped it out by writing about characters straight from the canon series, but you didn't, you wrote about /my/ OCs, and that feels absolutely FANTASTIC. The thought that someone would care enough about my random OCs to write anything about them is completely amazing to me, and for that I thank you. <3

As for the one-shot itself, it was very well-written (I expect nothing less from the literacy you show in your reviews, of course), and I'll admit that I'm impressed. You need a FFN account, and you need to be writing giant awesome fics too, okay? Because the site is missing out.

Of course, there were some small nit-picks for me (like Northy monologuing out loud, he tends to keep that to himself), but I want you to understand that any mistakes/OOC moments I noticed were extremely small. I'm an EXTREME Mama Bear (like you have no idea) when it comes to other people using my characters, or using the characters of other people; for that very reason, I don't read very many fics, because I believe that only the original author can truly do a character justice (which is why in TR, Tigerstar himself didn't have many lines, and I was actually fairly reluctant to write JtR, because I don't think I can properly capture his character; I gave it my best, but I know I fell short). Really, I feel this way because characters are so involved and complex that there is a ton of stuff that I know about them, but the readers don't, because there's no place to really tuck it into the story with it still being relevant (for example, when Stormshadow was still a rogue and very young, he was abused by his father, very brutally. His father actually ended up killing his mother, at one point. There was nothing Stormshadow felt that he could do, he was too young, until he met Scorpion. Scorpion convinced him to stand up for himself, and together they took down Stormshadow's father. That was when Stormshadow took his rogue name, Shredder. Because of that, Stormshadow is disdainful towards most Clan kits, especially Spiderpaw, because to him they act spoiled and have no idea what having a hard life is really like. That's also why he's sort of taken a father position for Firepaw and Blackpaw, so they have what he didn't at their age. And, that is why if Nightshade was still alive or her kits were ever found, he would personally rip her and them limb from limb, because Scorpion was, in essence, his "savior". That was kind of rambley and weird, but I assume that you see what I mean? It's hard to use characters if you don't know everything about them, which is why I try not to use too many canon characters, unless they were pretty minor, like Snowkit.) But even with my feelings on the subject,  I will say that you did very well portraying him in all his angsting, tortured glory, and I was happy to see that you stuck Shimmerpaw in there too. She acted appropriately cold, considering that he was the enemy, and I understand how difficult it is to capture her odd speaking exactly right (sometimes I feel that I mess it up myself).

As for the actual content, I was a bit confused there at the beginning of the timeframe of the story, but after I read it again it made sense to me. I loved Northy's beginning bit (even though it was out loud xD) especially since it's rather close to what Eaglestrike says to her later, about her being oblivious and all (Eagle and Northy are kind of foils to each other, in some traits at least, so it was a nice parallel). One teeny thing I didn't like in the next paragraph was addressing the reader with "You guess", mostly because it changed the tense of the story; the one-shot was written in 3rd person limited, but by addressing the reader you changed it to 2nd person for a moment. That's obviously a small thing, but I just thought I'd mentioned it (I myself love critique, but I'm not sure how you feel about it, so I'll try to keep it to a minimum xD). And then you described his bout of anger (like so many others that he seems to get) very well, and I like his other monologue too, it sounded very much like him. I think the entire paragraph that starts with "He didn't feel like the manipulative killer" is probably my favorite in the piece, mostly because it communicates extremely well his view of himself and his view of her. The little snippets were an excellent stylistic choice, in my opinion.

And then Shimmerpaw (yay!) comes in! The only thing I see wrong with her is that Northy wouldn't forget her name, because Silverstreak used the same name when she was talking to Rainwind/Mousepaw, and that's what tipped him off in the first place that she was hanging around. But, again, a tiny thing. I do like how you handled her speech, since it's sort of hard to get a grip on, and her mentioning Mudder was oddly sweet. She's definitely her defiant, smart-mouthed self, which is wonderful, since sarcastic characters can be hard to capture. And, of course, Northy getting angry was completely in character and wonderful, and him sleeping beside her at the end was completely sweet. <3

Sorry if that was too analysis-y, I didn't mean for it to be, but that tends to be how I comment on stuff. All in all, I'm very impressed and grateful that you chose to actually write something about them (and Northy's beginning monologue does explain their "buckets of UST", ha. On a side note, you're a troper, right? I think you've made a few off-handed trope-y comments, but I just want to make sure xD). Also, I recently found out that apparently Dustpelt and Ferncloud are uncle/niece, so NorthxSilver would be technically possible, if silly Forest and Rose didn't get in the way. Maybe your fic is set in an alternate univserse, mm?

Do I have permission to post the one-shot somewhere on here? I'm sure anyone that actually read this besides you is probably wondering what I'm talking about. xD

Chapter up, yaaaay!

I apologize for the late blog update, again! I always seem to upload new chapters really late, and then I have to remember in the morning to update because I don't have time at night. Sorry again! Really! D:

Anyway:

@Shimmertail: You're always like one of the first people to review! How do you do it? That's a good point about Jag, he's probably suffering from some sort of horrible distress syndrome and will probably snap and gut poor Spiderpaw like a fish. Glad you enjoyed seeing Forest again; originally it was supposed to be Thistlethorn on the patrol, but then I was like 'naaaah' and changed it, because I love Forest too (he's my first romantic partner to date a main character that hasn't died yet, so that's awesome). Darkstorm mentoring Spider makes me cringe, especially since Spider's so small and kit-looking still, ha. I'm excited about those too (it's fun being an excited author :D) and I posted Chilly just for you, if you wanna go look, he's with the others now. His design isn't very creative tho, sigh. Yay, kittens! I'm glad they all made it to good homes; I've never had a pet give birth, but my friends have, and they all say that's the hardest part. Glad you managed it. We'll see how Sootpaw gets her training, no worries! Also, as a side note, it kind of soothes my ego how you ask for updates rather politely, thank you for that. <3 I'm going to write about your one-shot in a different post altogether, since it doesn't really belong in this entry, so I'll get to it soon!

@QueenOfThePens: ForestxSoot, I presume? Intentional, darling, intentional, but completely one-sided. Soot might have a teeny crush on him, in a fifth-grader-crushing-on-his-teacher sort of way. It probably won't amount to much, though, since Soot is going to be on---er, I mean, we'll see. Also, Eaglestrike isn't manipulating Silverstar, he just sort of isn't consulting her very much.

@Crowstorm: Thanks, I'm fond of his saying too! Iceblossom was Icepaw in most of Shattered, a haughty little apprentice of PeakClan that hooked up with Volepaw/Volewhisker at the end. Snowpaw, Shrewpaw, and Swanpaw are their kits. ^^

@Lynxeye: Thanks! I wanted to try something different on a couple levels here, so I experimented with their training, and I'm pleased with the result. Of course, Soot's difficulties will have some impact on the plot, once we get around to more than just her crazy dreams. Hopefully we'll see more of Forest, and you'll just have to wait to see how Silver turns out. I like Jag too, although as Shimmertail pointed out in her review, he's kind of a dangerous BFF to have. xD

@Insane: We'll just have to see how poor Silver pans out...but wow, that Spider/Northy scene would indeed be amazing. If only it was possible...*sigh*

@Nightkill: She has a rough time, huh? D:

@AngelDevilCat: Thanks! I appreciate it. ^^

@Silverblossom: I assure you, I don't mind. ^^ Stormshadow said to Spiderpaw basically everything you did, although I didn't intend it to be that way, ha. There's nothing wrong with the word funk, although I admit I don't use it much....*writes down in idea notebook* Everyone's hating Eaglestrike, how sad. And by Sparklewish, did you mean Darkstorm? xD

@PricelessCatLady: I'm kinda regretting posting the summary since the main plot hasn't taken off yet, but ah well. Soot'll be a super-hero soon enough.

@Mlaia3: Thanks! It would appear so, but knowing Northy....

Soot = Super Spy

Seriously, she's good at this eavesdropping stuff.

@Shimmertail: You're the best at making up nicknames. *pats poor Spider* I've never seen the Karate Kid, so sadly your jokes would be lost on me, but maybe someone else would get them? I adore HP. <3 You're always so good at theorizing too, sigh. Can't pull anything past you. Still waiting on Vigil, by the way, are you ever going to send it to me? *stern glare*

@Crowstorm: Hopefully he'll get some development; him turning into a Jag clone would be awesome, especially if they were fighting back to back against a dragon...hmm. Maybe some day. About the PMD thing, they added a writing section, and the cliche-ness of the team name is on purpose; Nike isn't very imaginative beyond her own name (she named if after herself; at one point Tane questioned why they couldn't name it after both of them, but even he agreed that Team Victory Man would be a stupid name xD). Maybe we'll have hidden flaws, I dunno; they're a bit harder to write, I s'pose, but I do need some practice.

@QueenOfThePens: Because we aren't going to have a murder-mystery type deal like we did in TR (well, we kind of are, but with less murder and more mystery xD) I can safely say that Stormy isn't evil. He's like Viperfang from TR (although I'm not sure if you've read that, me being the scatter-brain that I am); he's gruff and tough and made of rough stuff, but he's a good guy deep (deep deep deep) down, and extremely loyal; he'd never turn his back on Petalcloud/Firepaw/Blackpaw. Not to say that he wouldn't do some totally jacked-up stuff to defend them (like killing Chillpaw), but he could never turn on them. Chilly possessing people would be extremely cool (and honestly, if it happened to anyone it would be dear spacey Birchpool) but I doubt it will actually happen. xD

@DreamHeart: He sort of already knew he would lose, he just wanted practice, and he wasn't initially wanting to spar with her. Still, stupid, but Spider kind of is when it comes to stuff like that. As for a beta reader, why do you ask? I've considered it before, but most (if not all?) of my mistakes are merely typos (which I usually spot after reading it like the fifth time, but by then it's posted and I'm too lazy to edit the document and reupload it or whatever), plus I'm extremely impatient and if my beta was slow to get back to me on each chapter I'd probably snap and just post the chapter anyway...so I don't think it would work out. I would kinda like to /be/ a beta though, since I'm excellent at finding mistakes when it's not my own work. xD

@Insane: Isn't it? Of course, that's counting all those ANs and stuff, but even trimming those it would still be really long. And yes, yes he is. Stupid Spider. :D

@Priceless: Spider + Duct tape = Happy AshClan.
Prin + Rebellion = Even more crushing dictator parents. :(

@Nightkill: I really liked Longtail, for some reason, even though he was a coward. Longtail is kind of like what would happen if Darkstorm and Spiderpaw had a baby. I think. Him getting blinded by that rabbit was utter crap. D:

@CrystalSakura: He sure is! I can be a jerk too though, sometimes, sadly. Although mine's less 'you're an idiot' and more incredibly sarcastic jerkiness.

@ilfbehwh: I think we all wish we had protective siblings, doncha? Sadly, I'm the oldest, so that's my duty around here...pfft.

@Smokefrost: Honestly, I strongly dislike Jayfeather myself...but I kind of understand why the Erins have him now, because jerks are fun to write for (not as fun as Northy, but still). But yeah, Spider doesn't take a lot of crap, 'tis true. Leopard's one smart cookie, and despite his exterior, Jag's a pretty good advice giver. :D

@Ninjakitty: I've seen that commercial; isn't Willliam Shatner in it? Sadly, not much of a cliffie because we had another time-skip, but we at least got to see Northy a bit; he'll be important later on. I do like Leopard a great deal, though. I hope you have a good summer too! <3

@Sunspirit: Because Spider's head is as thick as a badger's butt? Because he's slightly sexist in that manner? Because he wants to be the very best / like no one ever was / to catch them is his real test / to train them is his cause? Because quoting those lyrics had nothing to do with your question? I think I stopped making sense, sorry. Jag's pretty good at advice, but much like Spider, he doesn't shy away from tellin' it like it is (with a pessimistic spin, of course! Yay pessimism!)

@Silverblossom: Hey, lover! Don't fret, I don't mind late reviews, they make me smile while I'm working on the next chappy. That sounds about how I feel about my lil brother, most of the time, which is probably appropriate. Jag & Northy will both be important (in very different ways), no worries, and Leopard will too.

Random thing I noticed:

When it's a Soot chapter, everyone gushes about her dreams. But when it's a Spider chapter, everyone talks about his 'tude. I also find it funny that you guys are extremely divided when it comes to him; half say ya hate him, half say ya love him (and a few of you, like Silverblossom, are somewhere in between xD).

Not that I'm complaining, or anything, just some amusing little quirks that I noticed. :p

Love you guys as always. <33

New chapter, bleh

Bleh, I'm really tired right now. This has already been a hard summer for me. D:

But enough about that~

@Shimmertail:...that imaginary friend thing totally sparked an idea for me! Not for this story, but for another, hmm. Thank you for that. And I hadn't noticed the "Fire for heroes" thing (although I guess I don't read a lot of fics, maybe that's why) but I'm glad you like it? And you know I can't tell you anything about future pairings, silly girl. ^^

We totally needed a time skip, ya. Kits are adorable and all, but there's only so much they can waddle around and do, right? Yep, right in one. The Clans believed that StarClan was angry at them for kicking SkyClan out (keep in mind it's been a year since they did that, and an extremely hard year at that) so they sent out a search partaaay (which is a lot less fun than it sounds). And sorry about comparing Northy to a daisy; I'm sure it was traumatizing to read. *pats*

@Nightkill: Eh, I am pretty mean to poor Death/Darky. He used to be so cool in role-play, too. *wistful sigh*

@Ninjakitty: All good guesses! Only time will tell. :)

@LittleSpark: Thank you! All I can say is that I have a lot of time (or used to, anyway) and the lovely Pandora radio~

@Smokefrost: Sorry for leaving you behind a bit, dear! Glad you're all caught up again. :3

@TheVioletGleek: Excellent theories! We'll see. :D

@Autumn Sunsets: Actually, I think poor Soot got the short end of the stick; if the mentors are all busy, she simply can't train at all; at least Spider has a mentor. Spider and Petal may not get along, but she has all the skills that Spider needs to acquire, which is why Eagle chose her for Spider instead of Soot. But, yeah, Eagle is taking his responsibilities a bit seriously...remember, though, he used to be deputy for Fadedstar, and he was even leader after Fadedstar's death (for all of, like, a day). He feels as though he failed BirchClan, and he's trying to make up for it now, protecting Silver as best he can, even if it's misguided. And you know I do love playing with canon when there's an opening for it. Alas, I cannot say what will happen to the search party; we'll just have to see! And I think Soot gets punished in just about every chapter, one way or another; she and her brother seem to get into a fair bit o' trouble, doncha think? As for Jagged and Minnow, we'll definitely see more of them later. Blackpaw is still about a moon away from being a warrior, so Eagle didn't want to burden Reed (the only other time a mentor was given two apprentices was with Forest, but Thistle was only /half/ a moon from being made a warrior, so it was a little more flexible. Blackpaw's training also isn't going as well, since it was interrupted by Bramblethorn's death and all. She's not good at coping with things like that. ^^

@CrystalSakura: Yep. I was reading back, and Jag's eyes were described as blue-green first...but then in that very same chapter I said they were yellow, too. *headdesk* Spider still has those white markings, I guess I just don't mention them very often? Also, out of curiosity, are you still reading my PMD fic? It's been awhile since I've seen your name there. Just curious~

SkyClan won't be important in this story, but the search party definitely will. I was wrong about the Bluestar timeline, though, as noted in this most recent chapter, but I was only off by a few moons. :D

@QueenOfThePens: *feeble shrug* Maybe, maybe something else horrible and traumatizing
 happened to her. Who knows? xD

@Lynxeye: We'll see where the search party ended up! And, yes, I do try to give poor Jag a reason to be grumpy. I suppose Smallear/One-eye/Halftail all had reasons to be grumpy (losing their hearing, eye, and half a tail, respectively, would make me angry too) but dumb Patchpelt was just whiny, ha. And thank you! Yes, Silver seems to have a miserable life...all the time, poor girl, from one thing to the next. You should always be suspicious. :D

@Silverblossom: Sorry for the confusion, but there's not much I can say, ha. Thanks, as always. C:

@Sunspirit: I have no idea how to pluralize hypothesis, honestly, but that sounds semi-right? I dunno. Dream series' (how do you pluralize series, mm?) are one of my favorite things, so maybe. We'll see. :D

@Crowstorm: *snaps fingers* She-cats can mentor too! Spider might just be a lil sexist, is all. And no one pays attention to poor lil Soot. And thanks, anonymous stalker buddy! <3

The character bios are those things with the picture and the blurb underneath (a few posts down is one for Chilled, I think). But I can sneak those two kitties in here somewhere, if you like. ;)

@Pain: Thanks! Always love seeing new faces. Eagle's a furball, I'll agree, but the poor stud means well at least. We'll see plenty of Chill and Northy, no worries, and Jag too. I also like Spider's name, although finding a good suffix is hard. xD

@Warriorcrazy: Soot was initially intending to go back to sleep, but by the time she thought about going on the dawn patrol, it was kind of too late to be Moonkit, since she was already wide awake and opened her eyes and stuff. Keeping her eyes closed is part of the magic~! Please don't hunt me. I'm delicate, and stringy. ;^;

@Amanda: That takes some dedication! I read Shattered for about an hour each night (wanted to re-catch up, if that makes any sense) and even skipping a few boring chapters it took me four days or so. Which isn't bad, I guess, since it's longer than most HP books, but eh. And don't worry, it's fine if you don't log in, it makes no difference to me, really. xD

@Artemis: I think Spider inherited his father's occasional jerkiness. Which is a pity; hopefully he'll come around. We'll see more of the search party, and definitely more of our darling Chill. :D

@Priceless: Good theory, we'll see whether or not that's true. :)

@Smokefrost: Soot's a lil spy, agreed. I eavesdrop too, sometimes, so I guess Soot got that from me. We'll see more about all of this eventually!

I saw "we'll see" so much, it must be awful for you guys. I'm sorry! I just don't want to spill any beans, is all.

Love you all as always~ <3

Soot's being a creeper

How dare you spy on your poor, lonely, shut-in of a leader like that? *shakes fist*

Another slow blog update, sorry about that. I keep forgetting. D:

@MansonNoob: Minnow & co. will definitely be in this story. Bramblethorn didn't kill himself; he had Bluekit and Redkit to live for, after all, since he semi-adopted them. I don't think I have to answer that third question anymore, ha, since Sootpaw's dream. :D Don't be sorry, I enjoy questions. ^^

@Insane: Don't you quack at me! *shakes fist* But thank you. You're prolly right about Silverstar, but she just doesn't feel up to it, sadly.

@Silverblossom: Maybe Spider and Jag will be besties, who knows? Leopard's a fireball compared to Chilly, but they've got their similarities.

@Madame Wolfe: I've heard of Vocaloid before, but I don't get what it...is. xD It's not Soot that really has to watch out for Leopard...but we'll see more of that.

@Autumn Sunsets: Oh, sorry to hear that. Soot is a goody-goody (besides following her leader into the forest and spying on her) but she'll be doing some more rule-breaking soon. And....*cracks open a storybook* Once upon a time, when Eaglestrike & co. were very young, Eagle decided that it was up to him and his gal pals to take care of FrozenClan, who was trespassing into the forest. They nearly got killed, but were saved by valiant ShellClan warriors. Eagle was given apprentice duties much like Soot and Spider are now, but he was much younger at the time. The end. *closes book*

Firepaw's like that because...well, even when we saw him as a kit, he was planning on killing Nightshade (he probably couldn't have actually done it, but...) for revenge for Swansong. He's always been sort of a hot-head, but being raised as a rogue means that he's more accustomed to violence; also, rogues use their brawn and skills to move up and down the hierarchy of their "bands" (there's a reason Tremor was the biggest and strongest in his group) so Firepaw still reflects that mentality. Sootkit got to eat mainly because she was there before her brother; Ravenwing would have offered Spiderkit some food too, after he reported to his father and all, but he just /had/ to get into trouble...he probably ate afterwards anyway. Ah-ha! I knew it had something to do with milk! And wasn't there a Courage the Cowardly Dog episode about flan...?

@Crowstorm: Don't worry dear, it's okay. You're right, we need some nice elders. Petalcloud will be as sweet as syrup when she's an elder, but unfortunately that won't be for awhile, I s'pose. Thanks! Leopard's pretty cool, I agree, and Fire's a total butt-munch. We'll see how he progresses. c:

*pointedly ignores backstory nudging* ;)

@Artemis: Eh, maybe he will. I might just make them yellow and amber, since Yellowfang's eyes always flip-flopped between the two. The Clan does seem to be going a bit downhill (which scares the crap out of Silverstar, but she feels basically powerless). Hopefully the apprentices will mature with time. ^^

@TheVioletGleek: Hey! I remember you. And might I say that was a long and lovely review. ^^

I totally use squee too, so don't feel bad about that. I'm super-glad you found me again, ha. Thank you very much for the Shattered-related compliments. Most of the plot strings from Shattered (and I say most because I'll prolly forget something), promise. Shimmerfrost was, ah, not happy. With anyone. Especially not StarClan. Which is kinda bad, for meddies. Carmelo will show up eventually, we'll see. He's been busy. We'll see bits and pieces of the PeakClanners, no worries about that. And I don't mind the chatter; really, I enjoy it. :D

@QueenOfThePens: *whistles* You know how I hate giving away pairings~

@Sunspirit: He's a moody bundle of fur, yep. Maybe with a bit of training he'll work that out. We'll hear about PeakClan now and again; some characters *cough Northy cough* will be quite important~

Spider again

'Nother chapter, yadda yadda, you know the drill. ^^

If this post ends abruptly it's because I had to leave (we're going out to eat soon) but I'll finish it later. xD

Several of you guys asked if Moonkit was Sootkit's stillborn sister. She's not; she's about 90% Sootkit's imaginary friend and about 10% something else we'll see later. I will admit, though, that her being Soot's sister hadn't even crossed my mine, and I'm impressed you guys thought of it! Sometimes, however, a dream is just a dream and a friend is just a friend.

@Ninjakitty: I don't read many fics, so I'm not sure if kits exploring is a common thing, but it had to happen for a variety of reasons, which we'll see later. Almost everything that happens in these first few chapters will have overarching consequence for later.

@Shimmertail: As completely awesome as Leopardpaw being Carmelo's daughter would be, it sadly wouldn't fit. Bella/Night's kits are the same age as Ravenwing's, and they're only 5.5 moons. Bella/Night had to become preggers that first night after she accepted her new name; by that time, Toxin and Carmelo hadn't even met, and Leopard is a moon /older/ than Bella/Night's kits or Raven's. Bluepaw's a little harsh, but she's young and obviously has a lot to learn. And that is adorable for Spiderkit, I actually laughed while reading (I don't think he heard me). I'm curious, though, what did I do to Bramblethorn? I don't remember doing anything (besides killing him, of course). xD

@Hersheys: That would be a cute pairing, ha. Unfortunately, they won't see each other for most of the story....

@Autumn Sunsets: Jeez, that makes me sound like a terrible person! Which, I guess that was a terrible thing to do to poor Frostflight, hmm. We'll find out most of your questions, I can't spoil anything! And no, I've never heard of it. Is it French? It sounds French. Or Spanish? Leche is "milk" in Spanish....

@Silverblossom: Aside from the age difference and pelt color and eye color, you can believe that. We'll see. :D

@CrystalSakura: They'll be apprenticed soon. As for Silver, well....I suppose they have Yellow/Cinder tones to their relationship, but they aren't all that much alike. Maybe Cinder/Blue are pretty alike, but Yellow/Shimmer are from two different ends of the grumpy spectrum.

@Lynxeye: We'll see (I say that a lot, it seems) where Leopardpaw came from eventually.

@Mlaia: I think Rumble (since he's the one that named her, of course) was thinking more along the lines of Whitefrost than Chillpaw, but perhaps Shimmerfrost herself associates them with her brother, I dunno.

I think that's all, sorry that took awhile. xD

Soot 2.0

Soot's second chapter, kinda. She's a very different lil gal than her brother is, obviously. xD

Not a lot to say about this chappy yet, but that's okay...we'll get there.

@Shimmertail: There's definitely some of Tigerstar's snappiness in Spiderkit, I'd say. Unfortunately, he has none of Northy's occasional brutality, but he does have some of Northy's occasional finesse, and he'll be a bit of a schemer too. Yup, Moonkit's a total MS version of Soot, ha; I tried really hard. She's a bit of a dreamer, I'm afraid. And as we've seen, Soot doesn't always dream about him; as she mentions in the Prologue, it's not every night, or even every other night, but still fairly often.

@Nightkill: I didn't have any when I was little, but I think everyone /should/, ha. Glad you like Spider, I like him too. Not that I won't hesitate to kill him if necessary, of course, you know me. xD

@Autumn Sunsets: Eee, I still can't believe you joined! So awesome. Luckily I made an allegiances thingy, so two of those questions can be easily answered there, but for the third I enjoy cake and brownies and ice cream and pudding. :P

@Silverblossom: Semi-mates...what a weird status to be in, eh? Ah well, Darky's happy with that. And yep, Spider is a little more than ya bargained for; just think about poor Ravenwing!

@QueenOfThePens: I don't even like role-playing medicine cats, really (their lives are sort of boring...except for Snowhawk's, I guess, but he had a bit more on his plate than the average meddy!) so neither I nor Soot have that in mind for the future, no worries. C:

@Madame Wolfe: Ah, I was kind of concerned about their similarity in personality, but (un)fortunately Spider doesn't even have blindness as an excuse for being as big a jerk as he is. But he really does love Soot, underneath the tongue-lashings. <3

@Smokefrost: Glad you like her! Spider and Soot play off of each other nicely, I'm excited for developing their relationship. ^^

@Lynxeye: If sweeties like Belladonna can devolve into crazy killers, then Spider's in for quite a ride, wouldn't you say? He's definitely a problem child, tho. Glad you like the imaginary friend thing; I've always wanted to use one, and I finally get to! Plus, dear Moonkit is more than she appears....

Glad you noticed the Volewhisker thing; the problem is that originally Smallfire was his father, but somehow I got it mixed up in my head (probably because Small and Sand were gingers). I think I fixed it. I'm excited for the apprentices too, I missed their silly apprentice drama, and we've got plenty this time around!

@Mlaia: Hopefully she will! We'll see. :)

@Artemis: Well, like I said, there's a lot more going on with her than just Chilly, although that did kind of trash her inside. Forestheart's looking after her, of course, as much as he can, but...well. We'll see. I feel like Chilled is very different from Shattered too, although their different in good ways.

@CrystalSakura: Wow, you actually tried that? I'm impressed. I'm so much of a scatterbrain that I mix 'em up myself. Thanks for pointing that out, though! I knew I was missing someone, but I couldn't think of who; I kept thinking of Blazingfoot, but he's dead. I added them both on there (and gave them some kits to boot, cuz I can spontaneously produce a litter of kittens whenever I want. xD)

@Crowstorm: She hasn't attended any since Chilly's thing; when I say Eaglestrike took over her duties, I mean /all/ of them. We'll see how Jag turns out, of course. And thank you for the birthday greeting, that perked me up with surprise when I saw it! How did you find out, though, out of curiosity? Are ya stalking me? :D

@warriorcrazy: Thanks. Betrayal is always super-fun. ^^

That's all, I think.Stay tuned, yadda yadda!

CHILLED BIOS

Three posts in one day, jeez. Anyway, this is where the bios will be posted for Chilled.We've got some to start off with, and then I might add some later, if requested or something.
If the pictures are too small, click on them to enlarge them!
I use several different cat-makers to get these images. Recently I found a new one that I really like that I use for cats with more complex patterns, like Swift or Swanpaw, or cats that are very energetic and bright, like Reedrush. If they're more gentle/quiet, I use the one like I did for Sootpaw. Toms all have the same one (with one exception).

JOURNEYING CATS

    

This here is our dear, dear little Sootkit. She's pretty large for one her age, and it's obvious to all that she'll be well-muscled and strong when she becomes a warrior. She's generally smiling and upbeat, always ready to joke or play, but she's extremely sensitive about her size. She is usually gentle, but has a bit of a temper if provoked. Around her brother, she is meek and subservient because of his commanding attitude. She loves her brother and her family with all her heart, and she looks up to her father, Eaglestrike, with immense pride. It's her life-long dream to someday become her father's deputy, and carry on his legacy, eventually becoming the strong and powerful leader that he has become while Silverstar has been ill. She has a strange connection with the afterlife, one that she isn't even sure that StarClan quite understands. She's plagued with dreams that terrify her, the scene of Chillpaw's betrayal. However, recently the dreams have started to change....

Reedrush, despite having a son, is a rather young cat. She's only a little older than two. Despite this, she's very mature and calm most of the time; raising Blizzardpaw has tempered her once-adventurous spirit. However, she is still ready to take on challenges, as is shown when she joins the journeying cats. She also has her own motives for joining the group, although these are unclear. She's very close to Silverstar, but she is perhaps closest to Jaggedclaw. She loves him, and although he seems to reflect the same feelings he refuses to admit it for an unknown reason. This makes her unhappy, but she tries not to burden others with this. She is usually very kind, especially to Sootpaw, and Sootpaw has sort of become her apprentice on their journey.

Thistlethorn is another hot-headed young warrior, although perhaps not as much as Fireblaze. He was the first apprentice of the Clan, and the first to become a warrior. Because of this, he's very well respected by the younger generation of cats; many of the toms look up to him, wanting to become a warrior too. He seems unaware of this, however, for he is consumed by an overwhelming desire to prove himself; this is why he joined the journeying cats. He also has self-doubts, mainly stemming from the fact that his mother has almost completely forgotten about him; he has hazy memories of her accident that caused her amnesia, but feels an overwhelming sensation of guilt, especially after his father, Bullet, left them. Unlike most other cats, he isn't quite sure where his name came from; his mother doesn't remember and he cannot ask his father. He personally thinks it comes from his rather messy fur, which always seems to be sticking up, since he rarely grooms it. This is something else that bothers him; he sees names as being part of what makes up a cat, and not knowing the origin of his is deeply troubling to him.

Bluepaw is pretty much a complete airhead. She's nice to everyone, and almost always seems happy; she treats everyone equally and like a friend. She's hyperactive and chipper, always smiling and saying odd things as she bounces around the camp erratically. This definitely grates on her mentor's nerves, but Shimmerfrost usually says very little to her, mostly because Shimmerfrost is not fond of her. Bluepaw's interests vary wildly, and thus she is not really consistant with her training. Still, she was chosen to go on the journey because only AshClan received the prophecy, and Shimmerfrost could not be spared/did not want to go because of her strange visions. Bluepaw is friends with all of the apprentices, but is closest to Spiderpaw; she "likes" him a great deal, and misses him now that she is gone.

 

Jaypaw is usually fairly calm, but can become tense when his sister is threatened; like Fireblaze, he will stand up on her behalf even when she doesn't want him to. Normally he is not a grudge-holder, but he dislikes Spiderpaw because he specifically told him to be quiet and not hurt Robinpaw's feelings; Spiderpaw disobeyed and did not apologize. Jaypaw is very polite, and likes it when other cats are as well, so Spiderpaw's rudeness gravely irks him. Jaypaw wanted to join the journeying cats to help protect his sister; unfortunately he has fallen victim to the chilling disease and must now return home to her.

Rainwind is the older of the two PeakClan warriors on the journey. In his youth he was a bit wilder, but as a warrior he settled down, becoming much more soft-spoken and relaxed. He's a natural peace-maker who always has a kind word and works hard to sooth the nerves of others. He's also a good mentor, helping unlock Mousestep's potential; he hopes to do the same for his new apprentice, Brackenpaw. He is aware that being entrusted with the deputy's son is no light matter, and he hopes to train him accordingly.

Rabbitleap is a happy little puffball; she's small for a warrior, and her stubby tail only adds to the cute effect. She doesn't really seem to mind this, since she's not an overly ambitious cat. Bright and eager to please, she treats everyone like a friend, even the more prickly cats (*coughNorthstarcough*) despite others' advice to the contrary. She's a bit scatterbrained and rash, but underneath it all she's a good-hearted warrior who loves her mate, Hawktalon, very much. She hopes to have a family with him one day, which is partially why she joined the journeying party.

 

Brackenpaw is the older of the two PeakClan apprentices, as well as Northstar's adopted son. He practically worships his father and wants to be exactly like him. He wants to live up to the cat he was named for, Brackenheart. He tries to be kind and thoughtful and hard-working, but sometimes his temper or shortsightedness gets the better of him. This usually makes him feel very guilty, and he worries that he isn't living up to his father's expectations.

Swanpaw's a bit of a spoiled brat. She's rude, thoughtless, and icy, often critiquing or making fun of the other apprentices and warriors. She seems especially keen of making fun of Thistlethorn, and is amused when he becomes angry. She's very hostile towards Ashclan. She has a fierce independent streak, relying on no one but herself. She mourns the loss of her sister and is afraid she will lose her mother, which is why she joined the group. Haughty and full of pride, she's a dangerous ally to have because she is often shortsighted or foolish.

Rook is an ex-kittypet; he's a Norwegian Forest Cat, a (fairly expensive) show-cat. His owner perished in a fire that almost destroyed their entire house. Rook came back and found Nightingale; together they struggled to survive on the streets. They managed to hang around the streets for a few moons, but it proved too tough for them to handle. Hoping for greener pastures, they headed west, only to run into Adder and his gang. They were forced to work for him, scaring trespassers away. Rook is very good at this; he has a knack for ambushing and tree-climbing, and is very fast (partially because underneath all of his fluffy fur, he really isn't all that big). Rook has a growly, coarse way of speaking, but sometimes under stress/duress a more polished tone comes out.
((Again, because he's brown I had to use the creator I usually reserve for she-cats. IDK why he has a scarf in this picture, he definitely doesn't need one with all his fur...red is just so pretty against brown. In reality he, of course, doesn't have an awesome scarf.
His appearances was based on a photograph of a beautiful NFC.))

Nightingale is a Rag Doll, another showing breed. She was a recent addition to her owner's collection; she was a gift from another cat-breeder. As such, Nightingale was kept away from the other cats, near the back, to be slowly introduced to them so that they would not reject her. Most of the time she was kept in a back room in her cage. During the fire, the door to her room was closed; her owner couldn't get all the way back to save her, and was forced to leave her and help her other cats. Nightingale was saved by the thick door which blocked the fire until help arrived; however, she inhaled an immense amount of smoke, which permanently scarred her throat, nearly killing her. Firefighters managed to get her out of the building, but her cage was left on the street as they tried to combat the flames that were heading towards the forest (and would later consume AshClan's territory...you guys remember that, surely?). Rook returned and helped her, and together they fled. Because Nightingale cannot speak, there isn't much known about her; she's slightly shy, but strong enough to help Rook in his ambushing tactics. She can also be brave when she needs to be, such as when she came to Rook's aid when he was pinned by Sage and Thistlethorn. She seems to exert a calming influence on him, and is more rational than he is despite her muteness. 
((Unlike Rook, she actually does have a bow, although it's dirty and tattered now. It was a gift from her old owner and she hasn't wanted to take it off. Her appearance is also based on a photo.))
ASHCLAN CATS

Spiderkit is lightly built, with long, slender legs and a lanky frame. His fur is sleek, and his eyes are his mother's bright, bright green. He's very sensitive about his size, much like his larger sister. Because of his, he is widely known for his barbed tongue; he has a hair-trigger temper when his size is mentioned, and he's always quick to use his claws. He seems to lack a certain sort of filter; whatever he is thinking tumbles out of his mouth, and generally gets him into trouble. However, in battle, it's another story. He descends into an icy sort of cool, and his nimble, analytical mind can survey the situation, pick out his enemies' weaknesses, and create a battle plan to beat them. However, he is crippled in battle by his desire for strength; he will often throw away his careful plans and his speed-advantage to attempt to win by pure power, which he lacks.

Leopardpaw is somewhat of a mystery. She was a rogue lurking in the forest for almost a moon; AshClan scented her, but was unable to capture her or find out where she was living. She only showed herself to save Sootkit, who was drowning in the river. With that act, she won Sootkit's loyalty and trust, as well as the grudging trust of the rest of the Clan...all except for Spiderkit, who blames himself for Sootkit's near-drowning. On the surface, she seems uninterested in Clan affairs, even uninterested in training as a warrior, except in battle; in battle she is a fiery tornado, ripping over the battlefield, using moves cats have never seen before. She was obviously trained before, but she only says that she lived in the Twolegplace and was trained there; it's widely assumed that Amber trained her to help fight against Carmelo, but they don't know for sure. Leopardpaw seems to always be watching her Clanmates, even though she looks bored while doing it.

Blackpaw is a simple, sweet lil gal. She's currently the oldest apprentice in the Clan because she is not yet ready to become a warrior; she's not a strong enough fighter to pass her assessment. This sort of hurts her pride, but she admits that she isn't yet ready. She's a gentle, quiet cat who likes to stay out of conflict; she's usually very soft-spoken, as well as a good listener. She was good friends with Bluepaw, and is also good friends with Robinpaw (and Blizzardpaw/Jaypaw by proxy). Family is very important to her, and she loves her mother Petalcloud and brother Fireblaze a great deal, even though she does feel uncomfortable about how Fireblaze pressures everyone to be nice to her. She does wish she could be more independent, but it's difficult for her to voice such thoughts, especially since she is afraid to hurt her brother's feelings. She doesn't usually have a temper, but insulting her family is a good way to incite one. Despite her kind appearance, she can be a bit sneaky to help her friends and family, such as when she told Robinpaw that Spiderpaw had apologized.

Fireblaze is easily one of the most hot-tempered cats in the Clan. He's extremely quick to anger, and VERY protective of his family, to the point where he has no problem threatening/injuring those that dare speak badly about his kin. He's known for getting into scraps, and even as an apprentice he suffered some bad wounds because he refuses to ever give up or give in. He has a habit of shouting at his enemies as he fights them to anger them, although it's not clear whether it's a ploy on his part (to cloud their decision-making) or simply his way to get an exciting battle. He's known for holding grudges, especially when his family is involved. However, Fireblaze is really not a bad cat. He's very loyal to his friends and family, and will try wholeheartedly to help them with any problems they might have. He works tirelessly to provide for his Clan.

Fireblaze's lackey, he idolizes the older warrior. As such, he acts quite a bit like him; he's very protective of his kin and also has a quick temper. He's a bit bulkier than Fireblaze (not to imply that Fireblaze is small, because he is certainly well-muscled) and thus less refined in his battle techniques. He's a little thick-skulled, not really all that bright or ambitious; he just wants to be Fireblaze's right paw. He also has an odd fascination with she-cats, and tends to try to bond with them (especially Robinpaw and Leopardpaw). However, he's a bit of a blunderer in conversation, and thus is not very impressive to anyone.

Blizzardpaw is notable in that he is probably one of the most peaceful cats. Unlike the others, he doesn't have any siblings to watch out for or defend. Because of this, he doesn't generally hold grudges or even take sides in arguments. He prefers to be carefully neutral, to keep on the good side of both parties; this can be seen in his complex relationship with Spiderpaw and Fireblaze. On the one paw, he is good friends with Fireblaze and hangs out with him; on the other, he tries to deter Fireblaze from harassing/injuring Spiderpaw. Blizzardpaw is most loyal to Robinpaw, although he usually will not be angry on her behalf (when Spiderpaw insulted her, Blizzardpaw was pretty chill about it; Robinpaw wasn't angry, so neither was he). If, however, Robinpaw is actually angry about something, it's likely that he would follow suit out of loyalty. Robinpaw is his best friend in the world. He's very close to his mother as well, and misses her terribly now that she's gone, although he usually keeps this to himself. Truly, he's a bit of an invisible cat, despite his friendly nature. This can be seen by his pelt; unlike most apprentices he has very few scars, because his spars rarely become overly aggressive or violent.

Robinpaw is a fairly easy-going cat. Despite the injury she sustained as a kit, she is very upbeat and bright. She tries very hard to train to the best of her ability, in order to live up to the legacy of her parents. She tries to be friends with everyone, and in this she mainly succeeds, since she is generally a positive cat. She does have a more forlorn side; sometimes she frets about her becoming a warrior because of her leg. Generally only Jaypaw and Blizzardpaw see this, as she tries to hide her fears from the rest of the cats. She hates being pitied above all else; this is partially why she tries so hard. She wants very much to become closer to Darkstorm, but he seems wary of her and does not like being with her because of the guilt he feels over her accident. Still, she maintains a positive attitude, hoping to change this. She's not really much of a grudge-holder, but she does demand that the other cat apologize to her if she thinks that he or she has done something wrong. Because of this she wouldn't speak to Spiderpaw, even though she wasn't really mad about what he said, until he indirectly apologized.

DEAD CATS

By request, our dear, dear Chillpaw. I think we all know how he is; emotionless, relentless, guiltless. Or, at least, so he was in Shattered...we might find ourselves in a whole different ball park now, who knows? Even if he's changed since death, there are always some constants; he's obsessed with balance, with the imaginary "scales" of the universe; perhaps he even has some OCD tendencies. His personal belief, although he doesn't admit it, is that if the scales are in balance then everything will work out for him in the end; every cat will get what they deserved. He took one of Silverstar's lives to protect this balance, to avenge Lion, even while knowing that he would most likely die. In that case, the scales were balanced, and he died feeling peace, while also knowing that he had completely shattered the Clan's feelings of safety. Now he walks the Dark Forest, but of course our dear Chilly isn't finished plotting....

(His appearance is rather bland; no snazzy markings for him, really. The marks on his throat is from the bite that killed him; the marking on his butt area is from the badger that killed his mother; it got in a blow while he scampered up the tree.)

 Blight is, for the moment, Chilly's right-paw dude. He's cunning, manipulative, and sinister; he takes great pleasure in forcing others to do what he wants and he is very violent/hostile towards she-cats underneath his charming exterior. He's adept at sensing the motivations and emotions of others, and very good at exploiting them. This, coupled by his bloodthirst and violent temper are what helped push him to the top of FrozenClan's ranks and made him a hero of the battle against ShellClan. He's a bad dude, guys, but we already know that.

The former leader of WindClan, many years ago. Her crimes are not yet known, but she did hold a war against the other Clans (as shown in one-shot 12. Skeleton). which eventually led to her downfall. She's haughty, cold, and a little vain (okay, plenty vain). 

Dapplefern is one of my more hated characters. She was once good friends with Rosedapple, but they split apart after Rosedapple and Lightstar fell in love. Dapplefern was jealous of Rosedapple's rank in the Clan and plotted her downfall. When Lightstar broke it off with Rosey, Dapplefern thought her own rank would improve by default, but when it did not she became enraged. This feeling of being unappreciated, coupled with Northstar's rejection of her, eventually led to her betrayal of the Clans. In death she is much like she was in life, still full of pride and demanding others do everything for her and give her more attention.

Nettlefrost is mostly unknown at this point; she was once deputy of ThunderClan, but that was many years ago. She seems to have little to say, and her suffix suggests that she is a bit cold and rational, level-headed. She seems disdainful of Sootpaw, but other than that she's basically a mystery.

 Swiftshade is another mysterious cat. He was once a warrior of RiverClan, but that's all that's really known about him. He's quiet and seems to have little to say.

Shrew seems an odd candidate for the Dark Forest. He's a well-meaning little guy, very shy and nervous around the more sinister Dark Forest cats. How he got to the DF is a mystery, since he seems fairly harmless and quails before the likes of Blight and Chill. 

((I gave him the girly bio because browns are really ugly in the form I use for most toms...also he has a little cape because when he was little he dreamed of being a hero. Obviously that didn't work out.))